Max Baucus

Mr. BAUCUS

Mr. BAUCUS. I will be glad to yield time to my friend from Oklahoma.

Mr. BAUCUS. At this time?

Mr. BAUCUS

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 Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. BAUCUS

Mr. BAUCUS. Madam President, America's first Treasury Secretary, Alexander Hamilton, once said: The confidence of the people will easily be gained by a good administration. This is the true touchstone. Hamilton's words take on new prominence today as we task our next Treasury Secretary to gain the trust of the American people and restore confidence in our Nation's economy. Nineteen of twenty-four Senators on the Senate Finance Committee voted yesterday on a bipartisan basis in favor of Jack Lew's nomination. Senators on both sides of the aisle spoke to his character and to his integrity. He is well qualified to be the Nation's next Treasury Secretary and will work to build the people's confidence and restore trust and certainty in both our government and in our economy. That will be his touchstone. I am certainly not alone in supporting Mr. Lew for the crucial role as the administration's top adviser on economic policy. Yesterday's overwhelming support for Mr. Lew came after one of the most thorough reviews of any candidate for the position--a process that included hours of interviews with Mr. Lew, the examination of 6 years' of tax records, and more than 700 questions for the record. In comparison, the committee asked Secretary Geithner 289 questions, Secretary Paulson 81 questions, and Secretary Snowe 75 questions. Mr. Lew has met personally with more than 40 Senators since being nominated for Treasury Secretary last month, answering questions and addressing any concerns. Throughout the confirmation process, Mr. Lew has been open and transparent. And, as I hope a vote in the Senate will soon show, he has gained the trust and the confidence of many in this Chamber. Mr. Lew has a long and distinguished career focused on public service, with experience in both academia and on Wall Street. Most recently, he was the White House Chief of Staff. He has also served as Budget Director of the Office of Management and Budget in the current administration and under President Clinton, where, I will note, he helped guide our Nation through one of the greatest periods of economic growth in America's history. Mr. Lew has also served in the U.S. Department of State as Deputy Secretary for Management and Resources. Mr. Lew has demonstrated time and again that he has the experience and knowledge to help get the Nation's economy back on track. We need a strong man at the helm to help tackle the many fiscal challenges facing our Nation, and I believe Jack Lew is that man. Just 2 days from now, on March 1, across-the-board budget cuts known as the sequester will hit. Madam President, $85 billion in Federal spending will be sliced from thousands of programs, including Medicare, rural development, and early education. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office predicts the cuts could slow the economic recovery and result in another year of sluggish growth and high unemployment. I firmly believe we need to cut our debt and get our fiscal house in order. We know there are places to trim the fat. The American public knows that, certainly. But we need to take a scalpel to waste and inefficiency, not allow a hatchet to hack into American jobs. Our economy will be put to the test again in just weeks when the continuing resolution expires on March 27. We face the threat of a government shutdown. And on the horizon, the Federal borrowing limit will be reached in late May. That will require another extension of the debt ceiling. This is no way to run a country. Congress has been lurching from one fiscal showdown to the next, leaving the Nation with uncertainty. The only way we will be able to get past these budget battles is by working together. We all know that; we just have to start doing it--Republicans and Democrats, Members of the House and the Senate. We need to work together to put in place policies that create more jobs and spark economic growth. It is deeds, not words. We have enough words about working together. We have to actually start performing the deeds and working together. We