Harry Reid

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I have a second-degree amendment to my instructions which is also at the desk.

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum under rule XXII be waived with respect to the cloture motion I have just filed.

Mr. REID. Mr. President, as the Senate is aware, there are differences between the Senate and the House work product on the STOCK Act. This legislation limits insider trading by Members of Congress. It certainly would have been my preference to work out these differences between the two Houses through a conference committee. I know that is the preference of the Republican leader. That is the usual practice. But we have been advised there would be objection to going to conference by consent. I have tried it and tried it and we cannot break through that. That means it would take filing and adopting three separate cloture motions over the course of weeks to get to conference; that is, if we can be successful on the first two. So we need to address this issue more quickly because otherwise we do not address it at all, and we need to address it. As a consequence, I am going to file cloture in the motion to concur with the House bill on the STOCK Act. It is my hope we can resolve this matter expeditiously, and I hope we can thereby make clear Congress's intent to prohibit insider trading by Members of Congress. I now ask the Chair to lay before the Senate a message from the House with respect to S. 2038.

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I move to concur in the House amendment to S. 2038. I ask for the yeas and nays on that motion.

Mr. REID. I have a cloture motion at the desk.

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I move to concur in the House amendment to S. 2038, with an amendment.

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays on my motion.

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I have a second-degree amendment at the desk.

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I have a motion to refer the House message to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs with instructions to report back forthwith with an amendment.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that Senator Reed be recognized for 2 minutes and Senator Landrieu for 2 minutes. I ask unanimous consent that those two Senators be recognized.

Mr. REID. Madam President, we need order in the Senate. People should take their seats. The Republican leader has some words he wants to share with the Senate.

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

Mr. REID. Madam President, at a meeting very recently with people from the Pentagon, their No. 1 issue is not Afghanistan, it is not Iraq, it is not Pakistan, it is not North Korea, it is not Iran, it is cybersecurity. We have to move to that legislation. The post office is going broke as we speak. We have to move to that bill as quickly as we can. The Violence Against Women Act has expired. We have to move forward on that. We have so much to do in such a short period of time. The Export-Import Bank is a powerful piece of legislation--300,000 jobs this year alone. It saves $1 billion. And my Republican colleagues, as has been standard procedure around here, even on a bill that is as supported as this by the country, want to have a fight. The fight is on a procedural matter, that they want offered amendments-- plural. As my friend the Republican leader said, we could pass this bill in a relatively short period of time. Think about that. Right now, we could pass that, it would be part of this IPO bill we got from the House, and we could go on about our business. So I think this is a huge mistake by my Republican colleagues. Everyone, listen. Ex-Im is, for the foreseeable future, not going to be able to be moved forward. I cannot move it to the front of everything else when we have all these things due. I have only talked about a few of the things we have to do, and we have to do them very soon. So go ahead, my friends. You picked a fight where it is not a necessary fight, but you may be surprised how this winds up. I will say no more. I know what the rules of the Senate are, and I am going to follow them. So have at it, vote no on the Ex-Im Bank.

Mr. REID. Madam President, for my Members, we are going to have a conference at 5:15 in the LBJ Room. I have spoken to the Republican leader. We will have no more votes tonight. We will determine a time in the morning to have the next vote or votes. We will move on from there. So, again, I say to my Senators, 5:15 in the LBJ Room. I note the absence of a quorum.

Mr. REID. Madam President, I say go ahead and vote against a bill you favor. It is very clear. The only way to ensure that this program, the Ex-Im Bank, advances is to see that it is attached to the House measure. Clearly, that is it. I am very, very tired of this bill, the IPO bill, being referred to as a jobs bill. That takes a lot of gall, to talk about that as a jobs bill. We have a jobs bill that we, on a bipartisan basis, passed after 5 weeks on the Senate floor. Have I heard one word from my Republican colleagues about a real jobs bill, saying, why is the Speaker driving a nail in this bill that we worked on for 5 weeks? Understand that the surface transportation bill is a jobs bill. The IPO bill is a nice thing to do, if it were done in the right manner and we had some amendments that got rid of some of the bad provisions. Before this is all over, that may be just what happens.

