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, MONDAY, JANUARY 6, 2014 No. 2 House of Representatives The House was not in session today. Its next meeting will be held on Tuesday, January 7, 2014, at 2 p.m. Senate MONDAY, JANUARY 6, 2014 The Senate met at 2 p.m. and was and look forward to our continuing The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Objec- called to order by the President pro work together over the next 2 weeks tion is heard, and the bill will be placed tempore (Mr. LEAHY). and to see what happens after that. on the calendar. Following my remarks and those of PRAYER the Republican leader, the Senate will f The Chaplain, Dr. Barry C. Black, of- resume the motion to proceed to Cal- CAUTIOUS OPTIMISM fered the following prayer: endar No. 265, S. 1845, the unemploy- Let us pray. ment insurance extension. Mr. REID. I am optimistic, cau- Eternal God, our fortress, stronghold, At 3 p.m. the Senate will proceed to tiously optimistic, that the new year deliverer, shield, and refuge, we have executive session to consider the nomi- will bring a renewed spirit of coopera- entered a new year that promises op- nation of Janet Yellen to be Chairman tion to this Chamber. It is very badly portunities and challenges. Inspire our of the Board of Governors of the Fed- needed. lawmakers to seize this season of op- eral Reserve System, postcloture. The Last year the Senate passed a num- portunity, committing themselves to time until 5:30 p.m. will be equally di- ber of momentous pieces of legislation, the fulfillment of Your purposes, even vided and controlled. including comprehensive immigration, in the face of challenges. Keep them in There will be two rollcall votes at a budget agreement, and a bill to pre- the center of Your will, aligning them 5:30 p.m., first on confirmation of the vent workplace discrimination based with Your providential wisdom and Yellen nomination and second on the on sexual orientation. guiding them with Your words. Lord, motion to invoke cloture on the mo- There is so much more that needs to shield them from discouragement as tion to proceed to the unemployment be done and there is so much left un- they persevere with integrity. Finish insurance legislation. done. There has been never-ending ob- the good work You have begun, for You There could be a series of votes after struction during the entire 5 years that are both alpha and omega. that dealing with other nominations. President Obama has been President of We pray in Your sacred Name. Amen. We will keep everyone advised as to the United States. f what is going on. Setting that aside for a brief mo- f ment, today we will address two press- PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE ing matters held over from last year: The President pro tempore led the MEASURES PLACED ON THE CALENDAR—H.R. 2019 the nomination of Janet Yellen to be Pledge of Allegiance, as follows: head of the Federal Reserve, and exten- I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the Mr. REID. I am told that H.R. 2019 is sion of unemployment benefits for 1.3 United States of America, and to the Repub- at the desk and due for a second read- million Americans still struggling to lic for which it stands, one nation under God, ing. find work. Instead of celebrating the indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The beginning of the New Year on January f clerk will read the bill by title for the 1, more than 1 million Americans, in- second time. RECOGNITION OF THE MAJORITY cluding 20,000 veterans and about 20,000 The legislative clerk read as follows: LEADER Nevadans, were left wondering how A bill (H.R. 2019) to eliminate taxpayer fi- The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The nancing of political party conventions and they would feed their families and majority leader is recognized. reprogram savings to provide for a 10-year make their mortgage payments while they continue to look for jobs. Frank- f pediatric research initiative through the Common Fund administered by the National ly, most of these people aren’t making SCHEDULE Institutes of Health, and for other purposes. mortgage payments; they are renting. Mr. REID. I welcome back the Presi- Mr. REID. I object to any further They are trying to make ends meet dent pro tempore and the entire staff proceedings at this time. from month to month. ∑ This ‘‘bullet’’ symbol identifies statements or insertions which are not spoken by a Member of the Senate on the floor. S3 . VerDate Mar 15 2010 05:21 Jan 27, 2015 Jkt 079060 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 4637 Sfmt 0634 E:\RECORD14\JAN 2014\S06JA4.REC S06JA4 bjneal on DSK2TWX8P1PROD with CONG-REC-ONLINE S4 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE January 6, 2014 Today there is only one job opening week—just to make ends meet. They But in Congress, they disagree with the for every three people searching. We work minimum-wage jobs. Minimum- American people as it relates to back- have never had so many unemployed wage jobs are not living-wage jobs. We ground checks. They disagree with the for such a long period of time. are seeing this change all over the American people as it relates to min- The long-term unemployment rate is country. In the State of Washington, imum wage. They disagree with the twice as high as it was any other time there is one community that has raised American people as it relates to the we have allowed emergency unemploy- it to $15 an hour. unemployment insurance extension. ment benefits to end. It will be cata- We have to do more to help people They cannot get off the tune they strophic for this to happen for men and who are willing to work. We want them have been singing for such a long time: women, boys and girls. to make a living wage. The reason that ObamaCare, ObamaCare, ObamaCare. What is more, failing to extend un- is so very important is that it is be- As we speak, the American people are employment insurance won’t only be a lieved—it is not believed, polling will so much better off because of hardship for hard-working Americans, indicate this—that two-thirds of small ObamaCare. If they have a disability, it will be a drag on our economy. Al- businesses want the minimum wage to they cannot be denied health insurance lowing this important lifeline to lapse be increased. Why? Because it helps coverage. Children stay on their par- will cost 240,000 jobs. them grow their businesses. ents’ insurance until they are 26. Sen- These people who are drawing unem- When a mother or a father working iors get wellness checks, Pap smears, ployment benefits are just getting by. two or three jobs still can’t afford gro- mammograms. Many people could They have to buy groceries, maybe at ceries and rent the same month, it is a never afford that. The doughnut hole 7-Eleven. Sometimes they go to a reg- sign that something is wrong in this for prescription drugs is being closed. ular store. They have to buy gas for country. Your insurance can’t be terminated be- their vehicles. They have to buy bus Last year the top 1 percent, the very cause someone is hurt and the bill is tickets to get across town to look for a rich, took home so much money that it big. They can’t do that anymore. But job. A multitude of other things they broke a 1928 record percentagewise. In Republicans can’t get off trying to re- need are going to be eliminated. That the last 30 years the income of the top peal ObamaCare. will cost almost a quarter of a million 1 percent has increased by 300 percent 3 ObamaCare is here to stay. As we jobs. times. But what has happened in that speak, there are 9 million people who By contrast, helping Americans while same 30 years to middle-income Ameri- have insurance who didn’t have it be- they search for full-time unemploy- cans and the middle class? Their in- fore. We have about 2.5 million people ment is one of the most efficient ways come has dropped by 10 percent—300 who have gotten insurance on the Web, to support economic growth. Each dol- percent minus 10 percent. That is not including the 14 exchanges of various lar we spend on unemployment insur- good. States, including Nevada. ance benefits increases the gross do- Wages for middle-class families have We have 3 million people who have mestic product by $1.50. According to actually fallen, as I have indicated. insurance now because they are on leading economists—including Mark They have fallen by almost 10 percent their parents’ insurance and can stay Zandi, JOHN MCCAIN’s chief economic while the cost of housing, food, and gas there until they are 26. Three million adviser when he ran for President— has gone up. The rich keep getting Americans have that because of they agree that every dollar we spend richer, the poor keep getting poorer, ObamaCare, and there are about 3 mil- brings back $1.50 to our gross domestic and the middle class is under siege. lion Americans who are so poor they product. This country can’t afford to allow now qualify for Medicaid.