mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the pending amendments be set aside and call up an amendment on behalf of senators baucus and grassley numbered 1 141, that it be modified with the changes that are at the desk. further, that the amendment as modified be agreed to, that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid on the table and there be no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. reid: mr. president, i have another matter. i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i now ask unanimous consent to withdraw the pending leahy and bennett amendments. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i call my amendment which is number 143, which is at the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from nevada, mr. reid, proposes

mr. reid: i would ask that the consent be terminated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i have a cloture motion at the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the cloture motion. 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 s. 23, the american invents act, signed by 18 senators as follo follows -- reid of nevada -- mr. reid: mr. president, i would ask unanimous consent the names not be read. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the vote on the motion to invoke cloture occur immediately upon disposition of the judicial nominations in executive session on monday, march 7. further, the mandatory quorum under rule 22 be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i would ask unanimous consent that we proceed to a period of morning business with senators allowed to speak therein

mr. reid: if my friend would yield. i got a call from one of the sects. why don't you give your state. i would be interested in it. murkowski i will share it with -- mrs. murkowski: i appreciate your indulgence. i, again, speak on behalf of not only john maker as a -- john baker as a great athlete, but his canine athletes. when the mushers lead out of the start in -- in willow, they leave with about 16 dogs on the team. and these are -- are remarkable animals who love nothing more than to be on the trail and to be mushing. and his team demonstrated a -- a resolve and a commitment and just a dedication to -- to not only their musher, mr. baker, but just to what the whole sport of dog mushing is -- is all about. for those who follow the ey iditarod trail, you know this is not for the -- for the weak. this is -- this is over exceptionally rugged terrain, oftentimes in exceptionally rugged circumstances where you have arctic winds howling down off of the coast, blizzards that provide for -- for wh

mr. reid: mr. president, i ask the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be laid on the table, there be in intervening action or debate, any statements relating to this matter be placed in the record at the appropriate place as if revmentd. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent that on thursday, march 10, at 2:15 p.m., the senate proceed to executive session to consider calendar number 7, there be 15 minutes of debate equally divided in the usual form, upon the use or yielding back of the time, the senate proceed to vote on calendar number 7. the motion to reconsider be laid on the table, there be in intervening action or debate, that there be no further motions in order, any statements relating to this printed nlt record and president obama be immediately notified of the senate's action and the senate then resume legislative session. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: #eu ask unanimous consent that the fo

mr. reid: mr.president, i ask unanimous consent that the judiciary committee be discharged from further consideration of s. res. 112 and we now proceed to that matter. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: senate resolution 1 112, congratulating the pennsylvania state university ifc panholenic dance marathon on its continued success in support of the four diamonds fund at penn state hershey children's hospital. the presiding officer: without objection, the committee is discharged and the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. reid: mr. president, i ask that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be laid on the table, there be no intervening action or debate and any statements relating to this matter be placed in the record at the appropriate place as if read. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask consent we now proceed to s. res. 118. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: senate resolution 1 118, de

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the leader. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the equal of the quorum be terminated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i now move to proceed to calendar number 17, s. 493. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: motion to proceed to calendar number 17, s. 493, a bill to re-authorize and improve the sbir and sttr programs, and for other purposes. mr. reid: mr. president, i have a cloture motion at the desk and ask that it be reported. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. 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 17, s. 493, a bill to re-authorize and improve the sbir and sttr programs, and for other purposes. signed by 17 senators, as follows -- mr. reid: mr. president, i ask consent the names be waived, the reading of the names

mr. reid: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the committee on armed services be discharged from further consideration of s. res. 96. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. res. 96, congratulating the army dental corps on its 100th anniversary. the presiding officer: without objection, the committee is discharged and the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motion to reconsidered laid on the table. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask consent the committee on rules be discharged from further consideration of s. res. 7, 8 and 9. the presiding officer: without objection, it is so ordered. mr. reid: i ask that the joint resolutions be read three times, passed en bloc, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table en bloc, there be no intervening action or debate and nay statements relating -- any statements relating to this matter be placed in the record at

mr. reid: i ask consent that the call of the quorum be terminated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent that we proceed to a period of morning business, senators allowed to speak up to 10 minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to executive session to consider the following nomination, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, and all nominations on the a secretary's desk. that the nominations be confirmed en bloc, the motion to reconsider be laid on the table, with no intervening action or debate and no further motions be in order to any of the nominations, if these statements rb printed in the record -- be printed in the record and president obama be notified of senate's action and the senate then -- resume legislative session. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask consent that the appointment at the desk appear separately in the record as if m

