Floor Statements

Senator, less than 10 minutes.

Mr. President, I thank the Senator from Oklahoma for his courtesy, and I am delighted to rise today to mark the passage of the Fiscal Year 2015 National Defense Authorization Act. This bill is a product of bipartisan negotiations between the House and Senate Armed Services Committees, and I thank Chairman Levin and Ranking Member Inhofe, Chairman McKeon and Ranking Member Adam Smith in the House for their hard work.

This critical bill establishes our national security policy and supports our dedicated men and women in uniform and their families. I am particularly pleased that the legislation supports Wisconsin manufacturers and workers who build ships and engines and military vehicles that help our Nation meet its national security needs.

On the eve of his retirement from the Senate, I want to offer a special thank

you to Senator Carl Levin for his magnificent work as chairman of the committee on this bill and for working with me to include a military land transfer in Wisconsin at the site of the former Badger Army Ammunition Plant. I have been working on this project since my election to the House of Representatives 16 years ago, and I am extremely grateful to Chairman Levin and his staff for helping me push this legislation across the finish line.

The extraordinary piece of land I am talking about consists of some 7,500 acres. It is bordered by the rolling Baraboo Hills, which hosts the largest flock of upland forest of oak and maple and basswood still standing in southern Wisconsin. It is bounded also by Wisconsin's beautiful Devils Lake State Park and a segment of the Ice Age Trail, which is part of the National Trails System. To its east it is skirted by the mighty Wisconsin River that flows toward the Mississippi.

For the better part of the past century, it has been the site of a bustling manufacturing plant, once the largest munitions plant in the world which produced munitions for American troops that they used from World War II through Vietnam. We can see a historic aerial photograph to my left of what that property looked like with the Baraboo Bluffs and the Wisconsin River. Before that, the site was home to 90 landowners who farmed the land, and well before that, the land was cherished ground for the Ho-Chunk Nation, whose people grew traditional crops and gathered medicinal plants from the land. This land is revered by the Ho-Chunk Nation and is connected to their ancestral history, with oral history of the land dating back hundreds of years.

In 1997 discussions began on the future of this land after the Army closed the plant, declaring it to be surplus to its needs, and began the process of remediation of the contaminated soil at the site. Some thought it should be sold for commercial development, but the local community opposed that option, understanding that the land's unique attributes needed to be preserved and wishing to see it restored to its natural beauty.

I always felt that the community--and not bureaucrats in Washington-- should be empowered to make decisions about the future of this site. I regarded this as a once-in-a-generation and maybe a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for this community. So as a freshman Member of Congress, I secured a Federal grant to establish a community consensus process to recommend a reuse plan. This process brought every stakeholder to the table.

In 2001, after nearly 2 years of hard work, the Badger Reuse Committee issued a report supported by all the participating parties-- including State and Federal and tribal entities--outlining agreement on future uses. Some said that consensus would be nearly impossible, but we proved that local stakeholders, working together, could achieve a visionary future for this incredible property. What was that consensus? The consensus was that the property should be comanaged in perpetuity as one property for agricultural, recreational, educational, and conservation purposes.

The photo to my left shows a stark contrast to the photo you just saw of the Badger Army Ammunition Plant, as the property has been gradually restored over time. Since that time, most of the parcels at this site have been transferred--one parcel to the U.S. Department of Agriculture for dairy forage research, another to the State of Wisconsin to provide opportunities for low-impact recreation. But one major parcel essential to the community's vision at this site has been caught in bureaucratic disagreement for nearly a decade.

This legislation will finally allow that parcel to be transferred from the Army to the Department of the Interior, which will hold the land in trust for the Ho-Chunk Nation. This transfer has been stalled by an interagency dispute over which Federal agency would have responsibility for future environmental cleanup at the site. The legislative intent of this provision follows the legislative intent of our environmental superfund laws: The polluter must pay for contamination they caused.

As to future uses, the Ho-Chunk Nation participated in the consensus process that culminated in the Badger Reuse Plan, where they expressed interest in holding the lands in trust in order to preserve native prairie habitat and graze bison. Since that time, the Ho-Chunk Nation has reaffirmed their interest in receiving this land for prairie restoration--a reuse that reaffirms the vision of the Badger Reuse Committee that all the new holders of these lands--the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the State of Wisconsin, and the Ho-Chunk Nation--would manage the property in coordination with one another, reflecting the site as a whole.

In October of this year the tribe updated its land use plan for the parcel in this transfer. I ask unanimous consent to have that document and a technical description of this transfer printed in the Record.

These 1,553 acres represent the last major parcel at the Badger Army Ammunition Plant site to leave Army management. The resolution this transfer will bring is long overdue, and I am proud to have played a role in defining the community's vision and bringing it to a reality.

The action we take this week--hopefully later today--will benefit many generations to come.

Mr. President, I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that Larkin O'Hern, a military fellow in Senator Murray's office, be granted the privilege of the floor for the remainder of the 113th Congress.

Mr. President, I am delighted to join the senior Senator from Montana and the Senator from Vermont on this important topic.

The issue of postal processing facility closures greatly impacts my State of Wisconsin, and it greatly impact States across the country, I must say.

Since 2012 the Postal Service has closed or consolidated 141 processing facilities throughout the United States. In June the Postmaster General announced plans to consolidate up to 82 mail processing facilities, and eliminate 15,000 jobs in 2015. Four of these facilities are in the State of Wisconsin: Eau Claire, La Crosse, Madison, and Rothschild in the Wausau region of the State of Wisconsin.

