Kay Hagan

Mrs. HAGAN

Mrs. HAGAN. I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mrs. HAGAN. Mr. President, I rise to join my colleagues in imploring Congress to provide needed assistance to our families, our communities, and our businesses suffering from the rash of natural disasters that have hit our country hard this year. While many of us who represent States on the east coast planned to spend our final week of our August work period traveling our State, touring factories, stopping by schools, and visiting military bases, Mother Nature had other plans. We still traveled to our States, but we saw a very different scene: whole streets and towns flooded, homes and businesses washed away from their foundations, destroyed crop fields, and constituents worried about the loss of their homes and mourning their loved ones. Over 2 weeks ago, Hurricane Irene barreled down our eastern seaboard, and early estimates suggest it could be one of the top 10 costliest disasters in U.S. history. I am here to tell the story of North Carolina. In the early morning of August 27, Irene first touched down over eastern North Carolina's Outer Banks. Even before it made landfall, the storm brought on several tornadoes along the coast that swept away entire homes. This is a photo of what is left of three homes hit by tornadoes in Tyrrell County. I was there, and it was truly devastating. One elderly man who had one of these homes was there the next day with a rake, forlorn look in his eyes, and said: The only thing I own now are the clothes on my back. By the time Irene finally moved beyond the State of North Carolina, six North Carolinians had been killed, storm surges 6 to 9 feet high had flooded many towns, more than 500,000 were without power, and countless homes, businesses, and schools had been destroyed or severely damaged. Fortunately, our State had prepared diligently for days leading up to the storm, boarding up houses and businesses and declaring mandatory evacuations for tourists and residents in our most at-risk towns. A lot of pundits woke after Irene hit and started saying: Hey, it wasn't that bad. I wish to invite those individuals to come to eastern North Carolina and see what I saw in the wake of Hurricane Irene. I saw small business owners in downtown Manteo emptying stores they have run for decades, tossing their waterlogged inventory, moving their furniture to the curb, moving out carpet totally destroyed, and these business owners wondering if it was even worth reopening their stores. There was a bookstore, and a resident in the community came up to me and he said: Senator Hagan, I have raised my children by sitting on this man's knees having books read to him day in and day out. We need this bookstore back in Manteo. I wish to be sure it gets there. I also saw crops that had been beaten by wind and rain for 15 hours, and it looked like they had gone through the spin cycle of a washing machine. I saw flooding in the fields so severe that Agricultural Secretary and former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack said it was the worst agricultural flooding he recalled seeing. I saw families clearing and burning debris, pumping floodwater, tossing aside their soaked possessions that were beyond saving. I also stood along Highway 12, eerily quiet, a highway that is usually busy with traffic, totally still at the point where Irene had left a gaping hole, blocking any vehicle travel to and from Hatteras Island and the towns of Rodanthe, Waves, Salvo, Avon, Buxton, Frisco, and Hatteras. We can clearly see the breach of the highway here. It actually breached in three separate points along Highway 12. The only way to get to the island now is by ferry; and, according to local reports, the line for that ferry was 15 miles long this weekend. That is the picture in North Carolina. It is not the only picture. While there were scenes of destruction and loss, I also saw tremendous acts of determination and kindness. If winds and rains may have swept away our possessions, they also stirred up the best parts of North Carolina spirit. Our intrinsic devotion to community and to assisting those in need produced countless heroes across our State the past 2 weeks. Everywhere I went, I saw emergency workers, volunteer organizations, and members of the community reaching out to their neighbors in need. In Craven and Tyrrell Counties, the American Red Cross and the North Carolina Baptist Men and Women provided hot meals. The North Carolina Baptist Men and Women were there, distributing 5,000 meals one afternoon when I was with them and also helping shelter and debris removal for those affected by the hurricane. The North Carolina National Guard activated 400 members--including a member of my own staff who serves in the Guard--to provide emergency water, food, and supplies to some of the hardest hit areas. Emergency workers throughout the State continue to help families, businesses, and entire communities recover and rebuild. While the people of the great State of North Carolina are committed to getting themselves and their neighbors back on their own feet, we have to do the same in Congress. For the North Carolina families, farmers, fishermen, educators, seniors, and small businesses struggling to recover, government assistance cannot come fast enough. It must not leave too soon. Here is my bottom line: Congress must fully fund Irene recovery efforts now. But we must also fund the emergency funding needs in tornado-devastated Joplin, MO, and Alabama, and the flooded communities of the Midwest, also, and in the wildfire disaster currently in Texas. Without a doubt, this year, our country has been ravaged by an unprecedented series of natural disasters. Since January 1, the President has issued disaster declarations in 48 States, and the hurricane season is far from over. We are aware of this trend all too well in North Carolina. Just about 4 months before Irene hit, 28 tornadoes touched down across central and southern North Carolina, the most severe weather to hit our State since 1984. More than 20 North Carolinians were killed, 6,200 homes damaged, and about 440 homes were completely destroyed; 21 businesses, including the largest employer in the town of Sanford, were demolished, with another 92 significantly damaged, leaving at least 2,000 North Carolinians in that one area out of work. Shaw University, located in downtown Raleigh, was forced to close for the remainder of the semester due to the immense damage to its campus. We will never be able to predict the whims of Mother Nature, but we are able to prepare and prepare we must. Right now, FEMA's Disaster Relief Fund is running dangerously low. Even before Hurricane Irene arrived we were using $400 million a month on disaster relief efforts. Today the fund is down to $377 million, not enough for a week of spending before Hurricane Irene hit, and we still have 3 weeks to go in this fiscal year. If we do not act now to fix this shortfall, millions of Americans will be left behind. Already, FEMA is shifting funds away from vitally needed reconstruction projects in previously hard-hit areas to what they call ``immediate needs'' assistance. I do not believe any one of us wants to be in the position of telling one of our constituents--one of our small business owners, one of our school principals--that we can't help because they are not considered an ``immediate need.'' American victims of natural disasters should not be left at the mercy of a rob-Peter-to-pay-Paul system. That is not who we are as Americans. We have a choice right now. In my mind and in the minds of all North Carolinians affected by the storms of Irene and the tornadoes that took place in April, the choice is clear: Congress must make these FEMA supplemental funds available. The Budget Control Act that we passed in early August established strict spending caps to get our fiscal house in order while also allowing for a limited amount of funds to be made available in case disaster struck. Disaster struck, and now is the time to make those funds available. Meeting these needs is not just a necessity for the people of my State and many others, but it is also wholly consistent with the fiscal discipline that we agreed on and voted on in August. But FEMA funding is not enough. Our farmers in North Carolina and across the eastern coast were devastated by Irene, and they are in desperate need of assistance. North Carolina is an agricultural State. Agriculture generates about $78 billion a year in economic activity, and it employs close to one-fifth of the workers in North Carolina. Our agricultural industry, particularly our cotton and tobacco farmers, are in trouble. At the end of the day, when all of the damage assessments are completed, our farmers could be out more than $400 million from Hurricane Irene, and these crops were just getting ready to be harvested. Our farmers in our State absolutely cannot afford a blow like this one. We in Congress need to work together so assistance from the U.S. Department of Agriculture can be expedited and delivered in a timelier manner. We need to act soon. I want to end with a story from my State that I believe is particularly relevant at this time when communities across the country are in the process of recovery. Back in April, one of the most recognizable scenes from the post-tornado coverage was of a Lowe's store in Sanford, NC. Unlike with Irene, there were few warnings of the tornado's arrival. But when Michael Hollowell, the store manager, saw the storm approaching his store--and it was very fast--he calmly moved every customer to the back corner where he knew--because he had been trained--they would be the safest. I saw that Lowe's the very next day. This is what that store looked like. It was completely demolished. But every single person in the store when the storm hit was alive. Mike Hollowell is a hero, not just to those people in the Lowe's store but to people all over North Carolina. Last week, not even 5 months after this devastation, that same Lowe's reopened, and it reopened with 2,000 more square feet than it had before. It just shows that North Carolinians and people across the country are committed to a recovery that will leave our communities better than ever. The people of this great country are stronger than any storm. They will rebuild and recover. But that process may take many months, it may take many years. As their representatives, we have a responsibility to provide a reliable, comprehensive program of relief for that duration. To do any less is a dereliction of duty. I call on all my colleagues to pass this FEMA supplemental bill as soon as possible. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mrs. HAGAN

