Harry Reid

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. If the Senator will be patient, we will get this done very quickly.

Mr. REID. Mr. President, the matter before the Senate is the nomination of Judge Hurwitz; is that right?

Mr. REID. I yield back all time on this nomination.

Mr. REID

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 Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. REID. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that a Stabenow- Roberts perfecting amendment, which is at the desk, be agreed to; the bill, as amended, be considered original text for the purpose of further amendment; that the following Lee motion to recommit and four amendments be the first amendments and motion to recommit in order to the bill with no other first-degree amendments or motions to recommit in order until these amendments and motion are disposed of: Paul No. 2182, Shaheen No. 2160, Coburn No. 2353, Cantwell No. 2370, and Lee motion to recommit; that there be up to 60 minutes of debate equally divided between the two leaders or their designees on each of these amendments and the Lee motion; that upon the use or yielding back of time on all four amendments and the Lee motion, the Senate proceed to votes in relation to the amendments and motion in the order listed; that there be no amendments or motions in order to the amendments or the Lee motion--which is the motion to recommit--prior to the votes other than motions to waive points of order and motions to table; that upon disposition of these amendments and the Lee motion, I be recognized.

Mr. REID. Madam President, I appreciate the good intentions of my friend from Kentucky because they are good intentions. But we are on a bill now that just simply does not allow something like that to come forward. I would like to work with him in the future--I am sure a number of other Senators would--to focus on our relations with Pakistan. It is not only the problem he outlined, but there are other things-- the ability of our vehicles to drive to Afghanistan and lots of other things. It is an issue on which the Foreign Relations Committee has held hearings. It is something on which we need to focus, and I would also indicate to my friend that Senator Leahy, who has been a protector of human rights for his entire career, is the chairman of the State- Foreign Operations Subcommittee. He is also concerned about this. So I would say to my friend that he does not stand alone in his concern. But there has to be a time and place for everything. Hopefully, we can have a full debate on our relations with Pakistan in the near future. Amendment No. 2389

Mr. REID. Madam President, on behalf of the managers, I call up amendment No. 2389, which is at the desk.

Mr. REID. Madam President, I ask for the yeas and nays on this motion.

Mr. REID. Madam President, I now call up amendment No. 2392.

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

Mr. REID. Madam President, I call up amendment No. 2393, which is a second-degree amendment.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. I ask unanimous consent that immediately upon the adoption of the motion to proceed to S. 3240, there be a period of debate only on the bill until 4 p.m. today and that the majority leader be recognized at that time.

Mr. REID

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

Mr. REID. Madam President, I have managed a few bills during my time here, quite a few bills. It is always so gratifying, after the work that goes into the work you have done on a committee or a subcommittee, to have that matter come to the floor. It is a terrible disappointment to not be able to move forward as you anticipated. So I say that for Senator Stabenow and Senator Roberts. No one has worked harder than they have in bringing the bill to the floor. It is bipartisan. It is important not only for the State of Michigan, the State of Kansas, but it is important for the country. I wish we could proceed in another way to have amendments heard and voted on. But even though this is something awkward, we are going to move forward with this bill. We are going to bring up some amendments. They are big amendments. They are crucial to Senators being able to issue their opinions on this legislation. One deals with sugar, one deals with food stamps, both very controversial and very important. We are going to have those amendments, and, hopefully, we will have a good debate on those matters. We can move forward on this bill in other ways. I have not given up hope. I know Senator Stabenow and Senator Roberts have not given up hope to have a universal agreement so we can legislate on this bill. As I have indicated, we do not do this very often in this manner. But it is important because we have an issue that needs to move forward. A lot of times when the tree is filled we just walk away from it. We are not going to walk away from this. This bill is far too important. It affects the lives of millions of people--about 16 million--in America. The reforms have been made in this bill--I remember when I came from the House of Representatives 26 years ago, we wanted to make the reforms that are in this bill. So they have done remarkably good work. We hear everyone, Democrats and Republicans, talking about: Let's do something about the debt and the deficit. Here we have done it. What they have done is bring to this body a bill that reduces our debt by $23 billion. We have a long ways we need to go beyond that. But, gee whiz, this is a big deal, $23 billion. So I commend and applaud the two managers of this bill. They are fine Senators. They have done a service to our country by getting us to the point we are now.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, before my friend leaves the floor, I express my appreciation--really from our country--for his tireless efforts in focusing attention on what has been going on in Burma. He has come to the floor and given numerous statements to focus attention on this issue. It took a while to get some traction, but finally he got some traction, and that is why progress was made in Burma. I appreciate his mentioning Senator Feinstein. She has also been very focused on this. But no one has been to the floor more than Senator McConnell talking about this issue. As a result of that, we have made progress. It has been slow, but it has been deliberate, and I think we can see a new day for that country.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, before my friend leaves the floor, I express my appreciation--really from our country--for his tireless efforts in focusing attention on what has been going on in Burma. He has come to the floor and given numerous statements to focus attention on this issue. It took a while to get some traction, but finally he got some traction, and that is why progress was made in Burma. I appreciate his mentioning Senator Feinstein. She has also been very focused on this. But no one has been to the floor more than Senator McConnell talking about this issue. As a result of that, we have made progress. It has been slow, but it has been deliberate, and I think we can see a new day for that country.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. The Senate is considering the motion to proceed to the farm bill postcloture. At 4:30, the Senate will proceed to executive session to consider the nomination of Andrew Hurwitz of Arizona to be a United States Circuit Judge for the Ninth Circuit. At 5:30 p.m., there will be a cloture vote on the Hurwitz nomination.

