Floor Statements

Mr President, I have an amendment at the desk.

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

Madam President, following any leader remarks, the Senate will resume consideration of S. 3217, the Wall Street reform legislation.

The cloture vote on the Dodd-Lincoln substitute amendment will occur at 2:30 p.m. today, and everyone should be reminded that the filing deadline for second-degree amendments is 1:30.

Votes may occur on amendments prior to the cloture vote, if agreement is reached.

The Senate will recess from 10:40 until 12 noon today for a joint meeting of Congress at 11 a.m. where we will hear an address by His Excellency Filipe Calderon Hinojosa, the President of Mexico. This will be a joint meeting of Congress. We will gather here, and I encourage all Senators to be here by 10:30 so we may proceed to the House at about 10:40 as a body.

Madam President, I note the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, for the benefit of all Senators, we are now postcloture 30 hours. I have been speaking off and on over the last couple of days with the Republican leader. We are trying to work our way through this. There are a lot of procedural things we have to work through. There are only a couple of amendments that are germane postcloture, but they are ones we have to figure out a way to get resolved. I am in communication with the Republican leader. I am in communication regarding an amendment that is germane over here, a germane amendment over here, and we are going to try to work through this.

We could have some more votes this afternoon. In the best of all worlds we would finish this thing and move on to other issues. We are going to try to do that, but as everyone has heard over the last few days, it is hard to get that extra little distance we need.

We have made great progress. I don't want to belabor the point, but it has been hard to get to this point. This has been a good debate. I wish we had more of my friends over here join us on the cloture vote. We didn't, but I think it has been a good debate, and I think it is the way the Senate should operate more often than it has, and maybe this is setting a good tone for the future.

I note the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senator from Iowa finishes his statement, I be recognized.

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

I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now be in a period of debate only with a 10-minute limitation on speeches, to accommodate the speakers on Wall Street reform or other matters; that there be no amendments or motions in order during this time.

I want to amend my shortcoming. Sorry about that. I would ask that unanimous consent agreement be modified so that Senators Dodd and Shelby, the two managers of this banking bill, be recognized for up to 30 minutes each.

Reserving the right to object, did my friend propound a unanimous consent request?

No objection.

Mr. President, reserving the right to object, my friend knows we have an extenders package which we have to complete before we leave for the Memorial Day recess. There are a number of matters in that bill that are extremely important to people throughout this country, vital to people throughout this country.

My friend said his issue is noncontroversial. The controversy is in the eye of the beholder. I object.

Mr. President, I ask my friend to modify his request so that if there are Republicans who wish to be recognized, we would do that alternately.

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

Mr. President, on behalf of the Republican leader, and I and the managers of the bill and a number of others who worked long and hard on this consent agreement, I now ask unanimous consent that all postcloture time be yielded back; except for 5 minutes for the Republican leader or his designee to raise a budget point of order against the Dodd-Lincoln substitute amendment No. 3739; Senator Dodd or his designee be recognized to waive the applicable point of order; that the Senate then vote on the motion to waive the budget point of order without further intervening action or debate; that if the waiver is successful, then all pending amendments be withdrawn; the substitute amendment, as amended, be agreed to; the bill, as amended, be read a third time; and the Banking Committee then be discharged of H.R. 4173, the House companion; that the Senate then proceed to its consideration; that the text of the Senate bill, as read a third time, be inserted in lieu thereof, the bill be advanced to a third reading and the Senate then proceed to vote on passage of the bill; that upon passage, the Senate insist on its amendments, request a conference with the House on the disagreeing votes of the two Houses; further, that on Monday, May 24, it be in order for Senator Brownback to be recognized for a period not to exceed 10 minutes, and Senator Dodd for the same period; prior to Senator Brownback offering a motion to instruct the conferees with respect to H.R. 4173 on the subject of auto dealers; that after the motion is made, the Senate then proceed to vote on the motion to instruct; upon disposition of the motion to instruct, Senator Hutchison or her designee be recognized for a period of up to 10 minutes to make a motion to instruct with respect to proprietary trading, and Senator Dodd also be recognized for the same period of time; that upon the use or yielding back of the time, the Senate then proceed to vote on the Hutchison motion to instruct; that upon disposition of the above- referenced motions to instruct, no further motions be in order, and that the Chair be authorized to appoint conferees on the part of the Senate with a ratio of 7-5; that the Senate bill then be returned to the Calendar; provided further that if the waiver is not agreed to, then this agreement be null and void; and the cloture motion on the bill be withdrawn; provided further, no amendments or motions be in order to the

motion to instruct; and the title amendment, which is at the desk, be agreed to.

