[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 1]
[Senate]
[Pages 44-46]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      WELCOMING THE 111TH CONGRESS

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, on the Fourth of July of the year 1851, the 
legendary statesman Daniel Webster, himself a former Senator, laid the 
cornerstone for the Senate Chamber where we now gather. He said:

       Be it known that on this day the Union of the United States 
     of America stands firm.

  Today marks the 150th year that this Chamber has housed the Senate of 
the United States.
  When Vice President John Breckinridge gaveled the 34th Congress open 
in this Chamber in 1859, our Republic had a population of one-tenth 
what it is today. There were just 64 Senators. Each Senator enjoyed a 
little more leg room, and that is an understatement. Many of these 
desks we see behind me, and behind the Republican leader, are from the 
original Senators of this country. They are real old. This Chamber, for 
150 years, has served as the primary working space for most Members. 
The first session held here 150 years ago began as it did today, with 
the Vice President of the United States administering the oath of 
office to new Members.
  Today, nine new Senators joined what many have said, and I agree, is 
the greatest deliberative body the world has ever known--certainly the 
greatest legislative body. So I extend my warmest welcome and 
congratulations to Senator Mark Udall of Colorado, Senator Tom Udall of 
New Mexico, Senator Mike Johanns of Nebraska, Senator Jeanne Shaheen of 
New Hampshire, Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, Senator Jim Risch of 
Idaho, Senator Kay Hagan of North Carolina, Senator Jeff Merkley of 
Oregon, and Senator Mark Begich of Alaska.
  To the profound challenges we face, these nine men and women bring 
vast judgment and experience at all levels of Government and public 
service. I am confident every one of them will serve their States and 
our Nation with distinction and pride.
  It was just 2 years ago this inaugural day of Congress that we 
heralded a new majority for Democrats in both the Senate and House of 
Representatives, but in the Senate that was a very tenuous majority. We 
began with 51, but Tim Johnson became very ill and the crowded 
Democratic primary field left us oftentimes short of an outright 
majority and far short of the 60 votes needed to prevent filibusters 
and pass legislation. Although we made substantial progress in the 
110th Congress, partisanship with divided Government too often ruled 
the day.
  I have said from the day the election was over, we are looking 
forward. We are not going to be concerned about the previous 8 years, 
we are concerned about the next 8 years. Since 2006, we Democrats have 
received a net gain of 14 Senate seats, 45 to 59. Just 2 weeks from 
today, Barack Obama will become the 44th President of the United 
States. We are ready to answer the call of the American people by 
putting the past 8 years behind us and delivering the change our 
country desperately needs.
  We are grateful to begin anew with a far more robust Democratic 
majority. But both parties learned an important lesson over the past 2 
years: When we allow ourselves to retreat into the tired, well-worn 
trenches of partisanship, when we fail to reach for common ground, when 
we are unable, in the words of President-elect Obama, to disagree 
without being disagreeable, we diminish our ability to accomplish real 
change.
  To my Republican counterpart, Senator McConnell, and all Republican 
colleagues, a number of whom I have called and personally visited with, 
I say to them: With American troops fighting two wars overseas, we are 
together in all of this. With the American people suffering a 
staggering economic crisis here at home, we are in this together. With 
the middle class struggling to make one paycheck last until the next 
one, we are in the middle of this together. With health care, college 
tuition, and retirement more expensive and harder to reach than ever, 
we are in this together. With our climate in crisis and energy prices 
rising and falling unpredictably, we are in this together.
  Some may fear the depth of the challenges we face, but I remind them 
that adversity is no stranger to this Chamber or to our country. In 
America and in this Chamber, we have never failed to persevere and 
ultimately to prosper. In this Chamber, our Union came unraveled and 
was mended, great wars were declared and peace has been celebrated. 
Here, our most fundamental freedoms were challenged, upheld, and 
expanded. In this Chamber for 150 years we have watched things happen.
  In more recent years, we watched the passing of the New Deal by 
Roosevelt, Truman's Fair Deal, Kennedy's Great Frontier, and Johnson's 
Great Society. Over these many years, we have outlawed child labor, 
brought electricity to the western frontier, and ensured a college 
education for those who serve in uniform.
  I had the opportunity yesterday to go to the funeral of Claiborne 
Pell, a man of wealth, a patrician, a man who went to the finest 
schools in America but dedicated his life to public service so that 
other people who were not in his situation could be educated. That is 
where the Pell grants came from--Claiborne Pell, a very aristocratic 
man who devoted his life to public service.
  We have done those things right here in this Chamber. Of course, we 
passed, after long, hard struggles and much anxiety, the Civil Rights 
and Voting Rights acts.
  There is no question that the challenges ahead of us are staggering. 
I do not think anyone would disagree. But I am confident that if we 
renew, in this body, our commitment to bipartisanship, the 111th 
Congress will be a tremendous success.
  Just a short way from here yesterday afternoon--and I don't remember 
the exact time, 3 o'clock or something like that, or 3:30--we had a 
bipartisan meeting of the leadership of the House and Senate. It was a 
wonderful meeting, with an exchange of ideas. The President-elect was 
here. I was very impressed. I heard Senator McConnell say to him: There 
are some things I need to talk to you about. Senator Obama said to him, 
when the meeting broke up: Let's talk now. I assume they talked 
sometime in the next little bit. But that is what we need: the ability 
to talk to each other.

