quorum call: mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: are we in a quorum call? the presiding officer: we are. mr. reid: i ask consent it be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: it's my understanding regular order would be my calling paul amendment 1200 as modified, is that right? the presiding officer: the senator may call for regular order with respect to that amendment. mr. reid: i so move, mr. president. the presiding officer: the amendment's now pending. mr. reid: pardon me? the presiding officer: the amendment is now pending. mr. reid: it is pending? i move to table the paul amendment and ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. a senator: the senate is not in order. mr. reid: i apologize to everyone for not mentioning this before. we're very close to coming up with an agreement on the next batch -- mrs. boxer: the senate's not in order. mr. reid: mr. president, we're very close to coming up with an agreement the managers have developed along with our able staff to have a series of amendments in order and as things are now contemplated, we would debate those tonight and in the morning and have some votes starting at 2:15. hopefully tonight and in the morning we will be able to add to what we're going to agree to later so we'd have even more amendments. it's my understanding that there's already contemplation of some important work in the morning and so in short, i don't think we'll have any more votes tonight after this one we're going to take up on fromon. we'll start votes tomorrow at 2:15 on four or five, and continue working on this important legislat

mr. reid: mr. president? the president pro tempore: the majority leader. mr. reid: following my statement, the republican leader will be recognized. i ask unanimous consent that i be recognized when he completes his statement. the president pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. reid: mr. president, following leader remarks, the senate will resume consideration of s. 44, the comprehensive immigration bill. following the remarks of senator mcconnell and the reporting of the immigration bill, i ask that i be recognized -- but i'm sure that'll be the case anyway, so ... the president pro tempore: without objection. mr. reid: does the bill need to be reported? at the teethe president pro tem: under the previous order, the senate will resume consideration of s. 744, which the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 80, s. 744, a about i will to provide for comprehensive immigration real estate form and for other purposes. -- comprehensive immigration reform and for other purposes. mr. rei

mr. reid: mr. reid: i ask consent that we now ask -- i ask that the commerce committee be discharged from further consideration of presidential nomination 121. presidential nomination 500, that the nominations be confirmed, the motions to reconsider -- there's two separate ones, madam president -- that the nominations be confirmed, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid on the table, there be no intervening action or debate, no further motions be in order to the nomination, any related statement be printed in the record and the president be immediately notified of the senate's expaks th action and te resume legislative session. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the senate consider calendar number -- now move to consider calendar number 187, that the senate proceed to vote with no intervening action or debate, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid on the table, there be no intervening action -- mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent,

mr. reid: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that it be considered as if the following motions to proceed were made. motion to proceed to calendar number 76, s. 10034, motion to proceed to calendar number 74, s. 953. further, that the cloture motions which are at the desk be reported in the order the motions were considered made. finally, that the mandatory quorum required under rule 22 be waived for these cloture motions and the cloture motion for s. 954. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. reid: thank you, mr. president. i therefore ask unanimous consent that at 10:00 a.m. on thursday -- the presiding officer: the clerk will report the cloture motion. mr. reid: except we were trying to speed up and not read the cloture motion. we have to do that. the clerk: cloture motion, we the undersigned senators in accordance with provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the motion to proceed to s. 1003, a bill to

mr. reid: mr. president, let's see here. second-degree amendment, we've taken care of that, is that right? the presiding officer: yes, sir. mr. reid: cloture motion at the desk with respect to the amendment, that's also at the desk, is that right? the presiding officer: it is. the clerk will report the cloture motion. the clerk: cloture motion, we the undersigned senators in accordance with with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate hereby move to bring to a close the debate on the leahy amendment numbered 1183 as modified to s. 744, a bill to provide for comprehensive immigration reform, and for other purposes, signed by 17 senators as follows -- reid of nevada, leahy -- mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the reading of the names be waived, mr. president. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i now ask for the yeas and nays on my amendment. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? mr. reid: mr. president? in the rush of things here, i'm getting ahea

quorum call: mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader is recognized. mr. reid: i ask consent the call of the quorum be terminated. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. reid: mr. president, we have been working to come up with a list of amendments. without any editorializing, this is the list we have been able to come up with. the staff has worked on this for long hours. i ask unanimous consent that a managers package of amendments which is at the desk be in order and considered en bloc, that the senate proceed to vote on adoption of amendments in this package en bloc, and upon disposition of the managers package, the following amendments be in order to be called up and that the clerks be authorized to modify the instruction lines to fit the committee-reported amendments as amended where necessary. the amendments are sessions 1334, hirono 1718, fischer 1594, blumenthal 1636, vitter 1445, brown 1311, toomey 1599, hagan 1386, coats 1563, mccaskill 1457, johnson of wisconsin 1380, boxer 1260, feinstein 1250, lee 1214, udall of new mexico 1

