Floor Statements

I ask unanimous consent that on Monday, June 4, 2012 at 5 p.m., the Senate proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 613; that there be 30 minutes of debate equally divided in the usual form; that upon the use or yielding back of that time, the Senate proceed to vote, with no intervening action on the nomination; the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid on the table, with no intervening action or debate; that no further motions be in order; that any further statements be printed in the Record; that the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action and the Senate then resume legislative session.

I ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed to consideration of Calendar No. 412, S. 414.

I ask the bill be read a third time and the Senate proceed to a voice vote on passage of the bill.

I now ask the motion to reconsider be laid on the table, there be no intervening action or debate, and any statements related to this measure be printed in the Record as if read.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of Calendar No. 44, S. 739.

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

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Agriculture Committee be discharged from further consideration of H.R. 2947 and the Senate proceed to its consideration.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be read the third time and passed, the motion 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 the Judiciary Committee be discharged from further consideration of H.R. 3992 and the Senate proceed to its consideration.

Mr. President, 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 any statements related to the matter be printed in the Record.

I ask unanimous consent that the Judiciary Committee be discharged from further consideration of S. Res. 455.

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 be printed in the Record.

I ask unanimous consent to proceed to S. Res. 475.

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.

There is a joint resolution at the desk, and I ask for its first reading.

I ask for a second reading, the purpose of which is to place this joint resolution on the calendar under the provisions of rule XIV, but after having said that, I object to my own request.

I now ask unanimous consent that from Friday, May 25, through Monday, June 4, Senator Leahy be authorized to sign duly enrolled bills or joint resolutions.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding the upcoming recess or adjournment of the Senate, the President of the Senate, the President pro tempore, and the majority leader and minority leader be authorized to make appointments to commissions, committees, boards, conferences, or interparliamentary conferences authorized by law, by concurrent action of the two Houses, or by order of the Senate.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn and convene for pro forma sessions only with no business conducted on the following dates and times and that following each pro forma session, the Senate adjourn until the next pro forma session: Friday, May 25, at 2:30 p.m.; Tuesday, May 29, at 11 a.m.; and Thursday, May 31, at 12 p.m.; and that the Senate adjourn on Thursday, May 31 until 2 p.m. on Monday, June 4; 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, and that the majority leader be recognized; further, that at 5 p.m., the Senate proceed to executive session under the previous order.

It is my intention to resume the motion to proceed to S. 3220, the paycheck fairness bill, when the Senate convenes on Monday, June 4. There will be a rollcall vote on confirmation of the Hillman nomination.

Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that it adjourn under the provisions of S. Res. 475 as a further mark of respect to the memory of the late Senator James Abdnor of South Dakota.

Madam President, I move to proceed to Calendar No. 400, S. 3187.

Madam President, we are now on the motion to proceed to the FDA user fees bill. Republicans control the first half hour, the majority the second half hour. We are working on an agreement to consider amendments to the FDA bill. We are close to being able to finalize that. We hope to get an agreement and avoid filing cloture on the bill.

Measures Placed On The Calendar--S. 3220 and S. 3221

There are two bills at the desk due for a second reading.

Madam President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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

The Chair read for the second time a couple of bills. I object to both of them.

Madam President, when 67-year-old Pamela Gunter started treatment for breast cancer, her doctor knew it would be a grueling fight. He also knew it was a fight she could win. Pamela's doctor put her on Taxol, a common chemotherapy drug. The results were excellent. Her tumor shrank. Her prognosis was good.

Then one day last spring, no more Taxol. The doctor could not get it. It is one of the most popular and effective treatments for breast, lung, and ovarian cancer, and it suddenly disappeared from the markets in Nevada. Doctors couldn't get it; drug suppliers could not say why. So Pamela's doctor was forced to use a much more expensive and much less effective course of treatment. The cancer spread. By the time Taxol was available again, Pamela was dead. She left behind a loving husband, two grown sons, and a grandchild. But with the right treatment she would still be alive today. Her Las Vegas doctor said a shortage of this common generic medicine directly contributed to her death. Had this product been available, she would have been fine. She of course would have suffered; that is what patients on chemo do. But their suffering is worth it because they know it is lifesaving.

