Floor Statements

Mr. President, it is an honor to stand alongside Senator Hatch today as we introduce the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act. This bill, which would help States enforce laws requiring that parents be notified before their child has an abortion, is supported by many pro-life groups and organizations. But perhaps most importantly, it is supported by a broad majority of parents, who are in a much better position to help children with tough decisions than virtually anyone else.

Many States require that a parent be notified before a minor has an abortion, while even more require the consent of a parent before a physician can legally perform an abortion. Unfortunately, these laws are undermined and circumvented by those simply willing to travel to a State without these restrictions.

This important legislation would put an end to this practice permanently by simply enabling States to enforce their existing laws, which are designed to protect our children and defend parents' rights. While this legislation serves that goal, it also promotes a culture of life in our nation that is critical to ensuring we continue to cherish and defend the self-evident, fundamental right to life, especially as it applies to the unborn.

Specifically, this bill has two parts: First, it prohibits the act of knowingly taking a minor across State lines with the intent of obtaining an abortion if this action evades the parental involvement law in her home State. Second, it would require abortion providers to notify a parent of an out-of-State minor before performing an abortion.

Sadly, many are willing to circumvent State law and shuttle young girls across State lines in order to avoid parental notification laws. With the help of my Senate colleagues, we will put a stop to this and ensure that parents are aware of profound medical operations involving their children. With that thought in mind, I ask you to support this legislation to help keep parents informed.

Mr. President, I have the honor of representing the people of the great State of Florida here in the Senate, and today I speak for the first time on this floor on their behalf.

The Senate is a long ways away from where I come from, both literally and figuratively. I come from a hard-working and humble family, one that was neither wealthy nor connected. Yet I have always considered myself to be a child of privilege because growing up I was blessed with two very important things: I was raised by a strong and stable family, and I was blessed to be born here in the United States of America.

America began from a very powerful truth--that our rights as individuals do not come from our government, they come from our God. Government's job is to protect those rights. And here, this Republic, has done that better than any government in the history of the world.

Now, America is not perfect. It took a bloody civil war to free over 4 million African Americans who lived in slavery. It took another 100 years before they achieved full equality under the law. But since its earliest days, America has inspired people from all over the world, inspired them with the hope that one day their own countries would be one like this one.

Many others decided they could not wait, and so they came here from everywhere to pursue their dreams and to work to leave their children better off than themselves. The result was the American miracle--a miracle where a 16-year-old boy from Sweden, with no English in his vocabulary and $5 in his pocket, saved enough money to open a shoestore. Today, that store, Nordstrom's, is a multibillion-dollar global retail giant; a miracle that led to a young couple with no money and no business experience opening a toy company out of the garage of their home. Today, that company, Mattel, is one of the world's largest toy manufacturers; a miracle where the French-born son of Iranian parents created a Web site called AuctionWeb in the living room of his home. Today, that company, known as eBay, stands as a testament to the familiar phrase ``only in America.''

These are just three examples of Americans whose extraordinary success began with nothing more than an idea. But it is important to remember that the American dream was never just about how much money you made; it is also about something that typifies my home State of Florida: the desire of every parent to leave their children with a better life. It is a dream lived by countless people whose stories will never be told, people--Americans--who never made $1 million. They never owned a yacht or a plane or a second home. Yet they too live the American dream because through their hard work and sacrifice, they were able to open doors for their children that had been closed for them.

It is the story of the people who clean our offices here in this building, who work hard so that one day their children can go to college. It is the story of the men and women who serve our meals in this building, who work hard so that one day their children can accomplish their own dreams.

It is the story of a bartender and a maid in Florida. Today, their son serves here in the Senate and stands as a proud witness of the greatness of this land.

Becoming a world power was never America's plan, but that is exactly what the American economic miracle made her. Most great powers have used their strength to conquer, but America is different. For us, our power always has come with a sense that those to whom much is given, much is expected; a sense that with the blessings God bestowed upon this land came the responsibility to make the world a better place. And in the 20th century, that is precisely and exactly what America did. America led in two world wars so that others could be free. America led in the Cold War to stop the spread of and ultimately defeat communism. While our military and foreign policy contributions helped save the world, it was our economic and cultural innovations that helped transform it.

