look forward to hearing from judge kavanaugh later this week. >> professor christine blasey ford agreed to testify thursday before the senate judiciary committee about her sexual assault allegation against supreme court nominee brett kavanaugh. judge kavanaugh will also testify at that hearing. we have live coverage thursday starting at 10 a.m. eastern on c-span 3 and also watch on-line at c-spahn.org or listen on the c-span radio app. friday the committee is scheduled to meet and vote on judge kavanaugh's nomination at 9:30 a.m. a full senate vote is possible early next week. live coverage on c-span 3. c-span.org and on the c-span radio app. >> we take you live now to the u.s. senate, at 1:45 p.m. eastern today the senate is scheduled to vote on confirmation of peter feldman who has been nominate today search a seven had-year

determine on the kourment product safety commission and we're expecting speeches today on the nomination of brett kavanaugh to the supreme court and allegations of sexual assault against the nominee. this is live senate coverage on c-span2. 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.

eternal god, in these challenging and unpredictable times, we look to you for guidance. you are the source of our strength and the center of our joy. remind our lawmakers that you are prepared to shower them with wisdom if they would only request it. thank you for inviting our senators to ask and receive, to seek and find, and to knock and open closed doors. bless our legislators with productivity and progress for the glory of your name. today and always, let your will be done on earth as it is done in heaven.

we pray in your strong 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., september 26, 2018. to the senate: under the provisions of rule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing rules of the senate, i hereby appoint the

honorable rand paul, a senator from the commonwealth of kentucky, to perform the duties of the chair. signed: orrin g. hatch, president pro tempore. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. morning business is closed. under the previous order, the senate will proceed to executive session and resume consideration of the following nomination which the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination, consumer products safety commission, peter a. feldman of the district of columbia to be a commissioner.

mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: tomorrow morning the senate and the american people will hear from judge brett kavanaugh and

dr. christine blasey ford under oath. we will hear sworn testimony from both of them regarding the allegation of 30-plus-year-old misconduct that dr. ford has raised. it goes without saying, mr. president, but it bears repeat ing, sexual assault is completely abhorrent. everyone deserves to be saved. i like that dr. ford will be heard. i would particularly like to thank senator grassley who assured a comfortable setting for this to take place. he gave dr. ford the opportunity to testify in public or in private, or to speak with investigators who would meet with her anywhere she wished or conduct the entire interview by phone. he has brought a patient,

professionalism to this process, one that stands in stark contrast to those on the other side of the aisle who self-describe as sport -- spartacas and play to the television cameras. so dr. ford will be heard, thank, to chairman grassley and despite the irresponsibility of senate democrats who ignored her allegation for weeks and then discarded her request for confidentiality and leaked it to the press. so let me walk through this again. the ranking democrat on the judiciary committee received a letter from dr. ford all the way back in july in which she stated her allegation and asked for confidentiality. mr. president, that was in july. the committee's thorough review

of judge kavanaugh was just getting started. there was ample time to vet this allegation in a serious and bipartisan manner that would have maintained confidentiality and honored dr. ford's request for privacy. all the democrats needed to do was go through proper channels, share the information with their republican colleagues so the committee could tackle it together. but that's not what senate democrats did. this is the democratic caucus whose leader, my friend, the senior senator from new york, said just hours after judge kavanaugh was nominated that he'd, quote, oppose him with everything i've got just hours after the nomination. this is the democratic caucus of which several members preemptively announced fill in the blank opposition to any nominee before judge kavanaugh

had even been named. this is the democratic caucus that spent all summer searching for reasons to delay, delay, delay this nomination. there weren't enough documents because there were too many documents, because of unrelated headlines. you name it. mr. president, these democratic colleagues did not treat dr. ford or her allegation with the seriousness and discretion she deserved. apparently, they took no meaningful action with respect to her claim for weeks, and then finally at the 11th hour, when its introduction was virtually certain to introduce further delay, they got it to the press. so much for dr. ford's request for confidentiality, i guess. so what lessons can we draw from all this, mr. president?

