[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 41 (Wednesday, March 12, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1569-S1570]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          LEGISLATIVE SESSION

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     CHILD CARE AND DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT ACT OF 2014--Continued


                           Amendment No. 2837

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from North Carolina.
  Mr. BURR. Mr. President, I understand the Scott amendment No. 2837 
and the Boxer-Burr amendment No. 2809 have been cleared on both sides 
of the aisle; I know of no further debate on either amendment, and I 
urge adoption of these two amendments.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Scott amendment No. 2837 is pending.
  The question is on agreeing to the amendment.
  The amendment (No. 2837) was agreed to.


                           Amendment No. 2809

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The amendment 2809 is the pending amendment.
  If there is no further debate, the question is on agreeing to the 
amendment.
  The amendment (No. 2809) was agreed to.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The senator from North Carolina.
  Mr. BURR. Mr. President, we have had a very productive day on the 
child care and development block grant bill, and we have processed a 
number of amendments, some by voice, some with record votes. All 
Members have had the opportunity to come to the floor during the day 
and offer their amendments, and we continue to have amendments that are 
either filed or talked about. It is still the intent of Senator Harkin, 
Senator Alexander, Senator Mikulski, and myself that we finish this 
bill tomorrow afternoon. We see no reason why we can't do it with the 
level of cooperation all Members have shown.
  Let me try to sketch out for my colleagues what our intent will be. 
We intend hopefully to go to a period of morning business, a length to 
be determined by the leaders, when we conclude our remarks. At some 
point in the morning, probably 10:30, we would resume consideration of 
amendments and we would process those amendments until shortly before 
lunch. It is our hope Members would take the opportunity to file those 
amendments tonight so that our staffs can work with them to make sure 
as many amendments as possible can be adopted with the support of both 
sides of the aisle.
  We certainly can't force everybody to do so, but I implore Members on 
both sides of the aisle, file those amendments tonight, work with our 
staffs.

[[Page S1570]]

They will be here as late as they need to be. By 10:30 tomorrow morning 
we should be able to move to amendments, have debate on those where 
there is additional debate needed; hopefully, start any votes by 12:15 
and finish the amendment process before both sides break for lunch. It 
would be my hope we could come back right after lunch, with the leader 
agreements, and have passage on the child care and development block 
grant bill.
  Let me just say, Mr. President, that I want to thank Chairman Harkin, 
Ranking Member Alexander and Senator Mikulski. I think we have gone 
into this and we have tried to urge our colleagues, if they can make 
this bill better, to come to the floor and to do that. I think we have 
seen, by the action of people who have done this in a responsible way, 
that we have worked in a bipartisan way to make sure we could present 
to the Members of the Senate amendments that didn't cause a great deal 
of concern, and, in fact, they did improve the bill.
  So I encourage my colleagues to file those amendments tonight, to be 
prepared to finish this bill before the middle of the afternoon 
tomorrow, and we can expect to have a successful passage of this bill.
  I thank the Chair, and I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Iowa.
  Mr. HARKIN. First, Mr. President, I concur in everything the Senator 
from North Carolina just said. This is a very good bill. It is a great 
bill. The Senator from North Carolina has put a lot into this bill over 
the last couple of years, and we are close to seeing the finish line. 
So I hope Senators and their staffs who may not be present but who are 
watching will do just as the Senator suggested. If they have 
amendments, get them over to the floor tonight during morning business; 
we will take those up, our staffs can work those out, and, hopefully, 
we will be on track to finish the bill tomorrow.
  Again, I thank the Senator from North Carolina for all the hard work 
he has put in over a long period of time.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the motion to reconsider 
the Landrieu amendment No. 2818 be laid upon the table.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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