The fruits of the American miracle can be found in the daily lives of people everywhere. Anywhere in the world, someone uses a mobile phone, e-mail, the Internet, or GPS; they are enjoying the benefits of the American miracle. Anywhere in the world where a bone marrow, lung, or heart transplant saves a life, they are touched by the value of the American miracle. On one night in July of 1969, the world witnessed the American miracle firsthand, for on that night an American walked

on the surface of the Moon, and it was clear to the world that these Americans could do anything.

Now, clearly America's rise was not free of adversity. We faced a civil rights struggle that saw Governors defy Presidents; that saw police dogs attack innocent, peaceful protestors; that saw little children murdered in churches by bombs. We faced two oil crises. America faced Watergate. America faced American hostages in Iran.

I grew up in the 1980s, a time when it was morning in America. Yet even then we faced the war on drugs. We lost soldiers in Beirut and astronauts on the Challenger. We faced a devastating oilspill in Alaska and a terrifying new disease called AIDS. Through challenges and triumphs, the 20th century was the American century--a century where America's political, economic, and cultural exceptionalism made the world a more prosperous and peaceful place.

But now we find ourselves in a new century, and there is this growing sense that for America, things will never be the same, that maybe this century will belong to someone else. Indeed, we do now stand at a turning point in our history, one where there are only two ways forward for us: We will either bring on another American century or we are doomed to witness America's decline.

Another American century is fully within our reach because there is nothing wrong with our people. The American people haven't forgotten how to start a business. The American people haven't run out of good ideas. We Americans are as great as we have ever been. But our government is broken, and it is keeping us from doing what we have done better than any people in the history of the world--create jobs and prosperity.

If we here in Washington could just find agreement on a plan to get control of our debt, if we could just make our Tax Code simpler and more predictable, if we could just get the government to ease up on some of these onerous regulations, the American people will take care of the rest.

If this government will do its part, this generation of Americans will do theirs. They will give us a prosperous, upwardly mobile economy, one where our children will invent, build, and sell things to a world where more people than ever can afford to buy them. If we give America a government that can live within its means, the American economy will give us a government of considerable means, a government that can afford to pay for things government should be doing because it does not waste money on the things government should not be doing.

If we can deliver on a few simple but important things, we have the chance to do something that is difficult to imagine is even possible-- an America whose future will be greater than her past. Sadly, that is not where we are headed. We have made no progress on the issues of our time because, frankly, we have too many people in both parties who have decided that the next election is more important than the next generation. And our lack of progress on these issues has led to something even more troubling--a growing fear that maybe these problems are too big for us to solve, too big for even America.

Well, there is no reason to be afraid. Our story, the story of America, is not the story of a nation that never faced problems. It is the story of a nation that faced its challenges and solved them. Our story, the story of the American people, is not the story of a people who always got it right; it is the story of a people who in the end got it right.

We should never forget who we Americans are. Every single one of us is the descendant of a go-getter, of dreamers and of believers, of men and women who took risks and made sacrifices because they wanted their children to live better off than themselves. So whether they came here on the Mayflower, on a slave ship, or on an airplane from Havana, we are all descendants of the men and women who built the Nation that saved the world.

We are still the great American people, and the only thing standing in the way of our solving our problems is our willingness to do so. And whether we do so is of great consequence not just to us but to the whole world. I know some now say that because times are very tough at home, we can no longer afford to worry about what happens abroad, that maybe America needs to mind its own business. Well, whether we like it or not, there is virtually no aspect of our daily lives that is not directly impacted by what happens in the world around us. We can choose to ignore global problems, but global problems will not ignore us.

