Floor Statements

Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate--and I do not think there is--I ask unanimous consent that it adjourn under the previous order.

Mr. President, following any leader remarks, the Senate will resume consideration of H.R. 5297, which is, as the leader has indicated, the small business jobs bill, with the time until 11 a.m. equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees. At 11 a.m., there will be three votes relating to this bill: cloture on the Johanns amendment relating to 1099 forms. This is a commitment I made--that we would have a vote on his amendment. I think it is appropriate we do that. That will be a cloture vote, a 60-vote margin. We also have a vote that will occur on the Nelson of Florida amendment also relating to 1099 forms. It has changes that affect a number of people, but it is also something that I think is widely supported. I do not support the Johanns amendment, even though I have had conversations with him. He is the one who brought this to the attention of the Senate. I appreciate that. I think the Nelson amendment is better for the reasons Senator Nelson and others have talked about. It is an amendment that certainly gets to the heart of this issue as to who has to report.

Finally, we will have a cloture vote on the substitute amendment to H.R. 5297, which is the small business jobs bill.

This is one of the most important things we have done in recent months. I know we have been away for a month. There were some efforts to get to that before we left, but time constraints would not allow us to do that.

This is an important piece of legislation. It is going to infuse community banks with money. The problem we have in America today is the big banks are doing great. We saw what happened in the stock market yesterday, and all reasons indicate the reason the stock market jumped like it did is because the big financial institutions are doing so well. They are doing well. They are loaning to big businesses. That is good. I am very happy they are doing that.

Eighty percent of the jobs we lost because of this recession were small business jobs. That is where we have to get the jobs back, and we are not giving small businesses the opportunity to borrow money. That is why this bill is so important.

People are estimating this will create from 500,000 to 700,000 new jobs because small business is the engine that drives our economy, and they need help. During this recess period, I was all over Nevada, of course. I went to a number of other States. It does not matter where you go. You see these little strip malls with ``For Lease'' signs. The reason is that small businesses that could continue their businesses if they could borrow the bucks for the inventory have not been able to do that. This bill will allow that to take place.

Not only does it do that, but it gives other tax incentives to small businesses. For example, they will be able to write off purchases they make for equipment--not depreciate it but write it off. It is extremely important they are able to do that.

We also have other tax breaks that allow some of these small businesses to do exporting, which they are anxious to do, and they get tax benefits for doing that.

The Small Business Administration will be revitalized. They have programs that are working well, but their resources are gone. I have spoken with the head of the Small Business Administration. She is so anxious for this to pass. She has people waiting in her offices around the country to apply for these loans to get their businesses started or reenergized. This is an important piece of legislation.

Following the vote on that substitute amendment, we will recess from 12:30 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. to allow for our weekly caucus meetings.

Finally, I ask unanimous consent that the filing deadline for second- degree amendments be at 12 noon today.

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

Mr. President, I object to any further proceedings with respect to these two bills.

Mr. President, these two pieces of legislation are important. I am going to do my utmost to see if we can find a way to have a vote on the Paycheck Fairness Act. It is so fair to do that, to do a better job of equalizing pay between men and women when they do the same work. It seems fairly basic and fair.

S. 3773 is Senator McConnell's Tax Hike Prevention Act. I am in conversations with him on how we are going to proceed on the tax issues, relating to the extension of the individual tax benefits. We will have more to say about that at a subsequent time.

Mr. President, we hope we can finish this very quickly. The votes are in. There are a number of technical things that could be done by those who oppose this legislation, but it would just waste a lot of the Senate's time, which we do not have a lot of, so I hope we can move through this very expeditiously.

This is an important piece of legislation. It is the most significant thing we have done since the stimulus bill was passed to create jobs. It is estimated this will create from 500,000 to 700,000 jobs. It will give community banks the ability now to compete with the big banks and loan money to small businesses.

As I said this morning, big banks are doing great. The stock market jumped up yesterday because they looked at the financials of the big banks and they are doing terrific. Big business is doing just fine. But in this recession we have the jobs that have been lost in the small business sector. Eighty percent of the jobs lost are from small businesses. This legislation will allow community banks to start loaning money.

