Mary Landrieu

Ms. LANDRIEU

Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions be authorized to meet, during the session of the Senate, to conduct a hearing entitled ``Health Insurance Exchanges and Ongoing State Implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act'' on March 17, 2011, at 10 a.m., in 430 Dirksen Senate Office Building.

Ms. LANDRIEU

Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, at this time, Senator Casey, whose amendment is pending, wishes to speak a few minutes. I know at 12 o'clock, under a unanimous consent agreement, we will have a speech from the Senator from Connecticut. I ask unanimous consent that at 2:30 p.m., Senator Portman be recognized for up to 20 minutes as in morning business for the purpose of giving his maiden speech.

Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, how much time remains before the vote?

Ms. LANDRIEU. Let me use the 45 seconds to ask unanimous consent to be listed as a cosponsor of the Casey amendment.

Ms. LANDRIEU. No objection, Mr. President, but may I ask--I see Senator Murray on the floor and Senator Stabenow is on the floor, so I ask unanimous consent that after Senator Hutchison from Texas, we recognize Senator Murray for 7 minutes and Senator Stabenow for 7 minutes.

Ms. LANDRIEU. Madam President, I really appreciate the Senator coming to the floor, and I thank him for his help in advancing this bill and supporting many of the proposals. The ranking member is not on the floor, so until we run this through the other side for review, I am not sure we will be able to support it. But we are looking at it now, and I thank the Senator for offering it. Madam President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Ms. LANDRIEU. I wish to join Senator Snowe in supporting this amendment. We have received actually many complaints from small businesses at any number of the roundtables we have held in our committee about the old bait and switch that is going on, where their names are used by large contractors to actually succeed in receiving the bid or winning the bid, and then, as Senator Snowe stated, their companies are switched out and they don't even know it. This also puts an enforcement mechanism in place and actually mandates the SBA to come up with an enforcement mechanism so we can have more honesty and transparency. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.

Ms. LANDRIEU. Is there any time remaining?

Ms. LANDRIEU. Madam President, I ask for the yeas and nays.

Ms. LANDRIEU. Madam President, I will speak for just a moment, if I could. I know people in Washington and people in America do not believe we can actually eliminate a program. We are getting ready to eliminate one now in a bipartisan fashion to cut funding and to cut a program that has not worked. I just want to underline that we most certainly can do that in a bipartisan way. That is what this vote is about. I do not believe there is any opposition, so I yield back the remaining time.

Ms. LANDRIEU. Madam President, before I get into the business before us, which is SBIR and STTR reauthorization, a very important small business program, let me just add a few thoughts to the colloquy of the Senator from Arizona and the minority leader. I would most certainly support that view, and there may be others on the Democratic side who feel that way as well. As chair of the Homeland Security Appropriations Committee, let me be very clear that I don't think we should go to another short-term CR without a full-year appropriation of Homeland Security. Not only is the Defense Department appropriations bill absolutely essential to the well-being of this Nation, but so is the Homeland Security budget. They have complete jurisdiction over Customs and Immigration, over safety and security at our ports and our airports and train stations. We most certainly can't let our guard down as it pertains to our overseas operations, but we absolutely cannot let our guard down as it pertains to our safety here at home. I hope both Republican and Democratic leadership, as we find our way through this complicated and difficult appropriations process, will remember Defense and Homeland Security. I see Senator Cornyn on the floor. I know he is going to call up, with no objection from me, his amendment. Amendment No. 216 Before that, I ask unanimous consent to call up Casey amendment No. 216 to be put in the pending column. Senator Casey will be here shortly to discuss his amendment, and then we will go in just a minute to Senator Cornyn.

Ms. LANDRIEU. I ask unanimous consent that the reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

Ms. LANDRIEU. Our intention is for Senator Casey to have an opportunity when he comes to the floor. Before Senator Cornyn speaks, for just one moment I wish to add a few comments about what happened this morning. We did get two amendment votes on the bill. Those were the first two amendments, the Nelson of Nebraska amendment, and then Senator Snowe and I offered an amendment. We have approximately six other amendments pending not yet scheduled for a vote. Most of them were discussed at some length yesterday on the floor, the most notable Senator McConnell's amendment, which Senator Boxer and others strongly opposed. I wish to say one thing, as respectfully as I can, in response to a comment Senator Wicker made regarding the Nelson amendment. He said something along the lines that Senator Nelson had found some new--how did he say it--new-found enthusiasm for cutting the budget. In defense of Senator Nelson, I wish to say his enthusiasm is most certainly not new found. He has been a leader on our side in cutting the agencies and departments respectfully and appropriately under his jurisdiction. He has been the lead sponsor of legislation for a long time that has cut legislative spending. I might say it is very difficult with his bill because he also has had to absorb $22 million in additional expenses related to the operation of the Visitor Center which all of our constituents enjoy and support. So he has absorbed that into his operating budget and still managed to cut. I know Senator Wicker is relatively new to the Senate, but I do wish to remind him and others that Senator Nelson has been a leader in that field. I yield the floor.

Ms. LANDRIEU. Will the Senator yield for a question on his amendment?

Ms. LANDRIEU. Most of the programs I am familiar with at the Federal level have built-in sunsets, because they have limited authorization. How does the Senator's amendment either override that or undercut that? Why is his amendment necessary?

