Ken Salazar

Mr. SALAZAR

Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 931, H.R. 6531.

Mr. SALAZAR

Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the committee amendment be agreed to, the bill, as amended, be read a third time and passed, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate, and any statements related to the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 963, S. 3197.

Mr. SALAZAR

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 President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

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

Mr. SALAZAR

Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be read three times and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate, and any statements be printed in the Record.

Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of H.R. 7084, which was received from the House.

Mr. SALAZAR

Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be read a third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and that any statements relating to the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of H.R. 6524, which was received from the House.

Mr. SALAZAR

Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be read a third time and passed, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate, and that any statements related thereto be printed in the Record.

Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 1073, H.R. 6073.

Mr. SALAZAR

Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be read three times and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate, and that any statements relating to the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. SALAZAR

Mr. SALAZAR. I ask unanimous consent that the Chair now lay before the Senate the House message to accompany S. 1492.

Mr. SALAZAR

Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be read three times and passed, that the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate, and that any statements related to this measure be printed in the Record.

Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of H.R. 6045 which is at the desk.

Mr. SALAZAR

Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be read three times and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate, and any statements related to the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of H.R. 4544, which was received from the House.

Mr. SALAZAR

Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be read a third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and any statements related to the measure be printed in the Record.

Mr. SALAZAR

Mr. SALAZAR. I say to the majority leader, only 10 days ago we were asked to give a $700 billion blank check to the Secretary of the Treasury because the sky was falling. I think the majority leader, working in a bipartisan way, did the right thing in terms of standing up against that stampede that was being brought upon us by the White House. Because of the process that has been underway in a bipartisan way, the blank check is no longer there. There are constraints on this legislation that make it better. But to have the judgment of the Senate, to have us rush to judgment on a $700 billion rescue package, would be an absolute mistake. I think the majority leader is correct in terms of wanting us to take the time to review this legislation, which none of us have yet seen, to review it through Tuesday, let the Jewish holiday pass, and then come back and take the appropriate steps so we make sure the sound judgment of the Senate is being brought on this legislation. I am very much in agreement with the majority leader that we should take our time to get it done right.

Mr. SALAZAR. Will the majority leader yield for a question?

Mr. SALAZAR

Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, I want to make a few comments about my good friend, Senator John Warner from Virginia. When you first come to this body, you get to know people. Soon I got to know him as a Senator's Senator, because he was one of those people who was always trying to bring people together and take on the major issues that confront our country. I had the distinct honor of traveling to Iraq and other countries with him and with the distinguished Presiding Officer. I admired the relationship between Senator Levin and Senator Warner as a template for how things should run in Washington, DC as we represent the 325 million people of America. There are two people from two different parties who work together to make sure that what we were doing was the very best job that we could to protect America. So you are, both the Presiding Officer as well as Senator Warner, two of my most significant role models in this Chamber. I admire you both for your service. The Senator from Virginia was a member of pulling together the Gang of 14. It was now some 2 years ago when we were debating whether there would be a ``nuclear option'' and whether we would move forward in saving some of the procedures and the very functioning of the institution of the Senate. I remember working in awe with him as he and Senator Byrd and others worked on that historic document at that time, and on so many other occasions where he has been the person who has been the glue to bring people together. So he is a Senator's Senator, because he is such a proud American and such a wonderful leader for Virginia and for the Senate. But he also is a wonderful Senator because he has a very unique ability of bringing people together. I would hope that all of us, the 100 Members of this Chamber, always continue to look to him for the kind of inspiration and great example he has been. I yield the floor.