Mr. President, following any leader remarks, there will be an hour of morning business with Senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each. 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 S. 3217, the Wall Street reform legislation.

The cloture vote on the Dodd-Lincoln substitute amendment will occur at 2 p.m. today. As a reminder, the filing deadline for second-degree amendments is 1 p.m. today. Votes may occur on amendments prior to the cloture vote if agreements can be reached.

Mr. President, we worked late last night trying to take care of some of the final discussion on this legislation before cloture today. The reason we have an hour of morning business is to give Senators some time to say whatever they want to say as well as to give Senators time to look at the proposed consent agreement that was arrived at last night between the majority and the minority. I hope Senators will allow this agreement to go forward. If people look at what is in it, I think there is a series of amendments that will be accepted by the two managers of the bill. If someone doesn't like something in the consent agreement, be sure and talk to the two managers. It would be good to get some of these matters out of the way. We have had a number of Senators who have waited a long period of time to have their matters resolved. For example, Senator Harkin last night. We were able to arrive at a conclusion of an amendment that he felt was appropriate. It is an amendment I support and others support it. I just think it wouldn't be--for lack of a better word--fair to not let some of these amendments go forward, but Senators have the right to make whatever decision they feel is appropriate.

As far as the cloture vote, I don't think anyone can criticize our having taken time on this legislation. There are a number of amendments the proponents of which worked to perfect the language on and it took a while for them to do that. There comes a time, however, when we have to put this thing to rest. We have been on this bill for a month. As of tomorrow, it will be 1 month. We have another step we have to go through and that is conference. People have all kinds of opportunities there to make whatever decisions they think are appropriate to make this bill better. It gives both sides all the adequate protection they want when the bill comes back in its conference form.

I hope we can move forward. We have a few hours before cloture. I hope cloture will be invoked. If it isn't, we will continue working until we finish this legislation. As I have told everyone and I will say again, we have to finish this legislation, Wall Street reform; we have to do the supplemental. I wish to get the supplemental started sometime tomorrow. Then we have the extenders we have to do. We have parts of that extenders bill that are essential to the economic recovery. There are many aspects that are important, but one is the tax credit for research and development. Businesses absolutely need that.

The uncertainty of it is hurting the overall economy.

We have to do those before we take the Memorial Day break. We can't let the troops go unfunded and we can't let those provisions expire.

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

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent the Senator from Wyoming, Mr. Barrasso, be recognized for up to 15 minutes; that following his remarks, the Senator from Ohio, Mr. Brown, be recognized for up to 15 minutes; that following that, the Senate go into a recess at that time, after the two Senators finish their speeches, until 3:15 today. The two Senators are going to speak as in morning business.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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

Madam President, we have been trying now for many hours to get a consent agreement to let us move forward on some of these amendments, important amendments--some not so important but amendments. I do not know if we will ever arrive at that now, so I think it would be in the best interests of the body, both Democrats and Republicans, to go ahead and have the cloture vote.

There is a commitment made by the chair of the Banking Committee-- and, of course, the Agriculture Committee, but most of the concern right now is with the matters dealing with the Banking Committee jurisdiction--that both the chairman and ranking member will continue. We know what the consent agreement is. We will try to work through all that. I think that is the best way to do it. We have the word

of the two managers that is what they will do.

I think that when we get this cloture out of the way, the Republican leader already told me yesterday he wanted to use some time postcloture. We might have some people who will want to talk a little postcloture, and we will continue working.

We have really worked hard together. I think there has been a show of bipartisanship in this bill. We disagree on a number of very important issues, but that doesn't mean we cannot work together, and we have shown that is possible.

I ask that we move to the cloture vote.

Cloture Motion

Madam President, I enter a motion to reconsider the vote.

I ask unanimous consent that the cloture vote on the bill be withdrawn.

Madam President, I note the absence of a quorum.

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

The motion to lay upon the table was agreed to.

