Floor Statements

Mr. President, we expect to quickly wrap up work on the China currency legislation this week. We have a lot to get done this month, so the Senate must move fast.

One out of every nine Federal judgeships remains vacant, which puts at risk the right of every American to a fair and speedy hearing. While I have been frustrated at the slow pace in confirming judicial nominees this Congress, I am pleased we have been able to reach an agreement to confirm 10 judges this week and next. These nominations are noncontroversial, and they

have the unanimous support of the Judiciary Committee. Five of the six judges we will confirm today come from States with Republican Senators, and all five have the support of that Republican Senator.

This month, the Senate will also take up three appropriations bills. Last month, we passed a continuing resolution to fund the government through November 18. Now we must finish our work on the annual appropriations bills.

We will also take up three trade bills this work period. Last month, the Senate passed trade adjustment assistance legislation which helps U.S. workers who lose their jobs because of international trade learn new skills and reenter a changing workforce. A global economy means global competition, and a flexible, well-trained workforce is what will allow us to keep pace with our rivals. That is why Democrats insisted on passing trade adjustment assistance before we would take up those three trade bills we will soon consider--Panama, Korea, and Colombia.

Republicans have said these trade agreements are important to them. Yet for months they have prevented them from moving forward by stalling trade adjustment assistance. I hope the House will not delay any longer on their taking up trade adjustment assistance. I am told they will not.

The Senate will also take up President Obama's American Jobs Act this month. Members of both parties should rally behind the commonsense, bipartisan approach of this legislation. It will cut taxes for working families and small businesses to spur job creation and put Americans to work restoring this Nation's decaying roads, bridges, dams, and schools. I am happy to work with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to improve this bill, but I hope the obstructionism Republicans have employed for the last 9 months will not continue.

This year, Democrats have introduced jobs bill after jobs bill. Meanwhile, our Republican colleagues have put their own political agenda ahead of the Nation's jobs agenda. They claim they are willing to work in a bipartisan fashion to get our economy back on track, and this month they will get another chance to prove this. So I urge my Republican friends to remember that actions speak much louder than words. I hope they will take time out from rooting for our very difficult economy to fail for the sake of politics and help Democrats put this Nation back to work.

Would the Chair announce morning business.

I note the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, the speech given by my friend, the senior Senator from Arizona, is a speech I could give, because he is absolutely right. We have so much we have to do. But we have had a problem because of the Republicans in the Senate. We have spent basically 100 percent of our time these last 9 months on 2 issues that should have taken a matter of a few hours but have taken months and months, the continuing resolutions.

We voted on the continuing resolution--for 1 week, 2 weeks, on and on for months, trying to fund government--2 or 3 days ago, the 1st of October. It took months to get that done. Then as soon as we finished that, that little exercise is only preparation for the longstanding time that we had to spend on raising the debt ceiling, something we had done with ease scores of other times. During the 8 years of President Reagan, for example, we raised the debt ceiling for him 18 times. But we spent months--months--on this continuing resolution and on this debt ceiling, and it prevented us from doing our work. So the words my friend from Arizona has given about all of the work that needs to be done do not include all of the work we have to do.

I do not think there could be a more important piece of legislation right now, with the jobs being the way they are, than China currency. Everyone knows how they have manipulated their currency, which has been very difficult for our country. We have lost in the last 10 years, because of that, 2 million jobs; jobs that should be our jobs if the currency were fair. But it is not. It is manipulated.

This is a jobs bill we are on today. It is a bipartisan piece of legislation that has been supported by large numbers of Democrats and Republicans. We have put this off for a long time. Now is the time to do this. We must send a message to the Chinese that we are serious.

We have for 50 years every year passed a Defense authorization bill. We need to do it this year. It is extremely important for a number of reasons. One is these programs are important. We need to take care of our soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen. It sets funding levels for weapons and ammunition programs and authorizes activities of the Armed Forces around the world. It

contains authorizations--new authorizations--for programs that are extremely important to this country, including counternarcotics efforts that are critical to our efforts around the world.

This Defense authorization bill is also a bill that has some of the best oversight of any of the work that we do. The Armed Services Committee does good work in looking at the oversight of the military. This is a civilian oversight responsibility we have and we need to complete that.

