Floor Statements

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Finance be discharged from further consideration of H.R. 2289 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

I ask unanimous consent that the bill be read a third time and passed and the motion to reconsider be made and laid upon the table.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to H. Con. Res. 43, which was received from the House and is at the desk.

I ask unanimous consent that the concurrent resolution be agreed to and the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table.

The concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 43) was agreed to.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Judiciary Committee be discharged from further consideration and the Senate now proceed to S. Res. 191.

I ask unanimous consent that the resolution by agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

I am told that there is a bill at the desk due for its first reading.

I ask for a second reading, and in order to place the bill on the calendar under the provisions of rule XIV, I object to my own request.

I ask unanimous consent the mandatory quorum under rule XXII be waived for three of the cloture motions filed earlier today.

I now ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 2 p.m. on Monday, July 15, 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; and following the remarks of the two leaders, the time until 5:30 p.m. be divided equally between the two leaders or their designees, with Senators permitted during that time to speak for up to 10 minutes; further, that at 5:30 p.m. I be recognized.

Mr. President, then there will be a rollcall vote at 5:30 p.m. on Monday. There will also be an all-Senators joint caucus at 6 p.m. on Monday in the Old Senate Chamber.

I ask unanimous consent the Senate stand adjourned under the previous order.

Mr. President, I returned from Nevada this Sunday. On Saturday I had a briefing by the head of the Forest Service in Nevada. We thought things were going very well with the fires in Nevada, and they were. Progress was being made--limited but progress was being made. But since that time the fires have gotten much worse.

Not everyone can see this, but I have a picture--of course, I didn't get this until early this morning and didn't have a chance to enlarge it so we could put it on an easel--but this is the beginning of the Las Vegas strip. This is downtown Las Vegas. It is called the Carpenter fire. You can see it burning.

It is only about 10 miles from Las Vegas, maybe 12 at the most. We can see Mount Charleston, a 12,000-foot mountain. The flames are shooting above that. We don't get many clouds in southern Nevada, but the smoke cloud here is intense. One of my staff indicated that where she lives it is raining ash. This is a very devastating fire, and the firefighters are doing the very best they can in a very difficult situation.

My thoughts go out to the thousands who have been evacuated from their homes in southern Nevada's Mount Charleston area--I think hundreds would be a better way to say this. Out where the Carpenter 1 fire is, as it is called, it has burned more than 30 square miles of forest and desert.

My heart goes out to the first responders. They are working very hard in extremely rugged terrain. They are doing a lot in the air with helicopters and large airplanes. A couple of areas have been saved because these firefighters have been able to cut waves so the flames don't jump over into these houses. Yesterday the wind changed, and one of the roads going up to Mount Charleston, Kyle Canyon--it jumped that road, burning there, getting closer to some of the homes we are so concerned about.

Lives have been saved as a result of what the firefighters are doing. They have been working around the clock to contain the blaze and protect their communities. Unfortunately, this is southern Nevada where we had heat last week virtually every day of 112 to 117 degrees. It is hot in Las Vegas without this fire; we don't get much rain. In the entire year we get 4 inches of rain. The summer heat, these dry conditions, and the winds are really working against the firefighters, but they are working very hard.

The progress we were making was erased yesterday. The fire jumped Kyle Canyon Road, as I said, and spread to new forest and new desert land. We thought everyone would be able to return to their homes in Kyle Canyon yesterday, but with the fire having spread the way it did, we hope they can get back in their homes soon. We have had a number of hotels in Las Vegas that allowed people who have been displaced to have free lodging.

As I indicated, smoke can be seen everyplace. We have 2 million people now in Las Vegas. Everybody can see the fire. These flames, one can see them well over the 12,000-foot mountain.

The Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service are all working with other Federal agencies and State agencies. They are assisting firefighters in

containing the blaze and helping residents to move.

There is also a fire burning in Reno, south of Reno. It is called the Bison fire. It is the largest fire ever recorded in western Nevada. People have been--especially in the Pipeline Canyon area--urged to evacuate. I am going to continue to monitor both of these fires because they are disasters.

I appreciate all the work done at the State level. My office has extended support to Governor Sandoval to do everything we can to assist the State in anything they need, and I will do everything I can to ensure every Federal resource that is available will be made available to support local officials and fire crews.

