Benjamin Cardin

Mr. CARDIN

Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that floor privileges be granted to LT Shane Knisley, a Navy fellow serving in my office, during the pendency of S. 1867, the Fiscal Year 2012 National Defense Authorization Act.

Mr. CARDIN

Mr. CARDIN. I ask unanimous consent that the reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

Mr. CARDIN. I ask unanimous consent that the reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, first, let me thank Senator Levin and Senator McCain with regard to amendment No. 1188, which was my Hotels for Heroes amendment. I am going to be very brief. Hotels for Heroes follows on Hero Miles, a successful program which allows our wounded warriors and their families to use frequent flyer miles that are donated for trips to military care facilities. I compliment my colleague in the House, Congressman Dutch Ruppersberger, for his work on establishing that program. The amendment which was just accepted, which Senators Wicker, Feinstein, Mikulski, Rockefeller, Casey, and Burr cosponsored, expands that program to include hotel points so that family members can use the donated hotel points for housing so they can be near and visit their wounded warriors who are on rest and recuperative leave, emergency leave, convalescent leave, or another form of authorized leave necessary because of an injury or illness incurred or aggravated in the line of duty in support of a contingency operation. I also want to comment very briefly on the other amendment I filed, which is No. 1073, that Senator Mikulski cosponsored. This amendment would prohibit the District of Columbia's National Guard from operating or expanding its Youth Challenge Program in Anne Arundel County because there is also a better alternative already in place. The DC National Guard currently partners with the Maryland National Guard to provide valuable service to at-risk children through the Youth Challenge Program at Aberdeen Proving Grounds in Harford County, MD. I have visited the two programs at that site, and that is where I think it is logical to see an expansion. Here's the problem with the so-called Oak Hill facility in Anne Arundel County, which is what this amendment deals with: that parcel of land borders the National Security Agency (NSA), which will need more space. This is Federal property located in the State of Maryland that is important for our national security. In the 1920s, the District of Columbia got permission from Congress to place on that property--and please understand I am quoting from the original authorizing language--a facility for children that are ``feeble-minded.'' That was the exact language contained in the fiscal year 1924 District of Columbia appropriations bill. Since that time, the District, without our knowledge, constructed a juvenile detention facility and now wants to add the Youth Challenge Program, which is doing just fine at Aberdeen. The purpose of this amendment is to say: Look, we already have a place where the Youth Challenge Program should be and can expand as necessary. We should not be using this other Federal land in the State of Maryland adjacent to NSA for this type of expansion without working with the appropriate State and local officials, as well as federal officials. I hope this amendment can get cleared. But I wanted to explain the reason I filed it and called it up. I thank the Chair for your attention. I yield the floor.

Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, if there is no one else who wishes to offer amendments--

Mr. CARDIN. I ask unanimous consent that the amendment now be set aside so I can offer amendment No. 1188.

Mr. CARDIN

Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, today I honor Marge Thomas, who is retiring as the president and chief executive officer of Goodwill Industries of the Chesapeake. Ms. Thomas began her career with Goodwill in Milwaukee in 1974 and rose to become the first woman executive in the enterprise to win a national Goodwill Industries leadership award, to go along with Outstanding Management and Distinguished Career Awards. Ms. Thomas took over Goodwill Industries of the Chesapeake in 1994 and transformed the agency into one of Baltimore's largest nonprofit organizations during her nearly 18-year tenure. When she joined Goodwill Chesapeake in 1994, the agency served 453 people, operated 17 stores, and had total revenues of $8 million. Today, it serves more than 17,000 people, and the organization has expanded to include nine training sites and 26 retail stores, and it has government contracts throughout the greater Baltimore region and the Eastern Shore. Total revenues have grown to $40 million, with nearly $30 million generated through the agency's retail operations. Her accomplishments include expanding Goodwill services to provide a variety of training and employment needs for individuals who have mental and physical disabilities, including those needing public assistance, and those who have criminal backgrounds or face other employment challenges. Congress would do well to learn from Ms. Thomas, who has found ways during these trying economic times to create jobs, train employees, and increase revenues. She has offered a helping hand and, more important, hope to many people struggling to climb onto the first rung of the economic ladder. I ask my colleagues to join me in thanking Ms. Thomas for a job well done; for her lifelong commitment to public service and for her many outstanding contributions in helping the less fortunate among us. She has made a positive difference in so many people's lives. I know her future plans include some travel, attending some classes at Anne Arundel Community College, and serving as a mentor to women nonprofit executives. Please join me in sending best wishes to Marge Thomas for a happy, productive, and well- deserved retirement.

