Floor Statements

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 S. 1356.

Mr. President, following my remarks and those of the Republican leader, the Senate will resume consideration of the national defense authorization bill. Rollcall votes are possible throughout the day. We will do our best to notify Senators ahead of time as to when votes will occur.

Mr. President, for more than 50 years consecutively; that is, 50 years in a row every year, the United States has passed the National Defense Authorization Act. This year is not going to be an exception. This tradition indicates the respect and gratitude with which Members of this institution regard the members of our military.

The work to get to this point has been extremely difficult. We have had the usual good work by one of the finest Senators ever, the senior Senator from Michigan, and also the cooperation and hard work of the ranking member of the committee, the senior Senator from the State of Oklahoma. It has been with some difficulty.

The Senator from Oklahoma has had physical problems and the tragic loss of his son in an unfortunate airplane accident. These two men have continued to move forward with this legislation. It is important to mention their counterparts in the House. This is an important piece of legislation that we are going to vote on.

Today, the Senate will continue debate on this critical measure which safeguards our Nation and ensures our troops have the resources and training they need. This bill includes a pay raise for members of the Armed Forces and reauthorizes dozens of special pay raises and bonuses, such as the bonus payment for servicemembers who are stationed overseas.

This legislation also supports military families who support the mission of our fighting men and women. Also, yesterday, we passed the Ryan-Murray budget--very important--because, among other things, it did away with the sequester, which would have been--if that second year would have kicked in, it would have been a $23 billion hit to the United States military. That is gone.

This year the National Defense Authorization Act also includes robust new provisions to combat sexual assault in the military and guarantee that the perpetrators are punished.

With cooperation, the Senate could easily pass this bill today. We could have done it last evening. With cooperation, the Senate could also consider a number of pending nominations today and Friday. Without cooperation from our Republican colleagues, Senators should expect late night and weekend votes.

Mr. President, after we complete work on the Defense authorization bill, this body will consider several essential nominations, including the new Federal Reserve Chair--so important, as we learned yesterday from the announcement of Chairman Ben Bernanke how terribly important that institution is. He is leaving. We need someone to replace him.

We also are going to approve a Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security, a new Director of the Internal Revenue Service. We will also consider a nomination that has been pending for 2 years--more than 2 years actually--the nomination of Brian Davis of Florida to fill a judicial seat that has been declared an emergency, as well as a handful of other nominations.

All those nominees are qualified and dedicated public servants. I have not heard a single word about these nominations being flawed in any way. Those nominees have broad bipartisan support. Their positions safeguard the economy, thus ensuring our national security. I am disappointed that Republican Senators have suggested that those nominees are nonessential or unimportant. I heard one Senator say: Just do them next year. Another said: Yes, they are nonessential. They are really unimportant. Why don't we do them next year?

Everyone should understand, the Senate will not wait until the new year to consider these nominations. These are critical nominations. If that means working through the weekend, next week, so be it. The Senate will finish its work before we leave for the holidays. It is our constitutional duty. Public servants who set our Nation's monetary policy and guard against terrorism and deliver us justice do not hold nonessential positions.

Is Janet Yellen, to be chosen as Federal Reserve Chair, nonessential? It is shallow to even suggest this. Brain Davis. I have already talked about this good man who has waited 2 years to become a Federal trial judge in Florida, that has too many criminal cases, too many civil cases, and it has been declared a judicial emergency. I suggest it is very shallow to suggest this nomination is unimportant and not essential.

Alejandro Mayorkas to be the No. 2 person at the Department of Homeland Security is vitally important, as has been laid out in detail by the chairman of the committee Tom Carper. How shallow to think this important nominee is nonessential.

How about this one? John Koskinen to be Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service. With all that is going on in this country with ObamaCare, with all that is happening, we need someone to direct the Internal Revenue Service. To suggest this is not a critical position is really very shallow.

With all of the Republican obstruction and delay we have seen over the last 2 weeks, is it any wonder Democrats changed the rules last month? Of course not. The American people want Congress to work, not obstruct. Even under these new rules, Republicans are wasting weeks on matters that could be resolved in mere hours. As always, there is an easy and a hard way that we legislators can take. One is to move; the other is to obstruct. So far, my Republican colleagues have obstructed, and they continue to do so. The choice to obstruct is theirs. Their obstruction has become a bad habit of theirs. For the good of the country, their obstruction, these bad habits, need to go away.

