merkley: mr.president? the presiding officer: the senator from oregon. mr. merkley: mr. president, i ask consent that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. merkley: thank you, mr. president. i wanted to take a few minutes to speak as if in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. merkley: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, tonight we're wrapping up affairs here on the floor, and what is going on right now is that the main substitute amendment that had a whole series of other amendments attached to it that has been the result of the work over the last couple days has been withdrawn. and so we're back to square one in terms of addressing a series of national disasters around the country. and tomorrow the new amendment, we'll start off the day with a new basic amendment and a new chance to have amendments to the replacement. and i explain this simply to say that a number of senators who had amendments over the last couple of days will

merkley: mr. president? if there is no one else waiting to speak, i ask unanimous consent to speak as if in morning business and will yield when someone is ready and prepared to speak to the bill. the presiding officer: is there objection? the presiding officer: the senator from california. mrs. feinstein: let me do something i do sometimes correct myself. if the senator is offering the time against his amendment -- or time against the bill using that time, that's fine with me, as long as he's not using the time for the bill. mr. wyden: mr. president, i think this is acceptable, yes. mrs. feinstein: i thank the senator. mr. merkley: thank you, mr. president. i thank my colleagues for setting out the parameters. i'm going to wrap this up in fairly short order here. again, i want to emphasize that if any of my colleagues to -- would like to come down and argue that this in any way compromises national security, i would be happy to lead the debate. this has been laid out so the attorney general has complete con

merkley: thank you, mr. president. i rise in support of the merkley-lee amendment. i thank him for being lead cosponsor. the presiding officer: please take your conversations out of the chamber. please. mr. merkley: colleagues, this is all about supporting the fourth amendment and opposing secret law. as we all know in this nation, law consists of both the plain language of the court interpretations of what that plain language means. in the case of the fisa rulings, the public never finds out the second half and, therefore, doesn't really know when information can be collected, if you will, that is relevant to an investigation. no one ever knows what that means. the public should be able to know and should be able to -- to weigh in. this amendment is constructed so it protects national security, says this will only happen in cases where it's compatible with national security to release the fisa findings. and, second, it can do summaries instead and if summaries are still causing a national security problem, a schedule is sufficient of how the administration is revie

now, so i want to be clear on merkley's proposal. if it passed, the minority could still filibuster anything they wanted. they couldn't subject almost everything to the same 60-society challenge we have now. all they would have to do is talk. tell the american people why. and they probably wouldn't even have to do that that much, because the majority can't just let them talk all the time, they have to let them get stuff done. but even that modest reform is too much for many senators. "the huffington post" reports that a bipartisan group of lawmakers led by herman cain and levin are proposing a counter proposal that does even less. it would eliminate some redundant opportunities to filibuster. give quicker consideration to some nominations, as long as no other senators objected. and give the minority a little bit more freedom to offer amendments. that is it. if you turned on to c-span during the filibuster, still be that blue screen with the classical music. it's filibuster form for people who don't think the filibuster is broken. the

now, so i want to be clear on merkley's proposal.assed, the minority could still filibuster anything they wanted. they couldn't subject almost everything to the same 60-vote challenge we have now. all they would have to do is talk. tell the american people why. and they probably wouldn't even have to do that that much, because the majority can't just let them talk all the time, they have to let them get stuff done. but even that modest reform is too much for many senators. "the huffington post" reports that a bipartisan group of lawmakers led by herman cain and levin are proposing a counter proposal that does even less. it would eliminate some redundant opportunities to filibuster. give quicker consideration to some nominations, as long as no other senators objected. and give the minority a little bit more freedom to offer amendments. that is it. if you turned on to c-span during the filibuster, still be that blue screen with the classical music. it's filibuster form for people who don't think the filibuster is broken. the idea that

merkley merkley: thank you. ,mr. president. i wanted to make a few comments on what has transpired here on the floor of the senate. first, some enormously good work has been done with regard to addressing the disaster caused by hurricane sandy. i know in a number of states, unprecedented devastation has occurred and we should respond extremely quickly, more quickly than we have. and i hope the house will immediately take up this -- this package. certainly, disaster relief delayed is disaster relief denied. so i hope the house will, indeed, move extremely quickly to address the devastation throughout the northeast. mr. president, i also wanted to note that tonight, 55 senators stood up and said as we assist the victims of hurricane sandy, we should also assist the victims of unprecedented drought and fires that devastated much of our country this last summer. how is it, you might wonder, that we had devastating fires in july and august and into september, devastating drought, and we still haven't approved the disaster assistance

