Floor Statements

Mr. President, at the end of a long, hard few days, people probably aren't expecting me to say some positive things about Republicans, but I think it is appropriate to do so.

First of all, the Speaker sent us this bill in a time where we had an opportunity to look at it and work on it. He should be commended, as I do commend him for doing that rather than trying to jam us with something right before the CR expires.

We valiantly tried to make this a better bill, and that has been done because of the outstanding work of Senator Mikulski and Senator Shelby. The product we have is a good product. It funds the government for 6 months, that is all. But it is good because not only does it fund the government for 6 months, it allows us to get back to regular order here, which we have all been talking about doing. Not only is this legislation important but what we are going to do to follow up, to do regular appropriations bills, to fund the government for the fiscal year 2014.

So we have made progress on this bill. We voted on some important matters. But I have to say that I am disappointed in a number of my Democrats and a number of Republicans because we have to compromise and work together to get this done.

As an example, we have five different amendments that have been offered on Egypt. This is a CR for 6 months. We have a functioning Foreign Relations Committee. That is where this should take place. I have spoken with Chairman Menendez. There are people on his committee who are offering various versions of what should happen on Egypt. We all have concerns about Egypt, our funding of Egypt, maintaining stability in the region, supporting Israel. As I have indicated, we have five Senators who have filed five separate, distinct amendments, and, literally, staffs, with Senators, have worked all day coming up with amendments that Democrats and Republicans could agree on. It hasn't been done. That doesn't mean it can't be done, but it hasn't been done.

I would again remind Senators that this is a continuing resolution. A long-term solution to the situation in the Middle East is not a short- term CR. Whatever we do on this bill would expire in 6 months anyway. The issue should be brought up in committee and worked on there and brought to us. That is what my Republican friends have said they wanted, and that is what my Democratic friends have said they wanted. They want to get back to where we do that kind of work.

I thank very much Senators Menendez, Rubio, Leahy, McCain--remember, two and two: two Democrats and two Republicans. I appreciate the work they have done. But we haven't been able to merge these different approaches to get something done.

We are behind the scenes around here. Just because you don't see a lot of talking going on here doesn't mean there isn't a lot of work going on. There have been numerous discussions about how to get the amendments into shape so they can be voted on. We can't even get Senators to agree that we should have votes on amendments, unless, ``I want mine.'' ``If he gets his, I want mine.'' So we have had difficulty on both sides to agree on a path forward.

Now, the Speaker has been pretty clear. He has said that unless we get a bill that doesn't have a lot of junk in it--I am paraphrasing what he said to make the point--he is going to strike everything and send us back a straight CR. He said that publicly, not privately. So we need to move forward, cautiously but quickly.

Next week we have something on which we have had speeches on both sides of the Senate--we need to do a budget. As we speak, the Budget Committee is in session working to get a budget so that we can work on it next week.

Now, the budget is defined, how we do it. There is a statute that says there are no filibusters. There are certain ways you can slow it down a little bit, but there is 50 hours. That is how much time we have on it, plus the vote-athon afterward.

So yesterday I filed a motion on the pending substitute and the underlying bill. What I would request--and I have spoken to the managers of this bill--is that they and their staffs make themselves available to Senators and Senators' staff to try to come up with a finite list of amendments--not hundreds but a finite, small list of amendments that we think would improve this bill and not further develop the ire of the Speaker, who is kind of in charge of a lot of what we do around here even though we are on the other side of the Capitol than he is.

The managers have already agreed to be available and their staffs will be available to work on a finite list of amendments. Staffs need to be reasonable, and Senators need to be reasonable.

It is doable. We can do this. If we have a finite list of amendments, we will complete work on this matter Monday. If we don't, then there is not much choice we have except to vote on cloture on Monday. One way or the other, we are going to move forward with this bill on Monday. I hope the Senate will be able to come to a resolution on this important appropriations matter on Monday. We need to do that. I hope this Senate can turn immediately after that to the budget resolution.

