Floor Statements

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

Mr. President, I rise today to honor Tahis Castro, who is retiring after 17 years of serving Nevadans as an organizer for the Culinary Workers Union.

Tahis came to Reno from Costa Rica in 1987. In 1994, she cofounded and organized Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Local 86, which represented over 900 culinary workers throughout Reno. Since that time, she has helped negotiate improvements in health care benefits, wages, job security, and training for thousands of working families in Nevada.

Tahis has always been a dedicated and tireless promoter of justice, respect, and dignity for all workers. She has been instrumental in the growth of Local 86, which merged with Las Vegas' Culinary Workers Union Local 226 to represent a total of 60,000 workers in Nevada today. In addition, she has served on the executive board of the Nevada State

Mr. President, following any leader remarks, the Senate will resume consideration of the Federal Aviation Administration bill. There will be up to 2 hours for debate equally divided and controlled between the proponents and opponents of the Inhofe amendment prior to a vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the Inhofe amendment, as modified. The filing deadline for second-degree amendments to this bill is 10 a.m. today. As a reminder, cloture was also filed on the bill. That cloture vote will occur upon disposition of the Inhofe amendment or, if cloture is not invoked on the Inhofe amendment, immediately following the Inhofe cloture vote. Senators should expect rollcall votes to occur throughout the day in an effort to complete action on the FAA bill.

I ask unanimous consent that the previous order for Senator Coats to be recognized at 1:30 p.m. be vitiated.

Mr. President, we are at a point where we can finish the FAA bill after all these many years. That was not a mistake. For years, we have been trying to get this bill completed. We are going to have a vote in 2\1/2\ hours, an important vote dealing with the so-called slot arrangement; that is, what air companies get to fly into which airports and what time and all that stuff. It has been very controversial.

We have had two main issues that have held up this legislation. One is a labor-management disagreement. That has gone away. Now we have the issue dealing with slots that will go away as a result of the cloture vote that will occur sometime in the next 2\1/2\ hours.

We can complete this legislation today. There is no reason we can't complete the legislation today. We have a number of votes that will have to be cast. That is something we will do. We are going to work to complete this legislation. Today is Thursday. It would be an appropriate time to finish.

As I mentioned last night, we have the Presidents Day recess when we need to go home to constituents. As I mentioned last night, I am always amazed--a lot of times, the press writes that we have gone back for a break, and ofttimes they write as if we are going to go back and leisurely hang around the house. The fact is, when we go home, we have a lot of work to do. Our constituents throughout the State are there during the week. We have government buildings that are open, and we can go visit there and do all the many things we have to do. For example, I have to address the Nevada State Legislature next week. These are the kinds of things we need to do during the time we go home.

I, like everyone else, would like to get back to my home in Searchlight more quickly, but we have to finish this legislation. There is no reason we can't. Everyone has had their opportunity to debate, to offer amendments. We could have as many as eight or nine amendments to vote on. There is work being done with Senator Coburn now to see if we can somehow condense his five amendments to a couple. The managers will work that out. We are on a path to being able to finish this legislation. I hope we can finish today.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, we have a briefing by the Secretary of State. We have votes scheduled at 10 until noon, about. I ask unanimous consent that vote be extended to 10 after the hour of noon to allow Members to listen to the Secretary of State and still move the bill along.

I have talked to the Republican leader. He knows I have asked this consent.

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, first of all, I express my appreciation, as I have before, to the manager of this bill, Senator Rockefeller, who has worked so hard for so long on this bill--years. I appreciate the work done by the ranking member of this committee, Senator Hutchison, who has worked with him for years on this legislation.

I ask unanimous consent the pending amendments be set aside and Senator Coburn be recognized to offer his amendment No. 64; that after the amendment is reported, the Senate proceed to a vote in relation to the Coburn amendment and that no amendments be in order to the Coburn amendment prior to the vote.

Upon disposition of the Coburn amendment No. 64, the pending amendments be set aside and Senator Coburn be recognized for up to 10 minutes to offer amendment No. 80, with a modification which is at the desk, Nos. 81 and 91; and Senator Schumer be recognized up to 2 minutes to offer amendment No. 71; Senator Brown of Ohio be recognized for up to 2 minutes to call up the Brown-Portman amendment No. 105 to the Ensign amendment No. 32, and the Reid of Nevada amendment No. 54 and the Udall amendment No. 51 be modified with the changes that are at the desk; the Wyden amendment No. 27 be withdrawn; and the Senate then proceed to votes in relation to the following amendments in the order listed: Brown-Portman amendment No. 105; Ensign No. 32, as amended; Reid No. 54, as modified; Udall No. 49, as modified; Udall No. 51, as further modified; Coburn No. 80, as modified; Coburn No. 81; Coburn No. 91; and Schumer No. 71.

