Floor Statements

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, following leader remarks, the Senate will be in a period of morning business until 10 a.m. At 10 a.m., the Senate will begin consideration of the motion to proceed to S.J. Res. 27, with 2 hours of debate.

Around noon, there will be two rollcall votes on the motions to proceed to the joint resolutions of disapproval regarding net neutrality and cross-border air pollution.

An additional series of votes in relation to H.R. 674, the 3% Withholding Repeal and Job Creation Act with the veterans jobs amendment, and a cloture vote on the motion to proceed to H.R. 2354, the Energy and Water appropriations bill, will occur later in the afternoon. These votes are currently scheduled for 2:30 p.m. today, but we expect to get a unanimous consent agreement to begin those as early as 1:45 p.m. today.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the time under the previous order for resumption of consideration of H.R. 674 be modified for the Senate to resume consideration of the bill at 1:30 p.m., with all other provisions of the previous order remaining in effect; further, that all after the first vote be 10 minutes.

With this agreement, the Senate will resume consideration of the bill at 1:30 p.m., with up to 15 minutes of debate prior to the votes. There will be a series of up to four rollcall votes beginning around 1:45 p.m.

Mr. President, the next vote will be on cloture on the motion to proceed to the energy and water appropriations bill. That will be the last vote of the day. There will be no votes on Friday or Monday. There will be debate on this measure on which in a few minutes we hope to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed. Debate will begin Monday afternoon. Senators Feinstein and Alexander are the managers of that bill. We will start that on Monday. There will be a vote Tuesday morning on a judge. So have a good

break, and we feel pretty good about the work we have gotten done this week.

Cloture Motion

Mr. President, in 1965, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., called the organized labor movement, ``the principal force that transformed misery and despair into hope and progress.''

And for three decades, Jerry McEntee has been a leader in the quest for that progress.

As president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees since 1981, Jerry McEntee has been a driving force in the fight for a better life for American workers.

He has dedicated his union's resources to the struggle for greater economic and social justice for every man and woman in this Nation-- regardless of age, race, gender, religion, sexual orientation or disability.

And he has literally given American workers a voice.

AFSCME has played a role in every struggle to protect collective bargaining rights, equal pay, good benefits, secure retirement, public services and worker opportunity for the last 75 years. And for more than 50 of those years, Jerry has been part of the fight.

At the helm of AFSCME, Jerry advocated for every piece of progressive legislation passed in the last three decades. The organization and dedication of Jerry and his 1.6 million brothers and sisters has been invaluable, whether we were raising the minimum wage or passing the Affordable Care Act.

And Democrats and our progressive allies are grateful for his leadership and support over the years.

As Jerry McEntee announces that he will retire next year from AFSCME's presidency, I am reminded that our work isn't over. Assaults on collective bargaining rights in Wisconsin and Ohio proved that.

The journey from misery and despair to hope and progress that Dr. King spoke of--a journey that Jerry McEntee has led for more than 30 years--is never truly over.

I look forward to working side by side with AFSCME, our friends in labor and all our progressive allies as we continue the work of my friend, Jerry McEntee.

The labor movement is better because of Jerry. America is a better place because of Jerry.

I congratulate Jerry on a career well spent in the pursuit of progress.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that Caroline Tess, a State Department detailee in my office, be granted the privilege of the floor for the remainder of this Congress.

Madam President, following leader remarks, the Senate will be in a period of morning business for 1 hour, with the majority controlling the first half and the Republicans controlling the final half. Following morning business, we will resume consideration of the motion to proceed to H.R. 674. At noon, the Senate will be in executive session to consider the nomination of Evan Wallach to be U.S. Circuit Judge for the Federal Circuit. At 12:15 p.m., the Senate will vote on confirmation of the Wallach nomination. Following that vote, the Senate will be in recess until 2:15 p.m. to allow for our weekly caucus meetings. We expect to begin consideration of H.R. 674 today. Senators will be notified when additional votes are scheduled.

Madam President, there are two bills at the desk. They are both due for a second reading.

