Floor Statements

Madam President, following leader remarks, if any, the Senate will proceed to S. Res. 591, which is a resolution recognizing and honoring the 20th anniversary of the enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act. There will be 2 hours for debate. It will be divided equally between Senators Harkin and Enzi or their designees. Upon the use or yielding back of that time, the Senate will proceed to the consideration of H.J. Res. 83, which is a joint resolution approving the renewal of import restrictions contained in the Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act. There will then be up to 20 minutes for debate equally divided between Senators Baucus and McConnell or their designees.

Upon the use or yielding back of that time, the Senate will proceed to vote on the resolutions. The first vote will be on the Burma joint resolution, and the next vote will be on the Americans with disabilities resolution. We hope these votes will begin at around 12 o'clock today, maybe a little sooner.

Following the votes, the Senate will resume consideration of the small business jobs bill. As a reminder, last night I filed three cloture motions relative to the small business jobs bill. I hope we can reach an agreement to have these votes today. If no agreement is reached, we would have the first cloture vote tomorrow morning.

Senators will be notified when any additional votes, other than those I have mentioned, will be brought up.

Madam President, S. 3628 is at the desk and due for a second reading.

Madam President, I object to any further proceeding with respect to this bill.

Madam President, will the Chair now announce the business for the day.

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

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 President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

I ask unanimous consent that at 8 o'clock tonight, the Senate proceed to vote on the motion to invoke cloture on amendment No. 4500; and that if cloture is invoked, notwithstanding rule XXII, the Senate then proceed to the House message to accompany H.R. 4899, as provided in this order; that if cloture is not invoked, the majority leader then be recognized to enter a motion to reconsider the vote by which cloture was not invoked; and the cloture motion on the substitute amendment and the bill be withdrawn; further, that the Senate proceed to the House message regarding H.R. 4899, supplemental disaster relief/ summer jobs; that the Senate move to concur in the House amendment to the Senate amendment to the bill; and vote immediately on the motion to invoke cloture on the motion to concur in the House amendment to the Senate amendment to the bill; that if cloture is invoked, then the Senate proceed as provided under rule XXII; that if cloture is not invoked, then the motion to concur be withdrawn, and the Senate then move to disagree to the House amendment to the Senate amendment to the bill, and that the motion to disagree be agreed to, and the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table; that no further amendments or motions be in order to the House message to accompany H.R. 4899, except the following specified here: Lincoln amendment to the motion to concur, with an amendment to the disaster assistance/child nutrition; Reid amendment to the motion to concur with an amendment on the subject of border security; Specter amendment to the motion to concur with an amendment on the construction of ocean-going vessels; Reid amendment to the motion to concur with an amendment on the Federal Lands Transaction Facilitation Act, and the following amendments on the motion to concur with respect to the class action settlement negotiated involving African-American farmers and American Indians, jobs for teachers, and public safety employer-employee cooperation; that no debate be in order with respect to any amendment covered in this agreement; that each be subject to an affirmative 60-vote threshold; that if they achieve that threshold, then the amendment be agreed to; if the amendment does not achieve the threshold, then it be withdrawn and the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, with no further amendments or motions in order as provided above except the motion to disagree.

I object.

Mr. President, those are laudable goals. I look forward to working with my friends on the other side of the aisle to come to conclusion of these matters. But at this stage, I think it is pretty late at night, and we have had little opportunity to talk to our committees. In fact, it would just not work at this stage. So I object.

Reserving the right to object, we have been through this before. This is a ``beat up the lawyer'' amendment. We will not agree to that. I object.

And small business.

Mr. President, I think it is fair to the Senator from Arkansas that there is an understanding that an amendment that passed this body at least 6 months ago, that was bipartisan in nature, that gave emergency funding for a number of States because of agricultural disasters, the question is, Is that being objected to?

I am sorry then.

I don't want any misunderstanding. If anyone is objecting to our moving forward on the supplemental, this is the time to speak.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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

Mr. President, I renew my earlier unanimous consent request with the exception of those exceptions.

I ask unanimous consent that the Monday quorum be waived with respect to the House message.

Mr. President, I appreciate very much the inordinate amount of time that everyone has waited. I am sorry we had to do that. But Senators Lincoln and Chambliss have been real professionals. They have done a lot of talking. But I think we are at a point now where we can finish our business tonight.

Cloture Motion

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

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the postcloture time with respect to the Landrieu-LeMieux amendment No. 4500 suspend until such time as the Senate resumes consideration of H.R. 5297.

Mr. President, I now ask unanimous consent that it be in order to proceed to Calendar No. 476, S. 3628.

I now move to proceed to that bill, and I send a cloture motion to the desk.

