Johnny Isakson

Mr. ISAKSON

Mr. ISAKSON. Mr. President, first, before the Senator from Tennessee leaves the floor, if he was getting ready to, I wish to commend him on his activities over the last 8 days. For the second time in a decade, we came to the brink of making a bad mistake in the Senate. But we proved--and Senator Alexander really proved through the facts, which are stubborn things--that if you study history and you read the history of the Senate, you understand there is a purpose for the cloture rule, there is a purpose for the filibuster, but there is also a purpose for being judicious in its use. I commend the Senator on his historic history lesson, his personal experiences as being one who has gone through the process himself when he was nominated to be Secretary of Education, and I appreciate very much his leadership on the Committee of Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. I will be brief, but I would like to speak for a minute about the nomination of Thomas Perez. The Labor Department is an important Department in the United States of America, and jobs are an important need we have in this country. We need an aggressive leader at the Department of Labor who is trying to get the Workforce Investment Act passed, trying to get people trained, trying to get wrongs righted, trying to be a leader. But what we do not need to have is one who throws up stumbling blocks to progress, stumbling blocks to jobs, and stumbling blocks to business. Thomas Perez has a history of using disparate impact to enforce or to move toward where he wants to go in terms of the regulations he has had responsibility for in the past, namely at the Department of Justice. Disparate impact is where you take unrelated facts, pull them together to get a pattern or practice, and then make a case against somebody for something that because of those disparate facts you think could draw you to a conclusion that they discriminated or they overcharged or they redlined or whatever it might be. Disparate impact is a very difficult thing to use. It is an even more difficult thing to defend yourself against. It would certainly be the wrong way to run the Department of Labor. We know from Thomas Perez's experience in St. Paul, MN, with a whistleblower that his use of disparate impact caused him to work with the City of St. Paul to deny a whistleblower what he deserved in terms of his rights and the American people in terms of what they deserved in being reimbursed for the money that had been lost because of the actions the whistleblower uncovered. It is important for us to understand that the Department of Labor is a job creator, not a job intimidator. We have had an issue in the last 4 years with the Department of Labor about the fiduciary rule--a rule that, if put in place, would cause the American saver and investor, the small saver and the small investor--it would deny them investment advice or cause them to pay so much for investment advice that the cost of that advice would be more than the yield on the investment they have. That would be the wrong thing do. I fear Thomas Perez will regenerate the fiduciary rule--which we fortunately beat back 2 years ago--and try to bring it forward again. Going back to disparate impact, with the regulation of OSHA, the Mine Safety and Health Administration, MSHA--all the things that are done by the Department of Labor--to begin to use disparate impact as a pattern or practice to enforce mine safety laws, occupational safety laws, or any other type of laws which are very definitive in the way they should be enforced would be the wrong direction to go. But most importantly of all, the nomination of Thomas Perez demonstrates why it is important to have cloture, why the filibuster, used judiciously and timely, can be a benefit to the Senate. I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record a letter dated July 8, 2013, from the Chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee in the House of Representatives, Darrell Issa.

Mr. ISAKSON. This letter demonstrates that Mr. Perez, as of that day, had still failed to comply completely with a subpoena issued on April 10, 2013, for information to be considered. I recognize that Mr. Issa is not a Member of the U.S. Senate, but he is the head of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives. He deserves to be responded to, and we deserve to know the facts. I attended the hearing on St. Paul, MN, and the whistleblower there, Mr. Newell, when I went to the House about 2 months ago. I know there are unanswered questions, and the American people deserve them. Cloture should be used judiciously, but this is a time--the reason I voted no on cloture last night is because this is a time where we need all the answers. This is an appointee whose record demonstrates that he may be dangerous for the Department of Labor, not positive for the Department of Labor. I think it is important, when used judiciously, we get all the answers people need to know so that when we vote to approve or to deny an appointee, it is based on all the facts--not based on intimidation but all the facts the American people deserve. For that reason, I will oppose the nomination today of Thomas Perez to be the Secretary of Labor for the United States of America. I yield back my time. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. ISAKSON

Mr. ISAKSON. Mr. President, I was unavoidably detained during rollcall vote No. 160 on the motion to invoke cloture on Leahy amendment No. 1183. Had I been present I would have voted nay.

Mr. ISAKSON

Mr. ISAKSON. I apologize.

