[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 7]
[Senate]
[Pages 10016-10017]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




       JUNE WORK PERIOD, OILSPILL, AND IMPERFECT GAME IN DETROIT

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I welcome back my colleagues from their 
travels back home. It is always good to see them and my staff. I am 
grateful for all who are here working hard. I know we all benefit from 
seeing and speaking with our neighbors and constituents, honoring our 
Nation's bravest on Memorial Day, and talking about the good work we 
have done this year.
  We have really done a lot. Long overdue health care reform is now the 
law of the land. To show how much we have done, Norm Ornstein, one of 
the most celebrated pundits, columnists, journalists in all of 
Washington, reported a few weeks ago that this is the most productive 
Congress in the history of the country. That comes from someone who is 
not from the left or the right but someone who is a mainstream 
journalist in America today. The House and Senate have each passed 
bills to clean up Wall Street. Three million Americans who are going to 
work today have the Recovery Act to thank for their jobs. In Nevada, 
the Recovery Act created or saved more than 4,000 jobs in just the past 
4 months alone. Again, that is in Nevada.
  But every time I go home, I am reminded how much more we have to do 
and become reenergized to do it. The work period between now and July 4 
is short, but our to-do list is very long. We have to pass an emergency 
extension of unemployment benefits and other matters related to job 
creation, which will be in the bill that will be put on the Senate 
floor this afternoon. These benefits have now expired and so should our 
patience for excuses. These people lost their jobs through no fault of 
their own. They are struggling to put food on the table and to take 
their kids to the doctor. It is important that we recognize that. It is 
an emergency for these families and for our entire country.
  Many who oppose this extension gave tax breaks to rich CEOs who 
shipped American jobs overseas. Now their constituents are looking for 
a lifeline in a job market they helped sink. I hope both sides can come 
together to give them the help both they and our economy need.
  This legislation cuts taxes for middle-class families and small 
businesses. This bill includes a host of tax credits, tax extenders, 
and tax incentives, all of which will help put people back to work--
something Democrats and Republicans should come together to finish 
because it is something we can all support and be proud we did. More 
than that, it is something each of our States desperately needs.
  To this legislation we intend to add a bill for FMAP funding, that 
is, Medicaid money to ensure the poorest in our communities can afford 
to stay healthy, which will protect jobs in States such as Nevada and 
prevent deep cuts to critical services all over the country.
  Mr. President, just a few comments about the remarks of my friend, 
the Republican leader. We all know the debt of our country is 
significant and of concern to us. But I am stunned by my friend's short 
memory of history. One reason we have this red ink that is flowing so 
strongly is we had two wars that weren't paid for. The Iraq war alone 
cost $1 trillion. Many say it was a war of choice, not of necessity.
  The financial meltdown came about as a result of decisions 
Republicans made. For example, in the last 3 years of the Clinton 
administration, we were paying down the national debt. We were spending 
less money than we were taking in. Some said we were paying down the 
debt too fast. It was a shock to the markets. We had, in effect, during 
the Clinton years, something called pay-go, meaning if you had a new 
program you had to pay for it or raise the revenue to pay for it. It 
worked extremely well. That is why we were paying down the debt. When 
President Bush came in, that was eliminated. Pay-go rules went out the 
window. We have replaced them, in spite of Republicans voting against 
that.
  Mr. President, to show the short memory of my friend, the Republican 
leader, there was legislation worked on here for a long time--well more 
than a year--by Kent Conrad, the chairman of the Budget Committee, and 
the ranking member, Judd Gregg. They put together a piece of 
legislation that had wide support here in the Senate to create a debt 
commission, similar to what we did with our base closing activities. So 
I brought this up for a vote. Democrats overwhelmingly voted for it. My 
Republican colleagues--seven of them who sponsored that legislation--
wouldn't vote for it.
  We couldn't get the base closing legislation done because every time 
we wanted to close a base, there would be a Senator from that State who 
would say: No, we can't do that, and so it was difficult. So we brought 
that base closing legislation to the floor, and there was an up-or-down 
vote on it, no amendments. That is the same legislation Senator Conrad 
and Senator Gregg brought before the Senate. Because of the 
Republicans, it was voted down.
  To his credit, President Obama, still concerned about the debt, 
created a commission that must report by the end of this year. We know 
the debt is an issue. But for my friends to start now criticizing what 
has always been emergency spending to pay for people who are long-term 
unemployed I think shows memories are a little short. We should realize 
Democrats have not created the problems. President Obama, when he was 
elected, found himself in a real hole created by the prior 
administration, and we are working our way out of that.
  After we finish the bill that will be on the floor this afternoon, we 
have to pass a bill designed specifically for small businesses--to help 
them grow and to help them hire more workers. This bill will include 
more tax incentives and also establishes a new lending facility for 
small businesses.
  This week, we will debate a resolution of disapproval that will 
prevent the Department of Transportation and the Environmental 
Protection Agency

