mr. reid: mr. president, i ask consent that the text at 510 pass the senate and modified with the changes at the -- the bill as amended be read a third time. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: is a question on passage of the bill? the presiding officer: all those in favor say aye. mr. reid: aye. the presiding officer: all those opposed, no. the ayes appear to have it. , the ayes do have it. the bill as amended is passed. mr. reid: i ask consent that the title amendment at the desk be considered agreed to and the motion to reconsider be laid on the table, any statements related to the measure appear in the appropriate place in the record as if given. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. reid: i ask the chair to lay before the senate a message to the -- from the house with respect to h.r. 3082. the presiding officer: the chair lays before the senate the following message from the house. the clerk: resolve that the house agree to the amendment h.r. 3082 entitled a

mr. reid: mr. president? mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i ask the call of the quorum be terminated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: mr. president, we were under the -- members on both sides anticipated tonight my filing cloture on the spending bill that would take us through next year. everyone knows we're operating under a continuing resolution now that expires saturday night. midnight. senator inouye has worked so very, very hard for the entire year, working on a bipartisan agreement and a bipartisan -- in a bipartisan manner to put together a bill that will responsibly fund our government for the next fiscal year. he hasn't done this as king. he's done it working with democrats and republicans. senator cochran has been in all the efforts that senator inouye has made. the product was filed a few days ago. the overall spending level on that bill was suspected by 40 republicans earlier this year. in addition, the bill contains priorities for

mr. reid: mr. president, i ask consent that the text at 510 pass the senate and modified with the changes at the -- the bill as amended be read a third time. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: is a question on passage of the bill? the presiding officer: all those in favor say aye. mr. reid: aye. the presiding officer: all those opposed, no. the ayes appear to have it. , the ayes do have it.

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader is recognized. mr. reid: mr. president, i ask -- first of all, if we could have order. the presiding officer: the members of the senate please take their seats, clear the aisles. mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: all consent agreements that i've been involved in over the years have been imperfect but this is the best we could do and i think it's a pretty good one. so i would ask unanimous consent that at 3:00 p.m. today, all postcloture time be considered expired and the reid motion to concur with the amendments be withdrawn and that no further amendments or motions be in order and without further intervening action or debate, the senate proceed to vote on the reid motion to concur in the house amendment to the senate amendment to h.r. 2965. that upon disposition of the house message, the senate then resume executive session and the start treaty -- resume executive session on the st

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader? mr. reid: we're now in a quorum call? the presiding officer: yes, we are. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the call of the quorum be terminated. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. reid: i move to proceed to calendar number 662, s. 3991, public safety employer and kpwhr employer cooperation act -- employer cooperation act. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the motion. the clerk: we the undersigned senators in accordance of the provisions of rule 22, hereby move to bring to a close debate on calendar number 662, s. 3991, the public safety employer-employee cooperation act of 2009. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent that reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. reid: i now withdraw that motion. the presiding officer: the motion is withdrawn. mr. reid: i move to proceed to calendar number 695, s. 395, emergency senior citizens relief act and i have a cl

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader is recognized. mr. reid: i ask the chair to lay before the senate a message from the house with respect to h.r. 4853. the presiding officer: the chair lays before the senate the following message. the clerk: resolved that the house agree to the amendment of the senate to the bill h.r. 4853, entitled an act to amend the internal revenue code of 1986 to extend the funding and expenditure authority of airport and airway trust fund to amend title 49 united states code, to extend authorization for the airport improvement program, and for other purposes, passed with a house amendment to the senate amendment. mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i move to concur in the house amendment to the senate amendment to h.r. 4853 with an amendment, and that amendment is at the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from nevada, mr. reid, moves to concur in the house amen

mr. reid:. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent that members have until thursday, december 16 to submit tributes. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent that the appointments which are at the desk appear separately in the record as if made by the chair. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business it adjourn until 9:30 a.m. on thursday, december 9. following the prayer and pledge -- the prayer and the pledge, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed expired, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, following leader remarks the senate resume consideration of the motion to proceed to the deem act as provided under the previous order. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: at 11:00 a.m. the senate will proceed to up to three roll call votes. if cloture vote is not invoked the senate will proceed to the vote to h.r. 847

