Floor Statements

Madam President, I rise today to honor a family of entrepreneurs who have been loyal and persistent in contributing to the economy of the Commonwealth, the Dick family of Science Hill, KY. The late brothers Arl and Carl Dick opened two separate general stores over 60 years ago which are still open for business and family operated today. In the midst of an economy where small businesses commonly struggle, it is inspiring that Kentucky's very own Pulaski County has two successful family-run businesses that have withstood the test of time.

The brothers Carl and Arl were Kentucky natives, but were living in Ohio when they decided to return to their Pulaski County roots and open a general store that would become a backbone in the local economy. At the beginning of 1952, there were a total of three general stores in the downtown area of Science Hill; one owned by local businessman Ed Gibson and the other two belonging to the Dick brothers. The stores were ahead of their time; they not only carried a full line of groceries but were supplied with items such as shoes, clothes, and hardware as well.

None of the three stores were necessarily in competition with each other because each store specialized in carrying a different supply of items. Carl's grandson James Dick, who grew up working in the family business, started out as a delivery boy. If a customer requested an item that a particular store did not have in stock, James would run from store to store to find the item and make sure it was delivered to the customer.

Carl's son Russell Dick remembers the generosity his father showed to customers on a daily basis. Carl initiated a local system of credit so farmers could obtain the items they needed with an agreement that they would pay for the items as soon as their crops were sold. Carl was also notorious for investing in the local economy. He would lend money to farmers who wished to purchase new farm equipment and entrepreneurs who were interested in starting local businesses, all of which was paid back to him in full.

For the past half century, the general stores of downtown Science Hill have provided a family atmosphere for customers and have established a reputation for caring about their community. Carl Dick's General Store--now run by Carl's son and daughter-in-law Russell and Hazel Thurman Dick--and Science Hill Market, now run by Arl's widow Ruth Elliot Dick, still value friendly, caring customer service above all else. This devotion to the local customer has led to the long- lasting success of this small Kentucky business in today's modern economy.

The Pulaski County-area publication the Commonwealth Journal recently published an article that illustrates the impact three generations of the Dick family and their businesses have made on the community of Science Hill. I ask unanimous consent that the full article be printed in the Record.

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

Mr. President, I wish to briefly discuss a trip I took recently to a country that for much of the past 50 years has ranked among the world's most isolated and oppressed by its own government. Many of us wondered if things would ever change in Burma, but after my recent visit I am pleased to say that change is clearly in the air. It appears that Burma has made some progress toward democracy in the past 6 months--made more than it has in the last decade. As one who has taken a strong interest in Burma for over 20 years and as the lead author in this Chamber of an annual sanctions bill aimed at encouraging the Burmese Government to reform, I can tell you this is welcome news.

On this trip I had the opportunity and privilege to meet with a woman who for over two decades has embodied the struggle for peace in her oppressed country. After Aung San Suu Kyi's political party won 80 percent of the vote in a free and fair election back in 1995, the Burmese military regime dismissed the results and kept her under house arrest for the last 22 years--most of the time for the last 22 years confined at home. Scores of other political reformers during that period were jailed or tortured, and the regime waged a brutal campaign against ethnic minorities, driving many of them out of their homes and into refugee camps. But by her courage and her patience that justice delayed would not be justice denied, Aung San Suu Kyi has kept the hope of freedom in her country alive. I have long admired her from afar. She once took a great risk to smuggle out of Burma a letter thanking me for my support, a letter I have proudly kept to this day. But never did I think I would get to meet the Nobel laureate in person. It was quite a moment.

Following an election in 2010 that was widely thought to be unfree and unfair, the new civilian government in Burma, to the surprise of many of us, has made undeniably positive steps toward reform. In addition to releasing Suu Kyi from house arrest, scores of other political prisoners have been freed. During my visit last week, I spoke with two who had just been released days before my arrival.

One of the longest standing armed conflicts in the world--the Burmese Government's campaign against the ethnic minority called the Karen--has apparently been brought to a close. Many Karen people who fled Burma now call Kentucky home. I had the chance to meet with many of them and other refugees from Burma, now resettled in Kentucky, at Louisville's Crescent Hill Baptist Church this past Saturday. I enjoyed meeting with those folks and was pleased to relay to them the same message I share with my colleagues today that change is indeed in the air in their country.

Because of all of these positive developments, I applaud Secretary Clinton's recent decision to exchange ambassadors with Burma for the first time in 20 years. Of course, the Government of Burma still has a substantial way to go

to achieve real and lasting reform. I would not support and I do not think the administration would support lifting the sanctions that have been imposed unless there is much further progress.

The next steps will be elections to fill 48 seats of the national parliament on April 1. Suu Kyi intends to run as the representative of the district with a significant Karen population. This election will give the new government an opportunity to hold the first free and fair elections in Burma since 1990. It also demonstrates the seriousness of its recent reform efforts. The government must also fully and peacefully reconcile with Burma's ethnic minorities. This is vital. Reports indicate that the military continues to engage in hostilities with the Kachin. That is certainly troubling. And questions about Burma's relationship with North Korea must be answered.

