mr. reid: be happy to yeild. mr. mcconnell: if there were to be a vote, i would assume we would have significant notice for our members because many members would probably like to leave the capitol if we're not going to be voting. mr. reid: i would say to my friend, that's an appropriate thing to do. i would not suggest a ball game, though. maybe closer than that. we'll give everyone adequate notice, though. as i indicated, we'll do everything we can to give members plenty of notice. as i indicated, we'll do on this side of the aisle a caucus later today, whenever we're able to do that. i would note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the call of the quorum be terminated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the senate stand in recess subject to the call of the chair. the presiding officer: is there objection

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: could we've order in the senate, please. the presiding officer: order in the senate. please. mr. majority leader. mr. reid: thank you, mr. president. mr. president -- the presiding officer: clerk will report the pending motion. the clerk: calendar number 93, s. 1323, a bill to is reserve the sense of the senate on shared sacrifice in resolving the budget deficit. mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: the senate has just adopted the motion to proceed to our bill to express the sense of the senate on shared sacrifice -- the presiding officer: the senate will be in order. mr. reid: mr. president, the senate has just adopt add motion to proceed to our bill to express the sense of the senate on shared sacrifice in resolving this budget deficit that we've been so concerned about. it is my understanding that the minority has amendments that they would like to have considered. i'm happy t

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: quorum is present. mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: mr. president, today the speaker and republican leader -- the presiding officer: would the majority leader -- could we've a little -- mr. reid: thank you, mr. president. today the speaker and republican leader held a press conference to announce they're in talks with the president and that a bargain to raise the debt limit is in the works understan and i. mr. president, members. senate, that's not triewvment i just spent two hours with the president, the vic vice preside, and the agreement is not in a meaningful way. the republicans still refuse to negotiate in good faith. revenues off the calendar. no way we can talk about revenues. entitlements, oh, they're after entitlements -- medicare, social security. the speaker and republican leader should know that merely saying you have an agreement in front of television cameras doesn't make it so. the republic

mr. reid: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: we have an unusual situation. it looks nice outside today, the sun is shining, but earlier today if some looked out the window there were violent storms here. they are all over the area. we have got senators stuck in airplanes trying to get out of new york. we have got one senator traveling from the midwest stuck in richmond, virginia, now. so i think it would be to everyone's interest -- i apologize to people who worked hard to get back here today, but i think it would be to everyone's interest that we not have a vote tonight. we have a lot of people simply would miss the vote if we kept it open for a matter of hours. i again apologize to the people who came here to vote, but i would -- i think that is the best thing to do. i have spoken to the republican leader, and this is what we should do. so i ask unanimous consent that the vote scheduled for tonight be vitiated, that on tuesday -- that's tomorrow, july 26, at 12:1

mr. reid: now, mr. president, i have an amendment to my that is also at the desk. -- to my instructions that is also at the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from nevada, mr. reid proposes amendment numbered 592 to the instructions on the motion to refer the house message on s. 627. mr. reid: i ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be a sufficient second. mr. reid: mr. president -- the presiding officer: the yeas and nays are ordered. mr. reid: thank you a lot, mr. president. i have a second-degree amendment to my instructions that is at the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from nevada, mr. reid, proposes an amendment numbered 593 to amendment numbered 592. mr. reid: mr. president, i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. mr. mcconnell: would the senator withhold. mr. reid: if my friend, the republican leader, wishes to

mr. reid: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: as a side note, i'm happy to see the second ranking member of the united states senate presiding. the people of vermont have been so fortunate to have you and your wisdom and your -- mr. mcconnell: if the gentlemen would yield, i expect he hasn't done that for 30 years. mr. reid: i thought it would be nice to comment on the fact that's reserved for more junior members. it's nice that my friend from vermont would be here. following any leader remarks, the senate will resume consideration of the motion to concur in the house message to accompany s. 626, the legislative vehicle for the debt limit increase. time from 1:30 until 8:00 p.m. will be equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees. mr. president, republican leaders in the house of representatives have wasted this week pursuing a right-wing proposal they knew from the start couldn't pass the senate. from the very beginning, speaker boehne

mr. reid: i suggest 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 that the call of the quorum be termed. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: following any leader remarks #-rbg the senate will recess until 11:00 p.m. today at tha--to allow for a democratic caucus. at 10:00 a.m. we will have that caucus. at 11:00 a.m., the senate will be in business until 12:00 noon. at noon, i will be recognized. that's the order before the senate now, is that right? the presiding officer: the majority is correct. mr. reid: mr. president, although the house of representatives has not yet voted on speaker boehner's plan, that plan is flawed. that's why they've struggled for days to pass this inadequate legislation without a single democrat even being involved in the process. they have plowed forward looking only to republicans. but as this battle to pass a continuing resoluti

