Floor Statements

Madam President, I rise today to honor the remarkable accomplishments of the University of Louisville men's soccer team. Led by their coach, Ken Lolla, these young student athletes made it to the championship game of the NCAA Division I tournament. In a close competition against the University of Akron they suffered their first defeat by one goal as the score was one to zero. This team spent most of the season ranked number one over the rest of their opponents. Becoming NCAA men's soccer runners-up is an accomplishment that has brought a lot of positive energy to the university as well as the entire city of Louisville. The team has made their university, city, Commonwealth and this Senator very proud. The Louisville Courier- Journal recently published an article describing the team's accomplishments. I ask unanimous consent that the full article be printed in the Record.

There being no objection the material was ordered to be printed in the Record as follows:

Near-Miss a Big Hit for University of Louisville, City

(Eric Crawford)

The game had ended in a flurry of breathtaking near-misses

for the University of Louisville men's soccer team. Akron's

players now were filling the TV screens at Molly Malone's in

St. Matthews, celebrating their national title. Then the

applause started. Fans at other locations reported something

similar. The mood hardly matched the disappointment of the U

of L players as they flashed onto the screen following their

1-0 loss to Akron.

``What a great season,'' said Silas Boyle, a former

Louisville Thunder player and the goalie for the 1975

Kentucky Country Day state championship team. ``What a great

job they did. There's no way not to be proud.'' No, there

isn't. Not with Louisville sports bars turning their

attention to another kind of football on an NFL Sunday.

Snow fell outside the bar for most of No.1-ranked and

previously unbeaten U of L's loss, just as it did in the

final home game. As the game clock wound down, you could see

out the windows the wet reflection of traffic and

streetlights in the middle of a busy holiday scene.

It was a nice reminder that while the experience of a

national championship game is something that coaches and

players earn, for fans and program and city, it is a gift.

It's a gift U of L teams have given twice in the past three

seasons.

And as with the run to the national title game in women's

basketball in 2009, this soccer run was designed by a coach

who's hard not to respect, one who manages to coach the team

without becoming its focal point.

David Horne, player and general manager for the Louisville

Lightning professional team, said U of L coach Ken Lolla's

reach extends far beyond his program, that he has quietly

become a mentor for local coaches--``I read every book he

mentions,'' Horne said--and a resource for players and clubs.

``To me, he could become a [John] Wooden-like influence,''

Horne said. ``I know that's a big name, but that's how he

carries himself and how he coaches. He's going to keep

winning, and he does it the right way.''

Akron, after controlling possession in the first half,

exerted itself still more in the second. By the time the Zips

scored in the 79th minute, U of L keeper Andre Bordeaux

already had put together a highlight reel of saves.

Still, the Cardinals had some golden opportunities in the

end, the last when two-time last-minute hero Aaron Horton's

strike into a goal whose keeper had strayed was deflected on

the ground by a defender's leg.

Another foot or two higher, and the score would've been

tied. But after Horton's last-minute game-winners in back-to-

back NCAA games, how much magic does one player's foot

possess?

Instead, U of L comes home with a runner-up trophy and a

new profile in college soccer. If you know athletic director

Tom Jurich, you can go ahead and put a soccer facility

expansion or enhancement on the stopwatch.

For soccer in Louisville, there's added energy--and perhaps

some momentum in building the kind of much-needed soccer

complex that a city this size already should have, one that

would keep local clubs from having to travel to Bowling Green

and other places for big tournaments.

For U of L, it's another NCAA championship chance in a

sport that not long ago wasn't anywhere on the national

landscape. ``You just have to believe it's only the beginning

for that program,'' Horne said as fans headed home Sunday

night. ``It's a really exciting thing for the sport in this

city.''

It's pretty rare around here for another kind of round ball

to grab any part of the spotlight in December. For the local

sports scene, it was a holiday gift. For Lolla and the

Cardinals, the goal is to make it a holiday tradition.

Mr. President, I rise today to recognize the employees and friends of WYMT-TV as they celebrate 25 years as a news station in Hazard, KY. WYMT is much more than a media outlet; rather, it is a success story. In 1985, when talk of starting WYMT first sparked, many people were opposed to the idea, as it was thought that the station would not be prosperous or competitive. However, thanks to a few who saw what this news station could bring to eastern Kentucky, WYMT was born.

