the definition of fill are the lies that i now talk the other persons and but you know it when bill frist was the was in senate majority leader and the minority the democrats were saying no we don't know about the sam alito guy it was for the supreme court it was bill frist who said oh well we're going to pull the nuclear option going to blow up the filibuster and the democrats are going to do that don't do that we'll give it we'll give you sam alito i mean this was a part of the you remit i guess let me just as a really simple question don't you think that if the republicans took this if the republicans take the senate in two years what would your bet be that the first thing the leader mcconnell will do would be to blow up the filibuster here very likely to trim back the same way the democrats threaten to do this time this is they'll do what the donor is saying they're going to go as far but they're going to make some more progress and this is why this is dangerous you're getting close to buy you don't regard when they do it they set the precedent ok well set the precedent or return demo

his work with dick luger to insure free elections in the philippines, his work with bill frist on aids in africa. his work as chairman of the new start treaty and his very public and successful diplomatic interventions in afghanistan, pakistan, and sudan. i think one day historians will judge his senate years in terms of his impact on foreign policy much the same way so many recognize senator ted kennedy's impact on domestic policy. from his many years in the u.s. senate, john has developed a very personal understanding that we represent not just states or government but also people. i once asked john why he loves the senate. he said, it's the pride he feels in trying to get things done for people. for three years now, he's been working quietly to help a father from newton, massachusetts, colin bower, whose two sons were kidnapped and taken to egypt. john even called former president mubarak and had a screaming match with him about it. five times, he's been to egypt since then, and every time, colin has been at the top of his list in every meeting. every senator here has a colin bower.

a view down the mall at my old job working for the senate majority leader and when i worked for bill fristsident, they tried to get immigration reform done. unfortunately that didn't happen. with a lot of democratic pushback, they didn't want to tackle that issue. i agree with maria that immigration is going to be very central on the president's agenda the next four years as well as the republican agenda, both because it's the right thing to do, it is a pressing issue and also because of the electoral pressure that both parties have to tackle this directly. number two, obamacare. we are only now seeing sort of the fallout and consequences of that legislation. there are lawsuits all around -- dozens of lawsuits, actually, against the administration on obamacare when it comes to religious liberty. we're seeing health care premiums are already sky rocketing. so, we have yet to really see the -- as i say, the consequences of obamacare. i think you'll see republicans tackling that in the next four years. and finally, last, mystery scandal. >> scandals. we're waiting. we're both waiting here. >>

committee, his work with dick lugar to ensure free elections in the philippines, his work with bill frist on aids in africa, his work as chairman of the new start treaty and his very public and successful diplomatic interventions in afghanistan, pakistan and sudan. i think one day historians will judge his senate years in temperatures terms of his impact on foreign policy much the same way so many recognize senator ted kennedy's impact on domestic policy. from his many years in the u.s. senate, john has developed a very personal understanding that we represent not just states or government but also people. i once asked john why he loves the senate. he said, it's the pride he feels in trying to get things done for people. for three years now, he's been working quietly to help a father from newton, massachusetts, colin bauer, whose two sons were kidnapped and taken to egypt. john even called former president mubarak and had a screaming match with him about it. five times he's been to egypt since then and every time colin has been at the top of his list in every meeting. every senator here h

john has been a tireless advocate for the cause of the south suzanne success he has worked with bill frist on hiv aids legislation that laid the foundation of the president emergency aids relief program, a program that provides life-saving treatment for it those with hiv and aids and who supports broad prevention efforts would save lives everyday. john supports the transition to a clean energy future as well. as chairman of the committee on foreign relations, he convened a major hearings and roundtables and underscores the connection to global stability. economic competitive ways and american security. his portfolio will represent the interest of the nation. securing and protecting overseas personnel promoting commerce and enhancing ties in keeping america secure with cooperation were possible. whatever the challenges are that we will face as a nation, in my view this could not be in better hands. when it comes to america's role in world affairs, i know that we all agree that it is credible that the united states remains projecting that military strength but the wisdom of our democratic id

committee, his work with dick lugar to ensure free elections in the philippines, his work with bill frist on aids in africa, his work as chairman of the new start treaty and his very public and successful diplomatic interventions in afghanistan, pakistan and sudan. i think one day historians will judge his senate years in temperatures terms of his impact on foreign policy much the same way so many recognize senator ted kennedy's impact on domestic policy. from his many years in the u.s. senate, john has developed a very personal understanding that we represent not just states or government but also people. i once asked john why he loves the senate. he said, it's the pride he feels in trying to get things done for people. for three years now, he's been working quietly to help a father from newton, massachusetts, colin bauer, whose two sons were kidnapped and taken to egypt. john even called former president mubarak and had a screaming match with him about it. five times he's been to egypt since then and every time colin has been at the top of his list in every meeting. every senator here h

