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VOTE:
ARE
THERE ANY SENATORS WISHING TO
VOTE.
THE YEAS ARE 89, NAYS ARE 11.
THREE-FIFTHS OF THE SENATORS
HAVING VOTED IN THE AFFIRMATIVE,
THE MOTION IS AGREED TO.
THE MAJORITY LEADER.
I WOULD HOPE THAT
FOLLOWING THE REPUBLICANS
LUNCHEON THAT THEY WILL ALLOW US
TO MOVE TO THIS BILL.
SENATOR JOHNSON AND HIS STAFF
ARE READY TO MOVE FORWARD ON
THIS LEGISLATION.
WE WOULD HOPE AFTER THE LUNCHEON
THEY WOULD ALLOW US TO MOVE
FORWARD SO IT WOULD BE OPEN FOR
THERE IS A LEGISLATIVE TREE.
THERE ARE LOTS OF SPOTS OPEN FOR
PEOPLE TO OFFER AMENDMENTS.
WE WOULD HOPE THIS WOULD BE OUR
FIRST APPROPRIATIONS BILL.
WE'RE WORKING ON THE BUDGET
DEFICIT PROGRAMS RIGHT NOW IN
THE WHITE HOUSE.
THIS WOULD BE A GOOD MESSAGE FOR
EVERYBODY WE CAN DO AN
APPROPRIATIONS BILL AND STAY
WITHIN OUR LEGISLATIVE FRAMEWORK
AS FAR AS SPENDING.
I NOTE THE ABSENCE OF A QUORUM.
THE
CLERK WILL CALL THE ROLL.
QUORUM CALL:
A SENATOR: MADAM PRESIDENT?
THE
SENATOR FROM RHODE ISLAND.
MADAM PRESIDENT, MAY I FIRST ASK
UNANIMOUS CONSENT THAT THE
PENDING QUORUM CALL BE VITIATED.
OBJECTION.
THANK YOU,
MADAM PRESIDENT.
MAY I ALSO ASK UNANIMOUS CONSENT
TO SPEAK AS IF IN MORNING
BUSINESS FOR -- WELL, IT WON'T
BE 20 MINUTES BUT LET ME ASK FOR
UP TO 20 MINUTES.
OBJECTION.
THANK YOU VERY
MUCH.
MADAM PRESIDENT, NOTHING IS MORE
IMPORTANT IN THE SHORT TERM THAN
RESOLVING OUR DEBT LIMIT
AND I WOULD URGE MY COLLEAGUES
TO TAKE SOCIAL SECURITY OUT OF
THEIR GUN SIGHTS.
IT HAS NOT CONTRIBUTED TO OUR
DEBT OR DEFICITS.
I WOULD URGE OUR COLLEAGUES NOT
TO FOCUS ON MEDICARE BENEFIT
CUTS BUT RATHER ON HEALTH CARE
SYSTEM REFORMS THAT WILL SAVE
NOT ONLY MEDICARE AND MEDICAID
COSTS, BUT PRIVATE HEALTH CARE
AND HEALTH INSURANCE COSTS AS
WELL, COST SAVINGS THROUGHOUT
THE SYSTEM.
AND I WOULD URGE MY COLLEAGUES
TO YIELD A BIT ON DEFENDING
EVERY TAX LOOPHOLE, EVERY TAX
GIMMICK AND TAX PREFERENCE AS IF
THEY WERE TAX HIKES.
THEY'RE NOT.
THEY'RE JUST NOT.
THEY'RE EARMARKS IN THE TAX
THERE ARE SPECIAL BENEFITS IN
WHICH ORDINARY AMERICANS USUALLY
DON'T SHARE, AND WE SHOULDN'T
PUT THE SPECIAL INTERESTS FIRST
AHEAD ORDINARY AMERICANS WHO DID
NOT GET SPECIAL TAX DEALS.
BUT, AS IMPORTANT AS ALL OF THAT
IS IN THE SHORT TERM, THERE ARE
SOME THINGS THAT ARE MORE
IMPORTANT IN THE LONG TERM THAN
OUR DEBT LIMIT, AND I RISE TO
SPEAK ABOUT ONE.
IN APRIL OF THIS YEAR, A GROUP
OF SCIENTIFIC EXPERTS CAME
TOGETHER TO DISCUSS AN ISSUE
WHOSE CONSEQUENCES WILL
INFLUENCE THE PLANET AND OUR
AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR GENERATIONS
TO COME.