I agree with my friend from Arizona, it is vital that we get to this bill and pass it. But I also say that in its present form, I am going to have some difficulty bringing this bill to the floor. It contains provisions relating to the detention of terrorism suspects, which in the words of National Security Advisor John Brennan:

would be disastrous. It would tie the hands of

counterterrorism professionals by eliminating tools and

authorities that have been absolutely essential to their

success.

To show you how extremely important it is that we do something about these provisions in this bill that are just wrong, both the Judiciary Committee in the Senate and the Intelligence Committee in the Senate have asked for hearings on this provision in this bill.

Going back to my original subject on China trade, the House of Representatives is going to pass China trade. Everybody knows that now. A couple of months ago that may not have been the case, but they will pass that as soon as we do.

I would hope my friend from Arizona, who we all have such admiration and respect for--we know how much he cares about our country and particularly about the Armed Forces of our country. I wish he would consider doing what we did last year. We had another problem with the Defense authorization bill, not from our perspective, as it is today, but it was from his perspective, because he felt very strongly that don't ask, don't tell should not be in the Defense authorization bill. I disagreed with him vehemently. But we agreed to take that out of the bill and have a separate vote on don't ask, don't tell. It worked out fine. I moved that during the lameduck session. People criticized me for bringing it up. But it is something I felt I had to do because that was an agreement I had with people who cared a great deal about that. I received lots of criticism because I took it out of the Defense bill or had it taken out of the Defense authorization bill.

I would say to my friend, the Senator from Arizona--and he is my friend--that we take this provision out of this bill and bring it up, have an up-or-down vote on however you want to handle that. Let the Judiciary Committee and Intelligence Committee do their work on this provision. It is not a good provision.

Since it was put in that bill, we have had some significant changes around the world, and it would be such a detriment to what we need to do to get these bad guys, to keep this provision in the bill. So I would hope my friend would treat this provision as I treated don't ask, don't tell. He complained about that. I did not think he was right, but I thought it was so important that we move to this Defense authorization bill that it was taken out.

We need to do that with this. It would be better for our country, it would be better for the Senate, and it would be better for the bipartisanship work we have to do around here. I do not in any way criticize my friend for bringing this up. I have talked to him privately. I have talked to Senator Levin, the chairman of that committee, on a number of occasions. I have expressed in the recent weeks that we have a problem with this provision. And, in fact, I did not know the Senator from Arizona was going to be here today. I have a letter in my office I have been looking over. I was going to have it hand-delivered to Senator McCain and Senator Levin today, and I will continue doing that. The whole subject of my letter was to explain to them the problem with this.

Mr. President, following leader remarks, the Senate will be in a period of morning business until 4:30 p.m. At that time the Senate will resume consideration of the motion to concur in the House message to accompany H.R. 2608, the continuing resolution. The filing deadline for second-degree amendments to the House message is 5 p.m. At 5:30 p.m. there will be a cloture vote on the House message with the Reid of Nevada amendment.

Mr. President, 2 weeks ago the Senate passed a bipartisan bill to fund the Federal Emergency Management Agency, known as FEMA. For 2 weeks House Republicans have been sitting on that bill and taking no action. The House of Representatives has refused to act on a bipartisan bill to fund FEMA for the next year. Not only have they not moved that bill in any way but they left town. The House of Representatives, as we speak, on the eve of the government shutting down next Saturday, just a few days from now, and with FEMA on the verge of having no money, left. They are gone. They are not in Washington. It is hard to negotiate with people who are not here. It is hard to do legislation when one part of our bicameral legislature is not here.

Democrats are not giving up on funding FEMA and keeping our government open. We are here. The Senate is in session. The House Republican bill that would have killed 45,000 American jobs did not have the votes last week to pass the Senate. It was not even close. There were 36 votes, but that does not mean we have to shut down the government or abandon Americans in need. Democrats have made a good- faith effort to compromise.

Today the Senate will consider compromise legislation to fund FEMA and keep the government open without killing jobs. Our compromise includes a clean continuing resolution, a bill to fund the government for the next few weeks. Republicans in both Chambers have already agreed to and voted for the funding levels in this continuing resolution, so this should not be a controversial vote for them; they have already voted for it.

The legislation also includes $3.65 billion in funding for FEMA, which will give American communities ravaged by floods, wildfires, tornadoes, and other disasters the help they need. We know House Republicans support that funding level as well since they voted for it last week. Democrats would have given FEMA more, as we did with our vote last week.

