Floor Statements

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the time under the quorum call be divided equally.

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

Madam President, I call for the regular order with respect to Amendment No. 1760 and to modify it with the changes which are at the desk.

I understand my colleague is here to offer an amendment. I yield to him at this time.

It is my understanding the Senator from Connecticut was going to call up an amendment. There was an objection?

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the pending amendment be set aside and the following amendments be called up en bloc: Coburn No. 1756, McCain No. 1803, Boozman No. 1785, and Udall of Colorado No. 1789; that the amendments be agreed to, en bloc, and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Madam President, it is my understanding we have a Republican Senator who is coming to the floor shortly to make a motion to recommit. For the information of all Members, at some point to be agreed upon, we will dispense with that motion this afternoon. We are hoping to do that. I know a number of Members have asked the timing on that. I will work with the Senators and our staffs to try and do that as soon as possible. I know many Members are waiting.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Madam President, I rise to strongly oppose this motion that is now before the Senate. I urge all of my colleagues to vote against it as well. Senator Collins and I have worked very closely together to write a bipartisan transportation and housing bill that works for our families and our communities. We have been working here together on the floor to have an open debate and accept amendments from both sides of the aisle. We just accepted a number of them a few minutes ago.

In addition to six Republicans who explicitly supported this bill in committee, along with all of the Democrats, a total of 73 Senators voted to start debate on this bill. But now this motion that is now before us would take all of that bipartisan work we did on this bill in committee and it would take the strong bipartisan support coming out of committee and just throw it all away and ask us to simply now adopt the House Republican budget and start all over again. There is absolutely no reason for us to go back to the drawing board, especially not under the conditions that are laid out in this motion.

Back in March we had a very vigorous debate here in the Senate about our values and our priorities when it came to the Federal budget. We debated about the future of Medicare. We talked about how the wealthiest Americans should contribute their fair share. We debated what should be done with overall spending levels and the automatic cuts from sequestration that were put in place in the bipartisan Budget Control Act in order to bring both sides to the table to replace them with more responsible deficit reduction.

Everyone will remember that we spent dozens of hours debating the budget on the Senate floor. Then my colleagues had a choice. We ran an open process. Any Senator could bring an amendment to the floor. We considered over 100 of them from Democrats and Republicans. One of my Republican colleagues even offered the House budget as an amendment, which locks in that overall sequestration level but actually ignores the Budget Control Act by simply pushing the entire burden onto seniors and families in our communities. But, as we all know, the House budget was rejected by the Senate. It got only 40 votes here, and 5 Republicans actually voted against it. The Senate budget we ended up passing replaces sequestration with an equal mix of responsible spending cuts and new revenue by closing tax loopholes that benefit the wealthiest Americans.

The House passed their budget that locks in sequestration on steroids. The Senate passed our budget that replaces sequestration with more responsible deficit reduction. I absolutely agree with my colleagues that we cannot finish that budget process until we find a way to bridge that divide between the House and Senate. But I want to be clear here. A motion to recommit on an appropriations bill is not the place to have the debate on the overall spending levels. That is what a budget conference is for. That is where the two sides need to go to work out a deal. But, as my colleagues all know, despite the efforts of many Republicans and Democrats alike, a few Senators--very few Senators--continue blocking a bipartisan budget conference. So far we have been unable to even get in a room to talk about that.

We are going to keep trying to start a budget conference and work toward a bipartisan deal. Until we do, the bipartisan work that is being done in the Appropriations Committee now, led by the chairwoman Senator Mikulski has to continue.

Now that my colleague has brought this motion to the floor that attempts to lock in sequestration and force the House budget onto our transportation and housing bill, let's talk about it for a few minutes.

The bill we are debating right now, the transportation and housing bill, could not exist at the worse-than-sequestration levels that are being pushed in this House. My partner on this bill, Senator Collins, has been clear, as I have, that the differences between the House and Senate transportation bills could not be more stark.

Our bipartisan bill here in the Senate continues to invest in our communities through the Community Development Block Grant Program, CDBG, while the partisan House bill cut that in half to the lowest level ever, which would mean 40,000 fewer jobs in this country. Communities across the country would have to halt projects they are planning to help get their communities moving again.

Our bipartisan bill in the Senate invests in Essential Air Service and makes sure there is enough in the program to cover all the communities that currently participate in it.

The House partisan bill that this motion would recommit and put us back into the position of considering would shortchange the entire program and cut it more than one-third. It includes additional language that would kick out communities in States such as Montana and New Mexico that absolutely depend on this.