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: mr. president, senators should expect a series of up to four roll call votes beginning at 10:30 this morning or thereabouts. the first vote will be on cloture with respect to the dream act. if cloture is not invoked on the dream act, the senate would proceed to a cloture vote with respect to the don't ask, don't tell repeal. following the cloture votes, the senate will proceed to vote on two confirmations, albert diaz of north carolina to be a united states circuit judge, evan hollander of maryland to be a united states district judge. mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that two additional staff members from senator lieberman's office be granted floor privileges for the duration of the debate to invoke cloture on the motion to concur in the amendment to the senate amendment. one problem, senator lieberman didn't supply the names, so that makes it a little tough. i will pretend i didn't say that. oh, i see. what the d

mr. reid: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent to withdraw my motion to concur in the house amendment to the senate amendment to h.r. 4853 for baucus amendment number 4727. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the call of the quorl be terminated. is every without objection. mr. reid: mr. president, i move to concur in the house amendment to the senate amendment to h.r. 4853 with the reid-mcconnell amendment number 4753 and that amendment be considered read. the presiding officer: without objection. the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from nevada moves to condition occur in the house amendment to the senate amendment with an amendment numbered 4753 to h.r. 4853. mr. reid: i ask for the yeas and nays on that, mr. president. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. there i

mr. reid: madam president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i enter a motion to reconsider the vote by which cloture was not invoked on the motion to proceed to h.r. 847. the presiding officer: the motion is entered. mr. reid: madam president, for the benefit of senators, we're working through -- i've had a number of discussions with the republican leader. we hope that we can very quickly lay down the tax bill. mr. mcconnell: in that regard, it's my understanding it's complete and ready and actually -- we could move to that very soon in the next hour or so. mr. reid: madam president, the chairman of the armed services committee gave a speech here on the floor. i have such admiration and respect for senator levin. he does a wonderful job of protecting america in so many different ways, not only chairman of that important committee on armed services, but the committee on investigations and the other things he does. but he gave a speech here today saying if we don't get on th

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: we're going to have one more vote tonight on -- the presiding officer: the senate would be in order for the majority leader. mr. reid: we're going to have one more vote tonight on the circuit judge. it's my understanding the district judge would go by voice. tomorrow we're going to -- first of all, tonight anyone that wants to work on the start treaty, the two managers of the bill, senator kerry and senator lugar, have said they're here as long as people want to work on this. we're going to come in at 10:00 in the morning. we'll work from 10:00 until 2:00 here on the start treaty and then the -- a number of senators want to have a closed session. we'll do that in the old senate chamber. that place has already been cleared by the security folks. so we'll start that at 2:00 and go as long as necessary there and come back tomorrow evening and continue working on the start treaty. we have very few things left to do. the republican leader and i and our staffs have worked throughout th

mr. reid: mr.sident? the presiding officer: mr. majority leader. mr. reid: following morning business -- i'm sorry. following any leader remarks, the senate will resume consideration of the house message to h.r. 4853, which is the legislative vehicle for the tax cut extensions. under a time agreement there, up to two hours of debate prior to a cloture vote on the motion to conditioconcur on the baucus am. if the cloture is not invoked, the senate will proceed to a cloture vet on the schumer amendment. senators should expect the cloture vote to occur at 10:30 to amendment. senator schumer will control the time on his amendment. senator baucus will control the time on his amendment. they will each have 30 minutes. mr. president, s. 4006 is at the desk. it's due for its second reading. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. 4006, a bill to provide the for the use of unobligated discretionary stimulus dollars to address aids drug assistance program, waiting list and other cost cont

mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the call of the quorum be terminated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent we proceed to a pored of morning business. promise without objection. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent on wednesday december 8, upon the conclusion of the impeachment trial senate stand in recess upon call of the chair. the senate then proceed to calendar number 661 and the time until 12:30 be controlled between the leaders or their designees. at 12:30 senate stand in recess until 3:30 p.m. upon reconvening there be an additional 30 minutes of debate divided as specified upon. upon the use or yielding back of time the senate proceed to vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to calendar number 6616789 further -- 661. if there are back to back votes, there will be four minutes of debate divided and controlled in the usual form prior to each vote. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask consent we now proceed

