[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 10]
[Senate]
[Pages 13599-13602]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




    AMERICAN HOUSING RESCUE AND FORECLOSURE PREVENTION ACT OF 2008--
                               Continued

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, there will be no more votes this evening. If 
I could, though, have the attention of Senators who are here.
  Mr. President, first of all, let me say on this package of judges, we 
have been working on these for 5 or 6 years. That is how long it has 
taken. So this is really a step forward. Everyone has cooperated. I 
appreciate very much the help of the entire Republican caucus. Senator 
Kyl was especially helpful to work through what we have done. We are 
going to approve two more judges the day after tomorrow, and then we 
will see where we go from there on judges.
  What I wanted to tell everyone here is we wanted to finish the 
housing bill tonight. Senator Dodd and Senator Shelby have worked very 
hard to craft

[[Page 13600]]

a bill that doesn't go back to the House, but when the House signs off 
on----
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority leader will suspend. The Senate 
will come to order.
  Mr. REID. I apologize, it was hard to concentrate on what I wanted to 
say.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority leader is recognized.
  Mr. REID. Senators Dodd and Shelby are crafting a bill that can go 
directly to the President. That is what we are trying to do, craft 
something on which there has been general agreement with the 
counterparts of Shelby and Dodd in the House, and it would go 
immediately to the President. As you know, they can do things very 
quickly in the House that we cannot do here. That is the goal with 
housing.
  We are going to get there eventually. The problem is the way this is 
sent to us from the House, the format in which it was sent to us, we 
are now under cloture. That cloture will run out at approximately 5:45 
tomorrow evening. At that time there are two germane amendments that we 
know of. There are a couple more that are arguably germane. We will see 
what is the will of the body.
  It is my understanding that on those two that are arguably germane, 
the managers of the bill have worked something out. If there would be 
no objection, they would accept those. The problem is on the amendments 
they have worked on up to this time, there has been an objection and we 
cannot proceed on any of those amendments that Dodd and Shelby have 
worked out.
  Automatically, after the 30 hours is up, we would vote on the germane 
amendments. No one can stop us from adopting or rejecting those 
amendments. If we cannot get permission from everyone here as of now--I 
know of only one holdup on our being able to complete the housing 
legislation. If we can't get that Senator to sign off on this, then we 
only have one alternative; that is, we will file cloture on another arm 
of this housing legislation. We will have cloture on that 2 legislative 
days later, and then we still have one more to do. That would mean we 
would have to be here over the weekend. It was not anticipated that we 
would do that.
  In the meantime, having done that, it will hold up our being able to 
do FISA. We wanted to do a consent agreement on that tonight. I was 
told that would not be possible.
  On that, there are people who do not like the FISA legislation. I 
recognize that the majority of the Senate does, but some people do not 
like it. But, in spite of that, I have found the two people who speak 
out mostly against that--but there are others--are Senator Feingold and 
Senator Dodd who have been very diligent in their opposition to the 
legislation. But, of course, they understand the Senate very well.
  So what we would like to do is have a cloture vote on the motion to 
proceed to that, but we cannot do that unless it is by consent. 
Therefore, we are going to have to do cloture on the motion to proceed 
to FISA at some later time, and then that only allows us to proceed to 
the bill. Then we still have to do cloture on the bill.
  FISA is a product of the administration. It has passed the House, and 
that is fine. But we are not going to stop people from going home for 
the Fourth of July recess over FISA. If people do not want to do it, 
then we are not going to do it. It is not because we are holding it up 
over here, is what I am saying. It is being held up by the minority.
  We are going to proceed, and we are going to stay here and finish 
this housing bill. The Case-Shiller Home Price Index registered the 