Mr. REID. Madam President, remember, anyone who can read--we can all do that--the morning press accounts. Cantor of the House leadership has said he doesn't support the Ex-Im Bank; that my amendment--my amendment, sponsored by Democrats and Republicans--was a partisan maneuver. They are not about to take the Ex-Im Bank unless it is part of the overall package, and that is why we are doing it this way. Madam President, as my friend the Republican leader said so clearly, he is not the leader. I am. We have a number of very important issues we have to deal with. Even though I believe in the Ex-Im program, it is going to drop to the bottom of the calendar because we have things we have to do. Cloture Motion

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, will the Chair announce the business of the day?

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, every morning I go out to do my exercise. This morning I started out the door and there was a crash of thunder and lightning, so I decided to do my exercise inside. When I got into the gym, I could watch TV and I could see these storms in another part of the country--really violent storms. When I got back to my house, my wife indicated that Senator Schumer called. They were stuck on the tarmac in New York, so I knew at that time we were going to have some problems here with scheduling. Following leader remarks this morning, there will be a period of morning business for 1 hour, with Republicans controlling the first half and the majority controlling the final half. Following morning business, the Senate will begin consideration of H.R. 3606, the capital formation bill. The filing deadline for all second-degree amendments to the Reid substitute and the Cantwell amendment is 11 o'clock today. Order of Procedure The reason I am mentioning the storm situation is the votes we had scheduled for 11:30 today are going to have to be moved to this afternoon, because we have a number of people who can't be here, through no fault of their own. So I ask unanimous consent that the cloture votes that are currently scheduled to occur at 11:30 now begin at 4 p.m. this afternoon; that if cloture is invoked on an amendment or the bill, postcloture time be counted as if cloture were invoked at 12 noon today; and that the recess at 12:30 be until 2:15 to accommodate the weekly caucus meetings.

Mr. REID. The official photograph was expected to be today. We will try to do it later this afternoon. We will put everybody on notice about that, and I will consult with the Republican leader about the votes and about the other matters we are going to have to reschedule.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that there be a second reading of S. 2204.

