[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 131 (Wednesday, September 7, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Page S5347]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                SCHEDULE

  Mr. REID. Madam President, following leader remarks, if any, there 
will be an hour of morning business, with the majority controlling the 
first half and the Republicans controlling the final half. Following 
morning business, the Senate will resume consideration of the motion to 
proceed to the America Invents Act.
  The Senate will recess from 12:30 until 2:15 for our weekly party 
conferences. At 2:30, there will be 30 minutes of tribute to the late 
Senator Mark Hatfield of Oregon, and I would indicate that if people 
are unable to come during that 30 minutes, I would solicit their 
statements so that we can put them together, as we often do in these 
situations, so they are in that nice little booklet people can look 
through at a later time.
  I would say, Madam President, that I had the good fortune of being 
able to serve with Mark Hatfield--a treasure of a man. We have had 
great leaders from Oregon, but certainly he was equal to any of them--a 
man of great character who was not bound by party. He was bound by what 
he thought was best for this country.
  I had the good fortune to travel on a codel he led. It was a 
wonderful trip, led by this great statesman. We went into the Soviet 
Union--Mongolia--and saw Lake Baikal and found that the Soviets had not 
ruined this great Alpine glacier lake. There are only two in the world. 
One is in Nevada and California--we share Lake Tahoe. But Lake Baikal 
is one thing the Soviets didn't ruin. Anyway, it was a trip I will 
always remember, not only where we went but who led that trip.
  I will give a more complete statement at a later time regarding Mark 
Hatfield, a man for whom I had great respect and admiration. He was 
really a role model, in my mind, for what a Senator should be.
  We expect to be in consideration of the patent bill today. I hope the 
Republicans will let us get on that. It is too bad we had to move to 
proceed to it, but we did. I hope we don't have to use the full 30 
hours, and I hope I don't have to file cloture again. I hope there are 
a couple of amendments and then we can get rid of this bill as early as 
possible.
  We have a lot to do. We have so much to do in this work period--the 
highway bill, the patent bill, FEMA, and trade issues. We need to 
complete all those matters before we leave here in just a few weeks. We 
have to take a break because of the holidays coming up toward the end 
of this month.

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