Floor Statements

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

Mr. President, I now ask unanimous consent that the cloture vote on the motion to concur in the House amendment to the Senate amendment to H.R. 1586 with amendment No. 4567 occur at 5:45 p.m., Monday, August 2, with the time from 5:15 p.m. to 5:45 p.m. equally divided and controlled between the majority and minority leaders or their designees.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Record remain open today until 1 p.m. for the introduction of legislation, submission of statements, and cosponsorships.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 2 p.m. on Monday, August 2;

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 proceed to a period of morning business until 3 p.m., with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each; that following morning business, the Senate resume consideration of the House message on H.R. 1586.

So, Mr. President, at approximately a quarter to 6 on Monday, the Senate will proceed to a cloture vote on the motion to concur with respect to H.R. 1586, the legislative vehicle for FMAP and teacher funding. Next week we have a lot of work to accomplish. In addition to the FMAP and education funding, we need to consider an energy bill, the nomination of Elena Kagan to be an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, and there are other matters we are going to try to clear for action on the legislative and Executive Calendars. We feel hopeful we can complete business on the Small Business Administration legislation we have spent so much time on early next week.

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

Madam President, it is my understanding that S. 3663 is due for a second reading.

Madam President, I object to any further proceedings at this time.

Madam President, following leader remarks, the Senate will resume consideration of the small business jobs bill. There will be an hour of debate prior to a rollcall vote on a motion to invoke cloture. The hour will be equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees, with Senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each. The final 10-minute block is reserved for the two leaders, with the majority leader controlling the final 5 minutes. Senators should expect a cloture vote around 10:40 this morning.

Madam President, both parties claim they are friends of small business. This bill gives Members of both parties the opportunity to prove it. This is not just talk. Listen to what this bill has in it.

This bill is called the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010. There is a small business access to credit provision. SBA estimates the loan limit adjustments will increase lending to small business by $5 billion within the first year of its enactment. This is a bipartisan provision: Landrieu-Snowe.

Small business trade and export promotion: It is believed this will save and create as many as 50,000 jobs this year.

Small business contracting: Increasing contracts to small business by 1 percent could create more than 100,000 jobs. This is bipartisan: Snowe-Merkley, Landrieu-Snowe, Landrieu-Crapo-Risch.

Small business management and counseling will create or save more than 10,000 jobs in 2011. It is bipartisan: Snowe-Landrieu.

Small business disaster loan improvements: This is also supported by Landrieu and Nelson of Nebraska. This is not bipartisan, but everyone knows these two Senators work on a bipartisan basis on virtually everything they do.

Small business regulatory relief: This is bipartisan: Snowe-Pryor.

Exclusion of capital gains tax: This allows investors in small businesses to take a 100-percent exclusion from capital gains tax on small business investments made this year. It is bipartisan: Kerry- Snowe-Menendez.

Increased deductions for startups: Temporary increase in maximum deduction for business startup in 2010-11. This would increase the limits to $10,000. It is bipartisan: Merkley-Alexander.

Extension of section 179: Extends small business expensing. This is supported by Senator Snowe; it is her provision. It extends section 179 expensing provisions.

Tax equity for self-employed: Allows self-employed taxpayers to deduct health care costs for payroll tax purposes on their 2010 tax returns. Bipartisan: Bingaman-Hatch-Landrieu.

Extension of ARRA: That is the stimulus bill bonus depreciation. Bipartisan: Baucus-Grassley-Brownback-Inhofe-Johanns-Menendez.

Small business penalty relief: Makes a penalty for failing to disclose listed transactions proportionate to the tax savings. This is bipartisan: Baucus-Grassley-Crapo.

Remove cell phones from listed property: Delists cell phones and other telecommunications devices from the category of ``listed property'' for tax purposes. Bipartisan: Kerry-Ensign.

S corporation holding period: Reduces the asset holding period for converted S corporation from 10 to 5 years: Snowe.

General business credits not subject to AMT limits: Allows small business to use all types of general business tax credits to offset the AMT liability: Grassley.

Carryback up to 5 years: Allows sole proprietorships, partnerships and nonpublic trading corporations with less than $50 million in average gross annual receipts for the prior 3 years to carry back unused credits for 5 years: Grassley.

Small business lending fund: Bipartisan: LeMieux-Landrieu. This is the one that has created all the interest all over the country, a program level of $30 billion, which by conservative estimates would lead to $300 billion in small business lending. It is not related to TARP. There are no TARP-like restrictions.

Utilizing predictive modeling to fight health care fraud: That is bipartisan: LeMieux-Landrieu.

