Floor Statements

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to S. Res. 552.

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 relating to the resolution be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed to S. Res. 553, submitted earlier today.

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, and any related statements be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 10 a.m. tomorrow, Thursday, September 13, 2012; that following the prayer and pledge, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed expired, and the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day; that I be recognized and the first hour be equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees, with the majority controlling the first half and the Republicans the final half.

Mr. President, this evening I filed cloture on the substitute amendment to S. 3457, the Veterans Jobs Corps Act and on the underlying bill. As a result, the filing deadline for first-degree amendments to the substitute amendment and S. 3457 is 1 p.m. tomorrow.

Under the rule, the cloture votes in relation to the Veterans Jobs Corps Act will occur on Friday. I talked about it earlier this evening, and we will decide what time we are going to do that tomorrow. We hope we can reach an agreement to have the vote or votes tomorrow. If not, if all time is used, we will be voting this weekend, including tomorrow, late at night.

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

I move to proceed to Calendar No. 476, S. 3457.

Mr. President, the first hour will be equally divided between the two leaders or their designees. The majority will control the first half and the Republicans will control the final half. At 11 a.m. there will be a moment of silence in observance of the 11th anniversary of the attacks on September 11, 2001. The Senate will recess from 12:30 p.m. until 2:15 p.m. for the weekly caucus meetings. At 2:15 p.m. there will be a cloture vote on the motion to proceed to S. 3457, the Veterans Jobs Corps Act.

Measures Placed on the Calendar--H.R. 8, S. 3522, S. 3525

Mr. President, I am told there are three bills at the desk due for a second reading.

Mr. President, I object to all three bills that were read for the second time.

Mr. President, just a short way from this Chamber, in S- 209, we have been meeting for many years as a Senate Democratic leadership to discuss the issues of the week. We just finished a meeting there, and part of the discussion today in that meeting was what happened 11 years ago at the exact same time we were meeting there. I can remember that so clearly. I will never, ever forget that. It is implanted in my mind so clearly. I was the first one to get to that meeting, and Senator Breaux from Louisiana came in and said: There is something going on in New York. Let's turn on the TV. And we did. Senators started coming in. It appeared an airplane hit one of the towers, and we were wondering why it would have done that. Something was obviously wrong.

Senator Daschle was the leader at the time. He started the meeting, and the TV was off. The meeting was just getting started, and someone came in to take Senator Daschle out of that meeting. He came back very quickly and said: There is a plane headed for the Capitol, and we all have to evacuate the Capitol--everybody. The alarm went out and people were rushing down these halls leaving. I can remember leaving that room over here and looking out the window and seeing the smoke billowing from what we

learned is now the Pentagon. It was on fire; a plane had hit it. There was still one plane in the air, and that was headed for the Capitol. As I have indicated, even though that was 11 years ago, I remember the sight as if it were yesterday. We have many meetings in that room, and I often think of what transpired that morning as I looked out toward the Pentagon.

Over the last decade, our country has begun to heal from the wounds of that terrible, terrible attack. It was attacks by terrorists. The scars remain. The scars are deeper with some than others, but no matter how many years pass, we will never forget the thousands of innocent people who died in New York, Pennsylvania, and across the river here in Virginia. There were mothers and fathers, sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, spouses and friends. All they were doing was their jobs, and others were just catching a plane to go visit loved ones or on a business trip. It is good that we pause each year to pay tribute and to remember, and that will occur here on the Senate floor, as I previously announced. There will also be a ceremony out in front of the Capitol.

The memories of that dark day in our shared history are painful, but they give me hope as well. They give me hope because on September 11 and during the difficult months that followed, Americans showed the world that our unified Nation can fight back against darkness and fear. Democrats were not alone in fighting back. Republicans were not alone in fighting back. We were all fighting back together in the face of great evil, and that is what it was. There were so many who rushed forward to show great courage, enormous dignity, and kindness.

