February 7, 2011 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD—SENATE, Vol. 157, Pt. 1 1259 SENATE—Monday, February 7, 2011 The Senate met at 2 p.m. and was and that the remainder of the consent When Reagan first sought the Presi- called to order by the Honorable CHRIS- remain in effect: Calendar No. 6 would dency, Laxalt managed his campaign, TOPHER A. COONS, a Senator from the be first; Calendar No. 3 would be sec- and when President Reagan worked State of Delaware. ond. down the street at the White House, The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- Paul Laxalt worked here as Nevada’s PRAYER pore. Without objection, it is so or- senior Senator. It was a special rela- The Chaplain, Dr. Barry C. Black, of- dered. tionship, a unique relationship, one so fered the following prayer: f close that some called Senator Laxalt Let us pray. SCHEDULE the First Friend, and he was that. Lord God, the center of joy, thank I was fortunate enough to see first- Mr. REID. Mr. President, following You for the privilege of prayer. In a hand President Reagan’s appreciation leader remarks there be a period of world filled with change and decay, for Nevada. After talking to Nevadans morning business until 3 p.m. At 3 Lord, we are grateful that we can al- in Ely and across eastern Nevada, I p.m., the Senate will resume consider- came to the conclusion that I should ways call to You, the changeless one. ation of the Federal Aviation Adminis- Today we ask You to guide our law- drop some wilderness I was going to tration bill. There will be a short re- put in place and instead form a na- makers. Shine the light of Your wis- cess around 4:20 p.m. in order to wel- dom and truth upon their path. Give tional park. Nevada did not have a na- come the Prime Minister of Slovenia to tional park, and we would call it the them patience to wait for Your clear the Senate floor. At 4:30 the Senate guidance and courage to follow where Great Basin National Park. After I in- will turn to executive session to debate troduced that legislation and it passed, You lead. Remove pride from their concurrently three district court nomi- hearts and replace it with a spirit of President Reagan’s Secretary of Agri- nations. Those nominations are Paul culture recommended that he veto humility and unity. We pray in Your Holmes of Arkansas, Diana Saldana of great Name. Amen. what would be Nevada’s only national Texas, and Marco Hernandez of Oregon. park. The Agriculture Secretary did f At 5:30 there will be two rollcall votes not much like the idea of a young on confirmation of the Saldana and PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Member of Congress from the other po- Holmes nominations in the order that litical party putting such a bill on the The Honorable CHRISTOPHER A. COONS was just entered. led the Pledge of Allegiance, as follows: President’s desk. f I was worried about that. Word came I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the to me that the President was going to United States of America, and to the Repub- 100TH BIRTHDAY OF RONALD lic for which it stands, one nation under God, REAGAN veto this bill that was important to indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Mr. REID. Mr. President, Ronald me. I asked for a meeting with his Su- perintendent of Parks, the National f Reagan’s second inauguration was the first one I attended as a Member of Parks Director. He had been the Super- APPOINTMENT OF ACTING Congress. It was bitterly cold that day. intendent of Parks for Ronald Reagan PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE While the temperatures sank into the when Reagan was Governor of Cali- The PRESIDING OFFICER. The single digits, Reagan became the first fornia. His name was Penn Mott. When clerk will please read a communication and only President to take the oath of he came to see me, he had been in the to the Senate from the President pro office in the Capitol Rotunda. service of our country in many dif- ferent ways. He was an elderly man tempore (Mr. INOUYE). He said in an indoor inaugural ad- The legislative clerk read the fol- dress: when he came to see me. I explained to lowing letter: History is a ribbon, always unfurling. His- him what was happening and that I was tory is a journey. And as we continue our told that President Reagan, upon rec- U.S. SENATE, journey, we think of those that traveled be- President pro tempore, ommendation of one of his Cabinet fore us. Washington, DC, February 7, 2011. members, was going to veto my bill. To the Senate: Yesterday would have been President That man looked at me and