Floor Statements

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to Calendar No. 85, H.R. 251.

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

I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to H.R. 254.

I ask unanimous consent that the bill be read three times 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 when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 10 a.m. tomorrow, Thursday, July 11, 2013; that following the prayer and the 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 the majority leader be recognized.

Mr. President, just so that is clear, I want the unanimous consent request to indicate that after we have done the morning hour, after the Journal of proceedings has been approved and the time for the two leaders has been used or reserved for their use later in the day, that I be recognized.

I ask unanimous consent that after I am recognized and after Senator McConnell and I have finished our remarks, that the time until 12:30 be equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees, with Senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each, with the Republicans controlling the first half hour and the majority controlling the second half hour; further, that the Senate recess from 12:30 to 2:15 to allow for caucus meetings.

I ask the Chair if it is clear now, what I muddled through.

Further, I ask unanimous consent to be recognized at 2:15.

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. 124, S. 1238, Senator Reed's student loan bill.

Madam President, following my remarks and those of my Republican counterpart, the time until 11 a.m. will be equally divided and controlled, with the majority controlling the first half and the Republicans controlling the final half.

At 11 a.m. the Senate will proceed to executive session to consider the nomination of Jennifer Dorsey to be U.S. district judge for the District of Nevada. At noon there will be a rollcall vote on confirmation of the Dorsey nomination. I would add that the chairman of the Judiciary Committee has asked that we hold that vote open until 12:30 p.m. today because they are having a confirmation hearing on the new Director of the FBI, Mr. Comey. We will do that, and the vote will end at 12:30 p.m. rather than 12:15 p.m. or 12:20 p.m.

Following that vote, the Senate will recess from 12:30 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. for our weekly caucus meetings.

In America, this great country of ours, a quality education is the surest path to the American dream. When I was a boy, we always looked at that American dream as getting a college education, which, from where I came from, wasn't going to happen very often. Now the American dream is more than just getting an associate's degree or a bachelor's degree. It involves many other occupations, all of the things available in health care now, such as nursing, nursing assistants, all of the technicians, the people who do physical therapy--not physical therapists but people who help doctors do what they need to do. We have programs to become a physician's assistant. There are many programs that are important to be able to fulfill that American dream. There are all different kinds of programs for computer training separate and apart from getting a bachelor's degree. Those programs are extremely important. The reason they are important is we as Americans have decided that with the cost of education skyrocketing as it is, students should get some help, whether they are seeking a degree in engineering or getting into a program to begin some computer training to have jobs they want for the rest of their lives.

College has never been more expensive and further out of reach for American families. That is why it is critical that we keep interest rates low on Federal student loans so more promising students can realize their dream of an education.

Last month Republicans rejected the Democrats' plan to freeze student loan interest rates at current levels for 2 years without adding a penny to the deficit. Because of this obstruction, loan rates doubled on July 1, piling thousands of dollars more on debt that more than 7 million students owe. Republicans are instead pushing a plan to balance the budget on the backs of struggling students. But if either the legislation passed by House Republicans or the plan proposed by Senate Republicans becomes law, student loan rates will more than double over the

next few years as interest rates increase.

Speaker Boehner says that the House has acted and now the ball is in the Senate's court. We talked about that yesterday. What is he talking about--they have acted and now we should act? I guess we could talk about what they didn't do last year on the farm bill. I guess we could talk about what they didn't do last year on post offices. I guess we could talk about what they haven't done this year on the farm bill. We could talk about what they haven't done that is so devastating to small businesses around America, and that is having people who are online and don't build a single building, rent a single building--they get a different rate of return than do those in brick-and-mortar buildings. They do that because they don't have to pay sales tax. We could talk about why the Speaker is refusing to take up something that is meaningful.

As I say about this student loan issue--and I just had a meeting that ended a few minutes ago--if you can explain to me why these proposals the Republicans have are better than just having the rates double, please do that. But they go into all these gyrations about whether it is a T-bill, overnight T-bill, or 30 days or 6 months or--all this complicated stuff, and it is factual. I met with someone from the White House. I said, OK, tell me what happens in 3 years. The response was, oh, well, the rates will be above 6.8 percent. That is appalling. If someone can show me how all these programs they are coming up with are better than just letting things double, tell me.