Today we pause to remember the firefighters who rushed into the World Trade Center knowing they might never come out, and a lot of them didn't come out. We pause to remember the police officers and rescue workers who hurried to the scene, combed through the debris, and shepherded New Yorkers to safety. Some of them gave their lives that day. We pause to remember the bravery of the members of our Nation's Armed Forces, our intelligence community, and Foreign Service, as well as the sacrifices of their families. They have borne the burdens of war for more than a decade. They have given their blood, sweat, and too often their lives in the effort to crush al-Qaida, bring Osama bin Laden to justice, and keep America safe. We pause to remember the unbreakable spirit of those valiant people and certainly the United States of America.

Recognition of the Minority Leader

Mr. President, I welcome everyone back, the staff and Presiding Officer. I hope everyone had a restful and productive month. I look forward to this work period, which will be very short and exact, and I hope we can accomplish a few things.

Mr. President, I wish to take a minute to talk about Congressman Paul Ryan's arithmetic. It is very interesting. He said he ran a marathon. A marathon is 26.2 miles long. While being questioned by the press, he said he ran it in about 2 hours and 50 minutes. Now, that is pretty fast. I would like to take a minute and apply the Ryan math to my marathon times. I will pick just one marathon time.

I ran the Boston Marathon, and using the Ryan math my time would not have been a world record but within minutes of a world record. I could have made the Olympic team. By using Ryan math, I would have been superb. Well, the Ryan math doesn't work in marathons. As we all know, we can always check someone's math, and his math doesn't work for running a marathon or anything else.

The Ryan math doesn't work with his budgets, it doesn't work with Medicare, and it doesn't work with his tax plan. It doesn't work with anything he has suggested and opined. It is no more than his little assertion that I guess he thought no one would check. When people run these races, they keep records. For all of my marathons, they have kept records. So as much as I would like to have the Ryan math apply to my marathons, it doesn't work.

The Senate is going to resume its work in a few minutes on the heels of the two conventions. One was in Florida and one in North Carolina. The Republicans used their virtually fact-free convention to showcase the richest style economic policies.

The Democrats took a different approach. I am sure we all had our favorites. I thought Congressman Cleaver's speech was so terrific. I don't know how many were able to see it, but it was great. He was up there marching. He was just outstanding.

Gov. Jennifer Granholm from Michigan was so good as she explained to everyone about jobs and why Detroit should not have gone bankrupt.

I thought Joe Biden's speech was typical for Joe Biden. It was wonderful. I admire him so much. I served with him for a quarter of a century. What a good man. He has contributed such valuable service to his country. While talking about his life story, we saw when his son introduced him. Tears were coming from his eyes.

The President's and Mrs. Obama's messages were very clear. They did so well.

In Charlotte Democrats presented Americans with a clear and honest assessment of the challenges we face as a nation and a concrete plan to overcome the problems we have together. That is why President Obama has seen a significant rise in the polls since that convention and all of those speeches--not just his speech but all of them. Even the Republican-skewed Rasmussen poll had him ahead by 5 points.

In fact, we presented Americans with clear choices. It was not a choice between two candidates or two parties; it

was a choice between two visions: the Romney vision and the vision we certainly think was pronounced at that convention, the Obama vision and a vision about America's future.

The Republican vision would return us to the failed economic policies that brought us to the great recession. It would return us to 8 years of wars, rumors of wars, and massive debt, everything unpaid for.

We don't want to go back to that. We can't go back to that. It would further tilt the playing field in favor of those who have every advantage, millionaires and billionaires. They already have an advantage. We don't need to give them any more.

President Obama showed a vision of America where every person has a shot at success, where fairness replaces favoritism. His policies led to 30 straight months of private sector job growth. Would we like more? Of course we would.

I met with Harold Schaitberger this morning, general president of the firefighters. He has been working in the field with firefighters. He started out as a firefighter. As a boy, his father died, and before he was old enough to be a firefighter, he actually lived in a firehouse by himself with the rest of the firefighters. That is where he got the idea that was what he wanted to do with his life's work. He has dedicated so much to making America a better place.

