Floor Statements

Mr. President, I rise to speak on the important issue of the day. Sometimes complex challenges present clear and compelling choices. That is the case for the fiscal challenge before us today. We have a choice between delay and disruption or progress and accord. The Nation's eyes are upon us. We need to vote to keep our government running, to pay our military, and at the same time take essential steps to tame our uncontrolled spending and deficit. Most important, we need to ensure that our men and women in uniform continue to receive their well-earned pay while we undertake the work of balancing America's books and they undertake the vital work of defending our Nation, both here at home and abroad.

In that regard, I am proud to be one of the sponsors of a bill introduced by Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison that will make sure that happens, even after the work of the 111th Congress is finished. I am also pleased to report that we are now up to 74 cosponsors.

But in the final analysis we need to reduce our overall spending, which Americans recognize is necessary, necessary because every day we delay we are spending ourselves $4 billion deeper into debt. Right now, this fiscal year, we are on a path to spend $3.7 trillion, but we are taking in only $2.2 trillion in revenue, leaving a deficit of more than $1.5 trillion. To make up for that shortfall the Federal Government is borrowing 40 cents out of every dollar that we spend, with a national debt of more than $14 trillion. Our largest lender is China, which now holds more than $1 trillion in American bonds.

No American family would practice that kind of fiscal management, and neither should our country. Reducing our debt and deficit is something the American people understand and support because the American people are the ones suffering the impacts. Nearly 14 million of our country men and women are out of work and another 8 million are underemployed because they have had their hours cut back or they cannot find a full- time job. Sadly, 1 million more have stopped looking.

As private investment has plummeted, unemployment has climbed sharply to levels we have not seen in decades. For those who are fortunate enough to be working, the American dream is getting more and more difficult to achieve. In response to growing inflationary pressure, the Federal

Reserve Bank now says that interest rates are likely to rise at the end of the year to tighten our money supply. Every percent increase in interest rates adds $140 billion to our debt. Higher interest rates will erode the income of every American and make it harder to buy a home, a car, or a college education. Spending more will not help them. In fact, spending more will prolong the problem.

In the 1990s, when government spending as a share of GDP shrank, employment grew. Despite the surge in government spending over the past 2 years, unemployment still hovers stubbornly at about 9 percent. We do not need more public spending. What we need is more private investment. When private investment grows, unemployment shrinks. The American people understand all of this and that is why they want us to arrive at a plan that keeps our government running, that respects the sacrifices of our military in real terms, and puts us back on the road to fiscal health.

We owe it to these hard-working men and women to bring the 2011 budget to a reasonable and realistic conclusion and then move on to the important matters that still lie before us, including the 2012 budget. That is where we can address all of the substantive and urgent issues that we must resolve to get America's financial house in order; issues such as making sure we have a prudent level of spending, reforming our Tax Code, and making entitlement programs such as Social Security and Medicare solvent and more secure for our seniors, both now and long into the future. We owe that not just to our current constituents but to future generations of Americans.

I yield the floor.

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

Mr. President, I would like to speak this afternoon about an issue that I believe is of paramount importance to our efforts to restore America's economic vitality and to control our debt and our deficit. I would like to talk about jobs.

I wish to begin, however, by telling you a little bit about my home State of North Dakota. That is because today, while much of the Nation is greatly challenged by recession and joblessness, North Dakota is strong--arguably the strongest we have been at any time in our history. The reason is jobs.

Last week, we learned that North Dakota--at 3.7 percent--once again has the lowest unemployment rate in the Nation, a distinction we have held since June of 2008. Nationally, the picture is much different. As I speak, nearly 14 million Americans are still out of work, and the rate of unemployment is hovering at nearly 9 percent, where it has been for many months. Another 8 million Americans are underemployed, working part-time because their hours have been cut or they haven't been able to find a full-time job. Sadly, 1 million more have stopped looking.

