Harry Reid

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. There is a cloture motion at the desk.

Mr. REID. I ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum under rule XXII be waived.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. I send a cloture motion to the desk, and I ask the Chair to report it.

Mr. REID. I ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum under rule XXII be waived.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, November 19, 2014; that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, and the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day; that following any leader remarks, the Senate be in a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each; and that the time from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. be controlled by the Republicans and the time from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. be controlled by the majority.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. If there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that it adjourn under the previous order.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Rules Committee be discharged from further consideration of S. Res. 577 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

Mr. REID. I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. As I have indicated, this evening we will vote on the motion to proceed to the bipartisan USA FREEDOM Act, which reforms the U.S. Government's domestic surveillance authorities under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, as we have come to call it. In 2013 the American public first learned that the Federal Government collected telephone and Internet records of ordinary Americans--even when those Americans were not suspected of any wrongdoing. Earlier this year Senator Leahy introduced the USA FREEDOM Act to end this bulk data collection. This bill has the support of the entire U.S. intelligence community, including the Director of National Intelligence, Gen. James Clapper. It enhances privacy and civil liberties protections, and it continues to give the U.S. intelligence community the ability to gather the information it needs to help keep America safe. Two weeks ago the American people sent Congress a simple message: Let's work together. The USA FREEDOM Act is an excellent opportunity for Democrats and Republicans to work together to pass legislation that is good for this country. The chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Pat Leahy, has done tremendous work in crafting this bill. I hope we will invoke cloture today to allow us to proceed to this matter. Chairman Leahy will manage the bill on the Senate floor in what I hope will be an open, bipartisan process. In working to craft this bipartisan legislation, I expect Senators on both sides will want to offer amendments. Everyone should understand that there is not going to be any effort to stop this by the procedural avenue we call tree-filling. Instead, if we get on the legislation, the bill's managers will address amendments as they are offered. So I hope Democrats and Republicans will be able to come to agreements for votes on a number of amendments--hopefully a reasonable number or, of course, we will have no alternative than to try to terminate that by trying to get cloture on the bill itself. I am optimistic that we can work together--I hope so--to forge a compromise and pass this essential legislation.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Madam President, I am going to use leader time for these remarks, and it will not interfere with any of the time that has been allocated to these gentlemen and ladies. In far away Israel, during morning prayer, a horrific attack took place. A number of people were having their morning prayer. Four rabbis were savagely beaten, hacked to death, with a meat cleaver. Two Palestinian men entered the synagogue in Jerusalem and savagely murdered these four rabbis in the midst of morning prayer. Three of these victims were American citizens, the other, I am told, was a British citizen. One of them was a leading scholar, Hasidic scholar. More than one dozen others were hacked, hacked with a meat clever, while they were there praying. A number of these people are in critical condition as we speak. Secretary of State John Kerry today said: ``Innocent people who had come to worship died in the sanctuary of a synagogue.'' Places of worship have always been a refuge in times of peace and in times of conflict. Yet these terrorists hacked and brutally murdered worshippers in the midst of prayer. This is not an isolated incident. Recently, Palestinian terrorists have carried out shocking attacks all across Israel. Seven Israelis have been killed in these horrible attacks, including a 3-month-old American infant--a baby, 3 months old--an Israeli soldier, a border patrol officer. These attacks are a direct result of incitement, and I call upon the Palestinian leadership to condemn these attacks unequivocally. This butchery has no place in the modern world and they should stop it.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I want to say one thing while my friend is on the floor. When I came to the Senate, my friend from Vermont had already been here a dozen years. I remember--and I know he does--a man who had been the secretary for the majority and the secretary for the minority who controlled the staff of the Republicans. The Senator remembers Howard Greene--a guy who did not smoke a cigar, he just chewed on it all the time; he chewed on his cigar. That is when the rules were not nearly as strict as they are now about smoking. Howard Greene was so nice to me as a new Senator. He had a lot of authority. For over three decades he was a recognizable person here on the Senate floor. In fact, specifically, for 28 years he held many positions, including as a doorkeeper, as a cloakroom assistant. He was, as I just indicated, both secretary for the minority and secretary for the majority. Howard finished his distinguished career as the Sergeant at Arms. He retired in 1996. I offer my condolences to Howard Greene's family and loved ones during this difficult time. Although it is of little consolation, I hope they know how grateful we are for Howard's many years of sacrifice to this body. He will be greatly missed, and he was very kind and thoughtful to me as a new Senator. I say to my friend, you do remember Howard Greene?

Mr. REID. I thank the Presiding Officer.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. I yield back all time on this nomination.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I yield back all time on these nominations.

