[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 101 (Thursday, June 26, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4095-S4097]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
BIPARTISAN SPORTSMEN'S ACT OF 2014--MOTION TO PROCEED
Mr. REID. Mr. President, I now move to proceed to Calendar No. 384,
S. 2363, the Hagan Sportsmen's legislation.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will report the motion.
The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:
Motion to proceed to Calendar No. 384, S. 2363, a bill to
protect and enhance opportunities for recreational hunting,
fishing, and shooting, and for other purposes.
Schedule
Mr. REID. Mr. President, following my remarks and those of the
Republican leader, the Senate will be in a period of morning business
until noon, with the time equally divided and controlled between the
two leaders or their designees.
Order of Procedure
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the previous order with
respect to the Krause nomination be modified so that the Senate will
proceed to executive session at 11:45 a.m. and vote on the motion to
invoke cloture on the Krause nomination, with all previous provisions
remaining in effect.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so
ordered.
Mr. REID. At 11:45 a.m., the Senate will vote on the nomination of
Cheryl Ann Krause to be U.S. circuit judge, and that will be a cloture
vote. She has been nominated by the President for the Third Circuit.
At 1:45 p.m., we will confirm several additional nominations, but we
expect to have only one rollcall vote at that time.
Measure Placed on the Calendar
Mr. REID. Mr. President, H.R. 3301, I am told, is due for a second
reading; is that true?
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The majority leader is correct.
The clerk will read the bill by title for the second time.
The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:
A bill (H.R. 3301) to require approval for the
construction, connection, operation, or maintenance of oil or
natural gas pipelines or electric transmission facilities at
the national boundary of the United States for the import or
export of oil, natural gas, or electricity to or from Canada
or Mexico, and for other purposes.
Mr. REID. Mr. President, I object to any other proceedings at this
time.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Objection is heard. The bill will
be placed on the calendar.
Immigration Reform
Mr. REID. Mr. President, the late comedian Leslie Nielsen said:
``Doing nothing is very hard to do . . . you never know when you're
finished.'' Perhaps that is the case with the Republican-controlled
House of Representatives. They just don't know when to finish doing
nothing on immigration reform.
Today marks the 365th day that the tea party-driven House of
Representatives has sat on their hands refusing to fix our broken
immigration system. The Senate was able to pass immigration reform 52
weeks ago because both Democrats and Republicans in the Senate
understood the urgent need to amend our Nation's immigration laws. Yet
for 12 months--52 weeks--radical Republicans in the House have refused
to address the real issues affecting the
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American immigration system. Instead of obsessing over the President's
deportation policies, they should pass this legislation. They have made
it clear they will not act on immigration reform until they can trust
the President--whatever that means--to enforce the law.
The bill that passed the Senate 52 weeks ago has the most stringent
border security measures in the history of the world. What we have
agreed to do with the border is unbelievable. So any complaint about
border security is just not well taken.
It appears to me the Republicans want more deportations and more
families torn apart. Do they also want more debt? Immigration reform
will reduce the debt by $1 trillion. Is the immigration platform by the
extremists in the Republican Party to deport first and find solutions
later or never? I guess that is what it is.
Recently, Republican Congressman Darrell Issa circulated a letter
demanding that President Obama end a program that prevents young people
with longstanding ties to America from being deported. He offers no
plan to solve our Nation's immigration quandary or to keep families
together--just more deportations.
There is not anyone who believes this country can fiscally or
physically deport 11 million people. The bill Congress passed many
years ago in 1985--I guess is when it was--didn't work. It allowed
people to come here without proper documentation. We tried a program,
and it simply hasn't worked--employer sanctions. It doesn't matter how
we got to where we are; we have to change things. We must have
comprehensive immigration reform. Again, Congressman Issa offers no
plan to solve our Nation's immigration quandary or keep families
together--just more deportations. They are running out of excuses.