The bipartisan bill the Senate has invests in our families to make sure they have a roof over their heads when they need it most, to help them if they are disabled or seniors who need to stay off the streets. The partisan House bill would serve 132,000 fewer people, many of whom would end up homeless without this support.

Those are only a few examples. I could name many that are in this bill. If sequestration numbers were to be blocked in the way this motion that is before us envisions, we will continue seeing the impact across our entire Federal Government.

As Secretary Hagel has made very clear, the defense worker furloughs would continue and get worse. In my home State of Washington--I talked about it on the Senate floor this morning--we have seen the consequences of those cuts. Do you know where we are seeing them? In places such as Madigan Hospital where a young woman came and told me about being furloughed on Fridays and what it translated into in terms of people having their brain surgeries delayed because of the shutdowns on Friday. This is what we are talking about, doctors and nurses being furloughed in our Army hospitals as we have injured soldiers who need care.

This sequestration is going to impact funding for our firefighters who are protecting our homes and lands, civilian employees, and it will hit the law enforcement officials who are protecting our cities from the threat of terrorism. It will strip funds from cancer research at NIH. Our roads, bridges,

and rails will continue to crumble, and small businesses will pay the price.

This would be happening while a lot of other countries that are our competitors in the global marketplace are doing the opposite. They are investing in themselves. They are setting themselves up to compete in the 21st century economy.

This is the reality of sequestration. It may not make the news every single day in every paper. We may not see all the impacts right away, but it is very real, and it will truly be devastating. It will be devastating for our families. It will be devastating for our national security and our long-term economic growth if we don't replace it. By the way, it is not just Democrats who are saying this. Economists such as Ben Bernanke have said it is hurting the economy. Many of my Republican colleagues have spent a lot of time going around the country talking about how devastating it is on the defense side.

I am happy to have this debate. I don't think this bill, the appropriations bill, the transportation and housing bill, is the place to do it.

If the Senator from Pennsylvania and others wish to start a debate and a negotiation between the Senate budget and the House budget, they should stop objecting to us going to conference. That is where this should occur.

Until then, I urge my colleagues to reject this motion and allow us to continue working on the bipartisan bill we have worked so hard to bring to the Senate. Let's work in creating jobs, investing in communities, and lay down a foundation for long-term and broad-based growth.

I move to table the motion, and I ask for the yeas and nays.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Madam President, I yield back the remainder of my time.

Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote and I move to lay that motion on the table.

The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

Mr. President, I want to let all Senators know that we have made tremendous progress on the transportation and housing bill. We intend to make more progress next week. We are going to stay in morning business this afternoon. We have a few issues we are working out through the weekend. We will be back at this next week.

I wish to thank all of the Members who have worked very hard with us this week, and I look forward to working with them again next week.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate go to a period of morning business, with the time equally divided between the minority and majority, with Senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on July 25, 2013.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Armed Services be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on July 25, 2013, at 9:30 a.m.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation be authorized to hold a meeting during the session of the Senate on July 25, 2013, at 2:30 p.m. in room 253 of the Russell Senate Office Building.

The Committee will hold a hearing entitled, ``The Partnership Between NIST and the Private Sector: Improving Cybersecurity.''

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 July 25, 2013, at 9:30 a.m. in room SD-366 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Finance be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on July 25, 2013.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Foreign Relations Committee be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on July 25, 2013, at 10:30 a.m. in room SD-419 of the Dirksen Senate Office building.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Foreign Relations Committee be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on July 25, 2013, at 2:30 p.m.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on July 25, 2013, at 11 a.m.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate, on July 25, 2013, at 9:30 a.m., in SD-226 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building, to conduct an executive business meeting.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Select Committee on Intelligence be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on July 25, 2013, at 2:30 p.m.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Subcommittee on Water and Power of the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on July 25, 2013, at 2:30 p.m., in room 366 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation be authorized to hold a meeting during the session of the Senate on July 25, 2013, at 10:15 a.m. in room 253 of the Russell Senate Office Building.

The Committee will hold a hearing entitled, ``State of Wireline Communications.''

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that Margaret Taylor, a detailee from the State Department to the Foreign Relations Committee, be granted floor privileges for the consideration of S. 1243.

Madam President, what is the pending business?

Madam President, I yield back the remaining time in morning business.

Madam President, for the information of all Senators, we are now back on the transportation and housing appropriations bill. My colleague and I, Senator Collins from Maine, will be here all day working our way through any amendments that our Members have to offer. We encourage Members to come to the floor and let us know what those are so we can get this done in a timely fashion.

