Floor Statements

Mr. President, I have been waiting to come here for a bit. I have no problem with 5 minutes. I am patient. I want to alert the Senate what is going to be happening the rest of the day. I will wait for my friend from Georgia.

No, that is fine. I am happy to do this. I want everyone to know what is happening here tonight. I will do that when the Senator from Georgia finishes.

Mr. President, I appreciate the usual courteousness of my friend from Georgia.

There will be no more votes today, but I want to say a word about a statement made by my friend, the senior Senator from New Hampshire. He talked about the CBO saying there would be $54 billion saved each year if we put caps on medical malpractice and put some restrictions--tort reform.

Fifty-four billion. Sounds like a lot of money, doesn't it? The answer is yes. But remember, we are talking about $2 trillion--$54 billion compared to $2 trillion. You can do the math. We can all do the math. It is a very small percentage.

I have said in meetings before that people who practice medicine are negligent. What does that mean? The Presiding Officer is a lawyer, my friend from Illinois who is next to me is a lawyer, my friend in the aisle from Maryland is a lawyer, and we learned early on in law school what the definition of negligence is. If someone runs through a stop light or a stop sign and hurts somebody, they have been negligent. And our system of justice, carried over from the common law in England, allows people to seek redress for the injuries they received as a result of someone's negligence. Doctors are negligent. They are human beings and they make mistakes and they hurt people.

I have said before--and I will be very quick with a little story. My friend, Senator Coburn, is on the floor. He is a medical doctor. I used to spend hours and hours on the floor, and one day I felt in my left foot that my sock was kind of gobbed up on the bottom of my foot. I thought: What is wrong? I don't know what that is. So I went into my office and took my shoe off and the sock was fine. To make a long story short, I had a problem with my foot. As some know, I have run thousands of miles on my feet and one of them reacted. It was tired of running those thousands of miles, I guess. I was diagnosed with having a Morton's neuroma on my foot, which required surgery. They tried all the other things and they didn't work.

So I go into the hospital to have this surgery. Remember, it is my left foot. I am on the gurney--the hospital bed, whatever it is--and they are getting ready to do the surgery. I look down and I have a big mark from a Magic Marker on my right foot. I say: Why is that big mark on my foot? And the doctor and the personnel say: That is where we are going to operate--on that foot. That is why we put that check. I said: The wrong foot.

If I hadn't said something, they would have operated on my good foot and left my bad one for a surgery later on. That is negligence. I said something about that. But as I have said before, my wife was born shy and she will die shy. She is a very shy person. She would have been on that surgical table ready to have that surgery and she wouldn't have said a word about that big mark on her foot. I know her. We have been together these many decades, and I know she wouldn't have said a word. That is medical malpractice. We need to protect people from doctors who commit negligence.

In talking about the great report Senator Gregg cited, he failed to mention one thing I think is kind of important--important to me. If this went into effect, 4,853 Americans would be killed every year by medical malpractice. Over a 10-year period, I repeat, 48,000 Americans would die because of medical malpractice. So I would suggest people not wave that around because I don't think the American people want to be part of the 48,000-plus people being killed because of medical malpractice--malpractice by doctors, not other personnel.

We haven't done a thing today. Why? Because the Republicans will not let us. We had cloture invoked on an important piece of legislation and they are using the 30 hours postcloture. For what? For nothing. For nothing. No one is coming here from the other side saying how important it is they have the extra time to talk about this legislation. It is wasted time.

The Republicans have made the political calculation they would rather have no progress made. No suffering American gets help. They would rather do that than work with us to move forward on the most pressing issues in this country. It is not just limited to the health care debate we have heard about for months on end. Because they refuse to move forward, to hold up the legislative process for no substantive reason, we are wasting America's precious time and money.

We could be working on extending unemployment benefits at a time when unemployment is high in virtually every State--some States higher than others. Unemployment is running out in some States. We could be supporting the Department of Defense conference report--the authorization bill. It is the bill we do every year for our fighting men and women around the country and around the world. We are not doing that. Why? Because we are wasting time here. We could have a couple of hours of debate on it at the very most. But, no, we are wasting our time.