merkley: thank you. i rise this morning to talk about the foreign intelligence surveillance act and concerns that i have on it and concerns that many of my colleagues have. early this morning senator wyden, my senior senator from oregon, was discussing at length the importance of the fourth amendment, the importance of americans knowing the boundaries and the rules under which our government collects intelligence and to know that their rights to privacy are protected. under the foreign intelligence surveillance act there are a variety of ways in which that assurance is compromised, and senator wyden did a very good job of laying those out. i really want to emphasize that same message, that our country was founded on the principles of privacy and liberty, protection from an overreaching central government. and during the founding, we set out and said we're going to be a new kind of nation, one that will not permit an overbearing government to spy on citizens or medal in private affairs. this belief was en

jeff merkley is right after this.ah, i'm good. ♪ [ male announcer ] every time you say no to a cigarette, you celebrate a little win. nicoderm cq, the patch with time release smart control technology that acts fast and helps control cravings all day long. ♪ quit one day at a time with nicoderm cq. >>> all right, we're talking about the latest in the fiscal cliff or we should say, fiscal curb drama in washington. i want to talk to you, jamelle, about where, maybe, the democratses are coming from others. we were talking about this in the last segment about how the game changes on january 1st. if there's no deal and inaction, there's a lot of leverage it would seem that president obama would have. all the bush era tax rates go away. polls suggest republicans will be blamed more than democrats with if we go over the curb so to speak. is there a real incentive here for democrats to say, let's just not make a deal today? >> i think the only incentives for democrats not to make a deal, to wait for us to go over the curb, to

amendments that are on the table now essentially it's one by senator merkley essentially saying that they want more transparency in the communications of being able to access documents in order in other words if they asked the fisa court for any sort of paperwork and they it gets denied they need to know the reasons why and that's one of the one white essential he is trying to get . some sort of. i would like to say more of a an infrastructure when it comes to trying to gather all this information and trying to limit how much they are able to use when it comes to you know compile information on a specific person i.e. look at what happened in general petraeus probably well except for very interesting and important bill with important implications for everyone's privacy so great that things are filling us in on it as our producer adriano sero. still ahead everything you thought you knew you know you don't now at least when it comes to north korea and fears over its nuclear capabilities and missile program will separate fact from fear mongering that. is right right i mean it's like a de

to be little very small steps amendments that are on the table now essentially it's one by senator merkley essentially saying that they want more transparency in the communications of being able to access documents in order in other words if they ask the court for any sort of paperwork and they it gets denied they need to know the reasons why and that's one the one why an essentially is trying to get. some sort of. i would like to say more of a it infrastructure when it comes to trying to gather all this information and trying to limit how much they're able to use when it comes to you know compile information on a specific person i.e. look at what happened in general petraeus probable exciter of so on and so forth very interesting and important bill with important implications for everyone's privacy great thanks for filling us in on it as our theme producer adriano the cerro. well coming up next on our t. is the capital account with or in leicester let's check in with lauren to see what's on today's agenda laura and i there live as well as you well know the fiscal cliff deal making or lack

i want to thank senator jeff merkley, and akhil amar and al frumin.ld take the president's plan to avert the fiscal cliff seriously after this. now with a fancy coating that gives you a burst of wildberry flavor. now why make a flavored heartburn pill? because this is america. and we don't just make things you want, we make things you didn't even know you wanted. like a spoon fork. spray cheese. and jeans made out of sweatpants. so grab yourself some new prilosec otc wildberry. [ male announcer ] one pill each morning. 24 hours. zero heartburn. satisfaction guaranteed or your money back. but with advair, i'm breathing better. so now i can be in the scene. advair is clinically proven to help significantly improve lung function. unlike most copd medications, advair contains both an anti-inflammatory and a long-acting bronchodilator working together to help improve your lung function all day. advair won't replace fast-acting inhalers for sudden symptoms and should not be used more than twice a day. people with copd taking advair may have a higher chance

