On the recordMarch 17, 2011
following any leader remarks, there will be a period for the transaction of morning business until 10:30 this morning, with Senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each. The Republicans will control the first half and the majority will control the final half. At 10:30 a.m., the Senate will resume consideration of S. 493, which is the small business jobs bill. We have been working through amendments on that legislation. Virtually every one of the amendments is not germane to the bill. That is OK. We are in the Senate, and that is how things work here. We have had scores of amendments filed. I am not going to file cloture on this bill today. We will work through the amendments, and maybe we can get a finite list of amendments when we come back. I hope we do not have to file cloture on this bill. As I said, this is an extremely important bill. Senator Landrieu was on a nationwide TV program today, and one of the commentaries--who, by the way, is a Republican, a former Member of Congress--said, and I am paraphrasing: Why would the Republicans want to hold up a jobs bill? This is a jobs bill. The small business matter now before the Senate is a jobs bill, just as we did with the patent bill, just as we did with the FAA bill. It is a jobs bill. We should move on. We should have the amendments focused on how to improve a jobs bill and not do all this other extraneous stuff that virtually, without exception, has nothing to do with this bill.…





