Congressional Record United States Th of America PROCEEDINGS and DEBATES of the 111 CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION
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E PL UR UM IB N U U S Congressional Record United States th of America PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE 111 CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION Vol. 155 WASHINGTON, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2009 No. 153 Senate The Senate met at 9:30 a.m. and was appoint the Honorable JEFF MERKLEY, a Sen- COMMENDING SENATOR JOHN called to order by the Honorable JEFF ator from the State of Oregon, to perform KERRY the duties of the Chair. MERKLEY, a Senator from the State of Mr. REID. Mr. President, the prayer Oregon. ROBERT C. BYRD, President pro tempore. of the Chaplain today was right on point for something that has taken Mr. MERKLEY thereupon assumed PRAYER place in the last 3 or 4 days. In Afghan- the chair as Acting President pro tem- The Chaplain, Dr. Barry C. Black, of- istan, we are at a critical juncture. For pore. fered the following prayer: Afghanistan to move forward and win Let us pray. f the fight against the Taliban, the coun- O Lord, God of hosts, thank You for try must have a legitimate govern- making Yourself known to us in the ra- RECOGNITION OF THE MAJORITY ment. The first round of elections in Af- diant lives of men and women. We are LEADER inspired by the acts of sacrifice and ghanistan was tainted by allegations of service that we witness each day on The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- significant fraud, and we faced the pos- Capitol Hill. Thank You for the labor pore. The majority leader is recog- sibility of a potential political crisis in of our lawmakers. May they seek to nized. Afghanistan. I am pleased President give their best ability to the people’s Karzai has recognized the need for a f good, rising above bitterness by an runoff election. The reason I mention sacrifice and unshakable faith in the unstoppable SCHEDULE power of Your providence. So may they service is in relation to Senator JOHN KERRY. If you look at his life, it has be Your obedient servants who shall Mr. REID. Mr. President, following been one of sacrifice, it has been one of not become discouraged by the inevi- leader remarks, there will be a period service to our country—whether in the table setbacks they encounter. May of morning business for 2 hours, with jungles of Vietnam, where he was they also commit their way to You, Senators permitted to speak for up to wounded three times and received a put their trust in You, and know that 10 minutes each. The Republicans will control the first hour and the majority Silver Star for his heroism, or whether You will bring to pass what is best. it was in his capacity as the Demo- We pray in Your Holy Name. Amen. will control the second hour. Following morning business, the Sen- cratic nominee for President or wheth- f ate will proceed to executive session to er it has been as chairman of the For- consider the nomination of Roberto eign Relations Committee. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE He took off for Afghanistan and Lange to be a U.S. district judge for The Honorable JEFF MERKLEY led the Pakistan at a time when he was badly the District of South Dakota. Under an Pledge of Allegiance, as follows: needed. I missed him here. We had agreement reached last night, debate some votes I wish JOHN KERRY could I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the on the nomination will be limited to 2 United States of America, and to the Repub- have been here for. I told him that lic for which it stands, one nation under God, hours, equally divided and controlled when he called me. But he explained indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. between Senators LEAHY and SESSIONS what he was doing there, and imme- or their designees. At 2 p.m., the Sen- f diately upon his hanging up, I received ate will proceed to vote on confirma- a call from Secretary of State Hillary APPOINTMENT OF ACTING tion of the nomination. Clinton, saying: He is doing extremely PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE Upon disposition of the Lange nomi- good work there. Don’t be upset at him The PRESIDING OFFICER. The nation, Senators should be prepared to because he can’t be here because what clerk will please read a communication vote on the motion to invoke cloture he is doing in Afghanistan is something to the Senate from the President pro on the motion to proceed to S. 1776, the that is vitally important to not only Medicare Physician Fairness Act. tempore (Mr. BYRD). our country but to the world. The assistant legislative clerk read Last night, I filed cloture on the con- That sacrifice and that service—and the following letter: ference report to accompany the De- also the Chaplain mentioned labor— partment of Defense Authorization Act this man worked very hard. He has la- U.S. SENATE, and on the nomination of William Ses- bored, as chairman of this Foreign Re- PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE, Washington, DC, October 21, 2009. sions to be Chair of the U.S. Sen- lations Committee, as I have never To the Senate: tencing Commission. Senators will be seen. He has been so involved in what Under the provisions of rule I, paragraph 3, notified when these votes are sched- is going on there. Not only is he deal- of the Standing Rules of the Senate, I hereby uled. ing with the issues we see every day— ∑ This ‘‘bullet’’ symbol identifies statements or insertions which are not spoken by a Member of the Senate on the floor. S10587 . VerDate Nov 24 2008 23:31 Oct 21, 2009 Jkt 089060 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 0624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\A21OC6.000 S21OCPT1 tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with SENATE S10588 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE October 21, 2009 Afghanistan, Pakistan, North Korea, goals. That is why, over the past few experiment in health care that would with what is going on on the continent months, two very different approaches expand government spending even of Africa—he is involved in global to reform have come into view. more. Now Democrats in Congress are warming because of the treaty implica- For most Democrats, reform seems proposing that we put another $1/4 tril- tions of the treaty we are trying to ne- to come in a single form: a vast expan- lion on the government charge card in gotiate in Copenhagen in December. sion of government, detailed in com- order to prevent a cut in the reim- I am extremely impressed with Sen- plicated, 1,000-page bills, costing tril- bursement rate to doctors who treat ator KERRY always but especially in lions. The only thing that is clear Medicare patients. the last few days. As chairman of the about the Democratic plans are the ba- All of us want to keep this cut from Foreign Relations Committee, he has sics: They cost about $1 trillion, they happening, but the American people played a central role in resolving the increase premiums, raise taxes, and don’t want us to borrow another cent crisis in Afghanistan. slash Medicare. to pay for it, and they don’t want As many have read in the news, he In short, they include a lot of things Democrats in Congress to pretend that had been trying to persuade President Americans did not ask for and do not this $1⁄4 trillion isn’t part of the cost of Karzai that a second round of elections want, and they include very few of the health care reform because it is. It is was necessary—and they were nec- things Americans thought they were also a clear violation of the President’s essary. If you read the press today, it going to get. pledge that health care reform was a touch-and-go thing. It was not What was supposed to be an exercise wouldn’t add a single dime to the def- until President Karzai and Senator in smart, bipartisan, commonsense re- icit over the next decade. In fact, if KERRY took a walk together to talk forms that cut costs and increased ac- Democrats have their way, this bill about what is going on in that part of cess somehow became an exercise in would add nearly 2.5 trillion dimes to the world that the decision was made government expansion that promises to the national debt. Well, the American by President Karzai that he would go raise costs, raise premiums, and slash people have a message for Democrats along with the second election. Medicare for seniors. For Democrats in in Congress: The time to get our fiscal Senator KERRY has worked closely Congress, the original purpose of re- house in order is not tomorrow, it is with our diplomatic team, including form seems to have been blurred. not next year, it is now—right now. Republicans have taken a different Ambassador Eikenberry; Secretary Last week, 10 Democratic Senators approach. We agreed at the outset that Clinton; our National Security Adviser, sent a letter to the majority leader reform was needed. But in our view, General Jones; and others to send a outlining some of the problems that those reforms would not necessarily clear message to President Karzai. can be expected to result from our cost a lot of money, would not add to We all know the situation in Afghan- record deficit and debts. They pointed the debt, and would not expand the istan remains fragile and that there out that each American’s share of to- government.