[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 175 (Monday, November 17, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10535-S10537]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                SCHEDULE

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I, of course, welcome everyone back for what 
we hope to be a short period of time before Thanksgiving. We, of 
course, have completed this election. We still have three Senate 
contests where we are waiting to get the results. One of them should be 
decided in the next few days, the one in Alaska; the one in Georgia 
will be decided on December 2; and the one in Minnesota will take, I am 
told, a month or 6 weeks. In that race they have 3 million hand 
ballots, and Minnesota is going to count every one of them. So that is 
going to take a while.
  In the summer of 1858, a young State legislator from Illinois 
accepted his party's nomination for the Senate with a timeless speech 
that echoed from coast to coast. That speech has been recited many 
times. He said:

       ``A house divided against itself cannot stand.'' . . . I do 
     not expect the Union to be dissolved--I do not expect the 
     house to fall--but I do expect it will cease to be divided.

  That is what he said. One hundred fifty years later, a young Senator 
from the land of Lincoln stood on the very same steps on which Abraham 
Lincoln stood to announce his pursuit of his party's nomination for 
President by calling upon our country to not just believe in his 
ability to change Washington but to believe in what we can do together 
if we set aside what divides us and embrace a common purpose.
  Over the past 21 months, Barack Obama has had a message of hope much 
like Abraham Lincoln's which has spread across this country like a 
tidal

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wave. Two weeks ago tomorrow--it seems like a long time ago; it was 
less than 2 weeks ago, Mr. President--Americans waited on lines that 
stretched for blocks to answer Senator Obama's call to cast their vote 
for change.
  Yesterday, Barack Obama officially ended his term in the Senate and 
traded up to a new title: President-elect of the United States. It has 
been a pleasure to get to know this fine young man and work with his 
remarkable intellect during his short tenure in the Senate. His 
presence in these Halls and on the Senate floor will be missed. But the 
Senate's loss is America's gain. I look forward to working with 
President-elect Obama, as we all do, as he concludes one chapter and 
begins another in his life. But, as no one knows better than the 
President-elect, our joy in his election is tempered by a sober 
realization of the challenges, great and grave, that lie ahead.
  In the 6 weeks since we have been gone, our economic crisis has 
deepened. We have seen numerous bankruptcies, hundreds and hundreds of 
thousands of jobs lost, consumer confidence plummet, and unemployment 
go up to 6.5 percent. Major companies and some minor companies have 
gone bankrupt, such as Mrs. Fields cookies, one of my favorite places 
to go in a busy mall in Las Vegas--because nearly every mall you go to 
has declared bankruptcy. That is only one example.
  This morning we learned that Citigroup intends to cut an additional 
50,000 jobs. They have already cut 20,000. We are seeing a potential 
meltdown in the auto industry, with consequences that could impact 
directly upon millions of American workers and cause further 
devastation to our economy. If ever there were a time for working 
together, this is it. Senators have a choice to make. We can wait until 
January when we have a new Congress and a new President or we can start 
trying to work on some of these problems now. If we work together in 
the coming days, perhaps we can begin delivering solutions for the 
American people.
  Today we will introduce a comprehensive economic stimulus plan worked 
out with the Appropriations, Finance, and Agriculture Committees. This 
legislation will invest in infrastructure to create jobs, extend 
unemployment insurance for those who are out of work, provide food 
stamps to help those struggling families make ends meet, and provide 
State fiscal relief to prevent States from being forced to cut services 
and raise taxes. There are other things in it, and I need not go 
through all of that. It is a package of some $100 billion.
  We also put in aid for the ailing U.S. auto industry. The Treasury 
Department has acknowledged they could provide the auto companies the 
temporary assistance to keep automakers solvent by taking money out of 
the $700 billion we have already provided to the Treasury Department. 
But the Secretary of the Treasury said he chooses not to do that 
because all it would take is one stroke of a pen, and that problem 
would be solved.
  We also know that Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke has authority to 
provide funds to the automobile industry, but thus far neither the 
Treasury Department nor the Federal Reserve has done so, and from what 
we have heard, they have no intention of doing so in the near future. 
But this week we can, Congress can, if we move forward, protect and 
create American jobs, help working families, and prevent our economy 
from falling even further into recession. In the event there is 
objection to passing this important legislation, we will have an 
opportunity to vote on a second piece of legislation that consists 
solely of unemployment insurance and relief for the auto industry and 
the auto industry's workforce. So we have the big stimulus package. If 
we can't get that, then we will move to the unemployment compensation 
extension together with the auto bailout.

