[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 121 (Wednesday, August 5, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8785-S8786]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                SCHEDULE

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, following leader remarks, there will be a 
period of morning business until 10 a.m., with Senators permitted to 
speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.
  Following that morning business, the Senate will resume consideration 
of the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to be an Associate Justice of the 
Supreme Court of the United States. Debate will be controlled at 
alternating times, with the majority controlling the first hour, 
starting at 11 o'clock, and the time between 2 and 3 p.m. will be 
equally divided and controlled, with the majority controlling the first 
30 minutes and the Republicans controlling the final 30 minutes.
  Because of the special caucus the Democrats are having, we will be in 
recess from 3 until 5 p.m. When the Senate reconvenes, the Senate will 
resume the 1-hour alternating blocks of time, with the Republicans 
controlling the first hour.
  In addition to the Supreme Court nomination that we need to deal 
with, there are two major items we need to complete before we leave for 
the August recess. First, we have to have some way of moving forward on 
the travel promotion and on the cash for clunkers. If we don't work 
something out on cash for clunkers, I will file a cloture motion this 
evening, which means we will have to have a cloture vote on Friday. If 
people want to use the 30 hours, it goes over until Saturday. I don't 
think that is the case. I have had a number of very good conversations 
with the Republican leader, and we all acknowledge that a significant 
majority want to move forward with this legislation that has resulted 
in the sales, in a period of days, of almost 300,000 vehicles. For us, 
the taxpayers, it creates jobs, helps our manufacturing base and helps 
the taxpayers, in effect, who loaned money to these two manufacturers. 
This will help them repay that money. It has been stimulative, and we 
recognize that.
  That having been said, some people still don't like the program. So 
we have to figure a way to move through that. It is my understanding 
that the Democrats have one amendment. I have explained it to the 
Republicans. The Republicans have a long list of

[[Page S8786]]

amendments. They are going to have to whittle that down to a reasonable 
number so we can deal with them soon. I hope we can work something out 
so that we can meet our responsibilities.
  We also have a number of nominations that have been held up as a 
result of the Supreme Court nomination. We hope all of that can be 
taken care of as soon as she is confirmed.

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