[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 123 (Friday, August 1, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5317-S5318]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




PROPOSING AN AMENDMENT TO THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES--MOTION 
                               TO PROCEED

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I now move to proceed to Calendar No. 471.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will report the motion.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       Motion to proceed to Calendar No. 471, S.J. Res. 19, a 
     joint resolution proposing an amendment to the Constitution 
     of the United States relating to contributions and 
     expenditures intended to affect elections.


                                Schedule

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, following my remarks and those of the 
Republican leader, if any, the Senate will be in a period of morning 
business until 2 p.m. this afternoon. Senators will be permitted to 
speak for up to 10 minutes each during that period of time.


          Measures Placed on the Calendar--S. 2772 and S. 2773

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I understand there are two bills at the desk 
due for a second reading.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will read the bills by 
title for the second time.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (S. 2772) making supplemental appropriations for the 
     fiscal year ending September 30, 2014, and for other 
     purposes.
       A bill (S. 2773) making supplemental appropriations for the 
     fiscal year ending September 30, 2014, for border security, 
     law enforcement, humanitarian assistance, and for other 
     purposes.

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I object to any further proceedings with 
respect to these bills.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Objection having been heard, the 
bills will be placed on the calendar.


                          Needed Improvements

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I am satisfied and pleased that we have a 
number of Senators on the floor wishing to speak. I am going to say 
just a few brief words, and then we are going to go into a quorum call 
until the Republican leader comes. He has some things to do here. So we 
will wait for him.
  Mr. President, we find ourselves at the end of this work period 
having done not a lot. There is a lot of blame to go around, and we 
could spend all day blaming each other, but the fact is we need to do 
better.

[[Page S5318]]

  I am grateful, though; yesterday we were able to pass the veterans 
conference report. It wasn't what we passed out of the Senate, but it 
was OK. It will help. I admire very much the people who were able to 
get that done.
  Bernie Sanders worked extremely hard, and I am not sure he could have 
completed that without the work of the senior Senator from Arizona.
  The bill was dead, the conference was really dead, a week ago. But 
the senior Senator from Arizona weighed in, and with his influence with 
Democrats and Republicans, it was made possible to move forward and was 
brought back on track.
  I am surprised my friend from Arizona is here. I acknowledge the work 
that he did. Others worked on it, of course, but without his McCain-
like advocacy last Friday and Thursday night, it wouldn't have 
happened.
  Mr. President, I am not only grateful for the conference report we 
got on the veterans matter but also the highway bill. Now, I think we 
need a long-term highway bill, and I think we will get one in the near 
future. The work done by Senator Boxer and others to have a long-term 
bill because they wanted us to finish something this year didn't come 
to fruition. We passed it here. But we worked together and have a bill 
that will allow construction to continue.
  In the House, I regret they weren't able to overcome Republican 
resistance to funding a response to the humanitarian crisis at the 
border. Again, we could stand here for the next couple hours and affix 
blame as to whose fault it is. The fact is I don't think it is going to 
get done.
  I watched the House closely. I have heard commentators. It is 
surprising but I am told that even Charles Krauthammer today said: This 
is a little unusual. They weren't able to complete their work yesterday 
and the day before. So what they have done is demanded that President 
Obama do things on his own, for which they have sued him. That is a 
little inconsistent. One of the Republican senior House Members was on 
``Morning Joe'' this morning. He said the same thing. But the House 
appears to be heading from bad to worse as the House Republican 
majority hunts for votes on border policy.
  So let's be clear about what is happening today on the other side of 
the Capitol.
  House Republicans will vote to deport children who have been living 
in the United States their entire lives, all in a pathetic attempt to 
appease the tea party. The worse the bill gets the more votes they are 
getting over there. That is the harsh, wrong-headed idea. If the House 
does pass a bill, I can't imagine it could be cleared on either side 
over here.

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