Floor Statements

I have a cloture motion at the desk.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that on Tuesday, March 2, after a period of morning business, the Senate proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the Keenan nomination; that the time until 12:15 p.m. be for debate only on a vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the nomination, with the time equally divided and controlled between Senators Leahy and Sessions or their designees; that at 12:15 p.m., the Senate proceed to vote on the motion to invoke cloture with the mandatory quorum waived.

I now ask unanimous consent that the Senate resume legislative session.

Mr. President, we talk a lot in the Senate about procedure. Our debates sometimes relate only to procedure, and often that is appropriate. As we know, sometimes these procedural rules we have in the Senate are complex. But the issue before us today is not something that is arcane, very ritualistic, or very complex. It is very simple. It is clear that it is going to be a lot more noticeable by people Monday morning because it is going to affect the lives of thousands of Americans and their livelihoods.

The issue before us is this: Our country is in a state of economic turmoil. Lots of people are out of work. Lots of people have been out of work for a long time. They are trying to make ends meet drawing unemployment compensation, which is something we have had in effect in this country for a long time. By Monday morning, tens of thousands of Nevadans and more than a million Americans who rely on unemployment insurance and health benefits will simply lose them.

We have traditionally, during times of stress, automatically given unemployment benefits, and we should do that. These people are getting poorer every day. They are out of work for long periods of time. Unemployment is rampant in every single State in the country, some worse than others. So many of those unemployed have lost their jobs through no fault of their own.

Those opposed to helping people who are down and out, at a time of their greatest need, should not have to talk about process. If you can't afford to feed your kids, process doesn't mean a thing. If you can't make your car payment, it doesn't mean one thing to talk about process. If you can't make your house payment, if you can't go to the drugstore and buy a prescription that needs to be filled, process doesn't matter.

If we do not act, these benefits will expire, but the need to buy groceries, medicine, make a car payment or house payment does not expire. Those benefits will expire but the need to heat their homes--it is wintertime--or put gas in their cars doesn't expire. They do not care about the procedure or process. Those benefits will expire. I repeat, the need to take their medicine does not or the need to take care of an aging parent or to take care of their children does not expire. They don't care a thing about process.

The catch here is that these benefits do not need to expire. We have the ability right now to extend them for just a

short time until we work out a longer term solution. We are going to start working on that on Monday. It is irresponsible and basically it is immoral.

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

Mr. President, Nevada's tourism has been hit hard by the slowing worldwide economy. And when tourism in Nevada hurts, the entire State suffers.

Hardworking people have lost their jobs. The State's budget has taken a major hit. Because that budget is largely funded by tourism, funding for vital programs in our State are at risk.

But Nevada is not alone. Its problem is not unique. Tourism is one of the top industries in nearly every State in the country and one of the largest employers in America.

That is why this bill is so important. This is an opportunity not only to give American tourism a boost, but it is one of the many ways we are working to create jobs and help our economy recover.

The concept behind it is simple: It says, let's create jobs and reduce the deficit. It is a win-win for the economy of every State and our national economy alike.

And it is a bipartisan bill that take the strategies that have made Las Vegas such a success and brings them to our entire Nation's tourism industry.

This week, the U.S. Travel Association called the last 10 years a ``lost decade'' for tourism. It cost us half a million jobs and half a billion dollars in lost spending. This bill will turn that around.

The travel promotion bill is a jobs bill. It is about creating jobs, it is about growing our economy and it is about keeping the United States competitive in the world travel business.

Unanimous Consent Request--H.R. 4691

I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of H.R. 4691, which is a 30-day extension of provisions which expire on Sunday, February 28--they are an unemployment insurance extension; COBRA, health insurance for the unemployed; flood insurance; the Satellite Home Viewer Act; highway funding; SBA business loans and small business provisions of the American Recovery Act; SGR, which is the so-called doctor fix; and poverty guidelines--received from the House and at the desk; that the bill be read three times, passed, and the motion to reconsider be made and laid on the table.