THEY MET AT THE UNIVERSITY OF
OXFORD TO DISCUSS THE CURRENT
STATE AND EVENTUAL FATE OF OUR
OCEANS.
THE OCEAN, AS STATED IN THE
WORKSHOP SUMMARY REPORT, IS THE
LARGEST ECOSYSTEM ON EARTH,
SUPPORTS US AND MAINTAINS OUR
WORLD IN A HABITABLE CONDITION.
FOR THREE DAYS, 27 SCIENTISTS
REPRESENTING 18 PROMINENT
RESEARCH AND CONSERVATION
ORGANIZATIONS WORLDWIDE REVIEWED
THE LATEST FINDINGS ON OCEAN
STRESSES, AND IN PARTICULAR THE
CONSEQUENCES OF MULTIPLE
COMBINED STRESSES FOR MARINE
LIFE AND FOR THE HUMAN
POPULATION.
THE SCIENTISTS FOUND THAT
STRESSORS IN COMBINATION MAGNIFY
THE NEGATIVE EFFECT OF EACH ONE
OCCURRING ALONE.
BASED ON THIS DETERMINATION, THE
SCIENTISTS AT THIS MEETING
CONCLUDED THAT WE HAVE
UNDERESTIMATED THE OVERALL RISKS
AND THAT THE WHOLE OF MARINE
DEGRADATION IS GREATER THAN THE
SUM OF ITS PARTS AND THAT
DEGRADATION IS NOW HAPPENING AT
A FASTER RATE THAN PREDICTED.
IN SHORT, THINGS FOR THE OCEAN
ARE WORSE THAN WE THOUGHT AND
GETTING WORSE FASTER THAN WE
EXPECTED.
ALL TOO OFTEN, WE TAKE FOR
GRANTED THE FACT THAT OUR OCEANS
FEED US, SUPPORT OUR COASTAL
COMMUNITIES AND DRIVE MANY OF
OUR TOURISM ECONOMIES.
UNFORTUNATELY, THESE OCEAN
ECOSYSTEMS ARE SEVERELY STRESSED
FROM NUTRIENT POLLUTION,
CHEMICAL DUMPING, OVERFISHING,
MARINE DEBRIS, INVASIONS OF
EXOTIC SPECIES, WARMING WATERS
AND PERHAPS MOST ALARMING A DROP
IN OCEAN P.H. LEVELS TO LEVELS
NOT SEEN FOR MORE THAN 8,000
CENTURIES.
THE ACIDIFICATION OF OUR OCEANS.
INDIVIDUALLY, THESE STRESSORS
WOULD BE CAUSE FOR CONCERN.
IN COMBINATION WITH EACH OTHER,
THIS EXPERT GROUP OF SCIENTISTS
CONCLUDED THEY ARE DRIVING OUR
OCEAN TOWARD THE BRINK OF A MASS
EXTINCTION AND ECOSYSTEM
COLLAPSE.
ONE EXAMPLE OF THE MULTIPLIER
EFFECTS ON MARINE LIFE COMES
FROM PLASTIC DEBRIS AND TOXIC
PLASTICS MAKE THEIR WAY AS TRASH
INTO THE OCEAN WHERE THEY BREAK
DOWN INTO SMALL PARTICLES THAT
ARE CONSUMED BY MARINE LIFE LIKE
SEA TURTLES, SEA BIRDS AND EVEN
MICROSCOPIC PLANKTON.
THE CONSUMPTION OF THAT PLASTIC
ALONE BECOMES FATAL FOR MARINE
LIFE WHEN THEY CONSUME SO MUCH
OF THAT INDIGESTIBLE MATERIAL
THAT THEY STOP EATING ALTOGETHER
AND STARVE TO DEATH WITH BELLIES
FULL OF PLASTIC.
BUT THE SURFACES OF THOSE
PLASTIC PARTICLES ALSO EASILY
ABSORB CHEMICAL POLLUTANTS, SO
THEY AMPLIFY THE LOAD OF
CHEMICAL POLLUTION ON THESE
CREATURES.
THE LEVELS OF CHEMICAL POLLUTION
ARE THEMSELVES ON THE RISE, IN
EVEN THE MOST REMOTE SEAS WHERE
NO HUMAN DEVELOPMENT EXISTS.