Mrs. HAGAN. Mr. President, we are here debating the government's fiscal deficit. It is an important topic, one worthy of serious debate. Of course, I wish I could characterize the mindless partisanship of the last several months as serious debate, but I fear this do-nothing debate is distracting us from another deficit that is front and center in the hearts and minds of the American people; that is, the jobs deficit. Just yesterday, the Department of Commerce reported that the economic recovery has been far slower than previously thought. Our economy grew at a rate of less than 1 percent in the first half of 2011. That is not news to the hard-working families of North Carolina where unemployment statewide is almost 10 percent and nearly one-half million people are looking for work. They have been struggling since the housing boom went bust 4 years ago. Those people with jobs haven't seen the size of their paycheck increase, but their monthly bills have certainly been increased, along with the cost of gasoline. Just getting to your job in the morning, if you are fortunate to still have one, is more expensive. Yet we spend all our time in Washington bickering, posturing, and name- calling. Our constituents must be watching from home scratching their heads and wondering why Washington is debating whether we should avoid a default that would make this economy even worse. Let me tell my colleagues what is happening in North Carolina. Since the start of the recession in 2007, we have lost over 300,000 jobs in my State. More than two-thirds of the counties--68 out of 100--have unemployment rates above 10 percent. In my hometown of Greensboro, the unemployment rate is stuck at 10.8 percent--the same level as last year. That is right, no change in 12 months. People are working harder without getting ahead or looking for work longer without being able to find a job. Yet we continue to spend all our time in Washington bickering and posturing and name-calling. The people of North Carolina and the people of this great country are fed up with political games. They are telling me enough is enough. What they want is for Members of Congress to come to the table--Democrats, Republicans, and Independents--and find bipartisan solutions that can get our economy growing and put people back to work; for example, commonsense legislation such as the America Works Act that I introduced to create a nationwide and industry-recognized portable credential system so employers with job openings can find those workers with the right skills, and workers with the right skills can find the jobs they are qualified for. There is also the bipartisan Hire a Hero Act that my colleague from Massachusetts and I introduced to combat the unacceptable trend of higher unemployment among our veterans. Let us not forget we have a program that has been expired since February that helps workers who have had their jobs shipped overseas find new work. There is action we could take, but these commonsense ideas aren't getting their due time because of the partisan shenanigans going on now. This past month, I went on a budget-listening tour across North Carolina, and the messages I kept hearing were that we need to address our mounting debt and get our long-term fiscal house in order. We borrow 40 cents of every $1 we spend, and it is hurting our ability to invest wisely in the things we need to, such as education, infrastructure and research and development that will ensure a prosperous American future. Yesterday, with my office receiving a barrage of calls from concerned constituents, I answered the phones all afternoon. The message I heard was loud and clear: Please stop the partisan posturing and get something done. Unfortunately, the plan from the House falls far short of those goals of bipartisanship and consensus. Instead of aiming for compromise and certainty, it represents just another partisan, short-term patch that ensures the debate will drag on for another 6 months. After what Washington has put our country and the market through, I don't know anybody who thinks it is a good idea to do this for the next 6 months. We all need to remember what we were put in office to do. We were not sent to fight for the sake of fighting. We were not sent to see who could win the most political points, and we certainly were not sent to throw this country into a default crisis because of our own inability to compromise. But we were sent to get the work done. We were sent to work together on solutions to the most pressing challenges of our time. Most important, we were sent to rev up the great American economic engine to allow businesses to hire and to get the American people back to work. The clock is ticking. The challenges of reducing our debt and our deficit are undoubtedly difficult, but they are not impossible--not if Washington takes to heart the message of principled compromise and leadership I receive every day from North Carolinians. We must commit to a balanced, bipartisan plan that reduces our debt while protecting our seniors, students and veterans and makes the critical investments in education, infrastructure, and research and development we need for a prosperous American future. We need to focus on the most important goal of all; that is, jobs, jobs, jobs. I urge all my colleagues to support the Reid amendment and to put this crisis behind us. I yield the floor.

Mrs. HAGAN

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

Mrs. HAGAN. Mr. President, I rise today to report to the Senate on the completion of my North Carolina Budget Listening Tour. While people in this town were mired in political gamesmanship that seems to be pushing parties further apart, I wanted to hear directly from community leaders and business leaders in North Carolina about how they think we should be approaching the responsibility we have to reduce our deficit and our debt. I held listening sessions all over the State--from Raleigh to Greensboro and Charlotte to Wilmington--and I heard from North Carolinians of every kind: small business owners, health care workers, veterans, entrepreneurs, and more. The message I heard could not have been more different from the partisan bickering in Washington that is dominating the airwaves. In Washington, we see negotiators walking away from the table, refusing any and all compromise, putting politics ahead of what is best for the American people. In North Carolina, people were coming to the table and putting party aside for commonsense solutions to meet our shared budget obligations. To me, the message was crystal clear: Washington needs to take a lesson from North Carolina. It is far past time to put partisanship aside and do what is right for the American people. At the Charlotte listening session, I heard from the executive director of a health care nonprofit responsible for caring for the elderly. She told me about important ways we can reduce health care costs and save lives, such as expanding access to preventive care for seniors to reduce the onset of expensive chronic diseases. Gayla Woody, the director of aging at the Centralina Council of Governments, told me the story of how one of her clients--a man caring for his wife with Alzheimer's--was able to continue to care for her at their home thanks to the comparatively small investments made in the Family Caregiver Program rather than a more expensive nursing home. They both also told me we cannot afford an extreme plan to turn Medicare into a voucher program for vulnerable seniors. Balancing the budget on their backs is not a solution I can support. I also heard from small business owners, economic development coordinators, and community bankers at our Wilmington and Raleigh tour stops. They told me about how Washington's partisan paralysis is preventing them from having the sort of certainty they need to be able to make the hard decisions to invest in their businesses and to grow jobs in this economy for their companies. If these businesses don't know whether they ought to be investing in new equipment or new employees, then we are not going to be able to sustain the economic growth that is a necessary component to reducing our deficit and our debt. I also heard from a veteran of the U.S. Marines Corps and current chaplain for the Onslow County Special Incident Response Team. This dedicated public servant talked about the importance of protecting services for our veterans. And I will fight for them just as hard as they fought for us. He also talked to me about the importance of priorities. He said we ought to keep our promises to those who sacrificed for us--our seniors and our veterans--but we also need to invest in our children and their education. It was important for the future, he believed, and I agree he was right. While the challenge of reducing our deficit may appear daunting, I don't believe meeting it is impossible if Washington takes to heart the message I heard all over North Carolina last month. Both sides-- Democrats and Republicans--need to put aside partisanship and come to an agreement that is bipartisan and balanced, one that includes a shared sacrifice but also fulfills the sacred promises made to our seniors and our veterans and makes the critical investments necessary for a prosperous American future. Above all else, they do not want us to kick the can down the road one more time. They sent us here to make hard decisions. Putting them off to resolve during some future crisis is simply not an option. These broad goals and values are widely shared across party lines. I recognize turning them into a bipartisan, balanced solution to our fiscal challenges will not be easy, but the consequences of failing to do so are simply too great to ignore. Thank you, Mr. President. I yield the floor and note the absence of a quorum.

