nomination. all in favor say aye. all opposed say nay. is there a sufficient second? is there a sufficient second? there appears to be a sufficient second. yes, there is a sufficient second. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: are there any senators in the chamber wishing to vote or change their vote sph if not, the yeas are 5, the nays are 38. and the nomination is confirmed. under the previous order, the motion to reconsider is considered made and laid upon the table, and the president will be immediately notified of the senate's action.

the clerk will report the noings -- the motion to ip voke cloture. the clerk: cloture motion: we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of colette dodson honorable of arkansas to be a member of the federal energy regulatory commission, signed by 17 senators. the presiding officer: the question is, is it the sense of the senate that debate on the nomination of colette dodson honorable of arkansas to be a member of the federal energy regulatory commission ferc shall be brought to a close. the yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: are there any senators wishing to vote or wishing to change their vote? if not the ayes are 65.

the nays are 28. the motion is agreed to. mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: federal energy regulatory commission, colette dodson honorable of arkansas to be a member. mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i'm going to submit to the body a unanimous consent request in just a minute. however, i want everyone to understand we're trying 0 our utmost to have a pathway that we can move along here. we don't have that done yet. we're working on that. we have a lot of work still to do. i would note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll.

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i ask consent that the quorum call be rescinded. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: if everyone would just be patient, i'm trying to be as patient as i can be, as is the republican leader. i ask unanimous consent that not withstanding cloture having been invoked the senate resume legislative session and the senate then proceed to consideration of calendar number 627, h.r. 5771 which is the tax extenders legislation. that there be 30 minutes debate equally divided between the two leaders or their designees prior to vote on passage of the bill which would be a 60-vote threshold, that there be no amendments, motions are points of order in order prior to the vote. further, if h.r. 5771 is passed the senate proceed to the consideration of h. con. res. 124, the concurrent resolution correcting enrollment of 5771

modifying the title of the bill, that the concurrent resolution be agreed to and following disposition the concurrent resolution, the senate resume executive session and consideration of the honorable nomination. that's a woman's name, honorable. and she's honorable. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection, so ordered. mr. wyden: mr. president? mr. president? with this stop-and-go tax extender bill, the congress is turning in its tax homework -- the presiding officer: if the senator would suspend? the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 627, h.r. 5771, an act to amend the internal revenue code of 1986 and so forth and for other purposes. the presiding officer: the senator from oregon. mr. wyden: mr. president, with this tax bill, the congress is turning in its tax homework 11

1/2 months later and expects to earn full credit. mr. roberts: mr. president? mr. president, the senate is not in order. the chairman deserves to be heard. the presiding officer: the senate will be in order. mr. wyden: mr. president, this package of tax incentives will last just two weeks before families and businesses are thrown back into the dark with respect to the taxes they owe. the legislation accomplishes nothing for 2015. the debate takes place against a backdrop of positive economic news showing that unemployment is down and wages are up. just the kind of news the congress ought to build on by providing certainty and predictability for families and businesses. instead, the congress is about

to pass a tax bill that doesn't have the shelf life of a carton of eggs. of course we have the power to enshrine tax provisions for any length of time we choose. what the congress can't do is travel back through time. the congress can pass this $41 billion bill, but it cannot change anything taxpayers did six, eight or ten months ago. those decisions have been made. the only new effects of this legislation apply to the next two weeks. that is not enough time for the key provisions, for example, putting a dent in veterans unemployment to start a clean energy project, to hire new workers or to help a student who's on the fence about whether to enroll in college next semester. and particularly important is ts

bill drops the health coverage tax credit, yanking away an economic lifeline that working-class americans were counting on this april 15. this means that for tens of thousands of our people in states like wisconsin, illinois, ohio and pennsylvania who have been kicked down by a fiercely competitive economy, they are going to face a very unpleasant surprise this spring. i'm just going to spend a minute talking about how the senate got here and where our tax policy should go in the future. the truth is the senate didn't need to be in this spot. within a few weeks after i became chairman of the finance committee, with the help and guide counsel of senator hatch and many members of the committee, we unanimously passed the expire act, a balanced bipartisan bill that would provide two years of certainty