Madam President, I believe, under the previous order, Senator Portman is here to offer his amendment, and I yield to him at this time.

Madam President, I support this amendment. What it does is it clarifies that when the Department of Transportation awards funding under Bridges in Critical Corridors, priority should be given to structurally deficient and functionally obsolete bridges.

The Federal Highway Administration uses those terms to talk about the status of the bridges across the country. So when a bridge is ``structurally deficient,'' its condition has deteriorated over time. And when a bridge is ``functionally obsolete,'' its design does not meet today's standards. Both situations, obviously, can be a serious concern.

In the underlying bill itself, I took the initiative to include an additional $500 million for these bridge investments so that we can address these serious concerns across our country and make sure our transportation network is safe and reliable.

So I support this amendment. I urge our colleagues to vote for it.

I would ask the Senator from Ohio if he wants a voice vote and would allow us to move forward on it now or if he requires a rollcall vote.

Madam President, it is completely up to the Senator from Ohio. As I said, if the Senator offers us a voice vote right now, I can guarantee its adoption quickly. How long does the Senator want to wait to vote?

A wise choice and a good example for those Senators who follow the Senator in offering an amendment.

Madam President, I move to reconsider the vote.

Madam President, I thank the Senator from Ohio for bringing his amendment before us and setting a good example for all Members, as we now move forward, to bring their amendments to the floor. We will work our way through them. We hope everybody can contact myself and Senator Collins as quickly as possible so we can get these amendments up.

Amendment No. 1760

With that, Madam President, I call up Senator Cardin's amendment No. 1760.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I rise along with my colleague, the Ranking Member of the Budget Committee, Senator Sessions, to pay tribute to Frank J. Sammartino, who is retiring this week after 33 years of distinguished Federal service, including 26 years serving the Congress at the Congressional Budget Office and the Joint Economic Committee.

Mr. Sammartino began his Federal career in 1978, working in the office of the assistant secretary for planning and evaluation at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, where he worked until 1985. He left HHS for the Tax Analysis Division in the Congressional Budget Office, where he has worked for most of his remaining career. While at CBO, Mr. Sammartino has risen up through the ranks to his current position of assistant director for Tax Analysis, the director's top person on all tax policy and budget matters. In addition to his work at CBO, he has also served Congress as the chief economist and deputy director at the Joint Economic Committee.

As head of the Tax Analysis Division at CBO, Mr. Sammartino has worked tirelessly to ensure the Congress has quality and timely analysis of tax policy and budget issues. He has directly contributed to and overseen numerous baseline projections, policy studies, and cost estimates. In fact, early on at

CBO, he developed the first microsimulation model used by CBO for analyzing tax policy. That model became the basis for CBO's individual income tax projections and its analysis of the distribution of federal taxes. In general, his expertise on a wide range of public policy issues has served as a valuable resource for Members and staff.

Mr. Sammartino exemplifies CBO's high standards of professionalism, objectivity, and nonpartisanship, and has received the highest awards for outstanding service while at both CBO and HHS. As chairman, I greatly appreciate the sacrifices that he--as well as his family, including his wife, Ellen, and children, Frank and Lulu--have made in assisting the Budget Committee and Congress.

I would like to turn to my colleague, Senator Sessions, for his remarks.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on July 24, 2013, at 10 a.m., to conduct a hearing entitled ``The FHA Solvency Act of 2013.''

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 July 24, 2013, at 10 a.m. in room 253 of the Russell Senate Office Building.

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 July 24, 2013, at 2:30 p.m. in room 253 of the Russell Senate Office Building.

The Committee will hold a hearing entitled, ``Cruise Industry Oversight: Recent Incidents Show Need For Stronger Focus On Consumer Protection.''

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 July 24, 2013.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Environment and Public Works be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on July 24, 2013, at 10 a.m., in room SD-406 of the Dirksen Senate office building, to conduct a hearing, ``Oversight Hearing on Implementation of MAP-21's TIFIA Program Enhancements.''

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Finance be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on July 24, 2013, at 10:30 a.m., in room SD-215 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building, to conduct a hearing entitled ``Health Information Technology: Using it to Improve Care.''

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Foreign Relations be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on July 24, 2013, at 9 a.m.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Foreign Relations be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on July 24, 2013, at 2 p.m., to hold a East Asia and Pacific Affairs subcommittee hearing entitled, ``Rebalance to Asia III: Protecting the Environment and Ensuring Food and Water Security in East Asia and the Pacific.''