mr. reid: mr. president, thank you very much. i have a longer statement that i'll give after we finish this colloquy here. yesterday afternoon at 4:00 we met back here in the vice president's office. it was a very fine meeting. vice president biden was there, my friend, the republican leader, the speaker, and the -- the majority -- the minority leader of the house of representatives. it's hard for me to get this term down since this change in house leadership. anyway, mcconnell, reid, boehner and pelosi were there with vice president biden. and we spent about an hour there and the arrangement was that we would have a vote on h.r. 1 sometime this next week and also a vote on the bill that we just laid down, which is our alternative as to what we think should be done with the economy. now, i know, mr. president, that -- that our bill, because it's a -- it's the way we have to do things around here, it's a long bill and i'm sure there -- the minority wants to spend some time looking at that. but one w

mr. reid: the senate is in a quorum call, is that correct? the presiding officer: yes, it is. mr. reid: i ask that the call of the quorum be terminated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: for the benefit of all senators, we've been working in the last 24 hours, or more, trying to work our way through the amendments to get to a vote on this most important bill that we're dealing with. -- with, the small business innovation bill. a bill that has already created thousands and thousands of jobs around the country. an extremely important bill. we need to reauthorize this. it's a relatively small amount of money and it generates a lot of jobs. but we've been stuck. i think we've had a breakthrough that we can at least hopefully work toward conclusion of this extremely difficult matter. i've spoken to one senator who had a concern about an issue that is actually been held up that's a republican amendment held up by a republican not allowing us to have a vote on that. i think we've wo

mr. reid: following any leader remarks, the senate will proceed to morning business until 11:00 a.m. today. during that period of time, senators would be permitted to speak for up to ten minutes each. the republicans will control the first 30 minutes and the majority will control the next 30 minutes. the remaining time until 11:00 will be equally diswieded and controlled between the leaders or their designees. at 11:00, the senate will proceed to vote on passage of the two-week continuing resolution. following that matter, the senate will resume consideration of the america invests act. votes are expected to occur throughout the day. madam president, we've worked for weeks now in moving forward on this funding measure for the country. the democrats have said for weeks now that we're committed to working with all sides to find a middle ground that helps us move forward and move forward a fiscally responsible budget for the rest of the year. yesterday the house acted and soon the senate will act

mr. reid: madam president, the chairman's here. mr. leahy: i would just ask consent to put my full statement in the record. miss jackson is one of four nominees to the vacancies that have plagued the district court of the district of columbia for years. and this should have gone last year but i'm glad it's going this year. i strongly support -- i strongly support miss jackson and put my full statement in the record and yield back any time i have. the presiding officer: all time is yielded back. the minority leader. mr. mcconnell: i ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be a sufficient second. the clerk will call the roll. vote: vote: vote: the presiding officer: are there any other senators in the chamber wishing to vote or to change their vote? if not, the ayes are 97. the nays are stkaoe roerbgs and the -- nays are zero. under the previous order, the motion to reconsider is considered made and laid on the table. the president will be immediately notified of the senate and the

mr. reid: mr. president, with this agreement, i ask consent that the cloture vote with respect to the motion to proceed to h.r. 1 be vitiated. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection, so ordered. mr. reid: mr. president, even though there has been a few turns in the road, we're at the place where we need to be. we need to be able to show the american people where we are on these two measures, and i express my appreciation to my friend, the republican leader, that we -- as i said, things don't always work smoothly around here, but they usually work. now we're at a point where we can vote on these two measures, which is what we need to do. the presiding officer: under the previous order, amendment number 152 is withdrawn and amendment number 143 is modified with the changes at the desk. the question is on amendment number 143 as modified. all in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. t the amendment as modified is agreed to. mr. leahy:

mr. reid:. mr. reid: there will be a vote on the confirmation of the cogburn nomination at 3:00 p.m. the senate small business committee reported s. 493, the reauthorization act of 2011. they did that yesterday. we hope to begin consideration of that bill early next week. mr. president, it's time once again for us to get down to business. yesterday's budget votes didn't brings pwr*eu us any closer to -- didn't bring us any closer to a conclusion but it did bring one thing to our minds and it did that clearly. that lesson is this: one party alone cannot reach a resolution without the other party's consent. we sroetd on a -- voted on a republican proposal and the democratic proposal. neither vote came close to passing but the exercise wasn't in vain. we demonstrated publicly and on the record that we know that the answer lies somewhere in the middle. now it's time to find that answer and a budget that will reflect our values, keep the country running and create jobs. i can speak only for my caucus when

