Floor Statements

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding the upcoming recess or adjournment of the Senate, the President of the Senate, the President pro tempore, and the majority and minority leaders be authorized to make appointments to commissions, committees, boards, conferences or interparliamentary conferences authorized by law, by concurrent action of the two Houses, or by order of the Senate.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that during the adjournment or recess of the Senate from Thursday, January 16, through Monday, January 27, Senators Levin, Warner, and Rockefeller be authorized to sign duly enrolled bills or joint resolutions.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn and convene for pro forma sessions only with no business conducted on the following dates and times and that following each pro forma session, the Senate adjourn until the next pro forma session: Friday, January 17, at 11:15 a.m.; Tuesday, January 21 at 10:30 a.m.; and Friday, January 24 at 9:30 a.m.; that the Senate adjourn on Friday, January 24, 2014, until 2 p.m. on Monday, January 27, 2014; that on Monday, 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 proceed to S. 1926, the flood insurance legislation.

Mr. President, the next rollcall vote will be Monday, January 27, at 5:30 p.m.

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

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

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 President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

I move to proceed to Calendar No. 266.

Mr. President, on this issue we have a bipartisan coalition that badly wants to get this done. So we are going to do everything we can to move forward. At this stage the Republicans have not cleared the proposed consent agreement. I have indicated to the Republican leader that later today I would ask that. But also, to stopgap, we have started a rule XIV procedure which in just a minute I will move to, and we will have a second reading so that, if we can't work anything out on the consent agreement, we will tee this up so this will be the first vote we have when we get back after our recess.

Certainly.

On our side, Senator Landrieu has been persistent for months now. So she and Senator Isakson, I hope, can work something out so we can maybe work on this before we leave.

Schedule

Mr. President, following my remarks, and those of the Republican leader, the time until noon will be equally divided and controlled between the two of us or our designees. At noon the Senate will begin consideration of H.J. Res. 106, which is the short-term continuing resolution. At 12:15 there will be a rollcall vote on the joint resolution. Just before coming here I was told the vote in the House will be between 3 and 5 o'clock this afternoon. So we should get that at a reasonable hour today.

We expect to begin consideration of the omnibus bill when it is received from the House, as I have indicated, later today.

measures placed on the calendar--s. 1917 and s. 1926

Mr. President, there are two bills at the desk due for a second reading.

Mr. President, I object to further proceedings on either one of these measures at this time.

Mr. President, last night's vote to block emergency unemployment insurance was, I am sorry to say, what goes on and has been going on for a number of years here. It was blocked by the Republicans. It is really a tragedy for millions of Americans who are relying on Congress to help them get through these hard times. Today's long-term unemployment is double what it was at any other time Congress has allowed emergency benefits to lapse. Yet Republicans refuse even to allow an up-or-down vote on our plan to restore benefits to 1.5 million Americans, and there are 2.3 million children.

I thought we had satisfied every complaint and demand my Republican colleagues made throughout the week. They said they wouldn't vote on an extension which would provide an average of $300 a week to families struggling to get by unless the bill was paid for. So we proposed an offset. That wasn't unique for us. It was originally proposed by Congressman Paul Ryan, chairman of the Budget Committee in the House and the Republican candidate for Vice President in the last election.

Then Republicans said they couldn't vote for an extension of unemployment insurance without reforms to the program. We also did that. What we did will prevent double dipping and reduce the number of weeks recipients could receive unemployment benefits. Then Republicans said they couldn't vote to extend unemployment benefits unless they were allowed to offer amendments. So Democrats agreed to vote on up to 20 amendments, 10 on each side. They again refused.

So, Mr. President, unless Democrats agree to vote on an unlimited number of unrelated, irrelevant minority amendments, the minority will filibuster the bill that will help people who have been looking for work for a long time. This callous vote yesterday proves Republicans want it to seem like they support an extension of unemployment insurance even though they didn't vote and wouldn't vote for an extension. The minority has hidden behind one process argument after another as they voted to end a program that has been successful for millions of Americans, including, as I indicated, more than a half million children, which has kept them out of poverty in recent years.