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merkley: madam president? mr. leahy: madam president, i see the distinguished senators from arizona and others who may wish to be speaking in morning business. may i suggest that we close morning business, go back on the bill, and if somebody wishes to speak, as many do to our departed colleague, they could always ask consent and go back as if in morning business. i would ask the morning business be closed and we go back to h.r. 1. the presiding officer: morning business is closed. under the previous order, the senate will resume consideration of h.r. 1 which the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 14, h.r. 1, an act making appropriations for the department of defense, and so forth and for other purposes. mr. merkley: madam president? i ask unanimous consent to set aside the pending amendment and call up my amendment number 3367. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection, the clerk will report the amendment. the clerk: the senator from oregon, mr. merkley, proposes an amendment num

merkley: mr. president, i ask the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. merkley: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent for the chamber to give privileges of the floor to my intern, mark suzuki, for the balance of the day. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. merkley: thank you, mr. president. i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll of the senate. quorum call: quorum call: a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. mr. cardin: i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cardin: mr. president, i would ask unanimous consent to speak as if in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cardin: mr. president, i take this time to share the views of many people that i've talked to in maryland, i'm sure the same is being said in oregon and around the nation, people are frustrated by the inab

lot of things that can be done there just frankly policy things i talked to there was senator jeff merkley and he's talking about well let's reduce the medicare eligibility age makes perfect sense to me michael in las vegas now that hey michel thanks for calling. i think i just want to know i'm not an educated man by any means but there's no. mr banner's name. out of that i can expect anything less. from the republican party they're holding the rest of the country over a barrel for the two percent. we're going to get the banner. michael thank you for the call appreciate it. i think i'll just let that stand i good point valerie in chico california a valerie thanks for calling. so you know i. wondered if you wait on that think that the health care reform act has implemented is going to make ordinary americans more interested or more motivated. lowers the medicare fraud or to or do you think that the public in general is more interested in cutting costs getting rid of unnecessary procedures i think excellent point thanks for raising it i think that that's typically what you see i mean in coun

be extended for another five years senate opponents including rand paul ron wyden mark udall jeff merkley and mike lee were among the people speaking out against it here's part of senator wyden speech from last night he argued that we simply don't know enough about what the n.s.a. and other government organizations are doing with the information they collect. the five amendments act states that acquisitions made under section seven o two may not quote intentionally target the specific american and may not quote intentionally acquire communications that are known at the time of acquisition to be wholly domestic but mr president the problem with that is it still leaves a lot of room for circumstances under which americans phone calls and e-mails including purely domestic phone calls and e-mails could be swept up and reviewed without a warrant. despite senator wyden and vocal criticism of syslog now goes to president obama for his signature critics of the law like the electronic frontier foundation say it violates american fourth amendment rights they say the government can get ahold of e-ma

merkley: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent to add senator franken, senator tim johnson, and senator tom udall as cosponsors to the amendment. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. merkley: thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor. mr. leahy: mr. president, i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from oklahoma is recognized. mr. inhofe: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the quorum call in progress be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. inhofe: it's my understanding at 4:00 senator durbin from illinois will be speaking and i ask unanimous consent i be allowed to speak at the conclusion of his remarks at or around 4:15. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. kyl: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from arizona is recognized. mr. kyl: thank you, mr. president. i am deeply honored to have served for 1

continue this way i hope we can get something with the republicans it will work on this and he and jeff merkley are spearheading this effort to say that if you're going to filibuster you have to stand there and talk and just you know look at this chart shows how many record breaking filibusters we've seen since here it is those filibusters since. it's the year it doesn't so here it might be but since nine hundred sixty one ok and and then you know democrats come into office and bowing the filibuster is explode also it forty republican senators who are typically leading filibusters represent only eleven percent of americans. there you know they're from like little states like wyoming and oklahoma and and so to do with this one why should people have an percent of americans be determining the agenda of one hundred percent of those the senate was created for isn't all that they've to be able to have a voice that they wouldn't necessarily have now shut down everybody else you know they're going to play your cards you may want to minorities you know liberal or progressive trampling over the rights o

