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SENATE—Wednesday, June 17, 2009

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June 17, 2009 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD—SENATE, Vol. 155, Pt. 11 15337 SENATE—Wednesday, June 17, 2009 The Senate met at 9:30 a.m. and was for the transaction of morning business to do this to stop a worldwide depres- called to order by the Honorable TOM for an hour. Senators will be allowed to sion, and we have done that. As Chair- UDALL, a Senator from the State of speak for up to 10 minutes each. Repub- man Bernanke said, the crops have New Mexico. licans will control the first half and been planted and the shoots are now the majority will control the second 30 appearing out of the ground. PRAYER minutes. Following morning business, We went on to pass a procurement The Chaplain, Dr. Barry C. Black, of- the Senate will resume consideration bill—extremely important—to rein in fered the following prayer: of the motion to proceed to the Travel the excessive expenses of what has Let us pray. Promotion Act postcloture. Following taken place in years past with the Pen- Almighty God, eternal and unchange- adoption of the motion to proceed to tagon, overspending money we give able, we pray for this Nation, its peo- the travel bill later this afternoon, we them; that is, something is supposed to ple, and its institutions in these chal- will turn to the emergency supple- cost this much and winds up costing lenging times. If we have forsaken You, mental appropriations conference re- twice as much. do not abandon us. If we have sinned, port. We were able to pass national service forgive us. If we have been mistaken, I am disappointed that we are again legislation, allowing 750,000 people in correct us. Lord, let Your grace be suf- wasting time on a heavily bipartisan America to be involved in public serv- ficient for all our needs. Lift the efforts bill, the Travel Promotion Act, which ice, dealing with the environment, of this body into the higher reaches of has wide support by both the Demo- health care, the poor. During the 7,000 Your kingdom, guiding and strength- crats and Republicans. But the Repub- hours they volunteer, they get a small ening our Senators in the discharge of licans forced us to have a vote on clo- stipend. When they finish, they get an their duties. Bless their work as You ture to allow us to get on the bill. All amount of money to help with their strengthen them by Your spirit to the Republicans voted for it. They are college education. honor You. filibustering things they even agree Credit card legislation—so impor- We pray in Your great Name. Amen. with just to stall for time. This is 30 tant—we finally were able to do it. After years of talking about doing it, f hours we could use to do a lot of good. I don’t know what would be the ration- we did it to stop the ripoffs of these PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE ale for wasting this time. Maybe they credit card companies and what they The Honorable TOM UDALL led the don’t want President Obama to com- were doing to hurt Americans—all Pledge of Allegiance, as follows: plete more legislation through us. It is Americans. I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the beyond my ability to comprehend why We passed tobacco legislation. I can United States of America, and to the Repub- we would waste this time. remember, when I was working in the lic for which it stands, one nation under God, It has been written and talked about Capitol of the United States going to indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. that this is the most accomplished law school, the Surgeon General came f Congress since the first year of the out with the first report that smoking Roosevelt administration. I don’t have was bad for you. Some people thought APPOINTMENT OF ACTING before me all the legislation we have that was the case, but the Surgeon PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE done, but I am going to try to recall General of the United States said it The PRESIDING OFFICER. The some of the things we have done. will kill you. We have been trying ever clerk will please read a communication We passed the lands bill, the most since then to get control of tobacco. to the Senate from the President pro significant environmental legislation After all these years, we did it. tempore (Mr. BYRD). in more than a quarter of a century, We have been able to work on other The assistant legislative clerk read creating more than 2 million acres of important pieces of legislation—finan- the following letter: wilderness, 1,000 miles of scenic rivers, cial fraud, reported out of the Judici- U.S. SENATE, hundreds of miles of trails, and many ary Committee, which stops scams tak- PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE, other good things in this very impor- ing place on people who are about to Washington, DC, June 17, 2009. tant legislation. begin foreclosure, taking advantage of To the Senate: We passed the Lilly Ledbetter legis- people who are in a time of distress. We Under the provisions of rule I, paragraph 3, lation equalizing pay between men and passed a lot of housing legislation that of the Standing Rules of the Senate, I hereby appoint the Honorable TOM UDALL, a Senator women. is important to allow people to stay in from the State of New Mexico, to perform We passed the Children’s Health In- their homes. Have we stopped it all? Of the duties of the Chair. surance Program which had been ve- course not. But we have done a pretty ROBERT C. BYRD, toed by President Bush on several oc- good job at that. President pro tempore. casions. Now more than 14 million chil- We are now arriving at a point where Mr. UDALL of New Mexico thereupon dren can go to the doctor when they we are going to pass the supplemental assumed the chair as Acting President are sick or hurt. appropriations bill, which is very im- pro tempore. We passed the economic recovery portant, to fund our troops. This is the f package. Twenty-five percent of that last time we will have to do this be- money is out. The rest is coming. cause President Obama is honest with RECOGNITION OF THE MAJORITY We passed the omnibus spending his budgeting. The cost of the war is in LEADER bill—very important legislation which his budget. It was never in President The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- had been held up by the Bush adminis- Bush’s budget. For the 8 years he was pore. The majority leader is recog- tration. We spent $1.2 trillion of the President, he never put it in his budg- nized. people’s money within a period of 3 et. We had to come back and do supple- f weeks. Why did we do that? We did it mental emergency appropriations bills because Mark Zandi, among others, to fund our troops. SCHEDULE Senator MCCAIN’s chief economic ad- It is interesting to note, all but five Mr. REID. Mr. President, following viser, Republican economists, and Republicans in the House of Represent- leader remarks, we will be in a period Democratic economists told us we had atives voted against funding the troops ● This ‘‘bullet’’ symbol identifies statements or insertions which are not spoken by a Member of the Senate on the floor. VerDate Mar 15 2010 10:38 Sep 30, 2011 Jkt 079102 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 0686 Sfmt 0634 E:\BR09\S17JN9.000 S17JN9 erowe on DSK2VPTVN1PROD with BOUND RECORD 15338 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD—SENATE, Vol. 155, Pt. 11 June 17, 2009 yesterday. It will be interesting to see In this letter, I especially asked Re- As I said in my letter this April, in what happens here. Are my Republican publican colleagues to focus on the order for this bipartisan process to colleagues going to join with us to fund concrete and critical crisis that affects take root, Republicans must dem- the troops? I think so. I certainly hope children, families, and small businesses onstrate a sincere interest in legis- so. every day—a parent cannot take a lating. I hope they do so because one We have accomplished a lot more child to a doctor because insurance way or another, we are going to get than what I have just outlined, but we does not exist or is prohibitively expen- health care reform done. have done it by reaching out to the Re- sive; a family lives one accident or ill- Thank you, Mr. President. publicans. We have not gotten a lot of ness away from financial ruin; small f help from the Republicans, but we have businesses lay off employees because RECOGNITION OF THE MINORITY gotten enough to pass bills. For exam- they cannot afford skyrocketing health LEADER ple, on the economic recovery package, care premiums. We hear those stories we needed 2, and neither one of the 2 every time we go home. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- would be the 60th vote, so we had to get I asked in that letter that we use the pore. The Republican leader is recog- 3, and we got 3. I appreciate very much short and valuable time we have to nized. the courage of Senators SPECTER, work together in our common interest f SNOWE, and COLLINS in doing that. It rather than against each other and HEALTH CARE was good for their States and good for against the interests of the American Mr.
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