Floor Statements

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak as in morning business.

Mr. President, I have been fighting hard for a Wall Street reform bill that protects my State's families, holds Wall Street accountable, and includes a guarantee that American taxpayers will never again have to pay to bail out Wall Street or to clean up after big banks' messes. I am proud to say that, finally, after months of hard work, we are so close now to passing legislation that does exactly that.

This should not be a partisan issue. It should not be about right versus left or Republican versus Democrat. It should be about doing what is right for our families and small business owners in my State of Washington and across the country. It should be about who it is we choose to stand up for and who we think needs our support right now.

Some people have spent the last few months standing up for Wall Street and big banks, trying to water down this reform, and fighting against any changes that would prevent the big banks from going back to their ``bonus as usual'' mentality.

I have been proud to stand with so many others to fight against the Wall Street lobbyists and special interest groups and stand up for the families I represent in Washington--families who want us to pass strong reform that cannot be ignored or sidestepped in the future, who want us to end bailouts and make sure Wall Street is held accountable for cleaning up their own messes, and who want us to put into place strong consumer protections to make sure big banks can never again take advantage of our families, our students, or our seniors.

For most Americans, this debate is not complex; it is pretty simple. It is not about derivatives or credit default swaps; it is about fundamental fairness. It is about making sure that we have good commonsense rules that work for our families and our small business owners. It is about the person

who walks into a bank to sign up for a mortgage, or applies for a credit card, or starts planning their retirement. We want to make sure the rules are now on their side and not with the big banks on Wall Street.

For far too long the financial rules of the road have not favored the American people. Instead, they have favored big banks, credit card companies, and Wall Street. For too long, those people have abused the rules.

As we now approach this vote, I think it is important for all of us to be clear about who it is we are fighting for. I am fighting for people such as Devin Glaser, a school aide in Seattle, who told me that he had worked and saved his money and bought a condo before the recession began. He told me he put 20 percent down on a traditional mortgage and was making his payments. However, like a lot of people who found themselves underemployed as a result of this recession, Devin has been unable to find work for more than 25 hours a week. He told me he is now unable to pay his mortgage. He will be foreclosed on any day now.

I am also fighting for people such as Rob Hays, a Washington State student whose parents have put their retirement on hold and gone back to work in order to send him to school. A few short years ago, Rob's parents were in the process of selling their home and preparing to retire. But then the foreclosure crisis took hold and they could no longer find a buyer. As a result, they were forced to pay two mortgages with the money they had saved for Rob's school, and retirement was put on hold.

I am fighting for people such as Jude LaRene, a small business owner in Washington State, who told me that when the financial crisis hit, his line of credit was pulled. That forced him to lay off employees, go deep into debt on his personal credit card, and cut back on inventory-- despite the fact that his toy stores were more popular than ever.

I am fighting for people such as Devon and Rob and Jude because they are the ones being forced to pay the price now for Wall Street's greed and irresponsibility.

Whether it was gambling with borrowed money from our pension funds, making bets they could not cover, or peddling mortgages to people they knew could never pay, Wall Street made reckless choices that have devastated a lot of working families.

In my home State of Washington, Wall Street's mistakes cost us over 150,000 jobs. They cost average families thousands of dollars in lost income.

They cost small businesses the access to credit they need to expand and hire and, in many cases, caused them to close.

They cost workers their retirement accounts they were counting on to carry them through their golden years and students the college savings that would help launch their college careers.

They cost homeowners the value of their most important financial asset as neighborhoods have been decimated by foreclosures.

They cost our schoolteachers and our police officers and all of our communities. And they cost our workers, such as Devon, our students, such as Rob, and our small business owners, such as Jude.

We owe it to people like them all across the country to reform this system that puts Wall Street before Main Street. We owe it to them to put their families back in control of their own finances. We owe it to them to make sure the rules that protect families sitting around the dinner table at night, balancing their checkbooks and finding ways to save for the future, not those sitting around the board room table finding ways to increase profits at the expense of hard-working Americans. To do that, we have to pass this strong Wall Street reform legislation.

It is important for families to understand what this bill does and what exactly opponents of this legislation are fighting against.

This bill contains explicit language guaranteeing that taxpayers will never again be responsible for bailing out Wall Street. It creates a brandnew Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that will protect our consumers from big bank ripoffs, end unfair fees, curb out-of-control credit card and mortgage rates, and be a new cop on the beat to safeguard consumers and protect their families.

It puts in place new restrictions for small businesses from unfair transaction fees that are imposed by credit card companies. It enforces limitations on excessive compensation for Wall Street executives. And it offers new tools to promote financial literacy and make sure our families have the knowledge to protect themselves and take personal responsibility for their finances.

I have heard so many stories from people across Washington State who have scrimped and saved and made the best with what they had but were devastated, through no fault of their own--people who played by the rules but who are now paying the price for those on Wall Street who did not. These are the people for whom we have to stand up, the people whose Main Street values I and so many others fight for every day.