When postal processing facilities close, that impacts service standards, which really boils down to the time it takes for a piece of mail to get from point A to point B. At this moment, I can't tell my constituents, my Wisconsinites, how long these delays will be because the Postal Service has yet to study this impact. These closures are set to begin within a month. So for small businesses who rely on the Postal Service to get their goods to market and for seniors such as the veteran who was described earlier by the senior Senator from Montana who gets his medicine through the mail, there is really no way for them to know at this moment how these closures are going to affect them, and sometimes what is in the mail is a lifeline for them.

In fact, the inspector general found the Postal Service failed to follow its own rules, which require the Postal Service to study the impacts these consolidations will have on their service standards-- again, the time it takes for a piece of mail to get from point A to point B. They are also supposed to inform the public of these impacts and, additionally, to allow affected communities to provide input before a final decision is made. However, this simply didn't happen. That is why I was proud to join Senator McCaskill in a bipartisan letter to the Postmaster General requesting that the Postal Service delay these proposed closures and consolidations until they have a fair, complete, and transparent process in place.

The Postal Service exists to serve all Americans, and my constituents and the consumers who fund the Postal Service deserve to have their voices heard in this process. They are stakeholders in this process. While there are certainly process and transparency problems with these closures, another issue that concerns me is the fact that these shortsighted cuts are harming the very thing that makes the Postal Service unique. The major strength of the U.S. Postal Service is its significant network which can reach every community in America. Whether one is in an urban city such as Milwaukee, WI, or in a rural town such as Prentice, the Postal Service reaches these Wisconsin communities. But by continually chipping away at the substantial service network, the Postal Service is developing into an urban package delivery system at the expense of rural Americans and rural Wisconsinites.

Proponents of this idea of closures and consolidations say it is counterproductive to delay these closures because they should happen as soon as possible. They say Congress has failed to act and that the Postal Service has been left with no alternative but to close more processing facilities.

I agree on one point; that is, that Congress has, indeed, failed to act. We must. Congress has failed to act. I do not know how many have sort of heard this in relation to bills to try to fix problems. Have you ever seen someone present an idea and they say, look, everybody who is a stakeholder hates this so it must be a good bill?

Well, I kind of disagree with that proposition, that it has to be that way. I can tell you there is another way forward. That path involves working with, not against, Postal Service employees and customers. It relieves the Postal Service of congressionally mandated overpayments. It maintains service standards for all communities. It provides Postal Service customers with certainty on postal rates.

I am going to continue to fight on this issue. I am delighted and proud to be joining my colleagues here today on the floor to raise this immediate issue of postal process facility closures, this pending issue, but also to renew our commitment to the longer range, broader postal reform that gives our constituents, whether rural, suburban, or urban, the confidence and service they deserve.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that Theresa Harrison, a fellow in the office of Senator Schumer, be granted floor privileges for the remainder of the 113th Congress.

I rise this afternoon to urge my colleagues to confirm Judge Pamela Pepper for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin. I am delighted to once again join my colleague Senator Johnson on the floor to discuss this nomination.

The people of Wisconsin deserve to have experienced and highly qualified judges working for them, and I am proud to have worked with my colleague Senator Johnson and our judicial nominating commission to put in place this process for filling the critical Federal judicial vacancies in our State. I was pleased to join Senator Johnson in May of this year to support the confirmation of Jim Peterson, whom the Senate confirmed to a seat for a Federal judgeship in the Western District of Wisconsin. I am pleased to stand on the floor with my colleague today to speak in support of another terrific judicial nominee who will serve the people of Wisconsin well.

Judge Pepper is an outstanding bankruptcy judge, and she will be an outstanding U.S. Federal district judge.

As President Obama noted in making the nomination, ``Judge Pepper has a long and distinguished record of service, and . . . will serve on the federal court with distinction.''

Pam Pepper has indeed dedicated her professional career to public service. She has a distinguished career as a judge, Federal prosecutor, public defender, and attorney in private practice. She has spent that career dedicated to serving her clients and the people of the United States. I am confident she will continue her outstanding service on the bench, and the people of Wisconsin will benefit from having this experienced and dedicated public servant as a U.S. district judge.

As we have heard, she has served as the chief bankruptcy judge in the Eastern District of Wisconsin since 2010, having served as a bankruptcy judge in that district since 2005. She simultaneously served the people of the Southern District of Illinois as a bankruptcy judge during that same period. Judge Pepper has contributed significantly to the field of bankruptcy law and the continuing education of bankruptcy judges and practitioners.

Prior to her time on the bench, Pamela Pepper worked both as a solo practitioner engaged in criminal defense work and as a Federal prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney's Offices in Chicago and then Milwaukee.

Before becoming a bankruptcy judge, Pam Pepper also held numerous leadership positions within the legal community, including on the boards of the Federal Defenders Service of Wisconsin, the State Bar of Wisconsin, the Eastern District of Wisconsin Bar Association, and the Milwaukee Bar Association, just to name a few.

Senator Johnson and I strongly support Judge Pepper's nomination to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin. Our joint support of a judicial nominee should once again send a strong message to the entire Senate that she is the right choice for this judgeship.

I urge my colleagues to confirm judge Pamela Pepper so that she can continue her distinguished service to the people of Wisconsin and the people of the United States of America.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I wish to congratulate A.O. Smith Corporation, a ``Made in Wisconsin'' company on the occasion of their 140th anniversary.

A.O. Smith was founded in 1874 in Milwaukee, WI, and over the past century has grown rapidly from a small family business specializing in the fabrication of metal hardware specialties to a global water technology manufacturer producing residential and commercial water heaters, boilers, and water purification equipment. Today they employ more than 10,000 people across the United States and the world.

