Floor Statements

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 9:30 a.m. tomorrow, Wednesday, November 9, 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 a period of morning business for 70 minutes, 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 40 minutes and the majority controlling the final 30 minutes; that following morning business, the Senate proceed to the consideration of S.J. Res. 6, under the previous order.

Mr. President, tomorrow we will debate S.J. Res. 6 regarding net neutrality and continue debate on H.R. 674, the 3% Withholding Repeal and Jobs Act, with the Veterans jobs amendment.

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

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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 President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, following leader remarks, the Senate will be in a period of morning business until 5 p.m., with Senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each.

Following morning business, the Senate will resume consideration of H.R. 674. At approximately 5:30 p.m., the Senate will vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to that matter.

Mr. President, every man and woman who puts on the uniform of the U.S. Armed Forces takes a solemn oath to support and defend the Constitution against all enemies. With that oath comes an obligation: to defend the freedoms for which this noble Nation stands and upon which it was founded, without regard to personal price.

For this service, the United States makes a promise to our soldiers, sailors, marines, and airmen in return. That promise isn't about flag waving or yellow ribbons. It lasts long after the parades and holidays are over, through every day and every year of their lives. It is a guarantee that the American dream, for which every servicemember fights--and for which many of their comrades have died--will be waiting for them when they return.

Since September 11, 2001, this country has allowed that promise to lapse. Today, there are 240,000 unemployed veterans. These are veterans in the fight against global terrorism. Among veterans who have served since September 11, unemployment is more than 12 percent--more than 3 percentage points higher than among the general population. Among the youngest veterans--those under age 25--the unemployment rate is 22 percent.

These young men and women volunteered to fight terrorism abroad, but their struggles didn't end when they came home. Despite their service and experience, one-quarter of a million post-9/11 veterans can't find employment in today's dismal economy and rapidly changing workforce.

It is time for this country to make good on its promise. As we pay tribute this week to the millions of American veterans who have faithfully served our flag, Democrats want to introduce legislation to put those men and women back to work. VOW to Hire Heroes is the name of the legislation. This will offer tax credits to companies that hire unemployed veterans or veterans who were discharged in the last 5 years. The legislation will give an additional tax credit to the firms that hire unemployed veterans with service-related disabilities. Disabled veterans will also be eligible for an additional year of vocational rehab and employment benefits under this legislation.

The plan makes transition assistance--including resume-writing workshops and career counseling--mandatory for all servicemembers being discharged. Although our veterans are coming home with greater technical and leadership skills than ever before, those skills don't always translate to a civilian resume. This program will help bridge that gap.

Many Federal agencies, such as the VA and Homeland Security, badly need employees with the unique skills veterans possess. This legislation will also make it possible for servicemembers to apply for those jobs before they leave the military. This will allow soldiers to transition from serving their country in uniform to serving the civilian world without a gap in their employment.

To keep our promise to older veterans, the legislation will expand education and training opportunities at community colleges and technical schools for 100,000 unemployed veterans who served before September 11. Democrats believe we owe it to the men and women who have fought for us to fight for them here at home.

The VOW to Hire Heroes is our fourth attempt to pass commonsense legislation that puts Americans back to work and helps jump-start our economy. Senate Republicans unanimously opposed our last three jobs bills, although those bills had the support of the vast majority of Americans--Republicans, Democrats, and Independents alike. Meanwhile, Republicans have yet to propose a single idea of their own to create jobs. Their obstruction has cost hundreds of thousands of teacher and first responder jobs, it has cost hundreds of thousands of construction jobs, and put reconstruction of our Nation's crumbling roads, bridges, and runways on hold.

Now we will see whether the Senate Republicans are willing to put jobs for veterans at risk as well. I certainly hope they are not. I hope they will join us this week in supporting the legislation that uses ideas originally proposed by Republicans and Democrats to put this Nation's veterans back to work without adding a penny to the deficit.

I believe every man and woman serving in the Senate today is a patriot. I know each and every one of us supports the members of the U.S. armed services and is grateful to every veteran who has served. This week we have the opportunity to express our gratitude and our patriotism with action.

So far, Republicans have stood firm against even the most reasonable plan to create millions of jobs for the sake of politics. It is only a matter of time before they break and join Democrats in our efforts to create jobs and get the economy back on track.

As Veterans Day fast approaches, I urge my Republican colleagues to abandon partisanship and help us honor our commitment to this country's heroes.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, following leader remarks, the Senate will debate the motions to proceed to S. 1769 and S. 1786. One is a Democratic-sponsored infrastructure bill, and the other is a Republican-sponsored bill. The time until 3 p.m. will be equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees. At about 3 p.m., there will be up to two rollcall votes. The first vote will be on a motion to proceed to S. 1769, the Rebuild America Jobs Act. If that is not successful, there will be a second vote on the motion to proceed to S. 1786. Both motions will require 60 votes.

