but most of all, i want to thank the american people. i want to thank those that made the calls, those that sent e-mails, those that stood up and called in to the talk-shows all over america and said, we've had enough. haven't they listened to the message that we were trying to send on november the 2nd? so i think this is a great, great victory for the american people today because we would have spent $1.1 trillion, at least $8 billion of it, $8.3 billion, in earmarks that had never had a hearing, that had never had any scrutiny, had never seen the light of day but had been put in by very powerful members of this body on the appropriations committee. so i'd like to extend my gratitude to the american peop people, the tea partiers, those who've aligned themselves with the cause to stop the spending and the mortgaging of our children ask grandchildren's future. we've -- children and grandchildren's future. we've apasse amassed a $40,000 r every man, woman and child in america. the late e commission that reported out -- the latest commission that reported out clearly indicated that we are on a collision course that could bring down the very economy of this country. so i'm encouraged, i'm encouraged greatly by the action that was taken tonight to do away with this monstrosity and go back to maybe a one-page continuing resolution to keep the government in business until the new members of congress and the new members of this body who were elected last november can have their voices heard in the deliberation of this body and how their tax dollars are either dispensed with and those that are borrowed, how they are dispensed with. i see the senator from missouri is about to speak. i want to thank her for her efforts in trying to bring about an end to this spendin spending. so, mr. president, i again want to express my gratitude to all members, including especially the tough decision that was made by the republican members of the appropriations committee, to stand up so that we could stop this thing in its track. and i want to thank the american people, whose voices were heard in this body and forced the decision that was made -- a senator: will the gentleman yield for a question? mr. mccain: i would be glad to yield. a senator: for the most junior member, for those who are not understanding what happened, did we just win? mr. mccain: i think there's very little doubt that the majority leader of the united states senate would not have taken the action he just took if we didn't have 41 votes to stop this monstrosity. a senator: so for economic -- mr. mccain: i don't think there's anything about it. a senator: so for economic conservatives, a 1,924-page bill just died? mr. mccain: a 1,924-page bill just died. a senator: and 6,000 earmarks will not now move forward? mr. mccain mccain: yes, and i fl badly about some of those earmarks because i had so much fun with them. a senator: and all of the g.o.p. senators just signed a letter to the leadership this morning saying that we should not move forward with this, as represented actives of the new mandate. and it seems that change has come to the senate tonight with the death of this $1.1 trillion plan. mr. mccain: i have no doubt. i am not finished. i have -- do i have the floor? the presiding officer: yes, the senator from arizona has the floor. mr. mccain: i would appreciate the regular order. i say to -- mr. president, i say to my friend that this may be a seminole moment in the history -- in the recent history of the united states senate. this may be a seminole moment that stops the practice which has moved power all to the appropriators in this body, a few, and taken it away from the rest of us and may return us to an authorizing and then appropriating process. but most importantly, i think it's a seminole moment because for the first time since i've been here, we stood up and said, enough. stop. a senator: congratulations, senator. mr. mccain: thank you. mr. president, i yield the floor. mrs. mccaskill: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from missouri. mrs. mccaskill: mr. president, i agree with my colleague from arizona on many things when it comes to appropriations, including that i have made a decision that earmarking is not a process that i think is the appropriate way to spend public money. but i'm a little confused about some of the righteous indignation coming from the republican side of the aisle about this bill. the omnibus 2010 that they have sitting out there, they're wanting the american people to think that this document came from democrats. they want the american people to think that omnibus 2010, that -- all those pages sitting there, were done by democrats. they weren't done by democrats. those pages were done by democrats and republicans. every bit of that document was drafted by republicans and democrats, right down to the earmarks. and for the minority leader to stand here and ask as if this document -- and act as if this document is something that is the fault of the democratic party, when he well knows that he has been involved, i have been involved in terms of trying to get the number down -- and i'm glad we succeeded in getting the number down, as has been referenced to the sessions-mccaskill number -- but this was a bipartisan effort to get the number down. and the irony is, guess who has earmarks in there? the minority leader. who just voted on a moratorium for earmarks ten minutes ago. did he pull his earmarks out? no. did any of the republicans that voted for a moratorium on earmarks, did they pull their earmarks out before this bill came to the floor? we could have eliminated a few pages. so, you know, i just don't think the righteous indignation works. this was a bipartisan effort drafted by republicans and democrats. it came to the floor after months of work by democrats and republicans. and it was presented to this body in a bipartisan way to vote on. i wasn't going to vote on it. i'm against it. but i just -- so i think that i have a slight bit of credibility to call these guys on this notion that this is something that sprung from nowhere out of some back room on the democratic side of the aisle. this sprung from a bipartisan effort of the appropriation committees -- of the appropriations committee and every member on that side of the aisle knows it. they know it. and they know the earmarks in there. there are almost $700 million of earmarks in there from people who voted on a moratorium on earmarks. that's like being half pregnant. they should have said before this bill ever came to the floor -- and they were asked "would you like your earmarks pulled