ms. landrieu: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from louisiana. ms. landrieu: i'd like to dispense with the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. landrieu: thank you, mr. president. in the last few minutes, we've made a little bit of progress and i'm doing the best i can to work with both sides of the aisle to simply get a list of amendments that are noncontroversial. there are approximately 230 amendments pending on the immigration bill. many of them are controversial. but there are some, potentially as many as 20, maybe even 30, amendments that are pending, that are public record, that have been filed that members on both sides of the aisle have worked on very hard. we have known about this debate. some of us have been following it more closely than others, but i dare to say there's not a senator, as a member of this body, that hasn't been focused on what our constituents want us to do to either improve this bill or to fight against this bill. and you've heard a lot of that debate. i think this bill will probably pass, but who kn

ms. landrieu: would the senator yield for a question? mr. grassley: yes. ms. landrieu: is there a physical copy of the list you presented to the democrats? could it be submitted to the record? mr. grassley: the chairman's staff has it, and i would ask you to consult the chairman. ms. landrieu: i would like to ask that list be submitted to the congressional record. mr. grassley: i won't submit that list until after the chairman -- ms. landrieu: i ask unanimous consent for that list to be submitted to the record. mr. grassley: i object. the presiding officer: objection is heard. ms. landrieu: mr. president, can i have the floor? the presiding officer: the senator's time has expired. ms. landrieu: i ask unanimous consent that the time until 2:00 be equally divided between the two leaders or their designees, the majority leader be recognized at 2:00 p.m. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. ms. landrieu: mr. president, i ask that i take the democratic leader's time for ten minutes. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objectio

ms. landrieu, proposes amendment number 1222. ms. landrieu: thank you. mr. president, i'm going to speak about this amendment for just a minute, but i'd like to respond to senator thune, and i wish that we could get a vote on his amendment as well as this one because i would like to strongly vote and strongly express objection to his amendment. and i'd like to comment for a minute. i chair the homeland security appropriations committee that is actually building the fence. the money to build it comes through my committee, so i've actually gone down to look at the fence that we're trying to build. it was shocking to me and would be shocking to everyone in america if they would see it. that no matter if you build a single fence or a double fence with space in between, how easy it is for people to be very ingenious about getting over it or under it. so i would be voting against senator thune's amendment because i'm not going to waste taxpayer money on a dumb fence. and that's what his amendment would be. we need to build a smart fence. and a fence is not just a

ms. landrieu: mr. president? the presiding officer: without objection, the statement will be placed in the record. ms. landrieu: mr. president, may i -- the presiding officer: the senator from louisiana. ms. landrieu: -- speak for just five minutes? i don't know if there's any rule on the floor. i ask unanimous consent. mr. president, i did not like at all objecting to senator mccain's amendment, but i'm compelled to because i've been literally trying for several weeks now -- not just on this bill but on a previous bill -- to get a vote, just a vote -- i'll even take a 60-vote threshold; i'm not asking for a 53-vote threshold. i'm asking for a 60-vote threshold on amendment that will make it clear that we could grandfather in flood insurance rates until an affordability study -- that was supposed to be done -- is done. now, the interesting thing about this is that my amendment has no score. it doesn't cost the federal government anything, if this amendment were to pass. it is a zero score. it simply de

ms. landrieu: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from louisiana. ms. landrieu: thank you, madam president. i come to the floor this morning to talk about an issue that i have been speaking about for a couple of days now, and i most certainly can appreciate the senator from alabama's frustration and the senator from iowa's frustration. the senator from alabama has been opposed to this bill from the beginning. he may have a different view, but i'm not sure any amendments would satisfy him, but of course he has been debating in good faith and that's the part of this process that needs to go on. the senator from iowa i think has been trying to work very hard. he has spent so much time, both in the committee and here on the floor, trying to work out a bill that he's comfortable with, but sometimes that happens and sometimes it doesn't. but i think what really should happen no matter what, madam president, is that after all of the controversial issues are debated, that there should be a coming together of both sides at a certain time, recognizing that all tim

ms. landrieu: mr. president, i'm happy to report, actually, that there's been a lot of progress made in the last few hours on the package of amendments that are completely uncontested, and there's no objection on any side. and i really want to thank the members who have been attentive and supportive of trying to get back to a more normal way here of operating, which is simply you can argue about the big, controversial issues, there are always going to be those on every bill we debate, but there will be some amendments that absolutely have no opposition because they are very well-thought-out ideas that do not generate in any heartburn on either side, that people can reason and say that helps the bill, it perfects the bill, it does something that improves the bill. now, we used to do that all the time around here, and we've really gotten away from it and it's hurtful. it's not just hurtful to the individual members, it's hurtful to our constituents, who would like their ideas brought up for consideration

