E PL UR UM IB N U U S Congressional Record United States th of America PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE 113 CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION Vol. 159 WASHINGTON, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2013 No. 16 Senate The Senate met at 2 p.m. and was ation of the motion to proceed to S. 47, Congress to block its reauthorization called to order by the President pro the Violence Against Women Act. At last Congress. Despite strong bipar- tempore (Mr. LEAHY). 5:30, the Senate will vote on the motion tisan support here in the Senate, Re- to proceed to the bill. publicans in the House refused to join PRAYER f the effort to renew our national com- The Chaplain, Dr. Barry C. Black, of- mitment to ending domestic violence. fered the following prayer: MEASURES PLACED ON THE Allowing partisan delays to put wom- Let us pray. CALENDAR—S. 201 and S. 204 en’s lives at risk is simply shameful. If Lord God, You are infinite, un- Mr. REID. Mr. President, there are House Republicans believe domestic vi- changeable, and holy. Thank You for two bills at the desk due for a second olence is no longer a problem in this this day and the opportunities to be reading. country, they are wrong. Every day stewards of Your love, grace, and com- The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The three women in America die at the passion. Use our Senators to respond to clerk will read the titles of the bills for hands of their abusers. Every day many the needs in our world, infusing them the second time. women escape with their lives but with with a willingness to do Your will. In- The legislative clerk read as follows: the physical and emotional scars of the vade their hearts and minds with Your A bill (S. 201) to prohibit the sale, lease, abuse that exists. peace as they envision Your plans and transfer, retransfer, or delivery of F–16 air- More than one-third of women in this purposes. Lord, give them power to craft, M–1 tanks, or certain other defense ar- country have been victims of violence, handle the pressures, light for their ticles or services to the Government of sexual assault, or stalking by a part- path, and patience for their challenges. Egypt. ner—one-third of the women in this Let Your wisdom guide them, Your A bill (S. 204) to preserve and protect the country have been victims of violence, free choice of individual employees to form, hand guard them, and Your shield pro- sexual assault, or stalking by a part- join, or assist labor organizations, or to re- ner. It is in our power to help, and it is tect them. frain from such activities. We pray in Your great Name. Amen. unthinkable that Republicans in the Mr. REID. Mr. President, with these House would prevent us from taking f two bills, I would object to any further action and again refuse to do anything, PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE proceedings. as they did last Congress. The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Objec- The Honorable PATRICK J. LEAHY led Victims of violence and law enforce- tion is heard. The measures will be the Pledge of Allegiance, as follows: ment officials who support them have placed on the calendar. I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the already waited too long for Congress to United States of America, and to the Repub- f act. This week, the Senate will pass a lic for which it stands, one nation under God, strong bipartisan reauthorization of indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN ACT the Violence Against Women Act. This f Mr. REID. Mr. President, in the two is something that was put forward by decades since the Violence Against the chairman of that committee, the RECOGNITION OF THE MAJORITY Women Act passed—it passed with a Judiciary Committee, Senator LEAHY. LEADER very strong vote, a bipartisan vote here He has worked hard on it. He did every- The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The in the Senate, and then in the House at thing possible last Congress to get this majority leader is recognized. the time—incidents of domestic vio- done. Because of the House’s intran- f lence have fallen by more than half, by sigence, they refused to do anything in as much as 53 percent. The law has spite of his work. SCHEDULE helped millions of women and children I thank Chairman LEAHY, Senator Mr. REID. Mr. President, I am going escape their attackers and get the jus- MURRAY, and the women of the Senate to have to get used to the President tice they deserve. It is a landmark for their leadership on this issue. I am pro tempore presiding over the Senate. piece of legislation. That is why Con- pleased so many of my Senate col- That is not the script we have followed gress twice reauthorized this legisla- leagues have expressed support for for quite a few years. I am very happy tion without a hint of controversy or a swift action on this legislation, and es- to see him here, as usual. moment of delay. pecially so many Senate Republicans Following leader remarks, the Senate But despite the overwhelming evi- have supported this legislation. The will be in a period of morning business dence this legislation saves lives and Senate will not allow women to be de- until 5 p.m. Following morning busi- protects women, House Republicans nied the protection they need and de- ness, the Senate will resume consider- used every procedural trick known to serve. ∑ This ‘‘bullet’’ symbol identifies statements or insertions which are not spoken by a Member of the Senate on the floor. S449 . VerDate Mar 15 2010 03:05 Sep 25, 2013 Jkt 079060 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 0624 Sfmt 0634 E:\RECORD13\RECFILES\FEB2013\S04FE3.REC S04FE3 bjneal on DSK5SPTVN1PROD with CONG-REC-ONLINE S450 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE February 4, 2013 We must ensure law enforcement has raising taxes on private jets or energy House to push us to the brink, then Re- the means to stop these horrible companies. publicans are not interested in playing crimes. We must guarantee commu- These are not real solutions. They along. We are going to keep fighting nities have the resources to support are poll-tested gimmicks. Just take for real spending reform, because that victims regardless of sexual orienta- the tax hike on so-called corporate is what the American people expect us tion, immigration status, or where jets. It would not raise enough revenue to do. they live, as they heal. Every victim of to offset more than 1 week—1 week—of Every day spent talking about cor- domestic violence deserves the same the decade-long sequester—1 week. Of porate jets is a day wasted. Given that vigorous protections under the law. Be- course, anytime you have a tax hike, the President again missed the dead- cause of the unique nature of the there are going to be negative reper- line to submit a budget on time this crime, combating domestic violence cussions for growth and jobs. We do not year, there is not much time to spare. and protecting those affected also re- have to look too far into the past to The clock is ticking. It is past time to quires unique tools. Reauthorizing this see how disruptive those consequences get serious. act would help law enforcement con- can be. In 1990, Washington politicians I yield the floor. tinue to develop effective strategies to tried to enact a ‘‘luxury tax’’ on just f prosecute cases involving violent about everything you could associate RESERVATION OF LEADER TIME crimes against women. It would pro- with the upper class, including yachts vide funding for shelters and transi- and aircraft. It was a total failure. Not The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under tional housing programs for victims of only was it linked to the destruction of the previous order, the leadership time domestic violence and sexual assault literally thousands of jobs in the boat- is reserved. and help victims become independent. ing industry, but, according to one f study, the government actually—listen It would make legal assistance avail- MORNING BUSINESS able to victims of violence and safe- to this—spent more in unemployment guard children and youth affected by benefits and in lost taxes than it was The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under dating violence and stalking. able to raise through the luxury tax the previous order, the Senate will be Although the Violence Against itself. In other words, while the tax in a period of morning business until 5 Women Act expired in 2011, many of may have seemed to serve as a useful p.m. with Senators permitted to speak the programs established under the law wedge issue for Democratic politicians, therein for up to 10 minutes each. have been funded by continuing resolu- it made just about everyone worse off Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President, I tions. But not everything. A full reau- than they were before it passed. Work- suggest the absence of a quorum. thorization of this law is necessary to ers, consumers, taxpayers, and the gov- The PRESIDING OFFICER. The ensure authorities have all the re- ernment were all worse off. That is clerk will call the roll. sources they need to fight domestic vi- why a number of Members of today’s The legislative clerk proceeded to olence. So I hope the Senate’s bipar- Senate Democratic caucus voted to re- call the roll. tisan action this week will send a peal that particular tax a few years Mr.