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the presiding officer: the yeas are 40, the nays are 54, the 60-vote threshold having not been achieved, the motion to concur is not agreed to. the majority leader. mr. schumer: can we have order, mr. president? proo. mr. schumer: upon the disposition of h. con. res. 121,

that it be in order to make motions to concur with the following amendments, scott of florida amendment, 6540, lee amendment 6541, with changes at the desk. two minutes of debate for both votes and the senate vote in relation to the scott an lee motions. that if either of the motions to concur with the amendment are agreed to, the schumer motion to refer -- to refer and motion concur with the amendment be withdrawn and that the senate immediately vote on the motion to concur. that the scott motion and motion to concur votes be subject to a 60-affirmative vote threshold for adoption, if the motion to concur is agreed to, the senate proceed to h. con. res. 123, that the concurrent resolution be agreed to, all without further intervening action or

debate. proo is there objection? without objection, it is so ordered. mr. schumer: two quick points. i know our great senator from rhode island, who handled this bill so well will speak. i want to wish my congratulations to senator inhofe who has been in this body for such a long it time and led the armed services committee in both the majority and minority with such fervor and concern for our soldiers and troops. to move along this evening, i would ask members to please remain on or near the floor during votes tonight. i ask unanimous consent that the remaining votes this evening be ten minute votes. proo is there objection? hearing none, no objection. there are now two minutes equally divided prior to a vote on the motion to concur. the senator from rhode island.

mr. reed: mr. president, i have a much longer statement, but i want to are express my support for the 2023 national defense authorization act. i'm pleased we'ring about -- we're about to pass it. for more than 20 years i've had the privilege of serving with him on the committee in turn we've been chairman and ranking member and i'm honored that this year's bill will be named the james m. inhofe national defense authorization act. mr. president, i'd also like to add my congratulations and

thanks to the house armed services chairman adam smith and ranking member mike rogers, their partnership was invaluable to make this moment possible. with that, i will yield to the ranking member. mr. inhofe: i want to thank the chairman for all the hard work we do. people d -- people don't realize this is, in my opinion, the most significant vote of the year. it's one we've been through for a long period of time. it's necessary. the way it turned out is really good. i'm pleased that the senate is voting today on the fiscal year 2023 national defense authorization act. i've said it before, and i'm not the only one saying it -- the world is a more dangerous place than i've ever seep it before in my lifetime. typically, there is bipartisan agreement on this, and that's why this bill has gotten done

for 61 years in a row. it is almost all bipartisan. for this year's bill, that's definitely the case. we have worked together for a long period of time, worked closely with my friend, chairman jack reed, and both of us made sure that that would be the case. the armed services committee agreed almost unanimously to boost president biden's inadequate defense budget by $45 billion. this disht funding will address -- this additional funding will address record-high inflation rates and ensure we're able to implement the little blue book we talk about all the time. it's worked very successfully in the past. it will be working successfully long after i'm gone, too. so additional funding will address record-high inflation rates, we are ensured we'll be able to implement the little blue book the way we have in the past. we need to prioritize defense. it's simple as that.

the national defense authorization act addresses the national defense strategy in concrete ways. we need to get this done, we're going to get it done, and get it done this eng a. i encourage all my colleagues to support this year's national defense authorization act and let's extend our track record of getting this bill done, and let's show our troops that we love them and that we support them. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion to concur. yeas and nays are previously ordered. clerk will call the roll. vote:

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the presiding officer: on this vote the yeas are 83. the nays are 11. the 60-vote threshold having been achieved, the motion to concur in the james m. inhofe national defense authorization act for fiscal year 2023 is agreed to. under the previous order, h. con. res. 121 is considered and agreed to and the motion to reconsider is considered made and laid upon the table. the pending business is now the message with respect to h.r. 1437. the senator from utah. mr. lee: i ask consent that the following senators be permitted to speak prior to the vote fs relation to h.r. 1437. senator lee for five minutes, senator scott for one minute. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. lee: mr. president, i move

to concur in the house amendment to the senate amendment to h.r. 1437 with amendment number 6541 as modified with the changes at the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report by number. the clerk: the senator from utah, mr. lee, moves to concur in the house amendment to the senate amendment to h.r. 1437 with amendment numbered 6541 as modified. the presiding officer: the senate is not in order. the senate will come to order. mr. lee: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from utah. mr. lee: we find ourselves back in the same place. it's like deja vu all over again. we've been through this process year after year. i've been here 12 years and it seems more often than not, we're in a very similar circumstance. we're just a few days away from christmas and we're being asked to move the deadline for the expiration of government funding, potentially leading to

a shutdown, even closer to christmas. today we're being asked to move it to the day before christmas eve. obviously, we need to keep the government funded. we don't want to shut down. no one wants a shutdown. a shutdown would be particularly bad this time of year, horrible for our constituents, people who rely on government for a paycheck or for this or that program. it will would all be bad and we all feel the weight of that. we also feel the weight as we approach christmas of wanting to be able to make good on our promises to our families to spend the holidays with them rather than here in rkt would. as a result of -- here in washington. as a result of that, every year knowing this, there seem to be people who want to make sure that all spending decisions are wrapped into one spending bill. very often those are wrapped together in one omnibus spending package and then held off until a day or to, sometimes just hours before the government is

set to shut down. that's when the magic happens. but it's not good magic. it's really bad magic. that's when these twin threats of sacrificing christmas on the one hand or running into a government shutdown on the other hand. they operate like paired scissor blades to cut through what would otherwise be an insurmountable task. and that task involves convincing senators tom vote for a bill 3,000-plus pages long, likely this year containing 7500 or so earmarks, a bill that they have never seen, a bill that does not as we speak right now exist without ever having seen it. we all know that this is wrong. we all know that this is a corrupt way to run our government. this is a corrupt process that brings about all kinds of special interests giveaways. and in the absence of the light of day, they pass with the threat, the threat of a

