Floor Statements

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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 President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, as happens once in a while here, we do not have a final score on part of the payroll tax issue that we have, the legislation. Joint Tax, CBO said they will have the score by 10 o'clock today. Therefore, we are going to reverse the order of what we are doing. We are going to vote on the matters relating to the omnibus first. However, I ask unanimous consent that if the Reid-McConnell substitute amendment is not agreed to--that is the payroll tax issue-- the Senate's action with respect to the conference report to accompany H.R. 2055 and H.R. 3672 be vitiated and the majority leader be recognized.

We do not have a final score on the payroll tax matter. There is something dealing with SGR that is not quite right, so we want to make sure everything is totally paid for. We are going to get a score in just a few minutes, probably by 10 o'clock for sure, and we want to reverse the order. We are going to do all the omnibus stuff because people have things to do and want to leave. But if by some happenchance the payroll tax does not pass, then all this stuff, the votes on the omnibus, would be vitiated.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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 President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, in the Senate we work on an adversarial basis lots of times because that is the way the Founding Fathers set up our country. I am not going to give a long lecture on this because I know people have a lot to do.

This little Constitution was very hard to come by. It was very hard to come by. We tried the Articles of Confederation. They did not work at all. We had the State of Rhode Island, a little, tiny place, with not many people in it; we had the big State of New York, with lots of territory and lots of people.

How were they going to work that out? They could not--until a man from Connecticut, Elbridge Gerry, came as one of the delegates, in June of 1787, to Philadelphia, who said: I have a great idea. It was an idea that had never been tried before. It was a stunningly interesting idea that he had. He suggested to the Founding Fathers a bicameral legislature, having a legislature made up of two bodies, two legislative bodies, the House and the Senate. That is the reason we are able to have a constitution.

But in the process, built into our Constitution is constant vying for power. You have the executive branch, the judicial branch, but within the legislative branch, there is constant vying for power between the House and the Senate. That is the case, even though both bodies may be of one party. When Pelosi was the Speaker, the Speaker and I were very good friends, but we had problems trying to work out things between the two bodies. When you have one body with one party and the other body with another party, it becomes even more difficult.

The times we are going through are not unusual for the Senate in the 200-plus years we have been a country. In fact, they are very peaceful and calm compared to sometimes. As we know, a Member of the House of Representatives did not like what a Senator from Massachusetts was saying. He came over here and, with his cane, nearly beat to death the Senator from Massachusetts. The Senator from Massachusetts was out of work for 2 years, and he was irreparably damaged. His health never returned.

So I know how difficult and hard it is for people to accept our way of doing business. But if you look back over the time we have been a country, it has worked out pretty well. For example, what we are going to vote on shortly--both the omnibus, the spending bill; and the payroll tax--were truly legislative accomplishments. They were compromises.

The omnibus is much better than it was previously. We were able to actually pass individual appropriations bills this year. The goal of the Republican leader and me is to pass them all next year. We are going to try. It is going to be one of our important issues we have to deal with, to try to get our appropriations bills back together.

I, when I first came to the Senate, became an appropriator. I think that committee is so integral to how this body works, and it has not been working well; that is, the appropriations process.

So people may be disturbed about some of the stuff that is on the floor, but it was true legislation because it was compromise. The omnibus--there are lots of things in that I do not like, and I will bet you every Senator has something in it that they do not like.

With the package we have dealing with unemployment, the package with the payroll tax and SGR, there are things in there I would rather not have in either one of those, but we are here because that is the way we were able to bring this and lead to what I think is an accomplishment that is important for the American people.

I appreciate the ability of the Republican leader and myself to sit down and talk, as we do, often, away from all of you, away from everybody. We started this conversation alone, and we ended it alone, working on these measures we have here. I know members of my caucus say: Why couldn't I have been in on doing all this stuff? We involved as many people as we could.

But, ultimately, as hard as it is for the two of us, we, on occasion, have to do what we think is right for the good of the country. So I appreciate very much the Republican leader and his ability to remain friends with me, as I do with him. I hope everybody understands today is a very important day for our country because we are doing today exactly what the Founding Fathers thought we would do.

Mr. President, just a brief comment on Keystone. I was the first elected official to write a letter opposing that. I know how I feel about this. I know how my friend, the Republican leader, feels about it. I was responsible for putting it in this bill. That is how legislation works.

I would also say we are thankful that we have worked together to make sure that 160 million people have not a tax increase but a continued tax break. I am also thankful that the lifeline for unemployed people is going to continue for at least 60 days.

I ask the Chair to report the legislation.

Mr. President, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. President, I have an amendment to the title that is at the desk, and I ask unanimous consent that it be agreed to.

Mr. President, before my friend from Arizona speaks, I ask unanimous consent that the next three votes in order be 10 minutes in duration.

Mr. President, is there any time remaining?

I yield back on this side.

I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senator from Louisiana be given 2 minutes, and the same on the other side.