In my conversation with him we discussed how we are approaching 1 million people who have been laid off in the public sector. I am sure it has happened in Connecticut. It has happened in Nevada. It has happened everyplace. We thought we had a way of solving that problem.

Mr. President, you voted, I voted, and we thought we should stop the layoffs of firefighters, police officers, and teachers, and we would pay for it and have no more debt. We would pay for it by having a three-tenths of 1 percent surtax on people making more than $1 million a year. Every Republican voted against public employees. Three-tenths of 1 percent would have taken care of all of that.

I enjoyed my conversation with President Schaitberger. We lamented the fact that all of these public employees have been laid off, and we have to get back to where we can have a public sector where people are not so overworked. I know in Nevada we have too few firefighters, too few police officers, and teachers who have been laid off, and that is a shame.

We have had 30 straight months of private sector job growth. Too bad the numbers are not more than 4\1/2\ million, but that is where they are. We lost 8 million jobs in the Bush years, and we have gained more than half of them back. We are making progress. We wish we could do better, and everyone acknowledges that. There is more work to be done. Too many Americans are still hurting.

President Obama has a plan to put more than 1 million people back to work next year. His plan will create jobs for the middle class and not just profits for the CEOs. We all want profits for these companies--and that is good--but we also want to make sure there is a fair program out there and that we do something to stop the middle class from being squeezed so hard. A lot of the CEOs are doing extremely well, and I am happy.

The Dow is up more than 6,000 points since President Obama took office. Meanwhile, Mitt Romney has failed to offer a single concrete idea to get good-paying jobs for American workers.

I watched part of an interview of Congressman Ryan today. It was a replay from yesterday. I think he was on ABC with George Stephanopoulos. All I could see was the back of Stephanopoulos's head, but I think that is who it was. He was saying they want to close these tax loopholes. So Romney has been asked and Ryan has been asked: What loopholes do you want to close? They will not say. It is part of their fictitious math because when they start talking about how fast they ran a marathon or talk about holes they want to plug, they have to give facts. And they have refused to do that.

Do they want to get rid of charitable donations? Do they want to get rid of the deduction for buying a home? They will not say. It is obvious why; they are afraid. So they give the Ryan math and the Romney math, which doesn't add up.

It is no surprise that Governor Romney has failed to offer a single proposal to create a good-paying job. After all, he belongs to the same Republican Party that has put partisan politics ahead of creating jobs for almost 4 years now. In fact, some would say 6 years. We have never had such obstruction in the history of the country. Nothing even comes close.

In the almost 6 years we have had the majority in the Senate, we have had to file cloture 380 times. There were times when the Congress would file cloture a handful of times, maybe 10 times. It has been 380 times in less than 6 years. This is the same Republican Party whose leader has said his No. 1 goal is to defeat President Obama, not create jobs for the American people in the private or public sector.

We have been rolling up our sleeves to put teachers, firefighters, police, and construction workers back on the job. For every $1 billion we spend as a Federal Government for infrastructure, there are 47,500 high-paying jobs. There are other lower paying jobs that spin off of that. These are not government jobs. We don't send a truck out that says ``U.S. Federal Government'' on it to do this work. This money goes to the private sector to create jobs.

So while we have been working to try to create jobs, Republicans have been throwing up their hands--or worse, standing in the way of progress. Our No. 1 goal is to get our economy back on track. I repeat, the Republicans' No. 1 goal is to defeat President Obama. What a shame.

We are resolute in our commitment to restore the economy. That is why we proposed the Veterans Job Corps Act, a measure that fulfills our promise to the brave men and women who dedicated their lives to making our lives safer.

President Obama kept his promise to end the war in Iraq and wind down the war in Afghanistan. The war in Iraq is over, and each year about 200,000 servicemembers reenter the civilian workplace. That is the way it is right now. As this new generation of veterans returns home ready to work, it is our job to make sure they have the opportunity to work and succeed.

