ms. stabenow: thank you, mr. president. first, i want to commend the senator from texas for her bill, which i'm very proud to be a cosponsor of, to make sure that our men and women in harm's way continue to receive their compensation and support for their families if, in fact, there is a government shutdown, which certainly i'm going to continue to do everything i can to help from happening. and i'm not going to give up, and i know others aren't as well. but i want to commend the senator because i think this is very important and we need to send that message, and we need to get this done. we need to get the bill done. mrs. hutchison: mr. president, i just want to say to the senator from michigan that she was one of the first to sign on as a cosponsor of this bill, and i think that is the right thing to do, and i appreciate her leadership. and i just got a note from my staff and would like to ask unanimous consent to also add senators scott brown and amy klobuchar as cosponsors of senate bill 724. thank you. the presiding of

ms. stabenow: thank you, mr. president. it's my great pleasure and honor to be here with my friends and colleagues who have all fought so long and hard to make sure that women's voices and experiences are represented in the decisions that we make here in the united states senate and in washington on behalf of all the families that we represent. i have to say that people in michigan, my family, friends, everybody across michigan is shaking their head right now trying to figure out what the heck is going on. all of this really is a diversion from what we want to be talking about and doing something about, and that's jobs, putting people back to work, making sure people have money in their pocket to be able to pay their bills and that they can tackle their house that may very well be under water right now, and how they're going to pay for gas prices go through the roof and how they're going to be able to take care of their kids and make sure that they can have the opportunities to go to college that they want for them, all the

ms. stabenow: thank you, mr. president. first, mr. president, i would ask unanimous consent that at 4:00 p.m., the majority leader be recognized. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection, so ordered. ms. stabenow: thank you, mr. president. and i would agree with my colleague, my friend from texas, about the fact that people are scratching their heads. i know the people in michigan are wondering what in the world is going on right now when we are still trying to recover from a discretion and we have a long ways to go for most americans, even though the unemployment rate has come down substantially in michigan. we were at one point 15.7%, and that's just what you count in terms of unemployment. now it's 10.7% and going down, but still way, way, way too high, and families are under water, their houses are under water. they are trying to recover in terms of their incomes and hold it together and look for new work or job training. what about the kids in college and all that comes with that. in the middle clas

ms. stabenow: thank you, madam president. for years, i have -- [inaudible] consistently and repeatedly said that we need to have a balanced and comprehensive american energy policy. we can't just impose regulations. we need small incentives to create the technology for a clean energy economy. the stabenow-brown amendment is based on the framework that has been worked on in a bipartisan basis for the past two years to develop a truly comprehensive clean energy policy that would allow us to phase in regulatio regulations. this amendment would allow the e.p.a. to do their work but would have the enforcement of that work be done in two years. we would build on the success of the advanced energy manufacturing credit known as 48-c that has created jobs at 183 businesses in 43 states. we have put the right incentives in place because we know when we do that, we help businesses create good-paying jobs and we can reduce carbon pollution at the same time.j our amendment also allows what the e.p.a. has indicated as their intention towar

ms. stabenow: thank you, mr. president.it's my great pleasure and honor to be here with my friends and colleagues who have all fought so long and hard to make sure that women's voices and experiences are represented in the decisions that we make here in the united states senate and in washington on behalf of all the families that we represent. i have to say that people in michigan, my family, friends, everybody across michigan is shaking their head right now trying to figure out what the heck is going on. all of this really is a diversion from what we want to be talking about and doing something about, and that's jobs, putting people back to work, making sure people have money in their pocket to be able to pay their bills and that they can tackle their house that may very well be under water right now, and how they're going to pay for gas prices go through the roof and how they're going to be able to take care of their kids and make sure that they can have the opportunities to go to college that they want for them, all the

ms. landrieu proposes stabenow amendment 277, rockefeller amendment 215, coburn amendment 217, coburn amendment 28 1, coburn amendment 273 and inouye amendment 286. lan lane ask that senator sanders dashes. ms. landrieu: i ask that senator sanders amendment be modified with changes at the desk. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. landrieu: i ask unanimous consent that any time spent in a quorum call prior to the votes at 4:00 p.m. be equally divided. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. landrieu: thank you, madam president. i yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: quorum call: the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. sanders: i ask the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. sander: madam president, we are at a unique and enormously important moment in american history, and the decisions that will be made by the congress and president in the coming days, weeks and months will in many ways determine how we go forward as a nation and will impact the lives o

stabenow, shaheen, snowe. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. mikulski: thank you. mr.nt, we come to the floor with a heavy heart and great sadness. geraldine ferraro, a former member of the united states house of representatives, a congresswoman from new york, who was the first woman to be nominated by a major party for vice president, has lost her gallant and persistent fight against cancer and has passed away. i really thank the leadership for offering a resolution noting the many contributions that she made to america and express the condolences for her family. because, you see, mr. president, for we women before 10geri was a force of nature, a powerhouse. she changed the face of politics. she changed theay women thought of themselves and what we believed we could accomplish. on july 11, 1984, when mo walter mondale called geri ferraro and sctd her to be his vice-presidential running mate, an amazing thing happened: they took down the men-only sign on the white house. they took down the men-only sign on the white house. for geri and all american women, there was no

ms. stabenow: thank you, mr. president. i would ask unanimous consent that the period for morning business for debate only be extended until 10:30 p.m. with senators permitted 0 speak up to 10 minutes each with the majority leader to be recognized at 10:30 p.m. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection, so ordered. ms. stabenow: thank you. mrs. hutchison: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from texas is recognized. mrs. hutchison: mr. president, ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be lifted. the presiding officer: we are not in a quorum call. but the senator is recognized. mrs. hutchison: thank you. mr. president, i do unanimous consent to add senators leahy, america lirgs and boxer to -- merkley and boxer to senate bill 724. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. hutchison: mr. president, this brings to 77 out of 100 senators who are now sponsoring this bill. our bill, senate bill 724, is very simple. it just says that if there is a government shutdown, our military will be