mr. kyl i thank my colleague from texas for her leadership on this and so many other issues we have worked on over the years. one of my regrets in leaving the senate that i will not be able to work with her. we'll be off doing something else, but we're not going to give up on the fights we've been engaged in over the years. i want to pick up where my colleague left off about the meanings of this fiscal cliff and what is being proposed as alternatives to going over the fiscal cliff. i was interested that in week the president has embarked on what one newspaper referred to as "the fiscal cliff campaign trail." he is out as if the campaign were still going on, and the centerpiece of his pitch -- and i heard him say it again last night -- is that the house of representatives should pass a bill that was passed in the senate related to 2001 and 2003 income taxes the president served in the snavment he knows that that can't be done. it is unconstitutional. all revenue measures must be initiated in t

mr. kyl: mr. president, i'd like to send an amendment to the desk, number 3254 on behalf of ... i apologize phr-bs. 3123. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the amendment. the clerk: the senator from arizona, mr. kyl, for himself and others proposes an amendment numbered 3123. mr. kyl: i ask further reading of the amendment be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. kyl: i send this amendment to the desk with an understanding that the chairman of the foreign relations committee and of the armed services committee that before i would request a vote on this amendment, we would work out the language, the specific language of this amendment along with the ranking members and would not ask for a vote unless that is achieved. the point here -- and let me indicate that this amendment has been offered not only for myself, but also senators lieberman, inhofe, risch, lugar, sessions, demint, cornyn, rubio, wicker, ayotte, and collins. and our purpose is to get a greater

mr. kyl: thank you very much, mr. president.as i said, i just wanted to continue the conversation that our two leaders were engaged in earlier, and also on yesterday. this is going to be a very important issue for the senate. to put it into perspective for the american people, let me just say that a rules change in the senate is not a small matter or an inconsequential matter. it is even more important if it is attempted to be done without going through the normal process of changing the rules, which requires a two-thirds majority. this is important because the senate has always considered itself a continuing body. it does not end and then begin again as the house of representatives does because the house has an election every two years. in this body, members are elected for six-year terms, and as a result, every two years, you have some turnover in the body, but two-thirds of the body has already been here and continues forward. so the rules of the senate have always been continuing rules of the continuing body, amendable by a

mr. boehner. there's a concession here, senator kyl, is it not? the fact that john boehner went out there and said, look, we can cap loopholes and deductions and we will provide revenues and they'll come from upper end taxpayers and they're the ones who itemize without raising the rates or without lowering the rates. >> in other words, that's a concession and do you think the republican party can live with that concession and vote for that concession? >> it is a concession and yes, i think so. remember, this is almost the same thing, in fact, in much more detail, senator pat toomey as part of the so-called super committee presented exactly this concept and we raised something like $300 billion in additional revenue by capping some of these deductions and credits and the like. we didn't hit the business tax side of it. our democratic friend still wouldn't accept it because it didn't produce enough ref now in their opinion and since we're just talking about averting the fiscal cliff here and about extending the tax policy of the last decade, i think

mr. kyl: if i would indulge my colleague, apparently there are two people on our side, i would ask if our colleague could withhold that request for the time being and also ask is it not possible if amendments, further amendments can be worked out to be voted on tonight after the two that are scheduled to be voted on, there could be some ooh votes to try to continue to dispose of amendments on the bill. is that correct? mr. levin: the senator is correct. these are not necessarily the last two votes at all. as of now we are still planning on having votes tomorrow. the presiding officer: objection is heard to the filing deadline request. mr. levin: i withdraw that request. the presiding officer: it is withdrawn. the clerk will report lieberman amendment. cloim the senator from michigan proposes amendment 3090 as modified. mr. mccain: i'd remind my colleagues we have been on the bill now for two days. it might be time to stop filing amendments. i don't think that's an outrageous request on the pa

with the magnitsky language -- and i want to congratulate our colleagues, ben cardin and jon kyl and i know mr. mcgovern has been pushing for this, i strongly support the effort that we have had that will ensure that those who are responsible for sergei magnitsky's tragic, brutal beating, which led to his death three years ago tomorrow, will be followed and be brought to justice. so, mr. speaker, this is a great bipartisan effort. it's one that i think will enamor to the people of russia and to the people of the united states. i'd like to say, remember, we're not giving up a thing. we are not lowering a single tariff. there's not a single sacrifice being made here in the united states of america. what we're doing is we're breaking down the barriers there. last year we exported $11 billion, $11 billion to russia. the projection is that by 2017 our exports will be $22 billion, twice, and there are a number that thinks it will go beyond that. so, mr. speaker, let me just say that this is a win-win all the way around. it's a win for the caw of human rights -- for the cause of human rights. it's a

