Harry Reid

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, it is a shame. We have a bill that is bipartisan. Cloture has already been invoked on it. We are on the bill. Why in the world can't we just finish this bill, have a couple amendments and go on? I am going to go ahead. I am going to fill the tree. I am sure I will get some outrageous response back, as if we are still in the Presidential election, saying we want this many amendments. We are not going to have that many amendments. This is a bipartisan bill. People are going to have an opportunity to vote for or against the bill. If they want to kill the bill, they can. It is one of the most popular bills we did all last Congress. We didn't do many, but this is one that was popular. I cannot imagine why we are trying to refight an election that took place 1 week ago. The clerk is going to report the substitute amendment. Amendment No. 2875 (Purpose: In the nature of a substitute.)

Mr. REID. I have a perfecting amendment at the desk.

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

Mr. REID. I now have a first-degree amendment at the desk.

Mr. REID. I ask for the yeas and nays on that amendment.

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

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent mandatory quorum in accordance with rule XXII be waived.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. I now move to proceed to Calendar No. 419.

Mr. REID. Mr. President, we are going to complete work on this bill, that is the one we had prior to the clerk announcing the Defense authorization bill. We are going to complete the work on the sportsmen's bill before we go home for Thanksgiving. People are going to have an opportunity to vote for that bill, either for it or against it. As I indicated, it is a widely popular bill. If Republicans want to drag it down and kill it as they have a lot of other things, they will have that opportunity to do that. We have more than 20 bills that are important to sportsmen around the country. As I said a few minutes ago, I cannot imagine why we are still fighting the battles of the last election. We are going to have a vote on cyber security. I spoke to the chairman of the committee a short time ago, Senator Lieberman. He is going to come over tomorrow and give a speech about the importance of this legislation. He and Senator Collins have worked so hard to come up with a bill. They have compromised and compromised and compromised until the point where people are going to have an opportunity to talk on this also. Senator Lieberman is going to talk about how important this bill is to protect our country. I left the White House an hour or two ago. They believe, the President of the United States believes the cyber security bill is one of the most important issues facing this Congress now--not next Congress, now. I have said on a number of occasions that the Pentagon and the intelligence community believe this legislation is vitally important to the safety and security of our country. So before Thanksgiving we are going to finish the sportsmen's bill. The Republicans can either kill the cyber security bill--they have been following the lead of the Chamber of Commerce, which is an arm for the Republican Party anymore. It is just a front for the Republican Party. They spent huge amounts of money that they get from unknown sources to defeat Democrats. They wasted their money this time. But that is the way it is. They are opposing this bill for not any logical reason, and then Senators Levin and McCain have asked to go to Defense authorization. I think, if this bill is as important as they say it is--and they say it is important--I know how Senator Levin and Senator McCain feel about it--it looks like they would clear up some of this stuff that is standing in the way of getting that bill done. I think it is a bridge too far to complete the Defense authorization bill before we leave, but we need to get on that bill. We are not going to stall around on this and spend weeks on the Defense authorization bill. I have told the two managers of that bill, Senator McCain and Senator Levin, that is the case, and that is what we are going to do before Thanksgiving. I would like to get out of here so we can go home to our States, our families, for Thanksgiving early, but if we have to stay here until the day before Thanksgiving, we are going to do it. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I rise to briefly honor a distinguished former Republican environmental and conservation leader. As my colleagues know, Russell Train passed away on September 17. Mr. Train was the first head of the Council on Environmental Quality under President Nixon and the second EPA Administrator, serving under both Presidents Nixon and Ford. He was the chairman emeritus of the World Wildlife Fund and helped found the organization in the 1960s. He founded the African Wildlife Leadership Foundation in 1961 and was president of the Conservation Foundation from 1965 to 1969. He was a shining example of the age when the political parties cooperated on environmental protection, and Republicans even sometimes led the way forward. He implemented and defended the Clean Air Act and helped protect the health and welfare of millions of Americans. In recent years, he specifically criticized the modern Republican party's rejection of health and science-based decisionmaking, especially as related to EPA's authority to address climate change and carbon pollution. In a 2010 interview, he stated that he had become a registered Independent. I hope that the Republican Party will soon return to the example of statesmanship and good governance set by Russell Train. Our Nation has enormous environmental challenges, like climate change, that must be addressed in a bipartisan fashion. If today's Republican Party leadership continues to keep its members' heads stuck in the sand on the matter of the manmade carbon pollution that is contributing to record-setting drought, heat waves, floods, and other extreme weather in the United States and globally, they will bear the greatest responsibility for the economic, ecosystem, and public health damages that will only accelerate and grow over time. They would be wise instead to adopt Mr. Train's worthy counsel from his memoir: ``Today, as a nation, we urgently need to develop the political will to overcome our avoidance of difficult environmental decisions. The problems will only get worse, and we have a long way to go.''

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, on behalf of Senator Leahy, I ask unanimous consent that Michelle Lacko, a fellow on the Senate Judiciary Committee, be granted privileges of the floor.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I first learned about this several hours ago from Senator Levin, so I take him at his word.

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

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

Mr. REID

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

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

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I move to proceed to Calendar No. 504.

