Michael Bennet

Mr. BENNET

Mr. BENNET. Mr. President, I ask for its second reading and object to my own request.

Mr. BENNET. Mr. President, I understand that S. 3429, introduced earlier today by Senator Bill Nelson, is at the desk. I ask for its first reading.

Mr. BENNET

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 President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. BENNET. Mr. President, I would like to first thank my friend--and I do not mean that in the political sense, I mean it in the real sense--the senior Senator from Colorado, the Presiding Officer from Colorado, for his incredibly thoughtful remarks about the tragedy last week in Colorado. I cannot think of any more fitting place to be than here with the Senator tonight to have this conversation. So I thank the Senator very much for his words. In just a few dark moments last week, in Aurora, CO, 12 innocent lives were taken from us--12 people, full of life and aspirations, loved by family and friends, and now 12 people remembered by an entire nation. As the Presiding Officer said, thousands of Coloradans attended a vigil hosted by the city of Aurora on Sunday evening. We shared tears and prayers. We also resolved to support one another, to heal, and to always remember those who lost their lives on July 20, 2012. It is for that purpose that the Presiding Officer and I come to the floor this evening. The first is Jonathan Blunk, age 26. Jon was a father of two who moved to Colorado in 2009, after three tours in the Persian Gulf and North Arabian Sea for the U.S. Navy. He was a certified firefighter and EMT. Jon lost his life protecting his friend Jansen Young from the gunman's line of fire. Jon shielded her from gunfire by pushing her to the ground while shots were fired. He was supposed to fly on Saturday to Nevada to see his wife Chantel Blunk and his 4-year-old daughter and 2-year-old son. Instead, his wife had to put up the dress her daughter had picked out to wear to the airport. She told her daughter that they would not see their dad anymore but that he would still love them and look over them. His daughter Hailey is comforted by calling her father's cell phone and hearing him on voice mail. This is Alexander Jonathan ``A.J.'' Boik, age 18. A.J. recently graduated from Gateway High School. He enjoyed baseball, music, and making pottery. A.J. was to start art classes at the Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design in the fall. He was described ``as being the life of the party. AJ could bring a smile to anybody's face.'' He was a young man with a warm and loving heart. This is Jesse Childress, age 29. Jesse was an Air Force cyber systems operator based at Buckley Air Force Base. He loved to play flag football, softball, and bowl. He was a devoted fan of the Denver Broncos, for which he secured season tickets. He was described by his superior officer as an invaluable part of the 310th family who touched everyone with whom he worked. This is Gordon Cowden, age 51. Gordon was originally from Texas and lived in Aurora with his family. He was ``a quick witted world traveler with a keen sense of humor, he will be remembered for his devotion to his children and for always trying to do the right thing, no matter the obstacle.'' Gordon took his two teenage children to the theater the night of the shooting, both of whom, thankfully, made it out unharmed. This is Jessica Ghawi, age 24. Jessica was an aspiring journalist, most recently interning with Mile High Sports Radio in Denver, and went by the nickname ``Redfield.'' She was hard working and ambitious, with a generous spirit and kind heart. When numerous homes were recently destroyed by Colorado wildfires, Jessica decided to start collecting hockey equipment to donate to the kids affected because she wanted to help. This is John Thomas Larimer, age 27. John was a cryptologic technician with the Navy based also at Buckley Air Force Base--a job that requires ``exceptionally good character and skills.'' Originally from Chicago, he was the youngest of five siblings and had joined the service just over a year ago. Like his father and grandfather, John chose to serve in the U.S. Navy. John's superior officer called him ``an outstanding shipmate, a