One of my favorite speeches is one that talks about our role in the world. It was the speech President Kennedy was set to give had he lived just 1 more day, and it closes with these words:

We in this country, in this generation, are--by destiny

rather than by choice--the watchmen on the walls of world

freedom. We ask, therefore, that we may be worthy of our

power and responsibility, that we may exercise our strength

with wisdom and restraint, and that we may achieve in our

time and for all time the ancient vision of ``peace on Earth,

good will toward men.'' That must always be our goal, and the

righteousness of our cause must always underlie our strength.

For as was written long ago, ``except the Lord keep the city,

the watchman waketh but in vain.''

Almost a half century later, America is still the only watchman on the wall of world freedom, and there is still no one to take our place.

What will the world look like if America declines? Well, today people all over the world are forced to accept a familiar lie, that the price of security is their liberty. If America declines, who will serve as living proof that liberty, security, and prosperity can all exist together?

Today, radical Islam abuses and oppresses women, has no tolerance for other faiths, and it seeks to impose its will on the whole world. If America declines, who will stand up to them and defeat them?

Today, children are used as soldiers and trafficked as slaves. Dissidents are routinely imprisoned without trial, and they are subjected to torture and forced into confessions and labor. If America declines, what nation on Earth will take these causes as their own?

What will the world look like if America declines? Who is going to create the innovations of the 21st century? Who will stretch the limits of human potential and explore the new frontiers? And if America declines, who will do all these things and ask for nothing in return, motivated solely by the desire to make the world a better place?

The answer is, no one will. There is still no nation or institution on this planet that is willing or able to do what America has done.

Ronald Reagan famously described America as a shining city on a hill. Now, some say that we can no longer afford the price we must pay to keep America's light shining. Others like to say there are new shining cities that will soon replace us. I say they are both wrong.

Yes, the price we are going to pay to keep America's light shining is high. But the price we will pay if America's light stops shining is even higher.

Yes, there are new nations emerging with prosperity and influence. That is what we always wanted. America never wanted to be the only shining city on the hill. We wanted our example to inspire the people of the Earth to build one of their own. You see, these nations, these new emerging nations, these new shining cities, we hope they will join us. But they can never replace us because their light is but a reflection of our own.

It is the light of an American century that now spreads throughout the Earth, a world that still needs America, a world that still needs our light, a world that needs a new American century. I pray that, with God's help, that will be our legacy to our children and to the world.

Mr. President, I yield the floor.

Mr. President, the PATRIOT Act has been an indispensable, life-saving tool for the law enforcement and intelligence communities that work tirelessly to protect our Nation from terrorist attacks. In these dangerous times, the PATRIOT Act should give a little more peace of mind to millions of Americans and give those seeking to do us harm good reason to rethink their diabolical plans.

Earlier this year, I voted to extend the PATRIOT Act. Today, I reaffirm my support for reauthorizing key PATRIOT Act provisions for an additional 4 years.

Our Nation's security has and will always be a top priority for me. As a member of the Senate's Select Committee on Intelligence, I am aware of the constant threat our Nation faces from terrorists and individuals who hate us and want to impose their radical view of the world at all costs. Any changes or limits on the PATRIOT Act would only give these extremists an opening to strike us.

While some may disagree on this issue, I simply cannot allow those tasked with protecting our people from being deprived of these vital, lawful means to help prevent an attack.

Mr. President, for me, Medicare is not a political talking point. My parents immigrated to the United States in the late 1950s. They worked hard for over 40 years to provide their children the chance to do all the things they themselves could not. But they never made much money. As a result, they retired with precious little in savings. Medicare was and is the only way they could access health care.

When my father got sick, Medicare paid for his numerous hospital stays. And as he reached the end of life, Medicare allowed him to die with dignity by paying for his hospice care.

Like most 80-year-olds my mother has several age-related ailments. Without the access to quality health care that Medicare pays for, I cannot imagine what life would be like for her.

America needs Medicare. We need it to continue without any benefit reductions for those like my mother currently in the system. And we need it to survive for my generation and my children's generation.

But Medicare is going bankrupt. Anyone who says it is not is simply

lying. And anyone who is in favor of doing nothing to deal with this fact is in favor of bankrupting it.

