Floor Statements

If there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent it adjourn under the previous order under the provisions of S. Res. 413, as a further mark of respect for the late Congressman John Murtha.

Mr. President, this has been a historic storm. I was in Nevada. I left Friday morning, early, and had a beautiful weekend there--highs in the low 60s. But getting back here was another story. It was very, very difficult, and though I am here, a lot of Senators simply have not been able to get here.

Staff is also under great duress to get here. The subway--the Metro, as we call it--which is so important to people who live and work here, is basically only an underground transit vehicle now. Anything above the ground is not working. So if you live right in DC, you might be all right, but if you are either in Maryland or Virginia, you can't get here if you have to depend on the subway.

As a result of that, we have had to change things. Even those who get here have extreme difficulty in driving. The police and authorities are still recommending that people not go on the roads. They are dangerous and difficult, and some, especially if you get off the main drag, are impassable. As a result of that, Mr. President, we are going to have to change things around here. And as you know, all the reports are that there is a 90 percent chance we are going to have another big storm tomorrow.

Having said that, Mr. President, as in executive session, I ask unanimous consent that the orders with respect to Calendar Nos. 468 and 688 be modified to provide that the orders be delayed to occur at 2 p.m., Tuesday, February 9, under the same conditions and limitations as provided under the original order of February 4, 2010.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that on Tuesday, after any leader remarks, the Senate proceed to executive session as provided for under the modified order of February 4.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate stand in recess until 2 p.m., Tuesday, February 9.

Madam President, following leader remarks, there will be 20 minutes for debate prior to a vote on confirmation of the nomination of Patricia Smith to be Solicitor for the Department of Labor.

Upon disposition of that nomination, there will be 2 hours for debate prior to a vote on invoking cloture on the nomination of Marcia Johnson to be Administrator of General Services. Under a previous order, if cloture is invoked, all postcloture debate time will be yielded back and the Senate will proceed to a vote on her confirmation.

For the information of Senators, Senator Kirk will give his farewell speech at 3:45 p.m. or thereabouts today. Senator-elect Brown will be sworn in at 5 p.m. today.

I say publicly for Senator Kirk that I am not sure I will be able to be here. The President has called something at the White House and I have to be there. I will do my utmost to be back by 5 for the swearing in of Senator Brown.

Madam President, since I last asked unanimous consent to have confirmed three important nominations--one, the top intelligence official at the Department of Homeland Security, the other a top intelligence official at the State Department, and the third the highest ranking member of the entire Pentagon--I said three and there are actually four I asked unanimous consent on, and the fourth is an individual who would be the U.S. Representative to the Conference on Disarmament. All these positions are dealing with these programs the United States should be involved in, but we had an objection from the Republicans.

There are people out there, evil people, trying to do damage to our country every day, every week, every month, every hour. It is hard for me to comprehend that people with impeccable records, such as Philip Goldberg, an appointee of President Bush to be Ambassador to Bolivia, who has an outstanding record of doing things for our country, is being objected to as being the person assigned by the White House and Secretary Clinton to be in charge of intelligence at the State Department.

Caryn Wagner, who is eminently qualified, I have never heard anything suggested that there is anything wrong with her background or qualifications. Yet there is objection to her being the person who deals with the safety of our homeland.

Laura Kennedy is the woman nominated to be the U.S. Representative to the Conference on Disarmament. We are a nuclear power, and the United States doesn't have anybody at these conferences.

Finally, GEN Clifford Stanley to be Under Secretary of Defense. This man would be the third highest ranking person at the Pentagon. One of the things he is responsible for is making sure all our troops around the world have everything they need. He is responsible for making sure the 30,000 people who are headed for Afghanistan can go to Afghanistan when deemed ready to go by the Pentagon. That is his job. There is no one to do that. I can't imagine anybody objecting to that, but they have done so.

There isn't enough time in the world--the Senate world, at least--to move cloture on every one of these. We have spent all this week on two people.

Today is Thursday. I know we were interrupted yesterday because of the retreat, but we have spent all day on Monday, Tuesday, and now Thursday on two nominees, one to be the Solicitor at the Department of Labor-- that is the lawyer for the entire Department of Labor--and the one we are working on today is to have someone run the General Services Administration. The Federal Government is the largest real estate holder in the world, and the General Services Administration manages that. Yet we have no one to run that.

So we have had to file cloture. Everyone within the sound of my voice understands it takes a long time to do that. We have to lay it down, file cloture, 2 days, 30 hours. It is not right, and I hope we can get more cooperation.

