mr. toomey: mr. president, i ask for the yeas and nays on my amendment. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? the yeas and nays are ordered. under the previous order, the motion to recommit s. 815, the pending amendments to the underlying bill and amendment number 2020, offered by the senator from maine, ms. collins, for the senator from nevada, mr. reid, are withdrawn. under the previous order, the question occurs on amendment number 2013, offered by the senator from nevada, mr. reid, for the senator from pennsylvania, mr. toomey. the yeas and nays have been ordered. the clerk will call the roll. vote: vote: vote: the presiding officer: any senators in the chamber wishing to vote or to change their vote? if not, on this vote the ayes are 43, the nays are 55. under the previous order requiring 60 votes for adoption of this amendment, the amendment is not agreed to. the senate will be in order. the senate will be in order. under the previous order, the committee-reported substitute amendment as amended is agreed to. under the previous order,

mr. toomey, proposes amendment numbered 2013 to amendment number 2012. mr. reid: i have an amendment to the underlying bill, which is at the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from nevada, mr. reid, proposes an amendment numbered 14 to the language -- numbered 2014 to the language proposed to be strick tongue the substitute. mr. reid: i ask for the yeas and nays on that amendment that was just reported. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. there is. the yeas and nays are order. mr. reid: i have a second-degree amendment at the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from nevada, mr. reid, proposes amendment numbered 2015 to amendment number 2014. mr. reid: i have a motion to recommit s. 815 with instructions, the instructions at the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the measure. the clerk: mr. reid moves to recommit the bill to the committee on health, education, lakers and pensions with instructions to report back forthwith amendm

mr. chairman. >> senator toomey. >> thank you. i want to get back to some of the issues senator corker was raising regarding monetary policy. i think it's important to stress, i know you're well aware of these, but the adverse consequences that we're already experiencing from directly the result of the extraordinary monetary policy is problematic, i think. artificially suppressed cost of funding, it contributes to arguably fiscal imbalances. we are punishing middle class savers for years people who chose to forego consumption because they decided to save and have a little bit of income in their retirement. now they have no income because they earn nothing on their savings, but they watch as it gradually gets eroded even by a low level of inflation when they have no income from it. we have exacerbated the problems of underfunded pension plans. we've got distortions in financial markets. these are all the things that have been and continue to occur, but what worries me even more is the point senator corker was getting to, i think, w

mr. toomey: i rise to speak on an amendment to the enda bill which we're going to vote on soon. this is an amendment i offered on my own behalf and that of senator flake and senator mccain. and i thank them. it occurs to me that sometimes in our work a tension can arise between important competing american values. and two vitally important american values i think are somewhat intentioned in some aspects of this bill. first, one great enduring and important value for all americans is equality. and this bill today clearly makes a strong stand for greater equality. i believe, and i think most americans share the view that every individual is entitled to dignity and respect and fairness and that individuals ought to be judged based on their merits, on their character and on their abilities. a person's sexual orientation is irrelevant to their ability to be a good doctor or engineer or athlete or a federal judge. and that's why i've supported acknowledging that reality. i supported 17 years ago in the writing of the charter of the city government of allentown, a provision that would

mr. chairman. >> senator toomey? >> thank you, mr. chairman, and, dr. yellen, thank you for being here.hat. i want to get back to where some of the issues that senator corker was raising regarding monetary policy. but first, i just think it's important to stress -- and i know you're very well aware of these -- but the adverse consequences that we're already experiencing from directly as a result of the extraordinary monetary policy is really problematic, i think. we are -- we continue to have this artificially expressed -- suppressed cost of funding, and it contributes to, i would argue, fiscal imbalances. we are punishing middle-class savers for years now. people who spent an entire working lifetime choosing to forego consumption, because they decided they would save, and they would have a little some -- a little income in their retirement, and now they have no income, because they earn nothing on their savings. they do watch as it gets eroded, even by a low level of inflation, when they have no income from it. we have exacerbated the problems of underfunded pension plans, and we've go

toomey? >>, thank you, mr. chairman, and thank you for laying out the macro challenge. i think you have done a very good job, and i will not repeat that. i will second my friend from virginia's hope that we can achieve something broader than the more modest goals that we have been this cussing. -- this cussing. but i also suspect that he grand bargain, something on a very large magnitude, will probably eude us come in so i would suggest we shoot for three modest goals -- modest but achievable goals, in my view. and goals that have all enjoyed bipartisan support at various levels in the recent past. i would like to walk briefly through what those goals are, mr. chairman. first, i want to say i think it is vitally important that we preserve the savings that are embodied in the bca. remember, this was a problem we made to the american people and return of adding nearly $2 trillion of debt to the balance sheet. we agreed to modest reductions in the growth in discretionary spending over 10 years in return for that. i would also strongly underscore the fact that government is

mr. president. tomorrow we will take a vote on senator toomey's amendment and on cloture and final passage. there may not be time as we're wrapping up the work on this bill for me to pay tribute to some very valuable individuals who worked very hard on this bill, and that is the members of the staff on both sides. and i want to particularly commend three members of my staff: john kaine, katie brown, and betsy mcdonald who have literally worked night and day to try to work out amendments, procedure, to work with a wide variety of staff on both sides of the aisle. our staff are often the unsung heroes of this institution. and in this case, i was receiving e-mails from my staff last night at 1:46 a.m., giving me the latest. and i just want to publicly thank them and the floor staff on both sides and the help committee staff, everyone who was involved, but particularly the three members of my staff: john, katie and betsy who literally have devoted countless hours to this bill. and i know they will be very happy when we reach final passage tomorrow. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor an

mr. reid: following my remarks the senate will resume consideration of s. 815, which is the employment nondiscrimination act. at 11:45 there will be two roll call votes, first on the toomey amendment and then a cloture vote on the bill. if cloture is invoked there will be a third roll call vote on passage of the employment nondiscrimination act. mr. president, i am happy to join my friend in happy birthday wishes for billy graham. i haven't had the good fortune to meet this man, but i've read his book. i read a by ography of him. he's such a personality, i thought that was something i should do, and i did it. and i remember a lot of things about the book. the one thing i do remember is this. he's so scrupulous in making sure that there's never any question about his integrity, his moral integrity. i know we've had a lot of problems with people who are out preaching and don't turn out to be so good. but billy graham, among other things, would never meet a female in his office without the door being wide open so people could see everything that was going on in that room. that's just an indication of the kind of person he is. so i join with my friend in congratulating billy

senator toomey also has worked hard. mr. president, all americans deserve a fair opportunity to pursue the american dream. enda is simply about the fundamental right to work and to be judged according to one's abilities, qualifications, and job performance. much of corporate america has already voluntarily embraced lgbt protections because they know that doing so helps them attract and retain the best and the brightest employees. nearly two dozen states have versions of enda. in fact, in my home state of maine, it has been the law for yearli' dick -- for nearly a de. simply put, mr. president, enda is about fairness and workplace equality. today i am confident that the senate will affirm that principle and will say to everyone in this country that the workplace is simply no plate for discrimination. thank you, mr. president. mr. merkley: mr. president? officer the senator from oregon. mr. merkley: i ask unanimous consent for five minutes to speak to this bill. the presiding officer: is there objection? so ordered. mr. merkle