Floor Statements

Mr. President, on the Fourth of July of the year 1851, the legendary statesman Daniel Webster, himself a former Senator, laid the cornerstone for the Senate Chamber where we now gather. He said:

Be it known that on this day the Union of the United States

of America stands firm.

Today marks the 150th year that this Chamber has housed the Senate of the United States.

When Vice President John Breckinridge gaveled the 34th Congress open in this Chamber in 1859, our Republic had a population of one-tenth what it is today. There were just 64 Senators. Each Senator enjoyed a little more leg room, and that is an understatement. Many of these desks we see behind me, and behind the Republican leader, are from the original Senators of this country. They are real old. This Chamber, for 150 years, has served as the primary working space for most Members. The first session held here 150 years ago began as it did today, with the Vice President of the United States administering the oath of office to new Members.

Today, nine new Senators joined what many have said, and I agree, is the greatest deliberative body the world has ever known--certainly the greatest legislative body. So I extend my warmest welcome and congratulations to Senator Mark Udall of Colorado, Senator Tom Udall of New Mexico, Senator Mike Johanns of Nebraska, Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, Senator Jim Risch of Idaho, Senator Kay Hagan of North Carolina, Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon, and Senator Mark Begich of Alaska.

To the profound challenges we face, these nine men and women bring vast judgment and experience at all levels of Government and public service. I am confident every one of them will serve their States and our Nation with distinction and pride.

It was just 2 years ago this inaugural day of Congress that we heralded a new majority for Democrats in both the Senate and House of Representatives, but in the Senate that was a very tenuous majority. We began with 51, but Tim Johnson became very ill and the crowded Democratic primary field left us oftentimes short of an outright majority and far short of the 60 votes needed to prevent filibusters and pass legislation. Although we made substantial progress in the 110th Congress, partisanship with divided Government too often ruled the day.

I have said from the day the election was over, we are looking forward. We are not going to be concerned about the previous 8 years, we are concerned about the next 8 years. Since 2006, we Democrats have received a net gain of 14 Senate seats, 45 to 59. Just 2 weeks from today, Barack Obama will become the 44th President of the United States. We are ready to answer the call of the American people by putting the past 8 years behind us and delivering the change our country desperately needs.

We are grateful to begin anew with a far more robust Democratic majority. But both parties learned an important lesson over the past 2 years: When we allow ourselves to retreat into the tired, well-worn trenches of partisanship, when we fail to reach for common ground, when we are unable, in the words of President-elect Obama, to disagree without being disagreeable, we diminish our ability to accomplish real change.

To my Republican counterpart, Senator McConnell, and all Republican colleagues, a number of whom I have called and personally visited with, I say to them: With American troops fighting two wars overseas, we are together in all of this. With the American people suffering a staggering economic crisis here at home, we are in this together. With the middle class struggling to make one paycheck last until the next one, we are in the middle of this together. With health care, college tuition, and retirement more expensive and harder to reach than ever, we are in this together. With our climate in crisis and energy prices rising and falling unpredictably, we are in this together.

Some may fear the depth of the challenges we face, but I remind them that adversity is no stranger to this Chamber or to our country. In America and in this Chamber, we have never failed to persevere and ultimately to prosper. In this Chamber, our Union came unraveled and was mended, great wars were declared and peace has been celebrated. Here, our most fundamental freedoms were challenged, upheld, and expanded. In this Chamber for 150 years we have watched things happen.

In more recent years, we watched the passing of the New Deal by Roosevelt, Truman's Fair Deal, Kennedy's Great Frontier, and Johnson's Great Society. Over these many years, we have outlawed child labor, brought electricity to the western frontier, and ensured a college education for those who serve in uniform.

I had the opportunity yesterday to go to the funeral of Claiborne Pell, a man of wealth, a patrician, a man who went to the finest schools in America but dedicated his life to public service so that other people who were not in his situation could be educated. That is where the Pell grants came from--Claiborne Pell, a very aristocratic man who devoted his life to public service.

We have done those things right here in this Chamber. Of course, we passed, after long, hard struggles and much anxiety, the Civil Rights and Voting Rights acts.

There is no question that the challenges ahead of us are staggering. I do not think anyone would disagree. But I am confident that if we renew, in this body, our commitment to bipartisanship, the 111th Congress will be a tremendous success.

