Floor Statements

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 President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, following leader remarks, I will move to proceed to H.R. 2560. The time until 2 p.m. today will be equally divided and controlled, with the Republicans controlling the first 30 minutes and the majority controlling the next 30 minutes.

We will have a full debate on this bill over the next few days. I hope we can accelerate the time. If people feel we have debated it enough, I hope we can move to some other matter.

Mr. President, first, let me get this off my chest. Coming in today, I just heard the announcement that the House of Representatives is taking the weekend off. I have reached out to the Speaker. I have not had an opportunity to speak to him. But I want everyone who can hear my voice to understand that time is of the essence. We are running out of time.

Procedurally, things cannot move very quickly through the Senate under the best of circumstances, and when there are people who want to cause problems, it takes a long time to get things done. There are people who serve in the Senate who say they do not believe--and they will fight to make sure we do not--we should raise the debt ceiling. In fact, they are saying: Let's default on our debt.

I think this is a very bad picture for our country, to have the House of Representatives out this weekend when we have to likely wait for them to send us something because I understand that the negotiations taking place deal with revenues, which constitutionally have to start in the House of Representatives. So I think it is just untoward--that is the kindest word I can say--to have the House of Representatives out this weekend. What a bad picture that shows the country. We have 12 days before our Nation does the unthinkable, forever undermining the full faith and credit of our great country.

Members of Congress come from 50 different States, but we all serve one Nation. The American people deserve better than leaders who each stake out their own positions--sometimes radical positions--forsaking the good of the Nation. The American people expect us to find common ground no matter how difficult it may seem.

Every reasonable voice in America has warned us that a default on this Nation's financial obligations would not only be a blight on our reputation but would precipitate a global economic crisis that we have never, ever seen. These warnings have come from the banking industry and the business community; they have come from our finest economists and shrewdest investors; they have come from former legislators, past policymakers, both Democrats and Republicans; and they have come from reasonable people here in our Congress.

It is clear to me that we have to increase the debt ceiling. That is what John Boehner, the Republican Speaker of the House, said this spring. But it is now summer. He also said this: Not raising the debt limit would have a serious implication for the worldwide economy and jobs here in America.

That is the Speaker of the House of Representatives. His deputy, Eric Cantor, agrees. Last week, Cantor said:

We want to make sure that we avoid default. We want to make

sure that we avoid going past August 2nd without raising the

debt ceiling.

And my Republican counterpart here in the Senate, the senior Senator from Kentucky, said he would support the debt limit as long as Congress used the opportunity to do ``something really important'' about the national debt.

Democrats are willing to join with our colleagues on the other side of the aisle to do, as my Republican counterpart said, ``something really important.'' We have already shown our willingness to make tough decisions for the sake of finding common ground even if it means drawing the ire of our own political party. Unfortunately, the loudest, shrillest voices from the Republican Party are not reasonable leaders but tea party extremists.

Congress has days, not weeks, to reassure the markets that when this great Nation issues an IOU, we stand by it, we do not turn into deadbeats when the bills come due. If you want to know how important this issue is, ask Ronald Reagan. Here is what he said about the importance of averting this kind of default:

The United States has a special responsibility to itself

and the world to meet its obligations. It means we have a

well-earned reputation for reliability and credibility, two

things that set us apart from much of the world.

President Reagan took the threat of default seriously. I will repeat what he said:

The United States has a special responsibility to itself

and the world to meet its obligations. It means we have a

well-earned reputation of reliability and credibility, two

things that set us apart from much of the world.

President Reagan took the threat of default seriously. So do reasonable Members of Congress today. And this is reasonable Republican Members of Congress. Yet I fear the closer we get to disaster, the further we get from making the arrangement needed to raise the debt and stop a default.

Democrats have shown they are willing to work with Republicans on any serious, reasonable plan that averts default and cuts the deficit in a balanced way. Now it is time for House Republicans to show they are also willing to get serious. A plan to decimate Social Security, Medicare, and every other Federal benefit plan, while protecting hundreds of billions of dollars in special interest tax breaks, is not a serious plan. The Republicans so-called cut, cap, and balance plan does not have one chance in a million of passing the Senate.

The moment for partisan games has long since passed. It is time for patriots on both sides of the aisle to join

hands and actually govern. So I ask, Will reasonable Republicans join us in forging a compromise for the good of our country?

Mr. President, I now move to proceed to Calendar No. 106,

Will my friend yield for a question?

Mr. President, I ask permission to ask my friend a question through the Chair.

It is true, is it not, that the Senator served many years in the House of Representatives?

And the Senator understands the difference between the procedures in the House and in the Senate, does he not?

And in the Senator's years serving in the House of Representatives, he has seen how quickly things can move over there; is that right?

And coming to the Senate, the Senator has seen how slowly things have to move here in the Senate; is that right?

