[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 4]
[Senate]
[Pages 5298-5299]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           SENATE CHALLENGES

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, America has the best, brightest, and most 
dedicated workers in the world. All those workers need is a fair shot 
to succeed. But right now many workers in this country don't enjoy the 
same rights as the wealthy CEOs; that is, the right to negotiate the 
terms of their employment.
  A new rule from the National Labor Relations Board will remove 
unnecessary obstacles to workers' rights to form a union. I solidly 
support this rule, and I urge my colleagues to vote tomorrow against 
the resolution of disapproval which strikes down this commonsense rule.
  The new rule doesn't change or do anything to encourage unions, but 
it doesn't discourage them either. It just gives workers the ability to 
vote yes or no while minimizing the chance of intimidation and 
stalling.
  Mr. President, tomorrow the Senate will vote on a number of 
amendments to a bipartisan postal reform bill. This important 
legislation will safeguard more than 8 million jobs of people who 
depend on a vibrant postal system. It will also protect postal 
customers--particularly elderly and disabled Americans and people who 
live in rural parts of this country.
  I am pleased we reached an agreement to allow Senators to offer 
amendments to this bill. I hope once we work through the amendments to 
the bill tomorrow we will see a strong bipartisan vote to modernize the 
Postal Service and save this important institution from insolvency. 
This institution is so important it is contained in our Constitution.
  Once we pass postal reform tomorrow, as I expect we will, the Senate 
will move on to the consideration of another very important piece of 
legislation, the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act. 
Since its passage in 1994, this legislation has reduced the annual 
incidence of domestic violence by more than 50 percent.
  Despite that incredible progress, we still have work to do to keep 
women and their families safe. Three women die in this country every 
day at the hands of abusive partners--on weekends, all days, no days 
off. For every victim who is killed there are nine more who narrowly 
escape death and are beaten savagely. It would be unacceptable to step 
back from our national commitment to stop violence and abuse now.
  This legislation was the brainchild of Vice President Joe Biden when 
he was a Member of the Senate. It does very important work. For 
example, it allows communities to get support in setting up shelters 
for these women and their families to go in secret.
  The legislation was unanimously reauthorized by the Senate in 2000 
and 2005. This effort should be--and traditionally has been--above 
partisanship. I hope that proves to be the case again this year. This 
year it has 60 cosponsors and the support of 47 State attorneys 
general. I cannot imagine why my Republican colleagues would oppose 
such a worthy piece of legislation. I am hopeful and I am confident 
they won't.
  By joining Democrats to pass this legislation, Republicans can help 
us send a clear message that this country doesn't tolerate domestic 
violence. If the Senate doesn't complete the work on this critical 
issue before we recess for this work period, we will continue after we 
come back to try to work through any problems. I don't see any, Mr. 
President.
  But the Violence Against Women Act isn't the only pressing matter the 
Senate has to complete the next work period. We must begin work on a 
number of appropriations bills, consider additional judicial 
nominations, and take up legislation to cut taxes for small businesses 
so that they can expand and hire.
  Cybersecurity legislation, I have been told, the House will take up 
soon, and I appreciate that. We must address the looming crisis for 
millions of students in America: the July 1 deadline for interest rates 
to double on Federal student loans. That is fast approaching.
  With middle-class families struggling and fewer families able to 
afford the rising cost of higher education, we cannot afford to put 
college out of reach for more promising young people. Doubling interest 
rates from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent--effectively socking 7.4 million 
students with $1,000 a year in student loan costs--would do irreparable 
harm to our ability to educate young men and women.
  Today Americans have more student loan debt than credit card debt. 
Why would we want to double what they pay? The average graduate owes 
$25,000 when they graduate. Getting a college education should not 
burden young people with unsustainable debt. Unfortunately, many of my 
Republican colleagues have signaled that they would rather cut taxes 
for the richest of the rich than invest in the next generation of 
American workers. But the business community agrees that making college 
affordable is the key to keeping America competitive in a global 
economy. An investment in education is an investment in our economy.

[[Page 5299]]

  I hope we will all join together, hear the message, and work to stop 
8 million students in this country from having an increase in the 
amount of money they are obligated to pay back for the loans they get 
for an education in America today.

                          ____________________