Just a short way from here yesterday afternoon--and I don't remember the exact time, 3 o'clock or something like that, or 3:30--we had a bipartisan meeting of the leadership of the House and Senate. It was a wonderful meeting, with an exchange of ideas. The President-elect was here. I was very impressed. I heard Senator McConnell say to him: There are some things I need to talk to you about. Senator Obama said to him, when the meeting broke up: Let's talk now. I assume they talked sometime in the next little bit. But that is what we need: the ability to talk to each other.

There is no script that can be written where Senator McConnell and I will agree on everything that happens here. But there is a script being written today that says that even though we disagree on things that take place in this body, we can do it in a way that is constructive and works toward the good of our country. The State of Kentucky is much different from the State of Nevada--they are two different States. That was the genius of our Founding Fathers, that this Senate, which came about by reason of the

Great Compromise in 1787 in Philadelphia, has allowed people to work together. Even though the State of Kentucky has more people than the State of Nevada and the State of California has more people than the State of Nevada, the State of Nevada has as much power in the Senate as Kentucky and California.

I have confidence we can work together. I am convinced that Senator McConnell and I--our critics and the press can call us a lot of names and make suggestions, but one thing they cannot say about us is we are not experienced. We have been through a lot of political wars. We are ready to take on whatever wars face us.

I say to my friend, Senator McConnell, I have every confidence we will be able to move this country forward.

We need to have the 111th Congress a tremendous success, and we can do that. In the coming days, my fellow Democrats and I will introduce our priorities for this Congress. It happens every Congress. My colleagues on the other side of the aisle will introduce their legislative priorities. We look forward to developing dialog between the two sides of the aisle to see if we can meet somewhere in the middle.

This day marks not just the 150th year of this Chamber but also the 50th year of the service of Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia. For 50 years he has been a Senator, but he has been a Member of Congress for 56 years because he served in the House before he came here. It is no secret, when it comes to reverence for the Senate, we have all learned a lot--I have learned a lot--from President Byrd's love of this body. I also have learned a lot from Senator Byrd of his desire for all Americans to appreciate that little document we call our Constitution. So on this the 50th anniversary of Senator Byrd's service, I express publicly my affection and admiration for this good man and wish him well in this Congress.

For our nine new Members sworn today and for all Americans, I offer a few of Senator Byrd's words which he delivered to a meeting of new Senators about 12 years ago, when he said:

After 200 years, [the Senate] is still the anchor of the

Republic, the morning and evening star in the American

constitutional constellation.

It has weathered the storms of adversity, withstood the

barbs of cynics and attacks of critics. It has provided

stability and strength for the nation during periods of civil

strife and uncertainty, panics and depressions.

In war and peace, it has been the sure refuge and protector

of the rights of states and of a political minority. And,

today, the Senate still stands--the great forum of

constitutional American liberty.

So said Senator Byrd 12 years ago.

Today is a new chapter in history. It begins today. Each of us has the honor of taking part in it in some way. We here in the Senate have the ability to help write that history.

As the work starts, the words of Daniel Webster return to mind: ``Be it known that on this day the Union of the United States of America stands firm.'' I believe that.

I have just a few other brief remarks.

As my colleagues are aware, two Democratic U.S. Senate seats--one from Illinois and the other from Minnesota--are currently vacant. I will briefly address these two unusual circumstances because of the inquiries we have all had.

First, the Illinois seat left vacant by President-elect Barack Obama. Although I do not know Mr. Burris personally--I hope to meet him in the next few days--he has served the State of Illinois in elective office over many years. Mr. Burris and his advisers were welcomed to the Capitol this morning by Sergeant at Arms Terry Gainer, who was chief of police in Chicago, so they have known each other for a long time. They then had a gracious meeting with the Secretary of the Senate, Nancy Erickson, and Senate Parliamentarian Alan Frumin, who informed them that Mr. Burris is not in possession of the necessary credentials from the State of Illinois. A court case in Illinois is pending to determine whether Secretary of State Jesse White is obligated to sign this certification. We are awaiting that court decision. If Mr. Burris takes possession of valid credentials, the Senate will proceed in a manner that is respectful to Mr. Burris while ensuring there is no cloud of doubt over the appointment to fill this seat.

I also understand that Mr. Burris will likely give testimony to the Illinois State Assembly impeachment proceedings in the next few days, these proceedings pending against Governor Blagojevich. We await that proceeding as Senators as well.