Further, there be 2 minutes, equally divided, prior to each voted listed above; that notwithstanding rule XXII, the Leahy-Inhofe amendment No. 50 remain in order and that upon disposition of the Schumer No. 71, there be 10 minutes of debate, equally divided, prior to a vote in relation to the Leahy-Inhofe amendment No. 50; that the Leahy-Inhofe amendment be subject to a 60-vote threshold for passage; that if it does not achieve 60 affirmative votes, the amendment not be agreed to; and that there be no amendments in order to any of the amendments listed in this agreement prior to the votes.

Further, upon disposition of the Leahy-Inhofe amendment, there be no further amendments or motions in order to the bill, except for a managers' package, to be agreed to if it has the concurrence of the majority and Republican leaders; the bill then be read a third time and the Senate proceed to a vote on passage of the bill, as amended; the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate; and if the bill is passed, it be held at the desk.

Finally, that when the Senate receives the House companion to S. 223, as determined by the two leaders, it be in order for the majority leader to proceed to its immediate consideration; strike all after the enacting clause and insert the text of S. 223, as passed by the Senate, in lieu thereof; that the companion bill, as amended, be read a third time, the statutory pay-go statement be read and the bill be passed; the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table; 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 5 to 4; all with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to set aside the pending amendments so I may call up amendment No. 79 regarding a Grand Canyon economic impact study for air tour operators, and that it be in order notwithstanding rule XXII.

I move to reconsider the vote and to lay that motion on the table.

The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

I ask unanimous consent that the next votes be 10 minutes in duration.

Mr. President, I rise today to honor Gerda Weissman Klein, Holocaust survivor and recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

We tell ourselves never to forget, and we implore our children to do the same. But we cannot do it alone.

We need to listen to those who remember not by choice, but because they can never forget what they saw and what they survived.

With each passing year, fewer and fewer of these witnesses remain. Even fewer of them speak English, or live in America, where we can hear their stories first hand. And fewer still are like Gerda Weissman Klein.

About a year and a half ago, Mrs. Klein and her son visited my office. I invited Senators Levin and Cardin to join me. I will always remember one observation she offered.

I remember it because she didn't say it as though she were teaching a profound lesson, though it was profound. She didn't say it as though it was the most important message she came to deliver, but it has stayed with me to this day. She said it, incredibly, as an off-hand comment while we were just chatting.

Mrs. Klein said this: ``Surviving is an incredible privilege, but it is also a very deep responsibility.''

It was beyond humbling--that someone could see what she saw and lose what she lost and endure what she endured, and still maintain such perspective, and feel such responsibility.

Mrs. Klein continues to fulfill what she sees as her responsibility, sharing her story and teaching us about tolerance. That's why we fulfilled our responsibility to her--by recognizing her with highest honor our country can give civilians, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

But more than that, we fulfill our responsibility by thanking her, by appreciating her and by listening to her--so that we will never forget what she cannot forget.

Mr. President, I rise today to honor Bria Benjamin, a fifth-grader at Forbuss Elementary School in Las Vegas.

Recently, Bria studied hard and recited Martin Luther King's ``I Have a Dream'' speech in celebration of Dr. King's 82nd birthday at a meeting of the Clark County Board of Commissioners. Bria perfectly conveyed the speech and even captured the powerful, emotional and cadenced performance of Dr. King.

I am proud of Bria and commend her stunning rendition of a speech that embodies such a significant time in our country's history. As we celebrate Black History month, we recognize the immense contributions African Americans have made to this country--from innovations in science and technology to accomplishments in the arts and culture to improvements in all of our communities.

Madam President, following any leader remarks, there will be a period of morning business until 11 a.m., with Senators permitted to speak up to 10 minutes each. That time will be equally divided and controlled between the leaders or their designees.

At 11 this morning, the Senate will resume consideration of the FAA authorization bill. As a result of cloture being filed yesterday, any germane first-degree amendments must be filed at the desk prior to 1 p.m. today in order for the amendments to be in order postcloture. We have the opportunity to complete this legislation tomorrow. There will be two cloture votes in the morning. We hope to be able to have some votes today. Senators will be notified when rollcall votes are scheduled.