Mr. ISAKSON. Mr. President, I want to commend the distinguished--oh, I am sorry.

Mr. ISAKSON

Mr. ISAKSON. I appreciate the focus on that. My friend from Ohio is exactly correct. Antimicrobial resistance is a serious threat to our Nation's health. Many bacteria become resistant to multiple classes of antibiotics. I might add a personal note at this point. Three years ago I developed a MRSA infection in a hospital in Atlanta and almost lost my life to an antibiotic-resistant disease and infection. I know how important it is to have a research facility such as the CDC that can constantly stay one step ahead of the evolution of defenses these microbes bring up themselves. As a recent example, a recent outbreak of drug-resistant CRE where one in two patients affected with bacteria unfortunately passed away-- CDC must have resources to quickly track and stop outbreaks and give health care providers timely information. Without that, there is the risk of contagion.

Mr. ISAKSON. When I grew up in the fifties, I remember taking the sugar cube, the anti-polio vaccine, the Jonas Salk vaccine, for the first time ever. Polio has been a dread disease that has affected the American people and people around the world for many years, but now it is almost totally eradicated. Why? Because of a worldwide effort by many organizations--not the least of which is the CDC--to see to it that the inoculations are made available. In fact, polio now only resides in three countries: Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Nigeria. We are close to closing the door and having a polio-free world, just as we are getting closer and closer to eradicating measles, which now primarily still has an outbreak in Nigeria. CDC's readiness and ability to deploy at a moment's notice makes all the difference in the world. I don't wish to sell here, but I have to make one note. One of the reasons CDC is in Atlanta and that is such a good location is they can be anywhere in the world in a matter of a day by the Hartsfield International Airport. Not a day goes by but somewhere around the world a country or a community calls and says: We need help. We have a problem. We don't know what it is, but it has to be identified. CDC scientists and doctors are put on the planes to fly around the world to diagnose, identify, and provide the cure so the disease does not become an outbreak that takes thousands of lives.

Mr. ISAKSON. Well, the Senator makes a great point because CDC is kind of the crucible where all the partners in health care in the country come together. You might remember when we were here on 9/11/01, shortly after the attack on the Trade Center in New York. Then the anthrax letters started to be mailed to Capitol Hill. It was CDC that within days tracked down the anthrax and helped us develop the defenses so we didn't have a problem with the anthrax infection. We got the Cipro distributed to those who were exposed to keep them from succumbing to that disease. That is the kind of timely effort we need for an agency like the CDC to be able to quickly respond. Public health security is a component of our national security, as is evidenced by the anthrax case. With the potential threat of engineered biological weapons, CDC remains vigilant and ready to act with experts and countermeasures to protect the American people. With emerging diseases such as MERS and H7N9, CDC has sent CDC teams around the globe to investigate their origin, develop and ship laboratory diagnostic kits to the affected areas, and save lives day in and day out around the world.

Mr. ISAKSON. I appreciate very much the Senator's focus on CDC. I think it is ironic that we close talking about Franklin Delano Roosevelt because in the 1940s, as our President, he suffered from polio. He would take the train to Georgia to go down to Warm Springs to get the therapy of those warm springs, which then was the only mechanism of treating polio. Today in Georgia, because of the CDC, we have a mechanism of eradicating polio. That is the type of evolution we want to see in health care not just for our country but for the world. CDC is the best investment of American tax dollars we could possibly make. I support it wholeheartedly, and I thank Senator Brown for his participation in the colloquy today. I yield back the remainder of my time and suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. ISAKSON. Would the Senator from Ohio yield for a moment?

Mr. ISAKSON. Madam President, I am proud to stand here today as a resident of Georgia and its capital city Atlanta, which is the home of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in America, a great institution with which Senator Brown and I are familiar. We want to talk about some of its great achievements today. CDC is the Nation's health protection agency, but it is really the world's health protection agency. What CDC has done is build a strong national public health and disease detection network for working with State and local agencies, private partners, universities, and communities to stop disease and stop outbreaks. By way of example, CDC led a multi-State response to last year's fungal meningitis outbreak that resulted in 745 infections and 58 deaths in 20 States. CDC identified and contained dangerous foodborne pathogen outbreaks, such as hepatitis A found in frozen berry blend; salmonella found in the poultry industry; and E. coli found in frozen food products. CDC puts science into action every day to protect the American people, using breakthroughs such as microbial genomics to find outbreaks sooner, stop them earlier, and prevent them better in environmental hazards, biosecurity threats, and national disaster. CDC provided direct support within hours of Superstorm Sandy to the devastated northeast last year. We need to be able to be ready for this year's hurricane system as it deals with other public threats. The CDC provides crucial information on the status of health risks to the American people. With data it helps determine the best options for preventing illness and reducing medical costs. At a time when the U.S. Government is not looked upon with a lot of favor by the American people, I think it is very interesting to note that a recent Gallup poll identified the CDC as the most trusted Federal Government agency with the American people. I think that is something to which we owe a tip of the hat.