reid: mr. president, through you could i ask my friend to yield? mr. inhofe: i would yield to the majority leader. mr. reid: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the senate pros to s. s. res. 184. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: recognizing women and girls on world refugee day. mr. reid: i ask the resolution be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid on the table. there be no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask consent we now proceed to s. res. 185. the clerk: the clerk will report. the clerk: to authorize representation by the senate legal counsel in the case of r. wayne paterson, v. united states senate et.al. the presiding officer: without objection the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. reid: i ask consent the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid on the table, there be no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent

mr. reid: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to s. res. 171. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. res. 171, designating june 15, 2013, as world elder abuse awareness day. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding to the measure? without objection. the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. reid: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to and the motion to reconsider be laid on the table with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: mr. president, i apologize to everyone for having to wait. we were trying to get some things cleared and it didn't work. so... i ask unanimous consent tha that when the senate completes its business today it adjourn until monday, june 17. following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: are we in a quorum call? the presiding officer: we are. mr. reid: i ask consent it be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: it's my understanding regular order would be my calling paul amendment 1200 as modified, is that right? the presiding officer: the senator may call for regular order with respect to that amendment. mr. reid: i so move, mr. president. the presiding officer: the amendment's now pending. mr. reid: pardon me? the presiding officer: the amendment is now pending. mr. reid: it is pending? i move to table the paul amendment and ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote: vote: vote: the presiding officer: are there any senators in the chamber wishing to vote or change their vote? the yeas are 61, the nays are 37. the motion to table is agreed to. the majority leader is recognized. mr. r

mr. reid: mr. president, the previous order said that i'd be recognized when that time ran out, and so that would be the case now. the presiding officer: the majority leader is recognized. mr. reid: i will be recognized at 9:30. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. leahy: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. leahy: mr. president, again i thank the majority leader. i have heard some talk tonight from some saying they wish there would be votes. i finally have given unhanding a long list to the republican side of amendments we are prepared to vote on, both republican and democratic amendments. each time that was rejected. most of them were amendments with no controversy, republican and democratic alike; would have been accepted. and i think back to the debate we had in the senate judiciary committee where we actually voted on amendments. we brought up 140 or so. all but two or three passed with bipartisan votes. a couple dozen of about 40 republican amendments p

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i appreciate my friend for yielding, the usual courtesy. i would ask, though, that his statement not appear interrupted in the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i have read into the record in some detail today a letter that he wrote with senator leahy talking about what has gone on in recent years about border security. that country is very fortunate fortunate -- our country is very fortunate to have this good man leading the homeland security committee. i have -- one of the senators i don't know as much about as i do know about this man, but we have been together since 1982. he had a sabbatical he took for eight years to run the state of delaware as a governor, but other than that, we have been locked in arms moving forward. so i appreciate very much his yielding on this matter. i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to a period of morning business with senators allowed to speak for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection.

mr. reid: i would also say this, mr. president: the amendment we've been with waiting for i think is done, we finally, we got the last sign-off just a few minutes ago. mr. sessions: mr. president, could i inquire what the u.c. just got agreed to? mr. reid: extend the time for debate only until 8:30. the time is equally divided. mr. leahy: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. leahy: i appreciate norm nevada getting this unanimous consent agreement. i'm glad it was agreed to and i commend the majority leader for his work he's doing on this. it is a slow process. it would be an awful lot slower if it wasn't for the very accomplished hand of our majority leader. i yield the floor and i suggest the absence of a quorum. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i appreciate the distinguished chairman of the committee for saying some nice things about pee, but my involvement in this is minimal compared to -- about me, but my involvement in this is minimal compared to

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: mr. president, the managers of this bill, floor staff, people are working to try to come up with a path forward on this legislation. we have a number of senators who are concerned about amendments that they feel are not -- what's the right word? controversial. and so that's one track we're trying to come up with. the other track is the number of senators are working with the gang of eight to come up with a major amendment to deal with as i understand it, border security and a number of other things. i'm also told that that amendment is being drafted at legislative counsel. so i hope that we can have that amendment soon so people can look at it, and i hope we can do something with the noncontroversial amendments. in the meantime, we just have to understand, mr. president, this is not easy to do, but i think we have a path forward. i am grateful to everyone for being as understanding as they are. because the legislation is not easy, especially on a major piece of legislation like this. but