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

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

I ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed to S. 1859, submitted earlier today, a bill that includes the following provisions: an extension of the provision to exclude mortgage debt forgiveness from taxable income; deductions for State and local sales taxes, qualified tuition expenses for students, and classroom expenses that teachers pay for out of their own pockets; a commuter benefit that helps workers who take mass transit to their jobs every day; the new markets tax credit and the low-income housing credit; tax benefits to encourage investment in our Nation's infrastructure, such as the short line rail tax credit; provisions that encourage the development of renewable energy technology, including the production tax credit for wind, as well as credits to promote biofuels, alternative fuel vehicles, and energy- efficient buildings; and tax incentives for small and large businesses, including section 179 expensing, bonus depreciation, and the R&D credit.

I further ask that the bill be read a third time and passed and the motions to reconsider be made and laid on the table, with no intervening action or debate.

Reserving the right to object, I would refer to the statement I gave earlier today, and I object.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that if cloture is invoked on Executive Calendar No. 456, Alejandro Mayorkas, to be Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security, all but 1 hour of postcloture time be yielded back, and that when the Senate convenes on Friday, December 20, the Senate resume consideration of the Mayorkas nomination, with the remaining hour of debate equally divided between Senators Carper and Coburn, or their designees, and that following the use or yielding back of time, the Senate proceed to a vote on the Mayorkas nomination; further, that the Senate then proceed to a cloture vote on Executive Calendar No. 459, John Koskinen, the Internal Revenue Service, as under the regular order; that if cloture is invoked, all postcloture time be yielded back and the Senate proceed to a vote on confirmation; further, that the Senate then proceed to a cloture vote on Executive Calendar No. 382, Brian Davis, to be a Federal district judge, as under the regular order, and that if cloture is invoked, all postcloture time be yielded back and the Senate proceed to a vote on confirmation; the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table; that the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action; further, that the Senate then proceed to the cloture vote on Executive Calendar No. 452, Janet Yellen, Federal Reserve, as under the regular order, and if cloture is invoked on the Yellen nomination, all postcloture time be yielded back and the Senate proceed to a vote on confirmation on Monday, January 6, at a time to be determined by the majority leader, in consultation with the Republican leader; further, that cloture on Executive Calendar Nos. 455, 445, 371, 457, 356, and 189 be withdrawn; further, that following the cloture vote on the

Mayorkas nomination, the Senate proceed to a period of morning business for debate only, with Senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each.

Mr. President, for the information of all Senators, there will be two rollcall votes tonight at 11:15 p.m. on the motion to concur in the House message to accompany H.R. 3304, the National Defense Authorization Act, and cloture on the Mayorkas nomination. If cloture is invoked there will be a series of six rollcall votes tomorrow beginning at about 10 a.m.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to a period of morning business until 10 p.m. and the Senate then resume legislative session.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

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

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

Has all time expired?

I ask unanimous consent to withdraw the motion to concur with the amendment.

Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote and to lay that motion on the table.

The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

Mr. President, I move to proceed to Calendar No. 243, S. 1356.

Mr. President, following my remarks and those of the Republican leader, the Senate will resume consideration of the motion to concur in the House message with respect to the bipartisan budget agreement postcloture.

Rollcall votes are possible throughout the day. We will notify Senators as soon as we know that votes will be forthcoming.

Measures Placed on the Calendar--S. 1845, S. 1846

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

Mr. President, I would object to any further proceedings with respect to these two bills.

Mr. President, today the Senate is debating the House- passed budget agreement which was an important step in avoiding another dangerous and costly government shutdown to our economy such as we had in October. Another shutdown caused by the Republicans would undercut the economic progress of the last 4 years. When Republicans closed the Federal Government for business in October, it cost $2 billion in lost productivity alone. The combined cost of the shutdown and the Republican threats to force catastrophic default on the Nation's bills cost the economy 120,000 private sector jobs in the first 2 weeks of October alone--120,000 jobs.