I came to the floor last night and said: Why are you doing this? They said: Well, if we could work a little longer, we could come up with a list of amendments. I repeat what I said last night. I was here until I don't know how late on Thursday. Everybody had vacated this building. I could have yelled down the hall and no one but a police officer would have heard me. Why? Because we were waiting for them to come up with some amendments so we could fill the bill. But they were just killing time. There was no intention of completing that bill. They were stalling for time. So I had to file cloture on that bill.

Department of Homeland Security. We have a conference report we would like to complete on appropriations. Are we doing that? No. Are we completing our appropriations bills? We got a letter from the Republican leadership saying: Let's do the appropriations bills. We are trying. But, again, they are stalling and will not let us. In the Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security, we have two critical agencies that need all the support they can get at a time when our Nation is fighting two wars--two wars plus homeland security trying to protect our borders and protect the homeland.

We could be passing appropriations bills to keep our country running, including Commerce-State-Justice that they held up last night. Instead, we are doing the Republican shuffle. If it sounds familiar, it should. Last year, Republicans broke the blindly partisan record of pointless filibusters--nearly 100. Not nearly; 100 is how many it was--more than any other session of Congress in the history of our Nation. What does this accomplish? Zero. Nothing.

The American people didn't demand paralysis, they demanded change, and we are trying our best. It is long past time for the Republicans to listen to what the American people want. Their strategy of stubbornness is shortsighted. I am confident that, in the end, these Republican tactics will once again prove to be self-defeating, just as they were last November. I am so concerned that we have the same Republican shuffle time after time and we spend hours and days on this floor doing nothing.

I am happy to yield to my friend.

I would say to my friend, the majority of your bill is legislative language that has nothing to do with appropriations.

Yes, yes, yes. I say to my friend, you have only mentioned a few of the most important things that satisfy and take care of the military and our fighting men and women in our country.

I say to my friend, I went to the first ever Reid family reunion in Searchlight. It was interesting. You should have seen the invitation-- ``sobriety requested.'' That was fine. Not everybody followed that, but it was pretty interesting. A child of one of my cousins was there and she said: I want to tell you that my husband is 30 years old and just joined the Army.

Because of the downturn in the economy, we have had huge numbers of people joining the military, and we need to take care of those people, such as my relative I learned about in Searchlight.

So I thank the chairman very much.

Following leader remarks, there will be a period of morning business until 3 p.m. today with Senators permitted to speak during that time for 10 minutes each. Following morning business, the Senate will resume consideration of the Commerce-Justice-State Appropriations Act. At 5:30 today, the Senate will vote on the substitute amendment regarding cloture on the CJS appropriations bill. This afternoon the managers will continue to work on an agreement to limit amendments to the bill. If agreement is reached, we may not need to have a cloture vote. However, we will still have a vote at 5:30.

Mr. President, it is my understanding there are three bills at the desk due for a second reading.

I object to any further proceedings with respect to these bills en bloc.

Mr. President, is there anything more tragic than a preventable catastrophe? Probably not. What is more shameful than having the ability to stop a disaster and not using that power? Ancient and recent history is saturated with examples of nations standing idly by while threats escalate and storm clouds gather on the horizon. Too many times we have learned by example what not to do when we see tragedy pass before our eyes. Today is no different.

Today we face two kinds of preventable tragedies--one on a personal scale and one on a national scale. There are preventable deaths. There are examples of preventable deaths in every city in Nevada and every State in the Union. Stories of preventable deaths fill our mail boxes and our media.

In many of these cases we can draw a direct line from an American's death to the lack of decent health care. In almost all of those cases, we can draw another direct line from their lack of decent health care to our broken health insurance system.

