Congressional Record UNUM

E PLURIBUS

United States

of America PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE 112th

 CONGRESS, SECOND SESSION

∑ This ‘‘bullet’’ symbol identifies statements or insertions which are not spoken by a Member of the Senate on the floor.

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S5691 

Vol. 158 WASHINGTON, TUESDAY, JULY 31, 2012 No. 115 

Senate 

The Senate met at 10 a.m. and was 

called to order by the Honorable CHRISTOPHER A. COONS, a Senator from the 

State of Delaware. 

PRAYER

The Chaplain, Dr. Barry C. Black, offered the following prayer: 

Let us pray. 

Creator God, who has nurtured us 

throughout the seasons of our sojourn, 

give to the Members of this body the 

love, strength, and wisdom to do Your 

will. Keep them walking in the paths of 

righteousness and let them feel Your 

abiding presence in times of joy and 

sadness. Lord, empower them to hold 

fast to the good will that unites them, 

making them instruments of Your purposes to bring peace in our days, peace 

to our souls, peace to our families, 

peace to our country, and peace among 

nations. May they be moved by Your 

majesty and motivated by the magnitude of the responsibilities You have 

entrusted to them. 

We pray in Your mighty Name. 

Amen. 

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PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE 

The Honorable CHRISTOPHER A. COONS

led the Pledge of Allegiance, as follows: 

I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the 

United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, 

indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. 

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APPOINTMENT OF ACTING 

PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The 

clerk will please read a communication 

to the Senate from the President pro 

tempore (Mr. INOUYE). 

The legislative clerk read the following letter. 

U.S. SENATE, 

PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE, 

Washington, DC, July 31, 2012. 

To the Senate: 

Under the provisions of rule I, paragraph 3, 

of the Standing Rules of the Senate, I hereby 

appoint the Honorable CHRISTOPHER A. 

COONS, a Senator from the State of Delaware, to perform the duties of the Chair. 

DANIEL K. INOUYE, 

President pro tempore. 

Mr. COONS thereupon assumed the 

chair as Acting President pro tempore. 

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RECOGNITION OF THE MAJORITY 

LEADER 

The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The majority leader is recognized. 

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SCHEDULE 

Mr. REID. Mr. President, we are already on S. 3414, which is the cyber security bill. The time until 2:15 p.m., is 

for debate only, and the time until 

12:30 p.m. will be equally divided between the two leaders or their designees. The majority will control the 

first hour and the Republicans the second hour. 

The Senate will recess from 12:30 p.m. 

until 2:15 p.m. for the weekly caucus 

meetings. 

I will alert everyone to this: I hope 

those people, led by Senator LIEBERMAN and Senator COLLINS, will work to 

come up with a finite list of amendments so we can move on the cyber security bill. 

I spoke to the Republican leader yesterday and have been very patient and 

tried to get a list of amendments we 

can agree on. I hope that can be done 

soon. It is very important that we 

make a determination of whether we 

are going to be able to get a bill. There 

is not a lot of time left to tread water, 

so to speak. 

This is an important piece of legislation. All one needs to do is look at 

what is going on in India today. There 

are no cyber problems there that I am 

aware of, but one-half of the country of 

India is without electricity today. 

Transportation has been shut down, financial networks in India, which are 

significant, are down, and it is a chaotic place. There are 600 million people 

in India who are without electricity. 

As we have been told time and time 

again, the most important issue we 

have facing this country today for security is cyber. We have been told that 

by the Joint Chiefs of Staff and by the 

head of the CIA. We have been told 

that by Democrats and Republicans. It 

is an issue that is important, and we 

have been told it is something we can 

prevent. 

If we don’t do this bill, it is not a 

question of if there will be a cyber attack that will be devastating to our 

country, it is only a question of when. 

It can be stopped. I hope the chamber 

of commerce will get some sense. 

There was a big meeting in the 

Chamber yesterday. They were moving 

forward on all that was bad about the 

bill. The problem is they were dealing 

with the wrong bill. So I hope we can 

get something done. It is extremely 

important that we do. 

There will be a Senators-only briefing today at 5 p.m. in the Visitor Center today in SVC–217. 

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MEASURES PLACED ON THE 

CALENDAR—S. 3457 AND H.R. 4078 

Mr. REID. I am told there are two 

bills at the desk due for a second reading. 

The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator is correct. The clerk 

will report the bills by title for the second time. 

The legislative clerk read as follows: 

A bill (S. 3457) to require the Secretary of 

Veterans Affairs to establish a veterans job 

corps, and for other purposes. 

A bill (H.R. 4078) to provide that no agency 

may take any significant regulatory action 

until the unemployment rate is equal to or 

less than 6.0 percent. 

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I object to 

any further proceedings with regard to 

these bills at this time. 

The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Objection is heard. The bills will 

be placed on the calendar. 


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