Harry Reid

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. I ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum required under rule XXII be waived and that the vote on the motion to invoke cloture on S. 601 occur at 12 noon on Tuesday, May 14.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. I yield to the Senator from Massachusetts, Ms. Warren.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, by now the minority's tactics, the Republican tactics of obstruction and delay are well known, but they are also well worn. Those methods were once again on display yesterday when Republicans delayed for the second time in 2 weeks a Senate HELP Committee vote on the nomination of Tom Perez to lead the Department of Labor. The able and considerate chairman Tom Harkin had already postponed the vote 2 weeks at the request of one of the Republicans. They requested more time to review documents related to Tom Perez's nomination. It was terribly disappointing that, after they were granted additional time as a matter of courtesy, an anonymous Republican would employ an arcane procedural tactic to prevent the committee from even meeting, and, of course, voting on that nomination. Republicans had 7 weeks, 49 days to consider this nomination. He was nominated on March 21. Since his confirmation hearing in April, he has responded in writing to more than 200 questions. He is an extremely qualified candidate for this job. The President was smart in nominating him. He is what the American dream is all about. He is the son of immigrants. He paid his way through college by working as a garbage collector and at a warehouse. He went on to become the first lawyer in his family. Mr. Perez was appointed by Governor O'Malley of Maryland to be the secretary of the Department Labor, where he helped implement the country's first statewide living wage law. In his current role as the head of the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, Mr. Perez helped settle cases on behalf of families targeted by unfair mortgage lending. As anyone can see, he is an extremely qualified nominee. His knowledge and experience will make him an outstanding Secretary. Unfortunately, impressive qualifications and exceptional character are no longer enough to satisfy Senate Republicans. Instead of a fair and constructive confirmation process, Republicans have chosen to play partisan political games with dozens--scores--of President Obama's appointees. They have also slow-walked the nomination of dedicated public servant Gina McCarthy to lead the EPA, the Environmental Protection Agency. This morning, just a few minutes ago, Republican members of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee sent a letter to Chairman Boxer indicating they will boycott committee markup of Ms. McCarthy's nomination. This type of blanket partisan obstruction used to be unheard of. Now it has become the pattern Republicans have adopted. They will use any procedural roadblock or stalling tactic to deny President Obama qualified nominees. My Republican colleagues can try every trick in the book--and they have and they probably will--but I assure you he will have his day in the Senate. I assure everyone Ms. McCarthy will have her day in the Senate, and I will do all I can to ensure these highly qualified are confirmed, as the President has requested.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Following leader remarks the Senate will be in morning business for 1 hour, with the majority controlling the first half and the Republicans controlling the final half. Following morning business the Senate will resume consideration of S. 601, the Water Resources Development Act. We will continue to work through amendments to the bill today. We may also consider two district court judges sometime today, the Dick nomination from Louisiana and the Roman nomination from New York. Senators will be notified when those votes are scheduled.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Madam President, it has been 47 days since the Senate passed its sensible progrowth budget. As my friend the minority leader has said many times, after the Senate passed a budget, the next logical step would be to go to conference and try to find common ground. This is what Senator McConnell said earlier this year: We ought not to ignore the law any longer. And I think it's a good step in the direction of getting back to regular order, which we ought to follow. After years of calling for regular order, Republicans ought to be eager to go to conference. Senator McConnell and the Republican caucus pulled a 180--a flip-flop. They were for regular order before they were against regular order. For weeks Republicans have refused to go to conference, and they have refused to explain why. The only excuse Republicans offered came not from the minority leader but from the junior Senator from Texas. Senator Cruz objected to the budget conference on the grounds that Democrats must concede basically everything before Republicans will negotiate anything. As one news reporter put it, the Republicans' offer is: ``First surrender, then we will fight.'' Republicans know as well as Democrats that is not any way to negotiate. Unilateral disarmament in the legislative process is not the same thing as compromise. Democrats--along with the media and the American people--are left to wonder and guess the real reason the Republicans are so determined to avoid a budget conference. Are Republicans afraid to defend or debate their extreme budget in full public view? Probably. It cannot be easy to defend a budget that will end Medicare as we know it. It cannot be easy to stand strong for a plan that asks the middle class to foot the bill for more tax breaks for the rich--a politically unsustainable position already rejected by the voters. It cannot be easy to stick up for the arbitrary meat-ax cuts of the sequester, which guts the safety net protecting the elderly, the poor, the middle class, veterans, and sometimes the helpless. Is it possible that Republicans are simply hoping to delay compromise long enough to create another manufactured crisis as the Nation once again approaches a default on its bills? Americans are tired of the type of knockdown, drag-out debt ceiling battles that caused our credit downgrade and cost our economy billions of dollars last year. Middle- class families have been through enough economic turmoil. It is unbelievable that Republicans would once again hold the full faith and credit of our government hostage. I hope my Republican colleagues will come to their senses. The way to put our Nation on sound fiscal footing is to set aside this obstruction and set sensible policy through regular order in the legislative process, not to extort concessions through dangerous hostage taking. Passing the budget in each Chamber was a first good step toward restoring regular order. The next move is to go to conference and set our minds on reaching a reasonable compromise that reverses the painful cuts of sequestration. Right now the Republicans are the only thing standing between the Congress and compromise. I am optimistic that they will not continue to put American families through more financial pain for their own short- term political gain. I yield to my friend from Washington for a unanimous consent request.

