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mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader is recognized.

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader is recognized. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent that the call of the quorum be terminated. the presiding officer: without

objection. mr. reid:, first of all, let me express my a.ppreciation to every senator. we tried something a little different here, and i think it -- it's -- i think it's something we can look to in the future. we decided we were going to have an amendment process here. maybe it is not as far as fen wants to go, but it's a pretty good step in the right direction. rather than having no amendments, rather than having only germane amendments, we decided we'd have a standard that's very, very broad; that is, relevant amendments. and it's given people the opportunity to offer lots of different things. so i hope in the future -- it may not happen on every piece of legislation that comes along, but i hope we get in that habit of being able to do things like this. it gives senators a wide range of things they can do. but anyway, we've done it on this, and i appreciate everybody's cooperation. i also -- i also appreciate the good work of senator lieberman

and senator collins. i have many times in the last week or so expressed that appreciation to them for their leadership. this is extremely difficult. this is a massive bill, dealingg with more than half a million postal employees, more than 30,000 post offices, 500 or so processing centers, and it's been extremely difficult to get to a point where i hope we can arrive shortly. so we are here. i have g.n.p. given the nod, mr. president. -- i.v. been given the nod. i ask unanimous consent that the cloture motions with respect to the lieberman an collins motions be withdrawn. the pending a.m. a.m.s 22013 an0 15b brawn, matter following amendments be the only amendments in order to s. 1789. or the pending substitute amendment 2000 as modified. mccain 2001, tester 2056,

coburn 2060, mccain 2033, wyden-feinstein-2020, coburn 2058, mcskas kill-americacy 2031, coburn 2061, snowe 2080, udall of new mexico, 2043, durbin 2082, akaka, 2034 with a modification agreed to by the two managers, bennet-blunt, 2047, corker 2083, mikulski 2003, akaka, 2049, paul 2025, manchin 2079, paul 2026, bingaman 2076, paul 2027, cardin, 2040, paul 2028, carper 2065, paul 2029, carper 20 of 6,

paul 2039, paul 2038, landrieu 2072, demint 2046, mccaskill to 30, coburn 2059, pryor 2036, rockefeller, 2073, rockefeller 2074, schumer 2050, tester 2032, and warner 2071, with the modification agreed to by the two managers. on use it dirks april 25 t-4, at a time to be determined by the majority leader, the senate vote in rielings to the amendments in the order lists, that there be two minutes equally divided in the usual form prior to each vote. all after the first vote be 10 minutes, that the amendments be semiconductorred to a fao affirmative vote threshold, the substitute as modified or amendments listed -- i'm sorry,

mr. president, let me start over again because i misread a line. on tuesday, april 24, at a time to be determined by senator reid, the senate vote in relation to the amendments in the order lists, there be two minutes listed in the usually form prior to each vote, all after the first voabt 10 minutes, that the amendments be ^subt to a 60-vote affirmative threshold, there be no other amendments in order to the bill, the substitute amendment as modified or the amendments listed and there be no points of order or motions in order to any of the amendments, the substitute raiment or the, other than the budget points of order and application motions to waive. upon disposition of the amendments, the substitute amendment p if amended be agreed to, the built be read a third time and the senate proceed it a vote on passage of the bill as amended, finally, that the vote on passage of the bill be sowbt a 60-affirmative vote threshold. the presiding officer: is there objection?

without objection, so ordered. mr. reid: mr. president, another important issue. i ask unanimous consent that at 2:00 p.m. monday, april 23, the republican leader or his designee be recognized to move to proceed to the consideration of s. j. res. 36, a joint resolution disapproving the rules submitted by the national labor relations board relating to representation of election procedures, that there be up to four hours of debate on the motion to proceed with the time equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees. further that the first two hours of debate equally divided occur from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. on monday, april 23. and the final two hours of debate equally divided occur from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on tuesday, april 24. that at 2:15 p.m. tuesday, april 24, the senate proceed to vote on the adoption of the motion to proceed, that if the motion is successful, then the time for debate with respect to the joint resolution be equally divided between the two leaders or their designees. that upon the use or yielding back of that time, the senate

