Floor Statements

Mr. President, following leader remarks, the Senate will be in a period of morning business until 11 a.m. The majority will control the first half of the time and the Republicans will control the final half. Following morning business, the Senate will resume consideration of S. 1813. At 2 p.m., there will be a rollcall vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to S. 1813.

We have been in consultation with the Republican leader and his staff, and we may have another vote this afternoon. We are probably going to have more than one vote this afternoon.

Mr. President, I understand that S. 2079 is at the desk and due for its second reading.

Mr. President, I object to any further proceedings with respect to the bill.

Mr. President, I will have more to say about this later.

Mr. President, I received a call from Secretary Donovan, the Secretary of Housing, indicating that Nevada was part of the settlement. It is in all the newspapers today. It appears Nevada will get about $1\1/2\ billion to work out our foreclosure problems in Nevada. We have led the Nation for years in foreclosures. We are not proud of that, but it is a fact.

For many years, we were the economic driver of the States. No State did better economically than Nevada for two decades. If you want a good job, come to Nevada. If you want to invest in real estate, come to Nevada or if you wanted to start a small business, come to Nevada. The collapse on Wall Street has hurt our housing market. We have not yet recovered. I commend the attorney general of Nevada, Catherine Masto, who was a fine lawyer before she became attorney general and has only become better with the work she has done. She negotiated this. I am very proud of her and confident the work she did will bring dividends to the beleaguered housing industry in Nevada.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that today, February 9, at 1:30 p.m., the Senate proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 407; that there be 30 minutes divided in the usual form; that upon the use or yielding back of time the Senate proceed to vote with no intervening action or debate on Calendar No. 407; 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 that any statements related to this matter be printed in the Record; that President Obama be immediately notified of the Senate's action; and the Senate proceed then to legislative session and the cloture vote on the motion to proceed to S. 1813, under the previous order.

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

I now ask unanimous consent that all postcloture time be yielded back and that the motion to proceed be agreed to; that the committee-reported amendments be agreed to and that the bill, as amended, be considered original text for the purposes of further amendment; further, that it be in order for Senator Boxer or designee, on behalf of Senators Johnson and Shelby, the chairman and ranking member of the Banking Committee, to call amendment No. 1515, which is at the desk; finally, that following the reporting of the amendment, the Senate proceed to a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each.

On behalf of Senators Johnson and Shelby, the chairman and ranking member of the Banking Committee, I send an amendment to the desk.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

Mr. President, I, of course, reserve the right to object and do object.

Mr. President, I appreciate the comments of my distinguished Republican colleague. The Senate just voted 85 to 11 to invoke cloture on a motion to proceed to the surface transportation bill, a bipartisan bill the sponsors of which, Senator Boxer and Senator Inhofe--an unlikely pair--have joined together to move forward on, a piece of legislation that is extremely important to this country, a bill that will save or create 2 million jobs.

There are four parts of this bill within the jurisdiction of four Senate committees. The Environment and Public Works Committee is what we are on now. I have sought to amend that with a provision that is coming from the Banking Committee. We have one coming from the Finance Committee--that has been approved on a bipartisan basis, and we will move after we do those two to the Commerce section. We have not dealt with the Finance Committee provision or the Commerce Committee.

I appreciate that the Republicans never lose an opportunity to mess up a good piece of legislation. We have had that happen now for the last 3 years. We saw it in spades last year. Here is a bipartisan bill to create and save jobs. No one disputes the importance of this legislation. Every State in the Union is desperate for these dollars. We are not borrowing money to do it; it is all paid for. Whether it is the State of West Virginia, the State of Missouri, or the State of Nevada, all the departments of transportation are waiting to find out what is going to happen at the end of March. That is fast approaching. We need to get this done.

Then I hope we can deal with other matters and not get bogged down on this legislation. Let's do the Banking part of this bill. Let's do the Finance part of this bill. Let's do the Commerce part of this bill.

But to show how the Republicans never lose an opportunity to mess up a good piece of legislation, listen to this: They are talking about first amendment rights, the Constitution. I appreciate that. But that is so senseless. This debate that is going on dealing with this issue, dealing with contraception, is a rule that has not been made final yet. There is no final rule. Let's wait until there is at least a rule we can talk about. There is not a final rule. That is all you read about in the newspapers, why there are discussions going on as we speak. There is not a rule. Everybody should calm down. Let's see what transpires.

Until there is a final rule on this, let's deal with the issue before us. That is saving jobs for our country. People can come and talk about the Constitution, the first amendment--I have never seen anything like this before, but I have never seen anything like this before, either. There is no final rule. Why don't we calm down and see what the final rule is.

Mr. President, I ask that we proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 437.

I send a cloture motion to the desk.

I ask unanimous consent that on February 13, 2012, at 4:30 p.m., the Senate proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 437; that there be an hour of debate equally divided in the usual form prior to the vote; further, that the mandatory quorum under rule XXII be waived.

I now ask unanimous consent we resume legislative session.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent we proceed to S. Res. 371.

I ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motions to reconsider be laid on the table, with no intervening action or debate, and any statements be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate adjourn until 2 p.m. on Monday, February 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 following any leader remarks, the Senate be in a period of morning business until 4:30 p.m., with Senators permitted to speak therein up to 10 minutes each; and that following morning business, the Senate proceed to executive session under the previous order.

Mr. President, the next rollcall vote will be at 5:30 p.m. on Monday on the motion to invoke cloture on the Jordan nomination.

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