Harry Reid

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, all Americans face deadlines. Ask any student or any working professional, and they will tell you they have to meet deadlines to be successful. It is part of life. Senate Republicans, though, seem to reject the idea of finishing work on time. Instead, the Republican leader has repeatedly taken the Senate to the brink. Already the first few months of this year, Republicans have botched deadlines for funding the Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Intelligence Surveillance Court--that was a real debacle-- and, most recently, the Export-Import Bank, which is now out of business. There were 165,000 people working as a result of the Bank who now--if not gone and looking for employment, they will have to do it very soon because the Republicans are boasting they were able to kill this business-oriented program that has been successful all over the world, allowing us to export things that we would not have been able to had that law not been in effect. As a result of our not doing things, other countries--China and other countries--are now picking up the slack where Ex-Im Bank worked before. There is a lot of business being lost for the American people, and it is very unfortunate because, again, Republicans are not meeting deadlines. Every one of those crises is accompanied by consequences that hurt our country: lost productivity, a volatile stock market, and lapses in national security. Every time Republicans miss a deadline who gets hurt worse than anyone else? The middle class does and our Nation is less safe. Now, I realize we have another vitally important, time-sensitive matter that requires the Senate's attention as soon as possible. At the end of this month, our Nation is faced with a looming expiration and insolvency of the highway trust fund. With 64,000 structurally deficient bridges and billions of dollars needed for construction projects across America--really, trillions of dollars. We have an infrastructure deficit in this country of about $3 trillion, and 64,000 bridges are structurally deficient. It is irresponsible for Republicans to be content to let the authorization of the highway program lapse or maybe they will come up with another solution like they have in the past, 33 separate short-term extensions of the highway bill. And now I understand that the chairman of the Finance Committee is working on another short-term extension. How really insensitive to the needs of the American people. There are some States that can't do construction work on highways in the wintertime. It is cold. But that doesn't seem to matter. These short-term extensions are what has become part of the Republican mantra. There is also an urgent need to reach a bipartisan budget agreement. In less than 3 months, unless we act, the government will shut down. To avoid that, we will need a budget agreement between two parties. That is going to take time and a lot of work, but to this point, the deadline seems to be meaningless to my Republican colleagues. They are doing nothing, not a conversation about it, and they led the charge in the past about how phony the overseas contingency funding was to pay the bills of this country, but now they seem to embrace it. But I guess their theory is--why not put off until tomorrow what you can do today? I don't understand why what we have around here is, putting off until tomorrow everything that should be done today. There is no need to wait until the end of July to address our Nation's roads, bridges, and rails. That is what we are doing. There is no need to wait until September to come to a sensible agreement funding our government, but that is what they are doing. Democrats are ready to work with Republicans on these two issues--and now.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, another glaring deficiency is we are certainly ready to help Republicans fulfill their constitutional obligations to give due consideration to President Obama's judicial nominations and other nominations. The Constitution gives the Senate the job to give its advice and consent to the President's nominations to the judiciary. So far, the Republican leader and his party are failing catastrophically. They are intent on delaying important confirmations, even in the face of increasing judicial emergencies all over this country. Today marks the 182nd day of the 114th Congress. Yet today will be our first circuit court nomination. That means for almost 7 months, the Republican Senate has not confirmed a single appellate court judge, but today we are going to finally consider one, and that is important. We will be hopefully confirming the first Latina on the Federal Circuit. Kara Farnandez Stoll is well qualified by every measure. Her nomination was reported out of the Judiciary Committee months ago. Yet no Republican can explain why she has waited this long to have a vote. It is all part of a disturbing trend, I am sorry to say, of neglecting constitutional duties. According to the Congressional Research Service, the new Republican Senate has doubled the average time for the confirmation of the first circuit judge for any President in the modern era. The new Republican Senate is once again making history but for all the wrong reasons. The Republican leader and his party are on pace to confirm the fewest judicial nominations in half a century. President Obama's Federal judges are not getting a fair shake. They are bottled up in the Judiciary Committee. They are focused on I don't know what in that committee, but it is certainly not moving the President's nominations. Nominations are forced to wait longer than in past Congresses on the floor. I have spoken before about the nomination of one very well-qualified person from Philadelphia, Luis Felipe Restrepo--another extremely well- qualified judge-to-be. The junior Senator from Pennsylvania delayed his confirmation by not returning the blue slip to advance his nomination. Before we left for the recess, the Judiciary Committee delayed his hearing again. Yet the junior Senator from Pennsylvania said he is not responsible for the delay because he does not sit on the committee. This good man, Luis Felipe Restrepo, has waited far too long. He has been nominated to fill a judicial emergency. Judicial emergencies have skyrocketed under Republicans' lack of leadership. Justice delayed is justice denied. The people of Pennsylvania deserve to have him confirmed. So why doesn't the junior Senator from Pennsylvania simply ask to confirm Judge Restrepo immediately? I am confident that if that happened we would have that matter on the calendar. We could confirm Judge Restrepo to the Third Circuit next week if Republicans would quit playing games with nominations. Time and time again, Democrats have asked for the fair consideration of President Obama's judicial nominations. It is not too much to ask the new majority to match the numbers of confirmations Democrats gave George W. Bush the last 2 years of his administration. By this point, Democrats had confirmed 21 of President George W. Bush's judges-to-be. President Obama has only had four confirmed to date. And according to the senior Senator from Texas, we should not expect a change anytime soon. Here is what he said. Speaking of Republicans' desire to keep nominations at a trickle, the assistant Republican leader said last week: ``It'll be a slow, steady pace.'' The pace certainly has been slow, but not steady--more like nonexistent. One circuit court nominee in more than 6 months is an embarrassment. That puts the Senate on pace to confirm fewer than four circuit court nominees this entire Congress. It does not matter that there are judicial emergencies all over the country. But Republicans' inaction on nominees is not just hurting our judicial system; it is also hurting our Nation's ability to combat terrorism, including ISIS. One way to help stop ISIS and other terrorist organizations is to go after their funding. Republicans know that. But listen to this, Mr. President. Since April, Adam Szubin, President Obama's nominee to the Department of Treasury as Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Crimes, has remained in limbo. It is so important to this country. We have the situation going on with Iran. We need people in the Treasury Department to help figure out all that is going on in regard to terrorism there and other places in the world. Yet Republicans will not confirm this good man. He cannot get a vote. And who knows why. Ask Republicans. By any objective measure, the Republican Senate is failing in their basic constitutional responsibility to provide advice and consent. The American people deserve better. They deserve a Senate that does its work responsibly and completes it on time. Mr. President, will the Chair announce the business of the day.