Yes. The Senate majority leader is on the floor, and he has said if there is to be a motion to instruct conferees on the debt ceiling, for example, then we can have a vote on the floor of the Senate. That is the regular order.

Sixty-one days we have been begging the Republicans--we have been begging the Republicans, not all of them, to give us an opportunity to go to conference and work out our differences, if we can. That is the regular order. And each time we…

I just checked with the majority leader to make sure my memory is correct. The Senator from Texas will learn that when we go to a conference committee, we are subjected to a possibility of a filibuster. Does that ring a note of familiarity…

I announce that the Senator from New Jersey (Mr. Lautenberg), the Senator from New Jersey (Mr. Menendez), the Senator from Washington (Mrs. Murray), and the Senator from West Virginia (Mr. Rockefeller) are necessarily absent. The PRESIDING…

Madam President, I am reluctant to break up this conversation among my fellow Republican Senators because they seem to be at odds, but I do want to remind all of the Senators--and I think the Senator from Arizona has alluded to this--we…

To respond to the Senator from Texas, we have been through this before. In the House of Representatives they threatened not to extend the debt ceiling of the United States and caused severe damage to our economy. Business leaders, labor…

I yielded for a question, and I will respond. Then you may ask another, if you wish. It is the regular order of things to ask for unanimous consent, and it is the usual and customary way the Senate works so that we don't have to repeat all…

I am sorry, I am mistaken, and, thankfully, have been corrected. It is not a filibuster. It would call for using the House resolution of 50 hours of debate and another vote-arama to go through the regular order of things. It is not a…

I announce that the Senator from Rhode Island (Mr. Whitehouse) is necessarily absent. I further announce that, if present and voting, the Senator from Rhode Island (Mr. Whitehouse) would vote ``yea.''

I announce that the Senator from New Mexico (Mr. Heinrich) and the Senator from New Jersey (Mr. Lautenberg) are necessarily absent.

I announce that the Senator from North Dakota (Ms. Heitkamp), the Senator from Louisiana (Ms. Landrieu), the Senator from New Jersey (Mr. Lautenberg), and the Senator from Arkansas (Mr. Pryor) are necessarily absent. I further announce…

I announce that the Senator from New Jersey (Mr. Lautenberg), the Senator from Washington (Mrs. Murray), and the Senator from Florida (Mr. Nelson) are necessarily absent. I further announce that, if present and voting, the Senator from…