Floor Statements

Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Sloan Hills Withdrawal Act of 2010.

Over the past year, I have been contacted by thousands of people in southern Nevada who have voiced serious concerns about a proposed aggregate mining operation that would be located on federal land very near Henderson, Nevada. I have a simple goal with the legislation that I am introducing today. My bill will stop the development of the proposed 640-acre gravel pit by withdrawing the area from location, entry, and patent under the mining laws and disposition under all laws pertaining to mineral materials. In short, this legislation makes sure that the proposed gravel operations at Sloan Hills will not go forward.

The Bureau of Land Management, BLM, is currently evaluating a proposal for a major gravel operation at the site in question. If approved, the resulting mine would blast rock, crush gravel, kick up dust, and consume precious water resources up to 24 hours a day, every day, for 30 years. This would all be done just a few miles from numerous Henderson neighborhoods.

Citizens from all over Clark County have rallied against this project because of its potential effect on the health of residents and the toll that the blasting other operations would have on an otherwise peaceful community. Because this project would be on Federal land local governments are limited in their ability to influence the outcome of the Sloan Hills proposal. It is clear to all of us, though, that the proposed location for this gravel quarry is not in the best interest of our community.

One of the major points of concern raised by Henderson residents is the large clouds of fine particulate matter that would be generated by mining activities at the Sloan Hills site. The dust kicked up by the proposed gravel operation would undoubtedly complicate the current air quality challenges in the Las Vegas Valley and would be particularly troublesome for members of nearby, age-restricted communities that have seniors already suffering from respiratory problems. Blasting and rock- crushing operations are also expected to generate noise and vibrations that will interfere with residents' daily lives.

This bill is important to me and to the people of southern Nevada. Keeping our communities safe and healthy is critical. I appreciate your help and I look forward to working with Chairman Bingaman, Ranking Member Murkowski and the other distinguished members of the Senate Energy Committee to move this legislation forward in the near future.

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

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

Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Sloan Hills Withdrawal Act of 2010.

Over the past year, I have been contacted by thousands of people in southern Nevada who have voiced serious concerns about a proposed aggregate mining operation that would be located on federal land very near Henderson, Nevada. I have a simple goal with the legislation that I am introducing today. My bill will stop the development of the proposed 640-acre gravel pit by withdrawing the area from location, entry, and patent under the mining laws and disposition under all laws pertaining to mineral materials. In short, this legislation makes sure that the proposed gravel operations at Sloan Hills will not go forward.

The Bureau of Land Management, BLM, is currently evaluating a proposal for a major gravel operation at the site in question. If approved, the resulting mine would blast rock, crush gravel, kick up dust, and consume precious water resources up to 24 hours a day, every day, for 30 years. This would all be done just a few miles from numerous Henderson neighborhoods.

Citizens from all over Clark County have rallied against this project because of its potential effect on the health of residents and the toll that the blasting other operations would have on an otherwise peaceful community. Because this project would be on Federal land local governments are limited in their ability to influence the outcome of the Sloan Hills proposal. It is clear to all of us, though, that the proposed location for this gravel quarry is not in the best interest of our community.

One of the major points of concern raised by Henderson residents is the large clouds of fine particulate matter that would be generated by mining activities at the Sloan Hills site. The dust kicked up by the proposed gravel operation would undoubtedly complicate the current air quality challenges in the Las Vegas Valley and would be particularly troublesome for members of nearby, age-restricted communities that have seniors already suffering from respiratory problems. Blasting and rock- crushing operations are also expected to generate noise and vibrations that will interfere with residents' daily lives.

This bill is important to me and to the people of southern Nevada. Keeping our communities safe and healthy is critical. I appreciate your help and I look forward to working with Chairman Bingaman, Ranking Member Murkowski and the other distinguished members of the Senate Energy Committee to move this legislation forward in the near future.

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, following leader remarks, we will be in a period of morning business for 60 minutes. The majority will control the first half hour and the Republicans will control the final 30 minutes. Following morning business, we will resume consideration of the Wall Street reform legislation. The Senate will recess from 12:30 until 2:15 today to allow for the weekly caucus meetings.

