Floor Statements

Mr. President, I join the Republican leader in congratulating Senator Portman on his first speech on the Senate floor. I remember those days some 4 years ago when I had the honor of doing that. I know how close Rob and Jane are and their children. I have seen them often over the last year, and I know the sacrifice and difficulty of leaving home, as he points out. I know he feels that way about his family. I look forward to this relationship. I look forward to what we have been working to do, especially on manufacturing, on jobs. Senator Portman has visited some 80 manufacturing plants in the last 3 years. He sees what I see on the shop floors. If we keep these jobs in the United States--much of the innovation is done on the shop floor--we will continue to lead the world in innovation and continue to lead the world in job creation. That is the importance of working with small- and medium-size and large manufacturing companies.

I also would add that Senator Portman already understands Ohio is the home of two major Federal installations, NASA Glenn in Cleveland and, in the part of the State I live in, Wright Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton. In the part of the State Senator Portman lives in, there is the Battelle Memorial Institute, in Columbus, which, while not a Federal agency per se, serves much of the Federal Government by running the country's energy labs. There is synergism among those three, coupled with Ohio State and Case Western. I met today with President Williams of the University of Cincinnati, Senator Portman's hometown. The kind of synergism that comes out of this and innovation and high- end manufacturing and all the kinds of things that he and Senator Portman and I will do together in job creation, whether it is USEC in southern Ohio or the solar industry in Toledo or the auto industry in the north or the aerospace industry in the southwest and throughout the State, this kind of work will absolutely matter to put people back to work and create the kinds of good-paying industrial jobs and good- paying other jobs Ohioans aspire to, to create a strong, vibrant middle class.

I congratulate Senator Portman.

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

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 President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Merkley.) Without objection, it is so ordered.

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

Earlier today in Columbus, OH, the State capital of my great State, I was at the Ohio State University's Fisher College of Business. We talked by phone with Under Secretary of Commerce Francisco Sanchez, who is one of the leaders at the Department of Commerce, on how to grow exports in this country.

The President has charged the Congress, our businesses, encouraged all of us to find ways to double exports as a major path to economic growth, especially to grow manufacturing in our country. We know that for the last several months, we have seen manufacturing growth, albeit too small, but manufacturing growth in this country.

That is especially important in Ohio. My State is the third leading manufacturing State in the country, behind only California and Texas, States which are two and three times our size in population. Yet Ohio has kept pace with doing relatively well in manufacturing. But we know what has happened to manufacturing in our country in the last 30 years.

Only 30 years ago, manufacturing was more than one-quarter of our GDP, financial services was about 10 or 11 percent of GDP. In these 30 years that position has almost flipped. Financial services is over one- quarter of our GDP, manufacturing is only 10, 11, or 12 percent. That is why the President and his push on exporting is so important, not that we only export manufacturing goods, of course, we export services, as we should. But clearly manufacturing is a major component of that.

I sit on the President's Export Advisory Council with leaders of the administration and the CEOs of some of America's largest companies and many successful mid-sized and small companies in this country. We had a meeting last Friday with Secretary Locke, Under Secretary Sanchez, Secretary of State Clinton, Jim McNerney of Boeing, Ursula Burns of Xerox, Alan Mullaly of Ford, as part of the President's export council.

In Ohio, as a result, I have put together an export advisory council. We met today in Columbus. That is what our meeting was about, to talk about ideas. We heard from Albert Green of Kent Displays, William Dawson of NexTech Materials, Philip Irwin of Ametek Solidstate Controls, Randall Willaman of Command Ilkon, Inc., Mark Friedman of National Biological Corporation, Arlinda Vaughan from Volk Optical, and Ken Hagen from Fosbel.

All of them raised concerns directly to the Under Secretary of Commerce and directly to me, concerns about corruption in Russia, concerns about tariffs in Brazil, concerns we all face and all of our companies face in breaking into the Chinese market, and many other concerns about everything from medical devices to export of services and all of that. So the meeting was important.

I will mention one other. Susan Helper, the head of the Economics Department at Case Western, had particularly good thoughts about how we grow manufacturing in this country. We know those jobs are created by medium and small businesses. We also know that fewer than 1 percent of American companies actually export. Even as close as we are to Canada or to Mexico, only 1 percent of our businesses export. So we know we have to do much more.