This matter passed the House unanimously today. The reason it passed the House unanimously today, if we don't do something about this, all around America, about 1\1/2\ million people who will be watching TV will no longer watch TV. This is mostly in rural areas of America, rural areas of Nevada. I guess we could be hard-hearted and say they don't need to watch TV, but in Nevada we have very harsh winters in many parts of the State. For many of these people, the only way they can get information is through television. It could lead to some very serious problems. If we talk about flood insurance, even though Nevada is a very dry State, this is something we need to do for States where we have all kinds of problems with floods all the time. We, in northern Nevada and in southern Nevada, have had some devastating floods, not often but we have them. Highway funding, this costs nothing, what we are doing here, the extension costs zero. SBA business loans, this costs $60 million to allow the SBA to continue processing programs to allow people who want to have a business to get a few dollars so they can continue or start a new business. We are not going to be able to do this because it expires at the end of this month; small business provisions of the Recovery Act, the same thing; poverty guidelines, these things cost nothing basically nothing; the SGR, it is my understanding about $1 billion is being asked for here. I think it is such a shame that we don't get this done. The big ones, though, from my perspective, are the poor. We have people who weren't poor who are now poor because they have been unemployed for so long. This will terminate on Monday. I talked to the Presiding Officer. In just a matter of weeks, 65,000 people in Illinois will no longer be able to draw these benefits. In the State of Nevada, which is not as heavily populated as Illinois, thousands of people who have been unemployed for long periods of time--and I repeat, they started out in this business not being poor; they are poor now--it would be a shame not to give them those moneys.

My friend, the distinguished Senator from Kentucky, is going to say: Pay for all this. As I have gone through everything we have talked about, it doesn't cost much money. Unemployment compensation does. It costs a lot of money. We have millions of people who are unemployed. In years past, when we wanted to extend unemployment benefits, it was an emergency, a declared emergency historically in this body. Why? Because it is an emergency. We have rules in effect, pay-go rules we have passed. Of course, we can look to that as a step forward. But that doesn't mean we don't have emergencies.

I would also say that COBRA--what is COBRA? It is a program to help people who are out of work or who lose their jobs get insurance.

Anyway, I say to my friend from Kentucky, I would hope that for the people I have described who are just wanting us to do our work, we can get that done. I hope my friend would not object to this.

I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now proceed to H.R. 4691 and that the Reid of Nevada substitute amendment which is the desk be considered read; that the Republican leader or his designee be recognized to offer a substitute amendment, and

there be 60 minutes of debate with respect to that amendment, with the time equally divided and controlled between the leaders or their designees; that upon the use or yielding back of that time, and if a budget point of order is made against the amendment, a motion to waive the relevant point of order be considered made, and the Senate then vote on the motion to waive the point of order; that if the waiver is successful, the amendment be agreed to and the Reid substitute, as amended, be agreed to; that if the waiver fails, the amendment be withdrawn; further, that there be 30 minutes for debate with respect to the Reid substitute amendment, with the time equally divided and controlled between the leaders or their designees; that upon the use or yielding back of that time, and if a budget point of order is made against the amendment, a motion to waive the relevant point of order be considered made, and the Senate then vote on the motion to waive the point of order; that if the waiver is successful, the Senate proceed to vote on adoption of the Reid substitute amendment; further, that no further amendments, motions, except a motion to reconsider a vote, or debate be in order; that upon disposition of the Reid substitute amendment, the bill, as amended, be read a third time; and following the reading by the clerk of the budgetary effects of the pay-go legislation with respect to H.R. 1586, the Senate proceed to vote on passage of the bill, as amended; that upon passage, the title amendment, which is at the desk, be considered and agreed to.

Before my friend from Kentucky makes his feelings known, let me say this. This is something we worked out yesterday. When I say ``we,'' that means Democrats and Republicans, all except one Senator. What this agreement allows is for all the provisions in this, these extensions be paid for out of the stimulus or the economic recovery money. That is a fair vote. Some people want to do that. Let's vote on it. We know what the rules are. We are sent here to vote. We are not sent here to object. When 99 Senators want something done, it is not right for one Senator to hold it up. My friend has that right. But it is a real problem for so many different people. I would hope we could have a vote. We can do it tonight and move on to other things.

Mr. President, the Senator from Kentucky is right. I have it written here.

