Mark Pryor

Mr. PRYOR

Mr. PRYOR. Madam President, I wish to give my colleagues a sense of where we are on the bill. Generally, we have good news. I mentioned an hour or so ago, maybe 2 hours ago, the fact that Senator Stevens and his staff and my staff have worked through a series of amendments. There are 12 or more amendments in a managers' package. There is language that is being worked on now to maybe add more to the managers' package. Various Senators on both sides of the aisle have had constructive amendments, and all amendments have been germane. That is great news. We thank all Senators and their staffs for keeping every single amendment germane. That is very constructive and very positive. At the moment, we are waiting on some language on some amendments that maybe can be agreed to further without rollcall votes. We would love to set up some rollcall votes at some point in the next few hours. As I said earlier, I do not want to say this and regret it, but the way things are going, certainly this has the feel that we could possibly finish this bill this afternoon rather than this evening. If we have to work into the night or even into tomorrow, we will do that. Given the cooperative spirit and the nature of the amendments and the collegiality of Senators on this legislation, I think we can definitely finish today. As I said, I know a lot of Senators who would love to be able to wrap this up and get out of here earlier than they expected. That would be great news if we could pull that off. We are working very hard for that result. Again, I thank the staff of all the Senators who have been working on these amendments with us. I thank the Senators because it has been a very productive week and a very constructive process. I wish to talk about one of the issues that is outstanding. We may have a vote on it later today. We don't know yet. It is a whistleblower provision. I wish to inform my colleagues of the goal we had of writing into the bill whistleblower protection. We want to make sure that when people come across a safety violation and they tell the Consumer Product Safety Commission about it, they not be punished for doing the right thing. We tried to find a balance in this issue. This provision has changed quite a bit throughout the course of the life of this bill. We have to remember there is a compelling Government interest in the public's safety and welfare. So we are trying to find that balance. We are certainly trying to protect the public's safety and welfare. We want to keep these dangerous products out of the stream of commerce, but at the same time, we have heard the concerns and the objections mostly by the business community. Let me say this about whistleblower protection: I know this has been a source of much debate and many votes in the Senate over the last several Congresses. I remind my colleagues that whistleblower protection is not a novel idea. This is not a new concept. We actually see whistleblower protection in many Federal laws this Congress has passed. Since the year 2000, Congress has passed several whistleblower laws that have been very similar to what we have drafted in S. 2663, including Air 21, for airline workers; Sarbanes-Oxley, for employees of publicly traded corporations; the Pipeline Safety Act, for oil pipeline employees; the Energy Policy Act, for nuclear workers; the Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act, for railroad and public transportation workers; and even as recently as this year in the Defense Authorization Act. We have drafted our provision based on existing law. The Surface Transportation Assistance Act is the model we use to try to extend whistleblower protection under narrow circumstances in this act. I will give a few examples. I will limit it to two real-life examples. In 2002, a product designer for a lighting manufacturer was fired after he informed management about the dangerous conditions of certain lighting products, and he refused to violate the law by passing the products on to the customers before they were thoroughly tested. That person did not have any recourse when he was terminated by his company. We understand, we are very sensitive to a company's desire to have employees who can follow instructions and can be productive, but at the same time, there is a compelling public interest in the fact that we are talking about the safety of our citizens in this country. Another example from 1995: An employee of a wire and cable company reported there was a shipment of defective wire. He reported that to a customer because he was concerned the wire would be used in fire alarms in hotels, residences, and high-rise buildings. The employee refused the company's directive to ignore the problems with that wire, and he was fired. Not to get into the details of that case, but we see that whistleblower protection, if we build in the right parameters, might make sense. What we did through this process is we tried to listen to the business community's concern. There has been a myth floating out there that if this law passes, then a business will never be able to fire a disruptive employee. That is not true. Certainly, we are trying to find that balance. Whistleblower protections would not protect an employee who is going to be fired anyway. It would not protect a disruptive employee who is not a good employee. The employee has the burden of proof of establishing a prima facie showing. They have to make a prima facie case that they were terminated because they had told the CPSC about a problem. The employer has an affirmative defense of showing they would have done the same thing with this employee regardless of the fact that he or she informed the CPSC of a violation. Also, there is a provision in the bill that if the employee files a frivolous claim and tries to hide behind this whistleblower protection, that employee may have to pay up to a $1,000 penalty throughout the course of the whistleblower process. We have tried to listen to the concerns of the business community. We are trying to get the proper information to the CPSC to make sure that if there is a problem out there, it is brought to their attention as early as possible. And if an employee wants to do the right thing, with these safeguards built in place, he or she will not be terminated because they are trying to make sure these products are safe in the U.S. marketplace. Senator Stevens has walked into the Chamber. So far the news today has been good. We are disposing of matters. We encourage any Senator who wants to come down and speak on their amendment or any Senator who wants a vote to please let us know. So far it has been a very constructive process. I thank all my colleagues for their spirit of cooperation today. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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