With all of the new protections and reforms this bill contains for families and small businesses, one has to ask: Who are the opponents fighting for and who are they standing up to protect?

I grew up working at my dad's five-and-dime store on Main Street in Bothell, WA--actually on Main Street. Like a lot of people in the country, Main Street is where I got my values. I was taught by my dad that the product of your work was not just about the dollars in the till at the end of the day. I learned that a good transaction was one that was good for your business and good for your customer. I learned that strong customer service and lasting relationships often made your business much stronger; that personal responsibility meant owning up to your mistakes and making them right. I learned that one business relied on all the others on the same street.

I was taught that customers were not prey and businesses were not predators, and that an honest business was a successful one.

It is time for us to bring those Main Street values back to our financial system, to bring back an approach that puts Main Street and families over Wall Street and profits; that protects consumers, holds big banks accountable for their actions, and makes sure people such as Devon and Rob and Jude are never again forced to bear the burden for big banks' mistakes.

I urge my colleagues today to stand with us against the status quo and for this strong Wall Street reform bill that families and small businesses in Washington State and across the country desperately need.

Mr. President, I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, today I am joined with my colleague, Senator Cantwell, to recognize the employees of Aerojet- General Corporation's Redmond, WA, research, development and production facility. Aerojet-Redmond has recently been selected by the United Space Alliance to receive the Space Flight Awareness Supplier Award for Aerojet's sustained superior performance as a key supplier on NASA's space shuttle program over the course of nearly 30 years. This most significant achievement will be commemorated with a presentation from United Space Alliance and celebration ceremony held at Aerojet's facility in Redmond, WA, on Thursday, July 8, 2010.

Aerojet is a world-recognized aerospace and defense leader principally serving the space and missile propulsion, defense and armaments markets. Aerojet Redmond propulsion has been on every NASA manned space flight mission and has enabled the United States to visit every planet in the solar system. The Space Flight Awareness Supplier Award is a very prestigious award bestowed upon United Space Alliance supplier companies--from among over 2,000 active suppliers located throughout the United States--that have performed extraordinary work that added to safety, mission success, schedule compliance, and enhanced flight capability. Aerojet's Redmond Operations will be only the 21st company to receive this highly selective award.

Aerojet-Redmond is the world leader in the in-space propulsion market and as such is the manufacturer of the 38 primary and 6 vernier reaction control thrusters used on every space shuttle mission. The shuttle's reaction control system is used to position the space shuttle during flight operations such as payload insertions and International Space Station docking.

On the occasion of this most significant milestone, Senator Cantwell and

I are proud to join together and lend our voices to congratulate and honor the more than 425 Aerojet workers in Redmond, WA, on a job well- done. You have served our State and our Nation admirably for more than 40 years.

Madam President, I thank the Republican leader.

I came to the floor last week and spoke in support of S. 1237, which is the Homeless Veterans and Other Veterans Health Care Authorities Act of 2010, an extremely important and timely bill that will help many women, women with children, and men with children today who served our country, who have come home and do not have the support and services they need and end up homeless on our streets. So I come to the Senate floor today to urge our colleagues to pass this bill quickly.

I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 360, S. 1237, the Homeless Veterans and Other Veterans Health Care Authorities Act; that the committee-reported substitute amendment be considered; that an Akaka amendment, which is at the desk, be agreed to; the substitute amendment, as amended, be agreed to; the bill, as amended, be read a third time and passed; that the committee-reported title amendment be agreed to; and that the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate.

Madam President, I again thank the Republican leader. I know he is objecting on behalf of another Senator. I just wish to say that this is such an important bill.

We had an amazing woman come and visit last week. Her name is Natalie, and she has two young children. She is living in Issaquah, in my home State of Washington. She has been through some very tough times. She is a Navy veteran. She is a single mom. She came home from serving our country and ended up without a place to live, and they are now living on the streets. She, like any mom, wanted to do everything she could to take care of her kids and provide them the kind of quality of life every one of us does, but she could not find a stable job or income and ended up on the streets.

Natalie became homeless in 2007 when she could not find work and had to move out of the house she was staying in.

Natalie wanted nothing more than to provide her two children with the stable and loving home every family deserves, so she fought to secure transitional housing, and she was very fortunate to find a program called Hopelink in Washington State that gave her the support she needed to get back on her feet.

Natalie is now back in stable housing, taking care of her children and advancing in her nursing career. She came to Washington, DC, last Tuesday to help make sure no other family has to face the challenges she overcame so bravely.

Unfortunately, not every family gets the support that Natalie's did.

Homeless women veterans and homeless veterans with children are two terribly vulnerable groups that are growing by the day.

Back in my home State of Washington, veterans service organizations and homeless providers have told me they are seeing more homeless veterans coming for help than ever before.

And unfortunately, more and more of these veterans are women, have young children, or both.

In fact, female veterans are between two and four times as likely to be homeless as their civilian counterparts and they have unique needs and often require specialized services.

That is why I introduced the Homeless Women Veterans and Homeless Veterans with Children Act and it is why it's so important that we move quickly to pass it.