The company was instrumental in helping to usher in the automobile revolution, developing a new, lightweight steel car frame a development that caught the interest of major car companies including Peerless, Cadillac, Packard, Oldsmobile, and Ford. Ford's initial order of 10,000 frames led A.O Smith to develop the world's first mass production process for assembling frames, later introducing the world's first automated frame production line. This first fully automated frame assembly plant came to be known as the ``mechanical marvel'' due to the line's ability to make a frame every eight seconds--10,000 frames a day.

Their engineers discovered an improved method for welding, allowing for the production of a wide range of steel products. This included the pressure vessel for oil refining and large diameter steel pipe, important components in the oil and natural gas industries.

One of the company's most important and enduring innovations was the process of fusing glass to steel. By perfecting this process, the company developed a range of new products, including glass-lined beer kegs, glass-lined brewery tanks, and glass-lined residential water heaters. Glass-lined water heaters rapidly became an industry standard that endures today and led to A.O Smith's growth as a global company and as an important economic driver for Southeastern Wisconsin.

In recent years, A.O. Smith has emerged as a vital player in global water technologies, developing solutions to our water challenges. A cofounding member of The Water Council, A.O Smith has helped ensure Milwaukee's place as a world water leader, while supporting economic development in Wisconsin. The Water Council helped bring about the creation of the Global Water Center, which houses water-related business accelerators and research facilities, including A.O Smith's global water treatment lab, where engineers conduct controlled testing on water purification products sold around the world. Bringing together their work has helped transform Milwaukee into one of the world's most significant hubs for water research, education, and economic development.

I am proud to recognize A.O. Smith as a ``Made in Wisconsin'' leader, and I share my best wishes with the company and their employees for their continued success.

It is a delight to join Senator Stabenow on the floor to talk about this critical issue that is a growing crisis here at home in America and threatens Americans' economic strength and competitiveness.

As you have heard, today there is a debt crisis in America. Student loan debt is more than $1.2 trillion, and that is holding back an entire generation and creating a drag on our economy. It is a crisis that demands action from Washington.

Once again, Congress is failing the American people by refusing to work together to confront it. In June the Senate took a vote on the Bank on Students Emergency Loan Refinancing Act, which I am proud to cosponsor. While it received majority support in this body, a minority of Republicans obstructed the bill and prevented it from moving forward.

The choice was clear, and opponents addressing the student debt crisis chose to protect tax loopholes for millionaires and billionaires instead of helping give students a fair shot at getting ahead and providing relief to middle-class families struggling with student loan debt.

I believe every student in America deserves a fair shot at an affordable education, and I believe college education should be a path to the middle class and not a path to indebtedness.

Nearly 40 million students and graduates in America have outstanding student loans. The total amount of student debt in the United States has tripled in the past decade. According to new data from the Federal Reserve, student loan debt grew by $31 billion from January to March of this year. In my home State of Wisconsin, almost 70 percent of the students graduating from 4-year institutions will have student loan debt and the average debt amount will be $28,000. That is real money. That is real money that isn't going toward buying a car or a first home. It is real money that isn't going into growing our economy at a time when we so desperately need economic growth.

To help give Americans a fair shot at getting out from under that burden of student loan debt, we should let borrowers refinance at today's lower rates. That is why we are pushing for a vote on the Bank on Students Emergency Loan Refinancing Act. This legislation will allow those with outstanding student loan debt to refinance. It is pretty simple: It is paid for through the Buffett rule by making millionaires and billionaires pay their fair share of taxes to give our students a fair shot at a bright future, and it will help strengthen the economic security of the American families who are struggling with this debt.

The Department of Education estimates that 25 million borrowers in the United States could benefit from refinancing under this legislation, including just over half a million Wisconsinites.

I have traveled the State of Wisconsin and listened to students and graduates who are struggling with student loan debt. They shared their concerns and the burdens that the cost of a higher education puts on them and their families. They asked me to bring their stories and their messages to Washington, DC.

One graduate student said she lives with her fiance's parents to save money. Another said her husband borrowed against his 401(k) so that the couple could afford daycare for their children while she attends school. Another woman said she owes about $27,000 in loans. When she tried to buy a $6,500 car, she needed her grandfather to cosign because she would not have been able to get the loan on her own. I heard from a woman in Green Bay, WI, who is strapped with $600-a-month payments for her student loans.

The failure of Washington to hear these voices and take action is holding them back, and it is holding back our economy. This money isn't going to support small local businesses that are working so hard to move our economy forward. That is why we should seize this opportunity today to pass the Bank on Students Emergency Loan Refinancing Act. By allowing student loan borrowers to transfer their loans into the Federal program and by closing costly tax loopholes for billionaires and millionaires, we are solving a major economic crisis in a meaningful and effective way. It is the least we can do to address the student loan debt crisis, but it is not all we can do.

Last week I had the opportunity to introduce two bills to help address the larger issue of student debt and college affordability. My legislation targets working students and students enrolled in career and technology education programs. My Working Student Act will allow students who must work while in college to complete their degrees more quickly and with less debt. The new legislation increases the amount working students can earn without that income counting against them in accessing need-based Federal financial aid, including Pell grants.

In addition, some career and technical education students cannot access Federal student aid to help them advance their careers, and that is why I have introduced the Career and Technical Education Opportunity Act. This legislation simply allows CTE students enrolled in short-term programs that lead to industry-recognized credentials to also qualify for Federal student aid. CTE is one of the most effective vehicles to respond quickly to labor market changes and workforce readiness needs of business and industry.

