[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 183 (Wednesday, December 16, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Page S8690]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  OMNIBUS AND TAX EXTENDERS AGREEMENT

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, as the Republican leader mentioned, last 
night the Senate and House leaders finalized a bipartisan compromise 
that keeps our government open and funded and extends important tax 
policies for American families and businesses.
  I said last night--define ``last night.'' The last email I got was 
2:45 this morning from my chief of staff, who was one of the 
negotiators. Sometime in the darkness, the bill was finalized. When I 
say ``the bill,'' it is really two bills--a bipartisan compromise keeps 
our doors opened and funded and extends important tax policies for 
American businesses.
  This was not an easy process. Members and our staffs worked intensely 
for weeks to craft this agreement. As I mentioned yesterday and I say 
again today, I appreciate the cooperation, expertise, and all the good 
work done by Speaker Ryan, Leader Pelosi, Senator McConnell, and their 
staffs. They were, I am told--and in all my dealings with them, I 
underscore and underline what my chief of staff Drew Willison, chief 
negotiator, said of the staff. They were a pleasure to work with. They 
were professional and did exceptional work on the agreement that we 
reached.
  It is a good compromise. The Presiding Officer, not being a longtime 
Member of Congress but a longtime legislator, knows that no legislation 
is perfect, but this is good legislation. This is truly a fine 
definition of legislation--the art of compromise. When we say 
``compromise,'' it doesn't mean anyone is doing away with their 
principles; what it simply means is that people can't be bullheaded and 
unreasonable in what they are doing to accomplish their goals.
  In spite of Republican majorities in the Senate and the House, we 
Democrats were able to ensure that this legislation creates and saves 
middle-class jobs, protects the environment, and invests in renewable 
energy sources. For example, by extending tax incentives for wind, 
solar, geothermal, and other technologies, the omnibus spending bill 
will create and protect over 100,000 jobs in the clean energy sector. A 
5-year extension of wind and solar credits will promote growth and help 
curb carbon emission by roughly 25 percent by the year 2020. And to 
those who will argue that lifting the oil export ban will counteract 
these important steps to limit pollution, that is simply not the case. 
It is not true. Extending the wind and solar tax incentives will 
eliminate over 10 times more carbon emissions than lifting the oil 
export ban will create.
  The omnibus spending bill is good for jobs, and good for clean energy 
and the environment. It also helps American families by including a 
provision that will lower health insurance premiums.
  To fully appreciate the compromise, we can't simply tick off the many 
beneficial policies the agreement includes. We must also consider that 
many troublesome provisions the Democrats fought to exclude didn't wind 
up in the legislation. When this matter came from the House, there were 
more than 200 so-called riders, and they didn't wind up in the bill. 
Many of these riders represented the worst of legislative priorities: 
weaken Dodd-Frank banking regulations; undermine the Department of 
Labor's fiduciary rule; roll back the National Labor Relations Board's 
joint employer standard; eliminate protections for clean air, water, 
land, and climate; weaken the consumer protection bureau's ability to 
protect consumers; curb the President's powers under the Antiquities 
Act to create national monuments; and destroy the candidate 
contribution limits. These are only a few of the many special riders 
that were sent to us from the House, and we did not allow 99 percent of 
these to be included because they are harmful policies.
  I say again, this compromise isn't perfect, but it is good. It is 
good for the American people. And if it weren't for Democratic efforts, 
it would have been a lot worse.
  I also extend my appreciation to the great staff of the White House--
first of all, the President's Chief of Staff, Denis McDonough. He is a 
former college football player, he is a strong man emotionally and 
physically, and he is very forthright, which I appreciate in the 
positions that he takes with everybody. He helped guide this 
legislation through.
  We have a number of people who work at the White House with whom we 
worked intensely. All the Cabinet officers--we had a very good 
relationship with Brian Deese, who is a jack-of-all-trades at the White 
House and does so much in many different areas. I appreciate very much 
his involvement in many different ways.
  Longtime Senate employee Katie Beirne Fallon has been available 
anytime we needed her, and this has been very difficult for her because 
she is a new mom to two little twins. She was always available. We were 
disappointed when she went to the White House from the Senate, but her 
knowledge of the Senate has been helpful in our being able to move this 
bill as far as it has been.
  A longtime staffer who operated on the floor here for many, many 
years was Marty Paone, who was available whenever we needed him. He is 
a fine man. We still miss him here in the Senate. He does such a great 
job for the country and the Senate.
  We must pass the legislation, as the Republican leader said, as 
quickly as we can. Christmas is fast approaching. I hope Republicans in 
the House and the Senate will move quickly to move this legislation to 
the floor so we can vote on it and give the American people every 
confidence their government will remain open.
  Would the Presiding Officer state what the Senate will be doing the 
rest of the day.

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