Pamela is not the only American affected by a shortage of Taxol and other lifesaving drugs. Every day in hospitals across the country Americans already dealing with devastating illnesses must also face shortages of FDA-approved medications that could keep them alive. Today Taxol is still scarce. And chemotherapy drugs are not the only ones in short supply; supplies of nausea medication. The Capitol physician is, among other things, an oncologist, Dr. Monahan. I have talked to him about cancer a lot in the last year, he and other doctors. My wife would go every week to this place where everybody was hooked up to chemo. Most of them were women, but there were a few men. Just a few years ago that would have been a place where these women were retching by virtue of their vomiting. Sometimes--in fact a lot of the times-- they had to hospitalize these women to stop the vomiting from these medicines.

Now we have nausea medication these patients are given to stop their suffering. At least, although they may be going through a lot of nausea, they are not throwing up most of the time. But supplies of nausea medications and other drugs that reduce the side effects of cancer treatment are limited. On Monday, one Las Vegas oncologist said he ordered 10 drugs from his supplier. He could get eight. He said that is typical; doctors never know which drugs will be accessible and which will not.

Last year FDA reported shortages of 231 drugs, including a number of chemotherapy medicines. In the last 6 years, drug shortages have quadrupled, gone up 400 percent. Congress cannot solve every problem in this country, we know that, but this is one problem we can solve with cooperation from the drug manufacturers. It will come about much more clearly if we pass the bill that is before the Senate now.

The Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act, the one I have talked about several times already today, will help establish effective lines of communication between drugmakers, the Food and Drug Administration, and doctors. When the FDA gets early warning from manufacturers that shortages are coming, it can act quickly to find alternative sources of medication and ease supply problems by, for example, taking from one place where they have a lot of a medicine and moving it someplace where they do not. Drugmakers averted 200 shortages last year by voluntarily notifying the FDA of trouble on the horizon. But many shortages, perhaps all 231 last year, could have been prevented if drugmakers had shared information with FDA.

Our bill would make that necessary and force it to take place. That is why Congress must act quickly to pass the legislation that is now before the Senate, which will ensure the FDA has the resources to approve new drugs and medical devices quickly and efficiently.

Passing this legislation would not bring Pamela back, it would not give her another day to spend with her husband, another week to say goodbye to her sons, or another year to get to know her grandchild. But this legislation will help prevent drug shortages like what took Pamela away from her family far too soon.

As I indicated, we are very close to an agreement, a path forward on this bill, and that would be very good for this country. I hope we can arrive at that by 11 o'clock today.

Recognition of the Minority Leader

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

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that execution of the previous order with respect to S. 3187 be delayed until 12:30 p.m. today; that at 12:30, the majority leader be recognized prior to execution of the order, and that all provisions under the previous order remain in effect at that time.

Madam President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the execution of the previous order with respect to S. 3187 be delayed until 2:15 today; that at 2:15 p.m. the majority leader be recognized prior to the execution of the order, and that all provisions of the previous order remain in effect at that time.

Mr. President, we are close to a way to move forward on the FDA bill. I do say this, however: On this side we have cleared everything. So the disputes now are with the Republicans on the Republican amendment. We are willing to do whatever is necessary on that amendment. So I hope we can get this worked out. It would sure be helpful. We have heard all the speeches about this important bill. It really is important, as I indicated today in talking about some of the shortages we have had in Nevada where people die as a result of not having the medicines.

We are nearing a time where we cannot prolong this any more. This legislation is necessary because the bill--the information we have in this bill, everything we need expires at the end of this month.

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

Mr. President, the first thing we are going to talk about-- I have had conversations in the last few days--in fact, a longer period of time than that--with Senator Vitter, Senator Coburn, Senator Johnson, Senator Shelby, and others on flood insurance.

Like a lot of things that happen, it has become critical that we do something on flood insurance. It affects almost 6 million people. We need to get something done on a more permanent basis.

There has been a general agreement--we do not have it in writing yet, but I want to make sure the record on the floor is clear what my intention is--that we would have a 60-day short-term extension. In that extension there would be language for the duration of 60 days that would include in that the second-home subject that is part of the underlying bill on which Senator Coburn is focused. That would be for 60 days. Then I would be happy to make a statement here on the floor today that during the next work period we will move to that bill, the flood insurance bill, so we would have the opportunity to make it permanent. It is very important we do that. With the economy being such as it is, we cannot, in this area--and probably others but in this one--we cannot have these short-term extensions. It does not allow people to do what they need to do. Mr. President, 40,000 homes a day go through a process where they have to have flood insurance. If there is no flood insurance, that is 40,000 loans every day that will not be approved.

