Floor Statements

Mr. President, as I have indicated, we are going to take up this important government funding bill today. Senator Mikulski, the Chair of the Appropriations Committee, has performed an extraordinary service in negotiating this bill. And I think it is fair to give a nod to Senator Shelby, of course, who has been involved in this. They get along extremely well and set a good standard for everyone in the Senate.

The bill achieves many of our important priorities. It gives the Affordable Care Act the secure financial footing it deserves, gives our military the tools it needs to combat ISIS, it addresses the rape kit backlog, helping police and prosecutors prevent sexual assault, it increases funding for students' loans, ensures that the President's Executive action in protecting families can move forward, and it provides funding to fight the Ebola epidemic.

There are lots of other things in it. I have just hit a few of the highlights from my perspective.

There are things in this bill that I wouldn't have included--the Democrats wouldn't have included had we written the bill alone. I don't support the weakening of Dodd-Frank and the restrictions on the District of Columbia and other things, but I didn't write this bill. Senate Democrats didn't write this bill alone. It is a compromise. That is what legislation is all about.

The Presiding Officer has been a Governor for the State of Maine. He is now a legislator and has been a legislator, and he knows that legislation is the art of compromise. Any chief executive who has to work with a legislature, as Presidents of the United States do, does not get everything he wants. Legislation is a compromise. And that is what this legislation is.

We are going to consider this legislation to keep our government open and funded, and we are going to do it today--I hope. There are Senators who are unhappy with this legislation, and they will have a chance to make their objections heard. I hope we can complete work on this bill as soon as we finish the Defense bill. That depends on everyone's cooperation here. But there isn't a lot of time. The government funding runs out at 12 o'clock midnight on Saturday.

When we started this Congress, the government was running on autopilot. Since 2011, we have lurched from crisis to crisis, with the country constantly under threat of a shutdown or financial catastrophe. It is a very bad habit, and one the American people are very, very tired of, as they should be.

This bill is, I repeat, far from perfect. But when we pass it, we will be able to end this Congress knowing we put our country on a more secure financial footing than when this Congress started. We can then go home to our States, tell our constituents we passed legislation that keeps America safe, makes college more affordable, spurs the economy, and keeps our government operating.

Talk about a CR for 3 months should scare everyone. So we are not there. We are going to have a bill that funds this government for the next fiscal year. We can be satisfied that we left our priorities better funded and more secure, and our government on a more sound foundation than when this Congress began.

Mr. President, I am going to take just a minute, because time is running out, to talk about a couple of Senators.

I rise to honor Senator Mark Pryor of Arkansas upon his departure from this institution. I have been in the Senate 28 years, and there has been a Pryor here for 22 of those years. I first worked with Mark's dad, David Pryor. David Pryor left this institution because he had quite a significant heart attack. What a fine Senator. I have said before, and I will say again, he was the best legislator I ever served with, whether during my experience in the State legislature of Nevada or here: David Pryor. He was very, very good.

Six years after David left, Mark came. What a good legislator he is. He is just such a fine person. But it is no surprise to me that he followed in his dad's footsteps. After all, the Pryor family has worked as public servants in Arkansas for five generations. Mark's great- great-grandfather was a sheriff. Mark's great-grandfather was a sheriff. Mark's grandfather Edgar was a county sheriff also in Arkansas. In fact, just last year, an Arkansan said to Mark: ``I'm for Mark Pryor not because of his dad David but because of Edgar.'' That is how deep the Pryor roots run in Arkansas.

On Mark's desk is a plaque that reads: ``Arkansas Comes First.'' This was a plaque that was on his dad's desk and that Mark put on his desk. This has been Mark's mission since he has been here--to put Arkansas first. The Senate and the entire country have benefited from the influence of the Pryors in the United States Senate--David and Mark.

Mark was born in Fayetteville, grew up in Little Rock, and attended the University of Arkansas as an undergraduate and later to law school. While working as an attorney in private practice, he began his public service in 1990, when he ran for a seat in the House of Representatives. He was elected and served there for 4 years.