Middle-class Americans can see right through these flimsy Republican excuses. They see last night's vote for what it was--a slap in the face to almost 1.5 million Americans, including tens of thousands of veterans; a slap in the face for 18,000 Nevadans who are still looking for work, and 2.3 million children whose parents don't have jobs; and a slap in the face for 70,000 more people who will lose their unemployment benefits each week until Congress acts.

But the fight is not over. We are not going to give up on Americans struggling to get back on their feet. We are working on other proposals. We can move forward at any time on a 3-month extension, unpaid for, and that is really what we should have done 2 weeks ago, so that during this 3-month period we could continue working on a long- term solution.

We must take up this short-term continuing resolution, which, by the way, is bipartisan. Senator Heller from Nevada joined with Senator Reed of Rhode Island--the two States who lead the Nation in unemployment. The economy can't afford another manufactured crisis over whether the U.S. Government will stay open for business or pay its bills. But soon Republicans will be faced with the same choice: Put their middle-class constituents first or keep playing political games.

I received a letter this week from a Nevadan who, by the way, is a lifelong Republican. Here is what happened to him. After 13 years at a job he loved, this 54-year-old man was laid off, through no fault of his own. He hasn't been able to find work for 10 months, despite having applied for dozens and dozens of jobs. He is appalled at the way his own party has treated him and other unemployed Americans. This is what he wrote: ``I am shocked and dismayed and outraged at how Republicans have dealt with this matter.''

Let me read this again:

I am shocked and dismayed and outraged at how Republicans

have dealt with this matter. The Republican leadership has

talked about people like me as if we're thieves, not worthy

of help. That will cost Republicans their jobs and should

cost them their jobs.

This Nevadan is not alone. People all over America feel the same way. Republicans around the country support the extension of unemployment benefits.

Sure.

It is actually now up to about 1.5 million.

That is true, Mr. President.

That is true.

And the pay-for was originally discovered by Paul Ryan.

Would my friend repeat the question?

No.

That is true. And the biggest advocate we had for that on this side of the aisle was the whip, the senior Senator from Illinois.

The answer is yes. And in addition to that, there would be available on each side, if they wanted, five side-by-sides, as we call them here. So that could be a total of 10 amendments on each side, so 20.

I am sorry to say they did not.

I have no idea.

No question about that.

Finally, let me say that the man from Nevada is not alone. There are 1.4 million people just like him in this country. Sadly, that number will grow every week Congress fails to act. And my Republican colleagues denigrate or ignore these hard-working Americans at their own political peril.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I ask the Chair to lay before the Senate a message from the House with respect to H.R. 3547.

The PRESIDING OFFICER laid before the Senate the following message from the House of Representatives:

Resolved, That the House concur in the Senate amendment to

the title of the bill (H.R. 3547} entitled ``An Act to extend

the application of certain space launch liability provisions

through 2014.'', and be it further

Resolved, That the House agree to the amendment of the

Senate to the text of the aforementioned bill, with an

amendment.

(The amendment is printed in the proceedings of the House of Representatives in today's Record.)

Motion To Concur

Mr. President, I move to concur in the House amendment to the Senate amendment to H.R. 3547.

Mr. President, I have a cloture motion at the desk, and I ask it be reported.

Mr. President, I move to concur in the House amendment to the Senate amendment to H.R. 3547, with an amendment.

Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays on my motion.

Mr. President, I have an amendment, which I believe is at the desk.

Mr. President, I move to refer the House message with respect to H.R. 3547, with instructions.

Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays on my motion.

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

Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays on that amendment.

Mr. President, I have a second-degree amendment, which is at the desk.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now proceed to a period of morning business, with Senators allowed to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.

Mr. President, a few minutes ago I filed cloture on the House

message to accompany the omnibus bill. Under the rule, the vote will be Friday morning. I have had a number of requests to see if that can be moved forward. I am waiting to see if we can get consent to do that.