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  There is no script that can be written where Senator McConnell and I 
will agree on everything that happens here. But there is a script being 
written today that says that even though we disagree on things that 
take place in this body, we can do it in a way that is constructive and 
works toward the good of our country. The State of Kentucky is much 
different from the State of Nevada--they are two different States. That 
was the genius of our Founding Fathers, that this Senate, which came 
about by reason of the Great Compromise in 1787 in Philadelphia, has 
allowed people to work together. Even though the State of Kentucky has 
more people than the State of Nevada and the State of California has 
more people than the State of Nevada, the State of Nevada has as much 
power in the Senate as Kentucky and California.
  I have confidence we can work together. I am convinced that Senator 
McConnell and I--our critics and the press can call us a lot of names 
and make suggestions, but one thing they cannot say about us is we are 
not experienced. We have been through a lot of political wars. We are 
ready to take on whatever wars face us.
  I say to my friend, Senator McConnell, I have every confidence we 
will be able to move this country forward.
  We need to have the 111th Congress a tremendous success, and we can 
do that. In the coming days, my fellow Democrats and I will introduce 
our priorities for this Congress. It happens every Congress. My 
colleagues on the other side of the aisle will introduce their 
legislative priorities. We look forward to developing dialog between 
the two sides of the aisle to see if we can meet somewhere in the 
middle.
  This day marks not just the 150th year of this Chamber but also the 
50th year of the service of Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia. For 
50 years he has been a Senator, but he has been a Member of Congress 
for 56 years because he served in the House before he came here. It is 
no secret, when it comes to reverence for the Senate, we have all 
learned a lot--I have learned a lot--from President Byrd's love of this 
body. I also have learned a lot from Senator Byrd of his desire for all 
Americans to appreciate that little document we call our Constitution. 
So on this the 50th anniversary of Senator Byrd's service, I express 
publicly my affection and admiration for this good man and wish him 
well in this Congress.
  For our nine new Members sworn today and for all Americans, I offer a 
few of Senator Byrd's words which he delivered to a meeting of new 
Senators about 12 years ago, when he said:

       After 200 years, [the Senate] is still the anchor of the 
     Republic, the morning and evening star in the American 
     constitutional constellation.
       It has weathered the storms of adversity, withstood the 
     barbs of cynics and attacks of critics. It has provided 
     stability and strength for the nation during periods of civil 
     strife and uncertainty, panics and depressions.
       In war and peace, it has been the sure refuge and protector 
     of the rights of states and of a political minority. And, 
     today, the Senate still stands--the great forum of 
     constitutional American liberty.

