Floor Statements

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that it be in order for the Senate to consider, en bloc, two concurrent resolutions, S. Con. Res. 67 and S. Con. Res. 68, both relating to the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the concurrent resolutions be agreed to en bloc,

the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table, and that any statements relating to the matters be printed in the Record as if given.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Judiciary Committee be discharged from further consideration of H. Con. Res. 273, and the Senate proceed to the measure.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the concurrent resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, that there be no intervening action or debate, and that any statements relating to this matter be printed in the Record.

Madam President, it is my understanding that there are three bills at the desk. I ask for their first reading en bloc.

Madam President, I now ask for a second reading, en bloc, but object to my own request.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand adjourned until 2 p.m., Monday, February 11; 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 that the Senate then resume consideration of S. 2248, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, as under the previous order. Finally, I ask unanimous consent that the Record remain open until 2 p.m. today to allow Senators to introduce bills and submit statements.

Madam President, on Monday, the Senate will complete all debate on the remaining amendments to the FISA legislation. In order to accommodate the remaining debate, there will be no rollcall votes on Monday. However, Senators should be prepared to vote as early as 10 a.m. on Tuesday, February 12.

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

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that there be a period of morning business for up to 60 minutes, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.

Mr. President, on the stimulus package, I have had a number of conversations with the Republican leader this morning. I have a way forward, but we don't have a way forward yet. We are going to see if we can continue working so that we have a way forward. We are having some discussions. He is indisposed for an hour. When he gets back, we will meet again.

All Senators should know that we have to finish FISA this week. Hopefully, we can finish it today and, if not, tomorrow. We have to finish it this week. As for the stimulus package, it would be good to finish it today, but we may not be able to. Procedurally, we may have to wait until tomorrow or maybe even Tuesday. But we are working on that.

Like I said, I have a way forward, but we don't have a way forward. I will try to see if we can have a situation where it is ``we'' rather than ``I.'' I hope that works out well.

As I indicated last night, we had a good bipartisan vote. It would have been better if we had one more bipartisan vote, but it was still something we should all feel good about. We are trying to move this country forward. The economy is in real trouble now, as indicated in today's press. Now the Fed is worried about inflation, and in addition to that, we have other countries worried about inflation--European countries. It is really a time of trouble. That is why we have to continue to work on the stimulus package to see if we can come up with something.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that there be a period of morning business until 2 p.m., with Senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each.

Madam President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now resume consideration of H.R. 5140 and that the pending motion and all amendments be withdrawn; that the amendment, which is at the desk, be the only amendment in order; that there be 20 minutes of debate with respect to the amendment, with the time equally divided and controlled between the leaders or their designees; that upon the use or yielding back of that time, the Senate proceed to vote on the amendment; that upon disposition of the amendment, the bill, as amended, if amended, be read a third time, and without further intervening action or debate, the Senate proceed to vote on passage of the bill.

Madam President, let me mention, it is a bipartisan amendment--Reid-Baucus-Grassley-McConnell-Stevens.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

Madam President, I ask that the vote occur at a time to be determined. We will decide what time the vote will occur because there are people who are not ready to vote right now. They are wandering around town.

Madam President, a key provision in the Senate Finance Committee package was an extension of unemployment benefits. This is one of the most effective ways to stimulate the company. These benefits can be distributed quickly, and they are likely to be spent.

This is not a matter of ideology; it is matter of economics. And a broad range of economists agrees with this. Even Alan Greenspan, hardly a liberal Democrat, has testified in favor of expanding unemployment benefits during periods of economic slowdown. Expanding unemployment benefits works, and this is a matter of basic compassion.

The long-term unemployed are among those Americans with the most pressing needs. Unfortunately, there are well over a million Americans who are expected to exhaust their regular unemployment benefits between January and June of this year. They need our help. If we extend the same assistance to them that we have to the long-term unemployed in the past, our entire economy will benefit.

So I ask unanimous consent that, notwithstanding the previous unanimous consent agreement, the unemployment insurance provision of the Senate Finance Committee package be added as an amendment to the bill currently before the Senate.

Madam President, the State of Nevada is 5 percent, as is Michigan and a number of other States. It would not apply to every State but some States. I am disappointed my friend objected to the request, but I understand.