As you drive across the country, you see these strip malls with ``For Lease'' signs up. That will be ending in the near future. People will be able to borrow money to keep inventory for these little businesses that create thousands and thousands of jobs. It will allow Karen Mills at the SBA, who has begged us for this legislation, to have the SBA part of stimulating our economy. There are programs there that are under-resourced. This will allow her to have the resources to do good things. There are tax incentives the Finance Committee has come up with that will give tax breaks to small businesses. The chairman of the committee will talk about that at a subsequent time.

I want to acknowledge the hard work of many people. Of course, the person who has been out front has been the chairman of the Small Business Committee, Senator Landrieu. She has done a remarkably good job. She has been diligent, persistent, and she never gives up. I am very grateful to her for what she has done for the American people with this legislation. She has had some help. The ability to give these tax breaks to small businesses came from the Finance Committee, which is chaired by Senator Baucus of Montana. That is significant, for small businesses to get billions and billions of dollars of tax cuts.

Remember, everything in this bill is paid for. There is not a penny that is deficit spending. In fact, we have a little extra money on this bill.

I would also say the breakthrough we had came with a seasoned politician, someone who will go down in the history of Ohio as one of its great statespersons, the mayor of a big city, Governor of a State, and a Senator who has decided not to run for reelection, which is unfortunate in the minds of many. Senator George Voinovich in effect said: We have had enough of posturing on both sides, and I am going to vote for this bill because it is going to help the economy of Ohio and the people of this country.

I admire and respect George Voinovich for what he has done, not only on this legislation but what he has done in the past. This is not the first time he has decided that party is not as important as the American people. I will always be an admirer of George Voinovich. There is no one more studious in the entire Senate than George Voinovich. He is known for studying legislation. He is someone who is very concerned and has been from the day he came here about the deficits this country has. So I am not going to belabor the point other than to say I am very grateful to George Voinovich for, in fact, breaking the logjam and saying: I am going to vote for this legislation. He didn't do it secretly, and he came out publicly and said what he was going to do.

I also want to express my appreciation to George LeMieux, who has been working on this legislation with Senator Landrieu for several months now. I appreciate his willingness to work with us in this regard.

On the Democratic side, Senator Landrieu, of course, and Senator Baucus led the charge. But we have had Boxer, Merkley, Cantwell, Stabenow, Warner, Lincoln--a number of Senators who have worked very hard.

I spread across the record, this is not a victory for the Democratic Party. This is not a loss for the Republican Party. This is a win for the American people. This is going to help small business, which has always been the driver of jobs in our country.

Mr. President, I welcome you and all of our colleagues and all the staff back from our 5-week work period at home.

We have a lot of work to do. Following any leader remarks, there will be a period of morning business until 3:30 p.m., with Senators allowed to speak for up to 10 minutes each. Following morning business, the Senate will proceed to executive session to consider the nomination of Jane Stranch to be a circuit court judge for the Sixth Circuit. There will be up to 2 hours for debate equally divided and controlled between Senators Leahy and Sessions or their designees. At 5:30 p.m., we will proceed to vote on confirmation of the Stranch nomination.

As a reminder to Senators, before the recess, cloture was filed on the small business jobs bill. The filing deadline for first-degree amendments to the substitute and the bill is 3 p.m. today. At 11 a.m. tomorrow, there will be up to three cloture votes relating to the small business jobs bill. The cloture votes will be on the Johanns amendment No. 4596, the Nelson of Florida amendment No. 4595--both relating to 1099 forms--and on the substitute amendment to H.R. 5297.

Mr. President, as I said, I welcome back all my colleagues from all corners of the country. I am sure every Senator enjoyed spending time with their constituents as much as I did. I am sure all are eager to get back to the business of legislating.

