Sheldon Whitehouse

Mr. WHITEHOUSE

Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Mr. President, I am advised to inform the Senate that tomorrow morning the majority leader will make a motion to table the motion to proceed to H.R. 2560. Therefore, Senators should expect a rollcall vote at approximately 10 o'clock a.m. To accommodate Senators on both sides, this vote will be longer than usual.

Mr. WHITEHOUSE

Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 9 o'clock a.m. on Friday, July 22; that following the prayer and pledge, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed expired, and the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day; that following any leader remarks, the Senate resume consideration of the motion to proceed to H.R. 2560, the Cut, Cap, and Balance Act, with the time until 10 o'clock a.m. equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees; further, that at 10 o'clock a.m., the majority leader be recognized.

Mr. WHITEHOUSE

Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Veterans Affairs' Committee be discharged from further consideration of H.R. 1383, and the Senate proceed to its consideration.

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

Mr. WHITEHOUSE

Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Mr. President, I rise today to commend Navy HM2 Jake Emmott of Wakefield, Rhode Island for his exceptional service to our country, which earned him one of our Nation's highest military awards for gallantry during combat. Last week, I had the honor of joining Jake and his family as he was presented with the Silver Star Medal for heroic acts that went above and beyond the call of duty. On April 20, 2010, Mr. Emmott was serving as platoon corpsman with Company C, 1st Battalion, 2nd Marines in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. That day, Mr. Emmott's squad was on combat patrol when it came under intense enemy fire. Upon seeing a marine in his squad fall from multiple gunshot wounds, he rushed through the firefight to provide first aid. Mr. Emmott and other squad members proceeded to transport the injured marine to the casualty collection point, when a second marine was shot in the thigh. Mr. Emmott ignored the chaos around him and worked calmly to aid the second casualty. After stabilizing the second marine, Mr. Emmott was struck directly in the face by a bullet, which pierced his sinus cavity and just narrowly missed his carotid artery. The blow knocked him unconscious. His squad leader, who saw him get shot, thought he was dead. When Mr. Emmott regained consciousness, he refused morphine in order to supervise the treatment of the injured marines. Despite difficulty speaking and choking on his own blood, he provided precise instructions to another combat lifesaver on how to administer aid to the injured. Then, despite excruciating pain, he managed to stagger to the medical evacuation helicopter, so that the other injured marines could be carried on stretchers. Today I would like to offer my humble thanks to Mr. Emmott for his selfless service, leadership, and courage. We all admire his strength and willingness to put others before himself, especially as he faced his own life threatening injuries. He is truly an inspiration and role model for all Americans. At the young age of 22, he has already accomplished feats of excellence that few could do in a lifetime. I commend Mr. Emmott for his unwavering commitment to his comrades and to his country.

Mr. WHITEHOUSE

Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S. Res. 234, which was introduced earlier today.

Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Mr. President, I further 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 relating to the resolution be printed in the Record.

Mr. WHITEHOUSE

Mr. WHITEHOUSE. 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.

Mr. WHITEHOUSE

Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Mr. President, I understand that H.R. 2553 has been received from the House and is at the desk.

Mr. WHITEHOUSE

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

Mr. WHITEHOUSE

Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent it adjourn under the provisions of S. Res. 234, as a further mark of respect to the memory of the late William F. Hildenbrand, former Secretary of the Senate.

Mr. WHITEHOUSE

Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Mr. President, today I wish to commend the heroic actions of Ms. Mallory Reis, of Johnston, Rhode Island. Last week, the Providence Journal reported that while vacationing in Massachusetts, Ms. Reis helped resuscitate a 3-year-old boy who had stopped breathing after choking and falling in the water. Ms. Reis, an officer with the Cranston Police Department, reacted immediately upon hearing screams for help coming from the water's edge of Curlew Pond. She raced over to the crowd that had formed around the boy. His body was blue and limp, and he had no pulse. The boy needed cardiopulmonary resuscitation or CPR, and Ms. Reis was the first to arrive with the necessary training. Immediately, she began performing CPR and directed bystanders to call 911. After Ms. Reis performed a series of chest compressions and mouth-to- mouth resuscitation, an-off duty New Bedford firefighter arrived on the scene. Together, they worked to clear the boy's airway and get him breathing again. Thanks to Ms. Reis' efforts, the boy is alive today and it is reported that he is recovering well. The efforts of Ms. Reis underscore the vital role our first responders play in keeping our communities safe. Law enforcement officers, firefighters, and emergency medical personnel are often the first line of protection, taking risks to keep us and our families safe. Today I would like to thank Ms. Reis for her swift and heroic response that saved this young boy's life, and commend the Cranston Police Department for providing officers of that caliber. I would also like to commend all our first responders who dutifully perform these acts of heroism every day, and express my deep appreciation for their unwavering commitment to our safety.