In Germany, for instance, 20 percent of their workforce is in manufacturing. They have a trade surplus with the rest of the world, while we have a huge almost insidious trade deficit. Germany has done some pretty interesting things in encouraging manufacturing.

As many people point out, we have not had in our country a manufacturing policy. I spoke with Pat Russo tonight, who is the former CEO of Lucent Technologies and a couple of--she sits on the General Motors board and a couple of other people from the GM board I spoke to, and talked about the fact that we do not have a manufacturing policy in this country. That is why we are seeing other countries begin to do much better in manufacturing, while we have, by and large, drifted in our policies and our strategies on manufacturing.

There are several things that came out of this meeting that we need to do. We need to pay particular attention on economic development assistance and creating economic development partnerships and business incubators.

We need to pay special attention to help those companies get access to capital. That has been a vital roadblock--as the Presiding Officer from Oregon has been involved--a roadblock to our full economic recovery. We need to look at our R&D tax credits.

Part of a national manufacturing policy should be increases in R&D tax credits, including making 48(C) a part of the Code that encourages conservation, encourages more efficiencies in energy production and in energy use, making 48(C) permanent.

It means workforce training--our Sectors Act, which matches up what local businesses and labor unions and community colleges and workforce investment boards do to retrain workers so they find jobs after that training. That is why we are doing at end of the month our fourth annual Ohio College Presidents Conference, where I invite in some 55, 60 college presidents. We have done it for the last 3 years, since my second year in the Senate, to talk about these issues: How do we encourage people to become engineers? How do we help with access to college, particularly in light of the fact that Republicans are trying to cut Pell grants several hundred dollars per student, sometimes a couple of thousand, $3,000 a family, whatever.

How do we fight back and make sure that students have access to education and to our higher education system, those who choose to go to college? We have a lot of work to do. All of this includes, as I said at the White House the other day in the meeting of the President's Export Council, while we work on exports, we need to fix our trade agreements, we need to fix our tax policy, we need to make sure those workers who lose their jobs because of trade--and this is so often forgotten about by my Republican colleagues--workers who lose their jobs because of trade have to be compensated. They need to be retrained. They need to keep their health care. That is why the Presiding Officer and I and many others have to fight for the extension--Senator Casey especially from Pennsylvania--of trade adjustment assistance and the health coverage tax credit, two long-time Federal programs. The TAA, Trade Adjustment Assistance, was started bipartisanly under President Kennedy in 1962.

Those are so important for workers who have lost jobs through no doing of their own but because of trade agreements passed wrongfully, wrongheadedly in this body and in the House. Because of trade agreements they have lost their jobs. We need those workers to have the opportunity to be retrained and to continue to keep their health insurance after they have been laid off through no fault of their own.

Our efforts to double exports is extraordinarily important for economic growth. At the same time it is important that we are sensitive to those workers who have lost their jobs because of trade policy. We can do this right. We can enforce our trade laws more aggressively as President Obama has begun to do. We can work on trade agreements. We can fix trade policy so it actually helps American workers and American consumers. Instead of practicing trade policy adopted out of a textbook that is 20 years out of print, we ought to be adopting a trade policy that is in our Nation's national interest. As we move with President Obama and this Congress toward a manufacturing strategy and, even better, a manufacturing policy such as most of the rest of the industrialized world has, we will all be in a better position to build a middle class in Oregon and Ohio and across the country.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Judiciary Committee be discharged from further consideration of S. Res. 100 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

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

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S. Res. 101 which was introduced earlier today.

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

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the following Senators be recognized at the times listed below, as in morning business, for the purpose of giving their maiden speech to the Senate: Senator Portman from my State, following the maiden speech of Senator Coats on Tuesday, March 15, for up to 15 minutes, and Senator Blumenthal of Connecticut at 12 noon, Wednesday, March 16, for up to 20 minutes.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 10 a.m. on Tuesday, March 15; that following the prayer and pledge, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed expired, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and following any leader remarks, there be a period of morning business until 11 a.m., with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each, with the time equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees, with the majority controlling the first half and the Republicans controlling the final half; further, that at 11 a.m. the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. 493, the small business reauthorization bill; and finally, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate recess from 12:30 p.m. until 2:15 p.m. to allow for the weekly caucus meetings.

Mr. President, tomorrow, at 2:15 p.m., Senator Coats will be recognized to speak for up to 30 minutes to deliver his maiden speech to the Senate, and following his statement, Senator Portman will be recognized to speak for up to 15 minutes to deliver his maiden speech.