sources say retiring senators kay bailey hutchison and jon kyl were working on the plan with marco rubio over the summer but it was put on hold after mrecutive action. now with the election over, some republicans are waiting if the time is right to pass it by the end of the year. rubio says conservatives must better explain they are for a legal immigration system that works. hard to get people to listen to you on economic growth, tax rate and healthcare if they think you want to deport their grandmother. policy matters, too, but rhetoric is important. >> 12 million more latinos voting this year than 2008, they're becoming a more powerful political force. >> what was encouraging is to see increase in latino turn-out. >> romney received 27% of the latino vote. the worst g.o.p. showing. >> it's only a matter of time that you can't win an election without hispanic vote. i see good signs that the con seventives are paying attention and they need to speak to the hispanic community. >> congressional sources say it's a temp rare solution. there is a humanitarian issue to be addressed. in washington, mike emanuel fox news. >> shannon: israel w

kyl what happened? why this happened? >> forgive me for doing this, but think you doing this and thank you to "the wall street journal" for making this possible. mr. murdoch, it's great have a chance to visit with you. mr. prime minister, i haven't had a chance to visit with him as of yet. he is very good at this. i'm thinking about running for reelection. [laughter] john mccain and joe lieberman. the reason that joe came back -- what a wonderful lady she is. >> have you finished your rounds? >> a have to do that because i do appreciate this opportunity. i came to the congress in 1972 as a young freshman congressman. i served during the reagan years of the house. i was a partisan warrior. the house tends to make you a partisan warrior. everyday you get up and try to figure out how you can beat the enemy. after a while, you say you have to change your attitude. i'm going to try to make this place work for the things i believe in. so i started working on that. what happened over the years, our biggest enemy is time. >> 20% of the members of the house leaving their office. >> they leave their families back home, they don't know each other, when i fi

kyl amendment number 3271. webb amendment number 3275. nelson of nebraska amendment number 3279. the presiding officer: is there objection to -- mr. mccain: reserving the right to object. the presiding officer: the senator from arizona. mr. mccain: and i will not object. the presiding officer: will the senate come to order. will the senate please come to order and you can take your conversations out in the hall. mr. mccain: we now have 17 more amendments. we will be proceeding tomorrow morning and i want to tell my colleagues, we will be looking at other amendments to put in the package. the presiding officer: will the senate come to order. will senators please take their conversations out in the hallways. or back in the cloakroom. the senator from arizona. mr. mccain: we'll be looking at other amendments to put into a package that we can agree on. but i would also urge many of my colleagues who have clearly redundant and duplicative amendments to take a look at their amendments and withdraw them, if possible, so that we can dispense with remaining amendments as soon as possible tomorrow. i want to thank especially senator feinste

mr. kyl: yes. mr. levin: is this the amendment that has been amended after discussions with senator kerry? mr. kyl: that is correct. mr. levin: is it your intent to send a new amendment in to the desk? mr. kyl: the original amendment numbered 3123 would be withdrawn. the modification of that amendment as written by senator kerry and i and i believe cleared by your side would be the pending amendment. modifying it, not withdrawing it. mr. levin: in other words, it would be the same numbered amendment as modified? mr. kyl: yes. mr. levin: what is the intent of my friend from arizona to do with that amendment now? mr. kyl: to make about a 45-second statement. mr. levin: to have it passed? mr. kyl: well, eventually. i presume there are no more votes today. mr. levin: not to have it passed at this time by voice vote? mr. kyl: correct. although i will say i am not going to ask for a roll call vote at the end? mr. levin: at some point you would take a roll call vote on it? mr. kyl: yes. this amendment is also

kyl for their comments. i will yield the floor. mr. mccain: i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: mr. levin: i would ask unanimous consent that further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. levin: madam president, this is what we are planning on now. we're waiting for senator cornyn to come to the floor. he will be speaking on a modified cornyn amendment. then we also are awaiting senator inhofe to come to the floor. he will be speaking on a hagan amendment. then we would expect after a fairly short amount of debate, perhaps ten minutes, it's not set yet, by each of them, perhaps a minute or two by the sponsors of the amendment to describe, particularly in the case of the hagan amendment, we would then go to a roll call vote on both those amendments. that's the plan. it's not yet into a u.c. agreement formally because we want to make sure we're protecting the senators in terms of the length of time they need to describe their opposition to either the hagan