Monday, June 11, 2007

6:15 Senate Does Not Proceed to Gonzales Vote; Now Voting to Proceed to Energy Bill By a vote of 53-38, the motion to proceed to the Gonzales resolution was not agreed to.  The Senate is now voting to proceed to the Energy bill. 6:19:29 PM

5:55 Senate Voting on Gonzales No Confidence Resolution The Senate is now voting on a resolution that would express the sense of the Senate that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales no longer holds the confidence of the Senate and the American people. 5:57:04 PM

5:30 Energy Committee Leadership Speak on Energy Bill With a vote to proceed to the Energy bill later this evening, the Senate debated the bill for one hour.  Senator Bingaman, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, said that this bill is a meaningful, bipartisan contribution to charting a new direction for America’s energy policy.  He said that this bill will enable America to tap its limitless supply of innovation to become more energy self-sufficient and lead the world to address the threat of global warming.  The Ranking Member on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Senator Domenici, spoke with pride about the 2005 Energy bill saying that it has already helped to strengthen our energy security and grow our economy.  He said that this bill on the floor today is smaller in scope and vision but said that there are a lot of good policies in the bill and he hopes there will be a full and fair debate. 5:49:53 PM

3:25 Senate Leaders Speak on Immigration and Energy The Senate is in a period of morning business until 3:30.  At that time, there will be a one hour debate on the motion to proceed to the energy legislation and then a second one hour debate on the motion to proceed to the legislation on the Attorney General.  Senator Reid spoke on the failed attempt to pass an immigration bill last week.  He said he will be sending a letter to President Bush today to lay out his hope that this bill can still be passed, but he warned that further progress would require active support from more Republicans.  Senator Reid also spoke on the Energy legislation that the Senate will be considering today.  He said that energy is one of the greatest challenges of our time and threatens our economy, national security, and environment.  Following Senator Reid's remarks, Senator McConnell said he too wanted the immigration debate to continue and believes a bill could have been passed by tonight if the cloture vote was not held as early as it was last week.  He said that a substantial number of Republican Senators think that this bill would be an improvement over our current situation and hopes that this debate can get back on track. 3:25:04 PM

2:00 Senate Convenes The Senate will convene at 2:00 p.m. and the first vote is expected this evening around 5:30 p.m.  That vote will be on a non-binding resolution expressing no confidence in Attorney General Gonzales.  Following this vote, the Senate will vote on a motion to proceed to consideration of an Energy policy bill. 2:01:36 PM