Rollcall votes in relation to amendments to the small business jobs bill are possible throughout the day tomorrow.

Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that it adjourn under the previous order.

Mr. President, March is National Eye Donor Month-- a month--to honor those who have restored sight to blind or vision- impaired Americans across the country.

For the last 28 years, since National Eye Donor Month was first established in 1983, the eye donor community has raised public awareness about the need for eye donation.

Every March for each of the past 28 years, our Nation has honored dedicated individuals who work tirelessly at hospitals, medical centers, doctors' offices, and eye banks across the country to educate the public on the need for cornea donations and work with the transplant teams.

We continue to give thanks to eye donors--and their families--who offered one last remarkable gift because they had the foresight to become organ donors.

Eye donation provides a precious second chance at clear vision for those with ocular diseases. Approximately 11.4 million Americans experience severe visual problems that are not correctable by glasses. A parent or grandparent cannot see their children or grandchildren play a little league game or walk across the stage at graduation. And many children experience momentous life events--and everyday happenings-- without the eyesight that many of us take for granted.

Thankfully and miraculously, through eye donation and corneal transplants, vision that has been lost to disease or injury or infection can be restored. Since 1961, more than 700,000 corneal transplants have been performed to restore sight to children as young as 1 day old and adults as old as 103. And corneal transplants are highly successful; 90 percent of all corneal transplant operations effectively restore sight to the patient. Each year, eye banks across the country provide 52,000 corneal grafts for transplantation.

Ohio's Central Ohio Lions Eye Bank, COLEB, in Columbus performed corneal transplants for 340 patients in 2010. COLEB gave these 340 patients an opportunity to regain their sight and, with that, the ability to see their loved ones again--or for the first time. In southern Ohio, the Cincinnati Eye Bank for Sight Restoration, Inc., partnered with physicians at the University of Cincinnati to establish programs for public and professional education as well as conduct ocular medical research. The Cincinnati Eye Bank is able to serve 30 hospitals in southwestern Ohio, northern Kentucky, and eastern Indiana. In northern Ohio, the Cleveland Eye Bank, which serves nearly 5 million people and more than 60 hospitals in northern Ohio, created the Lasting Legacy program to honor the families of eye donors by publicly recognizing the donors' amazing gift of sight.

Simply put, corneal transplants--made possible through eye donors-- change people's lives.

But more must be done. Some 1,600 Ohioans each year could have their sight restored through corneal transplants but are unable to because there are not enough organ donors.

I encourage all Americans to consider becoming eye donors. Even those without 20/20 vision or who have cataracts can donate. In Ohio, you can become an eye organ donor when you renew your driver's license. It is that easy.

I also urge my colleagues to work with local eye banks and the Eye Bank Association of America to promote the precious gift of eye donation. While 700,000 people have had their sight restored since 1961, tens of thousands more are waiting.

During this year's Eye Donor Month, I thank all those who continue to promote and advocate for eye donation and the gift of sight it gives.

Mr. President, it is likely that neither the House nor Senate version of the fiscal year 2011 continuing resolution will pass this body.

I would like to highlight one feature of both of the bills we are considering that I believe is truly misguided. Neither bill provides funding to continue the alternate engine program for the F-35 airplane.

In the past, Congress has supported this engine in a bipartisan, bicameral way as a lower cost, higher performance alternate that will save billions in tax dollars and give the F35 engine program competition it badly needs.

There has been significant misinformation circulated about the alternate engine program, which, based on previous experience with engine competition programs, should actually reduce the Federal deficit by more than $20 billion.

During the 1980s, the Air Force and Navy jointly qualified second sources for the Sidewinder, Sparrow, Amraam, Maverick, Standard, Tomahawk, and Ham missile programs. In every case, buying from both sources brought costs down dramatically. That same strategy brought costs down and under budget for the FFG-7 frigates, DDG-51 destroyers, Aegis Cruisers, and attack submarines.

Absent the F35 alternative engine program, a company that is currently $3.5 billion over budget will be the monopoly provider of the engine for the F35 airplane. This is not the way taxpayers want Washington to do business.

The alternate engine program supports 2,500 jobs in the United States, 800 of those in Ohio. My State's unemployment rates is already 9.3 percent, and it would be a tragedy if we eliminate jobs that are actually serving to reduce federal spending and protect against faulty or delayed access to engines needed by our military.

