Tom Harkin

Mr. HARKIN

Mr. HARKIN. Sure.

Mr. HARKIN. That sounds interesting.

Mr. HARKIN. I give the Senator my word. I want the same thing he wants. It burns me up, too, to see some of these people who buy acres and they get EQIP money to put up a nice pond or a horse shed. I agree with him. Maybe we can get our staffs and get people to think about how we might fashion this to exclude those people from the EQIP program. I would love to see that happen.

Mr. HARKIN. If the Senator will yield further, maybe the Senator is onto something in terms of intent or what they are doing, coupled with, perhaps, the productive capacity and what that land is actually producing on an annualized basis.

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

Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote, and I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, we are making good progress. Senator Chambliss and I have been working very hard today to get amendments up. I think we are down to just a few we will be voting on tomorrow, and we will do perhaps a little bit more work tonight. I would say to any Senator whose amendment is on the list who wants to debate it, we are here. They could debate the amendment tonight and get in order tomorrow. I have a couple of things I want to wrap up.

Mr. HARKIN. I ask for regular order with respect to amendment No. 3830.

Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, I send an amendment to the desk.

Mr. HARKIN. It is just a second-degree.

Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, I call up amendment No. 3539. It is an amendment by Senator Durbin, No. 3539. I ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, I send an amendment to the desk.

Mr. HARKIN

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 President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. HARKIN

Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that there now be a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.

Mr. HARKIN

Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Foreign Relations be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, December 12, 2007, at 11 a.m. in order to hold a closed briefing on North Korea.

Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions be authorized to meet in Executive session during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, December 12, 2007, at 10 a.m. in room 430 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, December 12, 2007, at 10 a.m. in order to consider the nominations of Harvey E. Johnson, Jr., to be Deputy Administrator, Federal Emergency Management Agency, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and Jeffrey William Runge to be Assistant Secretary for Health Affairs and Chief Medical Officer, U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Rules and Administration be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, December 12, 2007, at 10 a.m., in order to hear testimony on the funding challenges and facilities maintenance issues facing the Smithsonian Institution.

Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Special Committee on Aging be authorized to meet tomorrow, Wednesday, December 12, 2007 from 10:30 a.m.--12:30 p.m. in room SD-628 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building for the purposes of conducting a hearing.

Mr. HARKIN

Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, I understand there is a bill at the desk. I ask for its first reading.

Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, I now 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.

Mr. HARKIN

Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand adjourned until 8:30 a.m., Thursday, December 13; that on Thursday, following the prayer and pledge, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed expired, the time for the two leaders reserved for their use later in the day, and the Senate then resume consideration of H.R. 2419, with the time until 9:15 a.m. equally divided and controlled between the leaders or their designees for debate only; that at 9:15 a.m., the Senate vote in relation to the Dorgan amendment No. 3695, as modified, as provided for under a previous order; that upon disposition of the Dorgan amendment, there be 2 minutes of debate prior to a cloture vote on the motion to concur with respect to H.R. 6.

Mr. HARKIN

Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, if there is no further business today, I now ask unanimous consent that the Senate stand adjourned under the previous order.

Mr. HARKIN

Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that if the Senate receives from the House a message on H.R. 3997 with an amendment that is not germane to the Senate amendment with the underlying bill, that the bill and its amendments be referred to the Finance Committee.

Mr. HARKIN

Mr. HARKIN. Again, the House indicated they would take it up. It languished here. It passed the Senate, as I said, by unanimous consent three times already. Again, it is time to keep the promise that Congress made to 30 million Americans in 1996. I would hope we would not block the Realtime Writers Act, and let it go through, and with unanimous consent, as it has done three times in the Senate before. I would ask those who have a hold on the bill, are they saying that 100 Senators before, who let this legislation go through, didn't know what they were doing? We all have staffs, and we all pay attention to what legislation goes through here. I think it is indicative of the support we had on both sides of the aisle that the Realtime Writers Act, as I said, passed by unanimous consent three times in the past. I wanted to talk about these bills because again I think they are both widely supported. We have worked out agreements with people in the past, and I don't think there is any real, legitimate reason to keep a hold on these bills and not let them pass. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate take up and pass Calendar No. 326, S. 1183, the Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis Act, and Calendar No. 291, S. 675, the Training for Realtime Writers Act.