My bill would take three big steps forward toward tackling the serious problems facing this vulnerable group.

First of all, it would make more front-line homeless service providers eligible to receive special needs grants.

This would help organizations in Washington State and across the country help support families like Natalie's.

It would also expand special needs grants to cover homeless male veterans with children as well as the dependents of homeless veterans themselves.

And it would extend the Department of Labor's Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program to provide: workforce training, job counseling, child care services, and placement services to homeless women veterans and homeless veterans with children,

It is so important that we not just provide immediate support but we also make sure our veterans have the resources and support they need to get back on their feet.

This is a very personal issue for me.

Growing up, I saw firsthand the many ways military service can affect both veterans and their families.

My father served in World War II and was among the first soldiers to land on Okinawa. He came home as a disabled veteran and was awarded the Purple Heart.

Like many soldiers of his generation, my father did not talk about his experiences during the war. In fact, we only really learned about them by reading his journals after he passed away.

And I think that experience offers a larger lesson about veterans in general. They are reluctant to call attention to their service, and they are reluctant to ask for help.

That is why we have got to publicly recognize their sacrifices and contributions.

It is up to us to make sure that they get the recognition they have earned.

And it is up to us to guarantee they get the services and support they deserve.

This bill passed through the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee with strong bi-partisan support.

Because supporting our veterans should not be about politics, it should be about what kind of country we want the United States to be. And about what our priorities are as a nation.

That is why I am proud to stand here today: for Natalie, her children, and families just like hers across the country.

At this time, with our economy struggling--it is a very tough time, particularly for our veterans who are returning home--the most vulnerable population today is our women because many of the transitional housing and projects for our veterans don't have facilities for women or for women with children or, as a matter of fact, for men who are veterans coming home to young children.

So this is an extremely important piece of legislation. This had bipartisan support coming out of our committee. I will keep coming to the floor to ask for unanimous consent because I cannot go home and look at someone who served our country with distinction and honor who today is living on the street because the Senate is objecting. I will just let my colleagues know I will keep working on this because it is the right thing to do.

Madam President, I come to the floor this morning to pay my respects to a most amazing man who the Senate Chamber has lost, Senator Robert C. Byrd. It certainly is a sad day for the Senate, for all the people of West Virginia who loved this man so much, and for the entire country, as we mourn the loss of the Nation's longest serving Senator.

Robert C. Byrd was a historian, a poet, and he truly was a master of the Senate. We have heard a lot about this remarkable man. A lot of it bears repeating today. He was the longest serving Member in the history of this institution. He had courage. He had humility. He had intelligence. He had a vision that helped lead the Senate for many years. But he also showed us that one can change over time and admit their wrongs and move on and fight for what they believe is right.

His principled stands are what I will remember most about him. I was so proud, back in 2002, to stand with him and a total of 23 Senators who voted against the Iraq war. I will not forget how strong he was, reminding us that as a country we do not have to act out of fear. I was proud to stand with him many times since then, when he would knowingly wink at me and remind us of the 23 who stood tall in the Chamber that day.

His floor speeches were legendary. I remember so many times throughout my tenure with him as he railed on the floor about whatever passion he had at the moment, whether it was his little dog he would tell us a story about or some part of history he wanted to remind us of, always with a point at the end. I remember his compassion as he spoke, and his flailing arms. He always reminded us that we are human beings here. He had a true way with words, and he literally wrote the book on the Senate. Most importantly, he protected this institution from every attack.

To his very last days here he was weighing in on proposed changes to the filibuster rule, a rule he played a central part in reforming three decades ago.

But the true honor of serving with Senator Byrd came from his personal touch. I personally so remember my very first meeting many years ago with Senator Byrd. I came here as a brandnew Senator in 1993. I wanted to serve on the Appropriations Committee, the committee he chaired. It is a very powerful committee. It was a big ask for a freshman Senator coming in. I was told that in order to get that seat, I would have to call him up and ask for a personal meeting. That was pretty intimidating, coming here brandnew and asking for a meeting with the chair of the entire Appropriations Committee.

He granted the meeting. I remember walking over to the Capitol to his office and not knowing what to expect. I couldn't have known what to expect because, when I walked in, I found this warm, wonderful, cordial human being. He regaled me with stories from his youth and talked about being a coal miner's son and the poverty he grew up in. He showed me his fiddle he was so proud of but that he played no more. He told me poetry he recited from memory. I remember sitting in his office and thinking: I can't believe I am sitting here with a part of history. Then, of course, he grilled me on my stance on the balanced budget amendment and the line item veto before he said: Yes, I would like you to serve on my committee.

I have been so proud to serve on that committee with him ever since. He taught me so much about protocol, about managing legislation, about the rules of the Senate, about respect. Yes, respect was what I think I learned from him most. He was a taskmaster. He believed passionately in the rules of the Senate, but he also believed in working together for the common good.