In 1996, Mark was faced with the fight of his life. He had a situation occur near his Achilles tendon on one of his legs. They tried physical therapy, but it didn't seem to get well, and they discovered he had a very rare form of cancer--clear-cell sarcoma--in his left leg. So it is an understatement to say it was a trying experience for Mark. He was faced with the prospect of dying or losing his leg.

Mark was buoyed in this difficult experience that he had by his family, his friends, and the people of Arkansas praying for him. It was quite a spiritual experience for Mark and his family. This experience deepened his compassion for those who suffer physically, financially, and emotionally, and he has translated that into his public service.

In 1998, he was elected attorney general of the State of Arkansas. In his 2002 Senatorial election he bucked the national trend to become the only Democrat to defeat a Republican incumbent. Bucking trends would quickly become one of his hallmarks here on Capitol Hill. As a Senator, he has shown courage in voting according to his conscience.

Key among his legislative accomplishments have been bills to extend tax benefits and improve medical services for men and women to make the products that people buy, especially children, safe. He has also been a strong advocate for honest and transparent business practices in order to preserve our American tradition of responsible free enterprise.

His respect for tradition extends to the Senate itself. I say this for a number of reasons, but once a reporter asked him what he would do if he had absolute power over Congress. In his characteristic fashion, he responded he would instill in his fellow Senators greater respect for each other and for the world's greatest deliberative body. That is what Mark Pryor said.

While some may have disagreed with Mark, they never ever questioned his sincerity, his integrity. I admire his impeccable dedication to his conscience.

Mark Twain said:

The proper office of a friend is to side with you when you

are in the wrong. Nearly anybody will side with you when you

are in the right.

With apologies to Mark Twain, if eternal agreement were the price of friendship, we would all have fewer friends. Friendship can transcend policy preferences, as Mark's and mine do. We agree on most everything. There are a few things we don't agree on politically, but that doesn't matter. It doesn't matter because he is my friend.

He is a friend to my wife and me. It is no secret there are many people--the Republican leader and his wife--who reached out to console me and Landra during her terrible accident, and then when the cancer was ravaging her body. But she pulled through that. And one reason she did, I am convinced, is Mark Pryor. Mark Pryor, who almost died from cancer, called my wife often--often--texted her often telling her: You are going to be OK; don't be afraid. So my wife loves Mark Pryor.

We were talking about the elections not long ago, and I said: I have never prayed to win an election, and this election I didn't either. She said: Well, I did. That is how she feels about Mark Pryor.

I am really honored to have served with Mark Pryor, who is such a genuine person, so sincere. He has been an invaluable asset, his service here in the Senate. I congratulate Mark on his exemplary service here in the Senate.

Mark will always be my friend. There is a quote that bears directly on my feelings about Senator Pryor: ``A good friend is hard to find, hard to lose, and impossible to forget.'' I will never ever forget Mark Pryor. He is a unique, one of a kind, kind, thoughtful, considerate man.

I object.

For the information of all Members, we have two more votes based on the prior order that was entered last night. I alert all Members they better not leave here right now for the weekend because we have matters we need to dispose of. I have spoken to Senator McConnell recently, and we are going to try to work something out so that we may be able to get off tomorrow and Sunday. We are going to have to work on Monday morning unless something comes up in the meantime. Everybody should just take it easy until we get something worked out; otherwise, the Government will run out of money tomorrow night at midnight. We have to complete this omnibus bill prior to that time.

Reserving the right to object, we have had bipartisan conversations about having a more than 1-year extension of the tax extenders, bipartisan conversations about moving to a 2-year bill or maybe doing what we did in the Senate and passing the extend bill.

So I respect my friend, who is trying to get us out of here as quickly as possible, but we have to have a path forward to make sure we understand what is happening with the extenders.

The Senator mentioned TRIA. We also have some problems with that. So I believe we need a path forward on the omnibus and a way forward on the nominations before we start dealing with whether there should be a 2-year extension or a 1-year extension and what amendments, if any, we would have on TRIA, so I object.