I have been someone who has tried hard not to have the President do recess appointments, but what alternative do we have? What alternative do we have? We have on the calendar dozens of people who are being held up--dozens--and I have only picked out a few; these very sensitive people, dealing with the safety and security of our country. I think it is without explanation why this is happening.

Again, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate consider the following nominations, en bloc, and we proceed to executive session, Calendar No. 561, GEN Clifford Stanley to be Under Secretary of Defense; Calendar No. 603, Laura Kennedy to be U.S. Representative to the Conference on Disarmament; Calendar No. 614, Philip Goldberg to be Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research; Calendar No. 615, Caryn Wagner to be Under Secretary for Intelligence and Analysis at the Department of Homeland Security; that the nominees be confirmed en bloc, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table en bloc, any statements relating to the nominations appearing at the appropriate place in the Record as if read, and the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action.

Madam President, I understand the objection of the Senator, the Republican leader, but I don't know what my friend, Senator Shelby--and I say that because he is my friend--I don't know what problems he has. Whatever it is, I would almost bet a lot it is nothing that would be comparable to holding up these extremely sensitive positions keeping our country safe. I think it is outlandish, and I can't imagine this is the right thing to do.

Madam President, with the storm fast approaching, I think it is to everyone's advantage we complete our work today. So I am convinced this will be the last vote of the day. Now, I would say this. I have been working

with Senators Grassley and Baucus, and, of course, the Republican leader, trying to get something keyed up for Monday, and I think we are making a lot of progress in that regard.

It appears we are going to have a cloture vote on a nominee on Monday. I already talked to the Republican leader about this several days ago. We are also going to move forward on a jobs package Monday. We are either going to do one on a bipartisan basis--I sure hope we can do that; it really would be good for the country and good for us--if not, we will have to do one that will be my amendment rather than an amendment of a bipartisan group of Senators. So I hope we can do that. But we will have that worked out later today more than likely. But this will be the last vote for the day.

Madam President, we also are working on someone to replace Judge Alito in the New Jersey Circuit, and his name is Joseph Greenaway. We hope that can also be done on Monday.

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

Mr. President, I rise today with a heavy heart to pay tribute to the heroic actions of eight Federal agents at the Lloyd D. George Federal District Courthouse in Las Vegas, NV.

On January 4, 2010, an armed man entered the Lloyd D. George Federal District Courthouse and opened fire at the Federal agents securing entrance to the building. The Federal agents fought to ensure the safety of the employees, occupants, and visitors of the courthouse. On that day, Stanley Cooper gave the ultimate sacrifice.

Stanley Cooper, 72, was a Court Security Officer at the courthouse. Stanley was born in Tulsa, OK, where he began his career in public service in 1960. After four years, Stanley moved to Las Vegas, NV, to serve in the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. Stanley retired as a sergeant after 26 years with the LVMPD. Soon after, he began work as a court security officer with the U.S. Marshals Service. He was a quiet man whose passion and dedication for serving the people of his community was only surmounted by his love for his family. Stanley Cooper died valiantly in the line of duty to protect the lives of those around him. I offer my most heartfelt condolences to the families, friends, and loved ones of Stanley Cooper.

Alongside Stanley Cooper were Deputy U.S. Marshal Richard Gardner, U.S. Marshal Dave Del Berti, Court Security Officer Jack Eklund, Court Security Officer Arthur Gennaro, Court Security Officer Michael Gerrity III, Court Security Officer William Sherman, and Detention Officer Justin Cord. Richard Gardner, 48, was treated and released for injuries he sustained during the shooting. Richard serves as Deputy U.S. Marshal at the Lloyd D. George Federal District Courthouse. These eight brave men pursued the gunman as he fled across the street to the Historic Fifth Street School, where he was later subdued.

Law enforcement personnel put their lives at risk every day to protect our communities, and we should all be grateful for their sacrifices. On the morning of January 4, these eight men showed the bravery, sense of duty, and valor of true heroes. Selflessly, they put themselves in harm's way to subdue the gunman, preventing harm to innocent bystanders.

I am humbled today to honor these eight men for their extraordinary bravery, dedicated service to the citizens of the great State of Nevada, and the heroic measures they took to save the lives of others. My thoughts and prayers are with those affected by this tragedy. As we grieve, may all of us find strength in the courage and compassion shown by the federal agents during this tremendously difficult time.

Mr. President, I rise today to mourn the passing of one of Nevada's finest entertainers, Rogelio Darias. Known in Las Vegas and

throughout the world as simply the ``The Bongo King,'' Rogelio brought smiles to all those within earshot with his rhythmic talents. Mr. Darias passed away on January 20, 2010, at the age of 93.

