[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 14]
[Senate]
[Page 18985]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




             UNANIMOUS-CONSENT REQUESTS--AMENDMENT NO. 1401

  Mr. REID. I ask unanimous consent that the second-degree amendment to 
the Levin-Reed amendment be withdrawn and that there be 6 hours of 
debate on the Levin-Reed amendment; at the conclusion or yielding back 
of that time, the Senate vote on the Levin-Reed amendment with no 
second-degree amendments in order thereto.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Is there objection?
  Mr. KYL. Mr. President, I apologize. If I could ask the distinguished 
leader, was this with respect to the Levin-Reed amendment No. 1401?
  Mr. REID. Yes. I did propound that request asking, basically, that we 
have an up-or-down vote on it. I have suggested 6 hours, but we would 
take any reasonable time.
  Mr. KYL. Mr. President, if I could respond, and reserving the right 
to object, I assume that if the Cornyn amendment, which was designed to 
be a side-by-side amendment, and the Levin-Reed amendment could both be 
voted on and both had a 60-vote threshold, a time agreement could be 
worked out. I ask the majority leader, could the unanimous consent 
request be modified to incorporate that principle so that there 
wouldn't have to be cloture, but there could be a vote on both of those 
amendments?
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I have said earlier that we had to file 
cloture on the initial amendment of Senator Jim Webb, which was an 
amendment that simply called for the proper rotation of our troops: 15 
months in country, 15 months out of country. We wanted the Senate to 
speak its will on that with a simple majority, and we were unable to 
get it. We feel the same way about Levin-Reed. It is a very important 
policy decision this Senate needs to make. Not to change--I don't know 
what Cornyn is, but I am sure it is something that is much different 
than Levin-Reed. Therefore, if there is a suggestion that I amend my 
unanimous consent request to have some side-by-side, 60-vote margins, I 
would object to that. I believe we should have in that instance an up-
or-down vote. I have no problem giving Senator Cornyn a majority vote, 
which I think would be very appropriate. I think that is where we need 
to be on this issue; that is, this issue of the Defense authorization 
bill. It is very unusual to have on the Defense authorization bill, 
even issues dealing with Iraq--in times passed, we haven't had a 60-
vote margin.
  So I would not accept my friend's suggestion that there be side by 
sides. I renew my request that there be a time for an up-or-down vote 
on the Levin-Reed amendment. I have suggested 6 hours.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Is there objection?
  Mr. KYL. Yes, Mr. President, unfortunately, under that circumstance, 
I object.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The objection is heard.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I want to express my apology to my friends 
because I held them up for a few minutes on their being able to speak. 
I apologize for that, but they do have a full hour.
  Mr. President, my worst fears on this bill, the Defense authorization 
bill, have been realized. We have just seen the Republican leadership 
again resort to this technical maneuver to block progress on this 
crucial amendment. It would be one thing for the minority to vote 
against this bill. If they honestly believe that ``stay the course'' is 
the right strategy, they have the right to vote no. Now Republicans are 
using a filibuster to block us from even voting on the amendment that 
could bring this war to a responsible end. They are blocking this like 
they did the Webb amendment. They are protecting the President rather 
than protecting our troops by denying us an up-or-down, yes-or-no vote 
on the most important issue our country faces.
  So I say through you to my Democratic and Republican colleagues that 
we are going to work on this amendment until we get an up-or-down vote 
on it. If that means staying in session--we have no votes, of course, 
tonight, but if it means staying in session all day tomorrow and all 
tomorrow night, that is what we will have to do. I will file cloture so 
that we can have a Wednesday vote, if this continues. I certainly hope 
during the next few hours and tomorrow that we will have a change of 
mind so we can have a vote and then move on to the other amendments. 
The American people deserve an honest debate on this war and deserve an 
up-or-down vote on this amendment which we believe will bring a 
responsible end to this intractable war in Iraq.

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