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader is recognized. mr. reid: senators should be prepared to be in the chamber throughout the day on the impeachment of -- impeachment trial of g. thomas porteous jr. at 12:30 the senate will proceed to morning business with senator lemieux permitted to speak up to 15 minutes. following his remark senate will recess until 2:30 p.m. for caucus. there may be another live quorum at 5:30 to begin the closed session deliberations. mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader is recognized. mr. reid: note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: mr. inouye: the quorum is present. under the previous order, the hour of 10:12 having arrived and a quorum having been established, the senate will resume its consideration of the articles of impeachment against judge g. thomas porteous jr. the house managers and judge porteous and counsel will please make their entry before the

mr. reid: madam president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: are we in a quorum call? the presiding officer: correct. mr. reid: i ask consent it be terminated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: madam president, as a christian, no one has to remind me of the importance of christmas for all of the christmas faith, all their families all across america. i don't think any of us, i don't need to hear the sanctimonious lectures of senators kyl and demint to remind me of what christmas means. my question, madam president, is where were their concerns about christmas as we've had filibuster after filibuster on major pieces of legislation during this entire congress. not once, but 87 times, taking days and days of the people's time here in the senate on wasteful delay. senate republicans need to look no farther than themselves in casting blame for the predicament we're in right now. in this congress, i repeat, republicans have waged 87 filibusters. they've used eve

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader is recognized. mr. reid: following leader remarks there will be a period of morning business. senators will be allowed to speak for up to ten minutes each during that time. republicans will control the first 30 minutes. the majority will control the final 30 minutes. we're going to recess from 12:30 until 3:30 today to allow for a caucus the democrats are having. mr. president, there are two bills at the desk due for second reading. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. 3991, a bill to provide collective bargaining rights for public safety officers employed by states or their political subdivisions. s. 3992, a bill to authorize the cancellation of removal and adjustment of status of certain alien students who are long-term united states residents and who entered the united states as children, and for other purposes. mr. reid: mr. president, i would object to any further proceedings with respect to these two bi

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: mr. majority leader. mr. reid: i ask that the quorum call be terminated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: madam president? the presiding officer: mr. majority leader. mr. reid: we have a piece of legislation that passed last night in the house of representatives. i received a call last night, i guess it was around 9:30, 10:00, from both the majority leader and the speaker that the so-called dream act had passed in the house. that changes things over here. it changes things because we had been toiling on this for a long time and it -- now that it's passed the house, the way to proceed would be to have a vote on that matter because if we're able to pass it, it goes directly to the president. having said that, i think it would be really futile for us to have a vote on a motion to invoke cloture on a bill that we know won't matter. so what we'll do is i'm going to ask consent to vitiate the vote and to schedule it for 11:00 on the dream act and that just to alert everyone we have not given up on

mr. reid: madam president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: for the information of senators, first of all, i would ask unanimous consent that the thune amendment be ten minutes in duration. employment without objection. mr. thune: number two, senator lemieux has an amendment that is pending. i would ask that that vote follow the thune amendment and that also be ten minutes in order. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: there be no amendments amendments -- mr. kyl: madam president? the presiding officer: the majority leader has the floor. mr. reid: let me finish my consent agreement here. if some don't like it, we can worry about that. i ask consent that we're going to vote on thune. that will be a 10-minute vote. that's number 4841. that following that, we consider the lemieux amendment number 4847. prior to the vote, there be four minutes of debate equally divided and controlled in the usual form. that is, of course, with the thune amendment and the lemieux

mr. reid: mr. president? following leader remarks, the senate will resume consideration of the house message with respect to 4853, the vehicle for the tax agreement with the time until 3:00 p.m. equally divided and controlled between the two leaders and their designees. at 3:00 p.m., the senate will proceed to a roll call vote on the motion to invoke cloture, the motion to concur to the house amendment to the senate amendment to h.r. 4853, with the reid-mcconnell amendment. the cloture vote will be held open until -- we'll close it as quickly as we can. there is bad weather around the country. i just got a call from a senator who is stuck in minneapolis, but we'll close it just as quickly as we can. we need to start it earlier than normal because some people had to go places. we will be as deliberate as we can in making sure people have the opportunity to vote. i ask unanimous consent that the filing deadline for second-degree amendments with respect to the motion to concur with the amendment be at 2:30 p.m.

