Michael Bennet

Mr. BENNET

Mr. BENNET. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Armed Services be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on April 30, 2014, at 9:30 a.m.

Mr. BENNET. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on April 30, 2014, at 2:30 p.m. in room SR- 253 of the Russell Senate Office Building to conduct a hearing entitled, ``Transportation Security Administration Oversight: Confronting America's Transportation Security Challenges.''

Mr. BENNET. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Foreign Relations be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on April 30, 2014, at 10:30 a.m., to hold a Near Eastern and Southern and Central Asian Affairs Subcommittee hearing entitled, ``A Transformation: Afghanistan Beyond 2014.''

Mr. BENNET. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on April 30, 2014, at 10 a.m. to conduct a hearing entitled ``Lessons Learned from the Boston Marathon Bombings: Improving Intelligence and Information Sharing.''

Mr. BENNET. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Indian Affairs be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on April 30, 2014, in room SD-628 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building, at 2:30 p.m.

Mr. BENNET. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate, on April 30, 2014, at 10 a.m., in room SD-226 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building, to conduct a hearing entitled ``Oversight of the Drug Enforcement Administration.''

Mr. BENNET. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Veterans' Affairs be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on April 30, 2014, at 10 a.m. in room SR-418 of the Russell Senate Office Building, to conduct a hearing entitled ``Overmedication: Problems and Solutions.''

Mr. BENNET. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Special Committee on Aging be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on April 30, 2014, in room SD-562 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building at 2:15 p.m. to conduct a hearing entitled ``Exploring the Perils of the Precious Metals Market.''

Mr. BENNET

Mr. BENNET. Madam President, April 20 marked the 15th anniversary of the tragic shooting at Columbine High School. I come to the floor to honor the memories of the 12 young, innocent students, and beloved teacher we lost, and to recognize the bravery that so many educators and first responders showed on that horrific day. On the day of the anniversary, Coloradans gathered at Clement Park in Littleton to remember the victims and recommit to preventing these acts of senseless violence from ever happening again. Coni Sanders, the daughter of Coach Dave Sanders who was killed that day, spoke at the gathering. If I could just share a few of her words, I think they ring very true. She said, Fifteen years ago, Columbine was a massacre. Columbine was a tragedy. Columbine was synonymous with death. Today, we recognize that Columbine is a community and that even the most violent of hate could not shake us. Coni's words express the pain we have all been left with in the wake of too many similar tragedies in Colorado and across the country. But her words also remind us of the enduring strength of our communities and the need to do more to combat gun violence in the United States.

Mr. BENNET

Mr. BENNET. Mr. President, it is with great pleasure that I recognize a respected leader from Southwest Colorado, city attorney David P. Smith, of Durango, for his impeccable leadership and service. David retired on April 1, 2014, after a long and distinguished career. David is a consummate public servant, having served the city of Durango for 37 years. In his capacity as city attorney, David has served at the pleasure of 55 different city councilors. His tenure is the longest of any city attorney in the city of Durango's 133 year history. David's legal career, which began 45 years ago in general practice, is marked by his outstanding level of professionalism. David is recognized as a leader among legal professionals in Southwest Colorado, fostering cooperative relationships among community stakeholders and governmental entities. In service to his local community, David is committed to the advancement of high-quality education. David has served as a board member and president of the school board for the 9R School District, on the Durango Foundation for Educational Excellence, and on the advisory board for Animas High School. After full engagement and an integral role in shaping the future of Durango and Southern Colorado for decades, David is transitioning from his service as the city attorney to enter a well-deserved retirement. I am pleased to recognize David's extraordinary service to the city of Durango before the Senate today. I wish him all the best in his retirement; may the next phase of his life be equally as remarkable.