The stimulus package I introduced earlier this week included a $1 billion increase for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, or LIHEAP. I commend my colleagues, my friend Jack Reed, Bernie Sanders, Susan Collins, and a number of others, for their strong advocacy for LIHEAP and for the broad support that they have helped build for the program. They know LIHEAP is critical for many Americans who otherwise will be forced to choose between heating their homes, putting food on the table, or buying medicine or gas for their car. These are people who will spend any additional assistance and help stimulate the economy.

So I ask unanimous consent that, notwithstanding the previous unanimous consent agreement, the LIHEAP provision in the previously withdrawn first-degree amendment be added as an amendment to the bill currently before the Senate.

Madam President, I am on my best behavior today, so I am not going to dwell on the fact that the war has cost us about $800 billion, all borrowed money. But I understand the objection to this LIHEAP amendment.

Madam President, the Senate Finance Committee package contained tax incentives to encourage the development of alternative and renewable sources of energy, as well as investments in energy efficiency.

Senator Cantwell has been a champion of these provisions. There is not enough I can say to commend her for her good work. It is outstanding.

These tax incentives make sense from the standpoint of our economy and our Nation. They would create jobs for Americans and, in the process, they would reduce our dependence on foreign sources of energy.

I have seen the importance of developing alternative renewable sources of energy in Nevada. The geothermal industry has taken off in my State, providing hundreds of jobs for Nevadans and increasing Nevada's energy independence.

So I ask unanimous consent that, notwithstanding the previous unanimous consent agreement, the energy tax provisions in the Senate Finance Committee package be added as an amendment to the bill currently before the Senate.

Madam President, the Finance Committee, rightfully so, by an overwhelming bipartisan vote, agreed to include a provision in this legislation that is designed to help homeowners avoid foreclosures by allowing them to refinance. The President of the United States proposed this in his State of the Union Address, and this proposal has been championed by my friend, the distinguished junior Senator from Massachusetts, Mr. Kerry. It also would add $10 million in bonds that States could use to help address the serious housing crisis facing our country. They can sell homes that are in foreclosure or refinance loans.

I commend Senator Kerry for getting this proposal added in the Finance Committee. It makes tremendous sense. I suggest it would be the right thing to do. The President supports it--or said he did in the Finance Committee--and I hope we can get agreement on it.

I therefore ask, Madam President, that, notwithstanding the previous unanimous consent agreement, the mortgage revenue bond provision in the Finance Committee package be added as an amendment to the bill currently before the Senate.

Madam President, I don't know if there is an economist who disagrees--there could be; I don't know who it would be--that the best way to stimulate the economy is to get money into the hands of those who will spend it immediately and the people who need it the most. That is why, according to more than one economic study, the absolutely best way to stimulate the economy is to increase food stamp benefits. According to that study, for every $1 allocated to food stamps, economic activity is increased by $1.84. That is the best thing we could do. It is the best bang for the buck.

I therefore ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding the previous unanimous consent agreement, the underlying bill be modified by adding a provision that would appropriate $5 billion to increase nutritional assistance for the rest of the calendar year.

Madam President, it is my understanding that there is now 20 minutes allocated, 10 minutes for me and 10 minutes for Senator McConnell; is that correct?

Madam President, 2 weeks ago, the majority of Senate Republicans was quick to endorse the House stimulus bill with no revisions, even though they knew it was inadequate and that the Senate had an obligation to improve the bill and to deliver a timely, temporary, and targeted bill by Presidents Day weekend. We have done that. Senate Democrats, and with the help of a number of Republicans in the Senate, joined to move forward. It is our responsibility to pass the strongest bill we can, and we have done that.

If we had listened to the advice of the House, we would have 21\1/2\ million seniors with nothing out of this package. If we had listened to the advice of the House, 250,000 disabled veterans and their widows would have been left behind. We have been able to make the House bill better, and I am pleased with that result.

There is much more to do, and that is why we focused today, as we did for a few minutes, on what is not being done. But I think we all have to acknowledge that the House bill has been improved significantly. We have gotten the President to agree the House bill was not perfect. I have said before that I wish there had been another vote. There wasn't, and I accept that. But I think we have to look at the good work that has been done.

