Senate Opening

The Senate is convened.  

Opening Remarks

 
Senator Reid: (10:02 AM)

·         Today --

o    We will have one hour of morning business.

o    We will resume consideration of the motion to proceed to H.R. 7005.

·         Spoke on the auto bailout.

o    SUMMARY "this is, in effect, the white house's legislation. there was a decision made that the minority would not participate in the preparing of this legislation, but the white house was heavily involved. negotiations took place for days between chairmens frank and dodd and the white house and we now have a piece of legislation. some have asked, well what we want is to set up a procedure where we have lots of amendments, and then we'll ultimately vote on the final version. mr. president, i think it's only fair, if the minority, the republicans, want to have a better bill, then they should offer an alternative. and i invite them to do that."

o    SUMMARY "what we will do is just we have under the rule we can have a motion to proceed to this thing tomorrow. and if the republicans want to come and say, well, you know, you haven't allowed us any opportunity to offer amendments, that's what's taken place for the last two years, and look what it got the republicans. lost seven or eight senate seats, lost the presidency. we want to legislate. we're doing the very best we can to do that."

o    SUMMARY "i've received a number of phone calls from republicans today saying, i have just the thing that needs to be done to make this a great piece of legislation. well, i would hope, mr. president, they would be ready to do that. if not, we'll have a vote tomorrow on a motion to proceed to h.r. 7005."

Morning Business

 
Senator Corker: (10:14 AM)

·         Spoke on the auto bailout.

o    SUMMARY "all of us are going to be here next year, and i think it's our responsibility to deal with this issue in a professional, in a competent manner and actually solve this problem. i want to say to all of my colleagues on both the left and right, on the democratic and republican sides, we have an historic opportunity to actually solve this problem, and i think the solution is very, very simple."

o    SUMMARY "i felt like the best way for us to solve this problem was to actually cause these companies to go through reorganization, and any role that we might play as the federal government would be in the way of debtor in possession financing. after listening to the testimony and after talking to people all across our country that are involved, i do believe that the supply chain is in great distress. i think they're undercapitalized. i think that three companies have already been utilizing the supplier chain for financing by carrying payments for lengths of time. and so i think the supply chain is very fragile"

o    SUMMARY "we've drafted a bill as if we're saving the world. we're talking about three companies alone -- actually, two companies today alone and three covenants can solve this problem, put them on a solid foundation, move them ahead. we will have done the right thing for the american taxpayers. we will have done the right thing for these companies, and we would have acted responsibly together in concert doing something that, again, is great for our country"

 
Senator Isakson: (10:30 AM)

·         Responded.

o    SUMMARY "i want to thank the senator for all the work he has done over the last two mojtses. is it not true that almost all of those conditions in those three conditions you outlined were in whole or in part verballably contemplated by the automobile makers in terms of what it was ghg to take to allow them to come back and be profitable in the first place?"

 
Senator Corker: (10:31 AM)

·         Responded.

o    SUMMARY "their financial advisors have told them that they need for us to craft this legislation this way so that they have the hammer they need to make the bondholders reduce their debt, so that they can be healthy. without this kind of hammer, nothing is going to happen."

 
Senator Inhofe: (10:32 AM)

·         Spoke on the auto bailout.

o    SUMMARY "we just passed through this thing by a huge margin, 75-24. i was one of the 24 who voted against the $700 billion billout. wee but we passed it through by a huge, huge margin. this is something so much more than the $14 billion. where was all this concern, where was all of this outrage when we were talking about $700 billion? so we watched it and we saw that we gave the secretary of the treasury all the money that he was asking for, and then we find out that the amount of money that he was -- what he's going to use it for, wasn't used for that at all"

o    SUMMARY "why we now believe that government bailouts and government ownership of shares of these companies without a clear idea of what these companies would do significantly alter their business models and at least until well into next year is going to be a successful mission. i don't know why we think this because it hasn't happened. hasn't happened successfully before"

Morning Business

 
Senator Ensign: (10:57 AM)

·         Spoke on the auto bailout.

