vote:

tkaoeufp

the presiding officer: the yeas are 81. the nays are 7. the nomination is confirmed. mr. schumer: madam president. the presiding officer: 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. mr. schumer: as if in legislative session, i ask unanimous consent that the resignation letter of former senator al franken to governor dayton be read and spread upon the journal and printed in the record.

the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: madam president i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

the presiding officer: the senate majority leader. mr. mcconnell: i ask that further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: for the information of all senators, there will be no further roll call votes during this week's session of the senate. i move to proceed to legislative session. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion to proceed. all those in favor say aye. all those opposed say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. mr. mcconnell: i move to proceed to executive session to consider calendar number 370 william campbell. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion to proceed. all those in favor say aye. all those opposed say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: nomination, the judiciary, william l. campbell

jr. of tennessee to be united states district judge for the middle district of tennessee. mr. mcconnell: i send a cloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the cloture motion. 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 william l. campbell jr. of tennessee to be united states district judge for the middle district of tennessee, signed by 17 senators as follows -- mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i move to proceed to legislative session. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion to proceed. all those in favor say aye. all those opposed say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. mr. mcconnell: i move to proceed to executive session to consider calendar 371 thomas parker. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion to proceed. all those in favor say aye.

all those opposed say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: the judiciary thomas lee robinson parker of tennessee to be united states district judge for the western district of tennessee. mr. mcconnell: i send a cloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the cloture motion. the clerk: cloture motion. we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22, do hereby bring to a close debate on of thomas lee signed by 17 senators as follows. mr. mcconnell: i ask consent the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i move to proceed to legislative session. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion to proceed. all those in favor say aye.

all those opposed, say no. the ayes appear to have it the ayes do have. it the motion is agreed to. mr. mcconnell: i move to proceed to executive session to consider calendar number 385 mike brown. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion to proceed. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion it -- is agreed to. the clerk will report. the clerk: michael brown of georgia to be united states district judge for the northern district of georgia. mr. mcconnell: i send a cloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: cloture motion. we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22, do hereby bring to a close debate on nomination of michael brown to be united states district judge for the northern district of georgia. mr. mcconnell: i ask consent

that the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i move to proceed to legislative session. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion to proceed. all those in favor say aye. all those opposed, say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. mr. mcconnell: i move to proceed to executive session to consider calendar number 435 walter counts. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion to proceed. all those in favor say aye. all those opposed say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination, the judiciary, walter david counts, iii, to be united states district judge for the western district of texas. mr. mcconnell: i send a cloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: cloture motion. we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22, do hereby bring to a close debate on on the

nomination of walter david counts iii of texas to be united states district judge for the western district of texas. mr. mcconnell: i ask that the reading of the names be waived rsm. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask that notwithstanding rule 22, that the motions ripen on january 8. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to legislative session for a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for 10 minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the committee on veterans' affairs be discharged from further consideration of s. 925 and the senate proceed to its immediate consideration. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. 925, a bill to amend title 38, united states

code and so forth and for other purposes. the presiding officer: without objection, the committee is discharged and the senate will proceed to the motion. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent that the ernst amendment at the desk be considered and agreed to, the bill as amended be considered read a third time and passed and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i understand there is a bill at the desk and i ask for its first reading. the presiding officer: the clerk will read the title of the bill for the first time. the clerk: h.r. 4667 an act making further appropriations and so forth and for other purposes. mr. mcconnell: i ask for a second reading and under the provisions of rule 14 i object to my own request. the presiding officer: the bill will be heard for the second time on the next legislative day. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous

consent when the senate completes its business, it adjourn until 11:00 a.m., january 4, the morning hour be deemed expired, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, and the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day further following leader remarks the senate proceed to executive session and resume consideration of the counts nomination. finally that the senate recess from 12:30 until 2:15 p.m. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: if there is no further business to come before the senate i ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order. the presiding officer: the that wraps up the first day of the second session of the 115th congress. lawmakers swearing in to the members, alabama doug jones and minnesota tina smith both

democrats. that brings the senate to a 51-47 split with two independents who usually caucus with the democrats. the senate also works on the defense secretary nomination. either this month able to meet 18 government funding which currently runs out on january 19th. also this year state of the union address scheduled for january 30th. more like the senate coverage when they return here on c-span2. tonight book to be returned in prime time on c-span2 beginning at 8:00 p.m. with books on science and technology featured authors include richard dawkins heather and samantha. that is the tv in prime time tonight 8:00 eastern on c-span2. >> this weekend c-span city tour takes you to springfield missouri while in springfield working with media to explore the literary scene and history of the birthplace of route 66 in

southwestern missouri. saturday at noon eastern on the tv author jeremy talks about the conflict occurring along the kansas missouri border and the struggle over slavery in his book the border between them. >> in 1858 john brown had left kansas and comes back to the territory and begins a series of raids into western missouri during which his men will liberate enslaved people from missouri and help them escape to freedom. in the course of this they will kill a number of slaveholders and the legend for the notoriety of john brown rose as part of this struggle that people locally understand is the beginning of the civil war. >> sunday at 2:00 p.m. on american history tv we visit the nra national sporting arms museum. >> theodore roosevelt was our most shooting present. is a very, very avid hunter.

first thing he did when he left office was organized and go on a large hunting safari in africa. this was specifically prepared for roosevelt. it has the presidential seal engraved on the beach and of course roosevelt was famous for the bull moose party and there is a bullmoose engraved on the side plate of this gun. >> watch c-span city tour springville, missouri, saturday at noon eastern on c-span2's book tv and sunday at 2:00 p.m. on american history tv on c-span3. working with our cable affiliates as we explore america america. >> today two new senators were sworn in, doug jones from alabama and minnesota tina smith, both democrats. here is what the scene look like on the senate floor.