Harry Reid

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays on that amendment.

Mr. REID. Mr. President, on behalf of Senator Pryor, there is a first-degree amendment at the desk.

Mr. REID. I ask for the yeas and nays on that amendment.

Mr. REID. I ask for the yeas and nays on that motion.

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I have an amendment to the instructions at the desk.

Mr. REID. I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I have a second-degree amendment at the desk.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I now move to proceed to Calendar No. 341, S. 2237.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. I have a motion to refer the House message to the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee with instructions to report back forthwith, with an amendment.

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask the Chair to lay before the Senate a message from the House with respect to S. 3187.

Mr. REID. I now have a second-degree amendment at the desk I wish to be reported.

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I now move to concur in the House amendment to S. 3187, and ask for the yeas and nays on my motion.

Mr. REID. I have a cloture motion at the desk.

Mr. REID. I move to concur in the House amendment to S. 3187 with an amendment.

Mr. REID. I now ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now proceed to a period of morning business and that Senators be allowed to speak for up to 10 minutes each.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to; a Collins amendment to the preamble, which is at the desk, be agreed to; the preamble, as amended, be agreed to; and that the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. We are in between votes; is that correct?

Mr. REID. Madam President, there is nothing pending now on the Senate floor other than the farm bill?

Mr. REID. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that upon disposition of S. 3240, which is the farm bill, the Senate proceed to the cloture vote on the motion to proceed to Calendar No. 250, S. 1940, which is the flood insurance bill; further, if cloture is invoked on the motion to proceed, notwithstanding cloture having been invoked, it be in order for the majority leader to lay before the body the House message with respect to S. 3187.

Mr. REID. Madam President, the Republican leader and I have spoken privately. We would be remiss if we did not say something to the entire Senate about how we feel about this bill and the leadership that was shown by these two fine Senators. Also behind the scenes--we know how hard they worked to get where we are--we have had such good staff involved. These staff people are not fighting with each other. They have causes they are trying to protect for their Members but they do it in a way that is cordial. There has been nothing but courtesy shown for weeks. I have managed quite a few bills in my day. This is a difficult bill to have in the position we have it in now. I hope our friends in the House see what we have done. We are working together. I know they can. I cannot say enough--although I will try--to applaud and compliment Senator Stabenow and Senator Roberts. They are both my friends but my view of them has risen appreciably in their legislative methods of getting this done. They have done it on their own. Senator McConnell and I have done what we can, but we have been bystanders to much that has gone on. It has been the work of these two fine Senators and the cooperation of every Member. I am grateful we are at the point where we are today--2 o'clock. We are going to be able to finish this bill and it is 2 o'clock in the afternoon, not in the morning.

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

Mr. REID

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

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I now move to proceed to Calendar No. 250, S. 1940.

Mr. REID. Mr. President, following leader remarks, the time until 11 this morning will be equally divided and controlled. At 11 o'clock a.m., we will begin up to 10 rollcall votes. We will complete the farm bill today in the early afternoon. We also hope to have a cloture vote on the motion to proceed to the flood insurance bill today. Working Together Mr. President, we come here and lament all the bad things happening in the Senate. It is not out of order once in a while to talk about some of the good things happening in the Senate. I think we should look at it as if, as difficult as it has been to get things done, we are making progress. We had that postal bill, which was good work on behalf of the Senate. The highway bill worked out extremely well. We have this 5-year farm bill--very difficult, but it is now near passing, which is good for the country. We have to make sure before the end of the month we finish our work on the Flood Insurance Program, which is so extremely important to the country. With the construction picking up a little bit everyplace, we have to make sure when a loan is to close it can be closed. Thousands of them each day cannot be closed unless we do a renewal of the Flood Insurance Program. I had a meeting with the Speaker on Tuesday, with Senator Boxer, chairman of the committee, Chairman Mica, her counterpart in the House, and Senator Inhofe, and we are making progress on the highway bill. I feel good about that. Whether we get it done remains to be seen. But the House, in an overwhelming vote yesterday--totally bipartisan or they could not get the 384 votes--instructed the conferees to come back with the bill by tomorrow. Contentious issues have been resolved, and I believe we have a shot at getting the highway bill done. That would be good for the country and good for the Senate. So I appreciate everyone working together. As the Republican leader and I have talked, as difficult as it is to work out agreements on the bills I have just mentioned--including the farm bill--it is good for the Senate. I appeared before a committee chaired by Senator Carper, and there as the ranking member was Senator Collins. They both indicated today before everybody that the spirit on the Senate floor was good yesterday. That is because everyone can feel we are accomplishing something. Some of the votes were difficult, and some we all wish we had not taken because they were tough votes. But that is what the Senate is all about. So I feel comfortable with the last bit, that we are trying to work together for the good of the country. I have said lots of times, if we are able to accomplish good as a body, everyone can take credit for it. We can go back to our States and claim we are part of a victory for the country. But if we do not get it done, we are part of the blame and people can go home and lament the fact that we have not been able to get our work done. People point fingers at us: Why can't you get more done? So, hopefully, this summer, which started yesterday--in fact, today is the longest day of the year--will bring good tidings to the Senate. Recognition of the Minority Leader