Senate

“We’re going to either file cloture on this Friday, Saturday, Sunday or Monday," Reid said.

The Senate starts at 10 a.m., and after holding its weekly caucus lunches, it will return for 3 p.m. votes on four amendments to S. 744, the Border Security, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Modernization Act.

The amendments are from:

The Senate passed a bill Monday night that would establish safeguards and standards of quality for research of organ transplants for people infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) introduced the HIV Organ Policy Equity Act, S. 330, which would allow research on possible health risks for people with HIV receiving organs transplants from donors who also have HIV.

Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M.) warned lawmakers and the administration Monday against rushing into another Middle Eastern conflict — this time in Syria.

“We need to take a step back from this plunge,” Udall said on the Senate floor. “Will this hasty march to intervene in another Middle East conflict achieve these goals, or will it once again harm the United States? 

“We should listen to the lessons of history. Now is not the time to rush headlong into another Middle Eastern civil war.”

The Senate confirmed two judicial nominations on Monday.

On a 89-0 vote, Kenneth Gonzales was confirmed to serve as U.S. District Judge for the District of New Mexico.

Sen. Dan Coats (R-Ind.) said the National Security Agency leaker, Edward Snowden, should be prosecuted “to the full extent of the law” for leaking national security information to newspapers last week.

“What Snowden has done has bordered on treason and I believe he should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law,” Coats said on the Senate floor Monday. “Some praise him as a hero and whistleblower, I do not.”

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) said Monday that Republicans fail to discuss the high costs of border security provisions they propose to the immigration reform bill while calling for amendments to ban immigrants access to federal safety net programs, such as food stamps.

“It’s a cruel irony when my friends call for border security, and yet the high cost is always absent from the discussion ... but when it comes to protecting children from living near the poverty line, then fiscal responsibility pops up,” Leahy said on the Senate floor.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) criticized Republicans Monday for blocking a budget committee conference between the House and the Senate for 86 days.

“It’s been 86 days since the Senate passed its budget,” Reid said on the Senate floor. “Unfortunately, Democrats and Republicans will not find common ground as long as we don’t go to conference ... but Senate Republicans have objected to a conference, time and time again.”

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said Monday that he would introduce an amendment to the immigration reform bill to ensure that foreign students don’t take the jobs of young Americans.

Sanders said his amendment would stop large employers, such as Hershey's and McDonald's, from using a cultural exchange program to exploit foreign college students and take jobs away from young American workers. 

“Nobody can tell me that we need to bring young people from all over the world to work at entry-level jobs because there are not young Americans who want to do that job,” Sanders said. “With the unemployment rate for young people in this country being extraordinarily high, nobody with a straight face can make that claim.”

Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) warned the public Sunday, that they should view the Gang of Eight’s immigration bill and amendments with “great skepticism” since the promise of border enforcement before legalization isn't met in the bill.

“When the Gang of Eight first announced their immigration bill, they declared it was the toughest enforcement plan in history. They declared enforcement would come before legalization,” Sessions said. “Now the bill has been reviewed and there can be no dispute: It weakens current law, undermines future enforcement and puts amnesty — not enforcement — first. 

“So new promises of amendment ‘fixes’ to save the bill should be viewed with great skepticism: Every time, on every issue, the promises have not matched with reality.”