I am disappointed no funds are contained in either bill. I don't believe you walk quietly away from a $100 billion program that has billions of tax dollars invested in it without a vigorous debate. In deleting the alternate engine, both bills eliminated a line item today at the expense of significant savings downstream.

We are not going to end the budget deficit by haphazardly taking dollars out of investments justified not only by their public policy purpose--in this case, equipping our military in the most responsible, efficient means possible--but by their potential to produce major downstream savings.

It is unclear how the negotiations on getting a budget deal will proceed and it is equally clear that they will be hard. But the future of this engine must be on the agenda.

Our safety and security as a nation and the seriousness of the budget choices that face us are simply too important to let expediency get the better of common sense. Exploring what is best for our military and our budget goals must be part of the continuing resolution negotiations.

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

Mr. President, we have all watched the news stories--from Madison, WI; Columbus, OH; Trenton, NJ, and other places around the country--where public employees, when you really analyze it, are paid more or less, including benefits and depending on the place, comparable to the private sector worker. Whether they are high school graduates or college graduates or whatever, the overall pay and benefits are pretty similar. We have seen around the country that these public employees are in most cases willing to share in the sacrifice of balancing budgets and share in the sacrifice of fighting back against this bad economy. In fact, we know that workers--teachers, police officers, nurses, people working at the unemployment bureaus, people working at the Department of the Interior, wherever--have taken pretty big hits already in terms of lost jobs, in terms of no raises, in terms of paying more for their health benefits.

So we know that even though these are not the people who caused the recession any more than the workers at Lordstown, OH, assembling cars or Defiance, OH, building engines or Northwood, OH, making bumpers for the Chevy Cruze are responsible for the failure of the automobile industry, there just seems to be, as we have seen from these ideological conservative Governors, an assault all over the country blaming workers, whether they are public or private workers, for the problems in this economy.

They continue to want to give tax cuts to the richest people on Wall Street, as they take their bonuses and make big dollars and see their incomes go like this, but as workers have pretty much had no real increase in the last 10 years--wages have been mostly stagnant--how can you blame the workers for this? That is what we have seen around the country.

It has been so interesting. Two days ago in Columbus, OH, 8,500 people demonstrated not against budget cuts, because they know those are coming, but against this direct assault by the government--by the Governor and legislative leaders--on the right to organize and bargain collectively. That is a right that has been part of Americana, a part of our values for 75 years.

Why do they think we have a middle class? We have a middle class because workers have been able to band together and say to a company that is very profitable: We should get some of that profit you are making because we are your workers and we have made your company more prosperous.

Management is important and crucial, but workers are important and crucial. As worker wages go up, management wages typically go up. But we have seen worker wages remain stagnant, in part because of a lack of unionization or a decline in unionization.

Now we are also seeing in Madison, Columbus, Trenton, Harrisburg, Indianapolis, Lansing, in these capital cities, especially in my part of the country, a real play on fear. They are trying to turn private sector workers against public sector workers. They blame the UAW--the auto workers--for the problems in the auto industry. Now they are blaming public workers for problems with State budgets and trying to work the private sector and union workers against each other, fighting with each other. That is the most base Karl Rove-type politics, to turn working-class people against one another. It is wrong. It is morally wrong, it is politically wrong, and it is very wrong for our country.

What has also been interesting about these protests is that they are not all steelworkers and electricians and American Federation of Government Employees and AFSCME and SCMU. There are people of faith also involved.

I did a roundtable at an Episcopal church right off statehouse square, and the leaders of the church and some of the volunteers of the church were there. Now, I don't preach or wear my Christianity on my sleeve, but these people of faith understand that the Bible talks a lot about poverty and a lot about fairness and equality and egalitarianism, if you will, but for them to go against workers on behalf of the richest people in our country--and that is really what they are doing in the Governors' offices in Columbus and Madison and Trenton and other places--runs counter at least to my faith. I will not judge their faith. They worship what God they worship and read what scripture they read. But when I look at what my faith means--and as I said, I am a Lutheran, I am not a Catholic--but when I look at Leo the XIII and what he said about what Catholicism means for workers and fairness, it is point, set, match. That clearly spoke definitively about this.

Mr. President, I have said this on the floor before today, but I wear this pin on my lapel. It is the depiction of a canary in a birdcage. One hundred years ago, miners took a canary down in the mines. If the canary died from lack of oxygen or from toxic gas, the miner got out of the mine. He only had himself to depend on. He didn't have a government that cared much in those days to write safety laws, particularly child safety laws, on the mines. He didn't have a union strong enough in those days to fight back.

