Floor Statements

I, of course, admire--and have for many years now--the chairman of the Budget Committee. She is a renowned Senator. She is very good at what she does. We are very proud of her.

We have just heard something that is unusual. We heard my friend from Arizona--the Senator and I came together to Congress some 30-odd years ago--and another outstanding Senator, Ms. Collins from Maine, come up with a novel idea. It is kind of old-fashioned, but it is called regular order.

What they are saying we should do is go to conference. We have had in years past many motions to instruct. That is the way we used to do things around here. To get off-base on a debt ceiling matter has nothing to do with what we are doing. Let's go to conference. I don't know if when we go to conference we will get anything out of it, but we are sure going to try.

That is what this is all about. I can't imagine why after 2 months-- after 2 months--we can't go to conference and work something out.

The Republican leader has told me for a couple of years: Why don't we do our appropriations bills? We have the former chair of the Appropriations Committee, who is now the ranking member on the Agriculture Committee, he knows as much as anyone here about financial matters. He is a man who is a humble man, doesn't talk a lot--and I don't want to speak for him--but I think everyone here wants this institution to continue, wants us to do regular order.

I have heard this hue and cry for quite some time on the other side. I admire and appreciate very much the Senator from Arizona instigating old-fashioned regular order, which we need to do in this body a lot.

There is nothing to object to.

Madam President, I am told that three bills are at the desk. I would ask for their first reading en bloc.

Madam President, I now ask for a second reading en bloc for each of these and I object to my own request.

Madam President, I send a cloture motion to the desk.

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

Madam President, we are moving forward. This will be the sixth or seventh year we have tried to fill vacancies on the DC Circuit. There are four vacancies there. I hope the President sends us some more names. I understand that will be the case maybe before the end of this week.

It is outrageous we have been stopped procedurally from doing the work of this country in filling these nominations in this very important court. We are going to have a cloture vote on this on Thursday, as we should do, and hopefully finish by the end of the week. If we get cloture, we will finish by the end of the week if we have to stay over another day or so.

I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until Wednesday, May 22, 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 following any leader remarks the Senate be in a period of morning business for 1 hour with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each, with the Republicans controlling the first half and the majority controlling the final half; that following morning business, the Senate resume consideration of S. 954, the farm bill.

We will continue to work through amendments on the farm bill

tomorrow. Additionally, there will be a rollcall vote on S. Res. 65, the Iran sanctions resolution, at 5 p.m. tomorrow. There will be 1 hour of debate on that matter.

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

Mr. President, following leader remarks the Senate will be in a period of morning business until 3 p.m. today. At 3 p.m. the Senate will begin consideration of S. 954, which is the farm bill. At 5 p.m. the Senate will proceed to executive session to consider two U.S. district court nominations: the Chappell nomination, from Florida, and the McShane nomination, from Oregon. At about 5:30 there will be up to two rollcall votes on confirmation of these nominations.

Mr. President, Democrats and the tea party-driven Republicans differ on many things, so it is remarkable and encouraging to see how well Senator Stabenow and Senator Cochran, the chairman and ranking member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, worked as a team to bring the ag jobs bill to the floor. Their work has been exemplary, some would say old-fashioned--the way things used to be.

The committee members included many of the amendments that were adopted last year when the Senate considered and passed a farm bill. As we will remember, it went to the House, and of course they did nothing. The committee did this in an effort to expedite the floor process which begins today. I hope their cooperative spirit guides our work on this important legislation.

American farmers are counting on us, but so is the economy. Despite uncertain economic times, America's farms and ranches are the most productive in the world, exporting about $150 billion worth of products last year and supporting 16 million private sector jobs. But to keep American farms strong, Congress must pass a strong farm bill. The legislation before this body will create jobs, cut taxpayer subsidies, and reduce the deficit. The bill includes important reforms to farm and food stamp programs and saves more than $23 billion, which we will use to reduce the deficit. It will give farmers the certainty they need to maintain the largest trade surplus in any sector of our economy.

Helping American farmers thrive is an important part of our work getting the economy on firm footing again. Again, I commend Senators Stabenow and Cochran for their leadership on this important issue.

While the Senate has taken a lot of bipartisan action on the agriculture jobs bill, it has seen no progress on the important budget. Senate Republicans still refuse to allow us to negotiate with our House counterparts on a compromise that respects both parties' principles. It has now been 58 days since the Senate passed its budget, 58 days waiting for the Republicans to say: OK, let's try to work out our differences.

