Harry Reid

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Madam President, there are a number of people on the floor who have been here for some time, and I thought I would try to add a little order to this. I think Senator Manchin got here first. How much time does the Senator from West Virginia wish to take?

Mr. REID. How much time for the Senator from Alabama?

Mr. REID. And Senator Boxer, 15 minutes, I understand.

Mr. REID. We have a deal. I ask unanimous consent that the Senator from Alabama be recognized for 5 minutes, the Senator from California be recognized for 10 minutes, and the Senator from West Virginia for whatever time he needs.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, following leader remarks the Senate will be in a period of morning business for 1 hour. The majority will control the first half, the Republicans the final half. Following morning business the Senate will resume consideration of the motion to proceed to the Marketplace Fairness Act. From 12:30 today until 2:15 the Senate will be in a recess to allow for our weekly caucus meetings. Yesterday evening a number of Senators missed votes. We have talked about this a number of times and become somewhat complacent. We have votes for 15 minutes. We extend it for 5 minutes. We have extended that time for a long period of time. Because of procedural things around here in the Senate, I had to terminate that vote before 6 o'clock in an effort to save a full day of legislative business. Obviously, there is 30 hours following that cloture vote--wasted time. I have talked about it before, but there was no reason whatsoever that we went into Wednesday rather than Tuesday. So I do not apologize. Everyone here has to understand there are certain things we have to do around here. We have been somewhat lax in enforcing the length of votes. It is very unfair to people who vote and have other things to do to wait for others before the vote is terminated. I understand how important it is for people to do their votes, but it is also important to get our business done here. I repeat, had we not terminated that vote before 6 o'clock, then it would have kicked us over until Wednesday before cloture could be filed on the bill. I do not know if I am going to file cloture on the bill today, but at least I have the opportunity to do that.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, my Republican colleagues often demand a return to regular order. We have heard speeches, and the House is also talking about regular order. They have done this many different places but especially where the budget process is concerned. They complained for 2 years that we did not pass a budget, even though there was a law we passed that gave us those budget numbers. But they still came and talked about our needing to do a budget resolution. I repeat, we did not need a budget resolution because we had enacted a budget with the force of law, a bill the President signed. A resolution, the President does not have to sign that. This year, I repeat, the Republicans again requested we take up a budget resolution. Until 5 in the morning we took vote after vote on amendment after amendment, more than 100 votes. In the end, we passed a budget resolution without a single Republican vote in the affirmative. After giving the Republicans what they wanted or what they said they wanted, regular order, countless amendment votes, the passage of a budget resolution, a strange thing happened. House Republicans did a complete 180. They flipped. They are no longer insisting on regular order, even though they preached that for years. They do not want to go to conference and work things out. They did not even want to name conferees. It seems House Republicans do not want to be seen discussing even the possibility of compromise with Democrats for fear there will be a tea party revolt, but that is not a good reason to run away from budget negotiations. In fact, it is ridiculous. So today I am going to ask unanimous consent to name conferees so we can have a budget conference to try to work things out. I hope, even though I doubt, my Republican colleagues in the Senate will not object for the sole purpose of giving cover to the House Republican colleagues who are certainly directed and guided by the tea party folks over there. If the Republicans are serious about reducing the deficit, we need to get to work, get to work sooner rather than later. What is regular order? It means we do things the way they are supposed to be done--by the book, so to speak. So I am going to ask that consent soon.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of Calendar No. 33, H. Con. Res. 25; that is, the budget resolution; that all after the enacting clause be stricken and that the amendment which is at the desk, the text of S. Con. Res. 8, the budget resolution passed by the Senate, be inserted in lieu thereof; that H. Con. Res. 25, as amended, be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be consider made and laid on the table; that the Senate insist on its amendment, request a conference with the House on the disagreeing votes of the two Houses, and the Chair be authorized to appoint conferees on the part of the Senate, with the appointment of the budget conferees being on the ratio of 7 Democrats to 5 Republicans, and there be no intervening action or debate.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that Senator Toomey be recognized for up to 4 minutes, that following his remarks the Senator from North Dakota, Ms. Heitkamp, be recognized.