resolution -- i'm sorry, the joint resolution be read a third time and the senate proceed to vote on passage of the joint resolution. finally, all other provisions of the statute governing consideration of the joint resolution remain effect. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection, so ordered. mr. reid: mr. president, if senator -- i have some business to wrap up today but if senators lieberman or collins wish to speak, they can do this and i'll do this later o. mr. lieberman: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from connecticut. mr. lieberman: mr. president, i just want to thank senator reid, of course thank senator collins. we've worked again very closely together, thank the staff on both sides, who worked very hard, and thank all our colleagues. i think it took -- i know it took a lot of effort because people have strong opinions about the crisis in the postal service of the united states but we -- we've ended up with a process here that allow -- that

will allow discussion and votes on a wide range of amendments on both sides. i would say that based on the knowledge that we have of this list, that not all of these amendments listed will actually require roll call votes. we'll be working over the weekend trying to see if we can find common ground, accept some of these amendments or modify them. but bottom line, this consent agreement, though we're not there yet, gives me great hope that the senate's going to approve -- going to prove that we're capable of taking on a crisis situation, which the post office is in, losing $13 billion-plus over the last two years. and if we don't do anything, it's only going to get worse and a lot of people are going to lose their jobs and a lot of

people who depend on the mail are not going to be able to get it in the same way. this is a bill that will provide an orderly reform that will keep the post office not only alive but change it so it can survive throughout the 2 1st century. and senator collins and i will be here at 12:00 noon on monday to debate any of the amendments people want to come to debate, and i i believe i'm speaking for both of us in saying -- i know i am -- that after the votes monday afternoon, unrelated to this matter, we're prepared to remain here into the evening to continue debating amendments before the actual votes occur on tuesday afternoon. so, again, i thank everyone involved, particularly senator collins, and i yield the floor. ms. collins: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from maine. ms. collins: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i just want to echo the thanks to everyone who

was involved in formulating this very extensive unanimous consent agreement. we have been working extremely hard the last couple of days to make sure that we were being fair to all members on a bill on which there are diverse opinions on an issue that is so important and that is how do we save an essential american institution, the united states postal service. i, too, want to thank our two leaders, senator reid and senator mcconnell, and my dear friend and chairman of the homeland security and governmental affairs committee, senator lieberman, as well as our staffs and our floor staff, who have put in so many hours. i want to reiterate that senator lieberman and i will be

available to negotiate, our staffs will as well, and to debate these issues. we'll be available over the weekend and tomorrow and then on monday to begin the debate on the amendments. but again, i want to thank everyone involved. i think this is how the senate should operate. and it took a lot, a lot of work to get here, but no one gave up. everyone kept working away, and i believe that we've come up with a very fair agreement to allow us to proceed on a bill of great significance. so i want to thank everyone involved, and i would yield the floor. thank you, mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader is recognized. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent that we now proceed to a period of morning business, senators allowed to speak for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent that on monday, april

23, at 5:00 p.m., the senate proceed to executive session to consider calendar number 3528, that there be 30 minute of debate equally divided in the usual form. that upon the use or yielding back of that time, the senate proceed to vote with no intervening action or debate on calendar number 528, the motion to reconsider are be considered made and laid on the table, there be no intervening action or debated, there be no further motions in order, that any related statements be printed in the record, and that president obama be immediately notified of the senate's action and the senate then resume legislative session. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the judiciary committee be discharged from further consideration of -- -- okay. they hid the number from me. mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the judiciary committee be discharged from further consideration of h.r. 1021.

you know, the -- this is kind of a hunted for the number. the number is real small. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: h.r. 1021, an act to prevent the termination of the temporary of office of bankruptcy judges in certain judicial districts. the presiding officer: without objection, the committee is discharged and the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent that a coons amendment which is at the desk be agreed to, the bill as amended be read a third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid on the table, there be no intervening action or debate and nay statements related to this bill be placed in the record at the appropriate place as if read. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent that we now proceed to s. res. 430. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: senate resolution 430, recognizing the 75th anniversary of the founding of ducks unlimited incorporated and so forth. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent that the resolutions be agreed to, the preamble be

agreed to, the motion to reconsider be laid on the table. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today, the senate adjourn until monday, april 23, at 12:00 noon. that following the prayer and the pledge, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed expired, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day. that the senate resume consideration of the motion to proceed to s. 1925, that at 2:00 p.m., the republican leader or designee be recognized to make a mission on to proceed to s.j. res. 36. that would be under the previous order, that has already been entered. further that at 4:00 p.m., the senate resume consideration of the motion to proceed to s. 1925 and finally, at 5:00 p.m., the senate proceed to executive session under the previous order. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i note the absence of a quorum, mr. president. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

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