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: following leader remarks, the senate will resume consideration the motion to proceed to the bill h.r. 2560. the time until 10:00 a.m. will be equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees. at 10:00 a.m. i will be recognized to make a motion to table the motion to proceed. therefore, senators should expect a roll call vote at approximately 10:00 a.m. to accommodate senators on both sides on what will take a little longer than usual. this, i say to you, mr. president, and to everyone at the sound of my voice, this is an effort to move this piece of legislation off the floor. it's interfering with the negotiations between the white house and the house of representatives, and it is without merit, this legislation. this is a motion to table. it is a vote on this bill. and we on this side of the aisle are going to look at every vote cast. we feel comfortable where we are on this issue, and i would s

mr. reid: mr. president? thpresiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: we are here today right now for this reason: it's spelled f-i-l-b-u-s-t-e-r. it's a filibuster. they won't allow us to have an updarn vote on our amendment. that is filibuster. by the any other term, it is a filibuster. that's why we're here. i hope that the negotiations go on. we're willing to be as fair as we can, but there has to be something that the president and vice president biden and the rest of us think is a step in the right direction. i guess talking is a stein the right direction, but that's about it. so, mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the matter that we have before us which is amendment number 589, that we have an up-or-down vote on that, no -- as we have all the time, of course. there would be no points of order and le we do here all the time. ha a vote o it right now. mr. mcconnell: mr. president, reserving the right to object, these are direct quotes from my friend, the majority leader. he says, "in the senate, it's always been the case you need 60 v

mr. reid: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the period of morning business be extended until 8:30 p.m. with senators during that period of time being able to speak for up to ten minutes each and that at 8:30 i be recognized. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. mr. reid: i would ask the quorum call be terminated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: the reason we're extending morning business, the senate's having trouble passing the bill, i understand, and so we're waiting until action is taken. they started at 4:30 and it's taking a lot longer than they anticipated. i understand they have another caucus that they're now engaged in. it's 7:00. that's why i thought at 8:30 we'd have a better idea if they're going to take action tonight. i would note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: mr. nelson: mr. president? the presiding of

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: the presiding officer: a quorum is not present. mr. leader. mr. reid: i move to instruct the sergeant at arms to request the presence of absent senators and ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote: vote:

mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the call of the quorum be terminated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: first of all i appreciate everyone's patience in one of the most difficult times we find in the history of our country. mr. president, there are knowings going on at the white house to avert a catastrophic default on the nation's debt. there are many elements to be finalized and there is still a distance to go before any arrangement can be completed. but i believe we should give everyone as much room as possible to do their work. i spoke to the white house, quite a few times this evening, and they've asked me to give everyone as much time as possible to reach an agreement if one can be reached. for that reason we'll hold over the vote until tomorrow at noon to give them more time to talk. in fact, we'll come in at noon and have the vote at 1:00. i'm glad to see this move toward cooperation and compromise. i hope it bears fruit. i'm confident that a final agreement that wi