Ms. LANDRIEU. I thank the Senator. I will comment, and I know the Senator wants to genuinely root out the waste and duplication. I only say that for programs that are operating under appropriations only. The Senator will know that that authorization is only intact for 1 year under the general rules. When you appropriate money, it is only for 1 year at a time. It can only be extended by an act of this body every year. On the authorizing programs, to my knowledge--and I will get the committee to check on that--Homeland Security has jurisdiction over government operations. It is my understanding that every authorized program has a length of time and that each committee here is responsible for their own oversight. If the Senator is suggesting that committees either can't, or don't, do their work and we need an extra commission, we will consider that. I understand what the Senator is trying to do. I will have the Homeland Security team look at it on our side and we will respond.

Ms. LANDRIEU. I thank the Senator from Texas. Hopefully, as we go through the day, we will have a discussion on that amendment and others. I will try to give a recap. My ranking member is on the floor, and we wish to proceed today as we did yesterday, fairly orderly. We have made progress. We got two amendments voted on already. There are now several amendments pending. I want to ask this for clarification. We have Johanns 161, Vitter 178, McConnell 183, Casey 216, and Cornyn 186. Those are all pending, but no time has been established for a vote. Can I ask the Chair to confirm that?

Ms. LANDRIEU. Can I also ask the Chair this: We have filed and discussed Hutchison 197, Paul 199, and Sanders 207, which are not pending but have been discussed on the floor. Does that list exist at the desk?

Ms. LANDRIEU. Let me say again how pleased I am that only a handful of amendments out of the 68 that are pending actually pertain directly to the programs we are getting ready, hopefully, to authorize. Actually, out of the 68 amendments pending, only 14 are related to this particular program, and 3 others to the Small Business Administration itself. I want to believe that is because Senator Snowe and I have tried hard to take all Members' views into consideration as we have moved the bill through the process. As I said, yesterday, we worked on reauthorization of this important program--the largest Federal research program for small business in the country, the largest program--we have worked on this reauthorization for 6 years. So in the last three Congresses this bill has been debated, both in committee and on the floor, in the House and in the Senate. It has been modified many different times to accommodate different views. The great news is that the bill is still strong, very focused. It provides an additional percentage of funding for small business so they can actually have access to the research and development dollars like big businesses, which often have better access. It gives an open door and an opportunity for small businesses--for some of our best patents, our best inventors, our strongest risk takers, which are often very small startups. We want to encourage that, because the country is fighting its way--and I mean that--out of this recession. It is not easy, and it will not happen automatically. It will happen by what actions the Federal Government takes, State governments, and local governments, creating atmospheres so the private sector can grow. This bill helps to improve that atmosphere. That is why we are talking about this. Many people have come to the floor and said: Why aren't we talking about closing the deficit? We are talking about reducing the deficit and debt, because one of the ways we do that is by creating private- sector jobs. This bill is one of the bills filed in this Congress--I am not saying it is the top or the absolute best, but I can promise you that it is one of the best bills that is filed that will have a direct and immediate impact on job creation in America. That is why Senator Snowe and I are spending our time talking about it because it is a jobs bill. It is also a deficit closing bill. It is also a debt reduction bill. It is also a great bill that is going to help level the playing field between large and small companies and say to some of those risk takers out there who look at Washington and shake their head and say, What is going on, doesn't anyone pay attention to us, yes, we are paying attention, we know you are out there. We know if we can provide open-door access to Federal Government research and development dollars, we can have literally hundreds of companies grow and expand. One example I gave yesterday--and I will give many more today--is Qualcomm, unknown 35 years ago. It started in Dr. Jacobs' den. It received early funding through this program, SBIR. They received multiple grants. You can get multiple grants as your technology improves and it shows promise. Of course, it showed promise. At a point, they were recognized by the venture capital community and investors came in. History has shown now that company employs 17,500 people and last year their local San Diego-based company paid taxes to local governments in California and around the country of $1 billion. That covers half the cost of this entire program--one company. That is why Senator Snowe and I have spent so much time on this reauthorization and why she has been fighting for this program for actually almost 20 years, since she was a Member of Congress. This program is one that works. We have tweaked it. We have improved it. We are extending our authorizations from 4 years to 8 years to give certainty. Those are some of the comments I wanted to make about the bill. We have, as I said, 68 amendments that have been filed. I ask Members, if they are interested in getting their amendments pending, to come to the floor to see what we can do to work that out. I am not sure we will get to final passage of the bill this week, but we want to do as much work on the bill as we can so when we get back, it will hopefully be the first order of business. We will see. Maybe there will be a breakthrough in the next 2 or 3 days and we can get it done before we leave. That would send a positive signal. We are working with the leadership to see if that can be done. If not, we will continue to work this week to get as many amendments offered and pending and some votes today and tomorrow. I see the ranking member on the floor. I wish to turn the time over to her now.

Ms. LANDRIEU

Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Foreign Relations be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on March 16, 2011, at 2:30 p.m., to hold a hearing entitled, ``Afghanistan: Progress and Expectations.''

Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on March 16, 2011.

Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on March 16, 2011, at 10:30 a.m.

Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate, on March 16, 2011, at 2:30 p.m., in room SD-226 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building, to conduct a hearing entitled ``Nominations.''

Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Veterans' Affairs be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on March 16, 2011. The Committee will meet in room SDG-50 in the Dirksen Senate Office Building beginning at 9:30 a.m.

Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I ask unanimous that the Special Committee on Aging be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on March 16, 2011, from 2-4 p.m. in Hart 216.