A startling new book by T.R. Reid called ``The Healing of America'' traces his travels throughout the developed world and contrasts our health care

system with far more successful, affordable, and equitable health care systems in several industrialized nations. He approaches this story in a unique way. He has a bad shoulder. He had had it repaired 10 or 12 years before. It started giving him some trouble, so he started in the United States asking what to do about his shoulder.

He was told what to do in America. Then he went to France and Japan, all over the world, and was told what not to do with his shoulder. In the process of talking about his shoulder, he talks about the health care system in every one of those countries. There are some startling things.

The phrase ``socialized medicine'' was developed by the insurance industry when President Truman said he wanted to do health care reform. It is interesting that the kind of care they have in different parts of the world is so uniquely described in this book. For example, Germany has had government-sponsored health care since the 1880s, which I think is very interesting--I say this with some degree of sarcasm--by the great socialist Bismarck. He was about as far as one could get from a socialist, but he believed health care should be delivered in a Christian way, as he said it. That system is one that has been copied in various parts of the world to some degree or another.

It is an interesting book, and I recommend it to every Senator. It opens telling the story of a woman by the name of Nikki White who died at 32 years of age. The official medical records show that she died from complications of lupus; but if we asked her doctor, the doctor would tell everyone Nikki died from complications of our health care system. We know how to treat lupus. America is home to millions of doctors and thousands of hospitals that can help someone with lupus live a longer life. America has developed the science and the medicine and the therapies that let people with lupus live full, active lives. But because Nikki's health insurance company refused to cover her once she got sick and because Nikki's income was too much for Medicaid but too little for her medicine's cost, she was stranded.

This story is tragic because Nikki died a preventable death in the richest Nation in the history of the world. It is even more tragic because it is not the only one of its kind, not by a long shot. All over America people are dying too soon. There are lots of others just like it.

Conditions that should be fixable are now fatal. Easily treatable diseases now become death sentences. More and more, Americans who come down with the flu or are diagnosed with diabetes or suffer a stroke are dying far earlier than modern science says they should have to die. More and more, Americans who contract skin cancer or have a hernia or experience complications during surgery are dying rather than being cured.

These diseases can strike anyone. In fact, more than half of all Americans live with at least one chronic condition, and those conditions cause 70 percent of the deaths in America. A group called the Commonwealth Fund researches ways our health insurance system can work better. It recently ranked 19 industrialized countries on how they handle preventable deaths. The United States ranked 19th--at the very bottom.

Their study also found that as many as 100,000 American lives could be saved if we admitted some health care systems work better than others and borrowed some of the best ideas that make them work. This is 100,000 lives a year. By the way, we are paying for the privilege.

Over the past 8 years of inaction the price of staying healthy in America rose to record levels. The number of Americans who can't afford insurance also rose to record levels. At least one in five Nevadans has no health insurance. Those who do have it are at great risk of losing it. If we don't act, in 10 years health care costs will more than double what they are today. The number of Nevadans who can't afford health insurance will double as well. If we don't act, more Americans will suffer needlessly.

That Americans are dying preventable deaths is one of two avoidable tragedies I said I wanted to discuss. The second is that some here in Congress are preventing solutions to that problem. We have the power to prevent this national crisis from growing. We have the power to prevent it, just like we have the power to prevent diseases from killing us too soon.

We have the ability to treat our unhealthy health care system today. Five congressional committees--three in the House and two in the Senate--have studied the data, debated the arguments, and proposed ideas for what to do next. While we listen to the stories of real people with real problems, some try to divert our attention with distortions, distractions, and deception. While we strive to change a broken status quo, some defend it at all cost. While we seek common ground, some insist on opposing good ideas simply because they are proposed by people who sit on a different side of this Chamber or by a President who comes from a different political party.

As former Senate leader Bob Dole said last week:

Sometimes people fight you just to fight you.

It is inexcusable to let a preventable disease become a deadly disease. It is equally unacceptable to deny the American people the change they demand. If we don't act, we will not have the luxury of saying later, with regret: If we only knew then what we know now. We know now exactly what we need to know. We know now that deaths are preventable. The question before the Senate is, do we want to prevent those deaths? These tragedies are avoidable. The question before the Senate is, do we want to avoid these tragedies?