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, my friend from Tennessee is an expert in education. Not only was he the Governor of the great State of Tennessee, he was also the Secretary of Education. He knows education. And he has a good partner to work with, Patty Murray. The senior Senator from Washington is a legislator first class, and the work they have done as leaders of this important committee has been very, very good. I appreciate the kind words of my friend from Tennessee, but this is an example of what I talked about a few minutes ago. We are not treating Republicans the way they have treated us. I repeat, every piece of legislation I brought to the floor we had to file a motion to proceed on--with extremely rare exception, everything. We wasted months going through this senseless 2 days, 30 hours, and on and on with all the time spent on this. It was an effort to embarrass President Obama, and they did their best to do that. But as cynical as it was, it helped them in the 2014 elections, and I acknowledge that, and that is too bad. But it is too bad we had to go through all that because it has really hurt the country. I say to my friend, I have great respect for this man from Tennessee. He is a good legislator, and I look forward to moving forward on this important piece of legislation involving elementary and secondary education. We have to do a better job, and I think there are no two better qualified people than the two managers of this bill to accomplish that.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, in less than 18 months, Americans all over the country will cast their ballots in the 2016 elections. This exercise fulfills one of the most basic promises of our constitutional democracy: that all citizens have the right to vote, regardless of race, gender, or social status. This right to vote and the guarantee that each vote counts equally is the foundation of our form of government. It ensures that as this country changes, the elected officials who represent its citizens will also reflect those changes. The electorate should be able to elect those who represent them, their thoughts, and their ideals. Yet, there is an ongoing effort all over America to obstruct the work of perfecting our Union by hindering progress where it is needed the most. We see this reflected in the debate about whether the Confederate flag--a symbol of bigotry and racism--still has a place on public lands. There should be no debate. The answer to this question is no. And that matter should have been settled long ago. It was not. It took the deaths of nine innocent people, perhaps, to move this issue forward. We see this reflected in the debate about whether gay people have the right to marry. After all that has gone on, there should be no debate in this regard. The answer to this question is yes. The matter should have been settled long ago. We see this reflected in the insidious fight to keep certain citizens from exercising their constitutional right to vote by instituting voter ID laws. There should be no debate. The answer to this question is no poll tax or any sort of maneuver designed to prevent voting should exist anyplace at any time. That matter was settled long ago--or at least we thought it was. The fight is not new. It is deeply rooted in our Nation's history. I finished many years ago now a book, ``Freedom Summer,'' about these courageous, brilliant young men and women who went to Mississippi and spent one summer. It pointed out how the people of Mississippi at that time would do anything they could to keep an African American from voting. That is wrong. The Constitution now grants women and citizens of all races the right to vote. There have long been efforts to undermine that right. We also see it playing out in State capitols across the country. Districts are being gerrymandered to ensure that minority votes have the least possible impact on election outcomes. We have seen it playing out in courtrooms, where the Voting Rights Act has been under attack. Congress passed the Voting Rights Act 50 years ago--hard to believe but 50 years ago. Historically, it is one of the country's most important laws--or was an important law. It aimed to clear the path to the ballot box for all citizens who choose to vote. But 2 years ago, the Supreme Court, in one of their questionable decisions, struck down a crucial section of the Voting Rights Act, in a 5-to-4 decision in the case of Shelby County v. Holder. As a result of the Court's decision, it is now easier for States to enact laws making it harder for citizens to vote, and they have taken that way past where they should have. Voter ID, shortening the time for early voting--they are doing so many different things to prevent people from voting. It is hard to believe there would be efforts made to stop people from voting. In the States where we have same-day registration, I am not aware of a single case--not a single case of any type of fraud. The voter turnout where we have same-day registration is tremendous. In the Presiding Officer's State and my State, there have been efforts made over the years to make sure that 30 days before an election, either a primary or general, no more registrations. How ridiculous. I personally have tried to get that changed for decades, but no luck. The county clerks from 15 rural counties have enough juice in the State legislature to prevent that from happening. It is too bad. Why in the world should we stop registration a month before an election? Election day is when people are so excited about voting. So I am really very disappointed in what is happening in my own State regarding keeping people from voting. The Voting Rights Act was very important, but now it is harder and harder for people to vote. There is little question that Republican- controlled State legislatures have taken advantage of this decision. I repeat: In States all across this country, Republican-controlled State legislatures have passed burdensome voter ID laws that target minority voters especially, college students especially, and many other groups, to prevent them from voting. In Ohio--a State that experienced the longest voting lines in the Nation, even longer than the questionable Florida election--the Republican legislature scaled back early-voting hours in an effort to keep people from voting. The legislature in North Carolina eliminated same-day registration when it worked so well and the turnout--it helped significantly. How can we work to form a more perfect union when some States actively work to prevent our fellow citizens from voting? We have a moral obligation to protect the right to vote for every American citizen. Our country is stronger when every eligible voter participates. The Dean of the Senate, Senator Leahy, has introduced robust legislation to repair the damage from the Supreme Court's Shelby County decision. I am happy to support the efforts made by the senior Senator from Vermont. His bill will restore the heart of the Voting Rights Act. It will create a new nationwide coverage formula that applies to any State with repeated voting rights violations in the last 25 years. It will also establish a targeted process for reviewing voting changes and also any changes these jurisdictions make all around the country that have a record of discrimination against voters. This bill requires reasonable public notice for voting changes and also allows the Attorney General to request Federal observers to be present in places where a serious threat of racial discrimination may occur. We must do everything we can to restore and reestablish and defend the Voting Rights Act. Congress must act to protect one of the most important legislative accomplishments of the civil rights era. We should ensure that every American has equal access to the ballot. It is the right thing to do. As Dr. King said many years ago, ``There comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe nor politic, nor popular, but he must take it because conscience tells him it is right.'' To push forward, under the words of Dr. King, is so important. Let's do everything we can to have people vote. Let's stand together on increasing, not diminishing, one's ability to vote. Why? Because it is the right thing to do. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. REID

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

