Thank you very much. Senator Reid has told me I have 30 minutes, so I will start that at this time. We are in a very difficult time right now because we are getting out of the deepest recession since the Great Depression. If we go back and…

Can I finish? I let you talk. Now I think I have a turn. I don't have a legal degree, my friend has. It is common sense. It seems to me it is a question of fairness. Those of us who are responsible for keeping this government open-- The…

No, I am not. I will reiterate again what I said, which is this: We do not increase or decrease the President's pay.

We are not changing a penny of the President's pay. What we are saying is, in the event of a government shutdown, he will be treated the same way other Federal employees are treated and be treated in the same way we are treated. He can…

That is a good idea. The reason I have done it this way is because I am trying to say that we in the Senate and in the House have an obligation to keep the government running, and we should be treated just like other Federal employees…

I will repeat. We don't diminish, we withhold it during a period of a government shutdown or a failure to raise the debt ceiling. There is a reason we do it. It is very rare we have a government shutdown, but, in my view, and in the view…

I ask unanimous consent that the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee be discharged from-- The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator's time has expired.

I want an answer, please, to my question: Can people object to a unanimous consent request without saying who they are, No. 1? And No. 2, what is the parliamentary procedure here? The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from…

So it is the Senator from Oklahoma, Senator Coburn, who objects to the bill we have that would say we don't get paid in the case of a shutdown; is that correct? Senator Coburn is objecting to that? The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. That is…

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee be discharged from further consideration of S. 388 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without…

Madam President, they have a vendetta against clean energy. I guess they want to keep dependence on foreign oil. I do not and my people do not. We do not enjoy $5-a-gallon gas, which is where it is heading maybe because of the unrest in…

Mr. President, in 1 minute or less, I thank the occupant of the Chair very much for his strong cosponsorship of this bill, along with other colleagues. Basically, we are saying that if we fail to keep this government open, or to lift the…