The broken health care system is fixable. The question before the Senate today is, do we want to fix the broken system?

Mr. President, in years past, appropriations bills were finished in a reasonably short period of time. There was cooperation between both sides. That, of course, has ended. We are now in an era where the President of the United States goes to a foreign country trying to bring the Olympics to the United States. And when the Olympics do not go to Chicago, our Republican colleagues cheer. If you can imagine that, that is what happened.

When the President is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, only the third time in the history of the country that a sitting President is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, we get the same dissatisfaction of this tremendous honor given to our country from our Republican colleagues.

As was written in the New York Times 1 week ago: The Republicans are legislating out of spite. Anything that slows things down, confuses, diverts from the business at hand, they are

happy to do that. There were 100 filibusters last year. And the American people should understand filibusters are more than just a word. It takes days and weeks of the Senate's time to work through that process.

We are going to get this bill passed, and we will complete the work on this appropriations bill--not because the Republicans deserve it, with their many earmarks in the bill. We are going to go ahead and do it anyway. We are going to do it because it is the right thing for the country.

There are many amendments that are germane. There are a number of amendments that were not germane postcloture. They would be considered. I told everyone that.

This is a game Republican Senators are playing. I think it is a very unfair game for the American people. I do hope the American people are watching, and they are. All you have to do is look at the LA Times. In Los Angeles this weekend, there was a front-page story indicating that the Republican Party, as a result of what is going on in the Senate, is at the lowest point in the history of the country for a political party. Why wouldn't they be?

We do have one brave soul who voted to get the bill out of the Finance Committee, and I appreciate her work. No cooperation on one of the most important issues facing the country in generations, health care reform. Do they have a plan? Of course not. It is the party of no, as indicated in this vote tonight.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Madam President, I appreciate the suggestion of my Republican counterpart. But we are going to get cloture on this bill, and we will handle the germane amendments. We have legislated on this bill for 5 days. That should be enough. The list they think is reasonable, someone should take a look at it and see how unreasonable it is. We will go ahead. We will do the regular order. We will get cloture on this bill, and we will handle the germane amendments--maybe. We don't have to handle the germane amendments. We don't have to deal with those. We might do that; we might not do it.

I think what has happened in the Senate is outrageous. I want to make sure the record is clear. I appreciate very much John McCain saying nice things about President Obama getting the Nobel Peace Prize. Another person who says he is running for President also said nice things about President Obama getting that. That was Governor Pawlenty. Obviously, Governor Pawlenty knows the American people think it is wrong for someone who receives this high honor, for people not to pat him on the back.

What has gone on in the Senate is as indicated in the New York Times last month: they are legislating out of spite. We are going to continue to work for the betterment of this country and move forward on the agenda this country needs to work on. We have had a successful year legislating. It has been extremely difficult. We have had a lot of hurdles to go over.

I appreciate the legislation we have passed. We only recently got 60 votes. We have had 58, so we have always needed a couple Republicans. And we have been able to get those but just barely. I appreciate the scowls from the other side as they vote with us.

We have a lot of important things to do. We are going to continue working on them. Health care has taken a lot longer than we had anticipated, but we will take that over the finish line. It will be hard, but we are going to do that. I hope we can do it with some support from the Republicans. It appears at this stage that we are not going to get any, other than maybe a couple of courageous souls. Maybe we will get three if we are lucky.

We have to do something about energy, an important issue. We are going to deal with that. We have to do something about regulation reform.

It would be a lot better for the American people if Republican Senators worked with us. Take, for example, the health care bill from the HELP Committee. You would think, after having accepted scores and scores of Republican amendments, that some Republican would say a nice thing about that HELP bill. Not a word. Every single member of the Republican Party who is a member of the HELP Committee voted against the bill.

It is pretty clear what is happening around here. As I indicated--for the third time--Republicans are legislating out of spite, and that is not good for this country.

