Floor Statements

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of Calendar No. 520, S. 1609.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be read the third time and passed, that the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate, and that any statements related to the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Con. Res. 75.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the concurrent resolution and the preamble be agreed to en bloc, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table en bloc, and that any statements related to the concurrent resolution be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S. Con. Res. 76.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the concurrent 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 matter be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the HELP Committee be discharged from further consideration of S. Res. 647 and that the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

I further 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 any statements relating to the resolution be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration en bloc of the following resolutions, which were submitted earlier today: S. Res. 683, S. Res. 684, and S. Res. 685.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolutions be agreed to, the preambles be agreed to, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table en bloc, with no intervening action or debate, and any statements relating to the resolutions be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I am told there is a bill at the desk, and I ask for its first reading.

Mr. President, I now ask for its second reading, and in order to place the bill on the calendar under the provisions of rule XIV, I object to my own request.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that we now proceed to H. Con. Res. 332, which is an adjournment resolution, which was received from the House and is at the desk.

Mr. President, first I would like to express my appreciation to the Presiding Officer for his patience.

I ask unanimous consent that the concurrent resolution be agreed to and the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 10:30 a.m. tomorrow; 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, and the Senate proceed to a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each.

Mr. President, there will be no rollcall votes during tomorrow's session. The next vote will occur at approximately 6:30 p.m. on Monday, November 29.

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

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the cloture motion on the motion to proceed to S. 3815, the Natural Gas and Electric Vehicles Act, be withdrawn and that at 11 a.m. the Senate then resume the motion to proceed to S. 3772 and immediately vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed; further, that the Senate recess from 12:30 to 4 p.m. today and that if cloture is invoked this morning, then postcloture time continue to run during any recess or adjournment of the Senate today.

Mr. President, I have spoken to Senator Hatch and Senator Menendez, who are the main sponsors of this legislation. It is extremely important legislation. We are going to continue to work to get this done. This is a bipartisan bill. There is some dispute as to what the pay-fors should be, but it is something we should be able to work out, and hopefully we can do it before the end of this year. Whether we can do that depends a lot on the schedule, but it is one of the most important things we can do. It is job creating, great for the environment, and great for the security of this Nation.

Following any leader remarks, the Senate will turn to a period of morning business until 11 a.m. this morning, with the time until 11 equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees. At 11 a.m., the Senate will proceed to vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to S. 3772, the Paycheck Fairness Act. If cloture is not invoked, the Senate will immediately proceed to vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to S. 510, the FDA Food Safety and Modernization Act. As a result of the order that was just entered, the Senate will recess from 12:30 until 4 p.m. today.

Mr. President, I am not going to give a long speech on food safety. I will say, however, how important it is.

I read a column today where someone kind of minimized the importance of this and why should the Senate be working on this issue. I would invite them to meet a number of people in Nevada who had near-death experiences as a result of eating tainted food. That is what this legislation is all about. It is something we should have done before. It is a real shame that we have not been able to. I hope we can get this done before we leave here this year. I cannot get out of my mind the little girl who was so sick from eating spinach that was tainted. She has been hurt so badly for the rest of her life. She was held back in school. Her body is not what it should be. Her growth has been stunted. So anyone who minimizes the importance of this legislation does not understand how sick these people get and how often they die as a result of food poisonings.

Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum and ask unanimous consent that the time be equally divided.

Mr. President, I rise today to honor Mr. Robert ``Bob'' Forbuss for his service to the people of Nevada. Tomorrow evening, at its Annual Convention and Tradeshow in Las Vegas, the American Ambulance Association will honor Mr. Forbuss for his many years of work on behalf of ambulance services in Nevada and throughout the Nation. Today I am happy to call the attention of the Senate to the selfless service that my good friend has rendered to the State of Nevada.

Bob is a native Nevadan who has served this community for nearly four decades as an educator, elected official, businessman, and community advocate. After earning his degrees in political science and public administration from Long Beach State University, Bob returned to Las Vegas and began his professional career as a teacher at Bishop Gorman High School from 1972-1979. He then served on the Clark County School Board of Trustees for 8 years and was an influential advocate for education initiatives in Southern Nevada. For his many years of service to education in Nevada, Bob was eventually honored by the Clark County School District in the naming of the Robert L. Forbuss Elementary School. It is fitting that such a fine educator will forever have his name stamped on the hearts of the students that attend Forbuss Elementary School.

During his tenure at Bishop Gorman, Bob became an emergency medical technician, EMT, and worked during his summer breaks for Mercy Medical Services. He quickly worked his way through the managerial ranks of Mercy and eventually became an owner of the company. Mercy soon became a flagship and model operation in the United States for paramedic services and Bob became a recognized leader in EMS Services, winning numerous awards and becoming a popular speaker at national conferences.

One of his greatest achievements, and the one for which he is being recognized tomorrow evening, has been his work on behalf of the American Ambulance Association, AAA. The AAA was formed in response to the need for improvements in medical transportation and emergency medical services. Bob was an original founder of the AAA, and he later served as the organization's president. I have no doubt that throughout his presidency, and the subsequent years of service that followed, he has labored diligently to ensure that our Nation's ambulatory systems have the resources they need to serve our families, friends, and communities.

Today, I express my sincere thanks to my dear friend for the noble work that he has performed over the years.

Bob Forbuss has touched the lives of countless Nevadans and others throughout our Nation, and in so doing has established a legacy of service for all to follow.

Mr. President, the Presiding Officer and I have had a number of occasions to speak in the recent weeks. Welcome to you and everyone else, the floor staff, who are so valuable, and our pages. We look forward to a busy next few weeks.

Following leader remarks, the Senate will turn to a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each. At 4 o'clock today, Vice President Biden will swear in Senators Coons of Delaware and Manchin of West Virginia.

There will be no rollcall votes during today's session of the Senate. As a reminder to my colleagues, before the recess I moved to proceed on a few bills. I filed cloture on the motions. As a result, we could have a series of up to three rollcall votes at a time to be determined on Wednesday. Those cloture votes will be on motions to proceed to the following bills: Promoting Natural Gas and Electric Vehicles, Paycheck Fairness Act, and the food safety legislation.

The Senate will not be in session tomorrow in order to allow for caucus meetings and leadership elections.