Mr. President, I have an announcement to make. Members of the Senate, we have made progress today. We are going to come in at 9:30 tomorrow. There will be amendments processed until we leave to go to the joint session. We will come back as soon as that is over and continue working on this bill.

At 2:30 I will move to reconsider the vote we had earlier today. So we will have a cloture vote at 2:30 tomorrow. Following that, of course, we have to look forward to when we are going to move to the bill of Senator Inouye and Senator Cochran, on which I understand they have done some good work. That will be the next matter we move to. No further votes this evening.

Mr. President, Al Gunderson was a paratrooper, a blackjack dealer, a sailor and a voracious reader. He was a lawyer, a justice, a mentor and a teacher. He was a humanitarian. And he was a loving husband to Lupe for 45 years and a wonderful father to Randy. Of all the determined leaders I have met in Nevada, no one was tougher than Al. No one was funnier. And no one worked harder than he did.

His wife, Lupe, told me this week about one memory from their time in Carson City. A young man came up to her once and asked why he kept seeing Al's Jeep at the courthouse at 3 a.m. But everyone knew the answer: Al Gunderson worked round the clock. It would be more strange not to see his car at the office.

The man who as chief justice presided for 6 years over the highest court in our State believed strongly in the phrase that watches over the entryway of the highest court in our Nation: Equal justice under law. He dedicated his life in public service to making sure everyone got a fair hearing and a just ruling. During his 18 years on the court, he steered it away from elitism and shaped it as a forum for everyday Nevadans. And if that meant standing up for the little guy, all the better.

He was a staunch advocate for civil rights. He used his passion for the law to groom future lawyers and judges as a professor at California's Southwestern University. And the same year Al was sworn in and joined the Nevada Supreme Court, he established the Nevada Judges Foundation to extend to more in our State the opportunity to serve as judges, especially in rural communities.

Al found his way to Nevada by way of Minnesota, where he was born of humble means; Nebraska, where he earned his law degree; and Chicago, where he began his legal and public service career with the Federal Trade Commission. We are fortunate that he did.

My friend and mentor and our State's former Governor, Mike O'Callaghan, used to call Al Gunderson a human being first and an outstanding legal mind second. He was right. Al Gunderson brought honor not only to the title of justice but also the pursuit of justice. We were honored to know him and learn from him.

Mr. President, following leader remarks, there will be an hour of morning business. The majority will control the first 30 minutes; the Republicans will control the next 30 minutes.

The Senate will then resume consideration of the Wall Street reform legislation. There will be 30 minutes of debate prior to a vote in relation to the Gregg amendment No. 4051 regarding State bailouts.

The Senate will recess from 12:30 until 2:15 for the weekly caucus meetings.

Last night, I filed cloture on the substitute to S. 3217, the Wall Street reform legislation. As a result, there is a 12 noon filing deadline for first-degree amendments. The first vote will occur before noon sometime today.

Mr. President, the fundamental principle behind Wall Street reform that we are going to finish this week is accountability. Those who created the mess bear the responsibility for cleaning up the mess. One of its most important provisions promises taxpayers they will never again be asked to bail out big corporations that acted recklessly and put our economy at risk.

When it comes to the ongoing catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico, our motivation is exactly the same. It is no different. More than 20 million gallons of oil have leaked into and across the waters of the gulf coast since the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded and sank about a month ago. That is double the oil that spewed from the Exxon Valdez.

Eleven crewmen died very quickly, horrific deaths, unnecessary deaths. In the weeks since, an enormous tourism industry has been slowed and business at countless fisheries has been halted at a time when the gulf coast can hardly afford more economic hardship. Our environment has been polluted and life has been disrupted for many along that coast. With every passing day, those consequences are only compounded.

It is the responsibility of Congress and the administration to investigate this disaster and it is the responsibility of BP and anyone else found culpable to foot the bill for the damages. They must be held accountable.

Some estimate this disaster will cost more than $14 billion. We have to put our foot down and make clear that taxpayers will not pick up that tab. I will do everything in my power to make sure the polluters pay the price, which they are obligated to do morally and, I believe, legally.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, we are trying to have more votes, but we will have to see if we do. We will have this vote. I think it is fair to say it may be difficult to have more votes tonight.