Mrs. HAGAN

Mrs. HAGAN. Mr. President, I am pleased to reintroduce a very important piece of legislation to accelerate job growth across America, the American Manufacturing Efficiency and Retraining Investment Collaboration Achievement Works Act, also known as the AMERICA Works Act. This bill is part of the solution to the Nation's economic and unemployment problem. We all know that American families, as well as the manufacturing industry, have faced difficult times over the last few years. But the truth is that the manufacturing industry will always be a vital part of our Nation's economy. The national unemployment rate has stabilized somewhat, but almost 14 million Americans remain out of work. We still have a long way to go. In my home State of North Carolina, unemployment hovers at 9.7 percent, with several counties facing double-digit unemployment rates. Job creation is my number one priority and this legislation is an innovative way to get Americans back into the workforce. The United States needs a strong technical workforce. The AMERICA Works Act would encourage national industries, such as biotechnology, construction, and machinery, to come together and agree on the skill sets they most value in prospective employees. Community colleges would participate, creating the appropriate curricula to meet those needs. Students who complete the programs would receive an industry-recognized credential. Workers who carry these industry-backed credentials would be able to market themselves in any area of the country. Businesses could count on the fact that workers with these credentials have the expertise and skills they are looking for. The AMERICA Works Act would require certain Federal job training and career development education programs to give priority to programs that provide an industry-recognized and nationally portable credential. This credentialing system starts out with basic competencies that prepare individuals for the workplace. Once basic competencies are completed, individuals can work toward high performance technical competencies and then progress further to highly skilled technical and management competencies. The credentialing levels are stackable, allowing workers flexibility along their career tracks. Stackable credentials provide straightforward paths, with clear entry and exit points, for workers to advance their careers and attain high quality jobs. In North Carolina, we have an advanced manufacturing skills program at Forsyth Technical Community College in Winston-Salem. Forsyth Tech is participating in the National Association of Manufacturers' Manufacturing Skills Certification System, which offers credit programs toward nationally recognized, stackable credentials. They have had hundreds of students enroll in their programs. Forsyth Tech has already collaborated with state and local businesses to begin the process of incorporating their credentials into job descriptions. They believe that introducing graduates with skill certifications into the local workforce will help improve the hiring process, and the nationally recognized credentials will improve employment opportunities. When the President's Jobs Council met earlier this month in North Carolina, a leading topic of discussion, and something the President himself mentioned, is the need to improve job training for American industries so that our workers can be competitive in the global economy. The AMERICA Works Act will help job seekers and employers keep America competitive in every industry, from textiles to aerospace, high-tech to biotech, and connect programs like those offered at Forsyth Tech with employers in the community, region, and across the United States. As I mentioned before, job creation is my number one priority. I want to do everything I can to create jobs and make sure our workers have the skills necessary to help our businesses grow and thrive. By incentivizing industry-recognized, nationally portable, stackable credentials, we can ensure that America has the best businesses, with the best-trained workers leading the world. I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this important bill to expand employment opportunities for hardworking Americans.

Mrs. HAGAN

Mrs. HAGAN. Mr. President, I am pleased to reintroduce a very important piece of legislation to accelerate job growth across America, the American Manufacturing Efficiency and Retraining Investment Collaboration Achievement Works Act, also known as the AMERICA Works Act. This bill is part of the solution to the Nation's economic and unemployment problem. We all know that American families, as well as the manufacturing industry, have faced difficult times over the last few years. But the truth is that the manufacturing industry will always be a vital part of our Nation's economy. The national unemployment rate has stabilized somewhat, but almost 14 million Americans remain out of work. We still have a long way to go. In my home State of North Carolina, unemployment hovers at 9.7 percent, with several counties facing double-digit unemployment rates. Job creation is my number one priority and this legislation is an innovative way to get Americans back into the workforce. The United States needs a strong technical workforce. The AMERICA Works Act would encourage national industries, such as biotechnology, construction, and machinery, to come together and agree on the skill sets they most value in prospective employees. Community colleges would participate, creating the appropriate curricula to meet those needs. Students who complete the programs would receive an industry-recognized credential. Workers who carry these industry-backed credentials would be able to market themselves in any area of the country. Businesses could count on the fact that workers with these credentials have the expertise and skills they are looking for. The AMERICA Works Act would require certain Federal job training and career development education programs to give priority to programs that provide an industry-recognized and nationally portable credential. This credentialing system starts out with basic competencies that prepare individuals for the workplace. Once basic competencies are completed, individuals can work toward high performance technical competencies and then progress further to highly skilled technical and management competencies. The credentialing levels are stackable, allowing workers flexibility along their career tracks. Stackable credentials provide straightforward paths, with clear entry and exit points, for workers to advance their careers and attain high quality jobs. In North Carolina, we have an advanced manufacturing skills program at Forsyth Technical Community College in Winston-Salem. Forsyth Tech is participating in the National Association of Manufacturers' Manufacturing Skills Certification System, which offers credit programs toward nationally recognized, stackable credentials. They have had hundreds of students enroll in their programs. Forsyth Tech has already collaborated with state and local businesses to begin the process of incorporating their credentials into job descriptions. They believe that introducing graduates with skill certifications into the local workforce will help improve the hiring process, and the nationally recognized credentials will improve employment opportunities. When the President's Jobs Council met earlier this month in North Carolina, a leading topic of discussion, and something the President himself mentioned, is the need to improve job training for American industries so that our workers can be competitive in the global economy. The AMERICA Works Act will help job seekers and employers keep America competitive in every industry, from textiles to aerospace, high-tech to biotech, and connect programs like those offered at Forsyth Tech with employers in the community, region, and across the United States. As I mentioned before, job creation is my number one priority. I want to do everything I can to create jobs and make sure our workers have the skills necessary to help our businesses grow and thrive. By incentivizing industry-recognized, nationally portable, stackable credentials, we can ensure that America has the best businesses, with the best-trained workers leading the world. I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this important bill to expand employment opportunities for hardworking Americans.

Mrs. HAGAN

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

Mrs. HAGAN

Mrs. HAGAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the period for morning business be extended until 6 p.m., with Senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each.

Mrs. HAGAN. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mrs. HAGAN

Mrs. HAGAN. Mr. President, I, too, come to the floor in support of the amendment by Senator Tester and Senator Corker from Tennessee. Let me tell you, I threw myself into these negotiations many weeks ago when I saw the great bipartisan work of my colleagues from Montana and from Tennessee. You just heard the Senator from Tennessee talking about this. They have worked tirelessly on this issue. They have shown great leadership in their willingness to modify their approach. What we have now is a bipartisan, balanced compromise amendment that is going to address the concerns raised by the regulators, small debit card issuers, and many Senators, about the Federal Reserve's approach toward a regulated interchange fee market. The amendment does not repeal the debit interchange amendment championed by Senator Durbin last year. As the Senator from Tennessee just said, it does not repeal that. In fact, a number of Senators who supported Senator Durbin's amendment, also support this compromise amendment. It is moderate. It is bipartisan. It is balanced. It now gives the regulators the time and the tools they need to get this rule right. This is the type of commonsense compromise that Senators on both sides of the aisle can support. This bipartisan, balanced approach is how the Senate should operate. When the Senate added section 1075 to the Dodd-Frank Act last year, it required that interchange transactions fees charged by issuers be reasonable and proportional. Importantly, the amendment also exempted banks with fewer than $10 billion in assets. During the rule writing process, this exemption has been characterized as ineffective. In February, during testimony before the Senate Banking Committee, Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke, the person ultimately responsible for writing these rules said that, ``it is possible that that exemption will not be effective in the marketplace'' and that ``it is possible that, in practice, community banks would not be exempt from the lower interchange fee.' '' FDIC Chairwoman Bair and the Conference of State Bank Supervisors echoed those concerns. These are the people responsible for monitoring the safety and soundness of our community banks and credit unions and they have expressed serious doubts about the practical effectiveness of the small issuer exemption. This is extremely concerning to me, a Senator from North Carolina, which has a strong presence of community banks and credit unions that serve my constituents across the State. This legislation helps get the small issuer exemption right. It provides two levels of protection for small banks and credit unions. First, it considers the impact on small issuers up front as part of a short 6-month study. It directs the banking and credit union regulators to carefully review the effectiveness of the small issuer exemption, which will be going to the community banks and credit unions. And it directs the regulators to look at the exemption from a safety and soundness perspective. This is of particular importance at a time when community banks around the country are struggling to provide credit to Main Street businesses. Then, once the final rules are in place, it would require a review of the effect of the rule on the market. This approach gives regulators the time to look at small banks and credit unions up front and an opportunity to point out any problems that may occur in the future. This is a sensible, balanced approach. It is a bipartisan approach. It is one that I would urge my colleagues to support. I yield the floor.