Madam President, Thursday we waited virtually all day--all day--for them to come up with a list. It was never quite right. Never quite right. I was here late Thursday night, very late Thursday night. Everyone else had gone home. But the Republicans refused to OK a list. So I had no alternative but to file a motion to invoke cloture. The agreement is in their minds only. We have been very generous in allowing amendments that have nothing to do with bills this whole year. We were still willing to do that with this piece of legislation. This is part of a stall that we have had all year long, the stall all day Thursday. We had problems on Wednesday trying to come up with a list, and Thursday. Just never quite right.

Suddenly, today, we have a list. We are willing to drop an amendment. I don't know what amendment they are talking about dropping.

I have made my statement very clear. We have a pattern in the Senate by the Republicans that is abusive to the system. It is preventing the American people from getting work done. An example is this very important bill dealing with law enforcement--Commerce-Justice-State-- FBI agents. Senator Mikulski has worked very hard. She is proud of this legislation. We are going to go ahead and get it done without the Republicans. We are going to go ahead and do it. Their earmarks are included. We are not going to take away any of their earmarks because we believe in fairness.

I ask unanimous consent that we now proceed to a period of morning business with Senators allowed to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.

Mr. President, I am so pleased that last Thursday we passed another appropriations bill in regular order and with bipartisan support. I thank Chairman Kohl for his work to pass move this bill through the process. And I think Senator Brownback, the ranking member, for his work on this bill as well.

This is a good bill--it is good for the Nation and it is good for my home State of Nevada. By adopting this conference report we are making investments in rural towns, in working families, and in the farm families that feed us.

This bill includes significant investments in rural development programs to help our rural towns improve their hospitals, drinking water and sewage systems. We also help rural communities attract businesses and jobs with investments in broadband access and business loan programs. These programs are especially important as we help families living in rural towns get through these tough economic times and make their communities stronger.

In this bill we also increase funding from last year's levels for nutrition programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps, the Women Infants and Children program, the Commodity Food Supplemental Program, the Emergency Food Assistance Program and School Lunch and Breakfast. In addition, I am pleased that in this bill Nevada has been added to the list of States authorized to run afterschool supper programs that will provide a hot meal for kids who would otherwise go hungry. We have all seen the stories on the news and in the papers about the historic demand for Federal feeding programs and the strain being placed on our local food banks and food pantries. This bill will help families in Nevada and throughout the nation who are currently struggling to put food on the table.

We also make a significant investment in the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, CFTC, with $169 million, which is an increase of $23 million from last year. We are making this investment because we need the CFTC to be capable of conducting rigorous oversight of futures markets, especially in

crude oil and other commodities. The CFTC must be fully equipped and staffed so it can prevent the excessive speculation that drove oil prices to record highs last year and really hurt energy consumers. This funding is an important investment that will help us rebuild our economy on a stronger foundation.

In addition to these good programs, this bill also includes funding for a number of important Nevada projects. We have funding for the Nevada Arid Rangelands Initiative, Mormon cricket control, and noxious weed control. We have assistance for the Wildfire Support Group in Orovada to help them do fuels management. And we have funding for the University of Nevada Reno for their work with the Food and Agriculture Policy Research Institute, which does great research to help us understand what is going on in American agriculture so we can create good programs to help our farmers.

This bill makes a number of important investments. So I am very pleased that this bill has passed the Senate with broad support--76 Senators voting to send this conference report to the President.

Mr. President, today I wish to commemorate and celebrate the 50th aniversary of the St. John the Baptist Greek Orthodox Church.

For more than a century, a proud and vibrant Greek community has thrived in Nevada. 50 years ago, the parish of St. John the Baptist Greek Orthodox Church was established in Las Vegas, NV, to serve this dynamic community.

For half of a century, the parishioners at St. John the Baptist have celebrated their Hellenic heritage through cultural and spiritual events, all while giving back to the Las Vegas community through service. As one example of the many ways parishioners have inspired southern Nevada, the Panagia chapter of the Ladies Philoptochos Society meets monthly to serve the parish and the community by working in a hands-on fashion to serve the liturgical, charitable, educational, youth, and crisis needs of the community.

