Joseph Lieberman

Mr. LIEBERMAN

Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President, I thank the Chair. Mr. President, I say to my friend from Mississippi, first, I want to congratulate you on your normalcy; that you actually want to get home and have dinner with your wife. That is a very healthy thing to do.

Mr. LIEBERMAN. No, I think it is normal. But I would say--I will yield to Senator Collins in a moment--that we, as managers of this bill, really appreciate what you have said because we started on the bill last Wednesday. We had some good, healthy debate on a series of amendments that went to the heart of what the bill is about. Frankly, those amendments are done. Now this bill is ready to be adopted and sent to conference, and what has happened, as always happens, is people see a vehicle moving, and jump on it with related or unrelated amendments. Incidentally, of all the amendments filed, apparently only seven or eight are going to survive as germane, presuming cloture is invoked tomorrow. So people get to be--well, they see a horse moving and they want to jump on. Also, then others get to be quite demanding and, might I say respectfully, occasionally unreasonable in blocking votes on the amendments. It is one thing to be against an amendment, but let's come out, vote on it. You can have your say. The record will be established. But to block the amendment from coming up that then blocks this important bill--which most of us will support--from going forward, that does not make sense. So I appreciate the Senator's exacerbation. Mr. President, I yield to my friend, the ranking member of the committee.

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 President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. LIEBERMAN

Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President, I have a unanimous consent request to offer, unfortunately not as large as I had hoped, but it may bring the Senators here to the floor and we could reason and go beyond this matter. I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to executive session to consider the nominations, Nos. 27 and 28; that the Senate immediately vote on the first nomination to be immediately followed by a vote on the second nomination; and that the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table, the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action, and the Senate then resume legislative session; and that there be 2 minutes for debate between the votes.

Mr. LIEBERMAN

Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Armed Services be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on March 8, 2007, at 9:30 a.m., in open session to consider the following nominations: ADM. Timothy J. Keating, USN, for reappointment to the grade of Admiral and to be Commander, U.S. Pacific Command; LT. GEN. Victor E. Renuart, Jr., USAF, for appointment to be General and Commander, U.S. Northern Command/Commander, North American Aerospace Defense Command; and LT. GEN. Robert L. Van Antwerp, USA, for reappointment to the grade of Lieutenant General and to be Chief of Engineers/Commanding General, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation be authorized to hold a hearing during the session of the Senate on Thursday, March 8, 2007, at 9:30 a.m., in room 253 of the Russell Senate Office Building. The purpose of the hearing is to review the Administration's proposal to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration.

Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Finance be authorized to meet during the session on Thursday, March 8, 2007, at 10 a.m., in 215 Dirksen Senate Office Building, to hear testimony on ``Perspectives on the 2007 Trade Agenda.''

Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Foreign Relations be authorized to hold a hearing on Afghanistan on Thursday, March 8, 2007, at 9:30 a.m., in Dirksen 419.

Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions be authorized to hold a hearing during the session of the Senate on Thursday, March 8, 2007, at 10 a.m. in SD-430.

Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Indian Affairs be authorized to meet on Thursday, March 8, 2007, at 9:30 a.m. in room 485 of the Russell Senate Office Building to conduct a hearing on the Indian Health Care Improvement Act Amendments of 2007 which I intend to introduce in the near future. Those wishing additional information may contact the Indian Affairs Committee at 224- 2251.

Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be authorized to meet to conduct a markup on Thursday, March 8, 2007, at 10 a.m. in Dirksen room 226. Agenda I. Nominations: Thomas M. Hardiman to be United States Circuit Judge for the Third Circuit; Vanessa Lynne Bryant to be U.S. District Judge for the District of Connecticut. II. Committee Authorization: Authorization of Subpoenas to Former U.S. Attorneys. III. Bills: S. 236, The Federal Agency Data Mining Reporting Act of 2007, Feingold, Sununu; S. 261, Animal Fighting Prohibition Enforcement Act of 2007, Cantwell, Specter, Durbin, Kyl, Feinstein, Feingold, Kohl; S. 376, Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act of 2007, Leahy, Specter, Kyl, Cornyn, Grassley, Sessions; S. 231, A bill to authorize the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program, Feinstein, Cornyn, Kohl, Durbin, Biden, Grassley; S. 368, COPS Improvements Act of 2007, Biden, Leahy, Kohl, Feinstein, Schumer, Durbin, Specter; S. 627, Safe Babies Act, Harkin, Specter; S. 655, The American National Red Cross Governance Modernization Act of 2007, Grassley, Kennedy, Feingold. IV. Resolutions: S. Res. 88, Honoring the achievements of Deval Patrick, Kerry, Kennedy; S. Con. Res. 14, Commemorating the 85th anniversary of the American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association, Snowe.

Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate for a hearing entitled ``Small Business Solutions for Combating Climate Change,'' on Thursday, March 8, 2007, beginning at 10 a.m. in room 428A of the Russell Senate Office Building.

Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Veterans' Affairs be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Thursday, March 8, 2007 at 9:30 a.m. in room 106 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building, to hear the legislative presentation of the Paralyzed Veterans of America, the Jewish War Veterans, the Vietnam Veterans of America, the Blind Veterans Association, and the Non Commissioned Officers Association.

Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Joint Economic Committee be authorized to conduct a hearing in room 562 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building, Thursday, March 8, 2007, from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Select Committee on Intelligence be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on March 8, 2007, at 2:30 p.m. to hold a business meeting and hearing.

Mr. LIEBERMAN

Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President, I note the absence of a quorum.

Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President, if I may first ask unanimous consent that the Senate stand in recess at 10:40 subject to the call; and that at 1:30 p.m. today, there be 15 minutes of debate equally divided and controlled prior to a vote in relation to the McCaskill amendment No. 316, as modified, followed by a vote in relation to the Collins amendment No. 342; that there be 2 minutes of debate equally divided between the votes and that no amendments be in order to either amendment prior to the vote; that at 1:45 p.m., without further intervening action or debate, the Senate proceed to vote in the order specified.

Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President, if I may through the Chair, there are a number of Senators who said they wanted to come and discuss amendments after the Senate reconvenes. How much time did the Senator from Pennsylvania desire to discuss the habeas amendment?

Mr. LIEBERMAN. Understood. Maybe I misled the Senator unintentionally. I am not looking for a time agreement on debate on the amendment; I would just like to know how long he would like to speak when we reconvene so we set it down for a time limit because I know there are other Senators from both parties who want to come over.

Mr. LIEBERMAN. I would accept that amendment to my request, with the understanding that not interfere with the fact that by 1:30, we will go back to the Collins and McCaskill amendments. I don't think it would.

Mr. LIEBERMAN. I have no objection.

Mr. LIEBERMAN. Not at all. Mr. President, I again ask unanimous consent on the unanimous consent agreement that I proposed with regard to the votes on the Collins and McCaskill amendments, and then we will come directly to Senator Specter.

Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President, I just would say, or whenever. If we come back before 12, you will be recognized to speak for an hour.

Mr. LIEBERMAN. Or after 12, if that is the case. We have no objection.

Mr. LIEBERMAN

Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the time allocated to the Senator from Pennsylvania expires at 1, the Senator from Minnesota be recognized for 10 minutes and, after that, the Senator from Delaware be recognized for whatever amount of time he needs until 1:30, when Senators Collins and McCaskill have 15 minutes equally divided.