Jim Bunning

Mr. BUNNING

Mr. BUNNING. I reserve that time until the 10 minutes prior to the time expiring. In other words, the last 5 minutes is going to Senator Baucus. I reserve the time prior to the Baucus time. I ask unanimous consent to do that.

Mr. BUNNING. Mr. President, let me begin by addressing some of the arguments made by the other side of the aisle against my amendment. First, the Senator from Illinois said that this would cause a needless delay in extending these programs, potentially causing a protracted negotiation with the House. With all due respect, that is nonsense. We all know the House can act very quickly. In fact, they did so when they sent this bill, H.R. 4691, to us. The House has already passed my black liquor offset. I want everybody to understand that we pay for the extension of unemployment benefits, COBRA assistance, health care assistance so everybody is covered. The larger bill that we are dealing with on the floor, the one we took off the floor to address this amendment and this bill, also extends these provisions longer than just a month--the highway bill, the doc fix on Medicare, the small business loans that we heard about that we are destroying with our objections, and the rural satellite TV viewers. I sincerely believe if we can't find $10 billion to pay for something that all 100 Senators support, we are in deep trouble. I think the Senator from Alabama made that very clear. I am on the Budget Committee also. I have heard those numbers over and over, not from just the Republican people who come before the Budget Committee but from the Democrats who testify before the committee. We are on an unsustainable path as far as the budget. The question before the Senate is not whether Senators support unemployment benefits or all the other important things in this bill. The question is whether we as a Senate and as a government are going to pay for what we spend. How much time do I have remaining?

Mr. BUNNING. I think everybody understands why I have been on this floor for so long. I have been here for 12 years and 12 years in the House. I don't think I have spent this much time on the floor in any one-week period in my life. Usually on the floor of the House you only get 2 minutes to say whatever you have to say. In the Senate you get as much time, usually, as you need. I have never needed this much time. But something so important, particularly after pay-go, and even the larger bill we have before us, $104 billion of the $108 billion expended in that bill is emergency spending. That is emergency spending that is not paid for. So when we get to the bigger bill, we will have some amendments for that. I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. BUNNING

Mr. BUNNING. Mr. President, I am sorry. I wasn't on the floor. Could the Senator make her point of order.

Mr. BUNNING. Mr. President, I move to waive the applicable section of the Budget Act, and I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. BUNNING

Mr. BUNNING. Mr. President, just a brief explanation of why we are where we are with this extension bill, a brief extension of 30 days. There was an agreement between the majority leader of the Finance Committee and the minority leader on the Finance Committee, Senators Baucus and Grassley, on a 3-month extension of these very same provisions. There were more provisions in the bill also. It cost a little more than the $10 billion that is asked for because it was a 3- month extension. Senator Reid pulled that bill from the floor of the Senate. He did it. The leader of the Democrats pulled that bill from the floor. I support extending unemployment benefits, COBRA benefits, flood insurance, the highway bill fix, the doc fix, small business loans, distant network television for satellite viewers. If we can't find $10 billion to pay for something we all support, we will never pay for anything in the Senate. I have offered several ways to do this, including trying to negotiate with the majority leader's staff. None have been successful. We cannot keep adding to the debt. It is over $14 trillion and going up fast. If the budget before us passes, it will add another $1.5 trillion to the debt. Recently, we passed pay-go. For those who don't know what pay-go is, it means you have to pay for everything you bring before the Senate. You can't charge it on the debt. You can't charge it. That is what pay- go says. Understanding that, I hope the American people understand my serious objection.

Mr. BUNNING

Mr. BUNNING. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of H.R. 4691; that the amendment at the desk, which offers a full offset, be agreed to; the bill, as amended, be read a third time and passed; and the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table.

Mr. BUNNING

Mr. BUNNING. I object.

Mr. BUNNING

Mr. BUNNING. I object.

