[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 173 (Monday, December 9, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8539-S8540]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          WORKFORCE INVESTMENT ACT OF 2013--MOTION TO PROCEED

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I move to proceed to Calendar No. 243, S. 
1356.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will report the bill by 
title.
  The bill clerk read as follows:

       Motion to proceed to Calendar No. 243, S. 1356, a bill to 
     amend the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 to strengthen the 
     United States workforce development system through innovation 
     in, and alignment and improvement of, employment, training, 
     and education programs in the United States, and to promote 
     individual and national economic growth, and for other 
     purposes.


                                Schedule

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, following my remarks and those of the 
Republican leader, the Senate will be in morning business until 4 
o'clock this afternoon. At 4 p.m. the Senate will resume consideration 
of S. 1197, the National Defense Authorization Act. At 5 p.m. the 
Senate will proceed to executive session to consider the nomination of 
Patricia Millett to be U.S. circuit judge for the DC Circuit 
postcloture. At 5:30 p.m. then, the Senate will vote on confirmation of 
the Millett nomination.


Measures Placed On The Calendar--S. 1774, S. 1775, H.R. 1965, and H.R. 
                                  2728

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I think there are four bills--and the clerk 
can help both of us--at the desk due for a second reading.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will read the bills by 
title for the second time.
  The bill clerk read as follows:

       A bill (S. 1774) to reauthorize the Undetectable Firearms 
     Act of 1988 for 1 year.
       A bill (S. 1775) to improve the sexual assault prevention 
     and response programs and activities of the Department of 
     Defense, and for other purposes.
       A bill (H.R. 1965) to streamline and ensure onshore energy 
     permitting, provide for onshore leasing certainty, and give 
     certainty to oil shale development for American energy 
     security, economic development, and job creation, and for 
     other purposes.
       A bill (H.R. 2728) to recognize States' authority to 
     regulate oil and gas operations and promote American energy 
     security, development, and job creation.

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I object to any further proceedings with 
respect to these bills en bloc.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Objection having been heard, the 
bills will be placed on the calendar.


                           The Next Two Weeks

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, welcome back. I hope the Acting President 
pro tempore and staff and all the other Senators had a wonderful 
Thanksgiving. It was a very good Thanksgiving for us. We had all of our 
children and all of our grandchildren, except one; she had to work. She 
lives in New York now.
  This week the U.S. Senate begins a short 2-week work period, and I 
hope it is only 2 weeks. But it could bleed over the weekend before 
Christmas. I know I come to the floor and say a lot of times that we 
are going to have to work weekends, but we may really have to work the 
next couple weekends. We have had a wonderful 2-week break. It was 
important for all of us.


                       Remembering Nelson Mandela

  But before I discuss the business before this body, I mourn--as we 
all mourn--the loss but I also celebrate the life of South Africa's 
great emancipator Nelson Mandela. He once said: ``Difficulties break 
some men but make

[[Page S8540]]

others.'' His dedication to peace and justice was forged in the fire of 
adversity--27 years in prison, among other things.
  But while he endured great hardship for the cause of universal 
suffrage, his capacity for forgiveness was as boundless as his 
dedication to democracy, freedom, and equality.
  He leaves a legacy that is so significant. It will inspire current 
and future leaders for generations to come.


                                Schedule

  Mr. President, now as to our schedule. This week, as South Africa 
mourns the founder of its democracy, the Senate must continue its work 
in our democracy.
  I suggest to my colleagues that the Senate, as I have indicated, will 
work long nights--I think we are going to come in earlier than we 
normally do--and possibly weekends to complete the workload we have 
before the holidays.
  During this next work period--the one we are now engaged in--we must 
complete work on the National Defense Authorization Act. It is my 
understanding that the two bodies, the two committees, have come up 
with something. I hope we get a message from the House soon, and I hope 
we can dispose of this very quickly.
  We must address the issue of additional sanctions against Iran. We 
must pass an agriculture jobs conference report. We must ensure seniors 
on Medicare can keep their doctors by adjusting physician payments. We 
must consider a large number of nominations. And we must complete a 
budget agreement that protects our economy and ensures our government 
can continue the work of the people.
  I am not going to talk about each of these individually other than 
that I think it is so shortsighted what the Republicans are doing 
regarding the famous SGR or physician payments for Medicare. There is 
money to take care of this problem--a number of different sources--not 
the least of which are the overseas contingency funds. We had money set 
aside for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. They are being phased out. 
There is still almost $1 trillion left. I cannot understand why the 
Republicans refuse to use that money. No one except the Republicans 
opposes closing these tax loopholes--and not Republicans around the 
country. It is only the Republicans in Congress who oppose them, not 
Republicans around the country. These loopholes are so big you could 
drive the biggest vehicle in the world through them. But we are where 
we are.
  Despite the costly Republican government shutdown this fall, last 
week's jobs report proved that the American economy continues to gain 
steam. Private sector businesses have added more than 8 million jobs 
over the last 45 consecutive months.
  If Republicans had not insisted on shortsighted, draconian cuts that 
forced layoffs of tens of thousands of teachers, firefighters, and 
police officers, the economy would be growing even faster than it is 
today. The Acting President pro tempore knows--we all know--that we 
need an infrastructure program. For every $1 billion we spend as a 
government on infrastructure--roads, bridges, dams, highways, water and 
sewer systems--we create almost 50,000 high-paying jobs.