We have a better proposal. Instead of pushing a plan to balance the budget on the backs of struggling students, I think we should support a plan that would be better for students, not worse for students. I repeat, we can't support a plan that would be worse for students than doing nothing at all.

They have to take action. The rising price of higher education means too many young people are deferring higher education. I hear all the stories. College education used to be cheaper. Well, because of what has happened here in Washington with the obstruction, we have to help people. There has been less support of higher education from the States. Tuition costs have risen significantly because of this. Students need help. We have to take action. The rising price of higher education means too many young people are deferring higher education, and it has saddled many who do get a degree with unsustainable debt-- debt that causes them to delay buying their first home, having children, or starting a business. Americans have more than $1 trillion in student loan debt. The average graduate owes more than $25,000. In fact, Americans have more student loan debt than credit card debt. They simply can't afford to pile on even more.

We are going to continue to fight to keep the student loan rates low and hold back the rising price of education. Tomorrow the Senate will vote on whether to even begin debate on our plan to keep loan rates low for an additional year.

I very much admire the work done by Senator Stabenow, the chairman of the Agriculture Committee. She is someone who is very effective in conveying a message. She has led the message for Democrats as to why we shouldn't let these rates double, and she will continue to do that.

As I indicated earlier, we made a proposal to keep rates where they are for 2 years. We have made changes to our proposal in an effort to meet Republicans in the middle while protecting students. Our plan shortens the extension from 2 years to 1 year, and it doesn't add a penny to the debt.

I spoke with the chairman of the Finance Committee today. I said: Max, explain how we are paying for this. It is so simple. It is inherited IRAs, that people would pay after 5 years--they wouldn't get the tax deduction after 5 years. What our program does is it closes this obscure tax loophole that allows a few very wealthy individuals to avoid paying taxes on inherited retirement accounts. This is why Senator Baucus came up with this as a pay-for.

So I hope Senate Republicans won't block a second commonsense plan in investing in our economy by keeping college affordable. We have reduced it to 1 year from 2 years. It would be great if we had a long-term solution to this, but we can't do something that hurts students very quickly. Some have said: Well, it is going to be for a year or two, and there will be lower interest rates. Yes, but after that it will be ``Katy, bar the door.'' We all know interest rates are going to go up.

Dorsey Nomination

Before the lunch, as I have indicated, we will consider the nomination of Jennifer Dorsey to be U.S. district judge for the District of Nevada. She will be a valuable addition to the Federal court system. She is a Las Vegas native. Her father was stationed at Nellis Air Force Base and after Vietnam decided that was where he wanted to make his home. He started his family there.

Ms. Dorsey graduated from Chaparral High School and graduated cum laude from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. She was also the first member of her family to graduate from college. She served as a congressional intern for my friend and former colleague Senator Richard Bryan. She attended Pepperdine University School of Law, where she was a member of the Pepperdine Law Review.

After graduation she returned to Las Vegas and excelled, first as an associate and now as a partner, at the firm Kemp, Jones & Coulthard, a longtime brave, proud Nevada law firm. She is the first and only female partner in that firm. She specialized in civil litigation, complex commercial disputes, appeals, and class actions.

I am very impressed with her dedication to the State of Nevada, her community, and the legal profession. She will make an outstanding Federal judge for Nevada. I look forward to her confirmation.

Recognition of the Minority Leader

I move to proceed to Calendar No. 124, S. 1238, the student loan bill offered by Senator Reed of Rhode Island.

Mr. President, at 5 p.m. the Senate will proceed to executive session to consider the nomination of Gregory Phillips of Wyoming to be U.S. circuit judge for the Tenth Circuit. At 5:30 p.m. this evening there will be a rollcall vote on confirmation of the Phillips nomination.

Passing Bipartisan Legislation

I welcome back the Presiding Officer, the President pro tempore of the Senate. I hope he and all of my colleagues had a restful and productive week with the instate work that was done during the 10 days we were gone.

