tentatively agreed to a two month extension of the social security payroll tax holiday. we'll also see the disaster aid bill on the senate floor this morning and another vote to cut government spending in order to pay for disaster aid. the presiding officer: the senate will come to order. the chaplain dr. barry black will lead the senate in prayer. the chaplain:

let us pray. today, o god, we magnify your name for your purity, holiness, and justice as the judge of the universe. let your purity, holiness, and justice be seen on capitol hill today. bind our lawmakers together in the oneness of a shared commitment to you, a passionate patriotism, and a loyal dedication to find your solutions for the concerns that confront and often divide us. may the words of our senators and the meditations of their hearts be acceptable to you.

we pray in your merciful name. amen. the presiding officer: please join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance to the flag. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the presiding officer: the clerk will read a communication to the senate. the clerk: washington, d.c., december 15, 2011. to the senate: under the provisions of rule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing rules of the senate, i hereby appoint the honorable richard blumenthal, a senator from the state of connecticut, to perform the duties of the chair. signed: daniel k. inouye, president pro tempore.

the presiding officer: under the previous order the leadership time is reserved. the presiding officer: the majority leader. the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the call of the quorum be terminated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: mr. president, as happens once in a while here, we don't have a final score on

part of the payroll tax issue we have the legislation. joint tax, c.b.o. said they'll have the score by 10:00 today. therefore we're going to reverse the order of what we're doing. we're going to vote on the matters relating to the omnibus first. however i ask consent if the reid-mcconnell substitute is not agreed to, the payroll tax issue, the senate's action with respect to the conference report to accompany 2025 and h.r. 3672 be vitiated and the majority leader be recognized. the presiding officer: is there objection? mr. corker: mr. president, -- the presiding officer: the senator from tennessee. mr. corker: what was the parliamentary procedure the leader just referred to? mr. reid: we don't have a final score on the payroll tax matter. there's something dealing with s.g.r. that's not quite right. and so we want to make sure everything is toll totally paid

for. and we're going to get a score in just a few minutes, probably by 10:00 for sure. and we want to reverse the order. we're going to do all the omnibus stuff, since people have things to do and want to leave. but if by some happenchance that the payroll tax does not pass then all of the stuff, the votes on the omnibus would be vitiated. mr. corker: i object. the presiding officer: the senator from tennessee. the objection is heard. mr. reid: i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

mr. reid: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: is the senate in a quorum call? the presiding officer: we are in a quorum call. mr. reid: mr. president, we often look at the senate as a very adversarial place. the presiding officer: mr. majority leader, we're in a quorum call. mr. reid: i'm sorry. i ask consent it be terminated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: here in the senate we work on an adversarial basis lots of times because that's the way the foundation foundation -- founding fathers set up our

country. this little constitution was very, very hard to come by. it was very hard to come by by. we tried the articles of confederation, they didn't work at all. we had the state of rhode island, a little tiny place with not many people and the big state of new york with lots of territory and lots of people. how were they going to work that out? they couldn't until a man from connecticut, elder ggeridge who came up with an idea that had never been tried before. a stunningly interesting idea, that he suggested to the founding fathers a bicameral legislature, having a legislature made up of two bodies, two legislative bodies, the house and the senate. that's the reason we're able to have a constitution. but in the process, built into our constitution is constant vying for power. you have the executive branch,

the judicial branch, but within the legislative branch there is constant vying for power between the house and the senate. and that's the case even though both bodies may be of one party. when pelosi was speaker, the speaker and i were very good friends but we had problems trying to work out things between the two bodies. and when you have one body with one party and another party with another body, it even becomes more difficult. mr. president, the times we're going through here are not unusual for the united states senate in the 200 plus years we've been a country. in fact, they're very peaceful and calm compared to some times. as we know, a member of the house of representatives didn't like what a senator from massachusetts was saying, he came over here and with his cane nearly beat to death the senator from massachusetts. the senator from massachusetts was out of work for two years.

