[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 61 (Monday, April 28, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2409-S2410]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              MINIMUM WAGE FAIRNESS ACT--MOTION TO PROCEED

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I move to proceed to Calendar No. 354, S. 
2223.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will report the motion.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       Motion to proceed to Calendar No. 354, S. 2223, a bill to 
     provide for an increase in the Federal minimum wage and to 
     amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to extend increased 
     expensing limitations and the treatment of certain real 
     property as section 179 property.


                             Cloture Motion

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I have a cloture motion at the desk.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The cloture motion having been 
presented under rule XXII, the Chair directs the clerk to read the 
motion.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

                             Cloture Motion

       We, the undersigned Senators, in accordance with the 
     provisions of rule XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate, 
     hereby move to bring to a close debate on the motion to 
     proceed to Calendar No. 354, S. 2223, a bill to provide for 
     an increase in the Federal minimum wage and to amend the 
     Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to extend increased expensing 
     limitations and the treatment of certain real property as 
     section 179 property.
         Harry Reid, Tom Harkin, Jeff Merkley, Patrick J. Leahy, 
           Cory A. Booker, Elizabeth Warren, Jack Reed, Richard J. 
           Durbin, Benjamin L. Cardin, Thomas R. Carper, 
           Christopher A. Coons, Bill Nelson, Al Franken, Kirsten 
           E. Gillibrand, Sheldon Whitehouse, Robert P. Casey, 
           Jr., Bernard Sanders.

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the mandatory quorum 
under rule XXII be waived.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.


                                Schedule

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, following my remarks and those of the 
Republican leader, if any, the Senate will be in morning business until 
5:30 p.m., with the time equally divided and controlled between the two 
leaders or their designees.
  At 5:30 p.m. there will be up to four rollcall votes. The first vote 
will be on the confirmation of the Friedland nomination to be a U.S. 
circuit judge for the Ninth Circuit. The next vote will be a cloture 
vote on the Weil nomination to be Administrator of the Wage and Hour 
Division of the Department of Labor, and then a confirmation vote on 
the Weil nomination. The last vote will be a vote on confirmation of 
the O'Regan nomination to be Assistant Secretary of Housing and Urban 
Development.


                             Seemingly Real

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, Nevada, and especially Las Vegas, is home to 
the best entertainment on the planet. Those who visit Las Vegas and 
Reno know they will find the best musical, theatrical, and comedic 
performances anyplace on Earth. Some of the most popular performers in 
Nevada are magicians and illusionists who entertain their audiences by 
making the impossible seem real. Through misdirection, these performers 
distract viewers from what they know to be true and instead funnel 
their attention to something entertaining--and it is really fake.
  It seems that the Republican party has decided to follow in Houdini 
and Copperfield's footsteps and employ a

[[Page S2410]]

bit of misdirection of its own. For example, last week the Wall Street 
Journal reported that the Republican Party has a newly adopted campaign 
strategy to defeat Senate Democrats. They are going to attack me 
because their attacks and fabrications regarding the Affordable Care 
Act have borne little fruit.
  In Senate races across the country, Republicans will avoid the issues 
that matter most to Americans and instead will try to focus attention 
on a Senator who is not even up for election--and that Senator is me.
  What are those issues that Republicans so desperately want to avoid? 
How about immigration? That bill was introduced a year ago, and it 
passed the Senate many months ago. It is a good piece of legislation 
and the vast majority of the American people think it is a good idea. 
Yet instead of explaining to the American people why this bipartisan 
bill sits idle in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, 
they want to change the subject.
  The Speaker of the House of Representatives refuses to allow a vote. 
If a vote were allowed to occur, it would pass overwhelmingly. It is a 
good piece of legislation. Not only is it fair and equitable, but it 
would also reduce the debt by $1 trillion.
  While struggling American families plead to Congress for help in 
providing work or getting paid fair, livable wages, House Republicans 
prefer to talk about anything other than what is relevant? Why? Because 
their billionaire sugar daddies are not interested in helping middle-
class Americans.
  Charles and David Koch are not concerned with the long-term 
unemployed families, and so the Republicans they sponsor in the House 
of Representatives are content to do nothing. These billionaire oil 
barons don't care that working women are being deprived of fair wages.
  My daughter--or the Presiding Officer's wife--can do the exact same 
work as a man but only get 77 cents while the man gets paid $1. We want 
to change that. The Koch-driven Republican Congress refuses even to 
allow us to have a vote on it. They have started filibusters here in 
the Senate time and time again on this issue, and they will not bring 
this matter to a vote in the House either.
  As the Senate turns its attention to increasing the Federal minimum 
wage, which we moved to earlier today, is there any question as to 
whether Republicans will once again do the Koch brothers' bidding? Of 
course not. They are not going to give millions of Americans a fair 
shot at earning a decent wage.
  Eighty billion dollars is not enough for these two brothers. 
Evidently the Kochs think that $10.10 is too much for a hard-working 
American with a family to take care of. If a person works 40 hours at 
$10.10, you just hit the magic spot where you are no longer in poverty. 
They refuse to allow millions of Americans the opportunity to get out 
of poverty and to give millions of Americans a raise.
  The Republicans in Congress yawn at the idea of giving the American 
middle class a fair shot at financial stability and instead have chosen 
to distract the American people by attacking me. Like all illusions, 
they are using misdirection to call the American people's attention 
away from reality and attempting to buy America with their billions.
  The Koch brothers and their accomplices continue to put millions upon 
millions of dollars into attacking anyone and anything that stands in 
their way of getting richer--and already rich they are.
  Senate Democrats refuse to stand idly by while two megarich 
individuals attempt to create an American oligarchy.
  I have spoken on the Senate floor against the Koch brothers' attempts 
to rig the system in their favor because it comes at the expense of 
families in Nevada and families across this great country. In response, 
one of the Kochs' puppet organizations announced its plans to run ads 
against me in the State of Nevada.
  I am not running for anything for a few more years. As I said before, 
being the target of a couple of rich billionaires is not going to 
intimidate me.
  Shockingly, the leadership of the Republican Party has decided to 
follow suit with their new campaign strategy. It is obvious their 
previous strategy of attacking ObamaCare has proven to be a miserable 
failure. Over 8 million Americans have chosen the coverage of the 
Affordable Care Act, plus 3 million more who are on their parents' 
insurance because of the Affordable Care Act. Up to 6 million people 
are on their way to having health care because of Medicaid, which is 
also as part of ObamaCare.
  For example, in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, 413,000 people have 
already signed up for the State-sponsored health care they have in 
Kentucky. So with one failed strategy behind them, Republicans and 
their benefactors are trying something new, but it is still the same 
smoke-and-mirrors routine they tried in the past. Divert and obstruct 
is what they do.
  To those Republicans who would rather bash me than speak out about 
what matters most important to their constituents, I say fire away.
  To Charles and David Koch and their radical henchmen, feel free to 
attack me as much as you want. I can take it. Don't expect the American 
people to be fooled by this newest slight of hand strike. Ultimately 
voters will see the new tactic for what it is--a distraction that is 
keeping American families from getting a fair shot at financial 
stability.
  In the meantime Senate Democrats will continue to speak against the 
shadowy influence of two power-drunk billionaires and their devoted 
followers on Capitol Hill.
  Most importantly, Senate Democrats will continue working on 
meaningful legislation that will get our Nation's middle class back on 
track.


                       Reservation of Leader Time

  Will the Chair announce the business of the day.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Under the previous order, the 
leadership time is reserved.

                          ____________________