Floor Statements

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that at 4:30 p.m. on Monday, February 2, the Senate proceed to the consideration of Calendar No. 6, H.R. 203; that the time until 5:30 p.m. be equally divided in the usual form, and that following the use or yielding back of that time, the bill be read a third time and the Senate vote on passage of the bill, without any intervening action or debate.

Thank you, Mr. President. I would like to announce that this is the last vote of the week. The final vote on the Keystone Pipeline is the last vote of the week. The next vote will be at 5:30 p.m. on Monday.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate immediately proceed to executive session to consider the following nominations on today's Executive Calendar: Calendar No. 5 and all nominations on the Secretary's desk; I further ask unanimous consent that the nominations be confirmed en bloc, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table, the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action, and the Senate then return to legislative session.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 58, submitted earlier today.

I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 10:30 a.m. Friday, January 30. I ask that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, and the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and that the Senate then be in a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes.

If there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that it stand adjourned under the previous order, following the remarks of Senator Brown.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Today the Senate will resume consideration of the Keystone bill. There are up to 18 rollcall votes scheduled this afternoon on pending amendments to the bill. I want to commend Chairman Murkowski and Senator Cantwell for working with our colleagues to get literally dozens and dozens of amendments up and voted on in the 3 weeks we have been working on this bill.

Now it is time to get through the remaining amendments and vote up or down on passage of this bill before we leave for the week.

Mr. President, I understand there is a bill at the desk that is due for its second reading.

Mr. President, in order to place the bill on the calendar under the provisions of rule XIV, I object to further proceedings on this measure.

Mr. President, thanks to the bill managers' efforts that I just referred to, along with the years-long work undertaken by Members on both sides--Senator Hoeven in particular--we expect this bipartisan bill to finally pass the Senate.

We expect the filibuster of good American jobs to soon come to an end. That is good news for the Senate. It is even better news for the people we represent. It would show their Congress is capable of defying the powerful special interests that oppose Keystone so we can get things done for the middle class.

Constructing this infrastructure project would pump literally billions of dollars into our economy. It would support thousands of jobs, and it would do it all with minimal environmental impact. That is according to what we have heard from the President's own State Department. So it makes sense to get this bipartisan legislation to the President for his signature. We hope he will sign the Keystone jobs bill into law. The President should expect more good ideas to head his way.

That is the goal of this new Congress. We want to get Washington functioning again, and we want to pass commonsense ideas. The Keystone debate is showing how we can do both.

One other issue. I am certainly glad to see President Obama dropped his plan to make it harder for the middle class to save for college with 529s. I fought to ensure these plans were tax-free at the Federal level. Thanks to this incentive to save, literally millions of Americans use 529s to help prepare for college expenses. These are good plans that promote responsible savings. I am not sure why President Obama would have sought to undermine them in the first place, but it certainly is good to see the President coming around to Republicans' pro-middle-class view on this matter.

Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. President, I rise to pay tribute to a great Kentuckian and a man who has dedicated his entire career to promoting civil rights and helping people. My good friend Ben Richmond, the longtime president and CEO of the Louisville Urban League, recently announced his impending retirement from that position. Mr. Richmond has served as president and CEO of the Louisville Urban League for nearly 30 years--since 1987.

Mr. Richmond is a civil rights champion who has led a venerable civil rights institution such as the Louisville Urban League to new heights. Under his tenure, the Louisville Urban League has promoted job training and education for many in Louisville's African-American community. His body of work is so outstanding that in 2007 he received from the city the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom Award, a recognition for a local activist who is dedicated to King's principles and who has promoted peace, equality, and justice.

Since Mr. Richmond took over the Louisville Urban League, the staff has grown from around 20 to 30 and the annual budget grown from under $1 million to around $3.3 million. Mr. Richmond is the driving force for fundraising for the budget.

The Louisville Urban League placed more than 200 people in jobs last year with a combined annual income of nearly $5 million. It helped about 1,000 prepare for finding employment through career expos, job training, referrals, and career counseling. It also has many programs to help youth and seniors.

The Louisville Urban League is nearly halfway towards realizing their goal of seeing 15,000 local African Americans earn college degrees between 2012 and 2020. Mr. Richmond oversaw the Louisville Urban League's move to a new headquarters in 1990. And under Mr. Richmond's tenure, the Louisville Urban League was just one of 13 Urban League affiliates nationwide to receive a top score in a self-audit required by the National Urban League.

I should add my interest in the Urban League is personal--my father once served on the board of the Louisville Urban League. I believe he knew Ben Richmond. We are lucky, that after his retirement, Mr. Richmond plans on staying in Louisville. Our city can continue to benefit from his wisdom and experience.

I want to wish my good friend Mr. Ben Richmond all the best in retirement, and I ask my Senate colleagues to join me in congratulating Ben for his successful tenure at the helm of the Louisville Urban League. The city of Louisville and the State of Kentucky have certainly benefitted immeasurably by his many efforts over the decades.

