Harry Reid

Mr. REID

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

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the energy committee be discharged from further consideration of H.R. 291 and H.R. 356; that the Senate proceed to their consideration and the consideration of the following calendar number items en bloc: Calendar No. 256, H.R. 255; Calendar No. 226, H.R. 330; Calendar No. 359, H.R. 507; Calendar No. 353, H.R. 697; Calendar No. 361, H.R. 876; Calendar No. 362, H.R. 1158; Calendar No. 399, H.R. 2337; Calendar No. 369, H.R. 3110; Calendar No. 54, S. 247; Calendar No. 57, S. 311; Calendar No. 60, S. 354; Calendar No. 129, S. 363; Calendar No. 118, S. 476; and Calendar No. 120, S. 609.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the committee- reported amendments to S. 247, S. 311, S. 476, and S. 609 be agreed to; the Coburn amendment to S. 311 be agreed to; that the bills be read three times and passed en bloc; and the motions to reconsider be considered made, with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Veterans' Affairs be discharged from further consideration of H.R. 1216.

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be read a third time and passed, and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. I ask unanimous consent that the Judiciary Committee be discharged from further consideration of S. Res. 417.

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

Mr. REID. Mr. President, this a very important piece of legislation. Most of the nuclear weapons program workers are in Nevada, at the Nevada test site. At one time we had 12,000 people working there on a weapons program and many of them got sick because we didn't know the dangers of nuclear weapons. We had many of them sitting above ground and soldiers and workers would be out there with stuff floating around. People can drive out there, if they can get through all the security checkpoints, but they have bleachers still there that were set up to watch the nuclear weapons go off. Then we had about 1,000 nuclear devices at the Nevada test site that were detonated above ground, in tunnels, in shafts. So there truly does need to be a day of remembrance, and I congratulate those Senators who have moved this forward.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 497.

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of H.R. 272.

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be read three times and passed, and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I had a conversation with the Republican leader on Monday, and we went over the things we have to do this work period. We have a lot to do. One of the things we are trying to do-- because we have so much going on around the country; namely, in our States--is we want to try to balance what we do and, frankly, we have some people running for office. But we have made great progress this week so far. We have been able to reach agreement on a number of things that we believe are important. So having said that--and I have gone over what we are going to do in the next few days--I think it would be appropriate to announce to everyone that we are going to not have any votes on Monday. We have work we are going to have to do here Monday, but we are not going to have any votes. I think it is important Senators know that. We were planning on having a number of votes on Monday. I think that is not necessary now.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 10 a.m. on Thursday, July 10, 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 until 12:00 noon, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each and the time equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees; that following morning business, the Senate proceed to executive session as provided under the previous order; finally, that the filing deadline for first- degree amendments to S. 2363 be at 10:30 a.m. and the filing deadline for second-degree amendments be at 11:30 a.m.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, we hope to reach agreement to have the cloture vote around noon tomorrow on the Bipartisan Sportsmen's Act. Under a previous order, there will be a rollcall vote at 2 p.m. There will be a couple of voice votes after that.

Mr. REID

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

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I am told that there are two bills at the desk, and I ask for their first reading en bloc.

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I now ask for a second reading on these two bills but object to my own request en bloc.

Mr. REID. 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, just by chance last night I was reading a book and it included a speech given by John McCain, our fellow Senator. What Senator McCain talked about was some of his experiences in the prison camp in Vietnam where a man by the name of Mike Christian had spent an inordinate amount of time sewing on the inside of the pajama- like outfit they gave him to wear, and he put a flag inside his jacket--his shirt. This jacket was discovered, the flag was discovered by the prison officials, and he was beaten really very much. He was beaten severely. Of course, they ripped the flag out of his coat. We take for granted saluting the flag. We come in here and we do it every morning. By rote, we stand and do it. I am not too sure that we shouldn't think a little bit more about what we are doing when we salute the flag. I am going to bring that excerpt from home and I am going to submit it for publication in the Congressional Record for everybody to see, about people who have been--for example, Senator McCain was in prison for 5\1/2\ years. As we know, he was, on many different occasions, tortured. So when John McCain salutes the flag and when Mike Christian, a fellow pilot--he was actually a navigator on an airplane--salute the flag, it means a lot to them, and we should encapsulate that when we think about saluting the flag. I will submit that excerpt for the Record tomorrow. I read that last night, late. I thought, when we salute our flag, we should think about it more than, I am sure, we do all the time.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, following my remarks and those of the Republican leader, the Senate will be in a period of morning business for 1 hour. The majority will control the first 30 minutes and the Republicans will control the final 30 minutes. Following morning business, the Senate will resume consideration of the motion to proceed to S. 2363, the Bipartisan Sportsmen's Act, postcloture. The Senate will recess from 12:30 until 2:15 today to allow for our weekly caucus meetings.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. I ask unanimous consent that the majority control the time from 2:15 until 3:15 and the Republicans control the time from 3:15 to 4:15.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, it is no secret that the Senate, as of late, has been beset by partisan rancor and obstruction: one Republican filibuster and then another, and then another, and still more filibusters. That is why the legislation that is before us today represents a rare opportunity for the Senate to complete work on a bill that enjoys broad bipartisan support. Senator Kay Hagan's sportsmen's bill is overwhelmingly popular with Democrats and Republicans around the country, and for good reason. Forty million Americans who hunt and fish stand to benefit from this legislation. The sportsmen's package represents years of bipartisan work--years-- combining some 20 bills important to the sportsmen's community. The bill expands opportunities for sportsmen, promoting an industry that contributes almost $200 billion annually to our Nation's economy. In Nevada, over 200,000 people hunt and fish every year. It is good for tourism. People come to Nevada to hunt for game, including antelope, elk, and bighorn desert sheep. We have wonderful fishing. We don't have a lot of lakes and rivers, but what we have is terrific. That is why fishermen come from around the country to fish in Nevada. To Nevada, it is a $1 billion industry. I was talking to my friend Senator Bennet from Colorado and he said in Colorado it is a $4 billion industry. I would bet that even in a heavily populated State such as New Jersey there is a lot of hunting and fishing that goes on. It is good for the economy. Senator Hagan's legislation promotes hunting, fishing, and recreation, all while fostering habitat conservation through voluntary programs. Because of her tireless efforts building bipartisan consensus, Senator Hagan's bill is cosponsored by 25 Republicans and 19 Democrats. This legislation also enjoys the support of more than 50 national sportsmen and conservation groups all over this country. As Benjamin Disraeli, the famous statesman from Great Britain, said, ``The secret of success is to be ready when your opportunity comes.'' This bill is ready and the opportunity is now. After years of hard work by Senator Hagan and others, now is the time to consider and pass this legislation. But, as always, our success in moving this legislation will depend on the cooperation of all Senators in putting aside political games and petty disputes over amendments in order to pass a bill that will benefit millions of Americans. This is a bill that is as much a Republican bill as it is a Democrat bill. So why should this bill be killed for procedural reasons? This is a bill they have worked on for many years. I am hopeful that through bipartisan support we can get this bill over the finish line, as we were able to do with the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act earlier this year, and the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act a few weeks ago. I urge my colleagues to respect the hard work of those Senators who have put this measure before us and allow this matter to pass--and quickly.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. I move to proceed to Calendar No. 384, S. 2363, the Hagan sportsmen's bill.