As the new government enacts reforms, we should respond with meaningful gestures of our own in the hopes of encouraging further positive developments from Burma's leaders. Reformers such as new President Thein Sein, whom I also met on my trip, are strengthened when they can show positive results. Steps such as exchanging ambassadors with the United States would enable them to do just that.

My trip to Burma has filled me with hope for its people, hope that they will one day be free to elect their own leaders and hope that every person regardless of the ethnic group can enjoy equal rights and full protection under the rule of law. It also reaffirmed for me that the desire to be free is absolutely universal and that the patient yet persistent leadership of one woman can make a tremendous difference.

These are indeed exciting times for all who care about the future of the people of Burma. I know that includes a great many of my colleagues here in the Senate. Burma has quite a long way to go, but it is certainly moving in the right direction.

Mr. President, a few weeks ago President Obama asked Congress to raise the Nation's debt ceiling. Today virtually every Republican in the Senate will oppose that request. Washington needs to start spending less than it takes in, and our future will be uncertain and our economy in danger as long as the President fails to lead on this crucial issue.

President Obama's record on the issue is absolutely clear. On the day he took office, the Nation's debt stood at $10.6 trillion. Today it is $15.2 trillion. More spending, more debt, fewer jobs--that is what we have gotten from this administration, and now they want to make it worse. But we should be working together to lower the debt, not having votes to increase it.

The President must be willing to face this crisis head-on. He must be willing to acknowledge how serious this issue is. Most Americans understand that we cannot keep spending money we do not have on programs we do not need. Unfortunately, the President does not seem to be one of those Americans. He has no plan to get this crisis under control, and he continues to act as if it really is not a priority. Has he noticed how that is working out for Europe?

Americans are worried and they are frustrated. Middle-class families are doing without. Why can't Washington? Well, we believe it can. So today Republicans will send a simple message to the White House: No more blank checks. Democrats have been in charge of the Senate and the White House for 3 years. They have had the time they need to figure this out. They have chosen the path of blame instead. They have had their chance. They have made it worse. We must do better.

Mr. President, I move to proceed to H.J. Res. 98.

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

Mr. President, tonight the President of the United States will come to the Capitol to give us his sense of the state of the Union. This is a venerable tradition, and we welcome him. Yet it is hard not to feel a sense of disappointment even before tonight's speech is delivered because while we do not yet know all the specifics, we do know the goal. Based on what the President's aides have been telling reporters, the goal is not to conquer the Nation's problems, it is to conquer Republicans. The goal is not to prevent gridlock but to guarantee it.

Here is how the New York Times summed up the President's election- year strategy in a recent article entitled ``Obama to Turn Up Attacks on Congress in Campaign.'' Here is the quote:

In terms of the president's relationship with Congress in

2012 . . . the president is no longer tied to Washington,

Mr. President, I will add, we do enjoy our sports discussions. Of course, I always have the ultimate trump, which is the University of Kentucky has won seven NCAA championships and the University of Louisville two. So my friend is always trying to catch up. And I would say that----

Only eight more to go. UNLV has a good team this year, probably not as good as Kentucky, maybe as good as Louisville, but it does give us an opportunity to catch up on each other's teams every day as we head to the floor.

Mr. President, let me start on a sort of sober note by saying we are all thinking of our colleague Mark Kirk. It is at moments such as these that we are all reminded of how fragile life is, and that there are far more important things in life than politics. So we send Mark and his family our prayers and our wishes for a speedy recovery.

I wish to begin my remarks today by simply stating the obvious: The jobs crisis we are in continues for millions of Americans. Many millions more are worried about the future. And Republicans are quite eager to work with the Democratic majority here in the Senate to jump-start our economy and set our Nation on an entirely different course than the one we have been on the last few years.

Let's be clear: The reason our economy has gotten worse and our future more uncertain has nothing to do with what Republicans in Congress will not do at some point in the future and everything to do with what this President has already done.

Americans are looking for an entirely new direction. It is one that focuses on growing the economy, not growing our Nation's debt.

So we are happy to work with the Democratic majority in the Senate to achieve these goals. But based on some of the news stories I have read over the last few weeks, it does not appear they are all that interested. Based on what I have read, it appears Democratic leaders right here in the Senate have gotten together with the White House

and mapped out a plan to actually guarantee gridlock for the rest of the year.

This is sort of a stunningly cynical strategy when you think about it. Millions of Americans cannot find work. The average length of unemployment is the longest it has ever been. Hundreds of thousands of Americans who had a job when this President took office have simply dropped out of the workforce. And yet the Washington Democrats' plan for this year is to sit on their hands and blame it on the other guy.