Mr. WHITEHOUSE

Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Mr. President, I am delighted to be here with my senior colleague, Senator Jack Reed, to welcome Geralyn Wolf, the Bishop of the Episcopal Archdiocese of Rhode Island, who shared with us the prayer this morning. I wish to share with my colleagues what a wonderful addition she is to our Rhode Island community. She has served in Kentucky and in Pennsylvania, but she has been in Rhode Island for many years and has been devoted to our community, particularly to the needy in our community, to the point where at one point she spent 30 days living as a homeless person in order to see firsthand what the resources were to support people when they faced the burden and the sorrow of homelessness and to inform her actions as the bishop of our diocese. She is keenly interested in the Sudan and works with priests who are helping to bring Christianity to those areas as the vehicle for peace amidst some of the worst and most horrific violence on the face of our planet. It gives both Senator Reed and myself great pride that she has come down to Washington today to open the Senate. It is my hope, and I am sure Senator Reed's as well, that during the course of our deliberations today we will be informed by the hopes and the sentiments and the confidence and the blessings she expressed. I thank the Chair.

Mr. WHITEHOUSE

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

Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Mr. President, I also ask unanimous consent to speak as in morning business for--well, it will not be 20 minutes but let me ask for up to 20 minutes.

Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Mr. President, nothing is more important in the short term than resolving our debt limit impasse, and I would urge my colleagues to take Social Security out of their gun sights. It has not contributed to our debt or deficits. I would urge my colleagues to focus not on Medicare benefit cuts but, rather, on health care system reforms that will save not only Medicare and Medicaid costs but private health care and health insurance costs as well--cost savings throughout the system. I would urge my colleagues to yield a bit on defending every tax loophole, every tax gimmick and tax preference as if they were tax hikes. They are not. They are just not. They are earmarks in the Tax Code. They are special benefits in which ordinary Americans usually do not share, and we should not put the special interests first, ahead of ordinary Americans who did not get special tax deals. But as important as all of that is in the short term, there are some things that are more important in the long term than our debt limit, and I rise to speak about one. In April of this year a group of scientific experts came together to discuss an issue with consequences that will influence the planet and our American society for generations to come. They met at the University of Oxford to discuss the current state, and eventual fate, of our oceans. ``The ocean,'' as stated in the workshop's summary report, ``is the largest ecosystem on Earth, supports us and maintains our world in a habitable condition.'' For 3 days, 27 scientists representing 18 prominent research and conservation organizations worldwide, reviewed the latest findings on ocean stressors--and in particular the consequences of multiple, combined stressors--for marine life and for the human population. The scientists found that stressors in combination magnify the negative effect of each one occurring alone. Based on this determination, the scientists at this meeting concluded: We have underestimated the overall risks and that the whole of marine degradation is greater than the sum of its parts, and that degradation is now happening at a faster rate than predicted. In short, things for the ocean are worse than we thought and getting worse faster than expected. All too often, we take for granted the fact that our oceans feed us, support our coastal communities, and drive our tourism economies. Unfortunately, these ocean ecosystems are severely stressed, from nutrient pollution, chemical dumping, overfishing, marine debris, invasions of exotic species, warming waters and, perhaps most alarming, a drop in ocean pH to levels not seen for more than 8,000 centuries: acidification of our oceans. Individually, these stressors would be cause for concern. In combination with each other, this expert group of scientists concluded, they are driving our ocean toward the brink of a mass extinction and ecosystem collapse. One example of the multiplier effect on marine life comes from plastic debris and toxic chemicals. Plastics make their way as trash into the ocean where they break down into small particles that are consumed by marine life, like sea turtles, sea birds, and microscopic plankton. Consumption of plastic alone becomes fatal for marine life, when they consume so much indigestible material that they stop eating all together and starve to death. But the surfaces of plastic particles also easily absorb chemical pollutants, so they amplify the load of