Mr. ISAKSON. I ran a company for 20 years, and a healthy workforce that was ready, willing, and able to go to work every single day made a big difference. A lot of times when we think of CDC, we think of outbreaks in Africa, we think of ebola, and we think of salmonella. In fact, it is also an advocate for wellness, better health habits, and health care for Americans. Does the Senator think that is important for the productivity of the American people and the American worker?

Mr. ISAKSON

Mr. ISAKSON. Mr. President, I rise proudly today to speak to a resolution that I have submitted in the Senate commending John Robert Lewis, Congressman, from the city of Atlanta, civil rights leader in the 1960s and 1950s, and my personal friend. In 1954, I was 10 years old in the Atlanta public schools when Brown v. Board of Education was decided in the U.S. Supreme Court. John Lewis was 4 years older than me. He was born just outside of Pike County, AL, and went to the Pike County, AL, segregated public school. He went on to Fisk University to get a degree in religion and philosophy and volunteered for sit-ins in Nashville to break the first sit-in on lunch counters in the history of that city. This year marks the 50th anniversary of what is called the Big Six in civil rights. As I am sure the Presiding Officer will remember, it was 50 years ago this August that Martin Luther King led a march in Washington and gave his great speech, ``I Have a Dream'' at the Lincoln Memorial. There were six great civil rights leaders then. There is only one left, and that is John Robert Lewis. He is my friend, he is my compatriot, and our lives have paralleled each other all the way through. John introduced me when I was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, and I was honored for that introduction. This year I joined John on the 50th anniversary of the crossing of the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, AL, the historic march, the bloody march on Bloody Sunday, which turned around the Voting Rights Act, saw to it that every American got equal access to vote, and changed the history of our country. It is an honor and a privilege for me to honor John today on this 50th anniversary of the crossing of the Edmund Pettus Bridge and honor a career that has been dedicated to liberty and freedom for all Americans. John recently suffered the loss of his beautiful wife Lillian. She is survived by their son John Miles Lewis. John is a great leader to this day on the floor of the House, a great leader for the State of Georgia, and one with whom I am pleased to serve as Senator. History has many heroes, as we all know--their pictures and their carvings are all over this Capitol. But none is greater than one who has sacrificed their life for the rights of others and for everyone to enjoy the same rights that everyone else in America has. John Lewis is such a person. I am honored to recognize him with this resolution. Mr. President, I yield for the distinguished Senator from Vermont.

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

Mr. ISAKSON. I ask permission to speak for 3 minutes as if in morning business.

Mr. ISAKSON

Mr. ISAKSON. I ask unanimous consent to be recognized along with Senator Brown of Ohio for up to 15 minutes and to engage in a colloquy.

Mr. ISAKSON

Mr. ISAKSON. Mr. President, today I wish to pay tribute to Dr. Michael F. Adams, president of my alma mater, the University of Georgia, which is the first State-chartered university in America. Dr. Adams is stepping down as president on June 30, 2013, after 16 very successful years leading Georgia's flagship university. Dr. Adams was named president of UGA on June 11, 1997, and immediately focused on making the university one of America's best. Under his leadership, student quality has risen dramatically, research production has increased significantly, and UGA is serving the people of Georgia and our Nation in new and innovative ways. As a result, U.S. News & World Report has ranked it as one of America's top 20 public research universities in 8 of the past 10 years. The UGA campus has been transformed during Dr. Adams' presidency, with more than $1.2 billion in new construction, renovation, and infrastructure undertaken. He created the UGA Real Estate Foundation as a funding mechanism for much needed campus projects. His dedication to making UGA's campus one of the most breathtaking in the country is apparent. When approaching Sanford Stadium from the west end, two of the capital projects that Dr. Adams has undertaken are visible. Not only are the Richard B. Russell Special Collections Libraries and the expansion of the Tate Center a testament to the growth of the university's physical campus, but they also show the president's commitment to ensuring that UGA's students have access to state-of-the-art facilitates. It is ``a place of the quality to which we aspire should look the part,'' as he has said. Dr. Adams has also overseen the construction of the Paul D. Coverdell Center for Biomedical and Health Sciences, a new Lamar Dodd School of Art, an expansion of the Georgia Museum of Art, and the first new residence halls on campus in more than 30 years, the East Campus Village. There has been an expansion of the infrastructure and physical footprint under Dr. Adams, and he has also directed an increase in growth and diversity of the academic program. Five new colleges or schools have been established during his tenure: the School of Public and International Affairs, the College of Environment and Design, the College of Public Health, the Eugene P. Odum School of Ecology, and the College of Engineering. Additionally, the UGA Health Sciences campus on the former campus of the U.S. Navy Supply Corps School houses the College of Public Health, as well as the Georgia Regents University- University of Georgia Medical Partnership, granting medical degrees in Athens for the first time. Understanding, appreciating, and sharing the passion with which Georgians cheer for the ``Dawgs,'' Dr. Adams has also made sure that UGA athletics continue the tradition of fielding the most gifted and dominant teams and athletes in the country. UGA athletes have won 27 national championships, 58 Southeastern Conference titles, and 125 national individual titles while Dr. Adams has been president. He also understands that the balance between academics and athletics is not a zero-sum game but that each plays a unique role in defining the identity of the university. Dr. Adams has been an outstanding leader of this institution. During his tenure, he has personally or on behalf of the university received more than 50 awards in higher education, including the Knight Foundation Award for Presidential Leadership and the James T. Rodgers Award, the highest honor bestowed by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. I would like to thank and recognize University of Georgia president Michael F. Adams for his extraordinary service to the University of Georgia and our great State.

Mr. ISAKSON

Mr. ISAKSON. First of all, I wish to thank the Senator from South Carolina for his leadership on this important issue, and I am proud to join the senior Senator from Georgia Saxby Chambliss and, in effect, join Sam Nunn, who is a former Senator from Georgia who, with Dick Lugar, brought about the Nuclear Threat Initiative program which brought about the treaty of 2000 which calls for the reduction by 68 metric tons of nuclear materials. I would answer the question of the Senator from South Carolina with another question: Where else in the United States of America are there two States willing to accept plutonium, reprocess it into fuel rod for commercial use, and do it safely and have dealt with nuclear materials for over 50 years? That is Georgia and South Carolina. The idea that we can fund a study to look for an alternative is laughable. That is just merely a smokescreen for the current administration's position. The Senator is exactly right. Senator Chambliss and myself, along with Senator Scott and Senator Graham, are happy to sit down with the administration, look at the cost overrun on the MOX facility, and find ways to find savings. But the dumbest economic decision in the world would be to stop the process when we are half finished because then we have wasted every dime that has already been spent, and we have to spend more money on an alternative that does not exist. So I wish to add my support to the remarks of Senator Graham and my State's support to reprocess this weapons-grade plutonium into reprocessed materials that fuel powerplants and commercial opportunities. That is a good use. It is a good way to get rid of this nuclear material, and it is also a good way to keep it out of the hands of the terrorists. If we don't destroy it and it lays around in Russia or anywhere else, it is always suspected of being stolen or used in a way that none of us would ever want. I thank the Senator for his leadership.

Mr. ISAKSON

Mr. ISAKSON. Mr. President, I wish to honor in the Record Miss Danielle Dunlap of Atlanta, GA. A few weeks ago, I was very saddened to learn of the passing of this 25-year-old Peace Corps volunteer, who was known as ``Dani'' by her overseas community. Danielle was stationed in Ghana when her life was cut tragically short by illness. Like so many of our Peace Corps volunteers, she was a role model who dedicated her life to serving others. During her time in Ghana, Danielle touched the lives of individuals and families in Ghana by working with them to improve their lives in the areas of nutrition, HIV/AIDS, malaria, and sanitation. Her colleagues in Ghana said that she was proud of her role as a volunteer trainer, helping to mentor newly arriving volunteers in the projects to which she was so devoted. Born in Germany, Danielle's love for all things international began long before her days as a Peace Corps volunteer. She studied abroad in South Korea and Haiti, where she learned Korean and Spanish. Danielle was clearly a bright and gifted individual. She graduated from Brown University in 2010 with a bachelor's degree in neuroscience. She tutored young students at the Academy at Harvard Square in Cambridge, MA, and she was a swim instructor for students with asthma. Danielle Dunlap was a model of service and character, and it is Americans such as her who make this country great. The Nation mourns the loss of an incredible individual at such a young age, and my heart and my prayers go out to Danielle's family and friends.