Las Vegas is profoundly enriched by the St. John the Baptist Greek Church. Every year, the church holds a Greek Festival, where Nevadans of all backgrounds listen to Greek music, eat Greek food, and embrace the spirit of kefi--a passion for life that radiates from the parishioners at St. John the Baptist.

It is my honor to celebrate the ``Golden Heritage'' of this storied church on Friday, October 16, 2009. To my friends at St. John the Baptist Greek Orthodox Church: OPA! May you celebrate many more successful years.

Mr. President, following leader remarks, the Senate will proceed to a period of morning business for 1 hour, with Senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each. The Republicans will control the first 30 minutes. The majority will control the second 30 minutes.

Following morning business, the Senate will resume consideration of the Commerce, Justice, Science Appropriations Act. We hope to reach short time agreements on available conference reports. Senators will be notified when any votes are scheduled during today's session of the Senate. Senators Shelby and Mikulski feel we can finish the bill that we are working on today.

Finance Committee CBO Report

The Finance Committee report came out yesterday from CBO. It was outstanding, $81 billion, bending the curve. That bill will be voted on by the Finance Committee on Tuesday morning. It will be reported to the Senate.

Since Harry Truman was President, Democrats have fought to make it more affordable to live a healthy life in America. Every day we come closer to achieving that goal. Yesterday was a landmark occasion. Yesterday the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office confirmed that the Finance Committee plan, which is one of the five plans in Congress to reform the way health insurance companies treat people in this country, will reduce the deficit.

It did not say it will keep the deficit the same. It did not say it will increase it, not even by one penny. It said, in black and white, that the Finance Committee's bill will reduce our deficit, not just in the short term but over the long term as well.

That is something progressives, conservatives, and Independents, everyone in between, can be thankful for and can applaud. Today we stand closer than ever to fulfilling that fundamental promise, the one for which we have fought more than 60 years. We stand closer than ever to fulfilling the cause of Senator Ted Kennedy.

But as anyone who has even superficially followed the debate knows, the route to realizing Senator Kennedy's dream is far from smooth sailing. There are still those who will not rest until the American people are denied the change they demanded, those who will not be happy unless the status quo is sustained. There are those who still want to pick fights against us, even though we are interested only in fighting for hardworking American families. There are those who consider this a zero sum game and will only declare victory if President Obama concedes defeat. So let me be very clear. Just as Democrats believe in ensuring quality, affordable health care for every American citizen, we believe equally as strongly that this country has no place for those who wish for its leaders to fail.

Just as yesterday brought us another step closer to real reform, it also brought us another round of Republican excuses, from the Republican

leadership on down. The other side remains trapped in its strategy of distortion, distraction, and deception. Yesterday on the Senate floor, the Republican leader asked rhetorically: What happens to Medicare under our plan? Well, let me answer that question. Under our plan, seniors pay less for their medicine. Under our plan, seniors pay nothing for their annual checkup. Under our plan, seniors pay nothing for preventive care. And, under our plan, doctors who treat seniors get a raise.

But the other side is not letting those facts get in the way of a good sound bite. Instead, yesterday on the Senate floor, the Republican leader said: Our plan will cut Medicare. What he did not bother to say is that the only thing we are cutting is the waste rampant in that system, waste that you as a taxpayer pay in every paycheck.

Yesterday on the Senate floor, the Republican leader said: ``Republicans have tried to protect Medicare throughout the debate.''

Listen to that one: ``Republicans have tried to protect Medicare throughout the debate.''

What he did not bother to say is that this debate is also the first time in history Republicans ever found such an interest. The fact is that ever since Senate Republicans opposed the creation of Medicare, they have spent the past 40 years on the wrong side of history when it comes to helping seniors.

