Floor Statements

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the Banking Committee be discharged from further consideration of S. 1874 and the Senate proceed to its consideration.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the bill be read a third time, passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate, and any statements be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Foreign Relations be discharged from further consideration of S. 1959 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

Mr. President, I express my appreciation to everyone for removing their holds and allowing this matter to go forward. It is a very important statement that we make as Americans regarding our foreign policy.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Burr amendment at the desk be agreed to, the bill, as amended, be read a third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and any statements relating to the measure be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Environment and Public Works Committee be discharged from consideration of S. 1710 and the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. 1710 and H.R. 1264, which is at the desk en bloc.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bills be read a third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table on both of these matters, and any statements related to these measures be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of Calendar No. 258, H.R. 789, and Calendar No. 259, H.R. 2422.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bills be read a third time and passed, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table, there be no intervening action or debate, and any statements relating to these matters be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 351.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table.

Mr. President, I am told there are two bills at the desk due for their first reading.

Mr. President, I now ask for a second reading, and object to my own request, all en bloc.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding the Senate's recess, committees be authorized to report legislative and executive matters on Friday, January 13, 2012, from 10 a.m. to 12 noon.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding the upcoming recess or adjournment of the Senate, the President of the Senate, the President pro tempore, and the majority and minority leaders be authorized to make appointments to commissions, committees, boards, conferences, or interparliamentary conferences authorized by the law, by concurrent action of the two Houses, or by order of the Senate.

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

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

Mr. President, the long list that I read into the Record while the Republican leader was here, I failed to note Calendar No. 544. If the Republican leader were here, he would object to that.

I wanted the Record to reflect that.

Mr. President, I now move to proceed to Calendar No. 70, S. 968.

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

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the cloture vote on the motion to proceed to S. 968 occur at 2:15 p.m. on Tuesday, January 24--that is the day after we start the session--and that the mandatory quorum under rule XXII be waived.

Mr. President, this is a bipartisan piece of legislation which is extremely important. Senator Leahy and Senator Grassley have worked very hard to get this to the floor. I repeat, it is bipartisan. I hope we can have a productive couple of days, pass this bill, and move on to other matters.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Following leader remarks, the Senate will be in a period of morning business. The majority will control the first 30 minutes and the Republicans will control the next 30 minutes.

We expect to consider the omnibus spending bill within the next 24 hours or 36 hours. We also continue to work on an agreement to consider the payroll tax compromise. The Senate will be notified when votes are scheduled.

As a reminder to all Senators, cloture was filed on the motion to proceed to H.R. 3630, the House Republican payroll tax bill. Unless an agreement is reached, that vote will occur tomorrow morning.

Mr. President, H.R. 3094 is at the desk and due for a second reading.

I object to any further proceedings at this time.

Would the Chair announce morning business, please.

Could I ask my friend to yield for a colloquy between the Republican leader and myself?

Mr. President, Senator McConnell and I have just finished a meeting. We are making good progress on being able to handle the issues that everyone knows are outstanding. We are not there yet, but we are very close.

There will be votes tomorrow. There could be votes this afternoon also. I would also say, because this is a question that people will ask, the House is going to pass their bill around 3 o'clock--that is the omnibus, around 3 o'clock. Time is not always exact. There is a ruling from this White House and its predecessors that if one House passes a spending bill, as we are doing here, and there is a presumption that it will pass in the other body, the time is extended for 24 hours. So everyone does not have the worry about the government closing tonight.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of H.J. Res. 94, which is a 24-hour continuing resolution, which was just received from the House and is at the desk.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the joint resolution be read three times and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, there be no intervening action or debate, and any statements related to this matter be printed in the Record.

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

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

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.