Mr. SALAZAR

Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, if I may, to Senator Domenici, with whom I have worked on the Energy Committee since I came to the Senate, I want to give him my accolades and also to wish him well in his days ahead. When I arrived in the Senate some 3\1/2\ years ago, he was one of the people who welcomed me here. He welcomed me here as the man from the land of enchantment, la Tierra Encantada, as we say in Spanish in New Mexico. He did so in large part because many of my family members are from the State of New Mexico. My family helped found the city of Santa Fe, the city of Holy Faith, now over 400 years ago. During many times as I was growing up as a young man, and later on in my professional life, traveling in New Mexico, I would hear about the great Senator of New Mexico, the great Pete Domenici. Now, for the last 4 years it has been a tremendous privilege and personal honor for me to be able to serve with him. I want to make two comments about him--first, in terms of the substance of the legislation that we have worked on together. We have passed three significant pieces of bipartisan energy legislation with him--in 2005, the Energy Policy Act of that year; again, we passed another energy package in 2006; and again in 2007. In the passage of those major pieces of legislation, it was Senator Domenici, working closely with his good friend, Senator Bingaman, who said that we could agree on things for the future of this country on this signature issue that is so important to our national security and to our economic prosperity. He brought us together to make sure that we would work on those things that we all agreed upon. That is why we were able to pass those very important pieces of legislation. I very much appreciate what he has done in that committee. Second, as he and I have talked many times over the last several years, there are issues that are unique to the West, the issues of public lands, where much of our lands--for example, in my State of Colorado, 33 percent is owned by the Federal Government. It takes an understanding of those realities, of issues like payment in lieu of taxes, or how we deal with the mining law in the West, or how we make sure that the water issues of the West are protected, and how we recognize the compacts of our States as being important. For all those issues he has been a tremendous leader and an inspiration. I will miss him dearly as a friend. He has been a dear friend. But I also will miss his leadership because on so many issues he has worked across the aisle. I appreciate his leadership as well in what he has done for mental health parity for the United States of America. There will be not hundreds of thousands, not millions, but hundreds of millions of Americans who will come to benefit from his leadership on the mental health parity issue. Also, the building blocks he has laid for us to try to take the moon shot that will get us energy independence. Those building blocks will remain in place for decades and for generations to come. So I appreciate his leadership, and I appreciate his service.

Mr. SALAZAR

Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, I rise, first and foremost, to thank the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Senator Patrick Leahy, for his statesmanship and his hard work and leadership on the Judiciary Committee, as on so many issues. The ten judges that have just been confirmed show the kind of statesmanship he brings to this body, and I am very proud to be able to work with him and proud to be able to work with the distinguished ranking member as well. I wish to make a brief comment regarding two of the judges who were confirmed a moment ago, and they would be Christine Arguello and Philip Brimmer from Colorado. Christine Arguello is a person who was nominated by President Clinton, now over 10 years ago, to the district court, as well as the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals. She is truly an American dream. She was born and raised in very humble circumstances. There was a poignant time where, because her father worked on the railroad, she actually lived in a boxcar. Yet, over time, she became a very successful student and ended up at Harvard Law School. She went on to have a very distinguished career both in the private sector and the public sector and served as my chief deputy attorney general during the time I served as the attorney general for the State of Colorado. She is a tenured law professor. She knows the law well, and she will make the State of Colorado and the United States of America very proud with her service on the bench of the U.S. District Court for the State of Colorado. So I congratulate her, and I thank Senator Leahy and Senator Specter for their leadership in moving that through the house. I wish to congratulate Phil Brimmer, who will join Christine Arguello in the U.S. District Court. He comes from a family of distinguished jurists, and he has a distinguished academic career and now over 7 years of leadership experience within the U.S. Attorney's Office in Colorado, where he has been in charge of the special prosecutions unit. He is a lawyer's lawyer. Both Christine Arguello and Phil Brimmer will move the hands of justice forward in a way we can all be very proud of for the State of Colorado. I see there are two of my colleagues on the floor, Senator Bingaman and Senator Mikulski. I think they are waiting to speak. I yield the floor.

Mr. SALAZAR

Mr. SALAZAR. I move to reconsider the vote.

Mr. SALAZAR

Mr. SALAZAR. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate, and any statements related to the resolution be printed in the Record.