That was my mistake. I appreciate the Senator catching that.

Mr. President, reserving the right to object, there probably has never been a time in the history of our country when we had economic conditions that are like they are today--unemployment all over this country averaging some 10 percent; some States as high as 14 percent. If there were ever an emergency with our economy, it is tonight, it is today. And to think we are not going to declare this an emergency?

Millions of people are unemployed, millions of people have been unemployed for long periods of time and their unemployment benefits are running out. They are not able to buy their health insurance because the program is going to expire on Monday.

The Senate has a history of treating unemployment benefits as an emergency. No one, I repeat, can argue that the current economic downturn does not represent a grave emergency. So, Mr. President, I am forced to object.

Mr. President, I now ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding rule XXII, the cloture vote on the motion to concur in the House amendment to the Senate amendment to H.R. 1299 occur at 7:50 p.m. tonight--3 minutes from now--that if cloture is invoked, then all postcloture time be considered yielded back, Senator DeMint then be recognized for up to 10 minutes to move to suspend the rules; that upon the use of that time, the Senate then proceed to vote on the DeMint motion; that if the DeMint motion is successful, then the amendment be agreed to, and the motion to concur with the amendment be agreed to; that if the DeMint motion fails, then no other motions or debate be in order; that the motion to concur with an amendment be withdrawn, and the Senate then proceed to vote on the Reid of Nevada motion to concur in the House amendment to the Senate amendment to the bill, H.R. 1299.

Mr. President, we expect to have three votes here tonight. As soon as those are done, we will not have another vote until Tuesday, but it will be in the morning.

Cloture Motion

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that following the remarks of Senator DeMint, his vote and the next vote be 10 minutes in duration.

Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote and to lay that motion on the table.

The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that on Monday, March 1, at 3 p.m., the Finance Committee be discharged of H.R. 4213, an act to provide for certain extenders; that once the committee is discharged, the Senate then proceed to its consideration; that after the bill is reported, Senator Baucus or his designee be recognized to offer a substitute amendment, and once the amendment is reported by number it be considered read.

Mr. President, prior to a ruling, I would like to express my appreciation to the Republican leader and all those who worked so hard to get us to the point we are at today and next week. We should have a very good week next week. Everyone should be ready for some legislating. There will be a number of amendments offered, some of which I know, most of which I don't know what they will be. But a lot of work has gone into this very important legislation and, again, I express my appreciation to the Republican leader and others who worked so hard to get us to where we are.

Mr. President, I rise today to acknowledge a group that has created opportunities for countless African American men and women in the film and television industry. I rise to submit this Senate Concurrent Resolution honoring the Black Stuntmen's Association and the Coalition of Black Stuntmen and Women for their efforts to not only integrate, but enhance the television and film industry. This is a companion resolution identical to H. Con. Res. 190 submitted by my good friend, Congresswoman Shelley Berkley.

I take great pride in submitting this resolution not only because these individuals knocked down the walls of racial discrimination, but also because many of these pioneers now reside in my home State of Nevada.

In the 1950s and 1960s few African Americans had roles in television or film and rarely were given the opportunity to work as stuntmen and women. Most often, the few opportunities available to individuals willing to engage the dangerous work as stuntmen were taken by whites, who donned dark make-up to look like the black actors they were portraying.

To overcome the barrier of racism and many other obstacles to the entertainment industry, in 1967 a group of courageous men and women formed the Black Stuntmen's Association. Even though many had to work other jobs, they took it upon themselves to train each other, often meeting three to four nights a week for several hours. They trained in parks, on beaches and just about anywhere they could set up equipment to practice tumbles and flips. They eventually progressed to disciplined training in automotives and driving techniques for cars and motorcycles.

These individuals are pioneers and would later work with the Coalition of Black Stuntmen and Women to fight racism in the entertainment industry. Their collective efforts have created opportunities for many that once never existed.