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Las Vegas is the destination resort of the world. I may get a little static from New York about that, but it is a place a lot of people wish to visit. We understand the importance of doing something about the lines at airports as the result of sequestration. But as I indicated in my remarks, I am also concerned about the little boys and girls who are knocked off Head Start--70,000 of them. I am also concerned about medical research. As I stated yesterday, Duke University is laying off 50 people. Duke does some of the most important medical research there is, dealing with dread disease. I am concerned about homeless veterans. The program will eliminate homeless veterans having a home. This is what sequestration does to them. The reason sequester is taking effect is because Congress enacted it into law the Budget Control Act of 2011. The vast majority of Republicans voted for this. The Senate considered an alternative that would have altered sequester, and it would have done it with a balanced package. Republicans blocked it earlier this year. We need to lessen the impact of sequestration. It is not as if we are blind to doing something about deficit reduction. We have already reduced the debt by about $2.6 trillion. My friend from Pennsylvania has a reputation for being very concerned about dealing with money, and I admire him for his tenaciousness in that regard. What I have suggested here certainly seems reasonable. For 5 months, we do a timeout on the sequestration. During the 5 months, sequestration would be paid for with part of the $650 billion that was in a pot that is a result of the money building up due to reducing the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. During these 5 months, let's find a better way to go forward with our efforts to reduce the debt. I think this is reasonable, it would be fair, and it would give us time to do something. Certainly with the debt ceiling coming up and other major issues we need to deal with, I think we should lessen not only the impact of the problems we have at airports around America, but also we should focus on little boys and girls and elderly men and women who are losing Meals On Wheels, their only hot meal of the day. I think we should do that--look at this sequestration and take a timeout. I recognize my friend from North Dakota, who is going to give her maiden speech. We are looking forward to hearing what she has to say.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Let's talk about sequestration just for a brief time. I talked about it yesterday in the afternoon when the Senate convened. On Sunday, the Federal Aviation Administration implemented sequester furloughs. It will affect tens of thousands of employees. By Monday, yesterday, travelers were already experiencing delays at airports from coast to coast. According to the Wall Street Journal, flights to New York airports were delayed more than an hour already because of those furloughs. Delays are also reported in Los Angeles and even Baltimore. The FAA assured us things will get much worse before the end of the busy summer travel season, as these arbitrary sequester cuts continue to affect airport staffing levels. What this means is that every 2 weeks all FAA employees will have to take a day off. At peak travel times, almost 7,000 flights will be delayed every day, some of them by up to 3 hours. On the worst day we had last year because of weather-related issues, less than 3,000 flights were delayed. Now, every day, more than twice that number will be delayed. These delays will be bad for business, they will be frustrating for families, and they will be devastating for the economy. But flight delays are not the only unintended consequence of these across-the- board cuts. It is not just FAA employees. It will affect 750,000 jobs across the country. It will shred the safety net that keeps millions of seniors, children, veterans, and needy families from falling through the cracks. It will gut investment in education, medical research that helps America compete in the 21st century. More than 2,700 schools with large numbers of disadvantaged children will see their Federal funding slashed. Seventy thousand little boys and girls will not be able to do the Head Start programs. These cuts will put 10,000 classroom jobs at risk. They will eliminate extra help at closing the achievement gap for 1.2 million underprivileged students. More than 7,200 teachers and classroom aids who work with children with disabilities will lose their jobs because of the sequester. Some 33,000 college students will lose their work study jobs. I was a janitor for part of the time I went to school. It helped me pay my tuition. Things have changed over the years, but these jobs are still important, very important. They call them work study jobs. We are putting the dream of higher education further out of reach for our poorest students if we keep this sequestration going. Families and businesses in every State will feel the pain of the sequester whether they fly or do not fly. But Congress could act now to reverse these cuts without adding a single dollar to the deficit. We can use the savings from wrapping up military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan to avoid the full brunt of these arbitrary cuts. Right now, there is about $650 billion in that fund. We could erase the sequester for the rest of the year, which is a fraction of the savings from winding down these two wars. Using those savings, Congress could avert the most painful and senseless sequester cuts, cuts to the FAA and programs that get homeless veterans off the streets, fund research to cure lethal diseases, and provide meals to needy seniors. I only hope public outcry over long delays at airports will serve as a wake-up call to my Republican colleagues. We cannot put off action any longer.