Madam President, I object to any further proceedings with respect to these two bills.

Madam President, yesterday my friend the Republican leader ticked off a list of bills on which he believes Democrats and Republicans can agree. I couldn't help but notice that the VOW to Hire Heroes legislation that would give tax cuts to companies to hire out- of-work and disabled veterans wasn't on that list he ticked off.

The bill I just referred to, the VOW to Hire Heroes legislation, ought to be free of even a whiff of controversy. House Republicans already voted for the major components of that bill--a plan to give older veterans access to job training so they can keep up with the rapidly changing workplace and to help young veterans transition from Active-Duty service to the civilian workplace.

The bill wouldn't add a dime to the deficit, so there should be no objection there. It is paid for with a noncontroversial extension of an existing fee on VA-backed mortgages. It is a version of the same bill for which House Republicans already voted. Republicans have voted for tax credits for companies that hire out-of-work and disabled veterans in the past, so that can't be the holdup. We will pass this important legislation as an amendment to a bill sent over from the House to repeal a 3 percent withholding provision from government contractors. Republicans have been chomping at the bit to pass this measure, so the House vehicle for VOW to Hire Heroes is not the source of their radio silence, I am sure.

There are no procedural or philosophical hurdles to passing this bill. But don't take my word for it, Madam President. Jeff Miller, the Republican chairman of the House Veterans' Affairs Committee, said this about this bipartisan legislation yesterday:

Today, we are putting aside politics and putting America's

veterans first. This is how the process should work. The VOW

Act, which passed the House with overwhelming bipartisan

support, provides the framework for this legislation and gets

to the root of many of the employment problems our veterans

face.

With nearly a quarter of a million Iraq and Afghanistan veterans unemployed, this legislation can't come a moment too soon. Yet Senate Republicans remain curiously silent on this legislation.

It is inconceivable that my Republican colleagues perceive this legislation to be unnecessary, but it also seemed unthinkable that Republicans would unanimously oppose legislation to create hundreds of thousands of jobs for teachers, firefighters, and construction workers.

Here is what is at stake. The number of unemployed post-9/11 veterans has gone up by 30,000 in the last year alone. Nearly 250,000 men and women who volunteered to fight overseas for the flag and the privileges and freedoms it represents can't find a job here at home. That number will only grow as the two wars draw to a close. One in five young veterans--veterans under age 25--is unemployed. On any given night, at least 75,000 veterans, including 2,500 in Nevada, sleep on the streets. They are homeless. We should all be able to agree that even 1 night is too many for our Nation's heroes to pass without a roof over their head. Young veterans are more than twice as likely as their peers to be homeless and four times as likely to live in poverty. During tough economic times, when some young people join the military for a way to escape the cycle of poverty, this statistic is shocking and disheartening.

I call on the minority leader and the rest of my Republican colleagues to break their silence. Where do they stand on the VOW to Hire Heroes Act? I ask my Republican colleagues, do you believe we should lend a hand to those who defend our freedom? Of course. Or do you think this Nation's responsibility to its veterans ends the day they take off that uniform?

Andrew Carnegie once said that the older he got, the less mind he paid to what men say. ``I just watch what they do,'' he said. So I remind my Republican friends that the men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces--those who wear the uniform today and those who wore it once-- are watching what my Republican colleagues do.

Mr. President, Judge Evan Wallach has been my friend for a very long time.

I have known him since he was a lawyer in Nevada. He worked at Lionel Sawyer & Collins for almost 2 decades.

He is a good man and a good jurist, and I believe he is a wonderful nominee for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

He is also a scholar. Judge Wallach graduated from the University of Arizona and then got his law degree from UC Berkeley. But one law degree wasn't enough, so he went on to get another degree at the renowned University of Cambridge Law School in England.

Now he passes on that great wealth of knowledge to others. Since 1997, he has served as an adjunct law professor, teaching the law of war and other courses at Brooklyn Law School, New York Law School and several other worthy institutions.

