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Floor Updates for Thursday, November 20, 2008

Floor -- Senate Opening


Thursday, November 20, 2008 at 09:30 AM

 

 

Senate Opening

 

 

 

The Senate is convened.

 

 

 

 


Floor -- Reid, Inhofe, Mikulski


Thursday, November 20, 2008 at 10:12 AM

 

 

Morning Business

 

 
Senator Reid: (9:32 AM)

 

·         Today --

 

o    We will have morning business.

 

o    We will resume the consideration of the motion to proceed to H.R.6867.

 

o    We may have a vote today or votes.

 

·         Spoke on procedure.

 

o    SUMMARY "we are in a situation where we don't know procedurally what we are going to be able to accomplish today. this doesn't ripen until tomorrow. so we could pass unemployment compensation legislation today to give people who are desperately in need of these checks, relieve. but, we may not be able to do that until tomorrow."

 

o    SUMMARY "it may be necessary we come back after thanksgiving and i will need an opportunity to converse with my republican counterpart but i will do that. i have a meeting scheduled for later today with the speaker so everyone just stay tuned and we'll do the very best we can to let senators know where we are at"

 

 
Senator Inhofe: (9:34 AM)

 

·         Spoke on an auto manufacturer relief package.

 

o    SUMMARY "now it appears that much of what you have heard in the media about the auto bailout being about jobs has been misleading. in fact, there are the usual suspects working behind the scenes to betray auto workers. these are the facts: the proposed $25 billion bailout of detroit now appears to have been hijacked by the powerful environmental lobby"

 

·         Spoke on a TARP fund restriction.

 

o    SUMMARY "what i've done is drafted legislation that's called senate bill 3697. we have some democrats and some republicans cosponsoring this. it is not a freeze. i wish it wrvment i wish i could draft a piece of legislation that said, let's take the $350, give it back to the taxpayers. it belongs to them. but we knew that that wouldn't fly. so instead of that, we went ahead and did it with change -- made a modest change in the system. as the law is drafted right now, if the request is made by the treasurer, whether it is secretary paulson or another person, that money is going to automatically come to them, if no one objects while we're in session for 15 days."

 

 
Senator Mikulski: (9:51 AM)

 

·         Spoke on an auto manufacturer relief package.

 

o    SUMMARY "while we are fiddling and diddling to a parliamentary tune here, our economy is burning, and the question is, do we burn the economic house down around us by inaction? now, you might not like this rescue plan or that reserve could you plan or what about the automobiles. i am a champion of the jobs in the automobile industry"

 

o    SUMMARY "we got bait-and-switch from paulson. paulson changed his plan. he said that he would originally use it to open up credit and to also deal with the toxic mortgages. now he's using it for money to buy ownership in banks and not asking anything in return. paulson threw money at the banks and no strings attached. we've now spent close to $350 billion, and where are we? we are nowhere. the stock market is down, and unemployment is up. things have actually gotten worse. people continue to lose their homes."

 


Floor -- Corker, Reed, Nelson (FL)


Thursday, November 20, 2008 at 10:42 AM

 

 

Morning Business

 

 
Senator Corker: (10:05 AM)

 

·         Spoke on an auto manufacturer relief package.

 

o    SUMMARY "c.e.o.'s testified. i have to tell you i was really struck by the lack of coherence, the fact that we had three leaders in corporate america that i actually have a degree of respect for. i was in some ways embarrassed for some of them. they evidently had no plan. i think they soviet like in the senate and in the house today"

 

o    SUMMARY "it would be a tremendous disservice for us just to grant money to the companies without causing them to reorganize. there is something we have in this country called bankruptcy protection. there is something that allows companies to go in and reorganize, to put their strengths in order, do away with their weaknesses and actually carry on"

 

 
Senator Reed: (10:15 AM)

 

·         Spoke on an unemployment relief extension.

 

o    SUMMARY "there are indications that this will get worse before it gets better. another reason to act now to try to provide support and assistance to those people who have worked and now find themselves without a job -- through no fault of their own. in my home state of rhode island, these national trends are amplified dramatically."

 

o    SUMMARY "we have to stimulate the economy. unemployment insurance helps to do that. these benefits are spent right away in the local communities. these benefits are going to people who are not going to, unfortunately, be able to put it away for a rainy day. today is their rainy day. they're going to have to go to the supermarket, they're going to have to go to the pharmacy. they're going to have to go put some gas in their automobiles to get around to get their families around. this money is spent almost immediately -- on food, medicine, gasoline"

 

o    SUMMARY "we also have to make investments to improve job creation and provide long-term benefits. i think this means investing in our infrastructure, putting people to work, putting people to work to rebuild this country not in a transient, temporary fashion but for projects that will last beyond this economic crisis."

 

 
Senator Nelson-FL: (10:29 AM)

 

·         Spoke on a resolution on a missing Floridian in Iran.

 


Floor -- Warner, Stevens, Reid, McConnell, Murkowski, Inouye, Byrd, Domenici, Lieberman


Thursday, November 20, 2008 at 11:54 AM

 

 

Morning Business

 

 
Senator Warner: (10:52 AM)

 

·         Spoke in honor of Senator Stevens.

 

 
Senator Stevens: (10:58 AM)

 

·         Spoke on his departure from the United States Senate.

 

 
Senator Reid: (11:10 AM)

 

·         Spoke in honor of Senator Stevens.

 

 
Senator McConnell: (11:16 AM)

 

·         Spoke in honor of Senator Stevens.

 

 
Senator Murkowski: (11:17 AM)

 

·         Spoke in honor of Senator Stevens.

 

 
Senator Inouye: (11:33 AM)

 

·         Spoke in honor of Senator Stevens.

 

 
Senator Byrd: (11:34 AM)

 

·         Spoke in honor of Senator Stevens.

 

 
Senator Domenici: (11:39 AM)

 

·         Spoke in honor of Senator Stevens.

 

 
Senator Lieberman: (11:43 AM)

 

·         Spoke in honor of Senator Stevens.

 

 
Senator Hatch: (11:50 AM)

 

·         Spoke in honor of Senator Stevens.

 

 


Floor -- Murray, Roberts, Hutchison, Akaka, Coleman, Craig, Bunning, Wicker, Cochran


Thursday, November 20, 2008 at 12:44 PM

 

 

Morning Business

 

 
Senator Murray: (11:53 AM)

 

·         Spoke in honor of Senator Stevens.

 

 
Senator Roberts: (11:56 PM)

 

·         Spoke in honor of Senator Stevens.

 

 
Senator Hutchison: (12:10 PM)

 

·         Spoke in honor of Senator Stevens.

 

 
Senator Akaka: (12:16 PM)

 

·         Spoke in honor of Senator Stevens.

 

 
Senator Coleman: (12:20 PM)

 

·         Spoke in honor of Senator Stevens.

 

 
Senator Craig: (12:23 PM)

 

·         Spoke in honor of Senator Stevens.

 

 
Senator Bunning: (12:27 PM)

 

·         Spoke in honor of Senator Stevens.

 

 
Senator Wicker: (12:32 PM)

 

·         Spoke in honor of Senator Stevens.

 

 
Senator Cochran: (12:39 PM)

 

·         Spoke in honor of Senator Stevens.

 


Floor -- Isakson, Leahy, Gregg


Thursday, November 20, 2008 at 02:00 PM

 

 

Morning Business

 

 
Senator Isakson: (12:44 PM)

 

·         Spoke in honor of Senator Stevens.

 

 
Senator Leahy: (1:22 PM)

 

·         Spoke on the expected nomination of Eric Holder to Attorney General.

 

o    SUMMARY "mr. holder would be the first african-american to serve as attorney general, the highest ranking law enforcement officer in the country. but far more important than that, he would be as qualified a person as could be found in either party in this country. over the last eight years political manipulation and influence from partisan political operatives in the white house have undercut the department of justice and its mission and severely undermine the morale of the career professionals and shaken the confidence in the federal justice system. we need the new attorney general to be a person not only of integrity, but also, and just as importantly, of experience."

 

 
Senator Gregg: (1:52 PM)

 

·         Spoke in honor of Senator Sununu.

 

 


Floor -- Harkin, Reid


Thursday, November 20, 2008 at 03:00 PM

 

 

Morning Business

 

 
Senator Harkin: (2:12 PM)

 

·         Spoke on comprehensive healthcare reform.

 

o    SUMMARY "senator kennedy designated three working groups to oversee the principle components of the bill. senator clinton was asked to cover the health working coverage group and senator mikulski will chair the quality working group and i will chair the health prevention group. the chair i will focus on is wellness, disease prevention and the components of this legislation. again, mr. president, this has been a longstanding focus of mine. indeed i have passed comprehensive wellness legislation."

 

o    NOTABLE "if we pass a health care reform bill that greatly extends health insurance coverage but does nothing to implement a national prevention and wellness structure and agenda, then we will have failed the american people. it simply makes no sense to legislate broader access to a health care system that costs too much, delivered too little largely because it neglects wellness and prevention. we need to craft a bill that mobilizes our society to prevent these unnecessary diseases and conditions"

 

o    SUMMARY "this working group that senator kennedy has asked me to chair will reach out broadly. we want to capture the best ideas, the best practices. our goal is to transform america into a wellness society to borrow a phrase, that's change you can believe in. it's also change that's long overdue. to date, wellness and prevention have been the missing pieces in the national conversation about health care reform. it's time to make them the centerpiece of the conversation."

 

 
Senator Reid: (2:55 PM)

 

·         Propounded a UC that the motion to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to H.R. 6867 be voted on at 3:00 PM today, and, if cloture is invoked, that all time post-cloture be yielded back and the Senate proceed to the measure, the bill be considered read a third time and a vote occur on final passage.  Further propounded that following the disposition of H.R. 6867 the senate proceed to a period of morning business. (without objection)

 

·         This week --

 

o    We will have no further votes.

 


Floor -- Reid, Allard, Wyden, Specter


Thursday, November 20, 2008 at 04:07 PM

 

 

Morning Business

 

 

 

H.R. 6867 is agreed to by voice vote and the bill is passed.  
Senator Reid:

 

·         Moved to proceed to S. 3297.

 

 
Senator Allard: (3:32 PM)

 

·         Spoke in honor of Senator Stevens.

 

 
Senator Wyden: (3:34 PM)

 

·         Spoke in honor of Senator Smith.

 

 
Senator Specter: (3:47 PM)

 

·         Spoke in honor of Senator Smith.

 

·         Spoke on an auto manufacturer relief package.

 

o    SUMMARY "we are well aware of the fact that there could be very serious repercussions for the economy as a whole if the automobile manufacturers fail. there has been considerable talk that they could go into reorganization and bankruptcy and could emerge. that may well be true. but that could be a risk as to what would happen. the congress of the united states authorized some $700 billion to assist on an economic recovery and that legislation has not been warmly received by the american people"

 

o    SUMMARY "the congress acted in the face of having our backs to the wall, gun at our heads or any other metaphor of critical nature that one would choose. on september 29, the house of representatives failed to pass an economic recovery program. senators were notified to be in the chamber at 7:30 on wednesday evening to vote and regrettably that legislative process did not follow regular order. it started off with a bill with papers from the treasury department -- it wasn't a bill; a four-page memorandum, later expanded to more than 100 payments and ultimately to more than 400 pages. when regular order is not physicalled, -- followed, the consequence is likely not to be so good. regular order requires a bill that you can read and study. it requires hearings before a economy where people are opponents and people are proponents."

 



Quotes that appear in "Floor Updates" are taken from the Senate TV Close Captioning System and are not official record. For the official transcript, please visit the Congressional Record. Records are typically updated by 11 am the following day.

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