Eddie Smith; Earnie Robinson; Alex Brown; S.J. McGee;

Harold Jones; Calvin Brown; Doug Lawrence; Cliff Strong;

Alonzo Brown; Willie Harris; Joe Tilque; Henry Kingi; Marvin

Walters; Richard Washington; Jolly Brown; Greg Elam; William

Upton; Wayne King, Sr.; Len Glascow; Evelyn Cuffee; Jade

David; Sharon Schaffer; Kym Washington; Louise Johnson; Toni

Vaz; Dewitt Fonder; John Mitchell; Henry Graddy; Darell

Giddens; Tony Brubaker; Bob Minor; Jophery Brown; Bennie

Moore; Allen Oliney; John Sherrod.

While erasing the stains for racism is a never-ending task, I commend the Black Stuntmen's Association and the Coalition of Black Stuntmen and Women for their work on behalf of the entertainment industry and our nation.

I hope my colleagues will join me and honoring them and cosponsor this resolution.

Mr. President, following leader remarks, the time until 9:55 will be equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees. At 9:55, the Senate will proceed to a series of up to two rollcall votes. The first vote will be on the motion to waive the applicable budget points of order with respect to the Reid amendment No. 3310.

If the points of order are waived, we will immediately proceed to vote on the motion to concur in the House amendment to the Senate amendment to the bill, H.R. 2947, with the Reid substitute amendment.

Following the votes, the Senate will proceed to a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each.

It is my hope we are able to reach an agreement to pass the short- term tax extenders legislation today. The next item of business will be the bipartisan travel promotion legislation.

Following the remarks of the Senator from Kentucky, I would yield 4 minutes to the Senator from New York, Mr. Schumer.

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

Mr. President, I ask the Chair to lay before the Senate a message from the House with respect to H.R. 1299, the U.S. Capitol Police administrative authorities.

I move to concur in the House amendment to the Senate amendment, and I have a cloture motion at the desk on the motion to concur.

Madam President, I thought it was important that the clerk read those names. Sometimes they are hard to read.

Amendment No. 3326

I move to concur in the House amendment with an amendment, which is at the desk.

I now ask for the yeas and nays on that amendment.

Madam President, I have a second-degree amendment now at the desk.

Madam President, I move to refer with instructions, which is also at the desk.

I ask for the yeas and nays.

Madam President, I have an amendment to my instructions, which is at the desk.

I ask for the yeas and nays on that amendment.

Madam President, I have a second-degree amendment at the desk.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum be waived with respect to the cloture motion.

Madam President, I say for the benefit of Members, under the rules, this cloture motion will ripen Friday morning. I do not think there is going to be a lot of talk during the next 2 days on this matter, and I would certainly be happy to move up this time and have the vote earlier. But we will wait until we hear from the Republicans.

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 now proceed to Calendar No. 36, H.R. 1586, and that the Reid substitute amendment, which is at the desk, be considered read; that the Republican leader, or his designee, be recognized to offer a substitute amendment, and that there be 60 minutes for debate with respect to that amendment, with the time equally divided and controlled between the leaders or their designees; that upon the use or yielding back of time, and if a budget point of order is made against the amendment, a motion to waive the relevant point of order be considered made, and the Senate then vote on a motion to waive the point of order; that if the waiver is successful, the amendment be agreed to and the Reid substitute, as amended, be agreed to; that if the waiver fails, the amendment be withdrawn; further, that there be 30 minutes for debate with respect to the Reid substitute amendment, with the time equally divided and controlled between the leaders or their designees; that upon the use or yielding back of time, and if a budget point of order is made against the amendment, a motion to waive the relevant point of order be considered made, and the Senate then vote on the motion to waive the point of order; that if the waiver is successful, the Senate proceed to vote on adoption of the Reid substitute amendment; further, that no further amendments or debate be in order; that upon disposition of the Reid substitute amendment, the bill, as amended, be read the third time; and following the reading by the clerk of the budgetary effects of pay-go legislation with respect to H.R. 1586, the Senate proceed to vote on passage of the bill, as amended; that upon passage the title amendment, which is at the desk, be considered and agreed to.

Mr. President, as usual, prior to coming to call off the quorum, I had a visit with my friend from Kentucky, who is someone for whom I have the greatest respect. I am going to miss him so much, as I have said publicly and privately. In the days of my youth, I, of course, wanted to be the baseball player that he turned out to be. But that is another story. I didn't want to pitch. I wanted to be something else--a catcher or a shortstop.

