mr. markey, aye. >> that's a normal vote. see if you can spot the difference. >> mr. markey. mr. mccain. mrs. mccaskill. mr. mcconnell. >> it's not that they're not voting, but the republicans refused to allow their votes to be said out loud because they didn't want anybody to know how they were voting on the debt ceiling. they asked harry reid's permission to do it this way and said out of deference and respect to his republican friends, he would let them do it. really weird. nobody has done this in congress in years. c-span was furious. all the reporters who cover this stuff from the senate gallery were furious. this was essentially a way to obscure what the vote was. they couldn't tell what the votes were because they weren't said into the microphone. a reporter from roll call was so annoyed in trying to figure out which republicans actually voted for this thing because some of them clearly did that he went town to the senate clerk and asked to see the actual scrap of paper on which the clerk marks the votes by hand. as people vote in order to figure out who done it. and it's

mr. markey and i shared a space and one i heard him yelling i would go over there and calm him down and when he heard me yelling he would come and call me down. usually i was yelling because i found out something he was about to do. >> he let's jump in to some of the issues on energy and commerce committee in what is clearly you put it on their the keystone pipeline. the house republicans did make a decision not to put keystone is the debt limit negotiations. what is the reason for that? is a clearly votes or a sense within the conference? >> i think the clear consensus is the keystone pipeline should be approved. most of it has been built. the state department once again last week i think came out and said they had no reason to oppose it and i don't know the exact phraseology they use. so i would expect that sometime in the near future the president and the secretary of state will approve it. as to why we have not chosen to attach it to the debt ceiling we been a republican majority, they asked me about it and i want to do stuff on the debt ceiling that reduces the deficit in reforms entitl

mr. markey and i shared space and when i heard him yelling, i would go over there and calm him down. usually i was yelling because i found out something he was about to do. it worksd out well. >> what are some of the issues, you put it on there, keystone pipeline, house republicans did make a decision not to put keystone as part of the debt limit negotiations. was it votes or sense within the conference? >> i think the clear consensus is that the keystone pipeline wub approved, most of it has been built. the state department once again last week said they had no reason to oppose it. i don't know the exact terminology they used. so i would expect sometime in the near future, the president and the secretary of state will approve it. as to why we have not chosen to attach it to the debt ceiling, we being the republican majority, they asked me about it, i want to do stuff on the debt ceiling that reduces the deficits and gets us a balanced budget. keystone pipeline creates jobs but it's really not a debt ceiling type issue. i would vote for it on the debt ceiling, but i don't see somethi

markey, a senator from the state of massachusetts, to perform the duties of the chair. signed: patrick j. leahy, president pro tempore. mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: following my remarks and those of the republican leader, we'll be in a period of mogadishu until 11:00 this morning. the republicans will control the first half. democrats the final half. at 11:00 this morning, the senate will proceed to executive session to consider executive calendar numbers 525, 595, 527 and 529. these are all extremely important nominations. at 11:30, there will be up to four roll call votes on confirmation of these nominations. we also hope to consider the debt limit legislation, military retirement pay and hopefully additional nominations today. mr. president, as i just mentioned, we hope today that we can act on two vital pieces of legislation. on this side of the aisle, as we say, we're ready to move. we want to move on a measure to restore earned retirement pay to our nation's heroes, retirees from the united states armed services. dozens of major veterans' organizations have written

markey, a senator from the state of massachusetts, to perform the duties of the chair. signed: patrick j. leahy, president pro tempore. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: following my remarks and those of the republican leader the senate will be in a period of morning business for two hours. republicans will control the first half. the majority the final half. following that morning business the senate will resume consideration of the motion to proceed to s. 1982, the veterans benefits bill postcloture. if begin to reach agreement to begin consideration of the bill today. i'll have more to say about that in just a minute. mr. president, over the last many months millions of americans have signed up for affordable health insurance, many for the first time ever, many for the first time in many years. many young people have stayed on their parents' insurance plans while they pursued education or started their first jobs. many senior citizens have saved money on prescription bills, about $1,200 they saved and tens of millions of women have accessed free medical care. and tons have been able to buy affordable health care insurance they could afford an