Senate Opening

The Senate is convened.

Opening Remarks

 
Senator Reid: (3:02 PM)

·         Today--

o    We will have one hour of morning business.

·         Spoke on automobile manufacturing relief.

o    SUMMARY "ford, general motors, and chrysler are american icons. we now see that all three teeter on the brink of collapse, due in no small part to their own ineptitude. all of the blame for this state falls squarely on the shoulders of those who run the big three. a consequence of their failures could broadly impact our entire country. the jobs of millions of american workers are at stake, along with the financial security of millions of families. so while we take no satisfaction in loaning taxpayer money to these companies, we know it must be done"

o    SUMMARY "there is really no perfect answer, no good answer to this problem. no solution that will satisfy everyone and no legislation that would be cause for celebration. but if senators are willing to work together in the next few days, we can pass legislation that represents good legislation, though not perfect, that will enable america's largest-single manufacturing embase to continue and in the immediate future"

 
Senator McConnell: (3:06 PM)

·         Spoke on the economy.

o    SUMMARY "republicans insist that any proposal aimed at helping the auto industry include a firm commitment on its part to significant and fundamental reform. troubled automakers cannot expect taxpayers' help without a serious commitment to change their ways permanently"

o    SUMMARY "automakers should not expect any new appropriations and congresses will not draw on funds that have already been designated to stablize the entire economy in order to help one sector of it. as congress works to help stablize the broader economy, we cannot expose the taxpayers to new burdens without the promise of avoiding in the future the same mistakes that created these problems in the first place."

Morning Business

 
Senator Bond: (3:12 PM)

·         Spoke on the Auto Industry Emergency Bridge Loan Act (S. 3715)

o    SUMMARY "i will not support a taxpayer-funded blank check that will prop up failed business models without getting the changes that are vitally needed. it is a disservice to the american taxpayer to throw good money after bad when these big businesses contributed to their problems. i share and understand the bailout fatigue of most taxpayers -- a lot of folks in my state -- and we're troubled by the government intervention in the private market. but i think it is note that the failures of the auto companies, like the finance markets, is more than just a failure of the markets and the industry. it also due to government actions, some of which pushed by congress."

o    SUMMARY "my bipartisan bill called the auto industry emergency bridge loan act would provide temporary assistance to the auto industry but hold the companies accountable by requiring specific plans with real and significant cost control measures and cuts. specifically, the levin-bond bill includes three key principles. one, first the bill must have strong taxpayer protection. this means taxpayers will be repaid for the emergency assistance and taxpayers would share in the turnaround profits of participating automakers. two, second, the bill includes executive accountability so failed executives not be rewarded for poor management. third, and most important, the bill includes significant financial reform so that the recipients of taxpayer funds must demonstrate they have a plan to ensure long-term competitiveness, health and profitability by bringing their costs under control."

·         Spoke on the Troubled Assets Relief Program.

o    SUMMARY "some of these issues are related to the management and oversight of the funds as reported last week by the u.s. government k blt office, the g.a.o. in its report, the g.a.o. uncovered a number of management and oversight deficiencies that raise serious questions about the program's integrity, accountability, transparency and effectiveness."

o    SUMMARY "a more aggressive, comprehensive, and smarter approach to the foreclosure crisis must be taken if we are to recover from the recession. the housing crisis has now spread from subprime mortgages to prime mortgages, as economic factors impact borrowers' ability to pay their mortgages. due to the expansion of the mortgage crisis, it's critical that we find measures to protect and create jobs."

 
Senator Specter: (3:45 PM)

·         Spoke on auto industry.

o    SUMMARY "i joined with senators levin, stabenow, bond, voinovich and senator brown on october 20th in endorsing legislation to assist the big three; really, to say that it is something that i would be willing to consider in light of the projected difficulties and the ripple effect that it could have on the economy. my statement in the news conference we held and a statement on the senate floor later was my view was limited to consider of such economic aid conditioned on the big three having plans to move forward which would present the realistic likelihood that they would be able to succeed."

o    SUMMARY "the public sentiment is very, very much opposed to bailouts. after the $700 billion legislation was passed on october 3rd, i traveled the state of pennsylvania and had town meetings. i found the temperature of my constituents was at the boiling point, 212 fahrenheit"

 
Senator Bingaman: (3:57 PM)

·         Spoke on the passing of Alice King.