john is well known for his bipartisan work with former majority leader bill frist on comprehensive hiv-aids legislation that laid the foundation for the president's emergency plan for aids relief, a program that provides lifesaving treatment for people with hiv-aids and supports broad prevention efforts that saves lives every day. many of you know that john is a tireless and most convincing advocate for addressing global climate change and supporting the transition to a clean energy future. as chairman of the committee on foreign relations, he convened eight major hearings and round tables on climate change and energy security, underscoring their connection to global stability, economic competitive and america's national security. in his new role his portfolio will be greatly expanded as he represents the interests of the nation, of securing our embassies and protecting our overseas personnel to promoting commerce, enhancing cross-cultural ties and keeping america secure through cooperation where possible and isolation where necessary, as in the cases of iran and north korea. whatever the c

i guess i failed to bring it but i think trent lott used filling the tree nine times, bill frist four or five, used one or two times by previous majority leaders. but it's grown. and senator reid has filled the tree 60 times already. and basically by going into details, filling the amendment tree allows the majority leader to block amendments. historically, there was no limit on amendments in the senate. if the senator had an amendment, he came to the floor and offered the amendment. he tried to be courteous and not abuse his power, but he got a vote on the issues he believed were important. we should not limit that. we should not have the majority leader rejecting certain amendments because he doesn't like them. but really, the reason he rejects them is they are often tough amendments, uncomfortable votes for the members of his conference, and he doesn't want to vote on a tough issue and he blocks it from ever being voted on to protect the members from that. now, i heard senator merkley, i see him on the floor, talk about his vision for a more open senate. i have heard him talk about

frist filled the tree. filling the tree means nobody can make another amendment to the bill. here's the catch. after this thing came out of committee we had people that had a problem with the bill, and we had one amendment that would have solved those problems. with the tree filled, that one amendment can't come up. that one amendment can't happen. so what happens? we talked about the bill and how it lacked this particular part. i kept explaining how we had an amendment that would take care of that. everybody in the chamber knew that that amendment was not going to happen. and consequently, on a process vote, it was killed with just over 40 votes. that's what happens with a filibuster. had that amendment been possible, we would have had one of the things in place for health care. just one. but it would have solved a lot of things for a lot of businesses, and that's where a lot of people work in this country. it's where jobs are. so that's how you can do it. my second story would be -- and this one is much shorter -- this year we brought senator -- senator harkin and i brought an f.d.a. bill to

frist filled the tree. filling the tree means nobody can make another amendment to the bill. here's the catch. after this thing came out of committee we had people that had a problem with the bill, and we had one amendment that would have solved those problems. with the tree filled, that one amendment can't come up. that one amendment can't happen. so what happens? we talked about the bill and how it lacked this particular part. i kept explaining how we had an amendment that would take care of that. everybody in the chamber knew that that amendment was not going to happen. and consequently, on a process vote, it was killed with just over 40 votes. that's what happens with a filibuster. had that amendment been possible, we would have had one of the things in place for health care. just one. but it would have solved a lot of things for a lot of businesses, and that's where a lot of people work in this country. it's where jobs are. so that's how you can do it. my second story would be -- and this one is much shorter -- this year we brought senator -- senator harkin and i brought an f.d.a. bill to

i love that instead of fighting against each other, bill frist, the former republican leader, and i were able to join forces to fight h.i.v. and aids around the globe and convince an unlikely conservative named jesse helms to support and pass a bill unanimously that saved millions of lives on our planet. that's what makes this place so special. instead of ignoring a freshman senator, chairman claiborne pell allowed me to pass my very first amendment to change our policy in the philippines. and so i found myself with dick lugar paired as senate election observers who helped expose the voter fraud of the marcos regime, ending a dictatorship and giving a nation of more than 90 million people the opportunity to know democracy again. that's what the senate can do, and that's what i love about it. instead of focusing on our different accents and opposite ideologies, jesse helms and i found that our concern for illegal drugs was greater than any political differences between us. and so jesse made it possible for an investigation to proceed and for the senate to expose the linkages between the c