mr. durbin: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: i ask unanimous consent the quorum call be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: madam president, what is the pending business before the senate? the presiding officer: s. res. 14. mr. durbin: thank you, madam president. i want to thank majority leader reid and our colleagues from arizona, senators kyl and mccain, for bringing this important resolution to the floor of the united states senate. it's been over two weeks, but our shock and sadness over what happened on that beautiful saturday morning in tucson is still very real. they were just ordinary americans engaged in what we might call the dialogue of democracy when a gunman stepped in and began firing. within seconds, congresswoman gabrielle giffords and a dozen innocent bystanders lay injured and six irreplaceable lives were ended. most of us never had the good fortune to meet judge jun roll, gabe zimmerman, phyllis schneck, dot morris, dorwan stoddard or that beautiful little girl christina gre

mr. durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the assistant majority leader. mr. rbin: i ask unanimous consent the quorum call be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: during the recent two-week recess i was invited to speak to the parliament of the nation of hreugt wayne in -- of lithuania. it was a great honor. this country holds a special place for my family. my mother was born in lithuania 100 years ago this year my brand mother brought her -- my grandmother brought her and her sister to america, landed in baltimore and our family found its way to meet up with my grandfather in east st. louis, illinois, where a lot of hreugt lithuanians were coming to take jobs, hard, manual-labor jobs. so i was asked to come and speak to the parliament on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of what has come to be known as bloody sunday. it recalls a time 20 years ago when mikhail gorbachev, as head of the soviet union, made his last desperate violent effort to stop lithuania from breaking away from the soviet union. i recall that period because i fo

mr. durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: i see others stand shalling, and i will be brief just to say a few words in support of the so-called talking filibuster. in the world of the most arcane things that people can concentrate on, this book would probably be on the top ten bestseller list. it's the senate manual that has the rules procedure and the rules and precedents of the united states senate. unless you live here, work here, follow the senate, most people never, ever have any glancing occasion to even observe these rules let alone pay any attention to them. so why are we doing this when we have all these people unemployed in america, when we have so many challenges at home and abroad, why are we taking the time in the united states senate to talk about this book and the rules included? because many of us, including my friend -- and the term is used loosely here but i mean it literally -- but my friend from tennessee, senator alexander, knows that what happens on the floor of the united states senate has an effe

mr. durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: i rise to speak to the issue that has been considered on the floor by my colleagues, i thank the senators especially from utah, oregon, and colorado as well as many others for discussing the proceed yours of the united states senate. mr. president, when i went home over the break, i spent my time back in illinois with my wife in my hometown of springfield and a lot of time around the house and a lot of things had to be considered. i left the decisions of war and peace behind in washington, d.c., and went home to face the real decisions, are we going to change our cable tv service? are we paying too much for the internet? things that my wife finally the put in front of me and said, we need some decisions here. and as i considered those waiting decisions, particularly when it came to cable television and what we would receive in springfield, i couldn't help but reflect on the fact, like many americans, we like to have c-span so that we can follow the house and senate. you may kno

mr. durbin, the senator from new york, mr. sumer, the senator from washington, ms. murray, the senator from michigan, ms. stab now, the senator from alaska, enator f early he, the senator from kentucky,ro mr. mcconnell, thece senator from arizona,rizona, mr. mr. kafeel, the senator from tennessee, mr. the alexander, the senator from wyoming, from mr. barrasso, the senator from south dakota, mr. phelan, and the senator from texasal, mr. cornyn. >> the members of the committeet will please exit the chamber through the lobby doors. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] ..orps. gonzaga >> mr. speaker, the chief justice and associate justices >> mr. mr. speaker the chief justice in the associate justices of this court,. [applause] [applause] [applause] [applause] [applause] [applause]re >> mr. speaker, the president cabinet. [applause] [applause] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaud

mr. president i have a resolution for myself, senator durbin, senator mikulski and senator shaheen which i said to the desk and ask for it to be be. >> withoutin objection. >> mr. president?r. >> the clerk will read the resolution by title. >> mr. president? >> resolution amending the standing rules of the senate to provide for cloture to be invoked with less than three this majority after additional debate. >> mr. president? is there objection? >> mr. president reserving the right to object.to i attended good discussion from the senator from iowa. this is a long-standing proposal of his which is than -- t considered. even though i'd meyer him i don't admire thend proposal ando what we would like to do the senator from iowa iowa tond make his proposal. i will listen and then when he has made the proposal i will ask him to yield me a few minutes and we may have a little discussion back and forth on the merits of the proposal, so with that in mind, i object.rd. >> at objection having been hurt.le the resolution will go under the rules. >> mr. president, thank you and i'm sorry my good frien

mr. president, i have a resolution for myself, senator durbin, senator mikulski, and senator shaheen, which i send to the desk and ask for its immediate consideration. the presiding officer: without objection. a senator: mr. president? mr. alexander: mr. president? the presiding officer: the clerk will read the resolution by title. mr. alexander: mr. president? the clerk: resolution amending the standing rules of the senate providing cloture to be invoked with 3 fifth of the majority after the debate. mr. alexander: reserving the right to debate. the presiding officer: the senator from tennessee. mr. alexander: this is a longstanding proposal of his, which he's thoughtfully considered it even though i admire him, i don't admire the proposal and so what -- what we would like to do is -- is let the senator from iowa make his proposal. i'll listen and then when he's made the proposal, i will ask him to yield me a few minutes and we may have a little discussion back around forth on the merits of the proposal. so with that in mind, i object. the presiding officer: objection having been heard. th

mr. president, i have a resolution for myself, senator durbin, senator mikulski, and senator shaheen, which i send to the desk and ask for its immediate consideration. the presiding officer: without objection. a senator: mr. president? mr. alexander: mr. president? the presiding officer: the clerk will read the resolution by title. mr. alexander: mr. president? the clerk: resolution amending the standing rules of the senate providing cloture to be invoked with 3 fifth of the majority after the debate. mr. alexander: reserving the right to debate. the presiding officer: the senator from tennessee. mr. alexander: this is a longstanding proposal of his, which he's thoughtfully considered it even though i admire him, i don't admire the proposal and so what -- what we would like to do is -- is let the senator from iowa make his proposal. i'll listen and then when he's made the proposal, i will ask him to yield me a few minutes and we may have a little discussion back around forth on the merits of the proposal. so with that in mind, i object. the presiding officer: objection having been heard. th