Mr. BENNET

Mr. BENNET. Mr. President, I want to return today to the subject of immigration. Today marks the 285th day since the immigration bill passed right here in the Senate with almost 70 votes, and 285 days later we are still waiting for the House of Representatives to act on that bipartisan piece of legislation. Every single day the House drags its feet on immigration, our borders remain less secure, our visa system keeps us less competitive, our economy suffers, and millions of families remain in the shadows. Hard-working immigrants who came here to live the American dream and who are part of the fabric of our communities all over the State of Colorado and all over the United States of America are suffering because Congress has not passed a bill, families such as Dulce Saenz's family from Hudson, CO. When Dulce's father was deported, she and one of her sisters stayed in Colorado to start college while her mom and younger sister moved to Mexico to be with their dad. It was a heartbreaking decision for the family to separate, but that is what they needed to do. Now all three sisters have gone to the University of Denver in Colorado. They have started careers in public service. But they rarely see their parents. They worry about their safety. It is clear to everybody I talk to here and at home that our current immigration system is broken. It is also clear to me and I think to many people that separating families does not reflect our history and it does not do honor to the values that shape that history. So while the House stalls, the Secretary of Homeland Security is reviewing our deportation policy and exploring other ways we can help keep families together. It is a good step in the absence of a bill. We should prioritize deportation in a way that reflects our values as a country, upholds the rule of law, and keeps families together. But in the end, the only way to come to a full and permanent solution is to pass this immigration reform bill. Of course, this is not unusual in Washington these days when we have become so used to getting the bare minimum accomplished, keeping the lights on for another week or for another month. But what is so frustrating on this issue is that we have bipartisan agreement that the current immigration system is broken and that it is doing no favors to this country. The coalition we built in favor of reform is unprecedented. I was not surprised. When we started this in Colorado, first I would travel around the State and I would hear peach growers in Palisade say one thing about what they hoped for in an immigration bill, I would hear the cattle ranchers say something else, the ski resorts say something else, our high-tech community, our immigrant rights community-- everybody coming together to say: You know what, it is long past time to get this fixed. When we brought this to the national level, working together with the so-called group or gang of 8 on immigration, we were able to build a coalition that really is unprecedented. In the 5 years I have been here, I have not seen universal agreement on anything like we have seen on the immigration bill. In June of last year, right here in the Senate, we passed a strong bipartisan bill--a bill that strengthens our economy and reduces our debt, a bill that keeps families together, protects our borders and our communities, and gives families who came to this country for a better life a chance to earn citizenship and contribute to our economy and to our society. As I mentioned, I was part of that Gang of 8 who negotiated the bill. For those who despair about the lack of leadership in Congress--and I hear about this all the time, as I know all of my colleagues do--I tell them that for my part, as one American, the greatest sign or signal of legislative leadership that I have seen in the past 5 years was the leadership provided by John McCain, Lindsey Graham, Marco Rubio, and Jeff Flake, the four Republicans who sat at that table for 7 or 8 months and negotiated the immigration bill. It was a lot harder for them to stay there than it was for the Democrats. But those four Republicans sat at the table for 8 months and negotiated a bill because they knew it was the right thing to do for the country and, parenthetically, the right thing to do for their party in that order. Yet here we are. After all that bipartisan agreement, after all that bipartisan work, after a great bipartisan vote on the floor of the Senate on one of the most immediate issues facing this country, 9 months after our bill passed the Senate we still do not have a bill at the President's desk. The House of Representatives is privileged to have the opportunity to rise above politics as usual and to do something big, something real, something consequential that will last for this country. The House of Representatives has the privilege to show that stalemate does not have to be standard operating procedure in Washington, DC. This issue is completely bipartisan at home. I hear about this as much from Republicans--maybe even more from Republicans in farm country than I do from Democrats, the chance to do something important for our Nation and for our future. But until the House acts, families, farmers, and businesses all across my State and all across the United States will continue to suffer, farmers such as Eric Hanagan and Michael Hirakata outside of Rocky Ford, who cannot get the seasonal workers they need and are forced to watch crops--in their case, melons--die in the field. Colorado's high-tech companies on the front range--ranging from bioscience, engineering, and aerospace--cannot always find the employees they need. In fact, they often cannot find the employees, which introduces an entirely different subject that relates to our K-12 education system, but that is not the topic of the speech today. We know that almost one-quarter of STEM graduates from Colorado's STEM--math and science graduates from Colorado's leading universities are immigrants who are graduating in the United States, many of whose education has been subsidized by us. Instead of saying to them, ``Please stay here; build our business here; go work for one of our high-tech companies here,'' we are saying to them, ``Go home. We would much rather have you compete with us from India. Go home. We would much rather have you compete with us from China.'' It is ridiculous. It makes no sense. The Senate bill, the bill we passed, changes that. The bill we passed says: If you are a STEM graduate from another country and you graduate from an American university and you have a job offer in the United States of America, we will staple the green card to your diploma. That is what we need in this country. That is what the high-tech industry in Colorado needs out of the House of Representatives. I mentioned tourism at our ski resorts. They will continue to suffer. This is Colorado's second largest industry. There are a lot of reasons to act, there are a lot of economic reasons to act, but I think there are also fundamental reasons that have to do with who we are as a country. It is often said that America is a nation of immigrants. Of course that is true. There is literally no other country in the world for which immigration is so central to its history and to its identity. I have heard enough speeches in this Chamber to know that for a lot of us, for a lot of the 100 of us, it is very personal as well. I am a first-generation American. I know there are many others who are here. There is not a person in this Chamber who does not have immigration as part of their family's history. But this is not just a theoretical idea, that we are a nation of immigrants. I want to take a moment to reflect on what this really means. This is a photo I am proud to say I actually managed to take with my cell phone. My daughters would be shocked to know that I was able not only to get the picture taken, but it is not even blurry. I had an occasion--I hope the Presiding Officer has had the opportunity to do it--to do something I never imagined I would ever have the chance to do. I attended a naturalization ceremony held for Active-Duty servicemembers at Fort Carson, CO. Let's be clear. These are men and women who are serving the United States of America in uniform. On that day they became citizens of the United States. Until that day they were not citizens but still they were serving and are serving in our Armed Forces. The 13 soldiers and spouses who became U.S. citizens that day represented 12 different countries. This is a picture of them--12 different countries among the 13. I am going to read the list. I was so blown away by the list that I asked one of the people from the INS who was there to give me what is called the oath ceremony nationality report from which they read the names of the countries. It is an astonishing list. Here are the countries