Patty Murray

Mrs. MURRAY

Mrs. MURRAY. I ask unanimous consent that the reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

Mrs. MURRAY. I move to lay that motion upon the table. The motion to lay upon the table was agreed to.

Mrs. MURRAY

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I rise today to discuss an important provision included in the continuing resolution. As parents sent their children off to school this fall, many were uncertain whether their child would be taught by teachers in training who are enrolled in alternative route programs. That is why I am pleased this legislation requires the Department of Education to provide Congress, and the parents of Washington State and the country, information on how frequently this is occurring. The data and report should be made public and available to parents and other interested parties. As a former teacher, a Parent Teacher Association member, a school board president, and most important a mom who actively participated in my two children's journey through the education system, I firmly believe that every parent deserves to know the qualifications of their child's teacher. Specifically, the provision requires the Secretary of Education to report to Congress no later than December 31, 2013, on the extent to which students with disabilities, English learners, students in rural areas, and students from low-income families are being taught by alternative route teachers in training who are deemed highly qualified according to title 34 section 200.56(a)(2)(ii) of the Code of Federal Regulations. This regulation allows individuals who have not yet obtained regular State teacher certification but are participating in alternative route programs to be labeled ``highly qualified.'' The provision included in this continuing resolution will require the Department of Education to gather and report the extent to which our most vulnerable students and those with the highest needs are being taught by teachers with the least amount of preparation. While we know many students are being taught by these teachers in training, we do not know if these teachers are equitably distributed among high need schools, in which States they are concentrated, or which student subgroups they are teaching. The report will provide this information and will be vital for developing policies to ensure every child in America receives a high-quality education. The report should include data on the professional qualifications of teachers. In particular the number of teachers who have not met State qualification and licensing criteria for the grade levels and subjects areas in which the teacher provides instruction. Also, the report should include the number teaching under emergency or other provisional status through which State qualification or licensing criteria have been waived, the baccalaureate degree major of the teacher and any other graduate certification or degree held by the teacher, and the field of discipline of the teacher's certification or degree. States and local education agencies are already required to collect this data according to the Parents' Right to Know provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. I look forward to receiving this important report. Throughout my political career, from the school board to the Senate, I have been committed to doing everything I can to ensure every student has an opportunity to learn, and to succeed, to the best of his or her ability. This report will help us craft policy that supports this goal. Parents deserve to know who is teaching their child and it is our responsibility to ensure this information is provided. Foreign Aid

Mrs. MURRAY

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I caught some of the dog-and-pony show that Republicans put on this morning on the floor of the Senate, and I thought it was pretty indicative of their approach to this entire Congress--all politics, no participation. Someone must have reminded them this morning that they are 47 days away from an election and that for the last 624 days of this Congress, they have done nothing but say no. But I am here to say that an hour of speeches on the Senate floor cannot erase an entire Congress of obstruction. In fact, the Republicans' show this morning reminded me of a move I have seen many times before as a former preschool teacher and as a mom who has watched a lot of kids go through school. It reminded me how on the very last day of school before summer there was always one student who had not done their homework all year long, and on that last day they showed up on their best behavior, homework in hand, hoping to leave a good impression. They thought maybe this last-ditch effort could help them avoid a bad grade. Unfortunately, it does not work that way. So let me assure Republicans of one thing: Their record of obstruction and their refusal to compromise will not go away at the eleventh hour. One-minute speeches on the day before they go to face voters cannot paper over 100 filibusters. It will not change the fact that almost 2 years ago the Senate minority leader revealed that his No. 1 priority was--not working to get Americans back to work, it was not bringing our economy back from the brink, it was not ensuring that America remained a leader at home and abroad, no--to defeat President Obama, it was playing politics, just as we saw this morning. There has been, seemingly, no group of Americans--well, with the exception of millionaires and billionaires--who have been spared in the Republicans' efforts to achieve their goals--not our teachers, not our college students, not our farmers, not construction workers, not first responders, not even our Nation's veterans have been spared their efforts to destroy the work of this Congress. There was no better example of that than yesterday here on the floor of the U.S. Senate. The Veterans Jobs Corps bill that we brought to the floor included 12 provisions to help veterans find jobs. Eight of them. Let me repeat that. Eight of those provisions were Republican ideas. This bill was fully paid for. It was based on existing grant programs that are putting Americans to work. It would have allowed the veterans to serve their communities. It would have given unemployed veterans the self-esteem that a job provides. It would have allowed them to support their families and help ease that transition back home. That bill came at a time when one in four young veterans today is out of work. It came at a time when our military and veteran suicide rates are outpacing combat deaths and when more and more, as we all know, veterans are coming home today. The American Legion supported it. The Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America supported it. The problem was, it seemed, President Obama supported it. So we know from everything we have seen and attempted on the Senate floor, no matter how good or bad of an idea, no matter which struggling American would benefit, it seems that if the President supports it, you can pretty much guarantee Senate Republicans will not. That is the legacy the Senate Republicans are going to take home to voters, the legacy that when middle-class American families needed their help the most, they refused to compromise to get things done; that when Americans were hurting, they put politics before people; that they set a goal of not participating, and they followed through on that at every single turn. No amount of snappy speeches is going to change that. No last-minute appeals for leniency will change that record. In fact, it is ironic that this morning all of the Republican Senators showed up on the floor because for the last 2 years, when the American people have needed them the most, they have been absent.

Mrs. MURRAY

Mrs. MURRAY. 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 ``Roundtable Discussion: Pension Modernization for a 21st Century Workforce'' on September 20, 2012, at 10 a.m. in room 430 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on September 20, 2012, at 10 a.m. in room 253 of the Russell Senate Office Building, to conduct a hearing entitled, ``Taking Consumers for a Ride: Business Practices in the Household Goods Moving Industry.''

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Finance be authorized to meet, with U.S. House Committee on Ways and Means, during the session of the Senate on September 20, 2012, at 10 a.m., in HVC-210 of the Capital Visitor Center, to conduct a hearing entitled ``Tax Reform and the Tax Treatment of Capital Gains.''

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Indian Affairs be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on September 20, 2012, in room SD-628 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building, at 2:15 p.m., to conduct a hearing entitled ``Advancing the Federal-Tribal Relationship through Self-Governance and Self-Determination.''

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate, on September 20, 2012, at 10 a.m., in SD-226 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building, to conduct an executive business meeting.

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations of the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on September 20, 2012, at 2 p.m., to conduct a hearing entitled ``Offshore Profit Shifting and the U.S. Tax Code.''

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Select Committee on Intelligence be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on September 20, 2012, at 2:30 p.m.

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Foreign Relations be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on September 20, 2012, at 2 p.m., to hold a East Asian and Pacific Affairs subcommittee hearing entitled, ``Maritime Territorial Disputes and Sovereignty Issues in Asia.''

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Subcommittee on Securities, Insurance, and Investment be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on September 20, 2012, at 10 a.m., to conduct a hearing entitled ``Computerized Trading: What Should the Rules of the Road Be?''

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Environment and Public Works be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on September 20, at 10 a.m. in Dirksen 406 to conduct a hearing entitled, ``Water Resources Development Act: Growing the Economy and Protecting Public Safety.''

Mrs. MURRAY

Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, I would remind all the Senators, we are here on the floor on a very important bill on the Veterans Jobs Corps, and I wish to thank my colleague from Florida, Senator Bill Nelson, for his tremendous leadership and passion on the issue of making sure our veterans get back to work, at a time when they have a 20-percent-plus unemployment rate, and for his work on this bill as we move to this point. I have been listening to the debate on this bill, and what I have heard are some pretty weak arguments against the merits of this legislation. I have heard we have not held hearings on the employment or on the provisions of this legislation. The Senators who spoke may not have known--they are not on our committee--but, indeed, we have had hearings on employment both last year and this year and on this bill. Veterans groups and the VA at multiple hearings, in fact, have had multiple opportunities to give their views. The COPS and SAFER Grant Programs in this bill have been around for years, and we know they work. On the point I heard reiterated here, that the bill was not paid for, violated pay-go, as all bills that come before the Senate, this bill is fully paid for. It does not violate pay-go rules. We are going to have a vote shortly on a point of order on this bill. A vote to support the point of order, plain and simple, says we spend enough now on our veterans. That is what it says: We spend enough on our veterans. A vote to support this point of order says that despite the fact that we have paid for this bill, despite the fact that one in four of our young veterans is out of work, despite the fact that veteran suicides are outpacing combat deaths, and despite the fact that more and more veterans are coming home today, we are not going to invest in those challenges. It says we have done enough. This point of order puts a price on what we as a country are willing to provide our veterans and says we are not going to do a penny more. It is a point of order that not only will kill our ability, I will tell my colleagues, to pass this bill, but it will also affect every effort we make to improve the lives of our veterans going forward. In fact, just last week we held a markup in the Veterans' Affairs Committee. We passed a slew of bills in a bipartisan fashion. Those were very important bills to improve mental health access, to give students new tools so they can maximize their GI benefit, and, importantly, it would give veterans who have lost their ability to start a family access to fertility services. All those bills, under this, would be subject to a point of order, as would, of course, countless other bills introduced by Senators on both sides of the aisle. There is no end in sight, I would tell everyone, for how long this point of order could be raised. We have to consider, as we vote, the lasting effect of this vote that we are about to take. We should all consider the fact that veterans are watching this vote very closely. (Mr. FRANKEN assumed the Chair.) Mr. President, this is a bill that has been endorsed by the American Legion and by the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. They know, as I do, neither party has a magic bullet for this problem of employment, and we should be taking good ideas from both sides of the aisle, which is exactly what we have done with this bill that is before us. This bill includes 12 different provisions to help create veterans jobs. Eight of them are ideas that have come from Republicans. In fact, to make this bill even more inclusive and more bipartisan, we took Senator Burr's entire alternative bill and added it to our bill. At every turn we have sought compromise. But instead of meeting us halfway, we have been met with resistance. Instead of saying yes to nearly 1 million unemployed veterans, it seems that some on the other side of the aisle have spent the last week and a half seeking any way to say no. It does not have to end this way for our unemployed veterans. We can join together and pass this bill. Mr. President, as you have heard me say, our veterans don't ask for a lot. My own father never talked about his service. The veterans whom I meet across the country do not want to be seen as dependent on government. But we owe them more than a pat on the back, sending them out to the world when they come home. We owe them more than bumper stickers and platitudes. We owe them more than procedural roadblocks, which is what we will vote on shortly, that will impede our ability to provide them not only help now but into the future. We owe them action. We owe them real investments that will help them get back to work, and that is what this legislation does. It does so because putting our servicemembers back to work is a cost of war. Putting our veterans back to work is a cost of war, just like their health care and benefits. It is part of what we owe the less than 1 percent of men and women who sacrificed for the 99 percent who did not. It is no secret that this is not the easiest time of year to get a bill passed. It is too easy to point to the calendar here and level accusations about politics against one another. But in my two decades working on veterans issues here in the Senate, I have seen veterans issues rise above politics time and again, even when it seemed our backs were against the wall. I have seen Democrats and Republicans come together, and they have done so because there is one group of Americans who do not care about the calendar or how many days we are out from an election; that is, our unemployed veterans. What they care about is finding work in their communities, finding work that gives them the self-esteem they need today, and finding work that helps them provide for their loved ones. We can do that today. I urge my colleagues to join with us in waiving this point of order, to join with us in telling our veterans we are not done investing in their care and benefits, not by a long shot. Join with us in moving forward with a bill that is paid for, that will not add to our deficit, and that should not be killed by procedural games. Join with us in putting veterans above political obstructionism and back to work. I yield the floor and yield back any time that remains.

Mrs. MURRAY

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I come to the floor this afternoon to talk about the upside-down values and blatant dishonesty that Congressman Paul Ryan and other Republicans have put down on paper and are trying to present to the American people as their responsible budget. The truth is it is anything but. The Ryan budget would be devastating for middle-class families. It would gut our investments in education and job training, research, and our Nation's future. It would do all of that while cutting taxes for the richest Americans and biggest corporations. Now, if that is not bad enough, it gets even worse. The Ryan Republican budget would permanently cut tax rates for the wealthiest Americans to the lowest level in more than 80 years--more than 80 years. It would cut taxes for the rich below the scheduled top rate of 39.6 percent, below the Bush tax cut rate of 35 percent, all the way down to just 25 percent if you are a millionaire or billionaire. But even that is not all. What Paul Ryan and the Republicans do not want people to know is their budget does not even add up. It is fiscal fraud. It is a bait- and-switch. It is a desperate attempt to pull the wool over the eyes of the American people. Ryan and the Republicans claim they would pay for their massive tax cuts for the rich by ``closing loopholes and ending deductions.'' But they never say which loopholes they would close or which deductions they would eliminate. In fact, they have been pressed over and over to lay out their plan by the media, by the public, by Democrats. And they refuse. It is just a big secret. This past weekend, both Governor Romney and Representative Ryan were asked again and again to offer even one deduction they would limit. Pick one. Any one. They were asked that so the American people could judge their plan. Both refused. It begs the simple question: What are they hiding? Well, a former Reagan adviser, Bruce Bartlett, slammed Ryan's budget in the Fiscal Times writing: ``He offers only the sugar of rate reductions without telling us what the medicine of base broadening will be. . . . '' He says: Any tax reform plan that simply asserts it will collect a certain percentage of GDP in revenue while specifying the rate structure but not defining the tax base is fundamentally dishonest, in my opinion. Well, I agree. Why is this? Why are Ryan and the Republicans so specific about the taxes they are going to cut for the rich and so vague about how that is going to be paid for? Well, Ryan and the Republicans know when we do the math it becomes very clear that under their Republican budget the rich pay less and the middle class pay more and the national debt continues to grow. The math does not add up. Here is why, here is what the Republicans do not want the American people to think about: The most expensive loopholes and deductions, the ones Republicans would need to eliminate to even start paying for these cuts for the rich, those are the ones that middle-class families depend on and the ones they benefit from the most, such as the personal and dependent exemptions, deductions for their home mortgages, charitable contributions, State and local taxes, child tax credit, college tuition credit. If these deductions are eliminated while tax rates are slashed for the rich, it would mean a massive transfer of the tax burden onto the backs of our middle class. The richest Americans get a massive tax cut--an average of over $250,000 a year for someone who makes $1 million a year, according to an analysis by the Tax Policy Center--but the middle class, those families who depend on those critical deductions such as the home mortgage deduction, end up paying more. They would benefit far less from the marginal rate cut than the extra they would pay after losing those deductions. If that sounds unbelievable, that is because it is. If that sounds like something no elected official would ever want to talk about doing, well, that is exactly right. So what Ryan and the Republicans do when they are asked is simply deny it. They simply say: Oh, that is not the case. They claim that loopholes and deductions will only be eliminated for the rich, and the middle class does not have to worry about anything. Well, that sounds nice, but here is what they will not tell the American people: It does not add up. The Tax Policy Center took a look at a plan that made a similar claim. Even viewing it in the most generous way, they could not get it to work. They said: Even when we assume that tax breaks--like the charitable deduction, mortgage interest deduction, and the exclusion for health insurance--are completely eliminated for higher-income households first, and only then reduced as necessary for other households to achieve overall revenue-neutrality--the net effect of the plan would be a tax cut for high-income households coupled with a tax increase for middle-income households. That last point is very important. According to independent analysts, if you cut rates for the rich as much as the Republicans want, and pay for it by closing loopholes and ending deductions, there is no way to avoid having the middle class pay more. That is a fiscal reality. It lays bare the fraud in the Ryan Republican budget. Not only does the Ryan Republican budget decimate programs middle- class families depend on, not only does it end Medicare as we know it and push health care costs onto the backs of our seniors, not only does it cut investment in jobs, in education, in training, in research, in innovation, in roads and bridges, it does not even add up. It is a fiscal fraud. I am hoping, now that the American people have the opportunity to see this clearly, Republicans will stop playing games. Let us get serious about the fiscal future of our country and work with us on a balanced approach to cut spending responsibly, call on the wealthy to pay their fair share and actually reduce the deficit and the debt. As soon as they are ready to do that, as soon as they are ready to accept reality and end this fiscal fraud, I know Democrats are ready to make the kind of balanced and bipartisan deal the American people expect and deserve. I yield the floor, and I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mrs. MURRAY

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I have come to the floor this evening to make a few things abundantly clear about the Veterans Jobs Corps legislation the Senate is currently considering. First and foremost, the bill in front of us is fully paid for, using offsets that both Republicans and Democrats have supported in the past. So this bill is paid for. Secondly, no matter what Republicans try to tell us, this is a bill that includes ideas from both sides of the aisle. In fact, of the 12 provisions in this bill, 8 of them started as Republican ideas. We in fact included Senator Burr's entire alternative to this bill to make it even more bipartisan. On top of that, we have included bills that are sponsored by Senator Toomey, Senator Boozman, Senator Johanns, and Senator Isakson. So don't let anybody tell you we have not been inclusive in this process. We know on this side that we do not have a monopoly of good ideas to help solve the problems of veterans who are looking for work today, and that is why we have included as many avenues to employment as possible in this legislation. Finally and most importantly, I want to make sure that everyone who is considering voting for the budget point of order that Senator Sessions has been out here talking about and indicated he may raise knows exactly what is at stake. Believe me, every single veteran in the country needs to know what is at stake as well. What his budget point of order says is we are now going to draw a line in the sand on what we will provide for our Nation's veterans. It does not matter if the bill is paid for. The point of order puts a pricetag on the care of veterans and then says not a dime more. This point of order really ties our hands. It says even at a time of war, even at a time when nearly one in five young veterans is out of work, at a time when the veterans' suicide rate is skyrocketing and when more young veterans are becoming homeless, we are done; veterans are on their own. It says even if we find offsets for new investments and ideas to aid our Nation's heroes--we paid for it--tough luck; nothing you can do. It says countless bills waiting for consideration in the Senate, sponsored by Republicans and Democrats, can be tossed along the wayside. When are we going to realize that our veterans are a cost of these wars; that helping to give them the skills and training to find work is a cost of war; that their transition home is a cost of war and it is a cost we are going to face, not just this year or next year or 10 years from now but for the rest of the lives of these men and women? When are we going to realize it is not enough to pat our veterans on the back for their service but not give them a helping hand when they come home? The budget point of order says we have done enough for veterans. I say we cannot do enough. Less than 1 percent of U.S. citizens have served. Less than 1 percent of U.S. citizens have served for the well- being of the other 99 percent. It is simply wrong for us to say we are out of help. Veterans across the country are watching, they are waiting, and they are tired of excuses. They want to see we can get this bill to the finish line. I know some Republicans have pointed to the calendar as a reason for their opposition to this bill. Honestly I wish it were not September either and we did not have to deal with politics here in Washington, DC. But, you know, who could care less about what month it is or how many days out we are from an election? The nearly 1 million unemployed veterans looking for work. When you talk to them, their concern is not what month it is or how many days before election, it is about what jobs are available in their community. What training program can they take advantage of. What is being done to honor their two or three or more tours overseas. Our answer cannot be that we are all out of options. It cannot be that their service was worth only so much. I am here to urge Republicans to join us this evening in rising above politics as we have done time and time again throughout history for our veterans, to ignore the calendar and do what is right. Let's send a message from the Senate that our veterans come first; that we will keep our end of the bargain; that we will never put a price on the commitment we owe them. I urge my colleagues to join me in waiving the budget point of order when it is offered later this evening. I yield the floor and I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, today marks 18 years to the day since President Clinton signed the Violence Against Women Act into law. Since that day, this law has protected countless women across the country, as seen most directly by the fact that annual rates of domestic violence have dropped by more than 60 percent. Today also marks a far less celebratory day in the history of this critical bill. That is because today is also the 139th day of delay by the House of Representatives since the Senate passed an inclusive, bipartisan VAWA bill by a vote of 68 to 31. It marks 139 days since House Republicans decided not to follow suit and to instead pass a version of our legislation that stripped vital protections included in our Senate bill--provisions that protect some of the most at-risk women in our country. It has now been 139 days since 15 Senate Republicans stood to join with us to pass this legislation because they knew the history of this bill. They knew that every time the Violence Against Women Act has been reauthorized, it has consistently included bipartisan provisions to expand protections to women who were not previously covered. They understand that domestic violence protections for all women shouldn't be a Democratic or a Republican issue. I hope Speaker Boehner and our colleagues in the House hear this: We are not backing down and we will keep fighting because 139 days is inexcusable. In fact, 1 day is inexcusable. It is now long past time for Speaker Boehner to look beyond ideology and partisan politics. Their obstruction clearly is taking a toll on women across this country. In fact, for Native and immigrant women and LGBT individuals, every moment our inclusive legislation to reauthorize VAWA is delayed is another moment they are left without the resources and protection they deserve. The numbers are staggering. One in three--one in three--Native women will be raped in their lifetime, two in five are victims of domestic violence, and Native women are killed at 10 times the rate of the national average. These shocking statistics aren't isolated to one group of women; 25 to 35 percent of women in the LGBT community experience domestic violence in their relationship, and three in four abused immigrant women never entered the process to obtain legal status even though they were eligible because their abuser husbands never filed the paperwork. While these numbers are frightening, what is even tougher is when we sit down face to face with women who are at risk of being left out of this bill. Over this last August recess I held a number of roundtables in different corners of my State with women who had been trapped in abusive relationships. Many of them are from the communities of the women whom the House Republicans refuse to extend these provisions to. Through painful memories and many tears, they told me about how they feel all alone. Numerous women who are immigrants talked about how they were scared for themselves or their children, so they didn't report their husbands or boyfriends. Tribal women talked about how not only have they been abused but how they then had to watch their abuser do the same thing to other women on their reservation with no recourse. Every moment the House of Representatives continues to delay is another moment these women and 30 million women similar to them are left without the protections they deserve. These statistics should make it perfectly clear to our colleagues in the other Chamber that their current inaction has a real impact on the lives of women across America who are affected by violence. Where a person lives, their immigration status, whom they love should not determine whether the perpetrators of domestic violence are brought to justice. These women cannot afford any further delay--not on this bill. We all know what it will take to move this bill forward: leadership from Speaker Boehner. Today, the effort we started in the Senate in May--an effort that will continue for as long as it takes--is a call for the very same thing: leadership. It is time for Speaker Boehner to look beyond ideology and partisan politics. It is time for him to look at the history of a bill that again and again has been supported and expanded by both Republicans and Democrats. For 18 years this bill has expanded protection for vulnerable women. For the last 139 days, Speaker Boehner and House Republicans have put this legacy at risk. It is time for them to do the right thing and pass the Senate's inclusive bipartisan Violence Against Women Act. Senator Leahy, who is chair of the Judiciary Committee, will be here shortly. He has put tremendous effort into making sure this bill is passed in a way that includes women across this country. We owe him a debt of gratitude, as well as all the members of the Judiciary Committee, some of whom will be here over the next hour to talk. Again, we are here to remind everyone there are women in this country who do not receive the protections of the domestic violence law that was passed. We are here to make sure we are going to stand for them and keep pushing until Speaker Boehner takes up this bill and passes it to protect women. I see Senator Leahy arriving on the floor just as I was speaking about him. He will be speaking about this issue. We owe him a debt of gratitude for standing for women across this country but especially for, this time, fighting to make sure this is an inclusive bill, passed on a bipartisan vote out of the Senate, and one that will change the lives of so many women. We owe it to them and Speaker Boehner owes it to them to take up this bill and pass it. Thank you. I yield the floor.

