Floor Statements

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to S. Res. 207.

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 ask unanimous consent that on Tuesday, June 14, following the 2:15 cloture vote on the Coburn amendment No. 436, as modified, Senator Rubio of Florida be recognized as in morning business for debate only for up to 20 minutes for the purpose of delivering his maiden speech in the Senate.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 10 a.m. on Tuesday, June 14; that following the prayer and pledge, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed expired, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day; that following any leader remarks, the Senate proceed to a period of morning business until 11 a.m., with Senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each, with the time equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees, with the majority controlling the first half and the Republicans controlling the final half; that following morning business, the Senate proceed to executive session under the previous order; further, that the filing deadline for second-degree amendments to the Coburn amendment No. 436, as modified, be at 11:30 tomorrow morning.

Mr. President, tomorrow at noon, there will be up to two rollcall votes in relation to the Cecchi and Salas nominations. Additionally, at 2:15 p.m. there will be a rollcall vote on the cloture motion Senator Coburn filed on his ethanol amendment.

Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that it adjourn under the previous order following the remarks of Senators Thune and Coburn, who will speak as in debate only.

Just so I have some idea, I ask Senator Thune, how long does the Senator wish to speak?

How much time does the Senator need?

That would be the order. Senator Coburn will be recognized for 10 minutes following the remarks of Senator Thune, who will speak for up to 10 minutes. They are both for debate only.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, following any leader remarks, the Senate will be in a period of morning business for 1 hour, with the Republicans controlling the first half and the majority controlling the final half.

Following morning business, the Senate will resume consideration of the Economic Development Act. There are currently five amendments pending to the bill. We are working to set up votes in relation to these amendments and will advise Senators when they are scheduled.

Mr. President, the Economic Development Revitalization Act is an important bill. Is it the most important bill we have ever done? The answer is, of course not. But it is an important piece of legislation. It is a very important bill.

What are the central points of this legislation? For almost 50 years, the Economic Development Administration has helped create jobs and growth in economically hard-hit communities across the Nation. Reauthorization of this important legislation will help ensure that the agency is able to help continue creating jobs and investing in distressed communities.

Since 2005, EDA has invested about $1.2 billion, and these grants have created more than 300,000 jobs--precisely, 314,000 jobs. For every dollar that is invested in EDA, we get $7 worth of private investment. That is why the jobs are created. This legislation makes it better.

This is a bipartisan bill. Senators Boxer and Inhofe and their committee have worked to get this to the Senate floor. It increases flexibility for grantees, lowers the threshold requirements for grantees to receive an increased Federal share, and makes more investments available for planning assistance.

We are trying to move through this legislation. Senator Snowe offered an amendment. She has not uttered a single word about that amendment, which was offered yesterday. This is the same piece of legislation that held up our Small Business Innovation Act. We have had other Senators who have come and offered amendments. I don't particularly like the amendment offered by the junior Senator from South Carolina, but he came and said, ``I want to offer this amendment, and I will agree to a time limit on it.'' Senator Paul, the junior Senator from Kentucky, had an amendment he wanted to offer. He said he would agree to a short time limit. I didn't ask for time agreements on this legislation. I should not act as the person who determines what amendments are offered and aren't offered. But when someone offers an amendment, we should be able to work it to a conclusion.

This bill, as I have indicated, is an important piece of legislation. We need to move through it. We are going to do that to the best of our ability. We will have a number of votes today and do our best to move through this piece of legislation so we can move to other bills. There are a lot of things we can do. We can work on bipartisan pieces of legislation. That is my hope today.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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

Mr. President, if I called for regular order, which I am, that would mean the Snowe amendment would be pending; is that right?

OK. Mr. President, first of all, I appreciate the cooperation of Senator Snowe, Senator Coburn, and others. It is important we move along with this legislation. So for the next 3 hours we will be able to debate the Snowe amendment. The time will be equally divided during that period of time.