As to Minnesota, I know a little bit about close elections. I am only going to talk about two of them because I have had a number of them. I lost one by 524 votes. It was a statewide election for the Senate. That was traumatic, to lose that race to Paul Laxalt, one of the historic Senators from Nevada--but of course for this country because of his very close personal relationship with President Reagan. Paul Laxalt and I are close personal friends, but I lost that vote by 524. We went through a recount. I didn't file any lawsuits. There were no challenges. As hard as it was--and it was hard because that is really the first thing I had ever lost--I lost the race. All over the country, Democrats were winning these Senate seats and I lost in Nevada, but I had to give up because I had no chance of winning.

I won the second by 428 votes. One reason John Ensign and I are soulmates is because our politics are so different, but our friendship is as good as it gets. That was a tough election, a bitter election that John Ensign and I went through. We had a recount in Nevada that was ongoing. John Ensign made a decision that it was a waste of time; I can't win the election. Before the recount was completed, John Ensign called me--I was having dinner with my wife--and said: You are going to be the next Senator. I thought when he made that phone call, gee, this is some kind of good guy. I didn't handle my loss nearly as well as he did. I remember that.

Anyway, John Ensign filed no challenges, didn't complete the recount, there were no lawsuits. And John Ensign is now a Member of the Senate. I am fortunate to have a number of good friends, but, boy, he is a friend, and I think if you ask him he would say the same.

So I say to my friend Norm Coleman, watch what I have said and watch what has taken place in the past. The Senate race in Minnesota was very close. It was very, very close--one of the closest in history. The bipartisan State Canvassing Board and Minnesota's election officials have done an exemplary job in handling the recount. There were no allegations of partisanship or unfairness from either side that I am aware of, and I followed it every day for 6 weeks.

Even close elections, though, have winners. I can testify to that. After all votes have been fairly counted, Al Franken is certified as the winner by the State Canvassing Board, and he is the Senator-elect from Minnesota. Democrats will not seek to seat Senator-elect Franken today. We understand the sensitivity on both sides to an election this close.

This is a difficult time for former Senator Coleman and his family. I acknowledge that. He is entitled to the opportunity to proceed however he feels appropriate. But for someone who has been in the trenches on a number of these elections, graciously conceding, as his friend John Ensign did, would be the right step. This can't drag on forever, and I understand that. I hope former Senator Coleman and all our Republican colleagues will choose to respect the will of the people of Minnesota. They have chosen a new Senator, Al Franken, and his term must begin and will begin soon.

I repeat, I look forward to this year, hoping that next year at this time we will be here talking about many things we have been able to accomplish.

As I have said on this floor, if we accomplish things, there is credit to go around to everyone. If we do not accomplish anything, there is blame to go around to everyone. That is not where I want to be.

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

Mr. President, following leader remarks, the Senate will proceed to a period of morning business, with Senators allowed to speak for up to 10 minutes each. Following morning business, the Senate will resume consideration of the motion to proceed to H.R. 7005, the legislative vehicle for the auto industry's financing and restructuring. Rollcall votes are possible during today's session in the Senate.

When we left here a few weeks ago, the decision was made that there would be 1 week for the automobile industry to make presentations to the two committees of jurisdiction, the House and the Senate Banking Committees, to determine what would take place during the following week. That was last week, and hearings were held in both committees, and evidence, in fact, was taken. There have been weeks and weeks of work put into coming up with a piece of legislation on which we can vote. That matter is before the Senate in H.R. 7005.

I have had calls from a number of Senators today--frankly, mostly Republican Senators--telling me that they have the solution to all of the problems of the auto industry; they need a few amendments. A few amendments. We have done our very best to include everyone who wants any input into this legislation. The White House, President Bush and his people have been heavily involved in this legislation. This is, in effect, the White House's legislation.

There was a decision made that the minority would not participate in the preparing of this legislation. But the White House was heavily involved. Negotiations took place over days between Chairman Frank and Chairman Dodd and the White House, and we now have a piece of legislation. Some have asked: Well, what we want is to set up a procedure where we have lots of amendments, and then we will ultimately vote on the final version.

