[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 169 (Monday, November 16, 2009)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D1326-D1328]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                                          Monday, November 16, 2009

[[Page D1326]]

                              Daily Digest

                                 Senate


Chamber Action
Routine Proceedings, pages S11359-11392
Measures Introduced: Nine bills were introduced, as follows: S. 2771-
2779.                                                       
  Page S11382
Measures Passed:
  Feed America Day: Committee on the Judiciary was discharged from 
further consideration of S. Res. 334, designating Thursday, November 
19, 2009, as ``Feed America Day'', and the resolution was then agreed 
to.                                                         
  Page S11376
  Drive Safer Sunday: Committee on the Judiciary was discharged from 
further consideration of S. Res. 335, designating November 29, 2009, as 
``Drive Safer Sunday'', and the resolution was then agreed to. 
                                                        Pages S11376-77
  National Reading Education Assistance Dogs Day: Committee on the 
Judiciary was discharged from further consideration of S. Res. 338, 
designating November 14, 2009, as ``National Reading Education 
Assistance Dogs Day'', and the resolution was then agreed to. 
                                                            Page S11377
Measures Considered:
Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Act--
Agreement: Senate resumed consideration of H.R. 3082, making 
appropriations for military construction, the Department of Veterans 
Affairs, and related agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 
2010, taking action on the following amendments proposed thereto: 
                                             Pages S11362-76, S11377-78
Adopted:
  By a unanimous vote of 93 yeas (Vote No. 344), Coburn Amendment No. 
2757 (to Amendment No. 2730), to require public disclosure of certain 
reports.                                        
Pages S11362, S11369-71
  Menendez Amendment No. 2741 (to Amendment No. 2730), to provide, with 
an offset, an additional $4,000,000 for grants to assist States in 
establishing, expanding, or improving State veterans cemeteries. 
                                                   Pages S11362, S11377
  Durbin Amendment No. 2759 (to Amendment No. 2730), to enhance the 
ability of the Department of Veterans Affairs to recruit and retain 
health care administrators and providers in underserved rural areas. 
                                                   Pages S11362, S11377
  Durbin Amendment No. 2760 (to Amendment No. 2730), to designate the 
North Chicago Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Illinois, as the 
``Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center''. 
                                                   Pages S11362, S11377
  Akaka Amendment No 2740 (to Amendment No. 2730), to extend the 
authority for a regional office of the Department of Veterans Affairs 
in the Republic of the Philippines.                
Pages S11362, S11377
  Johanns Amendment No. 2752 (to Amendment No. 2730), prohibiting use 
of funds to fund the Association of Community Organizations for Reform 
Now (ACORN).                                       
Pages S11362, S11377
  Feingold Amendment No. 2746 (to Amendment No. 2730), to require 
reporting on alternatives to major construction projects related to the 
security of strategic nuclear weapons facilities. 
                                                Pages S11363-64, S11377
  Udall (NM) Modified Amendment No. 2737 (to Amendment No. 2730), to 
make available from Medical Services, $150,000,000 for homeless 
veterans comprehensive service programs.           
Pages S11362, S11377
  Franken/Johnson Modified Amendment No. 2745 (to Amendment No. 2730), 
to ensure that $5,000,000 is available for a study to assess the 
feasibility and advisability of using service dogs for the treatment or 
rehabilitation of veterans with physical or mental injuries or 
disabilities.                                      
Pages S11362, S11377
  Feingold Modified Amendment No. 2747 (to Amendment No. 2730), to make 
available $5,000,000 to improve outreach and provision of services for 
mental health and neurological conditions to veterans enrolled in 
programs of education at institutions of higher education. 
                                                            Page S11377
  Ensign Modified Amendment No. 2771 (to Amendment No. 2730), to enable 
State homes to furnish nursing home care to parents any of whose 
children died while serving in the Armed Forces.            
Page S11377

[[Page D1327]]


