Floor Statements

Mr. President, I now ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 11 a.m. Monday, March 30; that following the prayer and the pledge, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed expired, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and the Senate begin consideration of the budget resolution reported by the Budget Committee.

As previously announced, there will be no rollcall votes on Monday. However, the Senate will begin consideration of the budget resolution and Senators Conrad and Gregg will be here on Monday to get debate started on the resolution. All Senators also

have the opportunity to make any statements they want regarding this measure.

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

Mr. President, following leaders' remarks, we are going to have morning business for up to 1 hour. The first 30 minutes will be controlled by the Democrats and the Republicans will control the second 30 minutes. During that time, Senators will be allowed to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.

Following morning business, we will proceed to, once again, take up the National Service Reauthorization Act, H.R. 1388. At noon, we are going to vote on the confirmation of David Kris to be Assistant Attorney General. We have a special Democratic caucus from 12:30 to 2 p.m. today. The President will be at that caucus. After the caucus, the Senate will resume consideration of the national service legislation. Rollcall votes are expected to occur throughout the afternoon. We are not going to be in recess from 12:30 to 2 p.m.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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 President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, we will be in recess from 12:30 until 2 p.m. I said that we would not be, but there is already an order to that effect. I wanted to explain that.

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 President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, we have made progress on this legislation. I appreciate very much the hard work of Senator Mikulski and appreciate the cooperation we have received on this side of the aisle. We are going to work through more amendments tomorrow--if, in fact, there are other amendments. It is my understanding the Thune amendment is one we will vote on. We will not do that tonight. We will do it in the morning at a convenient time for everyone. I am going to file cloture tonight. I hope it is not necessary that we vote to invoke cloture. We should not have to invoke cloture on a bill such as this. This is a bill that is unquestionably bipartisan. We have given hours and hours of time for people to offer amendments, to speak on the bill, speak on the amendments. As everyone knows, this is our last weekend prior to the Easter recess and next week is going to be a real difficult week. They always are when we do the budget. So it would be a good idea if we could finish tomorrow so people could go back to their States and do what they need to do before the difficult week we have next week. But if we can't finish this, we will have to vote for cloture and either the Republicans will allow us to move the vote up to Thursday or we will have to do it Friday morning. That means if people want to continue being difficult--and I am confident that will not be the case--then we would have to finish this on Saturday. We have to finish this legislation before Monday. We have to start on the budget Monday. There is 50 hours of statutory time. That time has to start running Monday. We will come in at an early time on Monday to get that going.

I had a small conversation today with Senator Gregg. He has an idea of how many amendments the Republicans wish to offer. This is one of those times when we have to look forward to what we have next week.

I send a cloture motion to the desk on the substitute amendment.

I ask unanimous consent that the live quorum not be necessary.

I send a cloture motion to the desk.

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

Mr. President, for the knowledge of all Senators, there will be a briefing here tomorrow, in the Visitor Center in the closed hearing room, dealing with Afghanistan. There is going to be a report come out from the White House tomorrow. Ambassador Holbrooke will be here to brief all Senators. I wish we could have given everyone more notice. I didn't know about it until 4 o'clock today. I am sorry about that. I know attendance may not be perfect because at 12 noon, there is going to be a series of votes in the Budget Committee. There will also be a series of votes at 3:30 tomorrow afternoon in the Budget Committee. What we accomplish on the floor, we are going to work around these votes that come from the Budget Committee. I would hope we could wrap up this bill right after that briefing, which will end at 5 o'clock tomorrow afternoon.

Mr. President, I rise today to recognize Greek Independence Day. My home state of Nevada is home to one of the most vibrant Greek communities in the United States, and I am pleased to join in celebration with my fellow Nevadans and Greek Americans all around our country on this 188th anniversary of the independence of Greece.