valued member of the Navy and an extremely dedicated sailor.'' Colleagues were drawn to his calming demeanor and exceptional work ethic. He was also known as an extremely competent professional. This is Matthew McQuinn, age 27. Matt died while protecting his girlfriend Samantha Yowler by jumping in front of her during the shooting. Matt and Samantha moved to Colorado from Ohio last fall and worked at Target. He and Samantha were very much in love and planning their life together. Because of Matt's bravery, Samantha was only wounded in the knee and is expected to make a full recovery. This is Micayla ``Cayla'' Medek, age 23. Cayla was a graduate of William C. Hinkley High School in Aurora and a resident of Westminster. She worked at Subway and was a huge Green Bay Packers fan. Cayla would plan weekend activities around watching the games with her brother and father. She is remembered as a loving and gentle young woman. This is Veronica Moser-Sullivan, age 6. Veronica had just learned to swim and attended Holly Ridge Elementary School in Denver, CO. She was a good student who loved to play dress-up and read. Veronica's mother Ashley Moser remains in critical condition at Aurora Medical Center. She was shot in the neck and abdomen. We pray for Ashley's recovery and strength in working through the passing of her daughter Veronica. This is Alex Sullivan, age 27. Alex was at the movie celebrating his 27th birthday and first wedding anniversary. He loved comic books, the New York Mets, and movies. Alex was such a big movie fan that he took jobs at theaters just to see the movies. Alex stood 6 feet 4 inches and weighed about 280 pounds. He played football and wrestled before graduating high school in 2003 and later went to culinary school. Alex was known as a gentle giant and loved by many. This is Alexander C. Teves, age 24. Alex received an M.A. in counseling psychology from the University of Denver in June and was planning on becoming a psychiatrist. He also competed in the Tough Mudder, an intense endurance challenge, and helped students with special needs. Alex was at the theater on the night of the shooting with his girlfriend Amanda Lindgren. When the gunman opened fire, Alex immediately lunged to block Amanda from the gunfire, held her down, and covered her head. This is Rebecca Wingo, age 32. Rebecca, originally from Texas and a resident of Aurora, joined the Air Force after high school, where she became fluent in Mandarin Chinese and served as a translator. She was a single mother of two girls and worked as a customer relations representative at a mobile medical imaging company. Rebecca was also enrolled at the Community College of Aurora since the fall of 2009 and had been working toward an associate of arts degree. She was known to family and friends as a ``gentle, sweet, beautiful soul.'' Here is a photo of the gathering we had last Sunday night in Aurora. I believe, like you, Mr. President, that the early morning hours of July 20, 2012, will not be remembered for the evil that happened. Scripture tells us ``not to be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.'' That is what the people of Aurora and Colorado have been doing since the first moment of this tragedy, and that is what we will continue to do. In time, we will not remember the morning of July 20 for the evil that killed 12 innocent and precious people. Instead, we will remember the bright lives of those we lost and the families they leave behind. We will remember the 58 wounded survivors, whose recovery bears witness to humanity's strength and resolve. And tonight, knowing that some are still in critical condition, we pray for their recovery. We will remember the heroic acts of everyday citizens, our first responders, and medical personnel who saved lives that otherwise surely would have been lost. We will remember the continuing generosity of those Coloradans and Americans who are donating blood in record numbers and raising funds to support the families in this trying time. And in time, because we are all Aurora, we will draw strength from the example set by one great American city and the faith of her people in one another. Thank you, Mr. President. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. BENNET