In the past 10 years, Republicans have voted against protecting and strengthening Medicare 59 times. When President Bush vetoed the Medicare Improvement Act last year, the only Senators who supported that disastrous veto were his fellow Republicans here in the Senate. So the American people can be excused for not buying the Republicans' eleventh-hour claim that they are the true guardians of seniors' health care.

It is telling that after weeks of negotiations, months of debate, and decades of national movements for health insurance reform, this is the best they can came up with. It is telling that one of their most oft- repeated arguments protests not the contents of the bill but now the number of the pages of the bill. How is that for criticism: The bill has too many pages.

Let's not forget the Republicans only offer arguments in response to our plan to make health care more stable and more secure. We have yet to hear any Republican arguments in support of their own health care ideas. Why? Because there are not any. They do not exist.

The Republican plan is nothing more than the status quo. Under the Republican plan, insurance companies can continue to deny a person coverage when they need it the most. Under the Republican plan, insurance companies can deny you coverage because you have high cholesterol or hay fever or even heart disease.

They can raise your rates because you are getting older, because your dad had prostate cancer, or simply because you are a woman. Under the Republican plan, if you have health insurance, your family has to pay at least $1,000 a year more to cover all of the other families who have none.

Republicans in Congress are the only ones who support that plan. The rest of the country knows we need to act and we need to act now. Here is a list of those who support our plan to improve our health insurance in the short term and the long term alike: doctors; hospitals; the pharmaceutical industry; a bipartisan group of Governors; President Obama, who has made fixing health care his top priority; Democrats in Congress who are committed to getting it done this year; and, at the top of that list, the American people, 9 of 10 of whom say high health care costs are hurting their families, crushing their families.

In recent days, prominent, courageous, independent-minded Republicans throughout this country have added their names to that list of people who are crying for health care reform. Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Governor of a State with 38 million people, the most populous State in the Union; Michael Bloomberg, the mayor of the most populous city in the country; Bobby Jindal, the Governor of Louisiana--Republicans asked him to provide their party's response to President Obama's first ever address to Congress--Tommy Thompson, former Governor of Wisconsin, former Secretary of Health and Human Services under President Bush; Mark McClellan, former head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services under President Bush; Bill Frist, former Senate majority leader and a physician who said last week, if he were still in the Senate, he would vote for health insurance reform; and, Bob Dole, today, announced that he supports something being done. This former majority leader and Republican nominee for President this week encouraged his party to drop their ``just say no'' strategy. He was even stronger in his statements today.

Here is a list of those who think things are just fine the way they are: Republican leaders in Congress. That is it. That is the list. And that is the real match-up in this health care debate. It is clear to see who is listening to the American people, who has tuned them out.

Democrats are willing to listen not only to the American people, we are also more than willing to listen to congressional Republican ideas, if they offer any, to move this debate forward. We would be happy to end up with a bill that does not rely on 60 Senators but one that can earn a lot more.

But until that happens, until Republicans in Congress show they want to be productive partners rather than partisan protesters, we will continue to do what the vast majority of the American people demand that we do; that is, continue moving forward to improve a badly broken system.

I agree with President Obama who told Congress last month: We have no patience for those who seek more of the same failed ideas. We have no patience for those who contribute only criticism and not constructive input. We have no patience for those who mischaracterize our plan or mislead the people, and will call them out when they do.

That is what the speech was all about. We believe this because we believe the American people deserve to be told the truth. We believe hard-working families already have enough real problems to worry about without having their time wasted with fake problems. We believe this country is no place for those who hope for failure, failure of their leaders.

I move to lay that motion on the table.

The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

Unanimous Consent Request--H.R. 3548

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of H.R. 3548, which was received from the House. I further ask unanimous consent that a Reid substitute amendment which is at the desk be agreed to; the bill, as amended, be read a third time and passed; the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate, and that any statements relating to the bill be printed in the Record.

Madam President, if I can just say--and I know others wish to speak on this issue--we have found a new stalling tactic. It is pretty new. It is CBO. Now I am sure everything is going to be ``CBO.'' I am sorry the consent request was not granted.

