Floor Statements

I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, following leader remarks, the Senate will be in a period of morning business until 3 p.m. today, with Senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each. At 3 p.m., the Senate will proceed to executive session to debate the nomination of Patricia Smith to be Solicitor for the Department of Labor.

The vote on the motion to invoke cloture on that nomination will occur at 5:30 p.m. today.

Mr. President, nursing our economy back to health is not just about giving it the right short-term treatments; it is about setting a new, responsible foundation for our future security and stability; it is about recognizing that what got us into this mess will not get us out of this mess; it is about making sure this kind of crisis can never again threaten American families.

There are three things above all else I wanted to see in President Obama's budget: No. 1, a plan to put Americans back to work; No. 2, a plan to ease our deep deficit, bring fiscal discipline back to our government, and leave our children a stronger economy; and finally, No. 3, a plan that will strengthen Nevada's economy and make Nevadans safer.

As far as I am concerned, the President has gone three for three. Regarding jobs: Ensuring every American who wants to work can find a job is the top priority of the American people and it is the top priority of President Obama's budget. His proposed tax cuts will encourage small businesses to keep workers on the job, hire new ones, and give those employees bigger paychecks, and it will encourage entrepreneurs to start new companies and encourage existing owners to grow their businesses, which will in turn grow our economy.

This budget is also about smart investing. It looks forward to building industries of the future by creating clean energy jobs that can never be outsourced and jobs in infrastructure, science, technology, and research. It extends middle-class tax cuts so hard- working families can invest more of their income in the economy rather

than sending it back to the government.

As far as fiscal responsibility goes, his budget does some good things. It continues Democrats' efforts to reduce the deficit and restore fiscal responsibility to the government.

This budget comes with a lot of zeros. Its numbers are in the millions, billions, and trillions. It is easy to mischaracterize those numbers and what they mean, but let's keep some perspective. When you look at this budget as a share of our entire economy, it will cut the deficit by more than half in 2 years. It is not the last thing we will do to slash the deficit, but it is a good, promising start.

The President also has endorsed the pay-as-you-go rules the Senate approved last week, as well as a commission dedicated to reducing the deficit, which I support. Unfortunately, many of our Republican colleagues do not. They voted in unison against pay-as-you-go--the simple concept that we should only spend what we as a government have. Some Republican Senators who sponsored the legislation creating the deficit-reduction commission turned right around and voted against their own bill when it came before the Senate. Had they voted with us-- if they had voted the way the bill was sponsored--it would have passed. We had 53 votes. One Senator was gone because of a funeral. There are 54 Democrats, and with 7 Republicans, that would have brought us to 61.

It is a real shame. People worked on this so hard, and one of those who did so is the Presiding Officer. The Presiding Officer is an expert at balancing budgets, having been Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the Presiding Officer used that knowledge to work with Senator Conrad and others to bring about the pay-go rules and to bring about this deficit-reduction commission. Then to have people who sponsored the legislation vote against it is hard to comprehend. This budget knows our economy and our future cannot afford partisan games such as that.

As far as Nevada is concerned, the recession has hit Nevada harder than most every other State. Nevadans will benefit more than nearly any other State's citizens when we see the implementation of the job- creating and money-saving ideas in this budget.

Nevada will also benefit in another very specific way. The President has declared dead the dreadful plan called Yucca Mountain--to turn a piece of the magnificent Nevada desert just outside of Las Vegas into a national dumping ground for dangerous nuclear waste. This budget ends funding for that reckless project and pulls its license application.

That means families in Nevada and throughout America no longer have to worry about trucks and trains loaded with tons of the most toxic nuclear waste known to man passing by their children's schools, their neighborhoods, parks, and their own backyards. It means we will all be safer.

The President's plan will walk us further down the path toward economic recovery, but we still have a long way to go. Let's keep in mind this budget is merely a blueprint, not a silver bullet. It will guide Congress, not restrict us.

No matter what the items and numbers are in this document, neither Democrats nor Republicans should ever forget that every single dollar in this budget belongs to the American people. We know we cannot make our economy work again for the middle class unless we invest taxpayers' money as responsibly and efficiently and as transparently as possible. Senate Democrats are committed to doing just that.

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

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent, notwithstanding rule XXII, that the Senate consider the following nominations: Calendar No. 561, Clifford Stanley, to be Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness; 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 with the Department of Homeland Security; that the nominees be confirmed en bloc, the motions to reconsider be laid on the table en bloc, any statements relating to the nominations appear at the appropriate place in the Record as if read, and the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action.

Prior to there being a statement on whether this is accepted, let me say, these are all critically important to the safety and security of this Nation: Clifford Stanley, Under Secretary of Defense; Laura Kennedy, the Conference on Disarmament; Philip Goldberg, Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research; and Caryn Wagner to be Under Secretary for Intelligence and Analysis with the Department of Homeland Security. Every one of these are very important, I repeat, to the security and safety of our Nation.