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent that following my prarks, that senator durbin be recognized to give a brief presentation. and following that, senator grassley will have one half-hour. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: mr. president, i -- i didn't know it was john glenn's birthday. i'm so happy that i was on the floor when my dear friend from ohio talked about john glenn. john glenn, when i came to the senate, one of the first tuesday caucuses that we had, i watched john glenn stand and say, i'm going to go out on the aircraft carrier u.s.s. kennedy, and on saturday. would anyone like to go? i'm a new senator and that's john glenn, and i thought everyone would raise their hand and march off with him. i was the only one that raised my hand. so i did. i went out with him. it was a wonderful experience. we -- the seas with were a little bit rough and we landed in the airplane, snagged that airplane going in. we wer

mcconnell and the president and he was looking for upbeat than mr. reid. >> it was like they were coming from two separate planets describing what happened. president obama called conle early the republican leader in the senate and called him earlier today . mcconnell had two conversations senator biden and after reid come out of the white house. i had to cut a conversation short. they are trying to hammer out a compromise and they are really serious. >> speaking of talks. we have seen since this morning, news conferences and press releases from the republicans and democrats, what is the purpose of all of the public speak? >> other than to kill us with e-mails? i think you are seeing what we

mr. reidr: the majority leader is recognized. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be terminated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: firs first mr. presid, i ask that madge thee levy be granted privileges of the floor during the dur traiftion today -- during the duration of today's and tomorrow's session. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: objection. mr. reid: the time until 2:00 p.m. today will be divided with the republicans controlling the first 30 minutes and the majority controlling the next 30 minutes we'll have a full debate on this bill over the next few days. i hope that we can accelerate the time on this. if people feel we've debated it enough, i hope we can move to some other matter. mr. president, first let me get this off my chest. coming in here today -- i just heard there is an announcement in the house of representatives that they're take the weekend off. i've reached out to the speaker. i haven't had an opportunity to speak t

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: following any leader remarks, the senate will resume consideration of the motion to proceed to s.j. res. 20. at 5:00 p.m. the senate will vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to the libya resolution. this vote will be longer than usual to accommodate senators returning after the holiday which occurred yesterday. but that doesn't mean it will be open forever. we'll be happy to be a little lenient but we'll do the best we can. i ask unanimous consent that john tka*euly from the -- john daly from the state department be granted privileges to the floor during debate on senate joint resolution 206789. the presiding officer: without objection. skwroeup in one of his poems -- mr. reid: in one of his poems t.s. elliot wrote hurry up please, it's time. yesterday this great nation celebrated its 235th birthday. in those years we've accomplished many admirable things and we've done it together. we've landed on the moon, invented ways to save lives, fought democracy

and unfortunately mr. reid no longer supports the proposal that we passed last night, and senator reid has said on several occasions that his plan is the only plan that can pass both houses of congress. now, five minutes ago senator mcconnell once again asked senator reid to bring up this plan that senator reid said was the only one that could pass both houses of congress and senator reid said no. thursday night i introduced this measure of senator reid's and was asked in the rules committee yesterday by mr. mcgovern whether or not we would bring it up and i said we didn't plan to. but the fact is senator mcconnell, having made the request now at least twice in the other body to have it brought up, asked us to raise this measure here and that's exactly what we are doing. now, if we look at where it is that we're headed, we all want to have a bipartisan compromise that will ensure that on tuesday we see that increase in the debt ceiling take place and do these other things. that's what the speaker of the house a

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: we are here today right now for this reason: it's spelled f-i-l-b-u-s-t-e-r. it's a filuster. they won't allow us to have an updarn vote on our amendment. that is filibusr. by the any other term, it is a filibuster. that's why we're here. i hope that the negotiations go on. we're willing to be as fair as we can, but there has to be something that the president and vice president biden and the rest of us think is a step in the righ direction. i guess talking is a step in the right direction, but that's about it. so, mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the matter that we have before us which is amendment number 589, that we have an up-or-down vote on that, no -- as we have all e time, of course. there would be no points of order and like we do here all the time. have a vote on it right now. mr. mcconnell: mr. president, reserving the right to object, thes are direct quotes from my friend, the majority leader. he says, "in the senate, it's always been the case you need 60 vo

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader recognized. mr. reid: following leader remarks, the senate will be in a period of morning business for one hour. the majority will control the first half, the republicans will control the second half. following morning business, i will be recognized. mr. president, h.r. 1938 is due for a second reading i'm told. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: h.r. 1938, an act to direct the president to expedite the consideration and approval of the construction and operation of the keystone xl oil pipeline, and for other purposes. mr. reid: mr. president, i would object to any further proceedings at this time on this legislation. the presiding officer: objection having been heard, the bill will be placed on the calendar. mr. reid: i now ask unanimous consent on behalf of senator bingaman that his interns shannon simpson, brook jordi and tray dubrey be granted floor privileges during today's business. the presiding officer