I think it is only fair that if the minority, the Republicans, want to have a better bill, then they should offer an alternative. I invite them to do it. The House passed a bill last night. It would be my suggestion that we perhaps have a vote on the substitute or the alternative the Republicans would put forward, vote on the House bill, vote on the Senate bill. If there is no agreement that can be reached on that, we have danced this tune long enough.

What we will do, we can have a motion to proceed to this tomorrow, and if the Republicans want to come and say, well, you know, you have not allowed us any opportunity to offer amendments--that is what has taken place for the last 2 years, and look what it got the Republicans: lost seven or eight Senate seats, lost the Presidency. We want to legislate, and we are doing the very best we can to do that.

I have reached out to my Republican colleagues. As soon as the elections were over, I called a number of Republicans and said: We want to work with you. We cannot continue doing what we have done in the past. But we are right back where we have been for 2 years, the same place we have been for 2 years.

So, again, I suggest that if the Republicans have an alternative, let them

offer that. It would be very easy to do. We could vote on a Republican alternative, we would have a vote on the White House proposal now before the Senate, and we would vote on the bill that passed the House and leave here. If that is not something the Republicans choose to do, then we will vote tomorrow on a motion to proceed to the bill that has been prepared, drafted, and had input on by the two committees and the White House. If we are not allowed to proceed to that, then we, in fact, will be through with this, as we have been through with numerous pieces of legislation through the past year.

So, again, I invite the Republicans, if they have an alternative, to put it forward. They have had ample opportunity to do that. Again, I have received a number of phone calls from Republicans today saying: I have just the thing that needs to be done to make this a great piece of legislation. Well, I would hope they would be ready to do that. If not, we will have a vote tomorrow on a motion to proceed to H.R. 7005.

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

Mr. President, we have been working, as I think the country knows and the Senate knows, for the last many weeks trying to come up with some way to resolve the issue of dealing with Detroit and the automobile manufacturers. We thought we were at a place today where we would have a series of votes and we were almost there when another Senator submitted another idea. As a result of that, there are good- faith negotiations going on as we speak. The last I heard is that they would have something completed by 5:30. I kind of smile when I say that, because considering the years I have spent here in the Senate, sometimes I don't know if they are referring to ``5:30'' meaning 10 minutes from now or 12 hours and 10 minutes from now, but they said 5:30. If they are able to work that out, then the bill will overwhelmingly pass the Senate. I have told the House and the House will have to do whatever they do with that. But right now, that is not done.

As I indicated, they said they thought a half hour or so ago it would be done by 5:30. I hope that is the case. I know it is late. I know people want more definite definitions of when this is all going to happen, but that isn't the way the Senate works, as much as we would all like it to be. So if everyone will be patient, there is still a possibility--and even maybe a probability--that sometime this evening we would be able to vote.

Now, Senator McConnell and I don't know at this stage what we will be voting on. If the negotiations which are going forward now bear fruit, then that will be the issue that I think would pass with a significant margin here in the Senate. There may be some other Senators who want to offer alternatives. I think there may be some suggestions for that to take place. At this stage, I think it is pretty clear that there is no need to vote on the House measure, because it is pretty clear there aren't enough votes to pass that, but those decisions we will make shortly. I think what we are going to be voting on is a series of competing alternatives. There is not going to be an opportunity to offer a lot of individual rifleshot amendments to these different proposals, but I know that a number of Senators have one proposal. We have the one we talked about we will probably vote on today, and then we have the bipartisan issue that is being worked on right now. If we are fortunate, maybe we could wind up having three votes or maybe only two votes. But, anyway, we are doing our best to resolve this issue.

There is no need to talk about all of the Senators involved. We will do that if we can work something out and they will get all the accolades they need. We have had a lot of cooperation today. That doesn't mean we are going to be able to work something out, because this is a very important issue. But right now, I think we are a lot further down the road than I thought we would be. I was trying to think: Down the road distance, so it should be ``farther'' down the road. But, anyway, I wish to alert everyone they should be patient tonight. We hope to have some votes before the night is out.

If everything falls apart, then we will be left with having a cloture vote on the Democratic version. Regardless of whether we work something out, that would be tomorrow morning, as early as we want to come in, but hopefully, that is not the resolution of this because that may not be the best way to solve the problem of Detroit.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the period of morning business be extended until 6:30 p.m. tonight with Senators allowed to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.

Of course, the Senators are always very cooperative. If, in fact, there is something that Senator McConnell and I have been able to work out, then we will ask that the person be interrupted and we will try to move forward with a unanimous consent agreement.

