Harry Reid

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Madam President, discussions continue about processing the business we need to address before we leave. As I have said repeatedly, we need to do just a couple things before we break for the elections. We need to pass the CR. We need to vote on proceeding to the sportsmen's package. To help move the CR, we have been told that the Republicans now have decided they are willing to vote sometime on the Paul bill on foreign aid and also the Iran containment resolution. As I said yesterday, we are willing to do that. In the worst case, under the rules, the cloture vote on the CR would occur tomorrow night--at 1 a.m. on Saturday. Once we invoke cloture on the continuing resolution, the 30 hours postcloture would run out at about 7:30 or 8 o'clock in the morning Sunday, and we would vote then to pass the CR, which would be immediately followed by a vote on the sportsmen's package. I am happy to continue these discussions. We are working to see if we can schedule these votes to occur at a time that is more convenient to Senators. I hope we can have more to report on that tomorrow. It appears at this stage there is no agreement on having any votes tomorrow, so we may have to finish our work tomorrow, beginning tomorrow night, very late. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, it has been 20 years since our Nation's final nuclear weapons test. ``Divider'' was the name appropriately given to the final test on September 23, 1992; 8 days later, President George Bush, Sr., declared a moratorium on testing that is still in place today. That last test, along with nearly 1,000 others, was carried out at the Nevada National Security Site, formerly known as the Nevada Test Site. This site has a storied history; it was used intensively during the Cold War to test nuclear weapons in our fight against tyranny and is remembered by all Americans for the iconic images the atomic bomb continues to invoke. Testing weapons and building our nuclear arsenal was necessary, but there was a price to pay--and it was the health of our hard-working and patriotic Cold War veterans and the many people who lived downwind of the test site. Since January 11, 1951, hundreds of thousands of men and women-- including miners, millers, and haulers--played a critical role in building the nuclear deterrent that kept our Nation secure during the Cold War and still contributes to our national security today. These American heroes were on the front line of our national security. They served valiantly to help our Nation defend itself, but their personal sacrifice was immense. While serving their country honorably during one of the most dangerous conflicts in our Nation's history, many of Nevada's Cold War veterans sacrificed their health and well-being for their country. After personally meeting with and listening to many unfortunate stories from brave Nevadans about illnesses they had gotten from their nuclear weapons work, I was pleased to help pass the bipartisan Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act in 2000, as well as an expansion of the law in 2004. This important program provides vital monetary compensation and medical coverage to Nevada's test site workers suffering from radiation-induced cancers, beryllium disease, silicosis, and other illnesses caused by toxic chemicals. In 2005, I began to hear from workers and survivors saying that they were being put through a seemingly endless stream of bureaucratic redtape only to be denied compensation in the end. I was enraged that workers who had developed cancer while protecting our Nation were being denied compensation simply because their employer failed to keep accurate records of each worker's radiation exposure. While we succeeded in securing automatic compensation for workers during the atmospheric testing years, those who served their Nation during the underground testing years were let down by their country. I fought on their behalf and finally secured automatic compensation for thousands of workers during the underground testing years. I am proud that this important program resulted in the payment of almost $500 million to 4,599 sick test site workers and their survivors. Nevada's Cold War heroes have made immeasurable contributions to our Nation's security, and the sacrifices they have made--to their health and their lives--make it impossible for us to ever adequately thank them. Today, the Nevada National Security Site has taken on new roles to address 21st-century threats. This includes detecting dangerous weapons, treaty verification, fighting terrorism and nuclear smuggling, and training first responders. The site can even play a role in clean energy demonstration and development to meet our Nation's energy needs using a resource southern Nevada has an abundance of--sunshine. I am also proud of the growing nonproliferation mission at the Nevada National Security Site. These critical activities are playing a vital role in the Nation's arms control efforts while putting Nevadans to work making our Nation more secure. There are many more opportunities to utilize the Nevada National Security Site's ultrasecure location to bolster out Nation's security. It is an installation whose relevance is timeless because we will always need a place to test new technologies, house sensitive materials and equipment, train our security forces, and know for sure that unwanted eyes are not watching. Finally, I am proud that while we work to grow and modernize the mission of the Nevada National Security Site, the site's storied past and the people behind it will never be forgotten. The National Atomic Testing Museum in Las Vegas is an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution and recently was named by Congress as a ``National'' museum. This important institution collects and publicly displays artifacts and documentation that tell the stories of how the Nevada Test Site helped protect our country during the Cold War. I am proud to stand here today to recognize this historic day in Nevada and America's history, marking 20 years since we have ended nuclear testing.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, to everyone within the sound of my voice, I say again, we shouldn't be surprised. Even though there had been all this focus on Senator Paul, that he was holding up everything, that is not the way it is. He is not holding up everything. It is the Republicans. All this has been cleared on my side. It is unfortunate. We will continue to work to reach an agreement. We need to move this vote on the CR. Unless we have some agreement, it is going to occur at 8:45 tomorrow night, which is when the 30 hours expires. So I think we need to continue to see if we can work our way through the logjam the Republicans have put up here. If nothing happens, we will be out of here in a little bit tonight and proceed to vote tomorrow night. But Rand Paul is not holding up things, as has been rumored around here for weeks. Unanimous Consent Request--H.R. 8 and S. 3412 Mr. President, on July 25, the Senate conducted two important votes on dealing with the so-called fiscal cliff. That day the Senate voted on extension of the tax cuts enacted in 2001, 2003, and 2009. Democrats, and a majority of the Senate, voted to extend tax cuts for 98 percent of American families while at the same time reducing the deficit by $1 trillion over 10 years. Republicans, on the other hand, insisted on a vote on their plan--a plan that provided tax breaks averaging $160,000 for millionaires at the same time it increased taxes by $1,000 for 25 million American middle-class families. On July 25, we held votes on those two plans. The Senate voted down the Republican plan on a bipartisan basis by a vote of 45 to 54. The Senate passed the Democrats' plan by a vote of 51 to 48. Since then, the House of Representatives also voted on this matter and the House sent the Senate its revenue measure. Now that we have had the debate and the votes, it is time to go to conference with the House. The Senate has voted and so has the House. It is time for us to resolve our differences. We believe the tax extenders should not apply to people making more than $250,000 a year. We should extend them for people making less than $250,000 a year. So let's have a conference on this. This process would be important. Unfortunately, I am sorry to say, my Republican friends often place roadblocks in the way of routine Senate business. This is simply routine. Just last week, Moody's said it would probably cut America's credit rating if congressional leaders couldn't reach an agreement to address the fiscal cliff and produce long-term deficit reduction. The bill the Senate passed in July is a big part of dealing with that fiscal cliff and the American people deserve their leaders to move to advance this legislation, and that is why I am going to ask the following consent, which is simply going to conference on a bill that has passed the House and a bill that has passed the Senate. I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of Calendar No. 502, H.R. 8; that all after the enacting clause be stricken and the text of S. 3412, a bill extending the tax cuts I have referred to in 2001, 2003, and 2009 for 98 percent of Americans and 97 percent of all small businesses, which passed the Senate on July 25, be inserted in lieu thereof; that the bill, as amended, be read a third time and passed; 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, consisting of the membership of the Finance Committee; with all of the above occurring with no intervening action or debate.