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the jority leader. mr. reid: i believe that my stinguished repubcan friend must be a little bit confused because he's usually totally logical. but here he tells the american people this morning, he's called the white house last week and said, "mr. president, let us do the deal." and now he's telling the president he wants the president to do the deal. somewhat iogical. i want to make sure that everyone here in the senate understands clearly that when negotiations took place last sunday during a meeting that took place between leader pelosi, me, the speaker and senatorcconnell, and we tried very hard to work something out. but everyone suld understand when we left that meeting, we did not have anything worked out. we had nothing worked oufplt it- out. they were focusing on a six-month extension trying to come up with a trigger for the joint committee which we have never been able to accomplish. it's okay that they keep talking about an agreement that t

mr. reid: mr. president? mr. president? the presiding officer: will the senator yield? mr. toomey: i'd be happy to yield. mr. reid: i appreciate it very much. i'm sore to -- i'm sorry to, and i ask unanimous consent that my friend's statement not appear interrupted in the record but i have a unanimous consent request i need to do prior to 2:00. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: pursuant to the order of july 21, 2011 after having notified the republican leader, i ask that we proceed at 2:00 p.m. today to executive session for the consideration of calendar number 276, robert s.muir to be director of the federal bureau of investigation. it is my understanding this debate is to take two hours. is that true? the presiding officer: under the order of july 21, the senator is correct. mr. reid: i express my appreciation to my friend for allowing me to interrupt him. the presiding officer: the senator from pennsylvania. the majority leader has the authority under that order. mr. reid: at 2

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: first of all, i want to express my appreciation to the chairman of the committee, the ranking member of the committee, subcommittee, for the work they did on this bill. it took a little longer than we wanted but we got it done and they have been excellent managers of this most important piece of legislation. it's our first appropriation bill. senator mcconnell and i want to do other appropriation bills. it would be a new day here to get these bills rather than having some big omnibus bill. so this is a step in the right direction. again, i express my appreciation to the two managers of this legislation. as indicated, there will be no roll call votes today. more roll call votes today. tomorrow i'm going to move to proceed to the bill that we call the cut, cap bill received from the house today. under the rules of the senate, a cloture vote on the motion to proceed to the bill will occur on saturday. i expect a cloture vot

mr. reid: madam president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: following leader remarks, the senate will be in a period of morning business for one hour, with republicans controlling the first half and the majority controlling the final half. i'm told there's a bill, s. 1420, due for its second reading. the presiding officer: the clerk will read the title of the bill for the second time. the clerk: s. 1420, a bill to require that united states government prioritize all obligations on the debt held by the public, social security benefits, and military pay in the event that the debt limit is read and for other purposes. mr. reid: madam president, i would object to any further proceedings with respect to this legislation at this time. the presiding officer: objection is heard. mr. reid: madam president, today our republican colleagues in the house planned to vote on a bill to lift the debt ceiling a few months before plunging this nation's economy back into a state of unsent. wh

mr. reid: i ask consent that the call of the quorum be terminated. the presiding officer: without objection. reid rioted first of all, i aexpress m.i.a.ppreciation to you presiding all of these hours this afternoon iflt want to take a minute and thank the pangs here. thats first -- this is the first time since 1974 this senate has been in session during the july 4th recess period. since 1974. these young pages have places to be with their families during this summer vacation period. they're juniors in high school. they have some plans i'm sure that we interfered with. but the work here that we've done this week, while there hasn't been a lot of time here on the floor, we have a lot of things going on all over washington. meetings at the white house, there's been meetings with the vice president, with the president, with the speaker and others working on this very important issue. and so when these eight pages in later years reflect back on the fact that they were here during one of the first -

