Floor Statements

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 10 a.m. on Tuesday, September 16, 2014; that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, 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 proceed to a period of morning business 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. until 2:15 p.m. to allow for the weekly caucus meetings.

Mr. President, the next rollcall votes will be at 2:15 p.m. on confirmation of the Baran and Burns nominations as provided for under the previous order.

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

Mr. President, I am not sure everyone remembers where they were 13 years ago today, but most of us remember. The vast majority of us remember. Just a few feet from here in S-219 Senator Daschle had his usual Tuesday morning leadership meeting. I was assistant leader at the time. I was first to come into the room shortly before 9. About 9-- maybe a minute or two after--Senator John Breaux from Louisiana walked in and said: Flip on the TV. Something is going on in New York. And we flipped on the television. Something had happened in one of the towers, like an airplane had hit one of those towers.

We said: What happened there? And we kind of looked at each other.

People started coming into the room. The TV was turned off and the meeting was started. Just a short time thereafter--5, 6 minutes at the most, as I recall--someone came into the room and grabbed Senator Daschle, who was at the head of the table, took him out and came back in just a very brief minute and said: The building is being evacuated. We all have to leave. There is an airplane headed for the Capitol.

As we left that room, we could look out and see already the smoke billowing from the Pentagon. The airplane had struck the Pentagon.

Now that day was a day I will never forget--never forget. I was taken with Senator Daschle, Don Nickles, who was the Republican assistant leader, and Trent Lott, and we were flown to a classified location. We spent the day there with a number of people, including the Vice President of the United States.

Late in the evening we came back to the Capitol after having been cleared to come back. The Senators gathered on the Senate steps in the Capitol, Democrats and Republicans. We were gathering just to show we were supportive of this great country. Barbara Mikulski, small in stature but powerful in soul, in every way, said so everyone could hear it: Let's sing ``God Bless America.''

I don't sing very often, but I sang that night. We all did. ``God bless America.'' We did it because we knew it was a day we would never forget. It was a day we wanted to show we were together as Members of Congress.

So as I have said already two or three times this morning, I don't want to ever forget that moment, that day, and I want to make sure we honor the heroes who paid the ultimate price for our freedom. The greatest memorial we have to offer the brave men and women who perished on 9/11, thousands of them, is to simply never forget.

Mr. President, following my remarks and those of the Republican leader, the Senate will resume consideration of the motion to proceed to S. 2199, the Paycheck Fairness Act postcloture.

The filing deadline for first-degree amendments to S.J. Res. 19, the constitutional amendment on campaign finance reform, is 12 noon today and the second-degree amendments is 1 p.m.

We hope to move forward on the Paycheck Fairness Act and vote on cloture on the constitutional amendment early this afternoon. Senators will be notified when the votes are scheduled.

We remind everyone there is a briefing at 4 p.m. today. It will be in the Visitor Center in a classified room. We will be briefed on what is going on in the Middle East by administration officials.

Mr. President, H.R. 5078 is due for its second reading.

I would object to any further proceedings at this time on this matter.

Mr. President, as I have indicated, 13 years since the evil attacks of September 11, terrorism continues to rear its ugly head throughout the world. As I speak, the terrorist group ISIS, like a scourge, is plaguing the Middle East. These radical Islamic terrorists are wreaking havoc in Iraq and Syria, butchering the innocent and instituting brutal edicts.

ISIS is a murderous, fanatical organization. It is evil in nature. They must be stopped, and they will be stopped. We will degrade and destroy them.

The Presiding Officer is a general who led hundreds and hundreds of troops to battle in the Middle East. We must honor our troops as indicated in the prayer this morning by our Chaplain because they are going to be called as they are through the air, as President Obama said last night, to do something to degrade and, working with others, to get rid of this scourge.

Last night President Obama delivered a stirring speech to the Nation outlining his blueprint for eradicating this threat without repeating mistakes of the past. We all know the mistakes about which I speak. The President made it clear: We will not rush into another ground war in the Middle East and we will not go it alone to destroy this evil. Instead, America will lead a coalition that includes European and Arab nations in a targeted, strategic mission to destroy ISIS. American air strikes will be supported by local forces that are trained by the U.S. military advisers and others who will assume the duties of defending and protecting their communities and homes. It falls upon us, Congress and the American people, to rally behind the President on his decisive strategy.

There are no ground troops--I repeat--and that is the way it should be. I am confident we will put our political differences aside and work together to give this administration the tools it needs to meet ISIS head-on--not the least of which is the authority to equip and train Syrian troops to fight these very bad--I repeat--evil terrorists.

However, it is disturbing that at a time such as this there are some in Congress taking cheap political shots at the President. Now is the time for us to come together. When tested, Americans have always closed ranks and engaged our adversaries as one united Nation. A matter such as this is no place for political posturing--political positioning. This is time for the rhetoric of campaign commercials to go away. We must draw together as a nation.

When President Bush called upon Congress to do something about the terrible economic crisis that hit this country, we joined together, we joined together as Democrats, Republicans, and Independents and took this head-on. This is the situation now. We must draw together and support the President in eradicating the evil of ISIS, not only for our Nation but the world.