Export promotion: Klobuchar-LeMieux, LeMieux-Landrieu. Very well accepted in the business community.

We have agriculture disaster relief. Bipartisan: Lincoln-Chambliss.

State small business credit initiative, bipartisan--developed with the support of 28 Republican Governors.

That is the bill. How could we have anything more bipartisan? That is why 80 different organizations support this legislation, including many Governors. The majority of the Governors support this legislation. Those who don't are maybe not familiar with it. But there are so many organizations that support this legislation.

Naming just a few, there are some 80 of them: Marine Retailers Association, people who sell boats; National Restaurant Association; Community Bankers for a number of States; National Small Business Association; Small Business Majority, and 76 other organizations. This is about as fair as it can be.

My friends on the other side of the aisle have indicated they want to offer some amendments. We say go ahead and do that. They can't take yes for an answer. I hope those Republicans who voted with the Landrieu- LeMieux amendment on Thursday would do so again on cloture. This is a bill that will help businesses all over America.

This bill is literally on the verge of final passage. My friends on the other side of the aisle have said the only thing standing between us and their support for final passage is giving them the opportunity to vote on their amendments. Here are the amendments they said they wanted: Grassley amendment on biodiesel; Hatch amendment on research and development; Johanns amendment on corporate reporting requirements. We said: Fine, go ahead and offer those. We will have our alternatives to those, as we do here. That is how it works. I propounded a consent that gave the Republicans votes on all three of these amendments along with the Democratic alternative.

So I wish to close by expressing my appreciation--I think I can say this without any reservation--the appreciation of the country, small businesses in America. We would not be where we are but for the work of Senator Landrieu and Senator LeMieux. Others have joined in. I had phone calls late last night with one of the most deliberate Senators. She has impressed me for so long. I got a call from Senator Landrieu. At her home was Senator Cantwell, who is a truly good legislator, and the two of them worked late into the night trying to come up with support for this legislation. But it wasn't only last night. Senator Landrieu, as chairman of the Small Business Committee, has been tireless. I had a conversation with her today. I have been so proud of her work on the floor--great speeches that she has gotten people to give in support of this legislation.

I can remember when she was a brandnew Senator and she was working on a military issue, and the headline in a Louisiana newspaper had ``Military Mary'' because she was fighting so hard for the troops. She hasn't stopped fighting for the beleaguered State of Louisiana, which has had so many problems. But for her aggressive work on behalf of her State, that State would not be where it is today. It was doing so well when the oilspill came. But who has been out in front on the oilspill? Mary Landrieu.

So I am proud of her being in the Senate. She has great lineage. I have such fond feelings for her father who was a legend in his own time, but that legend has been caught by his daughter, Mary Landrieu. So Moon is very happy, I am sure, with her legislative skills, as he should be, and as her mom is.

So anyway, thank you very much. I see my friend, the chairman of the Small Business Committee, is here. I would ask that the Record be pretty clear that there be an hour from now until the cloture vote. So I ask unanimous consent that be the case.

We have 5 minutes left; is that right?

I yield 4 minutes to my friend from Louisiana.

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, let me bring all of the Senators up to date as to where we are.

A member of the minority indicated that that Senator would vote for cloture if we took out a provision we put in, the agricultural disaster relief. So after having conferred with a number of Senators on both sides of the aisle, I have agreed we will take that out. With that provision not in the bill it got 60 votes on Thursday night, that same provision. But even to show good faith, which I am not sure it is necessary, but to show we are going to go the extra mile, I will not only agree to take out that extra provision but also have the same amendments we asked for yesterday; that is, the three amendments the Republicans wanted, which are the Johanns, Hatch, and Grassley amendments. I will be more specific on the legislative language in a minute. So we would take the agricultural disaster relief out and have the same amendments we had yesterday and offer the same amendment we had.

I don't know how we could be more fair. In fact, a number of my Members think we should go ahead with this, but we are willing to do that.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that Title 4, part 3, under substitute B, be stricken; and that the pending motion to commit be withdrawn, and all pending amendments be withdrawn except No. 4519, as amended, and that the following amendments be the only amendments in order to amendment No. 4519, with no motions to commit or motions to suspend the rules in order during the pendency of H.R. 5297; that all amendments included in this agreement be subject to an affirmative 60- vote threshold; and that if the amendment achieves that threshold, then it be agreed to and the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table; that if it does not achieve that threshold, then it be withdrawn; that any majority side-by-side amendment be voted first in any sequence of votes; further, that debate on any amendment included in this agreement be limited to 60 minutes each, with all time equally divided and controlled in the usual form:

Baucus amendment regarding information reporting provisions health care as a side-by-side to the Johanns 1099 reporting amendment; Johanns amendment 1099 reporting; Murray/Harkin amendment regarding education funding; Republican side-by-side amendment regarding education funding; Hatch amendment regarding R&D; Reid amendment regarding FMAP/Cobell funding; Grassley amendment regarding biodiesel; that upon disposition of the listed amendments, no further amendments be in order; that the substitute amendment, as amended, if amended, be agreed to; the bill, as amended, be read a third time, and without further intervening action or debate, the Senate proceed to vote on passage of the bill; finally, that once this agreement is entered, the cloture motions on the substitute and bill be withdrawn.