Medicare will go broke in as little as 9 years. No one likes this news, but it is the undeniable truth. And the sooner we begin to deal with it, the better off we are all going to be.

My goals are simple. First, I will not support any plan that changes Medicare for people like my mother who are currently on the plan. We cannot ask seniors to go out and get a job to pay for their health care.

Second, any solution must solve the problem. We need to save Medicare, not simply delay its bankruptcy.

And third, any solution cannot hurt economic growth. At a time of high unemployment, Americans cannot afford to pay more taxes.

I will support any serious plan that accomplishes these three things. It does not matter to me if it comes from a Democrat or a Republican. Saving Medicare is more important than partisan politics.

House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan has offered a plan. I support H. Con. Res. 34 because, right now, it is the only plan out there that helps save Medicare.

Democrats oppose this plan. Fine. But, if they have a better way to save Medicare, what are they waiting for to show us? What is their plan to save Medicare? Either show us how Medicare survives without any changes or show us what changes you propose we make. Anyone who supports doing nothing on Medicare is a supporter of bankrupting Medicare.

Where is the House Democrat plan to save Medicare?

Where is the Senate Democrat plan to save Medicare?

Where is President Obama's plan to save Medicare?

They have no plan to save Medicare, and they do not plan to offer one. They have decided that winning their next election is more important than saving Medicare for my mother and retirees like her.

I have been in the Senate just long enough to be disgusted by the reality that Washington has too many people who think their personal political careers are more important than our country's future.

Maybe the Democrats' strategy to use Medicare as a political weapon will work. Maybe not offering their own plan to save Medicare will help them win seats in Congress and reelect the President. Maybe it is great for the Democrat Party.

But it is terrible for people like my mother, and it is terrible for America.

Medicare is going bankrupt. If something does not happen soon, in just a few years whoever is in charge in Washington will have to go to people like my mother and tell them we can no longer afford to continue providing her with the same Medicare she is used to.

We have always had intense partisan politics in America. But throughout our history, on issues of generational importance, our leaders have agreed to put aside politics for the sake of our country. Shouldn't saving Medicare be that kind of issue?

I am ready to work with anyone in Washington who is serious about saving Medicare. I am open to any serious solutions they have.

We are running out of time to save Medicare for our parents and secure it for our children. If we fail, history will never forgive us.

S. Con. Res. 20

Mr. President, I came here to support budgets that make tough spending reductions, save our safety net programs, and preserve our commitment to protecting Americans at home and abroad. In the midst of this fiscal crisis, there should be no sacred cows in the Federal budget, but we also can't walk away from our commitments abroad. Especially in this time of great upheaval around the world, and as America's enemies dream of a Greece-like day of reckoning that will leave us no choice but to abandon our allies around the world, I simply cannot support a budget that would make the world a less safe place because the United States' role in it is diminished.

Madam President, on May 17, 2011, the Senate considered the nomination of Susan Carney to serve as a Judge on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. I voted against her nomination and want to explain my vote.

The qualifications of a judicial nominee are critically important. Susan Carney received her A.B. in 1973 and her J.D. in 1977 from Harvard, graduating both times with honors. Following law school she clerked on the First Circuit. She then worked in private practice in Washington from 1979 until 1986. After several years of self- employment, she became affiliated with another Washington law firm in 1994 before becoming associate general counsel of the Peace Corps in 1996. Since 1998 she has worked in Yale University's General Counsel's Office; she has been deputy general counsel since 2001.

I question whether Ms. Carney has the proper experience to serve as an appellate judge. She has no litigation experience in the last 15 years. She has never tried any cases to verdict, judgment, or final decision. There is nothing in her background that will provide this body with any information as to how she will view the law and what she may or may not be inclined to do as an appellate court judge.

When examining a nominee, especially a nominee for the circuit court of appeals, I am looking for evidence in the nominee's history that will establish that the nominee is a constitutionalist. Someone who takes the original, public meaning of the text of the Constitution and our laws seriously and does not look for excuses to depart from it and read into it what he or she wants.