In the first year I was here, Senator Hatfield, Republican from Oregon, and Senator Byrd were the chair and ranking member on the Appropriations Committee. Senator Byrd called and asked me to come to lunch in his office with a small group of Senators, with Senator Hatfield and myself and several Democrats and Republicans. I was so honored to be asked, and I came over not knowing what to expect. Senator Byrd and Senator Hatfield, a Republican and Democrat, a chair and a ranking member of the most powerful committee, the Appropriations Committee, sat and talked to us about what they felt was being lost from the Senate and that, as new Members, it was our responsibility to return the Senate to. That was respect and listening to each other. They told us in words about how ``one year I might be chair,'' said Senator Byrd, ``but I know full well an election will change things and Senator Hatfield will become chair. So we better work together, and we better respect each other, as we put our bills together. Because you never know when you are going to be in the minority or the majority.''

Their words were powerful. But even more powerful was sitting there listening to these two gentlemen, a Republican and Democrat, listen to each other, laugh together, have lunch together, and pass on a lesson to those following us about what we all need to be when we call ourselves United States Senators.

Senator Byrd earned many titles over the years: majority whip, majority leader, chairman of the Appropriations Committee. But I know the title he cherished the most was husband. His love of his family trumped everything else.

I so remember one time my husband, who lives out in the State of Washington--as my colleagues know, I travel home every weekend to be with my family--one weekend my husband came out here to be with me. Why? Because it was our anniversary. I was going to be here voting so he traveled here from Washington State and came into the Capitol. As he was coming in, I met him. Senator Byrd happened to be leaving the Senate Chamber. He saw my husband and he welcomed him and said: What are you doing out here in the other Washington? My husband said: It is our anniversary. Senator Byrd said: Well, which anniversary is it?

Rob said to him: It is our thirty-second. Senator Byrd paused and nodded, and he said: That is a good start.

He had been married for 67 years. He was going home to be with his wife. That is a moment I will cherish, because it sets in perspective all that I know about Senator Byrd. He taught by example. He taught by words. He knew humor and how to use it. But most of all, he had respect for every one of us here.

He was a gentleman. He certainly was tough. But he treated everyone with dignity and respect. Everyone here on this floor has been molded by his presence. We have learned so much from him, and he will be missed.

But I know for certain his work and his passion and his spirit will never be gone from this Senate he loved so much, and I know as I walk on this Senate floor, I will try and remember, as he taught me so well, respect of others above all.

Madam President, I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I rise to express my disappointment that we have gotten to this point on this very important piece of legislation that is before us, the tax extenders bill, the jobs package we have been trying to get passed. We have worked very hard to put together a bill that will provide much needed help to families and communities across the country. It is a bill that will make sure our recovery is not jeopardized. It is a bill that would extend tax credits to individuals and small businesses that both of our parties think are important. It provides incentives for clean energy companies to expand and create jobs at a time when we need them. It allows families in States such as mine to deduct local sales tax from their Federal returns, an important boost to the economy. It provides critical support for States that are struggling today to provide health care for their families in these very tough economic times. And it will extend unemployment benefits to support those in our communities who,

through no fault of their own, have lost a job and now, as the economy is getting back on track, need support for a few months longer so they can get a job and go back to work. It is a commonsense bill to help our economy get back on track. When we originally brought this bill to the floor, every single Republican said no to supporting our communities. Instead of walking away on this side, instead of furthering their goal of partisan gridlock, we extended a hand to our minority colleagues and worked with them. We trimmed sections they wanted trimmed. We reduced the support we thought was important for our families, but we reduced it in order to get their support and brought it back to the floor again. But once again, they said no to American families. So we went back and a third time trimmed it back even further. We did exactly what they asked us to do.

Now I am saying to our Republican colleagues, it is time to stop saying no. It is time to stop saying no to clean energy companies in my home State and across the country that depend on these tax credits to stay competitive. It is time to say stop saying no to the thousands of police officers and corrections officers and so many others who will lose their jobs in my home State and everywhere if this bill does not pass and our State has to further slash its budget. It is time to stop saying no to the men and women across the country who are desperately trying to find work today but need a little more help to keep their heads above water in these tough economic times. It is time to stop saying no to middle-class families across Washington State who depend on that sales tax deduction that would be extended in this underlying bill to help. They will be out hundreds of millions of dollars if this bill continues to be blocked.

We have tried very hard. Senator Baucus, chairman of the Finance Committee, deserves our gratitude for reaching across the aisle time and time again to work with the other side. We have compromised, and then we compromised again and then again. It is disheartening that the other side has refused to work with us. I say enough already. I go back home to Washington State every weekend. I talk to my constituents. I try to explain what we are doing here in Washington, DC. To be honest, I am having a heck of a lot of trouble explaining why when big banks and Wall Street were on the brink of failure and threatening to blow up our economy, Republicans immediately came together with us to help step us back from the brink. But now that Wall Street is fine, regular families and communities are continuing to struggle, those same Republicans are nowhere to be found. I don't have an answer for the families at home who ask me about this. Quite honestly, I don't get it myself. Because the fact is, we have had put together a bill that is fully paid for with the exception of unemployment benefits, that is a direct stimulus to the economy, that has been passed as emergency spending time and time again under both Democratic and Republican control, because that is exactly what it is. We have done all we can. If those on the other side say no again, it is pretty clear to me they are putting their interests before the interests of our hard-working families who are struggling today.

