[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 20 (Monday, February 3, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Pages S665-S666]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




COMPREHENSIVE VETERANS HEALTH AND BENEFITS AND MILITARY RETIREMENT PAY 
               RESTORATION ACT OF 2014--MOTION TO PROCEED

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I move to Calendar No. 297, the veterans 
omnibus bill.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will report.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       Motion to proceed to Calendar No. 297, S. 1950, a bill to 
     improve the provision of medical services and benefits to 
     veterans and for other purposes.


                                Schedule

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, following my remarks and those of the 
Republican leader, we will resume consideration of the conference 
report to accompany the farm bill, H.R. 2642. The time until 5:30 p.m. 
will be equally divided between the two leaders or their designees. At 
5:30 p.m. there will be a cloture vote on the farm bill conference 
report.
  As we have already announced, final passage will be tomorrow after 
our weekly caucuses.


                Measure Placed on the Calendar--S. 1977

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I am told that S. 1977 is due for a second 
reading.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will read the bill by 
title for the second time.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (S. 1977) to repeal Section 403 of the Bipartisan 
     Budget Act of 2013 relating to an annual adjustment of 
     retired pay for members of the Armed Forces under the age of 
     62, and to provide an offset.

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I object to any further proceedings with 
this legislation at this time.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Objection is heard. The bill will 
be placed on the calendar.


                             The Farm Bill

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, tonight the Senate will vote to end debate 
on the farm bill conference report. I expect the Senate to conclude 
work on this measure, which will reduce the deficit and protect hungry 
families. This will happen, as I indicated, tomorrow afternoon.
  Passing this legislation will support our Nation's farmers and 
ranchers and more than 16 million jobs in the farm industry. Ensuring 
that our farms remain the most productive in the world and protecting 
American agricultural jobs is vital for our economic recovery. I have 
been in the Senate and the House for a while, as has the chairman of 
the agriculture committee, the junior Senator from Michigan, so I have 
seen people handle legislation. The work done by Senator Stabenow has 
been remarkably good. It is exemplary for her to work to the point 
where we are now going to pass this important legislation. I look 
forward, as she does, to a strong bipartisan vote on cloture tonight 
and on the passage of the bill tomorrow.


                         Unemployment Insurance

  As we continue to work toward final passage of the farm bill, a 
bipartisan group of Senators has been working behind the scenes to 
reach an agreement to restore emergency unemployment benefits to 1.6 
million people. In the 3 weeks since the Republicans filibustered a 
bill to extend this important program, 220,000 more Americans lost 
their benefits. State economies across the country have suffered as 
unemployed people, who are already getting by on so little, had to find 
ways to survive on even less.

[[Page S666]]

  When unemployment benefits dry up, customers disappear from local 
stores and businesses suffer. More than $2.2 billion has been drained 
from State economies since the emergency unemployment insurance 
expired.
  Nevada alone lost $29 million in economic activity just last month, 
and $28 million has drained from the economy in the Republican leader's 
home State of Kentucky since the emergency benefits expired on December 
31. It is no wonder two-thirds of Americans--including 65 percent of 
Independents--believe we should extend unemployment assistance. Helping 
neighbors who have been hit hard is not only the compassionate thing to 
do, it is also the smart thing to do for our economy.
  Economists say there is no way to stimulate the economy more than to 
give these people who don't have jobs some money because they are going 
to spend it.
  Since Republicans filibustered a bill to restore benefits without 
adding a penny to the deficit--that legislation would not have added a 
penny to the deficit--the toll on local and national economies has been 
devastating, but the toll on unemployed Americans has been 
immeasurable.
  For people who worked all of their lives and lost their job through 
no fault of their own, being unemployed is difficult enough, but 
worrying about how to pay the rent, put gas in the car, and buy 
groceries while they look for a new job can be demoralizing. For the 
long-term unemployed, some of those who have been struggling to find 
work for more than a year, $300 a week in unemployment benefits can be 
the difference between keeping a roof over their heads or becoming 
homeless, and this is no hyperbole.
  A 57-year-old Nevada woman wrote to me last week to say that the loss 
of her unemployment check was the last straw. Now she is homeless and 
couch surfing. She is sleeping on the couches of friends kind enough to 
take her in.
  This is what she wrote:

       Can you imagine sleeping on friends' couches at my age? Can 
     you imagine having to sell everything you worked hard for 
     just to keep gas in the car in the event someone calls for an 
     interview?

  She went on to say:

       I have worked my whole life, since I was 16 years old, and 
     contributed to a system that is now failing me on a major 
     scale.

  Millions of people--such as this unfortunate Nevada woman--who have 
worked hard all of their lives and contributed to their communities and 
played by the rules are on the verge of losing everything, just like 
her. It doesn't have to be this way.
  I remain cautiously optimistic that Republicans will heed their 
constituents back home and help Democrats restore emergency benefits to 
Americans in need.
  Congress can't solve every problem, but we can solve this problem. 
All we have to do is work together--Democrats and Republicans--to do 
what is right for our constituents, our country, and our economy.
  I urge Republicans to join us to restore these crucial benefits.

                          ____________________