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 on July 24, 2013, at 10 a.m., in room SD-430 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on July 24, 2013, at 10 a.m., in room SD-226 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building, to conduct a hearing entitled ``Judicial Nominations.''

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Rules and Administration be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on July 24, 2013, at 9:50 a.m.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Rules and Administration be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on July 24, 2013, at 10 a.m.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on July 24, 2013, at 2:30 p.m. in room 428A of the Russell Senate Office Building to conduct a hearing entitled ``Implementation of the Affordable Care Act: Understanding Small Business Concerns.''

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Veterans' Affairs be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on July 24, 2013, at 10:45 a.m. in room SR-418, of the Russell Senate Office Building.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Special Committee on Aging be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on July 24, 2013, to conduct a hearing entitled ``Payday Loans: Short-term Solution or Long-term Problem?'' The Committee will meet in room 562 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building beginning at 2 p.m.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Human Rights, be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate, on July 24, 2013, at 2 p.m., in room SH-216 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building, to conduct a hearing entitled ``Closing Guantanamo: The National Security, Fiscal, and Human Rights Implications.''

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 July 24, 2013, at 2 p.m., in room SD-406 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building, to conduct a hearing entitled, ``Cleaning Up and Restoring Communities for Economic Revitalization.''

Mr. President, I thank the very able committee chairwoman of the Senate Appropriations Committee for her direction to our full committee to move forward on our appropriations bills. I am very proud that the transportation and housing bill will be the first of, hopefully, many bills to move through here, but I really thank her for her tremendous leadership, encouraging myself and my ranking member Senator Collins to move forward with our bill to the floor today. We will both be giving our opening statements. I know the ranking member on the full Appropriations Committee will be here as well.

The chairman of the Finance Committee has asked for some time to speak before Senator Collins and I move forward on our discussion of this bill today. So I will yield to him, and we will speak after he does.

I ask unanimous consent to speak for 10 minutes.

Mr. President, we spend far too much time here in the Senate scrambling to address short-term crises and far too little time working to tackle the serious long-term challenges facing our Nation. That is why I am very pleased the Senate will soon be considering the fiscal year 2014 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development appropriations bill. This transportation and housing bill received strong bipartisan support as it moved through the Appropriations Committee. It was reported out of subcommittee unanimously.

On June 27, the members of the full committee voted 22 to 8 to report this bill here to the Senate. This bill received this strong bipartisan support because it helps families and communities, it gets workers back on the job, it is fiscally responsible, and it lays down a strong foundation for long-term and broad-based economic growth.

Our transportation and housing bill is very different from the one that is moving through the House of Representatives right now, which passed out of their committee on a strict party-line vote. The Senate bill funds the highly successful TIGER Program to ensure support for transportation projects of national or regional significance. The House bill zeros out that funding and even takes away TIGER funding provided for this current year.

The Senate bill provides $500 million to make necessary repairs to our Nation's bridges, when one in four bridges today across the country is classified as deficient. The House bill does not provide that critical funding. Our bipartisan Senate bill fully funds the Essential Air Service Program. The House bill kicks communities out of the program and then shortchanges the program.

On this side, our bill protects investments in our aviation infrastructure, while the House bill cuts spending we need to maintain and modernize the air traffic system by more than $\1/2\ billion, to the lowest level since fiscal year 2000, more than a decade ago now.

The Senate bill maintains funding for the CDBG and HOME Programs, while the House bill proposes to cut both to their lowest levels ever. It preserves the Federal commitment to the mostly elderly and disabled tenants of public housing and section 8 project-based housing, while the intentional short funding of both programs in the House bill would ultimately lead to their demise.

The House bill falls short in these and many other areas because its investment level is simply unsustainable. It is even lower than sequester levels. Without adequate resources to fund core and housing programs, it cuts deeply and broadly and very few programs escape the axe.

The approach taken by the House should concern all of us, because this is not about politics, it is about our country. Investing in our infrastructure is something that brings together the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, major labor groups such as the AFL-CIO, economists, and policy experts across the entire political spectrum because, as any business owner will tell you, no matter how challenging the current environment, you never want to cut the

investments that allow you to compete and prosper once that crisis ends.

There are plenty of independent assessments showing that right now as a country we are not investing enough in our aging infrastructure, and no one--no one--is suggesting we invest too much. The fact is, if we slash our investments in infrastructure, we are not saving any money at all; we are making things worse. We are weakening our basis for private investment and economic growth. We are putting public safety at risk. We are allowing congestion to continue taxing families with painfully long commutes, long waits at airports, and health-threatening pollution.

