Floor Statements

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

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of H.R. 3527, which is at the desk.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be read a third time and passed and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Veterans' Affairs Committee be discharged from further consideration of S. 1434, and we proceed to the matter.

I ask unanimous consent that the bill be read a third time and passed and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. President, I am told there are two bills at the desk, and I ask for their first reading en bloc.

Mr. President, I ask for a second reading on both of these measures and, in order to place the bill on the calendar under the provisions of rule XIV, I 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 Wednesday, January 15, 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; and that following any leader remarks, the time until 12 noon be equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each; and, finally, at 12 noon, the Senate proceed to the consideration of H.J. Res. 106, as provided under the previous order.

At approximately 12:15 p.m. tomorrow there will be a rollcall vote on passage of the short-term continuing resolution. Tomorrow we will continue to work on an agreement to consider the flood insurance bill and begin consideration of the Omnibus appropriations bill once it is received from the House.

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

I move to proceed to Calendar No. 266, S. 1846, the flood insurance bill.

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

I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, following my remarks and those of the Republican leader, the Senate will resume consideration of S. 1845, which is the unemployment insurance extension.

The filing deadline for all first-degree amendments to the bill is 3 p.m. today, and the deadline for all second-degree amendments to the Reed substitute is 4:30 p.m. today.

There have been some discussions going on. The Republican leader and I have spoken. I have spoken with Republican Senators and Democratic Senators, which I am sure my friend the Republican leader has done. We have one vote scheduled this afternoon at 5:30, and that is on Robert Wilkins to be a circuit court judge. We will see if we are going to go forward with the two additional votes on cloture tonight or put them over to tomorrow. We are not in a position today, neither the Republican leader nor myself, to do anything other than to proceed. If we get something worked out before we have the first vote, then we will maybe set this over for a reasonable period of time. If we can't, we will just have these two votes.

Mr. President, it is often said that actions have consequences, and that is an understatement, but in the Senate inaction also has consequences. My Republican colleagues are very effective at creating gridlock in this body--at preventing the Senate from doing its job. While this type of obstruction may serve Republicans' political purposes, it does not serve this country's purposes generally; that is for sure. It may serve the Republicans' political purposes, but it does not in any way lead to something that is good for the country's purposes.

On Friday I received a letter, as did the Republican leader, from Secretary of State John Kerry. John Kerry is someone who understands the Senate, having served here for a quarter of a century. After a year at the State Department, more than a third of Secretary Kerry's leadership team remains vacant--1 year and it remains vacant. Four of his six under secretaries have yet to be confirmed, and 58 State Department nominees are pending before the Senate. In just that one department, that one cabinet slot, we have 64 spots that are left floating around out there someplace. This is unacceptable. At a time when our Nation needs a robust presence abroad, the Senate is stuck. The State Department cannot afford for a third of its leadership positions to be vacant. It is not good for the State Department, it is not good for our country, and it is not good internationally.

This is what Secretary Kerry said, among other things, in the letter he wrote to us:

It is not an overstatement that today so many critical

national security positions are still awaiting confirmation

that it is now affecting our ability to do the nonpartisan

work of American foreign policy; defend the security of our

Nation, promote our values, protect our interests and help

our businesses compete overseas, which creates jobs for

Americans. Simply stated, the backlog in confirmation of

State Department nominees is impacting our national security

and weakening America's role in the world.

Mr. President, the Senate's inaction, its failure to carry out its duty to advise and consent, has consequences.

Why are we not moving forward? It is because of obstruction by the Republicans in the Senate.

Under the adept leadership of Chairman Menendez, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee is expected to report out at least 31 State Department nominees this week. Many of those nominations were made months ago and returned to the President at the end of the first session of the 113th Congress. Why were they returned? Because of obstruction of the Republicans.

It is incumbent upon the Senate to promptly consider all nominees, and in particular the vital nominees who will protect our national security and our role as a world leader. Unfortunately, Republicans have made it difficult and time consuming to confirm any nominee no matter how essential or how noncontroversial. If the Senate can't even fill its constitutional duties, how can we hope to engage in a robust amendment process?

We waste so much time trying to get simple nominations done. They complain about not having amendments. In this last work period, Mr. President, we spent weeks eating up time that meant nothing to anyone.