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

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the cloture vote on the motion to proceed occur at 2:45 p.m., Tuesday, July 27, with the time from 2:15 to 2:45 p.m., equally divided and controlled between the two leaders, or their designees, with the majority leader controlling the final 15 minutes.

Mr. President, I have just learned of the loss of one of my dear friends. He was an orphan. He was a stellar athlete. He came to Las Vegas to be a schoolteacher, but he had such a dynamic personality that soon they learned in that rapidly growing school district, which is the fourth or fifth largest in the country, that they needed his kind of leadership. He went from being a teacher to running that huge school district in Las Vegas, the Clark County School District.

He had such a magnetic personality. Kenny Guinn was built like an athlete. He was handsome as a movie star.

He left the school district after a number of years and became a bank president. He became a big utility president in our major utility in Nevada. Then he became president of the university. I think he worked for $1 a year. He just did it to be nice.

Somebody said to him: What you should do is run for Governor. It was a slam dunk. He was a very moderate Republican. He was elected Governor twice very easily. He did an extremely good job as Governor.

We do not know what happened to Kenny today, but from reports we received, he was in an accident. He was on the roof and fell. He is dead now. I feel so badly about this. I talked with him a week or so ago about my campaign and his wonderful, beautiful, charming wife Dema. I feel so sad that Kenny is not with us anymore.

I join all of Nevada in mourning the loss of truly a great man, one of Nevada's outstanding Governors, and a friend of mine about whom I will always feel strongly.

Mr. President, today I rise to honor Sister Rosemary Lynch for her lifetime of promoting peace throughout Nevada, the United States, and the entire world. Sister Lynch recently celebrated her 93rd birthday, and I am pleased to recognize her life and achievements before the U.S. Senate.

Sister Lynch was born in Phoenix, AZ, but her spiritual service in the Franciscan Order brought her to Las Vegas after periods in Mexico, Europe, Africa, and Indonesia. She began her devotion to the Franciscans more than 75 years ago and eventually ascended to an administrative post within the order. Spending 16 years in Italy helping to manage the order's global organization, Sister Lynch still found time to travel the world to deliver her message of compassion. These days, Sister Lynch can be found at the Franciscans' house on Bartlett Street in Las Vegas, where she devotes her day to assisting the underprivileged community of the city.

Sister Lynch's age has not slowed her commitment to spread peace throughout her community. Her boundless energy is apparent in the daily early morning walks she takes through her neighborhood and the unflagging devotion to combating poverty she displays through her work at the Franciscan house. She speaks five languages, a testament to her incredible mind and her experience in spreading peaceful ideas throughout the world.

In addition to her work with the Franciscan Order, Sister Lynch founded the Pace e Bene Nonviolence Service, a group dedicated to educating communities about theories of peaceful conflict resolution. This organization celebrated 20 years of activity last year, and it continues its mission internationally due to the efforts of Sister Lynch. ``Pace e Bene'' means ``peace and all good'' in Italian, and I cannot think of a better phrase to describe the life's work of Sister Rosemary Lynch.

I am honored that Sister Lynch has offered her services to the State of Nevada for a significant portion of her life. I thank her for her ceaseless altruism and selflessness, and I wish her continued health and success in her endeavors.

Mr. President, following leader remarks, there will be a period of morning business for an hour. During that time, Senators will be allowed to speak for up to 10 minutes each. The time will be equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees. The Republicans will control the first 30 minutes; the majority will control the next 30 minutes.

Following morning business, the Senate will resume consideration of the House message on unemployment insurance benefits, postcloture. If all postcloture debate time is used, the vote on passage would occur at approximately 9 o'clock tonight. I will continue to work with the Republican leader on an agreement to yield back time.

Upon disposition of the unemployment insurance legislation, we will move to the small business jobs bill. We will actually resume consideration of it; we have been on it before. Senators will be notified when any votes are scheduled.

Mr. President, the power of our democratic system is that everyone has a voice. The responsibility of that system is that once the votes are cast and counted, everyone must then accept and abide by the outcome. I deeply regret that too many of my Republican colleagues have yet to learn that lesson.

Let me explain as clearly as I can what happened in the Senate yesterday and what is continuing to happen this morning. I want to explain it especially for the tens of thousands of Nevadans and 2.5 million Americans waiting for the emergency unemployment assistance they have been told is on the way.

Yesterday afternoon, the Senate moved, at long last, to within one step--one simple-majority vote--of passing long-overdue help for the unemployed. This is emergency help for those who have exhausted their insurance benefits because these days it takes longer than ever before in recent memory to find a job. This is help for people who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own. Although they are still out of work, it is not for lack of trying. These are people who have tried and tried and tried to find work, who scour job listings, who send out resumes, who fill out applications, who go to interviews, but who have not had any luck for weeks and months and, in some cases, multiple years. At last count, there is only one open job for every five desperate Americans to fill it.

