Harry Reid

Mr. REID

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

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I am not an expert in the field of etymology, which is the study of the origin of words, but I do find the origin of English words to be enlightening. For example, the word ``govern'' is one we hear often in the Capitol. ``Govern'' is derived from the Greek word meaning ``to steer or pilot a ship.'' The most important question for a party in power is simply this: Can you govern? I say this to my Republican friends. In other words, can you steer the ship? Can you pilot this great Nation of ours in the right direction? We are just over 100 days in this Republican-controlled Congress, and it is already clear that the Republican leader and his side have not been up to the task. One need look no further than the Republicans' botched handling of the human trafficking bill before the Senate. I would just say in partial response to my friend the Republican leader that I have never been a big fan of polling--political polling or any kind of polling--because you can get any answer you want by asking the right question. Of course, the Republican leader, in the questions submitted to the Congressional Research Service, asked the wrong questions. The majority leader and the assistant majority leader took a piece of legislation and steered it right into the rocks. The ship has sprung many leaks. All Democrats and Republicans support the provisions of this bill to help the victims of sexual trafficking and hold the offenders accountable, but instead of legislating on common ground, the Republicans are legislating to obstruct. When they were in the minority, all they did was obstruct. So they know how to do that. I vouch for that. One of the things I said was that we are not going to treat them the way they treated us. And we haven't done that. The Republicans, now in the majority, can't filibuster themselves so they are resorting to tanking good legislation--bills they themselves wrote and support--in order to score some type of political point. Does that seem like reasonable governance to anyone? I don't think so. Yesterday, I sat listening to the majority leader--and I did today-- claiming that they are seeking a compromise, even saying that Republicans have offered three compromises. Well, if we are just going on the number of offers made, we have done 10. We have made 10 good- faith offers to get this human trafficking bill on the right path. We have tried and tried and tried to reach an agreement. We have done 10. I will mention just a few. We proposed that they strip the Hyde language from the bill. Then we proposed the Leahy substitute, which would strip the Hyde language and also include Leahy's Runaway and Homeless Youth Act and Senator Klobuchar's Stop Exploitation through Trafficking Act, which would strengthen the legislation. Then we proposed to use the entire trafficking bill passed by the House instead of the Cornyn bill. That is the bill the House passed. Let's bring it to the floor here and pass it. We even proposed to keep the Cornyn fund but use it only for law enforcement efforts to help catch sex traffickers and use the House bill's authorization for victims services, including health care. But Republicans would not agree to any of those changes. They simply are not interested in getting to ``yes.'' This morning, I heard some talk that maybe we can work something out. I hope that, in fact, is true. I hope they are not using this urgently needed trafficking bill to continue to push through the party's backward agenda relating to women's health. The Hyde language--I served in the House of Representatives more than 30 years ago. I served with Congressman Hyde, a fine man. If there ever were anyone who looked like a public servant, it was Henry Hyde--big man, beautiful white hair, great speaking voice. He, this good Congressman, is responsible for the Hyde language. It has been in bills since then, but it applied and has always applied to government money, taxpayer money--taxpayer money. What we have said over the last couple of weeks time and time again is that Hyde should not be expanded to cover nontaxpayer dollars. That is what this is all about. We are not going to bend on that issue. It is not right. We do not need to expand Hyde. We think the Republicans believe this is a way to pacify the right-to-life community, some of these--not all but some of these ideologues out there who want to expand Hyde. We are not going to allow that to happen. Hyde should apply to taxpayer-funded money and nothing else. What has taken place on the direction of human trafficking is an effort to obfuscate--to hide the real purpose of the legislation. We all agree that human trafficking should stop. This legislation we have before us is a step in the right direction. We want to support that legislation. My friend the Republican leader said: Well, all they are complaining about is a sentence or so. Well, that is why people spend all these years going to law school, taking contracts courses. That is why my friend the assistant Republican leader, who served as a trial court judge, a supreme court justice--during his entire career, he dealt with lawyers coming to him talking about sentences in a contract or sentences in a piece of legislation. That is what this is all about. We should eliminate those sentences that allow Hyde to be expanded to nontaxpayer money. We cannot allow that to happen. So, over 100 days into this Congress, we should move forward and get this bill done. It is time that, on this legislation, Republicans right the ship. If human trafficking legislation is any indication, Republicans have not had a desire to govern dependably. I think that is unfair. I hope this cloture vote will be defeated. I hope at that time people will finally come to the realization that we are willing to do whatever needs to be done to change this language so that the Hyde language is not applied to taxpayer dollars. If that is the case, we can move forward expeditiously.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I reserve my right to object, and would say that with the work done by Senators Murray and all the Judiciary Committee, led by Senator Leahy and, of course, Senator Klobuchar, working with Senator Cornyn, significant progress has been made. There is no question in that regard. But we are not there yet. Remember, we had a problem with this initially because of the language in the bill. So every word is going to have to be read with this new language that is drawn up, and then we will see if we can make it to the finish line. I think we can, but we are certainly not there yet. But progress has been made. Mr. President, in my reservation to object I would say that I note that the request the majority leader propounded is seeking to move to a House revenue bill, which of course would provide a vehicle for the Foreign Relations Committee-reported Iran legislation. I support the Committee-reported Iran legislation. I commend Senators Cardin and Corker for their historic work on this package. I do hope the Senate can pass it with no changes. But I note that the majority leader is once again choosing not to move to the nomination of Loretta Lynch as Attorney General. It has been more than 5 months--it will be 6 months in a week or 10 days-- since President Obama nominated her. Her nomination has been on the Senate calendar for 49 days, longer than the last 7 Attorney General nominations combined. So I ask whether the majority leader would modify his consent request to add this: That there be 2 hours for debate, divided in the usual form, and that following the use or yielding back of time, the Senate proceed to vote on the nomination; further, that if the nomination is confirmed, 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; and that the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action. Part of the consent request is that on Monday, April 20, at 3:30 p.m., the Senate proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 21.

