I hope all of us begin to think a little bit here. We have a lot of votes that have gone forward. Each one seems to be an attempt to spend more money. It sets deficit-neutral reserve funds that require offsets. In my view, we are really…

I thank Senator Cardin for his hard work. He is correct that oral care for children is important. It does require that it be paid for if a new program is advanced. I suggest a voice vote. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Washington.

I also would like to thank the staff. My group is here. And I say to Senator Murray, your team is fabulous. We work hard on bills that come through the Senate, and there are a lot of challenges. But few are bigger than this, with all these…

I ask unanimous consent that the privileges of the floor be granted to the following member of my staff: George Everly. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. ____________________

I agree that the Senator's amendment restates current law. I have no objection to that. I would accept that. But the question is and what has been suggested in the paper from what I have seen is that if a person is in our country illegally…

under current law, if a person is here unlawfully and becomes ``lawfulized,'' in some fashion, they then become qualified for this program. That is what we are talking about. So the question is, Should they then become qualified for…

there may be someone else here, but I have prosecuted banks before and big institutions and put some people in jail. But we have--this is serious. I don't think the deficit reserve fund is the way to go about it, frankly, but it is an…

I thank Chairman Murray for her leadership and for her fairness in helping us move a lot of amendments fairly and equitably tonight. We are in a situation where--no need to debate it into the night--I wish we had not been in a position…

I thank the leader. I think it has real potential. There still would be some votes that could go by voice vote, we would hope. But if we do this pressure in this way I think it would speed up things. I thank the leader for that suggestion…

unless there are any Senators who wish to speak in opposition to this amendment, I know we are all in very strong support of veterans. This amendment would make it easier to pass legislation, but that legislation would be required to be…

I believe this is a good list, and I support this list. I would advise that a number of Senators have amendments that they have waited patiently on and that they are entitled to get votes on, so we need to move forward. The more…

I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to. Amendment No. 247 The PRESIDING OFFICER. There are now 2 minutes of debate equally divided prior to a vote in relation to amendment No. 247, offered by…