Mr. CARDIN

Mr. CARDIN. I ask unanimous consent to speak as in morning business.

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

Mr. CARDIN. If my colleague will yield, we had a strong bipartisan vote on the floor on this issue. He is exactly right. All States in this country will benefit from it. Illinois is a State that also receives pollution from other States. Pollution does not know a State line. We cannot stop the air from traveling. I think my colleague is exactly right. This was not just the east coast. It happens to be at the tailpipe, as we say it, of the pollution in America, but the Midwest is very much impacted and this regulation will help the health of the people of the Midwest and throughout the country. I thank my colleague for his comments. Honoring Our Veterans

Mr. CARDIN. Madam President, tomorrow, Veterans Day, our Nation will pay our respect and honor to the men and women who have served in our military. I know we say this frequently, but every day we should honor the men and women who have served our Nation in uniform. Every day we should have in our thoughts and prayers those who are currently in harm's way defending America's freedom. We want to make sure we do everything we can to make sure they have the support of this Nation to complete their mission safely and return to their families safely. So I take this time to express the appreciation of this Senator, on behalf of the people of Maryland, to the men and women who have served our Nation, who are our veterans, their families, and those who are currently serving our Nation in the military service. They have defended this Nation and the freedoms we enjoy today from our traditional threats from hostile countries to our current threats that come from extremists and terrorists. Our men and women in our Armed Forces have served our Nation very proudly. We need to show our appreciation by words and deeds, and I know I speak for the Members of this body that we need to make sure we provide the very best in health care to those who are returning from Iraq and Afghanistan and to those who have served our Nation. I have visited and seen firsthand our soldiers who have returned and how they are being treated, and I tell you we need to keep up this commitment. I compliment my friend, Congressman Ruppersberger, my colleague from Maryland, who started a program known as Miles for Heroes, where soldiers who were returning home would come into BWI Airport and Baltimore, but for them to get to their homes they had to purchase their own tickets in order to see their families. In many cases, our soldiers who returned home for treatment, their families could not afford to travel to visit them in the medical facility. Congressman Ruppersberger introduced a proposal where they could use frequent flier miles and donate that so our soldiers and their families could get airline tickets to see each other. It has been extremely successful. We celebrated an anniversary of that not too long ago at the BWI Airport. I mention that because I have filed S. 1776 to extend this program to hotel miles so families can not only have the transportation costs to visit their wounded warriors but also have a place to stay. I think that makes abundant sense, and I hope we will be able to act on that. To me, this is what we should be doing on Veterans Day, not only again showing our words but also showing our deeds. When I was at Baltimore Washington International Airport, I had a chance to visit the returning soldiers, literally just coming home from Afghanistan and Iraq. It was an incredible experience to see their faces as they reunited with their families, having served this Nation in combat. But there was also concern on some of their faces because they do not know whether they are going to have a job to return to once they return to the work place. We took some steps to help them today in that regard by the passage of a bill that will provide incentives for employers to provide employment for our veterans returning home from Afghanistan and Iraq. That is exactly what we should be doing, showing our support for our veterans. I wished to take this time to pay respect and to honor those who serve in our military. Tomorrow, on November 11, at 11 o'clock in the morning, I will be at Cheltenham at the veterans cemetery for a commemoration where we will pay honor to all the men and women who have served our Nation, and I will then express, on behalf of the people of Maryland and the people of this Nation, our gratitude for preserving our way of life and being a beacon of hope for freedom-loving people around the world. Cross-Border Air Pollution Madam President, earlier today we rejected the resolution by Senator Paul that would have undone the cross-state air pollution standards. I voted against that resolution. I wish to compliment my colleagues for the strong bipartisan vote that rejected the resolution that would have prevented this regulation from going into effect. I wish to share with my colleagues some of my reasons. This is a matter of a sense of fairness. Let me talk for a moment about Maryland. Maryland has done all it can to protect the health of its citizens with some of the most stringent clean air standards in the Nation. We have done that. We have enacted those standards. We have implemented those standards. But here is the problem: 50 percent of the smog that comes into Maryland that affects the health of Marylanders comes in from other States. Maryland can do everything it can to prevent the air pollution in our State, but it is coming in from other States, affecting the health of our citizens. We have 140,000 Maryland children who suffer from asthma. Dirty air makes it difficult for these children to have a productive day in school. We have workers who cannot work on bad air days. It is critically important that we move forward with sensible cross-State air pollution standards. That is exactly what the Obama administration brought forward. Thanks to the vote in the Senate, those regulations will be able to go forward. I wish to dispel another myth. Some say we cannot have clean air and job growth. We cannot have a clean environment. We have to choose between jobs and the environment. I tell you, we need to have a clean environment in order to get the type of job growth we want. I can give the number of people who lose days from work as a result of poor air quality and the effect it has on their health. I can talk about the productivity in the workplace as a result of illness that is generated because of dirty air. All that has absolutely been documented by our scientists. They can demonstrate that. But let me talk a little bit about concrete jobs in the Maryland example. In 2007, the Maryland legislature implemented the toughest powerplant emission laws on the east coast of the United States. They used 2002 as a baseline and they reduced SOX emissions by 80 percent by this year. They reduce NOX emissions by 75 percent by next year. It will reduce mercury emissions by 90 percent by 2013. These are the major air pollutants we are aimed at reducing. Maryland has done that. What impact has that had on our economy? Two thousand skilled construction worker jobs were created as a result of the investment that was made in clean air. We now have Brandon Shores, one of the cleanest coal-burning powerplants in the country. That is the legacy Maryland has given us. We have created jobs and have done what we can for clean air to help our children and help our community. As I said earlier, there is very little more that Maryland can do. We have to rely now on the help of other States. It is for that reason that we have seen utilities that are supporting us. Constellation Energy, Excelon, PG&E have supported reasonable standards for air quality, and they recognize it is the right thing to do to have these standards apply to all States because pollution knows no State border. I was encouraged by the vote we had on this issue. It was a vote for healthy air for our children, for jobs for our construction industry, and a stronger economy for America's future. I yield the floor.