he said: Under the provisions of rule I, paragraph 3, Reagan’s 100th birthday. Today, we President Reagan is not going to veto of the Standing Rules of the Senate, I hereby think of President Reagan and how he that bill. He said, when I was a young appoint the Honorable CHRISTOPHER A. steered America’s travels through his- park ranger in 1928, Key Pittman, who COONS, a Senator from the State of Dela- tory’s journey. I first met President was a famous Nevada Senator, very ware, to perform the duties of the Chair. Reagan when he was Governor of Cali- close to President Roosevelt, sent me DANIEL K. INOUYE, President pro tempore. fornia. I was the Lieutenant Governor to Nevada to find a place for a national of Nevada. We met in Heavenly Valley, park. He said: That is my park. I am Mr. COONS thereupon assumed the on the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe, to the one who said it would go there. chair as Acting President pro tempore. watch the first annual ‘‘hot-dogging’’ That is where it should go, and it never f skiing championship. As I said, I first made it legislatively. But because of that meeting I had, and Ronald Rea- RECOGNITION OF THE MAJORITY met him and we had a wonderful visit. gan’s understanding of what politics is LEADER I enjoyed that day very much. His own travels took him not only to all about, he did not veto my bill. He The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- Lake Tahoe in my State but through overruled his Secretary, and together, pore. The majority leader is recog- the entire State. California’s Ronald HARRY REID and Ronald Reagan cre- nized. Reagan was a close friend of Nevada’s. ated the Great Basin National Park. f In his earliest days as an actor, he en- It was not the last time President tertained crowds at the Last Frontier Reagan and I worked together to pre- ORDER OF PROCEDURE on the Las Vegas strip. Decades later, serve our West. I introduced legislation Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unan- the same week Ronald Reagan became that was important legislation. It in- imous consent that the order of the Governor of California, Paul Laxalt be- volved two Indian tribes, two endan- votes scheduled at 5:30 be as follows, came Governor next door in Nevada. gered species, it involved Lake Tahoe, ● This ‘‘bullet’’ symbol identifies statements or insertions which are not spoken by a Member of the Senate on the floor. VerDate Mar 15 2010 12:30 Jan 09, 2014 Jkt 099102 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 0686 Sfmt 0634 J:\BR_BACKUP\S07FE1.000 S07FE1 WREIER-AVILES on DSK5TPTVN1PROD with BOUND RECORD 1260 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD—SENATE, Vol. 157, Pt. 1 February 7, 2011 and it involved two rivers, the Truckee was not a faceless machine. He appre- The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- and Carson Rivers—I think I men- ciated that government exists, as Lin- pore. Without objection, it is so or- tioned the two Indian tribes—a huge coln said, of, for, and by the people. dered. wetlands that had gone from a couple That is why he was more beholden to f of hundred thousand acres to maybe simple pragmatism than stubborn prin- RECOGNITION OF THE MINORITY less than a thousand very putrid acres. ciple. That is why he, a staunch con- LEADER Birds died eating and drinking there. servative, raised taxes 11 times when The wetlands basically had dried up. the economy needed revenue. It is why The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- It was a very important piece of leg- he viewed the challenge of immigration pore. The Republican leader is recog- islation, but I got it passed. I got it through a practical lens. It is why he nized. passed here. Then it went to the House knew America could be strong and f and got passed. Again, President Rea- would be stronger still in a world with- COLOMBIA FREE TRADE gan’s advisers recommended he veto out nuclear weapons. AGREEMENT that bill. Part of it was because of who He was not perfect. I did not agree pushed the legislation through. But with many of his politics or policies. Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President, ear- President Reagan knew how important But I always admired the way he cap- lier today, the President spoke to the it was to Lake Tahoe, and one of his tured our country’s imagination. I al- Chamber of Commerce in what some assistants, Sig Rogich, talked to him. ways respected his honest assessment have described as an effort to make Sig is a long-time Nevadan, worked of his strengths and limitations alike. nice with the business community.