Harry Reid

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, following my remarks and those of the Republican leader, the Senate will resume consideration of the motion to concur in the House amendment to the Senate amendment to H.R. 3979, postcloture. At noon today, the time will be controlled between Senators Reid, 1 hour; Coburn, 1 hour; Murkowski, 30 minutes; Inhofe, 30 minutes, or their designees. Upon the use or yielding back of that time, at approximately 3 p.m., the Senate will have rollcall votes in relation to the defense authorization bill and the Saperstein nomination. (Mr. KING assumed the Chair.)

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Madam President, I rise today to honor the work of my friend George M. Marcus, an accomplished businessman and philanthropist. Born in Euboea, Greece, George Marcus and his family immigrated to the San Francisco Bay area in 1945. George was raised in California and attended college at San Francisco State University. After graduating with an economics degree in 1965, George began working in real estate. Always with an emphasis on client satisfaction, analysis, and evaluation, he founded Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services in 1971. His business acumen and willingness to innovate have spawned a variety of subsidiaries that have expanded his company to include 35 states. George's successes are not limited to the real estate industry. A noted entrepreneur, Mr. Marcus has been called ``a modern day Midas with an uncanny ability to create successful companies'' by one news outlet. Indeed, his ventures range from SummerHill Homes, a bay area homebuilder, to a partnership in two enormously popular Greek restaurants: Evvia Estiatorio in Palo Alto and Kokkari Estiatorio in downtown San Francisco. Mr. Marcus' legacy extends far beyond shareholders and profits into the heart of his own community. He has served on the California State Universities Foundation Board of Governors and the Board of Regents of the University of California. On the board he worked to preserve the financial viability of higher education for residents. He has also supported San Francisco's de Young Museum since its foundation and established San Francisco State University's International Center for the Arts. Remembering his heritage, George has contributed generously to the Greek-American community and its institutions. In 2008, he was instrumental in organizing the National Hellenic Society to provide resources to promote Hellenic ideals. For his numerous services, he has been awarded the AXION Award, the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, the Elios Cultural Achievement Award, the Patriarch Athenagoras I Humanities Award, and the Aristeio Award of the American Hellenic Council of California. This past month George was honored by the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of San Francisco with the Theofanis Economidis Award for his work on behalf of the Greek Orthodox Church in the United States. I congratulate George on this much-deserved recognition. But for all of the awards and accolades from the private and public sectors, George Marcus' greatest accomplishment is his family. George and his wife Judy are the proud parents of four children--Mary Jane, John, Demetra, and Alexandria. In 2011, George gave the commencement address at San Francisco State University. In his remarks he quoted Aristotle, urging the graduates to remember that ``excellence is a habit. . . . For your success in whatever you pursue, you must take to heart and be the best you can . . . and don't forget to give back.'' George Marcus has made excellence his habit at home, in his community and in the corporate world. He has achieved unparalleled success in nearly every walk of life. Yet he has never forgotten to give back. He has never stopped being the best he can. Today, I, along with the Senate, congratulate him on his well- deserved award from the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of San Francisco, but more importantly, we thank George Marcus for all he has done for the people of this nation. On a personal note, George Marcus has been my friend for three decades. It is a friendship I will always cherish.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. I ask unanimous consent that following disposition of the House message with respect to H.R. 3979, the Senate proceed to executive session to consider Calendar Nos. 697, 632, 1055, 542, 637, 1051, 1057, 791, 1102; that there be 2 minutes for debate equally divided between the two leaders or their designees prior to each vote; that upon the use or yielding back of time the Senate proceed to vote with no intervening action or debate on the nominations in the order listed; that any rollcall votes, following the first in the series, be 10 minutes in length; that if any 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; that any statements related to the nomination be printed in the Record; that the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action and the Senate then resume legislative session.

