Blog

Wednesday, September 13, 2017

Pending: H.R. 2810, National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018.

The Senate has adjourned until 10:00 a.m. Thursday, September 14th under provisions of S. Res. 254 as a mark of respect for former Senator Pete Domenici.

During wrap-up the following legislation was passed by unanimous consent:

  • S. Res. 252- Designating September 2017 as National Spinal Cord Injury Awareness Day
  • S. Res. 253- National Hispanic Serving Institutions Week
  • S. Res. 254- Relative to the death of Pete Domenici, former U.S. Senator, the State of New Mexico

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6:37 p.m. Senator Wyden spoke about the wildfires in Oregon.

6:34 p.m. Majority Leader McConnell filed cloture on H.R. 2810, NDAA and the McCain substitute amendment #1003, as modified. Both ripen Friday. At a time TBD, the Senate will have 40 minutes of debate on the nomination of Pamela Hughes Patenaude followed by a vote on confirmation. The nomination of Douglas W. Domenech, to be an Assistant Secretary of Interior, was agreed to by voice vote.

6:09 p.m. Senator Whitehouse spoke on climate change.

5:49 p.m. Senator McCain modified his substitute amendment to H.R. 2810 by unanimous consent and spoke on the defense authorization bill. Senator Reed spoke on the defense authorization bill.

5:31 p.m. Senator Blumenthal spoke about DACA.

5:52 p.m. Senator Baldwin spoke about an amendment to deal with Buy American provisions of the defense bill.

4:03 p.m. Senator Donnelly spoke about a measure to combat the shift of jobs overseas.

3:46 p.m. Senator Stabenow spoke about the NDAA.

3:34 p.m. Senator Hatch spoke about medical marijuana research.

3:14 p.m. Senator Barrasso spoke about healthcare.

3:03 p.m. Senator Tester spoke about wildfire devastation.

2:37 p.m. Senator Klobuchar spoke on her amendment on election apparatus security.

2:25 p.m. Senator Wicker spoke about possible base closures and the McCain amendment on that topic.

2:10 p.m. Senator Isakson spoke on the NDAA, in particular on its effects in Georgia.

2:05 p.m. Senator Rounds spoke about Tricare and NDAA.

1:54 p.m. Senator Blunt spoke about NDAA.

1:41 p.m. Senator Thune spoke about tax reform.

1:15 p.m. Senator Coons spoke about AUMF and DACA.

12:56 p.m. Senator Cornyn spoke about disaster relief efforts and the NDAA.

12:55 p.m. Senator McConnell called up McCain amendment #545.

12:55 p.m. The Senate tabled the Paul amendment #871 by a vote of 61-36.

  • Senators voting yes: 48 Republicans, 13 Democrats (Carper, Casey, Cortez Masto, Donnelly, Hassan, Manchin, McCaskill, Reed, Schatz, Shaheen, Stabenow, Warner, and Whitehouse)
  • Senators voting no: 31 Democrats, 3 Republicans, (Heller, Lee, and Paul) and 2 Independents.

12:17 p.m. Senator Corker moved to table the Paul amendment and the Senate began voting on the motion to table.

12:05 p.m. Senators Reed, McCain, and Corker spoke on the Paul amendment.

11:54 a.m. Senator Paul spoke on his amendment #871.

11:46 a.m. Senator Moran spoke against the Paul amendment #871.

11:41 a.m. Senator Murphy spoke in support of Paul amendment #871.

11:36 a.m. Senator Durbin spoke in support of Paul amendment #871

11:31 a.m. Senator Cardin spoke in support of Paul amendment #871.

11:23 a.m. Majority Leader McConnell paid tribute to former New Mexican Senator Peter Domenici.

  • The Senate agreed to the motion to proceed to  H.R. 2810, NDAA, by voice vote and McCain offered substitute amendment #1003 and McConnell offered Paul amendment #871 to #1003.

10:58 a.m. Senator Reed spoke on the Defense Authorization bill.

10:25 a.m. Senator McCain thanks DL Schumer for advocacy of bipartisan work. Discusses Defense authorization bill.

10:13 a.m. Democratic Leader Schumer spoke on tax reform and health care, and briefly on DACA.

10:04 a.m. Majority Leader McConnell spoke on the Defense Authorization.  Achieved UC that there will be one hour equally divided on the motion to proceed between Senators McCain and Reed.

The Senate convened at 10:00 a.m.

***

Following any leader remarks, resume consideration of the motion to proceed to H.R. 2810, National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018;  with no post-cloture time remaining.

Once the bill is pending, we expect Senator McCain to offer a substitute amendment and for Majority Leader McConnell to offer Senator Paul’s AUMF amendment.

We could see a vote on a motion to table the AUMF amendment in the morning.