 
Senator Dorgan: (3:58 PM)

·         Spoke on the economy.

o    SUMMARY "this is a result of reckless business practices by some of the largest financial firms in this country. and unfortunately, instead of dealing with the cause, there is so much effort now to throw money at the biggest firms in the country that helped steer this country's economy into the ditch."

o    SUMMARY "gramm-leach-bliley was the financial modernization bill, it said, do you know, what we have all these restrictions that came from the great depression, like glass-steagall and associations that banks can't invest in real estate and can't invest in securities. let's get rid of those restrictions. they are hopelessly old-fashioned. and so congress got rid of all those restrictions. president clinton signed it. a good number of his administration supported giving getting rid of those restrictions. i was one of eight senators on the floor who voted no. and i said then i think we'll see massive taxpayer bailouts within a decade. you put together insurance, real estate, securities with banking, you're asking for trouble."

·         Spoke on the auto industry.

o    SUMMARY "we're going to decide in the coming couple of days whether we're going to do something here with the bridge loan, with substantial conditions. and if those conditions are appropriate -- and i believe there is a road to a better future for this industry -- i want us to come down on the side of preserving millions of jobs. but that responsibility rests with this industry, to give us the plans that provide us with some assurance and some confidence about the future"

Morning Business

 
Senator Sessions: (4:28 PM)

·         Spoke on bailouts.

o    SUMMARY "when we're talking about tens of billions of dollars or hundreds of billions of dollars, the largest authorization, the largest expenditure of funds on any one project in the history of this republic, $700 billion, then we need to ask ourselves what this means. one of the things it means is that everybody else will want to get into the act. before the ink was dry on that, here comes the automobile companies. let me just say briefly. the americans are going to have to think about this."

o    SUMMARY "nobody can levy against any of the property until a bankruptcy judge says so. well, i'm just amazed that we're not going in that direction. and for some reason, it seems that certain interests are just objecting to the normal course of how a company should go about dealing with financial problems. i also believe a responsible united states senate should be taken aback about the way this has all come about. first was slipped in $25 billion, to help these companies move to more fuel-efficient automobiles. and that program. but the automobile executives came back a couple of week ago, about two weeks ago, and they asked for $25 billion on top of that, $25 billion more."

o    SUMMARY "the legislation calls for the appointment of a car czar. that's what they're calling it. so i -- and it says this about the car czar -- the guy's supposed to be able to meet with these executives who many of whom spent their lives in the automobile industry and it's going to tell them that's not a good idea, this is a good idea. yes, you can do that, no, you can't do that. we won't give you money unless you do such and so. what -- and tell them how to run their business."

 
Senator Webb: (5:09 PM)

·         Spoke on the auto industry.

o    SUMMARY "a lot of comments have been made about this automobile bailout. i think we are in a situation because of the extreme effect on our entire economy over the past several months where there is a legitimate issue of cash flow here rather than the innovation or lack thereof that's gone into the automobile industry. i am favorably disposed to supporting this loan provision if the right requirements are placed in the proposal."

·         Spoke on the Iraq Strategic Framework Agreement.

o    SUMMARY "we have observed over the past year the negotiation of a future relationship with iraq that has gotten almost no attention in the united states congress. this is not simply a sofa, a status of forces agreement, as we've seen in dozens of other countries around the world which are implemented pursuant to our legal authority to be in those countries. this also is a strategic framework agreement, a document which defines our future with iraq, which in iraq had to be approved by their cabinet, their parliament and now which will be subject to a pr lebocite and which will be approved with the signature of one individual out of the department of state."

Morning Business

 
Senator Cardin: (6:09 PM)

·         Performed wrap-up.

·         Tomorrow--

o    We will convene at 10:30 AM.

o    We will proceed to morning business until 12:00 PM.

o    Upon the expiration of morning business will resume consideration of S. 3297.

The Senate stands adjourned until 10:30 AM tomorrow.