It was a pleasure to meet and spend time with my constituents in Nevada over the break and with my family. I had a wonderful time with my family. Four of my children were there--actually, five were there for a short period of time, all five of them. We had a wonderful Fourth of July at my son's home. Everyone was there--neighbors. There was a great party. My grandson set off the fireworks. I am not going to ask where he got them, but there were a lot of fireworks and there was a lot of fun. It was a real celebration.

Everywhere I went I saw immense enthusiasm for this historic bipartisan immigration reform bill we passed before the Fourth of July. Often I heard how pleased Nevadans were to finally see bipartisanship in the Senate. They saw bipartisanship blossom. This has happened far too rarely in recent years. Americans of all political stripes are united behind the need for commonsense reform. Even a large majority of Republicans believes immigration reform will be good for the economy and good for national security.

As everyone here knows, I don't often tout the accomplishments of President Bush--Bush No. 2--but I really appreciate what he did at the first public event at his new library in Texas. It was an event honoring into our country new immigrants to become citizens. After the event, the President spoke about the need for passing the Senate bill. When he was President, to his credit, he did everything he could to try to get it done, but Republicans would not follow the direction he felt we should go. Senate Republicans did follow that in the last vote. We had 68 votes, and 14 of my Republican colleagues voted with us. I appreciate that, and I appreciate what President Bush did to focus his attention on this again.

I appreciate all the groups around the country, from the chamber of commerce to other conservative groups, who are running paid advertisements on television saying they--the Republicans here in the House--should pass the legislation we passed here. The only Republicans who aren't yet convinced are in Washington in the House of Representatives. Republicans around the country believe it is important that we do this immigration reform legislation. As I indicated, 68 Senators voted for this historic reform, but our responsibility didn't end with that vote. It is our duty to convince our colleagues in the House that, yes, they should vote with us.

Bipartisan immigration reform that includes a pathway to citizenship makes economic sense as well as political sense. Unfortunately, over the last few weeks Speaker Boehner has taken a different route that is one of ignoring the needs of the American people. Rather than moving to the center and advancing a bill that would appeal to moderates on both sides of the Capitol, Speaker Boehner has repeatedly tried to pass legislation with only Republican votes.

The Hastert rule, named after a recent Republican Speaker--passing only

bills that have the support of the majority of the majority, the only thing they are going to let happen--doesn't work, and it is bad for the country. Any major legislation passed by the House of Representatives with only Republican votes has no hope of advancing here or being signed into law by the President.

I hope the Speaker has learned his lesson from recent high-profile failures of his shortsighted Hastert rule--post office, farm bill, online sales tax, immigration. Eventually he will be forced to take up the bill we passed here or the country will be left with no immigration reform at all, which will be a bad outcome.

The Speaker should dispense with the posturing and delay and do the right thing, and he should do it now. He should take up the Senate farm bill on which Chairman Stabenow worked so hard. They should pass that bill. They should take it up over there and pass it. Farmers are waiting, and all the nutrition groups around the country are waiting. He should do that right now.

He should take up the Senate immigration bill. I say that for the second or third time today. This measure--a farm bill that passed overwhelmingly on bipartisan votes in this Chamber--the passing of the farm bill would create jobs and reduce the debt by some $23 billion. And it is important to note that there are reforms both in the farm and food stamp programs without balancing the budget on the backs of hungry Americans. In fact, it goes a long way toward reducing our debt.

Passing the immigration bill would help 11 million people who are already contributing to our economy and our society to get right with the law. It would boost our economy and make our country safer, all the while reducing the deficit by about $1 trillion over the next two decades.

I remind the Speaker that there is no shame in passing bills that moderates from both parties can support. Americans want their elected officials to work together to fix the Nation's problems. This is what we did in the Senate. I promise the formula will work in the House of Representatives as well. The Speaker should try that.

Sticking to the Hastert rule has prevented the House from passing legislation to reform the ailing Postal Service. Postal reform passed over here on an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote. The Speaker refused to even consider it last Congress, didn't even take it up.