The bill that is now before the Senate, the Veterans Job Corps Act, will reinvest in our returning servicemembers, easing the sometimes difficult transition back to civilian life.

The measure will also offer priority hiring for veterans who want to become first responders. As we have talked about already, these include firefighters, police officers, and EMTs. It will also create jobs for veterans restoring forests, parks, coasts, and public lands. These are really good jobs. These are really important jobs. We tried this once before when we were really struggling as a country during the Great Depression. We had the Works Progress Administration. We had the Civilian Conservation Corps. In my little town of Searchlight, NV, there were numerous projects that were developed by these individuals during the Great Depression. They would fix watering holes, put in windmills, build walkways, and many of these things are still in existence. So I commend the senior Senator from Florida, Mr. Bill Nelson, and the junior Senator from Montana, Mr. Jon Tester, for their work on this legislation. Unfortunately, we once again face Republican obstruction.

I repeat something I said a few minutes ago. Since we took control of the Senate in 2006-2007, Republicans have mounted an unprecedented 380 filibusters. This is outrageous. This obstruction exceeds anything we have ever seen before in the Senate. This is not using Romney-Ryan math; these are actual, valid numbers. By comparison, in Lyndon Johnson's 6 years as majority leader--I could ask everyone here to take a guess as to how many filibusters he had to overcome. Remember, these were the years when he was President and we had the civil rights stuff going on and all kinds of problems. Everyone would fail the test. He had to overcome one filibuster. I have been faced with 308.

I hope Republican colleagues will join us tomorrow as we vote to advance this measure. It is too bad we have had to file cloture on moving to proceed to this bill. The heroes who fought for their country overseas shouldn't have to fight for jobs once they get home.

Tomorrow marks the 11th anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks. The date is a reminder that through over a decade of war, the bravery and dedication of America's Armed Forces has never wavered. It is a reminder that our commitment to those fine young and women should never waver, either.

Mr. President, I move to proceed to Calendar No. 476, S. 3457.

Mr. President, at 5 p.m. today the Senate will proceed to executive session to consider the nomination of Stephanie Marie Rose to be U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of Iowa, with 30 minutes of debate equally divided and controlled. At 5:30 p.m. there will be a rollcall vote on the Rose nomination.

Moment of Silence

I ask unanimous consent to have a moment of silence at 4:55 p.m. today for the 40th anniversary of the Munich Olympics massacre.

Would the Chair announce the business of the day.

I note the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I stand before you today to congratulate the Congressional Management Foundation on its 35th anniversary of service to Capitol Hill. Founded in 1977, CMF is a non-profit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to improving management practices within the Halls of Congress, as well as facilitating better communication between legislators and their constituents. By improving congressional operations, providing institutional research, and educating Americans on how Congress actually works, the Congressional Management Foundation has been a valuable contributor to building trust and effectiveness in Congress.

The Congressional Management Foundation strives to help legislators get off on the right foot even before they are sworn into office. Within 5 days after election day, all incoming freshmen receive a copy of ``Setting Course'' and ``The 90-Day Road Map''--

two experience-driven publications produced by CMF that provide new House Members, Senators, and their staff a detailed outline for setting up and running an effective office. ``Keeping it Local'' stresses the importance of maintaining a strong presence in district offices and the value of effective constituent outreach and interaction at the local level. These publications are time-tested, indispensable resources that provide our leaders with the appropriate tools they need to overcome the challenges of lawmaking on the national stage.

In the past decade, CMF has adapted its mission to keep up with the rapid introduction of new technology on Capitol Hill. Recently CMF has offered guidance on how to design effective and accessible Web sites, culminating in CMF's Gold Mouse Awards for the best congressional Web sites. CMF has helped Senators significantly improve their online operations, resulting in more transparency and accountability in government. Because of CMF's research and guidance in Web sites and online communications, Americans have a better understanding of the Congress and better access to necessary services.

