Floor Statements

Mr. President, the Senate will recess for the joint session for the counting of electoral votes.

Following the joint session, we are hoping to complete action on part of the flood insurance of the Sandy supplemental, which the House just passed.

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 President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, in the years I have served in legislative bodies, which is quite a long time now, it is interesting to see how different people approach the legislative process. I have learned over the years there is nothing more important than people working hard. You have to be tenacious to get legislation passed.

The leader of passing Sandy over here--and I am confident when we get back in a couple of weeks after the House works on theirs, the same dynamic will be here--the senior Senator from New York has worked tirelessly to get legislation passed. He has led a team effort of Senators from New Jersey and his partner, Senator Gillibrand, but the leader, the quarterback, has been the Senator from New York.

The work he has done not only in the Senate, but having the many years of experience he had in the House of Representatives, the Presiding Officer, the senior Senator from New York, worked day and night making phone calls, personal contacts with people in New York and New Jersey who could call House Members and have them pass this legislation.

On the way back from the joint session dealing with the electoral vote count, he walked up and grabbed me--did not grab me, but we talked for several minutes walking back to the Senate--the majority leader from the House of Representatives. He worked extremely hard on this. He worked hard on it. I indicated to him that I had received calls from people in New York who appreciated very much his efforts to try to get this thing passed.

I really do believe it is important that I have the record reflect the reason we have gotten as far as we have on Sandy is because of the senior Senator from New York. It is too bad that it has taken so long. When we had that devastation from Katrina, we were there within days taking care of Mississippi, Alabama, and especially Louisiana--within days. We are now past 2 months with the people of New York and New Jersey.

The people of New Orleans and that area, they were hurt but nothing in comparison to what happened to the people in New York and New Jersey. Almost 1 million people have lost their homes; 1 million people lost their homes. That is homes, that is not people in those homes. So I think it is just unfortunate that we do not have the relief for New York and New Jersey and the rest already. It has to be done. We have to meet the needs of the American people when an act of God occurs.

So I, on behalf of the entire Senate, and certainly my Democratic caucus, express my appreciation to the legislative initiative and the legislative expertise of my friend from New York, an experienced legislator in the State of New York, the House of Representatives, and the Senate. He has done a masterful job.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the Senate 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 the Senate proceed

to the consideration H.R. 41, which was received from the House and is at the desk.

Mr. President, this is a small part of what we have needed to do for the people of New York and New Jersey.

I ask unanimous consent that the bill be read a third time and the Senate proceed to a vote on passage of this legislation.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that from Friday, January 4, through Monday, January 21, the majority leader be authorized to sign duly enrolled bills or joint resolutions.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it recess under the provisions of S. Con. Res. 3 until 11:30 a.m. on Monday, January 21, 2013, for the Joint Session of the Inaugural Ceremonies, and that upon conclusion of the joint session, the Senate recess until 10 a.m. on Tuesday, January 22, 2013; that following the prayer and pledge, 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 debate only until 12:30 p.m., with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each; and that the Senate recess from 12:30 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. to allow for the weekly caucus meetings.

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

Mr. President, would the Chair announce the business of the day.

No one would believe this, but I did not know Senator Durbin was going to say a word. Most of what he said is unimportant, but I appreciate his efforts to try to make me better than what I am. I really do appreciate his friendship.

We came as a couple of anxious people to the House of Representatives 30 years ago. Speaking for both of us--and I can do that--it was such a wonderful experience. During the first 3 or 4 months I was in the House of Representatives, I kept thinking I was going to have to pay somebody because I was having such a good time. It took me a while to figure out that the taxpayers were paying me for doing a job that was so much fun.

I appreciate very much Senator Durbin's friendship. I so admire and appreciate him for all he has done for me, the State of Illinois, and the country. He is absolutely right about this--he had a mentor by the name of Paul Simon who had the good fortune to serve, as we were both Lieutenant Governors at or near the same time. We served in the House of Representatives together and we served in the Senate together. What a wonderful human being. Senator Durbin and I have talked about this. Senator Simon was to Dick Durbin what Mike O'Callaghan was to me. He was not only the toughest man I ever knew but the most honest. When he would drive, he would never, ever exceed a posted speed limit. He is somebody whom I will always remember. I could never be like him.