mr. reid: madam president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: following any leader remarks, there will be a period of morning business for an hour, senators will be permitted to speak for up to ten minutes each during that period of time. the majority will control the first 30 minutes. the republicans will control the final 30 minutes. following moshings the senate will resume consideration of s. 23, the patent reform bill. the senate will recess from 12:30 until 2:15 to allow for our weekly caucus meetings. senators should expect roll call votes in relation to amendments to the patent reform bill throughout the day. madam president, i'll ask unanimous consent that senator toomey of pennsylvania be permitted to speak as if in morning business at 2:15 p.m. for up to 15 minutes in order to deliver his maiden speech in the united states senate. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i i understand that h.r. 1 is due for its second reading. the presiding officer: the clerk will read the bill for the second time. the clerk: h.r. 1,

mr. reid: madam president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. id: following any leader remarks, there will be a period of morning business until 10:30. p senators permitted to speak up to 10 minutes each during that period of time. majority will control the first half the republicans the second half. following that, the senate will resume consideration of s. 493, the small business jobs bill. senators should expect two roll call votes at 10:30 this morning. those votes will be in relation to nelson of nebraska, regard a sense of the senate resolution to reduce the senate's budget by 5% and a snowe-landrieu amendment striking the federal authorization. relations -- more roll call votes are expected during today's session of the senate. at 12:00 noon senator bloo bloo- blumenthal will deliver his maiden speech. i am told, madam president that h.j. res. 48 is at the desk and due for a second reading. the presiding officer: the clerk will read the title of the bill for the second time. the clerk: h.j. res. 48, making continuing appropriations for fis

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader is recognized. mr. reid: when i was a little boy growing up, we used to have chickens, and every morning the roosters we had, they would make the most noise, unbelievable noise they would make. you know, maybe those roosters thought that when they crowed, the sun would come up, but it had nothing to do with that. i have been places where roosters don't crow and the sun still comes up. so my friend from tennessee is using the rooster analogy and has about as much factual foundation as the analogy i just gave about the sun coming up when the rooster crows. mr. president, i was in a breakfast this morning, and one of my friends, he was former chief of staff to one of the senators here, said to me passing the health care bill was a miracle in the life of him and his family. those are his words, not mine. they had a child that developed diabetes. they could not find insurance for that child. you know what? because of the health care bill, that child is fully insured now. that's what the health care bill is ab

mr. reid: mr. president, i ask consent upon disposition of s. 23, the patent bill, the senate proceed to h.r. 1, the defense appropriation long-term continuing resolution for fiscal year 2011. the presiding officer: is there objection? mr. mcconnell: for the same reason, i object. the presiding officer: the obction is heard. mr. reid: i move to proceed to calendar number 14,.r. 1. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: motion to proceed to calendar number 14, h.r. 1, an act to make an appropriations for department of defense and other departments and agencies of theovernment for the fiscal year ending september 30, 2011, and for other purposes. mr. reid: mr. president, i have a clotureotion that's at the desk and i would ask that the clerk are report that. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: cloture motion: we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby move to bring to a close debate o

mr. reid: madam president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the call of the quorum be terminated. the presiding officer: we are not in a quorum call. mr. reid: that's even better. following any leader remarks, madam president, there will be a period of morning business for an hour. senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each with the republicans controlling the first half and the majority controlling the final half. following morning business, the senate will resume consideration of s. 493, the small business jobs bill. roll call votes in relation to amendments to the small business jobs bill are possible today. we hope that the blockage that we have from the -- my friends on the republican side will allow us to move forward on this bill. there are a number of nongermane and really nonappropriate amendments on this bill, but we have agreed to go ahead and work on those. two that are the most glaring are the 1099 that we need to resolve and the e.p.a. controversy that we have. we're being blocked from the

back relax and enjoy the show everyone to broker a job that is rich grant cardone work all right mr reid but for me all of that changed back one day in the early one nine hundred ninety s. i'll never forget it i went to madison square garden the world's most famous arena to watch a basketball game it was during the lead up to the first gulf war in one thousand nine hundred one and at half time i kid you know one of the mascots started to beat up this guy who was wearing this arab costume and the jumbotron was whipping the crowd up into a frenzy getting everybody the chance usa usa usa i mean it was sick i came to watch a game but i got served something else entirely. this was about as explicit a political spectacle as you could imagine to discuss athletes and activism we now welcome dave zirin and i basically made a career out of trying to understand that murky place where sports and politics collide as a writer as a commentator on e.s.p.n. and other major networks and in my sports radio show you know we got a hell of a show this week you know what's up with this is where sports and poli