out?" no, no. they were perfectly willing to vote no and take those earmarks home. so on one hand, i would have voted no had we had the vote and i said that from day one. i voted no on the omnibus last year. i voted no on another omnibus because i don't think it's the right way to appropriate. but this is an equal opportunity sin. the problems with this process don't lie on one side of the aisle. they lie on both sides of the aisle. and the notion that the republicans are trying to say this is just about the democrats is the kind of hypocrisy that gives us the lowest ratings we have in terms of confidence of the american people. we need to own up here. this is not about the democrats. this is about both sides of the aisle and a flawed appropriations process that couldn't get to the floor because of a lot of obstructionism. and when it finally did get to the floor, it came in one package. but it is not fair for the republicans to act like that all those pages came from the democratic side of the aisle. they certainly did not. and i yield the floor. mr. corker: mr. president? a senator: mr. president? mr. corker: mr. president? mr. begich: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from tennessee. mr. corker: mr. president, i want to thank the senator from missouri for her work in setting the ceiling that was adhered to. and i know there's a -- i don't support this bill and i don't -- i didn't ask for any earmarks, and i know the senator from missouri did not ask for any earmarks. i think there's been a lot of frayed feelings, no question. i think we all know that even at the levels -- and i would say that the appropriators i think did agree to a number that was passed out here on the floor. but i think we know even at those levels, spending is higher than it should be. and what i would ask is that the senator from missouri and i continue to work together. i know we've got an amendment that was going to be part of whatever passed to really cap spending and drive it down to the appropriate level of spending relative to our gross domestic product. i know that it's going to take both sides of the aisle to do that. and i know that we've had a deficit-reduction commission that has just reported, has done some great work. the senator from illinois, to his credit, courageously supported that. and so there's a lot of frayed feelings right now, there's a lot that has been attempted to be done here at the end, and i know that that's created a lot of conflict. but, you know, the page is going to turn here soon, the year's going to end, the holidays will come and we'll be able to -- to share a few moments with our families and then be back. and what i would hope is that in spite of what all has happened -- and, again, i did not support this piece of legislation for lots of reasons, many, many reasons. i do agree, though, that there was a ceiling that was set. i agree that -- that this is going to cause some -- some damage. but it was the right thing. it was the right thing for this bill not to go forward. and i hope that what will end up and -- what we'll end up and have is a continuing resolution that will take us for several months. and then i would say to the senator from missouri that i look forward to working with her, i look forward to working with the senator from illinois so that we put in place a construct so that we know where it is we're going. you know, each year it's not just that the appropriations bills, you know, don't necessarily come forward. and it happened -- it's happened in years passed, i understand that. they don't necessarily come forward in a way that allows us to spend time with them one a week or maybe two a week or whatever. but it's also this we don't really know where it is we're going. i mean, we don't really have a construct that's taking us to a place over time. so it's my hope that we'll either vote on something bold relating to deficit reduction and tax reform or that we'll put in place a construct to take us where we need to go. so i don't -- i don't think it does any good to cast blame, candidly. we are where we are. i think the senate is taking actions that are appropriate and responsible by moving to a short-term c.r. the thing that i think is most beneficial to us about that is it allows us to very quickly in february or march start moving towards a downward trending line that i think is much, much better for our country. so i see the senator from missouri standing. i think there's a lot that we as a body have to work on together. that, to me, is the most important thing that is before us and i happy to when we come back, we'll all work very hard to make that happen. mrs. mccaskill: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from missouri. mrs. mccaskill: mr. president, may i just say that had the minority leader's tone been the same as the senator from tennessee, i probably wouldn't have felt as passionately as i did. i agree with the senator from tennessee about the vote on this bill. i publicly said i wouldn't support it. i didn't support it for a number of reasons. but if we want to work together, then we've got to quit trying score cheap political points. and the notion that the minority floor leader tried to give the american people the impression that this bill was somehow concocted in some backroom by democrats -- everybody knows that's not true. everybody knows that until about eight hours ago, there were a bunch of republicans voting for this thing. now, am i glad they're not voting for it? candidly, i am. i'm glad that you guys managed to get everybody to -- to -- to not vote for it because i'm opposed to it. but what i think was most offensive was trying to trot this bill out here and put a label on it and try to give the american people that this was something that was done at the 11th hour to be jammed down people's throats. this is something that was done in a bipartisan way. thad cochran had a huge role in that bill, as did every other ranking member on all the subcommittees on appropriations. so what's offensive to me is not that we're defeating the omnibus. i like that. but what's offensive to me is that we've gotten into this bad habit of trying to score cheap political points. and for senators to get on this floor and say, "we won," and, you know, do this kind of stuff when you know how many republicans worked hard on provisions in that bill, and it -- in fact, republicans worked hard, frankly, harder than our side did, on mccaskill-sessions. when he 17 democrats supporting it. you had unanimous support. i was pleased that we came together in that bipartisan way to bring the