mr. reid: mr.president, last night i was at home and received a message on my blackberry that ambassador richard holbrooke had died. i really felt very, very sad about that. he was such a nice man. he was the epitome, in his dealings with me, of being a gentleman. everyone who worked with him knew how hard he worked, and i join the many thousands of people who mourn the passing of ambassador richard holbrooke, a champion diplomat and a personal friend. ambassador holbrooke dedicated his entire life to the foreign service, to keeping america safe through tough, sensible diplomacy. i will miss him, his friendship, his counsel, and our nation will miss his tireless leadership and steady guidance for foreign policy. i had the opportunity to work with him closely on a number of occasions during my tenure here as majority leader. i appreciated our many conversations and his insights into the central national security issues of the day. the world bears the imprint of ambassador holbrooke's efforts to brin

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: following leader remarks, if any, the senate will proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the new start treaty. the treaty is open to amendments. senators are encouraged to come to the floor to offer and debate their amendments, or to make statements regarding this most important piece of legislation. i'd like to begin today on having votes on the amendments amendments -- amendment that has been filed. as a reminder, last night, i filed cloture with respect to the house messages on the "dream" act and the don't ask, don't tell repeal. the first cloture vote will occur tomorrow morning fairly early. if cloture is not invoked on the "dream" act, the senate would proceed immediately to a cloture vote on the don't ask, don't tell repeal. senators will be notified when any votes are scheduled. mr. president, i have a matter that i believe is at the desk, s.j. res. 42. i think it's due for a second reading. the

the tea party won this round. >> there were two options for mr. reid. he could have gone along with the temporary measure and handed this off to the 2011 senate and congress or said, there's no support. you're going to blink. we're not going to blink. we're going to let you shut it this down. don't democrats normally benefit from shutdowns? wasn't that turning the point against gingrich? >> it was the turning point against gingrich 15 years ago. i don't think democrats are as confident as back then. i think they worried they wouldn't necessarily win the ball game. although, it's got to be said that the reason why all this stuff is jammed up at the end like this, the reason why it's so dramatic and controversial right now, after the election, is that the republicans slow-walked all these spending bills. they threatened to completely slow-walk them so that the only altittive, which post election with the rise of the tea party they should the down. what the argument is going to be is how long to extend that continuing resolution for? democrats could have t

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i'm meeting and having conversation with the republican leader to see if we can come to an agreement on the c.r. there are a few issues but nothing that we shouldn't be able to work through. following any leader remarks, the senate will resume executive session to resume consideration of the new start treaty. we have three hours of debate with respect to the risch amendment, the time divided, one hour under the control of senator kerry or his designee, two hours under the control of senator risch or his designee. no amendments in order to this amendment. at approximately 3:00 p.m. today, the senate will proceed to a series of three roll call votes. the risch amendment will be voted on. that's amendment number 4839. confirmation of a circuit court judge for the second circuit, raymond j.laher, and confirmation of a district judge in mississippi, carlton refuses. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. the clerk will call the roll. quorum c

mr. reid: mr. president, i'll use leader time. the presiding officer: the majority leader is recognized. mr. reid: mr. president, i say to people in the united states senate and to the american public, to hear my friend, the distinguished republican leader, talk about our having done things procedurally brings a big yawn to the american people. everyone knows how we have been stymied, stopped and stunned by the procedural roadblocks of this republican minority. so, mr. president, we're where we are today. we're where we are today. number one, we

