mr. eisen and ms. aponte have jumped through enough hoops already. ms. aponte's record speaks for itself and experts in the region support her confirmation. the same enthusiasm is there for ambassador eisen. if republicans block the confirmation of these excellent, qualified candidates, it will only be for nakedly partisan reasons. also is a democratic proposal to to to end a $1,000 tax increase on working families. every hour they delay and every day they filibuster is one more the senate by necessity will have to stay in washington to get its work done. republicans have opposed our plan to pay for this legislation with a tiny surtax on a tiny fraction of america's highest earners. the tax would only apply to the second or third or fourth million the wealthiest americans make. but republicans say the richest of the rich in our country even those who make millions every year shouldn't contribute more than to get our economy back on track. they call our plan time after time a tax on job creators

mrs. shaheen: i rise to speak on the confirmation of norm eisen. in a year, ambassador eisen has proven to be a strong advocated for the united states -- a strong advocate for the united states. he brought renewed focus to our defense relations with the czech republic, resulting in expansion of our bilateral and nato military cooperation, and the czech republic increased its troop contribution in afghanistan and strongly supported international efforts on iran, and the u.s. policy on israel with the e.u. and the united nations during his tenure. as chair of the senate foreign relations subcommittee on european affairs, i had the privilege of chairing both of ambassador eisen's nomination hearings. throughout the nomination process, he has demonstrated a strong understanding of the complexities of our relationship with the czech republic, a drive to fully represent american interests and values, and really a special humility in having the opportunity to represent the united states. so, i would hope that all of our colleagues in the senate this eveni

mr. reid: there will be at least two roll call votes at 5:30 p.m. in relation to eisen and aponte nominations. next week, madam president, we have additional nominations. we have to do either a c.r. or an omnibus spending bill or one of each, which is possible. we have the balanced budget amendments. we have payroll tax. we have unemployment insurance, medicare reimbursement, tax extenders and we have the -- including the medicare reimbursement, of course, is what we're talking about, the s.g.r. or the doctors fix. all of these matters are set to expire at the end of the year. if there's no further business to come before the senate, i ask that it adjourn under the previous order. the presiding officer: the senate stands adjourned until senate stands adjourned until >> pay a dollar an hour for your labor, have no health care. that's the most important element. no pollution controls and no retirement and you don't care about any thing but making money. there will be a sound going south. >> britain's defense secretary testified before parliament yesterday that the governm