Floor Statements

Mr. President, I want to say a few things on the vote we will have at 2:15 p.m. today. The issue that is creating all of the attention is a provision that the committee put in the bill dealing with don't ask, don't tell. The committee did a good job on that issue. What they said is, if the President of the United States and the Secretary of Defense, after reviewing the work being done by the Pentagon--which will be completed this December--decide it is in the best interest of the United States military to do away with that policy, that will be the case.

There are some who are saying this bill that came out of the committee repeals don't ask, don't tell. That is not the fact. It is not repealed in the bill. It simply says, I repeat, if the Defense Department, with the Secretary of the Defense and the President, certifies it will have no negative effect on the military after studying the Pentagon's work, then they can move forward on that and, in effect, repeal that policy. But it is not in this bill.

Anyway, the point is, we are going to have that vote at 2:15 p.m., and I will discuss with the Republican leader later today what we are going to do if there are amendments that are going to be offered on that. I have said some of the things I am interested in doing on that bill. I am not here in any way suggesting that people aren't being accurate in their depiction of this bill. I

just want to make sure that people understand what the facts are on this bill, and I think the Armed Services Committee did an extremely good job in committee.

Mr. President, reserving the right to object. I pride myself in being a very patient person, and I will continue to be patient now. But during this Congress, we have had to overcome so many procedural roadblocks--not one, not two, but scores. We are now over a hundred. This is in keeping with what has gone on this whole Congress. It is remarkable that we have been able to get as much done as we have, with all of the roadblocks that were thrown up.

This is an important bill. I recognize that. It is basically to take care of our military personnel. To have this consent agreement, written in the language it is written in, changes how we have done legislation for a long time.

We all know the ranking member of the Armed Services Committee has offered so many unrelated amendments to this bill. He is on record as having done so. His response to one dealing with transparency was: This is my only opportunity to do it.

For anyone to suggest that the Secretary of Defense is somehow antimilitary--he is a person who supports the DREAM Act.

I appreciate the manner in which the Republican leader offered this. He gave me plenty of warning. We don't have surprises between the two of us.

I respectfully say this is changing the way we do business in the Senate, and I object.

Mr. President, I enter a motion to reconsider the vote by which cloture was not invoked.

Would my friend yield for a question?

I ask my friend, through the Chair, is it not also true that under the terms of the DREAM Act, no one becomes a legal citizen, that they get a green card?

Will my friend yield for a question?

I ask, through the Chair, are you telling the American people that the Secretary of Defense--a man chosen by the President of the United States, not only by this President but the last President-- is in favor of our passing the DREAM Act? Is that what the Senator from Illinois is saying?

If the Senator will yield for a brief question.

I want everyone within the sound of my voice to understand how much I appreciate--and the thousands and thousands of other people who appreciate--Senator Durbin's advocacy of this issue. I also want everyone else within the sound of my voice to know we are going to vote on the DREAM Act. It is just a question of time. This is so fair. That is all it is about, fairness--basic fairness.

I have to say to my friend from Illinois that I feel so bad. I have a stack of letters in my office that are the most heart-wrenching stories about these dreamers. They are dreamers. But I want them to understand this isn't the end of this. We are going to continue to move on it. We know we have been blocked procedurally, but this is the first time we have had our colleagues on the other side of the aisle stand and defy basic fairness on the DREAM Act. They have gone around telling people: Yes, we like it. We like it. But here was their chance. All we wanted to do was bring it to the floor, and they wouldn't even let us do that. They didn't have the courage to allow us to have a vote on this.

So I want my friend to know how deeply appreciative I am--and speaking for thousands and thousands of other people--for what he has done on this issue.

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

Mr. President, I just completed a visit with the Republican leader. There will be no more rollcall votes tonight.

I note the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, following any leader remarks, the Senate will resume consideration of the small business jobs bill. Under an agreement we reached yesterday, Senator Grassley and Senator Hatch will offer their respective motions to suspend the rules. Senators Baucus, Grassley, and Hatch will control 15 minutes each, for a total of 45 minutes. At 10:45 a.m., we will vote on those motions to suspend in the order in which they are offered. Following the votes, the time until 12 noon will be equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees. At noon, the Senate will proceed to vote on the motion to invoke cloture on H.R. 5297, the small business jobs bill, as amended. If cloture is invoked, all postcloture debate time will be yielded back and we will proceed to vote on passage of the bill.

The next item for business will be the Department of Defense authorization bill. I wish to reach an agreement to proceed to the measure. It appears that will be unlikely and, therefore, I may need to file cloture to attempt to end debate on the motion so we can begin the amendment process.

Mr. President, I am told there are two bills at the desk due for a second reading.

Mr. President, I object to any further proceedings on these two matters en bloc.

Mr. President, we have worked for this entire Congress on food safety. I have had a number of people from Nevada--about a dozen people--who have talked about their foodborne illnesses, children whose growth is stunted their entire life. One young woman spent 11 months in the hospital as a result of eating tainted spinach. All over America this is happening.