concerned about privacy issues the bill presents to finally have the debate senators ron wyden jeff merkley rand paul mark udall and mike leave took turns discussing the dangers of the bill take a listen to senator lee i worry that in seeking to achieve temporary safety some of the authorities we have given the government under fire may compromise essential rights and liberties in particular i'm concerned about the government's ability without a warrant to search through pfizer materials for communications involving individual american citizens. some of those same senators also brought up amendments to make five a little ball more transparent and possibly a little more palatable all of which were turned down meanwhile senator dianne feinstein chair of the senate intelligence committee committee took a different approach saying that the senate didn't have enough time to argue over the bill with only four days left interesting because the bill was slated for discussion back in september so she was also disparaging about the public's right to know about the law that governs them saying quote y

merkley: mr. president, just following up on the comments of my colleague from alaska, he has laid out some very important thoughts regarding the farm bill, regarding the debt ceiling, regarding social security, and i applaud him for coming to the floor and sharing his thoughts with his colleagues and with the american public. mr. president, these are big issues that we're wrestling with here in the u.s. senate. the farm bill is something that was passed in a bipartisan nature through the senate. it is over in the house. it will have to come back through here. we have a proposal from the republican leader put forward this morning that we were ready to vote on and that he objected to himself at the last second. but the debt ceiling is an important issue because it involves paying the bills on the decisions that have already been made and implemented by the u.s. government. it's not about spending more. it's about paying the bills on the spending that's already taken place, and it should be debated

colleagues here on the committee also, the chairman johnson and chairman brown and senator reid, senator merkley, senator hagan and others who i know share my strong interest in .onsumer protection by al i appreciate step because we work together so well. thank you again, as well. i want to thank our witnesses for your tyler's work in consumer protection. esther chairman, i asked that my full statement be added to the record and i would like to ask a couple of questions. glad to have you here, mr. stone. i am so glad to see that consumer financial protection bureau is working and here. i look forward to your work. i believe it is important to have a complete picture of an individual's financial record, calculating a meaningful credit report. i thought to include a report of remittance, transfers in the dodd-frank provision. the report last year mentioned research that they plan to use the remittance histories to enhance credit scores. can you please discuss any progress being made in those research projects? yes >> , senator, let me thank you for making sure that report requirement was inserted

we know he will work with senator merkley, senator schumer, people who have been involved on these issues. and i'm optimistic we move forward. >> thank you for joining us tonight. >>> coming up, senator mitch mcconnell rails against reform, but john mccain doesn't agree. michigan senator debbie stabenow on filibuster reform. >>> later senator john kerry delivers an emotional response during debate today. >>> and the white house's petition site makes civic engagement easy. maybe too easy. i'll show you one of the more creative petitions out there. stay with us. i'm only in my 60's... i've got a nice long life ahead. big plans. so when i found out medicare doesn't pay all my medical expenses, i looked at my options. then i got a medicare supplement insurance plan. [ male announcer ] if you're eligible for medicare, you may know it only covers about 80% of your part b medical expenses. the rest is up to you. call now and find out about an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. like all standardized medicare supplement plans, it helps pick up s

we know he will work with senator merkley, senator schumer, people who have been involved on these issues. and i'm optimistic we move forward. >> thank you for joining us tonight. >>> coming up, senator mitch mcconnell rails against reform, but john mccain doesn't agree. michigan senator debbie stabenow on filibuster reform. >>> later senator john kerry delivers an emotional response during debate today. >>> and the white house's petition site makes civic engagement easy. maybe too easy. i'll show you one of the more creative petitions out there. stay with us. [ male announcer ] research suggests cell health plays a key role throughout our lives. one a day men's 50+ is a complete multivitamin designed for men's health concerns as we age. it has 7 antioxidants to support cell health. one a day men's 50+. or that printing in color had to cost a fortune. nobody said an all-in-one had to be bulky. or that you had to print from your desk. at least, nobody said it to us. introducing the business smart inkjet all-in-one series from brother. easy to use. it's the ultimate combination of speed, sm

