Floor Statements

I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to S. Res. 484.

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, with no intervening action or debate.

I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to S. Res. 485.

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, with no intervening action or debate.

I understand there is a bill at the desk and it is due for its first reading.

I ask for a second reading, and in order to place the bill on the calendar under the provisions of rule XIV, I object to my own request.

I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 9:30 a.m. tomorrow morning, June 26; that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day; that following any leader remarks, the Senate be in a period of morning business until noon, with Senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each during that time, and that the time be equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees; that following morning business, the Senate proceed to executive session to consider Executive Calendar No. 738, and there be 2 minutes of debate prior to a cloture vote on the Krause nomination.

Tomorrow there will be a rollcall vote at noon and another at 1:45 p.m.

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

Mr. President, I move to proceed to Calendar No. 384, S. 2363, the Hagan Sportsmen's Act.

Mr. President, following my remarks and those of the Republican leader, the Senate will be in a period of morning business until 11 a.m. this morning, with the time equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees.

At 11 a.m. the Senate will proceed to executive session, and we will have five rollcall votes which will be to confirm three judges from Florida, one from Vermont, and also a very important cloture vote on the Rodriguez nomination, to be the Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services at the Department of Homeland Security.

Nominations

Mr. President, it is unfortunate that we still have scores and scores of good men and women on the Executive Calendar waiting to be confirmed. The delay by the Republicans is untoward. It has never happened before, and we are working through these as quickly as we can. The judges only take an hour of postcloture time, but the nominations take 8 hours of postcloture time. We can yield back 4 hours, which we do almost every time, but these stalling tactics by the Republicans have added to our doing nothing here in the Senate not by hours or days or weeks but by months. It is so unfortunate. We have never had a situation such as this before.

As everyone knows, we changed the rules as they related to judges, and thank goodness we did that. Justice can move forward in our country without the delay and obstruction that has taken place over the last number of years with Republicans holding up judges. We, through the chairman of the committee, have moved lots of judges. We now have four circuit court judges we have to move toward, and we will do that, even though each one of those takes 30 hours. We are nearly caught up with district court judges, which speaks well for the Judiciary Committee and the Senators who are forwarding names to the President for submission to the committee.

Workforce Investment Act

Mr. President, tomorrow we are going to turn to the Workforce Investment Act--a nice, important piece of legislation. It is a picture of what we should be doing here on legislation in general. The Workforce Investment Act is a very complicated piece of legislation. We are not going to spend a lot of time on it, but that should not in any way take away from the importance of this legislation. It is very important legislation. It is an example of how we should be able to get done in the Senate.

I commend Senators Murray, Harkin, and Alexander for working to get this bill to us. They have spent untoward hours and hours of time to get us here. Everyone knows Lamar Alexander is a peacemaker, and I appreciate his work. I was told a few minutes ago that he came to the floor and said: Why don't we go ahead on the appropriations bills and on amendments that appear to be controversial, and we can have a 60- vote threshold on those? I suggested the same thing yesterday.

We voted here approximately 50 times. I have been forced to have, because of the McConnell rule, 60 votes

on anything that is the least bit controversial. Let's move through the appropriations bills. People on my side of the aisle want to do this, and I don't know why the Republicans would prevent us from doing that, but that is where we are now.

Voting Rights

I will talk to the press about the next issue in more detail at a subsequent time, but I wish to congratulate Rand Paul, the junior Senator from Kentucky.

About 15 years ago, I offered an amendment on the Senate floor that said if someone has been convicted of a crime or felony and completed their sentence, if they go to jail, and their probation, if they got probation, they should be able to vote, and that is what Rand Paul said.

Rand Paul offered legislation that said if it is a nonviolent crime, they should be able to vote when they have completed their time. I went a little farther than that with my legislation, but I appreciate his suggestion. I will have more to say about that later, and I hope I don't get him in trouble with the Republican caucus for congratulating him.

This is something that is long overdue. As a country, we should allow people who have served their time and penance, or however you want to state it, the ability to vote. I have said it before, and I now have said it for a third time. I will have a lot more to say about it later today.

Reservation of Leader Time

Will the Chair announce the business of the day?

I ask unanimous consent that following my remarks, the Senate recess until 2:15 p.m.; that when the Senate reconvenes, the time until 4:30 p.m. be equally divided and controlled in the usual form; and that at 4:30 p.m. all postcloture time be considered expired and the Senate vote on confirmation of the Rodriguez nomination.

I ask that the Senate now resume legislative session.

I move to proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 738.

Madam President, I send a cloture motion to the desk.

I ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum under rule XXII be waived.

I move to proceed to legislative session.

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

Madam President, today I honor and recognize the career of Bishop Don diXon Williams, a member of the organization Bread for the World and the face of antihunger advocacy for over 25 years. At Bread for the World, Bishop Williams has been the national associate for African-American church engagement and a globally recognized advocate for the poorest among us.

During his tenure at Bread for the World, Bishop Williams traveled across the world confronting the problem of hunger both at home and abroad. Bishop Williams also served as a US delegate to the G8 summit, and he has traveled to Israel and Palestine to help engage Muslim, Jewish, and Christian leaders in discussions about peace.

In addition to his service for Bread for the World, Bishop Williams has been the consummate churchman. He was consecrated a bishop in 2007 for the United Church of Jesus Christ, and he has served in various capacities with other faith-based organizations throughout his career.

On behalf of the Senate, I commend Bishop Don diXon Williams on a lifetime of public service and wish him the best in all his future endeavors.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Finance Committee be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on June 24, 2014, at 10 a.m., in Room SD-215 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building, to conduct a hearing entitled ``Less Student Debt from the Start: What Role Should the Tax System Play?''

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Foreign Relations be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on June 24, 2014, at 2:15 p.m.

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 24, 2014, at 2:30 p.m., in room SD- 106 of the

Dirksen Senate Office Building, to conduct a hearing entitled ``Moving Toward Greater Community Inclusion--Olmstead at 15.''

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate, on June 24, 2014, at 10:15 a.m., in room SD-226 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building, to conduct a hearing entitled ``Judicial Nominations.''

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Select Committee on Intelligence be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on June 24, 2014, at 2:30 p.m.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy, and Consumer Rights, be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate, on June 24, 2014, at 2:30 p.m., in room SD-226 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building, to conduct a hearing entitled ``The AT&T/ DIRECTTV Merger: The Impact on Competition and Consumers in the Video Market and Beyond.''

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Foreign Relations be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on June 24, 2014, at 9:45 a.m., to hold an International Operations and Organizations, Human Rights, Democracy, and Global Women's Issues subcommittee hearing entitled, ``Combating Violence and Discrimination Against Women: A Global Call to Action.''