Floor Statements

Mr. President, at the end of this day, it is a pleasure for me to ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 9:30 a.m. tomorrow, May 26; 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 resume consideration of the motion to concur in the House message to accompany S. 990, the legislative vehicle for the PATRIOT Act extension, with the time until 10 a.m. equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees.

Mr. President, there will be a cloture vote on the motion to concur with respect to the PATRIOT Act at 10 a.m. tomorrow. We are working on a final agreement. A lot of progress has been made in that regard, and there likely will be more rollcall votes tomorrow to amendments to the PATRIOT Act.

Mr. President, before we terminate tonight, there is some additional business.

I ask unanimous consent that the filing deadline for second-degree amendments be at 9:40 a.m. tomorrow morning.

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

Madam President, I suggest 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Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.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 resume consideration of the motion to proceed to S. 1038, the PATRIOT Act extension, postcloture. There will be a joint meeting of Congress at 11 a.m. with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu. Senators should gather in the Senate Chamber at 10:30 to proceed over to the House at about 10:40. We will proceed there as a body.

Measures Placed on the Calendar--S. 1050, S.J. Res. 13, S.J. Res. 14

Madam President, I understand there are three measures at the desk due for a second reading.

I would object to any further proceedings with respect to these bills en bloc.

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 President, I ask unanimous consent the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, we have been working for several days--I have been working on it for a lot longer than several days--but for several days publicly on a process to move forward with the PATRIOT Act. We have worked over the last several days to work something out that is an excellent compromise. Is this bill something everybody in the Senate likes or everybody in the House likes? The answer is no. But we all know how important it is that we continue this legislation. So Senator McConnell and I and Speaker Boehner have agreed on a way to move forward.

The alternative is to have a long long-term extension that the House would send us and I don't think that would be to anyone's benefit, so we are moving forward. I have tried to do it with the bill that we invoked cloture on yesterday. I have had many conversations with Senator Paul and others, but principally him, and tried to come up with a process to allow Senator Paul to offer amendments--and others to offer amendments; it is not just him. I have been unsuccessful.

I understand Senator Paul's exasperation because this is something that is extremely important to him and there was every desire, from my perspective and I think that of this body, to have a full and complete debate on the PATRIOT Act. But the Senate does not always work that way.

There have been a lot of things that have gotten in the way and the time is suddenly upon us. We have to complete this legislation by midnight on Thursday. We cannot let the PATRIOT Act expire. I have a responsibility to try to get this bill done as soon as possible, in spite of the fact that some of my Senators and some Republican Senators would rather I did it some other way at some other time. But I can't do that. I have to get this done.

We know, since bin Laden was killed, that there has been a lot of information discovered from him about what he did. One thing that is very clear is that he had instructed all of his lieutenants to focus all of their attention on the United States and its assets. So we cannot let this expire and I am going to do everything I can to make sure this does not happen.

Senator Paul and I have tried to work out something. He feels strongly about at least three of his amendments. I say, even though he and I disagree on a number of things politically, I have found in his time here in the Senate, as it relates to me, he is a very pleasant man with strong feelings. I have only the highest regard for him and I am sorry I cannot make this system we have in the Senate more in keeping with his desires to get things done. But as he will learn over the years, it is always difficult to get what you want in the Senate. It doesn't mean you won't get it, but sometimes you have to wait and get it done at some subsequent time.

Senator Paul has been very upfront with me. He has never hidden a punch.

He said: I feel strongly about a number of these amendments and I am not going to agree to let this go forward unless I have these amendments, and he has been very reasonable. He has brought his number down from 11 to 3 or 4 and I appreciate that. But the time has come for me to take some action.

Again, I repeat, I do not have the luxury of waiting for a better time. However, I would like to be able to allow the Senator from Kentucky to give a few of his stem-winding speeches. He does a very good job presenting himself. But in order to expedite what I think is so important to continue the country's intelligence operations, I am going to move to table the pending motion to proceed to S. 1038. Following that vote, I am going to ask the Senate to proceed to a message received from the House earlier today. I will then move to concur with the amendment which will be the extension of the PATRIOT Act and I will file cloture on that motion.

Mr. President, I move to table and I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. President, I now ask the Chair to lay before the Senate a message from the House with respect to S. 990.

The Presiding Officer laid before the Senate the following message from the House of Representatives:

Resolved, That the bill from the Senate (S. 990) entitled

``An Act to provide for an additional temporary extension of

programs under the Small Business Act and the Small Business

Investment Act of 1958, and for other purposes,'' do pass

with the following amendment:

Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert:

Mr. President, I move to concur in the House amendment to S. 990 with an amendment, and I send a cloture motion to the desk.

I ask for the yeas and nays on my amendment.

I have a second-degree amendment at the desk.

I have a motion to refer the House message to the Senate Small Business Committee with instructions to report back forthwith with an amendment.

On that motion, I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. President, I have an amendment to my instructions which is also at the desk.

On that I ask for the yeas and nays.

