mr. cochran: mr. president i ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum be rescinded. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cochran: mr. president, i was very disappointed yesterday that the senate did not vote to proceed to consideration of the homeland security appropriations bill. i hope that we will have an opportunity to reconsider that vote and we will agree to take up the bill. the need to fund the department of homeland security for the remainder of this fiscal year should not be in question. we know that we're living in a complex world with ever-chapping threats to -- ever-changing threats to our nation's security. the department that we created specifically to combat those threats will operate better and more efficiently with a full-year funding plan that reflects updated spending priorities. i've heard no senator dispute that. the leaders of the homeland security subcommittee, both democrat and republican, put a great deal of effort into drafting this measure. the bill prov

mr. cochran: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from mississippi. mr. cochran: mr.egislation celebrating black history month. this opportunity provides us with an excuse, if we need one, to not only remember the past and the challenges and the failures and the embarrassment and the criminalities, and so many challenging and horrible things that have characterized the treatment of citizens in the united states with injustice with discrimination, with segregation and all of the horribles that we can remember as we contemplate this subject. but today the senator from mississippi is senator from new jersey, with others in getting us another opportunity to not only remember past injustice and celebrate victories over it, but also to commemorate contributions being made today throughout our country, to ensure equality and justice and opportunity for all americans. so the rich history we have as a nation should include a promise for the future, carved by african-americans as central contributors. they were here during the darkest times. they're still here, and they're cont

tomorrow laura: when gabriel cochrane of fellwick was evicted from his home and business it felt to the locals like a great injustice. the cause of gabriel's hardship was the merciless mr. steerforth for he was the cold hand and the calculating eye of the bank who had foreclosed. expelled from the only life he had ever known,

mr. cochran proposes an amendment numbered 255. mr. mcconnell: i ask that the reading be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask for the yeas and nays on my amendment. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the yeas and nays are ordered. mr. mcconnell: i have a second-degree amendment at the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from kentucky mr. mcconnell proposes amendment numbered 256 to amendment numbered 255. mr. mcconnell: i have an amendment to the text proposed to be stricken. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from kentucky mr. . mr. mcconnell: common, approaches amendment number 257 to the language proposed to be stricken by amendment number 255. mr. mcconnell: i have for the yeas and nays on my amendment. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the yeas and nays are owed. mr. mcconnell: i have a second-degree amendment at the desk. the presiding off