I know in the State of the Presiding Officer and in my State families are hurting. They are fighting every day to stay on their feet. I am not going to stop fighting to be on their side. There is a tremendous lot at stake in this bill.

I urge all of my colleagues to follow our example and put families and communities and States above partisan politics and goals and work with us to pass this bill so hundreds and thousands of American families can wake up tomorrow and know the Senate was on their side.

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

Mr. President, I rise today in support of S. 1237, the Homeless Veterans and Other Veterans Health Care Authorities Act of 2010.

I just had the opportunity to meet with an amazing woman named Natalie and her two children who are actually here in Washington right now.

Natalie is currently living in Issaquah in my home State of Washington--but she has been through some tough times over the past few years.

She is a Navy veteran and a single mom. But she became homeless in 2007 when she couldn't find work and had to move out of the house she was staying in.

Like most moms, Natalie wanted nothing more than to provide her two children with the stable and loving home every family deserves--so she fought to secure transitional housing, and she was very fortunate to find a program called Hopelink in Washington State that gave her the support she needed to get back on her feet.

Natalie is now back in stable housing, taking care of her children, and advancing in her nursing career--and she is here in Washington, DC, today to help make sure no other family has to face the challenges she overcame so bravely.

Unfortunately, not every family gets the support that Natalie's did.

Homeless women veterans and homeless veterans with children are two terribly vulnerable groups that are growing by the day.

Back in my home State of Washington, veterans service organizations and homeless providers have told me they are seeing more homeless veterans coming for help than ever before.

And, unfortunately, more and more of these veterans are women, have young children, or both.

In fact, female veterans are between two and four times as likely to be homeless than their civilian counterpart and they have unique needs and often require specialized services.

That is why I introduced the Homeless Women Veterans and Homeless Veterans with Children Act with Senator Jack Reed and Senator Tim Johnson.

This legislation would take three big steps forward toward tackling the serious problems facing this vulnerable group.

First of all, it would make more front-line homeless service providers eligible to receive special needs grants.

This would help organizations in Washington State and across the country help support families like Natalie's.

It would also expand special needs grants to cover homeless male veterans with children, as well as the dependents of homeless veterans themselves.

And it would extend the Department of Labor's Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program to provide workforce training, job counseling, child care services and placement services to homeless women veterans and homeless veterans with children.

It is so important that we not just provide immediate support--but that we also make sure our veterans have the resources and support they need to get back on their feet.

In addition to helping homeless veterans, S. 1237 also includes a number of other provisions aimed at supporting our nation's heroes.

It extends eligibility to health care for certain veterans with disabilities who served in the Persian Gulf war.

It would establish a medical center report card to allow veterans and their families access to transparent performance comparisons between VA facilities and between VA and non-VA sites.

And it would direct the VA to enable State veterans' homes to admit parents who had a child die while serving in the Armed Forces.

This is a very personal issue for me.

Growing up, I saw firsthand the many ways military service can affect both veterans and their families.

My dad served in World War II and was among the first soldiers to land on Okinawa. He came home as a disabled veteran and was awarded the Purple Heart.

Like many soldiers of his generation, my father didn't talk about his experiences during the war. In fact, we only really learned about them by reading his journals after he passed away.

And I think that experience offers a larger lesson about veterans in general. They are reluctant to call attention to their service, and they are reluctant to ask for help.

That is why we have to publicly recognize their sacrifices and contributions.

It is up to us to make sure that they get the recognition they have earned.

And it is up to us to guarantee that they get the services and support they deserve.

This bill passed through the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee with strong bipartisan support, and that is how it should be, because supporting our veterans shouldn't be about politics--it should be about what kind of country we want the United States to be and about what our priorities are as a nation.

In his second inaugural address in 1865, President Lincoln said our Nation had an obligation to ``care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow, and his orphan.''

Now, in 2010, I believe we not only need to care for him--we need to care for her and for his and her families and for every man and woman coming home after serving our country so bravely.

That is why I am proud to stand here today for Natalie, her children, and families just like hers across the country--to urge my colleagues to support S. 1237, the Homeless Veterans and Other Veterans Health Care Authorities Act of 2010.

I hope we can pass this expeditiously off the floor and get these services out to the men and women who have served us all so well.

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

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Armed Services be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on June 22, 2010, at 9:30 a.m.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on

June 22, 2010, at 2:30 p.m. in room 253 of the Russell Senate Office Building.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on June 22, 2010, at 10 a.m., in room SD-366 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Foreign Relations be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on June 22, 2010, at 9:30 a.m., to hold a hearing entitled ``Iran Policy in the Aftermath of United Nations Sanctions.''