if you write to senate democrats in complete confidence about an extremely sensitive matter, you will soon wind up a household name. and if you're a public servant whose confirmation the far left happens to oppose because they dislike the fact that you will interpret the law and the constitution according to what they mean, rather than what the far left wishes they would mean, they will not hesitate to weaponize uncorroborated allegations and drag your name and your family right through the mud. that's what these guys will do to you. uncorroborated allegations which judge kavanaugh has denied repeatedly and in public and to senate investigators in the strongest terms, all under penalty of felony. so let's not forget that dr. ford's account identifies three others supposed witnesses,

and each of these individuals has denied participation in or recollection of any such event. also, under penalty of felony in all cases. one of the alleged witnesses is a long-time friend of dr. ford. she stated not only that she does not recall any such party but that she doesn't even know judge kavanaugh. no corroboration, no supporting evidence before us, just dr. ford's allegation. under a normal standard of american justice, this is nowhere near enough to destroy someone's reputation or nullify their career. but for some of our colleagues, they are trying to move the goalpost. the junior senator from delaware asserted recently on television that it is judge kavanaugh who bears the burden of disproving

these allegations. let me say that again. the junior senator from delaware says judge kavanaugh bears the burden of disproving these glaigz -- allegations. guilty until proven innocent in our country? similarly, the junior senator from hawaii has implied that judge kavanaugh does not deserve a presumption of innocence. the junior senator from hawaii has said that judge kavanaugh does not deserve a presumption of innocence, because she does not agree with his judicial philosophy. just yesterday, the democratic leader said that because we aren't at a criminal courtroom, because we aren't in a criminal courtroom, there is no presumption of innocence or guilt here when you have a nominee before you. in america, somebody's saying that?

well, it won't surprise you to know, mr. president, democrats haven't always taken that position. back in 1991, when our friend senator joe biden was chairman of the judiciary committee, he had this to say to judge clarence thomas when the committee was evaluating an allegation against him. here's what joe biden said. the presumption is with you. with me, the presumption is with you, and in my opinion, it should be with you until all the evidence is in and people make a judgment. that's the chairman of the judiciary committee, joe biden, during the clarence thomas proceeding. well, my colleagues would do well to remember this commonsense principle. after all, this is america. every american understands the

presumption of innocence. i'm glad that chairman grassley, his staff, and committee investigators have worked so hard to clean up this mess, clean up this mess and put together a fair process. and i'm encouraged by the committee's choice of rachel mitchell, a career prosecutor with decades of experience and and -- experience in sensitive investigations who was recognized with an award by arizona's then-democratic governor janet napalitano to lead expertise in this important process. it's time, mr. president, for senators to hear from both dr. ford and judge kavanaugh under oath. tomorrow we'll do just that. and then it will be time to vote. now, mr. president, on an entirely different matter, it is

with great reluctance that i close by marking the recent departure of a trusted advisor, a loyal friend, and a true patriot from my leadership staff. tomahawk inches served as my national security advisor for over a decade. over that time, he became a familiar face to so many around the senate. in fact, while i told my staff i was waiting for a quiet day to offer a fulsome tribute to tom's service here on the floor, i have to admit i was really just hoping one of my colleagues would convince him to stick around so i wouldn't have to. of course, for tom, with his incredibly important portfolio and his diligence and dedication, there was really no such thing as a quiet day. long after the lights went off here on the senate floor, tom was reviewing intelligence, conducting classified meetings, and making sure my colleagues and i were equipped to make

serious decisions about our nation's security and footing in the international system. it was impossible to walk away from a meeting with tom and not grasp the serious real-world consequences of our work. after all, he had lived them. during his own decorated military career, tom led marines in combat. he understood firsthand the price of freedom. this was clear from his very first days on my staff. from those early months, in the heat of negotiations over a new strategy for our involvement in iraq, i never doubted that tom was tirelessly committed to the brave men and women who continue to serve our nation in uniform. so tirelessly, in fact, that traveling with mom and our military personnel abroad was a lot like traveling with our dear

