mr. leahy: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. leahy: madam president, first off, i'm glad to see my colleague and neighbor from new york in the chair, an extraordinarily hard-working member of the senate. i'm not surprised on a saturday morning she is here. i also want to, before i start, to state my appreciation of the kind words from the majority leader for the senator from vermont. he and i have been friends for a long, long, for decades. and i am glad to see the work he has done in bringing this bill to the floor. i intend to work closely with him. madam president, decision time is near on health insurance reform. i will vote today to end the filibuster so the senate can begin this important historic debate to improve and reforeman our nation's -- to improve and foreman our nation's health insurance system. let's not duck the debate. let the debate begin. let's not hide from votes. let's have the courage to vote. stand up and vote on the amendments. let the american people know where we stand and not say, well, it never came -