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate to conduct a hearing entitled ``The ADA and Olmstead Enforcement: Ensuring Community Opportunities for Individuals with Disabilities'' on June 22, 2010. The hearing will commence at 2:30 p.m. in room 430 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Select Committee on Intelligence be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on June 22, 2010 at 2:30 p.m.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Subcommittee on Superfund, Toxics, and Environmental Health of the Committee on Environment and Public Works be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on June 22, 2010, at 2:30 p.m. in room 406 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

Madam President, as we close in now on 2 months since the deep water explosion that set off the gulf oilspill, the toll of this disaster is continuing to mount--from the oil-soaked pelicans we see on the front cover of each newspaper everyday, to the tar balls that dot a previously pristine coastline, to the closed fishing grounds and half-empty hotels. The human impact is felt in Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida, throughout the gulf coast region. This disaster has reached into our economy, our environment, and the way we see our energy future. But there is one place it also threatens to reach and that is into our pocketbooks.

When it comes to BP's promises to cover all the costs associated with this disaster, I am sorry but I am not ready to take them for their word. That is because as a Senator from the Pacific Northwest, Washington State, I have seen firsthand what happens when big oil is allowed to make promises and not required to take action. When the Exxon Valdez oilspill happened in 1989--I remember it so well--that company assured the public that the economic and environmental damage would be paid for. Then I remember them fighting tooth and nail all the way to the Supreme Court, to deny fishermen and families from my home State the compensation they were due.

So I am not impressed by BP's promises and I am not ready to take the word of a company with a track record of pursuing profit over safety. Instead, I believe it is time for us to answer some very fundamental questions, such as who should be responsible to clean this up? Who is going to bear the burden of big oil's mistake? Should it be the taxpayers or families and small business owners who paid such a high price already or should it be the companies that are responsible for this spill, including BP, which, by the way, is a company that made a $6.1 billion profit in the first 3 months of this year alone?

I cosponsored the Big Oil Bailout Prevention Act because the answer is clear. I believe BP needs to be held accountable for the environmental and economic damages of this spill and I am going to fight to make sure our taxpayers do not wind up losing a single dime to pay for this mess. To me, it is an issue of fairness. If an oil company causes a spill, they should be the one to clean it up, not our taxpayers. This bill eliminates the current $75 million cap on oil company liability so taxpayers will never be left holding the bag for big oil's mistakes. This is straightforward, common sense, and fair.

I have to say, I am extremely disappointed that this commonsense bill continues to be blocked by the Republicans every time we have tried to bring it up. But I want everyone to know I am going to keep fighting for the Big Oil Bailout Prevention Act until we get it passed.

That alone is not enough in response. This week I also signed on to a letter to BP's CEO, asking them to back up the promises they are making to pay with action by requiring them to set up a $20 billion fund to begin covering the damages we will see.

It is also why I am working to make sure this never happens in any other part of our country. I have always been opposed to drilling off the coast of my

home State of Washington and this tragedy is just one more painful reminder of the potential consequences of opening the west coast to drilling. The economic and environmental devastation caused by the Exxon Valdez disaster is still impacting people and families and businesses in my State. Washington State's coastal region supports over 150,000 jobs and it generates almost $10 billion in economic activity-- all of which would be threatened if drilling were allowed to happen off our west coat.

I am going to keep fighting for legislation that bans drilling off the west coast and makes sure big oil companies are never allowed to roll the dice with Washington State's economy and environment.

We need to hold big oil accountable. We need to make sure that disasters such as this never happen again. We also need to remember the workers who were killed and injured in this horrific tragedy. We cannot forget that this is an issue that is larger than this one tragedy. The entire oil and gas industry has a deplorable record of worker and workplace safety. We have to make sure that every worker is treated properly and protected, and that companies that mistreat their workers are held accountable.

We know the oil industry is able to operate under stricter safety standards and regulations because they are already doing that--in Europe, in Australia, and even in Contra Costa County in California, where that county has a set of stricter guidelines that have reduced their injuries and fatality rates for their workers.

But we also know worker safety should not be measured just by injury rates. We should be working at reducing the dangerous conditions that exist such as fires and hazardous spills and release of toxic gases. When accidents do happen, we have to record them, learn from them, and build on a program to prevent them from ever happening again. We have to make sure our workers are treated with respect and their rights are protected. Like a lot of people, I was appalled last week to read reports in the Washington Post about BP's history of worker safety violations and numerous reports of worker intimidation. No workers should ever believe that reporting safety violations could endanger their job and no company should ever pursue its bottom line in a way that endangers its workers.

The Senate deserves answers from BP on worker safety conditions and how suppressing worker complaints could have contributed, actually, to this disaster. So I was extremely disappointed last week when I held a hearing in my subcommittee to examine worker safety issues in the oil and gas industry and representatives of BP failed to show up--failed to even show up.

Workers everywhere have to feel confident that their employers are putting their safety first and companies that betray that trust have to be held accountable. I am going to keep working to make sure that happens. I look forward to having future hearings that I hope BP will come to in the coming weeks so we can get to the bottom of this. Meanwhile, I am going to continue fighting to keep drilling away from the Washington State coastline and I am going to keep pushing to make sure our taxpayers do not have to pay for the mistakes big oil makes.