Mrs. HAGAN

Mrs. HAGAN. Mr. President, it is with great pride that I recognize the dedication of the North Carolina Veterans Park. This park will give visitors the opportunity to reflect on the sacrifices made by the courageous women and men of our armed services. The park and its beautiful visitor center, walking paths, and public art honor the lives and service of North Carolina veterans. As a Senator from North Carolina and a member of the Armed Services Committee, I am committed to ensuring our veterans receive the respect they deserve. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record a resolution that was passed unanimously by the North Carolina House and North Carolina Senate. The resolution honors the dedication of the North Carolina Veterans Park in Fayetteville, NC.

Mrs. HAGAN

Mrs. HAGAN. Mr. President, I rise again today to urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle and on both sides of the Capitol to move beyond the unnecessary and distracting partisan bickering and come together to fund our government through the remainder of the current fiscal year, including our military, our early-childhood programs, and our essential health services for our seniors and children. Six months into the 2011 fiscal year and less than 12 hours before a government shutdown would close off many of the important services to millions of Americans, Congress has yet to fulfill its most basic responsibility and pass a budget. I know the people of North Carolina or any State did not send us to Washington to point fingers or blame other people for the challenges our country faces. They sent us here to work with our colleagues on commonsense solutions. During my time as budget cochair in the North Carolina State Senate, I learned two things: First, it is never easy to craft a budget, there are always tough choices to make; and second, our fiscal challenges can only be met if Republicans and Democrats have that commitment to work together. Despite the impression the American people may have based on what they have seen in recent weeks, I know we can work this out. We have to work together because after we come to an agreement on this year's budget, we must buckle down and chart out a comprehensive bipartisan path to rein in our nearly $14 trillion national debt. I believe we all share the common goal of reducing this year's deficit, but the national debt will not disappear with one bill or in 1 year alone. It will take a comprehensive and long-term approach that moves beyond a singular focus on domestic discretionary spending. That is why I remain concerned by some of the cuts passed by the House and especially by the dozens of divisive policy riders that are disrupting our ability to chart a pragmatic and responsible fiscal course for our country. It is why I remain concerned that we are holding up government funding with threats to take away vital health care to millions of American women who could not otherwise afford it. These health services include Pap tests, breast cancer screenings, birth control, and STD testing and treatment. These services, which are funded through title X, were signed into law by President Nixon and supported by George H.W. Bush. According to independent, nonpartisan studies, every $1 spent on these family planning services saves $4. Is that not what we are supposed to be working on--reducing the amount of our government spending? These proposals are the only things standing between a reasonable, bipartisan compromise and an irresponsible government shutdown. If such a shutdown does occur, we risk delivering a crippling blow now to our already fragile economic recovery. More than 1,000 American small business owners, who were already facing difficulties securing the borrowing they need to expand and add jobs, could see their SBA-backed loans delayed. We have 368 national parks in our country. Millions of dollars will be lost to the businesses surrounding those parks if we shut down the government. In April of 2010 alone, in North Carolina, more than 1.3 million people visited the national parks and spent millions of dollars. These parks include the Great Smoky Mountains, the Blue Ridge Parkway, and Cape Hatteras National Seashore and others. Tourism in North Carolina is one of our State's largest industries. In 2010, tourists spent $17 billion across our State, and the tourism industry supports 185,000 jobs for North Carolinians. More than 40,000 businesses in North Carolina provide direct services to travelers. If we close our national parks, these small businesses are at risk of losing customers, losing money, which will make it much more difficult for my State to recover from this tough economy. We risk putting even more pressure on our already shaky mortgage market by preventing thousands of homeowners from receiving a loan to buy a new house. As for North Carolina, I am particularly alarmed about the impact a government shutdown would have on our courageous military personnel and their families who have dedicated their lives to this country. Two weeks ago marines from North Carolina rescued with amazing speed and skill the American F-15 pilot who went down east of Benghazi in Libya. Last week, I spoke with Marine Corps Commandant General Amos on the amazing work of these North Carolina marines. He told me it took only 90 minutes from start to finish to rescue the F-15 pilot. These warriors are heroes, as are the 120,000 active-duty troops in North Carolina and the approximately 400,000 American troops who are deployed overseas, including 90,000 troops in Afghanistan and 45,000 troops in Iraq. These heroes and their families do not deserve to have partisan bickering jeopardize their financial stability. More than a third of the people in my State are either in the military, a veteran, or have an immediate family member who is in the military or a veteran. So if the government shuts down and we delay paychecks to our military personnel, it is not just our courageous service men and women whose lives are affected but those of their spouses and their children. I know nobody in this body wants to see that happen. Whether you represent a State with a large military population or not, we are all incredibly grateful for the sacrifices our military personnel and their families give this country every day. Earlier this week, I cosponsored the bipartisan Ensuring Pay for Our Military, sponsored by my Republican colleague from Texas, Senator Hutchison, which would prevent an interruption in the pay for members of the military if there is a government shutdown. This is an important bill--a must-do bill--but I sincerely hope it is an unnecessary bill. The American people want Members of Congress to work across party lines, avoid an irresponsible government shutdown, and move forward on a sound, comprehensive, and bipartisan plan to put our fiscal house in order. The American people don't care if it is a Republican plan or a Democratic plan, they just want it to be a good plan for our country. That is why this week I signed on to the biennial budgeting bill which is being led by my Republican colleague, Senator Isakson, and my Democratic colleague, Senator Shaheen. This bill, which will move the Federal budget from an every year to every two-year funding process, is a commonsense, bipartisan approach which will hopefully improve the partisan political bickering. I urge my colleagues to come together now and fund our service men and women, our VA doctors, our Head Start Programs, and our women's health care so we can move on to the Nation's No. 1 priority, which is tackling our unsustainable national debt. Thank you, Mr. President. I yield the floor.