My good friend Neil Middleton is currently the news director at WYMT and has been there for most of its existence. From a time where two-way radios were used in lieu of cell phones, and 75 pound cameras were used for filming, to the age of the Internet and acquiring footage on cell phones, Neil has seen many drastic changes.

The dawn of the Internet allowed WYMT to connect more personally with its viewers, as well as unify eastern Kentucky, which has been the station's mission from the first day on the air. The birth and existence of WYMT have given the people of Prestonsburg, Harlan, Pineville and other cities in the eastern Kentucky region knowledge of how their neighbors in surrounding towns are doing. WYMT has also strived to balance the positive and negative news stories that it covers in the region, which has added to their success over the years.

I would like to personally thank WYMT for the hard work they have put in over the years in covering current events in our Commonwealth in an honest and unbiased manner. The effort they have put forth to unify the entire region of eastern Kentucky is appreciated by many. I ask my colleagues to rise and join me in congratulating them on this 25-year anniversary.

Madam President, I rise in tribute to my good friend and distinguished colleague, Senator Sam Brownback, or I could also say Governor-elect Sam Brownback of the great State of Kansas.

Sam promised his constituents that he wouldn't run for more than two full 6-year terms in the Senate, and Sam has honored that pledge.

Let me just say at the outset that Sam has been an outstanding Senator and an example of principled leadership to all of us. He has served the people of Kansas with great distinction and honor, and I am certain he will continue to do so as he takes on new challenges in Topeka.

Sam is a born leader. He was raised in the small town of Parker, KS, where his mom and dad still live and farm today, and his many talents were evident early on. In high school, he was State president of the Future Farmers of America. As an undergraduate at Kansas State University, he was elected president of the student body, and he was elected class president in law school, too, at the University of Kansas. After law school, Sam worked as a lawyer in Manhattan, KS, for 4 years before being appointed as the secretary of the Kansas Board of Agriculture.

From 1990 to 1991, Sam was accepted as a White House fellow under President George H.W. Bush, where he worked for the U.S. Trade Representative. Three years after that, he ran for Congress as part of the Republican revolution and was overwhelmingly elected to Kansas's Second District. It was the first time in Sam's life that Republicans had the majority in the Congress, and he was a part of it. He planned to make the most of it by focusing on limiting the size and reach of the Federal Government.

But Sam's tenure in the House was brief. In 1996, just 2 days after Senator Dole announced his plan to resign from the Senate to run for President, Sam announced he would seek the Republican nomination in a special election to serve out the final 2 years of Dole's term. Sam handily defeated the former Lieutenant Governor who had been appointed to fill Senator Dole's seat earlier that spring.

In the general election, Sam's campaign message was simple. He called it the three Rs: reduce, reform, and return:

Reduce the size of and scope of the Federal Government.

Reform Congress. Return to the basic values that had built

the country: work and family and the recognition of a higher

moral authority.

Sam's message resonated with the people, many of whom feared their government had become, as Sam stated, ``their master, not their servant,'' and easily defeated his opponent with 54 percent of the vote. Sam would go on to be reelected to full terms in 1998 and 2004, capturing an astounding 65 and 69 percent of the vote.

While in the Senate, Sam has been a leader among his peers. He has been outspoken and has fought hard for the people of Kansas and for the underprivileged around the world.

Sam is an ardent defender of life and of the protection of the unborn. ``I see it as the lead moral issue of our day,''

Sam said, ``Just like slavery was the lead moral issue 150 years ago.'' Sam opposes Roe v. Wade, has a 100-percent pro-life voting record, and sponsored numerous bills in support of the unborn.

In 1995, Sam was diagnosed and treated for melanoma and it had a profound effect on his life. Sam said:

With the cancer, I did a lot of internal examination. My

conclusion was that if this were to be terminal, at that

point in time I would not be satisfied with how I had lived

my life. I had tried to be a Christian, but I had failed. . .

.

Surviving cancer, Sam found out just how precious life was, and with his new lease on life, Sam began to devote his life and work in the Senate to humanitarian causes around the world. Sam has actively fought to bring awareness to the genocide in Darfur. Sam supported the Sudan Peace Act of 2002 and the Darfur Peace and Accountability Act of 2002. In 2004, Sam visited Darfur to see violence and suffering firsthand, and that same year he supported the Congressional Declaration of Genocide.