Mr. REID. Mr. President, continuing my reservation, as the majority leader is well aware, procedurally, the Senate provides many opportunities for delay. We are not going to treat the current majority the way the Republican minority treated us when we were in the majority. I am not going to object to the majority leader's consent today. However, I want everyone to know--I am going to serve notice right now--that Ms. Lynch's nomination will not remain in purgatory forever. So I withdraw my objection.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. The Republican leader talked about two issues: one, sexual trafficking, and, two, the budget. His statements regarding the two are illogical as anything can be. Illogical. First of all, let's talk about sexual trafficking. Senators on this side of the aisle, with rare exception, are not wild about the Hyde amendment, but it has been the law of the land for some 30 years. And why is it the law of the land? Because it has been put in appropriations bills over these many years. But what my friend the Republican leader failed to mention is that if the Cornyn amendment or the Cornyn language were adopted, it would change women's reproduction rights permanently. You see, the Hyde amendment has always applied to taxpayer-funded money. But what Senator Cornyn, the author of this bill and this amendment, wants to do is direct this to private money. They are two totally different things. Hyde has never, ever in the past applied to private money--nontaxpayer dollars. So that is why my friend's argument is totally illogical. Illogical. It has no basis in fact. We are not going to stand by to enlarge this so-called Hyde amendment to private money. Now we have tried. We have tried. Ten different offers have been made to Senator Cornyn and Senator McConnell to work our way through this. There are many ways we can handle this. But they feel--my friend the Republican leader and the assistant Republican leader feel this is their opportunity to broaden Hyde. We are not going to allow that to happen. It would be wrong. We have made 10 separate offers of ways to get to yes, but Republicans appear unwilling to compromise about the Hyde language, and that is unfortunate. To carry on the illogic of the Republican leader, every organization has a mission statement, a summary of their goals and values. Congress is no different. There are mission statements that are done every year and they are called a budget. We have our mission statement; the Republicans have theirs. The budget sets forth our core values as a party, a statement of our values that tells the American people what we really care about and whose side we are on. We are committed to a budget that puts the middle class first, a budget that supports hard- working families, creates jobs, and invests in our future. The Republicans, by contrast, are hell-bent on passing a budget that creates a war on the middle class and serves the interests of special interests and the superwealthy. Let's take a look at what the Senate Republican budget does. Remember, this is their statement of core values, and their war on the average American from Reno to Las Vegas to Chicago to Louisville--it doesn't matter where you go--is an attack on the middle class. Why do I say that? It deprives more than 16 million Americans of health coverage. That is the first thing their budget does. It devastates Medicare. It makes Medicare something we would not recognize, and they do it, of course, at the expense of America's seniors. It cuts Medicaid and hurts millions of families who are not able to pay for their care. Everyone thinks Medicaid is just for poor people. Some people don't think they have much value in our society and Medicaid is something that shouldn't get much of our attention. But a significant amount of Medicaid money goes to people who are in rest homes and convalescent centers. So the money they are whacking from Medicaid hurts not only the young but the old. It guts nutrition assistance. It guts food that can go to people who are hungry. It undermines job training and employment services for millions of American families. It cuts billions in financial aid for college students. The Republicans not only want to cut aid to families as it relates to education, but then the debts they have accumulated, which are larger than credit card debt--they don't want to cut them any relief whatsoever. We have tried that lots of times. Our budget reflects that; theirs doesn't. While the middle class is decimated by Senate Republicans--and who benefits? Special interests and the superrich. They are protected more than ever. The Republicans refuse to close a single loophole to reduce this deficit. A single tax loophole they will not touch. They will not end tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas. They will not close loopholes for the wealthy, including hedge fund managers. They will not take away wasteful and unneeded tax breaks for the very powerful oil and gas industry. They are attacking the middle class while protecting the super wealthy. That is wrong. Now, the Republican budget is also dishonest. I heard the Republican leader come here and boast. He boasted about the balanced budget they have. That is absolutely not true. Their budget does not balance the budget. It is simply dishonest to say so. The Republican budget claims to add more money for defense, but it does not. It is no wonder that the New York Times called the Republican budget ``a trillion dollar con job.'' ``A trillion dollar con job'' is the Republican budget. I agree with the New York Times. In the coming days, as we move forward toward a conference--now remember moving forward toward conference has become kind of a joke around here because we do not have conferences like we used to. That is too bad. There will be no meeting of the conferees. There will be no debate in open session as to how the budget should be changed. The Republicans will get to conference. There will be meetings held by the Republicans. Democrats will not be invited. If they are invited, it is pro forma: Here is what we have decided to do. The conferences, as we used to do them around here, do not exist. It is a rare occasion when they do. We will not be looking into our efforts to try to improve the budget. We are not looking to obstruct the process to force another all-night vote-arama. We could. Under the rules we could offer endless, endless motions to instruct: 5, 6, 50, 100, 200. We could do that. We are not going to do that. But we will be offering a few motions to make clear where we stand on important issues. For example, there will be an amendment that men and women who do the same work should be paid the same money. If my daughter works here and a man works here and they do the same job, they should be paid the same amount of money. We have tried to do that. The Republicans have filibustered this five times over the last few years. We are going to offer an amendment to provide sick leave to help families get through tough times. We are going to offer an amendment to ensure that same sex spouses have equal access to Social Security and veterans' benefits. We are going to offer an amendment to relieve the crushing burden of costly student loans. No one has worked harder on this issue than the assistant Democratic leader. I heard him yesterday talk about this at a meeting we had--the crushing, crushing costly student loans. We are going to offer an amendment to address the economic and national security threats posed by climate change. In the West, we are in the midst of a 15-year drought. This is the 15th year. Lake Powell, the largest manmade lake in America, could go dry very quickly. Hundreds of thousands of acre feet of water will not go into that lake this year because of what is happening up in Colorado. So when we are done offering what we feel should be ways to improve this dishonest budget that the Republicans put forward, the American people will have no doubt which party stands with the middle class and which stands with the special interests and billionaires. Yes, we have set forth what we believe are our core values, and we believe our core values are what the American people need.