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, today in this great country of ours the Affordable Care Act--ObamaCare--has survived the latest partisan attempt to deny health coverage to working families. Millions of working families won today. America won today. The Supreme Court ruled against Republicans who were seeking to strip 6.5 million Americans of the subsidies that enable them to buy health insurance coverage. America won, I repeat, very pure, very simple. More than 10 million Americans are covered in the exchanges operating across the country, many of them insured for the first time, and 85 percent of these men and women receive tax credits that help them afford that coverage. On top of that, 12 million more Americans now have coverage through the Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Programs. The Commonwealth Fund recently found that more than 8 in 10 adults--four-fifths--of people who have these programs are satisfied with them. The Affordable Care Act is not perfect. No law ever is. But this law is working for millions--approaching 20 million--Americans. Once again, the Affordable Care Act prevailed. So I say to my Senate colleagues, respectfully--and I mean that--stop banging your heads against the wall. This legislation passed. It is the law of this Nation. Stop. Move on. Republicans should pause for a minute and look back. I don't know the number anymore. I don't know, I lost count--is it 75? It is certainly approaching 100--of the actual votes which have taken place to repeal the law. Never even came close to passing, but they have done it time and time again. Stop it. Think of the time wasted doing it. As Einstein said, the pure definition of insanity is someone who keeps doing the same thing over and over again and gets the same results. I would hope the Republicans would rethink what they have been up to--their reckless, cynical attempts to increase taxes on millions of middle-income families. That is what it amounts to. I was interested in looking at the paper today regarding what Republicans have suggested doing if the Supreme Court ruled against this law. Every one of them, without exception, would be a tremendous blow to the budgeting process of America. This bill makes America money. It has cut the deficit significantly. That is why I say it makes the country money. It allows for a more healthy nation. Republicans weren't content to jeopardize the health of Americans in need of coverage assistance in order to exact political revenge against President Obama. They were happy trying to do that. I also think it is important to note that Republicans who worked on this legislation in the process going through the committees here admitted that the legislation drafters never discussed withholding subsidies in the manner suggested by the plaintiffs. Republicans who worked on the legislation said that. So I think the public has basically had it with Republicans trying to take away a law that protects them from insurance company discrimination when they get sick or hurt. Enough is enough. I had a ``Welcome to Washington.'' I have them every Thursday. I had a group of people here from Nevada who have family members who suffer from cystic fibrosis. They were able to tell me that for the first time in the lives of their children they could not be denied insurance. They are adults now. They can't be denied insurance coverage because of this law. If this had been repealed, people with cystic fibrosis and many other diseases would not be able to get health insurance. So let's move on. Stop this. Stop wasting the time of the American people by trying to repeal the law. I appreciate the work done by the Supreme Court, a 6-to-3 decision. It was a good decision, a strong decision that upheld the law. Enough is enough. Let's move on.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, today I recognize the 30th anniversary of Miracle Flights for Kids. Since its founding in southern Nevada in 1985, Miracle Flights for Kids has been providing airline tickets for sick children in low-income families. These flights are truly miracles that allow children to receive the specialized medical care they need and otherwise would not have access to due to distance and travel costs. In the beginning, Miracle Flights for Kids was a small organization that served a handful of local children, but today the organization coordinates hundreds of flights a month, including a record 976 flights in April 2015. To date, Miracle Flights for Kids has coordinated more than 92,000 flights resulting in 50 million miles of travel. These flights have helped to save and improve the quality of life for countless children. Families from across the country and the world contact Miracle Flights for Kids for assistance, and the organization works to ensure eligible children have access to the care they need, regardless of how far away the treatment center is located. They have flown children relatively short distances, such as flights from Nevada to California, and longer distances, including flights from Alaska to Colorado. They have even flown children from as far away as Turkey to Maryland. Miracle Flights for Kids also works to ensure that children can travel back to their treatment center as many times as their doctor deems necessary. For instance, they provided more than 40 flights from Ohio to Texas for one little girl so she could receive the medical attention she required. Having a sick child is a devastating, trying experience for any parent. The services provided by Miracle Flights for Kids give families some peace-of-mind as they focus on getting their child healthy. I commend Miracle Flights for Kids for 30 years of exceptional service to children and families in Nevada and throughout the world. Their work is truly appreciated and admired, and I wish them continued success for years to come.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, the senior Senator from Kentucky is certainly right that we need to move on cyber security. I have known that for many years, and we have tried. Why have we not done something on it? Because of filibusters by the Republicans. We had a bill that had been worked on for years that we brought before the Senate. But instructions were given from the Chamber of Commerce, and the Republicans dutifully walked down here and voted no, stopping us from moving forward on the bill. The Chamber said--and obviously Republicans agreed--this is not something for the government. It should be done in- house. Well, my friend the Republican leader rails against the government, but he should also understand that this is a situation which involves the private sector also. We could name 25 companies, 50 companies, 100 companies that have been hacked and hacked very badly, not the least of which are Sony and Target. It is hard for me to comprehend that my friend, my counterpart, is here talking about the need to do something about cyber security when he is the leader of the Republicans who have stopped us from doing this. There is a bill--it is not a perfect bill; it is far from it--a bipartisan bill. It has the support of the chairman and ranking member of the Intelligence Committee. We could get to work on that right now. We should do that. I repeat, it is not perfect legislation, but it is certainly a step forward. My friend said he wants heads to roll. If that were the case, then there are a lot of heads to roll in the public sector and the private sector because they do not have the tools to do much about this hacking. We need to help them with appropriate legislation. I hope we can do that and do it very soon. I remain committed to turning to cyber security as quickly as we can. We need to get that done. I hope we can get that done. On that issue, we could go to that legislation right now. Do you know why we are not going to go to it right now? Because the Republicans have holds on the bill. So the Republican leader will file a motion to invoke cloture on moving forward on this legislation. We are ready to move on it now. Again, the problem is on the Republican side, not our side.