In addition to his advocacy work on Sudan, Sam has worked on numerous other humanitarian challenges throughout the world, including Iran, Afghanistan, Uganda, the Congo, Pakistan, Ukraine, China, North Korea, and Vietnam. The Weekly Standard wrote:

Arguably no Senator has done more to press for human rights

and democracy or to confront the spread of deadly disease,

such as malaria, which kills 800,000 children in Africa every

year.

In the Senate, Sam has crusaded for his humanitarian causes in a bipartisan fashion, including cosponsoring the Iran Democracy Act with Senator Evan Bayh, cosponsoring the North Korea Human Rights Act with the late Senator Ted Kennedy, and what Sam calls his greatest achievement, cosponsoring the Trafficking in the Victims Protection Act with the late Senator Paul Wellstone.

Another one of Sam's passions was his role as chairman of the Senate Values Action Team. The group, consisting of outside organizations, met weekly to discuss matters of faith, family, and religious freedoms. Over the years, they worked together to strategize on efforts to protect the sanctity of life, school choice, and much more. Sam devoted countless hours to this organization and rarely missed a meeting.

In the Senate, I relied heavily on Sam's expertise and his leadership. He was always someone I looked toward, whether it was for guidance or perspective on many different issues. Sam served on numerous committees, including the Appropriations Committee, the Joint Economic Committee, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, and the Senate Special Committee on Aging, as well as the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.

In 2008, Sam announced he would honor his pledge to only serve two terms in this Chamber. Sam will be missed, but his service to Kansas will continue. Last month, Sam was elected Governor of Kansas with 63 percent of the vote, winning 103 of the 105 counties. I wish to congratulate Sam on his impressive victory, and I cannot think of a better public servant or leader than Sam Brownback for the people of Kansas.

On top of all of Sam's accomplishments, he is a loving husband to Mary. They met in law school and have been married for 27 years. Together, Mary and Sam have five children, including one adopted from Guatemala and one adopted from China. Sam said:

My family has been personally touched by adoption. My wife

and I adopted our two youngest children, and I continue to

experience joy from the relationships we have built through

our adoption experience.

I think right there tells us all we need to know about the type of character and person Sam Brownback is.

Sam, this Chamber honors you today for your service to this Nation, to the State of Kansas, and to the millions around the world who dream of a better life. Thank you from all of us, and good luck in the next chapter of your life.

Madam President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Would my friend yield?

It is my understanding that it is complete and ready and, actually, we could move to that very soon--within the next hour or so.

Mr. President, I rise today in solemn remembrance of a dear friend of mine from Ashland, KY, who passed away peacefully at his home this Veterans Day. Mr. Charles Wheeler was a consummate small businessman, local official, and advocate for higher education. I knew Charles for over 30 years, and I can tell you that the love he felt for his community in the Commonwealth was surpassed only by his affection for his beloved wife of 60 years, Mary Kathryn Wheeler.

Born in Paintsville, KY, Charles owned and operated a local hardware store in Boyd County for nearly 40 years--helping to build his community and assist all who met him, literally and figuratively. It is no wonder then, that Charles's friendly manner and smart tact got him elected as an Ashland city commissioner by the age of 28. Before long, his friends and neighbors elected him to represent them in the Kentucky General Assembly, where he served for 8 years.

My friend continued to serve his community by serving on the Morehead State University Board of Regents for a decade during a period when that institution saw great growth. His pursuit of excellence in higher education undoubtedly changed the lives of countless students.

I could surely continue to draw to mind the instances when Charles helped meet the need of his community, and this Senator, but I would simply ask that my colleagues join me in remembering the life of a humble man who showed incredible character throughout his entire life. And I would further ask that they join me in expressing my sincerest condolences to Charles's beloved wife, children, grandchildren, great- grandchildren, siblings and other family members.

The Ashland Daily Independent recently published an editorial that highlights some of Charles Wheeler's accomplishments, and I ask unanimous consent that it be printed in the Record following my remarks.

I move to lay that motion on the table.

The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

Did the Senator say 10 minutes?

I would say to my friend from Illinois, we don't need 10 minutes.

