Madam President, this has been a long time in coming--I think 7 or 8 months--and I have had the distinguished Republican leader contact me on more than one occasion asking when we were going to be able to move this bill. I appreciate his…

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be read three times and passed, the motion 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…

Mr. President, I now ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of H.R. 4508. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the bill by title. The legislative clerk read as follows: A bill (H.R. 4508) to provide for…

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order with respect to debate prior to the cloture vote on the Bernanke nomination be modified to provide that the debate prior to the cloture vote be extended until 3:20 this afternoon…

I move to reconsider the vote and to lay that on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to. ____________________

Madam President, pay-go, as we are attempting to legislate, has not been in effect. That is what we are trying to do. That is why this legislation is so vitally important. I appreciate the work of the Budget Committee and the Finance…

Madam President, I will use leader time. This is not the time for being funny. This is a time for addressing the problems we have in this country with a debt that is going on and on. No one can dispute what I said, and that is, during the…

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 9:30 a.m. on Friday, January 29; that following the prayer and pledge, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning…

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to executive session to consider Executive Calendar No. 474, the nomination of M. Patricia Smith to be Solicitor for the Department of Labor. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without…

I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now proceed to the consideration of S. 2968. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the bill by title. The legislative clerk read as follows: A bill (S. 2968) to make certain technical and…

I ask unanimous consent the mandatory quorum be waived. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. ____________________

I ask unanimous consent that the Senate resume legislative session. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. ____________________

Madam President, I am pleased that the Senate just passed S. 2799, the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act of 2009 and I thank Senators Dodd, Kerry, Shelby, Lieberman, Bayh, Kyl and many others who have worked…

Madam President, I move to reconsider the vote by which the bill was passed and to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

The Senator from Arizona has the assurance of the two leaders--Reid and McConnell--that there will be a vote when this matter comes back from conference, and I am committed to getting it back just as quickly as we can. The PRESIDING…

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 6:41 p.m., adjourned until Friday, January 29, 2010, at…

Mr. President, there will be no rollcall votes during tomorrow's session of the Senate. The next vote will be at 5:30 p.m. Monday. That vote will be on the motion to invoke cloture on the nomination of Patricia Smith to be Solicitor for…

Mr. President, following leader remarks, there will be a period for the transaction of morning business for 1 hour. The time will be controlled by the two leaders or their designees. Senator Sanders is going to control 15 minutes of the…