SENATE—Wednesday, May 11, 2011
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May 11, 2011 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD—SENATE, Vol. 157, Pt. 5 6983 SENATE—Wednesday, May 11, 2011 The Senate met at 9:30 a.m. and was SCHEDULE alike. It safeguards employees’ rights called to order by the Honorable Mr. REID. Madam President, fol- to unionize or not to unionize if they KIRSTEN E. GILLIBRAND, a Senator from lowing any leader remarks, the Senate so choose. It mediates allegations of the State of New York. will be in a period of morning business unfair labor practices. It does all this until 2 p.m. today. Republicans will independent of any outside influence. PRAYER The Acting General Counsel of the control the first 30 minutes and the NLRB is a man who is as nonpartisan The Chaplain, Dr. Barry C. Black, of- majority will control the next 30 min- fered the following prayer: and as independent as the agency for utes. Following morning business, the which he works. Last month, he issued Let us pray. Senate will be in executive session to Almighty God, ruler of history and a complaint against one of America’s consider the nomination of Arenda largest companies, Boeing. The com- the nations, we praise You, we adore Wright Allen to be U.S. District Judge plaint alleges that after Boeing work- You, we magnify Your holy Name. May for the Eastern District of Virginia. So ers in some States went on strike, the Your presence be felt in our midst at approximately 3 p.m., we will vote company retaliated by opening a new today, guiding our thoughts and order- on confirmation of the Allen nomina- production line in a nonunion facility. ing our steps. tion. That kind of retaliation, if that is what Permit the Members of this body to There is a special caucus at the happened, is, of course, illegal. receive a fresh awareness of who You White House this afternoon, so we will That is just the background. I am not are and what You desire for them to close early today. The Republicans will here to judge the merits of the case. In do. Lord, the challenges they face are have their meeting at the White House fact, I am here to do the exact oppo- so great that they need Your wisdom to tomorrow. site—to remind the Senate that pre- meet them. Use our Senators this day f judging the case is not our job. That so that Your will may be done on Earth would overstep long-established bound- as it is done in heaven. Let Your peace MEASURE PLACED ON THE aries and weaken our system of checks come to them as they commit their re- CALENDAR—S. 940 and balances. Lately, though, some of sponsibilities to You and then work Mr. REID. Madam President, S. 940 is our Republican colleagues have at- with Your guidance and grace. at the desk and due for a second read- tacked the NLRB and have tried to poi- We pray in Your sacred Name. Amen. ing. son the decisionmaking process. They f The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- are interfering with the case pending pore. The clerk will report the bill by before a legal body. For example, every PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE title for the second time. Republican Senator on the HELP Com- The Honorable KIRSTEN E. GILLI- The assistant legislative clerk read mittee—and let’s remind everyone, the BRAND led the Pledge of Allegiance, as as follows: ‘‘l’’ in HELP stands for ‘‘labor’’—sent a follows: A bill (S. 940) to reduce the Federal budget letter to the Acting General Counsel I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the deficit by closing big oil tax loopholes, and defending Boeing. The letter itself, United States of America, and to the Repub- for other purposes. sent 6 weeks before a hearing even lic for which it stands, one nation under God, Mr. REID. Madam President, I object takes place, seems questionable at the indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. to any further proceedings with respect very best, but these 10 Republicans f to this bill at this time. went further. They went out of their way to link their request to the Acting APPOINTMENT OF ACTING The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- pore. Objection having been heard, the General Counsel’s pending nomination. PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE If there were ever a case of intimida- measure will be placed on the calendar. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The tion, that sounds like it to me. But clerk will please read a communication f that is not all. Eight State attorneys to the Senate from the President pro NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS general—all Republicans—also signed a tempore (Mr. INOUYE). BOARD letter to the Acting General Counsel calling on him to withdraw the com- The assistant legislative clerk read Mr. REID. Madam President, I recog- the following letter: plaint against Boeing—again, long be- nize we are in a partisan environment. fore an administrative judge has had U.S. SENATE, In a partisan environment, there is the opportunity to even look at the PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE, temptation to turn every issue into a Washington, DC, May 11, 2011. case, let alone review the case. To the Senate: political issue. We certainly live in one I strongly encourage all of them to Under the provisions of rule I, paragraph 3, of those environments today. That is take a step back, my Republican col- of the Standing Rules of the Senate, I hereby regrettable but far from unfamiliar. leagues on the HELP Committee and appoint the Honorable KIRSTEN E. GILLI- Politics play a role in our representa- these attorneys general. We all know BRAND, a Senator from the State of New tive government, of course, and they Republicans dislike organized labor. York, to perform the duties of the Chair. always have. The Founders created a We know they disdain unions because DANIEL K. INOUYE, system of checks and balances—three unions demand fairness and equality President pro tempore. branches of government, for example, from the big businesses Republicans so Mrs. GILLIBRAND thereupon as- and two Chambers of the Congress— often shield at all costs. So let’s be sumed the chair as Acting President precisely because they anticipated honest—Republicans are threatened by pro tempore. these passions. Our Founding Fathers unions. They are threatened because f wanted to keep us from losing our way. when a large organized group is so con- Long after that system was created, cerned with workers’ rights, the mem- RECOGNITION OF THE MAJORITY a new, independent Federal agency was bers of that group vote in large num- LEADER created in the same spirit of checks bers. And because Republicans and the The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- and balances. That agency is the Na- big businesses they defend so often try pore. The majority leader is recog- tional Labor Relations Board and acts to take away workers’ rights, workers nized. as a check on employers and employees don’t often vote Republican. ● This ‘‘bullet’’ symbol identifies statements or insertions which are not spoken by a Member of the Senate on the floor. VerDate Mar 15 2010 12:29 May 20, 2014 Jkt 099102 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 0686 Sfmt 0634 E:\BR11\S11MY1.000 S11MY1 ehiers on DSK2VPTVN1PROD with BOUND RECORD 6984 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD—SENATE, Vol. 157, Pt. 5 May 11, 2011 This kind of interference is inappro- lower the price of gas, and they are As Senator COLLINS recently pointed priate, it is disgraceful and dangerous. right. out, this Executive order would basi- We wouldn’t allow threats to prosecu- The Congressional Research Service cally repeal the Hatch Act and inject tors or U.S. attorneys trying to stop tells us that raising taxes on American politics back into the procurement them from moving forward with energy will do two things: It will in- process. This is simply unacceptable. charges they see fit to bring to the crease the price of gas, and it will in- Democracy is compromised when in- courts, and we shouldn’t stand for this. crease our dependence on foreign com- dividuals and small businesses fear re- It may not be illegal, but it is no better petitors. By taxing American energy prisal or expect favor from the Federal than the retaliation and intimidation production, they are also outsourcing Government as a result of their polit- that is the fundamental question in American jobs. So let me get this ical associations. So the recent press this case, and it should stop. straight: higher gas prices, fewer reports about this unprecedented Exec- We need agencies such as the NLRB American jobs, and more dependence utive order raise troubling concerns to be able to operate freely and with- on foreign competitors at the expense about an effort to silence or intimidate out political pressures. We need to of American energy? That is their political adversaries’ speech through keep our independent agencies inde- plan? No thank you. the government contracting system. pendent. This case is for them to de- f The White House still has an oppor- cide, not for us to decide. DRAFT EXECUTIVE ORDER tunity to not go forward with this Would the Chair now announce morn- order, and you can rest assured we will Mr. MCCONNELL. Madam President, ing business. be watching very closely because the I was happy to see the No. 2 Democrat f proposed effort would represent an out- in the House yesterday take a stand rageous—a truly outrageous—and anti- against the President’s proposed Exec- RESERVATION OF LEADER TIME democratic abuse of executive branch utive order, a proposal disguised as in- authority.