mr. reid: could we have order. the presiding officer: order in the senate. mr. reid: on behalf of senator i inouye, i send to the desk an amendment. the presiding officer: order in the senate. the clerk report. mr. reid: amendment number 149. the clerk: the senator from nevada, mr. reid, for mr. inouye, proposes amendment numbered 149. mr. reid: further reading of the amendment be waived. ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: without objection. is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote: vote: vote: the presiding officer: are there any senators wishing to vote or change their vote? if not, the vote on this is 42 yeas, 58 nays. under the previous order requiring 60 votes for adoption of this amendment, the amendment is not agreed to. under the previous order, the measure is returned to the calendar. mr. roberts: -- a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from minnesota. mr. franken: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader is recognized. mr. reid: we're continuing to work very, very hard to avoid the terrible consequences that would come with the government shutdown. as vice president biden announced last night, after an hour and a half meeting we had in his office here just a few feet from where i speak, he announced the democrats and republicans have agreed upon a number on which to base our budget cuts. that number is $73 billion below the president's budget proposal. now we have to figure out how to get to that 73 number. as i have said all along, this isn't just about dollars and deficits, mr. president. it's about principles and priorities. what we cut is much more important than how much we cut. the media is very concerned with which party will win this fight politically. i'm much more concerned with making sure the american people don't lose out in this program that we're doing. we have to make sure that the cuts are those that don't rea

mr. reid: i would note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: quorum call: quorum call: a senator: mr. president, i ask to dispense with the reading of the roll. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. landrieu: thank you, mr. president. i'd like to speak for up to is 5 minutes. i understand that senator kyl will be joining us shortly. the presiding officer: thank you, mr. president. i come to the floor -- ms. landrieu: tourings mr. president. i come to the floor to urge my colleagues to vote "yes" on cloture this afternoon at 5:30. vote has been called to precede to the debate on a very important federal program that comes under the jurisdiction of the small business committee. i know the president has been a leader in his state on this general subject matter, and our committee has worked very hard here in the senate and in the house, i might add, to get this program ready for reauthorization because it's the federal government's largest research program for small business.

mr. reid: i would note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: mr. durbin: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: i ask consent the quorum call be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: are we in morning business? the presiding officer: we are. mr. durbin: i ask unanimous consent to speak as if in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: last week, the chairman of the senate appropriations committee, senator inouye of hawaii, proposed a bill to fund the government until the end of this fiscal year. it's hard to believe we're almost halfway through this year and still haven't resolved the basic issue of our budget. our failure to resolve it, lurching from two weeks to three weeks of funding may serve some political purpose. it doesn't serve the purpose of good government, because many people who have to make critical decisions which involve more than a momentary glimpse or glance at our f

. >> what about mr. reid. he started the religious coalition. is he a christian person? >> ralph found faith in993. he became born again. >> what does that mean? >> he decided to turn his life over toesus and that to be his motivating factor in life. he was not a big church goer before that. he was at the time really living dangerously, living on the edge, if you will. and this came at a very important time in his life. >> is he religious now, if you think? >> he is still religious. he goes to church. his wife is religious. yes,hey go to evangelical -- protestant evangelical church. >> you did tell us about his wife. >> yes. >> and they met when he was like 16? >> yes, i think he waited until she was 18 or 19 to get married. but they met when she was 16 and he was 25, i believe. >> how did they meet? >> they met at a jesse helms victory celebration in 1984, and she had her eye on him, and she watched him for years, and he knew she was too young and stayed away until it was more appropriate. but they started going out after her high school graduation. >> so you found they

mr. reid: madam president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: following any leader remarks, there will be a period of morning business for an hour with senators permitted to speak for up to ten minutes each. the majority controlling the first half, the republicans controlling the final half. following morning business, the senate will resume consideration of s. 493, the small business jobs bill. the senate will recess from 12:30 until 2:15 to allow for weekly caucus meetings. roll call votes in relation to the amendments to the small business jobs bill are possible today. insofar as will be -- senators will be notified when votes are scheduled. madam president, we have ten amendments now pending. i spoke yesterday afternoon to the republican leader, and i think we're in good shape now to hopefully resolve the 1099 matter this afternoon. we're looking forward to having a consent agreement that we can vote on that. and i think we're at a point where in the morning, we can vote on the mcconnell amendment dealing with the e.p.a. and a couple of

mr. reid: mr. president? mr. president? the presiding officer: mr. leader. lied lied ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed it a period of morning business. senators allowed to speak for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. the senator from missouri. ms. mccaskill: mr. president? mr. president, last week kansas city lost a treasure, a very, very special person to the kansas city community passed away last week. this is a man, mike murphy, who was loved by just about everybody in the area. and while his family and friends are gathered now in kansas city for his memorial service, i'm sure there are hundreds that are there, i would like to place these words in the "congressional record" in his memory. and obviously my prayers go out to his family. mike murphy has been part of the fabric of kansas city for almost 50 years. over 40 years he was the most dominant local radio personality in all of the midwest. he was popular --. in fact, he became radio lower. at -- he became radio lore. over his career, over 50% of the people li