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 text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that Augustus Ilag, an intern for the Finance Committee, be allowed on the Senate floor for the remainder of this calendar year.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, following leader remarks, the Senate will be in a period of morning business until 5:30 this evening. Senators will be permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each. At 5:30 there will be a vote on the motion to proceed to S. 743, the Marketplace Fairness Act.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. I now ask unanimous consent there be a moment of silence at 2:50 p.m. today for the purpose of honoring the victims of the Boston bombings.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I commend the law enforcement officials at the city, State, and local level for their incredible response to last week's traumatic and horrifying events at the Boston Marathon, and for hours following that all over the Boston metropolitan area. A week that began with this unspeakable tragedy, the death of three innocents, ended with the death of one suspect in the Boston bombing marathon and the capture of the other. Capturing those suspects would have been impossible without the hard work and bravery of countless law enforcement personnel as well as the cooperation and fortitude of the people of Boston. They are Boston strong. Our hearts extend to the family of 26-year-old Sean Collier, the young MIT officer who was simply sitting in his car and was so callously killed by these bombing murderers. Our thoughts this week are with Richard Donohue, the transit police officer who was wounded during the manhunt by these terrorists. We once again extend hope for recovery of those injured in last week's senseless bombings and our condolences to lost loved ones. The U.S. Government and Americans across the Nation pledge our continued support for the people of Massachusetts as they recuperate from a truly trying week.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, Americans arriving at the airport--almost any airport in America--to take off on their summer vacations already face long lines at security checkpoints. Soon they will be facing long waits at the terminal as well. Last week the Federal Aviation Administration announced that starting this week thousands of flights every day will be delayed for up to 3 hours. Because of the devastating, arbitrary cuts of sequestration, the FAA is forced to furlough tens of thousands of workers. These furloughs could lead to 6,700 flight delays every day this summer. I repeat, every day, 6,700 delayed flights. By comparison, the worst travel day of last year, 2012, was about 3,000 flights being delayed. That was after severe thunderstorms accompanied by 2-inch hail and a 90-mile-an-hour wind that ripped across the Midwest and Northeast and a tornado touched down in New York. That caused 3,000 flight delays. On any day this sequestration kicks in, it will be double that. Travelers were stranded at airports across the country during that very bad day we had last year. Some were stranded for days. It is going to be worse than that. As I said, this summer more than twice that number of flights will be delayed every single day. While major airports such as LaGuardia in New York and O'Hare in Chicago will see the worst delays, furloughs will impact every airport in the Nation. So whether Americans are traveling to Orlando, Las Vegas, San Diego or Seattle, Maine or Montana, they should expect a long wait for a flight. This will make air travel frustrating, to say the least. It is bad enough now. It will be worse. It will be time-consuming for millions of Americans, whether taking the family to see the Grand Canyon or heading to New York for business. It will cover everything. At airports across the country, millions of Americans who fly will get their first taste of the pain of sequestration. Many Americans have been feeling that pain for weeks. For example, in Rockland, ME, Meals on Wheels, a wonderful program, been in existence for a long time, decades--it is for people who are old and homebound. They bring them a meal, one meal a day, a hot meal. In Rockland, ME, Meals on Wheels has a waiting list for the first time in 16 years. It is going to affect Meals on Wheels Programs all over the country. They have literally cut the size of meals they serve to the elderly in order to save money. Not only are they going to be able to do less meals, but those they serve are going to be smaller. This is the only meal most of these seniors get every day. They may have a bowl of cereal, eat a piece of toast. But as far as a hot meal, this is it. In Fayetteville, AR, a Head Start Program will close 13 days early this spring, leaving hundreds of needy children without anywhere to go and without nutritious meals to eat. Nationwide, more than 70,000 little boys and girls will be kicked off Head Start, a program for low- income children who could not afford preschool. As the name Head Start says, the purpose of it is for these tiny little boys and girls to have preschool programs so they can learn to start to understand what it means to read, to understand what education is all about. Economically burdened little kids, because of this program, who want to get a head start will not be able to; these programs will be savaged. At Duke University, just one program out of hundreds at the School of Medicine program will