The work period we begin today is an important one. Like every work period, it represents a new opportunity to move past the partisan stalemates of recent months and find common ground on our most pressing priority: putting people back to work. I hope the weeks between now and Columbus Day will be productive weeks. There really is no reason they should not be. The issues we will be dealing with are not partisan or ideological. They have the

support of Democratic, Republican, and Independent Senators. They have the support of Democratic, Republican, and Independent constituents. All of us have a common obligation and a shared interest in doing all we can to get our economy moving again.

If we were to adopt a slogan to guide us in the coming weeks, I would nominate something a colleague of ours said just a few days ago. The senior Senator from Ohio, Mr. George Voinovich, a Republican, was talking last week about the standoffs that have stalled the Senate-- gridlock that has kept us in recent months from realizing our ability and fulfilling our responsibility to help small businesses. He said:

We don't have time for messaging. We don't have time

anymore. This country is really hurting.

Senator Voinovich is right. Small businesses across Nevada are hurting. Small businesses across my friend's State of Ohio are hurting. Small businesses across the State of Oregon are hurting. All over this country, they are hurt, from coast to coast, because credit and capital are too hard to come by. The owners of these businesses are not interested in partisan rhetoric, and neither are the people they have had to lay off or the unemployed they have had to turn away. People in Nevada and throughout the Nation are too busy keeping track of their business's books or their family budgets to keep track of who is scoring political points. They are not interested in any of that. They are simply desperate for us to do our jobs, and that is to help create jobs.

That is what the first vote Senators will cast tomorrow is all about. Tomorrow, we will decide whether to move ahead with a bill that helps more small businesses be the engine that runs our economy. When most Americans go to work in the morning--or whenever they go to work during the day--they do not go to big corporations with famous names. They go to work at small businesses. But those businesses are also the ones that have paid the highest price in Wall Street's recession. Two out of every three jobs we have lost came from small businesses.

Our bill is not a new one, and tomorrow will not be the first time we voted on it. But to refresh my colleagues' memories, let me briefly remind everyone what is in it.

One, it cuts small business taxes so they can hire and grow.

Two, it increases Small Business Administration loan limits, which gets money flowing to the entrepreneurs who create jobs.

Three, it makes it easier for small businesses to export what they make.

Four, among other things, it creates a new lending fund that will give small banks, community banks--and, by extension, small businesses--more capital to invest.

Most importantly, this bill will create jobs, up to 500,000--half a million jobs. But every day we delay, the opposite happens. Small businesses are holding off hiring while they wait for us to act. Banks large and small are holding on to their capital while they are waiting for us to act. And half a million Americans who want to work, people who are ready to get off unemployment and get back to jobs they so desperately need, are desperate for us to get our act together.

We need to go to work. As the Republican Senator from Florida, Mr. LeMieux, said when we last debated this bill--remember, Senator LeMieux is a Republican. He said it should get the support of more than 80 Senators. As my friend the Republican Senator from Ohio said: We do not have time anymore for political games. Our citizens are hurting too much.

I yield the floor.

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.

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

Madam President, following leader remarks, if any, there will be a period of morning business until 11 a.m., with the time equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees.

At 11 a.m., the Senate will resume consideration of the House message on H.R. 1586, which is the legislative vehicle for the FMAP and teacher funding amendment. There will be 20 minutes for debate, equally divided and controlled between Senators Baucus and DeMint or their designees.

At approximately 11:20, the Senate will proceed to a series of up to three rollcall votes. Those votes will be in relation to two DeMint motions to suspend the rules and on a motion to concur with respect to

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the next two votes be 10 minutes in duration.

Yes, the intention of this provision is to ensure that rebate dollars are collected for those particular drugs. Drug rebate dollars have long helped support state Medicaid programs and the provision will ensure an accurate calculation of AMP for the purposes of these drug rebates.

The Senator is correct. The Secretary should direct drug manufacturers to calculate AMPs for these drugs to allow States to collect rebates. In order to maintain pharmacy reimbursement at appropriate levels for these drugs, the Secretary should use the discretion that is provided under the Patient Protection and Accountable Care Act to calculate a Federal upper limit, FUL, at an amount that is at least 175 percent of the weighted average AMP for those covered outpatient drugs.

