S5956 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE August 2, 2012 

Medicare Cost Containment, Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 [31 U.S.C. 1105 note]. 

(Days of Senate session); 

Minimum Standards for Identification of 

Documents; Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 [49 U.S.C. 44901 

note]. (Days of Senate session); and 

Independent Payment Advisory Board [42 

U.S.C. 1395kkk]. (Days of continuous session). 

TABLE I. PRO FORMA SESSIONS OF THE U.S. SENATE: 

2005–2012 

[As of March 8, 2012] 

Congress & Years Pro forma Day 

112th (2011–2012) ............................................................... ....................... 02/24/2012 

02/21/2012 

01/20/2012 

01/17/2012 

01/13/2012 

01/10/2012 

01/06/2012 

01/03/2012 

12/30/2011 

12/27/2011 

12/23/2011 

12/20/2011 

11/25/2011 

11/22/2011 

10/27/2011 

10/24/2011 

10/07/2011 

09/29/2011 

09/02/2011 

08/30/2011 

08/26/2011 

08/23/2011 

08/19/2011 

08/16/2011 

08/12/2011 

08/09/2011 

08/05/2011 

06/03/2011 

05/31/2011 

111th (2009–2010) ............................................................... 11/12/2010 

11/10/2010 

11/08/2010 

11/04/2010 

11/01/2010 

10/29/2010 

10/26/2010 

10/22/2010 

10/19/2010 

10/15/2010 

10/12/2010 

10/08/2010 

10/05/2010 

10/01/2010 

01/19/2010 

01/05/2010 

10/09/2009 

08/10/2010 110th (2007–2008) ............................................................... 12/30/2008 12/26/2008 

12/23/2008 

12/19/2008 

12/16/2008 

12/12/2008 

12/05/2008 

12/02/2008 

11/29/2008 

11/26/2008 

11/24/2008 

11/13/2008 

11/10/2008 

11/06/2008 

11/03/2008 

10/30/2008 

10/27/2008 

10/23/2008 

10/20/2008 

10/16/2008 

10/14/2008 

10/10/2008 

10/07/2008 

10/06/2008 

09/05/2008 

09/02/2008 

08/29/2008 

08/26/2008 

08/22/2008 

08/19/2008 

08/15/2008 

08/12/2008 

08/08/2008 

08/05/2008 

07/27/2008 

06/30/2008 

05/29/2008 

05/27/2008 

05/23/2008 

03/27/2008 

03/24/2008 

03/21/2008 

03/18/2008 

02/22/2008 

02/19/2008 

TABLE I. PRO FORMA SESSIONS OF THE U.S. SENATE: 

2005–2012—Continued 

[As of March 8, 2012] 

Congress & Years Pro forma Day 

02/ I 5/2008 

01/18/2008 

01/15/2008 

01/11/2008 

01/09/2008 

01/07/2008 

01/03/2008 

12/31/2007 

12/28/2007 

12/26/2007 

12/23/2007 

12/21/2007 

11/29/2007 

11/27/2007 

11/23/2007 

11/20/2007 

11/09/2007 

10/05/2007 

09/14/2007 

109th (2005–2006) ............................................................... 01/24/2006 

01/20/2006 

01/03/2006 

Source: CRS analysis of relevant issues of the Congressional Record, Senate Calendar of Business, and data from the Legislative Information System 

of the U.S. Congress (LIS). 

I trust that this information meets your 

needs. If I can be of any additional help, 

please do not hesitate to contact me at 7– 

0656 or cmdavis@crs.loc.gov. 

f 

DROUGHT 

Mr. DURBIN. About 2 weeks ago, I 

visited a farm near my home town of 

Springfield, IL to see the impact of the 

ongoing drought. 

From the road, I couldn’t tell there 

was anything wrong with the crop. 

But as we went into the field, it 

quickly became clear that the crop was 

in poor shape. 

Following that visit, I met with the 

Illinois corn growers and the soybean 

growers and farmers from across the 

state. 

The message I heard was straightforward; it is as bad or worse than it 

has been in decades. 

Since that visit to a Springfield 

farm, drought conditions have only 

gotten worse. 

100 percent of Illinois and 64 percent 

of the country is facing severe or 

harsher drought conditions. 