have 50 people laid off. These are people doing some of the most important research there is in the world to cure diseases such as Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, diabetes. All over the country, thousands of these researchers will be furloughed or they will be laid off. The U.S. military has cut tuition assistance for soldiers and eliminated a program helping more than 100,000 homeless veterans get off the street and back on their feet. The U.S. Air Force has grounded one-third of its fighter jets and bombers because of the across-the- board cuts. These programs are to train our military so in a time of crisis they can be prepared. They cannot be prepared if they cannot practice. More than 1 million Federal workers, including hundreds of thousands of Defense Department employees, are preparing to take forced furlough days. This is not only a hardship for individual families, it is also a threat to our national economy and our national security. In national parks across the Nation--Great Basin in Nevada, Bryce Canyon, UT, Mount Desert Island, thousands of miles away from those two places in Maine--employees face reduced hours, and closure will affect thousands of travelers. Long delays at the airport will not be the only damper on summer vacation travel. For every person who loses work because of this sequestration, that is less they can buy to help people who are selling goods and services. We cannot and we should not only address the FAA cuts. As important as they are, we should look at the whole spectrum. We cannot ignore the sequester's overall effect on Americans and on programs that help small businesses grow, fund crucial medical research, and keep our children and seniors safe. While airport delays are costly and frustrating, some would say they are not as severe as the pain of a senior citizen missing a meal, the only hot meal they would get that day, or veterans going without a roof over their head at night. Families and businesses in every State in the Nation, in red States and blue States, are at risk because of these haphazard cuts. That is what they are. But Congress has the power to reverse these self- inflicted wounds without adding 1 penny to the deficit. We are winding down the war in Afghanistan, and Iraq has been wound down significantly. We have provided the money. The money is there. We have not spent it. We do not need to. We can use those savings from wrapping up two wars to avoid the full brunt of the sequester's arbitrary cuts. The Congressional Budget Office said that would score, that money is available, money we could use. Funding for the operations in Iraq and Afghanistan is kept in the so-called Overseas Contingency Operations Account. That is what it is called. Since the worst of the sequester cuts is creating an emergency situation, we should consider using these funds to offset their impact. These really are emergencies. We should do it. I am not proposing to use these funds to offset the entire sequester, but Congress has the power to avert the most painful and senseless of the sequester's cuts using these monies. Twenty-eight Republicans in the Senate and 174 Republicans in the House voted to oppose these sequester haphazard cuts. If those same Republicans will work with Democrats, we could act now to protect families, businesses, ensure our national defense, and save Americans millions of hours spent waiting at the airport. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent for a moment of silence and that the Senator from Wyoming then be again recognized.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that all time during adjournment, recess, and morning business count postcloture on the motion to proceed to S. 743.

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I designate the Senator from Illinois, Mr. Durbin, as the floor manager for the consideration of S. 743. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, following leader remarks the Senate will resume consideration of the gun safety legislation. The time until noon will be equally divided and controlled for debate on the Barrasso and Harkin amendments. At noon there with be two votes in relation to those amendments. Following the votes the Senate will recess until 2 p.m. to allow for some important caucus meetings. At 2 p.m. the Senate will proceed to executive session to consider the Torres and Watson nominations. At about 2:15 p.m., then, there will be a rollcall vote on confirmation of the Torres nomination and an expected voice vote on confirmation of the Watson nomination.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, there was a new tragedy during the night, and our thoughts are with the people of West, TX. Our thoughts are with all of Texas in the wake of a terrible explosion of a fertilizer factory in the town, as I have indicated, of West, just outside of Waco. The extent is being estimated at this time--5 to 15 dead, a couple hundred who were injured. But I am troubled and feel so badly about those who were hurt. They were working. They were sleeping. They were having dinner. I offer my condolences to those who lost loved ones and those who have people who were injured. We will continue to follow the news from Texas as it develops today. I am going to do everything I can with my colleagues to ensure that this terrible tragedy has the resources of the Federal Government available to help the people of that city as they recover from this tragedy.