Madam President, I applaud and commend my friend, the distinguished chairman of the Banking Committee, Senator Chris Dodd, for the bill we have on the floor. I also express my appreciation for the work done by the chair of the Agriculture Committee, Senator Blanche Lincoln. The work of these committees is the bill on which we are working, offering amendments to this most important piece of legislation. The bill that is now before the Senate is a strong bill. I again express my appreciation to the two chairs for the good work they have done.

This bill will hold Wall Street accountable and put consumers in control. It ends taxpayer bailouts and guarantees taxpayers will never again be forced to bail out reckless Wall Street firms by creating a way to liquidate failed firms without taxpayer money. That is going to be underlined and underscored with an amendment that is first up, the Boxer amendment, which indicates that is, in fact, the case. It ends too big to fail with strict new capital and leverage requirements to prevent firms from growing too big to fail. It brings sunlight and transparency to shadowy markets.

It was really a revelation to me to read a book entitled ``The Big Short'' by Michael Lewis, who wrote the book that was made into a movie and received an Academy Award, ``The Blind Side.'' This book is good. It indicates to anyone who reads it the shadowy markets which are now in existence and which we are trying to stop. This legislation will stop them by bringing in sunlight and transparency, where Wall Street executives make gambles that threaten the entire economy.

The legislation reins in CEO pay by giving shareholders a nonbinding vote on excessive compensation. It, again, brings this into the light. It protects community banks and streamlines bank supervision to create clarity and accountability. It protects a dual banking system that supports community banks and protects consumers in many different ways. It puts a new cop on the beat, creates an independent agency with broad authority to monitor firms for abusive practices, and we allow intervention to protect consumers.

An important provision the American public will easily identify with: it guarantees clear information in plain English and ensures consumers get the information they need to shop for mortgages, credit cards, and other financial products, that it will be in English they can understand. There are no more abusive practices. It protects consumers from hidden fees, abusive terms, and deceptive practices. It also protects against Bernie Madoff-type scams. It is a strong piece of legislation.

There will be efforts made to make it even stronger with amendments on our side. We hope Republicans will join with us in passing this legislation. There are some who have said that by the time this bill gets off the floor, a significant majority of Senators will vote for it. I hope that is the case.

I also hope we don't get locked into something that appears to be the order of the Congress around here; that is, everything has to have 60 votes. I can't speak for everyone, but I will certainly do everything within my power to tell my Senators, let's just have 50-vote margins. Why do we need to have 60 votes on everything we do around here? It makes it so much more difficult. I believe it is unnecessary.

I hope we can move forward and get this legislation done. We have to finish it by next week. We will finish it one way or the other by next week. We have to do that. We have so much more to do. We have the expiring provisions of the tax extenders. Unemployment benefits will expire at the end of this month. We have the doctors, and we have to take care of them. That is a commitment we made, all of us, Democrats and Republicans--that we would take care of the doctors with the SGR. We were able to pass, with pay-go, a 5-year fix. They have a 10-year fix on the House side. But we have to take care of these doctors. They deserve that. We have to do that before the end of this month. There are other important issues we would like to deal with. We have small business we would like to deal with. There are many good things we can do there that have partisan agreement, and we can move forward.

I hope we can move quickly on this legislation. I hope there can be some work with the two managers to move this legislation along, the two initial managers, Senators Dodd and Shelby, who will manage most of this bill. When we get into the derivative section, Senators Lincoln and Chambliss will be managing that part.

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

Mr. President, I am forever amazed at my friends on the other side of the aisle. They have clearly established themselves as the party of no. America knows that. But what they have done on this bill dealing with Wall Street reform is hard to comprehend. We started on this bill a week before last. We filed cloture on it. On Monday, we had a cloture vote last week; Tuesday, a cloture vote last week; Wednesday, a cloture vote last week. Finally, they said: OK, we don't need any more cloture votes. Let's start legislating on the bill.

Tomorrow is Wednesday. It has been a week. Nothing has happened. Why? Because the party of no says no to everything we try. Listen to this one. This is something. They will not let us vote on amendments the Republicans have offered and amendments we have agreed to they would not let us vote on.