I certainly hope this was just a couple of overzealous staffers saying this. I hope our Democratic friends have not decided this is how they plan to spend the rest of this year. I hope they have not given up on governing in favor of campaigning and complaining because, to borrow a phrase, facing up to the economic crises we face cannot wait. Democrats in Congress cannot simply throw in the towel because they are no longer getting everything they want.

The fact is, Democrats got everything they wanted for 2 years--for 2 years after this President was elected. The American people decided to impose a little balance in the November 2010 election, and they are still waiting for this White House and Democratic leaders in Congress to work on a different approach. So it is about time we got started. President Obama's 3-year experiment with big government has made our economy worse and our future more uncertain. Americans want a government that is simpler, streamlined, and secure.

But we will not be able to achieve these things if Democrats refuse to even try, if they have decided to spend the next year on show votes and legislation that is designed for bus tours instead of bill signings.

The No. 1 issue facing our country is jobs, and the No. 1 goal of Republicans in 2012 is to continue to make it easier for American small business to create jobs. We will accomplish this by focusing on three things: fundamental tax reform, regulatory reform, and energy security. But we will surely fail if the Democratic majority in the Senate refuses to help.

So Republicans will continue to make the case for policies that will spark an economic revival and create new opportunities for struggling Americans, and we hope the Democrats will join us. Tomorrow, the President will come to the Capitol to tell us what he thinks about the state of our country and to outline his plans for the future. We welcome him. We look forward to his address. We stand ready to work with him as always on an agenda that will get our Nation moving again, not an agenda to divide, not a repackaging of the same ideas that have made our economy worse and our future more uncertain but a truly bipartisan agenda that gets us beyond past skirmishes and onto a different path entirely. There is much we can and should do together. Let us focus on that and put the rest aside.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the joint resolution be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the joint resolution be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I want to make just a few comments about the pipeline-payroll package that the majority leader and I have offered on which we will be voting shortly. It is not the bill I would have written. It falls short in several respects, in not having both certainty--the certainty issue is awfully important to the private sector if we are going to come out of this economic slowdown. But as the majority leader has indicated, our side approached this debate conscious of something Democrats in Washington tend to forget these days; that is, in order to achieve something around here, we have to compromise.

As the majority leader indicated, that is, in fact, what we have done. We have crafted a bill not designed to fail but designed to pass. The main thing Republicans were fighting for and got was the Keystone XL Pipeline provision authored by Senator Lugar and also Senator Hoeven, and Senator Johanns was particularly instrumental in working out the Nebraska aspects of this to the satisfaction of his Governor and his State legislature.

So why were Republicans fighting for the pipeline? We knew the whole reason we were even talking about temporary tax relief and extending unemployment benefits is because 3 years into this administration the private sector is still gasping, literally gasping for air. So we said let's also do something that would help create private sector jobs. Let's start to change the equation and do something that will actually get at the heart of the problem.

Keystone was an obvious choice. Everybody in Washington says they want more American jobs right now. Well, here is the single largest shovel-ready project in America. It is literally ready to go awaiting the permission of the President of the United States.

Some of the news outlets are calling this pipeline controversial. I have no idea why it could be called controversial. The labor unions like it, many Democrats want it, it strengthens our national security by decreasing the amount of oil we get from unfriendly countries, and it would not cost the taxpayers a dime--not a dime. It is a private sector project ready to go.

All we are doing is saying the President has 60 days to decide whether the project is in the national interest--60 days for the President to make a decision one way or the other. Since most of us have not heard a good reason from the White House as to why they would block it, I am very hopeful the President, in the course of this 60 days, will do the right thing for the country and get this crucial project underway.

The only thing standing between thousands of American workers and the good jobs this project will provide is a Presidential decision. As I said, I am hopeful and optimistic the President will make the right decision.

I thank my friend, the majority leader, for the opportunity to work together with him on something that could actually pass the Senate and be signed by the President.

I yield the floor.

I yield back.

Mr. President, today I cast my vote against H.R. 2055, the nine-bill appropriations measure. I opposed this package because the process put forward by the majority was woefully inadequate given the seriousness of the issues involved. Valuable legislative time was wasted this year on political messaging votes; time that could have been more properly devoted to the nuts and bolts of legislating. The full Senate, for example, was denied the opportunity to consider the Defense Appropriations bill at a time when our men and women in uniform are facing looming uncertainty over out-year funding.

Despite my overall opposition to this measure, I would note that there are several provisions that I am in favor of in this package. As always, I support funding for the brave members of our military and for our veterans. Indeed, I voted for the Senate version of the Military Construction/VA appropriations bill earlier this year and just a few days ago voted for the final version of the Defense Authorization bill. Among the other provisions I support are policy riders such as those that encourage a culture of life and that rein in government overreach.

In closing, it is unfortunate that the majority continues to operate as it has. I am hopeful that the majority's efforts in this regard do not presage further legislative shortcuts on matters of national importance in the second session of this Congress.