Madam President, I ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed en bloc to Executive Calendar Nos. 885, 886, 917, and 935; that the nominations be confirmed en bloc, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table; that…

I wish to ask the majority leader, does he recall the time I returned from the Appropriations Committee and said Senator McConnell had come to the committee and said he was going to establish the maximum amount that he would vote for in…

Madam President, before the Senate at this moment is the New START treaty, an agreement between the United States and Russia. This is an effort to try to make this a safer world, to make certain that the nuclear weapons that are in this…

Madam President, I want to respond to what has been said by my friend Senator Kyl from Arizona, as well as Senator McConnell of Kentucky, about the appropriations bill, which we are going to consider in a very short period of time. I am a…

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent to speak as in morning business for no more than 10 minutes. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so ordered.

Madam President, are we in morning business at this point? The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. We are on the treaty.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, December 16; that following the prayer and the pledge, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the…

I ask unanimous consent that the bill be read three times and passed, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate, and any statements related to the bill be printed in the Record. The PRESIDING…

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of H.R. 6516, which was received from the House and is at the desk. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the title of the bill. The bill…

Madam President, last night I was on a conference call. It was an unusual one. There were 8,000 people on this conference call. I have never been on a conference call like that. They were from all across the United States of America. We…

Madam President, first let me commend my colleague from New Mexico, Senator Thomas Udall, for a thoughtful presentation on a challenge we face as Americans regardless of political affiliation. It is thoughtful in that he reflected not only…

Madam President, I ask consent to speak for 15 minutes in morning business. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

I announce that the Senator from Alaska (Mr. Begich) is necessarily absent. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there any other Senators in the Chamber desiring to vote? The yeas and nays resulted--yeas 47, nays 52, as follows: [Rollcall Vote No…

Mr. President, as if in executive session, I ask unanimous consent that on Thursday, December 16, following leader time, the Senate proceed to executive session to begin consideration of Calendar No. 7, the START treaty, and that the…

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the printing of tributes be modified to provide that Members have until sine die of the 111th Congress, 2d session, to submit tributes and that the order for printing remain in…

Mr. President, votes in relation to amendments on the START treaty are possible throughout the day tomorrow. Senators will be notified when votes are scheduled. ____________________

Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that it adjourn under the previous order. There being no objection, the Senate, at 6:24 p.m., adjourned until Thursday, December 16, 2010, at…

Mr. President, the Senate is not in order. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senate will please come to order. Take conversations off the floor.