I came to the floor of the Senate today to let everyone know the frustration the American people must feel and the frustration many people feel in the Senate as a result of the party of no continually doing what they are doing. I want to make sure everyone understands the facts in more detail than what I have given.

On Thursday, April 15, Wall Street reform legislation was introduced and placed on the Legislative Calendar. Thursday, April 22, I sought consent to proceed to that bill. The Republicans objected, and I was forced to file cloture. I don't want to get into a lot of the procedural problems we have, but remember, the Republicans have caused us to file cloture almost 100 times this Congress. So everyone understands, it is more than just a word--``filibustering.'' That is what they have done almost 100 times.

I moved to the bill. They would not let me--I had taken it off the calendar and tried to bring it to the floor. They said no. I had to file a motion signed by 17 or 18 Senators. It took 2 days for that to ripen before we could vote on it. Once we voted on it and we got cloture, they got another 30 hours. So in this instance, they had a new game.

They said: Go ahead and move to the bill. We are not going to use the 30 hours. We are going to use a week. We have done nothing for a week waiting for this phantom amendment they think is floating around here someplace, this so-called Shelby amendment.

Monday, April 26, when my cloture motion had ripened, we failed to get cloture 57 to 41. We did some other things--moved to reconsider, some parliamentary maneuvers so we could get this bill moving along. Tuesday, April 27, cloture failed, 57 to 41, the same vote as the day before. Wednesday, April 28, cloture vote failed, 56 to 42. One of their Members, I guess, was gone or maybe somebody switched a vote. I really don't know. Remember, each time I voted on the prevailing side. I had to change my vote so I could move to reconsider.

So on April 28, after the cloture vote failed, they said: OK, we give up. You can start legislating for the American people. But that wasn't being fair and square with the American people. They had no intention of doing that. They are stalling on everything we do. We know they have said publicly they want health care to be Obama's Waterloo.

So just to be very clear, we were ready to start debate on this last Monday--actually, frankly, the Thursday before that. Even though we were able to overcome the objections to begin this debate, we now find many of the same parties are preventing us from making any progress on this important legislation.

One Senator I saw quoted in the newspaper last week said I had stopped--I had told that person I was going to move to a certain bill-- a Republican Senator--and that Senator said: He hasn't done that. I wrote that person a letter today going over the long list of filibusters to prevent us from moving to that and many other pieces of legislation.

We haven't had a single vote on this legislation, not a single vote. People are waiting around on both sides, I am told, to offer amendments. We can't get votes on even the amendments we have agreed to and one Senator Snowe has offered.

We have to finish this legislation. We have provisions that are expiring at the end of this month that are extremely important. A jobs bill--the expiring provisions and all the stuff we have put in that bill that we passed once before are extremely important to our country and will create lots and lots of jobs. But we can't get to that because of what is going on here. Food safety--we can't get to that. Why? Because the Republicans are stopping us from moving to anything.

I had a conference call just from the sparsely populated State of Nevada with a few of the people who have suffered terrible injuries as a result of eating contaminated food.

One little girl has missed a year of school. Her growth is stunted. People have spent--one woman I talked to--or I talked to her husband because they were getting first aid. They went home. She had been in the hospital for months and months from eating contaminated food. We are trying to do something about that. We can't do that. It is a bipartisan bill. It is nothing the Democrats are trying to jam down the throats of the Republicans. They won't let us move to anything.

Scores of nominations. The House has passed more than 300 measures that are stuck over here because the Republicans won't let us move to them, measures in years passed that would pass by unanimous consent.

I hope everyone understands. I know my caucus understands what is going on, but I hope the Republicans will accept reality and understand why we are not going to have all of the amendments they want to offer be able to be offered. We are not going to be on the bill that long. We can't be. We are trying to do something with this legislation that will change America forever for the better. What has happened as a result of Wall Street doing business not in the shadows but in the dark of night, the blackest dark you could ever see is where they have been doing their work, causing people in Colorado, in Nevada, and all over this country to suffer irreparable damage. People have lost their homes, their jobs as a result of what went on in Wall Street, the shady deals that are worse than any illegal

gambling game that was ever conducted in America. That is what they were doing up there: betting our money--our money. If they win, they keep our money. If they lose, they want more of our money. We are trying to stop that. That is what this legislation is all about. This is a good bill.