Mrs. HAGAN

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

Mrs. HAGAN. Mr. President, I rise today to urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join together to prevent an irresponsible government shutdown. The American people did not elect us to shut down the government. Democrats and Republicans in both the House and the Senate must tighten the Federal Government's belt, just like Americans are doing every day at their kitchen tables. As we all know, our escalating national debt is our country's most pressing problem. Our country's current fiscal course is simply unsustainable. In just the last 10 years, our Federal debt has risen from roughly a third of our gross domestic product to nearly two-thirds of GDP in 2010. Based on the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates, without proactive action by Congress, that percentage will continue to increase over the next 10 years, with public debt expected to reach 90 percent of GDP in 2020. Meanwhile, nearly half of our current debt is owned by China and other foreign creditors. It is time for Congress to work together to chart a new bipartisan course that puts our fiscal house in order. Before coming to the United States Senate I served for 10 years as a State senator in the North Carolina General Assembly. I served as the cochair of the Budget Committee, and I can tell you that crafting a budget is never easy. There are always difficult choices, and both sides have to make sacrifices. As a Budget cochair, I worked for 5 consecutive years to ensure that North Carolina's budget was balanced, that we still made critical investments in our communities while eliminating unnecessary spending. It takes cooperation across party lines to meet fiscal challenges and to ensure government is both leaner and more effective. We need bipartisan cooperation this week to prevent a Federal Government shutdown, which is an irresponsible outcome. Keeping the government functioning for the American people is Congress's core responsibility. We must come together to cut spending and support critical priorities, such as education, that strengthen our economy and support economic development in North Carolina communities and in communities across America. And while I believe we all share the common goal of reducing our Nation's deficit, we should remember that our most troubling economic challenges cannot be solved in 1 year alone. That is why I am concerned by some of the cuts passed by the House. The House proposal would result in the loss of some 21,000 North Carolina jobs and decimate important education priorities, like Headstart and investments in historically Black colleges and universities. Nearly one in five African Americans who earn an undergraduate degree has a diploma from a historically Black college or university. North Carolina has 10 4-year HBCUs, more than any other state in the country. Funding through the Department of Education allows these institutions to strengthen programs and provide critical services for students who are often among the first in their families to attend college. The House would cut funding for HBCUs by nearly a quarter below last year's level, a cut that would have a disastrous impact on these institutions and their students, while not even scratching the surface of our current deficit. In addition, by insisting on dozens of divisive policy riders, House Republicans are disrupting our ability to chart a pragmatic and responsible fiscal course for the country. We cannot take our eyes off the ball. The President's bipartisan fiscal commission, cochaired by North Carolina's own Erskine Bowles and former Senator Alan Simpson, made important progress in beginning to diagnose and attack the root causes of our Nation's fiscal crisis. The bipartisan work of the fiscal commission is evidence that common ground is possible. Reducing spending will absolutely be a part of any comprehensive solution, but we must begin to have a broader discussion to create meaningful deficit reduction. For that reason, I am supporting S. 211, the Biennial Budgeting and Appropriations Act, which was introduced by my colleagues Senator Isakson and Senator Shaheen. This bill would take the Washington-as-usual politics out of the budgeting process. The bill changes the budget process from the current, annual spending debate to a 2-year, deliberative process that allows us to work together on commonsense cuts coupled with sensible investments, similar to what North Carolina, which balances its budget every year, already does. Right now, Congress rarely passes the 12 government funding bills by the end of the fiscal year, and this year we have been operating on short-term fix after short-term fix. A biennial budgeting process is part of the long-term solution we need to remove partisanship from the budget. The status quo is unacceptable. I hope we can continue to work across party lines, this week and moving forward, on a bipartisan, comprehensive plan for the Nation's budget that tackles, head on, our mounting debt. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mrs. HAGAN

Mrs. HAGAN. Mr. President, I also rise to speak for women and children across this country but especially in North Carolina. Prenatal and postnatal maternal care translates into healthy moms and healthy families. Children who receive regular well-child visits to their doctors and recommended immunizations live healthier lives. They can go to school and just be kids. But the House-passed continuing resolution for the remainder of fiscal year 2011 makes draconian cuts to community health centers and the title V maternal child health block grant--two programs that are vital in reducing maternal and child mortality. If these cuts go through, nearly 4 and a half million women and children under age 6 are at risk of losing care. Consider that community health centers account for 17.2 percent of all low-income births, but prenatal patients at health centers are less likely to give birth to low birth weight babies compared to their counterparts nationally. It is because they are getting good prenatal care. Moreover, rates of vaccination among children receiving regular care at a health center are uniformly higher than those of children with another source of care. With the House-proposed cuts, pregnant women and children, who rely on community health centers for care, will be left with literally nowhere to turn for health care. By slashing $50 million in funding from the maternal child health block grant program, the House bill would dramatically curtail services to the 35 million women and children across this country, including the nearly half a million women and children in North Carolina who receive such services as newborn hearing screenings and postnatal care. In North Carolina, infants born to minorities are twice as likely to die as those born to Caucasians. However, the Healthy Beginnings Program is working to reverse infant mortality and low birth weights among minorities in North Carolina. Healthy Beginnings provides case management, general health education, and other support for at-risk women throughout their pregnancy and until their child turns two. In 3 years, this initiative reduced infant mortality by 60 percent in participating communities. Also, early detection of permanent hearing loss is essential for children to progress at age-appropriate rates. Research shows that by the time a child with hearing loss graduates from high school, more than $400,000 per child can be saved in special education costs if the child is identified early and given appropriate educational, medical, and audiological services. The North Carolina Early Hearing Detection and Intervention, EHDI, Program was established in 1999 as part of the State's title V Maternal and Child Health Program. Since the establishment of the EHDI Program, there has been a remarkable increase in the percentage of infants screened in the State. All neonatal facilities in North Carolina offer initial newborn hearing screening prior to infant discharge. In 2009, 96 percent of infants completed newborn hearing screening-- about 100,000; 450 children receive hearing aids or cochlear implants annually through a contract funded by the maternal and child health block grant. I heard from three families in North Carolina--all whose children failed the screening tests. Their stories were heartwrenching as they described their hours-old babies not being able to hear their parents' first words to them. But in all three families, the hearing loss was detected as part of the newborn screening, and the North Carolina EHDI program immediately provided them with followup and hearing aids or cochlear implants. As a result of these programs, in each of these families, the child is ahead of their peers verbally. These are just two critical programs that are funded by the title V maternal and child health block grant. As we can see, these are not just statistics but real women and kids and families who benefit from this important program. I strongly believe we have to work together to get our country back on solid fiscal ground. I am very much concerned about it and want to work on it. But the path we are on is obviously unsustainable. In fact, I was one of the Senators who advocated for the creation of the Bowles- Simpson fiscal commission. But our fiscal challenges require a thoughtful bipartisan solution that gets us on the right track and encourages economic growth. These cuts are simply counterproductive. We cannot balance the budget on the backs of our Nation's future--our children. Mr. President, I yield the floor.