[[Page 10017]]

from working together to slow the pollution from heavy-duty vehicles. 
The result of this resolution, if passed, would be to waste at least 
450 million more barrels of oil than we need to. That is wrong.
  We also would like to finish two important conference reports. One, 
we have the supplemental war appropriations bill that will give our 
commanders and troops the equipment and resources they need to succeed 
and fund disaster assistance in the parts of the world that need it the 
most. Our military is about to undertake the most important mission of 
the war in Afghanistan, the largest operation since the war started. We 
have given them this mission, and now we have to give them what they 
need to accomplish the mission. Two, we have to finish the Wall Street 
reform bill. This is legislation that protects families' life savings 
and seniors' pensions. The bills both the House and Senate passed will 
enforce the toughest protections ever against Wall Street greed and 
will guarantee taxpayers they will never again be asked to bail out a 
big bank and will make sure no bank will become too big to fail. We 
hope to send our bill to the President this month, after the conference 
is completed.
  There are other items on our agenda as well. We must protect voters 
and ensure our elections are being decided by the people, not by the 
richest corporations with the most money to spend. We want to empower 
public safety employees, such as firefighters, police officers, and 
paramedics, with a voice in decisions that affect their lives and their 
livelihoods. We want to ensure they have the same rights in the 
workplace as everyone else. We have a food safety and child nutrition 
bill to consider. We have a Defense authorization bill to pass. The 
Judiciary Committee will start its hearings this month on President 
Obama's tremendous nominee for the Supreme Court, Elena Kagan.
  Although we may not get to it in this short work period, the Senate 
must take definitive action to hold companies such as BP more 
accountable for disasters such as the one that is poisoning our waters 
and shores more and more every day.
  About that oilspill. Oil has gushed into the gulf for more than a 
month and a half now, but we have finally started to see a trickle of 
good news. BP managed to control some of the spill this weekend, and it 
is estimated that from 50 to 80 percent of the oil that is bubbling out 
of the middle of the Earth is being captured. That still leaves a leak 
of too many barrels every day. That is an enormous and unacceptable 
amount of pollution harming our water, wildlife, beaches, and 
businesses. As much as 35 million gallons has already leaked, and that 
oil is now making its way to the south of Florida, up the eastern 
seaboard. It is estimated that the Exxon Valdez, which was an awful 
mess, was only one-third as big as the BP spill currently is.
  Beyond the immediate damage and our anger at those whose 
irresponsibility allowed it to happen in the first place, this bill 
underscores our need for a new energy policy. We need a policy that 
fully recognizes the obvious costs of the way we produce and consume 
energy today. We need to confront and limit the risks of future 
catastrophes. We cannot wait to act until after more tragedies and 
disasters happen.
  A new energy policy must strongly encourage companies to invest 
rapidly in technology that makes us safer, more competitive, and more 
energy independent. That means immediately refocusing our efforts on 
clean and renewable energy, such as the Sun, the wind, and geothermal 
energy, and improving energy efficiency and using more biofuels. We 
need better options than oil, and we need it done yesterday.
  Finally, I wish to say a word about the biggest story in sports over 
this past week; that is, the near-perfect game thrown by Detroit Tigers 
pitcher Armando Galarraga. It would have been just the 21st time in 150 
years--although, remarkably, already the third time in this young 
season--that a pitcher had retired every opposing batter over nine 
innings--no hits, no walks, no errors. The perfect game is one of the 
most special, most difficult, most coveted accomplishments in sports. 
It is exceedingly rare, which, by the way, makes it all the more 
incredible that one of our own colleagues, the junior Senator from 
Kentucky, Jim Bunning, himself once a Detroit Tiger like Galarraga, 
achieved the feat for the Philadelphia Phillies on Father's Day in 
1964.
  A perfect game means 27 men up, 27 men down. Galarraga had taken care 
of 26. We all know what happened to the 27th. The play was made, the 
runner was out, the game should have been over. Galarraga's name should 
have been added to an elite list that includes giants of the game such 
as Cy Young, Sandy Koufax, and Randy Johnson. But it didn't end that 
way. The first base umpire, Jim Joyce, badly blew the call. In an 
instant, a superhuman success story was spoiled by an all-too-human 
error.
  Yet what makes this story so significant is not what happened in the 
split second between the pitcher getting the out and the umpire yelling 
``safe.'' It is what happened right after that. First of all, the 
umpire, Jim Joyce, admitted he was wrong. He apologized to the pitcher, 
the players, and the fans he let down. He didn't make any excuses. This 
umpire didn't hire a PR firm or run television ads defending the 
indefensible or try to spin his mistake; he just owned up to it.
  Armando Galarraga graciously accepted the apology and moved on. He 
didn't raise his voice or point his finger. When every sports fan in 
America pitied the pitcher, the pitcher pitied the umpire. The 28-year-
old player summoned the strength to throw the game of his life but then 
somehow summoned the grace not to throw the tantrum some say he was 
entitled to. It was an incredible act of class and compassion, an 
incredible display of perspective and sympathy. It was, appropriately 
enough, perfect.
  In recent days, we have seen insurance companies try to avoid 
responsibility for denying health care to the sick. We have seen Wall 
Street executives try to avoid responsibility for millions of layoffs 
and millions more foreclosed homes. We have seen oil companies try to 
avoid responsibility for environmental disasters of historic 
proportions. We have seen too many fail to own up to their own mistakes 
or take responsibility for their own actions. But more than that, we 
have seen too many actively turn away when others have tried to hold 
them to account. In that context, what Jim Joyce did was as exceptional 
as the perfect game itself.
  One call may be just one of hundreds that an umpiring crew makes each 
day. A single game may be just one of 162 each team will play each 
year. And even though baseball is the national pastime, it is merely 
that--a diversion. But in this episodes lies a lesson for athletes 
about sportsmanship, for adversaries about forgiveness, for Members of 
Congress and for our children about integrity, and for all of us about 
accountability.

                          ____________________