The Louisville Courier-Journal newspaper recently published an article extolling Mr. Ben Richmond's many accomplishments. I ask unanimous consent that said article be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, today the Senate will resume consideration of the Keystone bill. This is the third week of floor consideration for this bipartisan jobs and infrastructure measure. Senators from both sides have been able to offer amendments and get their ideas voted on. I know Chairman Murkowski is here, and she is working with colleagues to get their amendments in the queue. It is now time to get through the remaining amendments and to vote up or down on passage of the bill.

Mr. President, the Keystone jobs bill is a bipartisan infrastructure project the American people deserve, so the vote last night to filibuster was certainly disappointing. The Keystone jobs bill has been considered and reported out of the energy committee. It has been subject to weeks of open debate. Senators on both sides have been able to offer and vote on amendments--two dozen so far and counting. Our Democratic friends have had more amendments considered on this bill than Republicans, more amendments than all of last year combined.

Just a few days ago we offered our friends the opportunity to have even more of their amendments voted on. Unfortunately, they rejected that offer. So today I am asking them to reconsider, join us, and work with the bill managers, Senator Murkowski and Senator Cantwell. Let's get your amendments processed, and let's make progress for the American people.

Mr. President, I wish to congratulate our new colleague from Alaska on his initial address to the Senate and just comment that it could not be more timely, as his State is obviously under assault by this administration. His prescription for the way forward, both for Alaska and America, strikes me as entirely appropriate for our country, and I congratulate our colleague.

This weekend President Obama's Chief of Staff lamented that the Senate has taken several weeks to debate an infrastructure project, the Keystone jobs bill. I agree it is about time to bring the Keystone debate to a positive conclusion, and we will do that soon. We have had a lot of floor discussion. We have considered Democratic and Republican amendments. All in all, the last few weeks have been time well spent. The debate has been good for our country. But tonight is our chance to notch another win for the middle class by supporting cloture and then actually passing this bipartisan jobs bill.

We have heard rumors that some in the Democratic leadership are pressuring rank-and-file Democrats--even Democrats who cosponsored this bill--to block Keystone's jobs with a filibuster instead. This is really disappointing when you consider all that our friends on the other side have been saying about the filibuster for so many years.

What is most disappointing, though, is the apparent reasoning for the Keystone filibuster. The Democratic leadership is claiming that there haven't been enough opportunities to consider amendments. Yet nine current Senate Democrats voted for the Keystone project just a few weeks ago without having the opportunity to offer or debate even a single amendment. Nine current Senate Democrats just a couple of months ago voted for the Keystone project without having the opportunity to offer or debate even a single amendment.

This time around, the new Republican majority allowed more amendment rollcall votes on just this one bill--this one bill--than the previous leadership allowed on every single bill from last year combined. Altogether, there were more rollcall votes on this bill than we got on amendments on the Senate floor all of last year combined.

I would also note that a majority of amendments we have taken rollcall votes on were also offered by the minority, by the Democrats. We also offered our friends on the other side an opportunity to consider more amendments just a few days ago. They objected to it at the time. Even so, it is still my hope that we will be able to consider more amendments from both sides of the aisle. Instead of filibustering this bill or blocking their own amendments, which we experienced the other night, I am asking my Democratic friends to work with the bill manager, Senator Murkowski--who has done a fantastic job on this bill-- to get amendments lined up.

Let's keep up the positive momentum generated by a more open legislative process that actually clearly has benefited both parties. A Keystone filibuster cannot succeed without the support of Democrats who voted for a Keystone bill just a few weeks ago without any amendments-- any amendments--and who are cosponsoring the jobs bill today. I truly hope these Democrats won't vote to block Keystone jobs now just because a different party controls the Senate. The American people voted decisively against this type of partisan gridlock back in November. They want us to work together to get things done. Why don't we just continue to do that?

The debate over this bipartisan bill has already had so many positive effects on the Senate as an institution. It has shown Senators the benefits of a more open process, it has given a real voice to the minority, and it represents a decisive change from the broken Senate of recent years.

Here is how the assistant Democratic leader put it just a few days ago:

We are in a healthy environment on the floor of the Senate

where we are pursuing amendments and active debate.

It is ``great to see'' this happening, he said. I couldn't agree more. That is exactly the way we ought to operate.

I would urge the Senate not to fall into the old partisan habits. Let's keep working together. Let's cooperate to get this important infrastructure project over the finish line and onto the President's desk.

I am calling on all of my colleagues--especially the cosponsors of this bipartisan bill, especially those who have supported Keystone without any amendments in the past--to vote for jobs and progress tonight, not the kind

of gridlock American voters rejected so emphatically.

Madam President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I enter a motion to reconsider the cloture vote on the Murkowski substitute amendment No. 2.

Mr. President, I enter a motion to reconsider the cloture vote on S. 1, the Keystone XL Pipeline bill.