We also expect to vote on a number of judicial nominations today.

Mr. President, yesterday evening, I called my friend from Searchlight, NV, Arthur Fraijo. Arthur's family has been in Searchlight for many years. His mom and dad have passed away. I keep in touch with him. He is a wonderful, hard-working man. I said, ``Where are you today, Arthur?'' He said, ``I am at work.'' I said, ``You're kidding, where are you?'' He was at this project out by Primm, a big solar project. I said, ``How long have you been working?'' I remember that he said it was a matter of weeks. It is the first job he has had in 3 years. He is an iron worker and he is working now, and he is very happy. Here is an iron worker, a construction worker, who has finally found a job.

In Nevada we have thousands of other people who have been out of work for a long period of time--construction workers such as Arthur. Most are not fortunate enough to have a job such as he has. That is what our legislation is all about. The legislation we will vote on this afternoon deals with putting people back to work, hundreds of thousands of construction workers. This is a bill that does not add more deficit spending. It is paid for, and it is not an attack on millionaires and billionaires. Many millionaires and billionaires are very fortunate in that they may not, in a given year, make a million dollars but they still have assets, so they are millionaires and billionaires. We have made sure that a small percentage of Americans would help us put people such as Arthur back to work.

What we have suggested in our legislation is so reasonable and so fair. What we are saying is that people who make all this money--more than a million dollars a year--should contribute to the restructuring of our economy. The plan is paid for by asking these people to contribute a little more to get the economy back on track. We are not asking all millionaires and billionaires; we are asking the people who have made more than $1 million a year to pay a little bit extra. It is the right thing to do. It amounts to two-tenths of 1 percent of the people who make money in America--two-tenths of 1 percent.

It is unbelievable that the Republicans have lined up in the past-- and we have heard they are going to do the same thing today--in unanimous opposition to this commonsense plan that is supported by people all over America--not Democrats only, not Independents only, but Democrats, Independents, and Republicans.

Americans are crying for jobs, crying for us to pass this bill. This would put

3,000 or 4,000 people to work in Nevada. I think that is extremely important. And in every State it is the same. I talked to my friend from New Mexico yesterday, Senator Bingaman, the senior Senator, and he said it would put 4,000 people to work there. New Mexico's economy is not as troubled as Nevada's, but they are not doing as well as in years past.

This legislation levies a small tax on the top two-tenths of 1 percent of the American taxpayers. Their income has increased 275 percent over the last three decades. The top 1 percent of these people in America make as much as the other 99 percent put together.

We are being told that, well, we want to help you, but we have taken a tax pledge from this person named Grover Norquist. As Alan Simpson said, does that mean more than your country? If it does, he said you should not be in Congress.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, the highway bill has been worked on for months by Senator Boxer, who is the chairman, and the ranking member, Senator Inhofe. They have arrived at a conclusion.

I had a conversation yesterday with Senator Inhofe, and they have worked out almost all of the details on the bill. We have to do something on this bill because it expires at the end of this year--the 1st of February, I believe.

My friend, the Republican leader, whom I care a great deal about personally, is absolutely wrong. The American people support our approach. Seventy-six percent of the American people like it. People of all political definitions support it. Why? Because it is so fair.

We are asking the top two-tenths of 1 percent of people who make money in this country to contribute a surtax of seven-tenths of 1 percent of money they make over $1 million.

Job creators? I don't think so. The funding mechanism the Republicans use this time is in violation of the agreement we made last July. We have an agreement. We have cut domestic discretionary spending enough. That was the agreement we made. What they have done is come back to whack it more, which, I repeat, is going back on our agreement on how much we are spending on appropriations.

Not only that, but the Republicans do what they have done time and time again. We all know we would be better off if we didn't have as many regulations as we have. That is why every President, including Presidents Bush and Clinton, have done their best to eliminate unnecessary regulations. President Obama is doing the same thing. The Republicans come here and say that the way to create jobs is to get rid of regulations. On this way of paying for this--this smoke and mirrors that they have--they want to block implementation of health care reform, leading to higher costs and more uninsured Americans; block Wall Street reform, increasing the risk of future financial crises and taxpayer bailouts. Can you imagine, at this stage, that we would want to increase the power of those on Wall Street? I don't think the American people care about that. Also, they want to block antipollution protections, leading to dirtier air and more premature deaths and illness. They want to weaken food safety protections and weaken worker safety protections. I, of course, will urge my entire caucus to vote against this because it is the typical approach the Republicans have used, and it has not created a single job--a single job.