Mr. CARDIN

Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I had the opportunity to visit Slovakia in 2009. It was a great opportunity for me to meet with representatives of a country that is a close ally of the United States. Slovakia and the United States share strong ties thanks to the heritage of many Americans whose parents, grandparents or great grandparents came from Slovakia. We are also bound by our common devotion to democracy and human rights. It is an important friendship. My visit to Bratislava gave me a chance to strengthen those ties. It also provided me with an opportunity to share with my Slovak friends concerns I have about the practice of targeting Romani women for sterilization without informed consent--a practice that was documented and condemned by the Charter 77 human rights movement more than 30 years ago. Unfortunately, sterilizations without consent continued to be performed in State-run hospitals in the Czech and Slovak Republics-- reportedly even in this century. This week there has been an important development on that front. On Tuesday, the European Court on Human Rights found that the sterilization without informed consent of a Romani woman had violated article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, the prohibition on inhuman or degrading treatment, and article 8, the right to family life. This is an incredibly important victory for a woman who was wrongfully sterilized at the time of the birth of her second child and who has since struggled for 11 years to vindicate this claim. I commend her for her bravery and tenaciousness in the face of numerous obstacles. At the same time, I am aware that the damages awarded by the court can never fully compensate for what was taken from her. I regret that it has taken so long to achieve this single victory. Thus far, the Slovak Government has refused to acknowledge this past practice of targeting Romani women for sterilization. In the last decade, in the face of growing documentation of this abuse and increasing calls for the Slovak Government to acknowledge this grave human rights violation, Slovak authorities have, in turns, made threats against victims, denied the past abuse, and some voices even continue to call for making sterilization freely available to ``socially excluded communities''--a term that is almost synonymously used to describe Roma. There are other countries where sterilization without consent also occurred in the last century, including Norway, Switzerland, Sweden and 33 States in the United States. But Slovakia has been singularly resistant to acknowledging that these abuses not only happened, but are indefensible by modern standards. While I welcome this week's decision by the European court, it does not put an end to this issue. There are two other sterilization cases pending in Slovakia's domestic courts, and five other cases pending against Slovakia before the European court. I urge the Slovak Government not to force victims through the painful process of litigating each case--a process that has immeasurable costs for all sides--and to establish a less burdensome process for victims to have their claims recognized. It is long overdue for Slovak authorities to acknowledge that Romani women were targeted for sterilization without informed consent.