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: following leader remarks, i ask consent that the senate resume consideration of s. 744, the comprehensive immigration bill. aeupbd ask that the time -- and i ask that the time until noon be equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees and i be recognized at noon. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: mr. president, i indicated last night that i was going to create a vote at 11:30 this morning, but senators mikulski and shelby have asked that we put that over a little bit, so we're going to do that at noon because they're having important work on the appropriations committee. we'll continue to work through amendments on the bill today. hopefully we can have a, at that time at noon have a path forward on this legislation. we have a number of amendments that are now pending. we hope to have a way of disposing of those. i hope there's something that can be worked out. senator landri

mr. reid: madam president? the presiding officer: mr. leader. mr. reid: if we could have order. the presiding officer: order. the senate will be in order. take your conversations outside, please. the senate will be in order. mr. reid: madam president, we're here today to talk about people, not pages of legislation . this bill represents human beings, real people. yes, immigrants. i'm going to talk about two of them today. over 20 years ago a man crossed the rio grande river in a rubber raft. she was four years old. she was a baby. madam president, it's hard -- there's really a lot of stuff going on here. the presiding officer: the national will be in order. mr. reid: i know everyone wants to leave. but i'd appreciate it if everybody would be quiet. astrid crossed the rio grande river with her mom. she had a little dress on, patent leather shoes. she was four years old. she doesn't remember mexico, the country where she was born, but she does remember the day she left mexico. she cried. she cried because the only thing she could take with her was her batmismal cross and a cross.

mr. reid: madam president, what are we on now? the presiding officer: we are currently in leader remarks. mr. reid: i would therefore ask -- the presiding officer: no bill is currently pending. mr. reid: i would therefore ask the chair to close the morning business and move to whatever the business of the day is. the presiding officer: under the previous order the leadership time is reserved. under the previous order the senate will resume consideration of s. 744 which the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 80, s. 744 a bill to provide for comprehensive immigration reform and for other purposes. the presiding officer: under the previous order the time until 5:30 p.m. will be equally divided between the two managers or their designees. mr. reid: madam president i do have a cloture motion at the desk and i ask that it be reported. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the cloture motion. the clerk: we the undersigned senators in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate hereby mo

mr. reid: madam president? the presiding officer: mr. leader. mr. reid: there will be no more roll call votes tonight. at 11:30 tomorrow i remind everyone we have a motion to waive the budget point of order. and we'll also vote after that on the leahy amendment as modified. that is 1183. following that, a vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the committee-reported substitute. we have those votes already set up. i've been to the white house for the last while, couple of hours with senator mcconnell, and i got back to the cloakroom and we're working on an amendment list. during my absence here the staff has worked very hard with -- we've worked among ourselves. we've worked with republicans trying to come up with a list of amendments. we're not there yet. i'm informed that the last half-hour or so we went backwards rather than forward. but we're working on this. we can still do it. we have to keep our eye on the prize and make sure that everyone is willing to give a little, because right now there's too many amendments that will never be agreed to.

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i'm happy to allow the colloquy between the two senators, questions or otherwise, but i have a consent agreement that senator grassley and i have been waiting here to do for some time, and so when we complete our work, i would hope the two senators would engage in whatever conversation they want. i have also been told that perhaps senator leahy, the manager of this bill, may want to say something. so, mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the following amendments be in order to be called up before the senate. thune number 1197, vitter number 1228, landrieu number 1222, and landrieu number -- i'm sorry, and tester number 1198. that the time until 4:30 be equally divided between the two managers or their designees for debate on these amendments and that grassley amendment 1195 -- let's do that again, mr. president. that the time until 4:30 be equally divided between the two managers or designees, and that would be for debate on these amendments, and the grassley amendment 11

mr. reid: mr. president? the president pro tempore: the majority leader. mr. reid: following leader remarks, if any, the senate will resume consideration of the immigration bill. mr. president, we finished here late last night. we had a lot of issues that were unresolved then. we have just a couple this morning, and we hope we can resolve those very quickly. so i certainly hope that's the case. i'm going to ask a consent agreement that will put us into some activity here for the next several hours but i hope we don't need to use all this time. mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the time until 2:30 this afternoon be for debate only, equally divided and controlled between the two senators or their designees, with senators permitted to speak for up to ten minutes each with the exception of senator sessions who will control up to two hours. at 2:30 i be recognized. and further, mr. president, i would ask that consent be approved by the -- the president pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. reid: mr. president, senator sessions has always been very co