In addition to being tough and honest, he could swear like no one we have ever heard, but only he could do it, this massive man who had almost 200 amateur fights before going to Korea and

losing his leg. He was such an exemplary person in my life. So I appreciate Senator Durbin mentioning him. But to me, he was like this great man Paul Simon. I don't know how many books he ended up writing. I am sure it is 15 or 20. He never went to college. He was a brilliant man. So I thank Senator Durbin very much. I appreciate it a lot.

Mr. President, I am stunned by what didn't happen in the House of Representatives last night. I appreciate that they, with the support of all but a handful of Democrats and just a handful of Republicans, passed something to keep us from going over the fiscal cliff, and that is admirable. Nancy Pelosi deserves such accolades for carrying more than her share of the weight over there in passing this bill. But one of the things they didn't do last night--I wish to read into the Record a letter, an e-mail, from a person by the name of Barrie Kolstein, K-O-L-S-T-E-I-N:

Owner of perhaps the oldest and one of the most recognized

violinmaking shops in the United States, located in Baldwin,

New York.

Shop was severely damaged by recent hurricane Sandy. Owned

buildings and occupied them for over 32 years without any

problems at all.

This storm compromised my building inside and outside, with

facilities within the building backing up, pipe breakage and

roof damage, plus the horrid conditions that literally

assaulted all the buildings in my immediate area.

Storm decimated my building as well as the neighboring

buildings that perhaps was one of the more stable and viable

business areas of Baldwin.

My shop has been closed since the storm.

We are doing our best to afford the restoration of the

building and repair the numerous fine old pedigree string

instruments (violins, violas, cellos and basses) that were so

horribly damaged.

We lost machinery, tools, supplies and most of our filed

records.

This is a true nightmare, that at the age of 63, I never

thought I would be faced with.

There are tens of thousands of people in New York, tens of thousands of people in New Jersey, and other parts of the Northeast who have had their lives turned upside down. I am dismayed and saddened that the House of Representatives walked away last night--didn't even touch this--after we spent so much time here on the floor doing something to help a beleaguered part of our country. I was happy to help with Katrina. I was happy to help with the violent storm that hit Joplin, MO. We all were. We moved in quickly.

It has been months now and these people are still suffering. Governor Cuomo and Governor Christie have done their best with the limited resources that are available when a disaster such as this occurs. This is known in the law as an act of God. No one knew it was coming. No one had any idea this terrible storm would do the damage it did. It was the perfect storm because we had different elements working against each other to create this terrible situation.

So, I repeat, I am dismayed and saddened the House of Representatives adjourned last night without addressing the pressing needs of these people. There are still hundreds of thousands of people who don't have a place to live, whose homes and businesses were damaged or destroyed, as I have indicated from Mr. Kolstein, by this terrible disaster. It is heartbreaking to leave these victims of Sandy stranded and waiting for help.

This storm damaged or destroyed more than 700,000 homes in New York and New Jersey and New England. We have the power to help our countrymen put their lives back together. We did it here in the Senate. We sent it to the House of Representatives, but they walked away, just as they did with postal reform and just as they did with agricultural reform, our farm bill, and just as they have walked away from so many different things this year. They left these people without help. They are gone; they have left; they are not in Washington. I am disappointed we have turned our backs--and I don't include myself in this operation, or anyone in this Senate; we worked on a bipartisan basis to get this done, but I am deeply disappointed the House of Representatives has turned their backs on people who are suffering.

Please understand, everybody, this does not include the leadership of Leader Pelosi or Leader Hoyer. They have done their best to gather their troops to help at any time for anything that is needed.

To walk away from these people is not who we should be as Americans. Wintertime is now here. When disaster strikes, be it fire, flood, storm, or earthquake, we in the past haven't paused and we don't delay, but we have here. As Americans, we respond with haste at a national level when American lives are at stake and American communities are shattered. It is no wonder how people feel about Congress: They just left town.