My frustration is pretty high. I cannot possibly understand how my friends on the other side of the aisle could vote against cloture. We have agreed to take out the provision dealing with agricultural disaster--take it out. We have agreed to have the amendments they have indicated they have wanted for days. We have agreed to do that. It is unreasonable.

Some people said, Well, why don't you talk to Senator McConnell. I have talked to Senator McConnell. It is obvious that no one on the other side of the aisle wants this bill to pass. I am so disappointed.

We are going to have this cloture vote in a minute. I hope Senators on the other side of the aisle understand the good faith we have engaged in. This is not a victory for Democrats or a defeat for Republicans; it is an effort to help small business. It is an effort to help small business. I went over line by line what this does for small business. It is miraculous. Hundreds of thousands of jobs--not tens of thousands--will be created with this legislation.

I appreciate the chairman of the Small Business Committee leading this effort. I understand that I said Lincoln-LeMieux; of course I meant Landrieu-LeMieux when I spoke earlier. I am not going to mention Republicans by name, but there are some Republicans who have stepped forward, and I appreciate it very much. Again, it is not for my appreciation, it is for the appreciation of the American people. Look what this message will send. We have at least 80 groups, entities, which support this legislation. Major small business conglomerates support this legislation. This is all they have. We shouldn't leave here and not complete this legislation. It would be too bad. This should not be partisan.

There is nothing to unsnarl. We have agreed to take out the offending provision that Senators on the other side of the aisle said they wanted out. I took it out. They wanted to offer amendments. I have agreed to let them offer amendments. There is nothing snarled. There is only an effort to stop passage of this bill.

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

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the cloture motion on H.R. 5297 be withdrawn.

Madam President, I move to instruct the Sergeant at Arms to request the presence of absent Senators, and I ask for the yeas and nays.

We have before us the small business bill we have worked on so hard. As I went through the bill today, virtually every provision in this is bipartisan, except some are strictly Republicans with no Democrats involved. It expands access to credit for small business all across America, cuts taxes for small business, and expands domestic and foreign markets for small business. This has the potential of creating hundreds of thousands of jobs. The reason for that is that most jobs in America are small business jobs. Two-thirds of the jobs lost in America have been from small business.

As I indicated today, I was disappointed that my friends on the other side of the aisle have not been willing to work with us. It seems to me the goalposts were moved often, but I have been here a while and I understand how things work.

Last week, they requested; that is, the Republicans, that we give them votes on three amendments.

We all know what they are now. Grassley has an amendment dealing with biodiesel. Hatch has an amendment dealing with research and development. Johanns has an amendment to repeal the corporate reporting requirement.

Earlier today, I propounded a unanimous consent request where we took out of the bill the issue relating to agricultural disaster and that we would have the three votes I mentioned and we would have Democratic amendments that would be opposite those, three in number. There was an objection. I cannot understand why they, my friends on the Republican side, cannot take yes for an answer. It tells me and I think the American public that it is more about something than getting votes. It seems they think it is more important to say no to votes on Democratic amendments than say yes to helping small business. But I understand where we are, and I am working very hard.

I have had a number of conversations with my friends on the other side of the aisle about a couple of amendments we have that we want to be voted on in opposition to the amendments offered by my friends on the other side of the aisle. A number of Republicans do not want to vote on those amendments as it relates to small business. I think that is unreasonable, but that is me. I accept their view that it is not unreasonable.

As I have talked with the Republican leader and a number of other people, I am going to try my utmost--and I think I figured a way to do that--to get the two amendments my friends did not want to vote on as relates to small business off this bill. I am going to do everything I can to do that in the near, foreseeable future.

But I say to everyone here: Let's take a little time over the next couple of days to kind of cool down. This is important. I know we have argued and scrapped, as my friend the Republican leader said, a lot of the time during this year. But let's do this legislation. This is not a victory, if we can get this done, for the Democrats. This is not a defeat for the Republicans. It is a victory for Democrats and Republicans

and Independents and the people who supply most of the jobs in America today--small businesses. That is why, if one can imagine, the chamber of commerce supports this bill. They are in favor of the Johanns amendment, and I accept that. When I was here this morning, 80 organizations supported this bill. We are now well over 100. This has gotten traction.