Make no mistake, America has a budget problem because of too much spending but also because America has a jobs problem. I ask you: How do we generate revenues to help balance our budget, pay down debt, and provide the essential services people need without raising taxes? Jobs. How do we empower people to access affordable health insurance and quality health care without intrusive government programs? Again, jobs. How do we help secure Social Security and Medicare for our seniors and future generations? Jobs.

If we put 10 million of those 14 million unemployed workers back on the job, at the average national wage of about $45,000, it would generate more than $50 billion in additional revenues

for the Social Security trust fund and an additional $13 billion for Medicare every year. Obviously, that would make a huge difference for both those programs.

Clearly, to fully address our current economic predicament, we need to create jobs and lots of them. Those jobs will be created by the private sector--not by government, by the private sector. But to help our entrepreneurs and businesses create them, we must build the best business climate possible.

Ten years ago, in North Dakota, we set a course to do that. Beginning in 2001, when I first took office as Governor of North Dakota, we made conscious policy decisions that would, over time, grow and diversify our economy and create thousands of jobs for our citizens. First, we set out to build the best business climate possible, forging a legal, tax, and regulatory climate that would attract investment and stimulate innovation.

Second, we developed a roadmap for success--an economic development strategic plan that targeted industries where North Dakota holds natural advantages owing to our resources and our people.

As part of our larger strategy, we also developed a comprehensive energy policy, called Empower North Dakota, which worked aggressively to develop all of our State's natural resources and energy resources, both traditional and renewable. We even established a North Dakota Trade Office, a public sector-private sector partnership that helps market North Dakota products and services around the world to bring new dollars into our State.

As a result of these efforts, between 2000 and 2009, North Dakota's economy grew at an annual average GDP growth rate of 6.4 percent, so that by the end of the decade we had grown by 75 percent. That compares to a national growth rate over the same time period of 41 percent.

All that work to cultivate overseas markets worked too. Our exports of farm machinery, aircraft parts, biotech products, and other North Dakota goods grew by more than 300 percent in 10 years. That compares to a national growth rate of just over 60 percent. As a result, we balanced our budget year in and year out. Today, we have no general obligation debt, we have a substantial surplus, and strong reserves to secure our economic future.

Furthermore, to get there, we not only held the line on taxes, but we reduced them. We reduced property tax and we reduced income tax. Over the decade, we generated nearly 15 percent growth in total employment, encompassing almost every sector of our economy and every region of our State. At the same time, we boosted per capita income from 84 percent of the national average in 2000, well below the national average, and today we are above the national average--at 103 percent--in per capita income. We have moved up from 37th among all the States to 17th in terms of our ranking among the 50 States.

The Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, the New York Times, USA Today, the Economist, Forbes, Money magazine, even the London Times, all have written about North Dakota's progress. Joel Kotkin, in a recent Wall Street Journal piece, called North Dakota's approach ``sensible thinking'' about the economy. Last year, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce ranked North Dakota as No. 1 among all 50 States as the Nation's top overall economic growth performer and job creator and not for the year but for the decade.

The things we did in North Dakota are not unique to our State. The principles we used are based on common sense and a belief that the American economy is the engine that drives the car. We can create jobs and lift our Nation out of the financial quandary we are in if we have the will to act and if we focus tirelessly on the kinds of things that create jobs and opportunity for our people.

To do that, I would like to propose a three-part strategy to get America working again. First, we need to create a legal tax and regulatory climate that gets business investment off the sidelines and gets people back to work. Second, we need to rein in spending and control our debt and deficit. Third, we need a comprehensive, progrowth energy policy to fuel our economy, reduce our dependence on foreign energy, and create good jobs for American workers.

Let's go through each of these very straightforward recommendations, starting with the need to create a strong business climate for America with the kind of legal tax and regulatory certainty that investors need to create jobs. That means passing legislation that will eliminate or modify unwarranted or misguided regulations that are impeding business investment and stifling innovation in our country.