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, our great country faces yet another manufactured crisis. In just a few weeks from now, the end of July--and that is coming quickly--on July 31, the authority for the recent extension of the highway trust fund will expire. The U.S. Department of Transportation will not be able to make payments to our States for highways, bridges, railways. All transportation agencies will likely postpone or cancel roadwork during the busy summer construction season. Why? Because they have no money. They know the highway Surface Transportation Program has been stymied as a result of 33 short-term extensions forced upon us by the Republicans in the Senate--33. How can these agencies plan ahead? They can't. Before this crisis becomes full-blown, Democrats want to work with Republicans on a long-term reauthorization of the highway program. I know there are Members of the majority who want to do something about this. The Presiding Officer has a plan to take care of highways. Is it a perfect plan? Of course it is not perfect, but it sure is a good step forward to do something about this program, something that is long term. This crisis is about jobs, hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of high-paying construction jobs throughout the country. That is why we challenged the Republican leader to move forward with a robust, long- term surface transportation bill ahead of that deadline. I am pleased Republicans have joined with Democrats to schedule a markup--in fact, it is going on right now in the Environment and Public Works Committee--on a 6-year surface transportation bill. This, of course, is an authorization only, but what terrific work done by Senators Boxer and Inhofe. They are an unmatched pair usually in all issues that come before this body, but on this legislation they are a matched pair. I admire and appreciate what they are going to mark up in just a few minutes. It is an authorization but a big step forward. But next comes the need for funding what they authorize and maybe a little more. Their legislation will modernize our Nation's crumbling infrastructure. The bill the EPW Committee will consider is $275 billion. That includes modest increases of funding over the next 6 years. But modest increases, while important, will not allow us to make the investments our transportation system really needs. Every day we learn of new examples about the state of disrepair of our roads, bridges, our highways, and of course our transit systems. The highway trust fund is no longer sufficient to fund the investments we so desperately need to rebuild them. Why? Because people's habits have changed. Vehicles have changed. People don't drive--every car they have is not a gas guzzler. We have a lot of electric cars. We have cars that run sometimes on gasoline, sometimes on electricity. We have cars that run on gasoline all the time, but they don't burn much gasoline. So the trust fund, which was set to take care of all the road needs we have, surface transportation needs--we simply don't have the resources anymore, so we have to look for other resources because, I repeat, the highway trust fund is no longer sufficient to fund these investments we so desperately need to rebuild them. We know this because over the past few years Congress has transferred billions of dollars to make up the shortfall in the trust fund revenues. Today, it is important to thank again Senators Inhofe and Boxer for their leadership in marking up this bill. I hope the new chairmen of the Banking, Commerce, and Finance Committees will demonstrate the same sense of urgency and schedule markups for their portion of the surface transportation legislation. Despite the common knowledge about the expiration of surface transportation funding, Republicans have delayed the important work of writing a bipartisan bill for far too long. Our good citizens don't deserve another exercise in crisis management like we are seeing this week in the Export-Import Bank. Democrats have laid out a clear timetable and process for bipartisan negotiations. A long-term, robust bill can pass before the August recess. To recap, we requested a number of things, but let me mention a few of them: hearings in each of the authorizing committees by June 23--we know how that has already passed--bipartisan markups in all authorizing committees by July 10 that include robust increases for highways, transit, passenger rail, and of course all kinds of new safety programs and maintain those we have; and basically a long-term bill on the Senate floor by July 20. If the Republican leader continues to avoid conducting business on Fridays, we have only 15 session days in the month of July; that is, 15 days to address our country's major surface transportation needs and help our struggling economy by providing lots and lots of jobs. The clock is ticking. At a hearing on the funding gap last week, Senator Hatch said: ``As chairman of the [Finance] committee, I intend to solve this problem.'' Well, I appreciate that very much. I am taking him at his word. Senate Democrats are ready to work with Republicans to grow, not cut, our transportation funding. But I say to my friend the senior Senator from Utah, please, please do something that is more than another short- term extension. We need a 6-year bill. Every State in the Union needs that. We have had them in the past, but now the Republicans, learning how to filibuster--they have stopped, basically, everything we have tried to do in this regard. We cannot--I say to my friend from Utah--we cannot have another extension. I repeat, this would be the 34th short-term extension. Enough is enough. We need to move forward with a plan that funds our Nation's infrastructure, supports jobs, and grows our economy, creating hundreds of thousands of jobs. Americans rely on a strong transportation system to travel. They do this to commute and also, of course, to move goods across the country. This program was the brainchild of Dwight D. Eisenhower, the President of the United States, when he called upon his experience as a young military officer in trying to bring military equipment and men across the country. It was very difficult. As a young military officer he said: Someday, if I have any ability to change this, I will--and he did. The National Highway System is Eisenhower's highway system. This is not a program that was developed by anyone other than Dwight Eisenhower. So temporary funding for the highway trust fund leads only to uncertainty, slowing construction, and of course hurting economic development in every State of our Nation. The Republican leadership should act now to avoid this looming deadline and support long-term investment into our Nation's crumbling infrastructure. Mr. President, I see no one on the floor so I would ask what the business of the day is.

Mr. REID

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

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, our Nation's heart remains broken over the senseless tragedy last week in Charleston, SC. A young man full of hate took the lives of nine worshippers after they welcomed him into their Bible study. Once again, someone motivated by ignorance and hatred got his hands on a gun and inflicted pain on innocent Americans. Once again, we must witness the people of a community as they struggle to reconnect and put the pieces of their lives back together. Once again, we are looking at our newspapers, watching our TV screens, and talking at our dinner tables about why--why did this happen? As the painful details emerge, we cannot turn away from the hard truth this tragedy lays bare: Racism still exists in our society. We have to accept that reality. If we ever hope to change it, we have to accept that reality. I watched this weekend as pundits and the Nation's thought leaders attempted to address this issue by sidestepping the truth. This violent attack was racially motivated, plain and simple. It was intended to terrorize the African-American community both in Charleston and around this Nation. Fifty years after Dr. Martin Luther King led a March in Washington, 50 years after Congress passed the Civil Rights Act, 50 years after the march for voting rights in Selma, 50 years after Congress passed the Voting Rights Act, we must still face the hard truth about race in America. The truth is that we still have much to do. We must overcome. We have no choice. One cannot ignore this underlying issue. It deeply troubles our Nation that hatred and bigotry exist. The harsh reality of hatred and bigotry in this country, in addition to the consistent lack of opportunities in communities of color, have left far too many men and women of color feel that their lives really don't matter. It is easy to feel that your life doesn't matter when the odds are stacked against you every place you look, on every hand. Here are some of the facts African Americans face on a daily basis. Nearly half of all African-American families have lived in poor neighborhoods for at least two generations--50 percent compared to 7 percent of White families. An African-American man is far more likely to be stopped and searched by police, charged with crimes, and sentenced to longer prison terms than a White male--10 percent longer for the same crimes in the Federal system. In the State system, the numbers are even more skewed than that. These facts alone illustrate that countless men and women face unprecedented challenges and are still judged by the color of their skin, not the content of their character. We have a moral obligation to change these