The political and philosophical legacy of ancient Greece is the very cornerstone upon which our great experiment in American democracy rests, and the United States and Greece share a proud history of cooperation and friendship. Our two countries joined together as allies in every major international conflict throughout the 20th century, and the valiant contribution of the Greeks to the Allied effort in World War II in particular cannot be understated.

Today, Greek Americans join together in celebrations both religious and secular, as Greek Independence Day coincides with the Greek Orthodox Church's celebration of the Festival of the Annunciation. As families gather to honor their Hellenic heritage with festive parades, prominent displays of the Greek flag, and preparation of traditional foods, I invite my fellow United States Senators to join me in congratulating the Greek Americans who have so enriched our country with their many contributions.

Earlier this week, I was pleased to support Senate Resolution 82, which passed the Senate by unanimous consent, and recognizes the 188th anniversary of the independence of Greece and celebrates Greek and American democracy. The strong partnership between the United States and Greece has prospered for nearly two centuries, and I look forward to many more years of friendship between our countries.

Mr. President, following leader remarks, we will proceed to a period of morning business for up to 1 hour. The Republicans will control the first half; the majority will control the second. Senators will be permitted during that time to speak for up to 10 minutes each.

Following morning business, the Senate will resume the postcloture debate on the motion to proceed to H.R. 1388, the national service reform legislation.

The Senate will recess from 12:30 to 2:15 for the weekly caucus luncheons.

As I announced yesterday, we have to finish the national service legislation this week, because we have to be on the budget next week. For those of us who have been in the Senate for a while, frankly, the budget is kind of an ugly thing. We have no rules, other than that the time for debate is limited. But at the end, it is a free-for-all where we can offer amendments, and there is no limitation to them. We have to finish that legislation before we take the Easter recess.

As I told everyone yesterday, we have to finish this bill today. I hope we can start legislating early today. I spoke to the managers of the bill yesterday, Senator Mikulski and Senator Enzi, who was held up in a snowstorm. I talked to Senator Mikulski and she thought the bill could be finished in 1 day. I hope those who are wanting to use this time would allow us to start this legislation so that we can offer some amendments today and finish it in a reasonable time. I hope we don't have to work into the weekend. There are important things people have scheduled.

This is our last weekend prior to the Easter recess. I hope we can have thoughtful cooperation. If there are amendments, offer them, but let's complete this as quickly as possible.

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

Mr. President, I am sure there are others who wish to speak on the Crapo amendment. However, either speaking on the Crapo amendment or the bill, we ask people to come over and talk on it. In the meantime, we would be willing to set this amendment aside. If there are other amendments the minority wishes to offer, we are certainly not going to stop them from doing that. I think we should get all the amendments we can on this legislation.

So if there are other amendments people have, there is no stopping them from offering them.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, as in executive session, I ask unanimous consent that on Wednesday, March 25, at 12 noon, the Senate proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 27, the nomination of David S. Kris to be an Assistant Attorney General, and that the Senate then immediately vote on the confirmation of the nomination; that upon confirmation, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, no further motions be in order; that any statements relating to the nomination be printed in the Record; that the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action, and the Senate resume legislative session.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 33, the nomination of Gary Locke to be Secretary of Commerce; that the nomination be confirmed and the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table; that no further motions be in order; that any statements relating to this nomination be printed in the Record; that the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action, and the Senate resume legislative session.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, we expect to extend morning business until 4 o'clock. We only have consent now to do it until 3 o'clock. We will return later for that.

During the time of morning business, we will have 10-minute speeches by Senators. Following morning business, the Senate will resume consideration of the motion to proceed to H.R. 1388, a bill to reauthorize and reform national service laws. At 6 p.m. this evening we will vote on a motion to invoke cloture on a filibuster preventing us from proceeding to H.R. 1388.

Mr. President, it is my understanding that two bills are at the desk and due for a second reading.