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: following leader remarks there will be a period of morning business with senators allowed to speak for up to ten minutes each. last night i filed cloture votes on two tax cuts amendments. those votes are expected to occur tomorrow. senators will be notified as to when these votes will be scheduled. i have not had the opportunity to meet with the republican leader. we'll do that and try to set up votes for as convenient a time as possible. mr. president, i hoped we would be able todom an agreement with republicans -- to come to an agreement to hold votes today on taxes for middle-class families. but the republicans wouldn't agree. democrats priorities are very clear, protecting middle-class families every way we can. tomorrow's votes will show where the republican priorities are and where ours are. those votes will clearly demonstrate who supports the middle class, and that includes every senator. the minority can spin any way that want what's taken place the last 24 hours. they c

mr. reid: mr. president? mr. president? the presiding officer: without objection, the majority leader is recognized. mr. reid: we're in a position now, we don't have the consent agreement completely fixed, but we know what we're going to do. we're going to have three votes, three different amendments. it will be a half-hour debate on each amendment. so we likely will have another series of votes at 8:15 or thereabouts tonight. we'll have -- senator kerry will offer a consent agreement to that effect very shortly. in the meantime, we can start debating one of the amendments. mr. kerry: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from massachusetts. mr. kerry: mr. president, i understand there will be three amendments that we'll proceed with. two will be by senator kyl and one by senator wicker. i believe senator wicker is prepared to call up his amendment at this point. i think we're going to proceed -- i would ask unanimous consent that on each amendment there be a half-hour equally divided -- no, hold it. okay. mr. p

mr. reid: madam president? the presiding officer: majority leader. mr. reid: following leader remarks there will be a period of morning business for senators. they'll be allowed to speak for up to ten minutes each. the majority will control the first 30 minutes. republicans will control the next 30 minutes. we'll be in recess again today from 12:30 until 3:30 to allow for a democratic caucus. yesterday the house sent awes two-week continuation resolution. we need to act on that funding bill before the current continuing resolution expires on tomorrow. i'll continue to work with the republican leader on a time for its consideration. we have other matters. i have touched with my caucus, the republican leader and the white house to try to move toward completing business here before business. would the chair announce morning business? the presiding officer: under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. under the previous order, there will now be a period of morning business with senat

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: mr. majority leader. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent that the call. quorum be terminated. officer without objection. mr. reid: i have three statements that i am going to make, one regarding senator speck tearings one blanche lincoln and i'm going to do another one regarding russ feingold and i ask unanimous consent that they appear separately in the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: thank you very much. ask anyone in this body for one word to vims allen specter, i think the word that would come up most often is he is real estate a real fighter. he fought to defend our nation in korea. he fought crime in the streets of philadelphia as the district attorney. he's fought cancer and won three times. and he's fought for pennsylvania every day he served with us here in the united states senate. senator specter has witnessed three decades of progress in washington. he's a man who has risen above party lines to demonstrate his

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: would my friend yield for a unanimous consent request? mr. harkin: absolutely. always glad to yield to my leader. mr. reid: skilled that the record not show the intription -- i would ask that the report not show the interruption. mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that all postcloture time be considered expired when the senate resumes consideration of the house message with respect to h.r. 4853 on wednesday, december 15. except for the time provided for under this agreement. the senate resume the house message at 11:00 a.m. wednesday and there be one hour remaining for debate divided as follows: 10 minutes for the majority -- under the control of the majority and republican leaders or their designees, senator demint, coburn, landrieu and sanders, that the following be -- that the following be the only motions to suspend the rules in order during the duration of this agreement: coburn motion to suspend with respe

mr. reid: mr. president? mr. president? mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: could we have order, please. the presiding officer: the senate will be in order. the senate will be in order. if we could clear the aisles and any conversation into the back. mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: if i could have the attention of the senate. the presiding officer: the senate will be in order. mr. reid: as always happens, there's always bumps in the road here in the senate, most of which we don't foresee. we have scheduled now four votes. we're going to move to the next one as soon as we can. the house of representatives is in the process of voting on their don't ask -- sorry. wrong problem. on the "dream" act. and they're going to do that, but they may not get to it for a couple of hours. i need to have them finish their vote before we vote over here. so, having said that, we may be in a little down time here after we finish this

mr. reid: madam president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: following leader remarks, if any, the senate will proceed to executive session to consider a new start treaty. roll call votes are expected to occur throughout the day in relation to amendments to the treaty. the two managers of this bill, senator kerry and senator lugar, are some of the most experienced members, and they will do an outstanding job of managing this legislation. the current continuing resolution expires saturday at midnight, so we need to take action to consider a funding resolution sometime in the next few days. just an update on the schedule. the tax package which we passed yesterday is now in the house. they're going to consider that very likely today. we have the omnibus or the continuing resolution that we have to deal with in the near future, because as i have indicated the funding expires before -- at midnight on saturday. the "dream" act is something we need to work on. it's an extremely important piece of legislation. allowing young men and women to join