realities. We must do everything within our power to ensure that all Americans know that their lives matter. This means standing for what is right, calling out bigotry and hatred when it is seen and felt, and then taking action to address the bigotry. It is hard to fathom that even as the community of Charleston grapples with the devastation of this hateful act, African-American men and women have to walk under a Confederate flag when they step on the grounds of the South Carolina statehouse in Columbia, SC. The Confederate flag is a symbol of the dark past from which our country has come. It does not and should not represent our values or the way we treat our fellow Americans. It is a symbol of slavery. It is a symbol of White supremacy. There is no other way to explain it. It often flew high as vile organizations such as the Ku Klux Klan torched African-American churches. This symbol of the past has no place atop buildings that govern Americans. It is just not who we are, and certainly it shouldn't be who we want to be. The flag should be removed and now. Yesterday, Governor Nikki Haley of South Carolina said that in the Capitol of South Carolina the flag should not be flown. She said: We will do this in spite of what the State legislature feels. We have tried this in the past, and the State legislatures have said: No, we are keeping the flag flying. So I applaud her. I appreciate her courageous act so that the Confederate flag has no future in the future of South Carolina. It belongs in the past in every place in America, not just South Carolina. Anyone who desires to fly that flag on private property can do so, of course, but no State in our great Nation should allow this flag to soar above its capitol. It shouldn't soar in public places. We must always stand for what is right. We must stand for equality and justice and act to defend them. We must preserve and protect the rights of every American, not because it is the safe thing to do, not because it is popular or because it has political benefit. We must stand and defend equality and justice because that is the right thing to do. We must take meaningful action to ensure the safety of our citizens. Once again, our hearts are broken as another community struggles to recover from a mass shooting. I am going to mention now just a few of them: Fort Hood, 13 Americans killed, and this was on a military base; Tucson, AZ, 6 Americans killed; Carson City, NV, 4 Americans killed; Newtown, CT, 27 Americans dead, and 22 of them were innocent little children; Aurora, CO, in a movie theater, 12 killed; the Navy Yard, maybe a mile from here at the most, in the District of Columbia, 12 killed; Charleston, SC--of course we know 9 were killed while in a Bible study class. And these are not all of the violent acts; these are but a handful. All of these violent events occurred within the past few years. Our country, the United States, is the only advanced country where this type of mass violence occurs--the only country. Per capita, in America we kill each other with guns at a rate 297 times higher than Japan, 49 times higher than France, 33 times higher than Israel, and we outdistance every other country by far too much. We can do something about this sad, violent reality. Let's do something. We can expand, for example, background checks for people who want to buy guns to prevent the mentally ill and criminals from buying guns. Is that asking too much--the mentally ill and criminals? More than 80 percent of the American people support this. Why can't we in Congress support it? The American people support it. It has bipartisan support. I say it over and over again. The American community is overwhelmingly in support of not giving guns to people who are mentally ill or felons. They shouldn't be able to buy guns. We should act to save lives by expanding these background checks. Isn't that the least we can do? I know people will come and say: Well, he wasn't a felon. Maybe so. But couldn't we do something? Couldn't we at least do this minimal thing to stop people who are sick in the head and people who are criminals from purchasing guns? Couldn't we at least do that? Einstein's definition of insanity is continuing the same thing over and over while expecting a different result, and that is what we are doing. For the future of our country, we have to change. In the face of racism and bigotry, we must act. We can't do nothing. We must prevent felons and the mentally ill from gunning down even more Americans in broad daylight. If we do not, we will be here again. Our hearts will be broken again. Again we will have to ask ourselves how we allowed another senseless tragedy to take place while we stood by doing nothing to prevent other deaths. Mr. President, what is the business before the Senate today? Reservation of Leader Time

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Madam President, over the past several years there has been a disturbing practice that has become commonplace in the Congress, and sadly it is with no regard for the average American. The Republicans have resolved to govern by staggering from one ludicrous crisis to another crisis--one today, one next week. Unless the Republican leader acts, in just 5 days, for example, we will see the consequences of another manufactured crisis. On June 30, the charter for the Export- Import Bank is set to expire. This is serious business. This institution creates jobs by providing loans and loan guarantees to foreign customers who purchase American exports. This year alone, the Ex-Im Bank supports 165,000 American jobs--165,000 jobs that allow American workers to earn a living. These jobs cost taxpayers zero-- nothing. In fact, this Bank saves the American taxpayers money. In the last 10 years, the Bank has returned more than $7 billion to the U.S. Treasury. With the threat of this Bank closing--other countries have similar institutions, such as China. People are going to China and other countries to get their loan guarantees and buy products--not from America but from countries where those banks will take care of their loans. This is so sad. Despite the positive benefits the Bank provides for our economy and thousands of Americans, Republicans have decided that reauthorization is not a priority. The Republican leader has openly opposed reauthorization of this important Bank. I repeat, there are 165,000 jobs as we speak, and they are American jobs. Quoting the senior Senator from Kentucky: ``I personally think the Ex-Im Bank has outlived its usefulness and ought to go away.'' Really? The Bank should be put out of business? I don't think so. This resource supports thousands of jobs for Americans and could not possibly have outgrown its usefulness. But in the 6 months since the Republicans have taken control of Congress, this mindset has governed their decisions. Sensible programs that benefit average Americans and strengthen our economy have taken a backseat to special interests. We can see that by what is going on in this body this week. Just as he has on countless issues so far this Congress, the Republican leader is intentionally ignoring deadlines that are obvious--these deadlines are obvious weeks and even months ahead of time--and offering no plan or solution to these pertinent issues facing our Nation. Today, we are talking about two of those--surface transportation, and I have talked about the Export-Import Bank. No plan. No solution. No urgency. That is how Republicans have chosen to govern. This misguided policy is not governing at all. It is all about crisis management and doing a very poor job. This crisis management could be avoided by not playing dodgeball with issues important to our country. There are less than 5 days until thousands of jobs are threatened for no apparent reason. The senior Senator from Kentucky should put his partisan agenda aside, choose American jobs over political benefits, and allow a vote to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank. This measure would pass. It would pass overwhelmingly because Republican Senators want this to pass also. So if a vote were allowed on this, it would get a sizeable majority.