Harry Reid

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Madam President, I would object to any further proceedings with respect to this legislation at this time.

Mr. REID. Madam President, it is almost universally acknowledged that Republican obstructionism has reached new heights in the Senate. There are separate articles written about it. There are even now books written about it. Democrats would have to break a filibuster, I guess, to declare the sky blue or the Earth round, and passing the most commonsense and consensus legislation could take weeks or months. So with a mile-long list to do, we can't afford to waste any time. Yet today Republicans will force the Senate to waste a day on a series of political show votes. We will spend hours debating and voting on a handful of nonbinding budget resolutions even though we already have a legally binding budget. If one of the Republicans' budgets passed-- which it won't--by law, it is nonbinding. We have a binding budget resolution. The Senate could spend the day passing tax cuts for small businesses that grow and hire people or even legislation to keep the Food and Drug Administration running. We could be considering the Paycheck Fairness Act, ensuring American women receive equal pay for equal work. We could be debating cybersecurity legislation, and the Pentagon says the No. 1 issue facing this country today is cyber-insecurity. We could be working on a farm bill. Senators Stabenow and Roberts have done such an outstanding job saving the country $23 billion and reducing the debt by that much. We should be on that bill. We could be protecting 7 million students from rate hikes on their Federal loans. We could even move a series of appropriations bills to implement the budget we have already enacted. Instead, we will debate and vote on a series of stunt budgets. Republicans aren't interested in getting anything done this year. They have said so from the very beginning. Their leader, my friend from Kentucky, has said the No. 1 issue is to defeat President Obama. So they don't mind wasting a day of the Senate's time on useless political show votes. Republicans can say over and over that they are only forcing votes on four Republican budgets today because Democrats failed to pass their own budget. That couldn't be further from the truth. In August Congress passed and President Obama signed a budget that reduces the deficit by more than $2 trillion. It is called the Budget Control Act. Twenty- eight Republican Senators, including my friend the minority leader, voted for that last legally binding budget. But since August those Republicans have developed a case of amnesia. Why else would they walk around Washington claiming we don't have a budget? And unlike the hollow Republican budget resolutions the Senate will waste the day debating, the Budget Control Act actually has the force of law. If Republicans were serious about reducing the deficit, they wouldn't be working so hard to undo that August law, which cuts more than $2 trillion from the deficit. Democrats agree that the across-the-board cuts to domestic spending and defense programs--agreed to in the Budget Control Act--aren't the ideal way to solve our Nation's fiscal problems. But the cuts were designed to be tough so lawmakers were forced to reach a balanced deal. Unfortunately, Republicans refuse to be reasonable. They refuse to raise even a penny of new revenue or ask millionaires to contribute their fair share to help reduce our deficit. And Democrats won't agree to a one-sided solution that lets the superwealthy off the hook while forcing the middle class to bear all the hardship. The American people agree with this. These four stunt budgets all take that one-sided approach, which protects wealthy special interests at the expense of ordinary Americans, and they clearly illuminate the Republicans' priorities--to shower the wealthy with tax breaks paid for by the middle class. All four of the Republican plans cut investments that help middle-class families get back on their feet in order to increase tax breaks for businesses that ship jobs overseas. All four plans would double the student loan rate. It would put colleges out of reach for many students in order to protect tax loopholes for special interests. All four plans end Medicare as we know it, gutting seniors' health benefits to lavish more tax breaks on millionaires and billionaires. Yesterday the Senate showed it is possible to advance policies that improve our economy and put Americans back to work as long as Democrats and Republicans work together. On an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote yesterday, we passed the Export-Import Bank reauthorization that will support 300,000 jobs during the next year, and these jobs will help American companies sell their products overseas. But every moment we waste refighting old battles or revisiting Republicans' failed economic policies is time that could be better spent creating jobs. The time for show votes is over. Now it is time for the Senate to get back to work putting Americans back to work. Recognition of the Minority Leader

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, if I can have everyone's attention, we have one more vote this evening. The Republican leader and I have worked out something tentatively--I think we will be able to put it in writing in just a few minutes--where we will have two votes tomorrow at noon on the two Fed nominees. I think most people know I moved last night to the FDA bill. I hope we won't have to file cloture on that and that we can just move to it and start the amendment process. That is what the people want, that is what we want, and that is what we are willing to do, so I hope we can do that. It is a wide-ranging bill, extremely important for the country, with relevant amendments. There are a lot of them to do, so I hope we can have an agreement to that effect.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I am happy to announce that Democrats and Republicans have reached an agreement to move forward with reauthorization of the Ex-Im Bank legislation. This bank helps American companies sell their products overseas and hire workers here at home. It helped private companies add almost 300,000 jobs last year in more than 2,000 American communities. That is why the labor groups, manufacturers, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and many other organizations have urged the Senate to move quickly to reauthorize this bank, whose lending limit is just about to expire. The second ranking officer at the chamber of commerce wrote to all Senators yesterday. Failure to enact this legislation would put at risk . . . American jobs at 3,600 companies that depend on Ex-Im to compete in global markets. . . . Because other countries are providing their own exporters with an estimated $1 trillion in export finance--often on terms more generous than Ex-Im can provide--failure to reauthorize Ex-Im would amount to unilateral disarmament and cost tens of thousands of American jobs. China, for instance, has three export credit agencies that last year provided $300 billion in export finance to its exporters--ten times more than Ex-Im provided. This bill would help level the financial playing field in export markets and ensure transparency in Ex-Im's operations. This is directly from the chamber of commerce. This legislation helps American businesses export their products instead of exporting jobs. Reauthorizing this important legislation is the kind of consensus proposal that should not result in any kind of a partisan fight. I spoke to Senator McConnell yesterday, and we made the decision that this is the best way to move forward. I am hopeful that the Senate will pass it overwhelmingly, signaling to American businesses that Congress will do what it takes to help them compete in the global market. But while Republicans say publicly that they support this important measure, they have instead insisted on votes on a number of amendments that would gut or even kill the bill. The chamber of commerce will consider votes on this measure--and any amendments that would weaken the bank--to be keys to determine whether Senators are business-friendly. The extreme amendments offered by my Republican colleagues would certainly weaken the bank. One amendment just eliminates the bank. These kinds of amendments are unacceptable to the business community. The National Association of Manufacturers issued a similar warning yesterday, which I read here on the floor. We agree, we can't afford to give an inch to our global competitors. Canada, France, and India already provide seven times the assistance to their exporters that America does. China and Brazil provide 10 times the support. So Senate Republicans are faced with a choice: They can continue to support these extreme amendments that would effectively kill the Export-Import Bank and risk the wrath of the American business community or they can work with the Democrats to reauthorize this bank without adding amendments that would undermine its ability to help businesses grow. We have been told that the House is going to accept no amendments. It was very hard for them to get done what they did. I admire and appreciate what they did do. I am optimistic that my Republican colleagues will make the right choice and help us defeat these vexatious amendments. Recognition of the Republican Leader