will need to work with Mr. Lew and with the administration to put the Nation's economy back on track. We need to get off this roller coaster ride. It is like a yo-yo. There is no stability. There is no certainty. Going from one fiscal crisis to the next is undermining our economy. To give families and businesses certainty, we must agree on a balanced comprehensive plan to cut the debt that includes both revenue and spending cuts. The math will not work any other way. A long-term balanced plan will bridge the budget battles and make real progress toward solving our deficit problem. A balanced plan will also encourage businesses to invest, enable investors to return to the markets with confidence and, most importantly, put Americans back to work in a growing economy. That is the bottom line, more jobs, more good-paying jobs. We need more certainty and predictability so businesses may hire, expand, and people are able to get those good-paying jobs. Over the past 2 years I had a standing weekly call with Treasury Secretary Geithner. Every week we would go to the phone at 9:45 on Wednesdays, and about once a month we personally visited, would get together to go over issues. No matter where we were, what we were doing, we would always try to pick up the phone once a week to check in. I will tell you, it was on the minute, 9:45. Each of us knew the other was going to be there. Secretary Geithner and I grew to become friends and trust each other. Our families started to have dinner together, do things together. It is that trust and confidence that is so necessary and which is necessary to work together to make things happen. The conversations proved invaluable as we worked to overcome numerous economic challenges. I continue the outreach with Mr. Lew. I have been having a standing weekly call with him in anticipation he will soon be Treasury Secretary, and I am going to keep it up. I know he wants to also. It is very heartening, frankly. He has been very open and receptive and is eager to work with all of us here in the Congress to strengthen America's economy and create more jobs. He wants to do a good job. He knows he must talk with us and communicate with us in order to do that. Working together will be key to promoting economic growth and stability. If confirmed by the Senate, one of Mr. Lew's first acts as Treasury Secretary will be affixing his signature to all new Federal Reserve notes. I am not sure if people will be able to read his loopy signature. It is an inside joke that sometimes people have a hard time reading his handwriting. His signature will be on the Federal Reserve notes, and that loopy signature is described as looking more like a scratched-out slinky than a name. That is Mr. Lew. That is the way he signs. Mr. Lew promised the President that if confirmed he will work to make at least one letter legible in order to not deface America's currency, and we will hold him to that promise. In addition to the signature of America's Treasury Secretary, the front of every U.S. dollar bill has the seal of the United States Treasury. Look closely and you will see the symbols of balancing the scales to represent justice. There is a chevron containing 13 stars which represents the 13 original colonies. Underneath the emblem is a key which notes Treasury's official authority. If confirmed, we will be trusting Mr. Lew with the authority to oversee America's financial system and economic policy. He will play a critical role in the upcoming debates on priorities and spending cuts. We will be relying on him to ensure our government and finances are sound. We will be asking him to work with us to return some stability and confidence to our economy. We will be asking him to work with us to ensure the United States remains a great world power in this competitive global economy. It is a great responsibility he has, one which I believe Mr. Lew will live up to. Two hundred twenty-four years ago, this body, the U.S. Senate, approved the first Cabinet position for this young Nation when it unanimously approved Alexander Hamilton to become first Secretary of the Treasury. I ask my colleagues to confirm Mr. Lew today to be our Nation's 76th Treasury Secretary, to enable him to begin work helping to strengthen our economy. I yield the floor.