I can't leave this floor without expressing my appreciation to the Finance Committee, led by Senator Baucus and Senator Grassley. They have been champions of the American people. The American people have witnessed the last couple of weeks a lot of disagreements here on the Senate floor. We have had two difficult issues, the Senate stimulus package and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. We are basically about ready to finish the stimulus package, but we will be back and do more to help stimulate the economy.

Today, though, I think we should feel good about what we have done. Fifty-nine of us believe the country needs an economic stimulus, and we voted that way yesterday. Everybody in the Senate, I believe--and I am confident, with rare exception, that it is true--we cannot have an economic stimulus package and leave behind senior citizens and our wounded veterans, and we haven't done that. We have picked them up. I am confident we will do better.

I extend my appreciation to the distinguished Republican leader. It has been difficult to work through all this. And while it didn't work through the way I wanted it, it worked through a lot better than if we had accepted the House bill. I feel better today. The American people are going to be better off as a result of the work done in the Finance Committee by Senators Baucus, Grassley, and the entire Finance Committee.

Madam President, I reserve my time.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that any votes regarding H.R. 5140--and there will be either one or two votes, whatever is determined--we could get by with one vote, but there may be someone who wants two votes, and if that is in fact the case, we will have two--that we not start voting until 4:10 this afternoon. I ask unanimous consent that be the case.

Madam President, I also ask unanimous consent that the time between now and then be divided between the majority and the minority, and I would ask the chairman how much time he needs out of the half hour.

With 5 minutes to Senator Durbin, 5 minutes to Senator Murray, 3 minutes to Senator Boxer, and 4 minutes to Senator Salazar.

You have it. I gave it to you.

And that Senator Schumer have 5 minutes. Does that add up to more than my half hour?

I don't think it does, but if it does, let's trim it a little bit.

A half hour.

I ask unanimous consent that be the case.

Madam President, I think in the spirit of bipartisanship today, we will alternate back and forth, Democrat and Republican. The first will be Senator Baucus.

Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote, and I move to lay that motion on the table.

The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

Modification to Amendment No. 4010

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding the passage of H.R. 5140, the Reid-McConnell amendment No. 4010 be modified with the technical change at the desk.

Mr. President, my mind was on FISA. What we have done is, the staffs are working out a consent agreement where we are going to have three recorded votes. We are going to be able to dispose of two other votes by voice. Then we are working toward--and it is not done yet--we are working toward where that may be all the votes we will have tonight.

Then what we will try to do--not try, it is the only way we can get from here to there to get it done--is tomorrow we still have a lot of debate left in this matter because of the time we have spent dealing on the stimulus package. So today we will do all the votes we can. We are going to have, as I have indicated, at least five amendments we will get rid of. I think that will leave about five. We will then have debate--there are a number of amendments where I think there is still like 6 hours of debate left on those, and they would complete that debate, hopefully get rid of a lot tomorrow, and what we can't, on Monday, and Tuesday morning we will start final votes.

We will have a cloture vote involved in this also, but I think we can work out the time factor on the cloture vote and have final passage on this sometime on Tuesday. I have asked Senator Rockefeller to have a pretty good idea of what will be in the final package as it comes out here. So I think it would be to everyone's benefit that he and Senator Leahy, Senator Bond, and Senator Specter work with their House counterparts to see if they can work on a package to bring back to us.

What we are facing with this, because of the constraint of time, is that the House has to work with the Senate to come up with something. If that doesn't work out, then the legislation expires. There will be no law on the 15th, and I don't think there is anyone who wants that. No one, with all that has gone on, even though I have complained a few times--well, I think there is no need to point fingers now. We are where we are, and we have to move as quickly as we can and try to finish this bill, including the conference report, next week. We have to do that.

The unanimous consent is not ready yet, so I ask unanimous consent that my friend from Illinois, Senator Durbin, be allowed to speak for 10 minutes as in morning business; and if one of my colleagues on the other side wants to speak before the vote starts, that is appropriate.

Well, now, Mr. President, we lost one of them, so we are now down to two rollcall votes and two that can be accepted by voice. So we are two steps forward and one back. So the answer is: Yes, we will have two votes that will be recorded. We should be able to start those in a few minutes.