  So said Senator Byrd 12 years ago.
  Today is a new chapter in history. It begins today. Each of us has 
the honor of taking part in it in some way. We here in the Senate have 
the ability to help write that history.
  As the work starts, the words of Daniel Webster return to mind: ``Be 
it known that on this day the Union of the United States of America 
stands firm.'' I believe that.
  I have just a few other brief remarks.
  As my colleagues are aware, two Democratic U.S. Senate seats--one 
from Illinois and the other from Minnesota--are currently vacant. I 
will briefly address these two unusual circumstances because of the 
inquiries we have all had.
  First, the Illinois seat left vacant by President-elect Barack Obama. 
Although I do not know Mr. Burris personally--I hope to meet him in the 
next few days--he has served the State of Illinois in elective office 
over many years. Mr. Burris and his advisers were welcomed to the 
Capitol this morning by Sergeant at Arms Terry Gainer, who was chief of 
police in Chicago, so they have known each other for a long time. They 
then had a gracious meeting with the Secretary of the Senate, Nancy 
Erickson, and Senate Parliamentarian Alan Frumin, who informed them 
that Mr. Burris is not in possession of the necessary credentials from 
the State of Illinois. A court case in Illinois is pending to determine 
whether Secretary of State Jesse White is obligated to sign this 
certification. We are awaiting that court decision. If Mr. Burris takes 
possession of valid credentials, the Senate will proceed in a manner 
that is respectful to Mr. Burris while ensuring there is no cloud of 
doubt over the appointment to fill this seat.
  I also understand that Mr. Burris will likely give testimony to the 
Illinois State Assembly impeachment proceedings in the next few days, 
these proceedings pending against Governor Blagojevich. We await that 
proceeding as Senators as well.
  As to Minnesota, I know a little bit about close elections. I am only 
going to talk about two of them because I have had a number of them. I 
lost one by 524 votes. It was a statewide election for the Senate. That 
was traumatic, to lose that race to Paul Laxalt, one of the historic 
Senators from Nevada--but of course for this country because of his 
very close personal relationship with President Reagan. Paul Laxalt and 
I are close personal friends, but I lost that vote by 524. We went 
through a recount. I didn't file any lawsuits. There were no 
challenges. As hard as it was--and it was hard because that is really 
the first thing I had ever lost--I lost the race. All over the country, 
Democrats were winning these Senate seats and I lost in Nevada, but I 
had to give up because I had no chance of winning.
  I won the second by 428 votes. One reason John Ensign and I are 
soulmates is because our politics are so different, but our friendship 
is as good as it gets. That was a tough election, a bitter election 
that John Ensign and I went through. We had a recount in Nevada that 
was ongoing. John Ensign made a decision that it was a waste of time; I 
can't win the election. Before the recount was completed, John Ensign 
called me--I was having dinner with my wife--and said: You are going to 
be the next Senator. I thought when he made that phone call, gee, this 
is some kind of good guy. I didn't handle my loss nearly as well as he 
did. I remember that.
  Anyway, John Ensign filed no challenges, didn't complete the recount, 
there were no lawsuits. And John Ensign is now a Member of the Senate. 
I am fortunate to have a number of good friends, but, boy, he is a 
friend, and I think if you ask him he would say the same.
  So I say to my friend Norm Coleman, watch what I have said and watch 
what has taken place in the past. The Senate race in Minnesota was very 
close. It was very, very close--one of the closest in history. The 
bipartisan State Canvassing Board and Minnesota's election officials 
have done an exemplary job in handling the recount. There were no 
allegations of partisanship or unfairness from either side that I am 
aware of, and I followed it every day for 6 weeks.
  Even close elections, though, have winners. I can testify to that. 
After all votes have been fairly counted, Al Franken is certified as 
the winner by the State Canvassing Board, and he is the Senator-elect 
from Minnesota. Democrats will not seek to seat Senator-elect Franken 
today. We understand the sensitivity on both sides to an election this 
close.
  This is a difficult time for former Senator Coleman and his family. I 
acknowledge that. He is entitled to the opportunity to proceed however 
he feels appropriate. But for someone who has been in the trenches on a 
number of these elections, graciously conceding, as his friend John 
Ensign did, would be the right step. This can't drag on forever, and I 
understand that. I hope former Senator Coleman and all our Republican 
colleagues will choose to respect the will of the people of Minnesota. 
They have chosen a new Senator, Al Franken, and his term must begin and 
will begin soon.
  I repeat, I look forward to this year, hoping that next year at this 
time we

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will be here talking about many things we have been able to accomplish.
  As I have said on this floor, if we accomplish things, there is 
credit to go around to everyone. If we do not accomplish anything, 
there is blame to go around to everyone. That is not where I want to 
be.

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