largest decline in home prices in that index's history. That is more 
than 40 years. Consumer confidence is at an all-time low.
  So we are going to finish the housing bill. It may knock a few people 
out of parades on July 4, or whatever--however long it takes us to do 
this.
  The other product we have that we want to finish before we go home is 
the supplemental appropriations bill. Again, there has been a 
delicately crafted piece of legislation that has come from the House. 
They worked very hard to get the House leadership to approve that, 
Democratic and Republican. The President of the United States has 
signed off on it. Is it everything that I want? Is it everything we 
want over here? The answer is no. But I think it is something that will 
pass with a very large margin over here. But we cannot get to it unless 
people allow us to get to it. So that, too, would have to wait until we 
get back after the July 4 recess.
  I think that would be a shame. We have been told that the Pentagon 
can pay the bills until about the middle of February. Then they are out 
of money.
  I want the President and all of his people to hear what I am saying. 
We are not holding up the supplemental. We, the Democrats, are not 
holding it up. We, the Democrats, are not holding up FISA.
  We also have a matter that we need to complete, and that is the 
Medicare fix. It is the doctors fix. That is what we call it. But, 
again, today the House passed that by a 350-some-odd margin to whatever 
makes up 435--passed that overwhelmingly, again, with the sponsorship 
and leadership of the House leadership, Democrats and Republicans. We 
are going to take that up before we go. We have to. Not only that, if 
we do not pass that legislation before we go, we do not have the 
doctors fix taken care of, but that has a snowballing effect.
  What it does is all insurance companies base their reimbursement on 
what the Medicare Program is. There are two things we have to do before 
we go home for July 4: Housing and Medicare. We do not have to do it if 
the Republicans don't want to do it--we don't have to do FISA, and we 
don't have to do the supplemental. We can do it the week we get back 
after July 4.
  There are other things we would like to do--the FAA extension for 6 
months. I tried to move to that yesterday. It was objected to. We want 
the President and others who have worked so hard on this global AIDS 
bill--we would like to get that passed. I was told by Senator Biden 
today that should be worked out tomorrow. But we can't do any of this 
as long as people are holding us up on this housing bill.
  One Senator I talked to tonight who I thought was holding up the 
housing bill--which is true--did not object to our going to FISA. But 
others have.
  I do not know how much more direct I can be. I want to pass the 
supplemental. I want to pass FISA. I want to pass the Medicare fix. I 
want to pass housing.
  I do not particularly like FISA, and I am going to vote against FISA. 
But I have an obligation as the majority leader to move legislation 
that the majority of the body wants to go forward. The majority of 
Republicans and a significant number of Democrats want FISA to pass. 
But I am not going to ask people to stay here next week because there 
is someone over here holding up the President's bill. I am pointing to 
the Republicans.
  I am willing to be as reasonable as I can. I think we showed that on 
the housing bill when I brought up a piece of legislation that Senator 
DeMint and others wanted to move forward on--and Senator Bunning. We 
did that to show good faith in reporting this housing bill. But with 
home prices continuing to fall, foreclosures continuing to rise, 8,800 
foreclosures a day--a day--the time to act is now.
  I have said on this floor many times, the housing bill is bipartisan. 
Dodd and Shelby have done a remarkably good job. I hope those people 
who are trying--I don't know what their message is. To show the power 
of a Senator? I acknowledge, one Senator has a lot of power. But I 
think they should recognize they are holding up a lot of stuff.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Republican leader is recognized.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, let me say on this occasion I almost 
entirely agree with the majority leader about what needs to be 
accomplished this week. We do indeed need to do the housing bill. We do 
indeed need to do the supplemental for the wars in Iraq and 
Afghanistan. The FISA bill, the Medicare fix--it is a complicated 
legislative tangle which my good friend, the majority leader, has 
described, and