I say to my friend through the Chair that I see what is developing now as very, very bad for our country. It is hard to comprehend--I ask my friend this question--it is hard to comprehend how the House of Representatives, at the height of this fiscal crisis we have, has decided to take the weekend off. Is the Senator aware they have decided to take the weekend off?

And it appears to me one reason to do this is to do indirectly what they cannot do directly; that is, we have--and I read them here this morning--statements from my friend the Speaker, John Boehner, saying we cannot default on our debt; from the whip over there, Eric Cantor--or majority leader, whatever he is, second in command--saying we cannot default on our debt. I am saying to my friend from New York that it appears to me they are going to do indirectly what they cannot do directly by not sending us whatever they decide to do in time to get it done.

I think the country is staring in the face a default on our debt because of the House of Representatives being out this weekend. Would my friend comment on that?

I say to my friend through the Chair that they may send us something well-intentioned, but I am not sure they understand the rules of the Senate. There are a number of people who are Republicans over here who have stated publicly that they think the debt should be defaulted upon. As my friend knows, most everything we do here is by unanimous consent and, if not by unanimous consent, by the rules of the Senate, which are very strict and very difficult sometimes to comprehend, but they are there.

So I am afraid that what is happening with the House leadership is they think they can send something over here and, as the majority leader, I can figure out a way to get it done. I cannot get it done if we have to follow the rules, which we have to follow, and I cannot get consent, and I cannot get consent on most anything I do around here. So I would like my friend to comment on that.

I appreciate my friend saying that Speaker Boehner is a good person. I agree with that. But I am not too sure that this is not an easy way out for everybody over there, that they could say: Well, we did what we wanted to do. I am sorry the Senate could not do it, so I guess our debt is defaulted upon, and we will close down all of the functions of this government and wait for a better day.

Madam President, I appreciate my friend's courtesy.

I want everyone who has any interest in this piece of legislation on the floor today to know that now is the time to come and debate to their heart's content. If they want to debate it late tonight, we are here to do it late tonight. If they want to debate it tomorrow for a period of time, they can do that.

I think this piece of legislation is about as weak and senseless as anything that has ever come to the Senate floor, and I am not going to waste the Senate's time day after day on this piece of legislation, which I think is anathema to what our country is all about. So I want everyone to understand we are going to have a vote tomorrow. I am not going to wait until Saturday. We are going to vote tomorrow, and I feel confident this legislation will be disposed of one way or the other.

The American people should understand this is a bad piece of legislation--perhaps the worst piece of legislation in the history of this country.

While the distinguished chairman of the Appropriations Committee was talking, I had a visit with some of the pages to ask them did they realize who was speaking. They all knew who he was. They knew he was a heroic man winning the Medal of Honor. They knew he had been elected to the Senate nine different times in addition to service in the House of Representatives. So it is great that our pages are so versed on what happens around here. We depend on them very much, and I am grateful they understand what a great man the chairman of the Appropriations Committee is.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed to consideration of Calendar No. 76, S. 1103, the bill to extend the term of the incumbent Director of the FBI; that the committee substitute amendment

be considered; that a Coburn amendment which is at the desk be agreed to; the committee substitute amendment, as amended, be agreed to; the bill, as amended, be read a third time, and the Senate proceed to vote on passage of the bill, as amended; the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate; and any statements related to the bill be printed in the Record at the appropriate place as if read; further, that if Robert S. Mueller, III, is nominated to be Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the nomination be placed directly on the Executive Calendar; that at a time to be determined by the majority leader, in consultation with the Republican leader, the Senate proceed to executive session to consider the nomination; that there will 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 nomination; the motion 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 nomination; that any statements related to the nomination be printed in the Record; that the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action, and the Senate resume legislative session.

I want to extend my appreciation to Senators Leahy and Grassley for together getting this matter done.

He has done a wonderful job for 10 years, and the country believes they need him for 2 more years, and he has agreed to take that, and I appreciate that very much.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that Matthew Levy, a fellow on the Budget Committee, be granted the privileges of the floor during the duration of today and tomorrow's session of the Senate.

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 the final half. Following morning business, the Senate will resume consideration of the military construction appropriations bill. There will be a rollcall vote at noon on that matter in relation to the Vitter amendment. There are four other amendments pending. We hope to complete action on this bill today. We will notify all Senators when the votes will occur.

Madam President, there is a fundamental principle we have to focus on in the Senate, and I think we have focused on it; that is, we cannot default on our debt. We have 11 or 12 days until that crucial time comes. We have a number of plans that are being talked about here. We have a path forward in the Senate, we believe. There is the Gang of 6, which reported some encouraging news yesterday. We have President Obama's grand plan that has been talked about a lot.

So now we return to the roots of what this country is all about; that is, our constitutional form of government. The Founding Fathers uniquely--when they finally figured out a way to do the Constitution, the breakthrough was in June of 1787, the so-called Grand Compromise, when a member of the Constitutional Convention from Connecticut came up with the idea of a bicameral legislature. No one had ever thought about that before, that we would have a system of government with three branches--executive, judicial, and legislative. No one had ever considered having anything other than a parliamentary form of government.

