[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 49 (Thursday, March 27, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1781-S1784]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
PROTECTING VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTERS AND EMERGENCY RESPONDERS ACT OF
2014--MOTION TO PROCEED
Mr. REID. Mr. President, I move to proceed to Calendar No. 333.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will report the motion.
The bill clerk read as follows:
Motion to proceed to Calendar No. 333, H.R. 3979, a bill to
amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to ensure that
emergency services volunteers are not taken into account as
employees under the shared responsibility requirements
contained in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for
the quorum call be rescinded.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so
ordered.
Tribute to Peter D. Robinson
Mr. REID. Mr. President, I have said often that people who work here
in the Capitol are some of the most intelligent men and women anyplace
in the world. They come here--as I explained to a group of people from
Nevada this morning--dedicated to public service. They are not here to
see how much money they can make. They are here to change people's
lives. Today, the Senate is losing one of its brightest and most
seasoned minds.
A lawyer by trade, Pete Robinson came to the Senate in 2002. I knew
Pete because he had worked in the House previously, when I served over
there. I knew him as someone I always admired--people who are good
runners. I saw Pete out running and I was amazed at his gracefulness
and speed. I did a lot of running. I wasn't very graceful and didn't
have a lot of speed, but I did a lot of running. Pete was the captain
of his high school cross-country team. He was a good athlete, which I
admire very much.
From the moment he came to the Senate, the Office of Parliamentarian
became a better place. He was as close to being indispensable as
anyone. He has an incredible work ethic and tremendous experience--
having been the Parliamentarian in the House and here and having been
in the private sector. He has a great memory and has made the Senate
function as it should. Not many people can make that claim, especially
today. So he will be missed. I will miss him personally.
I love to joke with him and talk to him about his running days, like
I talk about my running days, as if we were both still out running. But
that is what life is all about. We look back at the things that we did.
I am sure, just as the Presiding Officer knows, things you do as a
younger man become better every day, and that is the way I look back on
my athletic endeavors in that regard. Of course, talking just about
myself, maybe I wasn't as good as I thought I was, but that didn't
matter at the time. It made me feel good, and that is what athletics is
all about--trying to build character.
So Pete is going to be missed in his retirement, but he is going to
have plenty to do. He has lots of hobbies: an avid gardener, a good
cook--some say an amateur chef. I won't go that far, but he is a good
cook, as I understand it. He can make his own furniture. So he is going
to keep busy feeding and furnishing his wife Connie, their daughter
Tara, son-in-law Ethan, and grandson Milo with the good things he has
done.
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We will truly miss him. I appreciate his courtesies all the time to
me, and, as far as I know, to everyone else.
Schedule
Mr. President, following my remarks and those of the Republican
leader, the Senate will be in a period of morning business until 10:30,
with the Republicans controlling the first half and the majority the
final half.
Following morning business, the Senate will proceed to H.R. 4152. At
noon there will be up to three rollcall votes: the Menendez-Corker
substitute, passage of the Ukraine bill, and confirmation of Maria
Contreras-Sweet to be Administrator of the Small Business
Administration.
Last night I filed cloture on John Owens to be a U.S. circuit judge,
and on the motion to proceed to the legislative vehicle for the
unemployment insurance bill. Under the rule the first cloture vote will
be tomorrow morning.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order
for the quorum call be rescinded.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so
ordered.
Tribute to Peter D. Robinson
Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I wish to say a word about our longtime
colleague Peter Robinson, who is retiring this week.
Peter joined the Office of the Senate Parliamentarian in 2002 and
quickly distinguished himself as a standout talent. He brought a
remarkable breadth of knowledge to a job that really requires it and a
legendary facility for reading and digesting complex legislation in
record time. His colleagues describe him as kind of a genius,
actually--somebody who can remember not only where he read something
but the exact page on which he read it. According to Senate legend, one
staffer actually showed up one day asking for the software program that
he just assumed Peter had been using to analyze complex bills. He was
that fast. He was that good.