My legislation will help ensure that Federal investments are supporting ``ready-to-work'' education.

One thing is clear: There is a lot more we can do in Washington to give a much needed break to people struggling to build a stronger future for themselves, their families, and for America. I am pleased that in a short while Senator Warren will call for a vote on this important matter. We have a chance today to make a powerful difference in the lives of millions of students and graduates. Let's do so.

I yield back my time.

Madam President, we have an opportunity to address an issue of concern to foresting communities in Wisconsin and across the Nation in the emergency supplemental appropriations bill now pending before Congress.

The supplemental addresses a number of very urgent issues. The issue of unaccompanied minors who are crossing our southern border has rightly received much attention and there is, indeed, a crisis. I believe Congress must pass a supplemental appropriations bill to help address this humanitarian crisis.

This afternoon I wish to call attention to another emergency that Congress must address: extreme wildfires and the dysfunctional way the Federal Government manages our firefighting operations.

Devastating wildfires are raging in Washington and Oregon States, and many other States have felt the heartbreaking impact of major forest fire destruction. As I presided earlier today, I heard the two Senators from Washington State come to the floor and talk about the devastation the wildfires in their State are causing and the bravery of citizens who are facing these destructive fires. It is why I am pleased Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Mikulski has drafted an emergency supplemental appropriations bill that includes $615 million for wildfire suppression. I thank her for her tremendous leadership in putting together a strong bill, and I urge Congress to take up and pass this legislation without delay to provide much needed support to these suffering communities.

But it is not just Western States that feel the impact of wildfires. In fact, a State such as Wisconsin is hurt very significantly by a broken budget process called fire borrowing. It forces the U.S. Forest Service to take funding intended to manage our forests and instead use it for wildfire suppression. In fact, fire borrowing is a misnomer. The money is never paid back. This cripples the U.S. Forest Service and diverts critical funding from my home State and many others.

In Wisconsin, over 50,000 people are employed in the forest products industry, from jobs in forestry and logging to paper makers in the State's many mills. The industry pays over $3 billion in wages into the State's economy and ships products worth over $17 billion each year.

Unfortunately, fire borrowing has led to long project delays that are impacting this vital industry and jeopardizing the jobs which it supports.

The practice of fire borrowing has increased in recent years, triggered when we have a bad fire season and the Forest Service runs out of funds available for firefighting. When the firefighting funding is gone, the agency transfers funds from other parts of its budget and borrows them to pay for the fire suppression. When these funds are diverted, agency work is simply put on hold.

No business owner would select a supplier who couldn't provide a clear delivery schedule or who would routinely delay delivery of products for undetermined amounts of time. Loggers and other local businesses that partner with the Forest Service have to deal with just such uncertainty because of fire borrowing. Government can work better than this.

Fortunately, the Senate emergency supplemental appropriations bill would solve this broken process by treating the largest fires as other natural disasters such as hurricanes or tornadoes, and it would stabilize the rest of the Forest Service budget so that other essential work, ranging from timber sales to the management of forest health, can be completed on schedule.

Furthermore, the proposal is fiscally responsible, because it would help reduce long-term costs by allowing for increased fire prevention activities and because it would not increase the amount that Congress can spend on natural disasters.

Ending fire borrowing has strong bipartisan support. In fact, over 120 Members of the House and Senate, and more than 200 groups ranging from the timber industry to conservation groups, to the National Rifle Association, support the Wildfire Disaster Funding Act--the bipartisan bill that contains the fire borrowing fix included in the supplemental. The consensus is we need to get this fix done this year.

While there is strong bipartisan support for ending fire borrowing, it is unclear if the House of Representatives is going to support this fix in the supplemental appropriations bill that is being considered now. In fact, my friend, the House Budget Committee chairman Paul Ryan, has consistently stood in the way of bipartisan solutions offered in both the House and the Senate. He has ignored the fact that the current budget structure is flawed and has resulted in the Forest Service taking the forest management funding Wisconsin's forests rely upon and instead using it to fight wildfires.

As his Republican House colleague Representative Mike Simpson recently pointed out:

Unfortunately, continuing the status quo, as Chairman Ryan

advocates, prevents us

from reducing the cost and severity of future fires by

forcing agencies to rob the money that Congress has

appropriated for these priorities to pay for increasingly

unpredictable and costly suppression needs.

I urge my friend and fellow Wisconsinite to join us and support ending fire borrowing.

I thank Chairwoman Mikulski and subcommittee Chairman Reed for including this important provision in the supplemental bill. I wish to also thank Senators Wyden and Crapo for their tireless leadership in the fight to end fire borrowing.

The proposal included in the emergency appropriations supplemental is a fiscally responsible solution to a devastating problem with wide- ranging impacts. It will help us respond to wildfires and it will support businesses and thousands of jobs in the timber industry in Wisconsin as well as throughout the country.

I urge my colleagues in the Senate and in the House to come together to solve this problem once and for all.

Madam President, I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that following my remarks, Senator Boxer be permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes.

Mr. President, today the senior Senator from South Carolina and his Republican colleagues have proposed a measure which amounts, in my opinion, to an attack on the freedom of American women to make their own personal health care decisions. Instead of focusing on improving access to health care for women, these Senators are pursuing divisive policies that jeopardize women's health and put politicians and government between a woman and her doctor.