I yield the floor.

Madam President, I am delighted to be here today to welcome our guest Chaplain, Dr. Joseph Castleberry, to the Senate. Dr. Castleberry is president of Northwest University in Kirkland, a town not far from where I grew up in Bothell, WA.

Northwest is a Christian university comprised of six schools and colleges, including arts and sciences, business education, nursing, social and behavioral sciences, and ministry. The university offers about 50 undergraduate programs, eight master's degree programs, and a doctor of psychology program.

The school prides itself on its three core values of spiritual vitality, academic excellence, and empowered engagement.

Dr. Castleberry is an ordained minister in the Assemblies of God, the university's sponsoring denomination. His distinguished career has focused on both faith and education. He earned a bachelor of arts degree from Evangel University in 1983, a master of divinity degree from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1988, and a doctor of education degree in international educational development from Teachers College, Columbia University, in 1999.

In addition to that impressive background, Dr. Castleberry has a wide array of experience as a missionary, educator, and pastor. For over two decades, in fact, he served communities throughout Central and South America where he was involved in education, church planning, and community development.

Dr. Castleberry is the founder of the Freedom Valley Project. It is a community development ministry among African-American people of Ecuador's Chota Valley region. He is active in a number of academic and cultural programs devoted to furthering interreligious understanding and dialog.

Dr. Castleberry and his wife Kathleen have three daughters--Jessica, Jodie, and Sophie. I was also very amazed to learn that he speaks a remarkable 10 languages.

I am very pleased Dr. Castleberry could join us in the Senate today. I thank him for his service to the students and faculty at Northwest University, as well as his dedication to helping communities around the world.

I also thank Senate Chaplain Dr. Black for inviting Dr. Castleberry to deliver the opening prayer for the Senate this morning.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I rise today to express my strong opposition to the resolution before us that would block the EPA from regulating greenhouse gas emissions and protecting our families and the environment.

This resolution is not based on science, and I feel strongly it would be a step in the wrong direction for our country. We know greenhouse gas emissions are dangerous for our environment and to our families' health.

The science on this issue is clear, and it is something people in my home State of Washington take very seriously. Climate change would wreak havoc on much of what our families treasure--our forests, our coastlines, our salmon habitats, and our farmland.

The debate we should be having today ought to be how we move forward on that issue, not how to obstruct and stall and maintain the status quo. What we should be discussing is how to pass a comprehensive climate and energy bill that would reduce our dependence on foreign oil, support our national security objectives, and unshackle this economy; that would tap the creative energy of our Nation's workers and create millions of good, family-wage jobs here in this country and make sure our workers continue leading the way in the 21st-century economy.

I know there are several proposals that have been put on the table on this issue, but we can't just simply block EPA's endangerment findings and expect our greenhouse gas emission problem to resolve itself. I know there are industries that have concerns about being regulated. I understand they would prefer a legislative solution. I would too. But we have to keep moving forward so we can address this critical issue, and blocking the EPA's endangerment finding is a step backward toward the failed environmental policies of the past.

The law on this is clear. The Supreme Court has ruled that the EPA has the authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. A lengthy process was conducted to determine this endangerment finding, and the public, as well as the business community, has been fully engaged throughout. In fact, as has been said, the auto industry opposes this resolution because it would put them right back into a state of regulatory uncertainty.

If we look at vehicles alone, the national clean car standards as proposed under the Clean Air Act will cut carbon pollution from vehicles by 30 percent. In my home State, the transportation sector accounts for more than 50 percent of greenhouse gas emissions. And increased fuel efficiency standards will save our families money at the pump and it will cut demand for oil by an estimated 450 million barrels over the life of this program. All of that is threatened by this resolution.

It is especially disappointing to see this on the floor while images of oil gushing into the Gulf of Mexico and devastating the local environment and economy continue to be shown on every news channel in this Nation.

The resolution we are debating today is going to take us back to the failed old policies that have made us more and more dependent on oil. If the big oil companies and their lobbyists get their way on this vote, our families will continue to spend more on fuel, and it will be a lot harder for our economy to make the shift to cleaner and more efficient sources of energy.

The longer we put off dealing with greenhouse gas emissions, the more it

will cost our economy, our environment, and our health. So I strongly oppose this resolution that prioritizes big oil companies over our families and our small business owners. I hope that after this, we can work together to find real solutions.

Mr. President, I yield the floor.

Madam President, I move to reconsider the vote.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak as in morning business for 10 minutes.

Mr. President, I come to the floor today to strongly support the legislation called the Big Oil Bailout Prevention Act. With all we have seen in the gulf coast over the past several weeks, I have to say I am more committed than ever in moving forward on three fronts to protect our taxpayers, our families, and all of our workers across the country.

First of all, I am going to keep working to hold BP accountable and make sure taxpayers in Washington State and across the country are not left holding the bag for this devastation. This is exactly what the Big Oil Bailout Prevention Act is going to do.

