[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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