chemical pollution on these creatures. The levels of chemical pollution are themselves on the rise in even the most remote seas where no human development exists. Many of these chemical pollutants, like flame retardants and fluorinated compounds are poured down home sinks, or expelled as waste from industrial facilities, directly into the ocean. Plants and animals have not evolved ways to break down these new synthetic compounds, so they ``bioaccumulate,'' meaning they become increasingly concentrated as they are passed up the food chain, or passed in marine mammals from mothers to calves in their milk, until many of our top oceanic predators, our most majestic creatures, are now swimming toxic waste. Another example of what the scientists call ``negatively synergistic'' environmental harms is the combination of destructive fishing practices, nutrient runoff, and the presence of hormone- disrupting pharmaceuticals in our wastewater on coral reefs. But now, these precious ecosystems, known as the rainforests of the sea, do not have to just contend with overfishing, nutrient, and wastewater pollution. Now the reefs, like the mangroves, salt marsh estuaries, and seagrass meadows, in their damaged and less resilient state, must also face a rapidly changing climate and its dual effects of ocean warming and acidification. Coral reefs are more likely to bleach when exposed to both increased temperature and acidification than if they are exposed to either condition separately. Add both conditions to pre-existing stressors, and 35 percent of the world's reefs are classified as in a critical or threatened stage. Scientific projections indicate that without urgent action, coral reef ecosystems could be eliminated in 30-50 years. The death and decline of coral reefs, the most diverse ecosystems on the planet, dramatically impairs the reproduction and development of hundreds of other species that call them home. When a reef ecosystem collapses and does not recover, it quickly becomes dominated by algae, and the phenomenal biodiversity once present disappears. For human society, this is accompanied by a loss of food, loss of income, and damage to the billion-dollar per year tourist industries. The workshop report echoes the overwhelming body of peer-reviewed science and literature on climate change and carbon pollution, stating that: Human actions have resulted in warming and acidification of the oceans and are now causing increased hypoxia (lack of oxygen). Studies of the Earth's past indicate that these are the three symptoms . . . associated with each of the previous five mass extinctions on Earth. We are now talking about changes whose precedents can only be found in geologic time. I have often said how we have veered outside of the bandwidth of carbon concentration that has prevailed for 800,000 years. This comparison is to mass ocean extinction events 55 and 251 million years ago. Back then, the rates of carbon entering the atmosphere in the lead-up to these extinctions are estimated to be 2.2 and 1.2 gigatons of carbon per year, respectively, over several thousand years. But, as this new report identifies, ``Both these estimates are dwarfed in comparison to today's emissions of roughly 30 Gt of CO2 per year.'' Such a massive dumping of carbon pollution into our atmosphere creates the prospect of devastating damage to our oceans. And, in fact, we may already be witnessing this devastation. In one breathtaking part of the report, the scientists remark that, ``The speeds of many negative changes to the ocean are near to or are tracking the worst-case scenarios from the IPCC and other predictions.'' The IPCC, or Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, created several scenarios predicting how the Earth's natural systems could respond to ever-increasing amounts of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. This report says observations are worse than the IPCC's worse case scenarios. The predictions of the IPCC have received a lot of special-interest-sponsored mockery on this floor, but these are not predictions now, they are observations. For instance, the decrease in Arctic Sea ice cover and the melting of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets, which hold enough water to raise sea levels by more than 200 ft, are actually occurring, and faster than expected. Correspondingly, sea levels are rising. Likewise, the report observes that ``acidification is occurring faster than in the past 55 million years, and with the added man-made stressors of overfishing and pollution undermining ocean resilience.'' These observations should be sobering. Not only are the changes great, but they are happening so quickly that marine life cannot adapt. Numerically, the average ocean pH has decreased from 8.2 to 8.1 since the industrialized revolution. This seems like a small change, but the pH scale is logarithmic, so the change is profound. If that same amount of change in pH occurred in our blood, we could suffer respiratory or kidney failure. It is not difficult to imagine how this change has huge consequences for marine life and