Roads are going to need to be fixed eventually. Bridges are going to need to be strengthened at some point before they collapse. The air traffic control system will have to be modernized before air travel becomes too unreliable. Waiting will only make the work more expensive when we eventually do it. It is shortsighted and does not make any sense. That is why the bipartisan Senate bill supports critical investments in our Nation's infrastructure that are necessary to support and grow our economy. The investments included in our bill make it possible for people to get to work and products to get to market. Because other countries are investing in their infrastructure as quickly as they can, investments here in America are a key factor in making sure our country can compete and win in the 21st century global economy.

Our bipartisan bill also supports our local communities' efforts to promote economic development, supports small businesses, and creates affordable housing. These investments help create jobs and are necessary to ensure our Nation's economic competitiveness into the future. Our bill funds a critical piece of the safety net, housing assistance and homeless shelters for millions of families who are one step from the street. It moves us closer to finally eliminating homelessness among our Nation's veterans.

The need for these investments far exceeds the resources in this bill. But here in the Senate we have been able to keep our commitment to our States and our communities and ensure the agencies in the bill can meet their statutory responsibility. The House bill's untenable investment level and commitment to sequestration makes those commitments impossible to keep.

The Senate bill also works to improve the programs funded, including reforms that address concerns Members raised the last time the transportation and housing bill came to the Senate floor. Our bipartisan bill includes important section 8 reforms to reduce costs and create efficiencies. It contains reforms to improve the oversight of public housing agencies and boards, ensures accountability for property owners who don't maintain the quality of their HUD-assisted housing, and increases accountability in the CDBG Program. The House bill doesn't include any of those reforms. Our bill also continues to require oversight by the offices of the inspectors general and GAO and incorporates their findings into the bill's guidance to agencies.

In short, our bill is a good bill, and, along with Senator Collins, I encourage Members to bring their amendments to the floor and to work with us to make this bill even better. This bill has broad bipartisan support because it takes a practical approach to addressing the real needs we find in the transportation and housing sectors. The investments it makes would create jobs and help the middle class right now, it would help lay down a strong foundation for long-term and broad-based economic growth, and it helps position our country and our economy to compete and win in the 21st-century global economy.

The approach taken by our House colleagues on their transportation and housing bill would cut investments in a way that may make our short-term budget deficit look better on paper but that would hurt our families, cost us far more in the long run, and hollow out our long- term investments and potential for economic growth. So I urge all our colleagues to help support our bipartisan bill and move us rapidly to final passage.

Again, before I yield, I wish to thank Chairwoman Mikulski, who was here a few moments ago, for her tremendous support and leadership. She was, as she stated, the former chair of the VA HUD subcommittee, and she really appreciates the importance of the investments this bill makes.

This bill does include the priorities of Members on both sides of the aisle, reflecting the bipartisan tradition in the Appropriations Committee. So I especially thank my entire subcommittee for their work, and I would like to take a moment to especially express my appreciation and thanks to my ranking member Senator Collins for all her hard work and cooperation throughout this process. I am very proud that together we have written a bill that works for families and communities.

Investing in our families and communities and long-term economic growth shouldn't be a partisan issue, and I think the bipartisan work that went into this bill and the strong support it received in committee proves it doesn't have to be.

I look forward to moving to this vote at noon today to allow us to get on the bill, and I encourage all our Members to bring their amendments to us. My ranking member Senator Collins and I will work our way through those as efficiently as we can so we can bring this bill to a conclusion.

Again, I thank Senator Collins for her tremendous work and her in- depth understanding of the tremendous issues within this bill, I thank her for working with us, and I yield to her at this time.

Madam President, shortly the Senate will move to a vote on the motion to proceed to the transportation-housing bill.

This is the first appropriations bill to come before the Senate. We have worked very hard, in a bipartisan way, to have a bill that invests in the projects that are important to this country, to move us forward, and help secure a strong future for this country.

It is a bill that was tough to write. Our allocation is much lower than those of us who are working on these issues would like to see it, but we have tried to be pragmatic and practical and move forward.