I can't say enough how much I appreciate the efforts of Senators Mikulski and Shelby. They have had a very difficult time trying to manage people who at times are unmanageable.

So that is it for tonight. Again, we will go out tonight and have people work to try to come up with a list of amendments that will allow us to move forward on this bill.

Mr. President, before he leaves the floor, I apologize for not mentioning Senator McConnell. Senator McConnell, when the bill came from the House, stood up for the prerogatives of the Senate.

He said they have done subcommittees. We are going to do our own. I failed to mention my friend Senator McConnell. I am glad you did. Because we are here today, making as much progress as we have, because of Senator McConnell standing up for the Senate.

I ask unanimous consent we now proceed to a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding the adoption of the Inhofe amendment No. 29, as modified, the instruction line on the amendment be modified with the changes that are at the desk. This is to make sure it is placed in the proper location of the substitute amendment.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding the adjournment or recess of the Senate, the Budget Committee be authorized to report legislative matters on Friday, March 15, from 11 a.m. to 12 noon.

Mr. President, there are two bills at the desk, and I ask for their first reading en bloc.

Mr. President, I object to both bills at this time.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 2 p.m. on Monday, March 18, 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 resume consideration of H.R. 933; further, that the second-degree amendment filing deadline be 4:30 p.m. on Monday; finally, that notwithstanding rule XXII, the cloture vote on the Mikulski-Shelby substitute amendment be at 5:30 p.m. on Monday.

Mr. President, the managers of the bill will work on a finite list, as we have announced, of amendments to the CR over the weekend. Senators should expect a rollcall vote at 5:30 p.m. on Monday--either a cloture vote or votes in relation to amendments.

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

Following leader remarks, the Senate will resume consideration of the motion to proceed to H.R. 933, the continuing resolution legislation. Last night I filed cloture on a motion to proceed to this most important legislation. We are now in the midst of another filibuster. If no agreement is reached, the cloture vote will be tomorrow morning.

The Ryan Budget

Mr. President, yesterday Americans got their first look at this year's Ryan Republican budget. It turns out it looks like last year's Ryan Republican budget. I wasn't the only one who said: Gee whiz, not again.

Here is the headline from Bloomberg News:

Ryan Budget Replays Republican Hits.

One Washington Post reporter compared the release of the not-so-new and certainly not improved Ryan Republican budget to the movie ``Groundhog Day,'' where Bill Murray relives his least favorite holiday over and over and over. Remember, this is the third Ryan Republican budget.

This is what the Washington Post also wrote:

The unrepentant reprisal of the same fiscal vision that was

decisively repudiated last fall is bound to attract notice.

Indeed, this is the same budget plan we saw from Congressman Ryan last year and the year before that. Even the name is the same. If anything, this new version is even more extreme than the last two Ryan Republican budget proposals--proposals that sought to end the Medicare guarantee and raise taxes on middle-class families, all the while handing out more tax breaks to the wealthy.

The Ryan Republican budget is anything but balanced, and it reflects the same backward values Americans rejected in November. Instead of asking the wealthiest to contribute their fair share, the Ryan Republican budget demands that middle-class families pay more in taxes. Instead of ending wasteful corporate tax loopholes, it basically ends Medicare. In fact, the Ryan Republican budget takes special aim at health care. It would eliminate free preventive health services for 34 million Americans. The Ryan Republican budget would increase prescription drug prices for seniors by $2.5 billion in 1 year. It would end the coverage guarantees for 3.1 million young men and women who are on their parents' health plans. The budget would end coverage for mammograms, cervical cancer screenings, and contraception for more than 47 million women and allow insurance companies to deny care for 17 million children simply because they were born with a heart defect or some other illness. These drastic cuts will literally cost lives and also jobs.