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Madam President, the Senate also faces another looming deadline manufactured by Republican leadership. At the end of July, Republican funding for the Federal highway program will expire. In 5 days, we will lose the Export-Import Bank. In just a few weeks, we are going to lose the highway program. Our Nation's roads, bridges, highways, and transit systems are in desperate need of repair. Some 64,000 bridges are structurally deficient. This isn't 6,400; it is 64,000 bridges. Fifty percent of our roads are dangerously in need of repair. Still, Republicans in Congress have refused to work with Democrats in making an adequate long-term investment in our country's surface transportation programs. Delaying and stalling has become their normal practice. Republicans are content to take a page straight out of their playbook. That playbook is called ``Republican Manufactured Crisis Playbook.'' They do this day after day. They just go to that playbook that has been used over and over again. We have seen it before, and we are seeing it again with highways. We are seeing it with Ex-Im Bank. Instead of working with Democrats to create long-term solutions to our Nation's woes, the Republican leader will wait until the deadline is imminent--and on highways, we can see it coming--and he will offer another short-term extension to stave off a disaster of his own making. That is unacceptable. We have already had 33 Republican short-term fixes--33. We don't need a 34th. Governing by crisis is a reckless strategy that leaves the well-being of Americans and our economy hanging in the balance. The Republican leader should abandon this policy and stop dragging our country from one crisis to another crisis. Republicans can get started today by bringing up reauthorization of the Ex-Im Bank for a vote before the charter expires in just a few days. It will pass. Certainly he could focus on long-term, bipartisan reauthorization of the Federal highway program, which, as I have indicated, expires in a few weeks. The American people should not be forced to endure manufactured crises at the hands of Republican leadership. I urge the Republican leadership to change course and govern with the well-being of the American people in mind. Madam President, will the Chair announce the business of the day.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I rise today to recognize entrepreneur and philanthropist Wenliang Wang for his commitment and dedication to restoring one of the world's most impressive wetlands, the Dandong Yalu River Estuary Wetland in China. Mr. Wang is well-known in his country as the founder and chairman of the China Rilin Construction Group, which is among the largest private construction companies in China. Rilin is also the owner and operator of the Port of Dandong, a vital trading hub in Liaoning Province located in northeast China. Though Mr. Wang has important business ties to this region, it is his private efforts and personal connection to the area that has influenced him to invest millions of dollars in the restoration of the Dandong Yalu River Estuary Wetland. Not far from Dandong Port, sit the Dandong wetlands. Bird watchers, scientists, and outdoor enthusiasts travel from around the world to Liaoning to study the area and watch the native species and migratory birds, including those that fly from New Zealand to Alaska each year. Mr. Wang recognized the significance of safeguarding and enhancing these wetlands. With his support, restoration work to revitalize the fields, shrimp pond, and tidal basin has made this important migratory destination a sanctuary for all of the species that depend on the wetland. Today, the Dandong wetlands are among the most inhabited wetlands in the world, which includes feeding and resting areas for hundreds of thousands of migrating and wading birds, such as the rare saunders' gull. It is my understanding that there are approximately 14,000 of these birds left in the world and more than 1,300 have made the wetland their home. I applaud Mr. Wang for his commitment to protecting the internationally significant Dandong Yalu River Estuary Wetland and wish him the very best in his continued efforts to protect our environment and restore these important sites.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I rise today to recognize Ms. Senior Nevada, Inc., on the organization's 30th anniversary. Since it was founded in 1985, Ms. Senior Nevada, Inc., has honored the talents and accomplishments of senior women throughout the State of Nevada. The first Ms. Senior Nevada Pageant was held in 1986 at the former Sahara Hotel and Casino. At the time, only one contestant from each county was able to compete in the pageant. Today, the Ms. Senior Nevada Pageant is open to all women in Nevada who are age 60 or older, to celebrate the ``age of elegance.'' The contestants in the Ms. Senior Nevada pageant must demonstrate their strengths in four areas: talent, evening gown, philosophy of life, and an interview. The winner of the pageant represents Nevada on the national stage at the Ms. Senior America pageant. During her reigning year, Ms. Senior Nevada travels throughout the State to discuss a variety of issues affecting senior citizens and promotes her platform. Past Ms. Senior Nevada platforms have included ``for the good of seniors'' and ``responsible pet ownership.'' I commend Ms. Senior Nevada, Inc., on recognizing exceptional senior women in the Silver State for 30 years, and I applaud their service to the State of Nevada.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. To respond to the majority leader, I have nothing to say until I hear what he has to say.

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I know my friend gets the last word, and I am looking forward to his last word. However, the logic of my friend is illogical. We stand on our record, and we will continue in that fashion.

Mr. REID. Mr. President, the bill that just passed the Senate, the Defense authorization bill, has 52 Republicans voting to fix sequestration. Only 2 voted against it. We are all in favor of fixing the sequester. My friend, the Republican leader, is talking in a dreamland. Ash Carter, the Secretary of Defense, is a very good man. We are so fortunate that he has dedicated his life to public service. He is a scientist and has worked for the defense establishment for a while in public service. He, the Secretary of Defense, says this bill my friend talks about is a bad bill. It doesn't help the military. This funny funding that is in this bill is not good. The chairman of the Armed Services Committee was on the floor this morning talking about that. It is important that we solve the sequester problem. It is not good, but we cannot, and we should not, fix one part of our government and not the other part. We support the Pentagon. We support the troops. Of course we do. But as the Secretary of Defense has so implored us, don't do this to the military. To have a secure nation involves more than the people in the armed services. The people in the armed services, while their families are at home, want them to be protected as they travel to an airport. The TSA needs to be funded, the FBI needs to be funded, the Drug Enforcement Administration needs to be funded, Homeland Security needs to be funded, and in the process, we need to fund education properly. We need to fund research for health. We need to make sure the National Institutes of Health are not whacked again with sequestration the way they were the first time. They lost $1.6 billion. They have never recovered from that. They have never gotten their money back. Do we want to give them another sequestration? Of course we don't. We have until this fiscal year ends in the fall to work this out, and that is what we should do. We are legislators. I agree with the 52 Republicans who said we should fix sequestration, but this bill only fixes sequestration for the Department of Defense. Let's sit down and do what we, as legislators, are supposed to do. Legislation is the art of compromise. We are not going to get everything we want, but the Republicans shouldn't get everything they want, and we should not fund this government by using funny money for defense and using the really unfunny money on the rest of the government. It is unfair, and above all the Republican Party, which used to stand for fiscal responsibility, should get fiscally responsible and help us work this out. We are ready and willing at any time to sit down and work through this, and we need to start that now.