That effort is already underway in the Senate. Senator Pat Roberts of Kansas has offered a bill called the Regulatory Responsibility for Our Economy Act, which I am proud to be a cosponsor of. This bill will give the force of law to a Presidential Executive order issued earlier this year that proposes to review ``rules that may be outmoded, ineffective, insufficient, or excessively burdensome, and to modify, streamline, expand or repeal them,'' in some cases.

If passed, our bill will make sure we will take a clear-eyed look at the rules and help restore regulatory certainty to the markets.

When we talk about unwarranted laws and regulations, however, we don't need to look too far into the past; we need only look to recently enacted laws that impede job creation and sap economic vitality.

Last year's Federal health care bill, for example, included a 1099 reporting provision that introduced a new level of bureaucracy and expense for America's nearly 28 million small businesses--the very engines of job creation in this country. Small businesses have created 64 percent of all the new jobs in this country over the past 15 years, and they account for more than 97 percent of all employers.

If we expect them to create jobs and get our economic engine going again, we need to reduce their regulatory burden, not bury them under burdensome new mandates such as the 1099 reform. That is why I and a bipartisan group of Senators, led by Mike Johanns, signed on to a bill that just this week eliminated this onerous provision in last year's health care law and sent it off to the President for signature. I wish to commend my good friend, Senator Johanns, for his leadership and his hard work on this important issue.

But that is not the only feature of last year's health care bill that is undermining our business climate, driving up health care costs, and limiting choice for consumers. Punitive lawsuits and defensive medicine are inflating the cost of health care for American consumers by as much as $100 billion every year. Yet the health care bill that is now being implemented across our country doesn't reduce these costs. We need tort reform that will help make health care more available and reduce costs.

Similarly, we need to expand competition among health insurance companies. More competition will give consumers more choice and expand the pool of the insured, thus creating further downward pressure on the cost of premiums. Just as important, by reducing health care costs and the regulatory burden on American businesses, we can help them reduce costs and do what they do best--create jobs.

Competition works to our advantage not only in markets at home but in global markets as well. Another way to strengthen our economy and get job creation going again is by promoting more international trade. Smart trade agreements can restore America's competitive edge, create more income for American citizens, more opportunities for American entrepreneurs, and more foreign dollars to help balance our trade deficit and our budget.

They can also help us turn around our trade imbalances with countries such as China, South Korea, and the European Union. We have multibillion dollar trade deficits with all of them--$23 billion with China in January alone.

We can start the process of turning these deficits around by ratifying impending trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia, and Panama that have been languishing for 3 years.

Our trade imbalance with South Korea alone last year was $10 billion, but the agreement awaiting approval right now could create up to 250,000 American jobs. On the other hand, if we fail to act, we stand to lose 380,000 jobs to the European Union and Canada, which have already completed

their own trade agreements with those countries.

With bipartisan support for these agreements, there is no reason for further delay. We need to act.

Empowering American businesses and entrepreneurs to do business around the world is just common sense, and that common sense is precisely what we need to apply to all our Nation's challenges. I can give you a good example in my home State of North Dakota. Right now, we are facing serious flooding in the Red River Valley, and for some time we have been working to fight chronic annual flooding in the Red River Valley, which includes the city of Fargo, one of our region's most dynamic economic engines.

Part of government's role in creating private investment and economic development is securing and protecting infrastructure so businesses can thrive. In the case of Fargo and the Valley, the Federal Emergency Management Agency--FEMA--has found it necessary to buy out houses in that area because it is more cost effective than protecting them year in and year out.

When the Agency buys out a property, however, it has a hard-and-fast rule prohibiting building structures on that property--even flood mitigation structures--to prevent development that might require future protection from flooding. It is a reasonable ban in some, maybe in many, cases but certainly not in all.

As a consequence of the rule, every year the Federal Government helps to pay to build temporary levees to protect homes along the Red River, and every year we are compelled to tear those levees down again after the flood, at great expense to the government and, ultimately, of course, great expense to the taxpayer. Everyone knows that permanent dikes would clearly be more cost effective and save money for the local, State, and Federal Government. Residents know it, FEMA knows it, local officials know it. But under current law, there is nothing they can do about it.