Mr. BUNNING. Mr. President, it is amazing to me the Senator from Illinois has what we call a convenient memory. Just last week there was a bipartisan bill proposed by Senator Baucus and Senator Grassley that would have covered the extension of unemployment benefits, COBRA health care assistance, flood insurance, highway bill assistance, the doc fix, small business loans, and the Rural Satellite Television Viewer Act. The convenient memory loss of the Senator from Illinois has allowed him to forget that his leader, Senator Reid, did not allow that bill to come to the floor and instead substituted his jobs bill. The majority leader's jobs bill was also not fully paid for, by the way. Ten billion dollars wasn't; five billion dollars was. So $10 billion from the jobs bill that was passed went to the bottom of the deficit. There comes a time when 100 Senators are for something we all support, if we can't find $10 billion to pay for it, we are not going to pay for anything. We will not pay for anything fully on the floor of the Senate. He said I only offered one way to pay for this. That is untrue. I offered more than one way. I negotiated with the leader--the leader's staff, rather--and we had worked out a 2-week extension for $5 billion with a different pay-for. The debt we have arrived at, even the head of the Federal Reserve Bank, Chairman Bernanke, said is not sustainable. It is unsustainable. What does that mean to the American people, to the same people who are struggling to pay for bills, who are on unemployment, who could have been covered had the Baucus-Grassley bill been considered and could have been covered not for 30 days but for 3 months? Because there were some tax extenders in that bill, the Democratic majority stopped the bill from being considered. I am not filibustering the bill. A filibuster is somebody who talks a long time. I am exercising my right as a Senator, duly elected from Kentucky, to object to a UC. That is completely different than filibustering. Everybody knows a Member of this body, any 100 of us can object to anything that is brought to the floor of the Senate, whether it be a nominee, whether it be a judge, whether it be somebody who is appointed to the Treasury. Anybody can object. There is a procedure that takes place that can overcome that objection. Why doesn't the Democratic majority use that procedure? So I am going to take one more shot. As long as we continue to have the extenders being brought forth unpaid for, I am going to object. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of H.R. 4691; that the amendment at the desk, which offers a full offset, be agreed to; the bill, as amended, be read a third time and passed, and the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table.

Mr. BUNNING. Mr. President, we tried and we will continue trying. As many people who get up and propose that UC, I will be there, whenever it is. I want it passed as badly as the Senator from Illinois does because I also have people in Kentucky who have the same problems as his people do in Illinois. All the States that are represented by two Senators do as well, but let's do it and pay for it because the money is available in many areas. The money was available for the Grassley- Baucus bill, which extended things for a year, in some cases, and extended these provisions I am talking about and the Senator from Illinois is talking about for a full 3 months. We would not be in this position if the Senator from Nevada had allowed that bill to come to the floor. Thank you. I yield the floor.

Mr. BUNNING

Mr. BUNNING. Mr. President, reserving the right to object.

Mr. BUNNING. First of all, let me say this, that I believe the Senator from Illinois is correct that everybody in this Chamber wants to extend unemployment benefits, COBRA health care benefits, flood insurance, the highway bill assistance, medical doc fix, small business loans, and rural satellite television for our viewers who cannot get cable. I will not object if the Senator from Illinois amends his unanimous consent request to adopt my amendment or any amendment that pays for the bill--we had a pay-go vote last week, and the Senate voted to pay for all the bills that come through--or I will not continue my reservation, I will not object if the Senator from Illinois would spend the $10 billion it costs to renew these extenders for 30 days. For example, we could do an across-the-board rescission of the bloated Omnibus appropriations bill that was passed for this fiscal year, which increased appropriations by 10 percent. That is just one, besides my pay-for, which you have objected to. If we cannot find $10 billion somewhere for a bill that everybody in this body supports, we will never pay for anything. I continue my objection.

Mr. BUNNING. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of H.R. 4691; that the amendment at the desk, which offers a full offset, be agreed to, the bill, as amended, be read a third time and passed, and the motion to reconsider be laid on the table.