Mr. PRYOR. Mr. President, I join my colleagues in welcoming officially the new Senator from Mississippi and thank him for his service in the House and his service in the Senate. Certainly, it was great to hear his maiden speech today. One of the aspects that is so true about the Senate is every Senator can make a difference. That is one of the challenges I think all 100 of us carry with us every day--to go out there and make a positive difference for this country and for the world. I welcome Senator Wicker to the Senate. Mr. President, I will give a very brief status report on the consumer product safety bill. Right now, we have been working through amendments all day. There have been several agreements. The managers' package is growing, which is good news. We are hopeful that we can have just a few amendments to be voted on and then have final passage. We do not have an agreement on that, but we are trying to reach an agreement right now. I wanted to alert Senators and their staffs that we would love to wrap this up, again, this afternoon. If we have to go into this evening, we can. But the sense right now on the floor, in talking with everyone who has been on the floor, Senators and staff who have been working through amendments, working through issues, we are still hopeful we can finish this bill this afternoon. We hope that is good news for Senators. We, once again, encourage any Senator who wants to come to the Chamber and speak on this bill to try to come down as soon as they can because hopefully we will get to final passage this afternoon at some point. Mr. President, I yield the floor, and I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. PRYOR. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded. The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Nelson of Nebraska.) Without objection, it is so ordered.

Mr. PRYOR. Mr. President, I want to again inform Senate colleagues and staff on the Hill that we are making great progress. I know we have been in a quorum call for some time, but the truth is, we have been making very steady and solid progress. We are hoping to get this bill to final passage this afternoon. There are a couple of amendments that we are still working through. We would love to reach an agreement with both sides to have a specific time to start a series of votes to get us out of here this afternoon. Again, for all of the staff and the Senators who are watching, now is the time, if you want to make one last pitch for either an amendment or a change in something, because everybody has been working very hard today and this week to get this done. So we do not have anything locked in, but certainly we would love to start this last series of votes sooner rather than later. I have talked with several Senators and they have worked very hard. They would love to see us wrap this up as quickly as possible. I think we are very close to doing that. Again, we are talking cloakroom to cloakroom, manager to manager, staff to staff, trying to get the last details worked out. So we are very hopeful we will have good news very shortly. We are very proud of the work that all of the Senators and staff have done to get us to this point on this important piece of legislation. I yield the floor, and I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. PRYOR. Yes, it is. Compliance with proposition 65's warning requirements would only complement the CPSC Reform Act.

Mr. PRYOR. No. First, the CPSC Reform Act bans lead in children's products beyond trace amounts. Under section 22, any children's product that contains lead ``shall be treated as a banned hazardous substance under the Federal Hazardous Substances Act.'' While the Commission is directed to examine whether it is possible to lower the trace levels permitted under the bill, no action is required with respect to labeling requirements that might inadvertently trigger a preemption of proposition 65. It is the intent of the CPSC Reform Act to get rid of lead from children's products, not to inadvertently preempt a consumer- friendly and valuable law such as proposition 65. I yield the floor.

Mr. PRYOR. Madam President, once again, I hope I have good news. I am hoping the next time I address the Senate on this microphone that we will be asking unanimous consent for votes or a vote, maybe in this case, on final passage. I again alert Hill staff and Senators that we are very close. I thank all my colleagues. I could go through a long list. While I have just a moment while they are literally wrapping up the final i's and t's on this document, I thank Senator Stevens for his great leadership in helping shepherd this bill through; Senator Inouye, of course, for his leadership and what he brings to the table and how he runs his committee is fantastic; Senator Collins--I mentioned her yesterday-- came in at a critical time and made the bill better; Senator Bill Nelson of Florida who spoke a few moments ago--Senator Bill Nelson in some ways started this whole process. He filed a bill over the summer-- June, July, September, I am not quite sure. He filed a bill about third-party testing for toys. We had already been working on a bill. He went ahead and put his bill out there publicly and spurred a lot of interest. And Senator Klobuchar, who is presiding right now, has been working on this bill every step of the way. Senator Durbin, of course, has made a lot of improvements. Senator Schumer has played a vital role in trying to get this bill shaped and ready to go. I again thank all my colleagues for their hard work. There are too many to go through right now because almost all 100 Senators had some role in this bill and have helped in some way or another. I wished to acknowledge them and hopefully the next time I stand up here, we will be propounding a unanimous consent request on votes. I yield the floor.

Mr. PRYOR. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. PRYOR. I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. PRYOR. Mr. President, I do have good news. This is similar to the old Bob Dylan song, ``Slow Train Coming.'' It has been a slow afternoon, seemingly, but there has been a lot of activity. I ask unanimous consent to agree to the Feinstein amendment by voice vote.