the main idea under consideration, the main way to change the rules comes from oregon democrat jeff merkley. if you want to filibuster, you can't say 60 vote rule, too bad. can't vote on that. you actually have to go down and hold the floor and talk and talk and talk and talk all night and for days and for weeks. you need to work for it. there is merit to this idea. it would make filibusters harder on the minority. it would make them more transparent to the public. it would make them less likely on popular bills, but it wouldn't reverse the transformation of the senate into a place where 60 votes required to get anything done. so there is a proposal that personally i like better. frankly, it's kind of an ingenious proposal. it recognizes that there is general value in protecting the minority's right to be heard. but in order to protect that right, you don't need to make every vote a 60-vote supermajority. this proposal would in one fell swoop end the 60-vote senate, but it would preserve the interests of lengthy debate. the idea doesn't come from outside group or some young radical. it come

i'll be back tomorrow joined by steve gornacki, politico's ben white and senator jeff merkley who willhis plan to fight filibuster. next is "andrea mitchell reports." luke russert is in for andrea. how are you doing? >> i'm doing good. nice to see a writer for "the nation" dress like that. >> i cleaned it up. >> great stuff, good to see you in the hosting chair. i'm luke russert in for andrea mitchell. >>> up next, deadline looms and house is staying out on the winter break. the movements and lack thereof in washington with senator kay bailey hutchison and congressman jerry nadler. plus what's next on gun control and all you can look forward to in the next 24. iti price rewind. because your daughter really wants that pink castle thing. and you really don't want to pay more than you have to. only citi price rewind automatically searches for the lowest price. and if it finds one, you get refunded the difference. just use your citi card and register your purchase online. have a super sparkly day! ok. [ male announcer ] now all you need is a magic carriage. citi price rewind. start saving

what har ray reid and especially younger senators, people like jeff merkley from oregon, are proposingthe filibust filibuster. it's a very simple proposal. they it want to bring back the filibuster as it existed in "mr. smith goes to washington." they want it it to be like jimmy stewart where they had to go to the floor and stand on your principles. now, unfortunately, the filibuster is usually used secretly behind closed doors to stop debate to prevent us from even having a vote. that has nothing to do with what americans understand as a filibuster and there is simply no reason to allow the abuses to continue. >> well, it means that if they were to filibuster, they have to go to the floor and do as you say, "mr. smith goes to washington," and talk endlessly until some conclusion. what do the changes mean for democratic bills, you think? >> it could mean a lot, because many of the bills that democrats have proposed have majority support. they can win in the senate. the problem is they can't get to the 6 o votes that would be required to break a filibuster or force a vote. and so all th

we know he will work with senator merkley, senator schumer, people who have been involved on these issuesd i'm optimistic we move forward. >> thank you for joining us tonight. >>> coming up, senator mitch mcconnell rails against reform, but john mccain doesn't agree. michigan senator debbie stabenow on filibuster reform. >>> later senator john kerry delivers an emotional response during debate today. >>> and the white house's petition site makes civic engagement easy. maybe too easy. i'll show you one of the more creative petitions out there. stay with us. now we need a little bit more... [ male announcer ] at humana, we understand the value of quality time and personal attention. which is why we are proud to partner with health care professionals who understand the difference that quality time with our members can make... that's a very nice cake! ohh! [ giggles ] [ male announcer ] humana thanks the physicians, nurses, hospitals, pharmacists and other health professionals who helped us achieve the highest average star rating among national medicare companies... and become the first and o

have cosponsored this measure, including senators collins, feinstein, gillibrand, kerry, landrieu, merkley, mikulski, murray, vitter, and wyden. they are tireless animal advocates, and this bill is indeed, the amendment as well, are about ending animal fighting, which plainly and simply is a blood sport. it is something that is cruel and inhumane. it leaves animals scarred and disabled. and it is associated with many other criminal activities. people who attend animal fights are often also engaged in drug dealing, extortion, assault, a variety of criminal activities, and the enabling activity is animal fighting. and that is why this bill increases the penalties for knowingly -- knowingly -- attending an animal fight with a child and, indeed, makes it a crime to knowingly attend an animal fight. so these penalties -- stricter penalties for bringing a child knowingly and criminal penalties of up to a year imprisonment or a fine or both for knowingly attending an animal fight -- are contingent on a purposeful support for this cruel and inhumane sport. very simply, it provides new tools to law