Too many people who are ultraconservative--and there are many in both the Senate and the House--want to go back to those days. They want to eliminate worker safety laws, and they want to eliminate minimum wage. They are clearly going after collective bargaining and so many of the things we hold dear.

Again, it wasn't the UAW workers, it wasn't the Service Employees Union workers at the State capital who caused this financial crisis. They have been the victims of it, just as a whole bunch of nonunion workers have. This financial crisis was caused by greed, by people overreaching, by the richest in our society grabbing and grabbing and grabbing for more wealth. Yet they are going to turn this--let's change the subject--against those workers. That has happened far too many times in our country.

I am a new member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and I am lucky enough to serve on Senator Leahy's Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs. We brought the Secretary of State in--Secretary Clinton--to talk to us about the State Department's budget.

One of the things she said--and I mentioned Madison and Columbus after she said it--but one of the things she said is, it has been unions in Egypt, it has been workers in Egypt and Tunisia and around the world, it has been workers who so often, sometimes through their unions--if they are allowed to have unions, sometimes through a more informal collection of people in what might look like a union but is not formalized--fought for freedom, fought for equality. A lot of the problems in Tunisia and Egypt were because people were hungry--not just because they want freedom, but they also

want fairness and a chance to make a living.

But one of the things Secretary Clinton talked about is, yes, this administration is actually enforcing labor laws in Guatemala, this administration will enforce labor laws in the labor component of our trade agreements across the world because we as a country stand for a more egalitarian workforce. We stand for workers rights. We believe workers should organize and bargain collectively, if they choose. We believe in a minimum wage. We believe in workers' compensation. We believe in workers' safety. We believe in human rights. All of that is about the labor movement.

You can support labor rights in Guatemala, but you better be damned sure you are supporting labor rights in Wilmington and Columbus and Cleveland and Detroit and Dover, DE, and everywhere else. Those were some of the words Secretary Clinton said. I am obviously expanding on them.

I looked back in history and some of the worst governments we ever had, do you know the first thing they did? They went after the trade unions. Hitler didn't want unions. Stalin didn't want unions. Mubarak didn't want unions. These autocrats in history did not want independent unions. So when I see Egypt or I see old Soviet Russia and history tells me about Germany--I am not comparing what is happening to the workers in Madison or in Columbus to Hitler and Stalin. But I am saying, history teaches us that unions are a very positive force in society that creates a middle class and that protects our freedom.

So don't tell me you support unions internationally but you don't support unions here. Don't tell me you support collective bargaining in Poland but you oppose collective bargaining in Zanesville or Dayton, OH, because, frankly, that is inconsistent and ultimately it is not taking the side of people whom we are supposed to represent.

I am proud of my State. About two or three blocks from the capitol, in 1876, the capitol in Columbus, the American Federation of Labor was formed. What we know now as the AFL/CIO began in Columbus, OH, in 1876, when some workers got together thinking there was some strength and some safety in numbers and they were going to have a better standard of living and better country and more freedom for all if they began to coalesce in a group of people--not to bust a hole in the State budget, not to hurt companies but to make sure the workers were represented and get a fair shake in the society.

It is all pretty simple. We have a strong middle class in this country because we have the right to organize and bargain collectively. We have a strong middle class in this country because we are a democracy, because workers can share in some of the wealth they create for their employers. So I hope 10 years from now--I know in Delaware this is something we fought for with manufacturing and middle class and all--we will see, as productivity goes up and profits go up, that workers' wages will go up too. It is the American way. It is what we stand for. Nothing in our society, frankly, is more important than a prosperous middle class and what it brings to us in terms of freedom and equality.

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

Madam President, reserving the right to object, I know the Presiding Officer, the junior Senator from North Carolina, wants to

be part of the TAA extension. I appreciate that, as do Senator Casey and Senator McCain and Senator Baucus.

My problem is this: I want to work with Senator McCain on this. I want to make this work. I want to extend the Andean trade preferences. He and I worked this agreement out with Senator Kyl and Senator Casey and others at the end of last year, in the last 2 hours of the session. I think that was the time line. Right at the end, we were able to extend all of this, but only for 6 weeks. He wanted longer, I wanted longer, but we couldn't get an agreement.