Mr. REID. Madam President, I now ask unanimous consent that at noon on Friday, December 12, tomorrow, all postcloture time on the motion to concur in the House amendment to the Senate amendment to H.R. 3979 be considered expired; that it be in order, notwithstanding cloture having been invoked, for Senator Coburn to offer a motion to refer the House message; that there be 3 hours of debate, 1 hour each for Senators Coburn and Reid, or their designees, and 30 minutes each for Senators Murkowski and Inhofe, or their designees, prior to a vote in relation to the motion to refer; that the Coburn motion to refer be subject to a 60-affirmative vote threshold; that if the Coburn motion to refer is not agreed to, Senator Coburn be recognized for the purposes of making a motion; that following disposition of the Coburn motion, the pending motion to concur with a further amendment be withdrawn; that the Senate proceed to vote on the motion to concur; that no motions other than the Coburn motions, motions to waive or motions to table be in order; that the vote on the motion to concur be subject to a 60-affirmative vote threshold; finally, that if the motion to concur is agreed to, the Senate proceed to the consideration of the following concurrent resolutions en bloc: H. Con. Res. 121, to correct the enrollment of H.R. 3979, providing a new title to the bill; and H. Con. Res. 123, to correct the enrollment of H.R. 3979; that the concurrent resolutions be agreed to and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of H.J. Res. 130, the short-term, 2-day continuing resolution, which was received from the House and is now at the desk.

Mr. REID. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the joint resolution be read three times and the Senate proceed to vote on passage of the joint resolution.

Mr. REID. I ask unanimous consent that the motion to consider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, what is the business now?