Is my friend from Illinois asking a consent?

Mr. President, I am just going to proceed for a couple minutes on my leader time.

Mr. President, it is perfectly clear our friends on the other side are more interested in pleasing special interest groups than in addressing our Nation's job crisis. Once again, they are insisting the Senate spend its last remaining days before the end of the session voting on a liberal grab bag of proposals that are designed to fail. They don't even intend to pass these items. They just want to show they care enough to hold these show votes, which raises a question: Are we here to perform or are we here to legislate?

Our friends have focused on partisan votes for 4 years now. Meanwhile, millions of Americans have lost jobs and homes and in many cases hope. The Nation's debt has skyrocketed through misguided programs Americans did not want. It is time to put them aside and actually accomplish something the American people support. It is time to give back the legislative process to the people who sent us here.

That means preventing a tax hike that is about to slam every working American. It means doing something to address the jobs crisis, to give families and small businesses the tools they need to revive this economy and get people back to work. It is time to end the posturing and to work together to accomplish something, not for the liberal base, for the vast middle of America that needs us.

The White House has signaled its concern over the economy, that its policies are not helping, and that it is time to work with Republicans on forging a new path. We have reached a bipartisan agreement. It is time Democrats in Congress reach a similar conclusion and enable us to act for the good of the whole country. Americans are counting on us. They have waited long enough.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, we yield back the time on this side.

Will the leader yield on the question of the impeachment?

Is it not correct that we need Senators to be here Tuesday morning in that regard?

Did the Senator also reference filing cloture on some items?

And those votes would occur on Wednesday?

Mr. President, according to the strange logic of Democratic leaders in Congress, the best way to show middle-class Americans that they care about creating jobs is to slam some of America's top job creators with a massive tax increase. Today's votes were an affront to the millions of Americans who are struggling to find work and a clear signal that Democrats in Congress still have not gotten the message of the November elections.

With unemployment over 9 percent for more consecutive months than at any time since World War II, the voters are looking for a different approach here in Washington. Two years of out-of-control spending and big government policies have led to record deficits and debts, chronic unemployment, and deep uncertainty about our Nation's fiscal future. Meaningless show-votes and antibusiness rhetoric won't do anything to make the situation better.

This Saturday's session is a total waste of the American people's time. One of the votes we held today was opposed by every single Republican and many Democrats. The other vote we held was a poll-tested plan opposed by every single Republican and the President of the United States. As you can see, nothing we did today stopped the tax hikes that are now less than a month away. As the majority leader said this morning, these theatrics need to end.

There is strong bipartisan opposition to these attempts to raise taxes on small businesses across the country. Americans do not want political posturing; they want jobs. Today's votes are the clearest signal yet that Democrats in Congress do not take our Nation's job crisis seriously.

I yield the floor.

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

Mr. President, we have heard a lot from our friends on the other side this week about the middle class, and that is because their policies have been so ineffective in helping the middle class.

They are trying to distract the American people from their record. It is that simple. This is what those in power often do when their policies don't work. They search for a target, and the targets Democrats have decided on are Republicans and small business owners, our Nation's leading job creators, which is, of course, ridiculous.

All of this finger-pointing is doing nothing to create jobs. It is a total waste of time.

This morning, we learned unemployment is now at 9.8 percent, even higher than last month, and Democrats are responding with a vote to slam job creators with a massive tax increase.

Millions of out-of-work Americans don't want show-votes or finger- pointing contests. They want jobs.

Americans don't want to see meaningless theatrics in Congress. They want us to do something about the economy. The single best thing we can do is to tell small businesses across the country they are not going to get a tax hike next month.

These are the folks that create the jobs that every one of us claims is our first priority. Why in the world would we do something that makes them less likely to create those jobs?

Our friends on the other side know all this just as well as Republicans do, but for some reason their base is demanding that they raise taxes on small business owners.

It is the perfect way to punctuate their 2-year experiment in antibusiness, big-government policies that have only led to more joblessness, more debt, and more uncertainty.

Over the past several weeks, we have seen a growing number of Democrats begin to publicly disagree with their own leadership on the wisdom of scapegoat politics in a time of recession.

We saw this in a vivid way yesterday, when so many Democrats in the House defected from their leadership on the show-vote Speaker Pelosi held over there.