Senators Johnson and Shelby have done good work to narrow down the list of amendments we would have to consider when the Senate takes up this long-term flood insurance bill. It is my understanding there are a dozen or so amendments--six, eight on each side. But I hope we can do that. If we cannot do that, we are going to have to go to the bill anyway.

I wanted to make sure Senator Vitter, who is on the floor today, understands that is my understanding of things he and I have talked about in the last couple weeks.

I appreciate the work that Senators Johnson, Tester, Shelby, Coburn, and Vitter have put into working out an agreement on flood insurance.

As Senators have noted, this program that provides insurance coverage to 5.5 million people is set to expire next week.

If the program were to expire, new housing construction would stall, real estate transactions would come to a halt, and taxpayers would be on the hook for future disasters. So this is something that we have to do.

I understand that Senators Johnson and Shelby have done good work to narrow down the list of amendments that we would consider when the Senate takes up a long-term flood insurance bill. I believe that they have made

good progress. And we could consider eight or even fewer relevant amendments per side on a long-term bill.

And thus I believe that the Senate can consider a long-term bill in the next work period. And I am committed to turning to a long-term bill in June.

Mr. President, it is my understanding he was going to ask me a question, because I do not want to lose the floor.

Mr. President, I am glad the Republican leader is on the floor. We have worked very hard to arrive at this point where I am going to ask for this consent agreement. I appreciate everyone's help, and it takes everyone's help to get to where we are. That is why we call them unanimous consent agreements.

I ask unanimous consent that the only first-degree amendments in order to the bill that is now pending before the Senate be the following: Bingaman No. 2111; McCain No. 2107----

Thank you very much, Mr. President. I am sorry I got ahead of the Chair a little bit.

I ask unanimous consent that the only first-degree amendments in order to the bill be the following: Bingaman No. 2111; McCain No. 2107; Sanders No. 2109; Murkowski No. 2108; Cardin No. 2125; Cardin No. 2141; Grassley No. 2121; Grassley No. 2129; Manchin No. 2151, as modified; Portman No. 2146, as modified; Portman No. 2145, as modified; Reed No. 2126; Coburn No. 2132; Coburn No. 2131; Durbin No. 2127; Paul No. 2143; and Burr No. 2130; that there be no second-degree amendments in order prior to the votes in relation thereto; that there be no motions or points of order to the amendments or the bill other than budget points of order and the applicable motions to waive or motions to table; that there be up to 30 minutes of debate on each of the amendments, with the exception of the McCain amendment, which will have 2 hours of debate, and 60 minutes on the bill, with all time equally divided in the usual form; that at 2 p.m. on Thursday, May 24, all debate time be considered expired and the Senate proceed to votes in relation to the amendments in the order listed above; that there be 2 minutes of debate equally divided in the usual form prior to each vote; that all after the first vote be 10-minute votes; that the following amendments be subject to a 60 affirmative vote threshold: Bingaman No. 2111, McCain No. 2107, Sanders No. 2109, and Murkowski No. 2108; that upon disposition of the amendments, the bill be read a third time and the Senate proceed to vote on passage of the bill, as amended.

That upon disposition of S. 3187, the Senate proceed to the consideration of Calendar No. 365, S. 2343; that the only amendment in order to the bill be an amendment from the Republican leader or his designee, the text of which is identical to S. 2366; that there be 10 total minutes of debate on the amendment and the bill equally divided between the two leaders or their designees prior to a vote on the McConnell or designee amendment; that no amendment be in order to the McConnell or designee amendment; that no motions or points of order be in order to the amendment or the bill other than budget points of order and the applicable motions to waive; that upon disposition of the amendment, the Senate proceed to vote on passage of the bill, as amended, if amended; that the amendment and the bill be subject to a 60 affirmative vote threshold; that if the bill does not achieve 60 affirmative votes, S. 2343 be returned to the calendar; and finally, that the motion to reconsider with respect to the cloture vote on the motion to proceed to S. 2343 be withdrawn.

So, Mr. President, we are going to have votes on these amendments. It is my understanding that there is time, 30 minutes per amendment. We need to get as much of that done today as possible. We have an event for spouses tonight, so we are not going to be working late into the night. We have tomorrow to finish this. We should be able to do that. I hope we can. I hope it does not spill and there is no reason it should spill over until the next day. We are going to also have votes on the Republican student loan legislation and ours. That is what we are doing in the next 36 hours.

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