Jay Rockefeller

Mr. ROCKEFELLER

Mr. ROCKEFELLER. I ask unanimous consent that reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

Mr. ROCKEFELLER

Mr. ROCKEFELLER. Madam President, are we back in regular order?

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 Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. ROCKEFELLER. Madam President, you have just heard a classic Joe Manchin speech. It truly is. It is full of optimism, strength, common purpose, no problem cannot be solved, and the desire for bipartisan cooperation. If anybody can bring our two sides together, surely he can do that. He is aggressive, he is thoughtful, but above all he is optimistic. He has a positive approach, a constructive approach. He is unafraid of any problem and thrilled about doing whatever kinds of public service he does. We actually have fairly common careers. We both served in the State legislature. He served in both branches. I served in one branch. We were both Secretaries of State and we both ran for Governor. Now we are both in the Senate. So I have known the Manchin family for years. I have known Joe Manchin for years. I have always been proud of his work. He is fun. He loves sports. That is very important in life--very important in life. He loves sports. He is a devoted Mountaineer. Sometimes I think he calls the plays for our team. This is going to be a better Senate because of Joe Manchin, because of his personality. I have watched him in the couple of months he has been here--couple of weeks, a month, two--and he has been all over the floor. It is fun to watch him. Somebody sits down that side, this side, and all of a sudden Senator Joe Manchin is seated right beside him, grabbing an arm, making a point, establishing a friendship, bonding. That is the way he is with our people. He comes from the very heart of West Virginia--coal mining country-- and that is the way he acts. That is the way his father acted. It is the way his family has always acted. They are part and parcel of the blood, the beginning and the struggle of West Virginia. One of the reasons I am in public service is because West Virginia is always fighting uphill. People don't pay attention to us the way we think they should. They do not pay attention to what our economy has to offer the way they should. That is what motivates Joe Manchin. If you are a West Virginian, you simply have to fight harder. If you are a West Virginia public servant, at whatever level, you have to fight harder and you have to have an optimistic view. You have to believe things can work. You have to be determined things can work, and you have to see the course all the way to end. That is exactly who Joe Manchin is. I am incredibly proud to serve with him. I read his speech before. He said some very nice things about me--all accurate. But because we have been colleagues for so long, I can tell you--and those who don't know him as well as you will--that he is a real asset to this body. We are a body which now is in the process of struggling to find out who we are. It is not always a pretty sight, but everybody here takes public life seriously. Senator Manchin has the problem--some would say the opportunity, but not many--to have to be reelected again in 2 years. So life already is more complicated for him, because that is the way the election system has worked out. But he is a bright light, and a young, aggressive bright light with an absolutely marvelous wife who is now part of us. I think he has a unique perspective--it is a classic West Virginia perspective--and I look forward to his making an enormous difference in this body, to our State, and to our country. So I welcome him, and I congratulate him on his opening statement. I made an opening statement some years ago. It was actually one of the most boring speeches I ever listened to. But those were the days when you weren't allowed to make a speech until you had been here for 6 months, and then everybody turned out. All the old guard--you know, such as the senior Senator from New York over there. The guys with gray beards, the wise old men, would turn out, and they all planted themselves around here and listened to this incredibly boring speech of mine, which was all about a steel company because that is what I happened to be working on at the time. Russell Long stood up afterwards and said: that is the most brilliant speech I ever heard. But those were the days of a certain type of protocol. Times are much faster now. We have to react much faster. We don't have time for that. So Senator Manchin has made his speech, but he goes from his speech to his work, and there he will simply not stop until we get a better State and a better country. I congratulate him and I welcome him officially and forever to the Senate.

Mr. ROCKEFELLER

Mr. ROCKEFELLER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Armed Services be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on February 3, 2011, at 10 a.m.

Mr. ROCKEFELLER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions be authorized to meet, during the session of the Senate, to conduct a hearing entitled ``Simplifying Security: Encouraging Better Retirement Decisions'' on February 3, 2011, at 2 p.m.