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Today's generation goes to Google for answers to questions they have about geography, about politics, famous people, or any subject. Any subject, you name it, and we all go to Google as quickly as we can. But long before Google, we had to use books, encyclopedias, volumes of books containing all sorts of facts on topics, and they were all in alphabetic order. For almost the last 40 years--39 to be exact-- the Senate has had its own encyclopedia--legislative counsel Jim Fransen. Jim began his Senate career in 1975, just after graduating from law school--from the University of Wisconsin--where he also studied as an undergraduate. That year he joined the Office of Legislative Counsel as assistant counsel. Over the years, Jim Fransen gradually moved up the ranks until he was named legislative counsel, a position he has held for 15 years. He is a noted expert on a lot of things, but especially the United States Tax Code. We have heard speeches on this floor about the complexity of the Tax Code. That is a monumental assignment, to understand the Tax Code. Jim certainly does, perhaps better than anyone in Washington. Jim actually wrote the Tax Reform Act of 1986. That was the famous Bradley-Gephardt legislation. For four decades, he has played a role in every important piece of tax legislation that has become law in our country. The Office of Legislative Counsel does the work for the Senate--not Democrats, not Republicans, but all of us, including our staffs. They write bills to create programs while also drafting amendments that will have some effect on these programs, sometimes wiping out these programs. This impartiality is the key to the success of the Senate and something we don't often consider--how we get to the point where we are. This massive bill we are going to deal with today has legislative counsel's imprint on it. The same can be said of the bill they are going to work on today in the House, the omnibus; the tax extenders, the same thing. These are the must-do's we have to do before we leave here. Another key to the success of Jim Fransen is the excellent team he has put together in the Office of Legislative Counsel. The staff, under his watchful eye, receives about 15,000 legislative inquiries every year--15,000--well more than 1,000 a month, and they are responsible for drafting 98 percent of all the legislation we do. (Mr. WALSH assumed the Chair.) It is rare to find someone like former Senator Jim Webb, who was a freshman Senator who came in and drafted his own bill that would give educational benefits to the military. Senator Webb came to me and said: I am going to write my own bill. Now that doesn't happen very often, but it was extremely important to him that he did that, and it had to be done because it was a significant piece to the new GI bill of rights, which the Presiding Officer--the General--would certainly understand. But 98 percent of the work we do here is not stamped by Jim Webb. We depend upon Jim Fransen's office to do this. So his job is not an easy job, but he has excelled because of his knowledge of the law, his experience of the legislative process, his patience, and his impeccable character. Jim Fransen is a man of integrity and one who considers everyone's views, whether he personally agrees with them or not. It is no wonder Jim is the second longest serving legislative counsel in the history of the Senate. One of his admirers once told me: Jim always plays it way up here, while the rest of us are down here. His phone rings at all hours of the day and night with random requests, and Jim handles it all with class and dignity. Jim is retiring from the Senate at the end of this month. He will be missed, and that is an understatement, but he leaves with us an Office of Legislative Counsel that has never performed better. I thank him for his service, and I do this on behalf of the entire Senate family. I thank his family for the untold hours he has spent away from home. I appreciate the work his wife Margaret Ann has done in supporting him, and, of course, he will spend more time with his three daughters and two grandsons. So thanks very much for sharing this good man with us. I wish Jim the very best in his retirement, and I repeat, I thank him on behalf of the Senate family for all the work he has done.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, as I indicated, we are going to move to the defense bill, but we are going to also, as part of that bill, do something that is at least 10 years overdue. For the last 10 years, we have been struggling to get bills out of the energy committee. We are fortunate enough to get them out once in a while, but they are stymied here on the floor. That has been going on for 10 years. There has been a permanent wrecking crew, led by one person, to do this. Before Nevada was settled by pioneers, its mountains were home to thousands of bighorn sheep--we still have lots of them--and pronghorn antelope--we have the largest antelope herd in the entire world in northern Nevada--and Nevada's streams and lakes at one time were full of Lahontan and cutthroat trout. That is not the case anymore. Because of the growth in the State of Nevada there has been a tremendous impact on the environment. We had in Nevada salmon in our rivers, but not anymore. We are trying to replenish fish so that we will have more of what we did have before, including salmon. Like every State across the Nation, Nevada's natural and cultural heritage has come under immense pressure as our cities and populations have swelled. About 80 percent of the people now live in one of our 17 counties. Clark County is where Las Vegas is. The other 16 counties make up about 20 percent of the population. So the pressure, especially because of what has happened in southern Nevada, has been very difficult on the environment. The other thing people have to understand is that 87 percent of the State of Nevada is owned by the Federal Government. That creates a lot of issues--some positive, some negative. But with the population having swelled, some of the issues we are now experiencing are certainly to be expected. As our society continues to expand, the stresses on our land, our wildlife, and water resources will continue. That is why the package of land bills in this National Defense Authorization Act is vitally important to our country. The package is a compromise that protects our Nation's wild and scenic places, our Nation's unique history, and opens up other lands for development. Are there provisions in this bill that I don't care a great deal about in a positive fashion? Yes. There are things in this bill I don't like. But there are things in here I do like. Are there