Mr. BUNNING. We have tried to work this out with the majority, particularly after the pay-go vote last week. When 100 Senators are for a bill and we can't find $10 billion to pay for it, there is something the matter, seriously the matter with this body. I said that last night. I don't wish to repeat myself. I have offered several ways to pay for it. If everybody in this Chamber--and there are no Senators except me here right now, but there are 100 Members of this body-- believes, as the Senator from Illinois does, that this is essential and we should pass it, then we should pay for it. There are going to be other bills brought to the floor that are not going to be paid for, and I am going to object every time they do it. I don't much agree with the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, but it was striking yesterday when he said if the present level of debt and the present administration's budget is passed, the debt of the United States will be unsustainable. ``Unsustainable'' to me means there is a chance of one of the rating agencies downgrading the rating on our debt. We cannot allow that to happen. I have too many young grandchildren who want America to be the same America I grew up in. I am worried to death that will not be the case. I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. BUNNING

Mr. BUNNING. Mr. President, I object.

Mr. BUNNING. Reserving the right to object, I just wish to make sure I am objecting to the right motion. In the third-to-last sentence, the leader used, in my opinion, the wrong number. He used H.R. 1586.

Mr. BUNNING. It should be 4691.

Mr. BUNNING. I object.

Mr. BUNNING. Mr. President, may I now speak and propose a unanimous consent? First of all, let me say this to my good friend from Nevada. I have worked all day trying to work out a compromise, anywhere from 2 to 4 weeks on this UC, trying to get it paid for, for the time of the extension. We were very close. We tried to get agreement using different pay-fors than what I am going to propose. But in the final analysis, it came down to, when the White House summit adjourned, the leader came back and it was going to be his way and no one else's way. That is what it turned into. I am going to propose a 30-day extension with an offset. So I am as anxious to get those same provisions he has brought up--the COBRA, flood insurance, Satellite Home Viewer Act, highway funding, SBA provisions, American Recovery Act, SGR, poverty guidelines. I wish to get them renewed also. Unanimous Consent Request--H.R. 4691 So, Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of H.R. 4691; that the amendment at the desk, which offers a full offset, be agreed to, the bill, as amended, be read a third time and passed, and the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table.

Mr. BUNNING

Mr. BUNNING. I object.

Mr. BUNNING. Do you know about that?

Mr. BUNNING. The Senator from Kentucky objects.

Mr. BUNNING. Reserving the right to object.

Mr. BUNNING. It seems to me people have not been listening, particularly the Senator from Illinois. He has been through two of these with the leader. He heard the arguments on both sides. Unfortunately, he has a one-side-only view of this situation. I have offered the same COBRA, flood insurance, unemployment insurance, Satellite Home Viewing Act, highway funding, SBA loans, small business provisions--I have offered to do the same thing for the same amount of time. The only difference I have, and some of my good friends from the other side of the aisle, is that I believe we should pay for it. There is a right over the last 3 years of the Democratically controlled Congress. We have run up $5 trillion in debt. There has to be a time to stop that. We just passed, last week, pay-as-you-go. The first bill up--and I have said this before earlier--was the small business bill that just passed. Now, $5 billion out of that bill was paid for; $10 billion was not. This is the second request after we passed the small business bill that the leader proposed. This also adds $10 billion to the deficit. That is $20 billion in two small bills. What I have proposed is that we pay for it. My gosh, we have over $400 billion in unspent stimulus money. I also worked, or tried to work, with the leader and his staff. I know he was busy at the White House, but I tried very hard to work with his staff to get other pay- fors and cut the time down to 2 weeks to make sure these people were taken care of. I did not get any support from my good friends on the Democratic side of the aisle. I did not think it was fair to do what you are proposing to do, the Senator from Illinois. I will be here as long as you are here and as long as all of those other Senators are here. I am going to object every time because you will not pay for this and you propose never to pay for it. Eventually, by Tuesday, when we do have another vote, you will get a vote, and you will get this done. So I am trying to make a point to the people of the United States of America: We have a debt of $14-plus trillion. I listened to the head of the Federal Reserve speaking to me in the Banking Committee today, and he looked straight at me and said the debt and the proposed budget of the Obama administration makes the debt unsustainable. We cannot sustain it. I have a family of nine children and 40 grandchildren. I am as concerned as all of those good Senators sitting over there to pay for this and make sure we give these benefits to those people. But that is not the case. So it is their way or the highway, and I am not taking the highway.