Mr. REID. Madam President, before my friend leaves the floor, I want the record spread with this. The admiration the Democratic caucus has for the Senator from Washington is significant. She is an elected leader. She was the person chosen to be the chair of the supercommittee to come up with a plan to solve the Nation's crisis we have economically, and she did yeoman's work. It was all done until a letter was received from virtually every Republican Senator saying, fine, great deal that Chairman Murray has done, but we are not going to agree to any revenue. To work through the contentious problems we have had on the floor and come up with a budget is remarkable, and it is a budget we are very proud of. I would say to my friend, I think we are making some progress because just within the past hour the Speaker has said this: ``We can't cut our way to prosperity.'' That is a significant step forward. The Speaker of the House of Representatives, for the first time in some time, has spoken reality, the truth, the facts. I quote directly: ``We can't cut our way to prosperity.'' That is right. That is why we have to get to regular order. We have to do what this body has been doing for 200 years or more: go to conference when there is a difference between what the House wants and what the Senate wants. That is all the chairman of the Budget Committee Senator Murray is asking--that we get together with our Republican colleagues and work out our differences. I think our budget--and we were led by Chairman Murray--is a very good budget. Is it perfect? Of course not. We would be willing to sit down and talk to our Republican colleagues in conference the way we have done for centuries and try to work out our differences. For them just to stonewall us and say, as the junior Senator from Texas said, fine, we will go to conference, but you have to agree to what we want before we go, what in the world is that all about? I admire Senator Murray, as does the entire Democratic caucus, and I am confident the people of Washington are very proud of this stalwart Senator who has done so much for this country. I want to make sure the Republicans understand she will be the chair. She is going to represent us. I am not going to be negotiating this. Senator McConnell is not going to be negotiating this. It is going to be done by the senior Senator from the State of Washington, and she is willing to deal with whomever the Republicans decide she should deal with.

Mr. REID. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that at 1:30 today, the Senate proceed to executive session to consider Calendar Nos. 39 and 41 under the previous order.

Mr. REID. With this consent, there will be up to two rollcall votes at about 2 p.m. today--there may be only one but up to two--on the nominations of Shelly Deckert Dick to be a district judge for the Middle District of Louisiana and Nelson Stephen Roman to be a district judge for the Southern District of New York. I note the absence of a quorum.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, if the Senator would be kind enough, we can move through this in about 2 or 3 minutes and then we will put it on automatic pilot for as long as the Senator cares to speak.

Mr. REID. I appreciate the courtesy of my friend.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that at a time to be determined by me, in consultation with Senator McConnell, the Senate proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 40; that there be 1 hour for debate equally divided in the usual form; that upon the use or yielding back of time the Senate proceed to vote, without intervening action or debate on the nomination; that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate; that no further motions be in order to the nomination; that any statements related to the nomination be printed in the Record; that the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action and the Senate resume legislative session.

Mr. REID. I now ask unanimous consent that at a time to be determined by me, in consultation with Senator McConnell, the Senate proceed to Calendar No. 91; that there be 3 hours of debate equally divided in the usual form; that upon the use or yielding back of time the Senate proceed to vote without intervening action or debate on the nomination; that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate; that no further motions be in order to the nomination; that any statements related to the nomination be printed in the Record; that President Obama be immediately notified of the Senate's action and the Senate then resume legislative session.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of H.R. 360.

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

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 2 p.m. on Monday, May 13, 2013; that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, 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 until 5 p.m., with Senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each; further, that the filing deadline for all first-degree amendments to S. 601, the Water Resources Development Act, be 4 p.m. on Monday.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, as previously announced, there will be no rollcall votes on Monday. The next rollcall vote will be on Tuesday prior to the caucus meetings.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that it adjourn following the remarks of the Senator from Louisiana, Ms. Landrieu.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration en bloc of the following resolutions which were submitted earlier today: S. Res. 136, S. Res. 137, and S. Res. 138.

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolutions be agreed to, the preambles be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table en bloc, with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I understand that S. 888 is at the desk and due for a second reading.