late friend, chairman john mccain. cover a lot of ground, meet a lot of people, and sleep when you go back home. as tom moves on from the senate, i sincerely hope that he will take a break from his grueling pace. in fact, tom, that's an order. i know tom's wife jennifer and his daughters emily and abigail will back me up on that one. very few people will ever know the full extent of tom's service and his sacrifice, but believe me, america is safer and more secure for his efforts. and in the halls of this institution which he served so faithfully for so long, he will be sorely missed. never once, not one time, did tom put his personal views ahead of my own or his personal interests ahead of the best interests of our country. he was always faithful to me, to

this body, and to our nation. that was tom, always faithful. to put it another way, semper fidelis. so, mr. president, on behalf of the senate, the commonwealth of kentucky, our men and women in uniform around the globe, and the entire nation, i'd like to thank tomahawk inches again for his many years of patriotic service and extend our very best wishes for all that the future holds. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll.

quorum call:

quorum call:

mrs. murray: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from washington. mrs. murray: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent to speak as if in morning business. the presiding officer: the senate in a quorum call.

mrs. murray: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the quorum call be lifted officer without objection. mrs. murray: i ask unanimous consent to speak as if in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. murray: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i come up to the floor today to join my colleagues in lifting up the voices of women across the country who right now are being ignored, swept aside, and attacked. and in calling on our republican colleagues to join us and do everything we can to make sure women are heard, listened to, and respected, as we debate and deliberate over judge kavanaugh's nomination to the supreme court. mr. president, recently i was back home in washington state to talk to my constituents about the supreme court nomination, and i met a woman named caitlin who bravely told me and others about her experience of being

sexually assaulted. she shared her story. had gone to a concert and she was sexually assaulted that night. but it was how she explained what happened after that i want to share today. she said -- and i quote -- as a sexual assault survivor, i know firstshand that these -- i no firsthand that these experiences have a lasting impact and the pain can't be overstated. in the aftermath of sexual violence, it's common to feel humiliated and to blame ourselves, to just want to forget it ever happened. i didn't want to admit that i'd allowed this to happen to me, so i tried to convince myself that the attack had never occurred. for these reasons and so many others, it's common to wait months or years before confiding in anyone, even those closest to us. those were caitlin's words to me. but she went on and she said --

and i quote -- going public with our stories opens us up to criticism ranging from victim blaming to accusations that we're liars and a. tension seekers, in addition to far uglier insults that i won't repeat right now. i know that coming forward and forever tying our names to one of the most terrifying, degrading experiences of our lives isn't a decision to be taken lightly, unquote. mr. president, sadly, caitlin is not alone, far from it. and she shared her story with me so her story can help others, so that i can lift it up, make sure it is being heard and help her make a difference. so, mr. president, this brings me to the question i want to ask here today -- what is this really about right now, in this moment, here in the

united states senate? there's a whole lot of confusion, a whole lot of mud being kicked up, a understand a he whole lot of distractions. but what is this moment right now really about? not the question of this confirmation, though that is clearly important, not whether or not we think judge calf knew would make a good supreme court justice or whether we can trust him despite the lies we've already heard on issue after issue. those are, of course, critical questions, too. and not even whether or not my colleagues will believe that the allegations brought against him are true once all the evidence is weighed and all investigations are complete. though, of course, for many of us, that question must be dug into. but, mr. president, to me and millions of people across the country, this moment right now is about the answer to a few simple questions.

is the senate a place where women are listened to, heard, and respected? or is it still just one more place where women's voices are swept under the rug, where our voices are ignored, attacked, and undermined? right now in this moment in the united states senate, while the president of the united states is saying a woman can't be trusted because she was drunk, while he was tweeting that dr. ford can't be trusted because if it were really as bad as she said, she would have reported it back when she was 15 when it happened. well, republican leaders are saying they will, quote, plow right through this. well, they are desperately trying to distract people by pointing to the process and the timing -- anything but the substance. -- while they hire a woman they are calling, quote, their female

assistant, the lawyer they found to ask dr. ford the questions they can't trust the republican men on the judiciary committee to ask, well, they're already creeping past this hearing and scrambling to line up a committee vote right away, while they are planning to stay through the weekend to rush through a vote on the senate floor that their leader says they are, quote, confident to win, before dr. ford as hurricane katrina a chance to be heard and a vote that doesn't need to be rushed for any good reason. mr. president, right now in this moment here in the united states senate, these are the questions. will women be heard or will women be ignored? will women bravely coming forward to share the most horrific experience of their lives be trusted or will they be treated like liars?

