Floor Statements

Madam President, I am 95 percent certain there will be no more votes today. The question I am not as certain about is what happens on Monday. We will know before the day is out whether we will have to have a Monday vote or votes. We will keep that in mind. Everyone should keep it in mind.

I ask unanimous consent the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid on the table, there being no intervening action or debate; that no further motions be in order; and that President Obama be immediately notified of the Senate's action and the Senate resume legislative session.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Madam President, what is the matter before the Senate?

Madam President, I have a cloture motion at the desk.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum required under rule XXII be waived; that the vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed occur at 12 noon on Tuesday, July 23; that if cloture is invoked, all postcloture time be yielded back and the Senate proceed to vote on the motion to proceed; that if the motion to proceed to Calendar No. 99, S. 1243, is adopted, the text of H.R. 2610, as reported by the House Appropriations Committee, be deemed House-passed text for the purposes of rule XVI.

Madam 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.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the following bills be considered read twice and placed on the calendar: S. 1334, S. 1335, and S. 1336.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 12:15 on Friday, July 19, 2013, for a pro forma session only, with no business conducted; that following the pro forma session, the Senate adjourn until 10 a.m. on Tuesday, July 23, 2013; 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 the majority leader be recognized; that following the remarks of the two leaders, the time until noon be equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees, with Senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each; further, that the Senate recess from 12:30 until 2:15 to allow for the weekly caucus meetings.

Madam President, the next rollcall vote will be Tuesday at noon.

Madam 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. 124.

Following my remarks and those of the Republican leader, we will proceed to executive session to consider the nomination of Fred Hochberg to be president of the very important Export-Import Bank. At 10 a.m. there will be a cloture vote on the Hochberg nomination.

Following that, if cloture is invoked, we will have, as a result of some rules changes made earlier this year, 8 hours of debate. I doubt seriously if the Democrats will take any of their time, so we should be able to finish that sometime soon and have a vote on his confirmation, if we invoke cloture.

We then have left on the calendar for this week the Secretary of Labor and the head of the EPA. So we should be able to finish that tomorrow.

Senate Friendships

Mr. President, I am so glad to see the Presiding Officer in the Chair. For those who perhaps are not aware, Senator Levin is a long- time Member of the Senate, and he has decided not to run again, which is very sad for the State of Michigan, the Senate, and the country, but that is the decision he made.

I had the good fortune--and he has heard me say this before, but I will say it again because I will never forget this--of coming to the Congress in 1982, with Senator Levin's brother--his older brother--and so the first time I met Senator Carl Levin I was contemplating whether I should run for the Senate, after having served in the House. At the very beginning of our visit--a visit in Senator Levin's office--I said to him: I know your brother. He and I came to Congress together a few years ago. Carl looked at me so intently and so seriously and said: Yes, he is my brother, but he is also my best friend. Well, having three brothers of my own, that was something that always stuck with me.

Senator Levin is our Presiding Officer today, and it doesn't happen very often, so we appreciate that. Our more senior Members don't preside as often as the more junior Members.

I also want to say, with this man in the chair, that we just had one of those rare occasions where the senior Senator from Michigan and I disagreed. The disagreement we had had nothing to do with us and everything to do with positions we had taken. We need not get into what the difference was--it was something dealing with the Senate and had nothing to do with our personalities--but I will say, as a result of the efforts of Senator Levin, I am sure he is as pleased as I am with what happened here in the Senate in the last couple of days.

For a number of reasons, not the least of which is the input of the Senator from Michigan, we have now started a new era--I hope a new normal era--here in the Senate where Senators, instead of talking past each

other, start talking to each other. So I want to publicly state I appreciate the Senator from Michigan for many different reasons.

Senator Levin has been a long-time protector of our military, as the chairman of the Armed Services Committee. I am not an expert on what is happening in that committee, but I do know that during the more than three decades I have been in Congress no one has been more vigilant and caring about the men and women who serve in our military. So I admire, appreciate, and have great affection for the Presiding Officer.

The burdens we as leaders here in the Senate have--and I was reflecting on this as I was walking in here this morning--whether it is the Armed Services Committee or the things I am called upon to do, are so minimal compared to the burdens of the President of the United States--whoever the President of the United States happens to be. But let's focus on Barack Obama. Every day he gets up for a briefing about what is going on around the world, and there are so many things going on around the world that are so difficult--for him, for us as a country, and for the world. The problems we have here at home, as the leader of the superpower that we are, he has to deal with every day.