I object to this dangerous political game. Women's access to quality health care is not a political game for me and some of my colleagues who join me here today, nor is it a game for women and families across the country and in my home State of Wisconsin. Too many States have enacted record numbers of laws that restrict women's access to reproductive health services and the freedom to make their own health care decisions. These restrictions, such as the one we heard proposed earlier this afternoon, have real and serious consequences for American families.

I recently heard from a mother in Middleton, WI, who at 20 weeks of pregnancy was devastated to find out that her baby would not survive delivery. She had to undergo an emergency termination. A clinic in Milwaukee, WI, was the only place that would do the procedure, but because our Republican Governor was preparing to sign a law imposing some incredible requirements and burdens on providers, this particular clinic was preparing to close its doors and they wouldn't schedule her for an appointment. She and her husband were forced to find childcare for their two sons and travel to another State in order to get the medical care she needed.

The threat in Wisconsin and in States across the country is clear: When politicians play doctor, American families suffer. This is why my good friend from Connecticut Senator Blumenthal and I have introduced a serious proposal--the Women's Health

Protection Act. It would put a stop to these attacks on women's freedom. Our bill creates Federal protections against restrictions such as the Republican proposal we were hearing about today, proposals that unduly limit access to reproductive health care, that do nothing to further women's health or safety, and that intrude upon personal decisionmaking. I look forward to working with my colleagues to advance this important legislation through the committee process and through regular order.

We know today's spectacle is not meant to produce a serious debate about protecting women's reproductive health; it is about the narrow Republican agenda to take our country backward and to roll back important health benefits for American families.

We have seen this with the numerous failed attempts by Republicans to repeal the Affordable Care Act that have empowered millions of women with more choices and stronger health care coverage. Today, women can finally rest assured that they will not be charged more for their coverage just because they are women, and someone's mother can get a lifesaving mammogram without the fear of high medical bills.

Over 50 times congressional Republicans have tried to roll back this economic security for millions of American families. Republicans, it seems, would gladly go back to the days where being a woman was considered a preexisting condition and insurance companies could drop your coverage because you get sick, get older or have a baby. But we are not going to go back to those days just as we are not going to create a future where politicians in Washington take away the freedom of women to make their own personal health care decisions.

I am committed to putting a stop to the relentless and ideological attacks on American families and will continue to fight to ensure that both men and women have the freedom to access the health care services they need. In the United States of America, health care should be a right guaranteed to all. That is why I and so many of us have fought and we will continue to fight as we move our country forward.

I yield the floor.

Madam President, I rise this afternoon to urge my colleagues to confirm James Peterson for the United States District Court of the Western District of Wisconsin.

I will start where my colleague left off, which is to state that I am proud to have worked with Senator Johnson to put in place a nonpartisan Federal Nominating Commission and a process for moving judicial nominations forward, because the people of Wisconsin deserve to have experienced and highly qualified judges working for them, and they deserve to have judicial vacancies filled on a timely basis.

Addressing vacant Federal judgeships in Wisconsin has been a top priority of mine since I was sworn into the Senate last year. I thank Senator Johnson for working to find common ground with me on this very important issue for Wisconsin.

Together, we believe James Peterson will be an outstanding Federal district judge, and his experience, qualifications, and expertise will serve the Western District of Wisconsin and our Nation very well.

James Peterson was among those recommended by our nominating commission, and together Senator Johnson and I submitted his name to the White House for consideration. I am so pleased President Obama nominated him to serve and that his nomination was reported out of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

For the last 14 years Jim's professional life has been devoted to the practice for the firm Godfrey & Kahn in Madison, WI, where he is the leader of the firm's intellectual property litigation working group. His work on behalf of his firm's national clients has been substantially before the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin.

Outside of his practice Jim is a leader in the Western District Bar Association, the mission of which is to work with attorneys, the court, and the public to facilitate the just, speedy, respectful, and efficient resolution of all matters before the court--qualities that have been the hallmarks of the Western District of Wisconsin. In an effort to foster the next generation of great lawyers, Jim is a member of the adjunct faculty of the University of Wisconsin Law School where he has taught copyright law and public speaking workshops.

I am proud to join Senator Johnson in supporting this nomination, and

Mr. President, I rise today to speak about a growing crisis in our Nation that threatens our economy and the future strength of our country. A college education should be a path to the middle class, not a path to indebtedness. But today America carries the burden of $1.2 trillion in student loan debt.

In my home State of Wisconsin almost 70 percent of the students graduating from 4-year institutions will have student loan debt, and the average debt amount will be $28,000. This is real money. This is real money that isn't going into growing our economy at a time when we desperately need economic growth. This is real money that isn't going towards buying a student's or graduate's first car or first home.

The total amount of student debt in the United States has tripled in the last decade, from $363 billion in the year 2005 to over $1 trillion today. At the same time Federal financial support for students has not kept up with the need. The Pell Grant once covered $7 out of every $10. Today it covers $3 out of every $10 in college costs. In addition many States have scaled back their investments in higher education. The fact is that State investment in higher education has declined significantly over past decades, which has exacerbated the problem, particularly as States struggle to balance their budgets in these tough economic times. Their investments in students have decreased, meaning higher tuition, fewer grants, and fewer scholarships.

I heard from Wisconsin students that the cost of a higher education in my State puts college out of reach for too many. Thirty years ago undergraduate tuition at the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus was about $1,000. Today it is well over $8,000, and it is not just in my home State of Wisconsin. Across the country tuition at public 4-year colleges has tripled. This all means that more students are borrowing through Federal student loan programs to cover the high cost of a higher education. For students in the University of Wisconsin system, unmet need after grants and scholarships is over $9,000, nearly doubling in the last decade. Yet the Federal Government limits on subsidized loans have remained relatively stagnant over those same 30 years. In many cases the limit on what a student can borrow through the Stafford Loan Program means their loans will not even cover the cost of tuition, let alone other significant college expenses. The promise of a higher education has instead become a burden that has fallen squarely on the shoulders of students and their families.