Peter has all sorts of interests and hobbies, so I am sure he will
make very good use of his retirement, but he will be missed around
here. Pete's colleagues will miss his professional skill and mastery of
precedent and procedure, but they will also miss the good humor and the
equanimity which have made him such a great colleague and such a
valuable and respected member of the Senate family over the years. We
wish Peter all the best.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The majority leader.
Ukraine
Mr. REID. Mr. President, today is an important day for Ukraine and
for all nations supporting international law, democracy, and decency.
Later today the Senate will pass a bipartisan bill that provides much
needed aid to stabilize Ukraine's economy.
For those Russian leaders who have played a role in the
destabilization of Ukraine, this legislation contains much needed
repercussions against them. Remember, Russia is run by an oligarchy.
One of the oligarchs is the President of that country--Putin. This bill
is a reality check to him that the United States will not stand idly by
while Russia plays the role of schoolyard bully.
It seems to me that President Putin does not understand the way the
world works today. It is almost as if Putin yearns for the days of
Joseph Stalin. Times have changed since Stalin was around, the world
has changed since Stalin was around, and it has changed for the better.
The Cold War is over, along with fixtures such as the Iron Curtain,
dueling superpowers, and brinksmanship. Yet it is almost as if Putin is
living in a time warp. Russia's place in the world has transformed. It
does not wield the global power it once did. The rest of the world has
changed since Stalin's era, with other countries in leading roles.
But the United States of America remains a beacon of hope to the
whole world. Our economic, our military, our political power, and our
influence are strong because we stand for freedom, democracy, and
economic prosperity. Russia, on the other hand, led by this man who
yearns for Stalin, is a nation of immense resources and potential for
good. Yet they have chosen to wield its influence solely for self-
interests.
Earlier this week President Obama said the following about Russia:
Russia is a regional power that is threatening some of its
immediate neighbors--not out of strength, but out of
weakness. The fact that Russia felt compelled to go in
militarily and lay bare these violations of international law
indicates less influence, not more.
President Obama is absolutely correct. Instead of using its influence
to bring stability to neighboring countries, Putin has instead played
the role of an antagonist. Look at what has taken place in Crimea and
the country of Georgia. For what does Russia stand? For what does
President Putin stand?
As the world gets closer and closer to looking at Putin, it doesn't
like what it sees. The product of Putin's two decades in leadership
seems to be a disregard for national law, more corruption, and
increased suppression of basic human rights. While countless of his own
citizens have rallied in the streets pleading for more freedom, Putin
and his cronies have concerned themselves with getting richer--not only
with power but with money. These oligarchs have been ruthless in
protecting their power and their money.
Inside and outside of Russia, the President of Russia has displayed a
penchant for being a bully. He imprisons political rivals and locks
them up. He seizes the wealth from Russians who have displeased him. If
they don't say or do exactly what he wants, he puts them in jail and
takes their wealth. He has singlehandedly rolled back years of progress
on equality. He has endorsed the persecution of his own country's gay
and lesbian community. And once again he has invaded and occupied a
nation for choosing democracy. Are these acts of a statesman? No. They
are acts of a bully.
As billions tuned in to the Olympics, I believe few were deluded by
the fake veneer of Putin's Sochi show. In fact, all we saw was that
Putin's Russia isn't working.
I say every time I get on the floor that if he so likes the vote that
took place in Crimea, why doesn't he have a vote of the people in
Chechnya? Everyone knows why.
I say to Mr. Putin: Operating by intimidation and belligerence will
not work. In today's world, nations should work together through
diplomacy and the rule of law.
He has a choice to come back into the international community and
honor international law or to continue to isolate Russia.
Russian troops continue to mass at the border of Ukraine, but he
should understand this: The consequences for his continued bullying
will not end today and certainly not with this bill. His chest-thumping
aggression is leading Russia only to isolation and irrelevance.
My colleagues and I will continue to work to strengthen Ukraine's
Government and its 46 million people. The bill before the Senate today
sanctions and further isolates Putin and his inner circle. What we are
doing here today is just the beginning.
I support this legislation, and I am proud of my Senate colleagues
who join in standing for the people of Ukraine. This is what we are
doing.
Recognition of the Minority Leader
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Republican leader is
recognized.