I had a visit with the President yesterday on the telephone. After we worked out an arrangement here in the Senate that was pleasing to virtually everybody, he called me and said: Thanks. I know it was a lot of hard work--and all that stuff. But I commented to him: We all realize the burdens that you bear. And I think we do. If we pause and think for a minute, it is easy to understand the heavy burdens this man bears.

We all know what a fine human being he is, and we have watched him, as we have seen all Presidents change before our eyes, this vibrant young man who served here in the Senate with us, with his coal-black hair, and now, after a few years, that hair is similar to that of myself and Senator Levin. He is still vibrant and strong, but he has a lot of burdens on his shoulders. Having worked with him as closely as I have, I have such understanding of what I think he goes through--at least somewhat of an understanding and some empathy for what he goes through.

Maybe somebody at the White House will pass him a copy of this exchange between the Presiding Officer and myself and they will tell him how much we in the Senate, Democrats and Republicans--the Republicans may disagree with him politically, but I don't think you can find a Republican who doesn't admire him as a good human being.

Reservation of Leader Time

Mr. President, would you announce the business of the day?

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

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the vote on the confirmation of the Hochberg nomination occur at 3:40 p.m. today; that if the nomination is confirmed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate; that no further motions be in order; that any related statements be printed in the Record; and that President Obama be immediately notified of the Senate's action.

What time is it right now?

I wish to modify my request to reflect a voting time of 3:35.

Senators should expect two votes; the vote on confirmation of the Hochberg nomination to the Ex-Im Bank and the vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the Perez nomination.

I ask for the yeas and nays.

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

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

Mr. President, reserving the right to object, I know a lot of people want to say some real nice things about this good man, but we are going to have to do it later. We have a lot of things to do. As he will learn, the Senate is not always as punctual as the House. So all those who have these wonderful things to say about this good man, do it later.

Mr. President, what is the business before this body?

Mr. President, I am told S. 1292 is due for a second reading.

Mr. President, I object to this.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to executive session to resume consideration of Calendar No. 51.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the time until 11 a.m. be equally divided and controlled.

At 11 there will be a cloture vote on the nomination of Richard Cordray to be Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. If cloture is invoked, there will be up to 8 hours of debate on the nomination.

I ask unanimous consent that the time be equally divided.

Absolutely.

Mr. President, we may have a way forward on this. I feel very confident, as you know. That is why we need the time. So what we are going to do is go into a quorum. I think everyone would be well advised, if they wish, to talk about substantive matters, if you wish to speak to Senator Markey. But we have a few i's to dot and t's to cross, I have to speak to the Vice President, and we are going to have a phone call to make with Senators Schumer and Murray. So everything is going well.

I will say I hope everyone learned a lesson last night, that it sure helps to sit down, stand, whatever it is, and talk to each other. It was a very good meeting that lasted 4 hours. People were still as highly engaged at the end of that 4 hours as they were in the beginning.

I think we see a way forward that will be good for everybody. There are a lot of accolades to go around to a lot of people. I certainly appreciate my wonderful caucus.

One of my Senators, who has a lot of humility, told me this morning: It doesn't matter what you ask me to do, I will do it.

I would hope this is not a time to flex muscles, but it is a time I am going to tell one person and no one else how much I appreciate their advocacy, their persuasiveness, persistence, and--a word that truly describes this man is hard to find.

I was told by another Senator: You know what this man did? I said: You know who he reminds me of? Bob Kerrey. I hope that doesn't disparage John McCain. But John McCain is the reason we are at the point we are. A lot of people have been extremely helpful. This is all directed toward John McCain from me. No one was able to break through but for him. He does it at his own peril.

Everyone, we are going to have a caucus today. We will explain in more detail the direction we are headed. I think everyone will be happy. Everyone will not think we got everything we wanted, but I think it is going to be something that is good for the Senate. It is a compromise. I think we get what we want; they get what they want--not a bad deal.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

I hope we don't have to use all of the 8 hours, but we will see.

I ask unanimous consent the Senate recess from 12:30 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. to allow for the weekly caucus meetings and that the time during the recess count postcloture on the Cordray nomination.

I express my appreciation for the strong vote this good man received.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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

What I should have done and will do now is ask unanimous consent that the time during this quorum call be divided equally on both sides.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.