MANY OF THESE CHEMICAL
POLLUTANTS LIKE FLAME RETARDANTS
AND FLOOR NATURED COMPOUNDS ARE
POURED DOWN HOME SINKS OR
EXCELLED AS WASTE FROM
INDUSTRIAL FACILITIES DIRECTLY
INTO THE OCEAN.
PLANTS AND ANIMALS HAVE NOT
EVOLVED WAYS TO BREAK DOWN THESE
NEW MAN MADE SYNTHETIC
COMPOUNDS, SO THEY DO WHAT IS
CALLED BIOACCUMULATE, MEANING
THEY BECOME INCREASINGLY
CONCENTRATED AS THEY ARE PASSED
UP THE FOOD CHAIN OR PASSED IN
MARINE MAMMALS FROM MOTHERS TO
CALVES IN THEIR MILK FROM
GENERATION TO GENERATION.
UNTIL MANY OF OUR TOP OCEANIC
PREDATORS, MANY OF OUR MOST
MAJESTIC OCEAN CREATURES ARE NOW
LITERALLY SWIMMING TOXIC WASTE.
ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF WHAT THE
SCIENTISTS CALL THIS NEGATIVELY
SYNERGISTIC ENVIRONMENTAL HARM
IS THE COMBINATION OF
DESTRUCTIVE FISHING PRACTICES,
NUTRIENT RUNOFF AND THE PRESENCE
OF HORMONE-DISRUPTING
PHARMACEUTICALS IN OUR WASTE
WATER ON CORAL REEFS.
THESE UNUSUALLY PRECIOUS
ECOSYSTEMS ARE CORAL REEFS KNOWN
AS THE RAIN FORESTS OF THE SEA,
DO NOT JUST HAVE TO CONTEND WITH
OVERFISHING, NUTRIENT LOADING
AND WASTEWATER POLLUTION.
NOW THE REEFS LIKE THE MANGROVES
, SALT MARSH ESTUARIES
AND SEA GRASS MEADOWS IN THEIR
DAMAGED AND LESS RESILIENT STATE
MUST ALSO FACE A RAPIDLY
CHANGING CLIMATE AND ITS DUAL
EFFECTS OF OCEAN WARMING AND
OCEAN ACID IF I OCCASION.
-- ACIDIFICATION.
CORAL REEFS ARE MORE LIKELY TO
BLEACH OUT WHEN EXPOSED TO
TEMPERATURE AND ACIDIFICATION
THAN IF THEY ARE EXPOSED TO
EITHER CONDITION SEPARATELY.
YOU ADD BOTH OF THOSE CONDITIONS
TO THOSE PRE-EXISTING STRESSORS
AND 35% OF THE WORLD'S OCEAN
REEFS ARE CLASSIFIED AS IN A
CRITICAL OR THREATENED STAGE.
SCIENTIFIC PROJECTIONS INDICATE
THAT WITHOUT URGENT ACTION,
CORAL REEF ECOSYSTEMS COULD BE
ELIMINATED ON OUR PLANET IN
30-50 YEARS.
THE DECLINE AND ULTIMATE DEATH
OF CORAL REEFS, THE MOST DIVERSE
ECOSYSTEMS ON THE PLANET,
DRAMATICALLY IMPAIRS THE
REPRODUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT OF
HUNDREDS OF OTHER SPECIES THAT
CALL THOSE REEFS HOME.
WHEN A REEF ECOSYSTEM COLLAPSES
AND DOES NOT RECOVER, IT QUICKLY
BECOMES DOMINATED BY ALGAE AND
THE PHENOMENAL BIODIVERSITY,
ONCE PRESENT DISAPPEARS.
FOR HUMAN SOCIETY, THIS IS
ACCOMPANIED BY A LOSS OF FOOD, A
LOSS OF INCOME AND DAMAGE TO THE
BILLION DOLLAR PER YEAR TOURIST
INDUSTRIES THAT SURROUND OUR
OCEAN REEFS.
THIS WORKSHOP REPORT THAT I AM
DISCUSSING ECHOES THE
OVERWHELMING BODY OF PEER-
PEER-REVIEWED SCIENCE AND
LITERATURE ON CLIMATE CHANGE AND
CARBON POLLUTION, STATING THAT,
AND I QUOTE -- "HUMAN ACTIONS
HAVE RESULTED IN WARMING AND
ACIDIFICATION OF THE OCEANS AND
ARE NOW CAUSING INCREASED
HYPOXIA.