Congressman Issa and Republicans have gone so far as to turn a
humanitarian crisis at our Nation's southern border into a political
game.
The people coming from Central America to America are trying to
escape a war-torn and poverty-ridden country. Yesterday, the
Republicans reached a new low by accusing these kids--some of them 3
years old--of lying about the reason they have come to the United
States. They are fleeing violence, extreme poverty, and they are coming
because they are scared. They are afraid. These children are vulnerable
and need to be reunited with their parents, and that is what we are
trying to do.
Our Nation cannot deport our way out of this problem. Immigration
reform is about families, and we are not the Republican-dominated House
of Representatives. We, as a nation, value families and see the family
structure as a cornerstone of our communities.
Undocumented immigrants, regardless of how they got here and why they
lack the proper documentation, are our neighbors and our classmates. As
I have just explained, there are 11 million people, and they play a
crucial part in our economy and the communities where they live. I
don't know why the House Republicans don't realize that. If they did,
they would be working to fix our immigration system.
Waiting 52 weeks? They have done nothing for 365 days. They claim to
be working on jobs bills and legislation to reduce the debt. If that is
the case, why don't they do something about raising the minimum wage?
Why don't they do something about extended unemployment benefits? Why
don't they do something about making it so my daughter, my wife, and
daughters and wives and mothers all over America get paid for doing the
same work men do? That would be good for the economy. How about student
debt. Why don't they do something about the debt students have--$1.3
trillion.
Yesterday or the day before Senator Durbin spoke about a company that
went bankrupt. They have one school in Nevada. It is a for-profit
school that has been ripping off young men and women--some not so
young--for years. Senator Durbin said more than 90 percent of all the
income that institution got came from Federal loans, and the default
rate is extremely high. Why don't we do something about student debt?
The fact is the Senate-passed immigration bill reduces the deficit
and spurs the economy more than all the House bills currently awaiting
Senate action combined.
I urge my Republican friends and the Republican leadership in the
House to stop doing nothing and bring immigration reform to a vote.
As the comedian said: ``Doing nothing is very hard to do . . . you
never know when you're finished.'' Maybe that is the problem with them.
Perhaps now is the time for newly appointed House majority leader Kevin
McCarthy, who comes from Bakersfield, in the State of California, where
comprehensive immigration reform is certainly necessary, to take a
position on immigration reform. Will he bring the Senate-passed bill to
a vote? If not, what does he propose?
Republicans in the House have a choice of allowing a vote on
commonsense immigration reform in July or certainly be the ones to
blame for not doing it. There is certainly a lot of blame to go around,
and it is all focused in one direction.
The Republicans in the House have wasted enough time already. Bring
this legislation before the House for a vote. It would pass
overwhelmingly. I would bet we could get a majority of the Republican
votes, and of course it would get 90 percent of the Democratic votes
over there. It has enough bipartisan support to pass. So let it come up
for consideration. This is a democracy. Let them have a vote. Americans
want us to fix this Nation's broken immigration system. So let's do it
and do it now.
Recognition of the Minority Leader
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Republican leader is
recognized.
Middle-Class Jobs
Mr. McCONNELL. Yesterday I talked about how supposedly moderate
Senate Democrats are supposedly incapable of advancing important
policies they claim to support, policies such as approving the Keystone
Pipeline. These Senate Democrats just can't stop talking about how much
they love Keystone. Yet they will not stop enabling their own
Democratic leadership to block approval of this shovel-ready, job-
creation project. They have been doing so for years now. So it is hard
to take what they say very seriously.
That is true when it comes to the Obama administration's war on coal
jobs too. Some of our friends on the other side want their constituents
to think they will stand up to this elitist war on middle-class jobs.
These Senators want everyone to believe they are opposed to this
administration's waves of job-killing energy regulations.
The truth is it is just the opposite. These Democratic Senators say
they are ready to stand and fight, but when push comes to shove we
can't find them anywhere. Instead, we continually see them supporting
the majority leader and the Democratic Senate leadership that dutifully
does the bidding of President Obama and the far left.
