Floor Statements

Mr. President, I move to proceed to calendar No. 91, S. 1197.

Mr. President, I have a cloture motion at the desk.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum under rule XXII be waived.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed to a period of morning business until 5 p.m. today with Senators permitted during that time to speak for up to 10 minutes each.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Madam President, it is my understanding there is an order in effect that we would recess starting at 1 p.m.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that time be advanced and we begin recess now.

Reserving the right to object, I have made statements over the past many weeks about why I object to this. I object.

Reserving the right to object, the Senator from Louisiana has been holding up things in the Senate for weeks. What he has now requested of the Senate is that every other Senator take second fiddle to him. I object.

I object.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on November 14, 2013, at 10 a.m.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on November 14, 2013, at 9:30 a.m., in room SD- 366 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Foreign Relations be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on November 14, 2013, at 11:15 a.m.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on November 14, 2013, at 10 a.m., in room SD- 430 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building, to conduct a hearing entitled ``Ensuring Access to Higher Education: Simplifying Federal Student Aid for Today's College Student.''

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on November 14, 2013, at 10 a.m. to conduct a hearing entitled ``Threats to the Homeland.''

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Indian Affairs be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on November 14, 2013, in room SD-628 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building, at 2:30 p.m., to conduct a hearing entitled ``Contract Support Costs and Sequestration: Fiscal Crisis in Indian Country.''

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate, on November 14, 2013, at 10 a.m., in SD-226 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building, to conduct an executive business meeting.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Select Committee on Intelligence be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on November 14, 2013, at 2 p.m.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights, be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate, on November 14, 2013, at 2:45 p.m., in SD-226 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building, to conduct a hearing entitled ``Cartel Prosecution: Stopping Price Fixers and Protecting Consumers.''

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Foreign Relations be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on November 14, 2013, at 2:30 p.m., to hold an European Affairs subcommittee hearing entitled, ``A Pivotal Moment for the Eastern Partnership: Outlook for Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Belarus, Armenia, and Azerbaijan''.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries, and the Coast Guard of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on November 14, 2013, at 10:30 a.m. in room 253 of the Russell Senate Office Building.

The Committee will hold a hearing entitled, ``Southeast Regional Perspectives on Magnuson-Stevens Act Reauthorization.''

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to executive session to consider Calendar Nos. 389, 392, 405, 411, 421 and all nominations at the Secretary's desk in the Coast Guard; that the nominations be confirmed en bloc; that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid on the table, with no intervening action or debate; that no further motions be in order to any nominations; that any related statements be printed in the Record; that President Obama be immediately notified of the Senate's action and the Senate then resume legislative session.

I ask that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of the House message on S. 252.

The PRESIDING OFFICER laid before the Senate a message from the House, as follows:

Resolved, That the bill from the Senate (S. 252) entitled

``An Act to reduce preterm labor and delivery and the risk of

pregnancy-related deaths and complications due to pregnancy,

and to reduce infant mortality caused by prematurity.'', do

pass with amendments.

I further ask that the Senate concur in the House amendments, and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 295, 296, 297, en bloc.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent the resolutions be agreed to, the preambles be agreed to, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table en bloc, with no intervening action or debate.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed to calendar No. 245.

I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Foreign Relations Committee be discharged from further consideration and the Senate proceed to S. Res. 284.

I ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 2 p.m. on Monday, November 18, 2013, and that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and that following any leader remarks the Senate be in a period of morning business until 5 p.m., with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each; that the first-degree filing deadline for amendments to H.R. 3204 be 3 p.m. on Monday and the second-degree filing deadline be 4 p.m. on Monday; further, that at 5 p.m., the Senate proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 381, the nomination of Robert Wilkins to be the U.S. Circuit Judge for the DC Circuit, with the time until 5:30 p.m. equally divided and controlled in the usual form prior to the cloture vote on the nomination; that if cloture is not invoked, the Senate resume legislative session and immediately vote on the motion to invoke cloture on H.R. 3204, the pharmaceutical drug compounding bill, all postcloture time be yielded back, the pending amendments be withdrawn and the Senate vote on passage of H.R. 3204; that upon disposition of H.R. 3204, the Senate vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to S. 1197, the National Defense Authorization Act.

There will be up to four rollcall votes on Monday at 5:30 p.m.

Madam President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that it adjourn under the previous order.

Mr. President, before the esteemed senior Senator from Vermont leaves the floor, I want to say a few words.

I appreciate the guidance and leadership my friend has given over these many years in leading the Judiciary Committee. It is a committee where most all of the legislation is funneled, and what we have focused on in recent months is the problem we have with judges.

Yesterday my friend did a remarkably good job in leading a precedent indicating the issues we have with the DC Circuit, and I so appreciate his leadership on this issue and all the other issues on which the Judiciary Committee works. It is too bad we cannot have the Judiciary Committee as it was in our earlier years in the Senate where the productivity of that committee is not thwarted by not being able to bring items to the floor.

The Judiciary Committee has a wide range of jurisdiction over matters that are so important to our country, such as our national security agencies and cyber security. There is a multitude of issues the Judiciary Committee deals with, and I wish we could be doing more legislation on the floor which comes from that committee.

I wanted to extend my appreciation to the Senator for the good work he has done, and I also want to send accolades to the people of Vermont for having this good man leading the Senate in many different ways, not the least of which is being the Senate President pro tempore.