Mr. REID

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

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, people at home cannot see it, but every desk here on the Senate floor has a name on it. Mine says ``Mr. Reid.'' Right behind me is one that says ``Mrs. Murray.'' To my right is one that says ``Mr. McConnell.'' Why do I mention this? Today is National Equal Pay Day, a day that symbolizes how far into 2015 American women must work to earn what their male counterparts earned in 2014. That day is today. Women basically worked for nothing until today. This pay disparity between men and women doing the same work is known as the wage gap. Unlike the desks here in the Chamber, the wage gap does not bear a visible stamp of ownership, but make no mistake--Republicans in Congress absolutely own the wage gap. Their names are all over it. The Republicans' refusal to address income disparities makes them responsible for the additional 3 months and 14 days that American women work to earn what their male counterparts earn doing the exact same work at the exact same time. Who are these working American women who are being forced to work for months just to catch up on wages? They are our daughters, our wives, our granddaughters, and our neighbors. Republicans' repeated filibusters of equal pay legislation makes them responsible for working women in our families having to make due on 78 cents for every dollar their male counterparts make. Democrats have tried repeatedly to pass Senator Mikulski's Paycheck Fairness Act, which would take away the disparity. It is pretty simple: If a man and a woman do the same work--no different--they should be paid the same amount of money. Very simple. We repeatedly tried to pass this simple legislation. This legislation provides working American women with the tools they need to close the wage gap. Yet, time and time again, Republicans have stonewalled this most basic issue of fairness. Five years ago, the Republicans filibustered the Paycheck Fairness Act. Two years later, the Republicans did the same thing. Last year, they blocked the bill two times. Just last month in the budget debate, Senator Mikulski gave the Republicans another chance. Once again, the Republicans blocked it. Five times in 5 years Republicans have blocked equal pay for women. Five times in 5 years Republicans have told their very own sisters, daughters, and wives, and, of course, their grandchildren that they are not interested in fixing this unfair income disparity. That is why I say the Republicans own the wage gap. They own it. Today, as we recognize Equal Pay Day, I hope my Republican colleagues come to their senses and address this injustice which is hurting millions of American families. American women deserve equal pay for equal work. My daughter deserves equal pay for equal work. Would the Presiding Officer announce the business of the day.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, the reason we are not moving forward more quickly is we first had to get some of the holds lifted, and we were able to do that on both sides, and we wanted to make sure there would be no cuts in the physicians payments. We thought if we finished this by early sometime tomorrow, noon or thereabouts, that the payments would not be cut but we don't have that assurance yet. So we are going to have to go ahead. If something comes from the Office of Management and Budget or the White House that that would not happen, we can allow people to go to the events they have around town. In the meantime, I agree with the Republican leader, we should go forward. If something happens during some of these votes so we can finish them tomorrow, fine. But in the meantime, to protect not only the physicians but their patients, we should move forward on this legislation now. I have no objection.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, this is another day and another report highlighting how ObamaCare is helping Americans. Today's proof comes from a Gallup poll which finds that 9 out of 10 Americans report having health insurance. Here are a few excerpts from the Associated Press article about this poll: ``. . . underlining a change across the nation, nearly 9 out of 10 adults now say they have health insurance, according to an extensive survey released today.'' The Gallup poll ``found that the share of adults who lack [health] insurance dropped to 11.9 percent for the first three months of this year, the lowest level since the survey began its tracking in 2008.'' Coverage gains from 2014-2015 translate to about 3.6 million fewer adults uninsured since the fall. . . . ``The Affordable Care Act had three major objectives: increase coverage, slow the rate of increase in costs, and improve health''. . . . ``The first one is a clear win. Coverage is increasing; there is no question about it.'' ``On balance, an estimated 14.75 million adults have gained coverage since the fall of 2013, when the law's first open enrollment season was about to begin.'' The survey also found that ``Hispanics saw the biggest coverage gains of any ethnic or racial group. At a time when Republicans are very keenly trying to court the Hispanic vote, a large chunk of Hispanics are gaining insurance via the Affordable Care Act.'' Recent gains in coverage have benefited people up and down the income ladder. But the most notable improvement has been among those making less than $36,000 a year, a group that traditionally struggled to get and keep health insurance. Here is a little short comment on this. When we have people who make less than $36,000 getting insurance coverage, it saves us money. They are not having to go through their primary care physician--which is an emergency room--the highest cost of health care delivery in the United States. So this is really good news for America. ObamaCare is working, and there is more and more evidence every day. It is time to stop trying to destroy the law that has been helping millions and millions of Americans.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, let's talk a little bit about Loretta Lynch. We have now passed the first 100 days of the Republican-controlled Senate. We all remember the lofty promises made by the Republican leader and his party when they assumed power. But we are still struggling to finish two issues that should have been resolved weeks ago. The Democrats are ready to move forward on the Lynch nomination and the so-called doc fix. This doc fix, which we are going to talk about a little later, is so important not only for the doctors but also for their patients. Medicare is an important part of our health care delivery system, and it benefits older Americans. This day marks the 157th day since President Obama first nominated Loretta Lynch as Attorney General. For more than 5 months, Democrats have been ready to take up and confirm the nomination. Back in November of last year, when Loretta Lynch was first nominated, the Republican leader said: ``Ms. Lynch will receive fair consideration by the Senate. And her nomination should be considered in the new Congress through regular order.'' I am not making this up. This is what the Republican leader said. I quoted him verbatim. Even though the Democrats were ready to move the nomination before the elections, some Republicans wanted a little more time to look at it. We agreed to that. We based this upon what the Republican leader said--that Ms. Lynch would receive fair consideration by the Senate. Well, that hasn't happened. January came and went, and Loretta Lynch's nomination never got a confirmation vote on the floor. Democrats were ready to confirm a new Attorney General, but Republicans weren't and aren't. February and March flew by and Republicans still aren't ready. Now we are half way through April, and once again, Senate Democrats are ready and willing to confirm a new Attorney General, but the Republicans are not. Ms. Lynch has a spotless record. No one can question her integrity, her background, and there is no question that she should not have to wait any longer.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I have spent a little bit of time talking about the sustainable growth rate--the doc fix--or the SGR. Before the Senate recessed for the Easter break, Republicans were unable to agree on how to prevent the physician pay cut. Democrats were ready to proceed. The last night we were here, we said: When we come back, we want to move this House bill forward. We want three simple amendments. We still feel the same way. We are willing not only to move forward on those amendments, but we will give a very short time agreement on each one of them. The Republican leader said when bills come to the floor, he wants to have amendments. We don't want to amend this bill to death. We want three simple amendments. We said that the night we were here when closing the Senate for the Easter recess, and we say it again. I wish Republicans would have joined us years ago in our efforts to repeal this faulty law, but they did not do that. Regardless of the history, we have an urgent need before us today to get this bill done. Each day that passes without doing this SGR, this sustainable growth rate--to get rid of it is basically what we are doing. It would be a good day for America. It would also be a good day for America when we can confirm Loretta Lynch. Each day that passes without her confirmation and without a doc fix is just another example of Republicans' inability to govern. Mr. President, would you announce the business of the day.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President. I rise today to recognize Mrs. Ethelene Thompson. She was born on June 6, 1925, in Water Valley, MS, as the third child of Minnie and Solomon Morgan. Today, Ethelene is a caregiver known to many in her community for her willingness to provide free childcare and transportation to those in need. She lived through the Great Depression, World War II, the civil rights movement, and the election and tenure of the first African-American President. In 1946, she married Willie Thompson, and they raised six beautiful daughters, until his passing in 2000. Mrs. Thompson has been instrumental in helping raise her 14 grandchildren, 13 great-grandchildren, and 4 great-great-grandchildren. She is known to give selflessly of her time and wisdom and to countless folks in her neighborhood and at her church. She helped lead the Girl Scout troops for her daughters and granddaughters, ensured that her grandson and his friends made it to every sports practice and game, and has served faithfully as a member of the Bloomfield Full Gospel Baptist Church for more than 50 years, where she has been a member of the choir, Sunday school, and kitchen ministry. I take this opportunity to celebrate Mrs. Ethelene Thompson's life and legacy. May she continue to grow in her steadfast faith and love for her family.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, before the Republican leader leaves, in the weather reports today, they forecast snow starting late today. Maybe that will calm down the generosity of the offering of amendments today, because snow is going to continue until tomorrow.

