E PL UR UM IB N U U S Congressional Record United States th of America PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE 112 CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION Vol. 157 WASHINGTON, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2011 No. 158 House of Representatives The House was not in session today. Its next meeting will be held on Friday, October 21, 2011, at 10 a.m. Senate THURSDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2011 The Senate met at 10 a.m. and was to the Senate from the President pro There will be another series of up to called to order by the Honorable TOM tempore (Mr. INOUYE). four rollcall votes at approximately 2 UDALL, a Senator from the State of The legislative clerk read the fol- p.m. in relation to additional amend- New Mexico. lowing letter: ments to the bill. Further rollcall U.S. SENATE, votes are expected during today’s ses- PRAYER PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE, sion in order to complete action on the The Chaplain, Dr. Barry C. Black, of- Washington, DC, October 20, 2011. bill. fered the following prayer: To the Senate: We also hope to vote on the con- Under the provisions of rule I, paragraph 3, firmation of the nomination of John Let us pray. of the Standing Rules of the Senate, I hereby Eternal Lord God, your infinite Bryson to be Commerce Secretary as appoint the Honorable TOM UDALL, a Senator well today. Additionally, cloture was greatness compels us to give You from the State of New Mexico, to perform praise. Today we ask that You would the duties of the Chair. filed on the motions to proceed to S. help our Senators to reach their full DANIEL K. INOUYE, 1723 and S. 1726. If no agreement is ethical stature by deepening their President pro tempore. reached, these cloture votes will occur sense of the stewardship of all that Mr. UDALL of New Mexico thereupon on Friday. they have and are by the power of Your assumed the chair as Acting President f spirit within them. pro tempore. RECOGNITION OF THE MINORITY Lord, our challenging times demand f LEADER such ethical and moral fitness so that problems can be solved with the col- RECOGNITION OF THE ACTING The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- laborative and courageous spirit. Like MAJORITY LEADER pore. The minority leader is recog- nized. streams of flowing water through our The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- common days, You continue to refresh pore. The assistant majority leader is f us with Your merciful goodness. Make recognized. JOB CREATION us worthy of Your generosity as we f Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President, as strive daily to please and honor You. we all know, the No. 1 issue on the SCHEDULE We pray in Your holy Name. Amen. minds of most Americans is jobs, and I f Mr. DURBIN. Following leader re- think it is pretty clear both parties are marks, the Senate will resume consid- focused on that issue right now. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE eration of H.R. 2112, the Agriculture, I also think it is safe to say the two The Honorable TOM UDALL led the CJS, and Transportation appropria- parties have a fundamentally different Pledge of Allegiance, as follows: tions bill. At noon there will be three take on the solution. For Democrats, I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the rollcall votes. The first vote will be on the solution, apparently, is to increase United States of America, and to the Repub- the confirmation of Heather the number of people who work for the lic for which it stands, one nation under God, Higginbottom to be Deputy Director of government. My good friend, the ma- indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. OMB. The second vote will be in rela- jority leader, made this pretty clear f tion to the Vitter amendment. The yesterday when he said the private sec- third vote will be in relation to the tor ‘‘is doing just fine’’ and that the APPOINTMENT OF ACTING Webb amendment. President’s latest stimulus is focused PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE The filing deadline for first-degree on government jobs instead. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The amendments to the substitute amend- Republicans take a different view. clerk will please read a communication ment and H.R. 2112 is 1 p.m. today. We recognize that government has an ∑ This ‘‘bullet’’ symbol identifies statements or insertions which are not spoken by a Member of the Senate on the floor. S6789 . VerDate Mar 15 2010 00:22 Jun 16, 2012 Jkt 099060 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 0637 Sfmt 0634 E:\RECORD11\RECFILES\S20OC1.REC S20OC1 bjneal on DSK2TWX8P1PROD with CONG-REC-ONLINE S6790 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE October 20, 2011 important role to play. We recognize Here is a woman who went to the legislation shouldn’t get 100 votes in the need for commonsense regulations President’s inauguration, an Obama the Senate—a proposal supported by to ensure the safety of our citizens and supporter, stood in the cold to witness the President of the United States, the preservation of our resources. But it with her kids. And now she says she passed with a large bipartisan majority it has become increasingly clear to is losing her faith in government be- in the House. Why don’t we pass it? It many Americans that Democrats in cause the overzealous enforcement of is in the President’s own bill, for good- Washington have lost all sense of bal- brutal new fishing regulations is de- ness sake. ance when it comes to both the size stroying jobs and forcing smaller play- The White House said yesterday that and the scope of the Federal Govern- ers out of the business altogether. every part of the President’s bill is ment in Washington. Democrats hear stories such as this equally important. If that is true, let’s Based on the letters I get and the too, and their solution is that we pass this measure. This legislation people I meet, there is a growing sense should hire even more people who wake should get unanimous support. So let’s out there that government regulations up every morning thinking about yet vote on this and the other bipartisan are simply and completely out of con- new ways to regulate private industry jobs legislation I have mentioned and trol and that this is one of the main until they cry uncle. Our view is that then send them to the President for an reasons we are in this jobs crisis. There we should actually listen to what peo- actual signature, making a law instead is a growing sense the reason for this is ple are asking us to do and to help of making a point. that lawmakers and bureaucrats in them out, give them a break. It is time It is time we showed people who are Washington have completely lost for government to help private sector struggling out there that we are on touch—completely and totally lost job creators instead of looking for ways their side, because right now I know a touch—with the struggles folks outside to punish them. lot of them are having serious doubts. the beltway are going through. What we are doing is we are asking It is time we do something serious I saw yesterday that the Washington, the Democrats to work with us on ways about jobs. The proposal I offered last DC, area now has the highest median to help the private sector grow, be- night, with the support of my Repub- income in the country. Washington, cause the fact is we are not going to lican colleagues, supported by the DC, the Nation’s Capital, has the high- get this economy going again by grow- President of the United States, passed est median income in the country. I ing the government. It is the private by a bipartisan majority in the House, have no doubt many of these people do sector that is ultimately going to drive would be a good step in the right direc- good work, but the point is they are this recovery. tion. weathering this economic downturn Look, if big government were the key LISA WOLSKI pretty well. Not only are they making to economic growth, then countries Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President, the big salaries relative to the private sec- such as Greece would be booming right Senate Republican team is losing a key tor, they are also holding on to their now. If big government were the key to player today as we say goodbye to Lisa jobs. The unemployment rate for the economic growth, Greece would be Wolski, chief of staff to the Republican country as a whole is 9.1 percent. For booming. whip, Senator KYL. What we need to do is to focus on government workers it is about half Lisa has been a greatly valued ad- helping the private sector grow. I know that—4.7 percent. viser to me as well and to my entire With all due respect to my friends on the Democratic plan is to focus on team. We have always valued her intel- the other side, it is the private sector their government jobs bill instead, to ligence, good strategic sense, and her that has been begging for mercy. It is punish private sector job creators with sound judgment. She has worked ex- the private sector that is being crushed yet another tax to subsidize even more tremely hard to make sure we always by regulators in Washington. I don’t temporary government jobs at the knew where the votes were, which is think the solution to the crisis is to State level.