it's a one way street were senator udall of new mexico and merkley and harkin of iowa all have ideas out there that don't have balance and don't provide enough rights for the minority power to make it plausible. >> i would say first look at the proposal that carl levin put out at the end, a few months ago. it's in the record. you will see it. as a starting point but it's something that had been discussed in a bipartisan way in the senate rules committee through several hearings on the filibuster over the last couple of years. chuck schumer, the chairman of the committee, lamar alexander, the ranking republican, and others are least talked about the idea of a trade off, limiting filibusters on the motion to proceed in return for some guarantee of amendments. and senator levin's proposal is fairly specific and how that could work. i think you could use that as a starting point and then maybe agree to some of the changes. and that would be very much like what happened in 1975. it was part of the agreement was that they put in rule five for the first time. it had never been there. okay,

merkley: i don't think it will come as a surprise to anyone that the u.s. senate, once famed as the world's greatest deliberative body shall has become paralyzed. now, at the heart of that paralysis is a change in the use of the filibuster. now, a filibuster is a term that comes -- i believe it is from the dutch -- and it refers to piracy. and in this context, it's really about someone taking over this chamber, taking over the normal process by which we debate issues and decide issues here in the u.s. national by majority vote. and in the past, what everyone understood at the very heart of what we do here is to make decisions by majority vote, the filibuster to take over this carriage the objection to a simple-majority vote was very rare. people did this only once or twice in a career for some issue of profound personal values or of extreme concern to an issue in their state. and it was most often small factions that would do this. in 1916 there was a debate, a debate that went on about whether or not to put weaponry on our commercial shipping. this is a pr

reported substitute, leahy sunset, leahy oversight, wyden public report,, wiendz back door searches, and merkley which is about declassification of fisa court opinions. that there be an hour of debate equally divided and controlled between the opponents and proponents on each amendment, that there be up two two hours of debate on the bill equally divided between the proponents and opponents, upon the use or yielding back of that time, the senate proceed to vote in relation to the amendments in the order listed, that there be no amendments in order to any of the amendments prior to the votes, that upon disposition of the amendments the bill be read a third time and the senate proceed to vote on passage of the bill if amended. before the chair rules on this, mr. president, it's pretty easy to figure out how much time this includes. this is the better part of a day, the better part of a day if we got this consent done. so i ask that chair approve the consent agreement. the presiding officer: is there objection? ? >> reserving the right to object, and i do intend to object. first of all, i want to s

encourage, myself and others, the conferees to also include the hutchinson amendment as well as senator merkley's amendment calls for expedited withdrawal from afghanistan. but also we must support this amendment and make sure that we do -- this motion to instruct copper ifees and ensure that we protect afghan women and provide for their security. because they are the future of afghanistan. i encourage our colleagues to support this and i want to thank again, congresswoman davis, for her leadership. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california. mr. mckeon: reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from california. mrs. davis: i yield two minutes to mr. kucinich of ohio, and i want to thank him for his outspokenness and his strong belief in peace and the role women play in those initiatives. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from ohio is recognized for two minutes. mr. kucinich: thank you. i simply want to ask for unanimous consent to revise and extend and include my remarks in the proceedings of this debate. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. kucinich: thank you

i especially appreciate the final version of the bill includes a modified version of the merkley amendment on afghanistan that was approved by the united states senate. but unfortunately the final product contains policies that i simply cannot support. the bill increases funding beyond the peng's request for several programs -- pentagon's request for several programs, including a new missile defense base on the east coast. it denies the pentagon the opportunity to save money with the failure to include a cut to the contractor cap. its failure to include a round of base closures and the failure to implement end strength troop reductions even though we're supposedly ending our involvement in two wars. at a time when congress is being asked to look for savings, even considering cutting vital programs like social security, it is unconscionable to me that we would continue to mandate wasteful funding that the military has said it does not need and does not want. how can we look in the eyes of a senior citizen living off of social security and tell them that their cost-of-living adjustment will