Instead of a balanced approach that protects the American economy, the Ryan Republican budget guts education, medical research, infrastructure, and even public safety. The Ryan Republican budget would actually jeopardize the economic recovery; it wouldn't help it. And in case you are thinking such huge and painful cuts can buy an awful lot of deficit reduction, think again. Instead, Congressman Ryan's cuts will buy more tax breaks for the wealthiest among us. This budget isn't a serious attempt to

reduce the deficit. Meaningful deficit reduction will require shared sacrifice, including contributions from those who can best afford to contribute to it.

Today, Budget Committee chairman Patty Murray will introduce a budget that reflects the principle of balance. Senator Murray's plan, the Democratic plan, will cut wasteful spending, reduce the deficit, and close tax loopholes that benefit the rich, and it will invest in the things that help our economy grow: education, preventive health care, worker training, and roads and bridges. It will invest in a strong middle class. And unlike the Ryan Republican plan, it won't leave you wondering if it is Groundhog Day all over again.

As things now stand, we are in the midst, as I indicated, of a filibuster to even try to get on the bill. If we get on the bill tomorrow morning, then there will be 30 hours of waiting around, staring at each other. I just alert everyone that we have an Easter recess coming a week from Friday, and we are not going to be able to do that. The budget has a locked-in amount of time, 50 hours, plus the vote-athon. So everyone should be prepared to change their plans for the first few days--we hope it is the first few days--of the Easter recess.

We are not even on this bill, and that is such a sad thing. I thought it was such a good atmosphere here. We had a bill at a decent time from the House. As I indicated yesterday, I didn't like everything in that bill, but we had Senator Mikulski and Senator Shelby working together. They checked in with me and Senator McConnell to let us know how they were doing, and they did well on their own. They didn't need our help. They came up with a plan that was fair and as balanced as could be under the sequester situation, and it was bipartisan. The amendment that is being filibustered is sponsored by Mikulski and Shelby. So this is a real shame.

I said last week when we were going on this bill that we would have opportunities for amendments. I hope we can get on the bill and have some amendments offered, but each day that goes by--and we have wasted 2 so far--we are unable to have the amendment process. We had yesterday waiting all day for Harkin and Cruz because that is the first Democratic amendment and the first Republican amendment. They are still on deck, waiting to come whenever the umpire says we can go forward-- the umpire being one Senator.

Mr. President, as I said yesterday on the floor, I have nothing but the highest respect for my friend from Arizona. I know he looks into things very deeply, and I appreciate his peacemaking. Even though he is a famous man in America and the world because of his wartime experiences, he is also a peacemaker, and I am grateful for that.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the motion to proceed be agreed to.

On behalf of Senators Mikulski and Shelby, I call up their substitute amendment, as modified, which is at the desk.

I withdraw the cloture motion.

The first two amendments we will go to on this bill, according to the two managers, are the amendments by Harkin and Cruz. If Senator Harkin is not available immediately, then Senator Cruz can do it. These are the first two amendments, and I ask that both of them come to the floor at the earliest possible time. In fact, soon. The two managers, Senator Shelby and Senator Mikulski, will be here shortly.

In the meantime I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I will withdraw my request for a quorum call. I didn't know my friend, the distinguished Senator from Illinois, was here wanting to talk, which is a rare occasion.

Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote.

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

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that following leader remarks tomorrow, March 14, the Senate resume consideration of H.R. 933; that there be up to 1 hour of debate equally divided in the usual form on the Harkin amendment; that upon the use or yielding back of time, the Senate proceed to vote in relation to the Harkin amendment; that there be no amendments in order to the amendment prior to the vote, and the amendment be subject to a 60-affirmative-vote threshold.

Mr. President, I have a cloture motion on the Mikulski- Shelby substitute amendment at the desk.

Mr. President, I have another cloture motion to the underlying bill at the desk.

I ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum required under rule XXII be waived with respect to both cloture motions.

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

Mr. President, I have been waiting today to take just a moment to honor Myron Fleming, Director of Doorkeepers, who is retiring after 40 years of working on Capitol Hill.

