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, TUESDAY, APRIL 1, 2014 No. 52 Senate The Senate met at 10 a.m. and was Federal minimum wage and to amend the In- I am beginning to think April Fools’ called to order by the President pro ternal Revenue Code of 1986 to extend in- Day arrived 1 day early. See, it is a tempore (Mr. LEAHY). creased expensing limitations and the treat- fool’s errand for the Koch brothers to ment of certain real property as section 179 property. think they can use their money to PRAYER frighten me or to brainwash Nevadans SCHEDULE The Chaplain, Dr. Barry C. Black, of- or the rest of the country. They are Mr. REID. Mr. President, following fered the following prayer: my remarks and those of the Repub- spending lots of money to try to do Let us pray. lican leader, the Senate will be in a pe- that. People of this Nation trace their Holy God, all Your works do praise riod of morning business for 1 hour, freedom of speech back to the Con- Your Name on the Earth, in the sky, with the majority controlling the first stitution, not a bank account which and on the sea. Great is Your faithful- half and the Republicans the final half. has lots and lots of zeros at the end. ness. Stir Your edifying spirit among Following morning business, the Sen- The Koch brothers are trying to use our Senators, liberating them from ate will resume consideration of H.R. their immense wealth to buy their way shortsightedness, as they work dili- 3979, the legislative vehicle for the un- around the laws and regulations of this gently for the freedom and justice of employment insurance extension legis- Nation to make themselves even rich- all. Lord, make them citizens of Your lation. er. Everything they do is so selfish, so kingdom, so that Your will may be The Senate will recess, as we do self-centered in an effort to make done on Earth even as it is done in every Tuesday, from 12:30 p.m. to 2:15 them—I guess the sixth richest is not Heaven. Help them to draw near to You p.m., to allow for our weekly caucus good enough, the fifth richest isn’t with true hearts and the full assurance meetings. good enough. They want to be the rich- that their times are in Your hands. KOCH BROTHERS est because they are into making Thank You for the liberties You have Mr. REID. Mr. President, as I went money and as much as they can. There given America and help us to remem- about my business in the Senate yes- is nothing wrong with that, except ber that eternal vigilance is the price terday, I was informed the Koch broth- what they are doing with their money. for freedom. ers are at it again. We know they are I know they say: Well, we gave We pray in Your merciful Name. at it, but now they are at it in Nevada, money in—I think—New York City to Amen. among other places. cancer research. But what they have f I am told one of their puppet organi- done to damage the National Institutes PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE zations is going to run commercials of Health is not possible to measure. against me in Nevada. That is quite in- Here are the rules the multibillion- The President pro tempore led the teresting. As I understand it, they had aire Koch brothers want to play by: Pledge of Allegiance, as follows: focused on places where there is an They should be allowed to say false and I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the election. They may not know it, but I misleading statements about the Af- United States of America, and to the Repub- am not running for anything for a few fordable Care Act, but we are not al- lic for which it stands, one nation under God, lowed to criticize them for it. indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. years, until my 6-year term is up. What issues will they raise in those Just listening to the news, and I f ads they say they are going to run in haven’t heard anything from the White RECOGNITION OF THE MAJORITY Nevada? That by my criticizing the House directly, but I am told that yes- LEADER Koch brothers, I have attacked their terday, in 1 day, more people signed up The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The freedom of speech. The gall of these for ObamaCare than the previous 3 majority leader is recognized. two brothers is staggering. months. People are anxious to have Keep in mind, they are the fifth rich- health insurance. They are anxious to f est people not in whatever State they have health insurance. I have been very MINIMUM WAGE FAIRNESS ACT— live in—they have lots of different satisfied that I and Members of my MOTION TO PROCEED homes in America—but they are the caucus and people around the country Mr. REID. Mr. President, I move to fifth richest people in the world. These have been standing up to these moguls proceed to Calendar No. 250. two mogul multibillionaires are so and their false, misleading, The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The eager to force their will on the Amer- fearmongering ways. clerk will report the motion. ican people that they will do it even in It should be no surprise that these The legislative clerk read as follows: the face of their own hypocrisy, which multimillionaire, billionaires, very, Motion to proceed to Calendar No. 250, S. we have already established some time very rich, fifth richest people in the 1737, a bill to provide for an increase in the ago. world have decided: What we will do is ∑ This ‘‘bullet’’ symbol identifies statements or insertions which are not spoken by a Member of the Senate on the floor. S1883 . VerDate Sep 11 2014 10:39 Feb 05, 2015 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 4624 Sfmt 0634 E:\RECORD14\APR 2014\S01AP4.REC S01AP4 DSKD7QTVN1PROD with CONG-REC-ONLINE S1884 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE April 1, 2014 try to frighten REID. There have been call it the Koch budget because that is Our approach is simple: Let’s give times in my life when I have been a lit- whom they are protecting, the Koch free enterprise and private initiative a tle afraid, but I am not afraid of them. brothers. chance. Let’s use the tools we know I understand they have spent $30,000. I am fascinated by this. These pro- can lead to the creation of the stable, Let them spend $300,000 in Nevada. I posals are called the Path to Pros- well-paying 21st century jobs our con- don’t care—and I truly don’t. perity. It is a path to prosperity for stituents want and deserve. These oil barons have commissioned some people—the rich—because that Too often it seems our friends on the a group—one of their many organiza- budget would end Medicare as we know other side are single-mindedly focused tions. As I have said on the floor, most it. Similar to the last budget the chair- on treating the symptoms of a down of the ads we see we think have come man of the Budget Committee in the economy rather than actually pro- from Americans for Prosperity. That is House came out with, it would slash viding struggling Americans with posi- their name. But they funnel money education funding while expanding tax tive, meaningful paths to a better life. through many organizations—the loopholes for the megarich. They can’t seem to get their minds chamber of commerce. What does the Whose prosperity is being plotted in around any legislative proposal that chamber do with those ads? Run ads these schemes? Today, as we get closer puts ordinary Americans and private against Democratic Senators because to the new Ryan budget, we will have initiative in the driver’s seat instead of the chamber of commerce is a Repub- to see how much of the Koch brothers’ the government. To me that largely lican-oriented organization, and it is agenda is reflected in this year’s budg- sums up the difference between the good to get money from the Koch et. We don’t have to be a fortune teller parties. But it goes even further than brothers because they can hide under to know the similarities are extensive. that, because Washington Democrats the chamber of commerce. To any and all groups that wish to are not just reluctant to embrace any This organization they are now float- attack me on behalf of multibillion- idea that doesn’t emanate from Wash- ing around that is going to run these aires, fire away. I am very happy—I am ington; they don’t even want to hear ads, against me I am told, is called even proud—to be targeted by those at- about it. American Encore. It was previously tacks and will gladly endure them in If we are going to get this country called the Center to Protect Patient order to call attention to the unscrupu- back on track, that needs to change, Rights. I guess that didn’t work so lous acts of these two barons. But don’t and that is what Republicans are argu- well, as well more than 10 million peo- expect Americans to go along with ing for this week.