Real Solutions
Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I will start by acknowledging the
majority leader's candor yesterday in outlining his party's agenda for
the rest of the year--in admitting he actually asked his party's
``political arm,'' the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, to
come up with it. Maybe he didn't intend to admit that his party's so-
called agenda is actually a political gambit or that it basically has
one intent--to bail out imperiled Democrats, Democrats desperate to
distract from how ObamaCare is devastating the middle class--but it
slipped out anyway.
But that wasn't the only Freudian slip we heard at yesterday's press
conference. Here is a quote from one of the majority leader's top
lieutenants:
When we play the political games that we're playing here,
[middle-class families] feel that we are detached from their
priorities.
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Boy, I couldn't agree more with that. Maybe that is why even the
press isn't taking this ``agenda'' seriously. The New York Times
reported that helping struggling Americans is ``not really the point''
of Democrats' agenda and that a main goal is actually just ``to
motivate the Democratic base'' and drive turnout in places they need to
win in November. The Times also noted that the show votes associated
with the Democratic agenda ``will be timed to coincide with campaign-
style trips [by the President].'' According to the Washington Post,
``Democrats hope to use the votes . . . as fodder . . . in hopes of
staving off potential losses in several states.''
Look, it doesn't get any more cynical than that--to demonstrate such
a total lack of seriousness in such troubling times for the middle
class.
At this point Washington Democrats are in the sixth year of trying to
fix the economy, and the middle class continues to suffer. It is just
not working.
As I have been saying for months now, this presents Washington
Democrats with a choice. One option they have is to try something
different. This means coming to the middle and working with us on
bipartisan solutions that can create jobs, increase take-home pay, and
give a leg up to the middle class. The other option is to double down
on failed ideology and political gimmicks--the kinds of things that get
the Democrats' leftwing base all excited.
In short, Washington Democrats have a choice between helping the
middle class and pleasing the left. So when they release a poll-tested,
campaign-crafted ObamaCare distraction ``agenda'' packed to the brim
with ``lefty show votes,'' I think middle-class families can tell whose
side Washington Democrats are really on. It is certainly not their
side.
The people we represent all deserve better than this. They are
hurting, really hurting, and all Washington Democrats seem to have for
them is a bunch of show votes. I mean, how will show votes help our
constituents? How will they help the people who have been writing to me
about the impact of ObamaCare on themselves and their families?
One woman who wrote me from Louisville had been enrolled in
Kentucky's high-risk pool for people with preexisting conditions. She
said she had been battling cancer for years and that in 2012 her cancer
metastasized and moved into her liver, pelvis, lung, and diaphragm.
Just imagine hearing devastating news like that. Now imagine hearing a
year or so later that you are going to lose the insurance you liked
too, insurance that had helped you manage your cancer treatment, and,
worse, that your new ObamaCare plan was going to classify your chemo
medicine as a specialty drug that costs more than $1,000 for a 3-week
supply. ObamaCare, this constituent wrote, ``is about as helpful in
saving my life as a wet paper sack to help cover me from the rain.''
I would note she contacted me because she wanted me to know that
ObamaCare stories like hers are anything but ``lies,'' despite what
some in this Chamber might imply.
Does anyone really think constituents like her care about some show
vote? No. What she needs is relief from ObamaCare.
So does another Kentuckian, who wrote me from Henderson County, whose
premium will jump $400 a month to over $1,100 a month under ObamaCare.
He wrote:
Americans were told that we could . . . keep our existing
policy [if we chose]. . . . Not only was [this] a lie--[it's]
a lie that will cost me an additional $700 per month!
How is a political show vote going to help him? Of course it isn't.
And there is not a thing the Democratic Party's ``political arm'' can
do to fix these problems.
Kentuckians and countless Americans suffering under ObamaCare need
real solutions--not gimmicks, not base-pleasing ideology. Solutions are
what is needed. Look, Washington Democrats forced America's middle
class into this impossible situation. They basically blocked every
reasonable attempt to reform this law or to change it in any meaningful
way. Yet now ObamaCare is becoming politically difficult for them. They
are deflecting blame. Just this morning we saw several imperiled Obama
Democrats spin an op-ed that underscores the point, but Americans are
not going to be fooled by any of this. Americans agree it is time for
Washington Democrats to work with us to remedy the mess they created,
and that means repealing this law and replacing it with real reform.