We have the omnibus we have to do, we have to do the tax extenders, we have to do TRIA, and we have some nominations that we have an obligation to the American people to do, so we are not going to finish tonight. I think we could finish the omnibus tonight, but we are not finishing tonight.

Madam President, I ask the Chair to lay before the Senate a message from the House with respect to H.R. 83.

The Presiding Officer laid before the Senate the following message from the House of Representatives:

Resolved, That the House agree to the amendment of the

Senate to the bill (H.R. 83) entitled ``An Act to require the

Secretary of the Interior to assemble a team of technical,

policy, and financial experts to address the energy needs of

the insular areas of the United States and the Freely

Associated States through the development of energy action

plans aimed at promoting access to affordable, reliable

energy, including increasing use of indigenous clean-energy

resources, and for other purposes,'' with an amendment.

Motion to Concur

Madam President, I move to concur in the House amendment to the Senate amendment to H.R. 83.

Madam President, there is a cloture motion at the desk. I ask the Chair to order it reported.

Madam President, I move to concur in the House amendment to the Senate amendment to H.R. 83, with a further amendment.

I ask for the yeas and nays.

I have an amendment at the desk.

I have a motion to refer the House message with respect to H.R. 83 with instructions.

I ask for the yeas and nays on that amendment.

Madam President, I have an amendment to the instructions which is at the desk.

I ask for the yeas and nays on that amendment.

I now have a second-degree amendment at the desk.

I ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum required under rule XXII be waived.

Madam President, we now are waiting for a vote to occur. Under the rules, this will occur 2 days from now, 1 hour after we come into session. So I would hope we can work something out to get this done tonight. Remember, midnight on Saturday the government is out of money.

I hope that cooler heads would prevail and we can move forward and get this done. There is just no sense in our waiting around. This bill has been talked about for days now. It has been very good work to get it where we are.

The two managers of this bill, the distinguished Senator from Maryland and, of course, the senior Senator from Alabama, have worked hard to get this bill done. I hope we can move forward on this as quickly as possible. There is no reason we have to wait until Sunday to do this.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

I appreciate everyone's patience. You have all been waiting.

I ask unanimous consent that at 5 p.m., Monday, December 15, the Senate proceed to vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the motion to concur in the House amendment to the Senate amendment to H.R. 83; that if cloture is invoked, there be 30 minutes postcloture debate time remaining on the motion to concur.

I am unable to do that.

Madam President, I yield back all time on all of these nominations.

Madam President, I rise today to honor the work of my friend George M. Marcus, an accomplished businessman and philanthropist.

Born in Euboea, Greece, George Marcus and his family immigrated to the San Francisco Bay area in 1945. George was raised in California and attended college at San Francisco State University. After graduating with an economics degree in 1965, George began working in real estate. Always with an emphasis on client satisfaction, analysis, and evaluation, he founded Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services in 1971. His business acumen and willingness to innovate have spawned a variety of subsidiaries that have expanded his company to include 35 states.

George's successes are not limited to the real estate industry. A noted entrepreneur, Mr. Marcus has been called ``a modern day Midas with an uncanny ability to create successful companies'' by one news outlet. Indeed, his ventures range from SummerHill Homes, a bay area homebuilder, to a partnership in two enormously popular Greek restaurants: Evvia Estiatorio in Palo Alto and Kokkari Estiatorio in downtown San Francisco.

Mr. Marcus' legacy extends far beyond shareholders and profits into the heart of his own community. He has served on the California State Universities Foundation Board of Governors and the Board of Regents of the University of California. On the board he worked to preserve the financial viability of higher education for residents. He has also supported San Francisco's de Young Museum since its foundation and established San Francisco State University's International Center for the Arts.

Remembering his heritage, George has contributed generously to the Greek-American community and its institutions. In 2008, he was instrumental in organizing the National Hellenic Society to provide resources to promote Hellenic ideals. For his numerous services, he has been awarded the AXION Award, the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, the Elios Cultural Achievement Award, the Patriarch Athenagoras I Humanities Award, and the Aristeio Award of the American Hellenic Council of California.