Judge Wallach is also a patriot with a long history of serving his country in our armed forces.

He and his two older brothers volunteered to serve in Vietnam, and Judge Wallach was awarded the Bronze Star.

But his service to his country didn't end there. My friend served in the Nevada Army National Guard from 1989 until 1995 as an attorney- advisor.

During the Gulf War, in 1991, he took a leave of absence from his law practice--where he was a partner--to serve as an active-duty attorney- advisor. He served in the Office of the Judge Advocate General of the Army at the Pentagon.

He has also served as a Circuit Court judge in the 2nd, 3rd and 9th Circuits, and as a District Court judge in Nevada, New York and the District of Columbia. He even heard a patent case in Nevada and he wrote hundreds of opinions as a judge for the U.S. Court of International Trade.

Judge Evan Wallach served his country bravely at war. I know he will serve it well once again as a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

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

The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Blumenthal.) Without objection, it is so ordered.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the motion to proceed to H.R. 674 be adopted; that after the motion is adopted, the majority leader be recognized to offer amendment No. 927 on behalf of Senator Tester and others; that when the Senate resumes consideration of the bill on Wednesday, November 9, Senator McCain or his designee be recognized to offer a second-degree amendment, No. 928; that no other amendments, points of order, or motions be in order to either amendment or the bill prior to the votes other than budget points of order and the applicable motions to waive; that following morning business on Wednesday, November 9, the Senate proceed to the consideration of the motion to proceed to S.J. Res. 6, as provided under the previous order; that upon the use or yielding back of time, the Senate resume consideration of H.R. 674; further, that at 10 a.m. Thursday, November 10, the Senate proceed to the consideration of the motion to proceed to S.J. Res. 27 as provided under the previous order; that at noon, the Senate resume consideration of the motion to proceed to S.J. Res. 6 and there be up to 5 minutes of debate, equally divided between the two leaders or their designees, prior to a vote on the motion to proceed to S.J. Res. 6; that following the vote, the Senate then proceed to vote on the motion to proceed to S.J. Res. 27; that there be 2 minutes equally divided between the votes; that if either or both motions to proceed are agreed to, then further debate and votes on the joint resolutions be deferred until 2:15 p.m. on Tuesday, November 15, with all other provisions of the previous orders regarding the joint resolutions remaining in effect; that at 2:15 on Thursday, November 10, the Senate resume consideration of H.R. 674; that there be up to 15 minutes of debate on the bill and amendments to run concurrently, with the time equally divided between the two leaders or their designees; that upon the use or yielding back of time, the Senate proceed to vote in relation to the amendments to H.R. 674 in the following order: McCain amendment No. 928 and Reid for Tester amendment No. 927; that the McCain and Reid for Tester amendments be subject to a 60-vote affirmative vote threshold; that upon the disposition of the amendments, the bill be read a third time and the Senate proceed to vote on passage of the bill, as amended, if amended; that upon disposition of H.R. 674, the Senate proceed to vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to H.R. 2354, the Energy and Water appropriations bill.

Mr. President, I move to proceed to Calendar No. 157, H.R. 2354.

Mr. President, I have a cloture motion at the desk.

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

Mr. President, I now withdraw my motion.

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

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Environment and Public Works Committee be discharged from further consideration of S. Res. 132 and the Senate proceed to its consideration.

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

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the amendment to the title of S. 1280 be engrossed, set out in the heading of amendment No. 668, be considered to have been proposed and adopted as such.

Mr. President, the amendment to the title of S. 1280, as engrossed by the Senate was set out only in the heading of amendment No. 668, the substitute for the bill, and not in the text of amendment No. 668. It was not properly drafted as an amendment to the title of the bill. Unlike properly drafted title amendments, amendment headings are not printed in the Congressional Record, nor are they contained in online computer records. Therefore, this title amendment is first present in the engrossed Senate bill and is not otherwise reproduced as part of the legislative history of the bill. To clarify the Senate's intention to amend this title, the Senate agreed to this unanimous consent request.