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I don't know another way to describe what I heard this morning in my morning briefing and then the news accounts of this sickening revelation of what took place in South Carolina last night. Think about this. The sanctity of a house of worship was violated as a gunman opened fire in the historically Black Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, SC. We know now at least nine people are dead, and others, of course, are hurt. I don't know how to describe it. This individual was like a wolf in sheep's clothing. He sat among the congregation for a substantial amount of time before he pulled out a weapon and started firing at people. The thought of people who were in a house of worship being gunned down as they gathered to pray is heart-wrenching, devastating, and is the ultimate act of cowardice and hatred. As our good Chaplain said, our hearts go out to the families and friends of the people who were gunned down in that church. It is hard to even comprehend anything so awful. So, on behalf of the Senate family, we send our support and our sympathy. We hope Charleston law enforcement are able to capture this murderer, and the perpetrator be swiftly apprehended and brought to justice. Mr. President, I had some remarks I was going to give, but they could be deemed partisan in nature and I can give them some other time. I don't feel it would be appropriate for me now to talk about these things that are definitely inappropriate today with this pall hanging over our country. Based upon that, I would ask that the Presiding Officer announce the business of the day.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, my friend the Republican leader throws the word ``filibuster'' around. He has a right to do that because he is an expert. He has led in this Senate more filibusters than all previous leaders put together. As the Republican leader, he has engineered about 300 filibusters, stopping basically everything--certainly slowing down everything on the President's agenda. It was a plan he was a part of and he certainly lived up to that. The 46 Democrats over here are just as patriotic as the 54 Republicans over there. We care about the troops just as much as the Republicans over there, but we also believe that when my friend the Republican leader throws around terms such as ``vast bureaucracy,'' that we want to fund a vast bureaucracy, I don't think we should start talking about bureaucracies. The Pentagon is a pretty good bureaucracy in itself. I admire very much the Secretary of Defense. He does the best job he can. Our Secretary of Defense does not agree with the Republicans as to how the troops should be funded. My friend the Republican leader knows the legislation before this body is going to be vetoed by the President. He said so. He put it in writing. The President said that on appropriations bills, if they are at the level of sequestration, he will veto those also. So this little magic game I mentioned yesterday that the Republican leader has engineered, saying we are going to take care of defense, and with the vast bureaucracy, we don't care what happens to them--well, in this ``vast bureaucracy'' are things such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Homeland Security Secretariat, which is important for protecting our homeland, making sure airports are safe, making sure our borders are protected. That is the vast bureaucracy he is talking about. So we Democrats want to make sure there is equality. We believe in funding defense, and we are going to do everything we can. There has been no better example of that than the ranking member of the subcommittee dealing with defense, the senior Senator from Illinois. Senator Durbin has worked so hard to be fair--fair to Democrats and fair to Republicans--and I am confident he will continue to do that. I am also confident he cares about the other agencies we are so concerned about, not only the few I have mentioned. To have a secure nation takes more than bombs and bullets. Having a secure nation is also making sure we have a good education system, a good transportation system, a good program to maintain research for health. The most famous organization in the history of the world for investigating disease is the National Institutes of Health. We know what sequestration did to them once, and they are about to do it again, if this little magic game the Republican leader is engineering goes on. It will be cut like everybody else. It is not defense. The one fact Senator McConnell fails to mention is the fact that it is all borrowed money--$100 billion, approximately--to get what he wants done in the Defense bill. It is borrowed money in the so-called overseas contingency fund. We are going to do what we think is appropriate for the country.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, this month we will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the creation of the Eisenhower Interstate Highway System. The Interstate Highway System was one of the signature accomplishments of the entire 20th century. If there was ever a list of the seven wonders of the United States, our Nation's highway system would be on that list. Consider the sheer size and complexity of our transportation system. The Interstate Highway System encompasses 50,000 miles of highways, bridges, and tunnels, and that doesn't count the railways. It connects East and West, North and South. A person can drive from Boston directly to Seattle, 3,020 miles, or from Laredo, TX, to Duluth, MN, 1,831 miles, all on the Interstate Highway System. The Federal Interstate Highway System serves all 50 States and the District of Columbia. The Interstate Highway System is a central nervous system of our Nation's economy, creating vital corridors for goods and services for American commerce. In every community in our Nation, from our largest cities and our large metropolitan areas to the small rural communities that have just a few people--and I mean a few people--our interstate highways bear the name of Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower, whose vision of a connected America resulted in the Federal Highway Act of 1956. How did this good man, Dwight Eisenhower, come up with this idea? Well, he was ordered, as a young officer in the Army, to bring a military contingent across the United States during World War I. It was awful. He never forgot that. There was no Federal highway system. There were barely highways. There were barely roads. With his experience as Allied commander of troops in World War II, he came back from that recognizing how important moving goods and services for the military around Europe was, and how he had tried that in the United States and it did not work. But he was going to change that. That is what he did. President Eisenhower, a Republican, understood that the interstate highway complex was an investment worth making. He realized the money spent on roads and bridges creates jobs--lots of jobs. President Eisenhower, with all of his military experience and background, understood that an interstate system was important to our national security. My friend talks about the security of our troops. Of course they are important. We so admire these men and women who protect us. But to have a safe and secure Nation, we also have to have things such as a good highway system. My friend the Republican leader fails to mention that. It is part of our national security needs, as evidenced by Dwight Eisenhower. I wonder what President Eisenhower would think of today's Republican Party and its lack of concern for the Interstate Highway System. I believe he would be greatly disappointed. Just a few weeks from now, as the month of July comes to a close, funding for the Federal highway program will be gone. It will expire. But you would not know that congressional Republicans are watching the same movie the American people are watching. Republicans in Congress have refused to work with us in making an adequate, long-term investment in our country's surface transportation system. Instead, the Republicans see the Federal highway program and trust fund as some sort of a hot potato. Stay away from it. It should never be dealt with and only be kicked down the road, leaving millions of jobs behind. Even with the looming deadline, Republicans are showing no haste in forming a plan to address our Nation's crumbling roads, railroads, bridges, and transit systems. We have one of the most unique makeups in one of our committees that this body has ever seen. We have one of the most liberal Members of the Senate, Barbara Boxer, and her counterpart is one of the most conservative Members of this body, Jim Inhofe from Oklahoma. They know the importance. These two divergent political spectrums know that we have to do something about the highway system. They are going to put out a bill. They are going to authorize it. Then we need to figure out a way to fund that. Republicans don't seem interested in that. Even with its looming deadline, Republicans are showing no haste in forming a plan or to develop one for this system that we have to do something about. Congressional Republicans see no urgency to schedule hearings, to mark up a bill, to take testimony in other ways or to make the highway trust fund solvent. With every day that passes, our Federal highway trust fund inches closer and closer to insolvency. It is clear we will need to get to that reauthorization