On the recordNovember 15, 2011
as I understand the current situation, we do not know whether we are on three bills or one bill. That is up to the leadership. Senator Alexander and I have worked on the Energy and Water bill. We are very hopeful we can move this bill. It was unanimous in the subcommittee on Appropriations. There was only one dissent in the full committee--which is one of the largest committees in the Senate, in the Appropriations Committee. It is a significant bill. We believe we should move it as quickly as we possibly can. We have been talking. Obviously we are waiting to hear from the leadership. We are hopeful that once we hear we can move very quickly to get this bill passed by this body. It has been a great pleasure for me to work with Senator Alexander. I know he has some comments he wishes to make at this time. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Tennessee.