Mr. President, this will be the last rollcall vote of this year.

Have a happy holiday, everyone.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to a period of morning business until 2 p.m. today, with Senators during that period of time being permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each.

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

Mr. President, as we know, very clearly, today is Saturday. But the Senate had some very important work to do today, so we stayed in session to present some issues to the American public that were extremely important. One was to make sure there would be no tax increase on millions of American families--in fact, 160 million.

We had a duty to be here, the Senators, but also other people had a duty to be here, and they are here. Four very dedicated pages are here today: Grace Mason, from Roanoke, VA; Kristina Biddle, from Hockessin, DE; Mitchell Bustillo, of Fort Worth, TX; and Zach Schroeder, from Clarksville, TN.

They didn't have to be here. They could be home with their families during this holiday season, as the other pages are. Instead, they stayed to help keep the Senate running smoothly. They didn't have to be asked. They volunteered.

We expect a lot of our pages, and I so appreciate their work. I have had two granddaughters who were pages--my two oldest grandchildren--and it actually changed their lives. I say that as seriously as I could say anything. Ryan and Mattie were not interested much about government. They had other things to do as juniors in high school. But they came back here in this environment, where they saw us wandering around and making speeches and voting and they got interested in reading the newspapers and watching the news more intently. My two granddaughters now are both in France studying abroad. One is a junior at New York University, the other is a senior at The New School in New York. I mean it when I say their lives were changed as a result of this program. I not only heard it from these two young women, my granddaughters, but I have heard it from their parents, about what a significant change it made.

As I said, we expect a lot of the pages. They work long, hard hours, as do Senators and their staffs. So I want them to know, speaking for every Senator, the pages here are terrific. We appreciate their work. It is a tradition that has been here for a long time, and I will do everything I can to protect the pages and the work they do.

I thank them for their service and wish them the very best of everything in their next endeavor. But I am confident, as with Mattie and Ryan, their lives will have been changed as a result of their being here.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to executive session to consider the following nominations:

Calendar Nos. 67, 86, 108, 112, 258, 259, 260, 261, 262, 263, 264, 338, 339, 340, 344, 345, 346, 403, 413, 421, 422, 450, 456, 494, 495, 496, 499, 500, 501, 502, 503, 504, 505, 506, 507, 511, 512, 513, 514, 515, 516, 517, 518, 519, 520, 521, 522, 523, 524, 525, 526, 527, 529, 530, 531, 532, 533, 534, 535, 536, 537, 538, 539, 540, 541, 542, and 543.

Of course, Mr. President, I am asking unanimous consent that these numbers I have just read--which all are human beings--and all nominations be placed on the Secretary's desk; that the nominations be confirmed en bloc; the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate; that no further motions be in order to any of the nominations; that any related statements be printed in the Record; the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action and the Senate then resume legislative session.

Mr. President, I am disappointed that my friend objected, but I want the record to be spread with this:

We have done a good job on nominations the last couple of months. Actually, in the last 3 months, we have accomplished quite a bit. But I am kind of reminded of my days of being a younger man and running a foot race. I wasn't fast enough for the short races, so I ran long races. But unless I started fast, it was really hard to catch up. That is my concern about these nominations. We have started so slowly, I am not sure we can catch up. I hope we can.

Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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

As in executive session, I ask unanimous consent that the nominations received by the Senate during the 112th Congress, 1st session, remain as status quo notwithstanding rule XXXI, paragraph 6 of the Standing Rules of the Senate, with the following exceptions: Calendar Nos. 43, 67, 112, 185, 413, Presidential nominee 2, Presidential nominee 14, Presidential nominee 95, Presidential nominee 96, Presidential nominee 158, Presidential nominee 317, and Presidential nominee 653.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that on Monday, January 23, 2012, at 4:00 p.m., the Senate proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 438; that there be 90 minutes for debate--60 minutes divided in the usual form and 30 minutes under the control of Senator Sessions; that upon the use or yielding back of time, the Senate proceed to vote without intervening action or debate on Calendar No. 438; that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid on the table, with no intervening action or debate; that no further motions be in order; 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.

For everyone's knowledge, Mr. President, that is John Gerrard to be a district judge for the District of Nebraska.

I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to executive session to consider the following nominations: Calendar Nos. 421, 503, 529, 530, 531, 532, 533, 534, 535, with the exception of COL Bradley D. Spacy; then 536, 537, 538, 539, 540, and all nominations placed on the Secretary's desk; that the nominations be confirmed en bloc; that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate; that no further motions be in order to any of the 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.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed to H.J. Res. 95.

This is a 6-day continuing resolution. The House is going to come back in Monday and then papers have to get to the President. It takes time.

I ask unanimous consent the joint resolution be read three times and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and any statements be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I ask the Chair lay to before the body a message from the House.

The PRESIDING OFFICER laid before the Senate the following message:

I ask unanimous consent the motion to concur in the House amendment to S. 278 be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate, and any statements be printed in the Record.