will women like caitlin, dr. ford and ms. ramirez, will they be respected, listened to, heard or will they be pushed aside, put in their places, told to remain quiet? right now in this moment in the united states senate, what kind of message will we send to women and girls across the country? -- who are watching right now, who are looking to see how dr. ford is being treated, whether or not ms. ramirez, who is reportedly willing to testify to the committee under oath, whether her story will be taken seriously or even be investigated and are grappling with maybe one of the toughest decisions of their lives -- should they report a sexual assault? should they try to bring a perpetrator to justice and make sure he faces the consequences he deserves?

or should they keep it to themselves, worried about the ways that they may be attacked or ignored or disbelieved, intire debated about what they draining or wore or told and when? right now in this moment in the united states senate, if what kind of message will we send to men and boys across the country, who are watching right now, who will see whether women are empowered to share their experience, men facing the consequences of of their actions and a message sent that this is not acceptable behavior in high school, in college, or anywhere else, or who will, once again, hear that women can be attacked and abused and disrespected and used and then ignored tacked all over again when they share their stories. mr. president, i ran -- decided to run for the united states senate after i saw senators get

those questions wrong in the anita hill hearings in 1991. i ran to be a voice for the women and men across the country who thought it was absolutely wrong for her to be ignored and attacked it, swept aside, and disbelieved. i ran for right here in this moment in the united states senate to make sure we'd never allow that to happen again. for my daughter, who sat by my side as we watched that all-male judiciary committee grill anita hill, for her daughters, my granddaughters, who are not quite old enough to understand what will happen on thursday but who will grow up in a world that will treat them better or worse depending on how women are treated this week. for caitlin and the women like her who share their stories with me, some out loud in front of

crowds, some in whispered voices after the everyone else has left, and for the women we don't know who have buried their experiences deep down inside, who have kept their secret for decades because they have been too scared or intimidated to come forward and who are watching right now see what happens here right now in this moment in the united states senate. i am proud to bring their voices to the floor here today, and i'm truly hopeful that enough republicans stand with them and that we can do the right thing. republican leaders need to listen, truly listen to the women coming forward to share their experiences. republican leaders need to investigate, truly investigate the allegations they are making and the inconsistences in judge kavanaugh's statements on so many issues. and republican leaders need to

end this scramble and rush. they need to slow it down and do this right. women and men are watching. they are paying attention, and they are not going to forget. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor. i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

mr. schumer: mr. president? the presiding officer: the democratic leader. mr. schumer: are we in a quorum? the presiding officer: yes. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent the quorum be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without

objection. mr. schumer: now, mr. president, as we approach tomorrow's hearing with dr. ford and judge kavanaugh, i want to be very clear about how the republican leadership has handled these incredibly serious incredible allegations of sexual assault. the republican leadership has handled them poorly, unfairly, disrespectfully. leader mcconnell has called this entire issue a smear campaign, cooked up by democrats that's a blatant falsehood that demeans the women who have courageously come forward -- they came forward, not democrats. they did it on their own, not democrats. and when leader mcconnell says it's a smear campaign, he's demeaning these women. as i have said before but we have yet to hear, leader mcconnell owes dr. ford an apology for what he has said. after republicans on the judiciary committee learned of a second potential allegation against judge kavanaugh, they

renewed their requests, of course, to accelerate, to speed up the confirmation process. chairman grassley is prohibited witnesses in tomorrow's hearing other than dr. ford and judge kavanaugh, including the one and only alleged eyewitness to the events in question. chairman grassley and several of his colleagues on the other side have already proposed a final committee vote on friday. they've prepared the vote before the hearing occurs. isn't that prejudgment. and they are acting when they proposed the vote before the hearing as if the conclusion was foreordained and the hearing is just a nuisance to plow through. most galling of all, republican leadership and the white house have blocked the f.b.i. from reopening an independent background check investigation into judge kavanaugh, a standard procedure for federal nominees