It is interesting; President Obama has declared disasters in 48 of the 50 States this year. Unfortunately, though, this bill will force us to revisit this issue in a few weeks when FEMA funds will be depleted again. But this compromise legislation will cure FEMA's immediate needs. I urge my colleagues to do what is right and support this good- faith compromise to help disaster victims now. In effect, we are waiting for the House to take action on the bill that funds everything for a year, which they should do. But in the meantime, we have the opportunity here to vote today on legislation that takes the level that has already passed the House. I do not know how much

more we could compromise or how much more fair we could be. I urge my colleagues to do what is right and support this good-faith compromise to help disaster victims and help them now.

The folks on the ground in States that have been hard hit by disasters, people who have seen the devastation firsthand, are all saying the same thing: There is no more time to waste. The U.S. Conference of Mayors has begged us to act, a bipartisan group of Governors has pleaded with us to act, and tens of thousands of Americans in every State in the Union are demanding we act. Republicans must not continue to block FEMA, blocking them from getting the resources it needs to help disaster victims.

This compromise legislation should satisfy House Republicans and includes their own much lower FEMA funding number. It satisfies Democrats because it does not include a $1.5 billion cut that would kill jobs. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers have warned us that this cut would kill 45,000 jobs at a time when our economy and our country can least afford it.

Here is what the Chamber of Commerce has said. The Chamber of Commerce is not a lapdog for Democrats. I appreciate the work they do. But certainly we need to listen to what they are saying, and my Republican colleagues need listen to what they are saying. This is a direct quote:

This loan program promotes manufacturing in the U.S. and is

an important component of America's energy security.

Promotes manufacturing.

Here is what the National Association of Manufacturers said, also certainly not out there promoting Democrats all the time. They try to be fair. The National Association of Manufacturers:

Defunding [this program] would hurt manufacturers and their

employees.

How much more direct could it be? Putting this offset in here is absolutely wrong. Democrats believe and American auto producers agree you should not have to choose between saying no to disaster victims and killing American jobs.

As you can see, this legislation is fair to both sides. It will get disaster victims the help they need without killing jobs. It is a commonsense solution that should pass both Chambers with bipartisan support. We will vote on it shortly. I am cautiously optimistic that my Republican colleagues here in the Senate will not force a government shutdown. By not voting for our bill, that is what it is.

Earlier this month when the Senate passed bipartisan legislation funding FEMA, which I talked about earlier, 10 Republicans joined Democrats in voting for the bill. It would have given FEMA nearly twice the funding this compromise legislation gives FEMA. At a time when those 10 Republicans said they believed disaster relief should be immune from partisan politics, they believe their constituents should not wait a moment longer for help, I can only assume those Republicans are as angry as I am over the delays by their Republican colleagues in the House. In the week since that vote--it has not been long, a very short period of time, a matter of days--the disasters have not gone away in the home States of Missouri, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maine, Nevada, North Dakota, Alaska, Florida, Pennsylvania. These are the States where Republican Senators voted for this bill, and rightfully so. Roads and bridges, homes, schools, in those States and many others must still be repaired and replaced. In fact, millions of dollars of this restoration work--most of it--has been stopped in those 10 States. Work on nearly $\1/2\ billion worth of reconstruction nationwide has been delayed because FEMA is out of money.

Even with construction projects at risk in communities that were only just beginning to get back on their feet, FEMA's disaster fund will still run out of money this week. As to what date, that is debatable. FEMA has devoted every penny in its coffers to pay for food and shelter for families who lost their homes in major disasters in the last few months. There is not a dime left for anything else. Even now that money is going to run dry if we do not do something quickly. That is why I am hopeful Republicans will do the right thing today.

We must remember that we are not talking about zeros on a budget spreadsheet. FEMA takes care of people who have lost their moms and dads, sons and daughters, spouses and friends and others. Without additional funding, thousands of people who have lost literally everything they have owned will be forced to go without food and shelter. The reconstruction will be delayed in communities where homes, schools, roads have been wiped off the map by tragedy so terrible it is difficult to comprehend.

I brought a chart here to show some of the devastation. The upper lefthand corner is a picture of part of Joplin, MO. There is some of it that is wiped out. You see a few structures and cars left in the rubble. The fire is still burning. This picture was taken just hours after that storm hit.