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i say to my, all my friends, the new senators, welcome to the united states senate. this is a vote on the piece of legislation that was described by my friend, the chairman of the judiciary committee, about as well as anyone else. it is violative of our constitution. and this is a vote on this matter. and wee going to dispose of this legislation as it needs to be so president obama and the speaker can move forward on a matter that will have some revenue in it and send it over here and we can m >> and now a discussion on the deficit talks with oklahoma senator tom coburn. a member of the gang of six. from "washington journal", this is 30 minutes. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] he's joined the so-called gang of six in the senate which he left earlier, and also announced a $9 trillion debt scheme atic. we'll be talking about this and more. senator, headlines suggest that if there is a deal being crafte

mr. reid: mr. president, i now ask that we move to calendar number 196, the nomination be confirmed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid on the table, there be no intervening action or debate, no further motions be in order, the nomination and any statements related to this nomination be printed in the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: thank you, mr. president. i now ask that president obama be immediately notified of the senate's action. the senate then resume legislative session. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that we extend the morning business hour until 7:00 tonight. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i also ask, mr. president, that that consent agreement be modified, that senators would be allowed to speak for up to ten minutes each during that period of time. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i would note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the

mr. reid: mr. president, a filibuster is known all over america as a way to stall to prevent votes. that's all this is about. if my republican colleagues are so anxious to vot let us have a vote. we would move this matter down the field very quickly. and finally, i would say the matter that is now known as the reid amendment, is that the president's first choice? no. he wanted too what he called the grand deal, and he thought he had that worked out with the speaker. but the president knows what i have put forward is good for the country. it extends the debt ceiling, it reduces the debt. so i say to my friend, the republican leader, the preside will sign my legislation. my friend says that he wants something the president would sign. he will sign this. he'll sign it. we could pass it tonight, get it through the house, he would sign it tomorrow. so, mr. president, i would hope the world understands, our country underands because all senators understand there is another filibuster being conducted on an effort to prevent our moving forward to handle the debt situation we have in >> sena

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader is recognized. mr. reid: following leader remarks, the senate will resume the motion to proceed to s. 1323, which is a bill to express the sense of the senate on shared sacrifice in the resulting budget deficit, with the time until 10:00 a.m. this morning equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees. at 10:00 a.m. there will be a vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to s. 1323. this could be the only vote of the day although there may be procedural matters that may arise. today the senate is calling on millionaires and billionaires to contribute to this country's effort to reduce our deficit. the poor, middle-class children and seniors have already been asked to make sacrifices to put our fiscal house in order. this legislation would reaffirm the senate's commitment to ensure the extremely wealthy are asked to make sacrifices. this principle that all americans should contribute their fair share as we work together to reduce the deficit is so commonsen

mr. reid: mr.esident, there will be no -- i'm sorry there, will be a democratic caucus at 11:00 a.m. tomorrow. if there's no further business to come before the senate, i ask that we adjourn under the previous order. the clerk: the senate stands adjourned until 10:30 a.m. adjourned until 10:30 a.m. >> citizens. whether any of these claims still resonate among readers is nevertheless a level of urgency. now, particularly now unimaginable. >> we leave this now from live remarks from president obama. >> there are still some very important votes to be taken by members of congress. but i want to announce that the leaders of both parties in both chambers have reached an agreement that will reduce the deficit and avoid default. the default that would have had a devastating effect on our economy. the first part of this agreement will cut about one trillion in spending over the next ten years. cuts that both parties had agreed to early on in this process. the result would be the lowest level of annual domes

mr. reid: i ask consent the call of the quorum be terminated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i now ask unanimous consent that at noon tomorrow, july 20, senator johnson of south dakota be recognized to move to table the vitter amendment number 568, that there be no amendments or points in order prior to the vitter amendment on the motion to table and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid on the table. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today, it recess until 9:30 a.m. tomorrow, wednesday, july 20. following the prayer and pledge, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day. following any leader remarks, the senate be in a period of morning business for an hour. senators permitted to speak for up to ten minutes each with the time equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designee

mr. reid: mr. president, a filibuster is known all over america as a way to stall to prevent votes. that's all this is about. if my republican colleagues are so anxious to vote, let us have a vote. we would move this matter down the field very quickly. and finally, i would say the matter that is now known as the reid amendment, is that the president's first choice? no. he wanted to do what he called the grand deal, and he thought he had that worked out with the speaker. but the president knows what i have put forward is good for the country. it extends the debt ceiling, it reduces the debt. so i say to my friend, the republican leader, the president will sign my legislation. my friend says that he wants something the president would sign. he will sign this. he'll sign it. we could pass it tonight, get it through the house, he would sign it tomorrow. so, mr. president, i would hope the world understands, our country understands because all senators understand there is another filibuster being conducted on an effort to prevent our moving forward to handle the debt situation we have in

