John McCain

Mr. McCAIN

Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, I thank Senator Menendez and Senator Kirk for this very important action of tightening sanctions on Iran. The centrifuges are still spinning in Tehran, and we have enacted strong sanctions. They have had some effect, but we have not had sufficient effect. I thank Senator Menendez and Senator Kirk for this language in this amendment. I will not go through a list of all the actions that will be taken against Iran, but the screws need to be tightened. This is an important act, and it can--I emphasize, can--lead to a way to prevent a conflagration in the Middle East. I thank Senator Menendez for his leadership, and I yield the floor.

Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, again, I hope our colleagues understand we are either going to do this finite list or we will have cloture and nonrelevant amendments will automatically fall. I hope everybody understands this is one of two options, and it seems to me if we agree on a finite list, we can then have a better chance for amendments to be considered. I wish to thank the majority leader and all our colleagues for their patience throughout this very difficult process. I hope, in the interests of achieving the objective of passing this legislation, we will allow the amendments that are relevant and debate and votes.

Mr. McCAIN. I thank the Senator from New Hampshire. She is an advocate and a very active and important member of our committee. I also would wish to thank her for arranging yesterday's event on behalf of and in memory of one of the great Members of this body, Warren Rudman. I thought it was a wonderful event, and I thank the Senator, both senators from New Hampshire, for arranging what I think was a very fitting tribute to one of the real giants of the Senate in the New Hampshire tradition, so I thank the Senator.

Mr. McCAIN. The Vice President of the United States also was in attendance.

Mr. McCAIN. As my friend from Michigan knows, the Vice President of the United States is not notorious for his brevity.

Mr. McCAIN. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, I hope our colleagues and staffs who are observing our deliberations would think seriously about their amendments and how they can be consolidated, whether they really need to be considered. We are working through large numbers of amendments. We will probably be revealing a finite list, and we hope we can satisfy all Members' concerns. I yield. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, could I say we now have, believe it or not, a pretty manageable list. We have been working for 3 days on amendments, on compiling amendments, on disposing of amendments, various managers' packages, and we will have an additional managers' package or two today. I ask our colleagues to cooperate in the next 20 minutes and have their staffs--and themselves if they are in their offices--examine this list, which is available, and make sure it is agreeable to them so we can lock this down and then move forward to having voice votes, managers' packages, and, where required, rollcall votes. We will not deny any Senator this right, starting on Monday night. We look forward to having agreement from everybody. I believe we can, beginning on Monday, get this legislation done. I would also like to say that I appreciate the patience of the majority leader, who has a large calendar. We appreciate his patience on this issue. Finally, I would say again that I think we are showing and can show Monday night that this body is capable of taking up a piece of legislation without a cloture vote, without filling up the tree, without all the other parliamentary maneuvers and objections, and come forth with a piece of legislation that I think all of us can be proud of but, more importantly, that is of significant importance to the men and women who are serving in the military and our ability to protect this Nation. I thank the chairman again for his unstinting effort.

Mr. McCAIN

Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, I would like to thank the majority leader again for his encouragement of this process. As I said before, I think it should be an example for addressing further pieces of legislation before this body. It has been very tough. There have been hundreds of amendments that have been filed, many of which have been disposed of. I believe on Monday night we could complete this legislation with the cooperation of all Members so that this body could move on to other business. I want to thank again my friend, the chairman, who continues to show unlimited patience, which is a quality that I do not possess. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. McCAIN. The amendments have been cleared on our side.

Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, I thank the Presiding Officer for his patience and long period of time in the chair today. We, obviously, have a couple of members in the media who have no other lives.

Mr. McCAIN. I thank our distinguished chairman. Obviously, you have been here a long time. I also appreciate our staffs who, again, show that work-release programs are quite successful in the Senate. Thank you very much.

Mr. McCAIN

Mr. McCAIN. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

Mr. McCAIN. I move to lay the motion on the table.

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

Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, what is the parliamentary situation?

Mr. McCAIN. All right. I intend to speak on that shortly. I see the chairman is here.

Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, I have looked at the amendment by the Senator from Oregon. He has made some modifications that I think are appropriate, and this side has no objection. I understand, however, that he will insist on a recorded vote, which is his right. But I see at this time no objection to the amendment as he describes it.

Mr. McCAIN

Mr. McCAIN. That will take approximately 30 minutes? Before the vote?

Mr. McCAIN. Ten minutes we will be ready to vote.

Mr. McCAIN. All these amendments have been cleared on our side.

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

Mr. McCAIN. I move to lay that motion on the table.

Mr. McCAIN. I ask unanimous consent to modify the consent agreement that the Senators from New Hampshire, Ms. Ayotte and Mrs. Shaheen, have 15 minutes equally divided following the remarks of Senator Baucus.