mr. reid: madam president, i'll use leader time. the presiding officer: the senator has that right. mr. reid: madam president, since the moment republican representatives passed their budget, the in -- now infamous h.r. 1, which is a bill called h.r. 1, it's their number-one issue in the house of representatives. the country has been waiting to see whether the senate would repeat the house mistake in passing it. the house has passed it. the plan the tea party pushed through the house is an irresponsible plan. it's a reckless plan. it's dangerous for the health of our economy and serlt citizens of our -- and certainly the citizens of our great country. the last few days i've come to the floor and explained at length the damage that this tea party plan would do on the short term and on the long term. let me now just again talk briefly about a few of the things that i've talked about before, but i'll talk about them again. here are some of the consequences. h.r. 1 will fire 700,000 americans, 6,0

quorum call: mr. reid: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the call of the quorum be terminated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent that the committee-reported amendments be agreed to en bloc, the motion to reconsider be laid on the table en bloc. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: the amended version of $1 493 be considered original text for the purpose of amendment. senator nelson of nebraska be recognized to offer an amendment to s. 493, following the reporting of the nelson amendment, the amendment be set aside and the republican leader be recognized to offer a first-degree amendment to the bill. following the reporting of the mcconnell amendment, the republican leader be recognized up to five minutes for debate only. following the republican leader's remarks, the senate resume consideration of the nelson from nebraska amendment. senator nelson be recognized up to ten minutes for debate only relative to his amendment. i would ask that this be

mr. reid: madam president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: following any leader remarks there will be a period of morning business until 10:40, with senators permitted to speak for up to ten minutes. the majority will control the first half. republicans will control the final half. at 10:40 the senate will recess for the joint meeting of congress with the honorable julia gillard, prime minister of australia. the senate will reconvene at 12:00 and proceed to the immediate consideration of h.r. 1, the defense appropriations bill, which is the famous c.r., h.r. 1, and the democratic alternative. at 3:00 p.m. senators should expect two roll call votes in relation to those two matters. under an agreement reached yesterday, each proposal will be subject to a 60-vote threshold. madam president, on the news on the way to work this morning, i heard one republican senator, part of the republican leadership, say he thought all republicans would vote for h.r. 1, this job-killing -- that is what i said. this job-killing shortsighted bill. he said the

the senator from nevada, mr. reid, the senator from illinois, mr. durbin, the senator from massachusetts, mr. kerry, the senator from california, mrs. boxer, the senator from kentucky, mr. mcconnell, the senator from tennessee, mr. alexander, the senator from wyoming, mr. barrasso, and the senator from indiana, mr. luger. the speaker: the members of the escort committee will exit the chamber through the lobby doors. >> mr. speaker, the acting dean of the diplomatic corps. >> mr. speaker, the prime minister of australia. the speaker: members of congress, i have the high privilege and distinct honor of presenting to you the honorable julia gillard, prime minister of australia. >> thank you very much. mr. speaker, mr. president pro tempore, dwibbed members of the senate and house, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, i'm the fourth australian prime minister to address you. like them, i take your invitation as a great honor. like them, i accepted on behalf of australia. since 1950, australian prime ministers, have come here speaking for all the a

mr. reid: following morning business, the senate will proceed to a period of morning business until 11:00 this morning, with senators permitted to speak up to ten minutes each. the republicans will control the first half and the majority will control the final half. at 11:00 a.m., the senate will resume consideration of s. 23, the america invents afnlgt i would hope, mr. president, if people have amendments that they want to offer to this legislation, they would do so. i would hope that they would be gear plain, but there's no restrictions. people can offer whatever amendments they want on this matter. but i would like -- i would hope that we can do that. we had an important amendment offered by senator feinstein yesterday. it is an extremely important measure. i'm supportive of that. it's -- it's aaron that i think we -- it's an issue that i think we shouldn't try to fix something in that area of patent reform that's not broken. but the patent reform bill is important. we have 750,000 patents

mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to a period of morning business senators allowed to speak up to 10 minutes each during that period of time. there will be no roll call votes this week. we're going to have some votes monday night. everyone should be aware of that. the presiding officer: without objection. the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: quorum call: >> they will have a similar bill tomorrow that deals with mortgage assistance programs, and that debate tomorrow in the u.s. house. quorum call: a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from georgia. a senator: madam president, i rise to acknowledge an anniversary tomorrow. the presiding officer: excuse me. we need -- we have a quorum. mr. isakson: i would ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. the senator from georgia. mr. isakson: thank you, madam chairman. i rise today to acknowledge the second anniversary of a tragic event that happ

