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, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2011 No. 15 House of Representatives The House was not in session today. Its next meeting will be held on Tuesday, February 8, 2011, at 10 a.m. Senate WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2011 The Senate met at 10 a.m. and was The legislative clerk read the fol- our offices every single day and telling called to order by the Honorable lowing letter: us all the ways this bill keeps them KIRSTEN E. GILLIBRAND, a Senator from U.S. SENATE, from creating the jobs we need, to show the State of New York. PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE, you have actually noticed most Ameri- Washington, DC, February 2, 2011. cans don’t want this bill, to show you PRAYER To the Senate: are aware more people want it repealed The Chaplain, Dr. Barry C. Black, of- Under the provisions of rule I, paragraph 3, than do not, to show you have noticed of the Standing Rules of the Senate, I hereby fered the following prayer: the townhalls in your States, to show appoint the Honorable KIRSTEN E. Let us pray. GILLIBRAND, a Senator from the State of New you have noticed the opposition to this Almighty God, father of us all, con- York, to perform the duties of the Chair. bill continues to grow, to show you tinue to guide our lawmakers during DANIEL K. INOUYE, have noticed the Federal court rulings these challenging times. Infuse them President pro tempore. that show this bill is unconstitutional with wisdom and energy so that they Mrs. GILLIBRAND thereupon as- at its core. will not become discouraged by what sumed the chair as Acting President It is not every day you get a second sometimes seems an impossible situa- pro tempore. chance on a big decision after you tion. Show them the road that will lead Mr. REID. Madam President, I sug- know all the facts. This is that second to a desired destination as You assure gest the absence of a quorum. chance. them of Your presence, love, and grace The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- For all of us who opposed the health in their work. Lord, help them to defer pore. The clerk will call the roll. care bill, today we reaffirm our com- to each other, to respect each other, so The legislative clerk proceeded to mitment to work a little harder to get that by attitude and action they will call the roll. it right; we can’t afford to get it reflect Your divine will. May they ful- Mr. MCCONNELL. Madam President, wrong. But let’s not anyone hide be- fill their responsibilities in ways that I ask unanimous consent the order for hind the preposterous talking point honor You. the quorum call be rescinded. that repealing this bill would add to We pray in Your great Name. Amen. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- the deficit. Only in Washington would f pore. Without objection, it is so or- somebody claim that spending trillions PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE dered. of dollars on a brand new government f entitlement and a massive bureaucracy The Honorable KIRSTEN E. GILLI- to go along with it will save money. BRAND led the Pledge of Allegiance, as HEALTH CARE REPEAL I urge all my colleagues to move be- follows: Mr. MCCONNELL. Madam President, yond party affiliation, to look at the I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the facts alone. If everyone in this Cham- United States of America, and to the Repub- later today, as I noted yesterday, the lic for which it stands, one nation under God, Senate will have a rare opportunity. ber did that, we would repeal this bill indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. For those who have supported the right now, and then we would begin the work of achieving our common goal of f health care spending bill in the past, it is an opportunity to revisit your first delivering health care at a higher qual- APPOINTMENT OF ACTING vote, to listen to those who have des- ity for lower cost. We would put in PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE perately been trying to get your atten- place the commonsense reforms people The PRESIDING OFFICER. The tion, to say, yes, maybe my vote for actually want. clerk will please read a communication this bill was a mistake, maybe we can We also expect a vote later today to the Senate from the President pro do better, to listen to the small busi- that would clear away one of the many tempore (Mr. INOUYE). ness owners who have been contacting impediments to job creation that was ∑ This ‘‘bullet’’ symbol identifies statements or insertions which are not spoken by a Member of the Senate on the floor. S431 . VerDate Mar 15 2010 00:38 Oct 01, 2011 Jkt 099060 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 0637 Sfmt 0634 E:\RECORD11\RECFILES\S02FE1.REC S02FE1 bjneal on DSK2TWX8P1PROD with CONG-REC-ONLINE S432 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE February 2, 2011 layered into this bill. It turns out Sen- We as Senators have a choice. We can That is what their amendment would ator JOHANNS did such an outstanding move forward or we can look backward; do. job of raising awareness about the 1099 we can make progress or we can stage This is how health insurance worked requirement that our friends on the a futile fight with the future. It is clear before reforms became the law of the other side have basically co-opted the this week that while the American peo- land. We do not want to go back. idea and are now claiming it as their ple and Senate Democrats are looking Madam President, I am sure you have own. Actually, that is fine with us. It is ahead, Senate Republicans are looking had parents come to you with tears in not a bad precedent, actually. We have for a way to distract the American peo- their eyes, saying: Now my child can a lot of other good ideas we would be ple. This is what moving forward looks get insurance. We don’t want to have happy to share—not replacing one like: Our bill to modernize our Nation’s mothers say: What am I going to do? 2,700-page bill with another but passing air travel will protect consumers. It is That is what they said in the past. commonsense reforms that people ac- a passengers’ bill of rights. We know There is one more difference between tually want. delays happen when we fly from the Democrats and Republicans. We are The case against this bill is more airports around the country. We try to fighting for jobs this week. Along with compelling every day. Everything we fly sometimes. When we do, we want to all the advantages in the aviation mod- learn tells us it was a bad idea, that it make sure passengers are treated right. ernization bill I mentioned a minute should be repealed and replaced. The We want to make sure passengers have ago, it is also a jobs bill. It will create courts say so, the American people say the right to timely and accurate infor- and protect at least 280,000 American so, job creators say so. It is time for mation about their flight. We want to jobs. That is why we are fighting so those who passed this bill to show they make sure passengers have the right to hard for this bill. This is a bipartisan noticed. Let’s take this opportunity. food, water, and access to restrooms bill. Let’s get to passing it. While the health care reform law is I yield the floor. when they are forced to wait. We want to make sure passengers making sick Americans healthier and f have the right to know that while they better, it is also helping unemployed RECOGNITION OF THE MAJORITY are sitting on an airplane that is on a Americans find work. A healthier LEADER tarmac—as I said here yesterday, 31⁄2 health care system is going to create The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- hours in Dallas alone waiting for a hundreds of thousands of jobs a year pore. The majority leader is recog- gate—we want to make sure passengers for the next decade. I went to GW University Hospital—I nized. know the airline they are flying has a contingency plan to get them where wasn’t sick—to visit somebody there. A f they need to go. woman—she must have been one of the SCHEDULE This bill will also make flying safer administrators—said: Oh, I am so and make it more efficient. It will help Mr. REID. Madam President, fol- happy. She said: You know that health prevent accidents on the runways. It care bill you passed, we are going to lowing my remarks, Senator PAUL of will finally introduce GPS technology Kentucky will be recognized for up to hire 500 new physicians. I came back to our Nation’s air traffic control sys- 20 minutes in morning business to de- and told my staff that and they said tem. Mongolia has GPS. We don’t. In liver his first speech as a Member of you must have it mixed up. Five hun- most every country in the world, they dred? I said: Let’s find out her name the Senate. Following Senator PAUL’s determine where airplanes are with and you call her.