Obviously, from the shenanigans the Republicans have performed on this legislation, they don't want us to do anything about Wall Street reform; otherwise, they wouldn't have done all of these efforts to stop us from moving to the bill. We want to hold Wall Street accountable. We want to end taxpayer bailouts. We want to guarantee the taxpayers will never again be forced to bail out reckless Wall Street. We want to end too big to fail, restrict new capital and leverage requirements to prevent firms from becoming too big to fail.

As I said before, and I say again: We want to bring sunlight and transparency to these shadowy markets where Wall Street executives make gambles that threaten our entire economy, the same laws that are in effect basically today that were in effect when Wall Street crashed and caused us all this harm. We are trying to change that so it can't happen again. We want to rein in these big shots who have unlimited control of money and get these huge bonuses--not bonuses of $50,000, which is huge in most people's lives, but they get bonuses in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

We want to protect consumers. We want to put a new cop on the beat, a consumer protection entity that will look at all of these different financial shenanigans that are going on. We want to make sure people who get something in the mail from--however they get it. They take them out and they look at it, they can't understand it. We want it in plain, simple English so the American people can understand what they are being asked to sign. We want to protect consumers from these hidden fees, abusive terms, and deceptive practices that are running rampant in America.

So despite the party of no saying no again and again, we are going to be patient and do our best to work through this. Chairman Dodd is working with, it seems, this never-ending amendment the ranking member wants. It has been weeks and weeks. Remember, there have been negotiations going on in this matter for months--not weeks, not days-- months. I guess the Republicans are saying, until that amendment comes, there is not going to be anything else happening on this bill. That is the decision they have made. They won't even let us set amendments aside and move to amendments that are agreed upon.

There is only so much I can do--we can do--in the face of determined obstructionism that is so clearly the brand the Republicans have now.

I yield the floor, Mr. President.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to a period of morning business with Senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to S. Res. 513.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table, there be no intervening action or debate, and any statements be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, we have had a big day in the Senate. Because of my Republican friends, we have been able to accomplish almost nothing--not quite but almost nothing. I love old cars, and I am glad we are able to pass this important legislation: Collector Car Appreciation Day. Collector Car Appreciation Day.

While people out there are looking for jobs, trying to save their homes, we are doing what the Republicans let us do: Collector Car Appreciation Day. That is the extent of our work because the Republicans have objected to everything we have tried to do on trying to reform Wall Street--for obvious reasons.

We all read the press saying the lobbyists are here lined up with their Gucci shoes and their new suits and a lot of new ties because we are told they are spending millions of dollars a week on these people to stop us from reforming Wall Street.

We are going to reform Wall Street. We are going to work through all of these objections. We are going to work through the party of no and the obstructionism.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 9:30 a.m., Wednesday, May 5; that following the prayer and the pledge, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed expired, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and the Senate resume consideration of S. 3217, Wall Street reform.

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

Mr. President, following leader remarks, the Senate will resume consideration of S. 3217, the Wall Street reform legislation. There will be no rollcall votes today.

I am anxious to see how the debate goes forward on this bill. It is a most important bill. The bill before the Senate places strict new regulations to stop Wall Street's reckless gambling. There will be no more taxpayer bailouts; that is, no bailouts ever. It ends too big to fail. It puts a new cop on the beat. It puts consumers in control with information that is in plain English.

Let me repeat. The legislation before this body holds Wall Street accountable, ends taxpayer bailouts, guarantees taxpayers will never again be forced to bail out reckless Wall Street firms by creating a safe way to liquidate failed firms without taxpayer money, ends too big to fail with strict new caps on leverage requirements to prevent firms from growing too big to fail, brings sunlight and transparency to shadowy markets where Wall Street executives make gambles that threaten our entire economy. That will no longer exist. It reins in CEO pay, it protects community banks, streamlines bank supervision to create clarity and accountability, and protects the dual banking system that supports community banks; it protects consumers in many different ways.