Mrs. HAGAN

Mrs. HAGAN. Mr. President, I rise today to urge the Senate to quickly pass a long-term extension of the Trade Adjustment Assistance, TAA, program for workers, as well as the Andean Trade Preference program. These programs make our workforce more competitive in the global marketplace and support jobs in North Carolina. Both are critical Federal programs to North Carolina, and both expired this past Saturday. North Carolina's workforce has been particularly hard hit as manufacturing has suffered, factories have closed, and companies have moved operations overseas. The TAA program for workers offers benefits, including job retraining, to workers displaced by imports or a shift of production to other countries. Once a laid-off worker has exhausted State unemployment benefits, he or she can qualify to receive supplemental benefits under TAA. These include weekly cash payments equal to unemployment benefits. To qualify, the worker must be involved in job retraining. TAA payments can last for 52 weeks if a worker is in job training and 26 weeks more if a worker needs remedial education. Many North Carolinians who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own have turned to our network of affordable community colleges to retool their skills. Yesterday, I met with trustees for the North Carolina Community College System, which is among the best in the Nation. These leaders told me how valuable it is for these laid-off workers to get a community college education and gain the necessary skills to be competitive in today's job market. I agree wholeheartedly. Since coming to the Senate I have advocated to expand and enhance the TAA program for workers. In the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, we significantly enhanced TAA programs by expanding eligibility and increasing the training funds available to States by 160 percent, or $575 million per fiscal year. Earlier this month, I was among a group of Senators who sent a letter to leaders in the House of Representatives asking that they quickly introduce and pass a long-term extension of TAA, which is something they did in a bipartisan way last December. Since Congress expanded this crucial program, over 17,000 North Carolinians have been certified for assistance under TAA. Last year, displaced workers in North Carolina received over $56 million through TAA--the second largest amount given to a single State to help workers develop new skills and find new jobs. Though we are making progress in turning around our economy, that doesn't mean much if you are one of the 430,000 North Carolinians still out of work. One North Carolinian, Wayne Kizewski, is 42 years old and 2 years ago lost his job at a Cary company that molded plastic parts for Chrysler. Wayne used the TAA program to go back to school at Wake Technical Community College to study information systems. Wayne was also able to receive help from the TAA program to pay for 80 percent of his health insurance premiums, including coverage for his 5-year-old son. I hear from business owners all the time who tell me that workers in North Carolina have a work ethic that is second to none. When these men and women lose their jobs through no fault of their own they are determined to continue providing for their families, and this program allows them to go back to school and retool their skills for the 21st- century economy. With our State's excellent community colleges, we can get our workforce prepared to lead the way in emerging industries. The TAA program for workers is essential to maintaining our Nation's global competitiveness and supporting workers in North Carolina and across the country. I would also like to address the Andean Trade Preference program. I know my colleagues from Arizona and Ohio were on the floor earlier discussing both TAA and the Andean Trade Preference program. I know that extending this program is important to my friends on the other side of the aisle. It is important to me too as this program has an impact on jobs in North Carolina. For example, one of the products eligible for preferential treatment under this agreement is apparel made of U.S. combed-cotton yarn, much of which is made by workers in North Carolina. In fact, one North Carolina company, Parkdale Mills, exports 1 million pounds of cotton yarn annually that is valued at $2 million. These exports support more than 100 jobs in North Carolina. Earlier this week I received a letter from the CEO of Parkdale Mills. He wrote, ``a lapse of duty free benefits, even if a short period of time, is catastrophic to our business.'' Over the last 4 years, the Andean program has been extended or renewed three different times, often at the last minute. American firms doing business in the Andean region do not know from year to year whether they will pay duties or not. That is no way to run a business. So I agree with my colleague, the senior Senator for Arizona, that a long-term extension of this program is important. I believe we should be able to extend both of these programs, TAA and ATPA, together. I know that my colleague from Pennsylvania, Senator Casey, made a number of unanimous consent requests last week to do just that. The bill that Senator Brown asked consent to pass earlier would provide an 18 month extension of both programs. Mr. President, these programs have bipartisan support. Workers and businesses need the certainty and support they provide. We should extend them as soon as possible.

Mrs. HAGAN

Mrs. HAGAN. Mr. President, today, I am proud to reintroduce the Medication Therapy Management, MTM, Empowerment Act of 2011, with my colleagues from Minnesota, Senator Franken, from Ohio, Senator Brown, and from South Dakota, Senator Johnson. A recent analysis conducted by the New England Healthcare Institute estimates that the overall cost of medication nonadherence is as much as $290 billion per year. According to a recent article published in the New England Journal of Medicine, over $100 billion is spent annually on avoidable hospitalizations because patients do not take their medications correctly. Not only does nonadherence cost our system billions of dollars, nonadherence to medication regimens also affects the quality of life for seniors and may lead to early death. The elderly typically take many more prescription medicines than the general population and therefore are at greater risk for problems associated with improper use of medications. For example, the same New England Journal of Medicine article I just referenced found that better adherence to antihypertensive treatment alone could prevent 89,000 premature deaths in the U.S. annually. With as much as one half of all patients in the U.S. not following their doctors' orders regarding their medications, medication therapy management could help reduce some of the wasted health care costs in our system. North Carolina has implemented some very successful MTM programs. The Asheville Project, which focuses on diabetes, asthma, and cardiovascular disease, has seen improved health outcomes and significant savings among city employees since it began in 1997. For example, in the Asheville Project's diabetes MTM Project, they have seen a decrease in medical costs of between $1,622 to $3,356 per patient per year; a decrease in insurance claims of $2,704 per patient in year one and a $6,502 decrease in year five; a 50 percent decrease in use of sick days; and increased productivity gains estimated at $18,000 annually. In 2007, the North Carolina Health and Wellness Trust Fund Commission launched an innovative statewide program, Checkmeds NC, to provide MTM services to North Carolina seniors. During the program's first year, more than 15,000 North Carolina seniors and 285 pharmacists participated. A total of 31,000 seniors have participated since 2007. The seniors bring all of their prescriptions, over-the-counter medicines, vitamins and supplements to the pharmacy to be thoroughly reviewed in a one-on-one session. The pharmacist follows up and educates the patient about his or her medication regimen. The program has saved an estimated $34 million to date, and countless health problems have been avoided. During consideration of health care reform, I was pleased to have successfully secured language in the bill that built off these North Carolina models and implemented MTM nationally for seniors suffering from two or more chronic conditions. The bill I am reintroducing today takes MTM one step further. Specifically, this bill would expand MTM eligibility to seniors with any chronic condition that accounts for high spending in our health care system, such as heart failure and diabetes. Currently, only 12.9 percent of Part D beneficiaries are eligible under the MTM criteria for multiple chronic conditions. However, of those, more than 85 percent have chosen to participate in the benefit. Clearly this program is very popular and widely utilized by those who are already eligible. By expanding eligibility to more seniors, MTM will certainly result in Medicare savings. The bill also ensures access to MTM for seniors at a pharmacy or with a qualified health care provider of their choice. To ensure pharmacists and health care providers are able to provide MTM to seniors, this bill requires that they are appropriately reimbursed for their time and service. This provision will permit pharmacies and other health care providers to spend considerable time and resources evaluating a person's drug routine and educating them on proper usage--all critical components of a successful MTM program. Finally, this bill would establish standards for data collection to evaluate and improve the Part D MTM benefit. The value of MTM is widely known and discussed. I am proud that North Carolina is a leader in this arena. Expansion of MTM to more seniors will no doubt improve their overall health, while at the same time reducing waste in our health care system. I urge my collegues to support this bill.

Mrs. HAGAN

Mrs. HAGAN. Mr. President, today, I am proud to reintroduce the Medication Therapy Management, MTM, Empowerment Act of 2011, with my colleagues from Minnesota, Senator Franken, from Ohio, Senator Brown, and from South Dakota, Senator Johnson. A recent analysis conducted by the New England Healthcare Institute estimates that the overall cost of medication nonadherence is as much as $290 billion per year. According to a recent article published in the New England Journal of Medicine, over $100 billion is spent annually on avoidable hospitalizations because patients do not take their medications correctly. Not only does nonadherence cost our system billions of dollars, nonadherence to medication regimens also affects the quality of life for seniors and may lead to early death. The elderly typically take many more prescription medicines than the general population and therefore are at greater risk for problems associated with improper use of medications. For example, the same New England Journal of Medicine article I just referenced found that better adherence to antihypertensive treatment alone could prevent 89,000 premature deaths in the U.S. annually. With as much as one half of all patients in the U.S. not following their doctors' orders regarding their medications, medication therapy management could help reduce some of the wasted health care costs in our system. North Carolina has implemented some very successful MTM programs. The Asheville Project, which focuses on diabetes, asthma, and cardiovascular disease, has seen improved health outcomes and significant savings among city employees since it began in 1997. For example, in the Asheville Project's diabetes MTM Project, they have seen a decrease in medical costs of between $1,622 to $3,356 per patient per year; a decrease in insurance claims of $2,704 per patient in year one and a $6,502 decrease in year five; a 50 percent decrease in use of sick days; and increased productivity gains estimated at $18,000 annually. In 2007, the North Carolina Health and Wellness Trust Fund Commission launched an innovative statewide program, Checkmeds NC, to provide MTM services to North Carolina seniors. During the program's first year, more than 15,000 North Carolina seniors and 285 pharmacists participated. A total of 31,000 seniors have participated since 2007. The seniors bring all of their prescriptions, over-the-counter medicines, vitamins and supplements to the pharmacy to be thoroughly reviewed in a one-on-one session. The pharmacist follows up and educates the patient about his or her medication regimen. The program has saved an estimated $34 million to date, and countless health problems have been avoided. During consideration of health care reform, I was pleased to have successfully secured language in the bill that built off these North Carolina models and implemented MTM nationally for seniors suffering from two or more chronic conditions. The bill I am reintroducing today takes MTM one step further. Specifically, this bill would expand MTM eligibility to seniors with any chronic condition that accounts for high spending in our health care system, such as heart failure and diabetes. Currently, only 12.9 percent of Part D beneficiaries are eligible under the MTM criteria for multiple chronic conditions. However, of those, more than 85 percent have chosen to participate in the benefit. Clearly this program is very popular and widely utilized by those who are already eligible. By expanding eligibility to more seniors, MTM will certainly result in Medicare savings. The bill also ensures access to MTM for seniors at a pharmacy or with a qualified health care provider of their choice. To ensure pharmacists and health care providers are able to provide MTM to seniors, this bill requires that they are appropriately reimbursed for their time and service. This provision will permit pharmacies and other health care providers to spend considerable time and resources evaluating a person's drug routine and educating them on proper usage--all critical components of a successful MTM program. Finally, this bill would establish standards for data collection to evaluate and improve the Part D MTM benefit. The value of MTM is widely known and discussed. I am proud that North Carolina is a leader in this arena. Expansion of MTM to more seniors will no doubt improve their overall health, while at the same time reducing waste in our health care system. I urge my collegues to support this bill.