Today, reflecting the trend of shifting costs onto students, 44 percent of college operating expenses are paid through tuition. Nationwide, 49 States, including my home State of Wisconsin, are spending less on higher education than they did before the great recession. Wisconsin has seen a 20-percent decline in State spending on higher education since 2008 while instate tuition has increased by almost 6 percent over the same time period.

It has not always been this way, and we seem to have lost touch with the American idea of building a path to the middle class by making a strong investment in higher education and giving Americans a fair shot at upward mobility.

In 1944, starting with the compact to returning soldiers from World War II made through the GI bill, our Nation made a commitment to future progress by investing in education. Between 1944 and 1951, 8 million veterans received education benefits, including many former distinguished Members of this body.

In 1958 President Dwight Eisenhower, a Republican, signed the National Defense Education Act, providing loans for college students and funds to encourage young people to enter teaching careers--the precursor to our current program for student loans.

President Lyndon Johnson built upon this legacy. A cornerstone of the Great Society was a path to the middle class through a college education. The Higher Education Act of 1965 gave us the Federal Student Loan Program, known today as the Stafford Loan Program, and the Educational Opportunity Grant Program, known today as the Pell Grant Program. This generation of Americans and lawmakers lived in trying times. Yet they still had the foresight to make the hard choices, the choices necessary to invest in the future--our future.

Throughout our Nation's history, the Federal Government has made major investments in expanding access to higher education for all people willing to work hard to pursue their dreams. Unfortunately, in recent years we have neglected that proud legacy.

Recently, Congress lowered interest rates for new borrowers but not for those borrowers who are stuck paying back old loans with much higher interest rates, be they public or private. Further, for those who are in true financial distress, Congress has made discharging loans in bankruptcy nearly impossible, first by eliminating this option for Federal loans in 1995 and then for private loans as well in 2005.

Tonight we are giving a voice to the debt crisis that faces millions of American families and students. Tonight we are giving voice to a number of solutions that can address this crisis if we work across party lines.

I believe Congress must take action, and that is why I am proud to join my fellow freshman colleague Senator Warren as a cosponsor in support of the Bank on Students Emergency Loan Refinancing Act. This legislation would allow those with outstanding student loan debt to refinance their debt at the lower rates currently offered to new borrowers. It is simple. It is paid for by making millionaires and billionaires pay their fair share in taxes to give our students a fair shot at a bright future, and it will help strengthen the economic security of American families who are struggling with this debt.

I believe making college affordable is one of the most important steps we can take toward rebuilding our middle class and breathing new life into the American dream. I want to live in an America where everyone has a fair shot at getting ahead.

I yield the floor.

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

Mr. President, nearly 7 years ago both parties worked together to pass bipartisan legislation that raised the minimum wage. Nineteen of my Republican colleagues, with whom I serve in the Senate today, voted for that bipartisan legislation, and Republican President George W. Bush signed it into law on May 25, 2007.

Since that time big banks on Wall Street drove our economy into a ditch. We faced a financial sector meltdown and were confronted with the worst recession since the Great Depression.

Hard-working Americans lost jobs. They lost their homes. They lost their retirement savings. Hard-working families paid a steep price for the reckless actions of others when all they ever asked for was that their hard work be rewarded.

Today people are working as hard as ever. Many are working full time. Many are working two jobs just to make ends meet; they deserve to get ahead. Yet far too many are barely getting by or living in poverty.

Middle-class incomes have flat-lined and income inequality in the United States is at a record high. And, today, a full-time minimum-wage worker earns only $15,080 per year.

The sad reality is the minimum wage is not high enough to keep full- time workers out of poverty. That is simply wrong, and it is our job to work together to change it because in America no one who works hard full time should have to live in poverty.

I am here today to urge my colleagues to help lift nearly 2 million people--2 million of their fellow Americans--out of poverty.

I am here today to urge my colleagues to support the Minimum Wage Fairness Act and give 28 million hard-working Americans the raise they have earned.

Some opponents of this bill have dismissed this effort as nothing more than raising the wages of teenagers who are simply working in the summer months. Well, that simply is no longer true. In fact, it never was true.

Eighty-eight percent of minimum-wage workers are adults age 20 or older, and the average age of a minimum-wage worker in America is 35 years old. More than half of minimum-wage workers are women. These are Americans who are working hard to get ahead, and they deserve to have us working together to help give them a fair shot.

Raising the minimum wage is not just the right thing to do to reward hard work; it can certainly boost our economy because studies show that minimum-wage workers spend the extra dollars they earn on basics such as food and clothing at businesses right in their home communities.

For someone earning $7.25 an hour and working full time, raising the minimum wage to $10.10 puts an extra $5,700 into their pockets. That $5,700 provides groceries for a year or utilities for a year, money to spend on gas and clothing for a year, or 6 months of housing--fueling our local economies at a time when our recovery continues to limp along.

Raising the minimum wage would lift 2 million hard-working people out of poverty. Passing this legislation would mean that more hard-working Americans will be able to provide for their families without the help of government programs such as SNAP, otherwise known as food stamps, saving taxpayers $4.6 billion from reduced nutrition assistance payments in 1 year alone.