On this issue the Democratic leadership has gotten ever more extreme
in its defense of the war-on-coal jobs. Multiple times I have tried to
offer legislation that would ease the pain for Kentucky's coal
families--hard-working Americans who just want to work and put food on
the table.
I pushed for Senate approval of commonsense bills, such as the Saving
Coal Jobs Act and the Coal Country Protection Act, but the majority
leader blocks those efforts at every turn, and none of the so-called
moderate Senate Democrats ever come to the floor to assist me in my
efforts. Every time they choose to follow a party line instead--the
party line of the majority leader they support.
The most troubling is the majority leader whom these Democrats
support is so determined to stamp out opposition to the President's
job-killing regulations he has taken to shutting down the legislative
process altogether. His efforts have even begun to affect our committee
work.
Case in point. Just last week Senate Democratic leadership pulled the
Energy and Water appropriations bill from committee consideration
because it feared a procoal jobs amendment I wanted to offer that might
actually pass. We saw yet another example of that this week when Senate
Democrats pulled the Financial Services appropriations bill from
committee consideration for the same reason. The Senate Democratic
leadership apparently doesn't want Members of the Senate, even in
committee--even in committee--to have any real say in the
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contours of the President's energy regulations--regulations that will
affect millions of our constituents in profound ways.
Appropriations bills are exactly what the Senate should be voting on.
Our constituents sent us here to debate big issues, to amend and
improve policies that work, and to repeal the ones that don't. That is
our job description. But the Democratic majority won't allow us to
fulfill it.
The extremism here is really worrying. But the majority leader
couldn't get away with it if the Democrats in his conference who claim
to be ``moderate'' would actually stand up to him for once. The so-
called moderates could stand up to him when he tries to shut down the
legislative process, but they don't. The so-called moderates could
stand up to him when he blocks every reform of the President's job-
killing regulations or when he blocks every effort to approve the
Keystone Pipeline, but they don't. They won't even stand up to
President Obama when he jets off to speak to partisan groups and
friendly audiences that rarely have the best interests of coal country
at heart.
I know the President will also be trying out a new PR campaign today
to see what life is really like for the middle class--for those beyond
the White House gates. But he won't see the consequences of his EPA
regulations at a political rally. He won't see what his IRS has done to
grassroots organizations. He won't hear from the families of veterans
who died while waiting for a bureaucrat to hand out a doctor
appointment. And he won't see the damage ObamaCare has caused for
working families.
Well, if he is actually serious about this initiative, then he will
come to Kentucky to see the tragic effects of his policies firsthand. I
invite him to visit with local coal families in my State and hear the
other side of the story they won't hear from California billionaires. I
invite him to meet with the veterans I hear from every day, and I
invite him to meet with families such as the Whitehead family from
Allen County, who write to me about the damage his ObamaCare law has
already done to them. But I doubt he will, and I doubt the so-called
moderate Senators will push him to do so anyway.
So perhaps it is time these Senators stop referring to themselves as
moderate at all. If they are not willing to stand up to the majority
leader or the President when it counts, then they are just another
party-line Democrat. It is really too bad, because we Republicans on
this side of the aisle want to come to bipartisan solutions on the
issues affecting so many of our constituents. We want to pass
commonsense energy legislation that can create well-paying jobs,
increase North American energy independence, and lower utility prices
for struggling middle class families. We want to give Congress a say on
extreme policies from the administration that take aim at middle class
jobs in each of our States. But we can't do any of that without dance
partners on the Democratic side. And there is hardly a true moderate in
sight anymore. I can remember when we used to have moderates over on
the Democratic side, but we can't find them today. It is a shame for
our country.
I and my party are going to keep fighting for the middle class either
way, even if we have to continue carrying on the battle for sensible,
commonsense solutions all by ourselves.
Mr. President, I yield the floor.
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