mr. reid: mr. president, i'll use leader time. the presiding officer: the majority leader i recognized. mr. reid: mr. president, i say to people in the united states senate and to the american public, to hear my friend, the distinguished republican leader, talk about our having done things procedurally brings a big yawn to the american people. everyone knows how we have been stymied, stopped and stunned by the procedural roadblocks of this republican minority. so, mr. president, we're where we are today. we're where we are today. number one, we have, nearing the end of this congressional session there is a continuing resolution that's been prepared by senator inouye and senator cochran, something that i don't re like, but it's been done because we have to do this. and we'll finish that in the immediate future. mr. president, i'm going to speak just briefly on don't ask, don't tell. but to suggest that there hasn't been hearings, adequate hearings on this is just simply nonsensical. senator levin ha

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the leader -- mr. schumer: i yield to my leader. mr. reid: would my friend, the distinguished senator from new york, allow an interruption for a unanimous consent request. mr. schumer: without any objection from. reid riled scw that his statement not p interrupted in the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i have been in touch with senator mcconnell and i know that he is asking this unanimous consent agreement. i ask that at 10:30 tomorrow morning, the senate vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the reid amendment with the baucus amendment number 4727 with the time until -- with the time from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. equally divided and controlled between the leaders h.r. other designees. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection, so ordered. mr. reid: mr. president, this is a time that virtually no one is happy with. someone wanted it late, someone wanted it earlly. as i indicated to lula davis, we split i

mr. reid: mr. president, the parties have filed their final written briefs, and the senate is now ready to hear argument. prior to consideration of the articles of impeachment, judge porteous has requested time to present argument on three motions that take issue with the sufficiency under the constitution of several aspects of the impeachment articles framed by the house. first, judge porteous has moved to dismiss article ii, or for alternative relief, based on the house's inclusion of allegations of misconduct occurring prior to the commencement of the judge's federal service as a united states district judge. second, judge porteous has moved to dismiss article i, or for alternative relief, based on the house's inclusion of unconstitutionally vague allegations that judge porteous's conduct deprived the public of its right to the honest services of his office. third, judge porteous objects to the manner in which each article of impeachment was framed to aggregate discrete allegations of misconduct

mr. reid: that being the case, mr.president, i ask unanimous consent that the kerry-snowe amendment at the desk be agreed to, the bill as amended be read a third time and passed and the motion to reconsider be laid on the table. that any statements relate to go this matter appear at the appropriate place in the record as if given. the presiding officer: without objection. it is so ordered. mr. reid: it is my understanding, mr. president, the hour of 1:30 having arrived or shortly will arrive, that we will recess pending the call of the chair, is that right, until the closed session is completed? the presiding officer: the senator is correct. under the previous order, the under the previous order, the funding of the government through march of 2011. will resume life senate coverage when members are back here on c-span2. in the meantime a look at some of today's floor remarks on the s.t.a.r.t. treaty. >> mr. president over the weekend i indicated i would be voting against the s.t.a.r.t.ng treaty. this morning i would lik

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader is recognized. mr. reid: following the remarks of senator mcconnell and myself, we'll be in a period of morning business until 11:00 a.m., with senators permitted to speak for up to ten minutes each. at 10:00 this morning, senator bayh will deliver his farewell remarks to the senate. at 10:30 a.m., senator voinovich will deliver his. mr. president, i spoke yesterday about senator bayh, what an outstanding person he is and how much we'll miss him. i will have something to say in a few minutes about senator voinovich. at 11:00 a.m. today, the senate will resume consideration of the house message with respect to h.r. 4853, the vehicle for the tax compromise. there will be one hour for debate prior to a series of up to four roll call votes. there will be votes on three motion toss suspend the rule 22, and the last vote will be on a motion to concur with the reed-mcconnell amendment. following a series of votes, the senate will resume morning business until 2:15. at that time, i intend to move to executive se

