ms. stabenow: thank you. madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from michigan. ms. stabenow: i'm here joining with chairman roberts and his sense of urgency and his comments this morning. we have worked very hard, and our distinguished presiding officer, a part of the committee now, knows that we have produced a bill that is a strong, bipartisan bill and gone on to address many other interests and needs that members have brought forward in the substitute and now, woulding with members -- and now working with members as well. but there is a sense of urgency in the country. there are so many things right now that are up in the air for farmers and ranchers. it's a very, very difficult time. and this bill really is a bill that provides a safety net for farmers and a safety net for families. and for families, because the economy is getting better, we actually are saving money, over $80 billion is going to be saved, taxpayers dollars not used over the next ten years because the economy is getting bette

ms. stabenow: thank you. mr. president -- the presiding officer: the senator from michigan. ms. stabenow: just to join with chairman roberts, we are very close to a final u.c. and to the final vote. we would ask folks to stay close and we hope that we will be able to begin that process shortly with everyone's support and indulgence. so thank you. mr. roberts: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from kansas. mr. roberts: i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk should call the roll. quorum call: senator mr. president? mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from alaska. ms. murkowski: mr. president, request proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. ms. murkowski: mr. president, i ask and ask unanimous consent that privileges of the floor be granted to members of my staff, allison nichols, sterling againwitch, michael mc cambridge, and ceilia butlered and jonathan slithe for today and tomorrow. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. murkowski: mr. presi

ms. stabenow: mr. president, i just want to take a moment to thank my friend from north dakota for his leadership and the valuable input and hard work that he provides to the agricultural and nutritional forestry committee. we've worked together now on two farm bills. not only the work on the a.r.c. program and conservation and trade and research, but also the important tribal provisions that i think are going to have a very, very positive impact. i just want to tnk senator hoeven for all his hard work. mr. hoeven: would the senator yield? ms. stabenow: i'd be happy to. mr. hoeven: i'd like to thank our ranking member. this is truly a bipartisan bill we brought out of committee through the hard work and good leadership of both of our chairman and ranking member, and so i appreciate all your diligent, good efforts on the bill. thank you. the presiding officer: the senator from south dakota. mr. thune: mr. president, i understand the senate is not in a quorum, is that correct? the presiding officer: the

ms. stabenow: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from michigan. ms. stabenow: thank you, mr. president. i just want to concur with the comments of our chairman, senator roberts. i believe we have 91 amendments all together between the work of the committee on a bipartisan basis and the work that we have put into the substitute. we have listened and worked together with colleagues on both sides of the aisle and put forward a package of bipartisan amendments that will allow us to move forward in a way that will provide certainty for our farmers and ranchers as well as our families. now we take the next step, and we are looking forward to working with colleagues to move this forward to get to a final vote this week. thank you. mr. roberts: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from kansas. mr. roberts: thank you, mr. president. i would like to read the amendments that are included in the substitute that my distinguished colleague, ms. stabenow, having working on and the diligent staff. they are senator jones, senator smith, senator kennedy, nu

ms. heitkamp: madam president, i want to first off acknowledge and thank chairman pat roberts and ranking member debbie stabenow for their incredible hard work and commitment to drafting such a strong pw-bt -- bipartisan farm bill. we would not be here today if it weren't for their tenacity. but i think more importantly, we would not be here today if it weren't for their love of agriculture, their love of rural america and knowing that these are challenging times in rural america. and the one thing that we can do here is to take this important policy and enact it in law so we can give a five-year window of certainty to american farmers and farmers in my state. over 90% of the land in north dakota is engaged in the production of agriculture, whether it's farming or ranching. it is the bedrock of what we do in north dakota. in fact, it is who we are. in every given year, 30,000 farmers and ranchers lead the nation in the production of over ten different commodities. these agricultural products are sold in every state and exported to every corner of the globe. at a time when farm income is down and commodity price

ms. stabenow: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from michigan. ms. stabenow: thank you, madam president. first i would ask unanimous consent that ward griffin and jason sherman, a detailee and fellow with the minority staff on the agriculture and nutrition and forestry committee, be granted floor privileges for the duration of this congress. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. stabenow: thank you so much to the majority leader and the democratic leader for their support in bringing this bill to the senate floor for consideration as quickly as they have done. i appreciate all of the agriculture committee members on both sides of the aisle for working together to write this important legislation and, most importantly, many thanks to my friend and my partner, the chairman, chairman pat roberts, for his work and his leadership and his commitment to our farmers and growers throughout this process. and it is a great pleasure to work with you. from the very beginning of this process, madam president, chairman roberts and i made a commitment that we

ms. stabenow: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from michigan. ms. stabenow: i join with the chairman in asking members to vote no on this amendment. thank you. mr. roberts: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from kansas. mr. roberts: thank you, mr. president. i ask unanimous consent that the following amendments be called up and agreed to en bloc -- the amendment by senator isakson 3348, ?ars widen and -- senators widen and murkowski, senators king and collins 3221, senators gillibrand and toomey 3390, senator heinrich 3287, senator rubio 3364, senator sullivan 3303, senator hirono 3321, senator cortez masto, senators brown and portman 3323, senator cantwell 3365, senator moran 3171, and senator thune 3371. i further ask that it be in order for the following amendment to be called up and reported by number, the amendment by senator lee. i further ask that there be cloture motions with respect to senator -- pardon me h.r. 2 be withdrawn and the senate now vote on the following amendments in the order listed -- senator lee number 3074, s

ms. stabenow: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from michigan. ms. stabenow: mr. president, i just want to indicate, i certainly understand the senator from florida's concerns. we've been working in the last two days to find a resolution. there are multiple interests on various sides of this issue alone on cuba that we're trying to work through so we can move forward on this as well as other amendments. as the chairman indicated, there are two amendments we're trying to get pending so that we can move forward and take the next steps to be able to come to a resolution, to be able to get to a final vote on the farm bill, which our farmers and ranchers and families in rural communities are very anxious to have us do. so we'll continue to work as we have all day, and as we did yesterday, at looking for ways to resolve this, to be able to move forward. hopefully we can do that because there is, there are a lot of folks really counting on us to be able to come together and get this done. mr. roberts: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from kansas. mr. rob

ms. stabenow: thank you. mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from michigan. ms. stabenow: thank you. i want to thank my partner and friend as well. this has been a tremendous team effort, and it's a great pleasure working with you. today the senate has proven that bipartisanship is the way we can get things done, and we all know that's the case. it's not always the easiest path to take, however, when we put our differences aside and focus on the needs of the communities, the people that we serve, that's how we deliver a good bill, in this case, a bill that serves our farmers, our families, and rural america. and over 500 food, agriculture, and conservation leaders agree that this bill will provide certainty to communities and to our farmers across the country. from the start, we've had a collaborative process. we've built this bill on feedback. we heard from farmers and local leaders at field hearings and in our committee room. we added ideas proposed by members on both sides of the aisle, both on and off the committee. from our committee markup to today, we have

ms. stabenow: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from michigan. ms. stabenow: thank you. i ask for suspension of the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. stabenow: thank you very much. mr. president, i rise today to pay tribute to someone who's been fighting for working men and women his entire career. just for a moment, let's think back to 1977. the top movie that year was star wars. the original one. and the average movie ticket cost $2.23. the apple 2 computer went on sale. it cost $1,298, not including the television you needed to use for a monitor. the space shuttle enterprise took its first test flight perched atop a boeing 747, and a young marine corps veteran and salvage welder at j.i. case first joined u.a.w. local 806 in rock island, illinois. he began fighting at that point for workers' rights. a few things have changed since then. star wars and apple have evolved. and the space shuttle has retired. yet one thing hasn't changed. dennis williams is just as dedicated to the working men and women of the u.a.w. today as he was four decades ago