reid? >> thanks mr. president. i'd like to go at the libya thing in a slight index way. in an interview with cbs news, gaddafi's son said, quote -- said the plan is quote, to squash the rebels with no mercy. if he follows through, if the gaddafi regime follows through on that, can the united states simply stand by and do nothing? i say that in light of the fact that in the past you have said there are times when a brutal government is massacring its own citizens that the united states has a moral obligation to intervene militarily. >> i continue to believe that not only the united states but the international community has an obligation to do what it can to prevent a repeat of something what occurred in the balkans, in the 1990's what occurred in rwanda. and so part of, for example, maintaining 24-hour surveillance of the situation there is for us to have some sort of alert system. if you start seeing defenseless civilians who were being massacred by gaddafi's forces. but obviously we're going to have to look at what develops on the ground on a case-by-case basis. i don'

mr. reid: following leader remarks there will be a period of morning business until 4:30 today.rs will be allowed to speak up to t-plts each. -- ten minutes each. at 4:30 the senate will proceed to executive session. at 5:30 today the senate will confirm by consent the nomination of sue myerscough, a judge for the central district of illinois. there will then be a series of up to three roll call votes, first on the confirmation of anthony j. battaglia of california to be united states district judge for the southern district of california; confirmation of the nomination of james shadid to be judge for the southern district of judge and a motion to invoke cloture on s. 23, the america invents act. filing deadline for amendments to s. 23 is 5:00 p.m. today. on friday cloture was filed on motion to proceed on h.r. 1. i hope to reach agreement to vote on h.r. 1 and the democratic alternative introduced by senator inouye by friday. there will be a vote on some of these matters tomorrow. in addition to completing action on the america invents act the senate will begin consideration on

mr. chairman. >> senator reid. >> thank you very much mr. chairman and thank you for providing ron phipps of rhode island to join us. run as the president of the national association of realtors and he along with the skeleton rhode island are a mainstay in our economy and our community so thanks run for being here and gentlemen and ladies thank you all for being here today. we all understand that a sustainable recovery has to depend on a healthy housing economy. and we have seen great turmoil in the housing market over the last two years. i have looked at the testimony of our witnesses. each one of them knows that that the swollen inventories up housing made worse by foreclosures dragging on the economy. so the issues that have been discussed by the chairman and vice senator shelby are how do we resolve these for those are issues, how do we get these houses back on the market? how do we put a floor into our housing markets to begin to grow again essential not to just the housing sector but to our overall economic development. we also underst

reid >> the objection is heard. >> mr.sident i asked that upon as 23 the patent bill the senate proceed to h.r. one, the defense appropriation long-termn resolution from fiscal year 2011.ason, i obj >> is their objection?ion is hea >> the objection is heard. t >> i move to proceed to come under 14 h.r. one >> the clerk will report. >> motion to proceed to comen ar under 14 h.r. one to make a parisian for the department of s defense and other departments and agencies that the for government, the fiscal year ending september 30, 2011 fors. purposes.ion that's >> mr. president, i have ask ani cloture motion at the desk andcr ask the clerk report that.the pe >> the clerk will report. >> cloture motion. senators and according to the provision rule 22, of the standing wills and the senator bayh move to bring to a close the debate on the motion tonumb proceed to come under number 14o each for one and an act to makee appropriatfeions for the dickern of defense and that the department and agency that detpt government the fiscal yea

chip reid. >> thank you, mr. president. i'd like to go at the libya thing in a slightly different way. in an interview with cbs news, qaddafi's son said, the plan is quote to squash the rebels with no mercy. if he follows through. if the qaddafi regime follows through on that, can the united states simply stand by and do nothing? . . >> part situation there is for us to have some sort of alert system. if you start seeing defenseless civilians who were being massacred by qaddafi's forces, but obviously we're going to have to look at what develops on the ground on a case-by-case basis. i don't want to generalize right now and say that's what's happening, and we're prepared to step in. it's going to require judgment calls, and those are difficult ones, but we have sent a clear warning to the qaddafi government when it comes to assaulting citizens. when he said they be going door to door hunting for people who were participating in protests, you know, that implied a sort of lack of restraint and ruthlessness that i think raises

mr. president, we welcome you back to town. my friend and colleague harry reidare on a wreath today, bill frist. -- and our honoree today, bill frist. fort campbell covers the border of tennessee and kentucky. the post office is in tennessee, so weak claim it. -- so we claim it. but years ago there was a young soldier watching a live fire exercises and a soldier discharged his weapon and shot the division commander right in the chest. it was pretty clear pretty early that he was in trouble. got him on a helicopter, flew him down to nashville, where a young surgeon, bill frist, saved the life of general david petraeus. and so the influence and the good work of bill frist is far and wide. and it is fitting that we are here today to honor this good man. i want to welcome, as others have, the members of the frist family. it is indeed large. the lot has been said about this good man. i like to add just a brief word of my own. when you come across a man like bill frist, you cannot help but wonder, where does it all come from? nobody doubts that it takes a lot of natur