mr. reid: mr. president, i -- madam president, i appreciate very much the courtesy of my friend from new mexico. madam president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i now ask unanimous consent that when the senate resumes consideration of s. 744, the immigration bill, on tuesday, june 1-rb8g the time until 12:30 and the time from 2:15 to 3:00 be equally divided between the leaders or their designees. at 3:00 p.m., the senate begin to vote on the amendments blow. there will be no morning business tomorrow? okay, so on with my consent agreement -- suggestion. at 3:00 p.m., the sna the proceed to votes on the amendments listed behoe in the following order: thune 1197, landrieu 1222, vitter 1228, tester 1198. that there be no second-degree amendments in order prior to the votes, all amendments be subject to a 60-vote threshold. there be two minutes equally divided between the votes. after the first vote, they be 10 minutes. madam president, i have spoken to my friend shall the rankin

mr. reid: mr. president? the speaker pro tempore: the majority leader. mr. reid: following leader remarks, the senate will be in a period of morning business for an hour. the majority will control the first half, the republicans the final half. following that morning business, the senate will resume consideration of s. 744, the immigration bill. i now ask unanimous consent the filing deadline for first-degree amendments to s. 744 be 12:00 p.m. today. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. reid: the filing deadline for all first-degree amendments, both the substitute amendment and the bill is today at noon. the senate will recess today from 12:30 until 2:15 for weekly caucus meetings. the senate will be notified when votes are scheduled. i would note the absence of a quorum. the presidingthe speaker pro tee clerk will call the roll. quorum call: mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the call of the quorum be terminat

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: following leader remarks -- and today we'll hear from senator mcconnell first -- the senate will resume the motion to proceed to the comprehensive immigration legislation. the tile unti time until 12:30 e equally divided between the proponents and opponents of this legislation. the senate will recess from 12:30 to 2:15. at 2:15 there will be a vote to invoke cloture on the legislation. at 4:00 there will be a vote on adoption to proceed. and we can begin consideration of that legislation. mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the republican leader. mr. mcconnell: at any given type in our nation's history, lawmakers have been faced with many pressing challenges, some by their very nature demand immediate action. others suml simile build over t. so forcing action on them includes some combination of foresight and persuasion. the great challenge of our own day, in my view, is figuring out how to reform govern

mr. reid: mr. president, tomorrow there will be another class of pages that will graduate after serving the united states senate so well. we expect a lot of our pages who often work as hard as senators and staffs, for their contributions which make the senate run smoothly day in and day out are greatly appreciated. i commend them for their hard work, thank them for their efforts, wish them the best of luck in their next endeavor. and speaking from a personal perspective, madam president, my two oldest grandchildren served as pages and it really changed their lives. even though their grandfather was heavily involved in politics all my adult life, they really weren't in tune with what was going on or i guess they didn't really care that much. but after having served here as a page, they became avid readers of the press and listen to the news and became interested in what goes on here. these jobs as pages are really life changing. there are lots of examples of that. senator chris dodd, who recently re

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 in relation to the amendments. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. reid: madam president, we now have these amendments in order and we'll work with all the parties to see if we can have some wa

mr. reid: thank you, madam president f. there's no furthe.if there's no further bus to come before the senate, i ask that it adjourn under the previous order. the presiding officer: the senate stands adjourned until 9:30 a.m. tomorrow. suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. rubio: thank you, mr. president. and i'm happy to be here on the floor today as we get ready to go on the immigration bill and we start to debate it. tici i want to lay out a couple of many of the reasons my colleague from alabama and rai of these problems that we face t with regard to our immigrationrs system here in the country.te nd let's take a step back and a analyze the issue a little bit.f for the people tuning in for tht first time visiting washington and listening to the talk aboutd it and a fundamental it understanding what we are addressing here. let us begin by saying the on. all americans understand i immigration because it's theirrs story. you you, your parents, grandparent.f one of the defining characteristic of the unite

thank you, mr. speaker, and also mr. reid and mr. mcconnell. you have honored me greatly. ou have brought goodness and kindness into my life. hank you for that. i'm a very special friend, mr. hoyer. nd mr. cantor, thank you for your kindness. and to the esteemed members of the president's cabinet, i'm delighted to be with you, particularly madam secretary. we have worked together on so many things. i want to say i am probably the luckiest man. i am proud mostly of the friends that i have made. that has been the most important thing in my life. i have a wonderful wife. i want to tell her how much i love her today and how much she means to me and why. i was looking at some books and i found in the proverbs in the bible a set of verses, 31:10. if you will take a look at that, you will see why debra is so important and dear to me. i will endear her more to you. i have been blessed with a wonderful family. a father who was an inspiration to me and a mother whose goodness was cherished by all who knew her. i'm proud that my daughter is with me today. my son christopher and his w