Senator McCain asked, is it not reasonable to extend the old TAA. The old TAA started 50 years ago. It was a great program. It was bipartisan. It has always been that. But it is not reasonable to do only the old TAA. There have been 150,000 workers who are eligible since the Recovery Act passed for the expanded TAA because they happen to have lost their jobs to countries we didn't have a free trade agreement with. They were not eligible under the old one, but they are eligible under the new one. Or they happen to be service workers. They are eligible under the new one but not under the old one.

It is a situation where because of things we do in this body--we pass a trade agreement, people lose their jobs. We have an obligation--I know people are focused on government spending, as we should be, and on the deficit, as we should be, but this is an action of the House and Senate. We pass tax policy here. We give tax breaks to companies that move overseas. Why don't we pay for this TAA with something like that? We could always do that.

The point is there are so many workers in this country who have lost their jobs because of trade agreements, because of tax law and trade law. They should be eligible for getting some assistance so they can get retrained and go back to work. We all know people in our States-- Arizona, Nevada, Oregon, Texas, West Virginia, and Ohio--where that has happened.

The other thing we need to extend is the health care tax credit. We know that literally thousands of workers--I can give you some examples quickly: 400 Americans in Arizona, 1,400 Americans in Georgia--mostly Delta workers--6,800 Americans in Michigan, 9,200 Americans in Ohio, 68,000 Americans scattered around every other State in this country-- because of the Recovery Act and the expansion of the health care tax credit, they would be able to continue to get their health care.

So with reluctance--I don't want to do this, because I want to see the Andean trade preferences extended--I am going to object.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent for 2 minutes to make a motion.

I have great respect for the senior Senator from Arizona. I wish to find a way--and I will give some specific names of people who have benefited from the expansion of TAA. I brought in a stack of literally 500 letters from Georgia, Michigan, and Ohio--the States hit the hardest--some 300 people in Arizona, and others who have benefited from the expansion of the health care tax revenue and TAA.

I offered to Senator McCain--other than the fact that it costs more money, and I don't dispute that--that if we can work on specific problems they have with individual parts of the expansion and if there is a way of working out any kind of language they don't like, I am happy to do that. I am going to offer a unanimous consent request on TAA and tax credits and on Andean. The reason I objected is I cannot walk off this floor having helped the workers in Ecuador and Colombia but not the workers in Toledo and Cleveland and Phoenix and Charleston, WV. That is why I will make this request--which will help in every case--on the Andean trade preference, TAA, and health care tax credit.

I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 11, H.R. 359, that a Brown of Ohio substitute amendment, also on behalf of Senators Hagan and Casey, which provides an 18-month extension for trade adjustment assistance, and the Andean Trade Preferences Act be agreed to, the bill, as amended, be read the third time and passed, and the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate.

Madam President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I rise today to speak in support of Brown-Portman No. 105.

This is the first of what I imagine will be many bills and amendments my colleague Senator Portman and I will be working on together.

What the Brown-Portman amendment does is twofold: it paves the way for further research and development of unmanned aerial systems into our national airspace and would designate six sites across the country to further test these new technologies.

This is clearly needed and I appreciate the work of Senator Rockefeller, Senator Hutchison, and committee staff on the issue.

UASs are a growing and important sector of the aviation industry that is critical to our economy--whether it is protecting our men and women serving in Afghanistan, patrolling our border, or better monitoring our Nation's agricultural sector.

As further research and development is conducted, other scientific, environmental, and law enforcement uses will become more standard.

In Ohio, cutting edge work is already being done on UASs: at Wright- Patterson Air Force Base, the Springfield National Guard Base, and NASA Glenn in Cleveland.

There is great potential in this sector for job creation and I am confident Ohio will continue its role as the nation's leader in aviation and aeronautics manufacturing and R&D as it relates to UASs.

I thank my colleagues for their support.

Mr. President, today I recognize the distinguished military service of MG General Gregory L. Wayt who recently retired from military service after nearly four decades of preserving our Nation's safety and security.

A strong leader with an unyielding call to service and duty to State and Nation, Major General Wayt embodies the character, discipline, and humility that rank him among Ohio's great adjutant generals.

For more than 6 years as the Adjutant General of Ohio, he commanded five brigade-size Army units with more than 11,000 troops and four flying wings and seven nonflying units from Ohio's Air Guard with more than 5,000 additional troops.