I note the absence of a quorum.

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

Mr. President, approximately 20 minutes ago the negotiation team broke up for purposes of having Senator Corker, who has worked since 2:30 this morning on the compromise, see if we could get this legislation over the finish line. It is my understanding he is making a presentation to the Republican caucus as we speak, to see if they will accept his compromise.

It has been a difficult negotiation, principally conducted by Senators Corker and Dodd. Senator Durbin has represented me in those meetings.

I am hopeful we can finish this matter tonight. I do not know what the odds are that the Republican caucus will accept the work done by Senator Corker and others but we should know soon. I am sorry it is 8:30 at night and people have been here--I received a call from one Senator who has been here since early this morning and wishes to leave and come back tomorrow. There are other Senators who have flights early in the morning to go other places. They hope we could finish tonight. One of those other places is home. They have family waiting for them.

I wish I could be more dictatorial and say we are going to vote right now, but I do not have that ability. If everyone will be patient, we should know within a half hour or so if they can work something out.

We are ready to go. I think with rare exception the Democrats understand this is Christmas season, that there is a lot of hardship out there. People are losing their jobs, losing their homes, losing their cars, and losing their patience. We Democrats believe this Christmas season we do not need to pile on. If we are not able to work something out, 2.5 million people are going to be directly impacted and millions of others will be impacted. This is Christmastime and I hope we can give the American people a gift of hope that we are going to wind up with an automobile manufacturing industry that will be stronger and more reliable. Certainly that is our desire. We hope our friends on the other side of the aisle, the Republicans, will recognize the good work done by Senator Corker and others and finish this matter tonight.

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

Mr. President, to all those within the sound of my voice, we have tried very hard to arrive at a point where we can legislate for the automobile industry. People have worked very hard. I believe everyone is working in good faith. I am terribly disappointed that we are not able to arrive at a conclusion, but I want to say in the most emphatic manner how much I appreciate Senator Chris Dodd. He has worked going into months now.

We had the housing crisis, we had the bailout of the financial industry, and now the automobile industry. This man has worked day and night for months. Chris Dodd is one of America's great legislators. He has been here a long time. He is a veteran of the House and the Senate, and so I admire his patience and perseverance.

His counterpart, Senator Shelby, and I served together in the House, and he hasn't been heavily involved in these negotiations, but I like Richard Shelby very much. One thing about Senator Shelby, you never have to guess where he stands on an issue.

In the last several days--and maybe I will be criticized by some on my side, but I doubt that--I have been extremely impressed with Bob Corker of Tennessee. Now, we weren't able, based on his good work, to arrive at something on which we could get enough Republicans to agree, but he did some wonderful work, and I think the work he did is going to pay dividends next year because even though this is a real loss--my personal feeling--for the country, that we are not going to be able to do something, I think the manner in which we have proceeded, led by Senator Corker on the Republican side, has been extremely good. I repeat, I think it is going to work well next year.

We have a lot of work to do. We have issues like this we will be dealing with next year, and I think we have come to a point in the legislative process in the Senate that we have to start working together and not have one side say yes and one side say no. So I hope my friends on the other side of the aisle also recognize what Senator Corker has tried to do.

I certainly have no problem with others who disagreed with the approach we have taken, with the White House. This is not our proposal. We have worked with President Bush. President Bush is President of the United States--and everyone knows, you can read my book as to how I felt about the White House and what has happened--the White House has been extremely available. Josh Bolten and others in the White House have worked very hard with us to come up with an agreement, and we did, working with the House Banking Committee, the Senate Banking Committee, as I have indicated, led by Senator Dodd. But we have not been able to get this over the finish line.

So although we have worked and worked--and we could spend all night tonight, tomorrow, Saturday, and Sunday--we are not going to get to the finish line. That is just the way it is. There is too much difference between the two sides. All of us on this side of the aisle are in favor of the proposal that has been negotiated with the White House and the two banking committees, but we are not going to be able to vote on that more than likely.

The procedure now that we have in the Senate is that 1 hour after we come in tomorrow morning, we can vote on cloture. And what are we voting on? It is a bill that we took from the calendar to be an instrument--it is a tax instrument because a lot of what we are doing with this banking matter involves the Finance Committee--and we would take that and move to proceed on that--cloture on that--and then as soon as we got cloture on that, we would amend it with our proposal.