especially the calcifying organisms, like coral reefs, shellfish, and plankton, which are increasingly becoming soluble in their environment as it becomes increasingly acidic. If this unprecedented rate of change in ocean pH continues it could mean an almost 200 percent decrease by mid century. It is not an exaggeration to say that we are on the verge of an ecosystem collapse that we could see happen in a single generation. Though mass extinction events have occurred in the past, workshop participants state that, ``comparing the current environmental change with these events is difficult because the rates of environmental change are unprecedented. It is therefore difficult to predict what the outcome of the current anthropogenic experiment will be.'' However, the report continues: ``it can be said that we are pushing the Earth system to its limits.'' The workshop participants concluded, ``Unless action is taken now, the consequences of our activities are at a high risk of causing, through the combined effects of climate change, overexploitation, pollution and habitat loss, the next globally significant extinction event in the ocean.'' Again, they mean in geologic time. So what will we do? This is not the first report to state with certainty that our oceans, and thus our ocean dependent populations and economies, are in serious jeopardy. In 2003 the Pew Ocean Commission report led off with the following, ``America's oceans are in crisis and the stakes could not be higher.'' In 2004, the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy, as mandated by Congress in the Oceans Act of 2000, published their final report and pronounced, ``The importance of our oceans, coasts, and Great Lakes cannot be overstated; they are critical to the very existence and wellbeing of the nation and its people. Yet, as the 21st century dawns, it is clear that these invaluable and life- sustaining assets are vulnerable to the activities of humans.'' Nearly two centuries ago, the poet Byron could write: Roll on, thou deep and dark blue Ocean--roll. Ten-thousand fleets sweep over thee in vain; Man marks the earth with ruin--his control Stops with the shore. Well, no more. Now, in 2011, this international group of scientists reminds us that we are now marking the oceans with ruin and that ``the human interactions with the ocean must change,'' to quote their report, ``to sustainable management of all activities that impinge marine ecosystems.'' Mr. President, we must work together to preserve and protect the ocean ecosystems we rely on so heavily, for we too are greater than the sum of our parts. In a bipartisan effort, Senator Snowe and I have introduced the National Endowment for the Oceans to provide dedicated funding for ocean and coastal research, restoration, protection, and conservation. Too often, the knowledge and the information we need to better protect and understand these ecosystems comes too late or comes not at all. We hope to change that. Together, we can still turn the tide to protect our ocean and our society, but if we are to have any chance, we must act soon, and we must make progress quickly. I look forward to working with my colleagues to confront these looming challenges. I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. WHITEHOUSE

Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on July 13, 2011, at 10 a.m. in room 253 of the Russell Senate Office Building. The Committee will hold a hearing entitled, ``Unauthorized Charges on Telephone Bills: Why Crammers Win and Consumers Lose.''

Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Environment and Public Works be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on July 13, 2011, at 10 a.m. in room SD-406 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Finance be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on July 13, 2011, at 9 a.m., in HVC-210 of the Capitol Visitor Center, to conduct a hearing entitled ``Tax Reform and the Tax Treatment of Debt and Equity.''

Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Foreign Relations be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on July 13, 2011, at 3 p.m.

Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate, on July 13, 2011, at 10 a.m. to conduct a hearing entitled ``Ten Years After 9/11: Preventing Terrorist Travel.''

Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate, on July 13, 2011, at 10 a.m., in room SD-226 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building, to conduct a hearing entitled ``The Violence Against Women Act: Building on Seventeen Years of Accomplishments.''

Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate, on July 13, 2011, at 2:30 p.m., in room SD-226 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building, to conduct a hearing entitled ``Nominations.''

Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Subcommittee on Seapower of the Committee on Armed Services be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on, July 13, 2011, at 2:30 p.m.

Mr. WHITEHOUSE

Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that all time be yielded back.