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

Mr. BENNET

Mr. BENNET. Mr. President, the first vote tomorrow will be a cloture vote on the motion to proceed to the Middle Class Tax Act at 2:15 p.m.

Mr. BENNET

Mr. BENNET. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to S. Res. 528, submitted earlier today.

Mr. BENNET

Mr. BENNET. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the Committee on Indian Affairs be discharged from further consideration of S. 2090, and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

Mr. BENNET. Mr. President, I further ask that the bill be read a third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate, and that any statements related to this measure be printed in the Record.

Mr. BENNET

Mr. BENNET. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 9:30 a.m., on Wednesday, July 25; that following the prayer and pledge, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed to have expired, and the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day; that the majority leader be recognized; that the time until 2:15 p.m. be equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees, with the Republicans controlling the first 30 minutes and the majority controlling the second 30 minutes; further, that at 2:15 p.m., the Senate proceed to a rollcall vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to S. 3412, the Middle Class Tax Cut Act.

Mr. BENNET

Mr. BENNET. It has the support of the Hermosa Creek Workgroup, ranging from hard-rock miners to wilderness advocates. I am pleased to carry this bill on behalf of the people of Colorado. I am especially proud because this was a community-driven process at its very finest, through and through, from beginning to end. Colorado wrote this bill. This bill wasn't written in Washington, DC. The bill has grown from the grassroots up, Republicans, Democrats, and Independents working together to cement a long-term plan for the community's future. I also want to thank my senior Senator, Senator Udall of Colorado, for joining me as a cosponsor of the bill, and to thank Senators Bingaman and Murkowski for their past help moving Colorado land bills through their committee. I am confident that as we work on this bill together we will find similar consensus. To bring this back to the beginning, I don't have to convince most people that Colorado is a special place. Many have visited our State over their lifetimes to ski our mountains, run our rivers, or climb a ``14er.'' The Hermosa Creek watershed represents some of the best Colorado has to offer. It deserves to be protected for our outdoor recreation economy, and for future generations. I want to thank all of the people who have spent countless hours working together to make sure they could overcome their differences and reach a consensus on this bill. As I have told all of them, it makes my work so much easier when people work in such a constructive way together, and for that, they have my deep appreciation.

Mr. BENNET. Mr. President, I have come to the floor to talk about Colorado. This summer, most people have been thinking about the wildfires we have had up there. These fires were widespread throughout the State, and it is still just the beginning of fire season. We have already seen a lot of damage, including the destruction of hundreds of homes, and, most sadly, the loss of life. I wish to say in this Chamber, to all my colleagues, how much I appreciate their kindness. The knowledge that all of you have been thinking about people at home has been very comforting to the people I represent. Thanks to the heroic work of the firefighters, and with a lot of help also from Mother Nature, the fires are under control. So I wish to remind people, as I have been doing now for months, that Colorado is the best place to visit during the summer. It is the best place to bring your family. In fact, last week--or during the recess--Susan and I loaded up the minivan and drove across the State with our kids. It takes all the fun out of playing the license plate game when you are driving in Colorado because in about 2 hours the kids saw half the license plates representing half the States in the United States--just 2 hours from Denver, CO. So I would say, as I have said time and time again, over the coming months, if you have plans to come to our State, please do. Today, I wish to focus on one area that illustrates how special our State of Colorado is. The Hermosa Creek watershed is a beautiful parcel of land just up the road from Durango in the southwest corner of our State. Over 4 years ago, an incredibly diverse group of local citizens, mountain bikers, fishermen, outfitters, local elected officials, and others got together to talk about the future of this striking land. Everybody involved likes to visit the area for recreation or to do business there. Their discussion was about how to put together a plan from the local level up to manage the area so everyone could enjoy it and benefit, and so that we could protect it for the next generations of Coloradans and the next generations of Americans. A little over a year ago, the group invited my family and me to take a hike through the watershed and join the discussion. During a tour over the last Memorial Day weekend, we unloaded at the Hermosa Creek trailhead, we tied up our boots, and my youngest daughter Anne made a hiking stick out of a nearby fallen branch. We started up the trail with 40 or so others from the local community. As we climbed higher and higher, we were all overcome by the beauty. People stopped talking. I stopped talking largely because I was out of breath. But the people I was with were as awestruck as I was by the beauty of this place. It was a particularly settling walk after being cooped up with my children. There are forested valleys, crystal-clear streams, and unspoiled views. After about an hour, the group pulled off the Forest Service trail into a meadow. And as Anne, Helena, and Caroline Bennet made themselves and their father and mother dandelion necklaces, we started a discussion about what this area means to the people who live there and the people who visit. The sportsmen come to fish for native Colorado cutthroat trout and for back-country elk hunting. The mountain bikers come to enjoy single-track riding on trails known throughout the United States of America, and actually in other countries as well. The local water districts love Hermosa because it provides drinking water for the great city of Durango. Workers in the timber and mining industries stress that some of the watershed could contribute to extractive development in the future. Some might not know that mining has long been an economic driver in that region of our State. This is a photograph of the group that hiked that day. The upshot of the discussion we had in that meadow was an agreement to work together on a bill, a balanced bill that managed the watershed so it would contribute to the local economy long into the future. After nearly 14 months of discussions and negotiations since that hike, I introduced that bill earlier today. The Hermosa Creek Watershed Protection Act governs the entire 108,000-acre watershed. It includes provisions to allow for multiple uses, such as timber harvesting for forest health; access and trails for off-road vehicle enthusiasts, and for mountain bikers. It keeps getting better. The bill also adds nearly 40,000 acres to the National Wilderness Preservation System, lands that provide unique and important opportunities for solitude and reflection, lands that will remain undeveloped forever, so they will always have clear streams of fish and lush forests for a local outfitter to take clients into the wilderness on horseback. I am proud to report the bill has the unanimous bipartisan backing of the two county commissions involved, the San Juan County Commission and the La Plata County Commission. I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record a copy of letters of support from both counties.