And we have seen it here in the Senate, where a number of Democrats have told their constituents that, no, of course they won't raise taxes in the middle of a recession.

They know as well as Republicans do that raising taxes--on anybody-- is counterproductive in a fragile economy like ours. And they have said so.

One of our Democrat colleagues even went on ``Good Morning America'' and said he would extend the current rates ``for everyone.'' So we fully expect these Democrats to keep their word and vote against proposals that do anything less.

These votes are a purely political exercise at a time when Americans are looking for action.

And here is all the proof we need: The author of the plan to raise taxes on anybody who earns more than a million dollars a year has openly admitted that the only rationale for that figure is that it sounds better--that it is the best way to send a message that Republicans are bad.

How about forgetting who looks good and who looks bad and start thinking of what is good and what is bad for working Americans?

These votes are an affront to millions of people struggling to find work.

What these votes say is that Democrats care more about doing harm to their political adversaries than doing good for middle class Americans struggling to find a job.

We don't help the middle class by punishing job creators; we hurt them.

We make it harder for them to find jobs. We make it harder to revive the economy.

We have now had more consecutive months of 9 percent unemployment than at any time since the Great Depression. And Democrats would rather play games than do something about it.

It should go without saying that Americans have had enough of this.

It is time to get serious. It is time to put the needs of middle class Americans above the needs of the liberal base that is demanding a show here in Congress. And that is all that this is--a show.

The left-wing might find it all very entertaining, but most Americans don't find it amusing at all. They don't want games; they want action. It is long past time we took them seriously.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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

Madam President, in October a dear friend of mine--and of the Commonwealth of Kentucky--passed away peacefully. And today I wish to pay tribute to Mayor Bill Gorman, of Hazard, KY, for his warm and generous spirit and, above all, for his faithfulness to the mission of promoting, defending, and serving the people of Hazard.

Mayor Gorman was born about a decade after the railroad came, when Hazard was first opening up to the world. He saw the floods and the cleanup, the coal carnivals, and the stores on Main Street come and go. He saw Senators and Congressmen, and Presidential candidates. He saw it all. And he could have followed it all too, right out of Hazard. But he didn't. Because Hazard was the only place he ever wanted to be.

The story goes that Bill was vacationing down in Florida in 1977, when somebody threw his name in the race for mayor. From that point on, being mayor was all Bill ever wanted. He never drew a paycheck. And he was never off the clock--as anyone who used to get his late-night phone calls can attest. He was always thinking of how to move Hazard forward, how to make life better for the people of Hazard and the surrounding region. Whether it was extending the water lines or building a pool where the kids in town could learn to swim, or expanding the hospital, or improving and expanding educational opportunities, he always had a vision and a plan to make it happen. And he usually did.

He attended every ribbon cutting, no matter how small. And he took everybody's calls--even at home--and there were a lot of them--because his number was always listed in the phone book. He treated everyone with dignity and respect, and he wanted to talk to everybody, whether you were the President of the United States--and Bill knew a lot of them or somebody down on their luck.

One of Bill's lunch buddies remembers being with him once when he got a phone call from an elderly widow who lived in one of the public housing units in town. Her health was deteriorating, she said, and she wondered if he could help her move from the fourth floor to the first floor. Mayor Gorman got the building manager on the phone immediately and asked if anything was opening up on the first floor. There was. And that woman got her wish. Moving floors was important to that lady, so it was important to Mayor Gorman.

Another time a group of city workmen dropped into a local restaurant for a bite to eat after working around the clock after a snow storm. When the bill came, they were told it had already been paid. It was Mayor Gorman, but they didn't know it. He made sure of it. He did that kind of thing all the time, never flaunting it, just lifting folks up-- from high school kids going off to college to an elderly woman who needed a hand--he was there.

For Mayor Gorman, no problem was too little or too big. He was as concerned about the little things as he was determined to accomplish the big things, and he was a master at both. He never boasted. He just did good. It is a rare breed these days. But Bill Gorman was a rare man, a gentle soul who devoted himself to his mission in life and who enjoyed every minute of it. Not that he wasn't feisty. If you ever wanted to pick a fight with Mayor Gorman, say something about the people of eastern Kentucky; he would take you on. And the people of Perry Country loved him for it.