Mr. CARDIN

Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, earlier today in the Environment and Public Works Committee--the Presiding Officer was at that meeting-- something unusual happened. We had a major bill that will extend the Highway Surface Transportation Act for 2 years, passed by a unanimous vote, all the Democrats and Republicans joining together in order to move forward a bill that will help create jobs. I hope we will find the same spirit of cooperation on the legislation that is now before us. It helps create jobs for our community and, with the Tester amendment, we have a win-win situation. This, first and foremost, is about creating jobs. The Tester amendment allows us to create more jobs that will help American families, help our economy, and even help our budget deficit, because when more Americans are working, more are paying taxes, and less government services are needed. All agree we need to help our returning veterans, those who have served so well in Iraq and Afghanistan, defending the principles of our country and defending our basic freedom. On Friday, we will celebrate Veterans Day, and I know all of us will be speaking about how much we appreciate the service of our veterans. We need to show our appreciation not only by words but also by deeds. Yes, we fight to make sure our veterans have the health services they need, and we want to make sure all of our military have the support they need. We want to make sure our military families are properly taken care of. But one thing we can do with this legislation is help veterans get jobs when they return home. The unemployment rate among our returning veterans is higher than the unemployment rates in our general community. We need to help our veterans find employment. That is one way we can show our appreciation for the men and women who have served our Nation. The bill before us, with the Tester amendment, will give incentives to employers to hire returning warriors from Iraq and Afghanistan. It will expand the education and training services so they have the skills necessary for civilian employment. It will help us deal with a chronic problem we have of returning veterans, under the age of 24, where the unemployment rate is 21 percent. This bill, with the Tester amendment, will allow us to do something to help our returning veterans and help our economy. But the underlying bill also goes further. It helps small businesses. Small businesses are the growth engine of America. That is where job creation takes place. That is where innovation takes place. We currently have a requirement that has not yet gone into effect that would require small businesses that have contracts with the government over $10,000 to withhold 3 percent of those funds in order to make sure taxes are paid. We need to repeal that provision, and this bill will repeal that provision. We should go after those who are delinquent in taxes, and we have a provision to make sure we do that, but for small business to tie up that type of capital affects their ability to compete. It affects their ability to expand job opportunity. Repealing that provision is important to help small business help our economy. It also would eliminate an administrative burden for a lot of our local governments. It also will make it more competitive for small businesses. The 3-percent withholding would affect actually the cost of production. All that means a stronger economy and more jobs. This bill is a win-win bill. It helps our veterans. With the Tester amendment, it helps small businesses by repealing a provision that is extremely burdensome. It is fully paid for so it does not add anything at all to the deficit, and it will help us grow our economy. By passing this bill, not only will we help our veterans, we will help our small businesses and we will help our economy. I urge our colleagues to show the same type of cooperation we did on the surface transportation bill today in our committee. Let's use that same spirit of cooperation to get this bill moving, with the Tester amendment. Let us pass it and send it back to the House and, hopefully, we can get it to the President shortly for signature and help our veterans and help our economy. With that, I yield the floor.

Mr. CARDIN

Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Hotels for Heroes Act. Next week is Veterans Day and we owe it to our military men and women to support them every day but especially in their time of need. Today, military families are facing enormous challenges, not just emotionally, but financially. The legislation I am introducing will help more families to be with their loved ones as they recover from injuries and illnesses sustained defending our country and our way of life. This bill expands on the popular Hero Miles program created in 2003 by my Maryland delegation colleague, Congressman Dutch Ruppersberger. The Hero Miles program authorizes the Department of Defense to accept donated frequent traveler miles to provide free round-trip airfare to military members recovering at military or Veterans Administration, VA, medical centers as a result of injuries sustained in overseas conflicts. The program also enables family and friends to visit injured troops while they are being treated. The Fisher House Foundation administers the program. The Foundation is a non-profit best known for its network of comfort homes built on the grounds of major military and VA medical centers. The bill that I am introducing today would expand the program to allow the Department of Defense to accept the donation of hotel points in addition to airline miles. Congressman Ruppersberger has introduced a companion bill in the House of Representatives. Here in the Senate, I am proud to have bipartisan support for this bill: Senator Wicker is the lead co-sponsor. The Fisher House Foundation, the USO, and the Military Child Education Coalition all support the legislation. Donating unused frequent flyer airline miles and hotel points is a wonderful and easy way for Americans to express their appreciation for our brave men and women in uniform and their families. The Senate is not renowned for acting expeditiously, but one nice way to help pay tribute to our veterans and active duty servicemen and women would be to pass the Hotels for Heroes Act as soon as possible. I urge all my colleagues to join me in supporting this legislation. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. CARDIN

Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, later this month, the special joint committee will be issuing its recommendations. The special joint committee was set up for us to get recommendations on dealing with our economic problems and our budget deficit. I wanted to share with my colleagues two points I think are critically important that I hope will come out of this special joint committee. First, I hope this joint committee will provide a way that we can advance an agenda that will create jobs in our communities. Secondly, I hope this special joint committee will come forward with a comprehensive and balanced approach for us to deal with our current unsustainable budget deficits. Let me talk about the first issue, creating jobs. President Obama came forward with a job initiative that I do believe is entitled to debate on the floor of this body and, I would hope, passage. President Obama brought forward a bill that deals with rebuilding America so we can have the types of roads and bridges and water infrastructure and energy infrastructure that allow America to compete, at the same time creating jobs. He has offered proposals that would help small businesses, because we know the small businesses represent the economic engine of America. Where more jobs will be created, more innovation occurs. He understands that and is encouraging us to do more to help small businesses. The President's proposal deals with our men and women in the military service who are coming back from Iraq, coming back from Afghanistan, to have jobs available. Yesterday I was at BWI Airport as our soldiers came back from Iraq and Afghanistan. They want jobs. The President's initiative says, look, let's make sure we have jobs for our returning soldiers. All that means is we are going to create more jobs. The joint committee needs to make sure that in its recommendations we have the wherewithal to move this Nation forward by creating jobs. The President's proposal has been evaluated by independent economists. Mark Zandi, who was Senator McCain's economic adviser in his Presidential campaign, points out the President's proposal would increase our gross domestic product by 2 percent and create 1.9 million additional jobs. The President's proposal is completely paid for. It adds nothing to the deficit. I must tell you, if we are going to be able to balance our budget, if we are going to be able to get our budget in better shape, we have to have more jobs, less people using governmental services, more people paying revenues or taxes into our system. The more people who are working, the better our budgets will come into balance. I know some here are saying there is a better way of doing it. Well, come forward with a better way of doing it. I would challenge particularly my Republican colleagues, if you have a better way, come forward with a proposal that includes at least 1.9 million jobs and does it without adding to the budget deficit. That is the proposal we have before us. I am asking the joint committee to make sure they provide in their recommendations a way that we can create jobs so we can deal with our budget deficit. The second point I want to make is I would hope that the joint committee's recommendations would be comprehensive and balanced. Some call that the shared sacrifice. I know these numbers can sort of be used any way you want, but the groups that have looked at this, the Simpson-Bowles group and others, say, we need to reduce the deficit over the next 10 years by about $4 trillion. I think that is a number we should meet. I hope the joint committee can come in with $4 trillion of deficit reduction over the next 10 years. We have already done the first trillion. We did that when we raised the debt limit in August. Now we need to look at another $3 trillion. I would hope they would do it. It starts with a realistic baseline. What does that mean? It means what numbers are we using in order to determine whether we actually get to that $4 trillion of deficit reduction? What baseline do we use in order to determine the revenue base from which we start these discussions? I would suggest we make a realistic baseline. I was impressed with the work of the Simpson-Bowles commission. I was impressed by the work of our colleagues in the Senate, the so-called Gang of Six, and I must tell you the overwhelming majority of my colleagues in the Senate have at least agreed to the basis of what the Gang of Six was working with, what they were trying to do. It uses a realistic baseline. It assumes that some of the tax provisions will be extended, but not all. It also assumes we have to bring in additional revenues beyond that. Quite frankly, the number we have been talking about is that we need about $1.2 trillion outside of this $4 trillion package in realistic revenues using a realistic baseline. And that can be gotten. That is not so difficult to get when you realize that all of the tax deductions, exemptions, and credits equal as much revenue as we bring in in our Tax Code. Another way to say that is, if we eliminate all of the exemptions, deductions, and credits, we get tax rates one-half of what our current tax rates are. What we are suggesting is that there are certain loopholes in the Tax Code that benefit special interest corporations. They need to be eliminated. They need to be eliminated. Everyone has to pay their fair share. We cannot just attack the middle-class families. There was an article in the Baltimore Sun this past week which showed that during this recession the number of people earning more than $1 million has grown dramatically. There have been economic studies done showing that the wealthiest in America during these economic times have done very well. Their incomes have grown at a faster rate than other Americans, the middle-class families. The middle-class families are falling behind. All we are suggesting is that when we look at how we get the revenue, let's make sure it is fair and we do not again penalize the middle- class families. Let's make sure those who earn over $1 million pay their fair share toward this comprehensive and balanced approach. That is what we are asking the joint committee to come in with, come in with proposals that are fair, are balanced, make sure everybody pays their fair share, including those who have done extremely well during this economic recession, those who have made over $1 million of income. I must tell you, everyone needs to be part of the equation. We understand that. We have to have the so-called shared sacrifice. I have taken the floor before to talk about our Federal employees. Everybody says, well, you know, the Federal employees have to help contribute to this deficit also. Our Federal employees understand that. They already have contributed. They were the first to do that with 2 years of pay freezes. We are asking them to do more with less people. We have cut their budgets and we have given them more work. And we have told them, 2 years with a pay freeze. So our Federal employees have already contributed to these deficit reduction numbers. They should not be picked on again. I believe we can come together. We need to have a comprehensive and balanced approach that allows America to create more jobs. That is what we need to do as a nation. If we come together, I am convinced it will instill confidence among the American consumers, among American investors, and our economy will take off. It is going to be good for everyone in this Nation. I hope this month we will see the joint committee come in with such recommendations that will be balanced, will be fair, and will allow us to create more jobs for Americans. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. CARDIN

Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Hotels for Heroes Act. Next week is Veterans Day and we owe it to our military men and women to support them every day but especially in their time of need. Today, military families are facing enormous challenges, not just emotionally, but financially. The legislation I am introducing will help more families to be with their loved ones as they recover from injuries and illnesses sustained defending our country and our way of life. This bill expands on the popular Hero Miles program created in 2003 by my Maryland delegation colleague, Congressman Dutch Ruppersberger. The Hero Miles program authorizes the Department of Defense to accept donated frequent traveler miles to provide free round-trip airfare to military members recovering at military or Veterans Administration, VA, medical centers as a result of injuries sustained in overseas conflicts. The program also enables family and friends to visit injured troops while they are being treated. The Fisher House Foundation administers the program. The Foundation is a non-profit best known for its network of comfort homes built on the grounds of major military and VA medical centers. The bill that I am introducing today would expand the program to allow the Department of Defense to accept the donation of hotel points in addition to airline miles. Congressman Ruppersberger has introduced a companion bill in the House of Representatives. Here in the Senate, I am proud to have bipartisan support for this bill: Senator Wicker is the lead co-sponsor. The Fisher House Foundation, the USO, and the Military Child Education Coalition all support the legislation. Donating unused frequent flyer airline miles and hotel points is a wonderful and easy way for Americans to express their appreciation for our brave men and women in uniform and their families. The Senate is not renowned for acting expeditiously, but one nice way to help pay tribute to our veterans and active duty servicemen and women would be to pass the Hotels for Heroes Act as soon as possible. I urge all my colleagues to join me in supporting this legislation. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. CARDIN

Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Subcommittee on Readiness and Management Support of the Committee on Armed Services be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on October 19, 2011, at 2:30 p.m.

Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on October 19, 2011, at 2:30 p.m., in room SD-226 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building, to conduct a hearing entitled ``Nominations.''

Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on October 19, 2011, at 2:30 p.m., in room 366 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs' Subcommittee on Securities, Insurance, and Investment, be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on October 19, 2011, at 9:30 a.m. to conduct a hearing entitled ``Market Microstructure: Examination of Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFS).''

Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on October 19, 2011, at 10 a.m., in room SD-226 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building, to conduct a hearing entitled ``Oversight of the Department of Homeland Security.''

Mr. CARDIN. 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 October 19, 2011, at 10 a.m.

Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Environment and Public Works and the Subcommittee on Superfund, Toxics, and Environmental Health be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on October 19, 2011, at 10 a.m. in Dirksen 406 to conduct a joint hearing entitled, ``Oversight Hearing on the Brownfields Program--Cleaning Up and Rebuilding Communities.''

Mr. CARDIN

Mr. CARDIN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that during this debate, all time that elapses during quorum calls be equally charged to both sides of the debate.

Mr. CARDIN

Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that privileges of the floor be granted to the following member of the staff of the Senator from Oregon, Elizabeth Heintzman, during the pendency of the pending business.