E PL UR UM IB N U U S Congressional Record United States th of America PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE 113 CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION Vol. 159 WASHINGTON, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2013 No. 23 Senate The Senate met at 10 a.m. and was appoint the Honorable HEIDI HEITKAMP, a jobs and manufacturing once more, in- called to order by the Honorable HEIDI Senator from the State of North Dakota, to vestments which have been deferred for HEITKAMP, a Senator from the State of perform the duties of the Chair. too long due to the worst recession North Dakota. PATRICK J. LEAHY, since the Great Depression. President pro tempore. The President’s plan will give Amer- PRAYER Ms. HEITKAMP thereupon assumed ican manufacturers the support they the chair as Acting President pro tem- The Chaplain, Dr. Barry C. Black, of- need to thrive, while ending giveaways pore. fered the following prayer: to companies that ship jobs overseas. Let us pray. f His plan will create jobs building Architect of the universe, before the world-class roadways, railways, and RECOGNITION OF THE MAJORITY bridges which our economy may rely mountains were formed and the hills LEADER were born and the Earth received its upon tomorrow. The plan will prepare current and fu- frame, You are God. You fill the uni- The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- ture workers to compete in a global verse with the mysteries of Your pore. The majority leader is recog- economy by making K–12 schools the power, and we are in awe of Your nized. f best in the world again and college af- handiwork. fordable for every graduate. His plan Inspire our Senators to unite with SCHEDULE will break our addiction to foreign oil You in the great cause of bringing and encourage investments in reliable healing to our Nation and world. May Mr. REID. Madam President, fol- lowing leader remarks, the Senate will energy, a change which will be good for they sense Your presence continually, the environment and for the economy. think of You consistently, and trust be in morning business. The Repub- licans will control the first 30 minutes As he said last night, it will be done You constantly, receiving Your divine without adding a single penny to the guidance for the path ahead. Lord, in- and the majority will control the sec- ond 30 minutes. deficit. These investments in a strong spire them to think imaginatively middle class are not just right for our about how to do Your will on Earth We will seek an agreement for the consideration of the nomination of country, they are right for our econ- even as it is done in Heaven. We pray omy as well. Our efforts to restore in Your great Name. Amen. Senator Hagel to be Secretary of De- fense during today’s session. prosperity will mean little unless Con- f In addition, sometime this afternoon, gress acts immediately to deal with ar- bitrary, across-the-board spending cuts PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE we hope to have a vote on the Kayatta nomination to be a circuit court judge set to take effect. If the looming sequester strikes, The Honorable HEIDI HEITKAMP led for the First Circuit. the Pledge of Allegiance, as follows: 70,000 young children would be kicked I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the f off Head Start and 10,000 teaching jobs United States of America, and to the Repub- VISION OF FAIRNESS would be at risk. The Small Business lic for which it stands, one nation under God, Administration will be forced to reduce indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Mr. REID. Madam President, last loan guarantees to small businesses by night the President of the United f up to $540 million. Democrats believe States laid out an agenda to strength- we should replace this harsh austerity APPOINTMENT OF ACTING en the middle class and expand upon with a balanced approach that targets PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE our economic progress. He outlined an wasteful spending, tax loopholes, and agenda that will restore the core value The PRESIDING OFFICER. The asks the wealthiest among us to con- that makes this Nation great: fairness. clerk will please read a communication tribute a little more to reduce the def- Senate Democrats stand ready to to the Senate from the President pro icit. work with the President to make this tempore (Mr. LEAHY). The American people know we can’t vision—a vision in which every Amer- The legislative clerk read the fol- cut our way to prosperity. They agree. ican shares the prosperity as well as lowing letter: We can’t ask the middle class to bear the responsibility—a reality. President the burden of the entire deficit reduc- U.S. SENATE, Obama’s agenda calls for commonsense PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE, tion. Later this week Democrats will Washington, DC, February 13, 2013. investments in our future, investments release a plan to avert the so-called se- To the Senate: which will breathe new life into a quester. Under the provisions of rule I, paragraph 3, struggling middle class, investments Republicans say they agree the deep of the Standing Rules of the Senate, I hereby which will make America a magnet for cuts they voted for will be damaging to ∑ This ‘‘bullet’’ symbol identifies statements or insertions which are not spoken by a Member of the Senate on the floor. S663 . VerDate Mar 15 2010 04:04 Feb 14, 2013 Jkt 029060 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 0624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\A13FE6.000 S13FEPT1 jbell on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with SENATE S664 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE February 13, 2013 our economy and to national security. has run his last campaign. It called for want to work with him to actually Republicans would rather cut Medi- a President who was willing to stare make that happen. care, education, and medical research down America’s challenges, reject the Instead we just heard gimmicks and than close a single wasteful tax loop- easy choices, and step outside his polit- tax hikes, just one more plan from the hole or ask a single millionaire to con- ical comfort zone to unite a deeply di- President that is designed to fail so he tribute a little more. The Republicans vided public behind a common goal. can blame others when it does fail. It is should stop protecting millionaires, Sadly, history will record no such too bad for the country. It truly is. billionaires, and wealthy corporations moment. An opportunity to bring to- The American people, in their collec- and start working with us to pass an gether the country instead became an- tive judgment, decided to send divided alternative to these terrible cuts that other retread of lip service and lib- government to Washington. I am sure protect the middle class. We want to eralism. the President wishes that weren’t so, start to do something to begin chang- For a Democratic President entering but it is the reality, and Americans ing this so we protect the middle class. his second term, it was simply unequal look to him to use forums such as the We must not jeopardize the progress of to the moment. Following 4 years of State of the Union to bring people to- the last 4 years. this President’s unwillingness to chal- gether and get things done with the government we have, not the one the Even though our work to restore eco- lenge liberal dogma, we have more of President wishes he had. That is what nomic prosperity must continue, we the same. The President spoke about Ronald Reagan did, and he accom- should take pride in the 35 months of energy infrastructure but didn’t even plished great things. President Clinton private sector job growth and 6.1 mil- mention the Keystone Pipeline. He chose the Nation’s biggest stage to pro- was able to get quite a bit done with lion new American jobs. Imagine how divided government too. mote something that is inefficient and many more jobs could be created with Why is it this President can’t seem just a little cooperation from our Re- costly, such as solar panels, instead of to demonstrate the same kind of lead- publican colleagues. something that is proven, reliable, and ership? He says he wants balance—bal- Now our friends across the aisle have domestically produced, such as coal. ance. His approach so far has been any- another opportunity to engage con- He advocated tax reform but mostly thing but. Just as ‘‘investment’’ has structively. They have a second chance as a way to increase the size of govern- become a Washington code word for to work with Democrats to rebuild the ment, not as a way to increase our more spending, ‘‘balance’’ has now be- middle class by investing in that which competitiveness. He spoke of workers’ come a code word for my way or the in the past has made Americans minimum wages instead of their max- highway. strong—world-class roads, bridges, imum potential. Remember, the President already re- dams, peerless schools, industrial fac- In short, with the exception of his ceived the additional revenue he want- tories, and creative entrepreneurs who impressive delivery and trademark ed in January. He didn’t agree to a sin- are the best in the world. style, last night’s speech was pedes- gle cut in spending then, just revenue. President Ronald Reagan, in his first trian, liberal boilerplate that any Obviously, the balanced thing to do address of a joint session of Congress, Democratic lawmaker could have given now would be to look at cuts.