Mrs. HAGAN

Mrs. HAGAN. Mr. President, I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mrs. HAGAN

Mrs. HAGAN. Mr. President, I am honored to join my colleagues in honoring my mentor and dear friend, Senator Barbara Mikulski, on becoming the longest serving woman in the history of the Senate. For more than 24 trailblazing years, Senator Mikulski has been one of the Senate's fiercest advocates for women, families, and for the people of Maryland who have now elected her to the Senate for five consecutive terms. Before she arrived in Washington in 1977 as the Representative from the Third District of Maryland, Senator Mikulski already had a distinguished career in public service, working in Baltimore as a social worker, then a community activist, and as a city council member. When she was first sworn in as a Member of the House of Representatives, she was one of just 18 female Members. When she entered the Senate 10 years later as the first Democratic woman Senator elected in her own right, she was one of just two women in this upper Chamber. But while those numbers have intimidated most, they only motivated and emboldened Senator Mikulski. She soon impressed her colleagues, as she continues to do today, with her work ethic, determination, keen understanding of issues, humor, and her commitment to her constituents. She has broken many barriers in her career. She was the first woman ever elected statewide in Maryland, the first to chair an appropriations subcommittee, and the first woman to serve in the Democratic leadership. If we are no longer surprised today when we see women in power in Washington, it is only because we had pioneers such as Barbara Mikulski. As she recently told CNN: ``I might be the first, but I don't want to be the last.'' There are now 17 women serving in the Senate, and Senator Mikulski, the dean of the women, is our leader and our champion. I was both humbled and honored to have her escort me when I was sworn in as a Senator 2 years ago. That was just the beginning of her ongoing mentorship. Although the Senate can often be bogged down by partisanship, I appreciate that Senator Mikulski encourages and creates an environment of teamwork, respect, and friendship. But while we today mark her place in history as a woman Senator, she is widely regarded as one of the most respected, accomplished, and effective public servants in all of Congress. To use Senator Mikulski's own words, she showed it is not about gender, it is about agenda. She is one of the Senate's strongest advocates for science and technology and the importance of investing in innovation to spur our economy. In fact, earlier this year, I was watching a 3D movie about the Hubble telescope at the Smithsonian with my daughter, a scientist, and there was Senator Mikulski featured in the movie for her role in preserving the telescope's budget, a feat she calls one of her proudest accomplishments. She also wrote the Spousal Anti-Impoverishment Act, which protects seniors across our country from going bankrupt while paying for a spouse's nursing home care. She shepherded through the Lilly Ledbetter Act, which helps to ensure that no matter your gender, your race, your national origin, religion, age, or disability, you will receive equal pay for equal work. She fought tenaciously for her important amendment to health care reform legislation ensuring that a comprehensive list of women's preventive services, such as screenings for breast and cervical cancer, would be covered with no added out-of-pocket expenses. I thank Senator Mikulski for her mentorship, her leadership, and her fierce belief in the empowerment of women in our communities and in public office. I congratulate her on this tremendous accomplishment, and I join my colleagues in looking forward to many more years of her distinguished service.

Mrs. HAGAN

Mrs. HAGAN. Mr. President, last weekend the Nation lost Dr. Helen Maynor Scheirbeck--a great civil rights leader and a passionate advocate for American Indian rights. Born in Lumberton, NC, as a proud member of the Lumbee Tribe, Dr. Scheirbeck's passing is a true loss for the Lumbee and the greater American Indian community. A champion for American Indian sovereignty, Dr. Scheirbeck worked constantly throughout her incredibly prolific career to enable future generations of Indian leaders to build healthier and better-educated communities. In her early work on Capitol Hill, Dr. Scheirbeck served on the staff of North Carolina Senator Sam Ervin, then chair of Senate Subcommittee on Constitutional Rights. This work helped lay the foundation for the historic 1968 Indian Bill of Rights that extended constitutional rights and protections to American Indians nationwide. Similarly, Dr. Scheirbeck's efforts to organize the 1962 Capitol Conference on Poverty helped to ensure that Indian communities were a focus of the nationwide war on poverty. Her commitment to self-determination and individual responsibility is further exemplified by Dr. Scheirbeck's work to empower tribal leaders to govern and educate their communities. Working on behalf of the Carter administration, Dr. Scheirbeck's leadership was instrumental in realigning Federal policies to support Indian sovereignty. Most notably, her efforts helped to ensure the passage of the Indian Education Act of 1975 and the Tribally Controlled Community College Assistance Act of 1978, which have enabled Indian leaders to provide better educational opportunities for current and future generations. Working throughout her life to provide a forum for Indian leaders in our Nation's Capital, Dr. Scheirbeck was instrumental in establishing the National Museum of the American Indian. As Assistant Director in the early years of the museum, Dr. Scheirbeck guided the Office of Education and its program in cultural arts. In so doing, she sought to bring the experience of the American Indian to the National Mall and to demonstrate the applicability of Indian education models to educators throughout the world. Finally, much of Dr. Scheirbeck's life was devoted to the cause of recognition for the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina. Her life's work helped reverse the Federal Government's efforts to terminate relationships with American Indian tribes. Sadly, though, Dr. Scheirbeck's own Lumbee Tribe still bears the burden of this unfortunate policy, and she fought throughout her life to provide the Lumbee with the full recognition that they so deserve. While Dr. Scheirbeck did not live to see this dream become a reality, her life and work have helped to sustain the drive for Lumbee recognition for decades. Dr. Helen Maynor Scheirbeck's presence and contributions throughout Indian Country are irreplaceable, and her tireless efforts on behalf of American Indians throughout the country will continue to inspire future Indian leaders for generations to come.