things in this bill the majority of Republicans probably don't like? The answer is yes. So this is what legislation is all about. It is about compromise. It is about working together to have an end product, and that is what we have here. This compromise is a chance for the Senate to get something done. Compromise has been wanting in this body, especially regarding matters of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Hundreds of bills for the last 10 years have been stopped. I am only offering my opinion, but one of the finest public servants I have ever served with is Jeff Bingaman from New Mexico. Jeff is an absolutely brilliant man, a hard worker. I would bet--and I don't bet very often, and I am sure no one will take me up on this--but I think one reason Jeff Bingaman left the Senate was because of the work he was unable to get done in his committee. What a good chairman he was, but he was stymied time and time again from getting anything out of that committee. So for the last 10 years that committee has worked really hard, very hard, but they haven't had much to show for that work. This package protects more than 1 million acres of landscapes. I was waiting in my office and Senator Bennet from Colorado came to my office. He had a great big poster with him. I asked: What is that? It was upside down. You could see immediately what it was when it was right side up. He was looking for time on the floor to show America what was in this bill for the State of Colorado. This beautiful vista he was showing me--and he showed the whole world last night--is something that is in this bill. It will be protected--a stunningly beautiful forest area in Colorado. One million acres of landscape will be protected. Watersheds will be protected. Historic treasures will be protected. This protects over 140 miles of wild and scenic rivers throughout our country. These bills will create nearly 250,000 acres of wilderness in five States: Colorado, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, and Washington. Additionally, the packages convey more than 100,000 acres to local communities for economic development. My friend the Presiding Officer understands how important that is, being able to convey to the private sector the ability to develop Federal lands. It has to be done carefully. It can't be done on a massive scale. If we did that, the rich people would wind up owning all the nice places. These are places I think should be shared by the American people. But 100,000 acres go to local communities for economic development. The legislation continues our country's rich history, establishing national parks. It designates a number of new areas--for example, the Harriet Tubman Historic Park. I read in a period of a month two books on Harriet Tubman. They both came out at about the same time. I can't imagine why a movie hasn't been made about this dynamic little 5-foot woman who did such remarkable things. What a story of this woman--this slave. She was a slave--bringing people out of the South into freedom in the North. She took them as far as Canada. She did it alone. So I hope some day someone will make a movie of this stunningly powerful woman. We are recognizing an area that will be named on her behalf. The bundle of lands bills is good for America. It stretches literally from the shores of Alaska to the coast of Maine. It is especially important to Nevada, my State. It protects over 75,000 acres of wilderness in Humboldt and Lyon Counties in northern Nevada, the first new wilderness protections in the State since 2006. One of those areas is named after a famous Indian, Wovoka. There was a man who was a famous Indian. He established a dance that really brought Native Americans together. Even though it started in Nevada, it swept the country. This is going to be in Lyon County, it contains sage-grouse, bighorn sheep habitats, and some of the best fly fishing opportunities in Nevada and the Nation. Now there is a pine forest wilderness in Humboldt County which has been championed by the local community. They have been working on this for years. We couldn't get it out of the House of Representatives. Over here, of course, it was a lost cause, and don't even think about getting it out of the energy committee. Environmentalists, ranchers, hunters, anglers, and off-road vehicle enthusiasts came together to protect 20,000 acres of scenic lakes, amazing rock formations, and prime sage habitat. But it also allows a mine there to have some more land from the Federal Government which they need from enlarging that land. It is a copper mine. It is extremely important that we develop copper and don't have to import it from South America and Russia. Southern Nevada established the Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument on the edge of North Las Vegas. This area is the largest deposit of ice age mammals in the United States. Imagine that basically in the middle of thousands of homes. People couldn't understand what they were digging up out there, ice age mammals that are so unbelievably large and preserved over these thousands of years. When the resources are developed, catalogued, and better understood, it will likely be the largest deposit in the entire country. The package sells 10,000 acres of land to the city of Yerington. Lyon County was a county that probably suffered more from the economic shutdown. They had huge problems of unemployment, and now we have that mine there that will help. This will allow them to make even more jobs there. The agreement also provides lands to the cities of Las Vegas, North Las Vegas, Fernley, Carlin, allocates tracts for three universities and college campuses, and expands Nellis Air Force Base and the Fallon Naval Air Station. This is good for Nevada. It is good for the country. This legislation promotes jobs, protects the environment, helps our Armed Forces, and gives Americans the opportunity to enjoy the beautiful landscapes this country has to offer. It is not perfect legislation. No legislation is. But this is really good legislation. So I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting these critical lands bills which are part of the defense authorization bill.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, following my remarks and those of the Republican leader, the Senate will resume consideration of the motion to concur in the House amendment to the Senate amendment to H.R. 3979, the defense authorization bill. At 10:30 a.m., there will be a cloture vote on the motion to concur on the defense authorization bill. Mr. President, the work we are going to do on this defense authorization bill is extremely important for our country. I will have more to say about that in just a minute.

Mr. REID

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

Mr. REID

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

Mr. REID. Madam President, we are going to pass, sometime tonight, before 12 o'clock, a resolution that will ensure that the government does not shut down. The House passed the omnibus. It was by a nice margin--not overwhelmingly, but a nice margin. As a result of that, we will take up the long-term spending bill tomorrow. Senators who want to debate this legislation will have that opportunity. The Senate will vote on the long-term funding bill as soon as possible. In the Senate, ``as soon as possible'' could be tomorrow, it could be 2 days after cloture is filed on it, it could be a lot of different times. But we are going to work as hard as we can to expedite things around here. But if we are going to do this tomorrow, we need cooperation from everyone. As I indicated, we had a number of things we had to do. We had to keep the government functioning. We are going to do that tonight. We are going to do a short-term extension, as I have indicated, until we finish this bill. I think the extension will be for 2 days. That means we have to finish this bill in the next 2 days. We have to finish the defense bill that is now before the body. That time runs out tomorrow afternoon. No one can stop us from the time running out tomorrow afternoon. We hope to be able to expedite that. There are conversations going on now to make that so we can finish that sometime early tomorrow afternoon. I want to take this time, though, to spread on the Record my admiration for the work done by Senator Barbara Mikulski, the chairwoman of the Senate Appropriations Committee. This good woman came to the Senate when I came. We came together. I was fortunate to be on that Appropriations Committee as a freshman. That was really a big deal for this young Senator. Seniority-wise, there was always one person ahead of me, and that was Barbara Mikulski. She has done a remarkably good job as a Senator. I have said many times, when we came to the Senate together, she was it. There was no other woman here. Look at what she has done as the matriarch of this body. Everybody looks up to her--men and women. She is someone who is admired by everyone. Her taking over this Appropriations Committee was something she had wanted to do for a long time. She has done such a good job. She is proud of the committee. She is trying to reestablish the committee to what it used to be. We as legislators have to recognize we have three separate branches of government. In terms of the Constitution they are supposed to be equal. We have had a lot of our power taken from us by the executive branch of government. Barbara Mikulski is trying to reestablish that so we have three separate, equal branches of government. What took place in the House today, a few minutes ago, will help her establish the Appropriations Committee for what it should be. We have an obligation as legislators to have congressionally directed spending. That is in the Constitution. All the decisions as to where the money goes should not be made down at 16th and Pennsylvania Avenue. So the bill that she and Congressman Rogers worked on is not a perfect bill. But as the Presiding Officer knows as a legislator, there are no perfect bills. There are some people who are upset about items in this bill. To be candid with you, I am kind of upset about some items in the bill. But this bill is so much better than a short-term CR. It would have been--when I say ``short term'' I mean 3 months and do it all over and over again, threatening the government to shut down, especially about the same time we have to raise the debt ceiling again. So I want to end by saying this would never ever have happened but for Barbara Mikulski. Tomorrow should be a very interesting day. With a little bit of good fortune, we could complete the spending bill for the country for the fiscal year that is fast upon us. We could finish the defense bill and then look to do the tax extenders and completing the work on TRIA, whatever that may be. From that point forward we would work on nominations. We could be out of here fairly quickly. But everyone is going to have to work together to get this done.