HYPOXIA IS LACK OF OXYGEN.
THE REPORT CONTINUES -- "STUDIES
OF THE EARTH'S PAST INDICATE
THAT THESE ARE THE THREE
SYMPTOMS ASSOCIATED WITH EACH OF
THE PREVIOUS FIVE MASS
EXTINCTIONS ON EARTH.
WE'RE NOW TALKING ABOUT CHANGES
ON OUR PLANET IN OUR LIFETIMES
WHOSE PRECEDENTS ARE ONLY BE
FOUND IN GEOLOGIC TIME.
I HAVE OFTEN SAID ON THIS FLOOR
HOW WE HAVE VEERED OUTSIDE OF
THE BANDWIDTH OF CARBON
CONCENTRATION THAT HAS PREVAILED
ON OUR PLANET FOR 800,000 YEARS.
FOR THE FIRST TIME, WE'RE
OUTSIDE OF A BANDWIDTH IN WHICH
OUR SPECIES HAS LIVED FOR
800,000 YEARS.
BUT THIS COMPARISON IS TO MASS
OCEAN EXTINCTION EVENTS 55 AND
251 MILLION YEARS AGO.
BACK THEN, THE RATES OF CARBON
ENTERING THE ATMOSPHERE IN THE
LEADUP TO THOSE GREAT
EXTINCTIONS ARE NOW ESTIMATED TO
HAVE BEEN 2.1 AND ONE TO TWO
GIGATONS OF CARBON PER YEAR
THOUSAND YEARS.
BUT AS THIS NEW REPORT
IDENTIFIES, BOTH OF THESE
ESTIMATES ARE DWARFED IN
COMPARISON TO TODAY'S EMISSIONS
OF ROUGHLY 30 GIGATONS OF CARBON
DIOXIDE PER YEAR.
SO JUST TO GO BACK OVER THAT,
THE TWO GREAT MASS EXTINCTIONS
55 MILLION YEARS AGO AND
251 MILLION YEARS AGO WERE LED
UP TO BY RATES OF CARBON ADDED
TO THE ATMOSPHERE AT 2.2 AND ONE
TO TWO GIGATONS PER YEAR AND
OVER THOUSANDS OF YEARS, AND NOW
WE ARE TODAY EMITTING ROUGHLY 30
GIGATONS OF CARBON DIE OKAY
IDENTIFY PER YEAR.
SUCH A MASSIVE DUMPING OF CARBON
POLLUTION INTO OUR ATMOSPHERE
CREATES THE REAL PROSPECT OF
DEVASTATING DAMAGE TO OUR
OCEANS, AND IN FACT WE MAY
ALREADY BE WITNESSING THIS
DEVASTATION.
IN ONE BREATH-TAKING PART OF THE
REPORT, THE SCIENTISTS REMARK
THAT, AND I QUOTE -- "THE SPEEDS
OF MANY NEGATIVE CHANGES TO THE
OCEAN ARE NEAR TO OR ARE
TRACKING THE WORST-CASE
SCENARIOS FROM THE IPCC AND
OTHER PREDICTIONS."
END QUOTE.
THE IPCC OR THE
INTERGOVERNMENTAL PANEL ON
CLIMATE CHANGE CREATED SEVERAL
SCENARIOS PREDICTING HOW THE
EARTH'S NATURAL SYSTEMS COULD
RESPOND TO THE EVER-INCREASING
AMOUNTS OF CARBON DIOXIDE WE
DUMP INTO OUR ATMOSPHERE.
THIS REPORT SAYS THAT
OBSERVATIONS NOW ARE WORSE THAN
THE IPCC'S WORST-CASE PREDICTION
THOSE PREDICTIONS OF THE IPCC
HAVE RECEIVED A LOT OF SPECIAL
INTEREST SPONSORED MOCKERY ON
THIS FLOOR, BUT THESE AREN'T
PREDICTIONS NOW.
THESE ARE OBSERVATIONS.
FOR INSTANCE, THE DECREASE IN
ARCTIC SEA ICE COVER AND THE
MELTING OF THE GREENLAND AND
ANTARCTIC ICE SHEETS WHICH HOLD
ENOUGH WATER TO RAISE SEA LEVELS
BY MORE THAN 200 FEET ARE
ACTUALLY OCCURRING, AND FASTER
THAN EXPECTED.
