Congressional Record—Senate S8277
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November 30, 2010 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S8277 is simply too soon to have a solid base- President, Senator KYL indicated he the Chamber of the United States Sen- line planning number. wanted assurances that the fiscal year ate—a fascinating, inspiring, often tu- To be sure, the administration has 2012 budget would include adequate multuous tale of conflict and com- been updating and revising its plans funding as well. Although next year’s promise, reflecting the awesome poten- and estimates. Two weeks ago, it re- budget is not due out until February, tial of our still-young democracy and leased an update to its section 1251 re- as I mentioned before, the administra- its occasional moments of agonizing port with a revised, substantially high- tion has already announced what it frustration. er cost estimate for both replacement will be requesting, and it will be an- For much of my life, this story has facilities. other enormous increase in the weap- intersected with my own in ways that It also included yet more funding for ons activities budget. Can there really the NNSA’s overall budget. The admin- be any doubt that the administration have been both thrilling and humbling. istration has proposed an additional will move aggressively forward with As a 14-year-old boy, I sat in the family $600 million in funding for fiscal year modernization—if Republicans take the gallery of this very Chamber watching 2012 and an additional $4.1 billion over first modest step of ratifying New as my father took the oath of office as the next 5 years. That brings the total START now? a new Senator. A few years later, in for the next decade to $85 billion. This We have passed our key test. The ad- 1962, I sat where these young men and both serves as a reminder that it is too ministration has met the demands Sen- women sit today, serving as a Senate early to have a fixed budget for the ator KYL had laid out. Now the key page. John F. Kennedy was President new facilities, and also strongly rein- test for Senator KYL and others is and Lyndon Johnson presided over this forces the administration’s good-faith whether they will join us in ratifying body. Eighteen years later, in the fall effort and commitment. the New START. If they don’t do that of 1980, the people of Connecticut gave This brings me back to my funda- now, the consensus that we have built me the honor of a lifetime when they mental point. I believe that support for will fall apart. Our national security the two new facilities can be sustained asked me to give voice to their views, will be put at risk. And we will return if we follow the path laid out by the electing me to serve as their U.S. Sen- to the dark days when the nuclear en- Perry-Schlesinger Commission and ator. For the past 30 years, I have terprise was the subject of neglect and pursued by the administration. This worked hard to sustain that trust. I am controversy. means balancing deterrence, arms con- proud of the work I have done, but it is The New START is a modest but very time for my story and that of this in- trol, and non-proliferation. The reality important step. It is one we should all is that there will be significant ques- stitution, which I cherish so much, to take together, without controversy. diverge. Thus, Mr. President, I rise to tions and doubts about proceeding with I thank the Chair, and I yield the such a costly modernization effort if it floor. give some valedictory remarks as my service as a U.S. Senator from Con- is not accompanied by equal support f for arms control and non-proliferation. necticut comes to a close. RECESS There is no doubt that the existing Now, it is common for retiring Sen- Mr. FRANKEN. Mr. President, I ask facilities are aging and run down. ators to say the following: I will miss unanimous consent that the Senate There are even safety problems. Some- the people but not the work. Mr. Presi- thing must be done. now stand in recess for the weekly cau- dent, you won’t hear that from me. But if we are going to move forward cus meetings, as provided under the effectively, modernization must be previous order. Most assuredly, I will miss the people paired with arms control. And that There being no objection, at 12:21 of the Senate, but I will miss the work starts with a modest first step—ratifi- p.m., the Senate recessed until 4 p.m. as well. Over the years, I have both cation of the New START. and reassembled when called to order witnessed and participated in some Without that step, consensus will by the Presiding Officer (Mr. BENNET). great debates in this Chamber, mo- break down, the replacement facilities The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- ments when statesmen of both parties will once again lose a coherent mis- ator from Connecticut. gathered together in this Hall to weigh sion, and we will be stuck with drift f the great questions of our time. And and controversy. The Perry-Schles- FAREWELL TO THE SENATE while I wish there had been more of inger Commission recognizes that if it Mr. DODD. Mr. President, first of all, those moments, I will always remem- is not possible to sustain the budget let me express my gratitude to all of ber the Senate debates on issues such requisite for both facilities concur- the colleagues and other individuals as Central America, the Iraq war, cam- rently, choices will have to be made. paign finance reform, securities litiga- They give powerful reasons for mov- who have come to the Chamber at this moment. tion, health care, and, of course, finan- ing forward with the chemistry and cial reform. metallurgy research facility before the Everyone who serves in Congress usu- uranium processing facility. That is ally recalls two moments in their serv- And when I am home in Connecticut, the kind of tough choice we will have ice: the maiden speech they give short- I see the results of the work we did to make if New START is not ratified. ly after their arrival and their closing every day. I see workers coming home Similarly, real uncertainty will creep remarks. I can’t recall what the first from their shifts at Pratt & Whitney, into the consideration of just what sort speech I gave as a new member of the Electric Boat, the Sikorsky helicopter of project the chemistry and metal- House of Representatives 36 years ago plant—the lifeblood of a defense manu- lurgy research facility should be. was even about. I do, however, recall facturing sector so critical to our na- Let me conclude by noting that the very vividly that there was no one else tional security and to the economic administration and the Democratic in the Chamber when I gave it. It was well-being of my home State. I see Congress have met every demand that an empty hall early one evening with communities preparing for high-speed many of my friends across the aisle the exception of one colleague, Johnny rail and breaking ground for new com- have made on modernization. To my Dent from Pennsylvania. He was sit- munity health centers. I see the grants friends on the other side, I say, look at ting in his chair with his trademark we fought for helping cities and towns the demands in the December 2009 let- dark glasses, listening patiently as I to build sustainable communities and ter that you all signed. The adminis- gave my knee-rattling, hand-shaking promote economic development. tration has met each of those demands. maiden address. Midway through the Look at what Senator KYL said in an speech, he walked up to me and said When I am home, I meet parents who, op-ed in July: ‘‘A key test is whether quietly: You know, kid, it is not on the because of the Family and Medical the Democratic-controlled Congress level. Well, that was my first speech Leave Act, don’t have to choose be- will approve the president’s nuclear before the House, and I am deeply hon- tween keeping their jobs and taking modernization requests for the coming ored that so many of you have come care of their sick children. I visit with fiscal year.’’ We passed that test, and out to listen to my closing remarks elderly folks who no longer have to as I mentioned earlier under an other- today so I do not have to speak to an choose between paying for their pre- wise flat-lined continuing resolution. empty Chamber. scription drugs and paying for their In that same piece, and in his March For more than 200 years, a uniquely heat. I hear from consumers who have letter with Senator MCCONNELL to the American story has unfolded here in been victimized by unfair practices on VerDate Mar 15 2010 02:35 Dec 01, 2010 Jkt 099060 PO 00000 Frm 00021 Fmt 4624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\A30NO6.019 S30NOPT1 jbell on DSKDVH8Z91PROD with SENATE S8278 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE November 30, 2010 the part of credit card companies and I could ever say in these few short mo- bilitating our journalistic traditions, who will no longer be subject to those ments. So come January, I am glad I and restoring citizen faith in govern- abuses.