[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 13]
[Senate]
[Page 18319]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            MORNING BUSINESS

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that we now move to 
a period of morning business, with Senators allowed to speak for up to 
10 minutes each.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. REID. I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. MERKLEY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.


                      SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATIONS

  Mr. MERKLEY. Mr. President, I wish to make a few comments on what has 
transpired today on the floor of the Senate.
  First, some enormously important work has been done in regard to 
addressing the disaster caused by Hurricane Sandy. I know that in a 
number of States unprecedented devastation has occurred, and we should 
respond extremely quickly--more quickly than we have. I hope the House 
will immediately take up this package. Certainly, disaster relief 
delayed is disaster relief denied. So I hope the House will indeed move 
extremely quickly to address the devastation throughout the Northeast.
  I also wanted to note that tonight 55 Senators stood and said: As we 
assist the victims of Hurricane Sandy, we should also assist the 
victims of unprecedented drought and fires that devastated much of our 
country this last summer.
  How is it, we might wonder, that we had devastating fires in July and 
August and into September and devastating drought and we still haven't 
approved the disaster assistance? I must say it is 100 percent 
unacceptable.
  If you lost your ranch in a fire, if you lost your fencing, if you 
lost your corn, if you lost your livestock, and a program that would 
have helped that has always been in place for disaster assistance 
wasn't reauthorized, then you have been stranded since June or July or 
August. Perhaps in that interim you have lost your farm, perhaps you 
have lost your ranch, perhaps you have mortgaged everything to hold on. 
Yet here is the Senate saying: Hey, it is OK that we are not helping 
you now because, you know what. We are going to help you in the farm 
bill.
  Where is the farm bill? It is not on the President's desk. It is not 
en route to the President's desk. It has not even been brought up on 
the floor of the House. A bipartisan group of Senators in this body 
approved the farm bill and had the disaster relief for our ranchers and 
farmers in it and sent it over to the House, and it has never been 
discussed. That is completely unacceptable. It is a moral failure to 
leave those struck by disaster stranded.
  Tonight 55 Senators agreed that it is unacceptable. We should help 
right now. But you know what. Under the budget point of order that was 
put forward, you needed 60 votes. We needed 60 votes tonight to help 
our ranchers and farmers. We only had 55.
  Here is the interesting point. This budget point of order is supposed 
to be about saving money, but this body already approved all of those 
disaster relief programs in the farm bill, and when that farm bill is 
done, we are assured tonight that these provisions will be maintained, 
that we will assist our ranchers and farmers. Thus, we will not save a 
dime. There is not a dime saved because the same program will 
eventually be approved. But the relief will be coming so late to the 
victims of the drought and the victims of the fire who lost their 
livestock and their forage and their fences.
  Tonight, what happened for those 40 who voted against helping our 
ranchers and farmers is they did not save a penny, but they did 
enormous damage to citizens across this country, ranchers and farmers 
who were counting on us.
  I rise to say that I deeply regret the Senate's decision tonight. I 
deeply regret the 40 votes against our ranchers and farmers. I deeply 
regret that 40 said: Even though it will not save a dime, we are going 
to hold them hostage to the farm bill, to its eventual passage someday. 
Holding people hostage who have been victims of disaster is morally 
unacceptable.
  Again, I thank the 55 tonight who voted on the bipartisan amendment. 
My partner on the Republican side of the aisle, Senator Blunt, should 
be profoundly complimented for stepping in to help carry this charge. I 
was pleased to be his partner. I was pleased to be a partner with 
Senator Stabenow, chair of the Agriculture Committee, who worked 
closely with us to arrange for this Senate amendment to be possible 
tonight, to be able to have this vote. I thank her, and I thank Senator 
Blunt. I thank the other Senate cosponsors, and I thank everyone who 
voted tonight to say that disaster relief should no longer be delayed 
for the victims of the fires and droughts of the summer of 2012.
  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. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Merkley). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

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