ms. landrieu: thank you. let me begin by thanking the majority leader for his extraordinary leadership on this bill and both sides. it's been a very tough negotiation. the gang of eight, senator flake, senator bennet, senator rubio, senator menendez, senator graham, senator durbin dush, senator mccain, and senator schumer, have worked very, very hard to bring a bill to the floor that in my view is not perfect but it's balanced, it accomplishes many of the principles of fixing our broken immigration system, and they have worked extraordinarily hard. let me also thank senator leahy and senator grassley as the chair and ranking member of the judiciary committee that considered more than 300 amendments, voted on 121. i'm disappointed like many people are that we didn't get more votes on the floor, but i came to the floor earlier in the week and predicted that that would happen. and it's unfortunate. but it's not the first time i've seen this movie and members of the other side are disappointed and some of us are

ms. landrieu: thank you, mr. president.am going to speak in morning business for up to two or three minutes. i want to take a point of personal privilege. as we get to the end of this immigration debate and hopefully have a final vote on this bill sometime this week, it is a very important issue for our country, there have been any number of senators that have been involved in trying to negotiate a very complex and tough bill. and the gang of eight has done a terrific job, in my view, of managing lots of very controversial aspects to this bill. but a group of us not connected directly to the gang of eight have been working on a group of amendments that are not central to the bill -- or potentially, let me say, noncontroversial. we have been working with republicans and democrats, parallel to the gang of eight. and i only ask the leadership on both sides -- the republican leadership, the democratic leadership -- to please look at the list that has been submitted to the record, not once, not twice, not three times, but five t

ms. landrieu: i should do more checking on them then. mr. reid: but we have a number of people who are trying to get amendments on the list. we're going to continue to work 0en that. i.tit's not because senators hae tried the managers. i would ask that my request be modified to have the votes start at 4:35, other than 4:25. otherwise, senator sessions wants to have two minutes. the presiding officer: is there objection to the majority leader's request? without objection, so ordered. mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent that at a time to be determined by me in consultation with senator mcconnell, the senate proceed to executive session to calendar calendar number 182, there be two minutes for deviate equally divided in the usual form, the senate proceed to vote on the nomination, the motion to r reconsider be laid on the table, no further motions being made in order and any sphaiments be placed in the record and the president be notified of the senate's action. it is michael fr

ms. landrieu proposes an amendment 1240, on page 919 -- mrs. boxer: i ask the amendment be considered as read. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. boxer: i rise in support of the boxer-landrieu-murray amendment number 1240 which is a very simple amendment, it has bipartisan support as well. it would require the participation of the national guard and the coast guard in new border protection training programs. the underlying bill includes language authorizing specialized training for federal law enforcement agents who will be tasked with securing the border. to update them on how the law will impact their duties and their responsibilities. the bill specifically requires customs and border protection, born and i.c.e. officers and agriculture specialist at the border to undergo training on such things as identification and detection of fraudulent travel documents, civil rights protections, border community concerns, environmental concerns, and how agents should annual vulnerable populations such as children, victims of crime and human t

ms. landrieu: thank you. madam president, and i thank the chairman and the manager of this bill for his support of this particular amendment which i hope is going to be noncontroversial and has to do with really clarifying some technical parts of the law dealing with adoptees and how they are able to claim citizenship. it doesn't have anything really to do with the larger pieces of this bill but it's an opportunity to provide help and support to thousands of children, young people, and even adults that come to this country through the process, the wonderful process of adoption, just to clear up a couple of matters. i'll talk about that in just a minute. but i want to associate myself with the extraordinarily powerful comments of the senator from arizona, senator john mccain, who without his leadership and without his strong knowledge of the issue that we're dealing with, i don't think the bill with would be on the floor of the united states senate, i don't think we would have a chance to be voting on this imp

ms. landrieu: mr. president, i offer this amendment, this is a technical amendment.ee technical but important changes to the child citizenship act of 2000. senator coats, senator blunt and senator klobuchar have helped lead the effort on this. i have explained it numerous times on the floor and i think the leaders have agreed on a voice vote. the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. leahy: mr. president, i have spoken with the distinguished ranking member, senator grassley. i understand we are able to agree to the landrieu amendment by voice vote. i ask unanimous consent the 60-vote threshold with respect to the amendment be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. leahy: mr. president, i move the question. the presiding officer: the question is on the landrieu amendment. all those in favor signify by saying aye. opposed. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the amendment is agreed to. under the previous order, there will now be two minutes of debate equally divided prior to a vote on amendment numbered 1228 offered by the senator