So after several tries and with the help of two courageous and good Republican Senators from Maine--Snowe and Collins--yesterday we moved closer to that last step by an overwhelming vote, a vote of 60 to 40. In the unique world of the U.S. Senate, 60 to 40 can be seen as a razor-thin margin, but by any reasonable measure, it is a landslide. That vote, by the way, was entirely in line with the wishes of the people we represent--the people of Nevada, the people of New Mexico, all 50 States--who overwhelmingly demand that we--Republicans, Democrats, and Independents--pass this aid. The support for this bill comes from all over the country, both from those fortunate enough to collect a paycheck and those desperate to get an unemployment check.

By Senate rules, the maximum of 30 hours can elapse between the second to

the last vote and the final vote, which requires just a simple majority of 51 or whatever the majority would be at the time. During those 30 hours, not a single letter or a single number in the bill will change. In other words, we have to wait more than a day before we can see if half of the Senate supports the exact same bill a supermajority supported the day before. That might not make much sense for those who do not follow the Senate every day or even those who follow the Senate every day. I understand that. In fact, historically, both sides have been able to come together and reasonably say: 60 is more than 51, so let's just move on. They have said it. They have said: It is not our time to waste; it is the American people's time. But that is just not how things work in the new Senate and not with this Republican leadership. The minority--which, it is worth repeating, has already lost the debate and lost the vote on this issue--has decided to squeeze out every last second of that time, until they have no more delaying tools at their disposal, until they have no more procedural tricks up their sleeves, until they can no longer forcibly keep emergency unemployment checks out of the hands of the desperately unemployed.

The Republican leadership, supported by the overwhelming majority of its caucus, has stood--actually, what they have done is stand in front of a burning house and they have said: Everyone wants us to put out the fire, but we are going to sit back and wait a while before we turn on the firehoses. This really is a dark day in the Senate and some feel brings shame to the institution. But more than that, it hurts the very people we were sent here to help. Why would someone in public service do such a thing? Why would they be so callous? I do not know. I am really at a loss.

Perhaps the overwhelming majority of Republicans think that since they have turned their backs on the unemployed for so many months, what is another few days? Perhaps they think that when unemployment goes up, their poll numbers go up also. Perhaps they look at this widespread misfortune and see an opening for their political fortunes or perhaps they have convinced themselves that the longer the unemployed suffer, the less likely they are to notice who is holding back the relief they need.

It has long since been established that the unnecessary delays the Senate Republicans have forced surpass every possible historical record and defy every historical precedent. They defy both fairness and logic. But when we look back at the unparalleled abuses of this new Senate, this will be among the lowest points.

It is abundantly clear there are differences of opinion in this Chamber on who is worthy of unemployment insurance and on how to fund the emergency assistance. Differences of opinion are why we are here. But that is no longer the debate. We have already fought that fight. In fact, we fought it over and over these past weeks. Now it is over. Whether by 60 to 40 or 100 to 0, it is done.

So this is where we stand: The votes have been cast and counted. The House has overwhelmingly voted to extend emergency aid. The Senate has overwhelmingly voted to extend emergency aid. The President sits, pen in hand, ready to sign this bill into law the minute it lands on his desk. As soon as he does, the checks will go out and so will the fire.

Millions of Americans are waiting but not for the spoils that will make them rich or jackpots that will help them buy luxuries they do not need. No, millions are waiting for a fraction of their old income, checks that will help them put food on the table this week, keep a roof over their heads this month, and keep the air-conditioning on this summer. But the clock continues to tick. The unemployed continue to suffer. And too many of our Republican colleagues--who for years have proven they have never seen an economic crisis they could not turn into a political opportunity--continue to prove they have never seen an opportunity they cannot turn into a crisis.

Mr. President, some believe that if you say something long enough, even if it is without any factual basis, people will start believing it.

To think that banks--Wall Street--liked Wall Street reform is a stretch beyond our ability to comprehend. We needed to do something because Wall Street hurt America. They had a pretty good deal going there. They could use our money and gamble it--different than Las Vegas. They could gamble our money, and if they won, they kept it; if they lost, they came back to us for help. That is a good deal, and we have stopped that.

Does anyone think we should leave things the way they are? That was a crisis waiting to happen again. George Bush's Secretary of the Treasury Hank Paulson, when this bill passed, said it was a fine piece of legislation. I am paraphrasing what he said. Knowing Hank, that is about what he said. He liked the legislation, and he should know. He was President Bush's Secretary of the Treasury when this collapse took place.

This is all so quite interesting. My friend says that the stimulus has caused job loss. Again, that is without any factual basis. In fact, it is just the opposite. It saved or created 3 million jobs. Remember, we still have low unemployment because that started during the Bush years back in 2006 when the economy started faltering. As an example, in the last 6 months of the Bush administration, 3 million jobs were lost.

