mr. baucus: mr. president, observe reserving the right to object, i very much appreciate the efforts of the senator from kentucky to keep proposing sanctions on burma. the senate will remember a couple three, four months ago i went oust my way to prays the senator when he stood up for burma. and in fact you might remember -- your press office called my office and said, thank you. senator baucus thanked the leader. and i meant it. i very much admire the way -- the effort that the senator is undertaking to maintain these sanctions. we're all very proud of aung san suu kyi, winning the nobel prize when she visited europe not long ago in london. i remember watching her on television. she's done so much for her country, and stood up for the people of burma. it is astound. i have not had the privilege of meeting her personally, but i have watched her from afar, and with great admiration and i just -- not only about her but i again thank the senator for his efforts. one can say that the other matters are un

mr. baucus: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from montana. mr. baucus: mr. president, i very much understand the frustration of the senator from colorado -- from oklahoma. it's -- and i understand his reasons for objecting. in a perfect world, i might be sympathetic with his reasons. but this is not the perfect world. this is the world where we try to do our best to do our work and get legislation passed. i personal delay have a problem with the senator' senator's sug- i personally don't have a problem with the senator's suggestion, if we could set aside 30 minute minutes. this bill is fully paid for already. just the senator would like it paid for in a different way. but the problem i have in trying to arrange all this and put it together is i can't control other senators. other senators may object to the senator's provision. they may have their own bills, their own -- in fact, i can think of two or three right now who would very much take advantage of a process where the senator from oklahoma strips out the bill and offers his own pay-for, because they'd s

mr. baucus: mr. president, i ask consent that the following staff of the finance committee be allowed senate floor during consideration of s. 3412: kirk porter, andreas verhaley, solita james, allison alpers and eric hageman. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. baucus: mr. president, abraham lincoln is quoted as saying -- quote -- "i'm a firm believer in the people. if given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crisis:the great point is to bring them the real facts." mr. president, there have been a number of inaccurate claims over the past several weeks accusing democrats of proposing tax hik hikes. nothing could be further from the truth. so let me set the record straight. as lincoln said -- bring them the facts. democrats are proposing to extendexextend a tax cut for 10- to extend a tax cut for 100% of taxpayers. urn the democratic proposal, all taxpayers get a tax cut. those lower income, those middle income, and those upper income all get a tax cut. everyone does.

mr. baucus: mr. president, i strongly endorse the suggestions made by the majority leader as well as by the senator from new jersey, and also thank the senator from new jersey for pushing these measures so aggressively, the cotton trust fund, wool, and also to some degree the citrus which is part of this. i support these provisions. i support the cotton you trust fund, support it strongly and have working diligently to try to find the right vehicle to try to get this passed, the cotton trust fund passed this year. i deeply appreciate your strong passion on this, senator menendez, you've come to me many, many times, and looking for an opportunity to pass this, and i deeply appreciate that. we have -- this place works on basic comity and sometimes the pathways to get the result are not well known, and difficult to see initially, but i am quite confident this year we're going to find a path way, find a way to get the cotton trust fund passed this year. you have my support to make that happen. mr. reid:

udall of colorado, begich, whitehouse, blumenthal, franken, leahy, udall of new mexico, baucus, cardin, durbin. mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i have an amendment at the desk to the language proposed to be stricken. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from nevada, mr. reid, proposes an amendment numbered 2524 to the language proposed to be stricken by amendment number 2521. mr. reid: i ask for the yeas and nays on that amendment. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the yeas and nays are ordered. mr. reid: i have a second-degree amendment at the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from nevada, mr. reid, proposes an amendment numbered 2525 to amendment number 2524. mr. reid: i have a motion to commit the bill with instructions. the clerk has that, mr. president. mr. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: mr. reid moves to commit the bill to the committee on finance with instructions to report back with an amendment number 2526

reid of nevada, baucus, udall of new mexico, stabenow, begich, whitehouse, levin, casey, harkin, carper, coons, mikulski, merkley, gillibrand, inouye, blumenthal, warner. mr. reid: mr. president, i ask consent that the mandatory quorum required under rule 22 be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: quorum call:

mr. baucus: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from montana. mr. baucus: madam president, i ask that further proceedings under the qurk be dispensed with. -- quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. baucus: madam president, i'd like to speak -- say a few words about the next vote which is the cantor amendment. the cantor amendment, just to review, would give a 20% deduction to all businesses that employ fewer than 500 people. that 20% deduction is calculated on u.s. sourced business income and is limited to 50% of w-2 wages paid. in other words, the business must be paying at least twice the amount of the deduction in wages. in addition, the taxpayer cannot get both this deduction and the 9% manufacturing deduction. the main point being here, madam president, that this cantor bill is a gross giveaway. it gives businesses a 20% deduction for simply earning income. they don't have to do anything. just earn income and get a 20% deduction. it allows businesses to avoid paying tax on about a fifth of their profits so l