Mrs. HAGAN

Mrs. HAGAN. Mr. President, today I rise in support of Senate ratification of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty. The Secretary of State, Secretary of Defense, Secretary of Energy, and the entire uniformed leadership of our military believe it is in our national interest. Former Secretaries of State from previous administrations of both political parties have also endorsed the New START Treaty. Relations between the United States and Russia have evolved beyond what they were during the Cold War. Within this context, and in the face of aging nuclear stockpiles, strategic arms reduction is in the best interest of both nations. New START will strengthen strategic nuclear weapons stability, enable us to modernize our nuclear triad of strategic weapons and delivery systems, and ensure our flexibility to develop and deploy effective missile defenses and conventional global strike capabilities. It will also promote stability, transparency, and predictability in the U.S.-Russia relationship. The treaty limits strategic offensive nuclear weapons and delivery vehicles through effective verification and compliance measures. Our negotiators ensured that the United States would be able to protect our ability to field a flexible and effective strategic nuclear triad composed of land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles, submarine- launched ballistic missiles, and nuclear-capable heavy and strategic bombers. Our negotiators also ensured that the United States can enable modernization of our strategic delivery systems and the nuclear weapons they carry. Simply put, our country is better off with New START as opposed to not having a treaty at all. There has been no formal verification system in place since the last treaty expired a year ago. New START reestablishes a strategic nuclear arms control verification regime that provides access to Russian strategic nuclear capabilities-- specifically, nuclear warheads and delivery systems. It ensures a measure of predictability in Russian strategic force deployments over the life of the treaty. Access and predictability allow us to effectively plan and undergo strategic modernization efforts. Failure to ratify the treaty will prevent us from obtaining information on Russian strategic nuclear weapons capabilities. Without the treaty going into effect, the United States will have no inspectors on the ground and no ability to verify Russian nuclear activities. This will result in our country losing insight into Russian strategic nuclear force deployments. It would also complicate our strategic force strategy and modernization planning efforts, as well as drive up costs in response to the need to conduct increased intelligence and analysis on Russian strategic force capabilities. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, Secretary of Energy Steven Chu, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff ADM Mike Mullen have expressed their support for Senate ratification of New START. All indicated that ratifying the treaty provides our country with an opportunity to negotiate with Russia on tactical nuclear weapons, of which Russia holds a sizable advantage. Tactical nuclear weapons are the most vulnerable to theft and the most likely to end up in the hands of rogue states and terrorist organizations. It is important to understand that we will not be able to obtain Russian cooperation on tactical nuclear weapons without ratifying New START. The treaty will not affect our ability to improve our missile defenses either qualitatively or quantitatively, to defend our homeland against missile attacks, and to protect our deployed forces, allies, and partners from growing regional missile threats. Secretary of State Clinton and Secretary of Defense Gates have testified that our phased adaptive approach to overseas missile defense is not constrained by the treaty. Senate ratification of New START will demonstrate that the United States is committed to reducing nuclear weapons, which is important as we advance our nonproliferation goals. This will assist us in obtaining international consensus regarding nuclear weapons proliferation challenges from rogue states, such as Iran and North Korea. It will also send a positive message in achieving consensus with other countries on nuclear issues. It is important to keep in mind that the United States and Russia hold over 95 percent of the world's nuclear weapons. If the two nations that possess the most nuclear weapons agree on verification and compliance and are committed to nonproliferation, it will improve our ability to achieve consensus with other countries. Failure to ratify the treaty will have a detrimental effect on our ability to influence other nations with regard to nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction. It will also send conflicting messages about the administration's emphasis and commitment to the nonproliferation treaty. Additionally, failure to ratify New START would send a negative signal to Russia that may cause them to not support our objectives with respect to dealing with the Iranian nuclear program. As Secretary of Defense Gates has said, without ratification, we put at risk the coalition and momentum we have built to pressure Iran. The debate over New START has facilitated a consensus to modernize our nuclear deterrent. The Administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration, Mr. Thomas D'Agostino, indicated that for the first time since the end of the Cold War, there is broad national consensus on the role nuclear weapons play in our defense and the requirements to maintain our nuclear deterrent. The NNSA and the three National Laboratories support Senate ratification of New START and congressional approval of the President's budget to invest in nuclear security and modernization. Our nuclear enterprise and stockpile have been neglected for too long. Consistent with recommendations in the Nuclear Posture Review, we need to move forward with a number of nuclear enterprise sustainment projects, including strengthening our nuclear command and control structure, continuing development and deployment of our triad of delivery systems, maintaining a safe, secure, and effective stockpile, and revitalizing our aging infrastructure. On December 1, the Directors of the three nuclear national laboratories signed a letter to the Senate emphasizing that they were very pleased with the administration's plan to spend $85 billion over the next decade to upgrade the nuclear weapons complex. They believe the requested amount will further a balanced program that sustains the science, technology, and engineering base. They also believe that the proposed budget will support the ability to sustain the safety, security, reliability, and effectiveness of our nuclear deterrent within the limit of 1,550 deployed strategic warheads established by New START. The Nuclear Posture Review also recognizes the importance of supporting a highly capable workforce with specialized skills to sustain the nuclear deterrent. It emphasizes three key elements of stockpile stewardship: hands-on work on the stockpile; the science, technology, and engineering base; and the infrastructure at the laboratories and plants. I share the concerns expressed by Secretary Chu regarding our ability to recruit the best and brightest nuclear scientists and engineers. We need to infuse a sense of importance and financial stability to the stockpile stewardship and life extension programs. Nuclear scientists and engineers need to believe the U.S. Government cares about nuclear life extension. An effective science, technology, and engineering human capital base is needed to conduct effective nuclear weapons system lifetime extension programs, increase nuclear weapons reliability, certify nuclear weapons without the need to undergo nuclear testing, and provide annual stockpile assessments through weapons surveillance. I hope my colleagues on both sides of the aisle will join me in voting to ratify New START. I yield the floor.

Mrs. HAGAN

Mrs. HAGAN. Mr. President, I am thrilled that after 11 months on the Executive Calendar, we are finally voting to confirm Judge Albert Diaz to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. I have spoken about Judge Diaz's qualifications a number of times here on the floor, so I will not list them again. But let me say that every Senator should feel comfortable voting to confirm this excellent judge to the Federal bench. I have no doubt that as the first Hispanic judge on the Fourth Circuit, he will serve our Nation with distinction. The senior Senator from North Carolina, Mr. Burr, also strongly supports Judge Diaz. I wish to thank him for his work on this nomination. I wish also to thank the chairman of the Judiciary Committee for his tireless work to confirm so many desperately needed judges, including Judge Diaz. Judge Diaz will make an outstanding addition to the Fourth Circuit. I would urge all of my colleagues to support his nomination. I yield the floor.

Mrs. HAGAN

Mrs. HAGAN. Mr. President, when the fiscal commission released its report on December 1, it started with the guiding principle on which all Americans can agree: We have a duty to make America better off tomorrow than it is today. But the picture is pretty bleak right now. Let me give a few examples. In 1982 our deficit had never exceeded $100 billion. By March of 2004, 22 years later, the debt was $3.7 trillion. Today, 6 years have passed, and the debt held by the public has ballooned to $8.7 trillion. The Federal debt was 33 percent of GDP in 2001. It is now 62 percent and on a trajectory to reach 90 percent of GDP by 2020. Interest on our national debt could rise to nearly $1 trillion annually by 2020. That is the entire amount of the individual income taxes we are collecting this year. It is impossible to look at these numbers and believe this trajectory will result in an America that is better for our children than it is for us. We cannot continue to just grow the debt and run huge deficits each year with the expectation that our children will pay the bill. This trend of borrowing will eventually have to come to an end one way or the other. The only question is, How are we going to reduce our deficit responsibly and in a bipartisan fashion and in a way that encourages investment and economic growth? Are we going to cruise blissfully along until some external crisis forces us to make these adjustments in the most sudden and painful way possible? The time for Congress to act is now. There is a mounting chorus growing from all sides that recognizes our current path is unsustainable. Eleven members of the fiscal commission voted for the bipartisan deficit reduction report, including my friends, the Senators from Illinois, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Idaho, and New Hampshire. Just today, Moody's announcement that it could move a step closer to cutting the AAA rating on our debt is why I am here today joining with my colleagues in vigorous support of concerted bipartisan action on the deficit in 2011 and the resolution introduced by my colleagues, Senator Chambliss and Senator Warner. It is past time to get to work. We need to think seriously about reforming the Tax Code and tackling the deficit and the debt in a civil and bipartisan manner, and we need to do it now. I yield the floor.