ms. klobuchar: mr.esident? the presiding officer: the senator from minnesota. ms. klobuchar: thank you, mr. president. i ask that the quorum be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. klobuchar: mr. president, we're going to have a number of members coming to the floor, but as you know, we are debating this historic -- historic -- comprehensive immigration reform, something as a member of the judiciary committee, i've worked long and hard on and actually worked on it back in 2007 when i first got to the senate. and i can't tell you the difference it is doing this five years later than it was back in 2007. this time we have a coalition that is incredibly strong, that has withstood a lot of different questions and issues about this bill, has been able to accommodate concerns raised within the gang of eight and then on the judiciary committee level and certainly we're now, after last night's vote, adding other requests and other things that members have. but i want to emphasize just why thi

ms. stabenow: senator klobuchar was next i believe. i would yield five minutes to senator klobuchar. and if my ranking member, if he is interested or we will then turn to senator nelson. the presiding officer: the senator from minnesota. ms. klobuchar: madam president, i rise in support of this very important bill and i want to thank senator stabenow for her leadership as well as the senator from mississippi. it was a true bipartisan effort and as i heard her list all the names of all the wonderful staff people that worked on this bill i also want to mention my staff member, adam duran. this wouldn't have happened without senator stabenow with her ever-optimistic view of never giving up on this bill. i thank you, senator. it has been 354 days since the senate passed its last farm bill. i've been counting it down, madam president. and this is long overdue. this got down in record speed because we had gone through all of these issues, 70-some amendments last time and this time we're able to get the farm bill through the agriculture committee in record time in three hours and now it's o

ms. klobuchar: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from minnesota. ms. klobuchar: just a few minutes -- i spoke at length earlier this weefnlg i want to thank my colleague, senator franken, for his kind words and the work he has done this bill. and also senator leahy and all those involved in this bill. managing this bill this morning -- it is again just awe-inspiring to see all the work that's been done on both sits of the aisle. i expect we're going to have a strong, bipartisan vote for this bill. the vifthe civil debate we've hn this, we finally -- for someone who was involved back in 1986 -- to see everyone come together from business, to migrant workers, to immigrant workers, to religious groups to get this incredibly important bill done. as senator franken noted, the piece that has been most important to me in addition to the dream act, in addition to all the work that had to be done on 4r5u6789 was the work we've done to improve our legal immigration system. we are a country built on immigration. 30% of our u.s. nobel laureates were born in other c

ms. klobuchar: madam president, i note the absence of a quorum. presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: quorum call: ms. hirono: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from hawaii. ms. hirono: i ask unanimous consent that we vitiate the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. hirono: madam president, i believe that we must fix the immigration bill to make it fairer for women. the bill proposes a new merit-based point system for allocating green cards for future immigrants. simply put, the point system makes it harder for women than for men to come to this country. the theory behind the merit system is that we should give immigration preferences to people who hold advanced degrees or work in high-skilled jobs. this idea ignores the discrimination women endure in other countries. too many women overseas do not have the same educational or career advancement opportunities available to men in those countries. in practice, the bill's new point system takes that inequitable treatment abroad and saoepl

ms. hirono: thank you. mr. president, i rise to speak on my amendment, hirono number 1504, cosponsored by senators murray, murkowski, boxer, gillibrand, cantwell, stabenow, klobuchar, warren, baldwin, mikulski, landrieu, shaheen and leahy. i ask unanimous consent to set aside the pending amendment. mr. leahy: i would object. the presiding officer: objection is heard. ms. hirono: thank you. so noted. to continue, mr. president, the immigration bill clearly if inadvertently disadvantages women who are trying to immigrate to the united states. s. 744 reduces the opportunities for immigrants to come under the family-based green card system. the new merit-based point system for employment green cards will significantly disadvantage women who want to come to this country, particularly unmarried women. many women overseas do not have the same educational or career advancement opportunities available to men in those countries. this new merit-based system will prioritize green cards for immigrants with high levels of education or experience. by favoring these immigrants, the bill in effect cements into u.s. immigration law unfairness against women. that's not the way to go

ms. hirono: mr. president, i rise to speak about an agreement i have reached with senator graham on the hirono-murray-murkowski amendment number 1718 which has been cosponsored by senators boxer, gillibrand, cantwell, stabenow, klobuchar, warren, baldwin, mikulski, shaheen, leahy, franken, menendez and schumer. and i ask unanimous consent that senator landrieu be added as a cosponsor. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. hirono: i have been speaking on the senate floor and talking with my colleagues about my concerns that the immigration bill that we are considering inadvertently disadvantages women who are trying to emigrate to the united states. i believe that the new merit-based points system for employment green cards will significantly disadvantage women who want to come to this country, particularly unmarried women. many women overseas do not have the same educational or career advancement opportunities available to men in those countries. this new merit-based system will prioritize green cards for immigrants with high levels of education or experience. by favoring these immigrants, the bill essentially cements unfairness against women into u.s. immigration law. that is not the way to go. after i brough