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

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, following my remarks and those of the Republican leader, the Senate will resume consideration of the motion to concur in the House amendment to the Senate amendment to H.R. 3979, which is the Defense authorization bill--a very important piece of legislation. I would hope that Senators would understand the quicker we get this done, the sooner we can get to the omnibus and the tax extenders and the other things we have to do before we leave. I would note that it seems very likely we will have some votes this weekend. Everyone should understand that. If we can work a way not to have them, we will not, but I want everybody on notice that if they are not here this weekend, they could miss votes.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, when the Senate convened for the first time in April of 1789, there was a lot to do--and that is an understatement--not the least of which was to establish a system of rules to govern proceedings in the U.S. Senate. The first few weeks and months were going to be difficult, as they tried to sort out the structure and organization of this institution, but they had an idea. Two days after achieving its first quorum, the Senate selected a Secretary to oversee the day-to-day operations of what would become the world's greatest deliberative body. The importance of this position can't be overstated. Senators and their staffs come and go, but the Secretary of the Senate provides much needed stability and support. To put things into perspective, in the entire history of this country--225 years--we have only had 32 Secretaries of the Senate. By contrast, there have been almost 2,000 Senators who have served since its inception. That number will grow, of course, come January. For the last 8 years, Nancy Erickson has served superbly as Secretary of the Senate. But to be quite honest, that is what we expected her to do when she got this job. I came to know Nancy when I was the assistant leader, and a friend and confidant of Senator Daschle. Every time I walked in that office, there she was, always so very, very nice. She was a pleasant person. She was always smiling. We had some big issues, but she was always pleasant to everybody. Her first job here in the Senate was with Tom Daschle. She became his scheduler. But given her abilities, she quickly assumed more responsibility, eventually becoming deputy chief of staff. When Senator Daschle left the Senate, Nancy transitioned to the Sergeant-at-Arms office, where she worked as a liaison to Democratic Senators and their offices. Nancy is a native of Brandon, SD. She majored in history and government at Augustana College in Sioux Falls. She moved to Washington, DC, in 1987. Her husband Tom is from Sioux Falls. John Thune used to purchase suits from Nancy's father-in-law. Nancy's first job here in the Senate, as I have indicated, was for Senator Daschle. In her current office, Nancy has a collection of South Dakota maps hanging on the walls, one of the railroad tracks across South Dakota in 1886, one of Watertown, SD, and she has others. She even has a Rand McNally map of a long time ago that covers the entire State. As I indicated, when Senator Daschle left the Senate, Nancy transitioned to the Sergeant-at-Arms office where she worked as liaison to Democratic Senators and their offices. When I became leader and it was time for selecting a new secretary, I didn't look very far. I urged her to consider the position. I am glad she did. I have not regretted that decision, not for a second. She has proven herself to be an excellent manager. Nancy has 26 departments and about 250 employees directly under her supervision, not to mention the other 6,500 Senate employees who depend on her and her office. She has been faced with some difficult times during her tenure as Secretary of the Senate. There has been a lot of roiling--sequestration, a new health care rollout, and, of course, last year's shutdown. She has confronted each difficult obstacle with skill, composure, and that wonderful smile that she has. Nancy's success as Secretary stems not only from her excellent abilities but also from her character. She is a genuinely good person and she is very thorough, very thoughtful--I have already said that; very kind--I have already said that; very understanding--I have already said that; and something I haven't said, she is very fair. Whether she walks the halls here or on the Senate floor, she always has a smile every place she goes. I have said that many times. That is her legacy, and it is a good legacy. I have never--never might be an exaggeration, but extremely rarely--heard her criticize anyone. Nancy's time as Secretary of the Senate is coming to an end and she will be greatly missed. She has attended to the Senate's every need, day and night. She has earned a break, and I hope she takes one. I hope she gets to spend some time with her husband Tom, her daughter Drew, and I can still see in my mind's eye that picture she has of little Patrick--that little tiny boy. She had that on her desk forever, and he kept getting bigger and bigger and became an athlete. We had many conversations--and I try not to boast about a lot of things, but I am always anxious to boast about my youngest son, who was a stellar athlete and played on three national championship teams at the University of Virginia--so I have watched Patrick become a college soccer player. There will never be another Nancy Erickson here in the Senate. People like her don't come along very often. But she leaves a legacy, and it is one that will endure through the history of this great body. So thank you, Nancy, for your service to the country.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, when Secretary Erickson steps down, so does the Assistant Secretary of the Senate Sheila Dwyer. Sheila has a long history in the U.S. Senate, but Sheila's time started long ago--and I am not going to talk about how long ago, but she was a Senate page during the time, of course, when she was in high school. But after her semester as a page, she, like all these young pages who are here for a semester, returned home to Connecticut. She loves to boast about the great State of Connecticut, and I have listened to her do that for many years. But her heart has always been with the Senate from the time she was a page, and so she returned after her education. Sheila got a degree from Suffolk University. She returned to the Senate in many different capacities, but we have had wonderful conversations about her time with Chuck Robb. She is a family friend of the Robbs--and I mean a family friend--very close to them. She later worked for Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan. I talked to his widow within the past couple of weeks. What a unique man Senator Moynihan was. There is a new book out about him, and I have asked my staff to get a copy of it, which talks about this unusual man. I am anxious to read it because he was brilliant, but also he had a few--he was eccentric in some ways. And Sheila loves to tell privately--and I