[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 1 (Thursday, January 3, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8-S9]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      CONVENING THE 113TH CONGRESS

  Mr. REID. Madam President, it is my pleasure to convene the 113th 
Congress. I welcome back all my colleagues to a place that we love, the 
U.S. Senate.
  But in particular, I would like to welcome Illinois Senator Mark 
Kirk. He has been away from us for a year recovering from an illness. 
We are all grateful for his recovery. He has been an inspiration to us. 
Today, on the east front of the Capitol, to see him walk up those steps 
said it all. So we are very proud of him and glad he is back with us.
  I also offer a special welcome to the 13 new Members of the Senate. I 
am confident that each Senator will treasure their memories in this 
historic legislative body, and that each will serve their State and our 
Nation with distinction.
  All of the Members of this freshman class are accomplished in their 
own right. I can remember many years ago--30 years ago, Madam 
President--being a new Member of the House. Speaker O'Neill called us 
in, in small groups, to talk to us. And he said to each of us: All of 
you are accomplished or you would not be here. You are all politicians. 
It is not a bad word. And I say that to all our Senators--the new 
Senators--that they are all accomplished or they would not be here, and 
they should all understand that. They should have confidence in moving 
into this body because they are just as experienced as the rest of us.
  I trust that serving in the Senate will be the most rewarding 
experience of their lives. In this Chamber the 113th Congress will face 
the most significant challenges of our careers--not just the new 
Members, all of us.
  To turn those challenges into triumphs, I urge all Senators--new and 
experienced--to draw not only on our varied experience at every level 
of government and public service, but also on each other's experience, 
regardless of political party.
  Daniel Webster said: ``We are all agents of the same supreme power, 
the people.''
  Today, as we begin a new Congress, we are afforded the opportunity to 
reflect upon the successes and failures of past Congresses.
  It has been said that the 112th Congress was characterized by some of 
the sharpest political divisions in memory. But during the last 
Congress, there were also many commendable examples of compromise. The 
recent effort to avert the fiscal cliff was an example of both the 
divisions and the collaborations that mark a moment in history--and it 
was a moment in history.
  Although the process of resolving some of the fiscal issues facing 
this country was extremely difficult and protracted, in the end our two 
parties came together to protect America's middle class. That is 
something of which we should all be proud.
  As we advance the debate over the best way to strengthen our economy 
and reduce our deficit during this Congress, the 113th, Democrats will 
continue to stand strong for the principle of balance. I am hopeful and 
confident my Republican colleagues will do the same.
  Any future budget agreements must balance the need for thoughtful 
spending reductions with revenue from the wealthiest among us and 
closing wasteful tax loopholes.
  The 112th Congress, unfortunately, showed that we had some political 
differences, and these differences prevented us from accomplishing as 
much as we had hoped during the Congress that was just completed. But 
we also passed very important legislation, such as the transportation 
jobs bill. This was important because it kept 2 million people working, 
and we began the restoration, with that legislation, of our crumbling 
infrastructure.
  We made strides to reduce the Nation's deficit and prevented a tax 
increase for 98 percent of American families and 97 percent of small 
businesses. I guess I should have started, Madam President, by telling 
everyone that the marks that people see on my face--that has nothing to 
do with the fiscal cliff or the disagreements that Speaker Boehner and 
I had. It is from being very pale and living in the desert most of my 
life.
  We were able to accomplish, as I indicated, many things to reduce the 
deficit and prevent a tax increase for American families and small 
businesses.
  We reformed our patent system for the first time in six decades, gave 
small business owners access to the capital they need to compete, and 
reauthorized the Federal Aviation Administration, keeping 300,000 
workers employed. Not a single piece of that legislation became law 
without the votes of both Democrats and Republicans. All those 
legislative initiatives I just talked about were bipartisan.
  Unfortunately, many other worthy measures that passed the Senate with 
strong, bipartisan support then languished, awaiting action by the 
House of Representatives. In the 113th Congress, it will be incumbent 
upon the House Republican leadership to allow bipartisan bills passed 
by the Senate to come to a vote before the full House of 
Representatives--not before the Republican Members only but before 
Democrats and Republicans, all 435 Members of the House. Too many good 
pieces of legislation died over the last 2 years because House 
Republican leaders insisted on passing legislation with a majority of 
the majority; that is, only Republicans. Democrats were ignored most of 
the time. For example, postal reform, the Violence Against Women Act, 
the farm bill, and relief for the victims of Hurricane Sandy all passed 
the Senate on a bipartisan basis after extensive deliberation and 
debate. Yet the House failed to act on all four of these measures, and 
there were others.
  As Speaker Boehner saw on New Year's Day, when he allows every Member 
of the House to vote and not only Republican Members of the House to 
vote, Congress can enact bills into law. No legislation can pass the 
Senate without both Democrats and Republicans. During the 113th 
Congress, the Speaker should strive to make that the rule of the House 
of Representatives as well.
  Still, it is true that the 112th Congress left much undone. That is 
why we resolve to pick up where we left off in just a few weeks. The 
first crucial matter we will address will be the long-overdue aid to 
victims of Hurricane Sandy. I am hopeful that the House will act, as 
they said, on the 15th. Then when we get back here, we will move on it 
very quickly.
  We need to strive to be more productive, and we will do little if we 
don't address a major reason for our inefficiency. Simply, the Senate 
is not working as it should. That is why in the last Congress I made 
plain that Democrats would do something to fix those issues.
  The beginning of a new Congress is customarily a time that the Senate 
addresses changes to its rules. In the last Congress, Democratic 
Senators Jeff Merkley, Tom Udall, Tom Harkin, and Sheldon Whitehouse 
made the majority's case for change. I commend these passionate 
leaders. They have made compelling arguments for reform.
  In recent months, Senators on both sides of the aisle set about 
trying to broker a compromise. This group was led by two of the 
greatest Senators who ever served in this body, the finest and the 
best, Democratic Senator Levin of Michigan and Republican Senator 
McCain of Arizona. They worked many hours with a group of six other 
Senators to come up with something they thought would work better, and 
I so appreciate their work. But in the waning weeks of the last 
Congress, Senators were justifiably occupied with other matters, 
including the fiscal cliff. But I believe this matter warrants 
additional debate during the 113th Congress, which just started.

[[Page S9]]

  Senators deserve additional notice before voting to change Senate 
rules, so today I will follow the precedents set in 2005 and again in 
2011. We will reserve the right of all Senators to propose changes to 
the Senate rules, and we will explicitly not acquiesce in the carrying 
over of all the old rules from the last Congress. It is my intention 
that the Senate will recess today, rather than adjourn, to continue the 
same legislative day and allow this important rules discussion to 
continue later this month.
  I am confident that the Republican leader and I can come to an 
agreement that will allow the Senate to work more efficiently. We are 
going to talk again today. We just haven't had time, with the other 
things we have been dealing with, to spend enough time together to do 
this, but we definitely want to move forward to try to make this place 
work better. I appreciate his willingness to work on this. I will do my 
very utmost, as I know he will.

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