I agree with the Senators on the importance of protecting beneficiaries' access to these drug therapies and the retail pharmacies that faithfully serve them. I thank the Senators for their shared commitment to this goal.

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

I ask unanimous consent that there now be 1 hour remaining for debate with respect to the Kagan nomination for the U.S. Supreme Court, with 15-minute blocks controlled as follows: Senator Sessions, Chairman Leahy, Leader McConnell, and Senator Reid of Nevada; that upon the use of the allotted hour, the Senate proceed to vote on confirmation of the nomination; that upon confirmation, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid on the table, the President be immediately notified of Senate's action, and the Senate then resume legislative session. Further, I ask that when Members cast a vote on the nomination, they do so from their seats.

Will the Chair withhold please, Mr. President.

You have heard my request. What is the ruling of the Chair?

Mr. President, at 3:30 today we will vote on the nomination of Elena Kagan to be an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court.

Mr. President, the Republican leader and I recommend that Senators proceed to the Senate floor to cast their votes. We ask that Senators be seated when they cast their votes.

Decades before America's founding--when its direction was only roughly charted and its doctrines still in draft form--a lawyer from Massachusetts wrote that ours must be a nation of laws and not of men. That man, John Adams, knew that the rules and rights of a free land must withstand personal whims and political winds. It is a belief so basic Adams would later enshrine it in his State's constitution.

Today we will send to our highest Court another brilliant lawyer from Massachusetts, Elena Kagan, someone whose respect for the rule of law is matched only by her appreciation for those laws that concern the daily lives of the people they govern. The roots of General Kagan's respect for the rule of law are in her respect for our separation of powers. It is a reverence she developed during her service in all three branches of government, defending the first and second amendments, strengthening our national security, and protecting children's safety.

Wherever Elena Kagan has gone throughout her considerable career, she has succeeded. At Princeton and Oxford, at the law schools at Harvard and the University of Chicago and back to Harvard once again, in the private sector and in the highest levels of government, she has brought together people of every ideological stripe.

In recent weeks, we have again seen how effectively she impresses and unites those she meets. Look at the incredibly diverse array of people and organizations speaking in unison in favor of her nomination, including every Solicitor General, no matter the party, over the last quarter century. Now she is poised to join a Court whose power she respects as well as its limits. She understands that the laws are made only on this side of the street and only interpreted on the other side of the street.

Our Supreme Court promises equal justice for all who come before its bench. We must also fulfill the promise of greater equality among those who sit behind the bench.

Although the Founders did not want ours to be a government of men, for a long time men were the only ones running it. The most qualified women were turned away--turned away--one after another. Justice O'Connor graduated third in her law school class at Stanford, one of the premier law schools in this country, while others her age were just finishing college. The only job offer she got after graduating third in her class was a job as a legal secretary.

Justice Ginsburg graduated first in her law school class at Columbia, another premier law school, but not a single law firm would hire her either. She was denied a clerkship not by one but two Supreme Court Justices because, as they readily admitted, she was a woman.

It took nearly 200 years before the Court welcomed Sandra Day O'Connor as its first woman and more than a decade longer before Ruth Bader Ginsburg would join her as its second. A year ago today, Ginsburg was the only woman Justice, but when it opens this fall, three women--a full third of the bench--will preside together for the first time. That is progress. It is not yet completely equitable in a nation where women represent more than one-half the population, but it certainly is progress.

That Sotomayor and Kagan can join the Court in such relatively rapid succession is a tribute to the path their predecessors cleared.

Justice Ginsburg said last year that ``women belong in all places where decisions are being made.'' The Supreme Court is certainly one of those places. Elena Kagan is certainly one of those women.

As the Senate votes for this nominee on her merits, we are also voting for the most inclusive Court in its long history. It will be even more inclusive when we confirm more Justices who don't come from Ivy League schools.

