the question is: is it the sense of the senate that debate on the nomination of john b. owens of california to be the united states circuit judge for the ninth circuit, shall be brought to a close? the yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. the clerk will call the roll. rolevote: vote:

the clerk: nomination, john b. owens of california to be united states circuit judge for the ninth circuit. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the time until 5:30 p.m. will be equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or her designees. mr. hatch: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from utah. mr. hatch: if i can have the first part of this -- my remarks be placed in the record at this point, i would appreciate it. the presiding officer: without objection. hatch from the first day the s.g.r. went into effect in 2002, congress has acted to prevent its reimbursements from going into effect mured to aensure the medicare beneficiaries continue to have access to quality care. more often than not, s.g.r. patches have been cobbled together at the last minute between the leadership offices of both parties. mr. hatch: they are usually tacked onto larger pieces of legislation without the input of members and without the benefit of going through a committee. for years this process has bothere

the clerk: nomination, john b. owens of california to be united states circuit judge for the ninth circuit. mr. reid: i have a cloture that is at the desk, mr. president. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the cloture. the clerk: cloture we the undersigned senators in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of john b. owens of california to be united states circuit judge for the ninth circuit. signed by 17 senators as follows --. mr. reid: mr. president, i would ask consent the names not be read. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask consent the mandatory quorum under rule 22 be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i move to 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 have it. the ayes appear to have it. the motion is agreed to. mr. reid: mr. president, is th