mr. lieberman: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from connecticut. mr. lieberman: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. the clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture. the clerk: cloture motion. we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, hereby move to bring to a close the debate on the motion to proceed to calendar number 301, s. 2038, the stop trading on congressional knowledge act. signed by 18 senators. mr. lieberman: mr. president, i ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: by unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum call has been waived. the question is: is it the sense of the senate that debate on the motion to proceed to senate 2038, an original bill to prohibit members of congress and employees of congress from using nonpublic information derived from their official positions for personal ben

mr. lieberman: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from connecticut. mr. lieberman: mr. president, what is the regular order, may i ask? the presiding officer: the pending amendment is 1483 by senator leahy. to s. 2038, the stock act. mr. lieberman: i thank the chair. so we're on the stock act, and senator leahy has introduced this amendment, which i appreciate that he's done that. this underlying bill, as we said yesterday, responds to the concern about whether members of congress and our staffs are covered by insider trading laws, that is, laws that prohibit a person from using nonpublic information for private profit. i feel most of us here feel we have always been covered by insider trading. there was some question raised about that at the end of last year. in fact, our committee held a hearing on two bills offered, one by senator kristen gillibrand of new york, the other by senator scott brown of massachusetts on this question, and we had some broadly respected, credible experts on se

mr. lieberman: mr. president, i want to thank the leader for his statement, thank him for his painches i tell you, to have gone through -- i know people are critical of the way senator reid has been forced to operate here to try get anything done. but if you go through a day like we've gone through, you understand why he's had no choice. senator paul, the senator from kentucky, introduced an amendment. we had a very thoughtful negotiation with him about modifying the amendment. we came to a meeting of the minds. and ready to go and then another member says, i won't consent to you voting on senator paul's modified amendment unless you promise me a vote. as senator reid well knows, in the early years i was here, this kind of behavior has sometimes happened just before the final vote son a bill or perhaps before a recess was about to be dislaird. but to conduct one's self in this way before -- at the very beginning of a debate on a bill about which there's bipartisan support -- yesterday it was clear on th

mr. lieberman: thank you, senator brown. the presiding officer: the senator from connecticut. mr. lieberman: i thank the chair. i'm pleased to report that i just received notice that within the hour the administration put out the statement of administration policy, the so-called s.a.p. strongly so-called s.a.p. strongly strongly endorsing legislation s. 2038 and appreciate that verg much. it's a very strong statement ofo support for the principles and exactly the kinds of things that senator collins, senator brown, senator gillibrand and senator tester and i have been saying here so as the president said on, in his state of the unionet speech, this bill hits, but can get this bill to his desk the sooner the better, he will sign it as soon as he possibly can. t if there is no one else who wishes to speak at this time i will suggest the absence of a quorum. you are going to find more and more people to recognize the massive opportunities for exchange and trade. if i'm present of the united states one of the things i will do in my first 100 days is to begin an economic initiative of d

mr. lieberman will see you now. ♪ no doubt i'm gonna show you where the magic happens ♪ >> high network individualsifferent than regular people because they are able to take advantages of tax code setting up the partnerships in the cayman islands all you have to do is make cursory information. >> like (bleep) sucking (bleep) information? word! tell me more about this stuff you are telling me about. >> when you have money you can take advantage of things thank just makes my brain hurt. >> we advise people to take their assets and put them into tax free bonds. depending on what state they live you can stress whether they pay zero or hardly any taxes athe ought. >> omg cat what do you think of that? >> this is all completely legal? >> yeah it's legal. >> break it down h and r block? >> they are really available to people who are really high net worth. >> that was boring. can a get a remix. >> 1008o656, 1041 they are available to people really high, high, high net worth. >> i like your beard. that called a chin strap son. >> when it's all said and done all they have to do is enter introschedule d. >> t

mr. lieberman: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from connecticut. mr. i thank the chair. i would like to ask unanimous consent that a presidential management fellow on detail to our committee be granted privileges of the floor for the duration of the debate on s. 2038. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. lieberman: i would like to begin debate and i do so with gratitude that both the distinguished ranking member, senator collins, is here and senator brown of massachusetts, whose original legislation along with senator gillibrand's, forms the basis of this proposal that comes out of our committee. mr. president, i am going to go back to the beginning to president washington whose farewell address seems to take more relevance as time goes by, though it's obviously more than 200 years old now. washington said in that farewell address that i quote, "that virtue or morality is a necessary spring of popular government and that we cannot look with indifference at anything that shakes the foundation or," if i -- well, continuing his metaphor, "dries t

mr. lieberman proposes an amendment numbered 1482 to amendment numbered 1470. on page 7, line 22, after reform, insert -- mr. reid: i ask that further reading of the amendment be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. the senator from ohio. mr. brown: i thank the presiding officer. mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the pending amendments be set aside. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. brown: i ask unanimous consent to call up amendment 1478. the presiding officer: is there objection? if none, so ordered. the clerk will report. mr. brown: i ask unanimous consent the reading of amendment 1478 be dispensed with. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the amendment by number. the clerk: the senator from ohio, mr. brown, proposes amendment numbered 1478 to amendment numbered 1470. mr. brown: i ask unanimous consent the amendment be dispensed with, the reading. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. brown: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the pending amendment be set aside. the presiding officer: is there objection?

mr. president. i am pleased to join the chairman of our committee, senator lieberman, and the sponsor of this bill, senator scott brown, today in urging our colleagues to begin consideration of what is known as the stock act. this legislation is based on a bill that was first introduced in the senate by senator scott brown, and a sim already one introduced by senator gillibrand. puts in place intended to ensure that members of congress do not profit from trading on insider information. as a cosponsor of senator brown's bill, i want to comment him for his leadership in this area. i also want to recognize chairman leashman for moving this important bill forward in such an expeditious manner. mr. president, press reports on "60 minutes" and elsewhere have raised questions about whether lawmakeres have been exempt, either legally or practically, from the reach of the laws prohibiting insider trading. at a time when polls show record low public confidence in congress, there is a strong desire on our part to address the concerns that underpin the public's skin -- scentty simple and ensure the american pe

reid of nevada, lieberman, brown of ohio, man shen, udall of new mexico, kohl, lautenberg, shaheen, hard harkin, durry, and schumer. mrreid: i ask unanimous consent the mandatory quorum under rule 22 be waived and the cloture vote occur at 30:00 on monday, january 30. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to consideration of h.r. 3800 which was received from the house and is at the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: h.r. 3800, an act to amend the internal revenue code of 1986 to extend the funding authority of the airway trust fund and for other purposes. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the bill be read three times, passed, the motion to reconsider be laid on the table, no intervening action or debate and any statements related to this matter placed in the record at the appropriate places if read. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to h.r. 3801. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. th

mr. lieberman: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from connecticut. mr. lieberman: i thank the chair. i would like to ask unanimous consent that a presidential management fellow on detail to our committee be granted privileges of the floor for the duration of the debate on s. 2038. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. lieberman: i would like to begin debate and i do so with gratitude that both the distinguished ranking member, senator collins, is here and senator brown of massachusetts, whose original legislation along with senator gillibrand's, forms the basis of this proposal that comes out of our committee. mr. president, i am going to go back to the beginning to president washington whose farewell address seems to take more relevance as time goes by, though it's obviously more than 200 years old now. washington said in that farewell address that i quote, "that virtue or morality is a necessary spring of popular government and that we cannot look with indifference at anything that shakes the foundation or," if i -- well, continuing his metaphor