There are currently more than 20 active fires in 11 States, including Nevada's neighbors: California--and we all know about the fire in Arizona, but there are others--Oregon, Idaho, and Utah. There are thousands of firefighters working around the clock to save lives and to save property. I will do everything I can, I repeat, to help them.

In a couple of hours we will vote on whether to begin debate on our plan to keep loan rates low for students for an additional year. Last month Republican obstruction forced interest rates to double from 3.4 percent to 6 percent for about 7 million college students.

If we fail to roll back this increase, those students will each pile on lots of new debt to get a college education. These rates will be particularly harmful to low- and middle-income families that rely on these Federal loans more than anyone else.

We have the Pell grants, which go to low-income people, but people who are middle class have to do these loans; schools have become so expensive. States have cut back on the support they give to colleges, so this is a very difficult situation.

Students shouldn't suffer because some Senators are standing in the way of that compromise. That is why we have proposed a 1-year extension of last year's 3.4 percent rate. We don't want it to double. The extension will allow us to craft a long-term solution to mounting college debt without harming students in the short term. However, a number of Senators met at my direction this morning at 9 o'clock, and there is progress being made. Maybe we can come up with a compromise. It will be imperfect, like a lot of things that happen legislatively, but it will be a way for us to move forward. The meeting went very well. It was done in Senator Durbin's office. Democrats and Republicans attended that meeting. I think we are making some progress.

I move to proceed to Calendar No. 124, S. 1238, Senator Reed's student loan bill.

Mr. President, following the remarks of Senator McConnell, the time until noon will be equally divided and controlled between the two leaders, with each Senator permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each.

At noon there will be a cloture vote on the motion to proceed on S. 1238, the student loan bill.

Recognition of the Minority Leader

I enter a motion to reconsider the vote by which cloture was not invoked.

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

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

Mr. President, I rise to pay tribute to a colleague, a leader, a statesman, and a humanitarian, but most of all I rise to pay tribute to my friend, Bill Gray, who passed away last week.

Bill Gray and I served together in the House of Representatives during a time that was much different than the world we see today. From his early days in Congress, Bill Gray sought to aid and unify an extremely diverse caucus. This collaborative work ethic, along with a comprehensive understanding of the congressional budget process, helped him earn the respect of his colleagues. Bill Gray rose through the ranks to become the first African American to chair the House Budget Committee. Later, he would serve as chair of the House Democratic Caucus and go on to become the House majority whip, the first African American to do so in each position, and at that time, the highest ranking African American in congressional history.

From his first day in Congress, through his rise to leadership, Bill Gray fought for the people of Philadelphia as a tremendous advocate for fairness, equity, and democracy. Bill was willing to compromise to get to a balanced budget because he knew it was good for the entire country, both the rich and the poor. He once said, ``A balanced budget is good for the country, the affluent and poor alike. I seek a budget that doesn't sacrifice programs for the poor and minorities, one that is fair and equitable.'' Gray's advocacy for fairness was also evident at the international level, as he was an early leader in the drive to end U.S. investment in the apartheid government of South Africa.

Bill Gray's commitment to humanity and public service did not begin or end with his time in Congress. Prior to serving in the House of Representatives, Bill was pastor of Bright Hope Baptist Church in North Philadelphia and still ministered to his congregation while serving in Washington. After retiring from Congress, he served as president of the United Negro College Fund, and was later appointed by President Bill Clinton to serve as Special Envoy to Haiti.

Despite all of Bill Gray's historic achievements, he still managed to remember his friends. A few years ago, Bill and his son, Justin, visited my home State of Nevada. The people he met in Las Vegas knew all too well of his service to this Nation and, even more, they just appreciated him for coming to visit our town. I appreciated him, too.

I will always remember Bill Gray, not only as a trailblazer or public servant, but as my friend. My thoughts are with his family and I hope fond memories offer comfort during this time of grief.

Mr. President, I ask that the Chair lay before the Senate a message received from the House of Representatives with respect to H.R. 588.

The PRESIDING OFFICER laid before the Senate a bill H.R. 588 to provide for donor contribution acknowledgements to be displayed at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Visitor Center, and for other purposes, with an amendment.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate concur in the House amendment to the Senate amendment, and the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate.