These changes are actually hurting the competitiveness of U.S. businesses. Again, we don't need to do this kind of ad hoc, harmful tax reform. We need a comprehensive approach. The responsible approach is what I think we probably all agree…

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the committee-reported substitute amendment be agreed to, the bill, as amended, be read the third time and passed, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table, without any intervening action…

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 486, H.R. 1454. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. The clerk will state the bill by title. The assistant…

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be read three times, passed, and the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and that any statements relating to the measure be printed in the Record, without further intervening…

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 477, S. 258. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. The clerk will state the bill by title. The assistant…

Mr. President, I rise today to ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing the National Urban League on celebrating 100 years of enabling African Americans to secure economic self-reliance, parity, power, and civil rights. The National…

I thank the Senator from Florida. I am going to speak another 4 minutes. I know staff is tired and we are going to wrap up soon. I wanted to end with a comment from another small business in Metairie, LA, which is right outside of New…

Well, the Senator is exactly right, but a better question is why would the minority leader insist on voting on an amendment we have already voted on three times. That is even a more interesting question. We have already voted on the…

Well, I hope not. I wish to answer the question. I hope not. But we are very close because this bill, as the Senator knows, came to the floor because he helped to draft certain provisions of this from two committees with bipartisan…

Madam President, could I ask the minority leader a question, please. Will he yield? Would the minority leader be willing to say how many amendments might be enough? The Senator from Maine, the ranking member, said a few. The Senator from…

Yes. Mr. McCONNELL. I will tell my friend from Louisiana that is the sort of thing the majority leader and I work on every day, is to try to determine the number of amendments, and we ought to continue to try to do that.

Madam President, let me press for a minute on this question, because with all due respect to the minority leader, until we can finally agree on that number, it is going to be hard to figure out a path forward. So my question to the…

Madam President, we have had a very enlightening debate this morning on the floor that started at 9:30. It has been continuing until now. The good news about this debate is that although we did not win on this vote--cloture was not…

I thought we had the first half hour and the Senator's side had the second, but I understand now that it is back and forth. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Utah is recognized.

In part, it says: We also support the LeMieux-Landrieu Amendment incorporated into the bill, which would establish a $30 billion Small Business Lending Fund. . . . As the nation's fragile economic recovery continues, households are still…

I very much would like to yield to the Senator from California for a question. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from California.

I would like to answer the Senator from California by saying the record will speak for itself because that vote we just took, there were 59 Senators, all on this side of the aisle, who pushed a green light, and there were 41 on the other…

For whatever reason, I don't know why. I think maybe they think that is good politics. But I don't believe it is, and I don't think most Americans, even Republicans, would think that is good politics.