As I have indicated, we know we don't have 60 votes. There is no need to play around with that and cause undo hardship. So I have spoken to my friend, the distinguished Republican leader, and what we propose is that at about 10:30 or so tonight we will vote on cloture, just to show everybody where we are. Everybody should understand when this vote is over tonight--and I don't think we are going to get 60 votes--it is over with.

Mr. President, I dread looking at Wall Street tomorrow. It is not going to be a pleasant sight. Millions of Americans, not only the auto workers but people who sell cars, car dealerships, and people who work on cars, are going to be directly impacted and affected.

As I mentioned earlier today, Christmas is approaching. This will be a very bad Christmas for a lot of people as a result of what takes place tonight.

I want my colleagues to know that I have expressed my opinion as to what I think should happen. There are many people who have been involved in this on the other side of the aisle who in good faith disagree with what I said, and I accept that and appreciate that. But I think the time for talking is over. We should vote and move on to something else.

I am happy to yield to my distinguished colleague, Senator McConnell.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the cloture vote on the motion to proceed to H.R. 7005 occur at 10:40. I ask consent that Senator Dodd, who has spent so much time on this, be given 10 minutes.

If there is anyone who wishes to respond to that, they would have 10 minutes to do so.

So we don't lose any time, let's move to Senator Dodd, and when you come back we will move forward.

Thanks for everyone's patience.

Senator Dodd.

I ask unanimous consent the cloture vote vote on the motion to proceed to H.R. 7005 occur--Senator Stabenow wants the last 5 minutes before the vote.

Senator Shelby, 5 minutes?

Mr. President, Senator Corker will be recognized for 5 minutes, Senator Shelby for 3 minutes. I said a lot of nice things about you so that is about the right length of time for the speech. The final 5 minutes will be Senator Stabenow. Then we will vote on H.R. 7005 as soon as their speeches are finished.

Madam President, I enter a motion to reconsider the vote by which cloture was not invoked on the motion to proceed to H.R. 7005.

Madam President, the night is late. Morning is fast approaching. I appreciate everyone's cooperation. We are going to be in a series of pro forma sessions and likely we will be doing no more work until we come back after the reconvening of the new Congress.

I appreciate everyone's work over the past many hours. I have already given my remarks. I only say that I would hope the President, who has worked so well with us the past few weeks on this legislation, would now consider using TARP money to help the auto industry and the workers of this country. Any conditions that were proposed by all Senators-- Senator Corker, Senator Dodd; anything they wanted to put in there, they could do anything they wanted. I would hope they would consider that and do it as early as tomorrow.

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

Madam President, I will be very quick.

Madam President, I apologize that I did not say something a minute ago. We have had a difficult Congress. We have had the staff who are so valiant, so good, who always make us look as good as we can look. Sometimes that is not very good. However good we look, it is because of the great staff we have.

We have been through 95 filibusters this Congress. We have had many serious issues. Our country is in an economic meltdown. We had a series of important votes here. It seemed to never end. But always our staff is here--always. The Democratic staff on this side of the aisle, the Republican staff on the other side of the aisle, they are all very professional; the Parliamentarians, these wonderful pages, the court reporters. And, of course, the Capitol Police, these people--some of whom are in uniform, some not--are here to protect us as well as all the staff.

So I want everyone to know, the four of you seated in front of the Presiding Officer, how much I appreciate the work you do. You are all very patient. You take abuse a lot of times that you should not because a lot of times we are busy and forget that we also have to be nice to everyone. If I have offended any of you over the past couple years, it certainly was not intentional.

I am so grateful that my Democratic colleagues allow me to serve in the capacity I do, as amateurish as I am on occasion, but it is not because I am not trying. I have the greatest affection for every one of my Democratic Senators. They are always so good to me and work so hard.

I look forward to the next year. We need a productive year. Our country is in big trouble. We have so many things happening to us, individuals, that it does not matter where you look in America today, there is very little good news economically. And what happened today is not going to help that. But I talked about that before.

So I appreciate all that everyone does, including the Sergeant at Arms, the Secretary. They do such good work. We have all the committee chairs who work so hard, subcommittee chairs. I have been fighting for some words to express myself how appreciative I am. I am not forthcoming of them, so I will say thank you all very much for what you do for us and, of course, the country.