That is why I will be introducing legislation called the FEMA Common Sense and Cost-Effectiveness Act of 2011, to give the Agency the flexibility it needs to make commonsense decisions in these cases. Building those levees once and leaving them in place will provide better flood protection for people and for property, better fiscal stewardship, and save taxpayer dollars.

That is important. Because good fiscal stewardship is now a matter of pressing, decisive consequence for America's future. That is why the second thing we need to do, of no less importance than building a good business climate, is to reduce spending.

We need to control spending by the Federal Government. Here, the numbers speak more clearly than words. Revenues this year are projected to be--revenues, now--$2.2 trillion. At the same time, current spending by the Federal Government is more than $3.7 trillion, leaving a deficit of $1.5 to $1.6 trillion.

To meet that shortfall, we are borrowing 40 cents of every single dollar we spend, and our debt is growing at the rate of $4 billion a day. Every dollar used to service the national debt is a dollar that will not be used to build America's infrastructure, that will not be used to keep Social Security solvent, that will not be used to reduce taxes on American businesses so they can create jobs and raise the standard of living for American workers. That is why I and 63 other Senators--32 Republicans and 32 Democrats--sent a letter to President Barack Obama earlier this month urging him to show leadership in those efforts to achieve comprehensive deficit reduction.

It is also why I and 46 other U.S. Senators announced last week that we were cosponsoring a bill to create a balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution. I thank our leader, Senator McConnell, for leading that effort. Nearly all States have been bound for years by a constitutional provision to keep spending within their means. This amendment requires that the Federal Government do no less. It would cap spending and balance our budget, but it also allows an appropriate exception for times of war. At the same time, it provides a transitional pathway to implement the law and protect programs such as Social Security and Medicare for our seniors and future generations of Americans.

To put this into perspective, the cost of serving America's debt over the next 10 years under the President's proposed budget--$992 billion-- is more than the entire Social Security deficit for the decade, which is about $600 billion. In fact, fixing our debt and deficit involves not only setting priorities and cutting discretionary spending, which we are already working hard to do and we need to work hard to do, but also addressing the three entitlement programs: Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, which account for more than 60 percent of Federal spending. We need to undertake a bipartisan effort to reform these important programs in a way that safeguards our seniors and other vulnerable individuals now while protecting the solvency of these programs for generations to come. We need our President to engage with us in this process. We can do it, we must do it, and we need to start now.

My third recommendation is that we begin the process of building a comprehensive energy policy for the Nation, an ``empower America'' plan, if you will, that promotes the development of all of our Nation's vast energy resources, both traditional and renewable. Creating a comprehensive energy policy is especially important because our entire country--our entire economy and consequently job growth--depends on affordable and abundant energy.

A few weeks ago, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce released a study identifying 351 stalled energy projects nationwide that are costing the American economy $1.1 trillion in lost economic impact and, more importantly, nearly 2 million jobs annually. By impeding our energy industry, we are impeding one of the most potent areas of prospective job growth. Yet Congress has not passed a comprehensive energy policy in our country in years, and frankly I don't know that we can wait any longer for that single sweeping master plan that will do it all at once. We need to build it as expeditiously as we can.

In North Dakota, we built Empower North Dakota over a decade, piece by piece, and saw firsthand the power of energy development to boost our economy. By embracing Empower North Dakota, our State alone has realized $12 billion in new energy-related investments since 2005. With the right kind of energy policy, imagine what the impact would be for our Nation.

To expedite the process of building that energy policy on a national level, I am working with Leader McConnell and the entire Republican Conference to create the kind of legal and regulatory climate our country needs to jump-start America's energy sector and create jobs. For example, this week, I, along with other Senators, cosponsored an amendment introduced by Senator McConnell to the small business authorization bill. Based on legislation offered earlier this month by Senator Inhofe, which I and others cosponsored, this legislation sought to curb the EPA's authority to regulate greenhouse gas and encourage domestic energy development. A permanent measure such as this is needed to provide the certainty businesses need to make billion-dollar investments in new energy projects and, more importantly, create the good-paying jobs a robust energy sector can provide our country. Our measure won 50 votes yesterday but failed to gain the 60 necessary for passage.