He was proud of his people and his heritage. And he was proud of the coal industry that built this region. As it happens, I got to know Bill before he was a mountain legend. Long before either of us had set out on our political careers, and I was working as the youth chairman for Marlow Cook, who was running for the Senate that year. When they sent me out on the road, they told me to look up a guy named Bill Gorman when I got to Hazard. He was the guy, they said. And they were right. And when the two of us got together for the last time at his home this past August, 42 years later, he was still the guy.

Washington may not be a very popular place these days, but Hazard is a pretty popular place in Washington. Walk into any office--whether it is a staffer or a U.S. President--and you are liable to see a Duke or Duchess of Hazard citation on the wall. I am told that even Pope John Paul II was named a Duke of Hazard, which is appropriate, since Bill used to say he was born a Baptist, was adopted by the Catholics, and would die a Presbyterian. Like a lot of politicians, he was covering all his bases.

Mayor Gorman once said that government is only as good as the people who run it. If that is true, it is likely Hazard will never be as good as it was when Mayor Gorman was with us. But I think we owe it to him to make it so--to live our lives with the same dedication and spirit of service he did. I am blessed to have known him. He is dearly missed.

Madam President, yesterday we watched a number of Democratic Senators come to the Senate floor and express their exasperation at not being able to do what they want to do around here. It is quite astonishing.

Let's face it, most Americans are not particularly interested in the things Democratic leaders have put at the top of their to-do list. They thought they put a restraining order on Democratic partisan priorities early last month. It is time Democrats put the priorities of the voters first.

In a couple of weeks the lights go out around here unless we do something to stop it. At the end of the month every taxpayer suffers a pay cut unless we stop it. But Democrats would rather spend the Senate's limited time on don't ask, don't tell and immigration. They would rather come down to the floor to talk about filibuster rules.

So they still do not get it, and that is why Republicans are insisting we put these things aside and finish the most important and urgent legislation before time runs out.

Fifteen million Americans are out of work. More than 3 million of those jobs have been lost since the stimulus was passed. So with all due respect for the Democrats' economic theories, the $1 trillion stimulus, endless government spending, and bailouts do not appear to have worked.

We have tried their way. Now it is time to try what businesses and families are asking us to do. Ask any business owner in America what we could do to help them start hiring again, and they will tell you the best thing we can do is give them certainty about their taxes.

The DREAM Act does not create jobs. Filibuster rules do not create jobs. Wasting time on votes to raise taxes will not create jobs.

Right now, House Democrats are getting ready to send us a bill on taxes they know will not pass in the Senate. This is a purely political exercise. Just consider what a number of Senate Democrats have said about this issue. Here is what one of their newest Members said just a few weeks ago:

I would extend them--

Referring to tax cuts--

for everyone.

Here is another one from September:

I don't think it makes sense to raise any federal taxes

during the uncertain economy we are struggling through.

The first comment was from Senator Coons. The second comment was from Senator Lieberman.

Another said:

I support extending all of the expiring tax cuts until . .

. the nation's economy is in better shape, and perhaps

longer, because raising taxes in a weak economy could impair

recovery. Continuing all of the tax cuts could provide

certainty for families and businesses. . . .

That was Senator Ben Nelson.

I don't think they ought to be drawing a distinction at

$250,000.

That was Senator Jim Webb.

The economy is very weak right now. Raising taxes will

lower consumer demand at a time when we want people putting

more money into the economy.

That was Senator Evan Bayh.

Raising taxes during an economic downturn, one said, ``would be counterproductive.'' That was Senator Kent Conrad.

So what is the problem? It seems to me we have solid bipartisan agreement on the right thing to do for the economy and for job creation. Who is holding it up, and what do they have against helping businesses and creating jobs?

It is time to focus. We have tried the tax-and-spend route. It has not worked. Why don't we listen to the voters? Let's fund the government while reducing spending and prevent a massive tax hike on every American taxpayer.

Look, we have bipartisan support for this in the Senate and bipartisan opposition to raising taxes on anyone. As the President said earlier this week, after our meeting at the White House:

I think everybody understands that the American people want

us to focus on their jobs, not ours. They want us to come

together around strategies to accelerate the recovery and get

Americans back to work.

I agree with the President. Why don't we get this done?

Madam President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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