Mr. BAUCUS

Mr. BAUCUS. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 26, the nomination of Jack Lew to be Secretary of the Treasury, with 8 hours for debate equally divided in the usual form; that upon the use or yielding back of time, the Senate proceed to vote without intervening action or debate on the nomination; that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate; that no further motions be in order; that the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action, and the Senate then resume legislative session.

Mr. BAUCUS

Mr. BAUCUS. Madam President, I would like to take a moment to speak on a topic that is very important to me, to Montana, and our Nation; that is, our veterans. The Veterans Jobs Caucus has organized a day of action today to draw attention to veterans unemployment, and I am very proud to help shine a light on that. Jobs must be our No. 1 priority. There is no better place to start than with our veterans. With the war in Iraq coming to an end and Afghanistan winding down, we have a responsibility to make sure every single one of these men and women returns home to a paycheck, not an unemployment check. I urge my colleagues to join me in declaring war on veterans unemployment. Let us work together to make sure every American veteran has the good-paying job they deserve. I yield the floor

Mr. BAUCUS

Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that there be 10 minutes remaining for debate, equally divided in the usual form, on the Lew nomination; that following the use or yielding back of time, the Senate proceed to vote.

Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, earlier today I spoke in support of Jack Lew's nomination to be the next Treasury Secretary. Over the last 6 hours or so some have come to the Senate floor to question Mr. Lew's character, claiming he has not been forthcoming throughout his confirmation. Let me remind my colleagues that Mr. Lew participated in one of the most thorough reviews of any candidate for this position: a process that included hours of interviews and the examination of 6 years of tax records and more than 700 questions for the Record. In comparison, the committee asked Secretary Geithner only 289 questions--only; Secretary Paulson 81; and Secretary Snowe 75 questions. Remember, Jack Lew was asked over 700 questions. Throughout the confirmation process, Mr. Lew has been nothing but open and transparent. I believe he has gained the trust and confidence of many in this Chamber. In fact, 19 of 24 Senators on the Senate Finance Committee yesterday voted on a bipartisan basis in favor of Jack Lew's nomination. Many recognize that Mr. Lew is well qualified to be the Nation's next Treasury Secretary. He has demonstrated time and again that he has the knowledge and policy expertise to help get the Nation's economy back on track. He is a very smart man and a very dedicated, total public servant. If confirmed by the Senate today, Mr. Lew has said he is eager to work with all of us here in the Congress to strengthen the American economy and create more jobs. That is the key, work together to create more jobs. The only way we could get past these constant budget battles is by working together, Republicans and Democrats, in the House and the Senate, and we need to work with Mr. Lew and the administration to craft policies that create more jobs and spark economic growth. If confirmed, we will be entrusting Mr. Lew with the authority to oversee America's financial system and economic policy. It is a great responsibility, one which I believe Mr. Lew will live up to. I think he has what it takes. The Treasury Secretary is obviously the top economic adviser to the President. He works for the President and he works for the country. So the second role of the Treasury Secretary is to speak to the Nation about our Nation's finances. It is a dual role. He is working for the President and he is also working for all of us, the people of the United States of America. It is a very prestigious, very important position. When he speaks, he is speaking for America on financial matters and also on economic matters. It is a separate role that all Treasury Secretaries perform, the good ones, and I think Jack Lew is going to be a very good one. I ask my colleagues to confirm Mr. Lew today as the Nation's next Treasury Secretary so he can get to work and help strengthen the economy. I yield the floor.

Mr. BAUCUS

Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the following staff of the Finance Committee be granted the privilege of the floor for the remainder of the 2013 calendar year: Melanie Rainer, Erik Hansen, Swarna Vallurupalli, Anderson Heiman, Tyler Evilsizer, Aaron Tjoa, Elizabeth Karan, and Peter Sokolove.

Mr. BAUCUS

Mr. BAUCUS. Madam President, the Committee on Finance has adopted rules governing its procedures for the 113th Congress. Pursuant to rule XXVI, paragraph 2, of the Standing Rules of the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that the accompanying rules for the Senate Committee on Finance be printed in the Record.