Mr. BENNET

Mr. BENNET. I yield the floor.

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

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

Mr. BENNET. I thank the Chair. (The remarks of Mr. Bennet pertaining to the introduction of S. 3400 are located in today's Record under ``Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions.'')

Mr. BENNET

Mr. BENNET. Mr. President, I have come to the floor to talk about Colorado. This summer, most people have been thinking about the wildfires we have had up there. These fires were widespread throughout the State, and it is still just the beginning of fire season. We have already seen a lot of damage, including the destruction of hundreds of homes, and, most sadly, the loss of life. I wish to say in this Chamber, to all my colleagues, how much I appreciate their kindness. The knowledge that all of you have been thinking about people at home has been very comforting to the people I represent. Thanks to the heroic work of the firefighters, and with a lot of help also from Mother Nature, the fires are under control. So I wish to remind people, as I have been doing now for months, that Colorado is the best place to visit during the summer. It is the best place to bring your family. In fact, last week--or during the recess--Susan and I loaded up the minivan and drove across the State with our kids. It takes all the fun out of playing the license plate game when you are driving in Colorado because in about 2 hours the kids saw half the license plates representing half the States in the United States--just 2 hours from Denver, CO. So I would say, as I have said time and time again, over the coming months, if you have plans to come to our State, please do. Today, I wish to focus on one area that illustrates how special our State of Colorado is. The Hermosa Creek watershed is a beautiful parcel of land just up the road from Durango in the southwest corner of our State. Over 4 years ago, an incredibly diverse group of local citizens, mountain bikers, fishermen, outfitters, local elected officials, and others got together to talk about the future of this striking land. Everybody involved likes to visit the area for recreation or to do business there. Their discussion was about how to put together a plan from the local level up to manage the area so everyone could enjoy it and benefit, and so that we could protect it for the next generations of Coloradans and the next generations of Americans. A little over a year ago, the group invited my family and me to take a hike through the watershed and join the discussion. During a tour over the last Memorial Day weekend, we unloaded at the Hermosa Creek trailhead, we tied up our boots, and my youngest daughter Anne made a hiking stick out of a nearby fallen branch. We started up the trail with 40 or so others from the local community. As we climbed higher and higher, we were all overcome by the beauty. People stopped talking. I stopped talking largely because I was out of breath. But the people I was with were as awestruck as I was by the beauty of this place. It was a particularly settling walk after being cooped up with my children. There are forested valleys, crystal-clear streams, and unspoiled views. After about an hour, the group pulled off the Forest Service trail into a meadow. And as Anne, Helena, and Caroline Bennet made themselves and their father and mother dandelion necklaces, we started a discussion about what this area means to the people who live there and the people who visit. The sportsmen come to fish for native Colorado cutthroat trout and for back-country elk hunting. The mountain bikers come to enjoy single-track riding on trails known throughout the United States of America, and actually in other countries as well. The local water districts love Hermosa because it provides drinking water for the great city of Durango. Workers in the timber and mining industries stress that some of the watershed could contribute to extractive development in the future. Some might not know that mining has long been an economic driver in that region of our State. This is a photograph of the group that hiked that day. The upshot of the discussion we had in that meadow was an agreement to work together on a bill, a balanced bill that managed the watershed so it would contribute to the local economy long into the future. After nearly 14 months of discussions and negotiations since that hike, I introduced that bill earlier today. The Hermosa Creek Watershed Protection Act governs the entire 108,000-acre watershed. It includes provisions to allow for multiple uses, such as timber harvesting for forest health; access and trails for off-road vehicle enthusiasts, and for mountain bikers. It keeps getting better. The bill also adds nearly 40,000 acres to the National Wilderness Preservation System, lands that provide unique and important opportunities for solitude and reflection, lands that will remain undeveloped forever, so they will always have clear streams of fish and lush forests for a local outfitter to take clients into the wilderness on horseback. I am proud to report the bill has the unanimous bipartisan backing of the two county commissions involved, the San Juan County Commission and the La Plata County Commission. I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record a copy of letters of support from both counties.

