Floor Statements

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 620.

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

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 621.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate, and any statements related to this matter be printed in the Record.

Madam President, understandably, Senator Akaka wants to make a statement regarding our friend, Senator Inouye. But Senator McCain has been waiting here for hours. I ask unanimous consent that Senator McCain be recognized for a statement; that when we completes that statement, Senator Akaka be recognized.

Mr. President, following leader remarks, the Senate will be in a period of morning business until 11:30 a.m. this morning. The Republicans will control the first 30 minutes, the majority will control the second 30 minutes.

Following morning business, we will resume consideration of S. 3637. The filing deadline for second-degree amendments to that legislation is 10:30 a.m. today.

At noon there will be up to two rollcall votes; the first on the motion to waive the Budget Act if a point of order is raised, and if the motion is successful, there will be a second rollcall vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the bill.

I am confident there will be additional votes this afternoon on judicial nominations. We will keep everyone advised as to the time.

Mr. President, a poll this morning in the Wall Street Journal--which indicates it was done by the Wall Street Journal and NBC News--indicates clearly where we should be headed with this fiscal cliff business. But until the Republicans realize this or are willing to do what is right, we are going nowhere.

More than three-quarters of Americans, including 61 percent of Republicans, believe it is fair to ask the top 2 percent to contribute a little more to avoid a fiscal cliff, and nearly two-thirds of those polled, including many who didn't vote for President Obama in November, say he has a mandate to reduce the deficit by raising taxes on the wealthy.

Mr. President, we on the Democratic side are going to recognize that seven of our Senators are retiring, and that is unfortunate, but that is the decision they have made. As I have indicated on more than one occasion, parting is sweet sorrow. We had a celebration last week and talked about those seven Senators and it was truly a wonderful evening.

I have come to the Senate floor to talk about these individual Senators, and today I am going to talk about Senator Herb Kohl. Herb Kohl, as has happened to other Members of this body, has had to overcome adversity to become a Senator.

The history of Herb Kohl and his family touches me. He is a very humble man. He doesn't talk very much, and even though we have served together for 24 years, I was stunned last week when we had a guest rabbi, Rabbi Kohl, from Canada. Hearing the name didn't mean much to me because it is a fairly common name. But after the rabbi finished, Herb Kohl, this man of humility, stood on the floor and gave us all a little bit of his background, which we had never heard before.

Senator Kohl's cousin, Rabbi Baruch Kohl, served as guest chaplain and he offered the invocation to convene the Senate. After the benediction, Herb Kohl, the senior Senator from Wisconsin, shared the family history.

Herb Kohl's father Max and Rabbi Kohl's father Jack were brothers. During World War I, when Max and Jack were teenagers, the brothers were captured by the Russian military, jailed, and forced to march more than 150 miles, with little food, no proper clothing, and the constant threat of physical violence. On occasion, they didn't have shoes, and they were walking basically to Siberia is where they were headed. The boys' parents didn't know where they were for more than 2 years.

Max and Jack were then convicted by a tsarist army as spies and sent on an epoch 5-month journey by rail across Siberia. In 1916, the brothers were dumped off in a remote corner of that wintry waste. Exile was frequently a death sentence. Fortunately, in this instance, it was not. The brothers survived relying on the kindness of strangers, and 2\1/2\ years later Max, Herb's father, made his way back to his hometown.

During their exile, young Jack looked after the even younger Max. Max eventually--this would be Herb Kohl's father--immigrated to the United States. He sent for his older brother after he had earned a few dollars here in America. So the Rabbi's dad was brought to America by his brother--Herb Kohl's dad.

The brothers' bond passed through the generations to their sons. Senator Kohl and Rabbi Kohl are first cousins, and it was very dramatic to see the connection they shared on the Senate floor. The success enjoyed by Max Kohl, a Polish immigrant, and later by his son, a Senator for 24 years, is a testament to the American dream.

Despite a rough start in life, Max founded a chain of Wisconsin grocery stores. Herb eventually became president of the Kohl's chain, with one little store, but he was a successful businessman before he took over his dad's chain of stores. He became the CEO of that chain started by his dad.

Initially, after getting his bachelor's degree at the University of Wisconsin and his MBA at Harvard, Herb founded a successful real estate and stock investment firm. At the time, he was also serving as an Army Reservist. He took over as president of Kohl's grocery and department store in 1970. He successfully grew the company for a decade.

But as strong as his passion for business is, Senator Kohl was an even greater athletic fan. He had a passion for sports. In 1985, he bought the NBA's Milwaukee Bucks to keep the team from leaving Wisconsin. He couldn't stand the thought of an outsider buying the team and moving the team from Milwaukee, and that was the talk everybody had heard.

Everyone said Herb Kohl made a bad deal. Why did he pay so much money for that basketball team? But his decision to buy the Milwaukee Bucks, which at the time some said was crazy, proves doing the right thing and doing the profitable thing are often one in the same. Today, the Bucks are worth ten times what Herb paid for the team and they are an important pillar of that vibrant Milwaukee community.

Herb was also one of the original investors in the Milwaukee Brewers, owned by his childhood friend Bud Selig. Senator Kohl and Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig were roommates at a fraternity at the University of Wisconsin, but they knew each other when they were little boys. They lived in the same neighborhood. Herb and Bud still have lunch at Jake's Deli whenever Herb is back in Milwaukee, which is almost every week. They do this on Saturday.