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, this Nation has simply dealt with too much-- too much--loss during these last few months. Once again I offer my condolences to the families who joined us here yesterday to honor the loved ones they lost to gun violence and to lobby for stronger background checks. The mothers and fathers of the murdered children from Newtown were here, family and friends of those who were injured and killed in Aurora, CO, were here. We had people here from the tragedy where 32, 33 people were killed in Blacksburg, VA, at Virginia Tech. They were here yesterday. We knew the effort to keep America's streets safe from gun violence would not be easy. I commend Senator Manchin and others for setting aside partisanship to negotiate this compromise. Unfortunately, even though we got a strong, strong majority vote--well over 50--55 Senators voted in favor of this. And Frank Lautenberg came. He had not been here for a while. He has been ill. He voted. We voted with a strong majority to change things here in America so that people who have serious mental illness would have to have a background check before they can buy a gun or that criminals would have to have a background check before they can buy a gun. Even people who are selling the guns think there should be some background check. The man who sold the gun to the man who walked into the courthouse in Las Vegas and blasted away-- that man who sold that gun said he sold guns to lots of people who were bad people, but he did it legally. He thinks the law should be changed. So the vast majority of the Senate agreed that should be the case. But we could not get to 60, the magic number here in the Senate. Yesterday the families of gun violence victims watched as Republicans defeated a commonsense proposal to expand background checks that has the support of 90 percent of Americans. But make no mistake, the debate is not over. This is not the end of the fight. Republicans are in an unsustainable position--crosswise with 9 out of 10 Americans. In an event we did out this backdoor yesterday, Senator Schumer said--I think he summed it up about as well as you could when he said: America today on background checks is in about the same place America was a few years ago dealing with immigration, gay marriage, and things related to gender equality. I believe Senator Schumer is right. This is the beginning, and it has to happen. Anytime in America, on those rare occasions when 90 percent of the American people agree something should be done, it should be done. And it will be done. It is only a question of time. The brand of the Republicans is further tarnished by going against what 90 percent of the American people want. Democrats will continue to stand with the families from Newtown, Aurora, Tucson, Carson City, and I assure the 90 percent of Americans who support meaningful background check legislation that I personally will continue this fight.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, we deal with a lot of controversial things. That is the way it has always been here. We deal with controversial issues that elicit passionate responses, including the immigration proposal I just outlined and the antiviolence legislation I talked about earlier. We try to deal with these issues thoughtfully and with respect. Those who serve and work in the Senate do so out of a sense of patriotism and a love of country. I disagree with a number of my Republican Senators. Jeff Sessions and I--I do not think we have ever voted on anything the same way, but I have tremendous respect for him as a person. He does what he believes is right. His colleague from Alabama, Richard Shelby, is one of my dear friends. He and I do not vote much alike, but our relationship is one of respect and admiration for each other. That is what we have to do in this body. I never question the patriotism or love of country of any Senator because if I did, I would be wrong. So it was deeply disturbing that an anonymous individual would attempt to send deadly poison to Senate offices as well as the White House. It appears that with the swift action of the Capitol Police and Federal law enforcement officials, the suspect in these cowardly, anonymous attacks has been apprehended. I hope he will be brought to justice very soon. We should all understand that incident does not appear in any way to be related to the tragedy in Boston. Nevertheless, it is a reminder to the Senate community and to all Americans to remain vigilant during these unsettling times. It is also a reminder that Senate offices should continue to follow the mail policies that are in place for their safety in this investigation. Fortunately, the system in place to protect the Senate community worked. Maybe people say: Well, it is not good enough. It is good. I remember what happened when we had anthrax with Senator Daschle and Senator Leahy in previous years. So the system that is in place to protect the Senate community has worked. That is good. These suspicious letters were found and intercepted before they reached the Capitol. I applaud the postal employees and law enforcement officials who detected and neutralized this threat. I commend the Senate Sergeant at Arms, Chief Gainer, and the Capitol Police for their diligent work to keep the Senate community safe. I rest easier knowing the safety of everyone who works and visits the Capitol is their first priority. I know that to be the case. I apologize to my friend the Republican leader for talking longer than I usually do.