o    SUMMARY "the big three should not view chapter 11 as some sort of death sentence. instead, they should see it as the best opportunity to put themselves on the same competitive footing with companies like toyota and b.m.w. venerable companies in america, such as macy's and continental airlines, have filed for chapter 11 and have emerged as stronger, more viable companies"

o    SUMMARY "wouldn't it be better to have an spesht like a bankruptcy court judge oversee the process? not only would a bankruptcy judge have more tools than a a car czar, but the judge would not be influenced by the political process. a bailout would invite all sorts of meddling from lawmakers to have the companies carry out their own pet policies, and we should not be using this bailout as a vehicle to implement domestic social policy."

o    SUMMARY "we have come back to talk about saving just three companies. why aren't we considering pro-growth policies to help the larger economy? we should be considering long-term, pro-growth tax cuts rather than searching for ways to spend more of the taxpayers' money."

 
Senator Vitter: (11:11 AM)

·         Spoke on the auto bailout.

o    SUMMARY "i restate that commitment for one very simple, very compelling reason: because so much is as stake, because we need to get it right, because millions of individual workers and families and, indeed, all of us, through our economy, will suffer the consequences of our not taking appropriate action. so, mr. president, again, let me be clear. i'm not trying to block this package in spite of job losses that would occur if this companies went down. i'm trying to block this because of that in light of that"

o    SUMMARY "that's getting things in the right order, nailing down that essential restructuring now before any taxpayer dollars go out the door. a second alternative that i could support would involve a formal bankruptcy process. a lot of folks make the argument that bankruptcy isn't an option. consumers will never buy a car of a company in bankruptcy. they don't know if the warranty will be there or will be good six months or a year from now. well, we can fix that problem"

 
Senator McConnell: (11:25 AM)

·         Spoke on the auto bailout.

o    SUMMARY "now the american taxpayers are being asked to put their money behind a plan that is aimed at helping these companies survive. republicans received that plan late yesterday morning, about this time yesterday. we reviewed it closely to see if it meets the criteria that i've laid out repeatedly for taxpayer protections and an effective strategy for securing the long-term viability of these companies. in the end, i concluded that it does not."

o    SUMMARY "i've already enumerated some of the weaknesses in the plan, but in the end its greatest single snraw that it promises taxpayer money today for reforms that may or may not come tomorrow. and we would not be serving the american taxpayer well if we spent their hard-earned money without knowing with certainty that their investment would result in stronger, leaner automobile companies that would not need additional taxpayer help just a few months or weeks down the road. we simply cannot ask the american taxpayer to subsidize failure."

Morning Business

 
Senator Boxer: (11:35 AM)

·         Spoke on the auto bailout.

o    SUMMARY "we are not taking up this auto rescue plan in normal times. if it was normal times, that would be one thing. i wouldn't be that sympathetic to the big three. in normal times. i've had my arguments with them since the 1980's. i think they're fighting california and the 19 other states that want better fuel economy is a huge mistake on their part. and i don't want to reward them for that. but i have to tell you, when you look at the times we are in, you recognize that we need to bridge these troubled times right now, bridge these troubled times with a loan so that we can take a look at this when we have a new president, we have a new congress, and frankly when we begin to see a light at the end of this tunnel, which i believe is going to come when our new president comes to us in january"

o    SUMMARY "we would be the only industrialized nation in the world not to have a domestic auto industry. so when i hear my colleagues say, well, i don't like this little sentence here or that sentence there, i understand that. believe me, there's a lot of things in these bills that i don't like at all. unparalleled since the great depression, do we want to leave here and risk the chance that we could wake up without a manufacturing base in our great nation? and i say the answer is no"

o    NOTABLE "with what we know about the state of houtsing, of -- of housing, of construction, of the number of people filing. this is the christmas season. my goodness, let's take a chance on this. let's take a chance on this."

o    SUMMARY "i don't have a great deal of sympathy for the management over there who was responsible for this. they didn't take the lead on research and development of advanced-technology vehicles. they put too many of their resources into gas guzzlers. they ignored signs that their future success would depend on an ability to adapt to a changing business climate with"

 
Senator Barrasso: (12:31 PM)

·         Spoke on water well contamination in Cheyenne, WY.

o    SUMMARY "it just makes sense to us and the cause is clear. given these findings, it is time for the army corps to provide the funding the city needs to manage and to complete the country clean up efforts."

 
Senator Nelson-FL: (12:38 PM)

·         Spoke in honor of Senator Warner.

Morning Business

 
Senator Whitehouse: (12:50 PM)

·         Spoke on the auto bailout.

o    SUMMARY "some means of restructureing requires due process if they involve adjusting people's rights and claims. when we fail to provide that process, we unilaterally disarm government's response taking away its ability to restructure using those means. the price of this repeated omission has been high."

o    SUMMARY "now we have the auto bailout plan with its provision for a car czar. but, once again, it lacks a role for those due process powers of government. once we're committed to this deal, once we're in, the only tool we will have at that negotiating table is uncle sam's checkbook, that happen and the somewhat improbable threat to walk away and tank the auto companies after having put $15 billion into them. so now we'll have to negotiate about the companies continuing lavish executive and board compensation packages and other obligations impeding a fair and rational recovery. and as for looking backwards at preexisting obligations, as we say in rhode island, forget about it. that requires due process."

o    SUMMARY "the effect of all of this is to encourage special interests to play the holdout in the auto negotiations and dare us to tank the companies. it's going to be a high-stakes game of chicken. and no matter who wins, the taxpayers lose."

 
Senator McCaskill: (1:23 PM)

·         Spoke on the auto bailout.

o    SUMMARY "citigroup had gotten $50 billion; which we checked open their private jets? which we checked on their c.e.o. compensation? have we checked on their work rules and whether or not their workers are given enough flexibility? it is unbelievable to me we are setting this double standard. the thousands of jobs and families that build great american cars don't deserve this incredible hypocrisy in terms of the different treatment they're getting. what's good for the good is good for the gander"

o    SUMMARY "we are not hurting for qualified applicants for the federal judiciary. is it fair they have in the gotten a cost of living increase? probably not. but what is more unfair, what is a lot more unfair is to give somebody with a lifetime appointment, great health care, no cut in pay when they actually retire -- what's really unfair, mr. president, is to give them a pay raise on this day in this bill at this time. it's not the right time. and if it's in the bill i regrettably would have to vote against this piece of legislation because i feel so strongly that it sends the wrong message"

 
Senator Levin: (1:29 PM)

·         Spoke on the auto bailout.

o    SUMMARY "the facts that i've just shared about improved quality and more fuel-efficient vehicle and alternative-energy vehicles being produce bid the big three may not be readily accepted by people who have beliefs that are to the contrary. but one fact is indisputable and will hopefully influence some who are opened to argument: auto industries around the world are seeking to support -- the support of their governments through loans and other methods and are getting it."

o    SUMMARY "the continuing relationship between the big three, the domestic auto industry and our u.s. army vehicle program. we all look back, some of us nostalgically to what detroit did during world war ii. that's the past. there's a present which is critically important in terms of the security of this country. some have pointed out the need to have a manufacturing base in order to quickly expand in the case of need and that is a powerful argument, a national security argument for keeping our big three auto industry around the way that the other countries keep their auto industries around."

 
Senator Warner: (2:08 PM)

·         Responded.

o    SUMMARY "i would hope this nation would never again be faced with a serious problem as was in world war ii; namely that we let our armed forces get down to very small levels and the equipment was old and tired. you remember the pictures they used broomsticks to practice maneuvers with and model t automobiles were used as tanks. that reflects the potential of not just the companies themselves but the workers and how quickly they took their knowledge and their skills at hand to wing -- swing into action and produce the war materials we needed quickly. today our military is much stronger, well-equipped thanks to the distinguished chairman and other who have served with us on that committee but i think the likelihood of our nation requiring that enormous buildup is not, hopefully, not there but nevertheless we should remember that chapter"

The Senate stands in recess until 3:00 PM.