Madam President, if I may ask my friend, the chairman of the Finance Committee, does he wish to speak?

Why don't we let the chairman of the Judiciary Committee go for 30 seconds to offer an amendment.

I ask unanimous consent that Senator Baucus be recognized following Senator Leahy and then Senator Jack Reed.

And then Senator Shaheen.

Why don't you do that--you will have a minute following Senator Leahy.

Mr. President, I rise today to honor Marla and Tom Letizia on their being named ``Menschen'' of the Year by Congregation Ner Tamid. The award is intended to reflect the ultimate values of their congregation, which is to give selflessly of oneself to benefit the community. Marla and Tom have helped make Las Vegas and Nevada a better place with their business and community involvement.

Mr. Letizia started out as an account executive for many Las Vegas television stations including KLAS TV-8. He founded Letizia Ad Team in 1974. The firm specializes in television, radio, newspaper, direct mail, internet and outdoor advertising. Mr. and Mrs. Letizia owned radio and television outlets in Reno, Las Vegas, Laughlin and Tonapah NV. They cofounded Tonopah's first radio station, KPAH-FM, which was sold in 1992, and the first radio station dual signal property in Laughlin/Las Vegas, KROL-AM, which was later sold in 1993. The Letizias were part owners of the first independent television station in Reno, KAME-TV, which later became a FOX affiliate before being sold in 1994.

In 2001, Mrs. Letizia founded Big Traffic Mobile Billboards Worldwide, which implements trucks that provide four-sided advertising space and environmentally friendly WOBI' walking billboards. She has over 35 years of marketing and journalism experience, beginning her career with KLAS-TV 8 as an assistant production manager and organizer and was subsequently promoted to director of the live television news broadcasts at 5 p.m. and 11 p.m. She gained distinction as the first female director in the history of Las Vegas, as well as the first female hired in production in Las Vegas, running the audio department during production and during live news broadcasts.

The Letizias help their community by acting as founding members of the Board of Trustees for the Meadows School. They are also on the advisory board of the Make-A-Wish foundation of southern Nevada. Marla and Tom also compassionately care about our planet Earth. One of their innovations was a green friendly walking billboard.

With their innovative business approach and compassionate approach to their fellow Nevadans, Marla and Tom represent this country at its best. They have achieved great things and I know their future, both as a family and a business remains, as bright as the neon lights from the Las Vegas Strip. I congratulate Mr. and Mrs. Letizia on their tremendous accomplishment.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S. Res. 309, submitted earlier today.

Mr. President, does my distinguished colleague from Nevada wish to speak on this matter?

Mr. President, as it approaches Halloween, which is the real day, I will have more to say on this resolution.

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; that there be no intervening action or debate, and any statements relating to this matter be printed in the Record.

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

Mr. President, I have a cloture motion at the desk on the committee-reported substitute amendment to H.R. 2847.

Mr. President, I have a cloture motion on the bill. I ask that it be stated.

I ask unanimous consent that the cloture vote on the substitute amendment occur at 5:30 p.m., Tuesday, October 13, that the hour prior to the vote be for debate with respect to the cloture motion, the hour be equally divided and controlled between Senators Mikulski and Shelby or their designees, and that the mandatory quorums be waived.

I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of the conference report to accompany H.R. 3183.

I have a cloture motion on the conference report at the desk. I ask that it be stated.

I ask unanimous consent that the cloture vote on the conference report occur upon disposition of H.R. 2847, provided that if cloture is not invoked on the substitute amendment to H.R. 2847, then a motion to reconsider the vote by which cloture was not invoked on the substitute be considered entered; that the cloture vote on the bill be delayed to occur upon reconsideration, and that upon reconsideration and cloture is not invoked on the substitute, then the cloture motion on the bill be withdrawn; further, that if cloture has not been invoked as specified above, then the vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the conference report to accompany H.R. 3183 occur 1 hour after the Senate convenes on Wednesday, October 14, and that the mandatory quorum be waived.