During some of the Guard's most challenging times, Major General Wayt's leadership ensured the preparedness of the more than 18,000 Ohio National Guardmembers who served in Iraq and Afghanistan during his tenure, as well as those preparing for overseas contingency operations.

His command also meant Ohio Guardmembers were first on the ground for State emergencies and disasters including flood and winter storm relief from Toledo to Belmont, and in the relief efforts on the gulf coast following hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005 and Gustav and Ike in 2008. The Ohio National Guard also had the first C-130 cargo plane on the ground providing critical relief after the Haitian earthquake in 2010.

Under his day-to-day management of the Ohio National Guard--from ensuring the readiness of Guardmembers and weapon systems to the securing fiscal and property resources--Major General Wayt ensured Ohio remained at the top of readiness ranks for our country's National Guards.

Maintaining one of the Nation's premier National Guards also required Major General Wayt's professionalism to maintain the relationship between our military command and civilian leaders. Throughout his service as the Adjutant General of Ohio, he was a trusted national security advisor for two Governors from both parties. He was a valuable resource for all members of the Ohio congressional delegation--always just a phone call away to provide his counsel and recommendations.

As a result of his tireless leadership, Major General Wayt helped save two Air National Guard bases in Ohio and the communities that rely upon them. The Springfield and Mansfield Air National Guard Bases remain critical to our national security and to their local economies because of Major General Wayt's fierce loyalty to those he represents and leads under his command.

He also prioritized the retention of talented officers to ensure the organization developed qualified servicemembers for senior leadership positions. One of the ways Major General Wayt accomplished this was by improving the retirement benefits available to Guardmembers.

Because of his input and that of other Guard leaders, the National Guard and Reserve Retirement Parity Act was signed into law by President Obama to restore parity in retirement benefits. This bill is law because Major General Wayt understood that talented Guardmembers should have the resources and benefits deserving of their sacrifice.

He also understood the importance of international collaboration and coordination. He continued the success of the State Partnership Program with Hungary and Serbia, which was created to link National Guard States and territories with partner countries to foster long-term relationships across all levels of society and to establish the importance of the rule of law in nations seeking the highest democratic values and ideals.

As a leader of Ohio's citizen-soldiers and citizen-Airmen--war fighters, peacekeepers, and guardians of America's ideals of democracy and freedom--Major General Wayt received the admiration of his peers as President of the Adjutants General Association of the United States.

Yet regardless of medals earned and awards received, this great son of Ohio remained grounded in a classic Midwestern work ethic. From his early education in Columbus public schools and Columbus Northland High School to formative years at the Ohio State University as an ROTC student to the University of Dayton, Army Command and General Staff College, and Army War College as a graduate student and senior commander--Greg Wayt symbolizes a dedication to service and sacrifice, and to State and country that deserves a heartfelt thanks from all Ohioans.

But he would be the first to tell you that any professional accomplishment was made possible only by the personal sacrifice of his wife Deborah and daughter Lindsey. The sacrifices of military families deserve our Nation's highest praise--my deepest thank you to Deborah and Lindsey and the Wayt family for sharing their husband, father, and patriarch with a grateful State and Nation.

For all the achievements throughout his career, Major General Wayt will always be first and foremost a field commander and remembered by his troops as one of their own. Congratulations, MG Gregory L. Wayt for 35 years of service to your Nation.

On behalf of a grateful State, I thank you and wish you well upon your retirement.

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

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

Mr. President, I rise to talk about one of America's great institutions, Gallaudet University. On July 4, 1861, President Lincoln celebrated our Nation's independence on the eve of the Civil War by declaring to Congress the principal aim of the U.S. Government should be ``to elevate the condition of men; to lift artificial weights from all shoulders; to clear the paths of laudable pursuit for all; to afford an unfettered start and a fair chance in the race of life.''

Just a few months before that President Lincoln signed into Federal law the authorization to confer collegiate degrees to the deaf and to the hard of hearing at a campus in Washington, DC. For the first time in the Nation's history and still alone to this day Gallaudet University is the only liberal arts university in the world dedicated to the pursuit of higher education for deaf and hard of hearing people. Simply put, Gallaudet is a gem, a gem for this city, a gem for our country, a gem for the world for higher education, truly a national university located a short distance from the Capitol and founded by President Abraham Lincoln.

I am one of two appointees--one from the House, one from the Senate-- by statute to the board of trustees at Gallaudet University. During my tenure on the board I have met with proud alumni and supporters of Gallaudet in Ohio and in Washington.

Last Friday I was again on campus and met with members of the board, the president's cabinet, and a few students. Some people I admire a great deal, with whom I have talked about the culture of our nation's deaf communities, are Jay and Meredith Crane. Jay is a member of the Gallaudet board of trustees.

Jay and his wife Meredith are outstanding advocates for Ohio's deaf community and culture. Jay and Meredith have a son and a daughter who are deaf. They demonstrate to all of us how important a Gallaudet education can be in one's life.

Jay's son, at an event in Columbus last year, explained to us how Gallaudet is an oasis for students, students who have lived all over the country, generally integrated into a community but having a sense of isolation among people who are not deaf. Yet Jay's son, when coming to the university, talked about what an oasis Gallaudet University is for him and for his classmates.

The parents, the educators, the administrators at Gallaudet serve as role models and continue to make a difference in the lives of students. That is why the relationship between Gallaudet and our Federal Government is so important. It is why our support and encouragement of deaf and hard-of-hearing students allow them to explore new opportunities and experiences to enrich our workplaces and our communities.

The overwhelming majority of undergraduate students at Gallaudet are deaf. About half of the students at the graduate school at Gallaudet are deaf and half of them are hearing students. Many of those graduates, graduates and undergraduates in the master's program at Gallaudet, go into serving the deaf around the country. Many of them, as Jay and Meredith's son, go into other professions not directly concerned with the deaf. Jay and Meredith's son, for example, is in law school in California. Most of these students come from middle-class or working-class families.

In 2008-2009, more than 80 percent of Gallaudet students received financial aid in order to get the education they deserve. These students are talented. I will soon have a Gallaudet intern by the name of Brianna Johnson, a student at Gallaudet, who is an education and human rights justice major. She will be graduating in May 2010. She is on the dean's scholar list. She is originally from Atlanta, GA.

The Gallaudet University women's basketball team, ranked 18th in the Nation, was undefeated until, unfortunately, this past weekend when they lost to Penn State-Harrisburg. They play in the North Eastern Athletic Conference, division III. One of their guards is a graduate from the Columbus School for the Deaf in Columbus,

OH. Their head coach is Mark Ehlen. Their assistant coach came out of one of the great women's basketball programs in Ohio, Stephanie Stevens, a 2010 graduate of the University of Cincinnati. She went to Pickerington High School, which has been in the state finals and final four many times.

As we prepare our Nation to ``win the future'' and outcompete and outeducate the rest of the world, we must ensure that mission includes all Americans. The creation of Gallaudet, 140-plus years ago, helped establish a nationwide community for generations of deaf children.

Ohio's first school for the deaf was established in 1829 in a small house right near where the State House now is on Broad and Highway in Columbus. That school, the Columbus School for the Deaf for Ohio, will soon have a new campus on 200 acres on Morse Road in Columbus with convenient student housing and modern education technology and space for future expansion. Such progress demonstrates how far education for deaf and hard-of-hearing students has come, and how much farther it can go.

Last year I gave a speech on this floor honoring Gallaudet as the Senate passed a resolution commemorating the 145th anniversary of Gallaudet's charter that was authored by President Lincoln. And 141 years ago, the three members of Gallaudet's first graduating class received degrees signed by President Lincoln.

Last year, during Gallaudet's 140th commencement, 10 Ohio students graduated from Gallaudet with a degree signed by President Obama. I am concerned, though, that funding for Gallaudet may be compromised in the budget that is working its way through the House of Representatives. Gallaudet's budget has been frozen at $118 million for, I believe, 3 straight years. They have gotten no increase in Federal funding. They raise private money. They obviously charge tuition, although a huge percentage of their students, as I said, are on scholarship. The Federal money they have has not increased over the last, I believe, 3 years.

My concern is as the budget makes its way through here, we do not just help those students who are going to Gallaudet but we do understand that Gallaudet is one of our Nation's gems, a national university unlike any other, not just in the United States of America but any other university anywhere in the world. The proud alumni of Gallaudet have enriched our communities and have taught all of us the meaning of the values President Lincoln laid before us, that we educate ourselves as part of a community, full of opportunity, free of, as Lincoln said, artificial weight that works toward the good of our society.

Gallaudet is a jewel for our country. It is an honor to be on their board. It is an honor, frankly, to me, as a mission for the United States of America, that we continue to assist this great national university that is a credit to all of us.

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