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

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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

Mr. President, there will be no further rollcall votes tonight, and I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, following leader remarks, if any, the Senate will be in a period of morning business until 3 p.m. today. During that period of time, Senators will be allowed to speak for up to 10 minutes each.

At 3 p.m. the Senate will resume consideration of the motion to proceed to S. 1039, the PATRIOT Act extension, and the time until 5 p.m. will be equally divided and controlled. At 5 p.m. there be a rollcall vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to the PATRIOT Act.

Mr. President, this will be a busy week in the Senate. We have to renew the PATRIOT Act. It is not a perfect law, but it plays an important role in keeping our country safe. We also have to reauthorize the FAA bill, the Federal Aviation Administration bill.

We all know what will be the focus of this week's biggest debate and biggest headlines. The primary conversation this week will be about the Republican plan to kill Medicare. People are talking a lot about that plan because there is a lot people have to fear.

The Republican plan would shatter a cornerstone of our society and break our promise to the elderly and to the sick. It would turn our seniors' health care over to profit-hungry insurance companies. It would let bureaucrats decide what tests and treatment seniors get. It would also ask seniors to pay more for their health care in exchange for fewer benefits.

That is a bad deal all around. So it is easy to understand why the American people do not support it. Democrats, Republicans, and Independents do not support the plan to kill Medicare or to change it as we know it. I will not support it, and though the Republican House passed the Medicare-killing plan almost unanimously, sometimes it is difficult to tell where the Republican Party stands generally.

We all saw how quickly one prominent Republican Presidential candidate spun himself in circles last week. First, he called the plan for what it was--radical. He said it was ``right-wing social engineering.''

Hours later, after Republicans jumped all over him, he reversed course and said he would support the plan to kill Medicare. Remember, he said it is ``radical''; it is ``right-wing social engineering.'' And now suddenly he said it is OK. That is some real interesting gymnastics.

Another prominent Republican, one who serves in this body, has been all over the map as well. First, he said--in his words:

Thank God for the Republican plan to kill Medicare.

Then he said he was ``undecided.'' Now he says he opposes it. Well, tune in tomorrow or maybe this evening to see if he changes his mind again. Our Republican colleagues cannot seem to believe the same thing today they said yesterday.

But when Democrats talk about Medicare, we still believe today the same thing we believed years ago, decades ago, generations ago. We believe in our responsibility to each other and especially those in their golden years. Forty-six years ago this summer, President Lyndon Johnson, a former majority leader of this body, signed Medicare into law. As he did so, he said the following:

Few can see past the speeches and the political battles to

the doctor over there that is tending the infirm, and to the

hospital that is receiving those in anguish, or feel in their

heart painful wrath at the injustice which denies the miracle

of healing to the old and to the poor.

Those injustices do not exist like they used to because of Medicare, but they still exist. Potentially, they are still out there. The old and the poor among us still seek help and healing, and it is still our responsibility to act not on political impulses but with human concern and compassion. It is still our responsibility not to be motivated by short-term politics but to be moved by the people who need Medicare, the people who count on the safety net to keep them from poverty, illness, and worse--death.

If we pay attention to those people, we will notice something else also. While Republicans are tripping over themselves trying to decide whether they want to kill Medicare, do you know who has not changed their minds at all? The American people. We are on their side. They have not wavered one inch. They have been as constant as the Republicans have been erratic. They have been consistent, and they have been clear: They do not want us to destroy their Medicare--their Medicare. We owe it to them to listen.

Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

I announce that the Senator from Colorado (Mr. Bennet), the Senator from Ohio (Mr. Brown), the Senator from Illinois (Mr. Durbin), the Senator from Missouri (Mrs. McCaskill), the Senator from Arkansas (Mr. Pryor), and the Senator from Rhode Island (Mr. Whitehouse) are necessarily absent.

I further announce that, if present and voting, the Senator from Colorado (Mr. Bennet) and the Senator from Illinois (Mr. Durbin) would each vote ``yea.''

Mr. President, I see our esteemed Chaplain in the Chamber. We appreciate very much, every day, his prayer and the prayer this morning by our guest Chaplain, which was a very nice prayer, very thoughtful, and outlines what our country is all about. I appreciate that very much.

Mr. President, following any leader remarks, the Senate will be in morning business until 11 a.m., with the majority controlling the first half and the Republicans controlling the final half. At 11 a.m., the Senate will be in executive session to consider the nomination of Goodwin Liu to be a U.S. circuit judge for the Ninth Circuit, with the time until 2 p.m. equally divided and controlled. At about 2 p.m., there will be a rollcall vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the Liu nomination.

Mr. President, S. 1022 is at the desk and is due for a second reading.

Mr. President, I object to any further proceedings with respect to this bill.

Mr. President, will the Chair announce morning business, please.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that morning business be extended until 7 p.m. tonight, with Senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each during that period of time.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that it be in order to proceed to S. 1038, introduced earlier today.

I move to proceed then to S. 1038.

Mr. President, I send a cloture motion to the desk.