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. the majority leader is recognized. mr. reid: mr. president, i have, on many occasions, spoken of my afection of my friend chris dodd. that the caucus today, the presiding officer was there, i indicated that very few people have had the opportunity and the challenges in a single congress as chris dodd has. he found himself chairman of the banking committee at a time when the country was collapsing and the banks were collapsing but yet he led the way, to working with a republican president to do the so-called tarp. it was something that was done on a bipartisan basis. there was never a better example in my entire government career of a more cooperative group of senators, democrats and republicans, house and the senate working together to create something that was badly needed. and then we had -- of course there are many other issues dealing with wall street reform -- and then to complicate his life and add to the challenges in his life, the best friend a man could ever have was chris do

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: following leader remarks if any the senate will return to a period of morning business with senator sanders of vermont to be recognized for -- to speak for whatever time he feels appropriate. there will be no roll call votes during today's session of senate. the next vote will be at 3:00 p.m. on the motion to invoke cloture. as i announced last night that will be held open longer for usual to allow senators to make that most important vote. i have nothing further, mr. president. the presiding officer: under the previous order the leadership time is reserved. the senate will now be in a period of morning business. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from the commonwealth of pennsylvania. mr. casey: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, this month the obama administration will submit its review of the war in afganistan. i expect, and i think a number of members of congress expect that this review will provide answers to the key questions before us. the q

ao mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: following leader remarks the senate will proceed to executive session and resume consideration of the new start treaty. we have two amendments now pending to the treaty, the thune amendment regarding delivery vehicles and the inhofe amendment dealing with inspections. we hope to vote in relation to the thune amendment between 12:00 and 1:00 p.m. today and dispose of the inhofe amendment later this afternoon. at 1:30 the senate will recess and reconvene at 2:00 p.m. in closed session in the old senate chamber. following closed session the senate will reconvene in open session in the senate chamber. we are going to be out of session for that one half-hour period of time, mr. president, to allow this, final sweeps so this will be completed. as a reminder last night, cloture was filed on the continuing resolution and the start treaty. a cloture vote on the continuing resolution will occur at a time to be determined tomorrow morning. we need to act as quickly as possible for the curre

but some are now cheering the gop saying republicans dodged a dangerous trap set for them by mr. reidand saved themselves from a major public backlash. alan colmes is host of the alan colmes show. alan, there's a piece in the "wall street journal" that's by kimberly that talks about how if they had gotten this through, the democrats, this omnibus bill, it would have been a major victory for them, and the xop support -- gop support would tarnish the goodwill that the republicans just won. >> certainly among the tea party base, the far right base and those who ran on fiscal restraint, probably that's the case. many be republicans favored this -- megyn: nine. >> well, a number of key -- megyn: a number, yes. >> in the senate, that's still, you know, enough to pass legislation if you get enough support on the democratic side. and i don't think you can look at this in isolation because the real victory is the tax cut bill that is a great victory for the white house and it's really a stimulus bill -- megyn: harry reid's unhappy about that one too. >> they've got to say that because their ba

mr. reid: mr. president, i move that pursuant to impeachment rule xx the senate now close its doors to commence deliberations on the motions and impeachment articles and ask unanimous consent that floor privileges during the closed session be granted to the individuals listed on the document i now send to the desk. [list] the president pro tempore: without objection, the senate will now close its doors and only members and staff granted floor privileges may remain. the sergeant at arms will ensure the chamber, the galleries, and the adjoining corridors are cleared of unauthorized persons? >>> welcome back this afternoon to the center of american progress and welcome this afternoon's program on the u.s.-china dialogue. a view of the senate foreign relations committee. our featured speaker, senator john kerry of massachusetts will be formally introduced in just a moment. today's program with senator kerry is the third in a public series on u.s.-china relations that included the deputy secretary of st

very early tomorrow morning, 12:35, 12:45, and what mr. reidg consents from republicans to try to move the time forward so they can vote on it this evening or late this afternoon, there's a large number of senators, democrats and republicans alike, who would like very much to expedite this and get it completed and there are also those who disagree with it, whether bernie sanders, the independent from vermont, liberal and an avowed socialist who spent 8 hours on the senate floor objecting to this early last week as well as republicans who voted against it yesterday and believe the tax cuts should be made permanent and there shouldn't be an increase to the deficit and debt as a consequences of the 86 billion cost. $58 billion cost. mitch mcconnell is on the floor and we expect him to give an answer and we'll find out momentarily. bill: chase that frog out of the back of your throat and we'll cut your microphone, i have one more question and that is the: what you hear is that if you get an overwhelming vote on the senate side it will put pressure

