madam president, i yield the floor. the presiding officer: one and a half minutes remains for the opponents. a senator: madam president? officer the senator from alabama. a senator: the senate's not in order. the presiding officer: the senate will come to order. mr. sessions: madam president, this is not a vote on the corker-hoeven amendment. it's a vote on a complete substitute of over a thousand pages that includes all aspects of the bill before us. it includes the amnesty, include the failed entry-exit visa. and if we vote for cloture tonight, we will be transferring complete control of the entire process of this immigration bill to the majority leader, harry reid. you can hear the whistle in the distance right now as the train is arriving to the station. if senator reid and corker and hoeven are able to cut off debate today, the next vote will come in about 30 hours on another substitute vote in 30 hours after that. senator reid has filled the tree. there will be no amendments allowed. mr. leahy: regular order. the

and with that, madam president, i would yield the floor. a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from colorado. mr. bennet: thank you, madam president. i want to first thank the senator from south dakota for his indulgence for five minutes or so to do this, and the senator from indiana for yielding his time to me. we got a little bit out of order on the floor. but i really want to come before the night was out to speak about an incredible chance we have with respect to fixing our broken immigration system. over the next few weeks the senate has a golden opportunity to do something great, to do something important, to do something that shows that washington can actually work, that we're aligned to the priorities of the american people, that we can take on hard challenges and solve them. that's the opportunity before us, and i have to say thank you to all of my colleagues that served in this so-called gang of eight and worked, i would say not even in a bipartisan way. i would say in a nonpartisan way to fix problems that afflict our economy and ou

thank you, madam president. mr. casey: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from pennsylvania. mr. casey: thank you, madam president. i rise -- a senator: would the senator withhold? mr. casey: yes. mr. reid: madam president? the presiding officer: mr. leader. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent that when i complete my request here that the senator from pennsylvania be recognized. the presiding officer: yes. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent that following -- the following amendments be in order to be called up and that they not be subject to modification or division, with the exception of technical modifications to the merkley and paul amendments contained in this agreement. the amendments are manchin, 1268, pryor, 1298, merkley, 1237, as modified with the changes that are at the desk; boxer, 1240; reed of rhode island, 1224; cornyn, 1251; lee, 1208; paul, 1200, as modified with the changes at the desk; heller, 1227; and cruz 1320. finally, that no second-degree amendments be in order to any of these amendments prior to votes

thank you so much, madam chairwoman. ms. stabenow: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from michigan. ms. stabenow: thank you, madam president. i want to take a moment before we vote today to recognize folks that have worked so hard to get us to this point. and first of all, i thank my colleagues in advance for coming together one more time and leading for rural america, for farmers, for ranchers, for the 16 million people, to have a job because of agriculture in this country. it's been a long road for the agriculture reform food and jobs act, and i have been so blessed and pleased to have the wonderful partner and ranking member, the distinguished senator from mississippi, as my partner every step of the way, and i want to thank him, look forward as we move forward. hopefully the house this time will complete their work and we will have the opportunity to go to conference and craft an agreement that we will then present back to the senate, but i can't thank senator cochran enough and the staff for their wonderful partnership. we start

barrasso: thank you, madam president. madam president, i ask that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. barrasso: thank you. and i also ask unanimous consent that the senator from ohio, senator brown, have the opportunity to speak following me for up to ten minutes. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. barrasso: thank you. i ask unanimous consent to speak as if in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. barrasso: thank you, madam president. madam president, i come to the floor today as millions of students in high school and colleges across the country have recently graduated. i had an opportunity to attend a number of commencements across wyoming, to speak to a number of students who are graduating, and i note that president obama has also been out giving graduation speeches this year. at ohio state university, the president criticized those of us who warn that government doesn't always have the best answer. the president suggested that anyone who thinks washington has grown too inefficient or too ineffectiv

frankly, madam president, the c.b.o. numbers negate any reasonable argument the opponents of this legislation have. every argument they have made is based on one thing and one thing only, that those people living in the shadows, those people trying to earn a living, those people trying to keep their families together are a symptom of american decline. and our history of immigration clearly con from tra dicts those arguments and the c.b.o. -- contradicts those arguments and the c.b.o. numbers confirm it. the opponents of this legislation couldn't be more wrong. giving 11 million people a pathway to citizenship while strengthening our enforcement efforts is not a symptom of decline. on the contrary, it is a symbol of america's hope, and a validation of american values. what we stand for as a nation and who we are as a people. and i believe a new generation of immigrants willing to work hard and contribute to the economy will help make this another century of american exceptionalism. i say to my friends on the other side, a