This is something we should do. This is good legislation. It would set a very good tone before we leave for the August recess to do this bill because by the time we come back in September, there would actually be some jobs created as a result.

I renew my request that I made this morning. I am not going to read this again. My request this morning was that we will take out the disaster relief, and they, the Republicans, can have their three amendments. We will have our three amendments. That is my request. I renew that request.

Reserving the right to object to my friend's proposal, I have to smile, even though I have not smiled a lot today. On the Sessions amendment, how many times do we have to vote on it? How many times? One of my friends on the other side of the aisle said: How many times do we have to vote on what you propose to vote on? Not nearly as many times as this Sessions amendment. There has been a general agreement between the Republican leader and myself that we are going to wind up there basically anyway. I understand he has people he has to satisfy on his side of the aisle. I do my best to satisfy people over here. But I have to respectfully object.

Madam President, I ask the Chair to lay before the Senate a message from the House with respect to H.R. 1586.

The PRESIDING OFFICER laid before the Senate the following message from the House of Representatives:

Resolved, That the House agree to the amendment of the

Senate to the title of the bill (H.R. 1586) entitled ``An Act

to impose an additional tax on bonuses received from certain

TARP recipients'' with the House amendment to the Senate

amendment.

Motion to Concur with Amendment No. 4567

Mr. President, I move to concur in the House amendment to the Senate amendment to H.R. 1586 with an amendment, which is at the desk.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. President, I have a second-degree amendment at the desk.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

Mr. President, I have a cloture motion on the motion to concur at the desk. I ask that it be stated.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum be waived.

Mr. President, I have a motion to refer with instructions at the desk. I ask that it be stated.

I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. President, I have an amendment to the instructions at the desk.

I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. President, I have a second-degree amendment at the desk.

Mr. President, unless my friend the Republican leader has an objection, I ask unanimous consent that there now be a period for the transaction of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each.

Having said that, there will be no more votes until Monday at probably around 5:30 p.m.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Armed Services be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on July 29, 2010, at 9:30 a.m.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Armed Services be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on July 29, 2010, at 3 p,n,

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Finance be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on July 29, 2010, at 10 a.m., in room 215 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on July 29, 2010 in the President's Room.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions be authorized to meet, during the session of the Senate, to conduct a hearing entitled ``The State of the American Child: The Impact of Federal Policies on Children'' on July 29, 2010. The hearing will commence at 10 a.m. in room 430 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Indian Affairs be authorized to meet, during the session of the Senate, on July 29, 2010, at 9:30 a.m. in room 628 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be authorized to meet, during the session of the Senate, on July 29, 2010, at 10 a.m. in SD-226 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building, to conduct an executive business meeting.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Terrorism and Homeland Security, be authorized to meet, during the session of the Senate, on July 29, 2010, at 2:30 p.m., in room SD-226 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building, to conduct a hearing entitled ``The Passport Issuance Process: Closing the Door to Fraud, Part II.''

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Ad Hoc Subcommittee on Contracting Oversight of the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on July 29, 2010, at 10 a.m. to conduct a hearing entitled, ``Mismanagement of Contracts at Arlington National Cemetery.''

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Select Committee on Intelligence by authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on July 29, 2010, at 2 p.m.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs' Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, the Federal Forkforce, and the District of Columbia be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on July 29, 2010, at 2:30 p.m. to conduct a hearing entitled ``Closing the Language Gap: Improving the Federal Government's Foreign Language Capabilities.''

Mr. President, this resolution would authorize employees in the office of Senator John Ensign to respond to subpoenas or requests for testimony by a Federal grand jury convened in the District of Columbia to investigate matters relating to Senator Ensign. The Senator would like to cooperate with this request. This resolution would authorize the Senator's staff to testify in these or related proceedings, except where a privilege should be asserted.

Mr. President, following leader remarks, there will be a period of morning business for 1 hour, with Senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each. The Republicans will control the first 30 minutes and the majority will control the final 30 minutes.

Following morning business, we will resume consideration of the small business jobs bill. I will continue to work with the Republican leader today on an agreement to consider amendments to the bill. If we are able to reach an agreement, we will have votes on amendments today.

Last night, I filed cloture on the substitute and the underlying bill, two cloture motions. As a result, the filing deadline for germane first-degree amendments is at 1 p.m. today.

Senators will be notified when an agreement is reached and votes are scheduled.