In making a determination as to whether to vote for a nominee, I look for evidence that the nominee meets Chief Justice John Roberts' analogy of a baseball umpire, someone who doesn't bend the rules for the game, but just calls them as he sees them; someone who offers no favoritism depending on who is at bat.

All Americans should expect Members of U.S. Senate to carefully explore and guard against judicial nominees who are activists. Judges who interpret the Constitution and laws in light of his or her personal preferences or how he or she thinks they ought to have been written should not be on the bench. We should guard against a nominee who would elevate ``empathy'' over what the rule of law requires.

The only information that has been produced about Ms. Carney's potential judicial inclinations is that she was a supporter of pro- abortion groups such as NOW, NARAL, and Planned Parenthood. This nominee has little legal and no judicial history to rely upon. The burden of proof to show that the nominee will be a fair and impartial judge falls on the nominee. There is nothing in the record that would allow me to conclude that Ms. Carney will always be fair and impartial or that she will not elevate empathy over the rule of law. What I believe we should seek is a fair judge should be neutral and rule the same way according to the laws as written regardless of who is before the court.

Senators Sessions, Coburn, and Lee voted against this nomination in committee. The Republican members of the ABA committee that review nominees found Ms. Carney unqualified.

A review of Ms. Carney's record lacks any indicia as to how she would rule or how she would handle her role in this critical position. In my view, the burden of proof falls to the nominee and despite the support this nomination garnered from my colleagues, I do not believe that Ms. Carney met this burden. Given the higher scrutiny associated with consideration of nominees to the circuit courts of appeal, this nominee's limited record coupled with her history of supporting liberal organizations and because the nominee has the burden of establishing fidelity to constitutional principles, I voted against this nomination.

Mr. President, on April 17, 1961, 1,500 individuals from the United States and Cuba valiantly volunteered in the Bay of Pigs mission to liberate Cuba from Fidel Castro's grip. They were a diverse group from all backgrounds of Cuban society, all united by the ideal that freedom is a God-given, inalienable right.

Having lost their country a couple of years earlier, these brave men took up arms on the beaches of Playa Giron. Over the course of 4 days and facing daunting odds against a better-armed and trained Cuban military, nearly 100 members of the Brigada de Asalto 2506, Assault Brigade 2506, lost their lives, including 4 American pilots. Five others were captured and executed. The majority were captured and imprisoned for many months and years in inhumane conditions.

Many of the captured men were fortunate to be eventually released and exiled to the United States, where they restarted their lives, raised families and made it their life's ambition to give their children the opportunities they would not have.

I am proud to join my colleagues in the U.S. Senate in paying tribute to the survivors of that mission--several of whom made the journey to Washington this week--and honoring the memories of the deceased.

As the son of Cuban exiles, I am proud to represent an entire community of people who lost everything to an accident of history, but came to cherish the freedoms they found in America. The story of the Brigade 2506 veterans, in particular, is worthy of special recognition.

To some, the Bay of Pigs battle is just one episode in the long annals of the cold war. But to those involved, the mission was a defining moment in their lives that, for others, illuminated the righteousness of the cause to free Cuba. It is a heartbreaking story of men who fought so valiantly for their beloved homeland's freedom, only to come up short. But it is also an inspiring story--one that says as much about their resilience as it does about America.

Having endured a traumatic life experience 50 years ago at the Bay of Pigs, many of them came back to the U.S. with nothing--not a penny and often without any English skills. They went to work and embraced America's blessings, but they never forgot their beloved homeland.

Some made it their life's work to promote the cause of a free Cuba. Others went to work on other endeavors to provide for their families, but dedicated countless hours as faithful volunteers of the cause. In doing so, they served as teachers to an entire community. Today in Miami, for example, a Brigade 2506 monument and museum now exist as much to commemorate these heroes as it does to educate others.