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I object to any further proceedings with respect to the bill.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, for years Republicans have been singing the praises of regular order, week after week, month after month. It has gone into years now. Even though they may not have been correct, they did it anyway. They said how they missed the days of committee markups, how they longed for an amendment vote-arama, amendments, and how they pined for a budget resolution. As the junior Senator from Texas said just before the election: Senate Democrats have not even had a budget in 3 years. They are not pretending to try to fix these problems. I think that is irresponsible. But then Republicans got what they wanted 46 days ago. Forty-six days it has been since the Senate passed its budget, but Republicans are standing in the way of moving forward in the conference. They got what they asked, and now they no longer want what they asked for. Remember, 46 days ago, under regular order, after a thorough committee markup, an all-night session--we ended at 5 a.m. in the morning--the Senate passed a budget resolution. Over the last 46 days, Republicans have stunningly and repeatedly blocked attempts to name budget conferees. If we did that, we could start down the path to compromise. That is what legislation is all about. Legislation, by definition, is the art of compromise. It is Republicans who, as Senator Cruz put it, aren't even intending to fix these problems. Republicans often have said the regular order of the budget process is the only way to get long-term sound fiscal policy. Democrats and Republicans will not find common ground if they don't sit down and talk. Obviously, if we can't talk, it doesn't do any good. We need someone to talk to. Here is what we are trying to accomplish. Move legislation forward. Don't take my word for it. This is what the Speaker of the House of Representatives said just a few weeks ago: Here is the process. The House passes a bill. The Senate can pass a bill. And if we disagree, we go to conference and work it out. What Speaker Boehner and Senator Cruz have said is that they used to love the idea of regular order, but they don't like it anymore. They got what they wanted, but they don't like what they got. This is what my friend, the minority leader, said in January of this year in praise of the conference committee: If the Senate version is different than the one the House sends over, send it off to conference. That's how things are supposed to work around here. We used to call it legislating. That is what the Republican leader said. A few days later, Senator McConnell extolled the virtue of regular order by saying this: Remember, regular order is how the Senate is supposed to function. . . . The public is supposed to have a chance to scrutinize the proposals before us. Here we have the junior Senator from Texas, the Speaker of the House, and the Republican leader saying we should have regular order. We should pass legislation, as we have done and the House has done, and then work it out in conference. So we agree. I agree with those three people. Do you know something else. The American public agrees. They suddenly don't like what they wished for. We passed our budget; the House Republicans passed theirs. The next step under regular order is to move to conference to negotiate a compromise. I can't understand--maybe I do. I think I understand why Republicans don't want to debate their budget in the light of day. You see, the Ryan budget, which they extol to each other, which passed the House, would turn Medicare into a voucher program--the end of Medicare as we know it. The Ryan Republican budget would lower taxes for the rich while the middle class foots the bill. That is in their budget. The Republican budget would rip the safety net from under the elderly, the middle class, veterans, and the poor. No wonder they don't want to go to conference. No wonder they don't want transparency. The Democratic budget, by contrast, would preserve or protect Medicare for our children and grandchildren. The Democratic budget would ask the wealthiest Americans to contribute just a little bit more to help reduce the deficit. The Democratic budget would balance smart spending cuts with new revenue from closing loopholes. It is obvious, then, why the Republicans don't want to compare the sensible Senate budget with the extreme House budget. The extreme House Republican budget was resoundingly rejected by the voters in November. That is what Governor Romney touted. Remember, Congressman Ryan was his Vice Presidential candidate. They ran together. Now it is time for each side to stand for what it believes. As the junior Senator from Texas said late last year, we have ``got to go on record and say this is what we want to do, this is our budget.'' Democrats aren't afraid to debate our principles in the light of day. We aren't afraid to try to resolve our differences in a conference committee instead of behind closed doors. This has been the custom in the Senate and House of Representatives for more than 200 years. Why are Republicans so afraid? Why are they blocking us from continuing this process in public? We heard from the junior Senator from Texas: Republicans will only go to conference if Democrats agree ahead of time to give in to every one of their demands. That is a strange one. Sure, we will go to conference, but before we go you have to agree to everything we want. If Republicans can't rig the game in their favor, he said, there will be no game, no conference, no legislating at all. Democrats want to put deadline-day negotiations and last-minute fixes behind us. We want to engage in a responsible legislative process under regular order, and we will keep pushing the process forward. Passing a budget in each Chamber is a good step to restoring regular order. It is only a first step. The next step is to sit down and resolve our differences.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, following my remarks and those of Senator McConnell, the Senate will be in morning business until 10 a.m. At 10 a.m., the Senate will recess until 11:30 to allow for the joint meeting of Congress with the President of the Republic of Korea. When the Senate reconvenes, we will resume consideration of S. 601, the Water Resources Development Act. At 2 p.m. there will be three rollcall votes in relation to amendments to the bill.

Mr. REID

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