[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.
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