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

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I move that the Senate proceed to Calendar No. 396, H.R. 2072.

Mr. REID. Mr. President, we are now on the motion to proceed to the Export-Import Bank reauthorization bill. I ask unanimous consent that the hour following my remarks and those of the Republican leader be equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees, with the majority controlling the first half and the Republicans the final half.

Mr. REID. Mr. President, at 11:15 today the motion to proceed to the Export-Import Bank will be adopted, and there will be up to 2 hours of debate on the bill, and there will be up to five amendments. At 12:30 the Senate will recess until 2:15 for our weekly caucus meetings. As early as 2:15 there will be up to six rollcall votes in order to complete action on the Export-Import Bank. There could possibly be five votes as part of the order--I have been told they may not all be offered--and then we will have final passage on the bill. Measure Placed on Calendar

Mr. REID. Mr. President, H.R. 5652 is at the desk and due for a second reading.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I now move to proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 647, Jerome H. Powell, of Maryland, to be a member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.

Mr. REID. I send a cloture motion to the desk with respect to that nomination.

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to waive the mandatory quorum under rule XXII for both cloture motions.

Mr. REID

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

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate, and that any statements related to the resolution be printed in the Record.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Madam President, I send a cloture motion to the desk with respect to the Stein nomination.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Madam President, I move now to proceed to Calendar No. 365.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I want to express my appreciation for the good work done on this most important measure that just passed the Senate on the Export-Import Bank. It was reported out of the Banking Committee. Senator Johnson did a great job with his committee. In addition to that, the work of Senator Cantwell was exemplary. She is a terrific legislator. When she gets her teeth in something, she won't let go and she would not let us take our eye off the prize; that is, passing this important legislation. I have such admiration for her legislative skills, and at this time I spread across the Record my admiration and congratulations on this legislation, which means so much to her and the entire country.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, before my friend leaves the floor, I hope we can do a short-term bill. As my colleague knows, the impediment to the regular function of the Senate this year has been the offering of irrelevant amendments. I am wondering if I could say through the Chair to my friend, the junior Senator from Oklahoma, what kind of agreement does he think we can get on the number of amendments on something like this?

Mr. REID. Mr. President, the national flood insurance program is to expire the end of May, this month. The insurance program provides coverage for almost 6 million people who work in flood zones. It is self-sustaining. For more than 40 years it has guarded American homeowners against flood-related disasters. If the program expires, new housing construction will stall, new housing construction will come to a halt, and taxpayers will be on the hook for future disasters. We have not been able to bring flood insurance to the floor because we have had a lot of problems with Senate procedure that some believe is abusive. It has left us with so little time. As you see, I have filed cloture on two nominations to the Federal Reserve. I will file later on a judge who has been waiting for almost a year. No one believes there is enough time to pass, conference, and enact a long-term flood insurance bill before the end of this month, so under the situation we will have to do another short-term extension simply to keep the bill from expiring. Thus I will seek to pass an extension of this important program now. Therefore, I ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed to consideration of Calendar No. 366, S. 2344, which is an extension of the National Flood Insurance Program, that that bill be read a third time, passed, the motion to reconsider be laid on the table, and there be no intervening action or debate.

Mr. REID. The Senator can go ahead if he wishes.

Mr. REID. Seriously, I am anxious to hear it.

Mr. REID. I say again through the Chair to my friend, how many amendments does he think he would need?

Mr. REID. I thank my friend from Oklahoma. It is something I wish to be able to do. We have so much to do--we have the farm bill, we have cyber security, we have the FDA bill, I am filing cloture on nominations--people who have been waiting to change their lives. So I am sorry we cannot legislate more. I have sympathy with my friend from Oklahoma. I don't agree with everything he said, but this is a program that needs to be changed and I recognize that. I will continue working with my friend. Maybe there is some way we can work together and figure out a way to move this forward. It is hard. What I would suggest is I would be happy to work on my side, because Senator Johnson has talked to me twice today on this legislation, to figure out what amendments my folks want to offer, because they want to offer amendments. If my friend from Oklahoma would also make a decision on his side of, as he indicated, cogent amendments, relevant amendments, we could put this in a little package and move to it without having to file cloture and do these amendments. I wish to do that. I will work on my side to find out what amendments there are. If my friend will do that, on Monday or Tuesday we will talk about this and see if we can get a very concise agreement to do it. This is important legislation. My friend is not denying that. But I think we do have to make some changes in it. I am happy to move forward on it. I think the House is going to take something up real soon. I yield the floor.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I move to proceed to legislative session.

Mr. REID

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