number down. and we won bringing the number down to the level the republicans wanted. along with 17 democrats. and that's what mccaskill-sessions/sessions-m ccaskill was. so i think that if we can go forward in the manner that the senator from tennessee has just spoken, then it's really important that we quit trying to mislead somehow the american people that the bill that we were going to consider was the product of the democratic party. because it wasn't. and that's what causes frayed feelings. it's -- and you and i -- the senator from tennessee and i have had long discussions. he was surprised to hear how angry we were on this side at some of the tactics being used. i was surprised to hear how angry the senators on the republican side were on some of the tactics being used. if there really is a moment that we come together, then we probably both need to work harder at scoring cheap political points like was just scored a minute ago by the minority floor leader. the presiding officer: the senator from alaska. mr. begich: i signed on to the sessions-mccaskill bill because i wanted to get somewhere with the deficit. we signed a recent resolution letter to try to get something under control here. i wasn't planning to speak. i came down here and i was going to head home. the thing that triggered me is when one of our colleagues on your side said who wins tonight that's not what this should be tonight. it's not about who wins or loses. the american people are losing every day we have this bickering that goes on. i didn't actually see this pile here of paper with the little logo on it until i got over to this seat. that is not necessary for us to get on with the business. and i know -- you know, i was listening to you as a former mayor, you're a former mayor from chattanooga. you were talking like a mayor there. that's what we need. we need people to think of the long term. how we get there. that's where we need to go i didn't come down here to hear the bickering that went on a little bit and this prop that was brought out. i mean, it doesn't -- that's not why alaska sent me. to be honest, who wins and loses tonight, my state of alaska is losing tonight. they're losing because we can't get our work done. after a year, almost a quarter of the senate sat and worked on this in multiple committees to get this bill to us an here we are. we can argue the timing and all of that. the fact is i look to my colleagues who are on there. i look to democrats and republicans who are on the appropriation committee. i listened to them. my staff works with them to hear how that bill's being put together. this is one of those that i'm impressed to hear the votes coming out of there. they're almost unanimous. that is a rare thing in this world that we live in here. and we cannot continue to bring props like that down or say who wins and loses and then giggle about it as they leave the floor. the public is fed up with that. if there's one thing they told us in november was get busy, get work done, and work together and quit the gamesmanship. so your comments i'm looking forward to. we had a meeting a group of us and it was very productive i thought talk about tax reform and deficit management and how we're going to get control of spending. that is the direction we have to go. but we're not going to get there with these -- these games. and i know both sides and you're right we shouldn't cast blame -- we're all at fault here. this may be the moment that we finally say to ourselves, no more show and tell. no more gimmicks. get serious. and the winner should be the american people at the end of the day. so i am -- you know, i'm looking forward. like i said, i was sitting here listening to you, i felt like a mayor was coming out of you. i know as a former mayor, the only way it worked you had to reach across both ends, figure out the common ground. i think senator gregg said in his farewell speech, we work between the 40-yard lines. he's right. we've got to get back there. and quit being on these fringes just for the media that sits up here and wherever they watch us. so like i said, i'm just frustrated tonight. i'm looking forward to maybe going home, getting a good night's sleep an coming back with a good attitude. i'm controlling my motion as best i can tonight. your words, i wish those were the words that started this debate tonight to be very frank with you. that's not what happened. so i look forward to whatever we can do to get through this maze and get on with the show and get what the american people are looking for and that's frults the congress. maybe -- results from the congress. maybe we'll go from 13% popularity to 14%. we can at least strive for something. mr. durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: i want to thank my colleague from tennessee about the deficit commission and it was a controversial vote and it was the right vote to deal with the deficit and the problems that we face. i'd like to put what happened tonight in some perspective in light of the deficit commission. first, the omnibus appropriations bill, the total amount being spent there wa was $1,108,000,000,000. the amount of that bill was that earmarked for specific projects was less than 1%. $8 billion out o of $1,108,000,000,000. less than 1%. and that was within the total amount that we were limited to spend. it wasn't as if we added it on. we were given a total amount and less than 1% of it was marked where it was going with complete transparency, complete disclosure. $8 billion. and it troubles me when i hear members come to the floor as some did just a few minutes ago on your side congratulating yourselves, we put an end to pork barrel spending and now we're really deal with our deficit. $8 billion is a lot of money to anyone. but in the context of the debt that we face as a nation and the need to address it, it is not significant. it is not significant in that context. i think about the fact that yesterday most of us voted -- 81 of us voted for a tax bill and included in that tax bill were tax cuts for people who were pretty well off in america. $20 billion a year in tax cuts for the richest estates in america to escape federal taxation. $20 billion there. we voted yesterday and there weren't a lot of high fives and glorious speeches given about the fact that we were adding $20 billion to the deficit with that vote yesterday for the wealthiest people in america. $70 billion of it was for tax cuts for people making over $1 million a year. nobody came to the floor and talked about deficits then. in fact, it was considered 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