I would be happy to yield.

I say to my friend: Is there anything that can be done on that tomorrow or Monday? Has the debate on all the amendments been completed?

I ask my friend, the Senator from North Dakota: Is there a way we could have a consent agreement that would give us specific time for any amendments and votes on amendments, and after they are all done, final passage?

I ask my good friend, during those two votes we are going to have in a short time, if we can go to work to see if we could have a specific numbers of amendments, how much time is left on them, we will complete it to final passage.

If I can respond to my three colleagues, originally we thought this bill would take 1 day, and we know it has been bifurcated because of other issues. But I would really think that before we spend another few days on this, we have to do everything we can to see if we can come up with a time agreement to give us a way to get to the end so we can have final passage.

We do not need to speak, as I have, about the drastic needs in Indian territory. We need to do this. So I hope that--my friends, this is certainly a bipartisan piece of legislation--we can work out some time agreements, and part of that will be final passage.

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

I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now resume consideration of the following Feingold amendments, Nos. 3915 and 3913, and that the time until 5:25 p.m. be for debate with respect to these amendments en bloc;

that upon the use or yielding back of time, the Senate proceed to vote in relation to the amendments in the order listed above; that there be 2 minutes of debate prior to the second vote, with all time equally divided and controlled in the usual form, and the second vote 10 minutes in duration; that when the Senate resumes S. 2248 on Friday, February 8, and on Monday, February 11, all remaining amendments be debated and all time used; that on Tuesday, February 12, at a time to be determined, the Senate then proceed to vote in relation to the amendments in an order specified later, with 2 minutes of debate prior to the votes, equally divided and controlled in the usual form, and any succeeding votes in the sequence be limited to 10 minutes; that no further amendments be in order Tuesday; and that upon disposition of all amendments, the Senate vote on the motion to invoke cloture on S. 2248; and that if cloture is invoked on the bill, Senator Dodd be recognized to speak for up to 4 hours, Senator Feingold for up to 15 minutes; that upon the conclusion of these remarks and the recognition of the managers for up to 10 minutes each, the Senate then proceed to vote on passage of the bill, and any other provisions of the previous order remain in effect.

I accept the modification.

Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote, and I move to lay that motion on the table.

The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that Senators Leahy and Specter, managers on the part of the Judiciary Committee, be recognized for up to 20 minutes on Tuesday, February 12, postcloture.

Mr. President, we have made progress on FISA. We have more progress to make. It appears to me that this will be the last recorded vote. We have a number of other measures we are going to try to dispose of on this bill. I know we have at least one of Senator Bond's amendments that will be disposed of by voice vote. We have an agreement that we will move this bill forward for passage on Tuesday.

On Tuesday, everyone, there will be no morning business. We will come in at 10 o'clock on Tuesday and start right on FISA, and hope by that time to have all of the debate completed on this legislation.

Again, this will be the last vote today. I appreciate everyone's good, hard work this week and look forward to next week.

Mr. President, it is a big day today. Our three Presidentials are going to be here, and we have a 5:45 vote. We are looking forward to that. We don't see them as much as we used to.

Following my remarks today and those of the Republican leader, there will be an hour of morning business, equally divided, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each. The majority will control the first half and the Republicans will control the second half.

Following morning business, the Senate will resume consideration of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, as under the previous order. Rollcall votes may occur throughout the day in relation to FISA amendments. As I mentioned, there will be a 5:45 p.m. cloture vote on the Finance Committee amendment to the economic stimulus. Second-degree amendments to the finance amendment are due by 4 p.m. today.

Mr. President, being from the desert and seeing, on occasion, storms in the northern part of the State, it is hard for me to understand the power of nature we see so often--and that we see more often than we used to with these tornadoes occurring throughout this country.

Last night and this morning, violent storms raged through five States, including Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Tennessee. They were violent. It appears there will be more than 50 people declared dead, scores of people have been injured, and there was a tremendous loss of personal property. Our thoughts, of course, this morning go out to the victims. We, in all our States, have had occurrences relating to natural disasters. But I think we should all pause and think about the lives of these people who have been snuffed away by this violent set of storms throughout the country and the loss to their loved ones, their neighbors, and their families.

