I wish to speak for 2 minutes to close this out. I thank the Senator from Alaska who has been very forceful in his advocacy for this bill and for lending the experience he has had, before he was a Senator, as a small business owner to help…

Hold on. I just want to say, if that is not the process, I don't know what is. We didn't cut that deal in the back room. We told everybody what we were going to do. I stood out here for 12 hours. We voted in public. Everyone knew about it…

Well, I appreciate that because I do have the greatest respect for the Senator from Maine. But she has not been excited about this program. She voted no, but we got 60 votes for the program. So I think perhaps we might find a way forward…

I wish to speak up to 10 minutes. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. ____________________

May I ask another question? I appreciate what the Senator has said, but the ranking member has made it clear for many months now that she doesn't support--and I have great respect for her-- the Small Business Lending Fund. So we actually…

Mr. President, if the minority leader will yield for a question, I appreciate how the leaders have tried to work together, although we don't seem to be getting to an agreement at this moment, but I wanted to ask the minority leader to…

Madam President, I thank my colleague from Oregon, who has been one of the creators and designers of this bill and who has been a leading advocate and tireless in his efforts. He has conducted probably dozens of meetings in his office with…

Mr. President, I wish to thank my colleague from Virginia for that explanation and for his commitment to this bill and this effort. He was an extremely successful Governor before he became a Senator, and I say ``successful'' measured by…

Mr. President, the Senator from Illinois is absolutely correct. One of the last remaining works that we have to do, as we try to wrap up this portion of the session as we move to an August work period in our home States and our home…

Mr. President, I appreciate the opportunity to get back to the issue at hand, which is the small business bill, a job creation bill for America. It is something that many of us have worked on now for over a year. This bill has been…

Mr. President, I am hoping we can vote right now, if possible. I know the Senators all have schedules. The Senator from Maine was very kind to say she could even speak after the vote. I appreciate that everybody has been so patient today…

I see the Senator from Maine. In all fairness, we have had a lot of time. I want to yield 1 minute to the Senator from Minnesota. Then I will be happy to yield. We have no time agreements. There are no scheduled votes. I am most certainly…