This past month George was honored by the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of San Francisco with the Theofanis Economidis Award for his work on behalf of the Greek Orthodox Church in the United States. I congratulate George on this much-deserved recognition.

But for all of the awards and accolades from the private and public sectors, George Marcus' greatest accomplishment is his family. George and his wife Judy are the proud parents of four children--Mary Jane, John, Demetra, and Alexandria.

In 2011, George gave the commencement address at San Francisco State University. In his remarks he quoted Aristotle, urging the graduates to remember that ``excellence is a habit. . . . For your success in whatever you pursue, you must take to heart and be the best you can . . . and don't forget to give back.'' George Marcus has made excellence his habit at home, in his community and in the corporate world. He has achieved unparalleled success in nearly every walk of life. Yet he has never forgotten to give back. He has never stopped being the best he can.

Today, I, along with the Senate, congratulate him on his well- deserved award from the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of San Francisco, but more importantly, we thank George Marcus for all he has done for the people of this nation.

On a personal note, George Marcus has been my friend for three decades. It is a friendship I will always cherish.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 12 noon tomorrow, Saturday, December 13, 2014; that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, and the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day; that following any leader remarks, the Senate resume consideration of the motion to concur in the House amendment to the Senate amendment to H.R. 83.

Let me say I understand the sincerity of my friend from Utah. I am unable to agree with him, but it doesn't take away from the sincerity of his request.

For the information of all Senators, rollcall votes are expected throughout the day on Saturday. This is really the way it is going to be. It appears we are going have to have a series of votes all day tomorrow starting as soon as we get here, into the evening and perhaps into the morning.

If there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that it adjourn under the previous order.

Before the Chair rules on that, we have tried our very best to work something out to move forward with a consent agreement. We have spent all night and have been unable to do that. There have been a number of mixed signals to my Members. They are now being notified--for the last several hours--indicating that we have to be here this weekend. It is inconvenient for a lot of people. I am sorry. We are in the Senate and we are going to have to rearrange our schedules for the weekend.

Mr. President, following my remarks and those of the Republican leader, the Senate will resume consideration of the motion to concur in the House amendment to the Senate amendment to H.R. 3979, the defense authorization bill.

At 10:30 a.m., there will be a cloture vote on the motion to concur on the defense authorization bill.

Mr. President, the work we are going to do on this defense authorization bill is extremely important for our country. I will have more to say about that in just a minute.

Today's generation goes to Google for answers to questions they have about geography, about politics, famous people, or any subject. Any subject, you name it, and we all go to Google as quickly as we can. But long before Google, we had to use books, encyclopedias, volumes of books containing all sorts of facts on topics, and they were all in alphabetic order. For almost the last 40 years--39 to be exact-- the Senate has had its own encyclopedia--legislative counsel Jim Fransen.

Jim began his Senate career in 1975, just after graduating from law school--from the University of Wisconsin--where he also studied as an undergraduate. That year he joined the Office of Legislative Counsel as assistant counsel. Over the years, Jim Fransen gradually moved up the ranks until he was named legislative counsel, a position he has held for 15 years.

He is a noted expert on a lot of things, but especially the United States Tax Code. We have heard speeches on this floor about the complexity of the Tax Code. That is a monumental assignment, to understand the Tax Code. Jim certainly does, perhaps better than anyone in Washington. Jim actually wrote the Tax Reform Act of 1986. That was the famous Bradley-Gephardt legislation.

For four decades, he has played a role in every important piece of tax legislation that has become law in our country. The Office of Legislative Counsel does the work for the Senate--not Democrats, not Republicans, but all of us, including our staffs. They write bills to create programs while also drafting amendments that will have some effect on these programs, sometimes wiping out these programs. This impartiality is the key to the success of the Senate and something we don't often consider--how we get to the point where we are.

This massive bill we are going to deal with today has legislative counsel's imprint on it. The same can be said of the bill they are going to work on today in the House, the omnibus; the tax extenders, the same thing. These are the must-do's we have to do before we leave here.

Another key to the success of Jim Fransen is the excellent team he has put together in the Office of Legislative Counsel. The staff, under his watchful eye, receives about 15,000 legislative inquiries every year--15,000--well more than 1,000 a month, and they are responsible for drafting 98 percent of all the legislation we do.