madam president, i yield the floor. mr. leahy: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. leahy: madam president, the hoeven-corker a.m. is subject to a -- amendment is subject to a budget point of order. it increases on-budget deficit over both the five and ten-year periods and exceeds the judiciary committee's alloy indication for direct spending but on-budget effects do not take into account the significant off-budget savings. and last week the nonpartisan congressional budget office concluded the bill is going to especially help us achieve nearly $1 trillion in deficit reduction. and we also have learned that the hoeven-corker amendment would significantly increase our border security and would, as the c.b.o. said, i would say to my friends from tennessee and north dakota, the amendment would reduce both illegal entry into the country and the number of people who stay in the country beyond the end of their authorized period. so when we vote on the -- waiving the point of order, i will vote to waive it because the hoe

madam president i yield the floor. mr. coburn: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from oklahoma. mr. coburn: thank you. i appreciate my colleague from texas and his earnest desire to solve the problems in front of us. i would say at the outset, the recognition over the last eight and a half, nine years of become in the senate is that we have a problem wind to solve and -- that we need to solve and i don't think anybody disagrees with that. i think there's two important points that the american people expect us to pay attention to. one is what reagan described as the shiny city on a hill and that people coming here make us better. there's no question about that. and that what he described was -- what he wanted was in 1986 was not all walls like single payer people wants and not all doors, like some people wanted, but a wall with doors. so there's two basic facts that confront us. one is that the rule of law is the glue that holds us together, and when we hear talk about the american people having confidence on whether or not we're

thank you, madam president. i yield the floor. mr. hatch: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from utah. mr. hatch: madam president, i ask that my remarks be as if in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. hatch: madam president, the senate is so far -- has so far this year confirmed 26 judicial nominees, including six appeals court nominees. the majority was right on cue complaining about what they still insist is unprecedented confirmation obstruction and threatening to fundamentally change the confirmation process itself. now, the late senator from new york, daniel patrick moynihan, once said that you're entitled to your own opinion pn but not o your own facts. so let's look at the real confirmation facts. the senate confirmed a higher percentage of president obama's first-term appeals court nominees and did so faster than it had for president bush. the 111 judges confirmed in the previous congress was the highest total in more than 20 years. now, we are at the beginning of president obama's second term. the senate

udall: thank you, madam president. like many others, i'm deeply disturbed by the current situation in syria, the appalling atrocities, the tragic loss of life, the reported use of chemical weapons. this deserves the clear condemnation of the international community. but i am also concerned by the push for intervention in this war, by the rush to judgment for the united states to yet again become entangled in a civil war. the president has decided to send arms to the rebels to fight the government of bashar al-assad. the full scope of this intervention is not yet clear but this path is dangerous and unnecessary. the assad regime is cruel and corrupt. we can all agree on that point. but many of the groups fighting against him do not share our values and could be worse. they may pose long-term risks to us and to our allies. assad's enemies may very well be america's enemies. the fact is, we do not know. a number of experts, including our military brass, have sounded alarms warning that the options to intervene in syria ra

schatz: thank you, madam president. i was very encouraged by the president's speech today for a number of reasons. but the main thing that i found encouraging is that he's obviously done waiting. and there are three reasons to be done waiting. the first is it's very unlikely given the current composition of the congress that the congress will take action in the 113th. we have to recognize that political reality. the second is that from an ecological standpoint, we don't have the luxury of waiting. we don't have 5 or 8 or 12 years to wait and deliberate. we need to take action now in order to reverse global climate change. and the third is a matter of law. under the e.p.a. versus massachusetts, the supreme court didn't just give the authority to the e.p.a. to regulate carbon as a pollutant under the clean air act. it actually requires that the e.p.a. move forward. so even if this president didn't believe in the science, even if this president weren't as passionate as he is about combatting climate change, he would be req

madam president i yield the floor. a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from alabama. mr. sessions: madam president i'd like to take a moment to do something special. this week, the senate community will say goodbye to marcus peacock, my staff director on the senate budget committee. during his tenure with the committee, he has been a constant warrior for sound finances for our country that he so loves and i'm going to miss his exemplary service and the nation will miss his service. marcus has been with me since i became ranking member on the budget committee and during that time he's helped my staff and me to negotiate and navigate the intricacies quirks of the budget processes which anyone with budget experience will tell you can be a most daunting and frequently frustrating task, even for the most savvy budgeteer, and he's approached every task, every challenge with his trademark sunny disposition remarkable unflappability and can-do attitude. dure his ten your with the committee, he was instrumental in crafting the h

thank you, madam chair. i yield the floor. mr. lee: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from utah. mr. lee: i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: quorum call: the presiding officer: the senator from missouri. mrs. mccaskill: i would ask that the quorum be vitiated, please. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. mccaskill: i ask to speak as if in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. mccaskill: this afternoon, the senate armed services committee -- in fact, in less than an hour -- will convene and we will begin working on historic changes, unprecedented changes to the union formed road -- uniform code of military justice in response to a serious and significant problem of sexual assault in our military. i've come to the floor before we convene to explain why i am supporting significant changes as to how we handle sexual assaults in the military but also why i am not supporting completely removing the role senior military commanders play in orde