We have food safety laws that are inadequate and causing people to get sick because the food is not checked closely enough. Senators Durbin, Harkin, chairman of the committee, and Enzi have worked hard to get something done. I have talked with Senator McConnell. He thinks something should be done. We thought we finally had it worked out. We could take care of this, but Senator Coburn has said no. He wants it paid for a different way. We spent a whole Congress on this legislation. Of course, at the last minute, he comes in, and likely we are

not going to be able to get this done before we go home for the elections.

What a sad thing for our country. People are dying as a result of these problems with food. It is a shame we cannot get this done. We have almost 400 matters that have passed the House of Representatives, and we cannot deal with them here because the Republicans say no. That is not the way to do business. In years past, these things would have gone through very easily.

We should be concerned about something as important as this issue, and the focus should be--and deserves to be--on the person who is holding up this legislation. It is too bad. There are all kinds of excuses, but excuses do not do the trick. People have come to see me who have been deathly ill. All that could have been avoided. The legislation would do that. It is bipartisan in nature. It should be completed.

Madam President, I thank Senator Landrieu for her leadership on this issue. I agree that the intention of this legislation from the very start has always been that investments made through the Small Business Lending Fund should be treated as Tier 1 capital in a manner consistent with that accorded to other capital securities issued to Treasury by eligible institutions. This treatment will allow these institutions to use Treasury funds to expand small business lending as intended.

Madam President, I wanted to announce what the schedule will be in the next few days. I have been working with the Republican leader to try to make this as convenient for everyone and still cover as much as we can in the short period of time we have. The next vote, which will happen in a minute or two, will be the last vote this week.

On Monday, September 20, as has been previously announced, there will be no votes. The next rollcall vote will be at 2:15 on Tuesday, September 21, which will be cloture on the motion to proceed to the DOD authorization bill. I will have a conversation about that when this vote is completed as to how I propose to proceed to that matter.

I ask for the yeas and nays on the passage of the bill.

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

The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

Mr. President, I am shortly going to move to the Defense authorization bill. I hope we can avoid a cloture vote on it. But from what I have been able to determine, that will not be possible. I have had a number of conversations with Democratic Senators and Republican Senators. I have explained to them that if we are permitted to move to the bill, either by consent or cloture on the motion to proceed, there are a number of amendments that I think need to be considered on it initially. I have stated what those would be more than likely.

In my conversations with my Republican friends, they have indicated that they want, likely, more than just a motion to strike the don't ask, don't tell that is in the base of the bill. I said that is fine. The main thing I want--and I think it is fair in the waning

hours of this session before the election--is that we would have the text of whatever the amendment might be and also a time agreement because everybody is aware that someone could get on an amendment and talk forever. I am trying to be as reasonable as possible.

These decisions don't have to be made today, but I would like to do it before Tuesday because I am going to have to make decisions Tuesday on what we are going to do on this bill. The main thing I have explained to Democrats--and they know this--and I say to my Republican colleagues, the work we do on this bill prior to the election is not the end of this bill. This bill normally takes some time. We can't finish it in a week. I understand more work needs to be done. Senator Levin has things in the bill he would like to correct with an amendment or agreement. It is my understanding there is more that the minority doesn't like in this bill than just the don't ask, don't tell provision.

I understand, in addition to issues I have talked about in the last couple days, there are many other important matters that both sides of the aisle wish to address. I am willing to work with Republicans on a process that will permit the Senate to consider these matters and complete the bill as soon as possible, which likely will be after the recess.

Cloture Motion

Mr. President, I move now to proceed to Calendar No. 414, S. 3454, the Defense authorization bill, and I have a cloture motion at the desk.

Mr. President, before I proceed with more procedural matters related to the motion I just made, I am anxious to hear from my friend, the ranking member of the committee. We are not trying to cut him off in expressing his views.

I ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum be waived.

Mr. President, I also ask unanimous consent that the vote on the motion to invoke cloture occur at 2:15 p.m. Tuesday, September 21; that on that date, the Senate resume consideration of the motion to proceed following a period of morning business, with the time until 12:30 p.m. equally divided and controlled between Senators Levin and McCain or their designees.

May I respond to my friend.

I say to my friend from Arizona, I haven't decided for sure. We talked about some of the things I would do with our amendments. I have been very clear with every Republican Senator I have spoken to that, of course, the motion to strike, we would get to that as soon as we can. If Senators had other amendments related to the don't ask, don't tell provision, which has been somewhat controversial, and some people on the other side don't like that--if there are other amendments related to that, we would be happy to do that before we leave for the elections. Then we would have to see what else we can work out on this prior to going home for the elections. But recognize-- and I think it is clear--that we are not going to be able to complete this bill before we go home.