We have heard reports this morning of how our first responders reacted. The police, firefighters, and National Guard medics worked through the night, around the clock, to save lives. The latest event we had in Nevada was so minor compared to this. We had a levy break and flood waters inundated hundreds of homes. We were very concerned about that. But the one thing we did recognize is how the police, firefighters, and other first responders reacted so quickly. What took place last night is so much more significant than what we had in Nevada. It is difficult to comprehend the severity of what happened last night. The work of the first responders, and others, will continue around the clock for some time. Rebuilding will begin and I am confident that, as a congressional body, we will be called upon to help in some form or fashion.

the economy

Mr. President, the top priority of this Congress right now is to bring relief to Americans who are struggling through a troubled economy. One need only listen to the morning news, as I did, to

see that the economy is stumbling and staggering. The stock market fell by 3 percent yesterday. The Japanese markets, after that--we got reports today on that--fell by almost 5 percent. The European markets are down.

Today, our work continues to try to focus attention on this troubled economy, to try to help in some way. As I have indicated, at 5:45, we will hold a cloture vote on the plan to proceed to the Senate Finance Committee's economic stimulus plan. I spread on the record of this body last night editorials from around the country supporting the Senate stimulus plan. It is the one that will get money into the pockets of people who need it and will spend it very quickly. This is in no way to denigrate the House plan. It was only a start.

Why do we need a stimulus plan? Look at the stock market, look at the rising gasoline prices, heating for our homes, and the housing crisis, the foreclosure rate, which is more than 600 percent in Reno, NV. It is 275, on average, in Florida. It is more than 300 percent in California, with 37 million people. The Labor Department's recent jobs report showed the economy lost 17,000 jobs in January. That is a few of the problems we should be concerned about.

Whether American families are investing in the market--some are and some aren't--the gathering storm clouds point to the need for Congress to take action.

The Finance Committee's plan builds on the House bill and makes it better. I repeat, this is not Harry Reid speaking, it is from all over the country, talking about the need to do something quickly and focus attention on the Senate stimulus plan.

A couple of my friends on the other side have talked about why didn't we do this. One referred to what we have in the stimulus package as ``Christmas tree ornaments.'' Another referred to them as ``pet projects.'' I have to plead guilty to the pet projects.

Providing rebate checks to 21.5 million seniors is a pet project of mine. I think it is a good program. All 51 Democrats agree it is a pet project we all support. Providing rebate checks to 250,000 wounded American veterans is another of my pet projects. Give the money to the seniors and to the wounded American veterans and they will spend it. Providing tax incentives to small and large businesses is also a pet project. Why? Because it will stimulate the economy and give them the money and they will spend it.

I was at a breakfast at 8 o'clock this morning. We had a number of groups there, but the homebuilders were there. They are out in force. They have covered Washington. They are focusing attention on Republican Senators because this legislation is the most important legislation for the homebuilding industry to come about in the past decade. This is important legislation. The homebuilders have representatives in Washington trying to help them.

One of the pet projects we have is extending unemployment benefits to people who have been out of work for a long time. I very much appreciate the homebuilders being advocates for our Senate stimulus package.

Those who are unemployed don't have anyone here. They don't have lobbyists calling for Republican Senators to support it. This is the package we got from the Senate Finance Committee. This is an important part of the stimulus package--to give rebates to people who are out of work and have been for an extended period of time. They will spend it.

Helping Americans struggling to pay their heating bills through the LIHEAP is a pet project. I have supported this project for years. We support this project. You give these people the money and they will spend it--and they will spend it now.

The growing housing crisis is certainly a pet project of mine, as indicated by the statistics we have in Reno, NV, and other places in Nevada. We should join to build on the House bill. The bill that comes from the House has to go to conference anyway because there is language in the House bill dealing with people who are undocumented who would have benefits.

I hope we can join to put this package out as quickly as possible, take it to conference and work with the President and come up with something better than the House bill.

The stimulus package will put money in the pockets of those who will spend it and help our country recover from this troubled economy. We are in for a long, slow grind, but we can shorten it by doing something to stimulate the economy now. The Senate Finance Committee package does that. It is bipartisan, and it needs to be done as quickly as possible.