Born in Santa Clara, Cuba, Rogelio first began his storied career as a percussionist in a band with his siblings, Pedro and Diego, at the tender age of eight. Their musical group, known as the ``Hermanos Darias'' quickly garnered the attention of music producers throughout Cuba, and it was not long before young Rogelio was swept away to the big city of Havana, where he pursued further his musical career. He soon began working with Havana's most well-known musicians, such as Maestro Ernesto Lecuona and Chiquito Orefiche, and performing both on the radio station Cadena Azul Chain and at the National Theater.

Rogelio's mastery of the his craft became world famous, and before long he was traveling to Europe, Asia, and Africa, spreading his ``bongo gospel'' to people of all races, nationalities, and creeds. Notwithstanding his world-wide fame, Mr. Darias continually sought to better himself as a musician. He spent several months living in the Africa's Belgian Congo, where he studied the authentic African rhythms created by the local indigenous population. Years later he also worked alongside Polynesian musicians in Hawaii, as well as Japanese musicians in Tokyo. His love of any and all music, and instatiable appetite for knowledge undoubtedly contributed to Mr. Darias' seemingly endless musical talents and knowledge.

By the 1960s, the Bongo King had arrived in Las Vegas, one of the world's foremost performing arts centers. During his time in Las Vegas, Rogelio established himself as one of the most sought-after musical collaborators in the industry. His incredible beats were in high demand by stars such as Liberace and Charo, with both of whom he toured. Hollywood also came calling, and as a result Rogelio performed for both Johnny Carson and Merv Griffin and their respective hit shows.

In spite of his worldwide fame and incredible accomplishments, Rogelio Darias remained a loyal friend and family member to those who knew him best. His passing has come as a great tragedy to all those people who depended on him for a laugh and a smile. Las Vegas lost a monumental entertainer in the passing of Rogelio Darias. The Bongo King will be deeply missed by all of Las Vegas, and countless music-lovers throughout the world.

Mr. President, I have a cloture motion at the desk, and I ask that it be reported.

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

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that at 2 p.m., Monday, February 8, the Senate proceed to executive session and resume consideration of Calendar Nos. 468 and 688, with the time until 5 p.m. equally divided and controlled between the leaders or their designees; and that the debate time run concurrently with respect to Calendar No. 468 and the cloture motion with respect to Calendar No. 688; that at 5 p.m., the Senate proceed to vote on confirmation of the nomination of Joseph Greenaway; that upon confirmation, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action; that upon disposition of the Greenaway nomination, the Senate then proceed to vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the Becker nomination.

I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now resume legislative session.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 2 p.m., Monday, February 8; 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, and the Senate proceed to executive session, as provided for under the previous order.

Mr. President, on Monday, the Senate will debate, concurrently, the nominations of Joseph Greenaway to be U.S. circuit judge for the Third Circuit and Craig Becker to be a member of the National Labor Relations

Board until 5 p.m., with the time equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees.

At 5 p.m., the Senate will proceed to vote on the confirmation of the Greenaway nomination and then immediately proceed to a cloture motion on the Becker nomination.

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

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, following remarks of the leaders, the Senate will be in a period of morning business for an hour, with Senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each. The first half hour will be controlled by the Democrats, the second by the Republicans.

Following morning business, the Senate will proceed to executive session to resume postcloture debate on the nomination of Patricia Smith to be Solicitor for the Department of Labor. I would note this is another one of the endless delays we have had to go through. We are in postcloture; 30 hours of doing nothing. We have had so many 30 hours of doing nothing it is hard to comprehend the wasted time--all the staff, Senators' time that could be better put to use. People could be drafting legislation, on and on, contemplating what could be done but for this endless stalling we have seen.

The Senate will recess from 12:30 to 2:15 for the weekly caucus meetings. Following disposition of the Smith nomination, whenever that might be, the Senate will proceed to vote on the nomination of Martha Johnson to be Administrator of the largest real estate organization in the world, the General Services Administration. It is difficult to comprehend, but that has been without a leader because of what has been going on and the stalls that have taken place, so we had to file cloture.

We will notify Senators when the votes are scheduled. I would like to finish Patricia Smith at a reasonable hour today. That is immediately following a simple majority vote for her. Then there is a 60-vote margin on cloture on the future Administrator of the General Services Administration and then there is 30 hours after that.

We will do tomorrow as we did for the Republicans when they had their retreat last Wednesday; we were not in session. We don't wish to be in session tomorrow. We have the President coming to our retreat and a number of other special guests, but if we have to come in tomorrow, either before or after the retreat, we are going to have to do that to meet the burdens of this endless stalling that is taking place in the Senate.