will not repeat here on the floor--some of the things he did that would appear to a lot of us to be a little bit eccentric. But that was part of his unique quality and she handled him so well--as well as anyone could. She worked for another man with a huge personality: Senator Fritz Hollings. He would, even though he is over 90 years old, still be here in the Senate except his wife became ill. He is physically strong today, bright of mind, and I can hear this man's voice from where he stood. What a voice he had, a man who was the epitome of what a Senator should look like. He was a handsome man. I repeat, he had this great voice, and he was very tall, stood very erect. I was always very envious of how he could stand so tall, and he has such a sense of humor that is quite remarkable. Sheila is his friend. She visits him in his home in South Carolina now, and she has helped me keep in touch with Fritz Hollings. Then she worked for me. I was so fortunate. I was looking for someone to do my fundraising during a very difficult election I had before me. I knew who I wanted, but I didn't know that I could get her. Well, we worked things out. And it wasn't just because I offered her more money, it was because she wanted to work with me, and I am so happy that came to be. For 14 years, she has been part of my team--and I mean part of my team. During that entire time, she has done an incredible job doing my Senate business as a candidate. Doing Senate business here as the Assistant Secretary, she has been the best. So after having worked for the Senators I have mentioned, including me, when the time came to fill the role of Assistant Secretary of the Senate, she was a perfect candidate, and in this position she has not disappointed me once. Everyone who has ever worked with Sheila knows she is a meticulous planner. If you want something done--an event--and done right--and I mean done right: help setting up the program, what the flowers are going to look like, what the food is going to be, what time it should start, what time it should end--and she is very, very precise on when it should start and when it should end--we learned that last night during a farewell for a number of Democratic Senators--she really spares no effort, leaves no detail unattended. Her time here in the Secretary's office has been a smashing success. It is not easy to attend to the needs of 100 Senators--100 Senators-- Democrats, Republicans, Independents, their families and staffs, but Sheila handles it with skill and with grace. That is why many call her the ``Mayor of Capitol Hill,'' and for good reason. Whether she is escorting the President's daughter to the inauguration podium in her bright pink coat, or planning a ceremonial dinner in Statuary Hall, Sheila does the job exceptionally well. Just one example, 2 years ago the Senate hosted the screening of Steven Spielberg's now legendary film, ``Lincoln.'' There were some real big-shots there. Spielberg, Daniel Day Lewis, the guy that wrote the script--they were all there. So there were, frankly, a lot of prima donnas there, including of course all the Senators. So it was an exceptionally difficult feat to pull off, coordinating attendance for 100 Senators who all wanted to go to see these famous people. She was preparing a panel discussion for the cast and crew, all while following strict Capitol protocols as to who could go where and what we could do in the places we went. But she had a secret weapon, and that was she. She didn't know it, but that was the secret weapon. She took care of every possible problem and coordinated every single detail, even down to a makeshift concession stand in the lobby. It was a wonderful event, a marvelous event, because for the briefest moment it brought the Senate together in the spirit of unity that we haven't had in some time. It all happened because of her. She is very devoted to her family, her mom Lois, about whom she has talked endlessly, and of course her deceased father. I was trying to help in comforting her as I could when she lost her mom Lois. I can't imagine how proud her parents would be--and are, from wherever they are, looking down on us--at the work that Sheila has done in her life. I know how proud I am of her now, as she prepares to move on to her next chapter of life, and I will do everything I can to help that chapter be a good one. I wish her the best. I, along with the entire Senate, thank her for the steadfast diligent service she has rendered as Assistant Secretary for the last 8 years. Sheila has a dog she loves, little Ava, and I hope she takes that little dog on a trip to have a good time. I am sure she will. On a personal note, I wish to say publicly how much she has meant to me. She has been really a part of my family the last 15 years. As most everyone knows, my wife was involved in a really bad accident. Who was there? Sheila. Battling, as she did for 1\1/2\ years, ravaging breast cancer, who was there? I would come home after having been unable to do the things around the house. I would have a refrigerator full of food. Not junk--it was wonderful food. She did that not once, not twice, but many, many times. She is my friend--my forever friend. She interacts with my children as if they were her siblings. She knows everything about them. So even though I will not see her at work every day, as I have for 14 or 15 years, she will always be part of my life.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I rise to thank the current and past Democratic staff of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence for their hard work and diligence on the Committee Study of the Central Intelligence Agency's Detention and Interrogation Program. Committee staff spent 7 years preparing the report, going through more than 6 million pages of documents and writing a final report that is over 6,700 pages, including 38,000 footnotes. Staff worked incredibly long hours over many years and sacrificed time with their families and friends. They overcame significant obstacles to put out this report. They took no short-cuts in their research. And they took no liberties with the facts. The staff produced a report of historic importance, which will be studied for many years to come. Because of their work, the true facts about the CIA's interrogation program under President Bush are now available for all Americans to understand. Because of their work, we as a country can commit that never again will we repeat these mistakes. This report, and the work of the staff, is an outstanding example of the constitutional oversight role that the Senate can and should play. I want to particularly thank David Grannis, the committee's staff director and Daniel Jones, the lead staffer and author of much of the report. Many other committee staffers past and present participated in producing the report including: Evan Gottesman, Chad Tanner, Alissa Starzak, Nate Adler, Jennifer Barrett, Nick Basciano, Michael Buchwald, Jim Catella, Eric Chapman, John Dickas, Lorenzo Goco, Andrew Grotto, Tressa Guenov, Clete Johnson, Michael Noblet, Michael Pevzner, Tommy Ross, Caroline Tess, James Wolfe, and Andy Johnson.