We need to continue to work with our colleagues across the aisle to pass this legislation or legislation like it because impeding the energy industry is not a Republican problem or a Democratic problem, it is an American problem. It is a challenge we need to step up to and solve. That is why, in a similar bipartisan effort, I am working with Senator Joe Manchin to support the EPA Fair Play Act to create more certainty and more energy investment for our country.

I have also asked the Energy Information Administration to conduct a focused analysis of regulations that could be impeding the development and growth of the Nation's domestic energy production in an effort to find more ways to create rules of the road that will encourage energy companies to invest billions and to build our energy future in America. Increased domestic energy production is a three-fer. We not only promote economic vitality, but we reduce our dependence on foreign sources of energy and we create jobs.

The reality is that we can do all of these and more. We can provide a commonsense legal and regulatory environment, a favorable business climate for our industries. We can build a comprehensive energy policy that leverages all of our vast energy resources together with good environmental stewardship. We can reduce spending, and we can live within our means. We can pay down our debt and leave our children a strong financial legacy instead of a large debt. These are all things we can do and we must do for our Nation. We need to work together, my fellow Senators, to do just that, for the strength and financial well- being of our country today and for the benefit of future Americans for generations to come. The future is truly in our hands.

Madam President, I yield the floor.

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 to speak as in morning business for 10 minutes.

Madam President, I would like to speak this morning on an issue that I believe is of great importance to our economy and to our national security. In recent weeks, we have seen political turmoil in Libya and Egypt and Tunisia and throughout the Middle East and other North African nations.

Only time will tell what the outcome of these historic events will be. What is clear, however, is that there is, once again, disruption in the worlds's petroleum supplies as a result of the turmoil in this region of the world, and American consumers and businesses are feeling the brunt of it.

In the United States, we have seen the price of gasoline and other petroleum products increase dramatically. The pain is particularly sharp at the pump.

Over the last few weeks, retail gasoline prices have risen to more than $3.50 a gallon. They are expected to rise to more than $3.70 a gallon during the peak summer driving season and, of course, they could go substantially higher. This is a reflection of what is happening in the crude oil commodity markets around the world. In fact, the Energy Information Administration's latest forecast of the average West Texas spot price for the remainder of this year increased from $93 a barrel to more than $100 a barrel. The EIA expects continued tightening of world oil markets in the next 2 years in light of the events in North Africa and in the Middle East.

For example, in Libya it is widely reported that much of the country's 1.6 million barrels a day of total production in 2010 has been largely shut down. It is unclear how long this will last. However, the reality is that the problem is not a matter of current supply. Prices are going up not because of lack of supply but because of concerns in the market about future supplies. Therefore, to address this problem, we must increase domestic production. We must produce more American energy, and we can do it.

Furthermore, taking steps now to create a legal, tax, and regulatory environment that will stimulate more domestic production will help take pressure off prices even before that supply comes on line, as markets anticipate more production.

Of course, the opposite scenario exists today as markets anticipate less supply from the Middle East and they do not see the commitment domestically to offset that reduction in supply. We must change that perception by taking real action to encourage production here at home. Stalled energy projects and impediments to domestic oil production in our own country are costing our Nation's economy billions of dollars and millions of jobs.

A study released last week by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce says 351 energy projects, both renewable and traditional, are stalled, at a cost of $1.1 trillion to the American economy and nearly 2 million jobs for the American people. When we combine disruptions in foreign sources of production and a domestic market hobbled by bureaucracy and delays, the result is higher energy prices, a sluggish economy, and fewer jobs. That is exactly what we see happening. That should be a cause of huge concern, but it should also be a huge call to action. There is a path out of this for America, a path we in my home State of North Dakota successfully followed starting a decade ago by building a comprehensive energy plan called Empower North Dakota.

