Floor Statements

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that following morning business tomorrow, Wednesday, September 21, the Senate resume consideration of H.R. 2832, the general trade preference legislation; that following reporting of the bill, Senator McCain or his designee be recognized to call up amendment No. 625; that the time until 12:30 be equally divided between the two leaders or their designees for debate on the McCain and Hatch amendments; further, at 12:30 the Senate proceed to votes in relation to the Hatch amendment No. 641 and McCain amendment No. 625, in that order; that there be 2 minutes equally divided prior to each vote, there be no amendments, points of order, or motions in order to either amendment prior to the votes on the amendment other than budget points of order and the applicable motions to waive; that each amendment be subject to a 60-affirmative-vote threshold.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, September 21; that following the prayer and pledge, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed expired, 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

1 hour, 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 majority controlling the first half and the Republicans controlling the final half; that following morning business, the Senate resume consideration of H.R. 2832, under the previous order.

Tomorrow there will be two rollcall votes at about 12:30 in relation to the Hatch and McCain amendments.

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

Mr. President, following any leader remarks, the Senate will be in a period of morning business. During that period of time Senators will be allowed to speak for up to 10 minutes each. Following morning business, the Senate will resume consideration of H.R. 2832, which is the trade assistance legislation as tied in with the GSP bill.

At 5:30 there will be a cloture vote on the motion to proceed. We hope to get consent to begin consideration of the bill after the vote.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that morning business be extended until 4:45 p.m. today so that Senators can speak regarding the tributes they wish to make to former Senator Charles Percy of Illinois.

Mr. President, I was saddened to hear of the terrible accident on Friday at the Reno airshow, which killed 10 people and injured many more. I just received word an hour or two ago that another person has died in the hospital. My heart goes out to those who were hurt, and my thoughts are with the families of those who lost their lives when the pilot of a World War II airplane crashed into spectators.

I commend the many first responders who rushed to the scene Friday. Their quick thinking and skillful assistance saved lives. While this crash was devastating--and it was--it is fortunate and I am glad the pilot took quick action to avoid additional loss of life by avoiding a grandstand packed with thousands of spectators.

My four grandchildren and my son attended the show on Thursday. My oldest grandson Mitchell was at the event with a Scout Troop on Friday, just hours before this terrible accident. Although officials are investigating the crash, initial reports indicate that a piece of the plane's tail broke off prior to the accident.

I hope this terrible event, the first of its kind in this Nation, will not deter people from attending airshows in the future. Thousands of people enjoy these shows every year. The late Senator Ted Stevens attended this show many times and told me it was the best of its kind. I will continue to monitor the investigation, of course.

Mr. President, this weekend Senator Charles Percy of Illinois, the progressive Republican and father-in-law of Senator Jay Rockefeller, died at age 91. He had been failing for some time, and I maintained contact with Senator Rockefeller about his wife's father. I didn't know Senator Percy--only by reputation. But I do know he was an independent thinker and a moderate who always put his country before party. The Senate could use more of his brand of pragmatism today.

Senator Percy was a proponent of tough environmental regulations and

consumer protections and was an outspoken opponent of the Vietnam war and a proponent of nuclear nonproliferation. He was also a Navy veteran and businessman who was often mentioned as a Presidential contender.

This body, the Senate, honors him for his faithful service to his country as a sailor and as a Member of Congress. My thoughts are with his family, including Senator Rockefeller and his lovely wife Sharon.

Mr. President, today President Obama laid out a commonsense plan to substantially reduce the budget deficit. I congratulate President Obama for his vision. Last week he presented the country with a roadmap to reduce our jobs deficit, a proposal to create nearly 2 million jobs and reduce unemployment by a percentage point. Today he has also offered a pathway to reduce our budget deficit--not only the jobs deficit but a budget deficit. It is a concrete strategy to cut the deficit by more than $4 trillion over the next decade and to do it fairly.