Mr. President, I appreciate very much the distinguished Senator from Texas for yielding the floor.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that all postcloture time on the motion to proceed to S. 2199 be considered expired.

In regard to this, Mr. President, I have an amendment that is at the desk that I ask the clerk to report.

I ask for the yeas and nays on that amendment.

Mr. President, I have a second-degree amendment at the desk.

Mr. President, I have a motion to commit S. 2199 with instructions, which is at the desk.

I ask for the yeas and nays on that motion.

I have an amendment to the instructions at the desk.

I ask for the yeas and nays on that amendment.

I have a second-degree amendment at the desk.

Mr. President, I have a cloture motion at the desk that I ask the Presiding Officer to order reported.

I ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum under rule XXII be waived.

Mr. President, I now move to proceed to Calendar No. 409,

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding rule XXII, the cloture vote with respect to S.J. Res. 19 occur at 1:45 p.m. today.

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

Madam President, much has been said about the terrorist group ISIS in the past few days--and rightfully so. ISIS is a vile mob of fanatics whose butchery knows no bounds. I am confident President Obama's targeted action will degrade and destroy this menace.

But there is another evil organization in the world today that, like ISIS, has zero regard for humanity. They are kidnappers and executioners. They are violent extremists who murder innocent civilians. They are terrorists who cower behind women and children, even using them as human shields. They are saboteurs of peace and provocateurs of bloody conflict who will not stop their butchery. Once again, I am not talking about the Islamic State of Iraq; I am talking about Hamas.

Hamas and ISIS are both vicious, corrupt, hateful, evil groups. Both are extreme, outrageous, irrational, excessive, harsh, and radical. Yet for some reason Hamas's brutality doesn't elicit the same horror in the international community as ISIS. How can that be?

One of the few differences between these two terrorist organizations is that Hamas has a narrow, ghastly focus: the destruction of the State of Israel. Consider its actions over the past few months.

Hamas raided its own limited supplies for housing and general infrastructure, intended to repair the destruction that occurred during the last conflict they initiated. Hamas instead used the stolen materials to build tunnels to hide and infiltrate Israel--infiltrating to kill, maim, kidnap, and murder the innocent.

These depraved agitators launched thousands of rockets into Israel, hoping to inflict death and destruction. Their rockets had no aiming devices, no aiming capabilities. They fired indiscriminately, not caring whether they hit a child, a family, a school, or a place of worship. It begs the question: Without specific targets, why fire the rockets into Israel? We know why--provocation. Hamas knew Israel would be forced to defend itself, and, of course, that is what the Israelis did. Israel responded as any nation would to such attacks against its nation--by trying to protect its people. And what did Hamas do? They had such little regard for the people of Gaza that they used their own as human shields. Hamas used Palestinians as shields to carry out a sinister ploy, hoping they and their apologists could dupe the world into blaming Israel.

David Brooks, a distinguished columnist, said 2 months ago on PBS's ``NewsHour,'' referring to Hamas:

It's a rare moment in military history where a party rejects a cease- fire in order to get more of their own people killed. But that's part of the strategy.

When Hamas wasn't scheming for more Palestinian fatalities to blame on Israel, it was carrying out more public executions of Gaza residents. For example, this is an article from the Wall Street Journal: ``Alleged Collaborators With Israel Killed in Gaza. Deaths Follow Israel's Targeted Killing of Three Top Hamas Military Commanders.''

Hamas executed 18 people on Friday, some of them in the

streets of Gaza City in the middle of the day, after accusing

them of collaborating with Israel, according to media linked

to the Islamic group, which rules the Gaza Strip.

In one instance, about 20 militants dressed in black and

with their faces covered brought six of the condemned men,

their heads covered with cloth bags, to an alley near the

Great Omari Mosque in Gaza City after midday prayers,

witnesses said. A militant shot the men in the head one at a

time with a pistol, after which he sprayed them with

automatic rifle fire, the witnesses said. The bodies were

loaded into government ambulances and taken away.

These are the fanatics Israel faces every day, terrorist organizations as violent and extreme as any other on the face of the planet, as indicated by this Wall Street Journal article I just read.

There are those who refuse to condemn Hamas as they would ISIS. The hypocrisy is stunning. Those who reject tyranny, corruption, and terrorism should denounce Hamas. All those who honor peace and sovereignty should stand for Israel.

I stand with Israel. The United States of America stands with Israel. President Barack Obama and Congress continue to affirm America's unshakeable bond with Israel and our strong support for the security and safety of its people.

For my part, I will continue to do all I can to support Israel's right to self-defense. I know my colleagues join me in supporting the State of Israel and condemning Hamas for the depraved, horrid, repugnant terrorist organization that it is.

I yield the floor.

I ask unanimous consent that it be in order to proceed to the Baran and Burns nominations reported out of the Environment and Public Works Committee earlier today.

There is a cloture motion at the desk I ask to be reported.

I ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum under rule XXII be waived.

I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to legislative session.

I send a cloture motion to the desk.

I ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum under rule XXII be waived.