Mr. BAUCUS

Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, I rise to speak on two amendments. It will be the first amendment offered by the Senator from Ohio, his first amendment, and also I will speak on an amendment offered by the Senator from Pennsylvania. I think the Senator from Maryland, the chairman of the Appropriations Committee, will speak on the second Portman amendment. I chuckled this morning. I see two new Members, very able Members of the Senate, who are now members of the Senate Finance Committee, follow their urges to offer amendments immediately to bills before the Senate. Senator Portman is doing that, Senator Toomey is doing that, and I commend them, very much commend them for being so interested in the subject and allowing their intellectual juices to flow and come up with something that is new and different and in their view might make some sense. I think part of this is because of the newly found efforts here in the Senate, and desire in the Senate, certainly among rank-and-file Members, to do something. What you hear around here is: ``Regular order.'' That is something I very much subscribe to, namely let the committees do their work. Senator Portman and Senator Toomey are certainly following that tradition by offering amendments so the Senate Finance Committee, or in this case the Senate floor, is doing its work with respect to the pending measure. I want to start by saying how much I appreciate the efforts of the Speaker, Speaker Boehner. He has done a good job giving us a few months' breathing room here in the Congress with respect to the debt limit increase; that is, having the House pass on a bipartisan basis a measure which extends the debt ceiling limit for another several months, to May 18. That gives us a chance to figure out how we are going to get our fiscal house better in order, cut the debt, and deal with some other vexatious issues such as the sequester and the continuing resolution. The amendment, I must say, though, offered by my good friend from Ohio is a throwback to an effort that was undertaken essentially a year or two ago. With all due respect, it didn't work. What was that? Namely, it was the Sanders amendment, which is for every dollar increase in the national debt there be a dollar cut in Federal spending. This was something that was tried, the House of Representatives tried, the Speaker negotiated with the President, and it didn't work. Frankly, it led to a big confrontation, if you will, on August 11, where the debt was reaching its limit, there was no agreement on spending cuts, and the credit agencies began to downgrade U.S. credit. It didn't work. I again say I am very proud of the Speaker for trying a different approach. It is also important to point out that if this amendment were to pass, we would have to send this bill back to the House. We are already now on a good track for the Senate to pass, without amendment, the House-passed bill. If that happens, then the world knows that the U.S. Government will not be in debt until at least May 18, and because of measures the Treasury Secretary will not exceed the debt limit until sometime in August. We will be in debt. We have a big debt. The debt is about a $16 trillion debt, but we will not reach our debt limit if the House bill is passed by the U.S. Senate. In my judgment, it is very important that we pass this House amendment so that we in the Senate and the House of Representatives can get to work on how we reduce the debt and how we get our house in order as best as we possibly can. I thank my friend from Ohio for his approach. Dollar for dollar, this has been attempted in the past. It has been rejected by the Speaker in the House of Representatives, and it has been rejected by the majority of the House of Representatives. This is an idea that was once tried, but it didn't work. I submit, with all due respect, it would not work this time either for the reasons I just mentioned and for the additional reason that it would further complicate an effort to increase our debt limit for a short period of time, which allows us to do our work. I now wish to turn to the Toomey amendment. Again, I thank my colleague from Pennsylvania, a member of the committee, for industriously coming up with an idea. I must say, with total respect, I don't think the idea works. Basically the idea is that when the debt limit is reached, the limit would be increased only for the purpose of addressing principal and interest on the debt held by the public or Social Security benefits and military pay, and that is it. The debt limit is automatically increased only for those three reasons and not for other reasons; that is, not for other programs the U.S. Government has an obligation to fund. What are some of the other programs? Medicare, veterans' benefits, disability benefits, Medicaid, Pell grants, special education for disabled children, and highway funding. The list is extremely lengthy. I just mentioned a few. What happens if the Toomey amendment is law? First of all, we have reached our debt limit. What are the credit markets going to think? What are credit agencies going to think? They are going to think, oh, my gosh, the U.S. Congress has not increased its debt limit but for essentially on a daily basis Social Security, interest on the debt, and military pay. It is not for military procurement or men and women in the Air Guard. It is just military pay. It sounds as though it is just for active-duty pay. Think of what will happen. Think of the chaos. Other agencies are not going to know whether they will be funded. They have no idea. According to the Toomey amendment, it is up to the Treasury Secretary to prioritize. How can he do that when there is no money there and the debt limit is not increased? Frankly, I cannot believe this amendment is even offered. With all due respect to my friend from Pennsylvania, it is so nonsensical. With respect to the two amendments that are offered here, the first being the Portman amendment, I say to my friends, it has been tried in the past and it didn't work. It didn't work when the President and Speaker were trying to negotiate a deal on August 11. It caused chaos in the markets. That is one of the reasons the markets fell so much in August of 2011. If this amendment is agreed to, it will have to be sent back to the House. It will mean putting this issue of extending the debt limit increase for 3 months in tremendous jeopardy. I don't think we want to do that. I think it is the wrong thing to do. The second amendment, the Toomey amendment, is totally unworkable. It will cause even more chaos at a time when we are trying to calm the markets, at a time when we are trying to get more confidence, more credibility, not less. In my judgment, both--especially the latter-- will result in a lot more worry in the markets, not more confidence. It will create more worry, more uncertainty, and for those reasons I think these amendments should be rejected. I yield the floor.