mr. president, i respectfully urge the distinguished majority leader, senator reid, to heed our call to take up our call to arms, to read our letter and react by creating identified time on the floor, well before we reach the statutory debt limit, to debate and pass solutions on this crucial topic. again, mr. president, i don't think there is debate that this isn't the greatest challenge we face as a country, that this isn't the greatest economic threat we face. so, quite simply, what are we waiting for? we need time to bring forth these ideas and exchange them and debate them and act. we need time to do this well before the statutory debt limit is reached. we need to do the people's business in a reasonable way, in a sober atmosphere, not in an atmosphere of hysteria or threats when the debt limit would be reached in a matter of days. with that, mr. president, i urge all of my colleagues to join us in this effort, to come to the floor with your ideas, your proposals, and let's do the people's business. mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that our letter be made part of the record. the pr

reid. the american people rose up, mr. speaker. and they knew it was irresponsible. and they filled up the town hall meetings and saw what was happening. i guess two or three summers ago and the year might come to me and i might be confident enough to speak it into the record, but we had an energy crisis with gas at $4 a gallon. and i believe that was the summer of 2008. that gas was at $4 a gallon. and i went back and did town hall meetings that filled up with people and they saw what was happening and there was an effort in this congress to shut down access to energy, a belief that if energy costs went up, people would use less and we remember then the speaker, nancy pelosi, saying, i'm trying to save the planet, i'm trying to save the planet. well, i think she believed that she was trying to save the planet and what i saw happening was the actions were driving up the cost of energy. that $4 gas issue finally broke and started to spiral back down wards by the election of 2008 but we had in august of that year a month long energy debate taking place here on the floo

mr. boehner. i have had conversations with harry reid about how they should approach this budget problem. here is what we know. republicans in the house passed a resolution that has been rejected in the senate. they are not going to get 100% of what they want. the democrats have put forward spending cuts that are pretty painful to give republicans already have of what they are seeking. many of those cuts are ones that were embodied in the budget i proposed for 2012. here is what we know. both sides are going to have to sit down and compromise on prudent cuts somewhere between what the republicans were seeking that has been rejected, and what the democrats have rejected. it should not be that complicated. every day i talked to my team. i give them instructions. in terms of how the participate in the negotiations, to indicate what is acceptable, what is not acceptable. we should be able to get this completed. because neither democrats nor republicans will compromise until their 100% position is voted down in the senate, we have probably lost some time. we will probably not meet next week's

so i'm saying to the gentleman, we would encourage the senate and leader reid to act so that we can move forward and until then, mr. speaker, i would say to my friend from maryland that i would expect the house to continue its process of cutting $2 billion per week until we can see where the gentleman's caucus and then the democrat leader in the senate is. i yield back. mr. hoyer: i thank the gentleman for his response. i might want to pursue that response a little bit, however. the pledge to america, as i understand it, said that you were going to cut $100 billion is that accurate? cantor: i say to the gentleman that the -- mr. cantor: i say to the gentleman that the pledge to america said we are desire rouse of reducing discretionary spending, nonsecurity spending to 2008 levels. mr. hoyer: and h.r. 1, as i understand it, is scored at $102 billion, or thereabouts, is that accurate? mr. cantor: as he know the figure of $100 billion was taken from the difference between the president's f.y. 2011 request and the 2008 levels, which is how that figure has become. i say to the gentleman if he's trying to make the poin

now, senate majority leader, harry reid, lays out how the senate will proceed next week on federal spending. this is about 30 minutes. >> without objection. >> mr you very much. i have a longer statement that i'll give after we finish this colloquy here. yesterday afternoon at four o'clock we met back here at vice president's office. it was a very fine meeting, vice president biden was there, my friend the republican leader, the speaker, and the minority leader of the house. parredden me, -- pardon me on getting the terms down since it changed in the house. boehner and pelosi were there with vice president biden, and we spent about an hour there, and we were going to have a vote on hr1 sometime in this next week and also a vote on the bill we just laid down which is our alternatives to what we think should be done with the economy. now, i know, mr. president, that our bill, because it's the way we have to do things around here, it's a long bill, and i'm sure the minority wants to spend some time looking at that, but one way or the other, we'll do it with an agreement or through my filing of a different procedural motions and get to a point next

