[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 136 (Wednesday, September 14, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5617-S5618]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 APPROVING THE RENEWAL OF IMPORT RESTRICTIONS CONTAINED IN THE BURMESE 
                   FREEDOM AND DEMOCRACY ACT OF 2003

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the remaining 
time postcloture be yielded back and the Senate proceed to 
consideration of H.J. Res. 66.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. The clerk 
will report the bill by title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A joint resolution (H.J. Res. 66) approving the renewal of 
     import restrictions contained in the Burmese Freedom and 
     Democracy Act of 2003.


                           Amendment No. 602

  Mr. REID. I have a substitute amendment which is at the desk.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:
  (The amendment is printed in today's Record under ``Text of 
Amendments.'')
  Mr. REID. On that amendment I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second? There is a 
sufficient second.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.


                 Amendment No. 603 to Amendment No. 602

  Mr. REID. I have a perfecting amendment at the desk.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       The Senator from Nevada [Mr. Reid] proposes an amendment 
     numbered 603 to amendment No. 602.

  The amendment is as follows:

       At the end, add the following new section:

     SECTION __. EFFECTIVE DATE.

       The amendments made by this division shall become effective 
     2 days after enactment.

  Mr. REID. I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second? There is a 
sufficient second.
       The yeas and nays were ordered.


                 Amendment No. 604 to Amendment No. 603

  Mr. REID. I have a second-degree amendment which is at the desk.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       The Senator from Nevada [Mr. Reid] proposes an amendment 
     numbered 604 to amendment No. 603.

  The amendment is as follows:

       In the amendment, strike ``2 days'', and insert ``1 day''.


                           Amendment No. 605

  Mr. REID. I have an amendment at the desk to the language that is 
proposed to be stricken.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report.
  The legislative clerk read as follows.

       The Senator from Nevada [Mr. Reid] proposes an amendment 
     numbered 605 to the language proposed to be stricken by 
     amendment No. 602.

  The amendment is as follows:

       On page 2, line 17, strike ``on'' and insert ``3 days 
     after''.

  Mr. REID. I ask for the yeas and nays on that amendment.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second? There is a 
sufficient second.
       The yeas and nays were ordered.


                 Amendment No. 606 to Amendment No. 605

  Mr. REID. I have a second-degree amendment at the desk.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       The Senator from Nevada [Mr. Reid] proposes an amendment 
     numbered 606 to amendment No. 605.

  The amendment is as follows:

       In the amendment, strike ``3 days'' and insert ``2 days''.


                             Cloture Motion

  Mr. REID. I send a cloture motion to the desk.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The cloture motion having been presented under 
rule XXII, the Chair directs the clerk to read the motion.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

                             Cloture Motion

       We, the undersigned Senators, in accordance with the 
     provisions of rule XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate, 
     hereby move to bring to a close debate on the Reid substitute 
     amendment No. 602 to H.J. Res. 66, a joint resolution 
     approving the renewal of import restrictions contained in the 
     Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act of 2003.
         Harry Reid, Patrick J. Leahy, John F. Kerry, Barbara 
           Boxer, Patty Murray, Debbie Stabenow, Carl Levin, Kent 
           Conrad, Dianne Feinstein, Tom Harkin, Jeff Bingaman, 
           Tim Johnson, Daniel K. Inouye, Richard J. Durbin, 
           Joseph I. Lieberman, Mary L. Landrieu, Benjamin L. 
           Cardin.


                             Cloture Motion

  Mr. REID. I have a cloture motion on the underlying joint resolution 
which is at the desk.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The cloture motion having been presented under 
rule XXII, the Chair directs the clerk to read the motion.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

                             Cloture Motion

       We, the undersigned Senators, in accordance with the 
     provisions of rule XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate, 
     hereby move to bring to a close debate on H.J. Res. 66, a 
     joint resolution approving the renewal of import restrictions 
     contained in the Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act of 2003.
         Harry Reid, Patrick J. Leahy, John F. Kerry, Barbara 
           Boxer, Patty Murray, Debbie Stabenow, Carl Levin, Kent 
           Conrad, Dianne Feinstein, Tom Harkin, Jeff Bingaman, 
           Tim Johnson, Daniel K. Inouye, Richard J. Durbin, 
           Joseph I. Lieberman, Mary L. Landrieu, Benjamin L. 
           Cardin.


                            Motion to Commit

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I have a motion to commit the joint 
resolution with instructions, which is also at the desk.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the motion.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       The Senator from Nevada [Mr. Reid] moves to commit the 
     joint resolution (H.J. Res. 66) to the Finance Committee with 
     instructions to report back with an amendment numbered 607.

  The amendment is as follows:

       On page 2, strike line 17 through 19 and insert the 
     following:
       This joint resolution shall take effect on July 26, 20ll.

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays on that motion.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There is a sufficient second.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.