(Mr. WALSH assumed the Chair.)

It is rare to find someone like former Senator Jim Webb, who was a freshman Senator who came in and drafted his own bill that would give educational benefits to the military. Senator Webb came to me and said: I am going to write my own bill. Now that doesn't happen very often, but it was extremely important to him that he did that, and it had to be done because it was a significant piece to the new GI bill of rights, which the Presiding Officer--the General--would certainly understand. But 98 percent of the work we do here is not stamped by Jim Webb. We depend upon Jim Fransen's office to do this. So his job is not an easy job, but he has excelled because of his knowledge of the law, his experience of the legislative process, his patience, and his impeccable character.

Jim Fransen is a man of integrity and one who considers everyone's views, whether he personally agrees with them or not. It is no wonder Jim is the second longest serving legislative counsel in the history of the Senate. One of his admirers once told me: Jim always plays it way up here, while the rest of us are down here. His phone rings at all hours of the day and night with random requests, and Jim handles it all with class and dignity.

Jim is retiring from the Senate at the end of this month. He will be missed, and that is an understatement, but he leaves with us an Office of Legislative Counsel that has never performed better. I thank him for his service, and I do this on behalf of the entire Senate family. I thank his family for the untold hours he has spent away from home. I appreciate the work his wife Margaret Ann has done in supporting him, and, of course, he will spend more time with his three daughters and two grandsons. So thanks very much for sharing this good man with us.

I wish Jim the very best in his retirement, and I repeat, I thank him on behalf of the Senate family for all the work he has done.

Mr. President, as I indicated, we are going to move to the defense bill, but we are going to also, as part of that bill, do something that is at least 10 years overdue. For the last 10 years, we have been struggling to get bills out of the energy committee. We are fortunate enough to get them out once in a while, but they are stymied here on the floor. That has been going on for 10 years. There has been a permanent wrecking crew, led by one person, to do this.

Before Nevada was settled by pioneers, its mountains were home to thousands of bighorn sheep--we still have lots of them--and pronghorn antelope--we have the largest antelope herd in the entire world in northern Nevada--and Nevada's streams and lakes at one time were full of Lahontan and cutthroat trout. That is not the case anymore.

Because of the growth in the State of Nevada there has been a tremendous impact on the environment. We had in Nevada salmon in our rivers, but not anymore. We are trying to replenish fish so that we will have more of what we did have before, including salmon. Like every State across the Nation, Nevada's natural and cultural heritage has come under immense pressure as our cities and populations have swelled.

About 80 percent of the people now live in one of our 17 counties. Clark County is where Las Vegas is. The other 16 counties make up about 20 percent of the population. So the pressure, especially because of what has happened in southern Nevada, has been very difficult on the environment.

The other thing people have to understand is that 87 percent of the State of Nevada is owned by the Federal Government. That creates a lot of issues--some positive, some negative. But with the population having swelled, some of the issues we are now experiencing are certainly to be expected. As our society continues to expand, the stresses on our land, our wildlife, and water resources will continue.

That is why the package of land bills in this National Defense Authorization Act is vitally important to our country. The package is a compromise that protects our Nation's wild and scenic places, our Nation's unique history, and opens up other lands for development.

Are there provisions in this bill that I don't care a great deal about in a positive fashion? Yes. There are things in this bill I don't like. But there are things in here I do like. Are there things in this bill the majority of Republicans probably don't like? The answer is yes. So this is what legislation is all about. It is about compromise. It is about working together to have an end product, and that is what we have here.

This compromise is a chance for the Senate to get something done. Compromise has been wanting in this body, especially regarding matters of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Hundreds of bills for the last 10 years have been stopped.

I am only offering my opinion, but one of the finest public servants I have ever served with is Jeff Bingaman from New Mexico. Jeff is an absolutely brilliant man, a hard worker. I would bet--and I don't bet very often, and I am sure no one will take me up on this--but I think one reason Jeff Bingaman left the Senate was because of the work he was unable to get done in his committee. What a good chairman he was,

but he was stymied time and time again from getting anything out of that committee. So for the last 10 years that committee has worked really hard, very hard, but they haven't had much to show for that work.