Mr. BENNET. It has the support of the Hermosa Creek Workgroup, ranging from hard-rock miners to wilderness advocates. I am pleased to carry this bill on behalf of the people of Colorado. I am especially proud because this was a community-driven process at its very finest, through and through, from beginning to end. Colorado wrote this bill. This bill wasn't written in Washington, DC. The bill has grown from the grassroots up, Republicans, Democrats, and Independents working together to cement a long-term plan for the community's future. I also want to thank my senior Senator, Senator Udall of Colorado, for joining me as a cosponsor of the bill, and to thank Senators Bingaman and Murkowski for their past help moving Colorado land bills through their committee. I am confident that as we work on this bill together we will find similar consensus. To bring this back to the beginning, I don't have to convince most people that Colorado is a special place. Many have visited our State over their lifetimes to ski our mountains, run our rivers, or climb a ``14er.'' The Hermosa Creek watershed represents some of the best Colorado has to offer. It deserves to be protected for our outdoor recreation economy, and for future generations. I want to thank all of the people who have spent countless hours working together to make sure they could overcome their differences and reach a consensus on this bill. As I have told all of them, it makes my work so much easier when people work in such a constructive way together, and for that, they have my deep appreciation.

Mr. BENNET

Mr. BENNET. It also calls for the kind of principled leadership we are going to apply in order to solve the challenges we face with respect to our debt and deficit to get this economy moving again. It includes recoupling rising wages and job growth to our economic growth, energy policy, educating our kids in the 21st century. It is all the things people at home want us to be working on. In a State such as mine that is one-third Republican, one-third Democratic, and one-third Independent, there is not that much difference in opinion about what the solutions ought to be. The reason I support the DISCLOSE Act is that I think it is one important step. It is certainly not the only step, but it is one important step toward recoupling the conversation we are having in Washington and to recoupling the priorities that are in Washington. Maybe it is better to say it this way: to recouple the priorities the people have at home to the work being done or not done in Washington, DC. We should pass this bill and get on with the people's business.