Mr. REID. Mr. President, Democrats and Republicans hold a different view on many issues. But the bipartisan work by Senators Stabenow and Roberts on the agriculture jobs bill demonstrates, despite our differences, we can still find common ground. I hope their cooperative spirit guides our work on this important legislation this week. American farmers are counting on us, and so is the economy. Despite the uncertain economic times, America's farms are the most productive in the world, exporting $136 billion worth of products last year and supporting 16 million private sector jobs. But to keep American farms strong, Congress must pass a strong farm bill. This legislation creates jobs, cuts subsidies, and reduces the deficit. The bill includes important reforms to farm and food stamp programs. It saves $23 billion, which will be used to reduce the deficit. And it will give farmers the certainty they need to maintain the largest trade surplus of any sector of our economy. Helping American farmers thrive is an important part of our work to get the economy on a firm footing again. I commend Senators Stabenow and Roberts for their leadership on this issue. We are working now to come up with a list of amendments on this legislation. It is a shame we are now wasting 30 hours postcloture on this bill. It is a bill that passed by 90 Senators agreeing that we should move forward to debate. But it now appears we are in a situation that we were in last week and the week before and the week before that, when the Republicans have made a decision that they would rather do anything they can to stop jobs from being created, hoping it will help them with the elections come November. Too often in this Congress the Republican strategy has been to kill job-creating bills in the hopes of harming the economy and hurting President Obama. It forces the Senate to spend weeks passing consensus legislation that once was passed in a matter of minutes. They have held many important jobs measures hostage to extract votes on unrelated, ideological amendments. It appears we are in that same place right here on this bill. I am disappointed, as I have already said, that they have caused us to waste 30 hours on procedural hurdles on this bill. We shouldn't have to do that. We shouldn't have to run that clock when 90 Senators agree we should move to the bill. That is what happened last week. I hope my Republican friends will dispense with these delay tactics. This is a bill that creates jobs, cuts subsidies, and protects our working farmers. We hear the hue and cry from our Republican friends all the time that they want to reduce the deficit. How about one bill, in one fell swoop, with $23 billion of deficit reduction--a bill that will reduce subsidies, get rid of a lot of waste and abuse, and create jobs. We are in this position where my friends have said, just as the Republican leader has said, that their only goal is to defeat Obama, not help our country, and that is too bad. Would the Chair announce the business of the day. Reservation of Leader Time

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

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I move to proceed to Calendar No. 415, S. 3240.

Mr. REID. Mr. President, we are now on the motion to proceed to the farm bill.

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

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. I ask unanimous consent that we now resume legislative session.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. I ask unanimous consent that we proceed to a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the preamble be agreed to, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table, there be no intervening action or debate, and any statements related to this matter be printed in the Record.