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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S6241 

Vol. 158 WASHINGTON, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2012 No. 122 

Senate 

The Senate met at 10 a.m. and was 

called to order by the Honorable 

KIRSTEN E. GILLIBRAND, a Senator from 

the State of New York. 

PRAYER

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

Let us pray. 

Lord of salvation, sometimes we are 

tempted to doubt Your promises and to 

feel cynical about the chaos in our 

world. When these feelings come, help 

us to remember Your great deeds in 

our Nation’s history, recalling the 

many victories You have already 

helped us win. 

Continue to lead our lawmakers like 

a shepherd in green pastures and beside 

still waters. Nourish their spirit with 

the food of Your wisdom, soothing 

their doubts and calming their fears. 

Give them indefatigable courage for 

the living of these challenging days, 

using them as instruments to share 

hope and encouragement to our Nation 

and world. 

Lord, we thank You today for the life 

and legacy of Ambassador Chris Stevens. 

We pray in Your great Name. Amen. 

f 

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE 

The Honorable KIRSTEN E. GILLIBRAND 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. 

f 

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 assistant legislative clerk read 

the following letter: 

U.S. SENATE, 

PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE, 

Washington, DC, September 12, 2012. 

To the Senate: 

Under the provisions of rule I, paragraph 3, 

of the Standing Rules of the Senate, I hereby 

appoint the Honorable KIRSTEN E. GILLIBRAND, a Senator from the State of New 

York, to perform the duties of the Chair. 

DANIEL K. INOUYE, 

President pro tempore. 

Mrs. GILLIBRAND thereupon assumed the chair as Acting President 

pro tempore. 

f 

RECOGNITION OF THE MAJORITY 

LEADER 

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

f 

SCHEDULE 

Mr. REID. Madam President, the 

Senate will now consider the motion to 

proceed to S. 3547, the Veterans Jobs 

Corps Act. Seventy minutes will be 

equally divided this morning between 

the two leaders or their designees, with 

the Republicans controlling the first 

half and the majority controlling the 

final half. 

We will begin consideration of the 

Veterans Jobs Corps bill today. It is 

unfortunate that we are having to go 

through another couple of filibusters 

on this bill, but that is what we have 

been through. 

I mentioned yesterday on the floor 

that for the 6 years we have had a 

Democratic majority, there have been 

380—this makes now 381—filibusters. 

During the time of Lyndon Johnson, 6 

years, the same period of time, there 

was 1 filibuster—381 to 1. That is the 

kind of obstruction that has taken 

place in this body by the Republicans, 

and it is untoward by any stretch of 

the imagination. There has never been 

anything close to this. 

HONORING OUR FOREIGN 

SERVANTS 

Mr. REID. I was disturbed and saddened to learn late last night of the 

deaths of Ambassador Chris Stevens 

and three other personnel in an attack 

on the U.S. consulate in Libya. I would 

be happy to talk by name about them, 

but their names have not been released 

at this stage. It doesn’t take away 

from how important the jobs are of 

these Foreign Service officers. 

I join President Obama in condemning these senseless acts of violence. My thoughts are with the families of those who were killed in this 

horrible attack. It is too often forgotten that American diplomats risk their 

lives on a daily basis. 

I had the good fortune in my days on 

the Foreign Affairs Committee in the 

House to travel the world. I always 

make sure, wherever I go, to visit with 

the Foreign Service personnel. They 

are everyplace. There is no group of 

people—and I tell them this every time 

I have the opportunity to visit with 

them—who do more for our country in 

a positive sense than these Foreign 

Service officers. They work so hard, 

and most of the time their duty stations are very difficult. 

For example, take this good man, 

Ambassador Stevens, who was just confirmed a few months ago. He was a 

Peace Corps volunteer in Morocco. He 

taught English there. He was fluent in 

Arabic, French, and English. He served 

in the Foreign Service in Jerusalem, 

Cairo, and Saudi Arabia. He was the 

Staff Assistant of the Bureau of Near 

Eastern Affairs. He had an education 

that was really unbelievably strong 

and powerful. He graduated from 

Berkeley. He had a law degree from 

Hastings, one of the premier law 

schools in the country. He had a master’s degree from the National War College. What a loss to our country. 

Our diplomatic corps is filled with 

admirable and dedicated public servants, and the four Americans who lost 

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