Mr. REID

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

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, it is my understanding the reason the clerk reads the names is so the Republican press can determine how we vote. Would the Chair indicate whether that is true or false?

Mr. REID. We do have the right if we, by consent, agree to waive the reading of the names; is that right?

Mr. REID. Would the Senator from New York renew his request?

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I, too, wish to express my appreciation to everyone who worked today. The thing I enjoyed most of all was the recess subject to the call of the Chair. One thing we all acknowledge that we need to do is to prevent automatic cuts to doctors under Medicare because it is not only important to the doctors, it is also important to the patients--the so- called sustainable growth rate, or SGR--and we need to reauthorize the Children's Health Insurance Program. There is a lot of stuff in the bill that passed the House. They got 392 votes on that. That is a rare vote over there. I am pleased they did that. We are willing, over here, to proceed with this matter tonight. As I indicated to the leader earlier on today, we had hoped we could get this done, but I understand it is late, whatever day it is. It is a bill that is 362 pages long. We are willing to move forward. I am disappointed we may not be able to get it done tonight. I sure wish we could. If we can't, I hope the majority leader will move to this matter as soon as we get back here after the recess. It is a very important piece of legislation that we all acknowledge we need to do. I understand we want to help the physicians. I acknowledge that, but remember, those Medicare physicians take care of people who are badly in need of health care. It is not only for the doctors that we need to do this, we need to do it for their patients.

Mr. REID. Finally, it is my understanding that when we come back, we could have a very limited number of amendments to try to dispose of this.