They have been talking for a couple of years now: What is wrong with the Senate? We don't follow regular order.

What does that mean? We don't follow the principles we have always followed.

They say they want to pass a budget so we can get to regular order. I guess they thought we could not pass a budget, because we passed one and now they refuse to go to conference. I think the main reason they are afraid to do that is that under the rules in the House, if

we go to conference, the House Democrats--who are kept out of everything--have the right by rule of the House of Representatives to offer what they call motions to instruct, to say don't cut Medicare, don't continue to whack little kids who are trying to get an education with the Head Start Program, don't cut NIH programs. They can force the Republicans to vote on that matter. I think that is what it is all about.

It has been 58 days since the Senate passed its commonsense, progrowth budget, but my Republican colleagues have objected time and time again to a conference with the House. The only explanation Republicans have given for endless obstruction is this: They refuse to negotiate unless we agree in advance to let them win. I am not making that up. That is true. Republicans refuse to go to conference unless Democrats adopt policies that were soundly rejected by the American people last November. It is a very bizarre way to negotiate. Meanwhile, the country inches closer and closer to yet another crisis--defaulting on the Nation's legitimate bills. They put off compromise until the last moment so they can use the debt limit as a bargaining chip. They hope to exploit concessions such as more tax breaks for the wealthy, hurting middle-class families; more concessions in Draconian cuts to Medicare, which, of course, hurts the elderly; stark concessions with cuts to Head Start, hurting little kids or they hope to extort concessions on more cuts to the National Institutes of Health, which hurts us all.

In fact, House Republicans met last week to decide what ransom they would demand to avoid a catastrophic default on this Nation's debts. One House Republican called it a laundry list of conditions. On the list--repealing the landmark health care reform. On the list-- restricting women's health choices. On the list--more Draconian cuts to programs that are keeping American families strong.

Despite the political pain they caused themselves last time they held hostage the full faith and credit of the United States, they are again headed down that same path. This time they are suggesting that government should skip payments to the troops, to veterans, to Medicare recipients, and more. Why? So we can pay China first. I am not making this up. That is what they want to do. Their plan would hurt our national security, our economic security, and it would not prevent default. The Republican approach--default on the bills--is irresponsible, extreme, and really senseless. By now they should know that it is compromise, not political hostage-taking, that will set our Nation on the road to fiscal responsibility.

Will the Chair announce the business of the day.

I suggest the absence a quorum.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, May 22, the Senate proceed to the consideration of Calendar No. 43, S. Res. 65; that there be 60 minutes for debate equally divided and controlled in the usual form; that upon the use or yielding back of that time, the Senate proceed to vote in relation to the resolution; that if the resolution is agreed to, the preamble be agreed to and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. President, following leader remarks the Senate will be in executive session to consider the nomination of Ernest Moniz to be Energy Secretary. There will be up to 3 hours of debate on the nomination. At about 2 p.m. there will be a rollcall vote on confirmation of that nomination.

Mr. President, for months my Republican colleagues have argued the Obama administration has engaged in a coverup regarding the tragic events surrounding an attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi. The administration provided Members of Congress with over 100 pages of e-mails--sent following that attack--during closed-door sessions. The e-mails proved there was simply no coverup.

Yet Republicans, with full knowledge of these e-mails, claimed the White House was hiding the truth. Yesterday, the administration released even more e-mails to the public. This is only the latest effort by the administration to ensure transparency for the media and the public regarding this awful attack on Americans.

This new information came out for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that we know the press corps spent most of the past week chasing a story based on an e-mail that didn't exist. It was fabricated by a Republican aide and then reported as fact. It is a sad commentary that Republicans are so dead set on embarrassing the President, the Foreign Service, the CIA, and our military they would actually lie to a news organization about the contents of an e-mail and let that news organization report their lies as facts.

The attack on Benghazi is an issue of life and death. We should be focused on tracking down the terrorists who committed this act and bringing them to justice, not on smear politics and false scandals. I hope the media will realize they were fed a false bill of goods and be more skeptical next time.