Finally, I wish to congratulate CMF on focusing on improving the Congress in a nonpartisan way. There are only a few places left in Washington where those of us who are in public service can gather and truly engage in problem solving. I congratulate the Congressional Management Foundation on more than three decades of outstanding work and wish them success in all of their future endeavors.

Mr President, I rise to honor my friend Steve Cloobeck of Las Vegas, the chairman of the board for Brand USA. This month, Steve will step down from the board after 2 years of working tirelessly to build Brand USA from the ground up.

Over the past decades, the United States lost valuable tourism dollars as international visitors traveled to other destinations instead of the U.S. In part, the United States lost market share because we failed to promote tourism, while other countries invested in tourism promotion. To encourage tourists to visit the U.S., I worked for the passage of the Travel Promotion Act. This bipartisan legislation established the first-ever United States public-private initiative to promote tourism. The new organization would help attract millions of international visitors by advertising our Nation abroad-- all at no cost to the taxpayers.

If this new organization, Brand USA, was going to be successful, it would need a strong leader with a bold vision to promote tourism. Fortunately, we found that leader in Steve Cloobeck. From the moment he joined the board, Steve established aggressive timelines for setting up the new organization. He helped draft the organization's strategic platform and goals, while ensuring that operations continued on schedule.

Steve was also actively engaged in building partnerships with the private sector. Because of his business relationships in the tourism industry, Steve received many large commitments and contributions from companies in Nevada and across the Nation. With a slate of committed partners from Marriott to Best Western to Disney, Brand USA will raise more than $50 million from the private sector this year alone.

Under the direction of Steve and the board, Brand USA unveiled their new advertising campaign. Featuring a song by Rosanne Cash, these ads showcase America as a ``Land of Dreams'' where anything is possible. These advertisements, which have been running in nine key international markets, have created a strong brand identity for the United States abroad.

Today, we can already see that Brand USA is making a difference. So far this year, international visitation to the U.S. has increased 12 percent and we are heading for a record-setting year. And most importantly, during these hard economic times, travel promotion is creating new, good-paying jobs as we welcome millions of new visitors to our Nation's world-class cities, national parks, and tourist attractions.

Under Chairman Cloobeck's leadership, Brand USA has been a tremendous success for our Nation and the travel industry. His enthusiasm and dedication have ensured that Brand USA is well positioned for the future. I am confident that Brand USA will be a critical asset to American tourism for years to come, and I am proud to join everyone at Brand USA and the travel industry in thanking Steve for his important contributions.

Mr. President, I now move to proceed to Calendar No. 476, S. 3457, which is the Veterans Jobs Corps Act.

Mr. President, the next half hour will be for debate on the Coburn amendment on the AGOA-Burma sanctions bill. Following that debate, the time until 11 a.m. will be equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees. At 11 a.m. there will be two votes. The first vote will be a cloture vote on the cyber security bill, followed by a vote in relation to the Coburn amendment to the AGOA-Burma sanctions bill. The filing deadline for second-degree amendments to the cyber security bill is 10 a.m. today. Additional votes are possible today, and we will notify Senators when and if they are scheduled. We will vote at 11 o'clock, so those people debating the cloture motion may not get the full hour. They should understand that.

recognition of the republican leader

Mr. President, I wasn't planning on making a statement today. I felt we should leave the time for the vote we are having at 11. It is my understanding that under the rule, Senator Coburn and others will have a half hour to debate the Burma sanctions; is that right?

The time left over will be whatever time is left over for the debate on the motion to proceed to the cloture vote; is that right?

