[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 9]
[Senate]
[Page 13363]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           ORDER OF BUSINESS

  Mr. REID. Madam President, I have spoken with the White House, I have 
spoken with the Republican leader, and we have agreed on a way forward 
based on the President's speech last night.
  As the President told the Nation last night, the President has asked 
Congress to postpone a vote to authorize the use of force in Syria and 
pursue instead a diplomatic path to see if that works.
  Tomorrow sometime, in Geneva, Secretary Kerry is meeting with Russian 
Foreign Minister Lavrov. So it is right that the Senate turn from the 
Syria resolution while the Secretary of State pursues these important 
diplomatic discussions.
  As I said this morning, Congress will be watching these negotiations 
very closely. If there is any indication that they are not serious, or 
that they are being used as a ploy for delay, then the Congress stands 
ready to return to the Syria resolution to give the President the 
authority to hold the Asad regime accountable for the pain, suffering, 
and death it caused with those chemical weapons.
  In the meantime, the Republican leader and I have agreed the Senate 
will return to the Shaheen-Portman energy efficiency bill. Senator 
Shaheen, Senator Portman, and the chairman of the committee, Senator 
Wyden, have talked to me many times over a period of more than a year 
to move this legislation forward. So I think it is appropriate that, 
rather than us sit here and tread water, doing nothing, we should move 
forward on this legislation.
  As the agreement will indicate, so as not to interfere with the 
diplomatic discussions going on, we have agreed that the Senate will 
consider no amendments on the energy efficiency bill relative to Syria 
or the use of force. I have talked to a number of the Republican 
Senators and that is certainly fine with them.
  We look forward to considering amendments on issues domestic in 
nature and passing this important piece of legislation.

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