Carl Levin

Mr. LEVIN

Mr. LEVIN. If either had said 9 minutes, they would have had a better case. I wonder if the two Senators whom we referred to could get together and resolve this issue for us as to who would go first and who would go second. Could we ask the two Senators to perhaps help us out on that, and then I would ask that after we talk, if we could have a UC as to that procedure. In terms of the schedule, assuming we could get the bill passed by tomorrow, which would probably be lucky because there are a number of amendments that are in that unanimous consent agreement that are referred to specifically that have time connected to them--if we could get this bill passed by tomorrow, or cloture invoked, then there is 30 hours of postcloture. We don't know whether that would be used by any of our colleagues. They have a right to do that, and around here, as we know, frequently that 30-hour period is used. If it is not used, we would then have to name conferees, which hopefully would be done fairly quickly. Then the House reviews the Senate bill and determines the committee jurisdiction and names their conferees. That, at a minimum, is 2 to 3 days for the House to do that--to go through that process to see what committees have jurisdiction over the language in our bill, other than the Armed Services Committee. Then the House and the Senate staffs have to match up these provisions for conference. That usually takes 2 days--usually takes 2 days. So if we are lucky, we could start conference 3 to 4 days after passage of this bill, although it usually takes a longer period of time. So if we pass this bill tomorrow, that would take us to the end of the--that would take the House to the end of the week to be ready for conference, if we started conference on Monday. Whatever period the conference takes, even if it took 2 or 3 days, it is the middle of next week. That is before the 4-day period is triggered.

Mr. LEVIN. There has.

Mr. LEVIN. I don't think we have any difference on that, in terms of the ability of people of good faith to get things done.

Mr. LEVIN. This assumes maximum crunch, what I specified for the Senator from Virginia. This is an optimistic view of the timetable, where everybody is using 24/7, to the extent that human bodies permit. We don't have any difference in terms of that. I am wondering if our two friends from Virginia and Maine have resolved who would go first. Could we then allow them to proceed in the order they have agreed upon, and then the Senator from Virginia and I could pick this up after that.

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, I commend Senator Webb for this sense-of- the-Senate resolution. We have the assurance of the administration that they will share the text with the leadership of the Congress and with the chairmen and ranking members of the Senate and House Armed Services Committees and Foreign Relations Committees. But this goes beyond it and takes an essential step beyond that commitment. We should be involved in this kind of a long-term relationship. I commend the Senator from Virginia for his drafting of this amendment. It is very careful. I believe, based on the assurance of Senator Warner, that it will be included in any UC that is propounded. I hope that UC--any UC--can be adopted and that, indeed, it will include the Webb amendment as having the assurance of a vote.

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

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

Mr. LEVIN

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

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, I thank the leader and I thank Senator Warner for his statement in support of cloture. It is a difficult and courageous vote. I commend them on it. The issue here is not earmarks; the issue is a perception that is being perpetrated that it is about earmarks. This green book is our committee report. It lists all of the items to be added to it and subtracted. This white book is our bill. It incorporates the charts and lines from the committee report and is incorporated into this bill as law. The lines here--add- ons, subtractions, all of the requests of the President that weren't touched, by the thousands--are incorporated by reference in our bill. The amendment of Senator DeMint, who wants to eliminate the incorporation by reference, has exactly the opposite effect. All the line items that were added or subtracted would not be part of the bill if the DeMint amendment were agreed to. They would remain in the committee report without incorporation by reference in the bill. It goes exactly the opposite direction of making ``earmarks'' part of law. The Warner amendment, on the other hand, would incorporate not just by reference but all of the language in the thousands of lines in the bill. The problem is that it would take so much time, according to the Government Printing Office, to do that, we probably could not get to conference and back to the Senate unless we had a lameduck session. We don't know that we will. We cannot jeopardize this bill, which means so much to the men and women in the Armed Forces, by a requirement that achieves no purpose because the lines are already incorporated by reference, that achieves only the perception of a purpose, which apparently meets some political needs of people who are out campaigning. That is not enough to jeopardize the Defense bill. This bill means everything to the men and women in the armed services. It should mean everything to us because they mean everything to us. We cannot jeopardize this bill by any action which may make it impossible for us to bring back a bill from conference. I wish to end by again complimenting Senator Warner. He has been absolutely wonderful in trying to work out a unanimous consent agreement. I treasure our 30 years together. I wish we could end this with a cloture vote that would allow us to finish positively the great effort he has put in. I hope we can get 60 votes for cloture. Cloture Motion

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

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, now that cloture has been invoked on our bill, we are going to be working very hard with Senators who have germane amendments that have not been cleared to see if we can make progress on such amendments. We not only request that Senators who have such amendments come promptly to the floor to meet with us or our staffs, but we also have to recognize that any such amendment, if it is not in a cleared package, would require consent, given the parliamentary situation. We have a cleared package already, which I think is upwards, perhaps, of 90 amendments or so, which we would hope to add to before we offer it to the Senate by unanimous consent. After Senator Warner has an opportunity to speak, I think we will put in a quorum call and do some other work we need to do in order to get to the next stage in this bill. Hopefully, we can now move promptly on this bill now that cloture is invoked. I thank the Senator from Virginia for all he did to make that possible.

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, we will, of course, do our very best, working with Senators, to add to this package. There are some possibilities there. Again, I wish to alert Senators to the fact that we are in a postcloture situation, which means they must be germane unless there is unanimous consent to the contrary. Also, the parliamentary situation is such that it would require consent. But as the Senator from Virginia wisely points out, we are going to do our very best to not be limited to technicalities if we can get consent of the body to obviate those technicalities. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. LEVIN

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Tuesday, September 16, 2008, at 10:30 a.m., in room 253V the Russell Senate Office Building. In this hearing, the Committee will receive testimony regarding the consumer benefits of broadband service in areas such as education, job opportunities, telemedicine, and access to government resources.

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate to conduct a hearing on Tuesday, September 16, 2008, at 10 a.m., in room SD-366 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Environment and Public Works be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Tuesday, September 16, 2008, at 10 a.m. in room 406 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building to hold a hearing entitled ``Oversight Hearing on EPA's Children's Health Protection Efforts.''

Mr. LEVIN

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be read three times and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate, and that any statements relating to the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. LEVIN

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 947, S. 3023.

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, I further ask unanimous consent that the Akaka amendment be agreed to; that the committee's substitute amendment, as amended, be agreed to; the bill be read a third time and passed; the title amendment be agreed to; the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate, and any statements relating to the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. LEVIN

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Foreign Relations be discharged from further consideration of S. Con. Res. 87, and that the Senate then proceed to its immediate consideration.

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, I further ask unanimous consent that the concurrent resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate, and any statements relating to the measure be printed in the Record.

Mr. LEVIN

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand adjourned until 9:30 a.m. tomorrow, Wednesday, September 17; that 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 be reserved for their use later in the day, and the Senate proceed to a period of morning business for up to 1 hour, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each, with the time equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees, with the majority controlling the first half and the Republicans controlling the second half; that following morning business, the Senate resume consideration of S. 3001, the National Defense Authorization Act; further, that all time in adjournment, recess, and morning business count postcloture.

Mr. LEVIN

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, cloture was invoked this afternoon and the managers of the bill continue to work through filed amendments. We expect to complete action on the Defense authorization bill during tomorrow's session and rollcall votes are possible throughout the day.

Mr. LEVIN

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

Mr. LEVIN

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

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