I will talk about cyber security in 1 minute. Let's talk about the minority leader's continual harangue against the President of the United States. Underscore all of this with what my friend the Republican leader said at the beginning of this Congress: The No. 1 issue for him in this Congress is defeating President Obama, and that is how the Republicans have acted. To talk about a Republican tax plan would have to bring a smile to one's face. Yesterday, an organization called the Tax Policy Center--now remember last year Mitt Romney called the Tax Policy Center ``an objective third party'' and cited one of their studies to bash Rick Perry in the Republican primary. So this objective third party said yesterday about Romney's tax plan that my friend the Republican leader wants the American people to grab. The only people to be grabbing that are very rich people.

The vast majority of Mitt Romney's tax plan would go to people just like him, people making millions of dollars every year. Under Romney's plan, folks making more than $3 million a year would get a tax break of almost $250,000 per year. So how will he pay for this massive handout to the top 1 percent? He will hand the bill to 95 percent of the American people. Under his plan, my friend the Republican leader wants--I hope everyone within the sound of my voice listens to this because the Republican plan would require the average middle-class family with children to pay $2,000 more in taxes to take care of the millionaires. Ninety-five percent of families in this country would be asked to pay more so people such as Mitt Romney can get a tax break. Now, that is a great program, a wonderful program.

Last year, I repeat, Mitt Romney called this Tax Policy Center an objective third party when he was once again changing his position during the Republican debates leading up to his nomination. Now that the group has exposed his plan to hike taxes for 95 percent of the American families while handing out more giveaways to millionaires, the Tax Policy Center is suddenly too liberal, his spokespeople say, to be trusted. I would suggest, when we are talking about trust, we need to look no further than the person my friend the Republican leader wants to be President of the United States.

As we know, he has refused to release his tax returns. If a person coming before this body wanted to be a Cabinet officer, he couldn't be if he had the same refusal Mitt Romney does about tax returns. So the word is out that he has not paid any taxes for 10 years. Let him prove he has paid taxes because he has not. We already know from one partial tax return he gave us he has money hidden in Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, and a Swiss bank account. I am not making that up. Mitt Romney makes more money in a single day than an average middle-class family makes in 2 years or more.

So let's not talk about this great plan the Republicans have to create jobs. The No. 1 goal in this body by the Republicans has been to damage the President of the United States. They have refused to work with us in creating jobs.

Cyber Security

Let's talk a little bit about cyber security. We have people coming over here saying: We almost have a deal. I have been hearing that for 3 years. We have been working on cyber security for 3 years. They are over here today asking why we don't have more meetings. This is a bill that has had meeting after meeting. Chairman Lieberman, Chairman Rockefeller, and Chairman Feinstein have had plenty of meetings. They have had meetings with the Republicans, meetings with Independents, and meetings with business groups. So don't come and lecture us over here about how my Senators should vote. We know how important this legislation is. We believe this legislation is more important than getting a pat on the back from the Chamber of Commerce.

The Chamber of Commerce does not support this legislation. That is why the Republicans are running like scared cats, because the Republicans will not endorse doing something that is good for our country and that is protecting us against cyber attacks.

The statements made by the Republican leader speak volumes. This is another filibuster that could have been prevented by their work to get a list of relevant amendments to show how serious the Republican leader is about cyber security. Let's just take a few days from this week. We have been stalled and stalled in months past trying to get a bill. We could never get the Republican leader to endorse a bill. We worked with the White House, and they came aboard. We begged and pleaded to do a bill together. No, no; because the Chamber of Commerce does not want a bill.

The first thing we hear about cyber security, to show how serious they are, is an amendment where they want to repeal ObamaCare. They did that on the last day of the month of July, when on the first day of August all these great benefits for women kick in.

The Republican leader was standing here and said, I want to vote on

ObamaCare. Then he walks out there a few hours later, standing by the famous Ohio clock, and says, cyber security, we should do it. It will take a lot longer to do than the time we have. If cloture is not invoked today, it is for reasons I have just enumerated but principally because of the Chamber of Commerce. They are opposed to the initial bill because it was mandatory that these companies do something to protect America from these attacks from bad people.