Sticking to the Hastert rule prevented the House from passing a measure that would give brick-and-mortar stores parity with online competitors. We passed that on a bipartisan vote. It is heartbreaking all over America. I see it in Nevada when I go by these strip malls and see places that, if they had the advantage of not having to pay sales tax--which is what happens online--they would be in business. They would go back into business if the sales tax would have to be paid by the people who sell their goods over the Internet. It is unfair. Why the Speaker doesn't take that up I don't know.

We already know that sticking to the Hastert rule prevented the House from passing a farm bill last month and last year.

This month sticking to the Hastert rule prevented the House from passing immigration reform that would become law.

Insisting on the Hastert rule also prevented Speaker Boehner from reaching across the aisle to find a sensible solution to our rising student loan interest rates. Right now, what they have done on the other side is worse for students than doing nothing at all. The legislation passed by the House would balance the budget on the backs of struggling students--would attempt to balance it, at least. The House legislation is worse for students than doing nothing at all. Under the House plan, as interest rates start to rise, student loan rates will rise with them. Soon loan rates will be more than double. I met with the White House, one of the President's assistants. I said: Tell me what happens in 3 years. He had to acknowledge that the rates would be well over 6.8 percent.

To find a responsible solution to the student loan issue and every other major issue facing this Congress, the Speaker should work with us and his Democratic colleagues in the House instead of against them. He should remember that the only way to pass meaningful legislation in either Chamber is to do so with votes from both reasonable Democrats and reasonable Republicans.

I am told the Speaker is going to come out with a statement today saying: We passed our student loan legislation. Now why can't the Senate pass it?

I repeat, the Speaker's student loan legislation that passed the House is worse than doing nothing. The Hastert rule has been bad for this country, and Speaker Boehner should get away from it.

I ask unanimous consent that we now proceed to a period of morning business and that Senators be allowed to speak for up to 10 minutes each prior to the executive session at 5 p.m., with the exception of Senator Scott, who is giving his maiden speech today.

Would the Chair announce the business for the day.

THE PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved.

Mr. President, it is my understanding a motion to proceed to S. 1238 is now pending; is that correct?

I have a cloture motion at the desk.

I ask unanimous consent the mandatory quorum required under rule XXII be waived.

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

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

Mr. President, I rise today in recognition of the service of Ronald L. Fann, who will be retiring August 1, 2013, after 42 years of dedicated service to the Federal Government. Mr. Fann demonstrated great dedication to enhancing the safety and security of the U.S. Senate, its staff, and visitors.

Mr. Fann began his career in 1969, as a military intelligence officer in the U.S. Army, where he performed counterintelligence operations against East Germany and the Soviet Union. He continued his intelligence work in Germany as a U.S. Army civilian, protecting our Nation during the height of the Cold War, serving in Bremerhaven and Frankfurt. Mr. Fann went on to work at the Pentagon for the U.S. Army Assistant Chief of Staff for Intelligence, supervising intelligence operations worldwide.

In 1986 Mr. Fann was assigned to an important classified program that supported the Nation's national security and emergency preparedness operations. During his 27-year assignment to this project, he was appointed to the National Security Agency's Senior Cryptologic Executive Service in 1991, serving as its deputy and later as program director.

Mr. Fann is a proud Texas A&M Aggie alumnus and a graduate of the National War College.

I commend Mr. Fann's contributions and longstanding career in public service. I, along with my colleagues from

both sides of the aisle, congratulate him on his well-earned retirement and wish him all the best in his future endeavors.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of Calendar No. 87, S. 793.

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 when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 10 a.m. on Tuesday, July 9, 2013; 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; that the majority leader then be recognized and that following the remarks of the two leaders, the time until 11 a.m. be equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each, with the majority controlling the first half and the Republicans controlling the second half; further, that at 11 a.m. the Senate proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 97, the nomination of Jennifer Dorsey to be a U.S. district judge for the District of Nevada, and that there be 1 hour of debate equally divided and controlled in the usual form and all other provisions of the previous order remain in effect; and finally, that the Senate recess from 12:30 p.m. until 2:15 p.m. to allow for the weekly caucus meetings.

Mr. President, there will be a vote on the Dorsey nomination at noon tomorrow.

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