When a young Nigerian terrorist boarded an airplane bound for America on Christmas Day, there was no permanent boss at the TSA, the agency responsible for the safety of our airports. This agency was created after 9/11 specifically to keep air travel safe. When he tried to blow up that plane, the top positions at both the intelligence agencies within the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security were empty. Why? Because Republican Senators refused to let this body hold a vote on these highly capable people the President has asked to serve in these roles.

We all know Republicans have dedicated themselves to grinding the Government to a halt. They do so openly and proudly and boast about their aversion to compromise. That is why, time and time again, they exploit the rules of the Senate and abuse this body's procedural traditions. That is why they have wasted countless hours and shattered remarkable records for stubbornness. That is why, when we

have faced questions of national security, they have answered with politics.

Republicans have repeatedly asked fearful families to put their concerns on hold while they score political points, they think, by playing partisan games. This is not a game.

An embarrassingly high number of critical national security officials remain unable to go to work. For political reasons, a handful of Republican Senators are standing between these experts and their offices. That means they are also standing between the American people and the American people's security.

Too many of the President's nominees for critical national security jobs await Senate confirmation. Today, I wish to talk about four of those positions Republicans refuse to fill; one, the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, which is the No. 3 job at the Pentagon. We have Secretary Gates, we have one other individual, and then we have this Under Secretary of Defense--whose position is not filled.

No. 2, Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research, the head of the State Department's Intelligence Department. Think about that. When Secretary Clinton is called to go to Pakistan, Afghanistan or anyplace in the world, her arm, the intelligence arm, the security department, must be able to give her information as to what is going on, what has gone on, what is going to go on in the future. Not with this State Department. The Republicans will not let this person be chosen.

Third, Under Secretary of Homeland Security, again, for Intelligence. This person is head of the Department of Homeland Security's intelligence arm. Just like there is no one today at the State Department, there is no one at the Department of Homeland Security dealing with intelligence. It is hard to comprehend, but that is true.

Finally, the U.S. Representative for the Conference on Disarmament, whose job is to work with other nations to keep our own people safe from nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons. The President has chosen exceptionally qualified men and women for these jobs, but without a Senate vote confirming them as our Constitution requires, they cannot do those jobs.

Let's talk about the Pentagon. For the first job I mentioned, the No. 3 job at the Pentagon, the President has nominated GEN Clifford Stanley. For 33 years, Dr. Stanley, General Stanley has served our country in the Marine Corps and in communities where he and his family have lived. After serving bravely as a marine infantry officer, he went on to become quite an academic, served as a White House fellow. He was head of the Nation's largest nonprofit sector scholarship organization. He was asked to come back.

He is not a controversial nominee. The Senate Armed Services Committee approved him unanimously but on the Senate floor, no, not General Stanley. He would not only be a pivotal part of the Pentagon's senior leadership, he would also be in charge of making sure servicemembers are prepared for war at a time we are waging two of them and as we plan to send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan, a surge I know my Republican colleagues support.

Our military leaders have told me his absence is having a negative impact on the Pentagon's operations. I have received phone calls: Senator Reid, what are you going to do to get this person approved?

I tell them I am doing my best. Now we wasted all week--that is what it will wind up being--on two nominees, one to be the Solicitor for the Labor Department and the other to be the head of the General Services Administration. If people are serious about giving our troops the tools they need to succeed in battle and at home--and I am confident the Republicans must think that--we should be and they should be as committed to giving our military the leader who will be going to work every day and making sure that happens.

Let's talk about intelligence, these agencies that try to find out what the enemy is doing. The second and third positions I mentioned earlier are the two intelligence roles at the Department of State and Homeland Security, as I mentioned. For the State Department position, President Obama has nominated Ambassador Phil Goldberg. Similar to General Stanley, Ambassador Goldberg is not a controversial or partisan nominee. In fact, it was President Bush who gave him the title of Ambassador when he made Goldberg our top diplomat in Bolivia.

I traveled to Bolivia, the first Senate congressional delegation I can ever remember going to Bolivia. Ambassador Goldberg was there--so impressive. Ambassador Goldberg has also led law enforcement intelligence and nonproliferation efforts in countries such as Kosovo and North Korea. He is head of the State Department's intelligence branch. He would work with our ambassadors around the world and be the Secretary of State's top intelligence adviser. But, no, he is going to have to wait; this intelligence aspect of the Department of State can wait.

The assistant leader, my friend, Senator Durbin, was at the State Department today learning from the Secretary of State about some of the issues facing our country, meeting with Secretary Clinton. It is a shame Ambassador Goldberg cannot go to work, but he can't.