Mr. President, following leader remarks, the Senate will proceed to a period for the transaction of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each. There will be no rollcall votes today. The next vote will occur at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, February 1. The vote will be on the motion to invoke cloture on the nomination of Patricia Smith to be Solicitor at the Department of Labor. I advise Senators that they should be here to vote. We are not going to extend the vote on Monday. We must finish the vote about 10 to 6. There will be a strict enforcement of that time. We have to finish for obvious reasons because the 30 hours starts running when we complete the vote. If we go past 6 o'clock, it is past midnight. We want to make sure the vote is over at 10 to 6. Everyone is forewarned that if they are late, they will not be counted as voting.

Mr. President, we had a very successful week legislatively. I extend my appreciation to Senators on both sides of the aisle, especially my friends on the Republican side. There were no 30 hours used. It worked out extremely well. There was ample time for debate, and there were issues that were of concern to both parties. Of course, the issues are important to the country.

Without belaboring the issues on which we voted, I wish to spend just a minute on two issues--first, the pay-go rules we passed.

The Presiding Officer has been a great asset to the Senate. He has worked with the chairman of the Budget Committee, Senator Conrad, and others to focus on finances of our country. The Presiding Officer was a very successful Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia and noted for what he did with budgetary matters in Virginia.

Pay-go rules are so important. We have rules now, like people have in their individual homes. We are working to do what people who work for a living do, and that is spend money we have. It is not as if we are inventing something new. During the Clinton years, we had pay-go rules. As a result of that, we were able to spend less money than we were taking in. For the first time in decades, in the last 3 years of the Clinton administration, we paid down the national debt by hundreds of billions of dollars. So I hope, looking into the future, we can continue doing that; that is, do it again. It is so important.

I extend my appreciation to Members of the House of Representatives, especially the Speaker and the majority leader, Steny Hoyer. They have been focused on this pay-go for more than a year.

We were finally able to get it done over here. It is going to be good for the country. I think the things we did will continue to focus on the money that we do not have and the way we have to get our budget in order. I am especially happy we were able to give the doctors 5 years' reprieve from the Draconian rules that were facing doctors who take Medicare patients.

The other issue I wish to spend a minute on is last evening, again with the cooperation of all Senators, we

were able to pass the Iran sanctions law. It is so important. We all know what that country is doing to its citizens. It is time this country of ours stepped forward and did some things to focus on what they are doing; that is, what Iran is doing. The legislation we passed will certainly allow this to take place.

We have a conference with the House. I will have a conversation later today with the chairman of the committee over there, Howard Berman, who has been such a good friend of mine personally. He and I came to Washington together in the House of Representatives, but he has also been a great representative of our country in his chairmanship of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the House.

Senator McCain had an amendment about which he is concerned. I appreciate his not offering it last night because it would have caused other amendments from this side being offered.

As a result of the cooperation between both sides of the aisle, we got this legislation passed. We hope to get it out of conference quickly and have the President sign it. It is certainly what we need to do. Iran is a country on which all the world is focusing. We must do everything we can to stop them from acquiring nuclear weapons.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 402.

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, with no intervening action or debate, and that any statements related to the resolution be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 2 p.m. Monday, February 1; that following the prayer and the pledge, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed to have expired, and the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day; that the Senate then proceed to a period of morning business until 3 p.m., with Senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each; that following morning business, the Senate proceed to executive session to debate the nomination of Patricia Smith; finally, I ask that the Record remain open until 12 noon today for the introduction of legislation, submission of statements, and cosponsors requests.

Mr. President, the next vote will be at 5:30 p.m. Monday. That will be on the motion to invoke cloture on the nomination of Patricia Smith to be Solicitor for the Department of Labor.

I announced earlier that the vote on Monday will end at 5:50 p.m. If somebody's plane is late, or whatever the situation, that is what it is going to have to be. We have to close that vote for procedural purposes, as everybody knows.

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 Sessions.

Mr. President, following leader remarks, there will be a period for the transaction of morning business for 1 hour. The time will be controlled by the two leaders or their designees. Senator Sanders is going to control 15 minutes of the majority time. We have a half hour. So he will have 15 minutes of that time.

Following morning business, the Senate will resume consideration of H.J. Res. 45, the debt limit legislation, and proceed to a series of votes in relation to the following items: Brownback amendment; Sessions/McCaskill amendment; Reid amendment; Baucus for Reid amendment; and passage of H.J. Res. 45.