They need to do better over there. We should have a postal reform bill. We should have a farm bill. The farm bill, by the way, saves $24 billion--not million but billion. Debbie Stabenow, the chairman of the Agriculture Committee, worked so hard to get this done. We had a bipartisan bill that passed the Senate overwhelmingly. Why did the House of Representatives drop it? Well, they dropped it because the same porkbarrel programs that help people who don't need help in that farm program were taken out of the bill. So now we are on a short-term extension. The benefits these people don't deserve they are still getting.

They need to do better over there. Compromise is hard; we know that. Sometimes compromise doesn't happen when we want it. Compromise sometimes doesn't satisfy either side. But as I have said here and other places, when I practiced law, we had the concept it was a good settlement when both sides walked out unhappy, having reached a settlement, and that is what we did here the night before last. Actually, it was yesterday, because it was well after midnight. It was a piece of legislation we weren't all elated about, but it moved the ball forward.

We have so many more hard decisions to make in the year ahead. So unlike others behind us in this Capitol, I am not going to stoop to name-calling; I just want people to work and do what they need to do. Let the House of Representatives work its will. Let Democrats and Republicans in the House of Representatives debate. They have an easier time of it because they can set rules on how to debate. They have the Rules Committee where they can set how long they debate and on what subjects, but let the body work its will, which hasn't happened.

It is a sad day when we turn our backs on millions of our fellow Americans during their time of greatest need, and that certainly is what has happened here.

Mr. President, I appreciate very much the chairman of the Judiciary Committee and the President pro tempore of the Senate saying those

nice things about me. It is an honor to have gotten to know Pat Leahy so well. He has broken all records. My record is minimal compared to his in Vermont: the first Democrat elected and he has been in the Senate since 1972, a wonderful Senator and a good friend. I appreciate his words very much.

I will mention, because I have here before, his lovely wife Marcelle is a nurse, and during my wife's travail with a terrible automobile accident and breast cancer--she is doing well and it appears she is beating both of those so far--Marcelle has done a lot of good things for my wife, with her nursing skills, calling and telling her what she is going through is what happens to a lot of people and she is going to be a lot better. I appreciate very much Senator Leahy, but also his lovely wife Marcelle.

Mr. President, last December President Obama appointed a person by the name of David Medine to serve as the chairman of the bipartisan Privacy and Civil Liberties Board. After 9/11, Congress created this five-member board to make recommendations to protect the civil liberties of all Americans during a time of war.

Mr. Medine is well suited to lead this board. He currently works on financial privacy issues for the Securities and Exchange Commission. Previously, he was a partner in a huge law firm by the name of Wilmer Hale and he worked at the Federal Trade Commission on Internet privacy and financial privacy laws.

Earlier this summer, we worked out an agreement with Senate Republicans to confirm the part-time members of the board, two Republicans and two Democrats. Republicans agreed that Mr. Medine, the Democratic nominee for chairman and the only full-time board member, would be confirmed during the lameduck session. It is my understanding that Republicans have encountered an issue that prevented the Senate from including Mr. Medine in our nominations package. So I will ask unanimous consent on this nomination at this time. I know there will be a Republican objection. Early in the next Congress, I plan to schedule a majority vote on this nomination and I look forward to the cooperation and good faith from Senate Republicans.

I ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed to executive session to consider Calendar Nos. 721 and 722; that the nominations be confirmed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate; that no further motions be in order, and any statements be printed in the Record; that the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action and the Senate then resume legislative session.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to executive session and the HELP Committee be discharged from further consideration of the following nomination: PN 1404; that the Senate proceed to vote without intervening action or debate on the nomination; the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate; that no further motions be in order to the nomination; that any statements related to the nomination be printed in the Record; that the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action, and the Senate then resume legislative session.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to executive session and the Foreign Relations Committee be discharged from further consideration of the following nominations: PN 1928, and PN 1951; that the nominations be confirmed; the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table; that no further motions be in order to the nominations; that any related statements be printed in the Record; that the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action, and the Senate then resume legislative session.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to H.R. 4606.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be read three times, passed, the motion to reconsider be made and laid on the table, with no intervening action or debate, and that any statements be printed in the Record.