Floor Statements

As previously announced, there will be no rollcall votes during Monday's session of the Senate. The next vote will occur at 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday, October 27. That vote will be on the motion to proceed to H.R. 3548, the Unemployment Compensation Extension Act of 2009.

Next week will be a busy week. We hope to complete action on the Unemployment Insurance Extension Act, Commerce-Justice-Science Appropriations, and Military Construction Appropriations. We also need to pass a continuing resolution before the end of the week.

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

I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, as if in executive session, I ask unanimous consent that on Tuesday, October 27, following a period of morning business, the Senate proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 470, the nomination of Irene Berger to be United States District Judge for the Southern District of West Virginia; that debate be limited to 60 minutes equally divided and controlled between Senators Leahy and Sessions or their designees; that at 2:15 p.m. the Senate proceed to vote on confirmation of the nomination, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action, no further motions be in order, and the Senate then resume legislative session, and that upon resuming legislative session, the Senate vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to H.R. 3548.

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

Mr. President, following leader remarks, there will be a period of morning business for 2 hours, with Senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each. The Republicans will control the first hour and the majority will control the second hour.

Following morning business, the Senate will proceed to executive session to consider the nomination of Roberto Lange to be a U.S. district judge for the District of South Dakota. Under an agreement reached last night, debate on the nomination will be limited to 2 hours, equally divided and controlled between Senators Leahy and Sessions or their designees. At 2 p.m., the Senate will proceed to vote on confirmation of the nomination.

Upon disposition of the Lange nomination, Senators should be prepared to vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to S. 1776, the Medicare Physician Fairness Act.

Last night, I filed cloture on the conference report to accompany the Department of Defense Authorization Act and on the nomination of William Sessions to be Chair of the U.S. Sentencing Commission. Senators will be notified when these votes are scheduled.

Mr. President, the prayer of the Chaplain today was right on point for something that has taken place in the last 3 or 4 days. In Afghanistan, we are at a critical juncture. For Afghanistan to move forward and win the fight against the Taliban, the country must have a legitimate government.

The first round of elections in Afghanistan was tainted by allegations of significant fraud, and we faced the possibility of a potential political crisis in Afghanistan. I am pleased President Karzai has recognized the need for a runoff election.

The reason I mention sacrifice and service is in relation to Senator John Kerry. If you look at his life, it has been one of sacrifice, it has been one of service to our country--whether in the jungles of Vietnam, where he was wounded three times and received a Silver Star for his heroism, or whether it was in his capacity as the Democratic nominee for President or whether it has been as chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee.

He took off for Afghanistan and Pakistan at a time when he was badly needed. I missed him here. We had some votes I wish John Kerry could have been here for. I told him that when he called me. But he explained what he was doing there, and immediately upon his hanging up, I received a call from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, saying: He is doing extremely good work there. Don't be upset at him because he can't be here because what he is doing in Afghanistan is something that is vitally important to not only our country but to the world.

That sacrifice and that service--and also the Chaplain mentioned labor--this man worked very hard. He has labored, as chairman of this Foreign Relations Committee, as I have never seen. He has been so involved in what is going on there. Not only is he dealing with the issues we see every day--

Afghanistan, Pakistan, North Korea, with what is going on on the continent of Africa--he is involved in global warming because of the treaty implications of the treaty we are trying to negotiate in Copenhagen in December.

I am extremely impressed with Senator Kerry always but especially in the last few days. As chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, he has played a central role in resolving the crisis in Afghanistan.

As many have read in the news, he had been trying to persuade President Karzai that a second round of elections was necessary--and they were necessary. If you read the press today, it was a touch-and-go thing. It was not until President Karzai and Senator Kerry took a walk together to talk about what is going on in that part of the world that the decision was made by President Karzai that he would go along with the second election.

Senator Kerry has worked closely with our diplomatic team, including Ambassador Eikenberry; Secretary Clinton; our National Security Adviser, General Jones; and others to send a clear message to President Karzai.

We all know the situation in Afghanistan remains fragile and that there will still be many steps needed to be taken so we have a credible and legitimate government in Kabul. But I believe very sincerely Senator Kerry played a pivotal role in preventing a crisis in Afghanistan and that his work has not only stabilized Afghanistan but the entire region.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, we have been aware of the fact that because of activities and actions of the Republican-dominated Washington for a number of years, that the doctors who take Medicare patients have been hammered so hard that not all doctors take Medicare patients.

We want senior citizens, Medicare recipients, to be able to go a doctor. We do not want all of those folks going to Medicare Advantage. We want Medicare to survive as a program.

Because people who ran this town for a number of years did not like Social Security, tried to privatize that, did

everything they could to minimize and denigrate Medicare, we are now at a point where we have, in the bill that has been reported out of the Finance Committee, a 1-year fix for the senior citizens, so that physicians will not be dropping Medicare patients. Then all of the physicians should know that we march to this position we are in now.

We were told by the American Medical Association and others that we would get help from the Republicans to take care of senior citizens so that they would have doctors to take care of them. It is very interesting. One of the sponsors of this legislation, one of the Republican leaders, is not supporting the legislation. How do you like that? This is another effort of Republicans to slow down, divert, and stop what we are trying to do with health care and based on everything else.

