Floor Statements

Mr. President, the next rollcall vote will be Monday at 5:30 p.m.

If there is no further business to come before the body, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate adjourn under the previous order.

Mr. President, following my remarks and those of Senator McConnell, we will be in a period of morning business for 1 hour. The majority will control the first half and the Republicans the final half.

Following morning business, the Senate will resume consideration of the farm bill.

The Senate will recess from 12:30 p.m. until 2:15 p.m. to allow for our weekly caucus meetings.

Mr. President, first of all, I thank the Senator from Massachusetts for giving the prayer and doing a wonderful job. Our pastor, who was supposed to give the prayer, was not here. We are all very proud of the Senator, and today we are especially proud of Gov. Deval Patrick for appointing Senator Cowan, as he has done a remarkably good job.

As we all know, there will be an election in 2 or 3 weeks to fill the seat, but Senator Cowan will be known as one of the nicest and most competent people I have served with in my many years in Congress.

Again, I thank the Senator very much.

Mr. President, this week the Senate will say goodbye to a valued friend and colleague, Senator Frank Lautenberg. The funeral for Frank will be in New York. He is a great American success story and the Senate's last World War II veteran.

As I indicated, we will recognize his passing and celebration of his life. It has been made pretty clear that he will be buried in Arlington Friday afternoon.

Senator Lautenberg loved this institution, where he spent more than three decades. He would understand that its work must go on, despite our sorrow.

Mr. President, this week work continues on the farm bill, which will create jobs, cut taxpayer subsidies, and reduce the deficit. Chairman Stabenow and Ranking Member Cochran have worked very hard to come up with a finite list of amendments. They are still trying to do that. I hope they can complete that today. I will give the managers as much time as we can to reach an agreement to consider a finite number of amendments to the farm bill.

I will not file cloture unless I have spoken more than once, before the day is out, to Senator Stabenow and Senator Cochran. I hope I don't have to file cloture on this legislation tonight, but we need to move forward. It is important to have ample time for debate on the immigration bill reported just a few weeks ago by the Judiciary Committee.

The Senate must move forward before the end of June to protect students from the rising cost of education by keeping the loan rates low. If we don't do something about that before the end of this month, it is going to more than double the rates. If we do nothing, it will double the rates. If we

do what the House wants, it will triple the rates, so we cannot do that. College is already unaffordable for too many young people, and if Congress fails to take action this month, as I have indicated--and I have certainly underlined and underscored the fact--the pricetag will go up significantly for them.

What is suggested by the House and the legislation they passed, it will add about $6,500 to the average student's loan bill. Their proposal would be worse than doing nothing at all--worse than letting rates double next month.

I hope my Senate Republican colleagues will instead support our efforts to give middle-class families security by freezing interest rates at current levels for 2 years without adding a penny to the deficit. This is exactly the kind of commonsense proposal we need to keep our economy growing, and I will do everything I can to have a vote on the student loan bill this week.

If the Republicans in the Senate want to put forward what they think should be done, I will be happy to have a vote on theirs, and then we will vote on ours.

Even if we have not completed action on the farm bill or student loan proposals, we will bring immigration to the floor next week. The immigration system is broken and it needs to be fixed.

I am grateful Senator McConnell said he would not oppose moving to the bill--at least that is the way I read it in the press. He doesn't believe we will need to have cloture on the bill. I hope we do not need to do that, but if we need to do it in order to get on the bill, I will do that.

I know the Republican leader cannot control virtually every Republican, but I hope we can move forward and start the debate on this bill.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed to S. Con. Res. 18.

I ask unanimous consent the concurrent resolution be agreed to, and the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate.

Madam President, I now ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 160.

I ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motions to

reconsider be laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. President, before my friend leaves the floor, I appreciate very much him doing his utmost to keep our eye on the problem we have facing this country. We have no more important issue in the world than this issue, period. So I appreciate very much the Senator from Rhode Island keeping us focused on this.