Mr. PRYOR. I ask unanimous consent to set aside the pending amendment so I may call up the following amendments en bloc: Klobuchar No. 4088; Dodd No. 4092, with modifications at the desk; McCaskill No. 4101; Boxer No. 4112; Landrieu No. 4120; Collins No. 4123; Klobuchar No. 4128; Nelson No. 4130, with modifications at the desk; Obama No. 4113; Obama No. 4114; Durbin-Hatch No. 4141; Inouye No. 4136; Inouye No. 4137; Inouye No. 4138; Snowe No. 4143; Kyl No. 4116, with modifications at the desk; and Kyl No. 4118, with modifications at the desk; the following pending amendments also be considered en bloc: Pryor No. 4090; Cardin No. 4103; Dorgan No. 4098; Casey No. 4109, with modifications at the desk; and Cornyn No. 4108, with modifications at the desk; the amendments be agreed to en bloc and the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate; that cloture be withdrawn; any remaining pending amendments be withdrawn; the Senate proceed to third reading of the bill; the Senate then proceed to the consideration of Calendar No. 562, H.R. 4040, strike all after the enacting clause and insert the text of S. 2663, as amended; the Senate proceed to a vote on passage of H.R. 4040, as amended, and S. 2663 be returned to the calendar.

Mr. PRYOR. I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. PRYOR. Having reached this agreement, I now ask unanimous consent the Senate vote on passage of the bill, as amended, at 4:55 p.m., and the time until 4:55 be equally divided between Senators Pryor and Stevens or their designees.

Mr. PRYOR. Mr. President, I have a list of people to thank, but because we have Senators who would like to vote and some would like to catch airplanes or get on to further meetings this evening, I will wait on that until after we vote. I am glad to yield back all time on our side.

Mr. PRYOR. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote.

Mr. PRYOR. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. PRYOR. I ask unanimous consent that Senator Kerry be added as a cosponsor to the Feinstein amendment No. 4104.

Mr. PRYOR. Madam President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. PRYOR

Mr. PRYOR. Mr. President, again today, we hope it is going to be a short day for the Senate. We hope we will be able to pass the Consumer Product Safety Commission Reform Act on which we have all worked so hard. I thank my colleagues for the fact that every single amendment that has been offered has been germane. That is great. The fact that everybody stayed focused on the subject matter has helped. I know Senator Stevens, who is on the floor now, will concur that it has been exemplary how Senators have conducted themselves on this bill. We thank everyone, all the Senators and the staff, for keeping the amendments germane. It is very important to getting this bill done this week. The other good news is, our staffs burned the midnight oil last night, Democrats and Republicans. We have been putting together a managers' package, to give a quick status report on that. We think there are about 12 or so amendments in that managers' package right now that have been agreed to. It looks as if maybe we have around eight amendments that are pending. We are hoping we can work out some issues on some of those amendments. We understand there may be a small number of amendments still coming, but we have run our traps here, so to speak. Again, the good news is we think we have a manageable number of amendments. We know we are going to have a vote in about 15 minutes. It will be on an amendment that is pending. Again, that is great. We will try to dispense with that amendment, however it comes out. Then we will move on to have further amendments throughout the day. We are very encouraged. I thank Senator Stevens for his leadership and his staff. They have been great. We appreciate their efforts to try to shepherd this bill through. I do not want to make a prediction because I don't know and I don't pretend to know how this is going to turn out, but it appears to me that it is possible we could easily finish this bill today. It is possible--I don't want to jinx myself--but maybe even this afternoon. Instead of going into the late evening hours tonight, it is conceivable we might be able to finish it this afternoon if we work hard and stay on task. I wanted to give the Senate an update. We look forward to the collegial spirit everyone has shown so far. We hope it continues today. I thank everybody for their cooperation and assistance. I yield the floor.

Mr. PRYOR

Mr. PRYOR. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Armed Services be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Thursday, March 6, 2008, at 9:30 a.m., in open session in order to receive testimony on U.S. Southern Command and U.S. Northern Command in review of the Defense authorization request for fiscal year 2009 and the future years Defense program.

Mr. PRYOR. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on March 6, 2008, at 10 a.m., in order to conduct a hearing entitled ``Reforming the Regulation of Government Sponsored Enterprises.''