For the Homeland Security position, the President has nominated Caryn Wagner. She, too, is highly qualified for this role, having held a number of senior positions in the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and Officer of the Director of National Intelligence and the National Intelligence Program. As Homeland Security's top intelligence official, Wagner would be responsible for ensuring the Department's partners at State, local and tribal levels--and private sector--have the information they need to keep us safe from the bad folks around the world.

As far as disarmament, the fourth nominee I mentioned is Ambassador Laura Kennedy. President Obama asked her to serve as our Nation's representative to the conference on disarmament. This group is responsible for negotiating multilateral arms control and disarmament agreements such as the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, the Biological Weapons Convention, and the Chemical Weapons Convention--some big issues. Ambassador Kennedy is a member of the Senior Foreign Service and has worked with the State Department and Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, the United Nations, the National War College, and as President Bush's Ambassador to Turkmenistan.

Of all the countries with nuclear weapons, the United States, our great country, is the only one that does not have a representative at the negotiating table of the Conference on Disarmament. Why? Because the Republicans are stalling everything. That is unacceptable. We need to confirm her. We need to have confirmed her a long time ago.

But it is not just those cases, it is many others. It is clear these positions are critical to our national security, as I talked about, and equally evident that these nominees are well-qualified, nonpartisan public servants. What is not clear is why our Republican colleagues refuse to bring them up for a vote. Senate Republicans are simply so opposed to everything, absolutely everything, they even opposed putting people in some of the most important positions of our Government, people who were originally appointed by President Bush to positions of high standing.

These are not isolated cases, they are part of an endless and reckless pattern. As with candidates for the President's Cabinet and other top administration posts and numerous Federal judges, Republicans have decided the President does not deserve to have his nominees reviewed by the Senate, as the Constitution clearly States. Ignore him, is what they say.

This obstruction could not have come at a more dangerous time. I was coming to work and was in an elevator. I looked and there was an extremely impressive woman, she had on a coat, and I could see she had a uniform on. She said, ``I am Dr. Benjamin, the Surgeon General of the United States.'' I heard so much about this Alabama physician who dedicated her life to taking care of poor people. I was so happy to meet her. Then I remembered how long we had to wait to get her confirmed.

The obstruction could not come at a more dangerous time, given what is going on in the country. The Republicans blocked a vote on our Surgeon

General, Dr. Benjamin, as I just mentioned, even when the President declared H1N1 as a national emergency. They blocked a vote on the top Homeland Security official in science and technology, and that was even as the Nation braced for both a flu pandemic and bioterror threats.

The list seems endless. While our sons and daughters are fighting in Iraq and rebuilding that nation, last year Republicans delayed the confirmations of America's Ambassador to Iraq. And while our troops serve bravely in Afghanistan, Republicans delayed the confirmation of LTG Stanley McChrystal, our new commander in that difficult war.

This clearly is not the way the Senate is supposed to work. It is not even the way it typically works. As I have pointed out before, it took only 4 months for President Obama to face as many filibusters of his nominees as President Bush faced in his entire first 4 years. This Republican caucus over here proudly says: We blocked as many of President Obama's nominees in 4 months as you--over here on this side of the aisle--took 4 years to block. Democrats have no interest in playing these games. That is why we did not do what they are doing. No other minority has ever done anything like this before. This is one of a kind.

It would be one thing if Republicans, bound together in unified opposition to everything, as they have made their custom, voted against these vital nominees. It would be one thing if they reviewed their resumes, brought the nominees before the appropriate committees, and decided they were not fit to serve. But that is not what is happening. Instead, simply to waste time, Republicans are refusing to let the Senate vote at all. When these nominees do finally come before this body, you would be surprised--many of them pass unanimously after they have stalled for days and days. You shouldn't be surprised, but it is enough to make you feel uneasy in the stomach that these people who are concerned with the security of our Nation are being stopped from being able to go to work by virtue of the Republican party of no.

These Senators are ignoring their responsibilities to confirm or reject the men and women our Commander in Chief has chosen to help lead this Nation to safety. They are abdicating their responsibility to the American people to keep us safe. They are certainly not putting country first as advertised.

Here is the bottom line: My Republican colleagues are basing their judgment on the political party doing the nominating rather than the person being nominated. This irresponsible partisanship does not merely poison our political system, it endangers our national security.

I have no doubt our friends on the other side realize that when we keep a critical office empty in the Pentagon, the State Department, the Department of Homeland Security, we are not keeping the American people safe. They know what they are doing, and they know what they are doing is dangerous. If they do not, they certainly should. That makes these partisan games all the more disgraceful.