Mr. ISAKSON

Mr. ISAKSON. Madam President, before he leaves the floor, I would like to thank the distinguished majority whip for his leadership. I also want to thank Senator Enzi, Senator Alexander, and the Presiding Officer for their leadership on what is an important issue to my State, and really to every State. The marketplace fairness bill is a good idea whose time has finally come. We have been waiting 20 years since the court decision to give direction to our States so they can collect the retail sales tax upon which many of them finance most--if not all in some cases--of their governmental operations. This is not a new tax. It is not a different tax. It is not a tax we are applying to anybody. It is a mechanism for the collection of a tax that has been owed for over 20 years by people making retail purchases in our States from people who sell out of State. I commend the leadership on the legislation, the way it is drawn. I hope everybody will bring their amendments to the floor, if they have any. I don't know that there is any need for them. I hope we can send a clear message to the House and to our States that we are prepared to let our local governments and our State governments collect the tax that is owed to them and has been owed to them. The Governor of my State, Nathan Deal, last year led a major tax reform package that passed with only one dissenting vote in our legislature. It reformed taxes on utilities for manufacturing to attract businesses to our State. It reformed our income tax code and it reformed a lot of our taxes, but it also passed legislation consistent with the Marketplace Fairness Act so we can finally collect a tax that has been owed for a long time in our State. As a real estate guy, as someone who used to lease retail space in shopping centers and on corners in the cities and counties in our State, I know what it has meant to retailers. What has happened is, in many cases, they become showrooms and servicing agents for an offsite seller. Customers in our community will go to the retail store, look at the products, go home and go on the Internet, buy the product on the Internet, and if something goes wrong with it, they will go back to the store and try to get it fixed. But the State never gets the sales tax on that sale because it was an Internet sale made by someone offsite. Secondly, it has put pressure on the rest of the tax system. Think about this. If a local community gets most of its revenue from a local special purpose sales tax and all of a sudden that tax goes down, not because people aren't paying it but because it is not being collected, what happens? The pressure on the ad valorem tax goes up. So the retailer, who is already burdened with losing business because of Internet sales, becomes further burdened because they have more pressure from the ad valorem tax they pay for the space they lease and occupy. So it has had a compounding effect. Also, we are famous in Washington for what is known as unfunded mandates to local government, whether it is IDEA in education or whatever it might be. It is time we gave our local governments the chance for a mandate to collect a tax that is owed to them. Lastly, for my State of Georgia, we have a 4-percent sales and use tax that goes to our State. We have special purpose local option sales taxes that are referendum taxes levied by local communities to finance school construction and other opportunities. We have a Metropolitan Rapid Transit Authority in Atlanta which in 1974 was seeded with a referendum that passed a 1-cent tax in Fulton and Dekalb Counties for the financing of the beginning of that subway system. It is not fair to deny those States and those entities the ability to collect a tax that is owed. It is only right, after 20 years of getting direction from the appellate courts as to what to do, that this Senate and this Congress and our country say to our States we are going to give a mandate for States to collect the taxes owed to them. We are going to take the pressure off the local retailers. We are going to level the playing field. We are not adding a tax to anyone; we are adding opportunity to everyone. I commend Senator Durbin, the Presiding Officer, Senator Alexander, and Senator Enzi for their tireless leadership. I urge all Members of the Senate to do what we did on the motion to proceed and what we did on the amendment on the budget. Let's give an overwhelming ratification of the Marketplace Fairness Act.

Mr. ISAKSON. Absolutely.

Mr. ISAKSON. Madam President, I appreciate the leadership of the distinguished former Governor. Knowing him as well as I do, he is a States rights advocate and this is a States rights issue and we are here to protect the rights of our States.

Mr. ISAKSON. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent to address the Senate for up to 5 minutes on the marketplace fairness legislation.

Mr. ISAKSON

Mr. ISAKSON. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. ISAKSON. Mr. President, I call up amendment No. 138.