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

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

Mr. REID. Mr. President, we are trying to work through and finish all the issues we need to address before we can finish this work period. I wish to make it very clear to everyone, as I said a couple hours ago on the floor, that we can finish all our work tomorrow. But if we don't finish it tomorrow, we are going to continue to work on Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, until late in the afternoon. We have to get done a few things that are important. I know there are a lot of things we aren't going to be able to do, but that has been the way it has been all Congress. I am prepared now to ask consent to move along on one very significant part of what we need to do. The consent I will read into the Record in just in a short time addresses voting on a continuing resolution we need to keep the government running. It addresses votes on very different concerns of others who have sought to hold up consideration on the continuing resolution. I believe, with this consent, we have gone that extra mile. The junior Senator from Kentucky, Mr. Paul, has been said to be holding up everything. We have two American Ambassadors, one to Iraq and one to Pakistan, and one would think we should be able to get this done. We have had something extremely important sponsored by, I think, 81 Senators, a containment resolution relating to Iran. So without belaboring the point, I have worked things out with Senator Paul, and we are going to have a vote on something he has wanted a vote on for a long time. We can do that. I explained to a few Republicans earlier today--in fact, some last night--that I was working with Senator Paul and I think we have done that. He has been reasonable, and even though ideologically I sometimes disagree with him, I have always found him to be someone I can talk to. So I will be terribly disappointed if this person, whom it has been said by the Republicans appears to be holding up everything, now isn't holding up everything and that the Republicans, if there is an objection to this, are just hiding behind him because there is no reason we shouldn't be able to move forward with this legislation. Unanimous Consent Request--S. 3576, S.J. Res. 41, and H.J. Res. 117 Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding cloture having been invoked, at a time to be determined by me, after consultation with Senator McConnell, it be in order and the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. 3576, which is the legislation I have just referred to by Senator Paul, the text of which is at the desk; that there be up to 60 minutes of debate, equally divided between Senators Paul and Kerry or their designees; that upon the use or yielding back of that time, the Senate proceed to vote on passage of the bill; that the vote on passage be subject to a 60-vote affirmative threshold; that if the bill does not achieve 60 affirmative votes, it be considered as having been read twice, placed on the calendar; that following the vote on passage of that legislation, S. 3576, the Senate proceed to the consideration of Calendar No. 418, S.J. Res. 41; that there be up to 60 minutes of debate equally divided between Senators Kerry and Paul or their designees; that upon the use or yielding back of that time, the Senate proceed to vote on passage of the joint resolution; that if the joint resolution is not passed, it be returned to the calendar; that following the vote on the joint resolution, the Senate resume consideration of H.J. Res. 117, the continuing resolution; that the motion to proceed be agreed to, there be up to 60 minutes of debate, equally divided between the two leaders or their designees prior to a vote on passage of the joint resolution; that the vote on passage be subject to a 60-vote affirmative threshold; that following the vote, the majority leader be recognized; and, finally, that no amendments, motions or points of order be in order during the consideration of these measures.

