[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 145 (Monday, October 14, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Page S7473]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        CONTINUING NEGOTIATIONS

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, we know this has been a difficult time for 
everyone, and Senator McConnell and I have been working diligently over 
the last few days trying to arrive at the culmination of efforts that 
have been ongoing for quite some time now. We have made tremendous 
progress. We are not there yet, but tremendous progress, and everyone 
just needs to be patient.
  We will have no more votes tonight. We hope, with good fortune and 
the support of all of you, recognizing how hard this is for everybody, 
that perhaps tomorrow will be a bright day. We are not there yet, but 
we hope we will be.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Republican leader.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, if I may echo the remarks of the 
majority leader, we had a good day yesterday. We had another good day 
today. I think it is safe to say we have made substantial progress, and 
we look forward to making more progress in the near future.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I would just close by saying this: We are 
doing our best to make everybody happy, but everyone knows we are not 
going to be able to do that. So, everybody understand that we are doing 
the very best we can with all of the frailties we have as people and 
legislators.

                          ____________________