Mr. President, I object to that as well, but I know the Senator wants to speak about it. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.

I object. May I say something? First of all---- The PRESIDING OFFICER. Would the Senator yield?

Mr. President, I do not like at all objecting to the McCain amendment, but I am compelled to because I have been literally trying for several weeks now--not just on this bill but the previous bill--to get a vote, just a vote. I will even…

Mr. President, I object. Reserving the right to object, I have some difficulty with the amendment the Senator from Arizona wishes to discuss. I have been trying to get a vote on amendment No. 1113 on flood insurance, and one of the Members…

Madam President, the Senate, I am learning, is an institution bound by tradition and precedent. One of the time-honored and worthwhile traditions in this body is that new Senators, for at least the first few months of their service, are to…

Mr. President, I thank my colleague and couldn't agree with him more on a number of the things he listed; in particular, the so-called affordable care act, which is anything but affordable. I found out, as I traveled across the State of…

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak in morning business for up to 12 minutes. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so ordered.

Mr. President, as is obvious, the people of South Louisiana have been through a whole lot in the last several years-- Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Rita, many significant hurricanes since then, most recently Hurricane Isaac, and the BP oil…

Mr. President, I further ask unanimous consent to bring on to the floor and display a box of home keys, which I will explain in a moment. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so ordered.

I appreciate my good friend Senator Whitehouse yielding the time for me. Remembering Frank R. Lautenberg

I would like to talk for a few minutes about Senator Lautenberg and what he brought to this body and what he brought to public service. I represent Missouri in the Senate, and in the House I represented southwest Missouri. Many times in…

Mr. President, since I have an objection to that amendment 1007, I ask unanimous consent that amendment No. 1008 be called up. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?

Mr. President, this amendment is very controversial, I know, amongst my colleagues. But I have practiced medicine for 25 years, and before that I ran a pretty successful business. The Department of Health and Human Services delayed the…

I understand the objection. I have no ill will toward my chairman or ranking member for their objection. What this amendment does is during sequester, it prohibits performance awards in the Senior Executive Service. We are paying…

I will tell you how I go through looking at the farm bill. I believe farmers ought to farm. I don't believe they ought to farm the government. I think you all, over the last few years, have done a good job changing that scenario. I believe…

Since objection is heard, it was my understanding the Senator from Michigan had an agreed-upon list that was sent to both cloakrooms.

Mr. President, fair and balanced consideration to our colleagues is allowing them to have amendments, and the Senator just objected to that. So that is where we are. That doesn't keep her from managing the bill. The Senator still gets to…

Let me make this point. If the Senator from Michigan wouldn't have objected, we could start voting tonight, we could vote tomorrow, we could get through those. Half of those will be pulled, and we would be almost to the same number of…