The plan calls for shared sacrifice for all Americans, including those who can best afford to help. It calls on those who have benefited from the tax policies that sunk this country deeper and deeper into debt to help get us out of this debt.

Americans know shared sacrifice is the best path to fiscal sustainability. All the polls indicate that Republicans believe that, Democrats believe that, and Independents believe that. They believe many of the richest few should pay more, and one of the richest of all of them, Warren Buffett, agrees. That is why the President has proposed the so-called Buffett rule, that no American making more than $1 million a year should pay a lower tax than this Nation's middle class.

This would apply to the top three-tenths of 1 percent--that is all, a small group of Americans--but they are the richest of the rich just like Mr. Buffett. Warren Buffett believes it is unfair that he pays a lower income tax than his secretary. This is what he said:

If you're in the luckiest 1 percent of humanity, you owe it

to the rest of humanity to think about the other 99 percent.

Actually, it is more than 99 percent; it is 99.7 percent. There are about 22,000 people in this country who make more than $1 million a year--this is net income--yet paid less than 15 percent of income in taxes. The top 400 earners in this country, all of whom make more than $110 million a year, pay a small percentage of their income in taxes. They pay a smaller share than plumbers and teachers and factory workers. More than anyone else these millionaires and billionaires benefit from these tax cuts that contributed $3 trillion to our deficit. They helped plunge this Nation into a financial hole. Yet congressional Republicans believe the middle class and seniors, not the millionaires and billionaires who enjoyed trillions in tax breaks, should bear the burden of getting us out of that hole.

A balanced approach to reducing the deficit means those who benefited the most from policies that created our deficit should also help solve the deficit crisis we have. A balanced approach means everyone pays his or her fair share. It means middle-class seniors and those who can least afford it will not bear the heaviest burden. So I commend President Obama for insisting on basic fairness as we address our deficit problem.

Mr. President, last week was a productive one in the Senate. We reached a bipartisan agreement to pass emergency aid for communities affected by devastating floods, tornadoes, and wildfires. We also reauthorized the Federal Aviation Administration, keeping 80,000 safety inspectors and construction workers on the job. We passed a highway bill keeping 1.8 million people at work building bridges and highways.

Congress has no duty more pressing than putting people back to work, and this highway legislation will do just that. But we can and must do more. That is why this week the Senate will take up the trade adjustment assistance legislation. The TAA Program helps U.S. workers who lose their jobs because of international trade to learn new skills so they can reenter a changing workforce, and it helps them pay for health insurance while they are training for new jobs.

A global economy means fierce global competition. Unless our workforce is flexible and well-trained, we cannot hope to compete.

Between 2001 and 2008, Americans lost 2.4 million jobs because of trade with China. The Trade Adjustment Assistance Program is retraining many of these people, getting them back to work and into the workforce and boosting our economy at the same time. It is unfortunate that my Republican colleagues who say they care so much about free trade have prevented three such agreements from moving forward because of objections to this trade adjustment assistance legislation.

We have known for a long time we were going to move to this trade adjustment assistance. It is unthinkable that the Republicans would stop us from doing that, and that is just what happened. As we struggle to rebound from the worst recession in generations, it is unthinkable that we would abandon hard-working Americans who lost their jobs through no fault of their own.

The trade adjustment assistance legislation provides a lifeline they need to get back on their feet.

Mr. President, would the Chair announce the business of the day.

Mr. President, I suggest 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 there now be a period of morning business.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 271, submitted earlier today.

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 related to the resolution be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 10 a.m. tomorrow, Tuesday, September 20; that following the prayer and the pledge, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed to have expired, 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 1 hour, 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; that following morning business, the Senate adopt the motion to proceed to H.R. 2832, the GSP bill and the vehicle for Trade Adjustment Assistance; further, that the Senate recess from 12:30 until 2:15 p.m. for our weekly caucus meetings.

Finally, I ask unanimous consent that Senator Heller be recognized at 2:30 p.m. for up to 20 minutes as in morning business to deliver his maiden speech as a U.S. Senator.