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

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that it be considered as if the following motions to proceed were made: motion to proceed to Calendar No. 76, S. 1003, and motion to proceed to Calendar No. 74, S. 953; further, that the cloture motions, which are at the desk, be reported in the order the motions were considered made; finally, that the mandatory quorum required under rule XXII be waived for these cloture motions and the cloture motion for S. 954.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that at 10 a.m. on Thursday, June 6, the Senate proceed to vote on the motion to invoke cloture on S. 954; that upon the conclusion of that vote and notwithstanding cloture having been invoked, if invoked, the Senate then proceed to vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to Calendar No. 76, S. 1003; that upon the conclusion of the vote and notwithstanding cloture having been invoked, if invoked, the Senate proceed to vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to Calendar No. 74, S. 953; that upon the conclusion of the vote and notwithstanding cloture having been invoked, if invoked, the Senate resume consideration of S. 954, postcloture, if cloture was invoked on the bill; that upon disposition of S. 954, if cloture had been invoked on one of the motions to proceed, the Senate then resume that motion to proceed postcloture; further, if cloture was invoked on both motions to proceed, the Senate consider the motions, postcloture, in the order in which cloture was invoked; finally, if the motion to proceed to S. 1003 is agreed to, and notwithstanding cloture having been invoked on the other motion to proceed to S. 953, the Senate resume the following motion to proceed, postcloture, upon disposition of S. 1003.

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 to recognize the leadership of Krys Bart, the president and CEO of the Reno-Tahoe Airport Authority. Krys has worked at the airport authority for 14 years and transformed the airport into a modern facility that welcomes visitors from across the United States and the world to Northern Nevada.

Krys arrived in Northern Nevada in 1998 at a turning point for the airport.

Decisions by the previous management team had negatively impacted employee morale and hurt the airport authority's reputation in the community. With her steady leadership, Krys focused on achievable goals to deliver results for airport passengers and improve the airport authority's reputation. Krys helped direct more than $500 million in infrastructure upgrades at the airport, including upgrading runways, taxiways, safety systems, and noise mitigation programs. I worked with Krys to secure more than $250 million in Federal funding for Reno- Tahoe, including a new $27 million air traffic control tower. These infrastructure upgrades not only created jobs in Northern Nevada, but they also improved the passenger experience for flyers. In fact, the Reno-Tahoe Airport was recognized as one of the top five most efficient airports in North America three times under Krys' leadership.

Krys' reputation as an innovative Nevada leader has been recognized on a national scale by major industry groups and associations. She was selected by her peers to serve as the chair of the board of the American Association of Airport Executives, the largest airport association in the world. Krys is a frequent lecturer at international aviation conferences, sharing the best management practices from her time as an airport executive. In 2011, Krys received the Distinguished Service Award from the American Association of Airport Executives. In 2008, she was chair of the American Association of Airport Executives, and the Airport Revenue News named her the 2006 Airport Manager of the Year. These are just a few of the many awards and accomplishments that have followed Krys throughout her career, and it is a testament to the respect she has earned as one of the Nation's great airport managers.

Later this year, Krys will step down as the president of the Reno- Tahoe Airport Authority after a long and distinguished career in the aviation industry. While Krys' departure is a loss for the greater Reno community, her work to improve the airport and the greater community will benefit Nevadans for decades to come. I am pleased to recognize Krys' accomplishments before the Senate today and I wish her all the best in her retirement.

I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 161.

I ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate.

I ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S. Res. 162.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs be discharged from further consideration of S. 993 and that the bill be referred to the Committee on Armed Services.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 9 a.m. on June 6, 2013; that following the pledge and prayer, 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 following any leader remarks, the Senate resume consideration of the farm bill under the previous order; that notwithstanding the Senate not being in session, the filing deadline for first-degree amendments to S. 954 be 1 p.m. on Wednesday and the filing deadline for second-degree amendments be 9:45 a.m. on Thursday.