when new allegations arise. this isn't a new thing that democrats are pulling out of the hat. this is something we do all the time. in this case, no. so this isn't a democratic smear job as the leader so callously and disrespectfully suggested. this is a republican rush job, and i might add a rush job to avoid getting to the truth. here's the contradiction in leader mcconnell's logic. leader mcconnell keeps saying that the allegations by dr. ford and other women are uncorroborated, his words, while at the same time he is blockading the obvious avenues to corroborate them. and that would be an impartial f.b.i. investigation calling eyewitnesses to testify. senator mcconnell's assertion is wrong on its face because sworn statements corroborateing

dr. ford's account were submitted to the judiciary yesterday. if he doesn't believe those statements, simple. have the f.b.i. go interview those who submitted the statements and then they would have to tell the truth under the penalty of perjury. so right here and now, i challenge any member of the republican senate to come to the floor and give one good reason why we shouldn't allow the f.b.i. to follow up on its background investigation, one good reason. i haven't heard one. with all the rhetoric, all the screaming, all the name calling, all the disrespecting of women who have come forward, something this nation knows all too well these days, we haven't heard one actual reason why there shouldn't be an f.b.i. investigation. will it slow it down? it will only take a few days. i would remind leader mcconnell, he slowed down the nomination to the supreme court for a year and now a few days is too much?

give me a break. give me a break. dr. ford has asked for an f.b.i. investigation. that shows you the faith she has in her account. editorial boards across the country have echoed her call for an f.b.i. investigation. anita hill treated so unfairly in her day said that an f.b.i. investigation is essential. and i have to give some credit, a handful of fair minded republican senators have said that an f.b.i. investigation is warranted because they know it would get to the facts. they know it would keep politics out of it. they know it wouldn't cause much of a delay. during justice thomas' confirmation process, around update to the f.b.i. background check took three days. three days. leader mcconnell held a supreme court seat open for over

400 days. so why was that okay and this not? again, i say to my dear friend, leader mcconnell, give me one good reason, give the american people one good reason why we shouldn't ask the f.b.i. to investigate. if it's a smear job as he claims, the f.b.i. will find that out. but they also might find out that it's no smear job. it's the god's honest truth. now, another tactic. the republican leader has just trotted out old quotes by senator biden pointing out that f.b.i. investigations don't provide conclusions. i'd say to the leader, that's just the point. the purpose of the f.b.i. investigation would not be to prove definitively who's right one way or the other. that's a judgment senators are to make. but to provide the senate with just the facts, that's what we

want, just the facts, to make a more informed decision, one the american people could have some confidence in. their confidence in judge kavanaugh and in the process is slipping daily and with good reason. isn't this an impartial, fair, timely, nondilatory f.b.i. background check investigation fair to both dr. ford and judge kavanaugh? taking this out of the arena of politics and making it just about the facts? you bet it is. of course it's the right thing to do. but the republican leaders and the white house have blocked it, scheduled a hearing for tomorrow anyway because as leader mcconnell promised last week, he's going to plow right through these allegations. and the motivation is clear. they want to put judge kavanaugh on the bench as quickly as

possible because they know their nominee has a gigantic credibility problem and every day that goes by, more and more americans realize it. judge kavanaugh misled the judiciary committee on numerous occasions about his involvement in the ugliest bush era controversies, on torture, on the confirmation of controversial judges william pryor and charles pickering, on the sorted affair when manny miranda, a republican operative stole democratic e-mails. just today ranking member feinstein said that judge kavanaugh misled the judiciary committee about an incident with the grand jury during his time working for ken starr. telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth does not seem judge kavanaugh's way but that is what we need on the supreme court. and earlier this week, the nation watched judge kavanaugh swear on national television that he never had so much to drink that he forgot events.