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

Mr. President, we have been working through this bill. I congratulate our manager, Senator Rockefeller, who is one of the most experienced people in the Senate and is a good manager. He has worked well with Senator Hutchison, comanager of the bill. We have made significant progress. We have a few amendments on which we are trying to work a way to the end of this. I hope we can work out an agreement to complete this legislation maybe as early as tomorrow morning sometime. If we can't, the first cloture vote is tomorrow, and we will see what happens after that.

Everyone should understand. It is Wednesday. Tomorrow is Thursday. I know a lot of people have arrangements because we have a home work period the following week. We want to go home, if at all possible, late tomorrow night or early Friday morning, but we can't do that if there is work left to be done on this bill. I hope we can work something out so we can finish tomorrow. It would certainly be doable.

We know what we have left. Work on the different issues has been extremely difficult and time-consuming, but we have settled most everything on the Senate floor, as we are supposed to do.

There will be no more rollcall votes tonight. We hope we can move forward to complete work on this most important piece of legislation tomorrow. This legislation is extremely important for our country.

Let's keep in mind, this deals with people. Almost 300,000 jobs will be created or saved with this legislation. I repeat what I have said on the Senate floor once before. McCarran Airport in Las Vegas is the sixth busiest airport in the country. The manager of that airport, Randy Walker, when asked about this bill last week, said: If it passes, we will finally be able to stop using World War II technology to land and have airplanes take off.

It is not just McCarran in Las Vegas. At every airport in the country it is the same thing, World War II technology. We will be able to have a passengers' bill of rights. It is a very fine piece of legislation that has been years in the making. We are too close to the end of this to walk away. We have to finish this bill. It means jobs, real jobs, not make believe jobs.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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

I now ask unanimous consent 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 the Senate proceed to S. Con. Res. 6.

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

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that at 1:30 p.m. tomorrow Senator Coats be recognized for up to 30 minutes.

I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 9:30 a.m. tomorrow, Thursday, February 17; 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; further, that following any leader remarks, the Senate resume consideration of S. 223, the Federal Aviation Administration authorization bill, that there then be 2 hours of debate prior to a cloture vote on the Inhofe amendment, as modified, with the time equally divided and controlled between the proponents and opponents; finally, the filing deadline for second-degree amendments to S. 233 be 10 a.m. tomorrow morning.

Mr. President, Senators should expect the first vote of the day tomorrow to begin about 11:30, with additional votes occurring throughout the day in an effort to complete action on the FAA bill.

As I announced here a couple of hours ago, we can complete this FAA bill tomorrow. If not, we are going to have to work into the next day. We have two cloture votes that are set up and we are going to finish this bill before we leave. That could mean some extended time. Everyone knows that. Everyone has been alerted to that. There is no reason that we do that. All the issues have been laid before us. We know the votes we have. If people want to cooperate and finish this important piece of legislation, we can do that. If they do not, then they can sit around with the rest of us.

We will not accomplish anything by not finishing the bill tomorrow except use up a lot of time. I know next week is the President's Day recess. As I have said on a number of occasions, this is not a time that we go back to our States and hang around the swimming pool or take steam baths. The fact is, we go home to meet with constituents. We need to be home during the week so we can go to places of business, meet with government officials who are not working during the weekends.

I hope everyone will work toward that goal. If not, our first obligation is to complete legislation and we may have to be here longer than just tomorrow.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent we adjourn under the previous order.

Madam President, following any leader remarks, there will be a period of morning business until 11 a.m. Senators will be permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each during that period of time. At 11 a.m. the Senate will resume consideration of the FAA authorization bill.

At 11:40 a.m. the Senate will resume consideration of the Nelson of Nebraska amendment. There will be up to 20 minutes of debate equally divided prior to a vote in relation to the amendment, as amended. The Nelson amendment relates to criminal penalties for the unauthorized distribution of advanced imaging technology. At about noon, the Senate will proceed to vote in relation to the Nelson amendment, as amended.

The Senate will then recess from 12:30 until 2:15 p.m. for our weekly caucus meetings. After caucus, there will be 10 minutes for debate equally divided prior to a vote in relation to the Wicker amendment, as modified. The Wicker amendment relates to the collective bargaining rights of TSA employees. Senators should expect a vote in relation to the Wicker amendment to begin at about 2:30, 2:25 p.m.

Both of these amendments are subject to 60-vote thresholds. Additional rollcall votes in relation to FAA amendments are expected to occur throughout the day.