So Senators Lieberman and Collins, the two managers of this bill from the Homeland Security Committee, said: OK. We don't think this is the right thing to do, but we will not make the provisions mandatory anymore. That is still not good enough for the Chamber of Commerce. A voluntary alternative is still something opposed by the Chamber of Commerce.

I have and numerous other people have come to the floor and talked about how important this bill is. The bill that is before this body now that we are going to vote cloture on would be a wonderful step forward. No, it doesn't do everything everyone wants, but it is a good bill. It is to protect our country. The leaders of the security of this Nation, including General Patraeus, General Dempsey, and the people working in NSA say this bill is more important than Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and North Korea. But the Chamber of Commerce has now interjected themselves in the security of this Nation. They think they know more than Patraeus, Dempsey, and all the leaders of this country. They are telling the Republicans to vote against this, believing they will get something better later on. Maybe they will, but right now here is what we have. I think it sends a very bad message to the country that Republicans are not willing to support this legislation.

To show how serious the Republicans are to get this bill done, they filed an amendment on a right-to-work law and they filed an amendment on repealing Dodd-Frank. That is just some of the beginning volleys they shot over here. My friend, the Senior Senator from Arizona, steps in and says: We are working on a list.

So I am disappointed, perplexed, and somewhat confused about how the Republicans want to proceed. It is obvious--it is obvious--until they get a signoff from the chamber of commerce that nothing will happen on one of the most important security interests this country has faced in generations.

So I would suggest that the Republican leader, rather than trying to denigrate this legislation that has been done with the best interests of the country at heart--including one of his most valued Senators, Ms. Collins--do a conference call with the chamber of commerce. Have them come down here and tell them what they want, and maybe, with what the chamber of commerce wants, we can work something out, because they are ruling the place now as far as this legislation goes.

The chamber of commerce, I will repeat, for the first time that I am aware of in the history of this country, has now become the protector of our Nation's security interests. That says it all, Mr. President.

Mr. President, nearly 3 years ago, I called the chairmen of the Senate's national security committees--Senators Lieberman, Rockefeller, Feinstein, Leahy, and Levin--together to discuss what, even then, was one of the most urgent priorities for our national security: defending our Nation against cyber attack.

I asked them to begin working together, across committee jurisdictions and across party lines, to develop comprehensive cyber security legislation to protect our Nation, our security, and our economy from this growing threat. Many of the Senators present had already begun work on their own legislation, but they committed that day to join their efforts in common cause.

Since that time, their committees have painstakingly worked to break down artificial jurisdictional boundaries and to resolve differences across party lines. They have also sought to include a remarkably wide array of stakeholders--including cybersecurity experts, the private sector, academia, the intelligence community, military leaders, law enforcement, think tanks, State and local governments, and many more-- in an open, transparent, and cooperative process.

The process has been nearly unprecedented in its scope, its thoroughness, and its transparency. Since the Senate began its work on cyber security legislation in 2009, committees have held more than 20 hearings across at least seven different committees specifically on cyber security and related legislation, and addressed critical questions relating to cyber security in dozens of additional hearings. They have held numerous briefings for Senators and staff on cyber security, including a simulated cyberattack exercise for all Senators conducted by senior administration officials. They have organized several other forums for Senators to examine cyber security issues, including cross-committee working groups designed to develop comprehensive legislation, as well as the Intelligence Committee's 2010 Cyber Security Task Force. They have considered nearly 20 separate cyber security bills and numerous cyber security-related amendments. And they have held markups of cyber security legislation in five separate committees, each of which occurred under each committee's rules for regular order.

The result has been legislation that addresses the equities of these diverse stakeholders as fairly and thoroughly as one could imagine, while preserving the authorities necessary to boost our Nation's cyber defenses.

As ranking member of the Homeland Security Committee, Senator Collins has been heroic in her efforts to ensure the bipartisan nature of this process. Yet, despite her best efforts, Republicans have made it clear throughout the last 3 years that they were simply unwilling to participate.