It is time for them to work with us on a real jobs agenda too, and to
take up the numerous bills the House has already sent over and get them
onto the President's desk.
Americans are fed up with the games and the tricks. They want serious
solutions. They don't need a campaign poster to figure that out, and
Republicans believe it is about time the American people got those
solutions.
Remembering sergeant Michael C. Cable
Mr. President, I want to pay tribute to a Kentucky soldier who
tragically has been lost while serving his country. SGT Michael C.
Cable of Philpot, KY, was killed by the enemy while guarding American
and Afghan officials in Afghanistan on March 27, 2013, exactly 1 year
ago today. He was 26 years old.
For his service in uniform, Sergeant Cable received several awards,
medals, and decorations, including the Bronze Star Medal, the Purple
Heart, the Army Commendation Medal, the Army Good Conduct Medal, the
National Defense Service Medal, the Afghanistan Campaign Medal with
Bronze Service Star, the Iraq Campaign Medal with Bronze Service Star,
the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the Noncommissioned Officers
Professional Development Ribbon, the Army Service Ribbon, the Overseas
Service Ribbon, the NATO Medal, the Combat Action Badge, and the Air
Assault Badge.
A decade ago as a high school student, Michael was a star on the
Daviess County High School cross-country team, and they won many races.
``I sent out an e-mail this morning with this Bible verse,'' says Tony
Rowe, Michael's former high school coach.
``Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down
his life for his friends.'' He is a hero. He died fighting
for us and trying to make life better for the people of
Afghanistan.
What Tony Rowe says about Michael is absolutely true, and in fact the
most important thing that Michael's family wants the world to
understand is that Michael was performing a mission at the time he was
attacked, and this important mission was protecting others. It was not
only highly important work but highly dangerous.
Before leaving on his final deployment, Michael pulled his family
members aside to warn them his mission would be dangerous. ``He was
prepared before he left for anything that happened,'' said Raymond
Johnston, Michael's older brother. In that conversation Michael
described his sisters and a close family friend as the most important
people in his life, and he asked his family to take care of them if
anything happened to him.
It is very hard. He was my little buddy. He wanted to make sure that
no matter what, we continued to enjoy life. And we are trying to do
that.
Michael's tragic loss was the first combat death for the 101st
Airborne Division, based in Fort Campbell, KY, for that deployment to
Afghanistan. He joined the Army in August 2007 and arrived at Fort
Campbell in December of 2010. He served as a fire support specialist.
In his family Michael was known as a prankster. His last big prank
was pulled on his younger sister Idalis. Michael promised he would buy
Idalis a car. He had his older sister Wendy tell Idalis that Michael
was determined to make good on his word but that he had bought her a
really old and ugly car. Wendy told Idalis she would have to act
excited so as not to hurt Michael's feelings. Far from a beat-up
clunker, Michael gave his sister his own Jeep Cherokee just before he
deployed to Afghanistan.
Michael loved sports of all kinds. He played golf to relax and won a
golf tournament at Fort Campbell. His favorite professional sports team
was the Green Bay Packers.
Michael had planned to leave the Army after his tour in Afghanistan
to open his own home remodeling business. His family remembers Michael
as always busy spending time with friends.
We are thinking about Michael's family today, including his parents,
Vickie and Raymond Johnston, his siblings Raymond, Lisa, Wendy,
Kennedy,
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and Idalis, and many other beloved family members and friends.
I would like the family of SGT Michael C. Cable to know this Senate
recognizes that Sergeant Cable was doing his job, and we are filled
with gratitude. Without the men and women brave enough to wear our
country's uniform and do the jobs our country asks them to do, I fear
for what would become of our Nation.
I know my colleagues join me in honoring Sergeant Cable for his life
of service and for his tragic sacrifice, and I extend my deepest
condolences to Michael's family for their loss 1 year ago today.
Mr. President, I yield the floor.
Reservation of Leader Time
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Under the previous order, the
leadership time is reserved.
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