Mr. President, the Senator from Arizona has been in Congress the exact same period of time I have been here. We were in the House together, and we came to the Senate together. I am confident he knows the rules of the Senate. It has been very unusual in this Congress that we have had to file so many times a motion to proceed to get on a bill. This is a bill that relates to the defense of our country. On any piece of legislation, it seems like a strange Senate process when you have to know what amendments are going to be offered by both sides before you move to the bill. That is why we are here and why we are Senators, to deal with legislation. I thought I was going over and above what I needed to do by telling the Republican leader some of the amendments I thought we would deal with prior to the election.

With my friend continually saying that the DREAM Act has nothing to do with the defense of this country, we have hundreds of thousands of people of Hispanic origin who are serving in the U.S. military as we speak. The DREAM Act is very simple. It says if you have been in this country for 5 years and you came before age 16, you should be able to go to a State school. You get no Pell grant benefits whatsoever. If you have been in school for a couple years, you can get a green card, no citizenship, or if a young man or woman of Hispanic origin decides they want to join the U.S. military, they would have the right to do that, and after having served 2 years in the uniform of our country, they would be able to get a green card. That is all the DREAM Act does. I think it has a lot to do with the defense of this Nation. We need these young men and women to join our military. We want them to.

I also say that the reason I thought there was a concern about this legislation from the minority side was they didn't like the don't ask, don't tell provision. So I was trying to be as cooperative as possible and say amendments relating to that--let's do them. I talked to one Republican Senator, and even though I didn't agree with her amendment, I thought it was appropriate that she had the ability to offer that.

I am not trying to end all discussion on this bill. I hope we can finish it. As the Senator from Arizona knows, we are very limited in the time we have before the election, and because we came here together, we are both going to have an election on November 2.

I am going to have to excuse myself. I will be happy to respond to questions but I have a caucus that starts at 1 o'clock. If my colleague has some questions, I will be glad to respond; otherwise, I will have to excuse myself.

Mr. President, following any leader remarks, there will be a period of morning business for 1 hour, with Senators during that time allowed to speak for up to 10 minutes each. The Republicans will control the first half of morning business and the majority will control the next half.

Following morning business, the Senate will resume consideration of H.R. 5297, the small business jobs bill. Yesterday, cloture was invoked on the substitute amendment, and the postcloture debate time will expire around 6:15 tonight. Furthermore, cloture was also filed on the underlying bill. I continue to work with my colleagues. Senator McConnell and I have had a number of conversations on how to terminate this legislation and send it to the House. We hope to be able to complete that soon. When we have something worked out, we will notify Senators.

The Senate will recess from 2:45 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. today to allow for Senators to attend the September 11 remembrance ceremony on the east front center steps of the Capitol.

Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum and ask that the time be charged equally against both sides.

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

Mr. President, staff has informed me that our block of time is fully called for, the full 30 minutes. I again call for the calling of the roll for a quorum, and that time will come off the first 30 minutes of the Republicans' time as the first 30 minutes is theirs.

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

Mr. President, I now ask unanimous consent that when the Senate convenes at 9:30 a.m., Thursday, September 16, and after any leader remarks, it resume consideration of H.R. 5297; that all postcloture time be considered expired at 10:45 a.m.; that upon the expiration of time, all pending amendments be withdrawn, except amendment No. 4594; that for the duration of this agreement, no other amendments, motions, or points of order be in order except as noted in this agreement; that the only motions in order be a Hatch motion to suspend the rules with respect to research and development and a Grassley motion to suspend the rules with respect to biodiesel, with Senators Baucus, Hatch, and Grassley, or their designees, each controlling a total of 15 minutes; that the votes with respect to the motions to suspend occur in the order in which offered, beginning at 10:45 a.m.; that after the first vote, the succeeding votes be limited to 10 minutes each, and that prior to each vote there be 2 minutes of debate equally divided and controlled in the usual form; that upon disposition of the aforementioned motions, the chairman of the Budget Committee's pay-go letter be read into the Record, the substitute amendment be agreed to, and then the time until 12 noon be equally divided and controlled between the leaders or their designees; that at 12 noon the Senate proceed to vote on the motion to invoke cloture on H.R. 5297, as amended; that if cloture is invoked on the bill, then all postcloture time be yielded back, the bill be read a third time, and the Senate then proceed to vote on passage of the bill, as amended, without further intervening action or debate; further, that the motions identified in this agreement be those which have been submitted at the desk when this agreement is entered.

Mr. President, first of all, I express my appreciation to everyone who worked to this end. I wish we had not had to spend the time we did, but we did, and now we are at a point where we need to be. I have had a number of conversations with the Republican leader, not only to work toward this but on how we can complete our work for this work period prior to the elections. So we are working on that. We do not have it done yet, but Senator McConnell and I have had a number of conversations today and several yesterday.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 9:30 a.m., on Thursday, September 16; 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 that following any leader remarks, the Senate resume consideration of H.R. 5297, as provided under the previous order.

Thanks, Mr. President.

Tonight we were able to reach an agreement to complete action on the small business jobs bill. We are going to complete that tomorrow, as outlined previously. Under the agreement, there will be a series of two rollcall votes at 10:45 a.m. and two rollcall votes at 12 noon tomorrow.