Patty Murray

Mrs. MURRAY

Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, I believe the pending amendment is Coats amendment No. 514.

Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, I strongly oppose this amendment. I agree with the Senator from California, and I yield her my time in opposition.

Mrs. MURRAY. I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mrs. MURRAY. 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. Amendment No. 373

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote.

Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, hearing no opposition, I suggest we have a voice vote on it.

Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, I too am committed to meeting the needs of our military to defend the Nation and our interests abroad. That is exactly what this budget does. We should not be linking defense funding with unrelated benchmarks. This amendment is unnecessary. The Senate budget does fund defense above net interest in fiscal year 2014 and over both the 5- and 10-year windows. I recommend that my colleagues oppose the amendment. Madam President, may I just respond and say that we have been very hard at work here. We have had a number of amendments come before us. All of our staffs are working together to have as many amendments as we can put together for the next group of votes. Really, I do want to thank all of our Senators. I know everybody has been working really hard to get their amendments up so we can have them in order. I think we are going to keep working on that, and I appreciate everybody's focus. Madam President, I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, I move to reconsider the vote.

Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the next amendments in order to be called up be the following: McCaskill No. 366, Johnson of Wisconsin No. 213, Brown No. 455, and Scott No. 597; that there be no second-degree amendments in order prior to the votes in relation to any of these amendments; that notwithstanding all time having expired on the resolution, there be 2 minutes equally divided prior to each vote; that upon disposition of Scott 597, the majority have the next amendment in order; finally, all these votes be 10-minute votes.

Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the amendments be reported en bloc.

Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, I would add to what the majority leader said. Senators have been very good in helping us work through our list on both sides. We will have some more amendments to be offered in a unanimous consent in a short while once we work through these four. Again, I would ask all Senators to please work with the leader on your side, Mr. Sessions on the Republican side, and myself. We need to know which amendments you have to have votes on so we can start letting Senators know where we are going to end up here. I would ask everybody to continue cooperating with us. I appreciate everybody who has been working so hard. Amendment No. 366

Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, hearing no opposition, I suggest we voice vote this amendment.

Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, I move to reconsider the vote and lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to. Amendment No. 213

Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, Social Security and Medicare have played a very critical role in providing a foundation of financial security and health care for millions upon millions of Americans over the decades. Democrats are committed to preserving and protecting them. When analyzing the solvency of these programs, it must be over more than just a 10-year budget window; we must measure them over a 75-year window. This amendment, however, does nothing to protect the integrity of the Medicare and Social Security trust funds, and it does not do anything to improve their solvency. We should have a debate about the solvency of these programs but not on the budget resolution. I urge my colleagues to oppose this amendment and ask for the yeas and nays.

Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, I move to reconsider the vote and lay that motion upon the table. The motion to lay upon the table was agreed to. Amendment No. 455

Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, the Senator has yielded back his time?

Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, I don't believe there is any opposition to this amendment and I ask that we take it by a voice vote.

Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, I move to reconsider the vote.

Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, I would speak in opposition. Gains in quality, productivity, and efficiency year after year, in department after department, would not have been possible without the reasonable and sound use of collective bargaining and worker representation. This amendment is just another in a long line of attempts to kill public-sector unions--unions that represent and ensure quality public service. I strongly recommend that my colleagues oppose this amendment, and I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, I move to reconsider the vote.

Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent the next amendments in order to be called up be the following: Cardin No. 706, Inhofe No. 359, Menendez No. 705, Sessions No. 614, Merkley No. 696, Roberts No. 187, Menendez No. 619, Portman No. 152; that there be no second-degree amendments in order prior to the votes in relation to any of these amendments; that notwithstanding all time having expired on the resolution there be 2 minutes equally divided prior to each vote; upon disposition of Portman No. 152, the majority have the next amendment in order; all these votes be 10 minutes; and we report them en bloc.

Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, I move to reconsider the vote.

Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, I yield to the Senator from Maryland.

Mrs. MURRAY. I ask for the yeas and nays.