But our Founding Fathers came up with a new idea, and that new idea was to have within the legislative branch of government two Houses; one based strictly on population and one based on the same number of Senators from each State. That took care of the big problem they had with New York--big, massive New York, with a lot of area and lots of people--and little, tiny Rhode Island--not much area and not many people.

The reason I say we return to our roots is we are not going to be able to do the fundamental principle that guides this country in the last 11 or 12 days of this legislative session; that is, we cannot default on our debt. We in the Senate can have the greatest ideas in the world, but if they are not accepted in the House we cannot extend the debt ceiling, which we have to do.

So now we await the House of Representatives. With our bicameral form of legislature, that is what we must do. We know they know time is of the essence. We know all of the partisanship that has been shown in the House of Representatives, including their spending so much time on this plan they call cap, cut, and balance--which others have called cut, cap, and destroy Medicare, and all the other names this program has been given--and we have to get now where we work on something that is important and has an opportunity to pass.

Everyone knew, the Republican leadership knew that did not stand a

chance over here. That is why, with this most important issue we are facing; that is, not defaulting on our debt, they have to become real and send something over to us or we will send something to them or agree in the interim to something that will extend the debt.

As most know, I have worked hard in trying to figure a way through all this. Others have worked just as hard as I have. Right now, I am at a point where I am saying we need to hear from the House of Representatives. We have a plan to go forward over here. But until we hear from the House of Representatives, all of our work here would be for naught.

So I await the word from the Speaker. He indicated that he thought it would be appropriate they get this other matter out of the way first. I look forward to working on this.

I had a terrific conversation with the President last night. He understands the issue as well as anyone in the country, if not more so, because the buck does stop at his desk. So I tell all Senators to be calm and deliberate. I am confident we will be able to work our way through this very difficult time. But we are at this stage depending on the House of Representatives to help us find a path forward.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate receives H.R. 2560, it be ordered to be read twice and placed on the calendar.

Would the Chair announce morning business, please.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Johnson- Kirk amendment No. 556 be modified further with the changes that are at the desk; that Senator Warner be added as a cosponsor to the Johnson- Kirk amendment; that the pending amendments be set aside and two amendments from Senator Hutchison be called up, No. 562 and No. 563 en bloc, and following the reporting of the Hutchison amendments, the following pending amendments be agreed to: Johnson-Kirk No. 556, as further modified; Wyden No. 570; Hutchison, No. 562; and Hutchison No. 563; further, the pending McCain amendment No. 553 be withdrawn; that no other amendments, motions or points of order be in order other than motions to table or budget points of order and the applicable motions to waive; that at 4:45 p.m., the Senate proceed to a vote in relation to the following amendments in the order listed below: Ayotte amendment No. 575, Boxer amendment No. 577, and Coburn amendment No. 564; that upon disposition of the Coburn amendment, the substitute amendment, as amended, be agreed to; the bill be read a third time and the Senate proceed to a vote on passage of the bill, as amended; and the motions to reconsider be made and laid upon the table; finally, that upon passage, the Senate insist on its amendment, request a conference with the House on the disagreeing votes of the two Houses, and the Chair be authorized to appoint conferees on the part of the Senate, with a ratio of 9 to 8.

I would ask that my request be modified to allow 2 minutes of debate, equally divided, between the votes.

Mr. President, I express my appreciation to the chairman and the ranking member of the subcommittee for the work they have done on this bill. It took a little longer than we wanted, but they got it done. They have been excellent managers of this important legislation. It is our first appropriations bill. Senator McConnell and I want to do other appropriations bills. It would be a new day to do these bills rather than having a big omnibus bill. Again, I express my appreciation to the managers.

There will be no more rollcall votes today. Tomorrow, I am going to move to proceed to the bill that we call the Cut, Cap, and Balance bill received from the House today. Under the rules of the Senate, a cloture vote on the motion to proceed will occur Saturday. Therefore, I expect a cloture vote sometime before lunchtime.

I am committed to allowing a full and fair debate on this bill. I want the proponents and the opponents to have plenty of time to air their views. If the proponents of the bill would like to have the vote sooner, they can let me know and we will try to work something out. There may be efforts to try to advance that vote. As far as I am concerned, we should have a full and fair debate, and I look forward to that.

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 the Senate now proceed to a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 9:30 a.m., tomorrow, Thursday, July 21; 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 until later in the day; that when the Senate considers the motion to proceed to H.R. 2560, the Cut, Cap, and Balance Act, the time until 2 p.m. be equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees, with Senators permitted to speak up to 10 minutes each, with the Republicans controlling the first 30 minutes and the majority controlling the next 30 minutes.

Mr. President, tomorrow morning, the majority leader will move to proceed to H.R. 2560, the Cut, Cap, and Balance Act. There will be a full debate on this bill. We will decide how much time is needed. We will work on this as we proceed. If all the time is used, we will vote Saturday morning.