But the agreement the Senate is considering today will help us avoid another costly shutdown. The bargain rolls back the painful and arbitrary cuts of sequester, including devastating cuts to education, medical research, infrastructure investments, and defense jobs.

This is not a perfect bargain. No compromise is ever perfect. But the Senate should pass this agreement quickly so the Appropriations Committee, under the leadership of Chairwoman Mikulski, can begin crafting appropriations bills.

It is unfortunate the Republicans have forced the Senate to run out the clock on this measure, even though it passed the House on an overwhelmingly bipartisan basis and has the support of the majority in the Senate. Why are we wasting time? It is time to get back to setting fiscal policy through the regular order of the budget process rather than the hostage taking which takes place so often here by my Republican colleagues. It is time for Congress to show the American people that Democrats and Republicans can compromise rather than lurching from crisis to crisis. Yet Republicans have insisted on wasting 30 hours of the Senate's time before allowing a final vote on this measure, even though they know it will pass with bipartisan support.

I read that the Republican leadership may also force the Senate to work through the weekend and next week by dragging out the consideration of several important executive nominations. That would be unfortunate. But if it happens, it happens. The Senate could wrap up work on the budget bill, pass a defense authorization legislation, and confirm these nominees by tomorrow afternoon. The only thing keeping us here is more Republican obstruction.

I was also troubled to hear the senior Senator from Kentucky say that the nominations we have considered this session and those on which I filed cloture yesterday are nonessential. Nonessential? How about the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security? That is nonessential, the person assigned the task of protecting us from terrorist attacks is nonessential? I think that is wrong.

Does the Republican leader consider the Secretary of the Air Force or the diplomats who run the State Department nonessential? There is a long list of people who have been confirmed who are essential to running this government.

Does the Republican leader consider the judges who try criminal and civil cases in overcrowded courtrooms across the Nation nonessential? We confirmed talented and dedicated individuals to all of those essential posts last week.

Does the Republican leader consider the Chairman of the Federal Reserve who sets this Nation's monetary policy to be nonessential? We will consider Janet Yellen's nomination to lead this very important part of our government, the Federal Reserve--we will do it this week. We will also vote on a number of other nominations, including a new Director of the Internal Revenue Service. Nonessential? And the Deputy Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.

We will consider the nomination of Brian Davis of Florida--a perfect, classic example--to fill a district court seat that has been declared a judicial emergency. His nomination has been pending for more than 650 days. Nonessential? I do not think so.

On the contrary, these are absolutely essential nominees. It is their job to carry out justice, protect our country, and safeguard the economy. It is the Senate's job to confirm them. But how long will it take the Senate to complete its job? It is up to my Republican friends.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I move to proceed to Calendar No. 243.

Mr. President, at 10 a.m. there will be a rollcall vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the motion to concur in the House message to accompany H.J. Res 59, the budget resolution.

Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum

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

Mr. President, are we in a period of morning business?

Mr. President, I rise today to recognize the extraordinary career of United States Capitol Police Sergeant Kathleen Bignotti, who is retiring after more than 28 years of service to the Department.

Sgt. Bignotti began her career in October 1985, when she was appointed as a U.S. Capitol Police officer and assigned to the House of Representatives Division. Less than 1 year later, she was selected to serve as a member of the First Responder Unit.

Her career with the Capitol Police included assignments to the Office of the Chief of Police, the Dignitary Protection Unit, the Senate Division, the Patrol Division, and the Library of Congress Division. Sgt. Bignotti's most highly regarded assignment came in 2003 when she was promoted to serve as Unit Commander of the USCP Mounted Unit. Her horse, Henry, will always have a special place in Sgt. Bignotti's heart.

Sgt. Bignotti represented the department with distinction in her duties that included assisting during the 1990 Goodwill Games in Seattle, WA; serving as a representative during National Police Week ceremonies; participating in the Special Olympics ceremonies and recruiting class graduations, and other special events as designated by the Chief of Police. In 1991, she received commendation as a member of the Ceremonial Unit for Honor Guard duties associated with Queen Elizabeth's visit to the Capitol.

As a former officer with the U.S. Capitol Police, I have a special appreciation for the commitment and dedication of the men and women on this force. I, along with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, wish Sgt. Bignotti all the best in her retirement.