Floor Statements

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

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed to H.R. 2845.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the bill be read three times, passed, the motion 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 the Foreign Relations Committee be discharged from further consideration of H.R. 2867.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that a Durbin amendment which is at the desk be agreed to and the bill, as amended, be read a third time.

I ask unanimous consent the motion to reconsider be laid on the table.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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 President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

I ask unanimous consent that not withstanding the lack of receipt from the House with respect to H.R. 3630, it be in order for the bill to be considered read for the first time and placed on the legislative calendar under the heading ``Bills and Joint Resolutions Read the First Time.''

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 9:30 a.m., on Wednesday, December 14, 2011; 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 morning business for 1 hour, with Senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each, with the time equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees, with the majority controlling the first half and the Republicans controlling the final half; and that following morning business, the Senate resume consideration of S.J. Res. 10 and S.J. Res. 24, under the previous order.

There will be two rollcall votes at approximately 10:45 a.m. tomorrow on the balanced budget amendment resolution. We also hope to consider the DOD authorization conference report as well as the House Republican payroll tax bill tomorrow.

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

Mr. President, following leader remarks, the Senate will be in a period of morning business until 4:30 this afternoon. Following morning business, the Senate will be in executive session to consider the nominations of Norman Eisen to be Ambassador to the Czech Republic and Mari Aponte to be Ambassador to El Salvador.

At 5:30 p.m. there will be at least two rollcall votes in relation to the nominations.

Mr. President, today the Senate will vote on two nominations: those of Norman Eisen to serve as Ambassador to the Czech Republic and Maria Carmen Aponte to serve as Ambassador to El Salvador.

These two Ambassadors are in their positions as we speak, having been given recess appointments. These nominees are accomplished, qualified public servants who will continue to represent their Nation with distinction. For my Republican colleagues, however, being qualified and dedicated doesn't seem to be enough anymore. Last week, they blocked the nomination of a brilliant legal mind, Caitlin Halligan, to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. Obviously, they don't mind there are these vacancies because Republicans were in the majority in that court. So they wanted to defeat this competent woman, and that is what they did with these vacancies still there in that court.

They blocked the nomination of Richard Cordray to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, despite his obviously deep qualifications for the job. He has a long history of protecting the middle class against unfair practices by financial predators and he would have been a great asset in our fight to protect Main Street from the kind of Wall Street greed that caused the 2008 financial crisis. Yet Republicans denied Mr. Cordray's nomination--I should say confirmation--and all it does is weaken the agency he was nominated to lead.

I hope Republicans will not turn every confirmation process into a political three-ring circus. The candidates today, Mr. Eisen and Ms. Aponte, have jumped through enough hoops already. Ms. Aponte's accomplished record as Ambassador to El Salvador over the past 15 months speaks for itself. Experts in the region from across the political spectrum support her confirmation. The same enthusiasm is there for Ambassador Eisen. If Republicans block the confirmation of these excellent, qualified candidates, it will only be for nakedly partisan reasons.

Mr. President, also under partisan assault this month is a Democratic proposal to grant a $1,000-tax decrease on working families.

Senate Republicans have blocked four proposals to protect middle- class pocketbooks. Every hour they delay and every day they filibuster is one more the Senate, by necessity, will have to stay in Washington to get its work done.

Republicans have opposed our plan to pay for this legislation with a tiny surtax on a tiny fraction of America's highest earners. The tax would only apply to the second or third or fourth million the wealthiest Americans make. But Republicans say the richest of the rich in our country--even those who make millions every year--shouldn't contribute more to get our economy back on track. They call our plan, time after time, a tax on job creators--and I say so-called job creators--because every shred of evidence contradicts this red herring.

For example, there have been many outlets, but I will concentrate on one: National Public Radio went looking for one of these fictitious millionaire job creators. A reporter reached out to business groups, the antitax lobby, and Republicans in Congress hoping to interview one of these millionaires. Days ticked by with no luck. Many of our job creators are similar to unicorns; they are impossible to find and don't exist. That is because only a tiny fraction of people making more than $1 million--probably less than 1 percent--are actually small business owners, and only a tiny fraction of that tiny fraction is a traditional job creator. Most of these businesses are hedge fund managers or wealthy lawyers. They don't do much hiring and they don't need more tax breaks.

One reporter looked for millionaire job creators hiding on Facebook. This time they found a few, and they actually supported our plan. These people on Facebook actually supported our plan to ask the richest of the rich to pitch in to improve the economy for all Americans. This is what Jason Burger, owner of a contracting company that is hiring like crazy, said:

It's only fair that I put back into the system. That is the

entire reason for my success.

Mr. Burger may be a millionaire, but he is not one in a million. The majority of people who make more than $1 million a year say they would gladly contribute more to improve the economy.

It is often said that what is good for business is good for America. I hope my Republican colleagues will remember, as Mr. Burger does, what is good for America is also good for business.

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

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that John Daley, a detailee with the Foreign Relations Committee from the State Department, be granted floor privileges for the consideration of the Eisen and Aponte nominations.

I ask unanimous consent, pursuant to the Budget Control Act of 2011, that following morning business on Tuesday, December 13, the Judiciary Committee be discharged from further consideration of the following joint resolutions proposing a balanced budget constitutional amendment and the Senate proceed to their consideration en bloc: S.J. Res. 10, S.J. Res. 24; further, that the titles of both joint resolutions be amended as follows so they comply with the Budget Control Act of 2011:

``Joint resolution proposing a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution of the United States''; that there be up to 8 hours of debate on the joint resolutions to run concurrently during Tuesday's session, equally divided between the two leaders or their designees; that when the Senate resumes consideration of the joint resolutions en bloc, on Wednesday, December 14, there be up to 10 minutes of debate equally divided between the two leaders or their designees prior to votes on passage of the joint resolutions in the following order: first, S.J. Res. 24; and, secondly, on S.J. Res. 10; further, that there be 2 minutes, equally divided, between the votes; finally, that there be no amendments, motions or points of order to either joint resolution prior to the votes.

I understand there is a bill at the desk, and I ask for its first reading.

I now ask for a second reading and, in order to place the bill on the calendar under the provisions of rule XIV, I object to my own request.

I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 10 a.m. tomorrow morning, Tuesday, December 13, 2011; 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 morning business for 2 hours, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each, with the time equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees, with the Republicans controlling the first half and the majority controlling the final half; and that following morning business, the Senate proceed to the consideration of S.J. Res. 10 and S.J. Res. 24, under the previous order; further, that the Senate recess from 12:30 p.m. until 2:15 p.m. to allow for the weekly caucus meetings.