On the recordMay 14, 2015
Mr. President, the negotiating process has finally worked. Indeed, the spirit of four bills that passed the Finance Committee last week on this issue of trade--the spirit of that overwhelming bipartisan vote in the Finance Committee has now been carried out on the floor of the Senate and, in fact, is being carried out and will be so as we invoke the motion for cloture to go to the bill in the next vote that will occur in 30 minutes. Certainly, trade preferences with regard to African countries, plus the trade preferences with regard to the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere, Haiti, were not controversial at all. We passed that. Certainly, the intent was that the safeguards we put in with regard to considering trade legislation put them on a Customs bill. That was intended to go along with the trade legislation, and now that has passed. Remember, all of this was bollixed up 2 or 3 days ago and we weren't going anywhere, but cooler minds prevailed and brought everybody together. Now we go to the main event. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The time for the minority has expired.