Mr. President, I regret that my friend has objected to this modest request. Earlier today, I was advised by the Republican leadership that they needed to have an amendment to be offered on this bill. As noted above, we agreed to that request. The items that we are proposing to extend in my substitute amendment include unemployment insurance, COBRA, flood insurance, highway funding, small business loans, and small business provisions of the American Recovery Act, the Satellite Home View Act, SGR--the so-called doctor fix--and poverty guidelines. All of these provisions will expire on Sunday, February 28. That is this coming Sunday.

Agencies have been already sending out notices to unemployed workers--agencies such as a number of transportation departments around the country have sent out notices that their work had come to a stop, so they would not be getting benefits.

It is critical that these programs continue so that Americans who are already struggling can continue to get this modest relief. Therefore, I regret the objection of my friend from Kentucky. I hope we can work through this objection and continue these important programs.

Mr. President, we have been told by the Congressional Budget Office that the No. 1 stimulative to our struggling economy is to give people who are out of work, and have been out of work for a long time, unemployment benefits. That money goes right into the economy--whether it is in Anchorage, Las Vegas, or Louisville.

COBRA--there are people who are losing their jobs and they need the ability to buy insurance. Statutorily now they can do that, but this is going to expire. Highway funding--I have already talked about that. It is just a real shame, and I am sorry that we can't get this done by February 28. But we can't. This month would give us the time we need to complete our work.

As far as unemployment benefits, notices have already gone out to thousands of Americans that their benefits are going to be terminated-- these unemployed workers. They are already crushed with all the problems they have, and now they are not going to have unemployment benefits. That is simply not right.

I say to my friend again, I regret that we weren't able to work this out today. I hope there is something we can do to work through this objection. We need to continue these important programs.

Mr. President, reserving the right to object, with the provisions that we are seeking to be extended, there are some of them that cost money.

They all cost a little bit, but there are three items here that cost more than any of the others; that is, unemployment compensation, COBRA, and the SGR. If there were ever an emergency--ever--in this body, certainly it would be unemployment compensation and COBRA moneys.

I came to the floor earlier this year--it could have been late last year; time flies--to try to get a permanent fix, as we call it, for the SGR for 10 years. That did not get enough votes. That is unfortunate. And this is really unfortunate. This SGR, the Medicare payments that will be allowed to doctors, is for more than doctors; it is for doctors who will take Medicare patients. Many doctors in America today will not take Medicare patients. If we do not get this extended, a lot more will not take Medicare patients.

Our Medicaid programs throughout America are in deep trouble. I met Monday with 12 Governors. Everyone said they were in desperate shape for a lot of reasons, but one of the reasons is what has happened to Medicaid. Not only is it important to the doctors--and that is important--it is more important to the patients, and many programs to reimburse medical professionals--doctors--are based on what we have for Medicare reimbursement. If we do not get Medicare reimbursement, it is a cyclical thing that winds up tearing down the whole system.

I say to my friend that I hope someone can come up with an idea during the night that would allow us to get this done. We are going to take up this bill, all these items permanently next week or at least most of it is for a year or so. That will give us time to complete all this business. Even though we passed the so-called jobs bill which extended the highway bill for a year, the House cannot get it done that quickly. They can move more quickly than we can, but they cannot move that quickly.

Again, I hope we can work something out in the next 12 hours or so. Therefore, I object.

Mr. President, I was going to propound a unanimous consent request.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to Calendar No. 252, H.R. 3961.

Mr. President, there is a substitute amendment at the desk, and I ask unanimous consent that the amendment be considered and agreed to and that the bill, as amended, be read a third time.

I move to reconsider the vote, and I move to lay that motion on the table.

The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the title amendment, which is at the desk, be considered and agreed to and that the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table.

Mr. President, let me say this: The bill we passed today is fully paid for. There is no deficit spending whatsoever. In fact, everything was paid for. Every part of that was paid for. In passing that bill, there is not a cent of red ink.