mr. obama in the white house and senator reid still throttling back in the senate, the congressional review act gives the house the potential to block at least -- or at least expos the outrageous new -- expose the outrageous new rules being promulgated on the american people. they are controversial rules that cost americans jobs. you know, if there's one thing that the american people have told us that they are most interested in besides the fact that we are running away with spending in this -- in this congress is that they want jobs. you know, you can do whatever you want to to a family but if you give a family a job that family has at least the security of that employment. and these regulations that have the potential to rather than create jobs to destroy jobs by that destructive nature should be seriously looked at by this house of representatives. one of the things that people don't understand about how a federal government works is -- in fact, we have this said to us all the time. you pass x law and it is really affecting our business, really hurting my business when in reality we may

mr. boehner. i have had conversations with harry reid about how they should approach this budget problem. here is what we know. republicans in the house passed a resolution that has been rejected in the senate. they are not going to get 100% of what they want. the democrats have put forward spending cuts that are pretty painful to give republicans already have of what they are seeking. many of those cuts are ones that were embodied in the budget i proposed for 2012. here is what we know. both sides are going to have to sit down and compromise on prudent cuts somewhere between what the republicans were seeking that has been rejected, and what the democrats have rejected. it should not be that complicated. every day i talked to my team. i give them instructions. in terms of how the participate in the negotiations, to indicate what is acceptable, what is not acceptable. we should be able to get this completed. because neither democrats nor republicans will compromise until their 100% position is voted down in the senate, we have probably lost some time. we will probably not meet next week's

the one that the majority leader reid put on the table the republicans wouldn't let come to the floor. mr. speaker, one of my chief concerns about h.r. 1, which is basically the republican continuing resolution, is that it has created a climate in washington that makes it unfashionable to worry about the poor and the most vulnerable. turning our backs on the most vulnerable in our country doesn't make them go away. there is a cost, and all of us pays for that cost. we need to get serious about job creation, putting people back to work. that's the way you reduce the deficit, that's the way we grow out of this economic crisis we are in. and yet here we are in march and nobody is talking about jobs. we talked about everything else, but the republicans have yet to bring a jobs bill to the floor. and i suggest to my republican friends, rather than this ideological rigidity, this allegiance to this bill, h.r. 1, which is filled with reckless and harmful cuts, i suggest to my colleagues that they understand that to get a deal here requires some compromise. and i think -- i would urge them to get

mr. president, i respectfully urge the distinguished majority leader hd senator reid to heed our call to take the call to arms to read ad our letter and react by creatine identified time on the flooratur well before we reach the statutory debt limit to debate . and pass solutions on thisdon't crucial topic. again, mr. president, i don't think there is the date thatfacs this isn't the greatest challenge we face as a country,o that tnohis isn't the greatest economic threat we face.imply, a so quite simply, what are we t waiting for?e ideas we need time to bring forth thea we need time to do this well before the statutory debt limit is reached. we need to do the people's business in a reasonable way and a sober atmosphere, not anr atmosphere of hysteria orached i threats when the debt limit would be reached in a matter of days.all with that, mr. president, i urgo all of my colleagues to join us, ,n this effort to come to thedes floor with your ideas, your proposals, and let's do the lr people's business. i would ask unanimous consent oh our letter be made a part of the record. i >> without

mr. chairman. good morning. this is the last hearing of the congressional oversight panel. i would like to express my gratitude to senate majority harry reid, minority leader nancy pelosi, for giving me the opportunity to serve my country. i would also like to express my profound gratitude to our chair and elizabeth warren for their leadership on our panel. also, to my staff. in particular, my staff director, for all they have done in the past 2.5 years to make our panel a success. finally, i want to thank my fellow panel members. we have worked together as a team in a manner that is tragically rare in our national politics today and i am honored to have been a part of that. today, we hear from acting assistant secretary timothy masson, from representatives of the key agencies but worked together on restoring financial stability, and from some of the world's leading economists and experts on financial crises. while i am grateful to our witnesses for joining us today, i want to know, that over the past two and a half years, we have benefited from the assistance of professor masson, stieglitz, and johnson, and it is fitting that they should

mr. president, nice to welcome you back to town. my friend and colleague, harry reid.nd of course, are hungary today, bill frist. -- our honoree today, bill frist. you have heard how he has touched all lot of lives. i will share my favorite. fort campbell covers the border of tennessee and kentucky. the post office is in kentucky so we claimant. [laughter] there was a young commander of the 101st airborne who was observing a live fire exercises. a young shoulder -- soldiered tread and discharged his weapon and shot him right in the chest. it was pretty clear pretty early that this fellow was in trouble. we got him on the helicopter and flew him down to nashville. a young surgeon, bill frist, save the life of general david petreaus. and so the influence and the good work of bill frist is far and wide. it is fitting that we are here today to honor this good man. i want to welcome as other haves the members of the thrust -- frist family. it is indeed a large one. a lot has been said about this good man. i would like to add a brief word of my own. when you come across a ma