Floor Statements

Mr. President, everyone has worked long and hard tonight. I appreciate everyone's patience and cooperation.

I ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding the Senate's recess, committees be authorized to report legislative and executive matters on March 27 from 10 a.m. to 12 noon.

Mr. President, everyone has expressed appreciation to a lot of people, but the people in front of the Presiding Officer have been here all day, all night, and now it is morning time. They get very little recognition or attention, but on behalf of the whole Senate, we really appreciate all of your work. We have pages who have been here since early this morning. I would like to express my appreciation to the wonderful floor staff we have, especially someone whom I couldn't do the work without, Lula Davis, who does such great work for the majority, and Dave Schiappa, who is really--even though he looks out, sometimes, a little too much for the minority, he is a pleasant person to work with and is always very fair and understanding of our issues. So I appreciate the work he and Lula do, the work they do together.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand in recess until 12 p.m. on Tuesday, March 18, for a pro forma session only, with no business conducted; that the Senate recess until 11 a.m. Friday, March 21, for a pro forma session only, with no business conducted; that the Senate recess until 10 a.m. Monday, March 24, for a pro forma session only, with no business conducted; that the Senate recess until 9 a.m, Thursday, March 27, for a pro forma session only, with no business conducted; that the Senate recess until 2 p.m. Monday, March 31; that following the prayer and the pledge, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and that the Senate proceed to a period for the transaction of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each.

Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate stand in recess under the previous order as a mark of further respect to the memory of Howard Metzenbaum, late a former Senator from the State of Ohio.

Mr. President, this morning, following my remarks and those of the Republican leader, the Senate will resume consideration of S. Con. Res. 70, the concurrent resolution on the budget.

Mr. President, the only thing we haven't heard about the Republicans' plan to take care of the world is tort reform. That is usually part of the mantra. We have a situation where everything that should be going up is going down. We have an economy that is spiraling down. We have a housing market that is in crisis. We have gas prices that are predicted, by early summer, to be an average of over $4 a gallon. We have a war that is now starting its sixth year, and it is costing us $420 million a day. We have an economy that has gone from good to terrible. And we have a budget that has been put together with a tremendous soft touch. What does that mean? It means we are recognizing the problems we have in our economy, and we want to return to those days where we were paying down the national debt.

This isn't pie in the sky. We have actually done it. This is a blueprint for how we need to proceed with our economy. I commend and applaud Senator Conrad for putting this budget together. There is nothing in this budget that talks about increasing taxes. In fact, what this budget does is decrease taxes for the middle class. In fact, that is what the Baucus amendment which is now pending is all about.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to S. 2745.

I ask unanimous consent that the bill be read three times, passed, the motion to reconsider be laid on the table, there be no intervening action or debate, and any statements relating to this matter be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, there has been progress made on a farm bill. We can't leave here without doing a farm bill. I think it is something we need to do. We worked hard. We have agreed on how much money it is going to take. I had a meeting yesterday with Senator Harkin and Senator Baucus on our side. They have had good working relationships with their counterparts, Senators Grassley and Chambliss. They are working well with their House counterparts. We have had a little setback because Chairman Rangel has been hospitalized. We were hopeful that he would be out today. In fact, we had a meeting scheduled today. But he is not going to be back to work today. That has slowed us up a little bit. But we all look toward doing a farm bill. It is something we need to do, and we are going to work very hard on a bipartisan basis, which is the only way we can have a farm bill.

Mr. President, if I can ask my friend to withhold for a minute.

Mr. President, I have had a conversation with Senator McConnell, and he and I have had a discussion as to what is going on here and what needs to go on. We believe we should start voting about 11 o'clock tomorrow, or maybe a half-hour earlier. We have an event in the Rotunda that he and I have to attend, and there is a moment of silence for our troops, so we can start about 10:30 or 11 o'clock.

Tonight, Members should offer any amendments they want, talk as long as they want. But it appears, based on my conversation with the Republican leader, it will not be necessary that we be in all night. So that would be all I have to say, and that is also based on the conversation we had with the two managers of the bill earlier in the evening.

I would say to my friend, if the managers of the bill agree to that, I am sure Senator McConnell would agree to that. So unless we hear from the Republican leader to the contrary, I would say, based on that, there will be no rollcall votes tonight and that we will proceed along that line. Staff will draw up a consent agreement the two of you can take a look at and make sure it is in order.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that be the order.

Mr. President, it is my great pleasure to extend the best wishes of the United States Senate to Genevieve ``Gene'' Segerblom on the occasion of her 90th birthday.

Born, raised and educated in Nevada, Gene is one of our State's most treasured citizens. She served the public as a nurturing teacher, a Boulder City councilwoman, and a State assemblywoman. Throughout her career, she has been a tireless leader in the fields of historic preservation, sustainable development, cultural affairs, and ethical government practices.

Those familiar only with Gene's family tree might assume that a political career was her destiny. After all, she followed in the footsteps of her mother, Hazel Bell Wines, and her grandfather, William J. Bell, both of whom served in the State legislature. But anyone who knows Gene sees her not as a politician, but as a mother, wife and teacher who took her passion and wisdom into the realm of public service.

A few of the things I treasure are paintings I own, painted by Gene's husband Cliff. He was one of Nevada's all-time great painters. Cliff was also a judge of quality, serving the people of Boulder City and other places where he was called upon to render justice.

Gene's son Tick Segerblom is now serving with distinction as a Nevada State assemblyman.

Gene Segerblom has enriched countless lives, including mine. Landra and I are proud to call her a friend, and I wish her health, happiness, and joy as she celebrates this milestone birthday.

Mr. President, following my remarks and those of the Republican leader, there will be a period of morning business for an hour. Senators will be allowed to speak for 10 minutes each, with the time equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees. The Republicans will control the first half, the majority controls the final half. Following morning business, the Senate will resume consideration of S. Con. Res. 70, the concurrent resolution on the budget, for debate only until the 12:30 recess for the caucus luncheons.

I understand there are two bills at the desk due for a second reading.

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

Mr. President, the Democratic budget is about three things: jobs, jobs, jobs. It is about green-collar jobs, jobs rebuilding America, jobs relating to education and job training.

The one thing my friends on the other side of the aisle never talk about is where we are now. They want more of the same. We don't want more of the same. We have had enough. The American people have had enough. The economy is in a downturn, spiraling down. The housing market is in a state of tremendous distress. The stock market is dropping as we speak. Oil is now at $109 a barrel.

Everything you hear from the Republicans is a buzzword for status quo--keep things the way they are; the way things are is just fine; let's just let things work out.

We don't believe in that. We have a recipe for change. Is it something that has never been done before? No. Look at the Clinton years, where we were taking in X number of dollars. If we brought in $10, we only spent 8 of those dollars. That is the way it was during the Clinton years. We paid down the national debt.

The budget we have, led by Senator Conrad, who has been chairman of the Budget Committee for many years, is a program that creates jobs, jobs, and jobs. That is what is important to the American people.

Madam President, there will be no more rollcall votes tonight. There has been tremendously good debate. We have had few, if any, quorum calls all day long. It has been a good and productive debate. The two managers are working through the amendments. An amendment has been laid down on both sides. We are making good progress. Hopefully, tomorrow we will make even more progress. I appreciate the good work of the managers of the bill.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the following letter and listing be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, following my remarks and those of the Republican leader, the Senate will be in a period of morning business until 3 p.m. Senators will be allowed to speak for up to 10 minutes each, with the time equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees. Following morning business, the Senate will proceed to consideration of the concurrent resolution on the budget. There will be no rollcall votes today.