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

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

Mr. REID

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

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I rise today to congratulate Mr. Chris Doby on his service to the U.S. Senate and the Capitol Hill community. A loving husband and devoted father, Chris has dedicated three decades of his life to the Senate. Chris began working for the Senate Disbursing Office as a junior auditor in 1983. His honorable character and strong work ethic quickly earned him greater responsibility. Before becoming the assistant financial clerk Chris served as auditor, audit counselor, senior auditor, senior auditor/counselor, financial manager system analyst, systems administrator and IT systems administrator. In 2005 Chris became the financial clerk of the Senate where he has served with distinction. His discipline and special attention to detail have been remarkable. Chris is best known for his willingness to share his extensive institutional knowledge and for his calm demeanor. When faced with the difficulties of government shutdowns and the challenges of sequestration, Chris remained steadfast, and encouraged others to do the same. He has served this body, our staff and the entire Capitol Hill community with character and conviction and he will be greatly missed. I join my colleagues in wishing Chris all the best in his well- deserved retirement.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. I ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding rule XXII, following the confirmation vote on Executive Calendar No. 858, the Senate consider Calendar Nos. 927, 954, 1047, 1048, and 1052; that there be two 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 with no intervening action or debate on the nominations in the order listed; that any rollcall votes following the first in this 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, we expect the nominations that I have listed here to be confirmed by voice vote tomorrow.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Following my remarks and those of the Republican leader, the Senate will be in morning business until 5:30 p.m., with Senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each. At 5:30 p.m. the Senate will proceed to four rollcall votes in relation to the child care and development block grant bill and the Abrams, Cohen, and Ross nominations.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, in that great play ``Fiddler on the Roof,'' Tevye says, among other things, and I quote: Good news will stay, and bad news will refuse to leave. In Washington we all too often focus on the bad news that lingers instead of highlighting the many good things that are being accomplished. ObamaCare is a perfect example. The Affordable Care Act is working. Americans who have enrolled in health plans through the Affordable Care Act are happy with their coverage. There was a very good article in newspapers all over the country today, including in the Washington Post, which I saw. In this article there is a citation of a recent Gallup survey of Americans who have coverage through ObamaCare, and the findings are very positive--and that is a gross understatement. Seventy-four percent of ObamaCare enrollees rate their coverage as good or excellent. Seventy-five percent say they are satisfied with the cost of their plans. I will repeat that. Seventy-four percent of ObamaCare enrollees rate their coverage as good or excellent, and 75 percent say they are satisfied with the cost of their plans. That is good news to me. The Affordable Care Act is working for the American people. It is providing quality, affordable health care to families all across our country. The Senate has a lot of work to do before the 113th Congress comes to a close. There are a few important priorities in this work period. We have to pass an extension of tax credits for American families and businesses. We have to pass the Defense authorization bill, and the President pro tempore of the Senate is concerned about extending the FISA legislation, the American freedom act. It is so important that we do these things, but also we have to fund our government. That has to be done very soon because early next month the funding expires. We have many nominations that have not been completed. Almost 200 have been held up by my Republican colleagues. John Kerry, the Secretary of State, called me and said he himself had almost 100--well, that is exaggerating a little. He had 60-some; I don't remember the exact number. We must keep our government funded. I have been having productive bipartisan conversations with Speaker Boehner, the Republican leader, and Appropriations chair Senator Mikulski. It is clear to me that Republican leaders want to work together to keep the government funded. We have heard there are going to be no government shutdowns from the leaders, but Members of their caucuses are really saying some very scary things. So the question is whether the Republican leaders will be able to stand up to the radical forces within their own party. It is more than just one or two people; it is a large number of Members of the Republican caucus in the Senate and, of course, the Republican caucus in the House. Can these Republican leaders stand up to these people who are intent on holding our government hostage? There has been a lot of talk the past 3 or 4 days: So we have a government shutdown; so what? It has become increasingly clear these last few days that a number of Republicans are looking for an example to use to get their ideas--that are somewhat bizarre in the minds of most people--they are using a number of different things as an excuse: Executive action; the President is not doing enough on making sure the Iranians are held down tightly; and on and on with everything they have as an excuse to derail bipartisan legislation to fund the government. Sadly, though, we have seen this before. The government has been shut down. The government's debt has been defaulted upon. So how is it possible that there is even talk of not funding our government again by anybody? But that is what they are doing. Just 2 weeks ago the American people sent us a very strong message: Work together. In the press conferences that followed this month's midterm elections, Republicans were saying all the right things about compromise and bipartisanship. Yet, instead of looking for common ground and working to compromise, some of these Republicans are more interested in threats and ultimatums. Why? Because these radical Republicans object to President Obama using his constitutionally established authority to do what President Ronald Reagan and both George Bushes have done--fix as much of the system as he can to protect families suffering under the broken immigration system. Going back to Dwight D. Eisenhower, every President since then has used Executive authority to fix America's immigration system--every President, Republicans and Democrats. For the Republicans to take issue with President Obama for doing the same thing is hypocritical. Why didn't they complain when the two Bush Presidents did things administratively? Why? I hope Republicans in Congress will object to this brinkmanship. A scorched-earth policy is no way to go. Instead, responsible leaders in the Republican Party need to work with us to complete the business of funding our government regardless of when the President acts to keep families together.

Mr. REID. I yield to the Senator from Vermont.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. I ask unanimous consent that the proponent debate time for S. 2280 be divided as follows: 2 hours under the control of Senator Hoeven or his designee and 1 hour under the control of Senator Landrieu or her designee.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I understand that H.R. 2 is at the desk and due for a second reading.