We also had a lot of activity on the floor today regarding flood insurance. On our side, Senator Landrieu has worked extremely hard with others, but she has been the lead person. On the other side, the Republicans have had Senator Isakson working extremely hard.

I hope that we can move forward. We are going to move forward on it one way or the other. If we are not able to get an agreement to move forward on it, setting up the situation to have some amendments and move forward, which we have agreed to, then we will file cloture.

It is a shame that we would have to do that on a totally bipartisan bill. But that is how things work around here sometimes.

I have been told there is a bill at the desk due for its first reading.

Mr. President, I now ask for a second reading in order to place the bill on the Calendar under the provisions of rule XIV, but then object to my own request.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 10 a.m. on Thursday, January 16, 2014; that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, 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 House message to accompany H.R. 3547, which is the vehicle for the omnibus appropriations bill.

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

Mr. President, I move to proceed to Calendar No. 266.

Mr. President, we will have further discussion on this matter today; that is, the matter I moved to. On our side, we have cleared the bill. We could complete it quickly. We are waiting to hear from the Republicans. This is one of the bills where, if we need to do some amendments on it, we can do some amendments on it.

The point is, I think we should try to get this done. We have been waiting for a long time to get this done. This is truly a bipartisan bill. As I explained to the Republican leader yesterday, I have had a number of Republicans come to me to see if there is a way this bill could be moved quickly. It has become a desperate situation, with so many problems. Construction has been, in some areas, brought to a halt. So hopefully we can work something out on this in the immediate future.

Schedule

Mr. President, following my remarks and those of the Republican leader, the Senate will resume consideration of the unemployment insurance extension. The time until 12:30 will be equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees, with the majority controlling the first 30 minutes and the Republicans the second 30 minutes. The Senate will then recess from 12:30 until 2:15, as we do every Tuesday, for our caucus meetings. At 2:30, there will be up to two rollcall votes; first, a cloture vote on the Reed of Rhode Island substitute amendment. If cloture is not invoked, there will be a second cloture vote on the underlying bill.

We have had some good discussions, and I am going to--as I know the Republican leader will--discuss if there is a way to move forward on unemployment insurance. I hope there is. At 2:30 today, after our caucuses, we will come out and see if there is a consent agreement we can present to the Senate to move forward with the legislation. I hope that is possible, and we are certainly trying.

Unemployment Insurance

Mr. President, each day Bloomberg releases a list of the 300 richest individuals in the world--the Bloomberg Billionaires index. The list includes 67 fortunate and really fabulously wealthy Americans. More than any other country in the world, we have 67 of the 300. Last year, the members of the billionaire index added $524 billion in new wealth to their net worth.

Listen to that, Mr. President: Last year, the billionaire's index-- these 67 people--added $524 billion of new wealth. Not million but billion--$2 billion per person last year.

These are 300 fortunate individuals, flooded with their already flush coffers, with another $2 billion each, while millions of American families struggle to pay their rent. I don't begrudge these people at their making a lot of money. Their good fortune is something that speaks well of our country. We are truly a land of opportunity. But I do believe it is time for average Americans to share in that prosperity, particularly as the economy recovers.

If this were just a quirk in the indexes of how rich people are, that would be one thing, but in the last 30 years this same top 1 percent have seen their wealth increase--their incomes triple--while the middle class has gone down 10 percent in the same 30 years. It is time for average Americans--and I believe this so sincerely--to share in that prosperity in some way, especially as the economy is now recovering.

For most Americans, hard work isn't paying off the way it does for the top 1 percent. For many it has been impossible to even find steady full-time work since the recession began. That is why we must not abandon the 1.4 million Americans who are out there struggling-- unemployed people who have been cut off from these crucial benefits now for the last 2 weeks, and they are looking forward to maybe being cut off forever.

This small stipend--an average of $300 per week--is helping them keep

food on the table and, literally, roofs over their heads while they look for work. I read here on the floor a letter from someone in Nevada, a woman, who said she doesn't know where she is going to go, what she is going to do. She, as have many people, has looked for work so very hard. As part of the unemployment compensation, an individual has to have been fired or laid off through no fault of their own and then they have to look for work every week.

