Floor Statements

Mr. President, I move to proceed to H.R. 2887 under the terms of the previous order.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the three votes that will come soon be limited to 10 minutes each.

Madam President, following leader remarks, the Senate will be in morning business for 1 hour. The Republicans will control the first half and the majority will control the final half. Following morning business, the Senate will resume consideration of the motion to proceed to H.J. Res. 66, which is now a resolution regarding Burma sanctions and the legislative vehicle for additional FEMA funding. We expect to be in consideration of this legislation today. We also hope to consider the FAA and highway extension, which was received from the House yesterday. Senators will be notified when votes are scheduled.

Madam President, the House sent us a package, and I appreciate that very much. It funds the highway bill for 6 months, and it funds the FEMA bill for 4 months. That is terrific. We should move to this as quickly as we can; however, we are told it is going to be held up by the Republicans. If someone wants to have a vote on an amendment as it relates to this, I will be happy to discuss this with the Republican leader and see if we can work something out. In the instance I am talking about, however, the Senator said he doesn't want to vote; he just wants to hold up the bill. He said if we put in what we got from the House and stuck his provision in that, then he would be happy. Well, I guess anyone would. It is a pretty good way to legislate around here--just be a dictator and say: Either take this or leave it. That isn't the way things work around here. We have to have votes on issues to find out how people feel.

I am convinced his issue would lose overwhelmingly, but he is holding up this legislation, and we are in a position now legislatively that I can't get to this bill. We cannot get to this bill prior to Friday, when the FAA expires. So it is unfortunate that is the position we are in. One Senator is holding this up, and what it will do is--the highway bill does not expire on Friday; FAA does. But they are a package. If this continues, we will have about 80,000 people out of work by Saturday, 4,000 who work for the FAA and about 70,000 or 75,000 who are working on airport construction jobs. In Las Vegas, for example, there is a new tower being built because of McCarran Field being overwhelmed--the old tower can't handle things well--and those people will be laid off. That is the way it is all over the country. That is very unfortunate.

I really appreciate, Madam President, and I have tried to say individually--I have been to each Republican Senator--the Senators who have voted to help us move forward on funding for FEMA, I really appreciate it. As you know, we have a majority, but it is not a huge majority, and to get things done on issues that are specialized, we need seven Republicans, and we have eight Republicans in this instance who helped us pass this legislation. All the Democratic Senators voted for this, and we got those Republicans. This allows us now to fund

Madam President, there are three bills at the desk due for a second reading.

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

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

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the remaining time postcloture be yielded back and the Senate proceed to consideration of H.J. Res. 66.

I have a substitute amendment which is at the desk.

On that amendment I ask for the yeas and nays.

I have a perfecting amendment at the desk.

I ask for the yeas and nays.

I have a second-degree amendment which is at the desk.

I have an amendment at the desk to the language that is proposed to be stricken.

I ask for the yeas and nays on that amendment.

I have a second-degree amendment at the desk.

I send a cloture motion to the desk.

I have a cloture motion on the underlying joint resolution which is at the desk.

Mr. President, I have a motion to commit the joint resolution with instructions, which is also at the desk.

Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays on that motion.

Mr. President, I have an amendment to the instructions at the desk.

Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays on this amendment.

Mr. President, I have a second-degree amendment at the desk.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum under rule XXII be waived for the two cloture motions just filed.

Mr. President, sadly, in just 2 days, about 80,000 people will be out of work because of the obstructionism of one man. This Senator, the junior Senator from Oklahoma, is putting his own petty priorities ahead of the thousands of safety inspectors, construction workers, and contractors who are about to lose their health care and their livelihoods for the second time in the last few months. These workers will be furloughed or laid off on Friday if we don't reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration.

The same Senator is holding up emergency funding for thousands of Americans--hundreds of thousands, actually--whose homes have been destroyed by tornadoes, floods, and wildfires. Keep in mind what I just said. We have a bill that came from the House of Representatives that funded for 4 months the Federal Aviation Administration. We have a bill that came from the House--they put them together--to fund the highway bill for 6 months. With those two bills together, almost 2 million jobs will be eliminated if we don't pass the highway bill by the end of the month but FEMA by Friday.

The Senator from Oklahoma, to whom I referred, doesn't like a provision in the highway bill. Stopping that is one thing. But now he is stopping us from doing something about people who are in desperate need of help, who have been hit hard by fires--in Texas alone, we have had 2,000 homes burned to the ground. So he is holding up emergency aid for Americans whose homes have been destroyed by tornadoes, floods, wildfires, and millions of acres of farmland are underwater, and he is jeopardizing almost 2 million jobs by blocking the highway bill. How he gets these together is something I cannot logically understand. He is stopping us from doing something on the FAA bill but also FEMA.

On Friday, as I said, it is going to cause 80,000 workers, thousands of whom are responsible for the millions of air travelers' safety every day. We have just been through this. A short time ago, we had the same issue, where the safety inspectors were paying for their own lunches when they would go out inspecting airplanes, and buying their own plane tickets, paying for their own hotel and motel rooms, and not being reimbursed.

