[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 173 (Monday, December 9, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8553-S8554]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             THE GOOD NEWS

  Mr. NELSON. Mr. President, there are some tough times around here, 
but I usually look for the good news. There is good news. Would anyone 
have believed 6 months ago that most of the chemical weapons in Syria 
would be dismantled at this point? In our wildest expectations we could 
not have expected that. But for the technicalities and specifics of the 
inspection,

[[Page S8554]]

that clearly appears to have occurred or is well on its way to 
occurring.
  We have had 43 straight months of private sector job growth in the 
economy. When Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers went down, we were in a 
financial death spiral. Little by little we are coming out of it. Of 
course, the news just announced last Friday on the jobs report gives 
another indication that the economy is beginning to take hold, and we 
see that in the confidence that is being expressed. We see that in the 
real estate market, and we certainly see that in the financial markets 
in New York.
  Let me give you another piece of good news that most people would not 
think about. There has been the discovery of a former Martian lake. As 
we reach out into the cosmos to try to find any indication of life, 
scientists are now thinking that this Martian lake might have harbored 
life billions of years ago--about the time some of the scientists 
suggest that small microcosm of life might have started on this planet. 
If this proves out, we are going to Mars not just with robots. 
Eventually, in the 2030s, we will go with humans, and when we get 
there, we will find out if that is true. If it is true, was there life 
that developed? If there was life that developed, was it civilized? If 
it was civilized, what happened and what can we learn from that that 
might help us as a civilized life? So I see good signs.
  I see the good signs of Senator Kerry as our Secretary of State and 
what he is doing in trying to bring the parties together in the Middle 
East. So instead of everything being doom and gloom, I see good things.

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