of the highway program either this week or next week. But we won't. Look at the schedule. It means we are left with July. Looking at the Senate calendar for July, assuming that the Republican leader will continue to keep the Senate out of session on Fridays, we will have, in reality, 15 days to reauthorize the Federal highway system--15 days. Fifteen session days is precious little time, especially when Republicans don't feel any urgency to solve this problem. Of course, we all know how this is going to play out. This is straight out of the Republican's playbook--the manufactured crisis playbook. They have written the book, and they are adding chapters to it every week of this Congress. Republicans will drag their feet until the very last minute, refusing to work with us on a long-term solution to our Nation's infrastructure woes. Then, when the deadline is imminent, the Republican leader will offer yet another short-term extension to stave off another disaster of his own making. This is and should be unacceptable to everyone here. We already have had 33 Republican short-term fixes. We do not need a 34th. But that is where we are headed. That is too bad. What we do need is a Republican Party that sees the value of a robust, long-term investment in our Nation's highways. We need a Republican Party that sees what President Eisenhower saw 50 years ago--half a century--that investing in our infrastructure is a shot in the arm to our economy. There are hundreds of thousands of shovel-ready jobs just waiting for Congress to act. On the other hand, failing to meet our country's infrastructure needs will be catastrophic. The American Society of Civil Engineers predicts that our economy would lose $1 trillion unless we invest in surface transportation--$1 trillion. Let's not forget the safety implications of sitting on our hands. Half of our roads are in poor condition. Tens of thousands of bridges across the country are structurally deficient. Railroads are without important, lifesaving braking systems. They need to be refurbished and some parts of them reinvented. Doing nothing is not and should not be an option. The Republican leader should change course and abandon his policy of governing by crisis. We can get started on a long-term, bipartisan reauthorization of the Federal highway program today. All we need is for Republican Members of Congress and their leaders to focus on American jobs and the traveling American public's safety. They have not done that. This is too bad. Mr. President, there are a number of Senators on the floor. Will the Chair announce the business of the day.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I wish to take a minute to express my appreciation to the junior Senator from Michigan in his maiden speech. It was terrific. It was delivered so well, and that is what Michigan is all about. We appreciate it very, very much. He has big shoes to fill, those of Carl Levin. We all know what a giant he was in the Senate. From Senator Levin to Senator Stabenow, they have both said: Gary Peters can do it. I am impressed with him very much. He is a team player. He is willing to do the hard lifting. I appreciate that very much. He mentioned Senator Levin, of course, whom we all admired so very much. Also, I wish to take a minute to talk about his partner in the Senate today, Debbie Stabenow. As he mentioned, she is a part of Senate leadership. She is there because she deserves it. There is no one who works harder than Debbie Stabenow. And if there were a work ethic role model for my friend Gary Peters to follow, Debbie Stabenow is the perfect person. So I thank the junior Senator from Michigan for being who he is. We have come to know who he is in 6 months, and we like him very much.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I have for many, many years--every Thursday, when we are in session, I have what I call ``Welcome to Washington.'' I look forward to those Thursday mornings at 8:30 visiting with people from Nevada, and there are guests and their friends who come from other places who want to visit with me. So I enjoy those very much. Last Thursday, I had a young man named Nathaniel visit. He had been an intern for me. His family is from Nevada. His grandfather is a very famous man by the name of John Squire Drendel. John Squire Drendel is now 93 but a wonderful lawyer and just a good person. The reason I recognized Nathaniel--they came back to one of my ``Welcome to Washingtons.'' I called him and I said: Hey, Nathaniel. Come on up here. I said: Let's show these folks some of your magic tricks. So that is what he would do. I would bring him in and he could do magic tricks. He is now going to law school. His magic tricks aren't as good as they used to be. He hasn't practiced very much. What I have heard my friend the Republican leader talk about today-- he is trying to do some magic tricks. It is not only on the Senate but the country. The Defense authorization bill is an important piece of legislation. We Democrats support our troops. No one can dispute that. We are just as patriotic as any Republican. My 46 Democrats are just as patriotic as the 54 Republicans. We support defense just as much as our Republican friends do. But we also support the rest of our country. We support the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Justice Department. We support the U.S. marshals who are now out looking for those two killers who escaped from prison in New York. We support the Drug Enforcement Administration. We support the Immigration and Naturalization Service, Social Security, VA. I could go on and on. To have a sound, secure homeland, we have to make sure we take care not only of the Pentagon's needs but the needs of the American people. My friend the Republican leader, as a little bit of his magic, always throws in the Internal Revenue Service, as if: Boy, we are doing great things. We are cutting the Internal Revenue Service. I am not here to throw bouquets to the Internal Revenue Service, but I am here to say it is an important part of our country. I met with the head of the IRS maybe a couple of months ago now. He came and said: You know, we made it through tax season and we did a good job. But he said: During the time that people were trying to file their income tax returns, if someone had tried to call the Internal Revenue Service, they would not have gotten an answer. We did not have enough personnel to even answer the phones. Is that what we want? Do we want people who call the IRS not to be able to have someone answer the phone? And a lot of that is happening now. The Federal Government is being starved for resources. Why? Because of the Republican determination to try some magic. We know the Republicans are not really serious about the Defense bill. If they were, would they throw on this the Export-Import Bank--an amendment-- and move to table their own amendment? Of course not. Some 165,000 people are working today because of the Export-Import Bank. It is an important function of our government. But a large number of Republicans are trying to kill this program, indicating how unserious they are about doing something about it, by focusing on the Defense bill an amendment that they filed and moved to table their own amendment just so they could check the box: Well, we tried to do something on Export-Import Bank. Cyber security. We are being hacked on a daily basis. They are not only hacking businesses, they are hacking our government--everything. To show how unserious the Republicans are about this issue, which we have been trying to do something as Democrats for years, the Republicans filed an amendment on this bill knowing the President has already said he is going to veto the bill. I am so disappointed in how the Republicans are being very ungenuine in trying to move forward on this legislation. The bill is going to be vetoed; the President said so. The other thing that I think is important for the American public to understand and to make sure all of the Members of the Senate and their staff understand is that this is an authorization. I can remember that as a boy in Nevada, in high school, I would see these big announcements--Senator Cannon and Senator Bible introduced this legislation. I wondered why nothing ever happened on it. It was because it was only to authorize. The important function of this government--and it has been since the beginning--is to have an Appropriations Committee. After something is authorized, it has to be funded. So of course this authorization bill is important, and we believe it is important. But my friend the Republican leader is treating it-- trying to perform some magic because he is really not serious about it for the reasons I have mentioned.