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: following leader remarks, the senate will resume the motion to proceed to s. 4 -- 744, the immigration bill. that will take lace unti place l 5:00 p.m. today. senator sessions will control two hours. senator leahy will control the remaining time today. senator-designate kaisa will be sworn in today at 4:30 p.m. at 5:00, the senate resume consideration of the farm bill. at 5:30 there will be a vote on passage of that bill. following that vote, the senate will reseoul the hogs to road to the immigration bill. there will be a vote on the motion to proceed to proceed at 2:15 tomorrow afternoon. there are two bills at the desk. the presidin the clerk: a bill to stop national security agency from spying on citizens of the united states and for other purposes. h.r. 126, an act to direct the secretary of the interior to enter into an agreement to provide for management of free-roaming wild horses and so forth and for other purposes. mr. reid: i would object to further proceedings on thi

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: following the remarks of me and senator mcconnell the senate will be in morning business for an hour. republicans will control the first half. the majority the final half. following morning business the senate will resume consideration of the immigration bill. now, mr. president, we have in order a number of amendments that are now pending. and i would hope that the managers of this bill will work to get times set for these amendments, time agreements, and we'll work out a time to do these as quickly as we can. but we have to have an agreement to move forward on these amendments. and i would suggest i don't want and i don't think we should have to move to table any of the amendments or anything like that. i think we should be able to have votes on these. i look forward to the managers working out a time agreement on these amendments so we can move forward and move on to something else in this bill as quickly as possible. mr. president, a young woman by the name of ro xanna began

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i have a few matters i must take care of. we'll be in a period of morning business until 4:00 p.m. today. following that morning business, the senate will resume consideration of the farm bill. at 5:30, there will be two roll call votes on amendments to that bill. there are two bills at the desk due for a second reading. the presiding officer: the clerk will read the titles of the bills for a second time. the clerk: h.r. 3, an act to approve the construction, operation and may not nens of the keystone -- maintenance of the keystone x.l. pipeline and for other pups. h.r. 271, an act that compliance with emergency order under section 202-c of the federal power act and so forth and for other purposes. mr. reid: mr. president, i object to both -- further proceedings with regard to both of these matters. the presiding officer: objection having been heard, the measures will now be placed on the calendar. mr. reid: mr. presiden

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: following leader remarks, the senate will resume consideration of the immigration bill. the time until 11:30 will be equally divided between the two managers. the filing deadline for all second-degree amendments to both the substitute and to the bill is 10:30 today. at 11:30, there will be three roll call votes and a motion to waive the applicable budget points of order, adoption of the leahy amendment as modified, and a cloture vote on the committee-reported substitute amendment. mr. president, i think it's appropriate that i say just a word or two about the eight senators who have worked to get us to the point where we are now. i was thinking this morning this is really america at its best. each one of those eight senators don't know, as i don't know, whether this work they have done is going to help them or hurt them, their political careers, but this is one of those opportunities where i'm confident that they believe they're doing it for the right reasons, no matter what the

mr. reid: mr. president? mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: mr. president, i will be brief. i appreciate very much the remarks of senator cowan. the only thing he said that i disagree with is no one had a chance to vote on him to get here. there was one big vote that was very important, a man by the name of duval patrick. and once he made that decision, you were our senator as long as you -- as well as you were the senator of massachusetts. mr. president, i, of course, know duval patrick. we all saw him at the convention giving his brilliant speech. he was swarmed with people diving him advice as to who he should select to replace senator kerry, but he called me and said don't worry about it, i will select the best person from the state of massachusetts to represent senator kerry for the interim. and he was right. and i have told governor patrick on the telephone and i have -- a couple weeks ago, i said you make sure that you call governor patrick for me becaus

it requires the secretary of homeland security -- mr. reid: madam president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: could i ask the distinguished senator from nebraska for me to offer a unanimous consent request? mrs. fischer: yes. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i of course express my appreciation to the senator for her courtesy and i ask unanimous consent that her statement not appear interrupted in the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent not withstanding rule 22, at 2:15 today the senate proceed to executive session to consider calendar number 180 under the previous order. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: for further information of senators, at 2:15 there will be debate followed by a vote on penny pritzker to be secretary of commerce. the presiding officer: without objection. the senator from nebraska. mrs. fischer: thank you, madam president. thank you, majority leader. i was speaking about the border security amendment that i have filed and comparing that