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I said when we come back after 2 weeks, I hope the majority leader will consider a very limited number of amendments with time agreements on them.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I appreciate the cooperation between Senator Sanders and Senator Enzi in our arriving at the point we are now. The Republicans have a totally different vision of what the country is and should be than we have, but the debate between these two good Senators has been civil. It has been very polite. It is the way things should happen around here. So I appreciate that very much. The Republican budget makes clear the priorities of the Republicans. Republicans would get two-thirds of their cuts from low-income Americans, but they would not plug one single loophole for corporations or the rich--and I mean the mega rich--not a penny. They would double down on harmful sequestration, which is when automatic cuts occur across the board. We know how disastrous this has been. For the 1 year it was in effect--take, for example, the National Institutes of Health--almost $2 billion they lost that 1 year. On the floor is the senior Senator from the State of Illinois. I have heard him speak here on the floor about what a difficult time the people at NIH are having because they don't have enough money to do basic research. The sequestration that was put upon us last time caused the NIH to stop their research on a universal flu vaccine. Hundreds of thousands of people die around the world every year, and tens of thousands of people die every year in the United States because of flu. They were close to having a universal flu vaccine that would take care of this. Sequestration is awful. It is part of the Republican budget. They are doubling down on this harmful sequestration on health, education, and even national defense. Talk about a gimmick. This is a doozy, what they are trying to do with defense, to try to pretend they are going to put $38 billion more in the Defense budget. But it is pretend, because even looking at the Republican budget, it is not possible to do. Once even the Republican hawks look at this, they will say: Well, maybe we are not going to get that $38 billion. So their budget has lots of gimmicks--lots of gimmicks. It has been written about all over the country in editorials from east to west and from north to south. Fortunately for the country, the Republican budget will not become law. Will the Chair announce the business of the day.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, the Senator from South Carolina set a good example by withdrawing his amendment. That is really what the standard should be. Senator Blumenthal was second best when he said he would take a voice vote. The only disagreement I would have with my friend the Republican leader is that if we go through all of these amendments that are pending, it will take 33 more hours. That is the math. That is the truth. We need to move on. Remember, this budget resolution is a statement of policy. It is not the law. We can say ``I gotcha'' on this one, ``we gotcha'' on that one, but that is--we have done that now for 8 hours or whatever it is. I really do agree with the Republican leader. The staff has worked so hard. They haven't worked just today and yesterday and this week; they have been working for weeks to get us to the position where we are tonight. I know the Republican leader bought dinner tonight, and I appreciate that very much. But if we can get finished here by 11:30, I will buy dinner when we get back, and it will be better than that. So we have had an ample vote-arama. For all the new Members, they see what it is like. The time has come for Senators to show some restraint. No one's election is going to be determined--I say that to the world. No one's election is going to be determined by what is taking place here tonight--no election. I defy anyone to show me in any of these vote-aramas where a vote has made any difference. And we are witnesses to that, and I can testify to that. One time, to show my colleagues how meaningless these votes are, we voted against prisoners being able to have Viagra in prison. We actually voted on that. No one lost an election. By the way, it was defeated. So let's--we can go through all of the Viagra amendments and do all of these things to embarrass each other, but that isn't what we should be doing. The time has come to forgo pressing amendments to votes altogether. It has been very dignified. Earlier today, I said how proud I am of the two managers of this legislation. They have totally different political outlooks, but they have been gentlemen to each other and gentlemen to each of us. So I hope we can move forward as quickly as possible. The agreement for the dinner was not a Las Vegas bet; it is something I will do.