I believe we need to build a fairer economy and grow the middle class from the bottom up. And I believe our economy is strongest when we expand opportunity for everyone, when everyone gets a fair shot.

I am proud to join my colleagues here today and tomorrow to deliver a call for action. It is simple. The time is now to give hard-working Americans a raise. We can do that if both parties work together to reward hard work so that an honest day's work pays more.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I would like to start by thanking Senator Mikulski for organizing us today and much more importantly for her leadership over the years on this issue. We are so proud to have her as our dean.

I come to the floor today on Equal Pay Day to stand and speak about an issue that impacts women and families in every State across this country. Today I rise to give voice to the belief that we need to be working together across party aisles to build an America where hard work is rewarded and where there is a fair shot for everyone to realize their pursuits and dreams.

In America today the growing gap between rich and everyone else is at its largest point in 100 years. The absence of upward mobility for hard-working families demands action because if we cannot close this gap we might someday talk about the middle class as something we used to have, not something that each generation can aspire to.

As I have traveled through my home State of Wisconsin, they have told me that the powerful and well connected seem to get to write their own rules while the concerns and struggles of middle-class families often go unnoticed here in Washington. They feel as if our economic system is tilted towards those at the top and that our political system exists to protect unfair advantages, instead of making sure that everybody gets a fair shot.

I rise to give voice to the fact that there is paycheck inequality for hard-working American women across this country and that it is time we do something about it. Working women make up over 50 percent of our workforce, and they are working harder than ever to get ahead. And they deserve to get ahead. Many are working full time, and many are working two jobs to make ends meet. Yet far too many are barely getting by, and far too many women and children are living in poverty. The least we can do is level the playing field and give women a fair shot at getting ahead because they deserve equal pay for equal work. It is simply unfair that women are paid on average 77 cents for every dollar paid to a man. This reality is holding women back, and it is holding our entire economy back.

I am proud to join my colleagues today to deliver a call for action to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act and give women equal pay for equal work. This legislation will help close the paycheck gap for women, it will help create upward mobility for women, and it will help strengthen the economic security of millions of families across our country.

Let me take the time to tell you just one story of one woman. Shannon is a single mother of three from Two Rivers, WI. Shannon is working hard to

support her family, but the pay gap is holding her back. Shannon has continued her education to advance her career as an interpreter in a school, but she faces the grim reality that women teachers are often paid less than their male counterparts.

In fact--and this is so hard to believe--statistics collected by our Department of Labor make it clear that women earn less than men in almost all occupations commonly held by women. Passing the Paycheck Fairness Act will help close the pay gap and provide Shannon and so many others with financial freedom for their families.

It would help Shannon manage issues that working moms face every single day--unexpected car problems, children outgrowing their pants and shoes, the anxiety of not being able to save a little bit from their paycheck to someday send their children to college. To put this in the simplest terms possible, it would give Shannon a fair shot at passing on a stronger future for her children.

Today women working full time in Wisconsin go home with $10,324 less a year than their male counterparts. In Wisconsin, 31 percent of households headed by working women have incomes that fall below the poverty level. This is simply wrong, and it is our job to work together to change that. Millions of American women get up everyday to work hard for that middle-class dream: a good job that pays the bills, health care coverage you can rely on, a home you can call your own, a chance to save for your kids' college education, and a secure retirement. But instead, gender discrimination is holding women and their families back. Eliminating the pay gap will make families more secure.

Nearly 60 percent of women would earn more if women were paid the same as men of the same experience with similar education and hours of work. The poverty rate for women would be cut in half. It is wrong for us to ignore the gap between the economic security that American women work so hard to achieve and the economic uncertainty that they are asked to settle for. With a record number of women in the workforce today, the right thing to do is to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act and empower women with a fair shot at equal pay.

I urge my colleagues to join me in working to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act because it would strengthen families and our economy by providing working women with the tools they need to close the gender pay gap. It will show the American people our commitment to working together to provide a fair shot for everyone.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, when my grandparents were raising me, I learned that if you work hard and play by the rules, you should be able to get ahead. As I traveled throughout the State of Wisconsin meeting with Wisconsinites I know that my fellow Wisconsinites learned that very same thing when they were growing up. Today people are working as hard as ever, and they deserve to get ahead, but many are working full time and even two jobs to make ends meet. Yet far too many are just barely getting by or living in poverty.

As I have traveled my State, Wisconsinites have told me that the powerful and the well-connected seem to get to write all of their own rules, while the concerns and struggles of the working poor and middle- class families go unnoticed here in Washington. They feel like our economic system is tilted towards those at the very top and that our political system exists to protect those unfair advantages. The House budget introduced by Congressman Paul Ryan--from my own home State--is a perfect example of that. Instead, we should make sure that everybody gets a fair shot.

I am really proud to join my colleagues this afternoon to deliver our own call for action. It is simple. The time is now to give hard-working Americans a raise. We can do that if both parties work together to reward hard work so an honest day's work pays more. We can do that by raising the minimum wage.

I believe we need to build a fairer economy and grow the middle class. I believe our economy is strongest when we expand opportunity for everyone, and that is why I am an original cosponsor of the Minimum Wage Fairness Act. Raising the minimum wage would improve the economic security of families across the country and strengthen the overall economy. It would give 28 million American workers a raise--including over 595,000 Wisconsinites--and will benefit more than a quarter million Wisconsin children who would have at least one parent getting that raise.

It would mean workers in Wisconsin would have $816 million more to spend

in local businesses, which according to the Economic Policy Institute would boost Wisconsin's GDP by $516.6 million and generate 1,800 new jobs after only 3 years.