mr. reid: mr. president, in a few minutes senators will cast votes on two amendments to the farm bill that's now pending before this body. before we do, i want to take just a minute to acknowledge that the senior senator from montana, max baucus, has cast more than 12,000 votes over the past three decades with this institution, the united states senate. it's really a remarkable accomplishment, and it speaks to his dedication to the united states senate and to the people of montana. he's a hardworking senator. he learned the value of hard work on a ranch outside helena, capital of the state of montana. from the time he was a boy, he was noted as being extremely smart. that's why he was able to learn -- i'm sorry. to obtain both his bachelor and law degree at one of the most prestigious universities of the world: stanford university. i've worked with him many years i've been here in the senate. i've worked with him when he was chairman of the environment and public works committee during the massive

mr. reid: we're going to have one more vote tonight, on final passage. the presiding officer: the clerk will read the bill for the third time. the clerk: calendar number 73, s. 954, a bill to reauthorize agricultural programs through 2018. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the question occurs on s. 954 as amended. is there a sufficient second? there is. the clerk will call the roll. vote: vote: vote: vote: the presiding officer: are there any senators in the chamber wishing to vote or wishing to change their vote? if not, the yeas are 66, the nays are 27, and the bill as amended is passed. the senator from ohio. mr. brown: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent to speak for up to five minutes, following my remarks, senator sessions will have the floor. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. brown: thank you, mr. president. and i ask unanimous consent to speak as if in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. brown: thank you, mr. president. under the leadership of chairwoman stabenow and ranking member cochran

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: following leader remarks, the senate will be in a period of morning business for an hour. the majority will control the first half, republicans the final half. following that morning business, the is that the will resume consideration of s. 744, which is the immigration bill. so we'll work through amendments today on the bill. senators will be notified when votes are scheduled. mr. president, last night the united states senate advanced a bipartisan immigration reform bill that willing good for national security and really good for the economy. it will be good for american citizens as well, as well as those who aspire to one day become citizens. it's truly gratifying to see the momentum behind this commonsense reform proposal. 84 senators voted to adopt the motion to proceed to this legislation, a very, very strong vote. by comparison, the senate failed to advance the immigration reform bill just six years ago when only 46 senators voted to end debate on that measure and allow u

mr. reid: there will be no roll call votes today. the next roll call vote will be monday at 5:30 p.m. on passage of the farm bill. mr. president, today the senate will have the opportunity to debate the partisan -- i'm sorry -- the bipartisan immigration bill reported by your committee, the presiding officer's committee, last month. as i've already done once today, i do it again, i commend the chairman of that committee, senator leahy, for leading a thorough and transparent process in the committee. i thank senator sessions for working with us yesterday to move forward on this measure as quickly as possible. as i've said before, senator sessions, i once in a while disagree on substance but we've always had a friendly relationship, which i appreciate. i applaud the efforts of the gang of eight, four democrats and four republicans, who set aside partisan to face immigration. the system is broken and needs to be fixed. it is gratifying to see this package of commonsense reforms which will make our country safer and help undocumented imm

mr. reid: thank you, madam president. i ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be laid on the table, there being no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. under the previous order, the senate stands in recess until 2: >> lots of other events taking place today on capitol hill. among them, another congressional hearing looking at the irs targeting of conservative groups. we've been showing that to you live on c-span.org and have been soliciting your reactions via twitter. here is some of what you guys are saying. let's call it what it is. the irs is profiling its victims. james smith, tweets,, irs in the my of midst of a scandal. there is never been a better time to reform the tags code and restructure the irs. come on, gop, do something. if all americans were listening to irs hearing our country would be a much different place. shocking stuff. we welcome your reactions and comments using the hashtag, irs. while the senate

. >> last but not least, mr. reid. >> thank you, mr. chairman and a panelist. i just wanted to express my sincere thoughts that we stand with you. i have heard a bunch of my colleagues talk about how with certain individuals having been fired as a result of this. mr. miller sat right where you were and when i estimate question, he had not been fired. he had been allowed to retire. with full benefits. he was drawing a paycheck paid andby the american taxpayer he tried to answer my question and that frustrates me but he would not answer. has you have lois lerner taken the fifth and is now allowed to go on vacation. that is accountability in washington, d.c. that is unacceptable to me. what i want to leave today with in yourgarrison, statement -- a lot of people in washington for get to their work for. the work for you. it is not the other way around. that is the culture of abuse of power that i see in the irs. i want to hear from you how that makes you feel, that there has not been any accountability as of yet. what would you ask us, me specifically, as a member