Mr. PRYOR. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate Committee on the Judiciary be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate, in order to conduct an executive business meeting on Thursday, March 6, 2008, at 10 a.m. in room SD-226 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building. Agenda I. Bills S.2304, Mentally III Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Reauthorization and Improvement Act of 2007, (Domenici, Kennedy, Specter, Leahy); S.2449, Sunshine in Litigation Act of 2007, (Kohl, Leahy, Graham); S.352, Sunshine in the Courtroom Act of 2007, (Grassley, Schumer, Leahy, Specter, Graham, Feingold, Cornyn, Durbin); S.2136, Helping Families Save Their Homes in Bankruptcy Act of 2007, (Durbin, Schumer, Whitehouse, Biden, Feinstein); S.2133, Home Owners ``Mortgage and Equity Savings Act,'' (Specter, Coleman); S.2041, False Claims Act Correction Act of 2007, (Grassiey, Durbin, Leahy, Specter, Whitehouse); and S.2533, State Secrets Protection Act, (Kennedy, Specter, Leahy, Feingold). II. Nominations Kevin J. O'Connor to be Associate Attorney General, Department of Justice; Gregory G. Katsas to be Assistant Attorney General, Civil Division, Department of Justice; William Joseph Hawe to be United States Marshal for the Western District of Washington; Brian Stacy Miller to be United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Arkansas; James Randal Hall to be United States District Judge for the Southern District of Georgia; John A. Mendez to be United States District Judge for the Eastern District of California; and Stanley Thomas Anderson to be United States District Judge for the Western District of Tennessee.

Mr. PRYOR. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Select Committee on Intelligence be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on March 6, 2008, at 2:30 p.m. in order to hold a closed hearing.

Mr. PRYOR

Mr. PRYOR. Mr. President, we are in a period of morning business. I want to pause for 1 minute and thank all of the cosponsors on this legislation. There was a committee bill and the bill that passed the floor a few moments ago. I thank everybody who helped work on this, even those who voted against it. Many of them offered very constructive suggestions and amendments. Let me start by thanking Senator Collins. She has been fantastic throughout this whole process. Senator Harkin, Senator Klobuchar, Senator Bill Nelson, Senator Schumer, Senator Durbin, Senator Lincoln, of course Senator Salazar, Senator Brown, Senator Menendez, Senator Casey, Senator Wyden, and even though I don't think Senator McCaskill was ever a cosponsor, she helped in the last few days on some drafting. There are two whom I need to single out, and one is Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska, who went to bat and worked through a lot of issues that made this vote today possible, as well as our chairman Senator Inouye, first because I appreciate very much him giving me the opportunity to manage the bill. He designated me a year ago to try to work on this legislation, and I will always be grateful to him for his leadership and giving me this opportunity. I also thank members of the staff. We all know we get the credit, we get the publicity, and we are sort of the face, but we could not do this job we do without great staff. So I have a little bit of a long list, but they all deserve some recognition: Alex Hoehn-Saric, David Strickland, Mia Petrini, Jared Bomberg, Mellissa Zolkeply, Margaret Cummisky, Lila Helms, and Jean Toal-Eisen. These are all members of the Commerce staff on the Democratic side. I cannot tell my colleagues--I cannot exaggerate how many hours they put into this legislation. Then on my staff: Price Feland, Andy York, and many others helped, but those two went the extra mile, especially Price, who was fantastic. On Senator Durbin's staff: David Lazarus, Tom Faletti, Dena Morris, and Chris Kang, all of whom helped in many ways. On Senator Reid's staff: Mike Castellano and Mark Weitjen. On Senator Klobuchar's staff: Tamara Fucile and Katie Nilan. On Senator Nelson's staff: Chris Day. Then on the Republican side of the Commerce Committee, I will tell my colleagues they were fantastic and they spent hours and hours and hours working through issues and through this process. They played an important role. So my thanks to Paul Nagle, Megan Beechener, Mark Delich, Peter Phipps, Rebecca Hooks, and Christine Kurth. Again, oftentimes the Senators get the credit for things, but we do not give the staff enough credit. On Senator Collins' staff: Asha Mathews was critical, and she was great in helping in many different ways with Senator Collins who played a very important part in this legislation. I thank my colleagues for this week. I know we worked very hard and we were very persistent. But one of the great things about this week is we saw what the Senate can do. We saw if we make up our minds that we are going to do something good for this country, the Senate can do it. We worked together. We kept all the nongermane amendments off the bill. We had several on our side, and there were a few over here. We had more on our side, but we kept all of those nongermane amendments off the bill. We had a spirit of cooperation and collegiality and it was great. It was fun to be a part of it. It reminds me, once again, how great an institution the Senate is. I again one last time thank all of my colleagues for their support and all the floor staff here for doing all the great things they did to get us where we are today. This is a great day for the Senate and a great day for the American people. Now this bill will have to go to conference and the hard work starts. But I feel confident that we will be able to work with our House colleagues, who worked so hard on their legislation to get something done, and hopefully in the next several weeks, whenever that may be, it will come back to the Senate for the final vote and we can get it to the White House. I yield the floor.