thank you madam chair. i yield the floor. mr. inhofe: madam chairman? the presiding officer: the senator from oklahoma. mr. inhofe: let me thank my very good friend from iowa who graciously allowed me to make a statement here. i am concerned about this. several of us have amendments we've been trying to get up for a long period of time. i quite frankly don't know what the status of the amendments and the bill are right now, whether we'll be getting to votes sooner or later. but i have one amendment that is one that i thought would be so acceptable that there wouldn't be any opposition to it. let me just very briefly tell you what it is. my amendment addresses the 2001 united states supreme court decision in zavillas. the court held the immigrants admitted to the united states then ordered removed couldn't be detained for more than six months. four years later, the supreme court came along and extended the decision to people here illegally as well. that's what we're talking about right now. we're talking about illegals that come into this country. as a r

reid: thank you, madam president. the pending business is the committee-reported substitute amendment, with all postcloture time having expired. is that right? the presiding officer: the senator is correct. mr. reid: i raise a point of order that the reed of rhode island amendment is no longer due to be adopted. the presiding officer: the point of order is well taken. the amendment falls. mr. reid: i raise a point of order that the cruz amendment is no longer in order. the presiding officer: the point of order is well taken. the amendment falls. mr. reid: i raise a point of order that the boxer amendment is also no longer in order. the presiding officer: the point of order is well taken. the amendment falls. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the next two votes be ten minutes in duration. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. reid: madam president, during these votes, we're going to try to work out a time to finish our work today. as i mentioned earlier today, whenever the final vote is, whe

madam president, with that, i yield the floor. mr. mccain: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from arizona. mr. mccain: madam president, i appreciate the opportunity for all members of this body to participate in a debate and amendments and discussion of the bill that was reported out through the judiciary committee in the regular order, and if my colleagues have any doubt about what i and my colleagues on this so-called group of eight, i want to assure them that we are continuing to look for ways to improve the legislation. in fact, i have a couple of amendments myself that i believe would help improve the legislation and make it better and stronger, but the fact is that this legislation is absolutely needed. it's needed for a whole variety of reasons, most of which i won't go into at this time, but right now i hope my colleagues and the american people understand and i think they do because recent polling overwhelmingly supports this legislation, i hope they understand that the status quo is totally unacceptable. the status quo is de facto

thank you, madam president. a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from colorado. mr. udall: i'd ask unanimous consent to speak for ten minutes. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. udall: thank you, madam president. i rise again to talk about the critical importance of passing comprehensive immigration reform like my good friend from arizona, senator mccain, has been an advocate for. when i look at my state, coloradoans from all walks of life -- business leaders, religious leaders, our agricultural community and our civic leaders, regardless of political party -- agree that our immigration system is broken. and now we've run out of excuses to sit on our hands. this problem -- by the way, i see this problem as an opportunity, and i want to discuss why i see it as an opportunity. it has touched every corner of our society, and this call for action has become too loud to ignore. but despite such widespread agreement on the need to move forward, there remains a vocal minority in our chamber and across the coun

murray: thank you, madam president. madam president, senate democrats have been waiting a very long time to go to conference on our budget. in fact, it has now been 73 da days. and until recently, we've gotten pretty used to senate republicans just simply standing up and saying, "no." for months, republicans have been offering a lot of excuses for why they don't want to go to conference on the budget. they have said they want a preconference framework which, by the way, is what a budget is. they have said they wouldn't allow us to go to conference until we guaranteed that the wealthiest americans and biggest corporations would be protected from paying a penny more in taxes. they said they didn't want a bipartisan conference to take away the leverage they have on the debt ceiling. and then they called for a do-over, which actually my ranking member on the budget called for again this morning. to bring up the house budget, have 50 hours of debate, a whole new round of unlimited amendments, go through the process all over

and as i have told you, madam chair -- madam secretary, in person and recent hearings, it's categorically unacceptable. and so is the administration's proposal to use alaska's share of future npra revenues for remediation. i met with the mayor of the north slope borough, charlotte brower, as well as others several weeks back. i know that you had a chance as well. i have a copy of a letter from the mayor, from our commissioner of natural resources, from the president of asrc and the president of the community on the north slope that i would like to have included as part -- >> without objection, so ordered. >> thank you, mr. chairman. a related concern is the pattern of falling production on federal lands. it's true that our nation is in the midst of an historic oil and gas boom, but it's also true that production on federal lands is in trouble. contrary to some of the statements, the rhetoric that we've heard, oil production from the federal estate actually fell 5% last year after falling by even more than that in 2011. natural gas production from the same federal areas, meanwhile, is in v