CORRESPONDINGLY, SEA LEVELS ARE
RISING.
THE REPORT ALSO OBSERVES
ACIDIFICATION IS OCCURRING,
FASTER THAN IN THE PAST
55 MILLION YEARS.
AND WITH THE ADDED MAN MADE
STRESSORS OF OVERFISHING AND
POLLUTION UNDERMINING OCEAN
RESILIENCE. END QUOTE.
THESE OBSERVATIONS ARE SOBERING.
NOT ONLY ARE THE CHANGES GREAT
BUT THEY ARE HAPPENING SO
QUICKLY THAT MARINE LIFE CANNOT
ADAPT.
NUMERICALLY, THE AVERAGE OCEAN
P.H. HAS DECREASED FROM 8.2 TO
8.1 SINCE THE INDUSTRIALIZED
REVOLUTION.
THAT SEEMS LIKE A SMALL CHANGE
UNLESS YOU UNDERSTAND THE P.H.
THE P.H. SCALE IS LOGARITHMIC,
SO THAT CHANGE IS PROFOUND.
IF THAT SAME AMOUNT OF CHANGE IN
P.H. OCCURRED IN OUR BLOOD, WE
COULD SUFFER RESPIRATORY OR
KIDNEY FAILURE.
IT IS NOT DIFFICULT TO IMAGINE
HOW THIS CHANGE HAS HUGE
CONSEQUENCES FOR MARINE LIFE AND
ESPECIALLY FOR THE CALCIFYING
ORGANISMS LIKE CORAL REEFS,
SHELLFISH AND PLANKTON, WHICH AS
THE OCEAN ACIDIFIES BECOME
INCREASINGLY SOLUBLE IN THEIR
SPECIES DO NOT DO WELL WHEN THEY
ENVIRONMENT.
IF THIS UNPRECEDENTED RATE OF
CHANGE IN OCEAN P.H. CONTINUES,
IT COULD MEAN AN ALMOST 200%
DECREASE BY MID CENTURY.
SO IT IS REALLY NOT AN
EXAGGERATION TO SAY THAT WE ARE
ON THE VERGE OF AN ECOSYSTEM
COLLAPSE THAT WE COULD SEE
HAPPEN IN A SINGLE GENERATION.
ALTHOUGH MASS EXTINCTION EVENTS
HAVE OCCURRED IN THE PAST,
WORKSHOP PARTICIPANTS STATE THAT
COMPARING THE CURRENT
ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE WITH THESE
EVENTS IS DIFFICULT BECAUSE THE
RATES OF ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE
ARE UNPRECEDENTED.
THE RATES NOW OF ENVIRONMENTAL
CHANGE ARE UNPRECEDENTED.
THE REPORT CONTINUES, "IT IS
THEREFORE DIFFICULT TO PREDICT
CURRENT
ANTHROPROGENIC EXPERIMENT WILL
BE."
TRANSLATED OUT OF SCIENCESE, IT
IS THEREFORE DIFFICULT TO
PREDICT WHAT THE OUTCOME OF THIS
EXPERIMENT WE ARE CONDUCTING ON
OURSELVES AS A SPECIES ON THIS
PLANET WILL BE.
HOWEVER, THE REPORT CONTINUES,
"IT CAN BE SAID THAT WE ARE
PUSHING THE EARTH SYSTEM TO ITS
LIMITS."
THE WORKSHOP PARTICIPANTS
CONCLUDEED -- "UNLESS ACTION IS
TAKEN NOW, THE CONSEQUENCES OF
OUR ACTIVITIES ARE AT A HIGH
RISK OF CAUSING THROUGH THE
COMBINED EFFECTS OF CLIMATE
CHANGE, OVEREXPLOITATION,
POLLUTION AND HABITAT LOSS THE
NEXT GLOBALLY SIGNIFICANT
EXTINCTION EVENT IN THE OCEAN."
AND AGAIN,
WHEN THEY SAY "THE NEXT," THEY
MEAN IN GEOLOGIC, AND THEY'RE
REFERRING BACK TO EVENTS THAT
HAPPENED 251 MILLION YEARS AGO.
SO WHAT WILL WE DO?