Mr. BENNET. Mr. President, I thank my neighbor, the Senator from New Mexico, for his kind words and his leadership on this issue. I have been privileged to have the chance to cosponsor a constitutional amendment that I think responds very nicely to what he hears from his constituents, as I hear from mine, whether they are Republicans, Democrats, or Independent voters. I also want to thank the Senator from Rhode Island, Mr. Whitehouse, for organizing this time tonight and for his leadership over these many months. It is 8:45 p.m. tonight in Washington, DC, as we debate this bill. We are not actually debating the bill because we weren't even allowed to move to a debate on the bill. I can't tell you the number of times we haven't been able to do that. I am often struck by the fact that I think the Founding Fathers would have wanted us to debate all these bills and to vote up or down on each one and then to go home and explain to our constituents why we voted one way or why we voted another way. But here we are, not technically debating a bill, once again, because we haven't even been able to move onto a piece of legislation that historically has been and I hope will again become bipartisan. As I mentioned, it is 8:45 here. At home in Colorado, it is 6:45. It is dinnertime. Families are sitting around having dinner with their loved ones, much as I did when I was a boy. I can remember my parents, who followed public affairs closely, turned on the evening news every night about this time, and Walter Cronkite would be on the television. I remember that the ads, as probably does the Senator from New Mexico, were things like Geritol, things that cleaned your dentures. I remember one ad in particular--I never could believe they could get the cherry stains out of those pearls, but every single night they were able to do it. And if there was a political ad on television, the candidate had to get on at the end and say: My name is Michael Bennet, my name is Jeff Merkley, my name is Tom Udall or Dick Durbin or Harry Reid or Sheldon Whitehouse, and I approve this message. That is what we saw when I was a child. Tonight, families all over my State, which is a swing State, are going to have to endure advertisement after advertisement that is not advertising those consumer products I described but are advocating for candidates and political ideas. And many of them will have phony names. The Committee for a Strong America or Tall Children or Strong Teeth is what they are going to see. Now, because of what the Supreme Court ruling did, they can't even find out, if they wanted to, who is donating to those in many cases fake committees. I wish to start out tonight by making clear what is not at issue with this bill. This is not a constitutional question we are debating here tonight. There is not a question that disclosure and disclaimer--which this bill doesn't even do--is constitutional. Eight of nine Supreme Court Justices have not only said it is constitutional but some have said that is a desired result. Justice Scalia said: Requiring people to stand up in public for their political acts fosters civic courage, without which democracy is doomed. For my part, I do not look forward to a society that, thanks to the Supreme Court, campaigns anonymously and even exercises the direct democracy of initiative and referendum hidden from public scrutiny and protected from the accountability of criticism. This does not resemble the home of the brave. It takes courage to put your name on something, to stand for something that is unpopular. It doesn't take a lot of courage to let somebody use your money in a way that keeps you completely anonymous and imposes something on families in our States who are trying to make a fundamental American decision to vote in a democracy. That doesn't take courage. That is the point Justice Scalia was making because Justice Scalia, I believe, thought Congress would do its job and enact what is constitutional, require disclosure, require disclaimer. This issue is one that has been well understood in this country since its founding. Here is Patrick Henry in 1788: The liberties of a people never were, nor ever will be, secure when the transactions of their rulers may be concealed from them. Accountability and transparency--that is what this legislation is about, and it is emphatically constitutional. So if somebody comes and tells you this is about the Constitution, tell them that eight of nine Supreme Court Justices have already ruled on this question. They have already ruled that what is in the content of this act is constitutional. What is happening out there as a consequence of a decision that was made by the Supreme Court on the one hand and the failure of the Congress to act in a timely manner on the other? Well, these super PACs have come into being, these anonymous folks who have been able to give money. There is an owner of a casino in Las Vegas, and he has actually given more money to super PACs in 2012 than anybody else in the country--at least that is my understanding--but to him this is chump change. So far he has given $35 million, and he says he is going to give more than that. That is a lot of money to most people, but it is not a lot of money to this guy because he has a net worth of $23.9 billion. We did some math at home, and what we figured out is that in Colorado and in America, the average family's net worth is roughly $77,000. So if they were to spend the same percentage of their net worth that this one casino owner in Las Vegas has spent of his net worth, that would be about $108, which is about what people spend a week on groceries who are making this kind of money. To them, that would be a little bit of a sacrifice, $108, but if they knew they could control the outcome of elections in State after State, if they could influence the election of the very President of the United States by spending .0001 of their net worth, $108, they might do it. This is pocket change for him. These numbers get so big it is hard sometimes to think about what it means. This one person's net worth is 332,000 times the net worth of our average family. Think about it this way: The median household income in Colorado is roughly $56,000. A family earning $56,000 in Colorado every year, year in and year out, who never paid any taxes--and is probably paying a higher rate, by the way, than this guy in Las Vegas--but who never paid any taxes, who never spent one penny of their salary--$56,000 a year, year in and year out and didn't spend a nickel of it--would have to do that for 441,000 years before it added up to what this guy has. Just to give you a sense of perspective, human beings made their appearance on this planet 200,000 years ago--less than half of what it would take for this diligent and prudent family to raise what this fellow is worth. It gives you a sense of the order of magnitude. As some of my colleagues have said, one aspect that is really interesting about this super PAC phenomenon is it is a very small group of very wealthy people who are contributing to it. It is not most corporations. It is not some people who have some means. This is a tiny, tiny group of people who are committed to a set of political outcomes in their economic interests that I am not sure are in the same interests of most of the folks who live in my State. Again, we are not saying they can't do it. This bill doesn't say they can't do it. This bill just says: If you are going to do it, you need to tell us who you are. We want to know who you are. Step up and say why it is you are doing what you are doing. It is not surprising, by the way, that this problem has become enormous since this decision was made. In 2006, 1 percent of donors were undisclosed; that was it. Ninety-nine percent were disclosed, and 1 percent was not disclosed. It is even worse today. This is 2010, the year I was running and a year when Colorado saw more outside money on television than anybody should deserve to see, more outside money than any State in the United States of America, and 44 percent of the money that was spent was not disclosed. The identity of the people who gave the money was not disclosed. That is virtually half of what was spent, and it is going to be worse this year. I have three daughters who are 12, 11, and 7, and everybody who has been a parent would know this intuitively. Not surprisingly, as the spending has become more anonymous, the advertising has become more negative. If one of my kids thinks they can get away with doing something negative to one of their sisters--which is not often, but it happens--if they think they can get away with it without anybody catching them, they are a lot more likely to do it than if they know somebody is watching.