that characterization doesn't track with several descriptions given by many of his high school and college classmates and when he says i can't recall this, that, and the other thing about his youth. so the question of credibility looms. is judge kavanaugh willing to say anything to get confirmed? and are republican leaders willing to do anything to get him confirmed? unfortunately, signs are pointing to yes. most importantly, when the credibility of the nominee is so questionable, is that the kind of person we want on the supreme court? i don't care if it's a liberal, conservative, moderate. when the question of credibility is so much in doubt, as it is now, with judge kavanaugh, that person should not be sitting, not be sitting on the highest court in the land. the arbiter of our laws and

often the determiner of right and wrong. it would be a new lower standard for the court and for america. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

mr. blumenthal: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from connecticut. mr. blumenthal: thank you, mr. president. i ask that the quorum call be lifted. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. blumenthal: thank you. mr. president, shortly, i will move for unanimous consent to pass senate resolution 610 urging the release of information regarding the september 11 terrorist attack upon the united states. it is a bipartisan resolution, and i want to thank the

cosponsors who have joined me in this historic effort, senators cornyn, schumer, gillibrand, murphy, menendez, grassley, markey, booker, rubio, and sanders. at a time of very deep division in our country and in this body, all of us are still able to come together to help the survivors and families of the horrific september 11 terrorist attacks as they seek justice and fairness to deter additional and ongoing state sponsorship of terrorism. following our successful efforts in 2016 to enact the justice against sponsors of terrorism act, also known as jasta, the

families of 9/11 victims who perished earned the right to have their day in court. we thought that day would come quickly and that they would receive justice. we believe they also earn a right to the necessary federal government archive investigative files on al qaeda terrorists and the foreign nationals who may have assisted them. as much as we expected justice, the federal government denied them those records and documents that are vital to their cause, and so 17 years after this national tragedy, the appropriate declassification, release of these documents poses no threat to our national security, and there is no reason for the federal government resisting their request.

these files have been kept secret for too long. that secrecy contradicts the national interest. their cause serves our national security, not only because it gives them justice individually, but it also deterse terrorists in the future. and denying them access to this important evidence is unjust, unfair, and unwise. the united states government should make public any evidence of links between the saudi arabian government officials and the support network inside the united states used to aid and abet the 9/11 hijackers. the legal and moral responsibility of our government is in fact to provide its citizens with all available information regarding this horrific tragedy on 9/11/2001,

particularly where there may be evidence that foreign nationals conspired within our borders to support terror with the assistance of foreign governments. this resolution would never have been possible without the efforts of my constituent brett eagleston of middletown, connecticut. he was just 15 years old when his father bruce was lost to him in that massive, unspeakable destruction. he was on the 17th floor of tower 2 of the world trade center. brett was joined in his advocacy and efforts by members across the country, members of 9/11 families and survivors united for justice against terrorism.

that group is really a profile in courage reliving the pain and anguish of those days in their efforts to seek justice for all america. they included a number of individuals whose names i would like to place in the record -- marie fechitt, marie fechitt lost her son. gordon has beenerman of wisconsin who lost his daughter. carol ashley of long island who lost her daughter. tim froick, sharon promoly, lawyerene salido from l ifful, who lost her son. charles wolf of new york city who lost his wife. i thank each of them and the many others who supported this

effort for their courage and strength. there are so many whom we honor today by our passage of this sense of the senate resolution. this senate resolution is itself succinct but significant. it resolves that it is the sense of the senate that documents related to the events of 2011, 2001 should be declassified to the greatest extent possible and, two, the survivors, the families of the victims and the people of the united states deserve answers about the events and circumstances surrounding the september 11 terrorist attack upon the united states. these many years later, the pain and grief that they endured on that horrific day still is with

them. each year in connecticut we commemorate this day, and we will never forget. that is our resolve -- never to forget, never to yield to hopelessness, never to allow our support for these families to diminish. this sense of the senate resolution makes real a promise that the nation made to these 9/11 families. they deserve this evidence, even if it is embarrassing to foreign governments or foreign nationals. they deserve justice. so, mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the

committee on homeland security and government affairs be discharged from further consideration of senate resolution 610 and the senate proceed to its immediate consideration. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. res. 6 soccer urging the release of information regarding the september 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the united states. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding to the measure? without objection, the committee will be discharged and the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. blumenthal: i further ask, mr. president, that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. blumenthal: thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor.

mr. president, i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

quorum call:

quorum call: