Ben Nelson

Mr. NELSON of Nebraska

Mr. NELSON of Nebraska. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and that any statements related to the resolution be printed in the Record.

Mr. NELSON of Nebraska. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of H. Con. Res. 378, which was received from the House.

Mr. NELSON of Nebraska

Mr. NELSON of Nebraska. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee be discharged from further consideration of the following bills en bloc, and the Senate proceed to their immediate consideration: S. 3625, S. 3521, and H.R. 4010; that the bills be read a third time and passed en bloc, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table en bloc, and any statements related to the bills be printed in the Record.

Mr. NELSON of Nebraska

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 President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. NELSON of Nebraska

Mr. NELSON of Nebraska. I ask unanimous consent the Lincoln amendment to the resolution, which is at the desk, be agreed to, the resolution as amended be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate, and any statements be printed in the Record.

Mr. NELSON of Nebraska. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee be discharged from further consideration of S. Res. 616 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

Mr. NELSON of Nebraska

Mr. NELSON of Nebraska. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of H. Con. Res. 426, which was received from the House.

Mr. NELSON of Nebraska. I ask unanimous consent the concurrent resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate, and any statements be printed in the Record.

Mr. NELSON of Nebraska

Mr. NELSON of Nebraska. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S. Res. 704 submitted earlier today.

Mr. NELSON of Nebraska. I ask unanimous consent that the resolution and preamble be agreed to en bloc, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table en bloc, that any statements be printed in the Record, without intervening action or debate.

Mr. NELSON of Nebraska

Mr. NELSON of Nebraska. I ask unanimous consent to proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 703, submitted earlier.

Mr. NELSON of Nebraska. I ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate, and that any statements be printed in the Record.

Mr. NELSON of Nebraska

Mr. NELSON of Nebraska. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Banking be discharged from further consideration of S. 2579, and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

Mr. NELSON of Nebraska. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be read a third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and that any statements relating to the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. NELSON of Nebraska

Mr. NELSON of Nebraska. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of H.R. 6469, which is at the desk.

Mr. NELSON of Nebraska. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the substitute amendment, which is at the desk, be agreed to, the bill, as amended, be read three times and passed, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate, and that any statement relating to the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. NELSON of Nebraska

Mr. NELSON of Nebraska. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of H.R. 4131, which was received from the House.

Mr. NELSON of Nebraska. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be read three times and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate, and that any statements relating to the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. NELSON of Nebraska

Mr. NELSON of Nebraska. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of the following bills en bloc, which were received from the House: H.R. 6197, H.R. 6558, H.R. 6834, H.R. 6902, and H.R. 6982; that the bills be read three times and passed en bloc, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table en bloc, and any statements related to the bills be printed in the Record.

Mr. NELSON of Nebraska

Mr. NELSON of Nebraska. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 705, which was submitted earlier today.

Mr. NELSON of Nebraska. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table.

Mr. NELSON of Nebraska

Mr. NELSON of Nebraska. I ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding the recess or adjournment of the Senate, the President of the Senate, the President of the Senate pro tempore, and the majority and minority leaders be authorized to make appointments to commissions, committees, boards, conferences, or interparliamentary conferences authorized by law, by concurrent action of the two Houses, or by order of the Senate.

Mr. NELSON of Nebraska

Mr. NELSON of Nebraska. I ask unanimous consent that during recess or adjournment of the Senate from Friday, October 3, 2008 through Sunday, October 5, 2008, the Senator from Virginia, Mr. Webb, be authorized to sign all duly enrolled bills and joint resolutions.

Mr. NELSON of Nebraska. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. NELSON of Nebraska

Mr. NELSON of Nebraska. Mr. President, I rise today to express my anger and frustration, and the downright outrage of many of my constituents, about the legislation the Senate is about to consider. The average American taxpayers did nothing to create this crisis, yet they will be asked to bear the heavy expense of government intervention to avoid further harm to our financial system. The recklessness, greed, and lack of foresight on Wall Street have brought us to the brink of a crisis that threatens our entire economy. The outpouring of opposition to this legislation that I have received over the past week in my office is genuine, and it is justified. However, as elected leaders, we must not lose sight of the dire situation we face as a nation, regardless of how we feel about it. Many of my constituents oppose a ``bailout'' of Wall Street, and rightfully so. But this legislation is more than that. I am not sympathetic to Wall Street. If the financial crisis we are facing ended with them, I would say ``write off your losses, you deserve it.'' But unfortunately, our economy lies at the intersection of Main Street and Wall Street. We depend on a free flow of credit to keep our businesses running, to reverse rising unemployment, and repair our economy so it can once again work for the middle class. Wall Street's mismanagement now threatens the availability of credit on every Main Street throughout our country. Among the many letters I received during this crisis, some have stood out and articulated far better than I can the reasons why the Senate must act, even though many of us would rather not. For example, Joe Masek, who runs a small business in Gering, NE--the Masek Golf Car Company--recently wrote to me. Masek's employs 32 people and needs to have credit to pay the employees and finance materials from the time they manufacture their product to when the products are sold. Here are Mr. Masek's concerns, in his own words: If I go to the bank to draw on that line, and they are forced to tell me that funds are not available because the credit markets are not working, then I have to cancel two contracts with two Colorado golf courses that are depending on me to do what I committed to do. I can see that it would then not take long for our business to collapse. We are now up to employing 32 people, all of whom are paying mortgages and rent and taxes, and putting money aside for retirement in the 401k, etc. Our collapse and thousands of companies like us would ``really'' collapse the entire economy . . . . all for the lack of credit availability which should not be a problem. Yes there are flaws in the ``big bailout'' but we would rather live with some flaws than go out of business. You need to get this one fixed, and not wait until the election to do it. Credit is crucial to our families, businesses, local governments, and other institutions such as hospitals and schools. We need credit to buy homes, receive student loans, to continue using credit cards for everyday purchases, for small businesses to obtain operating loans to carry them from one season to the next, for farmers to get all of the fertilizer, seed and other materials needed to plant crops, and for cities and towns to meet payroll. For the reasons above, and for all the Joe Maseks in Nebraska and around the country, I intend to cast my vote for the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act. But I want to be very clear that I would have been the first in line to oppose the administration's initial ``blank check proposal.'' I wish to thank my colleague, Chairman Dodd, for leading the effort to address major flaws in the administration's proposal. Nine days ago, after first reviewing the administration's initial proposal, I wrote to Chairman Dodd to outline the changes that I demanded if I were to be expected to support this bill. I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record the full text of my letter following these remarks.