Senator Kohl is also passionate about education. He founded the Herb Kohl Educational Foundation Achievement Award Program, which awards grants and scholarships to graduating seniors, teachers, and schools all across Wisconsin. He donated $25 million to the University of Wisconsin to build a state-of-the art, new athletic facility--the Kohl Center.

Since he was elected in 1988, Herb Kohl has been a champion of public education, fighting to give students the tools they need to succeed in a modern workforce. He has also made fighting crime in Wisconsin and across the Nation a priority, advancing investments in antidrug and antigang programs. He has worked to reduce juvenile crime and ensure proper funding of State and local public safety agencies, and he has been a strong voice for Wisconsin dairy farmers.

Herb has also been a valued member of the Appropriations Committee, the Banking and Judiciary Committees, as well as a strong chairman of the Special Committee on Aging. He has done so much for the aging populations we have in America today.

He has been a leader on many different legislative initiatives. Herb Kohl is a fine man, a wonderful human being, and I so admire and appreciate him. He is a distinguished Senator, a devoted representative of the people of Wisconsin, and his presence will be missed in the Senate. I wish him the very best in his retirement.

Would the Chair announce the business of the day.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that today, Thursday, December 13, at 1:45, the Senate proceed to executive session to consider the following nominations: Calendar Nos. 830, 832; that there be 30 minutes for debate equally divided in the usual form; that upon the use or yielding back of that time, the Senate proceed to vote without intervening action or debate on Calendar Nos. 830 and 832, in that order, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate; that no further motions be in order; that any statements related to this matter be printed in the Record; that the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action, and the Senate then resume legislative session.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to a period of morning business until 1:45 p.m. with Senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each; further that Senator Snowe be recognized at 1 p.m. for up to 45 minutes; finally, at 1:45 p.m. the Senate proceed to executive session as provided under the previous order.

Madam President, we hope that after the first vote this afternoon we will be in a position to enter an order that we would be on--when we come back on Monday--the supplemental. We are going to come in earlier than usual. There will not be a vote until 5:30. That will likely be on a judge. But during the afternoon, there can be a case made for the supplemental. So we hope to have a consent agreement on that within the next couple of hours.

Mr. President, I move to proceed to Calendar No. 14, H.R. 1.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to a period of morning business until 4:30 p.m. today, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.

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

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

Mr. President, I rise to recognize and honor one of Nevada's great sons and my friend, Jim Jones, on the important milestone of his 80th birthday. I appreciate the longtime friendship Jim and his son, Jimmy, have afforded me. Jimmy worked for me and has remained a good friend ever since.

Jim Jones hails from one of Las Vegas' railroad families. In 1921, after Jim's father proudly served our Nation in World War I, he pioneered West in a boxcar and not much else. Jim's father arrived in Las Vegas, walked into a railroad shop and stayed for 21 years. It was on South Third Street that Jim remembers his early childhood, as he watched the trains go by in his small railroad town of Las Vegas.

Jim has spent a lifetime working hard and giving back to his patients and community. His commitment to service began at the age of 12 as a Boy Scout in Troop 63. Jim grew interested in dentistry while a student at Las Vegas High School. But he knew he was unable to afford college, so he joined his father to work the railroad at 15. Jim tirelessly worked nights, weekends and summers; after graduating from Las Vegas High School, he attended East Los Angeles Junior College. During his second semester of college, he served in a Naval Reserve Unit when he was called into active duty during the Korean War. Although he could have applied to be exempted, he chose to serve as a dental technician and proudly worked on a Marine base in San Diego fixing recruits' teeth before they would head overseas. He later attended BYU's pre-dental/ medicine program and graduated with honors from dental school in Seattle.

He returned to Las Vegas to work for the Nevada State Department of Health's Dental Division, which led him all across Indian country in Nevada. He traveled with a fold up chair in a station wagon across the most rural parts of Nevada providing dental care and services to Native American children in Schurz, Gabbs, Tonopah, Overton and Mesquite. The time he spent in Native American communities across Nevada taught him much about our State, and its first people, and because of this formed longtime friendships.

In 1961, Jim opened his private dental practice, thus beginning a long career of providing dental care to many in Southern Nevada. He retired from his full-time practice in 2002, though he still works weekly caring for patients including Landra and me. He's lived a life of service as a longtime member of service organizations like Kiwanis Club and Rotary. He served in the leadership of Rotary as director, vice president, and president. He is passionate about Las Vegas, and he has remained involved in these service organizations, as well as in local commissions.

Mr. President, I share only but a glance at Jim's life as we reflect upon his many contributions on the momentous occasion of his 80th birthday. My friend, Jim, embodies the story of Nevada, that the son of a working class man can build a good life for his family and still have legacy of that small railroad town, Las Vegas.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that on Monday, December 17, at 5 p.m., the Senate proceed to

executive session to consider the following nominations: Calendar Nos. 833 and 875; that there be 30 minutes for debate equally divided in the usual form; that upon the use or yielding back of that time, the Senate proceed, with no intervening action or debate, to vote on Calendar Nos. 833 and 875, in that order; that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate; that no further motions be in order; that any related statements be printed in the Record; and that President Obama be immediately notified of the Senate's action, and the Senate then resume legislative session.

I ask unanimous consent that the Judiciary Committee be discharged from further consideration of H.R. 6116 and the Senate proceed to its consideration.

I ask unanimous consent that the bill be read a third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate, and that any statements related to the bill be printed in the Record.