[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 8]
[Senate]
[Pages 11286-11287]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




    MILITARY CONSTRUCTION AND VETERANS AFFAIRS AND RELATED AGENCIES 
                        APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2012

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the Senate will 
resume consideration of H.R. 2055, which the clerk will report.
  The bill clerk read as follows:

       A bill (H.R. 2055) making appropriations for military 
     construction, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and related 
     agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2012, and 
     for other purposes.

  Pending:

       Coburn (for McCain) amendment No. 553, to eliminate the 
     additional amount of $10,000,000, not included in the 
     President's budget request for fiscal year 2012, appropriated 
     for the Department of Defense for planning and design for the 
     Energy Conservation Investment Program.
       Johnson (SD)/Kirk amendment No. 556, of a perfecting 
     nature.

  Mr. JOHNSON of South Dakota. I ask unanimous consent that the reading 
of the bill be waived.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. JOHNSON of South Dakota. Mr. President, as the Senate resumes 
consideration of the fiscal year 2012 Military Construction, Veterans 
Affairs, and Related Agencies appropriations bill, I wish to remind my 
colleagues of the important programs funded in this bill.
  This bill funds the infrastructure that is the backbone of our 
military--the facilities in which our troops work, train, and live--and 
the facilities that support their families, including family housing, 
schools, hospitals, and childcare centers. It also funds the medical 
care and benefits promised to the Nation's veterans--a sacred trust we 
must not fail to honor.
  This is a bipartisan bill that was reported unanimously out of the 
Appropriations Committee. As I have said before, the bill is balanced, 
disciplined, and responsible.
  Two amendments to this bill are currently pending and several others 
have been filed. If my colleagues have additional amendments they wish 
to offer to the bill, I encourage them to file those amendments without 
delay or call them up if they wish a vote. My staff and Senator Kirk's 
staff are available to work with Members to clear amendments if 
possible.
  There is a lot going on in Washington this week, but it need not 
distract from the disposition of this bill. I urge my colleagues to 
bring any amendments they have to the floor so we can act on them and 
move quickly to a vote on final passage.
  I yield the floor, and 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. JOHNSON of South Dakota. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent 
that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. JOHNSON of South Dakota. Mr. President, what is the pending 
amendment?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Johnson amendment.


                     Amendment No. 556, as Modified

  Mr. JOHNSON of South Dakota. I ask unanimous consent that amendment 
No. 556 be modified with the modifications at the desk.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The amendment is so modified.
  The amendment, as modified, is as follows:

       On page 114 between lines 18 and 19, insert the following:
       Sec. 301. Not later than 90 days after enactment of this 
     Act, the Executive Director of Arlington National Cemetery 
     shall provide a report to the Committees on Appropriations of 
     the Senate and the House of Representatives; the Senate Armed 
     Services Committee; the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee; 
     and the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 
     Committee detailing the strategic plan and timetable to 
     modernize the Cemetery's Information Technology system, 
     including electronic burial records.

  Mr. JOHNSON of South Dakota. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent 
that Senator McCaskill be added as a cosponsor to the amendment.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. JOHNSON of South Dakota. I yield the floor, and I suggest the 
absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.


                      Nomination of J. Paul Oetken

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, it is my distinct honor to rise in 
support of Paul Oetken's confirmation to the bench of the Southern 
District of New York. We have a very deep pool of legal talent in New 
York, but Paul's nomination is one everybody is talking about. Paul is 
brilliant, well rounded, and unwavering in his dedication to public 
service and his commitment to rule of law. His confirmation will only 
improve the workings of one of the best and busiest courts in the 
country.
  I look for three qualities in judicial candidates: excellence, 
moderation, and diversity. Paul's Excellence is provable on paper. He 
is a graduate of the University of Iowa and Yale Law School and has 
worked in the highest echelons of two of the three branches of 
government, including for the Office of Legal Counsel at the Department 
of Justice and for Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun. He has also 
climbed the ranks of private legal practice, serving most recently as 
the head of litigation for the large New York media company 
Cablevision, one of our fine companies in New York.
  I consider a broad range of experience to be an important training 
ground for teaching judicial candidates the second quality I look for: 
moderation. I do not

[[Page 11287]]

like judges who tend to be too far to the right, but I do not like 
judges who come from a perspective that is too far left either. Paul 
Oetken fits the bill of a mainstream, moderate judge. His moderation 
and modesty were evident during his confirmation hearing and are clear 
to all who know him. When judges have in their resume practical 
experience dealing with real-world problems, they tend to understand 
that a judge cannot simply impose things from on high without 
understanding the effect of imposing those decrees on average people, 
average businesses, and average governments.
  When a candidate has these two qualities--excellence and moderation--
diversity is a bonus. But in this case, at this moment, Paul is not 
just an excellent candidate. As the first openly gay man to be 
confirmed as a Federal judge and to serve on the Federal bench, he will 
be a symbol of how much we have achieved as a country in the last few 
decades. And importantly, he will give hope to many talented young 
lawyers who, until now, thought their paths might be limited because of 
their sexual orientation. When Paul becomes Judge Oetken, he will be 
living proof to all those young lawyers that it does get better.
  Paul Oetken's modest but brave act of going through the confirmation 
process makes this otherwise quiet moment historic. But long after 
today, what the history books will note about Paul is his achievement 
as a fair and brilliant judge.
  In a short while, our country will take one step closer toward 
equality and away from bigotry and prejudice. I am very proud to have 
played a supporting role, and I look forward to Paul Oetken's service 
on the bench in the Southern District of New York. Often quoted but 
still one of my favorites is what Martin Luther King often said:

       The arc of history is long, but it bends in the direction 
     of justice.

  Paul Oetken's nomination to the Federal bench proves that point once 
again.
  I yield the floor, and I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I ask that the order for the quorum call 
be suspended.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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