It is my understanding that with this short extension we have tried to get done today, my friend from Kentucky believes it should be paid for by taking money out of the stimulus funds----

Yes--and pay for it that way. It is my understanding that we are willing to have a vote on that. I say to my friend, I am pretty sure that is what your leader and I spoke about. I would be happy to have a vote on that.

We came together.

Mr. President, I don't want to delay this any longer than necessary. I don't know how we could be more fair. I have not talked with my Democratic Senators, but I think there may be some Senators on this side of the aisle who agree with Senator Bunning. That is why we are here.

Right now, we are in a very difficult predicament. I think it would be too bad if people whose unemployment insurance is being terminated-- all we are asking for is a few weeks, and then after the extension it will give us time to have this body and the other body make a decision by voting on it. We are asking for a short extension. My personal belief is that the extension of unemployment insurance is truly an emergency, as I indicated earlier, as I feel about COBRA.

I understand where my friend is coming from. I have never been a part of trying to fool him in any way intentionally. As I understand it, we are willing to vote on this legislation. If we are not able to work that out, I don't know what can be more democratic than that. We are all elected to make our choices here. I would be happy, as I told the distinguished Senator from Kentucky, if he came up with some way we could proceed on this issue, to give every consideration to any proposal he would make.

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

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Armed Services be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on February 24, 2010, at 9:30 a.m.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Armed Services be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on February 24, 2010, at 2:30 p.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 to conduct a hearing on February 24, at 10 a.m., in room SD-366 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Environment and Public Works and the Subcommittee on Water and Wildlife be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on February 24 at 9:30 a.m., in room 406 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

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, to conduct a hearing entitled ``A Stronger Workforce Investment System for a Stronger Economy'' on February 24, 2010. The hearing will commence at 10 a.m. in room 430 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

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 February 24, 2010, at 10:30 a.m. to conduct to hearing entitled ``The Homeland Security Department's Budget Submission for Fiscal Year 2011.''

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate, on February 24, 2010, at 2 p.m., in room SD-226 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building, to conduct a hearing entitled ``Nominations.''

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Foreign Relations be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on February 24, 2010, at 2:30 p.m., to hold a hearing entitled ``Foreign Policy Priorities in the FY11 International Affairs Budget.''

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Law, be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate, on February 24, 2010, at 9 a.m., in room SD-226 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building, to conduct a hearing entitled ``In Our Own Backyard: Child Prostitution and Sex Trafficking in the United States.''

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Subcommittee on Science and Space of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on February 24, 2010, at 2:30 p.m. in room 253 of the Russell Senate Office Building.

Madam President, following leader remarks, there will be a period of morning business for 1 hour, with Senators able to speak for up to 10 minutes each. The Republicans will control the first half, the majority the second half.

Following morning business, the Senate will resume consideration of the House message on H.R. 2847, which is the legislative vehicle for the jobs bill. Postcloture debate time expires shortly after midnight tonight.

I am hopeful and confident we can work out a reasonable time to vote on this; otherwise, we have to do it late tonight or very early in the morning.

Later today, I will ask unanimous consent for a 30-day extension of expiring tax provisions, including unemployment insurance, COBRA, flood insurance, and a number of other important issues. I hope we can clear that request later tonight or this afternoon. Senators, of course, will be notified if there are any votes scheduled.

Again, we have to finish this jobs bill we are on. We are going to move, as I explained last night, to the Travel Promotion Act, and then we are going to move to the big package I described a little earlier, which is so important to do. We will have to do the tax extenders, unemployment insurance extension for a reasonable period of time, along with COBRA. We are going to take a look at FMAP as something that needs to be done. We will discuss that in more detail when we get the timelines defined.

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 when the Senate convenes Wednesday, February 24, all postcloture time be considered expired, except for any time available until 9:55 a.m., and that at 9:55 a.m. the Senate proceed to vote on a motion to waive the applicable budget points of order; further, that if the points of order are waived, without further intervening action, the second-degree amendment be withdrawn and no further amendments be in order; the Senate then proceed to vote on the Reid motion to concur in the House amendment to the Senate amendment to H.R. 2847, with amendment No. 3310; provided further that upon disposition of the House message with respect to H.R. 2847, the Senate proceed to a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each.