Americans do want to go back to work. They do not want to set a bad example for their kids. They do not want to live off the system-- whatever that means. But there is still only one job for every three people searching all over America. Some places are worse off than others. In Nevada, a man wrote to me--1 of almost 20,000 Nevadans who lost unemployment benefits last month--and he said he had applied for 700 jobs in the last 10 months--not 70, not 7, but 700. He has been able to get a dozen interviews but still can't find work.

But he hasn't given up hope. He hasn't given up the hope of finding a good-paying job, and he hasn't given up hope that Congress will restore emergency unemployment benefits until he does find a job. Neither have the 200 Nevada veterans who attended a job fair I put on last week. It was held at the University of Nevada over the weekend. It is shameful that tens of thousands of veterans of this Nation's armed forces lost their unemployment benefits last year.

It is inspiring to hear the stories of hard-working Americans who simply won't give up until they find a job. So I hope Senators will remember the perseverance of these brave individuals as they continue to seek a compromise here in this body that would restore emergency unemployment benefits to 1.4 million Americans.

This says it all: 67 of the richest people in the world living in America got a $2 billion tip last year. For 1.4 million Americans, they lost $300 on average per week. That is not fair. This is America, the land of opportunity. People who work hard are supposed to be rewarded-- but not during the last 30 years.

The middle class has lost 10 percent of their income, and that doesn't take into consideration the poor--the poor. There are more poor than ever in America. The middle class, we know, is being squeezed out of existence. It is time for us to take care of these people who are desperate for help. That is what the government is all about.

Looking back at my home life, I feel government has been good for the people who live in my little town of Searchlight. It is a town mostly of old people. Many of them are getting pensions from wherever they worked. They get Social Security. But the government has done so many good things. Let us not denigrate government. This is a time when people have no opportunity. They need government help. They are desperate. All they want is one job, but they know if there is a vacancy over here, there are going to be scores--and we have seen this in the news accounts of job opportunities--thousands of people showing up for sometimes just a handful of jobs.

Recognition of the Minority Leader

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

Mr. President, what is the issue before the Senate?

Mr. President, I am going to offer a consent agreement based on the conversations I have had with a number of Republicans, and a long conversation with my caucus just a few minutes ago. I am going to speak for a few minutes because I know everybody has a lot to do, but we have all been working hard to find a way to extend unemployment insurance benefits for 1.4 million Americans who are struggling to get by.

We have a filibuster before us again--another one. First, Republicans complained they were filibustering these essential benefits because the extension was not paid for. So Senator Reed of Rhode Island came forward with a pay-for amendment. Then Republicans complained, they were filibustering because they had not been able to offer amendments. So a proposal was made--and I am going to do that in a short time with a unanimous consent request--that would give each side a reasonable number of amendments--five, to be specific. Now Republicans say they want to have their amendments and have a cloture vote to pass the bill too.

Sounds as though Republicans want to, for lack of a better way to describe this, have their cake and eat it too. The question is, are Republicans filibustering unemployment insurance benefits or are they not?

If we have an amendment process, then what we should get in exchange is an up-or-down vote on the bill, and that is what my consent agreement will call for. Republicans who don't like extending unemployment insurance benefits can still vote no on the bill, but we should at least be able to have a vote on the bill. But we can't set up a system where the minority of the Senate, which opposes unemployment insurance benefits, gets both an amendment process where they can offer these poison-pill amendments and then the minority of the Senate, again, that opposes the bill, can still kill the bill. This doesn't make a lot of sense.