these folks are from: China, the People's Republic of China, Colombia, Haiti, Jamaica, Malaysia, Mexico, Nicaragua, the Philippines, South Korea, Togo, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom--12 different countries. Every single one of them came here in pursuit of the American dream, just as generations of people from around the world have sought out the United States to build their future. These are the people--and people just like them all across the United States of America--who are going to determine our future, just as every generation of immigrants has helped us to determine our future. Whether it is refugees fleeing persecution, whether it is parents seeking opportunity for their children, it is those stepping forward to sacrifice for our shared values, as all of these young men and women are, who make America the country we love. There is no way to argue that our current immigration policies reflect that history or our values. Let me paint a picture of what our country would look like if this immigration bill were passed. Just to be clear, again, it is not imaginary; we passed the bill in the Senate. If people on the other side have issues with the bill, what I say is we have no monopoly on wisdom. Bring your ideas; improve the bill. I can think of some things I would do to improve that bill, but you can't just do nothing. You can't do nothing, because if we pass the bill in the House, those who come to this country for a better life, including young people--whose parents brought them here as children, and they are here through no fault of their own--would have the opportunity to enter a tough but fair path to citizenship. With a path in place we would then see higher wages, more consumption of goods and increased taxes. It would reduce our debt. This bill--and this is not me talking, Michael Bennet from Colorado, this is the Congressional Budget Office-- would reduce our debt by nearly $1 trillion over 20 years. I am unaware of any other piece of legislation that has passed with a bipartisan majority in the Congress that reduces our debt by $1 trillion but this would. It wouldn't do it in across-the-board cuts. It would do it because of the growth it would create in our economy, the incremental economic growth. In fact, the Congressional Budget Office has said that if we pass this bill, we would see an increase of almost 6 percent of incremental GDP growth over this 20-year period, 3 percent in the first 10 years and 5 percent in the second 10 years. Second, our bill would put into place an efficient and flexible visa system that would catapult our competitiveness in a changing 21st century economy. Canada, our neighbor to the North, is figuring out how to attract the world's talent to its shores. That is what they are spending their time doing. We, a historic nation of immigrants, are saying please go home and compete with us from someplace else or maybe go to Canada and compete with us from there. Talented entrepreneurs and innovators from around the world would have the opportunity to stay if we passed this bill and create jobs to fuel our economy. It is well- documented how many Fortune 500 companies were started by immigrants, but millions of small businesses across the United States have been started by immigrants as well. High-skilled workers in science, technology, engineering, and math and lower skilled workers in industries such as hospitality and tourism would come into the country to fill jobs where there are no available U.S. workers. This was a bill that labor and the chamber endorsed. That is the first time that has happened. It was a difficult and painful negotiation, but we were able to get it done, and they agreed we ought to get it done. It is very important for Colorado and a lot of other States. We would stabilize the challenges facing our agricultural industry with a new streamlined program for agricultural guest workers that is more usable for employees and protects our workers. Again, this is the first bill ever. We call this portion the AgJOBS bill, the first one--first one--to be endorsed by the growers and the farm workers. That has never happened before, but working with Senator Rubio, Senator Hatch, and Senator Feinstein, we were able to get that done. Finally, and more importantly, our borders would be more secure with new fencing, double the number of border agents, and increased spending on new technology. We have what they call full situational awareness on the border to allow us to interdict threats rapidly and successfully-- and, very importantly, with a mandatory employment verification system and more effective entry-exit system, we would prevent future waves in illegal immigration so we don't end back up in the problem we are facing today. Then our small businesses all across the country can stop being the INS and concentrate on building their businesses. These are all changes our Nation urgently needs, and there are more. I am not here to argue for some partisan piece of legislation that didn't attract votes on both sides. This bill was entirely bipartisan from beginning to end. I have heard a laundry list of excuses out of people in the House why they haven't addressed immigration reform, but at some point it is time for those excuses to stop and for the stalling to stop. If they want to show the country they are serious about growing our economy and keeping families together, then they need to show us they are serious about immigration reform. I actually think the Speaker wants to pass a bill. In fact, I think he could pass a bill if he put it on the floor tomorrow and let the House work its will. But it is not my job, obviously, to try to tell him how to do his job. It is no one's job in the Senate to tell him how to do his job, but I suppose it is our job to give him encouragement, to say we will be there to support you if you can find a way to get this bill passed. If they want to show the country they are serious about growing our economy and keeping families together, then they need to show us they are serious about immigration reform. It doesn't have to be a carbon copy of what we passed, although if they look at it, what they will find is the elements that are in there hang very well together. Look at this photo. Again, this is what America looks like. This is what Colorado looks like. This is what America looks like. It is what it is all about. These are faces of people who want to contribute. This diversity is how we thrive as a country, and it is how we are going to thrive in the future. It has always been our strength, and it is what sets us apart in many ways from countries all over the world. These new citizens want to contribute to our economy and to our communities. They want to serve our country, they want to pay taxes and abide by the law, and they want to build a better life here for themselves and their families. This picture is exactly why we need reform. These brave men and women say it all. They say it much better than I do. I see my colleague from Pennsylvania is in the Chamber, so I will wrap up. Let me say that two of the things that set us apart from countries all over the world, two of the essential components that make us the United States of America, are our commitment to the rule of law and our understanding of ourselves as being a nation of immigrants. Almost no other country in the world can say what we can say about that. I can tell you no other country in the world was having that naturalization ceremony the day we were having it at Fort Carson. This bill gives us a chance to reaffirm those two ideas that we are a nation committed to the rule of law and that we are a nation of immigrants. I had the chance this weekend to spend some time in my wife's hometown in the Mississippi Delta. It is one of the poorer parts of the country, and it has been for a very long time. It is a tough place in a lot of ways. We have a lot of great family there. After we finished, we went to Memphis to visit the civil rights museum, which has just reopened. If anybody has the chance to go, they should go to visit it, because what you see is the history of a struggle from the 1600s forward--generation upon generation--trying to perfect this country and keep it true to the idea that in this case we are all created equal. For a long time we weren't able to perfect that. We still are having to perfect it. We are making progress, and that is what we are meant to do. Today we have that chance. The House has that chance tomorrow or next week or next month to make sure that we honor our commitment, this generation's commitment to a generation of immigrants and to the generations that are coming after them. I hope they will take up that challenge. I thank my colleague from Pennsylvania and the Presiding Officer as well for his patience. I yield the floor.