                           Amendment No. 608

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I have an amendment to the instructions at 
the desk.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       The Senator from Nevada [Mr. Reid] proposes an amendment 
     numbered 608 to the instructions on the motion to commit H.J. 
     Res. 66.

  The amendment is as follows:

       In the amendment, strike ``July 26'' and insert ``July 
     25''.

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays on this 
amendment.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There is a sufficient second.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.


                 Amendment No. 609 to Amendment No. 608

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I have a second-degree amendment at the 
desk.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report.

[[Page S5618]]

  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       The Senator from Nevada [Mr. Reid] proposes an amendment 
     numbered 609 to amendment No. 608.

  The amendment is as follows:

       In the amendment, strike ``July 25'' and insert ``July 
     24''.

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the mandatory 
quorum under rule XXII be waived for the two cloture motions just 
filed.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, sadly, in just 2 days, about 80,000 people 
will be out of work because of the obstructionism of one man. This 
Senator, the junior Senator from Oklahoma, is putting his own petty 
priorities ahead of the thousands of safety inspectors, construction 
workers, and contractors who are about to lose their health care and 
their livelihoods for the second time in the last few months. These 
workers will be furloughed or laid off on Friday if we don't 
reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration.
  The same Senator is holding up emergency funding for thousands of 
Americans--hundreds of thousands, actually--whose homes have been 
destroyed by tornadoes, floods, and wildfires. Keep in mind what I just 
said. We have a bill that came from the House of Representatives that 
funded for 4 months the Federal Aviation Administration. We have a bill 
that came from the House--they put them together--to fund the highway 
bill for 6 months. With those two bills together, almost 2 million jobs 
will be eliminated if we don't pass the highway bill by the end of the 
month but FEMA by Friday.
  The Senator from Oklahoma, to whom I referred, doesn't like a 
provision in the highway bill. Stopping that is one thing. But now he 
is stopping us from doing something about people who are in desperate 
need of help, who have been hit hard by fires--in Texas alone, we have 
had 2,000 homes burned to the ground. So he is holding up emergency aid 
for Americans whose homes have been destroyed by tornadoes, floods, 
wildfires, and millions of acres of farmland are underwater, and he is 
jeopardizing almost 2 million jobs by blocking the highway bill. How he 
gets these together is something I cannot logically understand. He is 
stopping us from doing something on the FAA bill but also FEMA.
  On Friday, as I said, it is going to cause 80,000 workers, thousands 
of whom are responsible for the millions of air travelers' safety every 
day. We have just been through this. A short time ago, we had the same 
issue, where the safety inspectors were paying for their own lunches 
when they would go out inspecting airplanes, and buying their own plane 
tickets, paying for their own hotel and motel rooms, and not being 
reimbursed.
  It is interesting to note this same Senator voted for the highway 
bill in 2005--we do a major highway bill about every 5 years. He voted 
for that when his party held the White House, although the bill 
included the same issue he has objected to today. I have been told his 
big concern is over bike trails, bike paths. But the interesting part 
is that he can have a vote on this. He wants a vote to get rid of bike 
paths. He is willing to do that. In fact, we have given him the same 
vote on an amendment before. In 2009, the Senate voted down the very 
same amendment. He has had this vote before, and it has failed before. 
He is not willing to even take a vote anymore. This is how far afield 
this is. He doesn't want a vote. He wants to put whatever he thinks is 
the right thing for the world and the country as it relates to highways 
in this bill and say: Just do it; I am a dictator, and I am going to 
put it in the bill, and you are not going to do anything around here.
  We are willing to vote on this again, but we cannot get to a vote 
because he is blocking us from doing so. So one Senator out of 100 is 
holding up the important work of this body, demanding that we make this 
amendment law or else put 80,000 people out of work. This kind of 
obstruction should end. This is not logical, not rational. I have 
strong feelings about this part of the highway bill. But this is a bill 
that has billions of dollars in it. About 1.7 or 1.8 million jobs will 
be eliminated if we don't get this bill passed. So I urge my Republican 
colleague to reconsider how this gridlock harms real people in this 
country. It is hard for me to explain.

  In Las Vegas we have a new tower that is being built for the air 
traffic controllers. It is needed very much. Air traffic into Las Vegas 
is heavy--about 60 million people a year arrive, and so we need a new 
tower. We started construction on it a few months ago. It was held up 
once because of this problem we have with this bill. Now it is to be 
held up again.
  But this isn't just a Nevada issue, it is all over the country. About 
75,000 construction workers are working on essential parts of our 
airports, and these jobs are badly needed. It is just the wrong thing 
for my friend to do. I hope he will allow us to move forward on FEMA 
and allow us to move forward on the Federal Aviation Administration 
legislation. Of course, on the highway bill, we will give him his vote. 
If he wants another vote, we will give him another vote if there is 
another part of the bill he doesn't like. But it is something we need 
to get done as quickly as possible--like in the next 24 hours.

                          ____________________