Congressional Record United States Th of America PROCEEDINGS and DEBATES of the 113 CONGRESS, SECOND SESSION
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E PL UR UM IB N U U S Congressional Record United States th of America PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE 113 CONGRESS, SECOND SESSION Vol. 160 WASHINGTON, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2014 No. 143 Senate The Senate met at 9:30 a.m. and was appoint the Honorable JOHN E. WALSH, a next paycheck would come. Staffers called to order by the Honorable JOHN Senator from the State of Montana, to per- with families, mortgages, and student E. WALSH, a Senator from the State of form the duties of the Chair. loan payments all hoped the shutdown Montana. PATRICK J. LEAHY, would not be their personal financial President pro tempore. f disaster. Missing a check or two can be Mr. WALSH thereupon assumed the very difficult for most everyone. PRAYER Chair as Acting President pro tempore. After 16 days, Congress passed legis- The Chaplain, Dr. Barry C. Black, of- f lation funding the government, and the fered the following prayer: RECOGNITION OF THE MAJORITY shutdown came to an end. That was Oc- Let us pray. Eternal God, thank You LEADER tober 16, 2013, just 2 days before payday for not keeping a record of our for Senate staffers. It is important to wrongdoings. As we lift our hearts in The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- understand that processing payroll for prayer, open Your ears to our suppli- pore. The majority leader is recog- almost 7,000 employees normally takes cations. Keep our feet on a smooth, nized. about a week. But anticipating what a straight road so that we will experi- f missed paycheck would mean for his ence Your best for our lives. Lord, walk fellow Senate employees, Chris Doby SCHEDULE with our Senators throughout this day. calmly pushed them to make it work. Remind them that they are Your serv- Mr. REID. Mr. President, following So in less than 48 hours, with a very ants, as You keep them alert to Your my remarks and those of the Repub- depleted staff, Chris and the Senate commands. lican leader, the Senate will be in a pe- Disbursing Office ensured that every Forgive us when we forget to express riod of morning business until 2 p.m. Senate staffer received their paycheck our gratitude, for without Your help, today, with Senators allowed to speak on time. Because of their efforts, mort- challenges will overwhelm us. In this for up to 10 minutes each. gage payments were made, groceries season of Thanksgiving we are grateful There will be five rollcall votes at 2 were purchased, and working families that You have not left us defenseless p.m. on confirmation of the Pepper, breathed a sigh of relief. but that Your grace and Your mercy Sannes, Arleo, Beetlestone, and Bolden I was trying to think what I could continue to prevail in our lives. We nominations, all to be district court say today to indicate to this good man pray in Your great Name. Amen. judges, followed by 11 voice votes on and his family and his friends and Sen- f executive nominations. ate staffers what a good person he is PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE f and what a good professional he is. The comparison I thought I would make is The Presiding Officer led the Pledge TRIBUTE TO CHRIS DOBY this. When I was a boy, I used to love of Allegiance, as follows: Mr. REID. Mr. President, the famous to listen to the game of the day on I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the poet Oliver Wendell Holmes said: ‘‘Put radio, Mutual Radio Network in the United States of America, and to the Repub- not your trust in money, but put your town I lived in, a little town in Nevada. lic for which it stands, one nation under God, money in trust.’’ That is what he said. We, of course, had no TV. But radio re- indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Since 2005 the Senate has put its ception came in pretty good during the f money—precious taxpayer dollars— day. I do not remember the station, but APPOINTMENT OF ACTING into the trusted hands of a man by the we could listen to the radio. PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE name of Chris Doby. He is the financial On the game of the day, I focused on clerk of the Senate. He has proven him- The PRESIDING OFFICER. The some people who were so good and who self to be equal to the task. That is an clerk will please read a communication later became even better than I had understatement. Through budget cuts, to the Senate from the President pro imagined. One of those people who is sequestration, and even a government now in the Baseball Hall of Fame was tempore (Mr. LEAHY). shutdown, Senators and staff knew The assistant legislative clerk read a man by the name of Larry Doby. He that Chris Doby and his team would the following letter: was a center fielder for the Cleveland make it work, no matter what took Indians. He was good. He could run U.S. SENATE, place. fast, jump high. He hit with power. He PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE, Washington, DC, November 20, 2014. There is just one story I will share stole bases. He was very good. To the Senate: with the Senate. In the midst of the This Doby we have in the Senate, in Under the provisions of rule I, paragraph 3, government shutdown, Senate employ- my opinion, is somebody who, just like of the Standing Rules of the Senate, I hereby ees had no assurance of when their Larry Doby, would make the All-Star ∑ This ‘‘bullet’’ symbol identifies statements or insertions which are not spoken by a Member of the Senate on the floor. S6163 . VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:53 Nov 21, 2014 Jkt 049060 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 4624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\A20NO6.000 S20NOPT1 SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with SENATE S6164 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE November 20, 2014 team and should be in the Senate Hall He tried to suggest otherwise last us working together. They said they of Fame for the good work he has done weekend. But a prominent fact checker want to see more serious ideas pass over these many years. panned the spin as ‘‘Pinocchio-laden’’ through Congress. What they didn’t say f and clarified that the President has they wanted to see was the President been asked specifically about the sidestepping the very representatives RESERVATION OF LEADER TIME source of actions that he is contem- they just elected. That is why so many The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- plating now. The President’s previous Kentuckians have been calling my of- pore. Under the previous order, the answers seemed to be unequivocal: He fice in opposition to this plan. I know leadership time is reserved. lacked the legal authority to act, ac- phones have continued to ring off the Mr. REID. Mr. President, I suggest cording to the President himself. hook all week in our offices across Cap- the absence of a quorum. As one example, President Obama itol Hill. Our constituents want to be The PRESIDING OFFICER. The said last year that Executive action heard. President Obama needs to listen clerk will call the roll. was ‘‘not an option,’’ because ‘‘[he] to their voices. The assistant legislative clerk pro- would be ignoring the law. ‘‘There is a If nothing else, perhaps the President ceeded to call the roll. path to get this done,’’ he said, ‘‘and will at least consider the views of Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President, I that is through Congress.’’ He is right. Democratic Senators and Members of ask unanimous consent that the order The action he has proposed would ig- Congress who have urged him not to do for the quorum call be rescinded. nore the law, would reject the voice of this. These Democrats understand the The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- the voters, and would impose new un- consequences of a President from a dif- pore. Without objection, it is so or- fairness on law-abiding immigrants, all ferent political party citing this prece- dered. without solving the problem. dent in the future. In fact, his action is more likely to Either way, he needs to understand f make it even worse. We have already something: If President Obama acts in RECOGNITION OF THE MINORITY seen the consequences of Deferred Ac- defiance of the people and imposes his LEADER. tion for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, will on the country, Congress will act. his most recent action in this area. It We are considering a variety of op- The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- was a factor in encouraging young peo- tions, but make no mistake—when the pore. The Republican leader is recog- ple to risk their lives on a perilous newly elected representatives of the nized. journey some would never have even people take their seats, they will act. f contemplated and some would never Look, as the President has said, de- mocracy is hard. Imposing his will uni- PROPOSED EXECUTIVE ACTION complete. The effect of this action could be just laterally may seem tempting. It may Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President, I as tragic. Just as the Affordable Care serve him politically in the short term. would like to say a few words this Act had little to do with making But he knows it will make an already morning about President Obama’s pro- health care more affordable, slapping broken system even more broken, and posed Executive action on immigra- the term ‘‘immigration reform’’ on he knows this is not how democracy is tion.