I know there are those Members of the Senate who make the argument that our allocation is higher than the House and would vote against these bills. I would remind all of our colleagues, I have been out on this floor innumerable times urging our colleagues to let us go to conference on the budget so we can work out this disagreement and be able to have allocations be the same from the House and the Senate. But we have been unable to do that because a small group of Senators on the other side have objected to us going to that conference. So we are at the place now where we have to move these appropriations bills forward. It does mean eventually we will have to get to a conference and, as my ranking member pointed out, we will have to work out an agreement. But until we can go to conference and work out the overall number, we have to move forward on these bills; otherwise, we are going to face a crisis come the end of September in terms of funding our government and giving certainty to people across this country about whether we will be allocating funds for them to be able to move forward on their budgets at the local and State levels.

I urge our colleagues to vote yes, allow us to move to this bill. As my ranking member has said, bring your amendments to the floor. If you have an objection to something in the bill or you want to change something or you want a discussion about something, we will be here, ready to take amendments, look at them, and have the will of the Senate move forward.

In a few short minutes, we will move to that vote and I urge our colleagues to vote yes.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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

Madam President, the Senate has now agreed on a bipartisan basis to move forward on the transportation and housing bill. I wish to thank all of our colleagues.

As we move forward on this appropriations bill, we will be open for amendments. I know there are Members who have a number of issues they would like for us to consider. I urge them to bring their amendments to Senator Collins and me, the managers of this bill, as soon as possible so we can begin to work our way through them.

So as we go to recess for caucus lunches, I ask Members to please work with both of us so we can manage this bill in a responsible way and then move to final passage.

I appreciate all of the work of my ranking member Senator Collins as well as the members of the committee and all of the Senators who are working with us to move this bill forward.

Thank you, Madam President. I yield the floor.

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

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the time until 4:45 p.m. be equally divided between Senators Vitter and Murray or their designees for debate on Vitter amendment No. 1744; that at 4:45 p.m., the Senate proceed to vote in relation to the Vitter amendment; further, that no second-degree amendment be in order to the Vitter amendment prior to the vote.

Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum and ask unanimous consent that the time be equally divided.

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

I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote.

I ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed to a period of morning business with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each; further, that when the Senate resumes consideration of S. 1243 on Wednesday, July 24, Senator Portman be recognized to call up his amendment, No. 1749.

Madam President, there will be no further rollcall votes tonight. I know there are several Senators who wish to speak tonight. We will begin again tomorrow with Senator Portman's amendment. I ask all Senators who do have amendments on the bill to get them ready. Senator Collins and I are ready, open for business. We want to move this along, and we are ready to go. Please don't wait until the last minute Thursday night. Get your amendments in tomorrow. You will have a much better chance of having them considered. I speak for myself, and I am sure I speak for Senator Collins too. We are much happier to work with you earlier in the process than later.

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

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on July 23, 2013, at 10:30 a.m. in room 328A 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 to conduct a hearing on July 23, 2013, at 2:30 p.m., in room SD-266 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Environment and Public Works be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on July 23, 2013, at 10 a.m. in room SD-406 of the Dirksen Senate office building, to conduct a hearing entitled ``Hearing on the Nomination of Kenneth Kopocis to be Assistant Administrator for the Office of Water of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), James Jones to be Assistant Administrator for the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention of the EPA, and Avi Garbow to be General Counsel for the EPA.''

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Foreign Relations be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on July 23, 2013, at 9 a.m.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Foreign Relations be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on July 23, 2013, at 10:15 a.m., to hold a briefing entitled, ``Briefing on Nuclear Employment.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Foreign Relations be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on July 23, 2013, at 2:15 p.m.

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, in order to conduct a hearing entitled ``Hearing on National Labor Relations Board Nominees'' on July 23, 2013, at 10 a.m. in room 430 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on, July 23, 2013, at 10:30 a.m. to conduct a hearing entitled ``The 90/10 Rule: Improving Educational Outcomes for our Military and Veterans.''

select committee on intelligence

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Select Committee on Intelligence be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on July 23, 2013, at 2:30 p.m.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights, be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate, on July 23, 2013, at 10 a.m., in room SD-226 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building, to conduct a hearing entitled ``Pay-for-Delay Deals: Limiting Competition and Costing Consumers.''

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Bankruptcy and the Courts, be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate, on July 23, 2013, at 3 p.m., in room SD-226 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building, to conduct a hearing entitled ``Sequestering Justice: How the Budget Crisis is Undermining Our Courts.''

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Protection be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on July 23, 2013, at 10 a.m. to conduct a hearing entitled ``Examining Financial Holding Companies: Should Banks Control Power Plants, Warehouses and Oil Refineries?

