Schedule

Floor Speech

SCHEDULE -- (Senate - May 15, 2007)

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, today the Senate will be in a period of morning business for 60 minutes, with the majority controlling the first half and the Republicans controlling the second portion.

Following morning business, the Senate will resume consideration of the water resources legislation. Several amendments were offered to this bill yesterday, and this morning one of those amendments--the one offered by the Senator from Oklahoma, Mr. Coburn, No. 1090--will be debated until 11:45, and then a vote will occur with respect to that amendment.

The Senate will recess, as usual, from 12:30 to 2:15 for the party conferences. Other votes with respect to amendments to the water resources legislation will occur this afternoon.

As the majority leader mentioned yesterday, a lot of work needs to be done prior to the Memorial Day recess, so Members should plan accordingly.

The majority leader has offered two amendments on the issue of Iraq, and cloture votes will occur on those amendments on Wednesday.

Additionally, cloture was filed on the motion to proceed to the immigration legislation. That vote will occur at a time to be determined on Wednesday.

I am certain every Member of the Senate is conscious of the fact that we have a Memorial Day recess fast approaching at the end of next week. We have an ambitious goal we hope to reach by that time. We hope to deal with these outstanding pieces of legislation and to, of course, provide supplemental appropriations for the war in Iraq.

At the outset, I will say that the Water Resources Development Act, which Senator Boxer of California and Senator Inhofe of Oklahoma will bring to the floor in a few moments, is a bill that has been pending before the Congress for, I believe, 7 years--at least 6 years. Our failure to enact this bill has delayed the construction of critical infrastructure across America for 6 or 7 years. This is infrastructure that is important to every part of America--in the Midwest, dams on the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers, which are vital arteries when it comes to agribusiness and other uses to create profitability and employment. All of these are in a state of disrepair, and we want to address the modernization and safety measures for these locks and dams and many other projects.

For 6 or 7 years, the debate has gone on unresolved. The House passed overwhelmingly the Water Resources Development Act. The Senate has the same opportunity, but we need to do it on a timely basis.

I thank the Senator from Oklahoma, who is offering an amendment this morning. I am told by the manager of the bill, Senator Boxer, that he has been cooperative in terms of reducing the debate time, giving enough time to explain his amendment, for others to speak to it, and bring it to a vote.

I urge every other Senator that this is the day; if you have an amendment to the Water Resources Development Act, bring it to the floor today. After 2:15, bring your amendments to the floor. Let's have the debate and have the vote. By the end of the day, let's have all of the relevant amendments considered to this legislation. I think we owe it to the people who have worked so hard to bring us to this moment, and now individual Senators should know that, to delay this, there is no excuse. Bring the Water Resources Development Act amendments to the floor.

In addition, the majority leader filed two amendments relative to the war in Iraq, which will be considered on a procedural basis to this Water Resources Development Act. It is a way to measure the sentiment of the Senate on two different approaches to resolving our difficulties between the White House and Congress on the funding in Iraq. There will be a cloture vote on those amendments tomorrow. That is an opportunity for Members to express their feelings.

As everybody knows, it takes 60 votes to invoke cloture. We hope we will have a strong bipartisan vote for one of those two approaches. I urge my colleagues to understand this is a very important and timely matter. We have little time left to deal with the requirements of funding our troops before the Memorial Day recess. The Democratic majority, as well as the Republican side, has made it clear we will fund our troops. At the end of the day, our troops will not go without the resources they need to provide for their own safety and a safe return home.

Also, we hope this week to initiate a conversation on the immigration bill.

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