Mr. ROCKEFELLER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate, on February 3, 2011, at 10 a.m., in SD-226 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building, to conduct an executive business meeting.

Mr. ROCKEFELLER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate to conduct a hearing on February 3, at 9:30 a.m., in room SH-216 of the Hart Senate Building.

Mr. ROCKEFELLER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Select Committee on Intelligence be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on February 3, 2011 at 2:30 p.m.

Mr. ROCKEFELLER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on February 3, 2011, at 10:30 a.m.

Mr. ROCKEFELLER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Finance be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on February 3, 2011, at 10 a.m., in room 215 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building, to conduct a hearing entitled ``Status of the Airport and Airway Trust Fund.''

Mr. ROCKEFELLER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Subcommittee on Superfund, Toxics, and Environmental Health of the Committee on Environment and Public Works be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate at 10 a.m., on February 3, 2011, in Dirksen 406.

Mr. ROCKEFELLER

Mr. ROCKEFELLER. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. ROCKEFELLER. We yield back all time.

Mr. ROCKEFELLER. Mr. President, does the Senator from Iowa wish to speak?

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

Mr. ROCKEFELLER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to set aside the pending amendment to call up, on behalf of Senator Ensign, Ensign amendment No. 32.

Mr. ROCKEFELLER. I thank the Chair.

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

Mr. ROCKEFELLER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that amendment No. 27, offered by the Senator from Oregon, Mr. Wyden, be added to the list of pending amendments.

Mr. ROCKEFELLER. Mr. President, I oppose this amendment also. There are reasons for Davis-Bacon. One of them, for example, is it protects communities and employers by keeping the wage standards of low-wage areas from being imported into high-wage areas, and also the reverse. What do I mean by that? Obviously, West Virginia has a very different wage level than New York or Maryland or many parts of Virginia. They could come in and bid on a contract and either bid very low and do a bad job or bid very high and get it, for whatever reason. This prevents artificially inflating wages. The inference was that it costs more to have Davis-Bacon. Some people don't like Davis-Bacon, and I understand that. But the law specifically requires that all workers must be paid no less than the prevailing wages and benefits that are paid in similar projects in that area. So it attaches the Davis-Bacon concept onto the regional local wage area. Virginia and Maryland are not far from West Virginia, so people want contracts, and they are likely to bid. Since it was enacted, Davis-Bacon has protected taxpayers and workers from low-ball contractors who try to compete. You know that song. We all see it so much. They come in and bid a low price, and they get it, and there are all kinds of extra things added on--cost-plus. It doesn't happen under this; it isn't allowed. So the law effectively makes sure the taxpayers get their money's worth. As the Senator from Iowa indicated, numerous studies indicate that projects built under Davis-Bacon are more likely to be completed on time, within budget, and with fewer repair costs. So this is a very significant amendment. But it is not about bilking the taxpayers. It is protecting the taxpayers. Davis-Bacon puts the contract wages in line with what is prevailing locally. That is the law. It makes sense to me. I strongly oppose the amendment.

Mr. ROCKEFELLER. Mr. President, I move to table the amendment. I ask for the yeas and nays on the motion to table.

Mr. ROCKEFELLER. I ask unanimous consent that the reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

Mr. ROCKEFELLER

Mr. ROCKEFELLER. Mr. President, I understand the Senator from Oklahoma has a particularly difficult scheduling problem right now and for most of the afternoon. So putting his amendments in and talking about them, whatever he wishes to do, is important to him and also is hard to do in terms of the schedule. So that renews my offer, my request, my prayer, that Democrats who have amendments will come down and offer them. It is called the Federal aviation bill. It reauthorizes it. It is monumental, and we are kind of sitting here. So the Republicans are sort of doing their part, but the Democrats are not doing our part. So please come down, if you have amendments, because I wish to accommodate not just Senator Inhofe but all others who have amendments, many of which we can probably work out. Some will be accepted by voice, others may have to be voted on. But we have to have amendments before we can get to any of that. So that is my request.

Mr. ROCKEFELLER

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