There is commentary in today's newspapers about what the House has been doing. They haven't done anything to create jobs. With that extremely powerful Republican caucus, they have done nothing--nothing-- to create jobs.

Now, Mr. President, I am glad we have a motto that says ``In God We Trust.'' But can you imagine, they voted yesterday whether we wanted to emphasize, to underline and underscore ``In God We Trust.'' They spent yesterday debating that issue in the House of Representatives. That didn't create a single job.

There is not a single Senator who does not trust in God, that I know of.

Yet that is what they are debating. People such as Arthur Fraijo are desperate for work, have been out of work all these years. Yet not a single thing they do creates jobs.

The legislation we will vote on at 3 o'clock will produce hundreds of thousands of jobs now.

Mr. President, my friend, the Republican leader, comes before this body today and says we should do our campaign speeches next year when the world knows my friend has said his No. 1 priority in this Congress is to defeat President Obama.

We have had on the Senate floor for the last 10 months a campaign speech every day directed by my friend and his Republican colleagues in his caucus doing everything they can to make President Obama look bad and doing nothing to help our economy. Their goal is to do everything they can to drag down this economy, to do anything they can to focus attention negatively on the President of the United States in hopes the minority leader can get my job, perhaps, and that President Obama will be defeated.

So let's not talk about campaign speeches on the Senate floor. Let's talk about reality. I do not believe we should be concerned about a piece of legislation that asks the richest of the rich to pay a few pennies of their vast fortunes to put people like my friend back to work. That is what this is all about. The American people agree with what we are doing. We are trying to have this government involved in things that create jobs, not slogans, not ``let's get rid of those regulations'' or do we believe in God or that kind of stuff.

That has not created a single job. What we want to do is create jobs. We also don't want to go back on the agreement we worked on for months regarding the deficit reduction plan and raising the debt ceiling, where we agreed on what our spending should be for this coming year. We will see how sincere my Republican colleagues are. The CR expires in 2 more weeks. The CR is the continuing resolution. Let's see if they go back on their word in that regard; that they will begin threatening to shut down the government if they do not get whatever slogan looks good during any specific period of time.

We have the FAA that is about to go out of business again because the Republicans are unwilling to pass a bill without some labor issue that has nothing to do with the bill that was passed--zero to do with it. Even the person who runs Delta Air Lines, that has been the focus of this, wants the FAA bill done. They recognize they have been hurt very badly by what the Republicans have done to focus attention on them-- attention they do not want focused on them.

So I hope we can, on a bipartisan basis, do the things that are good for the country, and I think creating jobs is one of the most important things we should do. I would say to my friend: We can stay here all day, and I will get in the last word. We can extend to 11:20 now, but I will get in the last word in our conversation today.

Mr. President, I would finally say this: I hope we will have a new dawn arising soon where we will see my Republican friends break away from this lockstep they have been in. I can't imagine they believe they are doing the right thing by voting against asking the richest of the rich--.02 percent of the richest people in America--to contribute a small amount toward creating jobs in America. That is what this is all about.

I would hope someday we will see a few Republicans break from the pack and vote to create jobs rather than trying to defeat President Obama come next November.

Madam President, we wish to outline what the rest of the day appears to be.

I ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding the previous order, following the next vote, the Senate proceed to executive session to consider the following nominations: Calendar No. 353 and Calendar No. 356; that there be 15 minutes for debate equally divided in the usual form; that following that debate, Calendar No. 356 be confirmed and the Senate proceed to vote with no intervening action or debate on Calendar No. 353, with the provisions of the previous order remaining in effect; and that the next 2 votes be 10 minutes in duration.

I announce that the Senator from Illinois (Mr. Durbin) and the Senator from California (Mrs. Boxer) are necessarily absent.

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

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that at a time to be determined by the majority leader, after consultation with the Republican leader, the Republican leader or his designee be recognized to move to proceed to the consideration of S.J. Res. 6, a joint resolution disapproving a rule submitted by the Federal Communications Commission with respect to regulating the Internet and broadband industry practices; that there be up to 4 hours of debate on the motion to proceed, with the time equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees; that upon the use or yielding back of time, the Senate proceed to vote on the adoption of the motion to proceed; that if the motion is successful, then the time for debate with respect to the joint resolution be equally divided between the two leaders or their designees; that upon the use or yielding back of time, the joint resolution be read a third time and the Senate proceed to vote on passage of the joint resolution; finally, that all other provisions of the statute governing consideration of the joint resolution remain in effect.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order with respect to S.J. Res. 6 also apply to S.J. Res. 27, with the only exception being 2 hours of debate equally divided between the two leaders or their designees prior to a vote on the motion to proceed.

Madam President, I move to proceed to Calendar No. 212,

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

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