Mr. REID. So we have dual objections.

Mr. REID. Mr. President, we are trying to work through all the issues we have. There are a few of them--not too many but a few. But I want everyone to know we can finish all of our work tomorrow. We can finish it all tomorrow, but we are not going anyplace. We are staying here until Tuesday, probably 3 or 3:30, because we have Yom Kippur on Wednesday, and then we will be right back here on Thursday. We have to finish our work. So that means if we can't work things out, we are going to be here Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. I know we talk about this once in a while, and usually we are able to work things out, and I am glad we are. But just in case we can't, no one should think they are going to be able to catch an airplane out of here on Friday. Unanimous Consent Request--S. 3525 Mr. President, I will be very quick. I know the assistant leader for the minority is here and I don't want to take a lot of his time. The Senator from Montana, Mr. Tester, has assembled a broad package of legislation. It is bipartisan in nature, and that is an understatement, to support the needs of sportsmen throughout the country. He has worked with these groups, and I have been in meetings with him where he has tried to get Democratic Senators to back off and let this package go forward, and there have been adjustments made because of problems Republicans had and Democrats had. So I appreciate very much his work. What his bill does is to combine about 20 bills that are important to the sportsmen community around this country. These measures would promote hunting, fishing and recreational access and they would foster habitat conservation through voluntary programs. More than 50 national groups support this. These are sportsmen and conservation groups. This is an example of leadership that is important in this body, to work on things that bring together a disparate group of bills, bipartisan in nature, and try to move forward. We ought to pass this package today. I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to Calendar No. 504, S. 3525, the Sportsmen's Act of 2012; that the bill be read a third time and passed; the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate; and any statements related to the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I hope the Record can pick up the smile on my face. Why in the world--when the Senate has already acted, with a majority of the Senate saying we do not believe there should be taxes extended to the rich; that we believe in protecting the middle class-- would we agree to extending all these tax cuts? We can't do that. That was a bipartisan vote set out in the Senate. That was the Senate's position. We are asking simply to go to conference on the Senate's position. The other side is insisting the minority position prevail. That is an unusual situation and that is not the way democracy in America works. So I would not accept his modification to my request.

Mr. REID. It would be 60 minutes on the amendment, equally divided between Senator Kerry and Senator Paul. If the Senator wants more time, and we are not doing much now, we could have more time.