  I ask my colleagues to show the American people in the face of 
tremendous economic pain and uncertainty we will not have to wait until 
January.
  On another matter, Senator Bennett and I have made a decision that 
rather than move forward on the lands package, which is hundreds of 
bills that are so important to a lot of people, a lot of Senators, and 
certainly a lot of people around the country, we are better off waiting 
until we come back in January. Senator Bennett and I believe we will 
have more votes then. It will be easier to do it at that time.
  But one of the first things we are going to do is, there will be a 
bipartisan piece of legislation introduced that will include all the 
stuff that has been held up these past 2 years, the so-called lands 
bills. That will be the first or second thing we do when we come back 
in January. We will move forward on that package by using rule XIV. I 
think that serves everyone's interests. We have been told that if we 
bring it up today there would be a requirement to read that bill. It 
would take more than 24 hours to do that. It is obvious that likely 
there would not be the votes for that.
  So, as I said, Senator Bennett and I believe that is the best way to 
proceed, and I am convinced that is right. I have spoken to other 
people here who are very interested in this, Senator Salazar and others 
who believe this was so important to get done, but I think discretion 
is the better part of valor and I alert everyone we will do this when 
we get back.
  So I look forward to this week. We have these bright new Senators 
coming. In just a few minutes I will meet the new Senator from Idaho, 
whom I have not met. I have heard such good things about him. He has a 
remarkable record. He served as a Governor of the State of Idaho and 
then Lieutenant Governor of the State of Idaho and now is the new 
Senator replacing Senator Craig.
  I had the opportunity to meet with Secretary Johanns, the new 
Senator-elect from Nebraska. What an outstanding person he is. I am 
sure he will be a great addition to the Senate. And I have had an 
opportunity to meet some of the Democrats who are coming in.
  I think this is an opportunity for us to become closer as a Senate 
family. I certainly hope we can do that. I hope we can look forward to 
working together, not as partisans but as public servants, all devoted 
to delivering the change this country needs and these difficult times 
demand.
  For me personally, I think this is also a time not to look back. This 
has been a very difficult 2 years that will end come January 1. The 
Senate was evenly divided. I mean, how much more evenly divided could 
it be, with Tim Johnson taking ill and the fact that he was not here, 
able to operate. So we had a Senate where we didn't have a majority. 
There were other things that came up where we as the majority didn't 
have a majority.
  But there is no need to look back; we need to look forward. There 
were reasons for everyone doing what they did. We can let the 
historians write about what took place in the past. Let's look forward 
to what we can talk about as a better future for our country. With the 
margin coming in January not being as close as it has been, I want 
everyone within the sound of my voice to know that we don't know how 
these three Senate races are going to come out. They are still counting 
the votes. We don't know what our majority is going to be. But whatever 
it is, if it is what it now appears to be or we pick up one of the 
Senate seats or two of them or all of them or whatever it is, I make a 
commitment to everyone that the only way we can succeed is by working 
together.
  Everyone realizes the House of Representatives has different rules 
than we have. They can push things through because they have a 
majority. Perhaps we can push through some things because we have a 
majority, but I don't want to do that. I want to pass things because it 
is good for the country and we do it on a bipartisan basis. We need to 
work together.
  We have Senators of goodwill who are willing to set aside their 
partisan differences and move forward. That is what we need to do. I 
have said many times, if we are able to accomplish things here there is 
credit to go around to every Senator. But if we continue to fail in our 
accomplishments, there is blame to go around for everyone.
  I hope we all look forward to the coming year, one of hope and 
necessity to change things because we obviously have a big hole, and we 
have to try to find our way out of it. The best way to do that is to 
have 100 people working in the same way.

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