They refused to participate in working groups designed to draft the legislation, despite the fact that these groups were established with Leader McConnell's full agreement. They refused to propose changes to draft legislation, or to participate in negotiations with bill sponsors. When, after 3 years of painstaking work and broad outreach the legislation came to the floor, my Republican colleagues refused to allow the Senate to consider a single amendment to improve the bill, despite my continuous pleading for their agreement on a list of amendments for consideration. And, as today's cloture vote has demonstrated, they have refused to allow us to continue to debate the legislation.

Why this obstinate refusal to participate? How can these Senators, who have received the same entreaties from our military and intelligence leaders about the urgency of this legislation, obstruct Senate action to confront one of the leading threats to our Nation? These questions are all the more perplexing when one considers what our national security leaders have said about the seriousness of the threat we face.

According to General Keith Alexander, Commander of U.S. Cyber Command, ``The cyber threat facing the Nation is real and demands immediate action. The time to act is now; we simply cannot avoid further delay.''

General Martin Dempsey, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, noted, ``The uncomfortable reality of our world today is that bits and bytes can be as threatening as bullets and bombs. Not only will military systems be targeted by tools that can cause physical destruction, but adversaries will increasingly attempt to hold our Nation's core critical infrastructure at risk.''

Similarly, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta stated, ``We talk about nuclear. We talk about conventional warfare. We don't spend enough time talking about the threat of cyberwar. There's a strong likelihood that the next Pearl Harbor that we confront could very well be a cyberattack.''

And Director of National Intelligence James Clapper called cyberattack ``A profound threat to this country, to its future, its economy and its very being.''

Simply put, there is unanimity across the national security community that malicious cyber activity is an urgent, growing, and imminently dangerous threat that our Nation must confront immediately. But this unanimity is not limited to the current administration. Countless national security officials appointed under Republican administrations--including former Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell, former Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff, former Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mike Mullen, former Director of the Central Intelligence Agency Michael Hayden, and many others--have echoed the urgency of our current administration's call for action, as well as their support for the legislation we have considered today.

Yet, today Republicans were nearly unanimous in their opposition to this legislation. Why?

It is no secret that Republicans are taking their marching orders from the Chamber of Commerce. And the Chamber has made no secret that it is opposed to any effort to secure America's cyber networks; in fact, it has gone so far as to oppose even voluntary cybersecurity standards. In other words, the position of the Chamber of Commerce is that the owners and operators of the most critical infrastructure of our Nation--the electricity grid, telecommunications lines, air traffic control systems, and the like--should not even be asked to take steps, on a strictly voluntary basis, to improve our Nation's security. That position is hard to believe, and it is seriously out of step with the patriotism of the owners and employees of the American businesses it claims to represent.

As a result, my Republican colleagues have ignored the urgent calls of some of America's most respected national security leaders in order to pander to the Chamber of Commerce--an organization that appears more concerned with corporate bottom lines than with the American lives this legislation seeks to defend.

It seems that the only people who have not yet awakened to the threat facing our Nation are Senate Republicans. What has become clear in this debate is that Republicans are willing to prioritize partisan politics and slavish defense of corporate interests over our Nation's security. And that is simply unacceptable.

I hope that my colleagues across the aisle will wake up and recognize the threat facing our country before it is too late--before the ``cyber 9/11'' of which leaders like Secretary Panetta have warned us arrives. I hope that they can join us, as we have asked them to do for the last 3 years, and work on a bipartisan basis for the good of our country. And if they choose to do so, we will be ready to work quickly to pass this much-needed legislation.

But the more they delay, the more the risk to our Nation's security and economy grows. Time is running short.

I enter a motion to reconsider the vote by which cloture was not invoked.

Mr. President, we expect one more vote today. I have not had a chance to discuss it in detail with Senator McConnell yet, but we hope to have a vote on a judge. We hope to have it at 2 o'clock today, so people should make their schedules accordingly.

Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote.

I move to lay that motion on the table.