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: following any leader remarks the senate will resume consideration of the motion to concur in the house memg to accompany s. 627, which is the legislative vehicle for the debt limit increase, with the time until 1:00 f.p.l. equally divided. about 1:00 p.m. then, the senate will vote to invoke cloture on the house message to accompany the reid amendment. no matter the outcome of this vote, mr. president, the message will still be before this body. this is -- if there is an agreement that can be met, this is the vehicle to be used to send it back to the house. mr. president, as the clock ticks down to august 2, i remind everyone within the sound of my voice what really is at stake. at this very moment, millions of seniors across this great country worry that their next social security check might not come to them on wednesday. middle-class families wonder whether their retirement accounts will be wiped out by an economic collapse brought about by default on this nation's debt. and a

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from michigan. mr. levin: mr. president, i would ask that i be yielded ten minutes. i understand that although this is on the republican time, that there is no objection. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. levin: mr. president, whatever one's position is on the best way to cut the deficit, we all should be able to agree on this, that we must raise the debt ceiling, we must pay our bills. failing to do so is to invite economic catastrophe. the american people have had their fill of catastrophe and near catastrophe. recently in afghanistan, admiral mullen, chairman of our joint chiefs, was asked by troops if they'll be paid next month. his answer was, "i honestly can't answer that question." admiral mullen had to tell the troops, "i'd like to give you a better answer than that right now. i just honestly don't know." mr. president, it is inconceivable to me that we will leave our troops in limbo by driving our country over the cliff of default. our nation's economic life is in peril. i don't remember ever

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader is recognized. mr. reid: following any leader remarks, the senate will be in a period of morning business until 3:30 this afternoon. following that morning business, the senate will resume consideration of of the military construction-veterans affairs and related agencies appropriation bill. at 5: p.m., the senate will vote -- i'm sorry, will go to executive session to consider the nomination of j. paul oetken and at 5:30 there there be a roll call vote on confirmation of that nomination. h.r. 2018 is at the desk ask due for a second reading, i'm told. the presiding officer: the clerk will read the title of the bill for the second time. the clerk: h.r. 2018, an act to amend the federal water pollution control act to preserve the authority of each state to make determinations relating to the state's water quality standards and for other purposes. mr. reid: in order to object to any further proceedings, mr. president, with this bill

mr. reid: madam president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: we are not in a quorum call? the presiding officer: correct. mr. reid: that's a rare occasion. mr. president, today the house of representatives will vote on speaker boehner's short-term plan to raise the debt ceiling. as soon as the house completes its vote tonight or this afternoon, the senate will move to take up that message that they send to us. it will be defeated. they know that. the american people now should understand that clearly. no democrat will vote for a short-term band-aid approach that will put our economy at risk and put the nation back in the untenable situation that we are in today just a few short months from now. economists have said that a short-term arrangement holds many of the same risks as a technical default. democrats are not willing to put our economy on the line on something like that. it's just something we cannot do for the good of the country. our economy and the financial markets

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: without objection. the majority leader. mr. reid: i appreciate my good friend from utah, my longtime friend, for yielding to me. and i agree that his remarks should not appear interrupted in the record. i ask unanimous consent that morning business be extended until 6:45 p.m. today with senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each and that at 6:45, i be recognized. the presiding officer: without objection. the senator from is utah. mr. hatch: most of these cuts were gimmicks. they assumed savings from war spending that the president has not requested and that is unlikely to materialize. it does not include a balanced budget amendment. and most importantly from my perspective, it assumes a massive tax increase in 2013 by allowing the 2001 and 2003 tax relief to expire, allowing the a.m.t. to hit middle-class taxpayers, and allowing for increases in estate taxes that are a small business and job killer. you won't see that, though, in the talking points. they buried the breadth of that tax hit on their baseline assumptions

