Floor Statements

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 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 Natalie Beckman, a fellow in my office, be granted floor privileges for the remainder of calendar year 2013.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to S. Res. 24.

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

Madam President, I now ask unanimous consent that we proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 25, which was submitted earlier today.

Madam 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.

Madam President, there are two bills at the desk due for their first reading. I ask that those bills' readings take place.

Madam President, I now ask for a second reading on both these measures, but I object to both these requests on both measures.

Madam President, I now ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 2 p.m. on Monday, February 4, 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 be in a period of morning business until 5 p.m. with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each; further, that following morning business, the Senate resume consideration of the motion to proceed to S. 47, and the time until 5:30 be equally divided and controlled in the usual form; finally, at 5:30 the Senate proceed to vote on the motion to proceed to S. 47.

The next rollcall vote will be at 5:30 p.m. on the motion to proceed to the Violence Against Women Act.

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

Madam president, following leader remarks, the Senate will be in a period of morning business for 2 hours. The majority will control the first half and the Republicans will control the second half. At 2:30 p.m. Senator Kerry will be recognized to deliver his farewell remarks. We hope to complete action on the debt limit legislation very soon.

Madam President, I am told that S. 177 is at the desk and due for a second reading. Is that correct?

Madam President, I object to any further proceedings with respect to this bill.

Madam President, I rise today to honor John Kerry, our colleague, the senior Senator from Massachusetts. I congratulate Senator Kerry on his confirmation as our Nation's next Secretary of State.

I am pleased he will continue to serve his country in this important role. He will be missed by his Senate colleagues, that is for sure.

Senator Kerry said at his confirmation hearing that the Senate is in his blood, and that is true. As he represents America's interests around the world, his experience as a Senator will serve him and our country well.

For 28 years, Senator Kerry has been a dedicated representative of the people of Massachusetts in the Senate.

Senator Kerry has also rendered distinguished service to his country in the Navy, to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as Lieutenant Governor and as Senator, and to the Democratic Party and the people of this country as the 2004 Presidential nominee for the Democratic Party.

He is a brilliant man. He was a debater at Yale and won awards for his skilled oratory over a number of years. That talent has allowed him to speak for freedom and justice at each stage of his career.

Before he graduated college, he was a vocal critic of the Vietnam war. But upon graduation, Senator Kerry volunteered to serve in the U.S. Navy, and serve he did. Later he said he did it because ``it was the right thing to do.''

Senator Kerry learned the value of service at home. His father was a Foreign Service officer, and his mother was a nurse during World War II. He served two tours as a Navy lieutenant in the jungles and rivers of Vietnam. He was awarded the Silver Star for his gallantry, a Bronze Star for valor also, and three Purple Hearts. But even after his service in the war, his opposition continued.

On April 22, 1971, Senator Kerry became the first Vietnam veteran to testify before Congress about the war when he appeared before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which was chaired by the famous Senator William Fulbright--a committee he would later chair. It was a remarkable appearance. He was the first veteran to testify.

He went on to attend Boston College Law School. He worked as a prosecutor in Middlesex County before he was elected Lieutenant Governor in 1982. Just 2 years later he was elected to the U.S. Senate. He has served in the Senate for five terms. He has always been an unflinching advocate for veterans. He helped found the Vietnam Veterans for America and has worked tirelessly to secure treatment for servicemembers dealing with post-traumatic stress.

Senator Kerry has served 6 years on the Senate Intelligence Committee and, remarkably, 28 years on the Foreign Relations Committee. He has been a leading advocate of doing something about global climate change.

Senator Kerry has convened eight major hearings and roundtables on climate change and energy security since taking the gavel as chair of the Foreign Relations Committee, replacing Vice President Biden.

It was in the early 1990s that Senator Kerry's brilliant mind and exceptional dedication came to my attention. I had the good fortune of being chosen by Leader Mitchell to be a member of the select committee on MIAs--missing in action--and POWs. It was very controversial at that time. There was a belief by many that there were live Americans either in Cambodia, Laos--maybe in Vietnam. We had not done as much as people thought we should do about those missing in action, and it was a very volatile period of time in the history of this country.

I saw him with patience, with wisdom, serve as chairman of that select committee. As I have indicated, it was a difficult assignment, an important assignment, and he handled it--as he has done everything I have watched him do--thoughtfully and with integrity.

Since coming to the Senate I have been fortunate to be invited to his home for lengthy but fascinating foreign policy discussions with Senate colleagues and foreign policy experts. In recent years, Senator Kerry was also instrumental in securing passage of the New START treaty with Russia, which is helping to reduce the danger of nuclear proliferation.

He has served as an unofficial envoy for President Obama to Afghanistan, Sudan, Pakistan, and some countries probably none of us even know where he went. There were many times he came to me and said: I have to go, and he tells me where he is going, and there was nothing in the newspapers about where he had gone. But he is a great evaluator of people, and because of that, the President has trusted him and has sent him on all these missions. Now he will do that as Secretary of State.

He has authored numerous pieces of legislation to prevent the global spread of HIV/AIDS. He has also played a central role in crafting American policy in Iraq and Afghanistan, the war on terror. I can remember one very difficult time when he spent days and days, principally with President Karzai, working out a difficult issue following the elections they had there. He has been focused on the Middle East peace process and Israel's security for his entire time as a member of that committee, the Foreign Relations Committee.

For more than 30 years, Senator Kerry has been a powerful voice for his constituents in Massachusetts as well as an engaged citizen of the world. Throughout those years, John has matched his unflinching passion for democratic values with forward-thinking actions to advance those values.