Mr. BENNET

Mr. BENNET. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. BENNET

Mr. BENNET. Mr. President, I come to the floor today to talk about jobs and about one sector in particular that has created tremendous economic growth in Colorado and across the United States, and that is wind energy and the jobs it has brought to our State. During last Thursday's markup in the Finance Committee, we worked in a bipartisan fashion to include a 2-year extension of the production tax credit, known as the PTC, and the investment tax credit, known as the ITC, for wind energy. The wind credit has enjoyed broad bipartisan support from both sides of the aisle over a number of years, ranging from its original champion--who continues to be a champion--Senator Grassley from Iowa, to my friend and colleague from Colorado Senator Mark Udall, who has been a tireless and relentless supporter over the years for wind energy jobs in Colorado. I know he will be a supportive advocate when the extenders bill reaches the floor. If enacted into the law, the extension of the production tax credit and investment tax credit will continue to drive job growth in my State of Colorado. Sometimes I hear people say the government should not pick winners and losers in their critique of the wind energy tax credits. I actually agree with that notion, but what I would say to people who are listening to this on the TV is that when you hear someone in Washington say you shouldn't pick winners and losers, that is when you should hold onto your wallet. They say that is as if those decisions haven't already been made--as if winners haven't already been produced somewhere deep in the Tax Code in the last century or the regulatory code or the statute books. It is a reminder to ask yourself: Who is more likely to have benefits in this town? Is it the incumbent industries that have been working on these for decade after decade or is it the innovators in our economy? And, of course, time and time again it is the legacy firms that have the upper hand in these debates. I don't blame them for fighting for that advantage. But I also know they are not necessarily going to be the industries that are going to create the 21st century jobs we need, and whether we know it or not that is fundamentally the debate we are having. It is not a left-right debate in this town. It is future versus past debate, and it is critically important to the next generation of Americans that we get this right. This is an updated version of a chart I have been bringing to the floor for the last 4 years that shows some interesting relationships of lines relating to our economy. The top chart is GDP growth in the United States, and that is the green line. Here is the recession right here. You can see we are actually producing much more as an economy today than when we went into the recession. There is much greater gross domestic product. This is the unemployment level. You can see at the depths of the recession the destruction in jobs the Presiding Officer saw in his home State, and we saw it in my home State. We were in a very difficult period at that time. We have actually begun to add jobs again, and we are almost back to where we were. I think we are back to where we were in terms of job creation. This is a very stubborn and difficult issue for the people at home and the people I represent. This shows what has happened to median family and household income over periods of economic growth and over periods of economic decline. A way of thinking about that line is: What is happening to the middle-class income in this country? What is happening is the growth of middle-class income has decoupled from our economic growth. That, among other causes, has produced the worst income inequality we have seen in this country since 1928, I would argue, with the educational outcomes we have seen for kids, the most significant opportunity gap we have had in our lifetimes. Why has this happened? There are a variety of reasons, but let me call your attention to this line. This is the productivity index in the United States. This shows how productive and efficient our economy has become. It has become incredibly efficient partly because of the use of technology, that is true, partly because of reaction to competition from overseas from China and India, and partly because the recession itself, which you can see, drove the line straight up because firms had to figure out how to get by with fewer people. That is our challenge. That is our central economic dilemma as we move into the second decade of this 21st century. It is my view that there are two principal answers to that challenge. The first is education. I am not here to talk about that tonight, but just as a reminder, we are not going to recognize ourselves in this new century if we continue to perpetuate a set of outcomes in our K-12 system where if you are born poor in the United States, your chances of graduating with the equivalent of a college degree are roughly 9 in 100. That is completely unsatisfactory and outrageous, particularly for the kids we are talking about. The other is innovation. We have to make sure we have the most innovative economy in the United States, and whether we are willing to lead the world; it is the companies that will start next week, the week after that, and the week after that, and the venture-backed companies that are somebody's bright idea today in their garage, but tomorrow could become the next Apple or Google. That is where the job growth and the wage growth is going to come from. In my view the wind credit cuts right to the core of whether we are going to compete in a global economy. We are not talking about a fly- by-night experimental industry. This credit has triggered tremendous economic growth in Colorado and across the country. In Colorado alone, these tax credits directly support 5,000 jobs. Vestas, which manufactures wind turbines, employs over 1,400 workers across four factories in our State from Pueblo all the way up I-25 to Brighton and Windsor. They have hired 400 new workers this year with another 450 projected to be added before the end of 2014. This is it. Right here. Bricks and mortar. Real jobs. Made in America. It is not just manufacturing and design jobs near urban centers; it is also construction and operation jobs at the actual wind farms. One Thursday night I left this floor, as I do almost every week--or it was a Friday morning, I guess. I flew back to Colorado. I got in the car and drove up to Peetz, where we have a wind farm. I climbed up to the top of a wind turbine. I thought that was it. I was in the pod at the top. That is not the technical term, but that is what it was. I thought I could then go home. When I got up there, they opened a trap door in the ceiling, and then I had to climb out on the roof of this thing, swaying over the Wyoming border, in the very shoes I wear on the floor of the Senate. That was an uncomfortable feeling, even though I was clipped in. There was a guy up there who was one of the operators, one of the workers. He said: I would never have had this job in this community if it were not for this wind farm. If it were not for a vision somebody imagined several years ago but was unimaginable a decade ago, I would not have this job in this community. This industry drives economic growth across our State from the conference rooms of tech startups in Boulder and Denver and all the way to 6,000-acre Kit Carson Wind Power Generating Site just west of the Kansas State line. These are good jobs. In 2012, median household income for a single male in this country was just under $37,000. Compare this figure to jobs in the wind industry--and these are all from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Crane and wind tower operators have a median annual wage of over $47,000. These are jobs that can't be exported overseas. They can't be exported overseas. The electricians on wind projects average nearly $50,000 annually. Land acquisition specialists who secure the land where wind projects are located have a median salary of $74,000, and site managers for wind projects make over $100,000 a year. So if we are looking for a way to say we would like to see median family income start to rise again in this country instead of going down whether we are in a period of economic growth or decline, we might start to look at things such as the wind industry. These are good- paying jobs, and we are seeing it more and more in Colorado and all across the country. The production tax credit has driven $105 billion in private investment, opened 550 industrial facilities, and provided $180 million in lease payments to farmers, ranchers, and landowners who host wind farms. Wind power accounts for more than a third of all new U.S. electric generation in recent years. It has moved our State toward a more diversified and cleaner energy portfolio. Colorado is in the lead in many ways, and we are proud of that. Most importantly, 70 percent of a U.S. wind turbine is produced right here in the United States, and that creates 80,000 American jobs. When we travel the highways of my State, we see the component parts of these wind turbines moving from one plant to another, reflecting manufacturing jobs right here in the United States of America. So I am delighted, I am glad, that we are moving to restore the wind credit that expired at the end of last year. We have seen this before where the PTC expired without a prompt extension, and it doesn't end well. Each time the credit has expired in the past, new installations fell between 76 and 93 percent, dealing a blow to the industry and its employees--and a reminder once again that what we don't do here actually matters out there in the real lives of people. I know I sound like a broken record, but the world is not waiting for us to get out of our own way. We can't keep going through this unnecessary political boom-and-bust cycle. I am pleased the Senate Finance Committee took an important first step last week by reporting out a 2-year extension. We need to follow that with good work by bringing the extenders package to the floor and passing it into law. That outcome will give much-needed certainty to our industries and help secure the economic future for Colorado families who work in the wind industry. With that, I thank the Chair for allowing me to speak this evening, and I yield the floor.