Mr. BENNET. I ask for an additional 2 minutes.

Mr. BENNET. I thank the Presiding Officer. So you can see that the portion of positive advertising here is much, much higher than the negative. Today it is almost entirely negative. And between the hours of 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. tonight in the State of Colorado and across the United States of America, those graphs are going to be borne out by negative ad after negative ad. We face enormous structural issues in the economy in this country. We faced them for a while, and we are facing them again because, as you can see from this chart, GDP growth, our economic output, has decoupled from wage growth and job growth. That is what has happened in the United States. And the job of this Congress and the job of this administration and our generation's job is to recouple this so that we have a rising middle class. And that is what we should be spending our time on as we think about reforming our Tax Code and our regulatory code and our statute books. But there are some folks around who aren't necessarily all that interested in that because the current system works pretty well for them. I can't tell you the number of times I have heard people say in this Chamber that the government shouldn't pick winners and losers. That is really easy to say when you are on the winning side. We ought to have a set of rules that are responsive to the needs of the vast majority of American people--whether Republicans, Democrats, or Independents--who together, no matter where they are in the economic spectrum, all want essentially the same thing, which is to make sure we are not the first generation of Americans to leave less opportunity, not more, to the people who are coming afterwards. I believe that anybody who wants to come to that debate, anybody who wants to play in that game is welcome, but they ought to tell us who they are. Mr. President, I yield the floor. I see the Senator from Illinois is here, and I look forward to his remarks.

Mr. BENNET. I wish to thank the Senator from Rhode Island for his leadership and my other colleagues who are out here tonight. I wish to be clear again about what this bill is. First of all, it is very clear it is constitutional. In the Supreme Court, eight of nine Justices have said that. As I listen to the debate tonight, I also think people at home should know this is about a few actors in the country who have been allowed to spend wild amounts of money without saying who they are. This doesn't prevent them from spending the money. It simply says they need to say who they are. My sense, having spent time with people who are often asked to contribute to these campaigns, is that people who have the means to spend $10,000 on political activity, by and large, would actually like this disclosure requirement. The reason they would like this disclosure requirement is so they can say to people who are trying to list them and distorting our politics and having them pay for negative attack ads they don't agree with and they don't think are true, could say no because they know they could say to the people: I am not going to sign up for that because I don't want to put my name on that. There is an enforcement mechanism I think virtually everybody in America would support and certainly at home would support. I would argue the only place in America that anybody would think that spending vast amounts of money by a small group of people without having to tell us who they are makes sense, and that is right here in Washington, DC. Maybe some people will benefit from making the ads or those who are paid to place the ads on television. But otherwise, it is hard to find anybody who would think this wasn't in their interest and certainly not in their children's interest. I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record Senator Coburn's column in the op-ed page of the New York Times where he lays out in a very succinct and compelling view some of the things that are wrong with this place.

Mr. BENNET. I thank the Senator for his question. I think it is going to be made much more difficult. There are plenty of people I know at home who watch the stuff going on, on TV, and they don't recognize themselves and the cartoon that is playing. Sometimes they don't recognize their priorities playing out on the Senate floor. They don't recognize the convictions they have or the aspirations they have for the communities or the debate they are having. It is a natural reaction for people to say: I don't want any part of that. As Dick Durbin was saying, somehow this is a knife fight that has nothing to do with me, and I am not going to pay attention to it. The problem is, as with any fight such as that, what we end up doing is ducking and covering because that is what we have to do in order to stay out of the way. That isn't going to put us in the position of being able to deliver on the promise of generation after generation of Americans to make sure the folks coming after us actually have more opportunity, not less, than we had. Remember, this is a tiny proposal. This is simply requiring disclosure. It is not even requiring a disclaimer. Frankly, if it were up to me, I would want people who funded these committees to have to stand up at the end of the ads to say: I am John Smith or I am Mary Jones, and I paid for this ad. But this bill doesn't even do that. All it says is they have to say who they are. I think poll after poll shows that 90 percent of Americans, Democrats, Republicans, Independents, agree with that. This is one issue where the sort of optical issues that happened somehow on the beltway ought to not lead us to a place where we obscure the vision of the American people, which on this issue is as clear as can be. We have to get this done and get on to the rest of the business at hand. I yield the floor.

Mr. BENNET

Mr. BENNET. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.