Senate

Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) read a letter from an anonymous whistle blower Thursday, that said the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is pressuring union employees to all take the same furlough day off so that air travel shuts down.

“Management at FAA is trying to make union employees all take the same day off … so that the sequester can hurt,” Coburn said on the Senate floor. “How cynical, how un-American is that?”

Sen. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.) got emotional Thursday when talking about a Senate resolution designating National Pediatric Brain Cancer Awareness Day. She said she has a personal friend with the disease.

The Senate then passed by unanimous consent S. Res. 116 introduced by Fischer and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.).

Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) objected to an amendment to the online sales tax bill from Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) on Thursday.

Baucus, who serves as chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, said it was a "travesty" that the Marketplace Fairness Act was not going through his committee before coming to the Senate floor.

"This is a travesty, the way this bill is being considered," Baucus said.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) chided senators holding up a bill that would allow states to collect online sales tax.

“The United States Senate operates by cooperation and consent, so I was disappointed that we weren’t able to reach agreement on amendments yesterday,” Reid said on the Senate floor Thursday. “The only way we get things done around here is when senators work together. We cannot let a few people stand in the way of fairness and that’s what this is all about.”

The Senate passed a resolution Thursday recognizing the heroism of the victims of the Boston Marathon bombings.

Nearly two weeks ago, three people were killed when two bombs went off near the finish line of the Boston Marathon. The suspected bombers later shot and killed another victim when stealing his car.

The Senate starts work at 9:30 a.m. and will resume debate on S. 743, the Marketplace Fairness Act.

On Wednesday, Senate Democrats filed a motion to end debate on the bill, which would allow states to collect sales taxes on purchases made online by residents. Without an agreement to go forward earlier, the vote to end debate will happen Friday, although Democratic leaders are hoping to finish work on the bill quickly — today, if possible.

Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) said he would introduce a bill this week that would make the child tax credit permanent and keep current levels on the earned income tax credit.

“We understand that comprehensive tax reform can put American on equal footing,” Brown said Wednesday. “What tax reform should not do is compromise the earned income tax credit and child tax credit."

Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) said Wednesday the Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is not above U.S. immigration laws.

Sessions said that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) sued Napolitano because they were being directed not to follow U.S. laws. He said the judge recently ruled that she didn’t have the right to do that.

Republican and Democratic senators objected to each other's proposals on how to stop sequestration on Wednesday.

Sens. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) and James Inhofe (R-Okla.) tried to pass their bill to give President Obama flexibility in making sequester cuts.

Sens. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) introduced a joint resolution Wednesday in opposition to using a chained consumer price index (CPI) for Social Security payments.

“The time has come for the United States Senate to send a very loud and clear message to the American people,” Sanders said on the Senate floor. “We are not going to balance the budget on the backs of the elderly and disabled veterans. … That is morally unacceptable.”