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Subcommittee on Securities, Insurance and Investment be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on July 23, 2013, at 3 p.m. to conduct a hearing entitled ``Creating a Housing Finance System Built to Last: Ensuring Access for Community Institutions.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries, and the Coast Guard of the

Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation be authorized to hold a meeting during the session the Senate on July 23, 2013, at 10 a.m. in room 253 of the Russell Senate Office Building.

The Committee will hold a hearing entitled, ``New England and Mid- atlantic Perspectives on Magnuson-Stevens Act Reauthorization.''

Mr. President, let me commend the Senator from Colorado for his critical reminder to all of us about how you can get up each day and never know what life brings to you, but to remember not that the people so senselessly lost their lives, but the courage and passion they have left for all of us. I thank him for that important reminder.

Mr. President, I want to speak briefly about our vote today to confirm Thomas Perez as our next Secretary of Labor, and I want to touch on a couple of reasons, of separate reasons, this particular confirmation is so important for this body and for our country.

First, something we have talked about for several days here is providing the President and his administration with the team he needs to help our country grow, for our economy, our families, and communities in every one of our home States. Filling the position of Labor Secretary could not be more important. We all rely on the Department of Labor to do a lot of important work for American workers and American businesses--providing critical workforce development and job training services to help get people back to work or into better jobs, making sure we have high workplace safety standards, improving conditions and opportunities for women, and helping our service men and women find good jobs when they come home. Our country and our economy are stronger when the Department of Labor has a talented, qualified leader at the reins.

That brings me to the second reason why this vote is so important, and that is the tremendous nominee we have before us today. In Thomas Perez, the President has nominated someone who will bring passion and integrity and a lifetime of experience to this very important position. Like so many Americans, Mr. Perez comes from very humble beginnings. He is a second-generation American who put himself through college by collecting trash and working in the university dining hall. Since that time, he has spent his career fighting for working families, protecting our important civil rights laws, and turning around troubled agencies.

There is no shortage of examples to demonstrate what an effective leader Mr. Perez has been throughout his career. He took an Office of Civil Rights at HHS that had been ignored and lifeless and breathed new life into it. He reformed and rebuilt the Department of Labor in Maryland, and he walked into a very troubled Civil Rights Division at DOJ and, by all credible accounts, he returned high performance, professionalism, and integrity to that agency.

In a time when we need to do everything we can to protect and grow our shrinking middle class, Mr. Perez is exactly the right person for this job because in tough times, while we are still recovering from recession, we need strong, experienced leadership at the Department of Labor.

My colleagues here today who support his confirmation from both sides of the aisle are not alone. From his time working at the local and State and Federal level, organizations from Maryland and throughout our country have come out to strongly support him as well. That includes organizations that represent women, the LGBT community, the Hispanic community, and many more.

Finally, throughout his confirmation process, which at times has been very difficult, Mr. Perez has shown nothing but openness, transparency, respect, and the ability to work together and solve problems. That is why I will vote to confirm him today, and I urge all my colleagues to support his confirmation as well.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I am pleased that yesterday the Senate was able to come together and work out a bipartisan agreement to make some progress on approving President Obama's nominees. This is a great example of the kind of work I hope we can do more of going forward, because gridlock is getting in the way of progress on far too many issues that affect the families and communities we have a responsibility to serve.

One of the most egregious examples that still remains is the Republican leadership blocking a bipartisan budget conference--and the regular order they called for--in order, it appears, to gain leverage by manufacturing a crisis come this fall.

Democrats have come to the floor to talk about this a lot over the past few weeks. Unfortunately, it seems to be getting worse and not better.

We have heard from more and more tea party Republicans about their latest brinkmanship threat. They are now saying: Defund health care reform or we are going to shut down the government.

I wish I were making this up, but it is real. The House has already tried to repeal this law 37 times. In fact, just for good measure, they are voting on it again this week.

We all know that is not serious. It is certainly not governing. It is pointless pandering, and it does absolutely nothing to help the families and communities we represent.

There are so many real problems we all need to be focused on. We need to protect our fragile economic recovery and get more of our workers back on the job. We need to replace sequestration and we need to tackle our long-term deficit challenges responsibly. We have to stop this lurching from crisis to crisis and return to regular order and give families and communities the certainty they deserve. The only way we can do that is if we all work together, and the last thing we need to do right now is to rehash old political fights.

Based on what I am hearing more and more of in recent days, not only are tea party Republicans willing to push us toward a crisis this fall, but they will do that to cut off health care coverage for 25 million people and end the preventive care for our seniors that is free, and cause our seniors to pay more for prescriptions.

