I thank the Senator from Florida. I am going to speak another 4 minutes. I know staff is tired and we are going to wrap up soon. I wanted to end with a comment from another small business in Metairie, LA, which is right outside of New…

Well, the Senator is exactly right, but a better question is why would the minority leader insist on voting on an amendment we have already voted on three times. That is even a more interesting question. We have already voted on the…

Well, I hope not. I wish to answer the question. I hope not. But we are very close because this bill, as the Senator knows, came to the floor because he helped to draft certain provisions of this from two committees with bipartisan…

But I want to answer again because these small business groups--we have 80 of them and they are counting on us--keep calling and saying: Vote for the bill. Vote for the bill. And what they are hearing from the other side is: We can't vote…

Mr. President, I would like to follow up on what the Senator from Michigan has said because she has been one of the most forceful voices for trying to find a way to get the Senate to be able to move more quickly on so many important…

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the committee-reported substitute be agreed to, the bill, as amended, be read the third time and passed, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate…

Mr. President, I am pleased to join my two outstanding colleagues on the floor tonight to continue to talk about this extremely important bill. I follow up on what the Senator from Michigan said about the Senator from Washington State…

Mr. President, there are a number of Senators on the floor who wish to speak. I see the Senator from Michigan, who has indicated she would like to speak for a minute on this bill. I will talk for the next 5 minutes, and others are going to…

Well, through the Chair, I thank the Senator from Michigan because he is absolutely right. This is the wrong bill to filibuster. I mean, you may get political points by filibustering other issues, but to filibuster a small business bill…

That seems to be where we are. That is why I said I feel like I am ``Alice in Wonderland,'' because it is topsy-turvy.

That is absolutely true. I say to the Senator, in some ways I have some trepidation of continuing to read this because I have had any number of Democrats come to me and say: But there are more Republican provisions in this bill than there…

Madam President, I am going to speak for some time and try and reengage this debate. We had an excellent debate this morning between 9:30 and 12:30 trying to find a way forward on a very important bill, the small business bill. This is the…