It is interesting to note this same Senator voted for the highway bill in 2005--we do a major highway bill about every 5 years. He voted for that when his party held the White House, although the bill included the same issue he has objected to today. I have been told his big concern is over bike trails, bike paths. But the interesting part is that he can have a vote on this. He wants a vote to get rid of bike paths. He is willing to do that. In fact, we have given him the same vote on an amendment before. In 2009, the Senate voted down the very same amendment. He has had this vote before, and it has failed before. He is not willing to even take a vote anymore. This is how far afield this is. He doesn't want a vote. He wants to put whatever he thinks is the right thing for the world and the country as it relates to highways in this bill and say: Just do it; I am a dictator, and I am going to put it in the bill, and you are not going to do anything around here.

We are willing to vote on this again, but we cannot get to a vote because he is blocking us from doing so. So one Senator out of 100 is holding up the important work of this body, demanding that we make this amendment law or else put 80,000 people out of work. This kind of obstruction should end. This is not logical, not rational. I have strong feelings about this part of the highway bill. But this is a bill that has billions of dollars in it. About 1.7 or 1.8 million jobs will be eliminated if we don't get this bill passed. So I urge my Republican colleague to reconsider how this gridlock harms real people in this country. It is hard for me to explain.

In Las Vegas we have a new tower that is being built for the air traffic controllers. It is needed very much. Air traffic into Las Vegas is heavy--about 60 million people a year arrive, and so we need a new tower. We started construction on it a few months ago. It was held up once because of this problem we have with this bill. Now it is to be held up again.

But this isn't just a Nevada issue, it is all over the country. About 75,000 construction workers are working on essential parts of our airports, and these jobs are badly needed. It is just the wrong thing for my friend to do. I hope he will allow us to move forward on FEMA and allow us to move forward on the Federal Aviation Administration legislation. Of course, on the highway bill, we will give him his vote. If he wants another vote, we will give him another vote if there is another part of the bill he doesn't like. But it is something we need to get done as quickly as possible--like in the next 24 hours.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that 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 that the Senate proceed to executive session and the Foreign Relations Committee be discharged from further consideration of PN 828, Mary B. DeRosa, to be Alternate Representative to the United Nations; PN 829, Frank E. Loy, to be Alternate Representative to the United Nations; and PN 830, Kendrick B. Meek, to be Representative to the United Nations; 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; that any related statements be printed in the Record; that the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action, and the Senate then resume legislative session.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed to consideration of S. Res. 267.

I ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be laid on the table, with no intervening action or debate, and that any statements be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business tonight, it adjourn until 9:30 a.m., tomorrow morning, Thursday, September 15; 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 1 hour, with Senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each during that time, 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.J. Res. 66, a joint resolution regarding Burma Sanctions and the legislative vehicle for additional FEMA funds; and I also ask that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn as a further mark of respect to the memory of the late Senator Malcolm Wallop of Wyoming.

We are now considering the Burma Sanctions and FEMA regulations. As a reminder, I filed cloture on the substitute amendment and the joint resolution today. If no agreement is reached, a cloture vote on the substitute amendment will occur Friday morning. The filing deadline for all first-degree amendments to H.J. Res. 66 and the substitute amendment is 1 p.m. tomorrow. However, we hope to reach an agreement to complete consideration of H.J. Res. 66 and the FAA and highway extensions during tomorrow's session. Senators will be notified when votes are scheduled.

As things now stand, we will have a series of votes on Friday.

If there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that it adjourn under the previous order, as a further mark of respect to the memory of Senator Malcolm Wallop of Wyoming.

Madam President, I would note the absence of a quorum.

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

Madam President, following any leader remarks, the Senate will be in a period of morning business for 1 hour. The majority will control the first half and the Republicans will control the final half. Following morning business, the Senate will resume consideration of the motion to proceed to H.J. Res. 66. This legislation is the vehicle we need to do the FEMA funding. The Senate will recess, as we always do on Tuesdays, from 12:30 to 2:15 for our weekly caucus meetings.

Madam President, this week the Republicans sent a message to victims of the devastating hurricanes, wildfires, and tornados. That message was ``tough luck.''

Last night, we tried to move forward on a measure that would grant the Federal Emergency Management Agency additional funding to help communities devastated by natural disasters. This ought to be the least political issue we have, whether to reach out a helping hand to our friends and neighbors in a time of need.

These unfortunate people have lost friends and loved ones. They have lost their homes, businesses, and livelihoods. They have been destroyed by acts of God. I went over this with my wife last night, and she said: Why would you use a term like that? Well, in the law, that is what these floods, these terrible windstorms, and these fires are--they are acts of God. We can't plan for them; they just happen. In the law, that is the term of art we use.