  Despite last week's good economic news, Congress can and must do even 
more to create jobs for the millions of Americans who are still looking 
for work.
  As to unemployment compensation, we need these extended benefits. 
There are 1.5 million people in America who have been out of work for 
more than 26 weeks. We must replace the meat-ax cuts that have happened 
with the sequestration with smart savings, reducing the deficit by 
closing wasteful tax loopholes, and making job-creating investments 
that spur economic growth.
  As we close out this year, I hope Republicans and Democrats can put 
aside our differences and work together to produce results for the 
middle class.
  The Acting President pro tempore served in the House. I served in the 
House. I am fortunate to serve here in the Senate. When I first came to 
this body, Democrats had to focus on what they thought the foundation 
of democracy was. Republicans did the same. They thought they knew the 
right thing to do. But, you know, we could never get what we wanted. 
Each side could not get what it thought was the way it should be. So 
what did we do? We worked together and came up with compromises to move 
legislation forward. Let's get back to where we were. That is what this 
body needs. So I hope we can put aside our differences and work 
together like we used to.
  It is also time for Republicans to work with us--instead of against 
us--to make the landmark health reform law more workable.
  I remind my Republican colleagues that the Affordable Care Act is the 
law and has been the law of the land for 4 years, and it was upheld by 
the Supreme Court.
  As Democrats have predicted for months, enrollment in Affordable Care 
Act exchanges is picking up speed as we approach the New Year. As 
Americans learn more about the benefits of this law, more and more of 
them are logging on to shop for affordable, quality insurance through 
the State and national exchanges. The rollout of the national 
Affordable Care Act Web site was rocky, to say the least, when it came 
out.
  Congress had to make crucial improvements to other landmark programs, 
such as Social Security and Medicare, when they were first enacted as 
well. These big legislative deals can have some wrinkles in them. It 
does not mean Social Security is bad. It does not mean Medicare is bad. 
It means they are hard to get started. It is just the same for 
ObamaCare.
  But now, I repeat, many of the major problems with the health care 
site have been fixed, hundreds of thousands of Americans are logging on 
every day to research plans they think could work for them and sign up 
for insurance they know they need.
  States that embraced the Affordable Care Act--such as Kentucky and 
Washington--have also reported successes with their exchanges. And 
thanks to the health care law, in a few short weeks no one can ever 
again be denied insurance just because they have a preexisting 
condition--because they are a cancer survivor, because they live with 
diabetes, because they had acne growing up or because they are a woman.
  Because of this landmark law, insurance companies can no longer 
cancel your policy when you get sick, charge you more, I repeat, 
because you are a woman, or set an arbitrary limit on the care you 
receive.
  Millions of seniors have saved billions of dollars on medicine 
because of the Affordable Care Act. Why? Because it closed the gap in 
prescription drug coverage, the so-called doughnut hole.
  Millions of young people have stayed on their parents' health plans. 
And 17 million Americans will qualify for tax credits to purchase the 
coverage they need and the coverage they deserve.
  There are still problems with the Affordable Care Act and ways we can 
make it better if we work together. But we cannot improve the law 
without help from some reasonable Republicans. It time for my 
Republican colleagues to give up their fantasy of repealing a law that 
is already benefiting tens of millions of Americans and start working 
with us to make the Affordable Care Act succeed instead.

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