[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 132 (Tuesday, September 16, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5595-S5597]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
BANK ON STUDENTS EMERGENCY LOAN REFINANCING ACT--MOTION TO PROCEED
Mr. REID. Mr. President, I move to proceed to Calendar No. 409, S.
2432.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will report the motion.
The legislative clerk read as follows:
Motion to proceed to Calendar No. 409, S. 2432, a bill to
amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide for the
refinancing of certain Federal student loans, 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 12:30 p.m. today. During that period of time, Senators will be
permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each.
Following morning business, the Senate will recess from 12:30 p.m.
until 2:15 p.m., to allow for weekly caucus meetings. At 2:15 p.m. the
Senate will proceed to rollcall votes on confirmation of the Baran and
Burns nominations, followed by several voice votes on executive
nominations.
Order of Procedure
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the time between 3 p.m.
and 4 p.m. today be under the control of the majority and the time from
4 p.m. until 5 p.m. be under the control of the Republicans.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so
ordered.
A Flawed Approach
Mr. President, the 18th century French philosopher Voltaire once
said:
One day everything will be well, that is our hope.
Everything's fine today, that is our illusion.
There is no better portrayal of the Republican Party's flawed
approach to governance than what Voltaire said. Senate Republicans
deceive themselves by thinking their obstruction is good for the
Nation, that the status quo is helping American families. Meanwhile,
the Republicans are out stumping and promising the American people that
if they just put Republicans in charge, everything will be better. What
are those promises based on? Certainly not recent history.
Let's take a look at what Republicans in this body have done for
American families: Republicans have blocked the Paycheck Fairness Act
not once, not twice, not even three times but four times, thereby
preventing American women from receiving a fair wage for their work.
Remember, this is simply making it possible for a woman who does the
exact same work as a man to get paid the exact same amount of money.
Republicans have blocked legislation to prevent companies from denying
their workers specific health benefits, including birth control, as
required by Federal law.
Republicans also blocked a bill allowing Americans with student debt
to refinance their loans at lower interest rates. The student loan debt
stands at $1.3 trillion. It is higher than credit card debt. It is
higher than any other debt.
Republicans rejected an increase in the minimum wage, essentially
relegating millions of hard-working
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Americans to poverty. Republicans even refused to give unemployment
benefits to the very long-term unemployed. Republicans rejected the
Bring Jobs Home Act which would end the absurd practice of American
workers bankrolling the outsourcing of their very own jobs.
Republicans even filibustered an extension of tax credits that help
American families. The Republicans have repeatedly refused to pass
commonsense immigration reform that keeps families together, spurs the
economy, and reduces our national debt by $1 trillion. Let's not
forget, Republicans in Congress shut down the Federal Government. Too
often Republicans have rebuffed Democrats' attempts to give American
families a fair shot. Republicans must know their obstruction is
hurting our country. The Republicans must know the status quo is not
working.
Recognition of the Minority Leader
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Republican leader is
recognized.
Navy Yard Tragedy
Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, 1 year ago today, just a few blocks
from here, a lone gunman slipped into the Navy Yard and tragically took
12 lives. It was one of the deadliest such attacks on a U.S. military
base in American history. We have not forgotten those who fell that day
in Building 197, and all of us in the Senate send our condolences to
their families and everyone who loved them. They are not forgotten.
The Economy
Mr. President, the Democrats who run Washington have had almost 6
years to fix the economy. They have already tried just about everything
their ideology will allow to fix it. They raised taxes on everything
from lifesaving medical devices to personal medical expenses. They have
piled up record debt and shoveled billions in subsidies to the well
connected, and they have empowered bureaucrats to cancel health care
plans for the middle class, declared war on the jobs of vulnerable
Kentucky families and--through EPA's Waters of the United States
proposed rule--they are trying to regulate every last pond and ditch in
our country. None of this has worked.
According to a recent Gallup survey, a solid majority of Americans
believes the economy is actually getting worse, not better. Let's not
forget that for several years the Democrats had supermajority control
of Washington, could have passed anything they wanted, and all too
often they did.
Since then, a Republican-led House of Representatives has tried to
advance solutions on its own by passing dozens of jobs bills--many with
strong bipartisan support over in the House. But the Democratic
majority in the Senate simply refuses to take them up, and it is hard
to understand why. It is hard to know if today's Washington Democratic
Party is blinded by ideology or if they are so obsessed with the never-
ending campaign that they cannot be bothered to govern.
Whatever the reason, the simple truth is this: Washington Democrats
had a choice between helping the middle class and bowing to campaign
pollsters and the left. It is obvious whom they chose.