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

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

Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent to speak as in morning business.

Mrs. MURRAY

Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, I want to first join with the many Senators today who have strongly condemned the violent attacks against the men and women serving bravely in our diplomatic corps. The senseless murders in Libya are a reminder of the dangers these public servants take on every day and the courage they show in furthering our diplomatic goals all across the globe. We are all so grateful to them. My thoughts and prayers go out to Ambassador Chris Stevens and the other victims of the attack, and I stand with the President, as we all do, in supporting efforts to secure those who continue to serve us abroad. I have come to the floor today to respond to the statements that were made here earlier, that are completely inaccurate, about the bill we are currently considering on the floor, the Veterans Job Corps bill. In particular, I want to respond to the baseless and frankly offensive charges the Senator from Oklahoma made, insinuating that supporters of this bill don't ``really care about veterans'' and that this bill ``isn't about veterans.'' I have been working on veterans issues in the Senate for nearly two decades and in all of that time, under Democratic and Republican- controlled Senates, under administrations of both parties and in times of war and peace, if there was one issue I have seen that rises above the day-to-day bomb throwing that often characterizes the debate here, it has been the care and benefits for our veterans. We can certainly disagree about policy, of course. We can fight with all of our hearts for what we think is right. But never--never--have I seen accusations that one party or one group was not fighting for what they believed to be right for our veterans. In fact, the accusations leveled on the floor here earlier today were one of the biggest departures from the spirit of cooperation around veterans issues I have seen in my time in the Senate. So I am here today to set the record straight about the steps this bill takes to put our veterans back to work. In doing so, I will not question the motives or the degree to which those who may oppose this legislation care for our veterans because, as chairman of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee myself, I see Republicans' commitment every single day. I will not level allegations designed to make our veterans political pawns and I certainly will not mislead anyone about what we have set out to do. I will not because honestly I believe our veterans deserve far better. What they and the American people deserve is the truth. The truth is that caring for our veterans and helping to provide them with the training they need to find jobs when they return home is a cost of the wars we have fought for the last decade. The truth is that less than 1 percent of U.S. citizens serve and sacrifice for the well- being of the other 99 percent. The truth is that what the Senator from Oklahoma calls a charade is an effort to give those veterans as many avenues as possible to find work. It is an effort to give them the economic security and self-esteem that only a job can provide and that is so essential to their return home. I understand it has taken some in the Senate a long time to come to grips with the fact that our fiscal commitment we owe to those who wear the uniform does not end the day they are discharged. The truth is, it is not enough to give our veterans a pat on the back for their military service. We also have to give them a helping hand in the job market today. As the jobs report that was released last month reminds us, we have over 720,000 unemployed veterans across the Nation, including over 225,000 veterans who served since September 11. Despite what the Senator from Oklahoma may have said, this bill makes the resources available to all of them. In fact, that is exactly why we brought this bill forward. What we need right now is an ``all hands on deck,'' ``all of the above'' strategy. That is why in fact this bill includes both Democratic and Republican ideas. This is a bill that will increase training and hiring opportunities for all veterans, using proven job training programs from across the country. For instance, it increases grants under the COPS and SAFER Programs that we have seen work to train and hire qualified veterans to work as police officers, firefighters, and other first responders. This is at a time when 85 percent of law enforcement agencies were forced to reduce their budgets last year. It comes at a time when we face a $10 billion maintenance backlog for our public lands. This bill will help training and hire veterans to restore and protect our national, State, and tribal forests, our parks, and our other public lands. Because training and hiring veterans has never been and should never be an effort that divides us, we have included a host of Republican ideas into this bill. We included a bill from Senator Toomey that gives veterans increased access to computers and Internet tools to help them find jobs in in-demand areas in their own communities. We included a bill sponsored by Senator Boozman that will increase transition assistance programs for eligible veterans and their spouses. And we included a very important provision from Senators on both sides of the aisle that will help force our States to consider the military experience of our veterans when they issue licenses and certifications--something we have all heard when we go home. We figured this comprehensive bipartisan approach would certainly be enough to gain Republican support, even if it did come as we are, of course, inching closer to an election. But over the course of the last 48 hours or so we have heard that Republicans, including Senator Burr, who is the ranking member of my committee, had an alternative version of the bill that Republicans wanted to push forward. The bill of Senator Burr includes a system to have States certify military experience for jobs skills and helps veterans get hired into the Federal workforce, among a number of other provisions. It appeared to all of us that this late alternative might derail what I believe can be and ought to be a bipartisan effort. But again, we are committed to making this a bipartisan effort. So, instead of showing our veterans that we are just about gridlock and partisanship, here is what we have done. Because, as I said before, this has to be an ``all of the above'' approach, we have, therefore, added every one of the provisions in the alternative offered by Senator Burr to our bill. Now I believe we have an even more bipartisan, more inclusive bill on the floor right now awaiting action. This is a bill that is paid for with offsets that both Republicans and Democrats have supported. It is a bill unquestionably that represents ideas from both sides of the aisle, including now from the chairman and the ranking member of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee. There is no reason now that Republicans should not join us in passing this bill and passing it quickly, because this does not have to be an either/or situation. Neither party has the magic bullet to solve these problems, so we have to open as many proven opportunities to employment as we can. You know, veterans are out there watching and waiting. They are tired of excuses and they certainly have no stomach for the kind of political posturing they saw earlier today, that comes only at their expense. I know some Republicans have pointed to the calendar as the reason for their opposition to this bill. Honestly, I wish it were not September and we did not have to deal with the silly season here in Washington, DC. But who could care less about what month it is or how many days out from an election we are? Here is the issue: Nearly 1 million unemployed veterans are looking for work today. They are concerned about what jobs are available in their communities. Their concern is what training program they can take advantage of and what is being done to honor their two or three tours overseas. This is a bill now that offers them new resources to answer those questions. It is a bill that will help them serve their community and help them provide honorably for their families. I truly hope now, with the change we have added to the alternative bill offered by Senator Burr, we will have overcome our last hurdle before passage. I come to the floor today to urge Republicans to join us now in rising above politics as we have done time and time again for our veterans. Ignore the calendar and the never-ending chatter about who is up and who is down. That is not what this is about. This is about making sure our veterans come first this and every week and that we intend to keep our commitment to them for their services. I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mrs. MURRAY

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

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