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Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) pledged Monday that he would do everything in his power to pass an immigration reform bill during this Congress.

“As Majority Leader I will do everything in my power to get a bill across the finish line,” Reid said on the Senate floor Monday.

Montana Sens. Jon Tester (D) and Max Baucus (D) called on Congress Friday to pass the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) immediately.

"Every day Congress waits puts another Montana woman at risk," Tester said Friday. "Women and children should have every opportunity to live in safety and lead full, healthy lives. This bill empowers our communities to protect all our citizens and holds offenders accountable."

Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) accused the National Riffle Association of “extremism” on Thursday, in a call for “moderation and commonsense” on gun control.

“The advocacy organization called the National Riffle Association, is not the same NRA advocacy group that I grew up with that was about protecting hunters' rights,” Nelson said on the floor Thursday. “They are now protecting gun makers.”

A group of progressive senators urged U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano on Thursday to temporarily hold the deportation of immigrants in same-sex relationships.

In a letter to Holder and Napolitano, the lawmakers requested that they put on hold immigration cases involving permanent-resident status and deportation orders regarding same-sex foreign-born spouses of LGBT couples until the Supreme Court rules on the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) later this year. 

Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) said Wednesday that he would not filibuster gun legislation because he believes there should be an open debate about the Second Amendment and gun control.

“Some have asked whether I will try to block or filibuster this debate because of my support of the Second Amendment,” Coburn said in a statement after President Obama laid out proposals for reducing gun violence. “My goal is the opposite. I believe Congress has a responsibility to review all of our laws and make adjustments as necessary in a transparent, open and deliberative manner.”

The Senate majority leader has opposed a ban on assault weapons in the past.

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) announced Thursday that he will lead a new group whose goal is to get Congress to “put the country’s needs ahead of politics.”

Manchin and former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman (R) have decided to co-chair No Labels, a national organization working to change Washington attitudes and make Congress work again.

New York Sens. Charles Schumer (D) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D) told Vice President Biden that he should include measures on background checks and gun trafficking in his task-force recommendations.

At the request of President Obama, Biden is leading a task force to reduce gun violence in the United States after the shooting in Newtown, Conn., that claimed the lives of 20 children last month. The task force is expected to make its final recommendations later this month.

Hawaii Lt. Gov. Brian Schatz (D) was sworn in Thursday by Vice President Biden to fill the Senate seat of Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii).

Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) introduced a bipartisan bill Friday before senators left for Christmas break that would establish a commission to develop a national strategy for reducing child abuse fatalities.

The Protect Our Kids Act would create a special task force dedicated to reducing child abuse and neglect in America.