Like so many Cuban exiles, their stories taught us that human rights and liberty are not conditional on where someone is born, but are instead the birthrights of every single one of God's children. They taught us why the Cuban condition, like everywhere else in the world where human rights are trampled, is inhumane an unnatural. They instilled in us a deep sense of why the Cuban government, and others like it, is fundamentally defective and illegitimate, as it is sustained by violence against its people and operates without the consent of the governed.

Over the past 50 years, these lessons have given us moral clarity about the rights of man and reminded us of our responsibility to defend the persecuted among us.

Far from being forgotten, their example has inspired others to carry on their work. Their legacy lives on among those of us who have followed in their footsteps by making their cause of a free Cuba our cause.

Today, the torch they lit 50 years ago on a Cuban beach, is now carried not only by their children and grandchildren, but also by a new and growing generation of Cubans on the island. Every day, thousands of courageous patriots are demanding their freedoms and steadily chipping away at the farce of the Castro regime. Together, we are all united by the moral responsibility to highlight the Cuban regime's continued abuses, to apply change-inducing pressure, and to support the Cuban people's right to freely shape their destinies.

Courageous and principled leaders like these give us hope that a free Cuba is an inevitable destiny. They also give us hope that soon we will be able to achieve President John F. Kennedy's December 1962 promise to surviving Bay of Pigs veterans that their battle flag ``will be returned to this brigade in a free Havana.''

Mr. President, I am proud to honor Ronald Reagan on the 100th anniversary of his birth. President Reagan was a man who inspired millions of Americans to serve their country and fulfill its promise as the shining city on a hill. His genial demeanor, resilience, no- nonsense approach to governing and rock solid principles attracted flocks of young Americans to the Republican Party, and I am proud to include myself in that number.

I was fortunate to have grown up and come of age politically just as President Reagan was in office. His words and deeds inspired our entire country to take pride in our patriotic values and the free market principles that have made America exceptional. He also comforted us during moments of national tragedy. And his willingness to speak out against communism--as both a bankrupt economic system and an immoral violation of human dignity--was a ray of sunlight to those living in its darkness.

I will never forget my parents' reaction the day the Berlin Wall fell in 1989. Having lost their country to Fidel Castro's communism, they had spent 30 years divided from their homeland, friends, and relatives--just as the Wall had done to millions in Europe.

Especially for my parents' generation of Cuban exiles, whose hopes and dreams were shattered by communism, the Wall's fall was a historic event they questioned would ever come. It was a day of celebration and rekindled hope that all lands within communism's grip would soon be free as well. Ronald Reagan helped bring about the change that made communism's fall possible. By joining with other world leaders like Pope John Paul II, he seized the opportunity to highlight communism's failures. In doing so, he helped make millions of oppressed people more self-aware of their intrinsic dignity, more confident that their pursuit of freedom was justified, and more hopeful that they were not alone in their struggles.

In commemorating Ronald Reagan's 100th birthday, we also remember the work that remains to be done to tear down other oppressive walls that still stand. America's responsibilities in this effort cannot be underestimated.

Economically, we cannot allow Washington's borrow-and-spend binges to diminish our free enterprise system, nor can we allow our debt to make our commitment to freedom and human rights subservient to our debt holders.

Militarily, as Ronald Reagan said, ``Of the four wars in my lifetime, none came about because the U.S. was too strong.'' A free and secure world requires a strong America led by our brave men and women in uniform. America's commitment to the defense of our allies should never waver. Diplomatically, we must not confuse a desire for security and the promotion of democratic values as mutually exclusive goals.

The United States and the world owe a great debt to Ronald Reagan for his decisive leadership, adherence to conservative principles and inspiring example during a tumultuous period. And we owe a special debt of gratitude to his wife Nancy for her efforts to keep his memory and legacy alive.

Now the question before us is whether we are going to do as Ronald Reagan did and ensure that future generations can inherit the single greatest society in all of human history. I, for one, am fully committed to honoring Ronald Reagan's legacy by standing up for the principles that defined him and have made America exceptional for more than two centuries.