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i say to my, all my friends, the new senators, welcome to the united states senate. this is a vote on the piece of legislation that was described by my friend, the chairman of the judiciary committee, about as well as anyone else. it is violative of our constitution. and this is a vote on this matter. and we're going to dispose of this legislation as it needs to be so president obama and the speaker can move forward on a matter that will have some revenue in it and send it over ere and we can move >> now a discussion on the keff sit talks with oklahoma senator tom coburn, a member of the so-called gang of six. this is 30 minutes. table. he's joined the so-called gang of s in the senate which he le earlier, and alsonnounced a $9 trillion debt scheme atic. we'll be talking about this and more. senator, headlines suggest that if there is a deal being crafted between the speaker and the between the speaker and the senate that your democratic colleagues in the senate are angry about b

investigation would put the start of the plan for public inquiry with russian billionaire xander revenue says mr reid launching. the use of the world's top boy already to run the british papers from the evening standard on the independent. reports from london. and. also the prime minister that's the kind of reporting. thank you. i'm enjoying this so i who will. live the phone hacking scandal and keep his job cameron comes under fire for hiring andy coolth and former editor of the now defunct news of the world he's accused of encouraging his staff to hack into private voice mails there's been a large amount of fingers in ears and just kind of heads in the sand and that is lethal. and he's now in a real fight isn't a real but really bad situation could well be looking at some serious consequences for himself at the very least still around him betting shops of slacks the odds on cameron being the next m.p. to quit working they offered one hundred to one at the beginning of the week but just five to one three days later in the last two weeks or so we've seen a lot of money go on camera really the last fo

mr. reid wants to sit down and work with mr. mcconnell. what you're trying to do is make sure that a signal is sent to the senate, don't bother, we're going to -- mr. dreier: will the gentleman yield? mr. levin: yes. mr. dreier: i say the action we are about to do here today is see the process that senator mcconnell and senator reid work together. why? mr. levin: i take back my time. mr. dreier, that is pernicious nonsense. the speaker pro tempore: members are reminded to address their comments to the chair, not otherwise. the gentleman from california. mr. dreier: i didn't hear you, madam speaker. the speaker pro tempore: i said members are reminded to address their comments to the chair and not to others. mr. dreier: i will not only address you, madam chair, i won't point my finger at you as i address you. the speaker pro tempore: thank you. mr. dreier: let me say, madam speaker, that senator mcconnell has just minutes ago asked senator reid to bring the reid proposal to the floor of the united states senate and a decision has been made

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i say to my, all my friends, the new senators, welcome to the united states senate. this is a vote on the piece of legislation that was described by my friend, the chairman of the judiciary committee, about as well as anyone else. it is violative of our constitution. and this is a vote on this matter. and we're going to dispose of this legislation as it needs to be so president obama and the speaker can move forward on a matter that will have some revenue in it and send it over here and we can >> now have a discussion on the deficit talks with the oklahoma senator, tom coburn, from the so-called gang of six. this is "washington journal." c table. c he's joined the so-called gang of six in the senate which he left earlier, and also announced a $9 trillion debt scheme atic. we'll be talking about this and more. senator, headlines suggest that if there is a deal being crafted between the speaker and t between the speaker and t senate that your democratic colleagues in the senate are

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: mr. president, to follow the distinguished addition while the distinguished chairman of the appropriations committee was talking i had a visit with some of the pages here to ask them did they realize who was speaking and they all knew who he was. they knew that he was a heroic man, having the medal of honor. they knew he had been elected to the senate nine different times, in addition to serving in the house of representatives. so it's great that our pages are so versed on what happens around here. we depend on them very, very much. and i'm grateful that they understand what a great man the chairman of the appropriations committee is. mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to consideration of calendar number 76, a bill to extend the term of the incumbent director of the f.b.i., that the committee' substitute amendment be considered, this a coburn amendment which is at the desk be agreed to, the committ

