E PL UR UM IB N U U S Congressional Record United States th of America PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE 112 CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION Vol. 157 WASHINGTON, THURSDAY, JUNE 30, 2011 No. 96 House of Representatives The House was not in session today. Its next meeting will be held on Friday, July 1, 2011, at 10 a.m. Senate THURSDAY, JUNE 30, 2011 The Senate met at 9:30 a.m. and was to the Senate from the President pro DEBT CEILING NEGOTIATIONS called to order by the Honorable JEFF tempore (Mr. INOUYE). Mr. REID. Mr. President, this week- MERKLEY, a Senator from the State of The assistant legislative clerk read end we will celebrate Independence Oregon. the following letter: Day and 235 years of this country’s U.S. SENATE, very proud history. This Nation was PRAYER PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE, founded on the notion of liberty and The Chaplain, Dr. Barry C. Black, of- Washington, DC, June 30, 2011. justice for all. As we celebrate, we fered the following prayer: To the Senate: Under the provisions of rule I, paragraph 3, should remember that the pursuit of Let us pray. liberty is not just a journey with a des- God of liberty, as America’s birthday of the Standing Rules of the Senate, I hereby tination but, rather, a quest to which approaches, help us to know in this appoint the Honorable JEFF MERKLEY, a Sen- we must recommit ourselves every sin- land the meaning and purpose of our ator from the State of Oregon, to perform the duties of the Chair. gle day. As we commit fully and firmly freedom. May our Senators seek free- DANIEL K. INOUYE, to liberty and justice, we must commit dom with justice, freedom to choose President pro tempore. just as fully and firmly to the idea that righteousness, and freedom to do the Mr. MERKLEY thereupon assumed the liberty and justice should be truly right thing with judicious govern- the chair as Acting President pro tem- for all. mental intervention. Give our law- pore. It is often said that with liberty makers such liberty of soul that their f comes responsibility. We should take gratitude might merge with their com- that responsibility seriously. I am con- mitment to honor You in word and RECOGNITION OF THE MAJORITY fident we do. That is why the Senate deed. Give each of us a sense of respon- LEADER will reconvene on Tuesday, the day sibility for his or her share in the The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- after the Fourth. We will do that be- democratic processes, as we earnestly pore. The majority leader is recog- cause we have work to do. We will be in seek for good government, exercising nized. session that week—that is next week— our influence responsibly. f with our first vote on July 5. We will Lord, we pray that You would bless determine what time that vote will be the members of our departing page SCHEDULE on July 5, likely in the afternoon be- class. Mr. REID. Mr. President, following cause of the travel problems with the We pray in Your sacred Name. Amen. any leader remarks, the Senate will be Fourth of July the previous day. There f in a period of morning business until is still so much to do to put Americans PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE noon. The first hour will be under the back to work, cut our deficit, get our control of the majority, and Repub- economy back to work. It is very im- The Honorable JEFF MERKLEY led the licans will control the second hour. Pledge of Allegiance, as follows: portant we do this. That moment is too Following morning business, the Sen- important, the obstacles too steep, and I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Repub- ate will be in executive session to con- the time too short to waste even a mo- lic for which it stands, one nation under God, sider the nomination of David Petraeus ment. indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. to be Director of the Central Intel- I hope my Republican colleagues will f ligence Agency. put politics aside and help Democrats At about 2 p.m., then, there will be a fulfill Congress’s responsibility to the APPOINTMENT OF ACTING vote on the confirmation of David American people. There are some Re- PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE Petraeus. Additional rollcall votes are publicans in Congress who say the U.S. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The possible during today’s session of the Government has less responsibility to clerk will please read a communication Senate. pay its bills than struggling families ∑ This ‘‘bullet’’ symbol identifies statements or insertions which are not spoken by a Member of the Senate on the floor. S4243 . VerDate Mar 15 2010 07:31 Feb 24, 2012 Jkt 099060 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 0637 Sfmt 0634 E:\RECORD11\RECFILES\S30JN1.REC S30JN1 bjneal on DSK2TWX8P1PROD with CONG-REC-ONLINE S4244 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE June 30, 2011 all across our great country. As a de- discipline Democrats brought to Wash- The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- fault crisis approaches, Republicans ington in the 1990s, when Democrats in pore. The clerk will call the roll. are saying we should simply stop cut- Congress and the White House balanced The assistant legislative clerk pro- ting checks for the national equivalent the budget and used the surplus—to do ceeded to call the roll. of the home mortgage, the credit card, what? To pay down the debt. We were Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President, I the car payment. Republicans say this being criticized for paying down the ask unanimous consent the order for crisis is about spending more or grow- debt too fast. President Bush changed the quorum call be rescinded. ing government. They are wrong. This that very quickly. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- crisis is about paying the bills for But a default crisis would do nothing pore. Without objection, it is so or- things we have already bought—for ex- to get our fiscal house in order. In- dered. ample, a decade of tax breaks for mil- stead, default, in effect bankruptcy, f lionaires and billionaires, our war of would derail our fragile economic re- choice in Iraq, the war in Afghanistan, covery and plunge this Nation and the MEASURE PLACED ON THE those tax cuts for billionaires and mil- world back into not just a recession CALENDAR—S.J. RES. 23 lionaires and the wars unpaid for. What but a full-blown depression. I said that Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President, I they are not saying is what the con- earlier. It is the truth. It would also understand there is a joint resolution sequences would be of such an irrespon- risk millions of Americans’ jobs, tax at the desk that is due a second read- sible decision to not pay our accrued refunds, Social Security checks, Medi- ing. bills—remember, the bills we already care payments, and paychecks for our The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- accumulated, have run up. If we did not troops. pore. The Senator is correct. The clerk pay our bills, it would plunge the There was a nice report written the will read the joint resolution by title United States not into a recession, not day before yesterday by Alice Rivlin for the second time. into the so-called double-dip recession, and one of George Bush’s Assistant The assistant legislative clerk read but into a full-blown depression. That Secretaries of the Treasury and they as follows: is without a doubt. Without exception, said the same thing but in much more A joint resolution (S.J. Res. 23) proposing the respected financial voices of our detail. Frankly, reading that was very an amendment to the Constitution of the time have said the effects of a default frightening. Those risks are simply not United States relative to balancing the budg- crisis would be felt across the globe, worth taking. et. not just here in the United States. I re- Today, middle-class families in Mr. MCCONNELL. In order to place peat, this would create a worldwide de- America are struggling to survive eco- the resolution on the calendar under pression. nomically. They are living paycheck to the provisions of rule XIV, I object to Many respected voices could not have paycheck in many instances. Mean- further proceeding. spoken in clearer terms. From the pri- while, Republicans walked away from The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- vate sector, the CEO of JPMorgan the negotiations. Why did they walk pore. The joint resolution will be Chase, a man by the name of Jamie away from the negotiations that would placed on the calendar. Dimon, said default would be ‘‘cata- have cut the deficit and averted a cata- Mr. MCCONNELL. I thank the Chair. strophic.’’ He went on to say raising strophic default? They did it in order the debt limit is our ‘‘moral obliga- to protect tax breaks for millionaires f tion.’’ and billionaires. That is obvious. Re- RECOGNITION OF THE MINORITY What does that mean? It means the publicans are willing to risk our econ- LEADER world should ‘‘know that the United omy to keep tax breaks for corpora- The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- States is good for its money. Period.’’ tions and ship jobs overseas. Mean- pore. The Republican leader is recog- That is what Jamie Dimon said, and I while, average Americans are strug- nized. agree. gling to find work here at home. Re- He is not the only one saying this.