THIS IS NOT THE FIRST REPORT TO
STATE WITH CERTAINTY THAT OUR
OCEANS AND, THUS, OUR
OCEAN-DEPENDENT POPULATIONS AND
ECONOMIES, ARE IN SERIOUS
JEOPARDY.
IN 2003, THE PEW OCEAN
COMMISSION REPORT LED OFF WITH
THE FOLLOWING:
"AMERICA'S OCEANS ARE IN CRISIS,
HIGHER."
IN 2004, THE U.S. COMMISSION ON
OCEAN POLICY, AS MANDATED BY
CONGRESS IN THE OCEANS ACT OF
2000, PUBLISHED THEIR FINAL
REPORT AND PRONOUNCED THE
IMPORTANCE OF OUR OCEANS' COASTS
OVERSTATED.
THEY ARE CRITICAL TO THE VERY
EXISTENCE AND WELL-BEING OF THE
NATION AND ITS PEOPLE.
YET, AS THE 21st CENTURY
DAWNS, IT IS CLEAR THAT THESE
INVALUABLE AND LIFE-SUSTAINING
ASSETS ARE VULNERABLE TO THE
ACTIVITYIES OF HUMANS.
NEARLY TWO CENTURIES AGO, THE
POET BYRON COULD WRITE, "ROLL ON
THOU DEEP AND DARK BLUE OCEAN
10,000 FLEETS SWEEP OVER THEE IN
VAIN.
MAN MARKS THE EARTH WITH RUIN.
HIS CONTROL STOPS WITH THE SHORE
SHORE."
WELL, NO MORE.
NOW IN 2011 THIS INTERNATIONAL
GROUP OF SCIENTISTS REMINDS US
THAT WE ARE NOW MARKING THE
OCEANS WITH RUIN.
AND THAT THE HUMAN INTERACTIONS
WITH THE OCEAN MUST CHANGE, TO
QUOTE THEIR REPORT, TO A
SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT OF ALL
ACTIVITYIES THAT IMPINGE MARINE
ECOSYSTEMS.
MR. PRESIDENT, WE MUST WORK
TOGETHER TO PRESEARCHEDZ PROTECT
THE OCEAN -- TO PRESERVE AND
PROTECT THE OCEAN ECOSYSTEMS WE
RELY ON SO HEAVILY FOR WE, TOO,
PARTS.
IN A BIPARTISAN EFFORT, SENATOR
SNOWE AND I HAVE INTRODUCED THE
NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE
OCEANS TO PROVIDE DEDICATED
FUNDING FOR OCEAN AND COASTAL
RESEARCH, RESTORATION,
PROTECTION, AND CONSERVATION.
TOO OFTEN THE KNOWLEDGE AND THE
INFORMATION THAT WE NEED TO
BETTER PROTECT AND UNDERSTAND
THESE ECOSYSTEMS COMES TOO LATE
OR COMES NOT AT ALL.
WE HOPE TO CHANGE THAT.
TOGETHER, WE CAN STILL TURN THE
TIDE TO PROTECT OUR OCEAN AND
OUR SOCIETY, BUT IF WE ARE TO
HAVE ANY CHANCE, WE MUST ACT
SOON, AND WE MUST MAKE PROGRESS
I LOOK FORWARD TO WORKING WITH
MY COLLEAGUES TO CONFRONT THESE
I THANK THE PRESIDENT.
I YIELD THE FLOOR, AND I NOTE
THE ABSENCE OF A QUORUM.
THE
CLERK WILL CALL THE ROLL.
QUORUM CALL:
MR. PRESIDENT?
THE
SENATOR FROM RHODE ISLAND.
MR. PRESIDENT,
I ASK THAT THE PENDING QUORUM
CALL BE VITIATED.
WOWS.
MR. PRESIDENT,
I HAVE EIGHT UNANIMOUS CONSENT
REQUESTS FOR COMMITTEES TO MEET
DURING TODAY'S SESSION OF THE
SENATE.
THEY HAVE THE APPROVAL OF THE
MAJORITY AND MINORITY LEADERS.
I ASK UNANIMOUS CONSENT THAT
THESE REQUESTS BE AGREED TO AND
THAT THESE REQUESTS BE PRINTED
IN THE RECORD.
OBJECTION.
I NOTE THE
ABSENCE OF A QUORUM.
THE
CLERK WILL CALL THE ROLL.
QUORUM CALL:
OBJECTION.