Secondly, I am going to fight to guarantee that what we are seeing in the gulf coast is never allowed to happen on the west coast.

Third, I am going to make sure BP, Transocean, and all industry owners and operators are doing everything possible to protect their workers and make sure tragedies like this do not ever happen again. Here are the facts:

On April 20, 2010, there was a massive blowout and explosion on a BP oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico. Eleven workers are still missing and presumed dead, and 17 more were injured. That explosion caused a gushing spill that has now poured hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil into the gulf and threatens still to spill millions more. It has, as we all know, created an environmental and economic tragedy the magnitude of which we are only just beginning to comprehend.

It is threatening entire communities and industry, and now the oil and chemical dispersants that are being sprayed into the gulf have the potential to kill underwater wildlife and create underwater ``dead zones'' for decades to come.

Those are the facts. Now, the questions are: Who should be responsible for this cleanup? Who should bear the burden for big oil's mistakes? Should it be the taxpayers, families, and small business owners who are already being asked to bear so much today or should it be the companies responsible for this spill, including BP--a company, by the way, that made $6.1 billion in profit in the first 3 months of 2010 alone.

I cosponsored the Big Oil Bailout Prevention Act because, to me, the answer is pretty clear: I believe BP needs to be held accountable for the environmental and economic damage of this spill. I am going to fight to make sure taxpayers do not end up losing a single dime to pay for the mess this big oil company created.

To me, this is an issue of fundamental fairness. If an oil company causes a spill, they should be the one to clean it up and pay for it-- not taxpayers. This bill I am talking about this evening eliminates the current $75 million cap on oil company liability so taxpayers will never be left holding the bag for big oil's mistakes.

This is straightforward, it is common sense, and it is fair. I have to say, I am extremely disappointed this commonsense bill continues to be blocked by some Republicans every time we bring it up. But I want you to know, I am going to keep fighting for the Big Oil Bailout Prevention Act to pass, and I am going to keep fighting so families and taxpayers in Washington State and across the country do not end up holding the bag.

The bottom line is this: If oil companies are going to make billions of dollars in profits when times are good, they should not be allowed to leave taxpayers hanging when they create a problem.

The Big Oil Bailout Prevention Act writes this commonsense policy into law, and I urge every Senator to side with our taxpayers and support this important legislation. But I do not think that is enough. I have always been opposed to drilling off the coast of my home State of Washington, and this tragedy is just one more very painful reminder of the potential consequences of opening up our west coast to drilling.

The economic and environmental devastation that was caused by the Exxon Valdez disaster 20 years ago is now still impacting industry in my home State of Washington. Our coastal region supports over 150,000 jobs, and it generates almost $10 billion in economic activity, all of which would be threatened if drilling were to happen off our west coast.

That is why I am going to keep fighting for legislation that bans drilling off the west coast and makes sure big oil companies are never allowed to roll the dice with Washington State's economy and our environment.

We need to hold big oil accountable and we need to make sure that disasters such as this never happen again, but we also have to remember the workers who were killed and injured in this horrible tragedy. We cannot forget this is an issue that is larger than this one tragedy. The entire oil and gas industry has a deplorable record of worker and workplace safety. We have to make sure every worker is treated properly and protected, and that companies that mistreat their workers are held accountable.

We know the oil industry is able to operate under stricter safety standards

and regulations because they are already doing just that in Europe and in Australia, and even in Contra Costa County, CA, where the county has a set of stricter guidelines that have now reduced injuries and fatality rates. But we also know that worker safety should not be measured just by injury rates. We should be looking at reducing dangerous conditions--conditions such as fires or hazardous spills or releases of toxic gases. Then when accidents do happen, we have to record them, we need to learn from them, and we need to build on a program to prevent them from ever happening again; and we need to make sure our workers are treated with respect and their rights are protected.

That is exactly why I am so concerned about the recent reports of very callous and unacceptable treatment of Transocean workers in the hours following that April 20 explosion. Those reports suggest that Transocean put their bottom line above safety standards, above environmental impact, and the well-being of their workers. I have called on the company to release copies of legal waivers that surviving crew members of the Deepwater Horizon were reportedly forced to sign following that oil rig explosion. I am going to stay on top of this to make sure that Transocean produces those requested documents so we can get to the bottom of exactly how this situation was handled.

Workers everywhere ought to be confident that their employers are putting their safety first, and companies that betray that trust have to be held accountable. So I am going to work to make sure that happens, and I am going to continue fighting to keep drilling away from the Washington State coastline. I am going to keep pushing for this bill to make sure taxpayers don't have to pay for big oil's mistakes.

Anyone deciding whether to support this legislation ought to ask themselves a few simple questions: Who are you fighting for? Who are you trying to help? Are you here to protect and shield big oil companies or are you going to fight for our families and our taxpayers? I support this legislation because, to me, the answer is pretty clear. I urge all of our colleagues to allow this bill to pass so our taxpayers in my home State of Washington and across the country can be protected.

Mr. President, I yield the floor, and I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote.