[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 7]
[Senate]
[Pages 9545-9546]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




   BANK ON STUDENTS EMERGENCY LOAN REFINANCING ACT--MOTION TO PROCEED

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I move to proceed to Calendar No. 409, the 
Warren college affordability legislation.
  The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will report the motion.
  The bill clerk read as follows:

       A bill (S. 2432) to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 
     to provide for the refinancing of certain Federal student 
     loans, and for other purposes.


                                Schedule

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, following my remarks and those of the 
Republican leader, if any, the Senate will be in a period of morning 
business until 5:30 p.m. this evening. At 5:30 there will be three 
cloture votes on nominations of U.S. district judges: Lauck of 
Virginia, Sorokin of Massachusetts, and Boulware of Nevada.
  (Ms. Hirono assumed the Chair.)


                           Las Vegas Tragedy

  Mr. REID. Madam President, it is with a lot of sadness that I come to 
the floor today following the tragic event that took place in Las Vegas 
yesterday.
  I spoke with Sheriff Gillespie this morning.
  Two police officers were having lunch in a pizza restaurant on Nellis 
Boulevard in Las Vegas, and two people walked in, shot them both and 
killed them, took their guns and their badges, put some kind of a flag 
over them representing whomever they were representing, and walked 
across the street to Wal-Mart and killed an innocent woman. Then they 
killed themselves. All the details are not available, but there is no 
question they were murdered in cold blood--for no reason other than the 
weirdness or craziness of this couple.
  So all of Nevada mourns the loss of our neighbors, our friends and, 
in the case of Officers Alyn Beck and Igor Soldo, our protectors. My 
sympathy goes to their family members and loved ones. This hits very 
close to home.
  Many years ago when I practiced law, I brought a fine young man into 
my law firm named Claude Zobell. Claude has been with me for all these 
years. He ran my Washington office. He went on to become dean of a law 
school, and he is now an attorney for a hotel chain in Tennessee. But 
he has helped me all these years fill out my financial disclosures. His 
nephew, his wife's mom's son, was one of the police officers killed. 
Anne, Claude Zobell's daughter, works for me here in Washington. I 
talked to him this morning. The cousin was killed. The pain that people 
go through in these unnecessary tragedies and senseless shootings is 
awful.
  No words can undo the unspeakable act which claimed the lives of 
these two men. They have families--wives, children. So that their 
families know, not only is Nevada grieving but all of America is 
grieving.
  My thanks go to the law enforcement officers who were called in after 
the killings to work at that scene and the scene across the street, 
putting their lives in peril every step of the way. It seems that our 
law enforcement officers respond to these scenes every day--in Santa 
Barbara, in Seattle, and on and on with the names of cities where 
people are shot. I so appreciate these law officers every day putting 
their lives on the line.
  We take for granted here in the Senate the people looking after us. 
There are people out there who are so evil, who try every day to do 
harm to not only the Presiding Officer, not only me, but to people who 
work in these buildings, the tourists that come to these buildings. So 
if there are any complaints about having too much security, come to me 
and I will try to explain why we need it.
  So without elaborating, my deepest sympathies are with the families 
of those who died.
  We in Congress have a duty to put in place legislation that helps 
prevent these deranged, weird, and evil people who carry out such 
savage acts of violence. A step in the right direction would be 
background checks so that people who are criminals, who are deranged, 
can't buy a gun. The American people are depending on us to pass 
legislation to prevent gun violence to safeguard our communities, 
schools, and families.
  There is not a single Senator I know of who says: Let's get rid of 
all the guns; let's make sure that people don't have guns. We are not 
saying that. Listen to what we are saying.


                             Climate Change

  Madam President, we have a lot to do this week. We need to confirm 
some people as we are still way behind.
  Senator Sheldon Whitehouse--the junior Senator from Rhode Island has 
been a real trooper--has been so enthused and so invigorated; he has 
traveled the country alerting the American people to the dangers of 
what is happening to our world regarding climate. It has been a one-man 
show. Tonight he is going to work with a number of Senate Democrats in 
highlighting the need for congressional action to fight climate change. 
I applaud him for his work on this issue. He has focused like no other 
on our changing world.


                          Veterans Health Care

  The care of our Nations' veterans is another issue we need to talk 
about, and we will talk about that today, also.
  Last Thursday Senator Bernie Sanders, Chairman of the Senate 
Veterans' Affairs Committee, and Senator John McCain announced a 
bipartisan agreement on legislation to address patient wait times at VA 
hospitals. The details of the agreement are not in writing yet. At 
least they weren't a few minutes ago. They are being drafted. The 
legislation is a comprehensive approach to ensure that veterans are 
getting the care they deserve. This agreement is very important to all 
Nevadans, to all Americans, and of course it is extremely important to 
countless veterans and their families.
  Recently, along with America and this body, I was shocked to learn 
that VA hospitals all over the country--and in Nevada in particular--
were affected by dangerous wait times for patients. That is 
unacceptable. This legislation

[[Page 9546]]

worked on by Sanders and McCain is not going to solve all the problems 
that exist, but it is certainly putting the VA on the right track.
  This bipartisan agreement aims to improve accountability throughout 
the entire Veterans Affairs Administration, holding VA officials 
responsible for poor job performance. One of the things we learned is 
that they covered up wait times. Why? Because by doing that they would 
get bonuses at the end of the year. So that will stop.
  This legislation will also take big steps in addressing accessibility 
to health care at VA institutions nationwide. The agreement will allow 
veterans facing long delays to seek health care outside of the VA--in 
private doctors' offices, community health centers, military hospitals, 
and other places that Sanders and McCain are now working on.
  Their legislation will expedite the hiring for VA doctors and nurses 
and authorize 26 new medical facilities nationwide.
  In addition to improving access and accountability throughout the 
Veterans Administration, this bipartisan agreement addresses other 
important issues such as GI eligibility for surviving spouses and in-
state tuition to veterans enrolling in colleges and universities.
  Much will depend on the details of the final bill, but Senators 
Sanders and McCain have put together an agreement which is good for 
American veterans and our country. I commend them. I commend especially 
Senator Sanders for his leadership in this issue since he has been 
working on veterans care. It is a clear indication how much he values 
this Nation's servicemembers. In John McCain we could not have a more 
exemplary person dealing with VA health care as a result of his having 
spent long periods of time in VA facilities around the country as he 
was recovering from his ordeal in Vietnam. So I appreciate him in many 
different ways, but today for his labors in bringing both sides to the 
table to get something done on behalf of our veterans.
  I look forward to this legislation coming before us, and I will be 
happy to schedule a vote on it as quickly as possible. America's 
veterans are depending on us to complete this legislation to ensure 
that our veterans get the care and resources they were promised by a 
grateful Nation.


                       Reservation of Leader Time

  It appears there is no one rushing to the floor to speak, so I would 
ask unanimous consent that the Presiding Officer announce the business 
of the day.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the leadership time 
is reserved.

                          ____________________