Mr. REID

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

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. I ask unanimous consent that following the vote on confirmation of Executive Calendar No. 1081, Walter, the Senate consider Calendars Nos. 1094 and 1095; that there be 2 minutes for debate equally divided between the two leaders or their designees prior to each vote; that upon the use or yielding back of time the Senate proceed to vote without intervening action or debate on the nominations in the order listed; that any rollcall votes, following the first in the series, be 10 minutes in length; that if any 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; that any statements related to the nomination be printed in the Record; that the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action and the Senate then resume legislative session.

Mr. REID. For the information of all Senators, these two nominations are Peter Michael McKinley to be Ambassador to the Republic of Afghanistan and Richard Rahul Verma to be Ambassador to India. We expect that the nominations will be considered and confirmed by voice vote. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. This vote we are about to have will be the last recorded vote of the day. Unanimous Consent Agreement--Executive Calendar I now ask unanimous consent that following the vote on confirmation of Executive Calendar No. 1095, the Senate consider Calendar Nos. 800 and 801; that there be 2 minutes for debate equally divided between the two leaders or their designees prior to each vote; that upon the use or yielding back of that time, the Senate proceed to vote without intervening action or debate on the nominations in the order listed; that any rollcall votes following the first in the series be 10 minutes in length; that if any 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; that any statements related to the nomination be printed in the Record; that the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action and the Senate then resume legislative session.

Mr. REID. We expect the nominations to be considered by voice vote.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. I yield back that time.