[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 58 (Thursday, April 25, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Page S2983]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        MARKETPLACE FAIRNESS ACT

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, the Senate operates by cooperation and 
consent. So it is unfortunate that we could not reach an agreement 
yesterday to consider amendments to the Marketplace Fairness Act, a 
measure that will provide parity between brick-and-mortar retailers and 
online stores.
  A few Senators have held up this important legislation--and I mean a 
few--legislation which proponents have advocated for 11 years. The able 
sponsors of this bill--Senators Enzi, Durbin, and Alexander--are 
continuing to work to get an agreement on a list of amendments upon 
which the Senate could vote.
  Three-quarters of the Senate support this measure. A number of those 
who do not vote with us do not oppose this legislation, they are doing 
it for other reasons. This is overwhelmingly important legislation, 
but, as we saw with the background check measure and the other gun 
matters last week, here in the Senate a minority of Senators can block 
even measures with overwhelming support. We found that on background 
checks. This bill is no exception. Despite 75 votes to proceed to the 
Marketplace Fairness Act, just a few individual Senators are vowing to 
derail this legislation. Absent consent, we will vote on closure on 
this measure an hour after we convene tomorrow.
  I remain open to an agreement to consider amendments to this 
legislation. The proponents of this legislation have worked for a long 
time to move forward. They worked all day yesterday and the day before 
to come up with a list of amendments. No one is trying to prevent 
amendments, except a handful of Senators. I am eager to conduct an open 
debate on this bill, but time is winding down. One way or another we 
are going to finish work on this measure before we leave for our 
instate work period, even if it takes the weekend. Those people--that 
handful of people--should understand that. The calendar is simply too 
full to allow this important measure to hold over until next month.
  The Senate must complete work on job-creating water resource 
legislation and a farm bill during the May work period so we can move 
forward on the immigration debate in June. We have had eight Senators 
who have spent days, weeks, working on an immigration bill. We have a 
bipartisan bill coming to the Senate with a system to fix our broken 
immigration system, just like we have a bipartisan bill on the Senate 
floor today.
  The only way we get things done around here is with Senators working 
together. The immigration bill is a good example of that, and this bill 
is a good example. We cannot let a few people stand in the way of 
fairness. That is what this is all about.

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