i want to pay tribute and thanks to bobby cox for all he has given in our state, recognize him for the achievement of being sworn into the baseball hall of fame in cooperstown. best of luck, bobby, and many more good years to come. and i yield back the balance of my time. the presiding officer: the senator from rhode island. mr. whitehouse: mr. president, -- mr. reed: first i want to thank my colleague for yielding two minutes. mr. reed: i also ask unanimous consent that my statement be made part of the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reed: mr. president, we are leaving here with major unfinished business. we have not extended unemployment benefits for 1.8 million americans. they are getting to be increasingly desperate. they need this assistance as they continue to look for work in a very difficult economy. i think it's very interesting if not ironic that the pay-for mechanism that was used today to pay for the appropriate adjustment of the military retirees' cola was the same pay-for mechanism that we had proposed to use to extend these benefits for up to 18 --