Floor Statements

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that LTC Joseph J. Martin, a U.S. Army Special Forces officer, who is currently serving as my military legislative fellow this year, be granted floor privileges for the duration of the consideration of H.R. 3326,

the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for fiscal year 2010.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. 1717.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill 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 relating to the matter be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of H.R. 3614.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that a Landrieu amendment, which is at the desk, be agreed to, the bill, as amended, be read a third time and passed, and the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table; that there be no intervening action or debate, and any statements relating to this matter be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, as if in executive session, I ask unanimous consent that at 4:30 p.m., Tuesday, September 29, the Senate proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 422, the nomination of Jeffrey Viken, to be U.S. district judge; that there be 60 minutes of debate with respect to the nomination, with the time equally divided and controlled between the chairman and ranking member of the Judiciary Committee or their designees; that at 5:30 p.m., the Senate proceed to vote on confirmation of the nomination; that upon confirmation, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table; that the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action, and the Senate then resume legislative session.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to executive session to consider Calendar Nos. 435 to and including 457, and all nominations on the Secretary's desk in the Air Force, Army and Navy; that the nominations be confirmed en bloc; the motions to reconsider be laid on the table en bloc; that no further motions be in order; and that any statements relating to the nominations be printed in the Record; provided further that the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action and the Senate return to legislative session.

Mr. President, I note 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 completes its business today, it adjourn until 11:30 a.m., Tuesday, September 29; that following the prayer and the pledge, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed to have expired, and the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day; that the Senate proceed to a period of morning business until 1:30 p.m., with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each; that following morning business, the Senate resume consideration of H.R. 3326, the Defense appropriations bill.

Mr. President, under a previous order, the Senate will debate the nomination of Jeffrey Viken to be U.S. district judge for the District of South Dakota from 4:30 until 5:30 Tuesday. At 5:30 p.m., the Senate will proceed to vote on confirmation of the nomination. That will be the first vote of the day.

Mr. 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, following leader remarks, there will be a period of morning business, for up to 1 hour, with Senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each. We will have the morning hour extended until 10:30 so the Democrats and Republicans can divide up that time because we have a cloture vote set for 10:30. The Republicans will control the first half and the Democrats will control the second half.

Following morning business, the Senate will resume consideration of the Interior appropriations bill. Mr. President, I have spoken to the necessary parties this morning, and I think we are going to be able to work out an agreement so we will not have to have the cloture vote. I hope that is the case. If, in fact, that is the case, we will vitiate the cloture vote and what we will do--because of the heavy workload of the Finance Committee, and I have spoken to the necessary folks in this regard--we will schedule a time this afternoon to have a block of votes so they can come over at once and not have to keep going back and forth. We hope to work that out.

We made progress on this legislation yesterday, and if we can get these block of votes out of the way, we will move on to our next appropriations bill, which will be the Defense appropriations bill. This comes at a very important time in the history of our country, with troops coming out of Iraq and the situation we have developing in Afghanistan. Mr. President, you can announce morning business now.

Mr. President, I forgot to announce that the filing deadline for second-degree amendments is at 10:30 this morning.

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

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the time for the cloture vote, now set for 10:30 a.m., be extended until 11 o'clock this morning.

Mr. President, for the knowledge of all Members, we are very close to being able to work out an agreement on the finalizing of the Interior appropriations bill. There are some language problems the staff is working on now. But we should have a series of amendments--it could be as many as seven, eight amendments--and we will try to do those in a block of time. We have 23 members who are trying to work out something in the Finance Committee as it relates to health care, so we would like to have those votes in a block of time sometime this afternoon. But we should be able to have a consent agreement that will be approved by Senator McConnell and me in the near future.

Madam President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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

Madam President, the time between now and 11 o'clock, I ask unanimous consent that be time for morning business, with Senators allowed to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.

Madam President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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