and a spring board to comprehensive reform. when the bill came to the floor, a host of senators said they were eager to move it forward. democrats and republicans all wanted to move ahead, but the toxic senate environment and a battle over amendments caused the expire act to stall out. this fall there were discussions with the house about a bipartisan/bicameral agreement. i was encourag encouraged at th, especially when the house indicated they would accept the senate's bipartisan work. we also talked about the possibility of making several provisions permanent. in my view, any agreement on permanent tax policy has to be balanced, balanced between support for business and support for working families. a deal that is skewed in just one direction fails the test of fairness. and democrats on the finance committee felt the same way. the negotiations progressed,

more offers were traded and there was real hope. however, after weeks of hard work, there was a conflicting process and that the drove house republicans to quit the negotiations. senate negotiators, in effect, were left without a dance partner. our team kept making new offers. we tried to suggest proposals that had drawn support from republicans and democrats in the past but the house settled on passing this two-week tax extender bill that is now before us this evening. however senators choose to vote on this legislation, i want to recognize that this bill proves once and for all how broken america's tax system is. the congress is about to spend $41 billion on a tax incentive package that when done right ought to lift the cloud of uncertainty, help the middle class and strengthen important

parts of our economy. instead, nearly all of the $41 billion in this legislation is going to go for things that happened months and months ago. virtually all of the $41 billion has absolutely no incentive power whatsoever. reforming the tax code is going to be hard but it can be done. i sat next to our colleague, our former colleague, senator gregg, every week for two years to produce the first bipartisan federal income tax reform bill and i'm very grateful that our current colleague, senator coats, picked up on those efforts. senator hatch -- and i commend him for it -- recently put out an analysis of tax reform issues, recognizing that getting more perspectives into the debate is going to help advance reform. i know senator hatch is going to keep working diligently when he

takes the gavel. i congratulate him for that. in january. and i look forward to working with him. and before we wrap up for the year, i also want to congratulate senator casey and senator burr, who've worked tirelessly in a bipartisan way on behalf of the disabled. i've met with these disabled folks in our community and i commend senator casey and senator burr for their work. colleagues, here's the bottom line for the future. the middle class deserves a tax cut. the tax system in america needs to do more to promote innovation and launch a new wave of job creation. our country desperately needs a simpler, more competitive corporate tax system that draws investment and jobs to our country and we have to end the cycle of stop-and-go policy that leaves taxpayers in the dark time and time again. i want to yield our remaining time to my colleague, senator

cantwell from washington, and just close by saying, retroactive tax bills like the one before the senate tonight, may satisfy some but they leave our workers, our families and businesses wanting. it is the time for real tax reform. and for the last word on our side, my colleague and seatmate. the presiding officer: the senator from washington. ms. cantwell: i thank the senator for his leadership on the finance committee and just point out to my colleagues who come from states that don't have an income tax, this legislation before us tonight includes making sure that we're able to deduct our state sales tax from our federal tax obligations. i hope we'll be here someday when we can actually get tax fairness in the code, that this is a permanent provision and we don't have to go back every year and try to get the tax fairness that our states deserve. my colleague, senator murray, is here and knows this issue well. but tonight at least we can say

that washingtonians can take the sales receipts they have this year and make sure that they are deducted from their tax obligations for 2014. but as the chairman said, let's make sure that we take these provisions that are support important for our economy to move forward and give the taxpayers predictability and certainty. i would say that that's making the sales tax deduction permanent but i'm glad that washingtonians will at least have this opportunity this year and we'll move forward to having a more robust debate. mr. wyden: mr. president, how much time does our side have left? the presiding officer: 6 1/2 minutes. mr. wyden: mr. president, i'd like to yield three minutes to senator begich and three minutes to senator casey, if that's acceptable to my colleagues. the presiding officer: the senator from alaska. mr. begich: thank you very much, mr. president. i'll actually be very brief. i just wanted to say that i appreciate your comments. what i thought was most important about it was the fact that these tax benefits come after the fact, in other words we're not going to create new opportunities. the tax reform legislation that you've been working on with