These political games may play well with the tea party base, but here is the reality: ObamaCare is the law of the land. It passed through this Senate with a majority. The Supreme Court upheld it. It is already today helping millions of Americans stay healthy and financially secure. We should all be working together right now to make sure it is implemented in the best way possible for our families and our businesses and our communities. Instead, what we are hearing is some empty political threats and a push for more gridlock here in the Senate.

I don't think it is a coincidence that the very people who are now pushing

for a government shutdown to defund the health care law are the ones who are blocking a budget conference. If the goal is to simply push this country into a crisis, as it now seems to be for the tea party and the Senate Republican leadership, then those both are ways to do it.

When the Senate budget passed, I was optimistic. We worked here for a very long time--hours and hours, well into the night, well into the hours of the morning--and we allowed everyone the opportunity to vote on their amendments. They were voted up or down, agreed to or not agreed to, and we passed a bill, because both Republicans and Democrats said they wanted to return to regular budget order, and they said if we did that, we would get back to a responsible process. I took them at their word.

At that time, we had 192 days to reach a bipartisan budget agreement. Three months later, Democrats have come to the floor 16 times to move to the next step of the process: to get us to a bipartisan budget conference with the House. Each time we have asked to do that, a tea party Republican or a Member of the Senate Republican leadership has stood up and said, No, I am not going to let us work out the differences with the House. We are not going to do a budget. We are going to allow things to plod along here until we have a crisis in the fall.

There are now less than 3 weeks before we are scheduled to return home--all of us--to our States for constituent work. If we can't get an agreement by then, we are going to return in September with very little time before a potential government shutdown on October 1.

We still have a window of opportunity to reach an agreement before we are in crisis mode. I will tell all of my colleagues, it is closing quickly.

My colleagues should ask their constituents. They are sick and tired of hearing about gridlock and partisanship coming out of Washington, DC. It has to end.

This body had a great conversation on Monday night in the Old Senate Chamber. Everybody had an opportunity to have their say. A group of Republicans, led by Senator McCain, who are very interested in ending the gridlock, worked together with us to solve the problem. In fact, I have to say it has been very heartening to hear from the many Republicans who agree with the Democrats that despite our differences-- and they are many--we should at least--at the very least--sit down in a bipartisan conference committee with the House and try to solve this problem and get an agreement.

It started with just a few who were willing to stand up to their leadership, but I think we all should know that chorus is getting louder. Senator Moran, for example, said yesterday: ``I too hope we can have a budget conference because the process needs to work.''

I am sure Senator Moran would agree with me that getting a bipartisan deal is not going to be easy. We know that. We know it is going to be difficult. But we all know it won't be easy unless we get to work now, rather than risking our economic recovery and hurting our families and communities by manufacturing a crisis this fall.

I am hopeful the bipartisan spirit we have seen this week will carry over into this budget debate, and that rather than listening to a few, Republicans will listen to the Republican Members who prefer a bipartisan, commonsense approach over brinkmanship and chaos.

We still have an opportunity to govern the way the American people rightly expect us to and to come together and try and reach an agreement. I am ready to sit down and go to work with the conservative House majority to try and solve the problem that all of us have come to Congress saying we want to work on, and that is a budget agreement.

A budget agreement means certainty for our constituents. It means the ability, no matter how tough the choices for us--and none of us are going to love any of them--to be able to give them certainty so they know how to move forward.

Mr. President, as if in legislative session, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of Calendar No. 33, H. Con. Res. 25; that the amendment which is at the desk, the text of S. Con. Res. 8, the budget resolution passed by the Senate, be inserted in lieu thereof; that H. Con. Res. 25, as amended, be agreed to; the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table; that the Senate insist on its amendment, request a conference with the House on the disagreeing votes of the two Houses, and the Chair be authorized to appoint conferees on the part of the Senate; that following the authorization, two motions to instruct conferees be in order from each side--a motion to instruct relative to the debt limit and a motion to instruct relative to taxes and revenue; that there be 2 hours of debate equally divided between the two leaders or their designees prior to the votes in relation to the motions; further, that no amendments be in order to either of the motions prior to the votes; and all of the above occurring with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. President, reserving the right to object, let me explain so that the Senator understands. We are offering in this unanimous consent request to allow the Senate to speak on the very issue the Senator is requesting, to do it in what a democracy does, and to allow an amendment on it and let the Senate speak. That is what we do here.

I object to his request, and I reask our unanimous consent request that would allow an amendment on his issue of the debt ceiling and allow this body to speak on it before we go to conference.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.