Mr. BENNET

Mr. BENNET. Mr. President, I come to the floor with a heavy heart to honor the memory of Chairman Jimmy Newton, Jr. of the Southern Ute Tribe. Chairman Newton was a tireless advocate for his fellow tribal members and passed away on Tuesday, April 1, 2014. Chairman Newton began his career in public service in 2003 and was a strong and dedicated leader for a new generation. He was one of the youngest people ever to serve as tribal council member, vice chairman, and acting chairman before he was elected chairman of Southern Ute in 2012. Chairman Newton leaves behind a legacy of deep respect for Southern Ute culture and tradition. I know I speak for our entire Colorado community when I extend my deepest sympathies to the Newton family and the Southern Ute tribe during this difficult time.

Mr. BENNET

Mr. BENNET. Mr. President, today we recognize the distinguished public service of Ross Aragon on the occasion of his retirement after serving 36 years as mayor of Pagosa Springs--the longest serving mayor in Colorado. Since taking office in 1978, Mayor Aragon has fulfilled his duties with passion, diligence, and honor. Over his more than three decades of service he has never missed a regular monthly scheduled meeting. For over a generation, the citizens of Pagosa Springs have known Ross Aragon as the best man for the job. Mayor Aragon's steadfast approach to city management led to many notable accomplishments, including improving the quality of police and fire protection, expanding the community's recreational programs and facilities, and establishing the town's popular river walk. He also spearheaded the development of the San Juan River's kayaking, rafting, and tubing features, improving the community for both residents and tourists alike. Of his many achievements, which are too many to list here, two projects in particular embody Mayor Aragon's approach to leadership more than most: his advocacy for local food produced using Pagosa Springs' geothermal resources was a clear demonstration of Mayor Aragon's ability to harness Pagosa's rich assets and translate them into a brighter future; and his successful efforts to designate Chimney Rock as a national monument exemplified the enthusiasm, dedication, and collaborative mindset Mayor Aragon brought to his job. Thanks to his leadership, an important part of Southwest Colorado's cultural heritage will forever be protected. On behalf of Pagosa Springs in particular and Southwest Colorado in general, thank you, Mayor Aragon, for your many years of public service. We wish you well in your retirement and we can't wait to see what challenges you tackle next.

Mr. BENNET

Mr. BENNET. Mr. President, it is a pleasure to congratulate Capt. Sean T. Hays on being selected for promotion to the rank of major within the U.S. Marine Corps. Every day, the men and women of the Armed Forces make incalculable contributions to our society. Nearly 22 years ago, Major (select) Hays swore an oath to protect our Nation and to lead by example. Entering the Marine Corps as a private, the lowest rank, he has diligently worked his way up through the ranks and continues to serve as a role model for his peers. I had the distinct honor of meeting Major (select) Hays while he was deployed in Afghanistan. He is one of Colorado's best and brightest. His dedication to protecting his country speaks for itself, and I am confident that as a senior officer, he will continue to lead and protect with pride. Congratulations to Major (select) Hays. I know his continued service will contribute to a stronger U.S. military and a safer nation.

Mr. BENNET

Mr. BENNET. Mr. President, today I wish to honor Sister Lillian Murphy, who is retiring this June after an astounding 27 years as the CEO of Denver-based Mercy Housing, one of the largest and most effective affordable housing organizations in the country. Since 1982, Mercy Housing has worked tirelessly to develop affordable housing options in more than 40 States. Sister Lillian took over as CEO in 1987 and has overseen enormous growth in Mercy's operations, which now houses more than 135,000 residents in nearly 40,000 homes. Sister Lillian has won a number of awards for her work, including the prestigious Non-Profit Housing Association of Northern California's Affordable Housing Leadership Award for Lifetime Achievement, and the Annual Housing Leadership Award from the National Low Income Housing Coalition. In 2009, she was inducted into the Affordable Housing Hall of Fame by Affordable Housing Finance Magazine. Sister Lillian has been a remarkable leader at Mercy Housing and she will be sorely missed. Sister Lillian is leaving the important work of Mercy Housing in very capable hands with the incoming CEO Jane Graf. We all look forward to working with Ms. Graf to ensure that middle- and low-income families continue to have access to quality, affordable housing.