senator gregg, senator coats, myself and you, this is about real reform. it's about setting economic opportunities, greagh creating . it's not just about looking back, it's about looking forward. i have the same feelings you have, doing short-term, two weeks, and then putting uncertainty back into the system for another year would be a mistake. and from my perspective, it's a $41 billion bill that's not paid for. we'll have to deal with it. let's deal with tax reform. i will not be here in january. so i wish actually all the members will sit down after years of ought all the work you've done and focus on a longer-term situation that actually creates incentives for small businesses not after the fact. my wife, who's in a smail a smal business, they don't plan for the last two weeks. they've done that already. so if we really want to do something for the economy, have real tax relief and focus to the

future, not the past. i commend you for the work you've done on this but i agree with you, there's a lot of problems with this the way it's laid off, it's only for two weeks, which is problematic for long-term tax relief. mr. wyden: i just want the body to know that the senator from alaska has written some of the really thoughtful provisions with respect to education tax credits. i commend him for that and yield the rest of our time to senator casey. the presiding officer: the senator from pennsylvania. mr. casey: thank you very much, mr. president. mr. chairman, i'm honored to be able to rise tonight very briefly. i'll have a longer statement later, to talk about the able act that senator burr and i worked on coming through the finance committee with chairman wyden and ranking member hatch. i want to thank the two leaders, majority leader reid and republican leader mcconnell, having a -- not just a bipartisan effort here in the senate but really a bicameral support for this legislation. over 400 members of congress supporting the able act. it's very simple. for years, we've created incentives in the tax code to

save for higher education. the cost of college or to save for retirement. now at long last for americans who have a disability, those families will be able to save for a disability, whether it's to pay for health care or education, the basic expenses that these individuals with disabilities have wanted to save for for many years. i'm honored to be part of it. i'll have a longer statement later. but this is a great testament to bipartisanship, coming together on such an important issue. we believe -- and this is what undergirds the able act -- we believe that people with a disability have a lot of ability. have the ability to live a full life if we give them the tools and one of those tools is an incentive in the tax code to save for the future for an individual with a disability. and with that, i would yield the floor. the presiding officer: who

yields time? mr. hatch: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from utah. mr. hatch: i yield two minutes to the distinguished senator from north carolina. the presiding officer: the senator from north carolina. mr. burr: mr. president, i thank the soon-to-be chairman of the finance committee and the current chairman of the finance committee for their help with the able act. and i want to turn to my good friend, bob casey, and just say thank you. this has taken eight years to bring to this point and the amazing thing is, is that as we've taken the opportunity to meet with every group on every side of this issue and to find agreement finally and to go out and tell the american people what we're doing, they look at us and say, this makes common sense, what took so damn long? well, you know, i'm embarrassed that it took so long but this is a product that congress, the senate can be proud of. senator casey just covered a lot of the specifics of the legislation and i won't recover

those. i'll only say to my colleagues, one of the clues that something was wrong was the fact that we penalized individuals who had disabilities from holding assets. it meant they couldn't buy a car and it be in their name. it meant that they could only earn so much before they were penalized. and what we've done is we've changed the landscape and we've actually put into effect something that allows them to accumulate something for the later years when parents are gone, when they're going to need the funds. and we tried to be fiscally responsible in capping the annual amounts, capping the total amounts, affecting affectg benefits if they exceed those amounts and automatically reinstating them if they fall back below them. i think this is a bill that the united states senate, the house of representatives can be proud of. again, i thank the chairs. i thank senator casey. i also want to take opportunity on behalf of our colleagues in the house to say, congressman

crenshaw, sessions, congresswoman mcmorris-rogers, we couldn't have done it without their leadership and an overwhelming vote in the house of representatives. i urge my colleagues to not only vote "yes" but to be proud of this legislation. i yield the floor. mr. hatch: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from utah. mr. hatch: mr. president, i'm going to personally complement t the distinguished senator from north carolina and the distinguished senator from pennsylvania for their work on the able act. a lot of us worked on it. it's a very, very important bill and i want to give them total credit for doing such a good job on that. mr. president, the senate will soon vote on a one-year tax extenders package that, if enacted, will retroactively extend tax provisions that expired at the end of 2013. it is quite literally the best