[[Page 13601]]

with which he is trying to deal as we move through the week. But my 
goal is really the same as his, and we are going to continue talking to 
each other, continue to sort of run the traps and hopefully clear the 
traps in such a way that we can have a highly successful week before 
the recess.
  That is my goal. It is the same as his goal. I will be working with 
him to see if we can get all of those things done in the next few days.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority leader.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I would say one final thing. There is a time 
when we need to work together. The Republican leader recognizes that; I 
recognize that. This is the time. We need to figure out a way to get 
from here to there. We are going to do our very best.
  I think our messages--we don't need to worry about those next week. 
We can come back and do that after the break. We really need to try to 
get this done for the American people. It would be good for the 
American people if we could do something on one of the major crises we 
have faced in our country, and that is this housing debacle. It is very 
difficult.
  Everyone knows that I do not throw a lot of bouquets to the 
administration, but I throw them a bouquet on their willingness to work 
with us on the supplemental because they were willing to bend a little 
bit here and there. I repeat, was it everything that I wanted, that we 
wanted? No, but a tremendous step forward. I compliment and I applaud 
the President and the people who worked with us to get to the point 
where we are. I would be ashamed to have to wait until after the Fourth 
of July to do this bill; that is, the supplemental appropriations bill, 
because even though what we are going to be voting on only deals with 
the GI bill of rights and the unemployment compensation and those other 
things, if we do not act, the war funding doesn't go forward. We do not 
have to vote on war funding. We have already done that.
  As I said, I appreciate the work we have been able to accomplish with 
the administration on this supplemental appropriations bill. Even 
though, as I have indicated, I am not going to vote for the FISA bill, 
there are people who have worked on this FISA matter for 3 months or 
more. Again, the administration worked with them. Did they, on the FISA 
bill, move enough to make me vote for the bill? The answer is no. But 
they moved enough to get a lot of people to vote for this bill, and I 
appreciate that also.
  But we could wind up with all this good work being put off. It will 
be very anticlimactic, the accomplishments that we have made.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. BROWN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the order for the 
quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. BROWN. I ask unanimous consent to speak as in morning business.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. The 
Senator from Ohio is recognized.


               64th Anniversary of the Gi Bill of Rights

  Mr. BROWN. Mr. President, on Sunday, June 22, we marked an 
anniversary. On June 22, 1944, President Roosevelt signed the 
Servicemen's Readjustment Act into law. I come to the floor today to 
commemorate the 64th anniversary of the passage of this profoundly 
important bill, better known as the GI bill of rights.
  World War II was the largest, most deadly, most terrible war in world 
history. Before it was over, Americans fought on the continents of 
Europe, Asia, and Africa, and in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Over 
16 million American men and women, including my father, answered the 
call to serve. Since joining this body, I have held about 100 
roundtables across my home State of Ohio, and through these discussions 
I have had the opportunity and privilege to meet with a number of Ohio 
veterans from World War II. Getting to know those remarkable men and 
women has reaffirmed my profound respect for their decision to serve 
our country. Their service and their sacrifice produced both a stronger 
nation and a safer world. The ``greatest generation'' earned this 
Nation's enduring gratitude.
  They earned the benefits the GI bill provided and used them to propel 
this country into a time of unprecedented prosperity. The GI bill was 
more than a payment to the veterans for their service to our country; 
it was also a very smart, very pragmatic investment in the social 
fabric and economic potential of our Nation. The GI bill was designed 
to help smooth the transition from military service into civilian life. 
And it did that for millions of men and women who served. It paid for 
veterans' tuition, books, fees, a monthly stipend, and other training 
costs. It also provided veterans low-interest mortgages and 
unemployment insurance.
  The GI bill provided veterans in Ohio and the rest of the country the 
opportunity to realize the American dream. The number of degrees 
awarded by colleges and universities more than doubled between 1940, 
the last full year before the war, and 1950.
  Veterans were responsible for buying 20 percent of all new homes 
after the war. The investment in the middle class drove the development 
and economic expansion of an entire generation.
  I yield to the Senator from Montana.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Montana.
  Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, I yield my hour post cloture to Senator 
Dodd.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Rhode Island.
  Mr. REED. I too yield my postcloture hour to Senator Dodd.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Senators have that right. The time is yielded 
to Senator Dodd.
  The Senator from Ohio.
  Mr. BROWN. When you think about what happened to the GI bill, it was 
not only providing opportunity individually to millions of men and 
women who served, and in that sense a payment they earned; it also 
created a huge, unprecedented, and unsurpassed sense of prosperity for 
the country. When all of these men and women came home and were given 
the opportunity to go to college, regardless of their income or their 
family status or their wealth or their positions, they were given that 
opportunity which they earned from World War II.
  In recognition of that important anniversary honoring the service men 
and women, giving them the opportunity and creating the prosperity of 
millions of newly educated men and women in our country, I call on 
Congress to renew its commitment to our veterans to recognize this 
anniversary.
  It is our responsibility, our privilege, to uphold the promises our 
Nation has made to veterans. It is our responsibility and our privilege 
to advance our Nation's economic goals. Passing the updated GI bill 
into law is the right way to fulfill both responsibilities. I urge 
every Member of this body to support that.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority leader.


