[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 208 (Monday, December 18, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6013-S6014]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                       Business Before the Senate

  Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, over the past week, Democrats and 
Republicans have made important progress toward an agreement on the 
national security supplemental. While the job is not finished, I am 
confident we are headed in the right direction.
  I want to thank all the Members and staff from Senate Democrats, 
Senate Republicans, and the White House who worked through the weekend 
to get us closer to an agreement. I can imagine that they are tired 
after working nonstop, coming into the office early in the morning and 
working furiously into the evenings. With the holidays around the 
corner, they are sacrificing time with family, with their kids, and 
have to put travel plans on hold to get this done.
  I salute my colleagues and staff for their excellent work, and I am 
encouraged by the progress we made over the weekend--significant 
progress--and I urge them to keep going.
  Now, we all know this is extremely difficult work--among the most 
difficult things we have done in recent

[[Page S6014]]

memory. Everyone knows that something should be done to fix our broken 
immigration system, but we can't do so by compromising our values. 
Finding the middle ground is exceptionally hard, and both sides must 
accept that they will have to make concessions. And it is going to take 
some more time to get it done. But we must succeed. Democrats remain 
committed to working with our Republican counterparts to reach an 
agreement.
  As these negotiations continue off the floor, we must also finish the 
job on confirming military promotions and other nominees. In past 
years, these four-star generals would have been swiftly appointed to 
their posts. But this year, one Senator--the Senator from Alabama--has 
broken decades of bipartisan tradition by placing blanket holds on 
these highly qualified and dedicated nominees.
  While I am glad the Senator has relinquished his holds, I am 
disappointed it has taken this long, and we will still need to confirm 
the last few of these nominees before the end of the week.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
order for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.