In the oath General Kagan will soon take--the same oath sworn by 111 Justices before her--she will pledge to ``do equal right to the poor and to the rich.'' That is a commitment her predecessor, Justice John Paul Stevens, always fulfilled. We are grateful for Stevens' long record of service as a decorated war veteran, a successful lawyer, and an impartial judge and Justice who summoned common sense in his opinions. He was always passionate but always a gentleman.

Stevens once wrote: ``Corporations are not part of `We, the People' by whom and for whom our Constitution was established.'' General Kagan believes that too. It is the principle she defended in her first case as the first female Solicitor General; that is, our country's chief lawyer, when she fought to stop foreign and domestic corporations from drowning out American voters' voices. She knew it would not be an easy case, but she stood for fairness, transparency, and citizens' rights because that is what a nation of laws demands.

General Kagan learned from another trailblazing Justice and her personal hero, Thurgood Marshall, that behind the law lived real people. She knows the Court's rulings can affect working families as intimately as they do wealthy interests.

The American people deserve a Justice who understands that one litigant's case is no more justified simply because he has more money than his opponent. Elena Kagan will be that Justice.

We need a voice on the Supreme Court who remembers and reveres the rights of individuals, not because people are always right and corporations are always wrong but because the argument of even the poorest citizen should be heard just as loudly, with the same patience and deliberation and impartiality as that of the richest firm.

Elena Kagan has demonstrated, time and time again, that she understands that.

In fact, listening is one of her strong suits. Justice Stevens often said that openly debated differences benefit democracy and he promoted what he called ``understanding before disagreeing.'' The lawyer and teacher the President has chosen to succeed Justice Stevens believes the same.

When General Kagan spoke last year to graduates of Harvard Law School, where she was beloved by the students and faculty alike, she reminded them: ``You only learn something when your ears are open, not when your mouth is open.'' That shows wisdom. It takes a smart person to recognize that we make progress and make the right decisions when we approach each person and each problem with an open mind. It takes a smarter one to say as much.

So I hope each Senator will approach this vote the way General Kagan will approach each question that comes before the Court: with deference to the facts, the evidence, and our shared national interests.

General Kagan is a public servant who has remained far above the political fray and will be the only Justice who comes from outside the judicial monastery. She is a student and teacher of the law who looks up from her books out into the real world. She knows that while we are a nation of laws and not of men, the former has a genuine and personal impact on the lives of the latter.

Because of her intellect and integrity; her reason, restraint, and respect for the rule of law; her unimpeachable character and unwavering fidelity to our Constitution, I am proud to cast my vote for Elena Kagan's confirmation to be a Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.

We are going to wait until the hour of 3:30 arrives before we start to vote. Senator Leahy, at that time, will have a request to make.

Mr. President, today I come to the Senate floor to congratulate Herculez Gomez, a dedicated and disciplined soccer player from Las Vegas, who was one of 23 men to represent the country during the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa as part of the U.S. Men's National Team. Herculez, who currently plays in Mexico's Professional First Division for Pachuca F.C., made the final cut after being selected from the 30-man provisional World Cup U.S. roster.

As the oldest of five children, Herculez was born in Los Angeles to Mexican-American parents and later moved to Las Vegas where he was raised. While attending Las Vegas High School, he joined the high school's soccer league, where he cultivated a passion that would launch his career in the MLS league, and later earn him an unexpected, but well-deserved slot to represent his home State of Nevada and the United States in the 2010 World Cup this past June.

Throughout the years Herculez has developed a very successful soccer career, playing for several teams both in the United States and Mexico. Despite having suffered several physical injuries, such as broken foots and torn ligaments, through perseverance and patience Herculez has made a name for himself as dedicated player and rising star. While playing with the Puebla F.C. in Mexico, he became the first American player to score the most number of goals for a foreign league, netting 10 goals in the 2010 Mexican season.

During the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Herculez played in three of the four U.S. men's team World Cup games, and started in one of them. Although the team's quest for our first World Cup ended in the round of 16, Herculez represented Nevada and his country brilliantly and I look forward to seeing bigger and better performances from this Las Vegan star.

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.