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

Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, thanks in part to filmmaker Steven Spielberg, there is renewed interest today in America's 16th President, Abraham Lincoln. A century and a half ago, during one of the most critical times in American history, Lincoln faced a nation divided by ideology and war. Only through fierce determination and moral courage was Lincoln able to preserve the Union. Today, we again are in an ideological divide. Too often, Congress fails to agree on key social and economic issues. Politics is winning out over progress. Like the America of the 1860s, the unwillingness to compromise has crippled our ability to move forward as a nation. As we discuss America's fiscal responsibility today, I would like to share the words of Lincoln. One of my favorite quotes is this: ``You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today.'' As a nation we have a responsibility to fulfill existing commitments to pay our bills, and it is a responsibility we cannot evade. As we know, the Federal Government officially hit its current authorizing spending limit--also known as the debt ceiling--on December 31, 2012. Over the past month, the Treasury Secretary has been using extraordinary measures to continue funding the government and sending out Social Security checks and veterans' benefits. Treasury's action only bought limited time. The debt limit deadline was moved from December 31 to mid-February or early March. Needless to say, a feeling of uncertainty has spread across the country. However, on January 23, the House of Representatives approved a plan to ensure America can meet our obligations through May 18. The bill, H.R. 325, which we have before us today, also provides an incentive for action on the Federal budget. The legislation includes a provision that would withhold the pay of lawmakers in the House or the Senate if their Chamber fails to pass the budget blueprint by April 15. Since 1917, Congress has always taken appropriate action to avoid defaulting on America's bills. We must continue to fulfill our responsibility. We must not fail now. There is too much at stake. Failure to pass this bill will set off an unpredictable financial calamity that would plunge not only the United States but much of the world back into recession and more. Every single American would feel the economic impact. There would be radical cuts in military salaries, veterans' programs, Social Security benefits, and education. Tax refunds may not be issued, and our country's credit rating would almost certainly be downgraded significantly. I understand the concern over America's deficits and debt. I share those concerns, and I strongly believe we must develop a long-term plan to cut the debt and get America's fiscal house in order. Let me remind you, over the past 2 years we have made real progress at cutting deficits and debt. We have done so working together across the aisle. In 2011, we passed $1.4 trillion in spending cuts. Earlier this month, Congress passed legislation that reduced the deficit by another $600 billion. Together, with interest savings, these two actions will cut the deficit by about $2.5 trillion over the next 10 years. Add to this the savings from winding down the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the savings to America's Federal budget reach almost $3.5 trillion over 10 years--all together $3.5 trillion over 10 years-- which we already are doing as a consequence of winding down the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. That is real progress. In the coming weeks we will have to confront the deficit issue again when sequestration of spending programs starts on March 1. March 27, the day the continuing resolution for appropriations expires, brings tough choices. That is why we are here, to make the tough decisions, to do the hard work. The threat of defaulting on our fiscal obligations is extremely dangerous. It puts America on unstable ground. We all are aware how our political brinkmanship of 2011 led to the first ever downgrade of our country's credit rating. It sent shock waves in stock markets across the globe and nearly crashed the American economy. We have the opportunity today to avoid that calamity. We have the opportunity today to avoid another destructive budget battle. H.R. 325 ensures America can meet our obligations through May 18 and provides the Congress with a necessary calm between fiscal storms. The House of Representatives adopted the bill by a bipartisan vote, 285 to 144, and it is supported by the administration. The bill before us is necessary to remove the threat of default that would throw the U.S. economy into chaos. It gives us time to work together on a sensible, balanced solution to our Nation's fiscal challenges without undermining the Nation's economy. It deserves our support. I congratulate Speaker Boehner on his leadership with regard to this issue and the House for its bipartisan approach to a tough but necessary vote. Let's pass this legislation today and move on to the debate over what further deficit reduction options we need to help keep America's economy moving forward. In the words of Lincoln: ``The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion.'' I yield the floor.

