Floor Statements

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

I now move to proceed to Calendar No. 18, S. 388.

Madam President, I have a cloture motion which is at the desk.

I ask that the quorum call under rule XXII be waived.

Madam 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.

I ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed to S. Res. 56.

I am going to ask unanimous consent that we pass this. First, I read a year and a half or 2 years ago two books about this woman, Harriet Tubman. Stunning. With all the movies being made about courageous, strong Americans, someone should make a movie about this woman. I mean it is just amazing what she was able to do. One little woman did so much to change what went on in America back at that time.

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.

I ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed to S. Res. 57.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed

to, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, and there be no intervening action or debate.

I ask unanimous consent that the order with respect to sequester legislation be modified to permit the Republican leader to introduce a bill on Wednesday, February 27, which consists of the language which is at the desk and that all the provisions under the previous order remain in effect.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 10 a.m. tomorrow morning, Wednesday, February 27, 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; and that following any leader remarks, the Senate proceed to a period of morning business for 1 hour, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each, with the time equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees, with the majority controlling the first half and the Republicans controlling the final half.

Madam President, the Finance Committee reported the nomination of Jack Lew to be Treasury Secretary. We hope to reach an agreement to consider his nomination tomorrow.

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

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 President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, following leader remarks, the Senate will be in a period of morning business until 5 o'clock today. At 5 o'clock the Senate will proceed to the nomination of Robert Bacharach, of Oklahoma, to be a U.S. circuit judge for the Tenth Circuit. At 5:30 we will vote on his nomination.

We expect to reconsider the cloture vote on the Hagel nomination to be Secretary of Defense tomorrow.

We also expect to consider the nomination of Jack Lew to be Treasury Secretary and the sequestration legislation before the end of the week.

Mr. President, the Senate has a great deal to accomplish, including the long-delayed confirmation of former Senator Chuck Hagel to lead the Defense Department.

This week the Senate will also consider two plans to avert devastating across-the-board cuts to military spending as well as domestic initiatives that keep our American families and businesses strong. To give our economy a foundation for growth, Congress must replace these cuts--the so-called sequester--with a balanced approach to deficit reduction.

Democrats would temporarily replace this harsh austerity with a combination of smart spending reductions and measures that close corporate tax loopholes, end wasteful subsidies, and ask the wealthiest Americans to pay a little bit more, and it would avoid harmful cuts that will hurt American families, harm military readiness, and hinder our economic recovery. Families and businesses in every State of the Nation--in red States and blue States--are at risk because of these haphazard cuts.

In the Presiding Officer's home State of Virginia, 170 teachers who work with disabled children could lose their jobs. That doesn't count any other teachers. Thousands of children will go without lifesaving vaccines--they will go without lifesaving vaccines--and 90,000 Pentagon employees will be furloughed. It is easy to talk about furloughs unless you are one of those people being furloughed. We don't know how many days a week it will be, how many days a month it will be, but it will be days.

In Nevada 120 teachers could lose their jobs. Local law enforcement agencies will lose essential funding to prosecute crime, and thousands of Defense Department employees will be furloughed, losing wages that support their families and our State's economy.

Residents of the Republican leader's home State would also suffer. Kentucky will lose Federal funding that helps police catch and punish domestic abusers, buys meals for needy seniors and keeps at-risk children in Head Start programs, and more than 11,000 Kentuckians who work for the Defense Department will be furloughed.

Nationwide, sequester cuts will cost more than 750,000 jobs. More than 70,000 boys and girls will be kicked out of their Head Start programs. Meat inspectors, air traffic controllers, FBI officers, and Border Patrol agents will be furloughed. Small businesses, which create two-thirds of all new jobs in this country, will lose access to crucial Federal loans. Thousands of researchers working to cure cancer, diabetes, and scores of other life-threatening diseases will lose their jobs.

But Congress has the power to prevent these self-inflicted wounds. We have the power to turn off the sequester, protect American families and businesses, and ensure our national defense.

In the House and in the Senate, Republicans and Democrats voted to impose these cuts. It will take Republicans and Democrats working together to avert them. Twenty-eight Republicans in the Senate and 174 Republicans in the House voted to impose these painful cuts. To say this is President Obama's sequester is absolutely wrong: 174 Republicans in the House voted for these cuts--that is more than 70 percent--and in the Senate more than 60 percent of the Republicans voted for the sequester. So it is unfair to say it is the President's sequester. We did this together. This would not have passed but for the overwhelming vote of the Republicans in the House and in the Senate.

If those same Republicans would work with Democrats to find a balanced way to reduce the deficit, Congress could avert the delayed sequester today--now. Unfortunately, Republicans would rather let the deficit cuts go into effect than close a single wasteful tax loophole. They would rather cut Medicare, education, and medical research than ask a single millionaire to pay a single dollar more in taxes.

The overwhelming majority of Americans wants us to compromise before their neighbors, friends, and family members get pink slips or notices that they can only work a few days this week or this month.

The overwhelming majority of Americans--including 56 percent of Republicans--supports Democrats' balanced approach. It is all over the country. All over the country Americans favor this approach, a balanced approach, by a large margin, including 56 percent of Republicans.

So once again the only Republicans in the entire country rejecting a reasonable, balanced compromise are Republicans in this building-- Republicans in Congress.

Has the Chair announced the business of the day?

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I rise today to recognize the important work of Michael J. Mulligan, who retired February 1, 2013. Mr. Mulligan demonstrated great dedication to enhancing the safety and security of the United States Senate, staff, and visitors.

Beginning his career as a combat engineer officer in the U.S. Army, Mr. Mulligan served a 15-year tour at Fort Ritchie, MD, as the Chief of Engineering and Plans. During this time, he directed the largest expansion of facilities, infrastructure, and community planning in the installation's history. While on temporary assignment to the Army Corps of Engineers in Kuwait, Mr. Mulligan led technical advisors to provide engineering assistance to restore two war damaged air bases.

Mr. Mulligan went on to serve as Director of Facilities at the Alternate Joint Communications Center-Site R. He directed operations to sustain facility excellence in engineering, contingency planning, life support, and logistics in support of Continuity of Operations for the senior DOD leadership--a mission which he ably executed on September 11, 2001.

Mr. Mulligan was appointed to the Senior Executive Service in 2011. As a senior leader in the National Security Agency, Mr. Mulligan provided invaluable stewardship of an important classified program that supported the National Security Emergency Preparedness program.

Furthermore, Mr. Mulligan has authored several writings on public administration and leadership and received numerous service medals and commendations for exceptional public service.

I, along with my colleagues in the Senate, congratulate Mr. Mulligan on his well-earned retirement and wish him all the best in his future endeavors.

Following my remarks, the Senate will resume consideration of the nomination of Senator Hagel to be Secretary of Defense.

Yesterday I filed cloture on the Hagel nomination. That vote will occur tomorrow morning.