No one is better qualified than John Kerry to continue the exceptional work of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. While we are saddened to lose his leadership in the Senate, we saw yesterday the support he has, where virtually every Senator voted to support him as the next Secretary of State. I wish him well as he embarks on this next challenge, and I am confident he will meet the challenge.

Mr. President, I rise to honor a man of great distinction and valor: Maj. Jaime I. Hernandez of the United States Air Force. It is my great honor to acknowledge this American hero on the cusp of his promotion to Lieutenant Colonel.

Jaime is a loving son and a man of perseverance. A loyal Nevadan and American, he hails from Las Vegas. Upon graduating from Bonanza High School in 1994, Jaime entered the Air Force Academy, where he began his noble service to our Nation.

Major Hernandez's promotion to Lieutenant Colonel marks another chapter in his inspiring story. Major Hernandez has risen through the ranks during his time with the Air Force--a testament to his steadfast dedication, unyielding courage, and impressive tactical skill. His career is a decorated one. Major Hernandez has served six combat deployments in support of operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, logging more than 2900 hours in flight, 1300 of which were in combat. His work as Chief of Weapons and Tactics for the 37th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron led to hundreds of successful missions. He has proven himself time and again through his B-1 aircraft expertise.

During one of his six overseas deployments, Major Hernandez earned an Air Medal with 4 Oak Leaf Clusters. While on a mission to safeguard a lost team of Marines in eastern Afghanistan, Jaime and his crew were fired on by a team of insurgents on the ground. In an act of bravery and skill, Jaime and his aerial crew drew fire from the insurgents while the lost Marine ground team could recover and maneuver around the insurgent squad.

Major Hernandez has demonstrated repeatedly his exceptional skill and courage. He has flown across the desert skies of both Iraq and Afghanistan, to provide support for operations there. Over the course of his career, he has served as a squadron Electronic Warfare Officer, Flight Commander, Instructor and Evaluator Weapon Systems Officer, Wing Weapons Officer, and Instructor at the USAF Weapons School.

Major Hernandez is currently the Deputy Division Chief at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, and is responsible for policies and procedures relating to the Combat Air Forces Information Operations. Among other achievements, he graduated in the top third of his class from Squadron Officer's School and received an Outstanding Flying Award from the U.S. Air Force Weapons School.

I laud Maj. Jaime I. Hernandez's dedication to the United States Air Force and country. His father Phillip Hernandez and their family are happy to celebrate Major Hernandez's upcoming promotion on February 1, 2013, to Lieutenant Colonel.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that following leader remarks tomorrow, Thursday, January 31, the Senate proceed to the consideration of Calendar No. 7, H.R. 325; that the following amendments, the text of which is at the desk, be the only first-degree agreements in order to the bill--Portman, dollar for dollar cuts, S. 43 text; Portman, government shutdown prevention, S. 29 text; Toomey, full faith and credit; and Paul, prohibition of F-16s to Egypt; that the only motion to commit in order to the bill be a Vitter motion to commit regarding spending cuts; that the time until 12:15 p.m. be for debate on the amendments, motion, and the bill, to run concurrently and be equally divided between the two leaders or their designees, prior to votes in relation to the amendments and the Vitter motion in the order listed; that upon disposition of the amendments and the Vitter motion, the Senate proceed to a vote on passage of H.R. 325, as amended, if amended; that the amendments and the Vitter motion be subject to a 60- affirmative-vote threshold; that there be no amendments in order to any of the amendments or the Vitter motion prior to the votes; finally, that there will be 2 minutes equally divided prior to each vote and that all after the first vote be 10 minutes or less.

Through the Chair to the distinguished Senator from Oklahoma, the ranking member of the Armed Services Committee, as the leader for the Republicans on that committee, he understands the importance of the military and what sequestration would do. I have spoken to the distinguished Senator previously--and, in fact, as late as this morning we talked--and there are Democrats who also believe there should be some relief given in regard to sequestration. The issue we have to work through is how we have a balance between the cuts in defense and nondefense.

So there are many different ways we could approach this, but I am committed to approaching it. I have said, and I will continue to say, sequestration was a last resort. We thought we would do better with the supercommittee. We didn't. So this is what we are faced with. I hope we can all work together to lessen the burden on defense spending and, of course, nondefense spending. That is what sequestration is all about. I am committed to doing that.

I am happy to work with my friend from Oklahoma. If he can't find enough allies, either Republicans or Democrats, I will be happy to continue to work with him to figure out a way we can have this issue brought before the Senate.

Mr. President, I think it is my choice, and I am confident the choice of the senior Senator from Oklahoma, to avoid sequestration. We need to do this through some type of balanced plan, and I am committed to doing that.

Mr. President, I would finally say it is not as if the Senator from Oklahoma is asking that the actual amount of dollars be lessened. He is just saying they should be rearranged. So I appreciate his good will on this legislation.

We need to get this bill to the President. So it is my intention, after the use or yielding back of time, to move to table these amendments and the Vitter motion.

We expect to have one vote tomorrow prior to the Senate recessing for caucus lunch meetings, and the remaining votes will occur after the caucus meetings. Again, I express my appreciation to the Senator from Oklahoma. I know how strongly he feels about the military and that he wants to try to relieve the pain in some way.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Judiciary Committee be discharged from S. Res. 13 and that we now proceed to its consideration in the Senate.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed, 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 Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 22.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that 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.