he was really irreparably damaged, his health never returned. so i know how difficult and hard it is for people to accept our way of doing business. but if you look back over the time we've been a country, it's worked out pret well. for example, what we're going to vote on here shortly, both the omnibus, the spending bill, and the payroll tax, they were truly legislative accomplishments. they were compromises. now, the omnibus, it's much better than it was previously. we were able to actually pass individual appropriations bills here in year. the goal of the republican leader and me is to pass them all next year. we're going to try. it's going to be one of our important issues that we have to deal with, to try to get our appropriations bills back together. i when i first came to the senate became an appropriator. i think that committee is so integral to how this body works

and it hasn't been working well. that is the appropriation process. so people may be disturbed about some of the stuff here on the floor but it truly was a legislative -- it was true legislation, because it was compromise. the omnibus, there are lots of things in there that i don't like. and i'll bet you every senator here has things in there they don't like. with the package we have dealing with unemployment, the package with pr-l tax, there are things -- the package with payroll tax, there is things in here i would rather not have. but we're here because we were able to deal with this and lead to what i think is an accomplishment for the american people. and i appreciate the ability of the republican leader and me to sit down and talk, as we do often, away from all of you, away from everybody. we started this conversation

alone and we ended it alone working on the measures we have here. and i know members of my caucus say, well, why couldn't i have been in on doing all of this stuff? we involved as many people as we could. but ultimately, as hard as it is for the two of us, we on occasion have to do what we think is right for the good of the country. and so i appreciate very much the republican leader and his ability to remain friends with me as i do with him. and so i hope everybody understands today is a very important day for our country because we're doing today exactly, exactly what the founding fathers thought we would do. mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the republican leader. mr. mcconnell: i want to make just a few comments about the pipeline payroll package that the majority leader and i have offered, upon which we'll be voting shortly. it's not the bill that i would have written. it falls short in several

respects, in not having certainty. the certainty issue is awfully important to the private sector if we're going to come out of this economic slowdown. but as the majority leader indicated, our side approached this debate conscious of something democrats in washington tend to forget these days. and that is in order to achieve something around here, you've got to compromise. and as the majority leader indicated, that is in fact what we have. what we've done here is crafted a bill not designed to fail but designed to pass. the main thing that republicans were fighting for and got was the keystone x.l. pipeline provision offered, authored by senator lugar and also senator hoeven, and senator johanns was particularly instrumental in working out the nebraska aspect of this to the satisfaction of his governor and his state

legislature. so why were republicans fighting for the pipeline? we knew that the whole reason we're even talking about temporary tax relief and extending unemployment benefits is because three years into this administration the private sector is still gasping, literally gas eupg for air. so -- literally gasping for air. so what we said was let's do something that will help create private-sector jobs. let's start to change the equation here and do something that will actually get at the heart of the problem. keystone was an obvious choice. everybody in washington says they want more american jobs right now. well, here's the single-largest shovel-ready project in america. it is literally ready to go, awaiting the permission of the president of the united states. some of the news outlets are calling this pipeline controversial. i have no idea why it could be called controversial. the labor unions like it. many democrats want it. it strengthens our national

security by decreasing the amount of oil we get from unfriendly countries. and it wouldn't cost the taxpayers a dime. not a dime. a private-sector project ready to go. all we're doing is saying the president has 60 days to decide whether the project is in the national interest or not. 60 days for the president to make a decision one way or the other. and since most of us have not heard a good reason from the white house as to why they would block it, i'm very hopeful that the president in the course of this 60 days will do the right thing for the country and get this crucial project underway. the only thing standing between thousands of american workers and the good jobs this project will decide is a presidential decision. i'm hopeful the president will make the right decision and i thank my friend, the majority

leader for the opportunity to work with something on him tha*l on something that will actually pass through the senate and get to the president. mr. reid: with regard to keystone, i was the first elected official to write a letter opposing that. i know how i feel about this. i know how my friend, the republican leader, feels about it. i was responsible for putting it in this bill. that's how legislation works. i would also say that we're thankful that we've worked together to make sure that 160 million people have not a tax increase but a continued tax break. and i'm also thankful that the lifeline for unemployed people is going to continue for at least 60 days. thank you very much, mr. president. i ask the chair to report the legislation. the presiding officer: under the previous order the senate will proceed to the consideration of h.r. 3630, which the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 257, h.r. 3630, an act to provide incentives for the creation of jobs and for other

purposes. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the amendment. the clerk: the senator from nevada, mr. reid, for himself and mr. mcconnell proposes amendment number 1465. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the question is on the amendment which is subject to a 60-vote threshold. is there a sufficient second? there appears to be a sufficient second. there is a sufficient second. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

vote: