of the senate, i hereby appoint the honorable richard blumenthal, a senator from the state of connecticut, to perform the duties of the chair. signed: daniel ke, president pro tempore. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: following leader remarks there will be a period of morning business until 4:30 today. senators will be allowed to speak up to t-plts each. -- ten minutes each. at 4:30 the senate will proceed to executive session. at 5:30 today the senate will confirm by consent the nomination of sue myerscough, a judge for the central district of illinois. there will then be a series of up to three roll call votes, first on the confirmation of anthony j. battaglia of california to be united states district judge for the southern district of california; confirmation of the nomination of james shadid to be judge for the southern district of judge and a motion to invoke cloture on s. 23, the america invents act. filing deadline for amendments to s. 23 is 5:00 p.m. today. on friday cloture was filed on motion to proceed on h.r. 1. i hope to reach agreement to vote on h.r. 1 and the democratic alternative introduced by senator