In effect, it puts a new cop on the beat, creates an independent agency with broad authority to monitor firms for abusive practices and intervene to protect consumers. It guarantees clear information in plain English. It ensures that consumers get the information they need to shop for mortgages, credit cards, and other financial products that they can read and understand.

There will be no more abusive practices. It protects consumers from hidden fees, abusive terms and deceptive practices. In effect, it protects against the Bernie Madoff-type scams. It reforms and strengthens the SEC's ability to enforce securities laws. This is a good piece of legislation.

I know Republicans and Democrats want to improve it in ways they feel are appropriate. I hope the debate will be civil. I hope we can have limited

time on these amendments, as the Republican leader said yesterday. I look forward to that debate. It is one of the most important issues to come before this body in a long time. I hope we can complete it in a time that is appropriate. We have so much more to do, and we have been prevented, basically, this week from getting to this bill by the minority.

In the future, I hope they will recognize there are other things to do in this body that are of extreme importance to our country. We are going to have a name from the President in the next few weeks--I assume that is the case--so we can begin work on someone to replace Justice Stevens.

We have to do something with energy. There is much we have to do, including our normal housekeeping appropriations bills. We have to make sure the tax extenders, the expiring provisions, are taken care of. That expires at the end of May.

So we have a lot of work to do. We have made some commitment to do something with small business jobs. I explained to one Republican Senator who said they wanted to move to that, that the longer you hold up on us moving legislation, the more difficult it will be to get to some of the things you want to do.

This has been difficult. We moved to this financial reform bill last Thursday and here it is Friday and we just got on it yesterday. It has been a tremendous waste of our time.

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

Mr. President, I rise today to pay a special tribute to Dr. Mike Reed, who has been a champion for the University of Nevada, Reno, and for the Nevada System of Higher Education throughout his prestigious career. After numerous years of enhancing the education of his students, leading UNR's College of Business, and serving the State's education system, Dr. Reed is soon to embark on a well-earned retirement.

Dr. Reed began his journey as a faculty member of the College of Business Administration at UNR in 1972. In 1993, he became dean, a position which he served faithfully for 13 years. More recently in 2006, Dr. Reed was named vice chancellor of finance and administration for the Nevada System of Higher Education.

In addition to his outstanding career, Dr. Reed has received a plethora of awards and accolades in recognition of his hard work and dedication to his community. He was recognized as the 1997 Raymond I. Smith Civic Leader of the Year Award by the Reno-Sparks Chamber of Commerce. In 2005, he was inducted into the Junior Achievement Business Leaders Hall of Fame. He has given back to northern Nevada in other ways, as well. He served as former host of KUNR's bluegrass music program and remains an active volunteer with the Boys and Girls Club of Truckee Meadows. Dr. Reed's significant contribution to that wonderful organization for youngsters was very evident when he received their ``Bigs in Schools'' award in 2006.

It is an honor for me today to recognize Dr. Mike Reed and all of his accomplishments as an educator in the Silver State. He is a fine Nevadan, and we are tremendously proud to call him our own. He has left a lasting legacy on the University of Nevada, Reno Wolf Pack, and the Nevada System of Higher Education. I sincerely thank Dr. Reed and wish him all the best for a happy retirement.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Madam President, for me, being a miner's son, having worked in the mines myself, these reports out of West Virginia and Kentucky are very troubling. Mining is a very dangerous occupation. I know that personally as a result of my dad having been ``blasted'' as we called it, and reflecting back on my childhood friend, Stan Hudgens, whose father was working in the blossom with my dad and a rock dropped on his head and killed him. My dad brought him out of the mine.

So these reports out of the coal mines are troubling. I agree with my distinguished friend that we have to make sure that we act--not do anything harmful to the industry because it is a very important industry. Mining is the No. 2 industry in Nevada. It is not coal mining. And a lot of our mining now in Nevada is open pit, but not all of it is. We have a lot of underground mines too. The same with coal mining; coal mining is what we refer to as the hard rock business. It is open pit mining, but they have a significant amount of underground mining also.

So I look forward to working with my friend, the Republican leader, and all of those who want to make mines safer and protect this most important industry.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that I be authorized to sign any duly enrolled bills and joint resolutions for the period of today, April 29, and tomorrow, April 30.

Madam President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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