Mr. REID. Mr. President, it would seem to me that the Senator's concern should be directed toward Senator Paul, not me. It sounds to me he may vote against the Paul amendment from what I have heard. If he is that concerned about it, I think we should get it up, and if we want more time, we could have more time on it. But at this stage, no amendments would be called for, and I think we should vote on the Paul amendment. I think it is pretty clear as to what has gone on this past Congress. When the Republican leader says his No. 1 issue is to make sure Obama doesn't get reelected, I think that probably is what has held up this Congress from doing all kinds of things. Now, let me rewind. Since I have been the majority leader--which has been 6 years--we have had to try to overcome 380 Republican filibusters. This is two now. During the same period of time--6 years-- that Lyndon Johnson was President--and he was majority leader before he became President--he had to file cloture once. My friend from Arizona and I have served together now 30 years in the Congress. His agitation should not be directed toward me. They are the ones holding up hundreds of bills in the Energy Committee and basically everything we have tried to do because their No. 1 goal, if they follow their leader--and they have done a pretty good job doing that--has been to make sure the country is in such a shape that maybe they may get lucky and have Governor Romney elected. So if there is going to be objection by the assistant majority leader, I understand that. But don't be blaming Rand Paul for everything being held up. Here is what we have held up, and I will mention it just briefly. Wouldn't it be nice if America had an ambassador to Iraq? Wouldn't it be nice if America had an ambassador to Pakistan? Wouldn't it be nice if a piece of legislation that has 81 cosponsors dealing with the Iran containment resolution, that we could vote on that? So as I have indicated--and this will be the third time today--we have work to do--not a lot but we have work to do. One is to pass the continuing resolution, and we will do that. We can either do it the hard way or the easy way. As you know from the vote on the motion to proceed to that, there is overwhelming support for that. That is as bipartisan as anything could be. The Speaker and I worked on this with our staffs, and we came up with something I think is pretty fair. So we are going to pass that. If the Republicans want to stall on that like they have on everything else, they can do that. But we are going to finish this. The American people need that done, and we are going to get it done. It may take a vote on Saturday, it may take one on Sunday, but we are going to finish the CR. So everybody should understand we are not going anyplace. My No. 1 place to go is the Senate. That is my life, the Senate. So I am going to be here and make sure that we do as much of the people's business as we can, in spite of their No. 1 goal being to defeat Obama rather than trying to legislate for the American people. As I understand it, the request that I made has been objected to, and the request of the Senator from Arizona has been objected to; is that right?

Mr. REID. Mr. President, last month the Senate Finance Committee reported bipartisan legislation on what are called the tax extenders. The Finance Committee tax extender legislation addresses a significant part of the so-called fiscal cliff. The Finance Committee bill would extend relief from the alternative minimum tax through 2013. It would extend tax incentives for renewable energy and energy conservation through 2013, and it would extend through 2013 the traditional extenders, among which are the R&D tax credit, the State and local sales tax deduction, and the tuition deduction. The Finance Committee reported that bill with a strong bipartisan vote of 19 to 5. The bill cuts taxes by $205 billion. It cuts taxes by $143 billion in fiscal year 2013 alone. Passing this bill today would help remove some of the uncertainties surrounding tax policy. Passing this bill today would help our economy. Passing this bill is the least we should do now. So I ask unanimous consent the Senate Finance Committee be discharged from further consideration of H.R. 9; that a Baucus amendment, which is at the desk, the text of which is identical to S. 3251, the Family and Business Tax Cut Certainty Act of 2012 as reported by the Finance Committee, be agreed to; that the bill, as amended, be read a third time and passed, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate, and any statements related to the bill be placed in the Record at the appropriate place as if read.

Mr. REID. Mr. President, we have already reached that position. That is not how things work in a democracy or, I doubt, anyplace else. So I object to my friend's suggested modification.

Mr. REID. Sure.

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

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. I object to any further proceedings.