                            FEC Nominations

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I am very pleased that I am finally able to 
say we are going to restore the Federal Election Commission to a fully 
functioning six-member body.
  The FEC lost a functioning quorum last January when three recess 
appointments to the Commission expired, leaving only two FEC 
commissioners. It takes four to conduct official business, so there was 
no way to conduct business. When the FEC went dark in January, it meant 
our Nation's campaign finance watchdog was off the beat. It also meant 
that important provisions of the Democrats' Honest Leadership and Open 
Government Act would not be implemented.
  Most notably, the building of this Federal Election Commission is so 
very important. I would be remiss to not say that the Honest Leadership 
and Open Government Act passed on a bipartisan basis. For example, the 
bundling rules we worked so hard to enact into law were put into limbo. 
But now with the FEC within a few minutes going to be reestablished, 
that will not be the case.

[[Page 13602]]

  Since even before the Commission lost its quorum, I began offering my 
Republican colleagues votes on the pending FEC nominees, but those 
efforts were rejected.
  Democrats have been united in their desire to have the FEC restored 
to full power. I am pleased we can finally come together with our 
Republican colleagues tonight on the nominations.
  I would be remiss if I did not speak very briefly about my two 
Democratic nominees, Steven Walther and Cynthia Bauerly, both 
outstanding lawyers. I can tell you even more than that. They are 
outstanding people and public servants. Steven Walther is from Nevada. 
He is one of those people who is in public service because he wants to 
do something to help his country. He has been very active for many 
years in State bar activities, very involved in the ABA activities, and 
he gave up a lucrative law practice to come here. He was a senior 
partner in a major law firm in Nevada. He did this for the right 
reason.
  Both Cynthia and Steven are patient individuals. Steve Walther was 
first recommended to the President by me for this position on July 6, 
2005. That is almost 3 years ago.
  He waited almost 3 years for the full Senate to confirm him.
  I recommended Ms. Bauerly to the President in July 2007. She has 
waited for confirmation over 11 months.
  I cannot say enough nice things about Steven Walther. I want everyone 
within the sound of my voice to understand what a man of integrity he 
is. He is not even a Democrat. He is an Independent. But I have such 
confidence in his fairness that it did not matter what his party 
affiliation is. He is a fine individual, has a wonderful family, a son 
Wyatt who is getting used to the big city of Washington, DC.
  I so appreciate Steve waiting since January with basically no job. He 
has had no paycheck. There has been no FEC. Some people dropped off 
because they couldn't afford to not have a job. But fortunately, for 
the FEC and our country, Steven Walther could afford to be unemployed 
for 6 months.
  Again, I want the record spread with my appreciation for Steven 
Walther's public service and his friendship to me. These two 
individuals, Bauerly and Walther, have shown exceptional patience which 
will be an asset to them in their work as Commissioners. I wish them 
and the FEC very well.

                          ____________________