we can do and at this point it is something we must do. we're naturally disappointed that the two-year package that was sent over to the house was basically rejected by the president. and i might just add, we would have preferred to have had that package. on the other hand, this is rug cutting time at the end of the year and i might add in this his epic speech, prime minister winston churchill stated "never in the field of human conflict has so much been owed t of so my to so few." in fact, today for the first time in 20 years, we will ensure that the new congress will start with all the regular so-called tax extenders already expired at the beginning of the first session, as the distinguished senator from oregon has

explained. that is a dubious distinction that was entirely avoidable, in our view. the problem, of course, is the president and some of his allies here in the senate pulled the plug on a bipartisan negotiation that would have produced a more satisfying result. as we all now know, the speaker of the house and the senate majority leader were just a few weeks ago on the verge of reaching a deal that both sides could reasonably support. president obama caught wind of the emerging deal which had yet to be finalized and promptly issued a veto threat. that threat was then ratified by many in this chamber, including some at the negotiating table. so for those who wish we were voting on better extenders -- on a better extenders package, they should know who to blame. president obama and his supporters here in the senate. of course, at this late hour, passing the one-year extension is the only option left to us so

i plan to support the bill before us and urge my colleagues to do the same. i should also note that this bill includes, as we've said, the able act, a great piece of legislation that our colleagues, senators casey and burr, have worked on for years right up to this point. i want to applaud them for their work on behalf of families affected by disabilities. i take a great interest in that myself and so i'm very pleased to see these two leaders getting this bill finally through. i'm pleased that we're coming at the end of this session and hopefully in the next year we can all work together to do an even better job than we have done this year. mr. president, how much time do we have remaining? the presiding officer: nine minutes. mr. hatch hatch: how much time s the other side have remaining? the presiding officer: three minutes. mr. hatch: i yield the floor without losing any time. the presiding officer: the senator from oregon.

mr. wyden: mr. president, as i indicated, you know, earlier, what is especially troubling to me is that we are talking about $41 billion, in effect, that is supposed to provide incentives but it cannot change anything taxpayers did six, eight or ten months ago. the decisions have been made. this is a two-week bill, and i would just say from my own standpoint, having worked with our colleague senator coats to present a bipartisan alternative, that the lesson out of this debate is that this can't happen again. senator hatch and i put together a bipartisan bill, the expire act. we thought that was the way to go. i continue to believe that had we had the opportunity, without an alternative process coming

out in the home stretch, we could have built on that. that's not going to be possible tonight. and i just hope that senators will say, however they vote tonight, that the real lesson out of this is when you have an opportunity to provide certainty and predictability for the american economy, take it; don't walk away from it. unfortunately, because this bill is only two weeks' long, tha ths what we're doing. we're walking away from the chance to provide some certainty and predictability. instead, our citizens will be in the dark come january 1 with respect to taxes. let us make sure that next time on a bipartisan basis we do better. with that, i yield the floor. the presiding officer: who yields time? mr. hatch: mr. president, if the distinguished senator from washington is prepared to yield back his time, i'll certainly yield back ours.

mr. wyden: mr. president, i yield back. the presiding officer: the senator from utah. mr. hatch: we yield back ours. the presiding officer: all time is yielded back. the question is -- the senator -- the question is on passage of h.r. 5771. mr. hatch: i ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the yeas and nays are ordered. the clerk will call the roll. the clerk will read the bill for the third time. the clerk: h.r. 5771, an act to amend the internal revenue code of 1986 and so forth and for other purposes. the presiding officer: question is on passage. the yeas and nays are ordered. the clerk will call the roll.

vote:

vote:

vote:

snroo. the presiding officer: are there fully senators wishing to vote or wishing to change their vote? on this vote, the yeas are 76, the nays are 16. the 60-vote threshold having been achieved, the bill is passed. under the previous order, it ise senate will proceed to the consideration of h. con. res.