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: following remarks -- my remarks and those of senator mcconnell we'll be in a period of morning business for one hour. the majority will control the first half, republicans the final half. following morning business the senate will resume consideration of the farm bill. the senate will recess today from 12:30 until 2:15 to allow for our weekly caucus meetings. mr. president, first of all, thank you very much for giving the prayer. our pastor was supposed to give the prayer; was not here. you stepped in and did a wonderful job. we're all very proud of you, and on today especially proud of governor deval for appointing you. you've done a remarkably good job. we know in two or three weeks there is an election to fill this job but you're known to be one of the nicest and competent people i worked with here in congress. thank you very much. mr. president, this week we will say goodbye in the senate to a valued friend and a colleague, senator frank lautenberg. a funeral for frank will

. >> with all respect to mr. reid here, did not reject the equality of marriage, just side stepped it with great relief. it was only too happy to find an off-ramp and say, you know what, the prop 8 opponents don't have the proper legal standing. it was obviously clear from the oral argument that the court is nowhere near wanting to take on this question. they would not like to see this come back. there were two cases pending in the supreme court after it decided these cases from two other states that raised the core question. the court said, we're just not going to hear those now. it does not want to see these cases back on its doorstep for quite a while. it wants the states to have the very argument you're having now. >> i want to bring in another voice to this. joining me now is republican congress from kansas. congressman, i asked you to come on because you're on the leading edge of the opponents of gay marriage in congress, who want to have the fight in congress. you have pro possessioned a constitutional ban

mr. vice president, mr. speaker, leader reid and mcconnell. senator schumer, the sponsor of the bill brings us here today. and of course our colleague and called -- and congresswoman, eleanor holmes norton. congratulations, this is your day. [applause] dr. edna g. medford and nettie, congratulations to you and your family. 150 years ago, as midnight approached in 1863, frederick douglass gathered with fellow abolitionists in tremont temple in boston with great anticipation as they waited the official news of emancipation. knowing that freedom of people and the character of a nation hung in the balance. describing the spirit in that room, frederick douglass would later write, "we were awaiting for a bolt from the sky. watching by the light of the stars for the dawn of the new day. we will long for the answer to the prayers or centuries." since escaping slavery, he had agitated to usher the dawn of a new day. as the clock struck midnight, an agonizing prayer was answered. resident lincoln -- president lincoln signed the emancipation proclamation

mr. reid: mr. president? the president pro tempore:ed majority leader. mr. reid: following leader remarks the senate will be in a period of morning business for an hour. the republicans will control the first half. the majority the final half. following morning business the senate will resume consideration of the immigration bill. the senate will recess from 12:30 to 2:15 today for week will you caucus meetings. at 3:00 there will be four roll call votes in relation to amendments to the immigration bill. mr. president, i would simply add on that i've had a number of calls already this morning saying you can't have the votes then. i've got this. we've got meetings. we're going to have the votes at 4:00. this bill, we have to move forward on it. i was very happy we were able to get consent to have these votes starting at 3:00 today. mr. president, time is of the essence in this legislation. i have been patient. we've all been patient waiting to see what amendments people want to offer. i want to make sure that on some of these major issues that people have had

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: following leader remarks, the senate will resume consideration of the immigration bill. the time until 11:30 will be equally divided between the two managers of the bill, senators leahy and grassley. so at 11:30, there will be three roll call votes, one on confirmation of the secretary of transportation anthony foxx. the next vote would be on adoption of the committee-reported substitute amendment. and then we would have cloture on the bill, final bill. as amended, if amended. so we hope to complete action on this immigration bill, and i'll talk about that in just a minute. everyone knows, mr. president, we're poised to pass a historic immigration bill. it's landmark legislation that will secure our borders and help 11 million people get right with the law. i've indicated we have three votes this morning. now, mr. president, i hope to be able to work something out, we hope to be able to work something out so we can have a vote sometime late afternoon or evening. there is no reas