Through Empower North Dakota, we worked to create a business climate that incentivized energy companies across all industry sectors, including the oil industry, to invest in our State. We created the kind of legal, tax, and regulatory certainty that attracted capital, expertise, and jobs to North Dakota. In fact, when we started 10 years ago, oil companies had either left or they were leaving the oil- producing region in our State, the Williston Basin. Why was that?

First, they were getting better returns elsewhere. Technology was lacking to produce oil economically from new formations. Companies were going to other places in the world where they could extract oil less expensively. Second, data on confirmed reserves was lacking, and the technology to produce oil from shale wasn't sufficiently developed. Third, the workforce was aging, and we lacked the training and education for new workers. And fourth, transport constraints limited production. In other words, there were better places for the industry to invest shareholder dollars and earn a return.

To turn that around, we built a climate for investment. We established an oil and gas research fund paid for by the industry. We put tax incentives in place. We initiated studies of the Bakken formation at the heart of the Williston Basin through the North Dakota Geological Survey. That was followed by a U.S. Geological Survey study. I have requested another USGS study I believe will demonstrate that we have billions more in recoverable oil reserves in our State.

We also improved infrastructure. We created a pipeline authority to expand transportation capacity, and we established a center of excellence for petroleum safety and technology at Williston State College to train workers in oilfield drilling and recovery methods. Before that we had to send workers to Wyoming or Oklahoma and other places for training and education. Now we do it in our State.

In response, our enhanced business environment drew investment capital, technology, and ingenuity to Williston Basin which unlocked the potential of North Dakota's oil patch. We took full advantage of the Bakken and Three Forks, which are deep shale formations with billions of barrels of oil locked away in porous rock, by using innovative, unconventional technologies and with good environmental stewardship.

To release the oil, companies in North Dakota use hydraulic fracturing which involves pumping water under pressure deep into the Earth to crack the shale and release the crude oil. The water is then recycled or deposited safely back into the ground 2 miles down, well below, far below the water table. Companies also use directional drilling which enables drilling rigs to drill one vertical bore and multiple horizontal bores deep in the ground, producing more oil with a smaller footprint and, again, better environmental stewardship.

As a result, this year North Dakota will produce more than 120 million barrels of oil. That number is growing dramatically. This is sweet crude oil.

Since 2006, we have grown to become the fourth largest oil-producing State among all 50 States in the Union, passing States such as Oklahoma and most recently Louisiana. Bear in mind that in North Dakota the measures we took were not about government spending. They were about creating an environment for private investment that generated revenues for the State, broadened the economic base, and actually enabled us to reduce taxes. This isn't a Republican or a Democratic issue. It is an American issue, and it will take both parties to fix it. That is why I am cosponsoring a bill with Senator Roberts that actually works with a directive from President Obama.

The Regulatory Responsibility for Our Economy Act will give the force of law to a Presidential Executive order issued in January. The order proposes to review rules that may be outmoded, ineffective, or excessively burdensome, and to modify, streamline, or repeal them. We are all committed to good environmental stewardship and effective consumer protections. But the President's order acknowledges that Federal regulations are hindering the Nation's economic growth and our ability to create jobs. The law we are proposing, if passed, will make sure we take a clear-eyed look at our rules and help to bring regulatory and legal certainty to the markets.

While we are working to produce more oil in America, with the right approach, with the approach I am describing, we can also enlist the help of our friend and close ally to the north, Canada. To do that, for example, we need to complete some very ambitious projects that need permitting and approval. One example is the Keystone XL pipeline. This $12 billion, high-tech transcontinental petroleum pipeline is designed to carry crude from the Canadian oil sands in Alberta to the Gulf of Mexico. As it passes through the Midwest, an onramp will receive midwestern sweet crude from States such as North Dakota and Montana to mix with the heavier Canadian crude and send it to refineries that will turn it into gasoline and diesel fuel in America. With no overseas involvement, this

one promising project would help double current flows of oil from Canada, which is already our No. 1 trading partner.

