[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 151 (Tuesday, October 11, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6359-S6360]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                SCHEDULE

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, following leader remarks, the Senate will be 
in morning business until 5:30 this evening. At 5:30 p.m., there will 
be three rollcall votes. The first vote will be on confirmation of the 
Triche-Milazzo nomination. That is a vote for a judge. We appreciate 
the cooperation we have gotten on that. The second vote will be on 
passage of S. 1619, the China currency legislation. The third vote will 
be on the cloture motion on the motion to proceed to S. 1660, the 
American Jobs Act.
  Mr. CORKER addressed the Chair.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Tennessee.
  Mr. CORKER. I wonder if the----
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The majority leader is still 
recognized.
  Mr. REID. I have the floor. Does the Senator have a question?
  Mr. CORKER. I would like to ask a question, if I could.
  Mr. REID. I would be happy to yield to my friend for a question.
  Mr. CORKER. Mr. President, it is my understanding that--first of all, 
I think most people in this body know it has been 995 days, and the 
free-trade agreements are just now coming to the floor. I had a very 
good conversation today with the majority leader, and I thank him so 
much for his courtesy. But it is my understanding, for all those who 
want to see the free-trade agreements ratified prior to the time the 
South Korea President comes on Thursday to make his joint address--for 
all those who want to see that passed and in hand in advance of that--
if we were to get on the jobs bill, as I understand it, we would have 
to stay on the jobs bill for 30 hours. So by getting on the jobs bill, 
it would actually preclude us from being able to successfully pass 
those free-trade agreements in the time that all of us would like.
  I would like for that to be verified by the leader, if that is 
possible.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, around here we can do anything by unanimous 
consent. The work the Republican leader and I went through--perhaps a 
little easier on his side than mine--to get the trade bills in the 
position they are in was fairly difficult, and it would take unanimous 
consent to get off a particular piece of legislation we are on to move 
forward on the trade bills. That is my understanding. As I have 
indicated, we are looking forward to the votes this evening, and I will 
be happy to be as cooperative as I can with everyone involved. But in 
direct response to my friend's question, I think it is pretty clear it 
would take unanimous consent to do that.
  Mr. CORKER. Mr. President, my understanding is that unanimous consent 
would be very unlikely considering the fact there are a number of folks 
who actually do not want to see these trade agreements pass. The 
evidence is, if we were to get on the jobs bill--and I thank the leader 
for talking with me about this--it is very unlikely the free-trade 
agreements will pass in the time all of us would like to see prior to 
the President of South Korea being here.
  I yield the floor and thank the majority leader for letting me have 
this dialog and for having the dialog we had on Thursday evening.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I say through the Chair to my friend, I was 
happy to have that dialog. As we have

[[Page S6360]]

indicated, if at some time we get on a jobs bill, we will have--as I 
have indicated, I appreciate the comments of a number of people in the 
press today. Specifically, I direct myself to Mr. John Cornyn, the 
junior Senator from Texas. He and I have not always seen the same 
picture on legislative matters, but I thought his statements in the 
press were very constructive. He, in effect, said he would hope we 
could get on legislation and work on it the way we used to and that 
would be to have some agreement on how we move forward with amendments. 
The Republican leader and I are trying to do that.

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