Mr. BENNET

Mr. BENNET. Mr. President, I thank my friend from Oklahoma for yielding. I wish to speak about the farm bill which, thanks to months and months and actually years of tireless work by Chairwoman Stabenow, Ranking Member Cochran, and other conferees on the bill, Democrats and Republicans in both Houses of Congress--thanks to all of this work, we are going to be able to pass this bill this afternoon. There are 16 million people working in agriculture in our country. These workers and our rural communities are demanding the certainty which comes with a long-term bill. I am pleased to say we are passing not a 2-month extension, not a 10-minute extension, not an ``I hope we get it done tomorrow before we leave town'' extension but a genuine 5- year farm bill, which is going to give us a lot of certainty. This bill eliminates direct payments made to farmers regardless of market conditions or what they planted and prioritizes what is working for producers; namely, crop insurance. I have spoken on the floor before about Colorado's battle against historic drought conditions. Some of our farmers lost half their corn yields in 2012. It is hard to imagine any business losing half its production in 1 year, but that is what has happened to many Colorado corn producers. Mr. President, 2013 was a little better for corn in our State, but it is hard to celebrate when producers still face significant losses fighting against this dry soil. The Crop Insurance Program is what is keeping these farmers and rural economies in business during these tough times. That is why it is a priority. That is why we should have passed it 1 year ago, 2 years ago, but today we finally have the chance to do it. Beyond crop insurance, another key highlight of this bill is its conservation title. I spoke last week on the floor about the revamped easement programs, and the important linkage between conservation practices and crop insurance which has been preserved in this conference agreement. But beyond those highlights, the bill places a new emphasis on water conservation, which is so important to the West. Programs such as EQIP and the Regional Conservation Partnerships Program are going to be critical as the West faces record drought conditions brought on by climate change. New conservation tools, coupled with crop insurance to help hedge risk, will help our producers as we move into a new normal of a drier American West. The conservation title programs help producers, but they also help the fish in our rivers and the wildlife on our lands. Here is a great illustration of why sportsmen groups support this bill. This is a photo taken of my friend John Gale hunting pheasants in Yuma County, CO. The Conservation Reserve Program, CRP--a program reauthorized through this farm bill--provides important habitat for pheasants and other upland birds all across the country. The land surrounding this photo is all CRP land. The program protects habitat but also helps hold highly erodible soils in place--such as the soil in Baca County, CO, where over 250,000 acres are enrolled in CRP. As the Presiding Officer may know, Baca County in many ways was the epicenter of the area devastated by the Dust Bowl of the 1930s. Thanks to CRP, Baca County has weathered recent droughts a lot better than their forefathers did. Healthy grasslands, open landscapes, and abundant wildlife are a fundamental part of the West, to be a part of the West, and we need to preserve those grasslands, those open spaces, and our species. That is what the conservation title of the farm bill does. A lot of people don't know about it, but it is a very important part of the farm bill. As a result, this farm bill is supported by over 250 conservation and environmental organizations--groups such as Ducks Unlimited, Pheasants Forever, National Wildlife Federation, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, and the National Rifle Association, among others. This legislation not only ensures we have healthy croplands and grasslands but also prioritizes the health of our forests--an issue of huge importance to western States as we deal with our massive wildfires. Here we can see the Waldo Canyon fire from 2012. I chair the agriculture subcommittee on forestry, and we held a hearing on wildfires not too long ago. We looked at the terrible fires which have raged across the West, the budgetary nightmare they have caused, and Washington's inability to understand what we are actually facing out there. My clearest takeaway from this hearing was that when it comes to our forests, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. If we prioritize the fuel mitigation work on the front end, we will save on fire suppression and recovery costs on the back end. If we don't, we will break our budget and not preserve our forests. The Congressional Budget Office has found that for every $1 we invest in forest health, we save $5 in costs associated with wildfire. This farm bill conference report makes these investments and gives the Forest Service new tools to treat areas in need of restoration and mitigation. This bill makes commonsense reforms, reduces the deficit, and will bring certainty and continued prosperity to rural America. It passed the House last week with broad bipartisan support. I strongly urge a ``yes'' vote when we vote on the farm bill conference report later today. With all the uncertainty our farmers and ranchers are facing in these tough times, in these drought times, it is the least we can do. I yield the floor.