I have talked on the floor about the windstorm, the winds of almost 300 miles an hour--I said, winds of 300 miles an hour, not almost. One of my Senator friends came to me and said, that could not be true; I do not think that is true. I knew I was right because in the last week or 10 days I went to a briefing with the National Science Foundation. They put forward some of the new things they have invented and are now developing, and one of those is to gauge how hard the wind blows. It is interesting to note that we have a number of recorded storms blowing more than 300 miles an hour. On this one they do not have the exact number down, but probably that. This is one of the worst storms to ever hit our country.

Here is a picture of Nags Head, NC. This is Hurricane Irene. It not only washed homes out to sea, it washed other facilities out to sea and devastated homes underwater. You can see the picture of the two people sitting on those steps. That was probably one of the seaside homes. It could have been a structure right on the coast, but it is gone. The home has been washed into the sea. It is not only in North Carolina but other places.

You can see here in the lower righthand corner a small picture of the fires in Texas. The fires in Texas burned more than 2,000 homes. They have had thousands of fires in Texas. Look at it. You can see in the background there are homes burning. It is hard to comprehend the destruction that took place there.

Cairo, IL, is a unique place because it is spelled like Cairo, but they pronounce it ``Kay-row.'' That is a picture of Cairo, IL. It is a good-sized city. The Mississippi River has overflowed its banks. It swept away everything in its path. This is more important than politics. Tornadoes, hurricanes, droughts, floods are just some of the devastation that has affected our citizens.

Here we are, having passed a bill and sent it to the House. They have done nothing with it. We have overwhelming bipartisan support here, and they are gone. They had that 2 weeks ago, and they are gone. What we are doing here should be more important than partisan posturing for every Member of the Republican Party--and, frankly, every Member of the Democratic Party. I know it is to me.

President Truman once said:

America was built on courage, on imagination and an

unbeatable determination to do the job at hand.

If there were ever a time when we have the obligation to do the job at hand, it is here. And to think that work in Joplin, MO, has basically come to a standstill or work in Nags Head, NC, has come to a standstill or in Cairo, IL, and, of course, all through Texas--only a few of the projects as a result of Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee are being worked on now.

So I don't think anyone can understand the devastation unless one has been there. I know I can't. No amount of money can ever replace what the people of Joplin or Cairo have lost. When I say ``unless a person has been there,'' I am trying to be as empathetic as I can, but I have never been involved in a flood such as that, anywhere near that, and certainly not the fires we have seen, not a tornado, not a tropical storm. So no amount of money can ever replace what the people of these devastated areas have lost, but at least we can help them get back on their feet. We can help them start over. That is what FEMA does. That is what FEMA's job is. So it is up to us to get the funds to FEMA so they can do their job.

Would the Chair announce the business for the day.

Has the time arrived for the vote?

In fact, before we do that, I note the absence of a quorum.

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

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that if cloture is not invoked on the pending Reid motion to concur with an amendment, the majority leader be recognized to withdraw the pending motion to refer and the pending motion to concur with an amendment; that the majority leader be recognized to offer a new motion to concur with an amendment, the text of which is at the desk--amendment No. 665; that there be no amendments, points of order, or motions in order to the Reid motion to concur other than budget points of order and the applicable motions to waive; that there be up to 10 minutes of debate equally divided between the two leaders or their designees prior to vote a vote on adoption of the Reid motion to concur with an amendment; further, that the Reid motion be subject to a 60-vote affirmative threshold; that if the Reid motion to concur with an amendment is agreed to, the Senate proceed to the consideration of H.R. 2017 and that the majority leader be recognized to offer an amendment, the text of which is at the desk; that it be the only amendment in order to the bill; that the amendment be agreed to, the bill, as amended, be read the third time, and the Senate proceed to vote on passage of the bill, as amended, all with no intervening action or debate; and that if the Reid motion to concur with an amendment is not agreed to, the majority leader be recognized.

Under the previous order, I now withdraw my pending motion to refer and motion to concur with an amendment.

I move to concur in the House amendment to the Senate amendment to H.R. 2608 with an amendment.

Mr. President, under the previous order, there will be now up to 10 minutes of debate, equally divided between the two leaders.

Mr. President, I know everyone is in a hurry, and I will be as fast as I can.

Tonight can best be summed up by Johnny Isakson, the Senator from Georgia, who said: It is only worth fighting when there is something to fight for.

We have basically resolved this issue. I wish to recognize the leadership of Senator Landrieu. She chairs the Homeland Security Subcommittee on Appropriations. She is our expert on disaster. She has done a wonderful job of maintaining this in the eyes of the public.

