240 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD—SENATE, Vol. 156, Pt. 1 January 20, 2010 SENATE—Wednesday, January 20, 2010 The Senate met at 10 a.m. and was for 1 hour, with Senators allowed to possible to ignore their grief over grow- called to order by the Honorable TOM speak therein for up to 10 minutes ing foreclosures or the uncertainty of UDALL, a Senator from the State of each. The time will be equally divided unemployment or the frustration of New Mexico. and controlled between the two leaders fighting insurance companies for their or their designees. families’ health. PRAYER Following morning business, the Sen- It is just as evident that the people of The Chaplain, Dr. Barry C. Black, of- ate will proceed to executive session to Nevada and the Nation need us to work fered the following prayer: consider the nomination of Beverly toward sensible solutions rather than Let us pray. Baldwin Martin of Georgia to be a U.S. drown once again in the partisan bick- Almighty God, our Heavenly Father, circuit judge for the Eleventh Circuit. ering that consumed much of last year. thank You for the gift of a new year. Debate on the nomination is limited to Some elections go your way; some We have received great benefits from 1 hour, equally divided and controlled elections go the other way. It is the na- Your hands and lift to You our grateful between Senators LEAHY and SESSIONS ture of democratic politics in a very di- praise. or their designees. Upon the use or verse Nation. But regardless of an out- Lord, lead our lawmakers on the road yielding back of the time, the Senate come of an election, as I have said You have chosen. Guide them with will proceed to vote on confirmation of many times, the American people de- Your counsel and teach them with that nomination. mand that we work together as part- Your precepts. Give them the spirit The Senate will recess from 12:30 ners, not partisans, to improve their they ought to have that they may do until 2:15 p.m. to allow for our weekly lives. That is as true after Republican what they ought to do. Lord, this is the caucus meetings. victories as it is after Democratic vic- day You have made. We will rejoice and We expect to consider H.J. Res. 45, a tories. be glad in You, for Your joy is our joint resolution increasing the statu- In the first half of the 111th Congress, strength. We pray in Your great name. tory limit on the public debt, under a even with the minority’s minimal help, Amen. previous agreement later today. we made significant progress. While f last year’s final few months were domi- f nated by a debate over health insur- MEASURES PLACED ON PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE ance reform that will save lives, save CALENDAR—H.R. 3961 and H.R. 4154 money, and save Medicare, that his- The Honorable TOM UDALL led the Mr. REID. Mr. President, it is my un- Pledge of Allegiance, as follows: toric step was only one of many accom- derstanding there are two bills at the plishments that we are proud to have I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the desk due for a second reading. passed last year. United States of America, and to the Repub- The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- lic for which it stands, one nation under God, We began this Congress determined indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. pore. The Senator is correct. The clerk to strengthen and stabilize the econ- will read the title of the bills for the omy for working families. That is why f second time. we immediately cut taxes for the mid- APPOINTMENT OF ACTING The legislative clerk read as follows: dle class and small businesses. That is PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE A bill (H.R. 3961) to amend Title XVIII of why we immediately started the Lilly the Social Security Act to reform the Medi- The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Ledbetter legislation to equalize pay care SGR payment system for physicians and for women in America. That is why we clerk will please read a communication to reinstitute and update the Pay-As-You-Go to the Senate from the President pro started the process of creating good- requirement of budget neutrality on new tax paying jobs here at home and investing tempore (Mr. BYRD). and mandatory spending legislation, en- The legislative clerk read as follows: forced by the threat of annual, automatic se- in our future. Just last week, the White House U.S. SENATE, questration. Council of Economic Advisers found PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE, A bill (H.R. 4154) to amend the Internal Washington, DC, January 20, 2010. Revenue Code of 1986 to repeal the new car- that as many as 2 million Americans To the Senate: ryover basis rules in order to prevent tax in- have the stimulus to thank for their Under the provisions of rule I, paragraph 3, creases and the imposition of compliance jobs, as does the growing gross domes- of the Standing Rules of the Senate, I hereby burdens on many more estates than would tic product. But there is more to do, benefit from repeal, to retain the estate tax appoint the Honorable TOM UDALL, a Senator that is for sure. with a $3,500,000 exemption, to reinstitute from the State of New Mexico, to perform We protected consumers by cracking the duties of the Chair. and update the Pay-As-You-Go requirement of budget neutrality on new tax and manda- down on abusive credit card companies, ROBERT C. BYRD, and we have been trying to do that for President pro tempore. tory spending legislation, enforced by the threat of annual, automatic sequestration, a long time. Last year, we were able to Mr. UDALL thereupon assumed the and for other purposes. get it done, finally—to get under con- chair as Acting President pro tempore. Mr. REID. Mr. President, I object to trol the abuses credit card companies f further proceedings with respect to have been doing to the American peo- ple for so long. We cracked down on RECOGNITION OF THE MAJORITY these two bills. mortgage fraud scams, the scams that LEADER The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- pore. Objection is heard. The bills will take place when times are tough. We The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- be placed on the calendar. changed the law. We rooted out cor- pore. The majority leader is recog- f porate fraud. But there is more to do. nized. We started to thaw our frozen credit MAKING LEGISLATIVE PROGRESS f markets so Americans can get the Mr. REID. Mr. President, visiting loans they need to buy a car, send a SCHEDULE with Nevadans, as I have done during child to college, or start a new busi- Mr. REID. Mr. President, following these past several weeks, it is impos- ness. But there is more to do. leader remarks, the Senate will pro- sible not to be motivated to get back We are helping responsible home- ceed to a period of morning business to the business of legislating. It is im- owners keep their homes, and helped ● This ‘‘bullet’’ symbol identifies statements or insertions which are not spoken by a Member of the Senate on the floor. VerDate Mar 15 2010 09:42 Jan 03, 2013 Jkt 089102 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 0686 Sfmt 0634 E:\BR10\S20JA0.000 S20JA0 erowe on DSK2VPTVN1PROD with January 20, 2010 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD—SENATE, Vol. 156, Pt. 1 241 more homeowners to keep the equity in With the fair pay bill in Lilly that we will strengthen our national their homes. We helped more families Ledbetter’s name, we stood up for security, our environment, and our to buy their first home. A lot of people those who are targets of discrimination economy. can claim the idea for the first-time in the workplace because of their gen- We need to look no further than home buyer tax credit. The idea came, der or background. Boone Pickens, who talks about this as far as I know, from JOHNNY ISAKSON We passed overdue appropriations every day of his life. We will have a of Georgia. It was a tremendously im- bills, new appropriations bills, and an more secure Nation, and we will lessen portant program that is still going on. honest, responsible budget that makes our dependence on foreign oil. We will We extended that. But even though we sound investments in every part of our use the resources we have, among have done that, there is more to do. country. The Senate confirmed Presi- which are wind, Sun, geothermal, and We helped millions of children stay dent Obama’s outstanding nominee for now we are the largest holder of nat- healthy by expanding CHIP. We ex- the Supreme Court, Sonia Sotomayor. ural gas of any country in the world. tended it by about 14 million children It is a long list of accomplishments, That is what Boone Pickens is talking who can go to the doctor when they are but I assure the Senate that we are just about—using our own energy, not con- sick or to the hospital when they are getting started. We have a lot more to tinuing importing oil. hurt. We made it easier by far for these do. As we do all these things, we will kids to get the help and care they need. In the coming year, we will ensure all continue to leave a seat at the table for We made it harder for tobacco com- Americans can access affordable health our Republican colleagues.