One estimate projects that the project will create--and these are numbers the company has put forward in advancing this project--at least 20,000 high-paying jobs during the construction phase and more than 250,000 permanent jobs. It will spur more than $100 billion in annual total expenditures in the U.S. economy. It will generate $6.5 billion in new personal income for U.S. workers and their families, and it will stimulate nearly $600 million in revenue for State and local governments along its route.

Federal approval is something that will cost our Nation not one penny. What it will do, however, is create assurances in markets that the energy we need to power our Nation will be there in the future, and it will be there when we need it. That in turn will help to reduce our dependence on unstable overseas regimes, hold down the cost of gasoline at the pump, and create thousands of good American jobs at a time when unemployment is still hovering at about 9 percent.

Keystone XL is just one example. Across America there are hundreds of projects like it that could be advanced with good environmental stewardship and responsible oversight, if we resolve to do it and we create the climate to do it.

Today the United States, Canada, and Mexico combined produce 75 percent of the total oil we need. We can do much more. Our Nation needs to send a signal to energy markets that the United States is committed to a policy of aggressive domestic energy development by creating a strong business environment and a pro-energy agenda, including the legal, tax, and regulatory certainty companies need in order to make the kinds of investments that will truly lessen our dependence on foreign oil.

We are at a moment in history when we can truly turn adversity into opportunity and potential into reality. I urge Members to seize this opportunity to make America stronger, safer, and more financially secure with a comprehensive approach to truly develop American energy right here at home, to meet our needs both now and for future generations. We can do it. We must do it, for the well-being of our country today and for future generations.

I thank the Chair for this opportunity, yield the floor, and suggest the absence of a quorum.

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

Mr. President, I would like to speak this morning in support of amendment No. 32. This amendment introduces new language to section 320 of the Federal Aviation Administration's authorization bill concerning unmanned aerial systems. It has been offered by Senator Ensign, Senator Conrad, and myself.

It calls for the FAA to develop a process to integrate unmanned aerial systems--unmanned aerial vehicles and remotely piloted aircraft--into the National Airspace System.

We have all seen on television and read in the media about the remarkable role unmanned aerial vehicles and remotely piloted aircraft are playing overseas in the security of our Nation in the war on terror. They achieve military objectives without putting our men and women in uniform in harm's way.

Unmanned aerial systems will continue to play that vital role in our Nation's security abroad, but they are also poised to play a big role here at home in other important areas as well--areas such as enhancing our ability to patrol our borders and secure vital infrastructure, fight crime, detect wildfires, provide valuable crop data for our farmers, and respond to emergencies such as floods and fires.

I can give you a practical and personal example of their value. Two years ago, when my home State, along with our neighbor to the east, Minnesota, was battling flooding in the Red River Valley--many of you throughout the country saw this on television--Predator aircraft on loan from Customs and Border Patrol gave us real-time data on the status of ice jams and overland flooding all along the river and made a real difference in helping us to fight those floods and protect our citizens.

That vital information enabled both States to deploy resources in a timely and efficient manner and made a real difference for the people of North Dakota and Minnesota and throughout the region. Just a few years ago, that would have been the stuff of science fiction, a vision of the future. But today it is reality, and we can do much more.

In fact, unmanned aerial systems are about just that--they are about the future of aviation technology in America, and I am proud to say our State of North Dakota is playing an important role in that endeavor.

The Grand Forks Air Force Base in northeastern North Dakota is already home to Predator B aircraft that fly missions for Customs and Border Protection, and it will soon be home to the Global Hawk as well. Right now, overseas, Predator missions are being operated by our North Dakota Air Guard in Fargo, ND.

The Grand Forks Air Force Base is also a partner with the State's Unmanned Aircraft Systems Center of Excellence and UND--the University of North Dakota--School of Aerospace. These programs provide access to state-of-the-art training and technologies for the base.