124, which the clerk will report. the clerk: h. con. res. 124, providing for a correction in the enrollment of h.r. 5771. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the concurrent resolution is agreed to and the senate will resume executive session. mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the consideration of calendar number 900, broadcasting board of governors, 651, 970, chemical safety board, 1079, 514, 1104, bradley, 11, 41, rosekind, 933, tearney, 44, 45, 646, 737, udall foundation, 844, 845, 862, 864, 865, legal services, 757, 1085,

1086, election assistance, 1062, 1005, u.s. attorneys, 1099, 1100, coleman. 790, alexander. 1111 berto. 1110, shearer. 1090, bailey. 1091, secuta. 1092, uhara. 10932, mills. furthered, that the commerce committee be discharged from further consideration of presidential nomination 2092, o'reilly. further, the help committee be discharged from further consideration of presidential nominations 2065, 1279, 1280. further, that the environment and public works committee be discharged from further consideration of presidential nomination 1916. that the nominations be agreed to and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid on the table with no intervening action or debate, that no further motions be in order to

the nominations. that any statements related to the nominations be printed in the record. the presiding officer: is there objection? mr. reid: hang on. whoa. mr. schumer: hang on is a legislative term, mr. president. [laughter] mr. reid: and that the president be immediately notified of the senate's action. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. reid: mr. president, we're doing our best to keep everyone advised. we are unable -- we've got a picture, we've made a lot of progress, but in the meantime, my favorite words, i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

pulled principles here today to be with us. we have pulled together a very impressive assembly of speakers on a very >> that have been underway to bring forward the development of ebola vaccines and therapeutics.

and hope to revisit that in the new year. in the midst of the in the midst of the fluent and dangerous ebola emergency exceptional things have begun to happen. at a point early in the fall i would argue perceptions changed fundamentally in diverse experts working on ebola began to argue, began to realize new technologies, vaccines and therapies, some of which had been in development for some time, that these would be strategically essential to bringing about conclusive control, a resting the runaway ebola of the government. that implied there would have to be in next ordinary effort undertaken on an expedited

basis. and they would be added to the from line of essential public health interventions, which we have heard about and will continue to hear about today. the effort to isolate, contain, carrier contract and introduce effective communication to build trust and confidence. this triggered an accelerated mobilization across many different institutions and a high sense of urgency.

quorum call:

mr. reid: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the call of the quorum be terminated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent that the senate consider nomination calendar numbe calen,

the nomination be confirmed, no further motions be in order to otonomination and the president be immediately notified of the senate's action. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection, so ordered. mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the cloture motions with respect to the following nominations be withdrawn: calendar number 840, 922, 901, 735, 553. further, that all postcloture time on the honorable nomination be expired and the senate proceed to vote on confirmation of the honorable nomination, that upon the disposition of the honorable nomination, the senate proceed to confirmation votes on the following nominations: 840, 922, 901, 735, 553.

further, that if any nominations are confirmed, the motion to reconsider be laid on the table be considered made, laid on the table, with no intervening action or debate, and no further motions be in order to the nominations, any statements related to the nomination be printed in the record, and the president be immediately notified of the senate's action. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection, so ordered. all time on the honorable nomination is expired. the question is on the nomination. all in favor say aye. all opposed, no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the nomination is confirmed. the senate will now proceed to the following nominations, which the clerk will report. the clerk: nominations, department of interior, estevanr. lopez of new mexico to

be commissioner of reclamation. department of commerce, marcus dwayne jadotte of florida to be an assistant secretary of commerce. united states agency for international development, jonathan nicholas stivers of the district of columbia to be an assistant streample administrat. department of justice, john charles cruden of virginia to be an assistant attorney general. department of energy, christopher smith of texas to be an assistant secretary. the presiding officer: question now occurs on the lopez nomination. if there is to further debate, all in favor say aye. all opposed, no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the nomination is confidence. the question now appears on the

jadotte nomination. if there is no further debate, all in favor say aye. all opposed, no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the nomination is confirmed. the question now occurs on the stivers nomination. if there is to further debate, all in favor say aye. all opposed, no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the nomination is confirmed. the question now occurs on the cruden nomination. all in favor say aye. all opposed, no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the nomination is confidence. -- is confirmed. question now occurs on the smith nomination. if there is to further debate, all in favor say aye.

all opposed, no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the nomination is confirmed. the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the call of the quorum be terminated. the presiding officer: without objection. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the motions to reconsiderrer considered made and laid on the table. and the president will be immediately notified. senate's action. -- of the senate's action. the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call: