I think that would be ideal. I still think we might be able to yield some time back in addition to that. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that all time required for voting be part of the 10 hours that remain in terms of the statutory…

this morning, following leader remarks we will begin a 30-minute period for morning business. That will be followed by an additional 30-minute period of time which has been set aside for closing remarks on the Defense authorization bill…

I think it is a reasonable request by the Democratic leader so we can get on with this vote and go to our caucuses. The reason there was an initial objection to it was because Senator Shelby, chairman of the committee, had something he had…

I wish to speak on leader time. Shortly, we will be voting on two amendments, one offered by Senators Levin and Reid, and the other proposed by Senator Warner and myself. Our amendment, the Republican amendment, shows leadership, signals…

these are momentous and historic times for America. In just 4 years, we have toppled two of the most brutal regimes in human history and liberated 50 million people from tyranny. Afghanistan and Iraq are now governed by the consent of the…

Today we will be returning to the Defense authorization bill. I think this is our sixth day on the bill. We spent 5 or 6 days on it several months ago. Under the consent agreement from last Thursday, we will debate the final amendments to…

today, following the 1 hour for morning business, we will resume work on the Department of Defense authorization bill. Under the agreement reached last night, we have two rollcall votes to begin at 11:30 this morning. The first vote is on…

yesterday the world received the sobering news that a series of three explosions struck Jordan's capital city of Amman. At least 57 innocent civilians were killed in the immediate blast, and well over 100 were wounded. In an apparently…

this afternoon, we will have a period for the transaction of morning business until 2 p.m. At 2 p.m. today, we will resume consideration of the Department of Defense authorization bill. On Friday, we turned to the Defense bill under the…

later this afternoon, I have the honor of hosting Sudan's First Vice President, Salva Kiir, in the U.S. Capitol. I have come to the floor many times to speak on Sudan, having gone to that country just about every year for the last 7 or 8…

that is very well said. I think the description and comments by the Senator from Florida demonstrate our responsibility to respond appropriately and smartly to natural disasters. If we look at our response to hurricanes and natural…

it has been a long day. The next vote on final passage will be our last vote of the day. This will be our 22nd rollcall vote of the day. I thank the chairman and the ranking member for a tremendous job. About 4 or 5 days ago, we said it…

we will shortly begin this morning's session with a rollcall vote on the adoption of the conference report to accompany the Agriculture appropriations bill. After that vote, we will resume the deficit reduction reconciliation bill. All…

this morning we will be getting an earlier start than normal in order to resume the deficit reduction bill. Senators Gregg and Conrad have agreed to an order for the next couple of amendments. We will continue to debate throughout the…

we are back in open session, and I believe shortly--in about 40 or 45 minutes--we will be back on course on a very important bill that our Nation cares about, which we are on track to complete this week; that is, the deficit reduction…

this morning we will immediately resume debate on the deficit reduction package after a brief statement I have to make. Chairman Gregg opened debate on the bill yesterday and will be here managing the bill this morning. Last week we…

next week, the Senate will consider the deficit reduction bill, a bill I spoke on in my opening comments today, a bill about which I am very excited. It answers the question of doing what is right, what the American people expect, and that…

in a few moments we will be closing for the week. But before doing so, I wanted to bring to the attention of my colleagues something that was just brought to my attention about 2 hours ago when I was e-mailed by our President pro tempore…

over the course of the weekend, the Capitol will be busy. As people know, on Tuesday of this week, civil rights icon Rosa Parks passed away in her Detroit home at the age of 92. Throughout her life, she was a champion, an activist, a true…

very briefly, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate immediately proceed to executive session to consider the following nominations on today's Executive Calendar: Calendar Nos. 391, 392, 393, 394, 395, 396, 397, 398, 400, 401, 402, 403…

this morning we will have a period of morning business which will allow Senators to come to the floor to make statements. I announced last night that there would be no votes today, and I do not anticipate a lengthy session. We expect to…

on Monday we begin consideration of the deficit reduction bill, a bill that goes by the title of a reconciliation bill. Indeed, it has been 8 years since we have addressed spending on a reconciliation bill, a critically important bill. It…

this morning the time until 10 a.m. will be equally divided for debate prior to the cloture vote. That cloture vote is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. promptly. We will be on the Labor-HHS appropriations bill. We started that bill now 6 days…

over the last several minutes, Harriet Miers has formally requested to withdraw as a nominee to serve as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. I had a conversation with Ms. Miers early this morning, and she told me that it was last…

I greatly appreciate the Senator's commitment to this issue. It is imperative that this Congress exercise fiscal discipline and I concur that an important step must be to control spending, while securing our Nation's defense. Next week…