I just finished a meeting over here with my chairmen. We lamented the fact of how things have changed in this town, how in this new administration we have had to file cloture on a significant number of occasions to get people who have jobs in this administration approved in the Senate. During the Bush first year, during this same period of time, not a single nomination he requested had to be clotured; that is, to end a filibuster. We have numerous people to get approved.

We have essential legislation, such as legislation that deals with giving people who are out of work unemployment benefits. It is not a gift. They pay into that fund or they thought it wasn't a gift.

I want everyone to know we are going to take care of Medicare. If the Republicans in the Senate don't want to do it the way we have done it in the past by doing the doctors fix, then when we finish the health care legislation, we will come back and take care of a multiple-year fix for the doctors and senior citizens.

I want everyone within the sound of my voice to understand that Washington is being driven by a small number of people on this side of the aisle who are preventing us from doing things that help the American people. We are not trying to run over people with the 60 votes we have. We want to work with people. We want to get along. I think it is really too bad that suddenly they have got religion. They never worried in the past about all the tax cuts being paid for. They never worried about drug manufacturers getting all the free stuff they got. They never worried about any of this. They now are suddenly being very frugal when they find it is a way they can slow down what we do here.

Mr. President, I rise today to honor Rev. Melvin Sanders and his wife Emma Sanders for 40 years of service to the Las Vegas community. Mr. Sanders and his wife moved to Las Vegas, NV, from Arizona in 1954. Mr. and Mrs. Sanders entered the business field successfully and have remained involved for over 40 years.

Reverend Sanders and Emma Sanders are known all over Las Vegas for their generosity and warmth toward their neighbors. He and his wife assisted multiple families in financial need and have also provided ministerial and spiritual outreach to the people of the Las Vegas Valley. The Sanders are known as Mom and Dad to literally hundreds of Nevadans. Reverend Sanders and his beloved wife have been married for 57 years and are the proud parents of six children, one of whom tragically preceded them in death. The Sanders' church has been in existence for 40 years.

The House of Holiness Church has been open to its congregation for 40 years, and may best be described as a vibrant and joyful place of worship. The church has Sunday school, afternoon service, evening service, prayer and Bible band as well as Bible study. The House of Holiness may best be described by a verse of Scripture which attests ``Holiness becometh thine house o Lord for ever.'' It is clear that Reverend Sanders and his wife are holy people who try to live as lights for God in our world.

President Obama once said ``Focusing your life solely on making a buck shows a certain poverty of ambition. It asks too little of yourself. Because it's only when you hitch your wagon to something larger than yourself that you realize your true potential.'' This ideal is exemplified by Reverend Sanders and Emma, as together they serve others and help make Nevada a better place. Whether it be through their volunteer efforts with the Salvation Army or by way of their many other selfless endeavors, the Sanders help to better their community.

The Sanders and the House of Holiness Church have a bright future on their horizon. I congratulate the Sanders on 57 years of loving marriage and 40 years of saintly service to the Las Vegas community.

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

Mr. President, are we in a period of morning business?

I thank the Chair.

Mr. President, we are trying to work something out on an unemployment compensation extension. We are being as fair and reasonable as we can. We have exchanged papers with the minority. We hope they will come back with a reasonable number of amendments on which we can move forward.

In order to move the process along, as we continue to negotiate, I ask unanimous consent to proceed to Calendar No. 174, H.R. 3548, and I send a cloture motion to the desk.

I ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum be waived.

I now withdraw the motion to proceed.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until tomorrow at 9:30 a.m., Thursday, October 22; 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 there be a period of morning business for an hour, with Senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each, with the time equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees, with the majority controlling the first half and the Republicans controlling the second half; that following morning business, the Senate resume consideration of the conference report to accompany H.R. 2647, the Department of Defense authorization bill, and there then be an hour for debate, equally divided and controlled between Senators Levin and McCain or their designees, prior to the cloture vote on that conference report.

Senators should expect the first vote tomorrow to occur at 11:45 a.m.

If there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that it adjourn under the provisions of S. Res. 315, as a mark of further respect to the late former Senator Clifford Peter Hansen of Wyoming.

Mr. President, following leader remarks, there will be a period of morning business for 90 minutes, with Senators permitted to speak for 10 minutes each. The majority will control the first 45 minutes and the Republicans will control the second part of that.

Following morning business, the Senate will proceed to the consideration of the conference report to accompany H.R. 2892, which is the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act. There will be 3 hours 15 minutes for debate prior to a vote on the conference report. The Senate will recess from 12:30 to 2:15 p.m. today for our weekly caucus lunches. If all time is used, the vote will occur around 4:30. However, some of the debate time may be yielded back and we could vote earlier than that.

We are still working on an agreement, the Republican leader and myself, to consider the Medicare Physicians Fairness Act. Senators will be notified when any agreement is reached.

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

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

Mr. President, are we now in a period of morning business?

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of the conference report to accompany H.R. 2647, the Department of Defense Authorization Act.

I send a cloture motion to the desk.

I ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum be waived.