In Friday morning's vote, we established, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the Senate can't pass the House-passed CR. It got 36 votes. We couldn't pass it no matter what happens. With today's vote, Senate Republicans are showing they will back up the House vote on the question of offsetting spending in 2011. That is the vote we just took. But today's news also points a way that is more understanding and certainly a way out. Today's news story has come out saying FEMA disaster aid has enough money to last through this fiscal year. This afternoon, I received word from Jack Lew, of OMB, and FEMA that they will be able to get through the week without additional funding. That means they can get through the fiscal year without more money. I think it is very clear this is the right way to go. It shows us the way out and means we no longer have to fight 2011 funding.

I repeat what I said at the very beginning; that is, the way out is to focus on 2012. If we no longer need 2011 funding, then we can pass a bill that funds just 2012. This compromise should satisfy Republicans. It includes their own 2012 FEMA funding number, and it should satisfy the Democrats because it does not include the offsets we have talked about so much. It would be a win for everyone because we could end without another government crisis.

I appreciate Senator McConnell for being understanding and working with us in this regard. But I end this from where I started, Senator Johnny Isakson: Let's fight when there's something to fight about. There is nothing to fight about tonight.

This, tonight, is the Johnny Isakson solution.

Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.

I ask unanimous consent to withdraw the committee-reported substitute.

I call up amendment No. 666.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that an amendment of the title which is at the desk be agreed to.

Mr. President, I now ask that we proceed to a period of morning business, with Senators allowed to speak for up to 10 minutes each.

I now move to proceed to Calendar No. 183, S. 1619.

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

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

I ask unanimous consent that on Monday, October 3, 2011, at 4:30 p.m., the Senate proceed to executive session to consider the following nominations: Calendar Nos. 113, 171, 172, 173, 184, and 357; that there be 1 hour of debate equally divided in the usual form; that upon the use or yielding back of time, Calendar Nos. 171, 172, 173, 184, and 357 be confirmed and the Senate proceed to vote without intervening action or debate on Calendar No. 113; further, that at a time to be determined by the majority leader, after consultation with the Republican leader, not prior to October 11, 2011, the Senate proceed to executive session to consider the following nominations: Calendar Nos. 250, 251, 252, and 253; that there be 2 hours for debate equally divided in the usual form; that upon the use or yielding back of time, the Senate proceed to vote without intervening action or debate on the nominations in the order listed; further, that on all listed nominations, motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate; that no further motions be in order to any of the nominations; that any statements related to the nominations be printed in the Record; that the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action and the Senate then resume legislative session.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to executive session to consider the following nominations: Calendar Nos. 281, 324, 325, 326, 327, 328, 329, 330, 331, 332, 333, 334, 335, 336, 343, 347, 348, 349, 350, 351, 352, 362, 368, 369, 370, and 404; that the nominations be confirmed en bloc, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate; that no further motions be in order to any of the nominations; that any related statements be printed in the Record; and that President Obama be immediately notified of the Senate's action.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee be discharged from further consideration of Presidential nomination 541, Mark D. Acton, Postal Regulatory Commission, and Presidential nomination 542, Robert Taub, Postal Regulatory Commission; that the nominations be confirmed en bloc, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate; that no further motions be in order to the nominations; and that any related statements be printed in the Record; and that the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action.

Madam President, we have been working very hard on the Heather Higginbottom nomination. Heather Higginbottom has been nominated to be the Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget, a very important assignment. We have been trying to confirm her nomination for almost 6 months.

I hope and understand that Senator Kyl is working with the administration on something that will clear this nomination. I am not going to ask consent on this nomination tonight, but all my Republican colleagues should be prepared for a unanimous consent request on this nomination when we return next week. I hope Senator Kyl will allow this nomination to go forward after his request is satisfied.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate consider Executive Calendar Nos. 2 and 3, which are treaty document Nos. 110-23 and 111-6; that the treaties be considered as having advanced through the various parliamentary stages up to and including the presentation of the resolutions of ratification; that any committee declarations be agreed to, as applicable; that any statements be printed in the Record; further, that when the votes on the resolutions of ratification are taken, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table en bloc; that the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action, and the Senate then resume legislative session.

Madam President, I ask for a division vote on each of the resolutions of ratification.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of Calendar No. 174, H.R. 2005.

Madam President, I know of no further debate on this measure.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table and that any statements relating to the bill be printed in the Record.