Mr. REID. Madam President, for months I believed Mitt Romney wanted to be President of all of the United States. This week we learned Mitt Romney only wants to be President of half the United States. If Mitt Romney were President, he wouldn't waste time worrying about the 47 percent of Americans whom he believes are ``victims''--whom Romney believes are unwilling to take ``personal responsibility,'' and those are his words, not mine. He can only worry about how the other half lives, I guess. That is what Mitt Romney told donors at a closed- door fundraiser in Florida a month or so ago. But it turns out it wasn't closed. Someone videotaped every word he said to his wealthy donors. This is, among other things, what he said: There are 47 percent who . . . are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe that government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you name it. Mitt Romney said his job as President would not be ``to worry about those people.'' But half of Americans are ``those people.'' He went on to say: ``I'll never convince them''--this is a direct quote--``they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.'' So who are those Americans Mitt Romney disdains as ``victims'' and ``those people''? They are not avoiding their tax bills, using Cayman Islands tax shelters or Swiss bank accounts like Mitt Romney. Millions of the 47 percent are seniors on Social Security who don't have Bain Capital retirement funds or inherited stock to fall back on. Many of the 47 percent are students reaching to afford university tuition so they can become nurses or teachers or attend a community college to become an electrician or welder or a lab technician. Some of the 47 percent have disabilities whose challenges are already a full-time job, but still are actively seeking opportunities in their lives. Millions more of this 47 percent have been unemployed since the great recession--not because they are freeloaders or can't be bothered to get a job but because some private equity funds closed their factory and shipped their jobs off to China. Large numbers of the 47 percent are active-duty members of the military fighting for their country overseas. More of the 47 percent are veterans getting an education earned through dedicated service. Many of the 47 percent are mothers and fathers working minimum wage jobs but still struggling--and struggling every day. Others of the 47 percent are middle-class families raising children with a little help from the earned income tax credit and the child tax credit--a hand-up Republicans once bragged about helping to enact and, by the way, signed into law by that ``liberal'' Ronald Reagan. The 47 percent are ordinary hard-working Americans who deserve respect, especially from the man who wants to be their President. And these Americans pay a slew of other taxes, including State income taxes, payroll taxes, property taxes, and sales taxes. But, in Mitt Romney's view, they still don't pay enough. So let's ask a question: Whose taxes would Mitt Romney raise? Would Mitt Romney raise taxes on retirees who have paid into Social Security all their lives and are counting on it to get them through their golden years? That is a question. Another question: Would Mitt Romney raise taxes on mothers and fathers who work hard but still struggle to put food in their children's mouths? Ronald Reagan thought there were certain people who maybe need a little help and so we shouldn't do that. I agree with Ronald Reagan. Would Romney raise taxes on middle-class families stretching to afford diapers and day care at the same time? Would Romney raise taxes on Americans with disabilities striving to live full and productive lives? Would Romney raise taxes on students stretching every dollar to afford tuition? Would Romney raise taxes on men and women serving overseas in the military who make untold sacrifices to preserve America's freedom and democracy not because they are getting rich doing it but out of a deep sense of duty? So whose taxes would Mitt Romney raise? We know he wouldn't raise taxes on millionaires and billionaires or companies that ship jobs overseas. He has made that very clear. If a person is a math teacher or a maid or a single mother, it won't be Mitt Romney's job to worry about those people. If a person is a multimillionaire, Mitt Romney won't rest until they get a quarter of a million dollar tax cut. That is what the Ryan budget does and Romney likes that. For all we know, Mitt Romney could be one of those who has paid no Federal income tax. Thousands of families making more than $1 million pay nothing in Federal income taxes each year. I will repeat that. Thousands of families making more than $1 million a year pay nothing in Federal income taxes. Is Mitt Romney among those? We will never know since he refuses to release his tax returns for the years before he was running for President. But from that one return--the only one we have seen--we know Mitt Romney pays a lower tax rate than middle-class families, thanks to a number of things he has done, including Swiss bank accounts and Cayman Islands tax shelters. And we can only imagine what new secrets would be revealed if he showed the American people a dozen years of tax returns as his dad did. Mitt Romney believes in two sets of rules--one for millionaires and another for the middle class and the poor. If a person has money to hide in Bermuda and Switzerland, can that person not afford to pay a few pennies more to balance the budget or to reduce the deficit? Mitt Romney says no. But if a person is retired or poor, disabled, a student, or even a returning hero who fought for our country, Romney believes that person can afford to pay more taxes. This rare look at the real Mitt Romney--this rare look we got from a man who was at a fundraiser for him--proves one thing: He is completely out of touch with average Americans. If he won't stand up and fight for every American--every American--as President, then he does not deserve to serve any American as President. Recognition of the Minority Leader

Mr. REID. I now move to proceed to Calendar No. 499, S. 3521, which is the tax extenders legislation reported out of the Finance Committee previously.

Mr. REID. Madam President, following my remarks and those of my distinguished friend, the Republican leader, the Senate will resume consideration of S. 3457, the Veterans Jobs Corps Act. The time until noon will be equally divided on that matter. At noon there will be a rollcall vote on the motion to waive the Budget Act with respect to the Veterans Jobs Corps bill. The Senate will then recess until 2:15 for our weekly caucus meetings. At 2:15, there will be a cloture vote on the motion to proceed to the continuing resolution. There could be additional votes with respect to the Veterans Jobs Corps Act this afternoon or subsequent to a vote at noon. The Republican leader and I have had a conversation this morning where we have discussed the rest of the week and next week, perhaps, and we are trying to move forward and get this done. We have certain things we have to get done, but there is nothing--nothing--more important than getting the funding for the country. I appreciate the House sending it to us in the fashion they did. So I think it behooves us to get this done as quickly as possible. Measure Placed on the Calendar--H.R. 5949

Mr. REID. Madam President, I am told H.R. 5949 is at the desk and due for a second reading.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of the following resolutions, en bloc, which were submitted earlier today: S. Res. 562, S. Res. 563, S. Res. 564, S. Res. 565, S. Res. 566, S. Res. 567, S. Res. 568, S. Res. 569, and S. Res. 570.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Foreign Relations Committee be discharged from further consideration of S. Res. 557 and the Senate proceed to its consideration.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I understand S. 3576, introduced earlier today by Senator Paul, is at the desk. I believe it is due for its first reading.

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I now ask for a second reading but object to my own request.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I now move to withdraw my motion to proceed to Calendar No. 499.