Tuesday, March 28, 2006

6:20 Cloture Invoked By a vote of 81-16, the Senate just voted to invoke cloture on the lobbying reform bill.   6:23:35 PM

6:00 Senate Voting to Invoke Cloture on Lobbying Reform Bill The Senate is now voting to invoke cloture on the Lobbying Reform Bill. 6:03:47 PM

5:50 Wyden Agreement Agreed To By a vote of 84-13, the Senate agreed to the Wyden amendment. 5:51:27 PM

5:25 Collins/Lieberman Amendment Not Agreed To; Senate Now Voting on Wyden/Grassley Amendment By a vote of 30-67, the Collins/Lieberman amendment was not agreed to.  The Senate is now voting on an amendment offered by Senators Wyden and Grassley.  The amendment would establish, as a standing order of the Senate, a requirement that a Senator publicly disclose their intention to place a hold on proceeding to a measure.  This must be done within three session days and the hold would be published in the Congressional Record. 5:25:05 PM

5:10 Senate Voting on Collins/Lieberman Amendment to Lobbying Bill The Senate is voting on a amendment offered by Senators Collins and Lieberman to the lobbying reform bill.  The amendment would create a new Office of Public Integrity within the legislative branch to oversee lobbying disclosure reports, to receive ethics complaints and to investigate possible ethics violations by Senate and House Members and staff.  The OPI would also review and approve Congressional travel, subject to Ethics Committee review.  The findings of the OPI would be referred to the Select Committee on Ethics or House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, which would retain their respective jurisdiction to discipline members and staff.  The Director of the OPI would be appointed jointly by the leadership of the House and Senate and all OPI staff would be non-partisan.  5:14:14 PM

2:29 Senate Reconvenes The Senate has reconvened to debate two amendments to the lobbying reform bill which will be voted on later this afternoon. Senators Durbin and Obama were on the floor to praise their colleague Representative Lane Evans who will announce his retirement this afternoon. 2:29:39 PM

12:50 Senate To Continue Lobbying and Immigration Debate This Afternoon The Senate is in recess for the weekly policy luncheons until 2:15 pm.  Upon returning, the Senate will consider two separate amendments, offered by Senators Collins and Wyden, to the lobbying reform bill.  Upon completion of the lobbying reform bill, the Senate will begin consideration of Senator Frist's immigration bill, the Securing America's Borders Act. 12:53:39 PM

11:25 Senator Collins Proposes Office of Public Integrity Senator Susan Collins has proposed forming an Office of Public Integrity to conduct impartial and thorough investitations on potential ethics violations and report to the Ethics Committee.  Senator Collins explained that public perception is that the current ethics investigation process is slow and this new independent Office would restore public trust.  11:30:09 AM

10:38 Senate Still in Morning Business Senator Santorum was on the floor responding to issues raised by Senator Durbin about the ongoing situation in Iraq. He voiced his support for releasing information that has been obtained by various intelligence agencies in Iraq. Senator Obama is now on the floor discussing ethics reform legislation. 10:39:00 AM

10:15 Senate Considering Lobbying and Immigration Reform Today, the Senate will consider the immigration overhaul proposal approved yesterday by the Judiciary Committee as well as continue work on the lobbying reform bill. At 2:15, unless another agreement is reached, a vote is expected on a separate immigration bill, the Securing America’s Borders Act, proposed by Senator Frist.  During morning business, Senators have been offering condolences to Senator Byrd and his wife on her passing this past weekend. 9:54:23 AM