These people have lost loved ones and friends, and their property is underwater or literally reduced to rubble. It is in our power to help them. It is an obligation we have to help them. Last night, Republicans overwhelmingly voted to prevent us from coming to their aid. They prevented us from getting disaster aid to American families and businesses that need it now. These unfortunate people, I repeat, don't need the help next week or next month or 6 months from now, they need it now, today. It is unthinkable that Republicans would waste time catering to the radical tea party while innocent victims of devastating disasters bide their time. One of the leaders of the tea party, a Member of the House of Representatives, has said very publicly that we should get rid of FEMA. But this is not a nation that stands idly by while our fellow Americans suffer. We are a nation of action. That is what we have always been. When it is in our power to aid a fellow citizen, we have always done what it takes. We have done it without politics, without pandering, without a moment's delay--until today.

This year the United States has dealt with more than its usual share of terrible natural disasters. Hurricane Irene

is estimated to be one of the most costly disasters ever to hit this country. It caused flooding and wind damage from Florida to Maine. That is a long ways. It is a huge coastline. But its damage was not only to the coastline. Interior States such as Vermont suffered terrible damage, hundreds of bridges in Vermont, and scores of bridges in the State of the Presiding Officer, the State of New Hampshire. Crops were drowned all over the Northeast. It is rarely that this has ever happened.

Just a few short weeks ago an earthquake such as we have not had in this part of the country for 65 years occurred. The epicenter was in Virginia. It was felt by tens of millions of people in every corner of the Eastern United States. It damaged buildings in Richmond and closed the Washington Monument. The National Cathedral had some of its spires damaged. It is closed now. The 9/11 celebration was to take place there. They had to move it to the Kennedy Center. Some of the spires were knocked off the Mormon Temple that we see as we drive down the beltway. There was record flooding on the Mississippi and Missouri that cost lives and devastated farmland.

To get a picture of the devastation, 3 million acres of farmland is underwater now. This is not rice that grows there, these are crops that need to be away from that much water. It is devastating to farmland in that part of the country.

In February a massive blizzard buried the Midwest and Northeast with as much as 3 feet of snow, paralyzing the city of Chicago, and 36 people died. Even now, firefighters are battling terrible wildfires that have ravaged for weeks and weeks across central Texas. Those fires have killed people and driven residents from their homes, homes they will never see again. In Texas, 2,000 homes have been burned to the ground. Since January, Texas has reported--this is not a misstatement-- 20,000 fires. Some of the small fires developed into big fires, burning almost 4 million acres of land. The State Forest Service in Texas responded to 19 new fires on Sunday alone, in 24 hours--almost a new fire an hour in Texas.

This year President Obama has issued disaster declarations in 48 States, and it is only September. Some States have had multiple disasters. The United States has had $10 billion worth of disasters already this year. It is no wonder there are limited moneys left in FEMA's Disaster Relief Fund. FEMA has spent about $400 million in the last 2 weeks alone making whole American families, victims of Irene and Lee, a tropical storm and a hurricane.

In short, FEMA is running out of money. They are almost broke. Funds are so low FEMA stopped rebuilding Joplin, MO, where more than 150 people died in that terrible tornado. FEMA has programs where they were rebuilding the schools and some of the public services that were so necessary. But they wanted to have enough money to supply the food, water, and emergency housing for victims of Hurricane Irene, so they pulled out of Joplin, MO.

We have seen the pictures. It is hard to comprehend what winds blowing almost 300 miles an hour do. They just eliminate everything on the ground. Any structure was eliminated.

This is not some Democratic idea that has come about, that we need to fund FEMA. Republican Governors are desperate for money. They have seen the destruction firsthand. I will pick just two: the Governor in New Jersey, Governor Christie, said this:

Our people are suffering now and they need support now.

Governor McDonald of Virginia said this:

My concern is that we help people in need.

He responded in that way because the Republican majority leader of the House said what we need to do is make sure these emergencies are paid for by taking money from programs that are now in existence.

We cannot be held hostage on that issue to appease the tea party. Hundreds of millions of dollars in disaster recovery projects are on hold. I mentioned Joplin, MO, as just one example. No matter how often we wish for a crystal ball, the process of guessing how much money we will need for natural disasters is not perfect. We have tried, but this has been a very devastating year. Each year Congress estimates how much it will cost this country to recover from inevitable storms and fires and floods, and then it reacts to what Mother Nature sends our way.

Now is the time to react. It is time to show Americans, as we did in the wake of September 11, that when disaster strikes the Federal Government will be there to help rebuild.

These are very hard personal issues. Here in a Virginia suburb, a 12- year-old boy was out watching it rain. He was swept off his back step, and he is dead. Scores of people have been killed just in Lee and Irene. It is time for Republicans to prove that this Congress, for the first time, is willing to put politics aside for the good of the American people.

FEMA is an issue that is bipartisan in nature. Those storms don't just hit Republicans; they don't just hit Democrats; they don't just hit Independents; they hit us all. That is why we have to react to help people in America because they have been hurt.