Madam President, I am sorry to barge in here, but all day I have been trying to speak about one of our colleagues. So I appreciate everyone's attention. It is a short speech, but I have been trying to get over here all day. Tributes to…

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that all postcloture time be considered expired when the Senate resumes consideration of the House message with respect to H.R. 4853 on Wednesday, December 15, except for the time provided for under…

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the filing deadline for second-degree amendments with respect to the motion to concur with an amendment be at 2:30 p.m. today. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so…

Mr. President, following leader remarks, the Senate will resume consideration of the House message with respect to H.R. 4853, the vehicle for the tax agreement, with the time until 3 p.m. equally divided and controlled between the two…

Mr. President, as I said, I was hoping I wouldn't have to be here today while the Senator was here, but that is the way it is. I have nothing further. Upcoming Weekend Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, since we are talking about weekends, I…

No, I wasn't Saturday. Mr. McCONNELL. As my friend knows, as I mentioned to him, since the Senate was not in session Saturday, I was actually there. With 5 minutes into the second half, your Rebels were up by 9, and it looked pretty bleak…

Mr. President, to be honest with you, I was hoping the Republican leader wouldn't be here at this time so I could avoid him because I didn't want to talk about the Saturday basketball game when Louisville beat UNLV. It was an upset. But I…

Mr. President, following leader remarks, if any, the Senate will turn to a period of morning business, with Senator Sanders of Vermont to be recognized at 10:15 a.m. to speak for whatever time he feels appropriate. There will be no…

The message to accompany H.R. 4853. Mr. President, I move to table my motion and ask for the yeas and nays. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second? There appears to be a sufficient second. The question is on agreeing to the…

Mr. President, what is the pending business before the Senate? The PRESIDING OFFICER. The pending business is the motion to concur-- --

Mr. President, this resolution concerns a request for testimony and representation in a criminal action pending in Minnesota State Court. In this action, protesters have been charged with trespass for occupying Senator Al Franken's St…

Mr. President, I am sorry I was tied up in other matters today and not able to hear speeches of some of our Senators who are departing. I will have more to say at a later time. I did want to say on two of the Senators, I watched some of…

Mr. President, did the Chair rule on my request? The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection to the request? Hearing no objection, it is so ordered. CLOTURE MOTION The PRESIDING OFFICER. The cloture motion having been presented under rule…

Mr. President, as I stated in my remarks earlier, this is not any kind of a legislative wrangle I am having with my friend from Maine. She has been the only person I could talk to about this legislation. I appreciate her time and efforts…

The agreement is that I have made a number of different offers and have made other suggestions. In direct answer to the Senator's question, we have to fill the tree, of course. We have to work through the amendments. I tried to come up…

Mr. President, discrimination has never served America very well. When it applies to those who serve America in the Armed Forces, it is both disgraceful and counterproductive. The theory behind don't ask, don't tell is a thing that…

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that we proceed to a period of morning business with Senators allowed to speak for up to 10 minutes each. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. Under the previous order, the…

Madam President, the chairman of the Armed Services Committee gave a speech on the Senate floor. I have such admiration and respect for Senator Levin. He does such a wonderful job protecting America in so many different ways, not only as…