We are going to work--we are scheduled to have the vote an hour after we come in. I will work with the Republican leader to find out exactly what time we need that to be. I know there are some problems with attendance. We will have it at either 10 o'clock or 11 o'clock, whatever is convenient for everyone. We may be able to dispose of some amendments, even in the morning.

Will my friend yield without losing his right to the floor?

In the conversations we just continued over here, I tried to work something out. It was my understanding that the minority, the Republicans, agreed to allow the Senator's amendment dealing with annuities to come up.

In a conversation we had over here a few minutes ago, the Republicans and Senator Dodd and his staff thought it would be appropriate to bring up your amendment dealing with annuities. That was part of the general agreement we had worked out over here.

The annuities amendment is what the conversation was about.

So what about the annuity amendment?

I guess my question through the Chair to my friend from Iowa is, rather than going into a quorum call tonight, you could always do that some other time. I think it would be more productive if your amendment, which is dealing with annuities, was lumped into a number of other amendments that have been agreed to on both sides. See if we can dispose of those. Then if you still feel aggrieved at a later time, you could still do whatever you want.

I say again through the Chair to my friend, it seems that it would be better that you would have the opportunity at least to get the annuity amendment, which a number of us believe is a very important amendment. I think it would be better if we were able to at least get rid of that amendment in a positive way. I think that is a very important amendment. If I had to choose between the ATM amendment or the amendment dealing with annuities, it would be hard for me to make a choice which one is the most important amendment. It is not a question of not having two amendments. It is a question of couldn't we at least dispose of one of them which is an important amendment; otherwise, the way this train is going, we may never get to the annuity amendment.

I am not going to belabor the point, other than to say to my friend, there has been a tentative agreement between the two managers of the bill, including offering your amendment dealing with annuities. That is an important amendment. I support it a lot. I think the other amendment is good too. But we don't have agreement on both of them. We do on one of them.

Mr. President, months ago, one of the most respected names in finance, Paul Volcker, the former Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, made a commonsense proposal to protect taxpayers from the risk- taking on Wall Street.

The essence of the proposal was this: Banks that have an explicit or implicit backing from taxpayers, through deposit insurance or otherwise, should not be allowed to make investments for their own profits. Banks can do one or the other, but not both.

The goal of the proposal is clear: We will not let Wall Street bankers take advantage of taxpayers to make themselves rich.

Wall Street should be free to serve their clients, help investors save and allow entrepreneurs to raise the money they need to grow their businesses. But big banks should not be taking exaggerated risks that benefit only themselves and their own pocketbooks.

Our Wall Street reform bill has a provision that reflects this principle. Senators Levin and Merkley have been working for weeks on a proposal that

makes the tough underlying bill even tougher by giving taxpayers additional safeguards.

Their amendment would stop big banks from high-risk speculation and stop them from investing in hedge funds or private-equity funds. It would impose tough capital requirements on the biggest firms that pose the biggest risks to the financial system.

And it prohibits the conflicts of interest that allow Wall Street firms to bet against the very products they sell to their clients.

Mr. President, financial instruments and securities trading are complex. But this amendment is nothing more than simple common sense.

It stops Wall Street from gambling away other people's money with little risk and large reward. It rejects the rules in place today-- which are the same rules that were in place when our economy nearly collapsed--rules that let big banks take home their winnings but ask for all us to cover the loses. And it says to those who game the system: the game is over.

If Republicans are serious about learning from the mistakes of the past, they'll join us. If they agree that protecting middle-class consumers, safeguarding families' savings and protecting seniors' pensions is more important than carrying water for Wall Street millionaires, they'll join us. If they don't, it will be clear to the American people who's on their side, and who isn't.

And even if--in spite of all the evidence to the contrary--they still disagree that taxpayers shouldn't be on the hook for big banks' bad bets, I ask them to at least let us have a vote on this amendment, and let the majority rule.

The Levin-Merkley amendment and this larger bill will help prevent future financial crises. They will guarantee taxpayers that they won't ever again be asked to bail out a out bank that doesn't want to take responsibility for its own mistakes. And they will make sure the disastrous recession our families and businesses have endured for the last several years does not get worse, and never happens again.