The same Republicans who wasted months of the Senate's time last year are now bitterly complaining that the Senate does not spend enough time considering amendments. Every hour Republicans force us to spend watching the clock, waiting to confirm nominees, to vote procedural motions before even beginning debate on legislation, is an hour we could have spent debating and voting on amendments.

We cannot have the extension of emergency unemployment insurance be bogged down by a raft of political amendments. Republicans are so obsessed with taking pot shots at the Affordable Care Act and staging political stunt votes that they are willing to derail a bill that will help 1.4 million out-of-work Americans. We can't allow that. It is unfair.

Still, the complaints of the minority have not fallen on deaf ears.

First my Republican colleague said they would not vote for an extension of unemployment benefits unless it was fully offset. I compromised. It is fully paid for in the bill before this body.

Next my Republican colleagues said they would not vote for this legislation unless it enacted real reforms for the unemployment insurance program. I agreed. That is in the bill before the body.

Now many of my Republican colleagues say they will turn their backs on Americans who have been out of work for months and months unless they have an opportunity to vote on amendments to this bill. Although I wonder what Republicans will demand next, I am willing to do what it takes to protect middle-class workers struggling to find jobs. So reasonable amendments, a reasonable number, relevant amendments, of course we would be happy to take a look at that. I would be happy to do that. We have Tuesday caucuses every week. I will go over this with my caucus in some detail. But my Republican colleagues can't take yes for an answer. If they insist on swamping this important measure with extraneous political amendments, it will be clear they never wanted to extend unemployment in the first place.

If Republicans are serious about offering relevant amendments to strengthen and improve this bill, I am willing to sit down and talk about it. I am willing to allow votes on these amendments. However, I am not going to allow this legislation to be bogged down, as I have indicated, by meaningless votes or derailed by another doomed crusade to strip millions of Americans of the affordable care they have now. And once Republicans get the amendment votes they want, I hope they will give 1.4 million out-of-work Americans the vote they want and need.

My Republican colleagues should remember that a final vote on this legislation--a vote for middle-class men and women who desperately want to work and desperately need help--is the only vote that really matters.

I note the absence of a quorum.

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

Mr. President, we have a vote scheduled for 5:30; is that right?

The Republican leader and I have had a number of conversations today about how we should proceed on unemployment insurance. I have had conversations and he has had conversations with a number of our Members, both Democrats and Republicans. Right now, because the vote is not scheduled until 5:30, it has been difficult for me, and I am quite certain for the Republican leader, to talk to all of the necessary people involved in trying to come to some conclusion as to how we should proceed on this legislation. Two of the people I met with today, everyone knows, are people who are trying to work something out, including Senator Collins and Senator Heller. Senator Heller is a cosponsor of the underlying bill and Senator Collins is always trying to make peace with everybody. They have made a proposal. I have an outline of their proposal and I appreciate their good work.

However, I can't automatically agree to it because it calls for 3 months rather than the 11 months or so we had in the underlying proposal that is before the Senate. As everyone knows, the President is not in favor of a 3-month proposal and I am not either, but that doesn't mean we can't work something out. I have made statements indicating I prefer a longer period in the proposal and so has the President.

However, my main point in saying a few words this afternoon is that we need to be able to meet with Senators--I need to meet with my caucus tomorrow before I can determine how I would suggest--along with the two Republican Senators I met with--how we will proceed on this matter.

Of course; I am happy to.

I ask unanimous consent that we now proceed to legislative session, out of executive session. When I finish my remarks and the Republican leader finishes his remarks, I ask that we go back into executive session.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the vote on the motion to invoke cloture on amendment No. 2631 occur at 2:30 p.m. tomorrow; further, that the vote on the motion to invoke cloture on S. 1845 occur following the disposition of amendment No. 2631 or, if cloture is not invoked on amendment No. 2631, the Senate proceed immediately to the vote on the motion to invoke cloture on S. 1845.

Mr. President, I hope this will allow us a way to move forward. We will do our best to move forward. I am trying the best I can to come up with an arrangement to move forward.

I note the absence of a quorum.

I ask unanimous consent that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid on the table, with no intervening action or debate, and the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action.

Mr. President, there is a lot of work going on around the Capitol this evening, and tomorrow morning we will see if we can figure out a way to move forward to help 1.4 million people who are unemployed to extend their unemployment benefits to them. It is something we need very much, and we will see if we can move forward.