>> the two people that are leading this are tom udall from new mexico and jeff merkley from oregon.s writer was talking about the southern democrats blocking civil rights and they said that the senate was ending revenge for gettysburg and the rules of the senate have lent themselves -- back then, it blocked civil rights but it wasn't a work a day kind of obstructionist. as horrible as it was blocking civil rights legislation. today is it is almost everything. you need 60 votes. it doesn't even -- the majority leader can't even bring a bill up to debate without a 60 votes if the minority wants to force 60 votes. that's got to change. the selection -- the confirmation of federal judges and less than cabinet level appointees, those kinds of things are just obstructionism, period. when in the past, we always were able to just bring it forward to get 51 votes. if you don't, you don't. some of these votes will be more aimed to that. certainly to give the minority rights to slow things down but not to block things. almost haphazardly the way they do. >> bill: otherwise it is the tyranny of

it's a one-way street where senator udall of the next go in merkley and harkin of iowa all have a ds that don't have talents to them, don't provide enough rates to make it plausible. >> i would say first, look at the proposal of the carl levin put out at the end -- a few months ago. as a starting point it's something that had been discussed in a bipartisan way in the senate house committee through several hearings on the filibuster over the last couple of years. chuck schumer, chairman of the committee, lamar alexander, ranking republican and others talk about the idea of a trade-off. eliminating filibusters and the motion to proceed in return for some guarantee of amendment. senator levin's proposal is very specific on how that could work. i think you could use that as a starting point and maybe agree to some other changes. that would be very much like what happened in 1975. part of the agreement and 875 was the put in for the first time ever been asked a silly day. okay we came this close, but we're going to put that in the rules. the you could imagine finding a bipartisan agreemen

cardin: i would ask unanimous consent that an intern from senator merkley's office, phillip hay, have the privileges of the floor for the balance of the day. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cardin: mr. president, i would suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: the presiding officer: the senator from montana. mr. baucus: mr. president, i understand that in effect -- i ask that -- i ask further proceed ftion of the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. baucus: mr. president, i understand we're in effect debating russia pntr. robert louis stevenson once said -- quote -- "the mark of a good action is that it appears inevitable in retrospect." when i traveled to russia in february, many doubted that congress would establish permanent normal trade relations known as pntr earlier this year. but in july the finance committee unanimously approved legislation to do just that. and last month the house of representatives passed very similar russia pntr legislation with 365 yes votes. pa

merkley: mr. president, i'm delighted to partner with senator blunt and senator stabenow on this important amendment which addresses the disasters that occurred this last summer in terms of the centuries -- a century's worth, the worst fires and the worst drought. this is a true emergency in which our response has been delayed because of programs that are tied up in the farm bill. i reserve the balance of my time but ask colleagues let's address this real emergency. mr. sessions: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from alabama is recognized. mr. sessions: this amendment -- and i respect my colleague's desire to get this matter done, but the language that he is advocating is already in the ag bill. we need to get that ag bill passed and i think we will soon and it's paid for. it's part within the budget limits that the ag committee has done. this amendment defines disasters so broadly that it would include almost anything that results in a livestock death and the taxpayers would be b

leahy, merkley, paul, wyden, that there be 30 minutes of debate equally divided between the proponents and opponents on each amendment and there be up to five hours of debate on the bill equally divided between the proponents and opponents, that upon the use or yielding back of that time, the senate proceed to votes in relation to the amendments in the order listed, that there be no amendments in order to any of the amendments prior to the votes. that upon disposition of the amendments, the bill be read a third time and the senate proceed to vote on passage of the bill, as amended, if amended. the presiding officer: is there objection? mr. mcconnell: i object. the presiding officer: objection is heard. mr. reid: mr. president, i ask consent that the request be modified, i reluctantly do this, to set a 60-vote afim active vote threshold to each of the amendments and passage of the bill. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection, it is so ordered. the presiding officer: the senator from oregon. mr. wyden: mr. president, both sides are working on an agreement to approve

divisions, coburn 3371, coburn 3382, coburn 3383, tester 3350, paul 3376, paul 3410, mccain 335, merkleytes in relation to the aims, that the amendments be subject to a 60-affirmative vote threshold, this athere object 30 minutes of debate equally divided in the usually form, with the exception to l following, 20 minutes on the coburn amendments, one hour equally divided on coats amendment. the senate proceed to votes in relation to the amendments in the order listed. there be two minutes of debate equally divided between the votes. all after the first vote be 10 minutes votes. upon disposition of the pending amendments listed, the senate proceed to vote in relation to the pending substitute amendment as amed, if amended, upon disposition of the substitute, the cloture vote be withdrawn, the bill be read a third time and the senate proceed to vote on passage of h.r. 1, if amended. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection, so ordered. mr. leahy: if i might on that, there -- you indicated that -- the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. leahy: it indicates w