The American people are worried about ISIL and the continuing threat
of terrorism. They see a humanitarian crisis at the border. Many
struggle every month to pay the bills. Millions still can't find work.
How do Democrats respond? They bring up a bill that would take an
eraser to the First Amendment. So the hard left is clearly in the
driver's seat on the other side. That is clear every time the
Democratic majority ignores the concerns of our constituents to turn to
yet another one of their so-called messaging bills, such as the recent
one on eroding free speech, and it is truly a shame. That is not why
the American people sent us.
It is long past time for Democrats to drop all the designed-to-fail
bills and turn to serious job-creation ideas instead. There are
literally dozens of House-passed jobs bills on the majority leader's
desk. Why not pick up some of them and pass them. Let's get them to the
President. Let's work together on a serious energy policy. Let's join
hands to erase the strain on working moms and dads. Let's work toward
sensible health care reform that doesn't hurt the middle class as
ObamaCare does. Let's help college graduates find full-time work and
start marching toward the careers they have always dreamed of. That is
just a start.
If the Democratic Party is truly interested in getting serious, they
should look at the many commonsense policy ideas advocated by Senators
on my side of the aisle.
NLRB Reform
Mr. President, my friend the senior Senator from Tennessee has always
been a strong advocate for smart reform policies. He will discuss
another one of those in just a moment. It is a bill that would go a
long way toward remedying a serious problem that has been caused by the
politics-at-all-cost mentality I have just described.
Here is the issue: Everybody is familiar with the President's
unconstitutional effort to pack the National Labor Relations Board with
liberal partisans back in early 2012. Some people are also familiar
with the NLRB's more recent effort to undermine secret ballots for
union elections, allow labor bosses access to sensitive employee
information without their consent, and prevent companies from building
factories in States with laws the President's picks don't like.
The NLRB is trying to destroy the franchisee model that has allowed
so many Americans to own and operate their own businesses. They want to
take away independence from small business men and women--such as
decisions on whom to hire, how much to pay them, and how to run their
business--and put it in the hands of corporate bosses. The so-called
joint employer standard is all about politics and appeasing the left.
Big Labor bosses want it because it helps them expand and acquire
more dues at the cost of small business owners who employ so many
Americans. This is simply not right. For many in the middle class
franchising represents a ticket to the dream of opening their own
business. For many it may be their only chance to live that dream.
This is how one single mom and second-generation franchisee put it:
To have my franchiser take over greater control of my daily
operations would not only change my relationship with them,
but it would ruin the dream of small business ownership for
many hardworking Americans.
This is what a hotel franchise in Lexington had to say:
My family came to the United States in search of the
American dream and we found it as hoteliers and franchisees.
The current franchise model has been instrumental in
providing my family and me with opportunities for
entrepreneurship and the ability to employ over 300
hardworking Kentuckians.
But this Kentuckian warned that this action by the NLRB could end his
independence as a small business owner by ceding decisions to a far-off
corporate headquarters. The NLRB action could have ``devastating
impacts on my ability to create jobs, grow my businesses and support my
community,'' he said.
Extreme, politically motivated proposals such as these hurt our
constituents.
It is time to restore the balance to the National Labor Relations
Board. Let's take the politics out of it. That is just what the
legislation of my friend from Tennessee seeks to do. I will let him
explain it, but here is the key: It would restore the NLRB to its
proper role as an umpire instead of an advocate for the right or the
left. It is the kind of thing our constituents want to see us doing--
standing up for reform and against entrenched political interests.
I am asking our Democratic friends to please shelve the designed-to-
fail playbook and work with Republicans on a designed-to-succeed agenda
instead. Six years of failure is quite enough.
Ebola Epidemic
Today President Obama will visit the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention to announce new efforts to contain the Ebola epidemic in
West Africa. The U.S. Africa Command will stand up a Joint Force
Command in Monrovia, Liberia, to provide command and control of U.S.
military activities and help coordinate international relief efforts.
Current estimates are that 3,000 military personnel will establish an
intermediate staging base for supplies and equipment, set up a training
site to prepare 500 health care workers per week to provide medical
care to patients, and stand up a
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field Defense Department hospital to care for any of our health care
workers who become ill. Also contributing to our national reaction to
this epidemic is the U.S. Agency for International Development.
The CDC has deployed personnel to Africa, and the National Institute
of Health is developing an investigational Ebola vaccine. CDC is also
working with Customs and Border Patrol to identify travelers showing
any signs of infectious disease.
I support these efforts to contain the Ebola epidemic and know we
will monitor this humanitarian crisis in the weeks ahead.
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