government shutdown or canceling christmas. members end up voting for that which they know they have no business supporting. that's why my amendment is simple. my amendment simply gives us the flexibility to make these decisions not under duress, to make these decisions with clarity of mind and not influenced by this dual threat of a shutdown and cancellation of christmas. now, look, whether you're for this omnibus bill, which has yet to come into existence, has yet to make a public appearance, to see the lie of day, whether you're for or against it, you should support my amendment, because if you support my amendment you're just giving us more flexibility. the american people deserve nothing less than to allow us to make decisions consciously, knowingly, under the light of day with clarity of mind and not under duress. that's what my amendment affords them.

extending this out to march 10. thank you, mr. president. the presiding officer: the senators are reminded to take their conversations off the floor. the senator from florida is recognized. mr. scott: i move to concur in the house amendment to the senate amendment to h.r. 1437 with amendment 6540. the presiding officer: the clerk will report by number. the clerk: the senator from florida, mr. scott, moves to concur in the house amendment to the senate amendment 1437 with amendment 6540. mr. scott: mr. president. everyone in this chamber spoke about the pain american families are feeling by the raging inflation brought on by joe biden's shocking spending. senate democrats approved $70 billion to supersize the irs with 87,000 more new agents. thanks to skyrocketing prices, what's worst, the biden administration is also changing

irs standards to begin tracking financial transactions americans making in excess of $600 to cash app, venmo and pay pal. it's stuff we see in communist china. that's why i filed amendment to strike the funnels for the new -- the funding for the new irs agents. i urge my colleagues to protect americans' privacy, stop the ridiculous audits on families and support my amendment. i yield. the presiding officer: there are now two minutes of debate prior to a street in relation to the scott motion. that time is equalry divided -- equally divided. the senator from oregon. mr. wyden: thank you very much, mr. president. mr. president, colleagues, i would strongly urge opposition to the scott motion. the scott motion would strip funding the irs needs very much

to go after wealthy tax cheats who are refusing to pay taxes they already owe. the most recent irs commissioner, a republican appointee, estimated that the amount of taxes owed that are not collected could be as much as $1 trillion per year. working americans, firefighters and nurses who pay their taxes with every paycheck, believe that the irs must have the resources it needs to go after the sophisticated, wealthy tax cheats at the top, but powerful special interests who don't want to pay what they already owe are lying to the american people about how the additional irs funding will be used. i urge my colleagues to strongly oppose the scott motion. mr. scott: i ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. there is.

the question is on the scott motion. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

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the presiding officer: on this vote the yeas are 45, the nays are 47. the 60-vote threshold having not been achieved, the motion to concur is not agreed to. there are two minutes of debate prior to a vote in the lee motion. mr. lee: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from utah. the senate will come to order. mr. lee: mr. president, we'll be voting in a moment on my amendment. again, this amendment is

something that everyone in this chamber should be able to support whether you like the omnibus or whether you hate the omnibus. the senate should be in a position to review the omnibus with a clear head, without the pressure of an imminent threat at christmas time of a shutdown. the american people deserve this and so do we. this is the only way to make this right. i encourage all of you to vote for my amendment. mr. leahy: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. leahy: mr. president, it's not a question of whether you like the omnibus or not. a continuing resolution until -- the presiding officer: the senate is not in order. senators are reminded to take their conversations off the floor. the senate will come to order. the senator from vermont. mr. leahy: continuing this until march 10, imperils our national security, ignores -- an omnibus

without that, the ndaa we passed this evening is a broken promise. the bipartisan pact act goes underfunded. the v.a. and medical care falls at least $7.5 billion short. some of my colleagues say we should do more on the southern border. well, the proposal just made on this c.r. does nothing to help on that. it doesn't help on the fires, the floods and all of the rest that we have. we have a bipartisan, bicameral framework in place. let's have the courage to vote it up or down. don't give -- keep kicking the can down the road. it helps no one. i urge my colleagues to reject the proposal. the presiding officer: the question is on the lee motion. is there a sufficient second? there is. the clerk will call the roll.

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the presiding officer: the yeas are 35. the nays are 56. the motion to concur is not agreed to. under the previous order, the motion to defer and the motion to concur are withdrawn. there are knew two minutes equally divided prior to the motion to concur. mr. schumer: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senate will come to order. the majority leader. mr. schumer: mr. president, can we have order? thank you. mr. president, we haven't had a single government shutdown during the entire 117th congress, and thanks to this weeklong extension today, we're not starting now. today's one-week continuing resolution will keep the government open long enough to give our appropriators a chance to finish their work on a yearlong funding package. this is about taking a very simple, exceedingly responsible step to ensure we finish the

year without hiccups and with minimum drama. the a one-week c.r. gives us time to keep working. i want to thank my colleagues both sides of the aisle for their great cooperation. next week, hopefully, we'll pass the package to keep the government fully funded into next fall. nobody will get everything they want, but the final product will include wins everyone can get behind, including passing the electoral count act, emergency aid for ukraine and funding for our kids, veterans, small businesses and military families. no drama, no gridlock, no government shutdown this week. it's a win for the american people. i thank my colleagues for their work, ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion to condition cur. the yeas and nays -- the motion to concur. the yeas and nays have been requested. is there a sufficient second? there is. the clerk will call the roll.

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