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

Mr. President, at 4 p.m. today we are going to proceed to the national service legislation. I ask unanimous consent that the period for morning business be extended until 4 p.m., under the condition of the previous order; that the Senate resume consideration of the motion to proceed to H.R. 1388 at 4 p.m., with the time until 6 p.m. equally divided and controlled between Senators Mikulski and Enzi, the managers of the bill, or their designees; that the 10 minutes immediately prior to the 6 p.m. vote be controlled equally between the leaders or their designees; that at 6 p.m., the Senate proceed to vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed; further, that if cloture is invoked, then postcloture time continue to run during any period of morning business, recess, or adjournment of the Senate; further, that the remaining provisions of the previous order continue to be in effect.

Mr. President, this afternoon we are going to begin work on the national service legislation. My message to the Senate today is that we are going to finish this legislation this week. We have to. We must start on the budget next week. This is bipartisan legislation. Senators Hatch, Kennedy, and others have worked very hard on this legislation. There is no

reason we should not finish this very quickly. But we will see.

There has been a lot of work done to get us to this point. We are going to move forward. If it is necessary that we work on Friday and Saturday or even Sunday, it is important that we do that so we can start the budget on Monday. Everybody should be warned about that as far as weekend travel. It all depends on what the minority does regarding this bill. Again, everyone should know it is bipartisan, and we need to complete it before we do the budget.

Last week I spoke to a group of young men and women from around the country who are being honored for their commitment to public service. In recent years, vast numbers of young people have sought private sector fields such as finance and banking. There is nothing wrong with their trying to do well, but in this hour of economic crisis for our country, it was encouraging to meet with a group of young people who have made the choice not to do well but to do good.

Americans may find themselves with less time and money to donate to their causes than in previous years, to charities, but we remain a generous country. It is fitting that the Congress now move to the consideration of the Serve America Act, bipartisan legislation cosponsored by 35 Senators, championed by Senators Kennedy and Hatch and led this week by Senators Mikulski and Enzi.

The Serve America Act will provide better opportunities for Americans of all ages, from all regions and walks of life, to answer the call to service.

This legislation builds on the success of the AmeriCorps program with the goal of increasing the number of volunteers from 75,000 up to 250,000.

This bill also creates several new volunteer corps with specific missions in areas of national need: An education corps to help increase student achievement and graduation rates; a healthy future corps to improve access to health care; a clean energy corps to encourage energy efficiency and conservation measures; a veterans corps to assist our Nation's veterans; and an opportunity corps to assist the economically disadvantaged.

The Serve America Act finally increases the education award for full- time volunteers and links it to increases in the maximum Pell grants.

I urge my colleagues to honor the selfless commitment to a better country that Americans are making in their communities every day by passing this outstanding legislation.

Mr. President, we will also continue meeting to negotiate over President Obama's budget this week. The President's framework sets the right priorities for the country, and Chairman Conrad continues to work with Democrats and Republicans to strengthen the budget.

We must remember that as deep as our immediate problems may be, the worst mistake we could make is to stop investing in the future. We need a budget that lays the groundwork for an economy that doesn't just recover in the short term but prospers in the long term.

That is why we must invest in education, health care, and renewable energy. These are not optional projects worth saving for better times; we are saving for better times. They are requirements for job creation and long-term economic recovery.

This budget must provide tax relief for working Americans who are struggling under the weight of rising prices and decreasing household incomes.

As we work our way through the budget process, Democrats and Republicans will not agree on everything. But I think we can all agree it is long past time that we get a budget that puts the American people first.

Finally, last week, I followed action from the House of Representatives by offering by unanimous consent legislation that would recoup the outrageous bonuses paid by AIG to its executives. Unfortunately, despite joining Democrats and the American people in their calls for action, there was a Republican objection to my request.

Despite last week's Republican objection to passing the AIG bonus bill, we will continue to work to right this egregious misuse of taxpayer dollars. Republicans have asked for more time to study the legislation, and they are entitled to that. With Republican cooperation, we can quickly and responsibly return these funds to the American people.