Mr. BENNET

Mr. BENNET. Madam President, before he leaves the floor, I wish to thank the Senator from Georgia through the Chair for all of his extraordinary leadership on the agriculture committee for so many years. As a new member of that committee, I saw firsthand how important he was to our getting to a compromise. So through the Chair, I say thank you to the Senator for his great service, and particularly his great service to farmers and ranchers all across his home State and also across the great State of Colorado. I too wish to speak today on this compromise bill, this bipartisan bill, this farm bill which has such a long history. In 2012 the Senate agriculture committee was the only committee in the entire Congress with a bipartisan deficit plan. It passed the Senate. The House didn't take it up. I think it was an enormous disservice to rural Americans that we didn't pass this bill 2 years ago, particularly when farmers and ranchers in my region are facing an unprecedented drought. I distinctly remember being out during the summer of 2012 on the eastern plains and the western slope of Colorado right before the Presidential election. While this town was completely consumed with who was going to win that election, people in Colorado weren't talking about it at all. They were asking: Why in the world can't we pass the farm bill through the Congress and get it to the President's desk? Now finally, after a series of extensions and half measures, we actually got to a conference committee. I think it may be the only conference committee in this Congress. This is how we used to do business around here, I am told. I was glad to be a member of the one conference committee in this Congress. We got to committee on a long- term bill. I have stood on this floor before talking about the land of flickering lights. This town has become a place where the standard of success is keeping the lights on for 2 more weeks or 2 more months. Here we have an honest-to-goodness 5-year farm bill. Agreed to by both Republicans and Democrats, it has now been passed by the House of Representatives, and next week we will have a chance to pass it here. Thanks to the tireless work of Chairwoman Stabenow, Ranking Member Cochran, and the other conferees, we now will have the chance to vote. Our rural communities are demanding the certainty that comes with a long-term bill. Under the last farm bill--and history ought to be our guide here--our farmers and ranchers were remarkably productive. They delivered the strongest 5-year stretch of farm exports in the history of the United States of America. Now it is time to make some reforms to farm policy and to once again give rural America the stability it needs to provide food, fuel, and fiber to the Nation. This bill reflects the values and process we want to see in other areas of the budget. We came together as Republicans and Democrats to identify priorities, to streamline duplication, to get rid of things we didn't need to do anymore, and to focus in the areas that were important--to break away from old, inefficient habits, to eliminate for the first time direct payments issued to farmers regardless of economic needs or market signals. That is a significant reform. This bill prioritizes what is working for producers instead; namely, crop insurance, which is a large part of what keeps farmers and rural economies in business in this country, and that is why it is a priority. Beyond crop insurance, another key highlight of this bill is the great tools it includes for livestock. It includes resources for much- needed livestock disaster programs that are critical to southeast Colorado, where ranchers are battling dry conditions we haven't seen since the dust bowl. When I visited last August, producers who are facing stubbornly persistent drought and feed shortages told me that nearly 70 percent of their livestock had been liquidated or relocated from the region in just 2 years. That is part of a boom and bust cycle that comes with our livestock industry which makes it difficult to build for the future. This farm bill couldn't come sooner for Colorado's ranchers. Beyond livestock disaster, there is a lot to support our ranching community in this bill. We have included a revamped conservation title--and I chair that subcommittee--which will keep our ranching lands in the West in their current state, rather than being divided for development. The conference report also carries over important conservation title reforms from the Senate bill. Notably, it carries forward a Senate provision to ensure that recipients of government-supported crop insurance comply with basic conservation requirements. That measure was the result of a historic agreement between the commodity groups and our conservation groups. It is supported by a wide variety of people, from the Farm Bureau to the National Wildlife Federation. This revamped conservation title is huge for rural America. It is huge for farming and ranching families looking to keep their land and agriculture. It is huge for sportsmen. It is huge for anyone who cares about the long-term health of our soil, our air, and our water. I thank again the groups who traditionally represent producers and the groups who traditionally represent the environmental community and conservationists and sportsmen for coming together on commonsense reforms. These conservation measures will help us improve the efficiency and production of agriculture and improve the quality of the environment in farm country. We recognize that keeping these landscapes in their historical undeveloped state is an economic driver--for our State, anyway, and I suspect for many States--for tourism and for wildlife habitat. As I have traveled the State of Colorado, farmers and ranchers are constantly talking to me about the importance of conservation and their commitment to be stewards of the land for the next generation. They highlighted in particular conservation easements which provide the Department of Agriculture assistance to help landowners voluntarily conserve the farming and ranching heritage of their land. I will spend a couple of minutes sharing a story I have told on this floor before about one of the many Coloradans who have benefited from the easement program. This is a picture of the Music Meadows Ranch. I actually liked this photo so much when I was on the floor the last time with it that I now have a copy of it hanging in my office here in Washington. It is outside of Westcliffe, CO, which is at an elevation of 9,000 feet. There are 4,000 acres in the ranch. Elin Ganschow raises some of the finest grass-fed beef in the country on this family ranch. Thanks to the grassland reserve program, Elin's ranch now has a permanent conservation easement, providing critical wildlife habitat for elk, mule deer, black bear, and mountain lions--species prized by Colorado's sportsmen--that contribute millions to our State's economy. Thanks to an amendment included in the conference report, we will see even more of these easements happen on high-priority landscapes such as the Music Meadows Ranch. It is critical to our legacy and to the next generation of Coloradans to make sure we can find a way, when the land prices are rising the way they are, to keep farms and ranches in the hands of our family farmers and our family ranches. That is what this bill will help us do. I thank Chairwoman Stabenow and Senator Cochran for working with me to get that amendment approved and carried into the final bill. I thank all the Colorado ranchers, sportsmen, and advocates of the outdoors for their support in drafting this legislation. Also important to the West, this legislation makes great strides on forest help. This is a huge issue for Colorado and all Western States as we deal with terrible droughts, overgrown forests, and massive wildfires--a number of which have occurred in Colorado. This conference report gives the Forest Service new tools to treat areas in need of restoration, like acreage suffering from the bark beetle epidemic that has ravaged Colorado. The forestry title also reauthorizes important programs such as stewardship contracting and so-called good neighbor authority for our national forests. So all in all, I again say thank you to my colleagues on the committee for working so hard together, for acknowledging regional interests that we have in the West which may not be shared with everybody. Although anybody who is downstream from Colorado--and that is basically the entire country--ought to care about forest health in Colorado and ought to care about water quality in Colorado. I think we were heard in this bill, and I deeply appreciate that. The final point I would make is something which just came up in the last 2 weeks and we were able to resolve. We had an appropriations bill which passed a couple of weeks ago that failed to include a very important provision to States that have a high percentage of their land occupied with Federal land, and that is the so-called PILT payments, payment in lieu of taxes. The program helps rural counties containing Federal land within their boundaries offset the revenue they lose because they can't derive property taxes from their land. Dozens of Colorado counties derive significant portions of their operating budget from PILT. By the way, they use those operating budgets to help maintain a lot of these Federal assets out there by, for example, providing search and rescue missions. I can say, most of the people they are rescuing are not even from Colorado. So I am very grateful to Chairwoman Stabenow for working with me and other Senators from the West to include a PILT extension in the conference report. It is only 1 year, however. Unlike the 5-year farm bill, this is not going to give us the predictability that we need. I will continue to work with my senior Senator, Mr. Udall, and others to make sure people hear the voice of the West in this Chamber. Finally, this bill reduces the deficit by $23 billion. As I said, it is going to bring certainty and continued prosperity to rural America. From our forests, to our farms, to our ranches and rural communities, it is long overdue. This bill has been supported across my home State of Colorado, from the orchards of the Grand Valley, to the wheat fields of Washington County, and on the editorial pages of the Greeley Tribune and the Denver Post. This is a good bill. It passed the House with strong bipartisan support, and I urge a yes vote when we take up the farm bill conference report next week. Madam President, I yield the floor and I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. BENNET

Mr. BENNET. I yield the floor.