mr. reid says they won't pass the senate. what do you do then some. >> the president would have to answer a tough question. "is my re-election more important to me than the potential for default for the united states?" as leader of the united states he has to be first and foremost concerned with our credit worthiness. i can't imagine that he would sacrifice the credit worthiness of the united states just because he doesn't want to deal with this during his election campaign. >> schieffer: let me ask you this, senator. do you think that republicans, particularly those in the freshman class over in the house, understand just how serious this debt limit crisis is? because so many of them ran for and were elected on a platform of "i promise no way no how will i ever raise taxes." that puts them in a really tough spot. do you think they understand what might happen if you can't raise this debt limit here? >> part of the problem, as you point out, is if you look at the public opinion surveys, the majority of americans don't want us

mr. reidi suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: quorum be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: madam president, following leader remarks, the senate will resume the motion to proceed to s. 1323, which is a bill to express the sense of the senate on shared sacrifice in resolving the budget deficit. the time until 12:30 today will be equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees. the senate will recess from 12:30 to 2:15 for our weekly party caucuses. the time from 2:15 until 6:00 p.m. is also equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees. yesterday i filed a cloture motion on the motion to proceed to s. 1323. this vote will occur tomorrow. s. 1326 is at the desk and is due for second reading. the presiding officer: the clerk will read the title of the bill for the second time. the clerk: s. 1326 a bill to complement the president's request -- to imp

mr. reid: mr. president, following any leader remarks, the senate will be in a period of morning business for one hour. republicans will control the first half, the majority will control the final half. following morning business, the senate will resume the motion to proceed to h.r. 2055, the military construction, veterans affairs appropriations bill postcloture. we hope to yield back time and begin consideration of the bill some time today. i ask unanimous consent that michael lynch, united states army aviation officer who is currently serving as my defense legislative fellow this year be granted floor privileges for the duration of h.r. 2055. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: mr. president, there are some in the republican party who will not listen to the truth no matter who speaks it. this is my opinion. if we allow this nation for the first time in its history to default on our national obligations, it will not only be a black mark on our reputation but also a massive financi

just to be very clear, the senate leader, the democratic leader, mr. reid, has put on the table a plan that would cut more immediately than the republican plan before us today even if you don't include, even if you don't include the overseas contingency account funding. the difference is he would not put our economy in jeopardy again just five months fm now as the republican plan did. with that i yield one minute to the gentleman from virginia, mr. scott. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from virginia. mr. scott: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, we're talking about being serious, and here we're considering a $2 trillion bill, $200 billion a year, slapped together behind closed doors, less than 24 hours when it was printed, no amendments that 53 senators already say they're going to oppose. we have a situation where last december we passed $400 billion a year tax cuts, and now everybody says we need $400 billion a year in deficit reduction. this bill does not cut anything. it has caps. promises for cuts in the future. and we don't know what those c

mr. reid wants to sit down and work with mr. mcconnell. what you're trying to do is make sure that a signal is sent to the senate, don't bother, we're going to -- mr. dreier: will the gentleman yield? mr. levin: yes. mr. dreier: i say the action we are about to do here tod is see the process that senator mcconnell and senator reid work together. why? mr. levin: i take back my time. mr. dreier, that is pernicious nonsense. the speaker pro tempore: members are reminded to address their comments to the chair, not otherwise. the gentleman from california. mr. dreier: i didn't hear you, madam speaker. the speaker pro tempore: i said members are reminded to address their comments to the chair and not to others. mr. dreier: i will not only address you, madam chair, i won't point my finger at you as i address you. the speaker pro tempore: thank you. mr. dreier: let me say, madam speaker, that senator mcconnell has just minutes ago asked senator reid to bring the reid proposal to the floor of the united states senate and a decision has been made by

mcconnell and the president and he was looking for upbeat than mr. reidlike they were coming from two separate planets describing what happened. president obama called conle early the republican leader in the senate and called him earlier today . mcconnell had two conversations senator biden and after reid come out of the white house. i had to cut a conversation short. they are trying to hammer out a compromise and they are really serious. >> speaking of talks. we have seen since this morning, news conferences and press releases from the republicans and democrats, what is the purpose of all of the public speak? >> other than to kill us with e-mails? i think you are seeing what we always see in difficult negotiations. you have to hedge your bets and give the political message that is usually beating each other up on the way to the prom . so right now, you are seeing political posturing and i know your viewers are saying on a discussion about default it is not good to play pol -- politics. they beat each other up and then they will get together at some poin