mr. reid: mr. president? tepl the majority leader is recognized. -- the president pro tempore: the majority leader is recognized. mr. reid: following leader remarks the senate will be in morning business until 5:00. then the senate will consider nominations. at 5:30 there will be at least one roll call on the confirmations of the nominations. the nominations are restrepo from new mexico. i'm sorry, i should know that, but i don't. restrepo and gonzales are the two nominations we have. i think restrepo is from pennsylvania and gonzales from new mexico. following those votes, the senate will resume consideration of the immigration bill. mr. president, it's been 86 days since the senate passed this budget. we've been through this on several occasions, and we've had republican senators come and criticize the republican leadership here for not letting us go to conference. they talk about their wanting regular order so we can move forward with the financial crisis that faces this country, but they've ignored us. mr

i want to yield time to the gentleman from new york, mr. reid. mr. reid: i thank the gentleman from north dakota for yielding and bringing this important issue to us today to have a conversation on. i am a firm believer in the all of the above approach to our energy needs of america. making energy in america domestically will lead to us being energy secure. mr. reed: it's about energy independence. it's about dwourpg resources both foss -- it's about developing our rerr resources oth fossil fuel and other, keeping an eye on the renewables for the long-term so we create a port foal yore of all of the above to ensure that america's national security is taken care of when it comes to energy needs. i have spent a lot of time, being from new york, dealing with the issue of natural gas development and the marcellus shale and utica shale formations and i can share with you many stories from farmers as i went through the northern tier of pennsylvania, just over the boarder from my district in corning, new york, and i remember one story in particular, i went

mr. reid: madam president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: a number of people have said they didn't know what was going on with the intelligence situation that developed in the country they didn't know. the program's been around for seven years. we've had a number of briefings both classified and unclassified. we're having another one at 2:30 today, general humphrey will be be -- what is his name? -- yes, alexander, will be there and he has some new stuff he wants to lay out for us. so everyone should go. if you don't go, you have no excuse for saying you don't know what's going on. this meeting has been scheduled all week. so, having said that, i ask unanimous consent the senate recess from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. i don't want anyone to have an excuse why they're not going there. so from 2:30 to 3:00 i ask consent that the senate stand in recess. the presiding officer: without objection. a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from massachusetts. a senator: madam president in less than three weeks the interest rate on

and i congratulate my co-sponsors, mr. grimm, mr. markey, mr. reid, mr. swalwell -- mr. reed, mr. swalwell and mr. cook, all of whom we have worked together with, for it is interesting that this has come to a point where today we can thank administrator pistol for his thoughtfulness in this process and the deliberations that took place, that the announcement comes that he too understands that allowing knives on planes is not the right decision. but in addition to the important statement of knives, we now know that other accessories such as baseball bats and ski poles and hockey sticks and la crosse sticks, among others, and golf clubs, are likewise -- likewise have been included in his statement. this amendment deals with knives. and the reason why this is very important -- because we should reaffirm the fact. as a member of the homeland security, and for many of us who started on this committee, after the heinous tragedy of 9/11, many of us who went to ground zero during the recovery period, because of the horrific tragedy, smoke was still billowing from those terrible, tragic as

ralph reid over there. thank you for the kind invitation here. i realize i'm not as famous as my preceding speaker. if you don't mind, i'd like to take the liberty to tell you a story of how i got involved in this. it began back in december 2009 during the whole health care debate. i was asked to give his speech at the tea party. never been political, never gave speeches to political events, but they came to me as a businessperson to speak to us about the harmful effect of government regulation of business. i'm happy to speak, but it's not what i want to talk about. come on anyways just talk to us. if you remember in december 2009, we were in a heated debate over the health care law. now this is not a quote. i would call it an unkind paraphrase, but he basically said these greedy moneygrubbing doctors in the bubble takeout acetic tonsils, the amputated foot for a few extra bucks. i found that offensive on so many levels. first of all, one of our problems today in this nation, one of the cultural issues we face is instead of celebrating success, w

mr. vice president, mr. speaker, leader reid and mcconnell. senator schumer, the sponsor of the bill brings us here today. and of course our colleague and called -- and congresswoman, eleanor holmes norton. congratulations, this is your day. [applause] and nettie,medford congratulations to you and your family. 150 years ago, as midnight approached in 1863, frederick douglass gathered with fellow abolitionist and tremont temple in boston with great anticipation they waited the official news of emancipation. knowing that freedom of people and the character of a nation hung in the balance. describing the spirit in that room, frederick douglass would later write, "we were awaiting for a boat from the sky. watching a by the light of the stars for the dawn of the new day. we will long for the answer to ." sixayers or centuries escaping slavery he had agitated to usher the dawn of a new day. as the clock struck midnight, and agonizing prayer was answered. resident lincoln -- president -- emancipation proclamation. twoould take until june 19 reached t