Health insurance: Always they talk about health insurance. But remember, any poll we see today, the majority of the American people support what we did with health care. My friend was at a meeting we had yesterday, and we saw those numbers spread across the film we were shown.

Also, the reasoning is quite unique. My friend says we bailed out the auto industry. Isn't that a good thing we did? Isn't it a good thing today in America we have an automobile manufacturing sector? If it had been up to them, General Motors would be gone. If it were up to them, Ford Motor Company would probably be gone. Chrysler would definitely be gone. We decided they needed help, just as New York City needed help 25 years ago or so. They came out very strong. We are making money on what we did in investing in Detroit's automobile industry.

It is also interesting--I have seen this at home--some of my Republican friends criticized me for the bailout, the stimulus. Then I was criticized because I did not get more money.

In a little bit, I am going to go down to one of the Federal buildings for a signing of the Wall Street reform bill. What an important day for this country. After this financial collapse, we have reined in Wall Street. That is a day for celebration.

Think how much better this bill could have been had we had a little cooperation from our friends on the other side of the aisle. But we did plenty and, as has been said and written, it is the most significant change in the financial world since the Great Depression.

The mere fact that one says something that is without foundation a lot of times and simply is untrue does not make it truthful the more times one says it.

Will the Chair announce the business for the day?

Mr. President, I ask, through the Chair, if my friend will

yield for me to make a unanimous consent request.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that all postcloture time be considered expired, after the use or yielding back of time specified in this agreement; that upon the expiration of time, amendment No. 4426 be withdrawn; that debate on the motions to suspend the rules with respect to H.R. 4213, and that the motions not be divisible, as specified here, be limited to 20 minutes each, with the time divided equally between the proponents and the majority leader or his designee; that upon the expiration of all time, the Senate proceed to vote on the motions to suspend in the order in which offered; that after the first vote and prior to each succeeding vote in this sequence, there be 2 minutes of debate equally divided as specified above, with succeeding votes limited to 10 minutes each; that upon disposition of the motions, the motion to strike, which is at the desk, be agreed to; no further motions or amendments be in order; that the pay-go statement from the Budget Committee be read into the Record, and without further intervening action or debate, the Senate proceed to vote on the motion to concur with amendment No. 4425, as amended; further, that the motions to suspend be those which appear on pages S6034 and S6035 of the Congressional Record of July 20: two Coburn motions, the Brown motion, and two DeMint motions.

I also ask that my friend from Oregon now have whatever time necessary to complete his statement. How much time does he need?

I ask that my request be amended in that regard.

Mr. President, for everyone's information, we should be able to proceed through these pretty quickly. It is likely--and this doesn't take away from the statements to be made by my friends on the other side, and we may not use much of our time--that we can move these along fairly quickly. There will be five votes, and, as indicated in the consent agreement, the first will be the regular time, and after that there will be 10 minutes on the final four.

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

I thank the Chair.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that all pending amendments and the motion to commit be withdrawn.

I have a substitute amendment at the desk. I ask that it be considered.

I ask that the reading of the amendment be waived.

I ask for the yeas and nays.

I now call up the Landrieu-LeMieux perfecting amendment.

I ask that reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.

I do have a second-degree amendment at the desk.

I ask that reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

I have an amendment at the desk to the language proposed to be stricken.

I ask that the reading of the amendment be waived.

I ask for the yeas and nays.

I now have a second-degree amendment at the desk.

I ask that further reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

Mr. President, I have three cloture motions at the desk. I ask that they be stated.

Mr. President, there have been three cloture motions stated. I ask consent that the mandatory quorums be waived with respect to these motions.

Mr. President, I have a motion to commit 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.

I have a second-degree amendment at the desk.

I wish to express my appreciation for everyone's patience to get to the point where we are. Especially, I wish to express my appreciation to Senator Landrieu, who has worked tirelessly since Friday coming up with this. I support what she is doing. I am grateful for all her hard work.

I hope tomorrow we can work our way through these issues. I will tell everyone here that we are going to finish this small business jobs bill, with a little luck, in the next few days. We could do it tomorrow if we were able to advance the time.

We also have the supplemental appropriations bill, which is very important. We got that bill from the House. It has a lot of things on it, every one of which I support. But in my conversations with the Republican leader, he believes his caucus will not support most of the stuff that is on there.

So we are going to have a cloture vote on that at the earliest possible date. That is a message from the House. We could dispose of this also in the next 24 to 48 hours. So it is up to us how we work these out. I think we have heard enough of what we need to do in the next little bit. But we only have 2 or 3 weeks left after Friday. So we have a lot to do.