madam chair, i see the majority leader. he approved my time this afternoon, and i have only so much of it left. i'm due to have the floor until 5:00. if there's -- maybe i would note the absence of a quorum here, if he'd like to talk about that. oh, madam president, i see there's important business to be done, and i would yield the floor. mr. reid: madam president? the presiding officer: the majority leader is recognized. mr. reid: madam president, i welcome senator chiesa to the united states senate. i congratulate him on his appointment to fill the seat of the late-frank lautenberg. senator chiesa and i'm sure we'll struggle with that name for a little while until we get used to it -- but i think i've done it just about right -- has certaining sh served as attorney general for the state of new jersey. he's done some remarkable things, worked with law enforcement for the state legislature to combat human trafficking, to protect children from predators, crack down on gang violence, implemented a successful gun buyback progr

sanders: thank you, madam president. let me congratulate the gang of eight who worked on this immigration bill so assiduously. senator pat leahy, the chairman of the committee, for doing a lot of good work. and there is much in this bill that i support. i support the pathway to citizenship. i support the dream act. i support providing legal status to foreign workers who are working in agriculture. we have to have strong border security and i support that effort. but let me tell you what i do not support. what i do not support is that at a time when nearly 14% of americans do not have a full-time job, at a time when youth unemployment is somewhere around 16% and kids from california to maine are desperately seeking employment, i do not support a huge expansion in the guest worker program that will allow hundreds of thousands of entry-level guest workers to come into this country. and this is important for at least two reasons. you have kids all over america who are wondering how they're going to afford to be able to go to

madam president, our concerns are not crop specific. a lot of discussion about this being something that is between the midwest and the south or regional. this is not a crop-specific concern. this is a policy-specific concern. an outdated target price program is not, is not what most producers in this country asked us for in a new farm bill. just the opposite. almost every member of the ag committee was told by our producers that a sound crop insurance program is a much higher priority. madam president, amendment number 1092 is simply a response to the wishes of most hearms in the united states. this amendment strikes the newly created amp program and places peanuts and rice back into the art program. or to put it simply, this amendment replaces the commodity title in the bill that we have before us and replaces it with a reform-minded market-oriented commodity title that was included in the farm bill that we passed last year. madam president, i do not believe that congress is capable of setting accurate fixed prices for the next five y

madam president, i yield the floor and i would suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: a senator: madam chair? the presiding officer: the senator from alabama. mr. sessions: i would ask that the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. sessions: madam president, as we begin to discuss this legislation, the immigration bill that's before us, a lot of people haven't realized it's coming up, a lot of people don't realize the breadth of it, a lot of people are concerned about it. we've gotten a lot of phone calls in my office, people are wondering who's speaking up about the bill and they want to know what's in the bill. i think that's a big part of what we should be doing in the days to come. going over the bill in a careful way concerning the -- any progress that the bill makes and any deficiencies that the legislation has. as i noted previously, the fundamental challenge that we must recognize based on the way congress works and the difficulty it has had with these issue

madam president, may we please have some order. the presiding officer: the senator deserves to be heard. the senate will be in order. i ask senators to take their conversations out of the chamber. the senator from new york. mr. schumer: i thank my colleagues for voting yes on the motion to proceed that will let us debate this very important bill that is critical to the future of our security, our economy, and our society. this overwhelming vote, a majority of both parties, starts this bill off on just the right foot. now, first i want to begin by saying that this has been the most open and transparent process we've seen in the past few years. unlike most bills where only one or two senators draft it, this bill was drafted by ten of us here in the senate. the four republicans and four democrats in the gang of eight, i thank each of them, my seven colleagues in the gang for their great work, and the agricultural program in the bill was drafted by senators feinstein and hatch. then we held a number of hearings and debated, considered,

thank you, madam president, and i would yield the floor. mr. grassley: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. mr. grassley: in the last three weeks i pointed out several flaws in the immigration bill. but in a couple days we'll have a bill through the senate, and i think i owe it to my colleagues and to my constituents, since i've been pointing out flaws, twald it take -- what would it take for me to vote for an immigration bill? i'm just like most everybody, and maybe everybody in the united states senate would tell you the status quo is not legitimate maintained, and that we have to reform the system. so there are, i'd like to say 100 senators who believe that the immigration system needs to be fixed. i can guarantee that there are also 100 different ways to fix it and nobody has a pebgt solution. but i bring a solution to the table few others have. my belief stems from the fact that in 1986. we allowed hraoelgzation that -- legalation that ignored the laws on the books. we allowed legalization without creating adequate avenues for people to ent