mr. reid: mr. president, i move that pursuant to impeachment rule xx the senate now close its doors to commence deliberations on the motions and impeachment articles and ask unanimous consent that floor privileges during the closed session be granted to the individuals listed on the document i now send to the desk. [list] the president pro tempore: without objection, the senate will now close its doors and only members and staff granted floor privileges may remain. the sergeant at arms will ensure the chamber, the galleries, and the adjoining corridors are the adjoining corridors are >> we're going to show you part of judge porteuos's trial shortly. senate majority leader harry reed said the deal to expand the tax cuts is something that's not done yet and said it needs more work. he spoke for 5 minutes following the senate lunch for party senators. >> this is not an arrangement, but we understand the president is negotiating and are ready to risk everything to secure tax cuts for the wealthiest of

mr. reid: mr. president, i move that pursuant to impeachment rule xx the senate now close its doors to commence deliberations on the motions and impeachment articles and ask unanimous consent that floor privileges during the closed session be granted to the individuals listed on the document i now send to the desk. [list] the president pro tempore: without objection, the senate will now close its doors and only members and staff granted floor privileges may remain. the sergeant at arms will ensure the chamber, the galleries, and the adjoining corridors are cleared of unauthorized persons. >> he became acting president of poland this is the first visit to washington as president. it has already been a success. this has become a positive meeting. i want to give the stage to him. thank you for coming to gmf and deliver the first address. [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen. it is always so nice to be welcomed in such a way we believe many times, we have been able to achieve the post popular goals the g

mr. reid: that's fine. mr. mcconnell: i was not talking about the process by which the bill was developed in committee as i started off, i would say, mr. president, to my friend from nevada. i was commending the committee for its work. i was commenting of the lack of taking the bill up on the floor of the united states senate. over $1 trillion, the basic work over $1 trillion, the basic work fr i would ask my friend was if why these bills enjoyed bipartisan support, and i think they did, why would they not brought before the full senate and passed?r as they would expect to negotiate other priorities. this is the basic work ofwh borh government. why did we not bring any offloo? these bills before the senate rerter w floor?ow >> mn y hope is that we'll take adwn the smile i have on my fach because the answer to the question is kind of easy. we have had the cloture 87 times in this congress because of everything we've tried to do. i. we have been obstructed., we everyone knows who got very big, issues. when presid

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. following leader remarks, there will be a period of morning business, there will be no roll call votes during today's session. senators are inkiewrnlgd to be on the -- encouraged to be on the floor tomorrow for a live quorum for an impeachment trial of judge g. thomas porteous. mr. president, as far as lame-duck sessions, our agenda is rather ambitious and the session itself is relatively long. it didn't have to be this way. we've tried many ways in this congress to tackle each of the priorities on our agenda. each time we tried the majority has tried to shut down the senate. republicans have ground the senate to a halt with hours of endless inactivity. that's why we were here on saturday. thank goodness it wasn't on sunday. that's why we'll be here another few weeks. we have a long to-do list. these are not leftovers, they're critical to our economy, national security, to our families and our country's future and we will resolve them before we adjourn. we have to give first responder

and then the majority leader of the senate, mr. reid, announced that he was going to take up immigration legislation first instead of climate regulation. graham, conservative republican, was also the key guy on immigration. he was furious. i heard some blue words come out of his mouth that i don't ordinarily here are from members not on the record. but he was very unhappy. they were poised to have a press conference on monday announcing their bill with a whole bunch of ceos standing up. grandma walked out and said not doing it. reed pulled the rug out. kerry and lieberman soldiers on. they came up with a bill in may, but without a key republican. and grant has managed in his tenure in the senate to become a key republican on a lot of really interesting issues. the bill went nowhere. his defection that resulting from reid's decision to do immigration for us, which was usually imported from a nevada -- nevada perspective that he was worried, shockingly, about his reelection. there was won by the name of intellect laid who was running agai