Following those votes, there will be 1 hour of debate prior to a cloture vote on the nomination of Ben Bernanke to be Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve. We are going to try to see if we can work with both Democrats and Republicans to have more time to debate prior to a vote on Ben Bernanke. If we can work that out, we will have an extended period of time, whatever Senators want, prior to Mr. Bernanke, and then we would have cloture and perhaps final passage. We don't have that worked out. At least the order before the Senate is that following the series of five votes, there will be an hour of debate prior to a cloture vote on Ben Bernanke.

Mr. President, I see the distinguished Judiciary chairman here. We have a half hour of time, and I will be happy to give to my friend whatever time he desires.

How much time does my friend need?

Ten minutes to the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Pat Leahy. I have already indicated Senator Sanders will have 15 minutes of our time.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the next three votes be 10 minutes in duration.

Madam President, let's not kid ourselves. We are in this financial situation and these pay-as-you-go rules are necessary because we spent the last decade spending money we did not have. We spent trillions on two wars, tax breaks for millionaires, corporations, and other red ink policies. Those days should be over. We simply can no longer afford it.

The idea behind pay-as-you-go is very simple. The rule we are proposing for the government is the same one Americans use every day in their individual lives, the same ones we teach our children: In order to spend a dollar, we have to have that dollar in our wallet. This law will enforce that commonsense approach.

Here is what it does not do. It does not block emergency spending. It does not keep businesses from creating jobs. And it does not prevent Congress from cutting taxes.

For all the Republican rhetoric on sensible spending, their recent choices call their seriousness into serious question. We drafted a health reform bill to reduce the deficit by as much as $1.3 trillion over the next 20 years. That is a fiscally responsible plan, and zero Republicans supported it.

Senators Conrad and Gregg proposed a commission with the explicit responsibility of reducing our deficit even further. That is a fiscally responsible plan. And seven Republicans--I repeat, seven Republicans-- voted no, even though they sponsored the legislation.

The legislation we voted on, the Conrad-Gregg amendment, would have created an entitlement commission to look at what is wrong with the financial condition of this country, and seven Republicans who supported that amendment by offering their name as cosponsors of it voted against it. Had we had six of those seven votes for that legislation--I will use leader time--had six of the seven voted for that legislation, it would have passed. We would now have a commission. It would have been similar to what we did with the base closings. We did some terrific things with base closings that we could never have done but for that legislation. But I repeat, seven Republicans who cosponsored the legislation voted against it.

The American people can see right through that doublespeak. I am confident, as we all are, that they are tired of it.

As the President pointed out last night, pay-as-you-go in the 1990s led to record surpluses. Its absence in the next decade led to record deficits.

The road back to economic recovery is a long one. If we are to travel it successfully and prudently, if we are to create jobs and government responsibility, pay-as-you-go must be one of the rules of that road.

Madam President, I will use leader time.

This is not the time for being funny. This is a time for addressing the problems we have in this country with a debt that is going on and on.

No one can dispute what I said, and that is, during the nineties when we had pay-go, record deficits were gone. Because of pay-go, we created a situation in this country where we were spending less money as a government than we were taking in.

Think about that. As a result of that, we had unending optimism by the business community and economic growth that has been unparalleled. So this is not a time for jokes. This is a time for addressing a serious problem.

My friend, who has the knowledge of the financial situation of this country as much as anyone in the country, knows this is not a time for jokes and trying to be funny. We have a situation in America today that calls for action. Of course, we can waive the pay-go rules if there is an emergency, but it is up to this body to determine if there is an emergency.

I hope everyone understands this legislation does not block emergency spending, it does not keep businesses from creating jobs, and it does not prevent Congress from cutting taxes. I hope Republicans will join with us in restoring fiscal stability to our country.

Time is up.

Madam President, pay-go, as we are attempting to legislate, has not been in effect. That is what we are trying to do. That is why this legislation is so vitally important. I appreciate the work of the Budget Committee and the Finance Committee getting us to the point we are today with the legislation we are attempting to pass.

We are going to bring about in this country something that people can understand. They are going to understand that we are going to proceed in this body as they do paying their car payment, their housing payment. That is what we are trying to do. That is what this legislation is for.

I am terribly disappointed in my Republican colleagues. Let's join and do something good for this country as it relates to the economy. This is a step in that direction.

I move to reconsider the vote and to lay that on the table.

The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order with respect to debate prior to the cloture vote on the Bernanke nomination be modified to provide that the debate prior to the cloture vote be extended until 3:20 this afternoon, with the majority controlling 60 minutes of that time and the remaining time under the control of the Republicans; that at 3:20, the Senate proceed to vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the nomination; that if cloture is invoked on the Bernanke nomination, then all postcloture time be yielded back and the Senate then immediately vote on confirmation of the nomination; 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, and the Senate then resume legislative session.

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