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I rise today to recognize and honor the career of Carla Sloan as she retires from her position as the American Association of Retired Persons, AARP, Nevada State director. For more than 30 years, Carla Sloan has been a leading advocate for Nevadans. She has held positions ranging from the founding director of the Howard W. Cannon Senior Services Center in Las Vegas, senior services coordinator for the Las Vegas Housing Authority, administrator for the State of Nevada's Division for Aging Services, and founding Nevada State director for the AARP. Through these positions, Ms. Sloan led a statewide coalition of senior organizations and developed initiatives to help seniors throughout the Silver State live more independently. She also worked to ensure Nevada's publicly funded programs address the needs of older individuals and connected thousands of Nevada's seniors to essential resources, including health care, housing, and financial planning services. In addition to these roles, Ms. Sloan has effectively represented the interests of Nevada's seniors by providing an expert perspective on several community and State boards, including the Governor's Commission on Aging; the Nevada Legislative Task Force for a Healthy Nevada; the University of Nevada, Las Vegas Center for Aging; and the Nevada Elder Abuse Prevention Council. Carla Sloan has devoted her career to improving the lives of Nevada's seniors. I commend her dedicated service to the Silver State, and I wish her the best in her future endeavors and retirement.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I rise today to recognize the 50th anniversary of the Jo Mackey Academy of Leadership and Global Communication in North Las Vegas, NV. Since this elementary school opened 50 years ago, the school has been dedicated to educating our young citizens while preparing them to succeed in our culturally diverse society. Mrs. Jo Mackey spent her life focusing on the welfare and betterment of all children, and she would be proud to see her name on an elementary school with such notable success. Jo Mackey Magnet School has made remarkable strides in the last 50 years to ensure excellence in the education of the children of Clark County. They offer special exploration classes to foster intellectual growth in areas such as communication, mathematics, art, foreign language, and many other subjects. They have hired a team of enthusiastic and dedicated staff whose effective teaching is evidenced by the high test scores of the students. In the last school year, Jo Mackey Magnet School had a higher percentage of students meet or exceed Nevada's standards in reading, mathematics, and science when compared to the county and State percentages. They also exceeded State and county rates in attendance and reported zero incidents of bullying or suspensions. Additionally, the Jo Mackey Academy of Leadership and Global Communication was recently recognized by the Magnet Schools of America Merit Awards Program as a Magnet School of Excellence. Since its founding, Jo Mackey Magnet School has prepared Clark County's children to embark in a world of diversity. Students of many different ethnic and racial origins work together on projects both inside and outside of the classroom. Within the last year, students built and harvested from a school garden and learned about the importance of healthy eating. I sincerely thank Principal Kemala Washington and the dedicated staff of Jo Mackey Academy of Leadership and Global Communication for their hard work in educating our children. Congratulations on 50 years of standing as a shining example of what a magnet school should be.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, today I recognize Aid for AIDS of Nevada and the 25th Annual AIDS Walk in Las Vegas, NV. Established in 1984, Aid for AIDS of Nevada, AFAN, is the oldest and largest AIDS service organization in the State. Each year, AFAN serves more than 3,500 individuals and families in southern Nevada who are living with HIV/AIDS. This organization provides a range of services to help people living with HIV/AIDS manage their disease, including medical case management, housing assistance, and nutritional services. AFAN is also committed to reducing the spread of HIV/AIDS and works with community stakeholders to implement prevention initiatives, including educational seminars for high-risk groups. This year marks the 25th year that AFAN will host AIDS Walk Las Vegas, which is not only AFAN's biggest fundraiser, but also one of the largest events for HIV/AIDS in the State of Nevada. Last year, more than 10,000 people participated in AIDS Walk Las Vegas and raised nearly $440,000 for AFAN. The money raised each year from this event helps AFAN provide health care referrals, food vouchers, bus passes, rent assistance, and other essential services to thousands of Nevadans affected by HIV/AIDS. I commend AFAN on their 25th Annual AIDS Walk Las Vegas, and I applaud their decades of dedicated service to southern Nevada.