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I object to any further proceedings on this bill at this time.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, for many years now the Ex-Im Bank, which is referred to as the Export-Import Bank, has helped American companies grow and sell their products overseas. For those same years the Ex-Im Bank has enjoyed broad bipartisan support. It was a good idea when it started and it is still a good idea. When it was last authorized in 2006, the Ex-Im Bank passed the House by voice vote and the Senate by unanimous consent. The unanimous consent request was offered by a Republican Senator. So when Senate Democrats brought the reauthorization of the Ex-Im Bank before the Senate last week, we hoped the legislation would proceed with bipartisan, bicameral support as it did in 2006. After all, the measure will support about 300,000 jobs annually and help American exports continue to compete in the global economy. It passed the Banking Committee here in the Senate unanimously. It had three Republican cosponsors and is backed by the National Association of Manufacturers, the Business Round Table, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and various labor unions, including Machinists. It will actually reduce the deficit by $1 billion. The Ex-Im Bank is one of the proposals we shouldn't have to argue over. This isn't something that deserves a fight. We should reauthorize it and move on quickly. But I am sorry to say, true to form, the Republican leadership--I am directing that to the House Republican leadership--this morning is once again spoiling for a fight where there shouldn't be a fight. Yesterday House Majority Leader Cantor called this bill that we are dealing with here to reauthorize the Ex-Im Bank a ``partisan amendment.'' This bill is cosponsored by the ranking member of the Banking Committee, Richard Shelby. Senator Shelby has been the chairman of that committee; he is now the ranking member. It is tough to call anything Senator Shelby puts his name on with a Democrat as partisan. Cantor claimed this noncontroversial, commonsense measure is derailing efforts to pass the IPO bill that will expand innovators' access to capital. It is simply not true. Leader Cantor should check with his Senate colleagues. Many of them understand American exporters need access to Federal financing to stay on a level playing field with global competitors. Yesterday the senior Senator from South Carolina, Lindsey Graham, said without the Ex-Im Bank, ``Our ability to grow in South Carolina is nonexistent.'' In 2011, South Carolina exporters sold more than $130 million worth of goods abroad, thanks to Ex-Im Bank financing. South Carolina is not the only State relying on the bank to keep business thriving. Nevada companies exported $33 million of their products last year, thanks to financing from the Export-Import Bank. In 2011, in the Presiding Officer's State of Delaware, the Ex-Im Bank made it possible for firms to sell more than $39 million worth of goods overseas. Last year, the Ex-Im Bank supported 300,000 jobs across 49 States and 2,000 cities in America. China already provides more investment capital to its exporters than the United States, Canada, Germany, and Great Britain combined, as Senator Graham said during his call yesterday. We had a conference call with people concerned about this legislation. So we cannot allow that gulf to widen. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce says: ``Failure to reauthorize Ex-Im would amount to America's unilateral disarmament in the face of other nations' aggressive trade finance programs.'' I don't know if Eric Cantor has looked at this legislation. What is he talking about? Why does he want to fight about this? Can't we do anything with the Republican-dominated House of Representatives, working together? The Chamber of Commerce said we do have a choice: We can compete or we can cooperate. We can engage in yet another unnecessary, unproductive battle--and Cantor is picking a fight, but we are not going to. He has challenged us to a fight. We are not going to fight because this is bipartisan legislation--or we can work together to help American businesses grow and hire. That is what we are going to do. The choice should not be difficult. We do not want a fight. The Senate will vote on this reasonable proposal today. Almost 300,000 Americans had jobs last year--I repeat--because of this important legislation. I hope those workers come first as Republican colleagues cast their votes today.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, Dr. Keith Rheault has dedicated his entire career to education, including serving in the Nevada education system for more than 26 years. At the end of this month, Dr. Rheault is retiring from his current position as the Nevada Superintendent of Public Instruction. Today, I am proud to recognize him for his service and his commitment to improving the lives of Nevada's children through education. As superintendent, Dr. Rheault has been responsible for a school system that educates more than 400,000 students in some of the most diverse school districts in the country. In this capacity, Dr. Rheault has developed a unique understanding of the challenges facing Nevada's districts and schools. Over his 8 years as superintendent, he has helped lead several statewide educational initiatives and has worked hard to ensure that Nevada students are prepared to compete in the global economy. Most recently, Nevada was one of only six States to be awarded a $71 million, 5-year competitive grant through the Striving Readers Comprehensive Literacy Program to improve the literacy skills of Nevada students, including students with disabilities and limited English proficiency. In addition, Dr. Rheault oversaw the Nevada Pathway to 21st Century Learning, a statewide professional development program dedicated to helping Nevada teachers successfully integrate and utilize technology in their classrooms. Nevadans are fortunate to have had the educational leadership of Dr. Rheault. I join with students, teachers, and administrators from across the State in thanking him for his dedication and service. It has been a pleasure to work with Dr. Rheault over the years, and I wish him and his family the best as he begins this next phase of his life.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until tomorrow, March 21 at 9:30 a.m.; that following the prayer and pledge, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed expired, and the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day; that following any leader remarks, the Senate be in a period of morning business for an hour; that during that period of time, Senators be allowed to speak for up to 10 minutes each, with the time equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees, with the Republicans controlling the final half, the majority the first half; that following morning business, the Senate resume consideration of H.R. 3606; finally, that the time from 2:30 p.m. until 3 p.m. be as in morning business to acknowledge the milestone reached by Senator Barbara Mikulski of Maryland as the longest serving woman in Congress in the history of our country.