We have a number of amendments others want to offer. We already have four in addition to hers that have been offered. We have time agreements on those. I appreciate everyone's help in moving forward in this regard.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the time until 2:15 p.m. be equally divided between Senators Snowe and Boxer or their designees; that at 2:15 p.m. the Senate proceed to vote in relation to the Snowe amendment; that no amendments, points of order or motions be in order to the Snowe amendment prior to the vote, other than budget points of order and the applicable motions to waive; the amendment not be divisible; that the amendment be subject to a 60-vote threshold; and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

I would also say, before the Chair rules, we have Senator McCaskill who wants to offer an amendment on the same subject matter. We will do that at some subsequent time.

Mr. President, Senator McConnell and I discussed what we should do the rest of the day. We have a number of Senators who have come to both of us wanting to offer amendments. We think we need to have people offer amendments so that we can find the universe of amendments and work through them and come up with a reasonable way to proceed forward.

Having said that, I want people to offer amendments on my side, and I think Senator McConnell feels the same way on his side. We will make a determination later today as to how we will proceed on this next week. I think it would be fruitless at this stage to have a bunch of votes-- well, we need consent to do it, so I don't think there will be any more votes this afternoon.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Armed Services be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on June 9, 2011, at 9:30 a.m.

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 June 9, 2011, at 10 a.m. to conduct a hearing entitled ``Reauthorization of the National Flood Insurance Program.''

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 June 9, 2011, at 9:30 a.m., in room 366 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Environment and Public Works be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on June 9, 2011.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Foreign Relations be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on June 9, 2011, at 10 a.m., to hold a briefing entitled, ``Intelligence Update on Libya.''

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 June 9, 2011, at 10 a.m., in 430 Dirksen Senate Office Building.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Indian Affairs be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on June 9, 2011, at 2:15 p.m. in room 628 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building to conduct a hearing entitled Setting the Standard: Domestic Policy Implications of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.''

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on June 9, 2011, 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 Ad Hoc Subcommittee on Disaster Recovery and Intergovernmental Affairs of the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on June 9, 2011, at 10 a.m. to conduct a hearing entitled, ``Border Corruption: Assessing Customs and Border Protection and the Department of Homeland Security Inspector General's Office of Collaboration in the Fight to Prevent Corruption.''

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Select Committee on Intelligence be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on June 9, 2011, at 2:30 p.m.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Subcommittee on Energy be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on June 9, 2011, at 2:30 p.m., in room 366 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs' Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information, Federal Services, and International Security be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on June 9, 2011, at 2 p.m. to conduct a hearing entitled, ``Federal Asset Management: Eliminating Waste by Disposing of Unneeded Federal Real Property.''

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the nomination of Rebecca R. Wodder, of Colorado, to be Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife, sent to the Senate by the President on June 9, 2011, be jointly referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works and the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.

I ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding rule XXII, on Tuesday, June 14, 2011, at 11 a.m., the Senate proceed to executive session to consider the following nominations: Calendar Nos. 73 and 81; that there be 1 hour for debate equally divided between the two leaders or their designees; that upon the use or yielding back of time, the Senate proceed to vote without intervening action or debate on Calendar Nos. 73 and 81; that the motions to reconsider be 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 statements related to the nominations be printed in the Record; that the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action and the Senate then resume legislative session; further, that following disposition of the nominations, the Senate recess until 2:15 p.m. for the weekly party conferences; further, that at 2:15 p.m., the Senate resume consideration of S. 782, the Economic Development Revitalization Act, and the Senate proceed to vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the Coburn amendment No. 436, as modified, and the mandatory quorum under rule XXII be waived.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business, it adjourn until 2 p.m. on Monday, June 13; that following the prayer and pledge, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed expired, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and that following any leader remarks, the Senate proceed to a period of morning business until 6 p.m., with Senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each.

Mr. President, as previously announced, there will be no votes on Monday. The first votes of the week will be on Tuesday, June 14. At noon there will be two rollcall votes in relation to the Cecchi and Salas nominations.

Additionally, at 2:15 p.m. on Tuesday, there will be a rollcall vote on the cloture motion Senator Coburn filed.

If there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent the Senate stand adjourned under the previous order.