Mr. President, today I wish to recognize Mr. Richard Moe on the occasion of his retirement for the outstanding contributions he has made during his half-century career in American politics and the preservation of our Nation's rich heritage. On May 31st, he will retire as the National Trust for Historic Preservation's seventh president after 17 years of distinguished work and achievement. He will have been the longest serving president since Congress chartered that organization back in 1949 to protect some of the country's most important historic places.

His legacy, however, is not just limited to a litany of successes in the preservation of our most treasured historic and cultural resources. That stewardship alone is an accomplishment beyond measure because of the priceless value these places and objects provide us and subsequent generations of Americans into posterity. In honoring Richard Moe's decades of work, though, I would be remiss if I did not call attention to his great devotion to public service as well. Some of those years were spent right here in the Halls of the Senate when he worked for our esteemed former colleague, Walter Mondale. It would be difficult to understand his deep commitment to the Nation and its heritage, a hallmark of his presidency at the National Trust, without mentioning his dedication to serving the American people through those whom our voters have elected.

A native of Duluth, MN, Richard Moe graduated with a bachelor of arts degree in political science from Williams College in Massachusetts. He began his career in politics as administrative assistant to Minneapolis Mayor Arthur Naftalin in 1961 and then as administrative assistant to Minnesota Lieutenant Governor A. M. Keith until 1966. He studied law at the University of Minnesota and passed the Minnesota State bar in 1967. That same year, he became financial director of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, eventually rising to chairman, the second youngest in DFL's history. He held that post until 1972, when he joined the Washington office of Senator Mondale and served as his administrative assistant. In 1977, Richard Moe became Vice President Mondale's chief of staff and a member of President Carter's senior staff where he undertook a number of special assignments on behalf of that administration. Following those years at the White House, he joined the Washington office of the New York law firm Davis, Polk & Wardwell and became a partner.

In 1993, he was selected president of the National Trust and forever changed the face of that important organization. Richard Moe's leadership there has taken the organization and the historic preservation movement into the 21st century. His first goal was to make it financially independent and strong. A major portion of the National Trust's funding used to come from the Federal Government. This is no longer the case. The National Trust now adheres to his more entrepreneurial focus on building relationships with private funders. As a result, and through two capital campaigns, the organization's endowment increased by $200 million during his Presidency.

He has broadened the National Trust's original congressional mandate far beyond the red velvet cords of house museums and brought historic preservation into the full and diverse spectrum of the national public policy arena. When in 1993 the Manassas National Battlefield Park and the surrounding countryside were threatened by an incompatible theme park and commercial development, he rallied such opposition to sprawl, poor planning, and the loss of our country's open spaces that the proposal was defeated.

He has focused his organization's attention beyond the importance of just protecting the historic America we know that was built after Jamestown, and called attention to the earlier cultural and historic treasures of the first Americans on our great public lands. And as our national consciousness has turned increasingly toward protecting our environment and conserving precious resources, Richard Moe has led his organization's role in fostering a more sustainable country under the simple but powerful message that preserving and reusing historic buildings is the greatest form of recycling.

His passionate interest in history and especially the events of the Civil War led to a deep and personal commitment to the restoration of President Lincoln's Cottage just 3 miles north of this Chamber. Now, solely as a result of Richard Moe's vision, this once forgotten ``Camp David'' of President Lincoln, where one of our most respected and celebrated Presidents lived and worked, is open to the public for the first time.

In the midst of all these accomplishments, Richard Moe wrote a Civil War history in 1993, ``The Last Full Measure: The Life and Death of the First Minnesota Volunteers,'' and coauthored ``Changing Places: Rebuilding Community in the Age of Sprawl'' in 1997.

In 2007, he was awarded the National Building Museum's Vincent Scully Prize, which recognized his leadership in moving historic preservation into the mainstream of public policy and expanding the public's awareness of our heritage's stewardship. That same year he also received the American Historical Association's Theodore Roosevelt- Woodrow Wilson Award for Public Service. Let me add to the many acknowledgements such as these my gratitude to Richard Moe and that of the entire Senate for his indelible contributions to our American political life and for his unceasing care for our national heritage. I know that even in retirement, he will continue to serve the people of the United States and I wish him well.

Mr. President, following any leader remarks and morning business, the Senate will resume consideration of the Wall Street reform legislation. Today, the managers of the bill will continue to work toward an agreement to begin voting at 5:30 this afternoon in relation to several pending amendments. Senators will be notified when the votes are scheduled.