This package protects more than 1 million acres of landscapes. I was waiting in my office and Senator Bennet from Colorado came to my office. He had a great big poster with him. I asked: What is that? It was upside down. You could see immediately what it was when it was right side up. He was looking for time on the floor to show America what was in this bill for the State of Colorado. This beautiful vista he was showing me--and he showed the whole world last night--is something that is in this bill. It will be protected--a stunningly beautiful forest area in Colorado.

One million acres of landscape will be protected. Watersheds will be protected. Historic treasures will be protected. This protects over 140 miles of wild and scenic rivers throughout our country. These bills will create nearly 250,000 acres of wilderness in five States: Colorado, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, and Washington.

Additionally, the packages convey more than 100,000 acres to local communities for economic development. My friend the Presiding Officer understands how important that is, being able to convey to the private sector the ability to develop Federal lands. It has to be done carefully. It can't be done on a massive scale. If we did that, the rich people would wind up owning all the nice places. These are places I think should be shared by the American people. But 100,000 acres go to local communities for economic development.

The legislation continues our country's rich history, establishing national parks. It designates a number of new areas--for example, the Harriet Tubman Historic Park.

I read in a period of a month two books on Harriet Tubman. They both came out at about the same time. I can't imagine why a movie hasn't been made about this dynamic little 5-foot woman who did such remarkable things. What a story of this woman--this slave. She was a slave--bringing people out of the South into freedom in the North. She took them as far as Canada. She did it alone. So I hope some day someone will make a movie of this stunningly powerful woman. We are recognizing an area that will be named on her behalf.

The bundle of lands bills is good for America. It stretches literally from the shores of Alaska to the coast of Maine. It is especially important to Nevada, my State. It protects over 75,000 acres of wilderness in Humboldt and Lyon Counties in northern Nevada, the first new wilderness protections in the State since 2006.

One of those areas is named after a famous Indian, Wovoka. There was a man who was a famous Indian. He established a dance that really brought Native Americans together. Even though it started in Nevada, it swept the country. This is going to be in Lyon County, it contains sage-grouse, bighorn sheep habitats, and some of the best fly fishing opportunities in Nevada and the Nation.

Now there is a pine forest wilderness in Humboldt County which has been championed by the local community. They have been working on this for years. We couldn't get it out of the House of Representatives. Over here, of course, it was a lost cause, and don't even think about getting it out of the energy committee.

Environmentalists, ranchers, hunters, anglers, and off-road vehicle enthusiasts came together to protect 20,000 acres of scenic lakes, amazing rock formations, and prime sage habitat.

But it also allows a mine there to have some more land from the Federal Government which they need from enlarging that land. It is a copper mine. It is extremely important that we develop copper and don't have to import it from South America and Russia.

Southern Nevada established the Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument on the edge of North Las Vegas. This area is the largest deposit of ice age mammals in the United States. Imagine that basically in the middle of thousands of homes. People couldn't understand what they were digging up out there, ice age mammals that are so unbelievably large and preserved over these thousands of years. When the resources are developed, catalogued, and better understood, it will likely be the largest deposit in the entire country.

The package sells 10,000 acres of land to the city of Yerington. Lyon County was a county that probably suffered more from the economic shutdown. They had huge problems of unemployment, and now we have that mine there that will help. This will allow them to make even more jobs there.

The agreement also provides lands to the cities of Las Vegas, North Las Vegas, Fernley, Carlin, allocates tracts for three universities and college campuses, and expands Nellis Air Force Base and the Fallon Naval Air Station.

This is good for Nevada. It is good for the country. This legislation promotes jobs, protects the environment, helps our Armed Forces, and gives Americans the opportunity to enjoy the beautiful landscapes this country has to offer.

It is not perfect legislation. No legislation is. But this is really good legislation. So I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting these critical lands bills which are part of the defense authorization bill.

Mr. President, what is the business now?

Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.