  Johnson Amendment No. 2734 (to Amendment No. 2730), to require a 
report on bid savings realized from cost and scope variations for 
military construction projects.                         
Pages S11377-78
  Johnson (for Warner/Webb) Amendment No. 2738 (to Amendment No. 2730), 
to provide for a study on transportation improvements to accommodate 
installation growth associated with the 2005 Defense Base Closure and 
Realignment (BRAC) program.                             
Pages S11377-78
  Johnson (for McConnell) Amendment No. 2773 (to Amendment No. 2730), 
to designate the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in 
Louisville, Kentucky, as the ``Robley Rex Department of Veterans 
Affairs Medical Center''.                               
Pages S11377-78
  Johnson/Hutchison Amendment No. 2753 (to Amendment No. 2730), to make 
a technical correction requested by the Army in the funding of dining 
projects at forwarding operating bases in Afghanistan. 
                                                        Pages S11377-78
  Johnson (for Bingaman/Udall (NM)) Amendment No. 2749 (to Amendment 
No. 2730), to provide $37,500,000 requested by the Air Force for 
construction of an Unmanned Aerial System Field Training Complex at 
Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico, as authorized by section 2301(a) 
of the Military Construction Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010 
(division B of Public Law 111-84), and to provide an offset. 
                                                        Pages S11377-78
  Johnson (for Cochran) Amendment No. 2751 (to Amendment No. 2730), to 
make a technical correction for the Air Force at Columbus AFB, 
Mississippi.                                            
Pages S11377-78
  Johnson (for Burr/Akaka) Amendment No. 2743 (to Amendment No. 2730), 
to provide, with an offset, an additional $750,000 for homeless 
veterans comprehensive service programs and housing assistance and 
supportive services.                                    
Pages S11377-78
Rejected:
  By 24 yeas to 69 nays (Vote No. 345), Coburn motion to commit the 
bill to the Committee on Appropriations, with instructions. 
                                                            Page S11371
Withdrawn:
  DeMint Amendment No. 2779 (to Amendment No. 2730), to prohibit the 
use of funds for the transfer or detention in the United States of 
detainees at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, if certain veterans 
programs for fiscal year 2010 are not fully funded. 
                                                   Pages S11362, S11378
  Johnson (for Durbin) Amendment No. 2781 (to Amendment No. 2779 (to 
Amendment No. 2730)), to change the enactment date.     
Pages S11362-63
Pending:
  Johnson/Hutchison Amendment No. 2730, in the nature of a substitute. 
                                                            Page S11362
  Johnson Amendment No. 2733 (to Amendment No. 2730), to increase by 
$50,000,000 the amount available for the Department of Veterans Affairs 
for minor construction projects for the purpose of converting unused 
Department of Veterans Affairs structures into housing with supportive 
services for homeless veterans, and to provide an offset.   
Page S11362
  Inouye Amendment No. 2754 (to Amendment No. 2730), to permit 
$68,500,000, as requested by the Missile Defense Agency of the 
Department of Defense, to be used for the construction of a test 
facility to support the Phased Adaptive Approach for missile defense in 
Europe, with an offset.                                     
Page S11362
  DeMint (for Inhofe) Amendment No. 2774 (to Amendment No. 2730), to 
prohibit the use of funds appropriated or otherwise made available by 
this Act to construct or modify a facility in the United States or its 
territories to permanently or temporarily hold any individual held at 
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.                                       
Page S11362
  Feingold/Sanders Amendment No. 2748 (to Amendment 2730), to make 
available $5,000,000 for grants to community-based organizations and 
State and local government entities to conduct outreach to veterans in 
under-served areas.                                     
Pages S11364-69
  A unanimous-consent-time agreement was reached providing for further 
consideration of the bill at approximately 11 a.m., on Tuesday, 
November 17, 2009, and that the following list of amendments be the 
only amendments remaining in order, with no second-degree amendments in 
order to any listed amendments: Johnson Amendment No. 2733 (to 
Amendment No. 2730) (listed above); Feingold/Sanders Amendment No. 2748 
(to Amendment 2730) (listed above); Cochran Amendment No. 2763; DeMint 
(for Inhofe) Amendment No. 2774 (to Amendment No. 2730) (listed above); 
Inouye Amendment No. 2754 (to Amendment No. 2730) (listed above); and 
McCain Amendment No. 2776; that the previous order regarding a managers 
amendment remain in effect; that the vote with respect to DeMint (for 
Inhofe) Amendment No. 2774 (to Amendment No. 2730) occur when Senate 
resumes consideration of the bill at 2:15 p.m.; and that upon 
disposition of the amendment, the provisions of the previous order with 
respect to disposition of the substitute and passage of the bill remain 
in effect; that there be two minutes of debate prior to each vote, 
except that prior to the vote on DeMint (for Inhofe) Amendment No. 2774 
(to Amendment No. 2730), there be five minutes of debate, with all 
debate time, equally divided and controlled in the usual form, with any 
other relevant provisions of the order of November 10, 2009 in effect. 
                                                            Page S11378