Mr. President, 6 short years ago the prospects for a bipartisan solution to America's broken immigration system seemed bleak. Despite support from congressional Democrats and a Republican President, an immigration reform proposal had been defeated on a procedural vote. Let's say that again. Despite support from congressional Democrats and a Republican President, we couldn't get enough Republicans in the Senate to move forward on a reform proposal. It was defeated, I repeat, on a procedural vote in the Senate.

But one man, who was a long-time member of the Judiciary Committee and who had been chairman of the Subcommittee on Immigration, Refugees and Border Security for decades--Senator Ted Kennedy--reminded us all the reform for which he had fought so hard would pass one day and that day could not be far off. This is what he said when that bill was defeated:

America always finds a way to solve its problems, expand

its frontiers, and move closer to its ideals. It is not

always easy, but it is the American way. . . . I believe we

will soon succeed where we failed today, and that we will

enact the kind of comprehensive reform that our ideals and

our national security demand.

Ted Kennedy said that in 2007. He always spoke from back here, and I can still hear his booming voice, and I can hear him saying this. Our friend Ted Kennedy was right, and I believe the time for commonsense immigration reform has come. I am sorry Senator Kennedy is not alive to see the widespread bipartisan support for the legislation being considered today in the Judiciary Committee, legislation that I will shortly bring before the full Senate. Senator Kennedy would be very satisfied with the efforts of the Gang of 8--four Democrats and four Republicans.

Even though Ted Kennedy was known as one of America's great progressives, his legacy is that he worked with liberals, conservatives, Independents--he worked with everyone--to get work done. He always was willing to set aside partisanship, and that is what the Gang of 8 has done and that is why he would like this so much.

This Gang of 8 has addressed a critical issue facing our Nation, and he would applaud the work of the Senate Judiciary Committee and the leadership of his long-time friend he served with on that committee for, oh, it must be four decades. Kennedy and Leahy, they did a lot of work together, and Senator Leahy has done so much in this committee-- work that he has done in the last several weeks to refine and perfect the reasonable proposal of the Gang of 8.

So it is gratifying to see the momentum behind commonsense reforms that will make our country safer and help 11 million undocumented immigrants get right with the law. Although neither Republicans nor Democrats will support each and every proposal or aspect of this legislation, it is reassuring to see the diverse coalition that has formed in support of real reform, commonsense reform--reform that improves our dysfunctional legal immigration system, reform that continues to secure our borders, reform that requires 11 million undocumented people to pass a criminal background check, and pay fines and taxes to start on the path to earn their citizenship. We can't do this piecemeal, and we can't do it without a pathway to earning citizenship.

The thorough and open process underway in the Judiciary Committee is exemplary of how the Senate should work. So far the committee has considered 62 amendments to the original proposal, some from Democrats and some from Republicans. In fact, the committee has adopted 12 Republican amendments, including measures to strengthen the border and improve our legal immigration system.

The Senate completed work on important water resource legislation yesterday--a lot is going on in the Senate--and we are now going to begin consideration of a crucial piece of legislation dealing with agriculture. I commend and applaud the chairman of that committee Debbie Stabenow. She is a very good legislator. They got the bill out of that committee in a very quick fashion. So I repeat, I admire what she has done. She also has a new ranking member there, Thad Cochran from Mississippi, who is a fine man and a good legislator.

As I have said, as soon as it is ready, I am going to bring that immigration legislation to the floor. We are going to start on the farm bill Monday, and I am going to bring the immigration bill to the floor regardless of whether we have completed action on the farm bill. Although immigration is a complex and controversial issue that deserves ample time for thoughtful debate and consideration, it is also too important to delay action any longer.

As a Senator from Nevada and whose father-in-law was born in Russia and immigrated to the United States, I have witnessed firsthand the heartbreak of our broken immigration system. I see the heartbreak it has caused for immigrants and their families. So this issue is very personal to me, as I have just indicated, and it is very personal to every immigrant family striving to build a better life in America. That is why they came here.

The time has come for permanent solutions--solutions that are tough but fair, solutions that fix our broken legal immigration system, solutions that punish unscrupulous employers that exploit immigrants and drag down wages for every worker in America, solutions that pull 11 million people out of the shadows so they can pay taxes, learn English, and get right with the law, solutions that put them on the path to citizenship so they can contribute fully to their communities and to this country.

I will do everything in my power to have this bill become law. I am confident the time is right. As Senator Kennedy put it, the kind of comprehensive reform that our ideals and our national security demand.

Mr. President, would you announce the work in the Senate today.