Mr. REID. Mr. President, the next hour will be equally divided between the two leaders or their designees. The majority will control the first half and the Republicans the final half. As I think we should know, and I am happy to restate it, the next rollcall vote will occur about 1 a.m. this morning, an hour after we come in. I am, of course, hopeful we can work something out in order to complete our work. We can either do it all tonight, tomorrow, or, if that doesn't work out, as the Presiding Officer knows, under the rules of the Senate we will have that vote at 1 a.m., and then we would have another vote on the CR. Final passage of that would be around 7:30, 8 o'clock in the morning on Sunday. Then we would immediately follow to the motion to proceed on the sportsmen's package. We continue to have discussions. We are working to see if we can schedule these votes at a more convenient time for Senators. Everyone should know we would finish by Sunday morning. We are not going to go into next week. Measure Placed on the Calendar--S. 3607

Mr. REID. Mr. President, S. 3607 is at the desk and due for a second reading.

Mr. REID. I object to any further proceedings with regard to this bill.

Mr. REID. Mr. President, over the past week I have listened to my Republican colleagues come to the floor and lament how little the Senate has accomplished during the 112th Congress. I, above all, share that concern. In fact, it is a wonder we have gotten anything done at all, considering the lack of cooperation Democrats have gotten from Republican colleagues. I have said before, and it bears repeating: In my time as the majority leader, I have faced 382 Republican filibusters. That is 381 more filibusters than Lyndon Johnson faced during his 6 years as majority leader. Time and time again my Republican colleagues have stalled or blocked perfectly good pieces of legislation to score points with the tea party, and they have done nothing but hurt the middle class in this process. Even the most noncontroversial, consensus matters--items that would have passed by unanimous consent in the past--have been obstructed or stalled. Take, for example, the bipartisan sportsmen's bill. The junior Senator from Montana, Mr. Tester, has assembled a broad package to support the needs of sportsmen across the country. Just so everyone understands I am not making this up, there are more than 50 groups--50 organizations in this country--who support this legislation. It is a wide range of organizations, including the National Rifle Association, Ducks Unlimited, American Sports Fishing Association which, by the way, has more than 2 million members, Boone and Crockett Club, National Shooting Sports Foundation, Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, The Nature Conservancy, the National Wildlife Federation, Trout Unlimited. If we put labels on just these 10 organizations I have mentioned, it goes from the more conservative, many would say, National Rifle Association, to the more progressive Trout Unlimited. I ask unanimous consent that a list of these organizations I have referred to, as well as others, be made a part of the Record.

Mr. REID. Mr. President, this measure combines about 20 bills important to the sportsmen's community--bills that promote hunting, fishing, and recreation. They would foster habitat conservation through voluntary programs and, as I have indicated, more than 50 national sportsmen and conservation groups support this bill unequivocally. This legislation should be passed like that. As I indicated yesterday, I have read Capitol Hill newspapers where Republican Senators said: What a great piece of legislation; I will vote for it. We should pass this in a matter of seconds. We shouldn't be spending all this time on it. It is one of those things where there shouldn't be a fight and there has been a fight. So I hope, as we try to get back to working on campaigns and doing the work things we have to do at home, that we can move along and get this done. In the process, though, we are holding up a lot of other things. I am hopeful we can get something done on the Iran containment resolution, which is something Lindsey Graham, Senator Lieberman, Senator Menendez, and many others, have pushed very hard to get done. I hope we can confirm our Ambassadors to Iraq and Pakistan, and the continuing resolution to fund the government for 6 months. Republicans say this Congress has been unproductive, but if Republicans want to know why it has been unproductive, they should take a look in the mirror. Benjamin Franklin once said: ``Well done is better than well said.'' Well done is better than well said. So it is time Republicans stop talking about how much they want to get things done and start working with us to actually get things done. Recognition of the Minority Leader

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that at 11:30 p.m. this evening, there be 30 minutes of debate equally divided between the majority leader and Senator Paul or their designees; that following the use or yielding back of that time, the Senate proceed to votes in relation to the following items in the order listed: passage of S. 3576, passage of S.J. Res. 41, cloture on H.J. Res. 117; that if cloture is invoked on H.J. Res. 117, the pending amendments be withdrawn and the Senate proceed to vote on passage of H.J. Res. 117; that immediately following that vote, the Senate proceed to the cloture vote on the motion to proceed to S. 3525; that if cloture is not invoked on H.J. Res. 117, the Senate proceed to the cloture vote on the motion to proceed to S. 3525; that the vote on passage of S. 3576 be subject to a 60-affirmative-vote threshold; that if S. 3576 does not achieve 60 affirmative votes, then it be returned to the calendar; that following the cloture vote on the motion to proceed to S. 3525, the majority leader be recognized; finally, that no amendments, motions, or points of order be in order during the consideration of these measures. That all begins at 11:30. Mr. President, usually we have a 15-minute vote for the first one, but I think, with the time we are doing this, I would like all votes to be 10-minute votes, so I also ask unanimous consent that be the case and that between each vote there be 2 minutes equally divided so the sponsors and those opposing the passage of that legislation can speak on them.

Mr. REID. Mr. President, this agreement paves the way for the completion of our remaining business for this work period. It is going to be a very early morning or late night, however you look at it, but it is the right thing to do. I expect that upon the completion of the scheduled votes, the motion to proceed to the sportsmen's bill will be pending, postcloture. I am gratified that we are on track to attempt to move this measure when we get back. After we address that bill, when we return in November, I intend to move to Senator Menendez's housing bill. But I will be in touch with the Republican leader several times before the election, I am sure, anyway. Mr. President, before we leave here, everyone should understand that what we are going to try to do this evening--I have spoken with the Republican leader--is that when people finish their talking--we hope it can be early this evening--we would go into recess--and hopefully we can do that at 5 or 6 o'clock tonight--until 11:30 tonight. I hope that can be done.

Mr. REID

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