Because women are disproportionately low-wage workers--making up two- thirds of low-wage workers in the country--raising the minimum wage would also directly impact millions of women across America.

Nadine, from Appleton, WI, would directly benefit from a raise. Nadine is a 20-year-old woman who makes the tipped minimum wage. She works as a server in a family restaurant. I probably need to remind some people that the tipped minimum wage is only $2.13 an hour. Nadine got her first job at age 14 so she could start saving for college. She started college but had stopped attending because she simply could not afford it. She even moved from her small hometown to a larger city in search of a better job so she would be able to return to school.

In telling her story, Nadine writes:

Raising the minimum wage is not an abstract notion in my

life. It is a real factor that affects me in several

important ways. First, and most importantly, it is important

to me because I am a young woman and I am working to support

myself. I had to put going to college on hold because I

couldn't afford it. Without a higher income, I worry I won't

ever be able to transition from dead-end jobs into a long-

term career.

Nadine currently averages $200 to $300 per week. She spends $50 on gas every week because she can't afford a more fuel-efficient car. She eats simply in order to budget $30 each week for food. The rest of her income goes to rent and other bills. Needless to say, it doesn't go far.

Nadine picks up every shift available to her and doesn't rely on government assistance of any kind. She worries she will never be able to experience having a family and finishing college, traveling, and just having a fair shot at building a stronger future for herself.

Women such as Nadine make up 72 percent of workers in predominately tipped occupations. Workers in tipped occupations are twice as likely as other workers to experience poverty, and servers are almost three times as likely to be in poverty.

If for no other reason, we need to raise the minimum wage because in America no one who works full time should have to live or raise a family in poverty. Raising the full minimum wage and the tipped wage will give 15 million women a raise--including 330,000 in my State of Wisconsin. Women who make up 80 percent of America's 2.8 million working single parents would benefit from an increase in the minimum wage, thereby reducing child poverty among female-headed households.

According to the Center for American Progress, raising the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour would reduce dependence on government programs, including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which we commonly call SNAP, which would see nearly 3.5 million fewer enrollments and save $46 billion over the decade. Raising the minimum wage will help make progress towards closing the gender pay gap.

I look forward to getting the job done and reward the hard work of women across our great country.

I look forward to getting the job done and passing the Minimum Wage Fairness Act so American women will get the raise they deserve.

I yield back.

In America, we know that quality education and a fair shot at work is the path to the middle class, economic security, and getting ahead. Today we have an opportunity to make an important bipartisan action to help strengthen that path to the middle class.

For many families in this country, quality, affordable childcare is a challenge they struggle with every morning. This is why President George H. W. Bush signed the child care and development block grant law in 1990, to ensure that working families have access to quality, affordable childcare.

Today I join a bipartisan group of my Senate colleagues in calling for reauthorization of the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act because of the support it provides working families across this country and across the State of Wisconsin, my home State.

I thank HELP Committee Chairman Harkin and Ranking Member Alexander, and Senator Mikulski and Senator Burr for their working across party lines to move this important legislation forward.

This bipartisan work is an endorsement of our shared responsibility to build a shared path to the middle class that begins by investing in affordable childcare and high-quality early learning programs.

I am proud to say that Wisconsin has long been a leader in investing in our children early. Education for 4-year-olds was part of Wisconsin's Constitution in 1845, and the first kindergarten in the United States was founded in Watertown, WI, in 1856. Wisconsin is nearing universal 4K, with over 90 percent of school districts offering kindergarten for 4-year-olds.

My State has also recognized the importance of effective collaborations to support early childhood care and education. Wisconsin Early Childhood Collaborating Partners is a statewide partnership representing over 50 public and private agencies, led by Wisconsin's Department of Public Instruction, with the goal of providing every child access to a comprehensive delivery system for high-quality education and care.

I am proud that my State has undertaken a community approach to implementing high-quality childcare and early education. More work remains to be done, however, both in Wisconsin and nationwide to ensure high-quality childcare and education is accessible to every family.

Our Nation continues to recover from the most severe economic downturn since the Great Depression. As our country continues this recovery, families have had to get by with less. Americans are in need of affordable childcare now more than ever. My home State of Wisconsin is no exception to this trend. Today, many parents are in the workforce, including over 70 percent of mothers in Wisconsin. For many hardworking middle-class families, childcare is necessary but also expensive. For millions of families in the United States, childcare is their single largest household expense at nearly $15,000 per year.

In Wisconsin, the cost of childcare for an infant is approximately 40 percent of a single mother's median income. Two-parent families can expect to spend more than 10 percent of their income on childcare.

Further, in Wisconsin, nearly one-third of children receiving the child care and development block grant funding are under the age of 3, making this a truly sound investment in those crucial years of early life.

The Child Care and Development Block Grant Act is a bipartisan effort to reauthorize, reform, and revitalize the block grant program by strengthening Federal safety standards and placing a greater focus on the quality of childcare programs.

This investment in affordable quality childcare will help more than 1.5 million children, including over 30,000 children in Wisconsin.

I once again thank my colleagues for working in a bipartisan manner to guide us in reauthorizing this vital legislation. High-quality childcare and education is essential to the future success of our children and our overall success as a nation.

I am proud to support this legislation as it focuses on improving the quality and safety of childcare programs, focuses on supporting infants and toddlers with high-quality care, and reflects the realities of working families in this difficult economic environment. But, as importantly, I am proud to join a bipartisan effort in Washington that is squarely focused on both parties working together to build a stronger future for our middle class.

I yield back.