Myron began his work in the Capitol with the office of Senator Howard Metzenbaum of Ohio. He has worked in the Senate for 33, 34 years, and prior to that he worked in the House of Representatives for 7 years. He is someone

whom I have watched over the many years I have been here. He has a wonderful personality. He is someone who helps keep order in this institution, and his presence in the Senate is one that is calming. Everyone who knows him likes him. It just will not be the same without him.

While I will miss him, I know he will be glad to spend more time with his wife Jean Carolyn, as well as his children Mark and Mitchell and their granddaughter Nila.

We talked earlier in the day when I learned he was retiring, and I have already spoken about what a fine gentleman he is. But here is one thing he and I joked about today. I was here handling the floor as I did for Senator Daschle for many years, and there was this big crash. Everyone said: What has happened? What happened was Myron was rushing around doing the work he did, and he could not have done a better pirouette if he been a ballerina. He flipped in the air and came crashing down. Everybody thought something bad had happened, and Myron just got up, smiled, and walked away. He and I joked about that earlier today. I will always remember that. I asked Gary to find somebody on the staff who was there when Myron fell, and no one remembered, but Myron and I remembered. So I went and talked to him myself.

Myron is leaving next week to go on a cruise to Cancun, Mexico, with his wife and his granddaughter. I thank him on behalf of the entire Senate for his faithful service to our country and to the U.S. Senate. I wish him well in the future.

Mr. President, today I rise to recognize one of my longest- serving and loyal staffers, Janice Miller. After more than a quarter of a century in my Las Vegas office, Janice retired on February 22, 2013. She has earned a happy and restful retirement from public service, but she will be deeply missed.

Just six months after I had been elected to serve my first term in the U.S. Senate, Janice joined my staff. A self-described cat lover, Janice soon came to be known for her laughter and her sharp wit. Along with her no-nonsense attitude, she showed true compassion for the countless Medicare and Social Security recipients she assisted throughout her career.

Janice is a true Nevadan. She attended the Western High School in Las Vegas, and then went to the University of Nevada, Reno. Although Las Vegas is her home, she continues to be an avid Wolf Pack supporter. In her youth, Janice had a tremendous activist spirit. That was tapped into by one of her mentors, my good friend and former chief of staff, Rey Martinez. Rey taught Janice at Western High School, and he also introduced her to politics, where she stayed until her recent retirement. Janice has always cared deeply about women's issues, ranging from women's health care to access to education and equality in the workplace.

Janice Miller, during the time she worked on my campaigns, was an all-star. Janice also had tremendous compassion for senior citizens who were often struggling with Social Security issues. In the more than 25 years that Janice was with me, she never lost her concern for the seniors who needed her help. She always went above and beyond, helping to develop invaluable resources for Nevada's seniors in need. She helped to write the first ``Retiree Guide'' for my office. Thousands of copies of this guide are still used as a catalog of information and resources for seniors in southern Nevada.

Janice developed a deep understanding of the medical field through her work and her continued outreach to the community. Cindy Lubiarz, vice president of business development at Care Meridian, credits Janice with helping to facilitate the development of the CareMeridian Pediatric Facility, the only free-standing, post-acute inpatient pediatric facility in Nevada, which is set to open its doors later this year.

While fighting to ensure that Nevadans in need got the benefits they deserved, Janice also battled breast cancer. As a survivor, she serves as a source of strength for so many women who are facing the same challenge. She took this role in her personal life as well as in her professional life. Her support has meant so much to Mary Liveratti, retired administrator for the Nevada Division of Aging and Disability Services, who is a breast cancer survivor herself. When Janice first learned of Mary's diagnosis, she pulled her aside at a meeting to tell Mary that she had also battled breast cancer and to offer Mary support and encouragement. When Mary talks about this incident, it brings her to tears because she knew she was not alone in her fight.

Janice's kind spirit, in-depth knowledge of Medicare and Social Security, and commitment to public service will be truly missed. I thank her for her tireless service, and wish her well in her retirement.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed to S. Res. 76.

Mr. President, 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.