Mr. BENNET. I have to say what a joy it is to see the Presiding Officer in that Chair, and welcome to the Senate. I am here to talk about the Drug Quality and Security Act for a few minutes because at this moment of dysfunction in the Congress, we are at the brink of accomplishing something we have not been able to do for the last 25 years--the last quarter of a century. This bill, which we are about to send to the President, reforms our drug distribution supply chain, making it more secure and safer for families. It puts us on a path to electronic interoperable tracing at the unit level for drugs. It also raises the bar for wholesale distributors around the country and weeds out bad actors who find loopholes in the system to stockpile drugs and create shortages. This bill cannot come soon enough. Our Colorado pharmacies fill over 60 million prescriptions every single year, and the Coloradans who take these prescriptions, just like people all over the country, expect their medicine to be safe. The sad fact is that given the current laws in place, we cannot guarantee this. Pharmacists cannot determine with any certainty where a drug has been and whether it has been secured and safely stored on its way to a pharmacy. Right now you can get more data from a barcode on a gallon of milk than you can from one bottle of aspirin two aisles over in the store. The normal chain moves drugs from the manufacturer to a wholesaler to a pharmacy. Under the current patchwork of State laws, drugs travel back and forth across State lines among repackagers, wholesalers, and pharmacies with no real oversight by anybody. The more times a drug goes back and forth and changes hands, the more opportunities criminals find to enter the system. In the last decade this lack of oversight has created an enormous gray market in the United States of America. Companies can stockpile drugs that are in high demand and sell them later at dramatically higher prices. Hospitals in Colorado are bombarded by daily calls and messages from various businesses around the country offering them drugs that are on the FDA drug shortage list and unavailable through their contracted wholesaler. According to a recent study by Premier Alliance, which includes 30 Colorado hospitals, sale prices of drugs that are in shortage are, on average, 650 percent higher than the contracted prices. These hospitals have absolutely no idea whether the businesses that are approaching them are reputable and how they can have supply of these drugs that are in shortage. Investigations into the gray market have shown that the current law offers a huge incentive to make outrageous profits at the expense of patients, whether through selling and reselling or counterfeiting or tainting drugs. A little over a decade ago, criminals in Florida made $46 million by counterfeiting 110,000 dosages of Epogen, a drug used to treat anemia-- a side effect of chemotherapy and dialysis. These criminals sold the counterfeit drugs to pharmacies around the country. The FDA recovered less than 10 percent of the counterfeit product. In 2009, nearly 130,000 vials of insulin, a temperature-sensitive drug to treat diabetes, were stolen and later found across the country in a national pharmacy chain. The FDA--which had been notified that patients who used some of this insulin were reporting poor control over their insulin levels--was able to recover less than 2 percent of these stolen drugs. A few years ago $75 million worth of drugs were stolen from an Eli Lilly warehouse and later found in south Florida--becoming the largest drug heist in the country's history. Just this year the FDA notified the public about counterfeit Avastin, a drug used to treat cancer, which was being sold from a licensed wholesaler in Tennessee. These stories should scare any person in any State who takes a prescription. Fortunately, the practical compromise before us today will give consumers and businesses around the country peace of mind. Over the next decade, manufacturers, repackagers, wholesale distributors, and pharmacies will form an electronic interoperable system to track and trace drugs at the unit level. The barcode on our pill bottles will soon tell us who has actually handled the medicine we take and give to our children. Starting in 2015, the FDA will also know where every drug wholesaler is located across the country and begin to ensure that all wholesalers meet a minimum national standard. This legislation, after 25 years, is a model of what can be accomplished through hard work and pragmatism in the U.S. Congress. This bipartisan effort has the support of business groups, such as PhRMA, GPhA, and BIO, as well as consumer groups, such as the Pew Charitable Trusts, and many others. I cannot say enough about the leadership of Chairman Harkin and Ranking Member Alexander in driving us to get consensus on this bill. Their commitment to track and trace, as well as compounding, sets an example that I wish could be replicated many times over. I thank Senator Franken and Senator Roberts for their leadership on the compounding part of this bill. Finally, I want to acknowledge the relentless--and that is the only way to describe it--effort of Senator Richard Burr. He has been a true advocate and outstanding partner with me and my staff. His tireless efforts, and that of his staff, helped us move this legislation into law. While we are on that topic, and to close, I thank all of the staff who have worked on this important legislation. I ask unanimous consent that their names be printed in the Record at the conclusion of my remarks. I hope we have a strong show of support for this bill--as I know we will--on the floor of the Senate so we can get it to the President's desk. This bill will restore a sense of safety about our pharmaceutical distribution chain.

Mr. BENNET

Mr. BENNET. Mr. President, I understand the Chair is ready to announce the conferees for H.R. 3080, the water resources bill. The Presiding Officer appointed Mrs. Boxer, Mr. Baucus, Mr. Carper, Mr. Cardin, Mr. Whitehouse, Mr. Vitter, Mr. Inhofe, and Mr. Barrasso conferees on the part of the Senate.

Mr. BENNET

Mr. BENNET. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the Judiciary Committee be discharged from further consideration of S. Res. 277, and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

Mr. BENNET

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

Mr. BENNET

Mr. BENNET. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 10 a.m. on Tuesday, November 5, 2013; that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, and the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day; that following any leader remarks the Senate resume consideration of the motion to proceed to S. 815, the Employee Non- Discrimination Act postcloture, and that the Senate recess from 12:30 p.m. until 2:15 p.m. to allow for the weekly caucus meetings; and finally, that all time during adjournment, recess, and morning business count postcloture on the motion to proceed to S. 815.