I know everybody has worked hard to try to work through this process--to kind of thread the needle. I told a number of Republican Senators I met with a little while ago, as my Democratic Senators know, that we think there should be a new day in the Senate. We think we should start by whatever comes up next--whether it is flood insurance, unemployment compensation, whatever is next--by having a reasonable number of relevant amendments, and see if we, as Senators, can work our way through a bill doing that. If we can do that a few times, maybe we will get better and start having some nonrelevant amendments, but at least let us start someplace so Senators here can have the experience of offering amendments--both us and the Republicans--and try to get some legislation passed.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the cloture motions with respect to the Reed of Rhode Island amendment No. 2631 and S. 1845 be vitiated; that the motion to commit and amendment No. 2631 be withdrawn; that a substitute amendment, which is at the desk, be made pending; that there be up to five amendments related to the bill from each side in order to the substitute amendment; further, that each of these amendments be subject to a side-by-side amendment if the opposing side chooses to offer one; amendments under this agreement must be offered no later than 4 p.m. Wednesday, January 15; that no other amendments or motions to commit be in order; that no points of order be in order to the substitute or the underlying bill; that each amendment have up to 1 hour of debate equally divided; that upon the use or yielding back of time on each of the amendments offered, the Senate proceed to vote in relation to the amendments to the substitute in the order offered with any side-by-side amendment vote occurring prior to the amendment to which it was offered; that all of the amendments to the substitute be subject to a 60-affirmative-vote threshold; that upon disposition of the amendments, the bill be read a third time, as amended, if amended, and the Senate proceed to vote on passage of the bill; that if the bill is passed, the Senate immediately proceed to the consideration of Calendar No. 192, H.R. 2009; that all after the enacting clause be stricken and the text of S. 1845, as passed by the Senate, be inserted in lieu thereof; that the bill, as amended, be read a third time and passed; that an amendment to the title be considered and agreed to; and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

Reserving the right to object.

Mr. President, we have seen in the last little bit a significant number of statements on the floor and op-ed pieces written about process--process.

On this side we have been talking about 1.4 million Americans needing help getting past the real financial crisis they find.

It seems interesting to me the only fix to get no outcome is the Republican strategy to find something to object to no matter what Democrats try. Process--compared to helping in a substantive way people who are in trouble,

process never wins. We need to move forward.

My friend talks about amendments. Democrats have amendments. We have 5 too. Ours would have a 60-vote threshold just like theirs. This is the new target that my Republican colleague the Republican leader has set. We have a new reality around here of 60 votes. This isn't anything I invented. In fact, I wish we would get rid of it and go back to the way we used to do it.

So I repeat. I think this has been constructive. I especially appreciate the junior Senator from Nevada and the senior Senator from Maine working to come up with something. I am disappointed we couldn't work something out. It appears, and I have been told, they are going to object to this consent agreement just as I object to modifying my consent agreement.

Mr. President, my friend from New York was standing to reserve the right to object.

I object.

I object.

Mr. President, I do have a right to object to this; do I not?

I am not objecting.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the next two votes be 10 minutes in duration.

Mr. President, I enter a motion to reconsider the vote by which cloture was not invoked on S. 1845.

Mr. President, I appreciate very much my colleague, the junior Senator from Nevada, voting with us--voting with himself. He is a cosponsor of this legislation. He and Jack Reed have done admirably good work for the Senate and for the country.

Everyone should notice on the first matter we tried to invoke cloture on, I did not enter a motion to reconsider. I did on this one. This is a 3-month unpaid-for. I would hope we could get that passed sometime. If we cannot, there is still an effort, I am sure, out there someplace where we could find a way to work together to get these people the desperate help they need. So that is why I did this, leaving the door open for us to work together to try to come up with something.

Go ahead and finish.

Mr. President, I express my appreciation to the courtesy of the Senator from California. She is courteous in everything she does in life. She is a pleasure to serve with.

Unanimous Consent Agreement--H.J. Res. 106

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that at 12 noon on Wednesday, January 15, the Senate proceed to the consideration of H.J. Res. 106, which was received from the House and is at the desk; that there be no amendments, motions, or points of order in order to the joint resolution; that there be 15 minutes of debate equally divided on the joint resolution; finally, that upon the use or yielding back of time, the joint resolution be read a third time and the Senate proceed to vote on passage of the joint resolution.