Madam President, my good friend Senator Ernest Hollings contacted me and asked if I could have printed in the Record a statement he has written about U.S. trade and manufacturing policy. It is my pleasure to do so.

Senator Hollings was a longtime chair of the Senate Commerce Committee and a champion of American manufacturing. His statement contains some insightful and provocative thoughts of his and I encourage all of my colleagues to read it.

Madam President. I ask unanimous ocnsent to have printed in the Record Senator Hollings' statement.

Mr. President, following the leaders' remarks, I ask unanimous consent that we stand in a period of morning business until 12:30 today; and that from 12:30 to 2:15 the Senate stand in recess.

The Republicans are going to hold a caucus at that time. I ask unanimous consent that be approved.

Mr. President, this is Wednesday, and each day we come here and say the document that is going to be the bill that we are going to report on is done. Now I understand it is done. But the piece of paper is not before the Senate. There are two provisions I have instructed Senator Dodd--and he has agreed--to take out of the document we are moving forward on, and that should be done momentarily.

I understand, in fairness, that all parties, Democrats and Republicans, deserve the opportunity to study this bill. It is about 25 pages long, as I understand it. But even though we have some speed readers in the Senate, they still need time to study it. In speaking with various Senators today, it appears pretty clear that the minority, the Republicans, are not going to move forward on this unless there is a lot of opportunity to study this legislation.

Therefore, it appears unlikely we will be able to have a vote on this today. That being the case, let me say I will file the work done by the Banking Committee, the Senate Banking Committee, because they are not totally in agreement with what is done by the House.

That way I will have it here, we will file the necessary motions on that, which would mean we would have a cloture vote on Friday on a motion to proceed to it. Now, we can always move that forward with unanimous consent. But everyone should understand, if this is something that everyone is going to make us dot every I and cross every T, then we would have that cloture vote early Friday morning, maybe as early as 9 o'clock.

If we did that, then the second vote would not take place until Saturday afternoon at about 3 o'clock, give or take a little bit of time. Then everyone can do the math as well as I can. The next vote would probably take place about 9 o'clock on Sunday. So the point is, if everybody is not cooperative and wants to create problems, we would not be able to complete this until Saturday or Sunday, but we are going to complete it. And when I say ``complete it,'' that means we are going to have our final vote on it, it will either pass or fail, but we are going to give Senators an opportunity to vote.

As indicated in the press today, Senator Biden said he would be willing to come back and vote if his vote were necessary. I apologize to everyone but not too sincerely, because I have done the best I can to move this forward. It is difficult.

We have the House, the Senate, the White House, and once in a while we hear from the new administration. So it has made it real difficult to come up with a final piece of paper, which I hope will be forthcoming in the next few minutes. But I think I have done the best I can to alert everyone. I know there are lots of people, Democrats and

Republicans have a lot of important work to do. But this is also important business we are dealing with, dealing with the Detroit automobile manufacturers.

Mr. President, I say in response to my friend, the distinguished Republican leader, we have had cooperation in moving forward on this legislation. I have not been a big fan of the White House, as everyone knows, for the last 8 years. But they have, in good faith, worked with us trying to get a piece of legislation we can bring before this body.

That is one reason it has taken so long. But President Bush is still President of the United States. He has tremendous power and rightfully so. Senator Obama is not, in any way, wanting to step on that. So this is something that is important. I totally understand what the Republican leader is saying. If I were in his place, I would do the same thing. It is not fair to ask that we move forward on this legislation without people having the opportunity to read it and study it and talk to others about what is in it.

I would hope, through, after we get the legislation, we can work something out to expedite the procedural matters. No one is under the illusion that we can do it on a simple majority; we are going to have to get 60 votes. I hope there is support from both sides of the aisle. I am fairly confident there will be. We will, later tonight, revisit what we might be able to do tomorrow and/or Friday to complete this legislation. We will do our very utmost to get this legislation completed so the Republican leader can take to his caucus the document so people can start, hopefully even before that, poring through it.

I have said so many times this thing is done, it is on its way, and have been disappointed when my staff says: Well, there are a few more issues that have come up. I think that has ended. I certainly hope so. I hope that at 12:30, when we recess, both the Republicans and the Democrats have a piece of legislation they can look at.

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

Are we in a period of morning business or has it been closed?