Our Center of Excellence operates up to nine unmanned aircraft and is in the process of installing UAS simulators and training programs to prepare a generation of young pilots for this rapidly growing field.

The program is designed to combine the visionary thinking of researchers with the practical energy of entrepreneurs and businesses. In fact, the commercial applications of unmanned aircraft and the opportunities for America's aviation industry are enormous.

UAV spending will more than double over the next decade, from current worldwide UAV expenditures of $4.9 billion annually to $11.5 billion annually, totaling just over $80 billion for the next 10 years, according to a 2010 Teal Group market study.

Here and abroad, our Nation has led the way in this breakthrough technology. But we need to do more. We need to seize the opportunity, and this amendment provides our opportunity to not only maintain but build on that leadership position.

This amendment will authorize the FAA to set up pilot projects in the United States that will develop a plan for these aircraft to fly safely either concurrently or in layered air zones in our Nation's skies.

We need them to develop air traffic requirements, as well as certification and flight standards, for unmanned aerial systems to fly in the national airspace.

We are already flying UAVs in airspace all over the world. Now we need to open the skies for them right here at home to make our Nation more secure, our communities safer, our economy more dynamic, and create jobs and opportunity throughout our country. If we do not, you can be sure other nations will. The goal is to make UAVs, with all their remarkable capabilities, a fully functioning, fully empowered component of America's aviation system.

American industry and ingenuity can continue to lead the way. They can continue to lead the way forward in the world of aviation, but we must provide the environment that enables our aviation industry to do it right here at home. This amendment will help us do that. I strongly urge support for this amendment.

I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, today, when our country faces enormous challenges--both domestic and international--we have an opportunity to recognize President Ronald Reagan on the 100th anniversary of his birth.

Today--when we need big doses of optimism and a renewed faith in America--the memory of Ronald Reagan tells us that our challenges can be met and our obstacles can be overcome.

I remember the Reagan era well. The late seventies and early eighties were tough times. I had just finished college and returned to North Dakota, and America was clearly hurting.

It was the era of stagflation--stagnant economic growth and inflation, all at the same time.

It was an era of fuel shortages, long lines at the gas station, and sticker shock when you got to the pump.

A few years later, America was emerging from that recession and the country was on the mend. We could see light on the horizon. President Reagan told us: ``It's morning again in America.'' And it was.

It was also the era of the Cold War. For more than a generation, the Soviet Union had kept Eastern Europe and its own people under its heel, and threatened the West with belligerent rhetoric and an arsenal of nuclear weapons.

In 1987, at a time when much of the world was resigned to a tense doctrine of coexistence, with a literal and figurative wall between us, President Ronald Reagan would have none of it. He stood at the Berlin Wall, and challenged: ``Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!'' And made it happen.

In some of our Nation's darkest hours, President Ronald Wilson Reagan was there to remind us that we are a great nation and a great people--a nation kind and generous beyond measure, when deserved, but tough and enduring when circumstances warranted.

He knew that believing in ourselves was vital, and then working together to get the job done. That is a lesson worth remembering, today, 100 years after the birth of one of America's greatest presidents.

We can--and we will--build a brighter future for ourselves and for future generations. We will continue to truly be that shining city on a hill--a beam of light and liberty for the world.

Madam President, I also rise today to congratulate the Senator from West Virginia on his speech and welcome him to the Senate and express pleasure in working together. I want to echo the comments of Senator Lamar Alexander, the good Senator from Tennessee, as well. Being a former Governor, I actually got to know Joe Manchin in his days as Governor. We worked together in his days as Governor and certainly I look forward to working with him as Senator.

Our States share many interests. One of those interests is coal. I want to express my intent today to join as a cosponsor on legislation regarding EPA regulation that Senator Manchin is putting forward. That is a good example where we can work together to create jobs and opportunities. I certainly look forward to doing that.

Again, I congratulate the good Senator on his speech today.

I yield the floor.