[[Page D1328]]

Appointments:
Appointments--Agreement: A unanimous-consent agreement was reached 
providing that the appointments with respect to the United States-China 
Economic Security Review Commission made on Tuesday, November 10, 2009, 
be vitiated.                                                
  Page S11377
  A unanimous-consent agreement was reached providing that the 
following appointments be considered to have been made on Tuesday, 
November 10, 2009:
  United States-China Economic Security Review Commission: The Chair, 
on behalf of the President pro tempore, pursuant to Public Law 106-398, 
as amended by Public Law 108-7, in accordance with the qualifications 
specified under section 1238(b)(3)(E) of Public Law 106-398, and upon 
the recommendation of the Majority Leader, in consultation with the 
Chairmen of the Senate Committee on Armed Services and the Senate 
Committee on Finance, appointed the following individuals to the United 
States-China Economic Security Review Commission: Patrick A. Mulloy of 
Virginia, for a term beginning January 1, 2010 and expiring December 
31, 2011, and William A. Reinsch of Maryland, for a term beginning 
January 1, 2010 and expiring December 31, 2011.             
  Page S11377
Hamilton Nomination--Agreement: A unanimous-consent agreement was 
reached providing that on Tuesday, November 17, 2009, following the 
disposition of H.R. 3082, Military Construction and Veterans Affairs 
Appropriations Act, the order of Tuesday, November 10, 2009, with 
respect to the nomination of David F. Hamilton, of Indiana, to be 
United States Circuit Judge for the Seventh Circuit, be executed. 
                                                            Page S11378
Nominations Received: Senate received the following nominations:
  Walter Crawford Jones, of Maryland, to be United States Director of 
the African Development Bank for a term of five years.
  Ian Hoddy Solomon, of Maryland, to be United States Executive 
Director of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development 
for a term of two years.
  Leocadia Irine Zak, of the District of Columbia, to be Director of 
the Trade and Development Agency.
  Routine lists in the Army, Coast Guard, and Navy.     
Pages S11390-92
Nomination Discharged: The following nomination were discharged from 
further committee consideration and placed on the Executive Calendar:
  Paul K. Martin, of Maryland, to be Inspector General, National 
Aeronautics and Space Administration, which was sent to the Senate on 
October 1, 2009, from the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and 
Governmental Affairs.                                       
Page S11392
Measures Placed on the Calendar:                            
  Page S11382
Additional Cosponsors:                                  
  Pages S11382-84
Statements on Introduced Bills/Resolutions:             
  Pages S11384-89
Additional Statements:                                  
  Pages S11380-82
Amendments Submitted:                                   
  Pages S11389-90
Notices of Hearings/Meetings:                               
  Page S11390
Record Votes: Two record votes were taken today. (Total--345) 
                                                            Page S11371
Adjournment: Senate convened at 2 p.m. and adjourned at 8:19 p.m., 
until 10 a.m. on Tuesday, November 17, 2009. (For Senate's program, see 
the remarks of the Acting Majority Leader in today's Record on page 
S11390.)