Mr. BAUCUS. Madam President, on January 23, something marvelous happened. What was that? The House, on a strong bipartisan basis, passed a bill which would raise the debt limit, which would extend the debt limit to May 18. It was bipartisan. Speaker Boehner is to be commended. This town is criticized for its lack of working together because it is just too partisan. Speaker Boehner found a solution to help us relieve the pressure so we can get our job done and get the deficit spending under control. The method suggested by the Senator from Ohio is a step backward. We have tried that. We tried that a couple of years ago, and it didn't work. We all remember August 11, when the markets basically collapsed when the credit agencies began to downgrade our debt. So I say let's follow the lead of the bipartisan Speaker, who found a way through great leadership to pass a provision. We should pass the same provision because if we don't, then we will be back to chaos.

Mr. BAUCUS. Amending the provision means it has to go back to the House. If you think the markets are in disarray today, just think of the lack of confidence that would prevail if this amendment were to succeed.

Mr. BAUCUS. Madam President, I move to table the Portman amendment and ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. BAUCUS

Mr. BAUCUS. Madam President, I appreciate the intent of the Senator from Pennsylvania. When we stop and think about this amendment, it reminds us of the movie and the book ``The Hunger Games.'' In ``The Hunger Games,'' you will recall, children were pitted against each other until one survived. Under this amendment, there are three categories that are protected: military pay, Social Security, and bondholders. Everybody else is out for him or herself. The Treasury Secretary would have to decide who gets what money, what funds--whether it is food stamps, whether it is Medicare, whether it is Medicaid, whether it is the Coast Guard; whatever it is, it would be total chaos, and people who would find their food stamps cut would find themselves in greater hunger. This is a very disruptive amendment. If you think the country is worried about a lack of confidence now, if this were the law, there would be less confidence, there would be total chaos in this country. I cannot think of a more disruptive amendment that would cause so many problems. It truly is a ``hunger games'' amendment and I urge that we table the amendment.

Mr. BAUCUS. Madam President, I move to table the Toomey amendment and ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. BAUCUS. Madam President, we have essentially already voted on this. It is very similar to the Portman amendment, which lost by a vote of 54-to-44. This approach was rejected by the House of Representatives when the Speaker sent over the debt increase to us, which gives us breathing room. We tried the approach suggested by the Senator in August 2011--to tie in spending. It didn't work. This moves us backward, not forward. I think we should give praise to the Speaker for putting together a bipartisan approach to, in a way, begin to resolve our debt and debt limit solutions, and so I ask that this motion be tabled. I move that this motion, the Vitter motion, be tabled, and I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. BAUCUS. I do agree with the majority leader. As we have discussed, it should be obvious that the overriding, critical purpose of this legislation is to suspend the debt limit and avoid the catastrophic implications of a default. This is an entirely different and severable issue from Section 2, which relates to the budget resolution and member pay. Mr. President, it would make no sense to vitiate the suspension of the debt limit, and risk default, because of an entirely separate issue. It is hard to believe that many, if any, of my colleagues would want that result. In fact, were a court to strike down Section 1 because of problems with Section 2, there could be serious consequences, potentially including uncertainty about the validity of Treasury securities issued with the full faith and credit of the United States. Nobody would want that to happen.

Mr. BAUCUS

Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Armed Services be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on January 31, 2013, at 9:30 a.m.

Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Environment and Public Works be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on January 31, 2013, at 10 a.m., in room 406 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building, a hearing entitled ``The Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund and the Need to Invest in the Nation's Ports.''

Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions be authorized to meet, during the session of the Senate, to conduct a hearing entitled ``Pension Savings: Are Workers Saving Enough for Retirement?'' on January 31, 2013, at 10 am, in room 430 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate, on January 31, 2013, at 10 a.m., in SD-226 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building, to conduct an executive business meeting.

Mr. BAUCUS

Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the following staff on the Finance Committee have the privilege of the floor for the 113th Congress: Ashtin Jeney, Daniel West, Eva Hampl, Gavin Mathis, Andrew Vondall, and Bryan Watt.