Floor Statements

I ask unanimous consent the Senate now proceed to H.R. 5690 just received from the House and at the desk.

I ask unanimous consent the bill be read a third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid on the table, and any statements be printed in the Record.

I ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of H. Con. Res. 423, which was received from the House.

I ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and any statements be printed in the Record.

I ask unanimous consent the Committee on Armed Services be discharged from further consideration of S. 3759, and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

I ask unanimous consent the bill be read a third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid on the table, and any statements be printed in the Record.

I ask unanimous consent the Judiciary Committee be discharged from further consideration of S. 994 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

I ask unanimous consent a Feinstein amendment, which is at the desk, be agreed to, the bill, as amended, be read a third time and passed, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate, and any statements be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that appropriate committees be discharged from and the Senate now proceed to the en bloc consideration of the following resolutions:

S. Res. 595, S. Res. 596, S. Res. 597, S. Res. 598, S. Res. 599, S. Res. 600, S. Res. 601, S. Res. 602, S. Res. 603, S. Res. 604, S. Res. 608, S. Res. 609, S. Res. 611, S. Res. 614, H. Con. Res. 384, S. Con. Res. 119, S. Res. 547, H. Con. Res. 175, and S. Con. Res. 101.

I further ask that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration en bloc of the following resolutions that were introduced earlier today: S. Res. 618, S. Res. 619, S. Res. 601, and S. Res. 621.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the amendments at the desk be agreed to, the resolutions as amended, if amended, be agreed to, the preambles as amended, if amended, be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be laid on the table, all en bloc.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of H. Con. Res. 496, which was received from the House.

I ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and any statements related to the resolution be printed in the Record.

I ask unanimous consent that during the adjournment of the Senate, the majority leader and both Senators from Virginia be authorized to sign duly enrolled bills or joint resolutions.

I ask unanimous consent notwithstanding the upcoming recess or adjournment of the Senate, the President of the Senate, the President pro tempore, and majority and minority leaders be authorized to make appointments to commissions, committees, boards, conferences, or interparliamentary conferences authorized by law, by concurrent action of the two Houses, or by order of the Senate.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate immediately proceed to executive session to consider the following nominations on today's Executive Calendar: Calendar Nos. 903, 977, 996, 997, 998, 999, and all nominations on the Secretary's desk; further, that the Foreign Relations Committee be discharged from consideration of the following nominations and the Senate proceed to their immediate consideration, all en bloc: Ronald Spogli, PN2064; Craig Roberts Stapleton, PN2063; Kay Kelley Arnold, PN2046; Gary C. Bryner, PN2047; Thomas Joseph Dodd, PN2048; Adolfo A. Franco, PN183; John P. Salazar, PN2050; Thomas A. Shannon, PN2051; Roger Wallace, PN1305; Jack Vaughn, PN96; Jack Vaughn, PN2052.

I further ask unanimous consent the nominations be confirmed en bloc, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action, and the Senate then return to legislative session.

I ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed to the immediate en bloc consideration of the following bills reported out of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee: Calendar Nos. 546, 557, 558, and 643, and that the Energy and Natural Resources Committee be discharged from further consideration of H.R. 3817 and H.R. 2383, and the Senate proceed to their immediate consideration en bloc.

I ask unanimous consent the committee-reported amendments be agreed to, the bills, as amended, if amended, be read a third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, all en bloc.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand in adjournment under the provisions of H. Con. Res. 496 until 10 a.m. on Monday, December 4. I further ask consent that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, and the Senate then automatically adjourn over until 12 noon on Tuesday, December 5; provided further 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, and the Senate proceed to a period of morning business until 2 p.m., with Senator DeWine to speak for up to 2 hours.

Mr. President, I congratulate Chairman Lugar and Senator Biden for outstanding work on the United States-India cooperative agreement legislation, which passed tonight by a vote of 85 to 12. I also appreciate the assistance of all Members who were willing to defer amendments and allow us to finish the bill this evening.

We will return for business after the Thanksgiving holiday. The continuing resolution will expire at the end of that week, as of December 8, and therefore we will need to work toward a conclusion on the appropriations process. As I announced earlier, our next vote will occur on Tuesday, December 5, around 5 p.m.

I wish all of my colleagues a safe and pleasant Thanksgiving holiday.

Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate stand in adjournment under the provisions of H. Con. Res. 496.

Mr. President, we are coming in this afternoon rather than this morning, as we did yesterday, following the elections of the Democratic leadership, and today following the Republican leadership elections. Right away I want to congratulate Senators McConnell, Lott, Kyl, Hutchison, Cornyn, and Ensign, who will represent our Republican Party in our leadership here in this body.

This afternoon the Senate will conduct a period for morning business. As we speak, we are working on an agreement regarding the U.S.-India nuclear agreement and possible progress on appropriations bills. We finished the MILCON bill yesterday and have other bills sequenced and will be able to address those in short order. We hope to be able to schedule votes for later this afternoon. We also need to act on the short-term continuing resolution which has just arrived from the House. When votes are scheduled, Senators will be notified over the course of the afternoon.

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

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that at a time to be determined by the majority leader in consultation with the Democratic leader, the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 527, S. 3709, the U.S.-India nuclear bill. I further ask that a manager's amendment to be agreed upon by Senators Lugar, Biden, and Frist be agreed to as original text for the purpose of further amendment, and that the only other amendments in order be: Ensign regarding inspection, to be considered in closed session; Reed, Levin, Obama, two Dorgan amendments, Feingold, Boxer, Feinstein, Harkin, up to seven Bingaman, Kennedy, and Dodd. I further ask that all amendments except Senator Feingold's be subject to relevant second degrees and that all be related to the subject matter of the bill.

I further ask that once the bill as amended has been read a third time, the Senate then proceed to the consideration of H.R. 5682, the House-passed companion, that all after the enacting clause be stricken and the text of S. 3709 as amended be inserted in lieu thereof, and that the Senate then proceed to a vote on passage of H.R. 5682 as amended with no intervening action or debate. I further ask that following passage of the bill, the Senate insist upon its amendment and request a conference with the House, the Chair be authorized to appoint conferees, and S. 3709 be returned to the calendar.

Mr. President, this is the unanimous consent about how we will

handle the U.S.-India nuclear cooperation bill. We are currently in discussion with a number of other agreements that we are attempting to reach in order to plan out activity both today and tomorrow and possibly Friday. With that, we expect to complete our business this week and then following that we will be out until December 4, or that week of December 4. As we look ahead, because we have a number of issues to address, we will be keeping our colleagues notified on both sides of the aisle. There are a number of issues the Democratic leader and I have outlined that we would like to do before we leave in December.