let me say this: Tomorrow morning, the third vote in order is going to be a vote to invoke cloture on the farm bill. My friends on the other side of the aisle, my Republican friends, are near bringing this bill down. That is a shame. All…

What a shame that there is an objection to a bill that passed the House overwhelmingly, came out of committee over here on a vote of 20 to 1, and now there is an objection to it. That is really too bad. We will renew this request before we…

There is no one more involved in farm policy any more than the Senator from North Dakota. North Dakota is an agricultural State. Tomorrow morning we are going to have a vote on cloture on the farm bill. We are going to have a cloture vote…

Shouldn't there be some minimal accountability? That's all we're asking.

With the Thanksgiving break looming, the administration has informed me they want to make several recess appointments. As a result, I'm keeping the Senate in pro forma to prevent recess appointments until we get back on track.

I would say to my friend and friends on the other side of the aisle, we will continue to work. We have now a tentative arrangement, starting arrangement. This is not the end, we know that. But we will figure out a way that people can offer…

I indicated this morning that sometime today, unless something changed, I would file a cloture motion on the Dorgan-Grassley amendment and, as I have indicated, on the bill, which I have just done. I had a long conversation with the…

Mr. President, the Republicans offer an amendment. I offered the first amendment on behalf of Dorgan and Grassley. It is a bipartisan amendment. If they have an amendment they want to offer, let them offer it. I will be happy to stand out…

the Republican leader still refuses to answer the question before this body. The question is very direct. Why nonrelevant amendments? People can file them; we just have never voted on them in farm bills. It is very clear we have not voted…

there is no ability to pass a farm bill under the present situation. If people think the farm bill is going to be just passed because the distinguished Republican leader says one is going to pass, they are mistaken. We have a lot to do. We…

if this were a jury, they wouldn't be out very long and they would return a verdict on behalf of the majority. To think someone would be gullible enough to believe the Republicans have not had an opportunity to offer amendments is simply…

We have the farm bill before us. We have been trying for a week to do amendments on the bill. The Republicans have said that because this bill is being handled in such an unusual procedural way, they are not going to let us move forward on…

There is a multitude of tax issues and a lot of things totally not relevant to this farm bill. But I would say through the Chair to my friend that I am going to take a look at this--I have had some good meetings with my staff and Senator…

the nomination of Henrietta Fore was a little controversial, but it worked out just fine. This good Nevadan will have a good job. She will do her best. I am confident it will be one that the country will be pleased with.

We could take care of those very quickly. There are amendments that, in the minds of the managers, improve the bill. We should get those done. We are unable to move on anything. The calendar dictates a lot of what happens here in…

I say to my friend, on the floor right now are farm State Senators--Arkansas, Georgia, North Dakota, North Dakota, Iowa--and in the back of the room is a State that does a lot of agricultural products, the State of New York. Now, as I look…

I want a farm bill. We have been discussing how to go forward. If I may be so bold to suggest--I know Senator Chambliss and Senator Harkin have been working on a list of amendments. I think we ought to see if we can lock in a list. It will…

it would be untoward on the Senate floor to walk over and hug the Republican leader, but that is what I feel like doing. I agree with him 100 percent. I think we should try to get a number of amendments locked in, whether it is 5 or 50…

We are going to fix AMT before the end of the year, but we will do it the right way; we are going to pay for it.

It is really good for me to do that. But the words that were uttered by Dr. Swanson this morning, as Johnny Cash says in that song, ``you've been reading my mail'' were really important to me, and I am sure every Senator listening to this…

the hearing in this matter on Judge Mukasey was good. The Judiciary Committee, with Senators Leahy and Specter, did a good job, a full airing of this man's qualifications and ideas were present before the American people and the Senate…

one point I failed to mention in talking about this bill which has been brought to the floor in the form of a conference report is the House of Representatives acted on this conference earlier today. The vote in the House of…

Senator Specter and I are on the floor. We had the pleasure--the entire Senate did--of listening to a joint session presentation by the President of France. It was stunningly good. I have been to a lot of those over the last quarter of a…

the Labor, Health, and Education bill passed the Senate with 75 votes. When the bill originally passed the Senate, I applauded my Republican colleagues for joining with us in such great numbers to support a bill of such great importance to…

We know the President will sign the Veterans bill. He has been hoping to get it for the last couple of months. We know he will veto the Labor, Health and Human Services bill. So Senator Hutchison from Texas has made a point of order that…