Today, USDA announced 66 additional Illinois counties as primary disaster counties. 

With this announcement, all but four 

counties, Will, Cook, Kane, DuPage—in 

Illinois qualify for disaster assistance 

Very little rain, combined with abnormally high temperatures, is decimating many of the primary cropgrowing areas of the country. 

71 percent of the corn crop and 56 percent of the soybean crop in Illinois is 

rated as poor or very poor. 

This is in a State that regularly 

ranks as a top producer for both of 

these commodities. 

That means feed prices for livestock 

and eventually food prices for the rest 

of us are increasing. 

Everyone is going to feel the impact 

of this historic drought 

In response to conditions on the 

ground, Governor Quinn created a 

multi-agency drought task force in Illinois. 

The task force is coordinating State 

and Federal resources to ensure producers and communities are receiving 

the timely assistance. 

President Obama and Secretary 

Vilsack have done a commendable job 

of taking steps to help provide assistance to impacted producers and communities. 

They have sped up the disaster declaration process helping producers 

more quickly gain access to the limited disaster programs currently available. 

They have reduced interest rates on 

emergency loans. 

They have made it easier for land 

that is in conservation to open earlier 

for haying and grazing for livestock 

producers. 

And the administration is working 

with crop insurance companies to try 

to give producers more time to make 

premium payments. 

But we can do more. 

And since we can’t make rain, the 

single most important step Congress 

can take is to pass a farm bill. 

Most farmers will tell you they can 

survive one bad year. 

But right now farmers can’t even 

plan for future years. 

More than a month ago, the Senate 

passed the Local Food, Farms, and 

Jobs Act, more commonly known as 

the farm bill, with a 64—35 bipartisan 

vote. 

The bill would reauthorize several expired disaster programs to immediately help producers. 

Equally, if not more important, the 

bill would provide certainty for producers—allowing them to make longterm plans for getting through this 

drought and recovering from a bad 

year. 

Unfortunately the House has failed 

to act. 

In the roughly 40 days since the Senate passed a bill, the House has not 

even brought a companion measure to 

the House floor. During those 40 days 

another 20 percent of the country has 

developed drought conditions. During 

those 40 days, 98 of 102 counties in Illinois qualified for disaster assistance. 

During those 40 days, many farmers in 

Illinois have lost their crops. 

It is well past time for the House to 

take up and pass a farm bill that includes robust disaster assistance paired 

with the long-term policy farmers 

need. 

I will repeat something I said 2 weeks 

ago. 

Our producers and rural America already face a natural disaster. I don’t 

think it is too much that we spare 

them a manmade disaster by failing to 

pass a farm bill. 

f 

DEATH OF OSWALDO PAYA ́

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, some of 

you may have seen in the press last 

week that an inspiring Cuban citizen 

who tirelessly fought for a peaceful 

transition to democracy recently died 

in a tragic car accident on that island. 

Oswaldo Paya ́ was a modest man. A 

brave man. A hero. A Cuban patriot. 


bjneal on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with CONG-REC-ONLINE
August 2, 2012 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S5957 

And he was also very wise. 

He realized that one of the best ways 

to change the cruel and repressive 

Cuban regime was to work from within. 

He used a provision in Cuba’s constitution to seek peaceful political 

change and openness. 

More specifically, he and his team 

created the Varela Project to gather 

more than 11,000 signatures of Cuban 

citizens on a petition that called for a 

more open political system. 

Keep in mind that putting one’s 

name on a petition to the Cuban Government is a courageous thing to do on 

that island. It puts that person and his 

or her family at great risk. 

Nonetheless, in May 2002, he bravely 

presented the petition to the Cuban 

National Assembly for action exactly 

as allowed for in the Cuban Constitution. 

What did the Cuban Government do 

in response to a heroic and reasonable 

call for change allowed for under the 

country’s own laws? 

It harassed Paya ́ and his followers. It 

began its own referendum that made 

the island’s socialist system ‘‘irrevocable,’’ even after an additional 14,000 

signatures were added to the Varela 

Project petition. 

A year later many of Paya ́’s allies 

were arrested in a crackdown that sent 

many dissidents, writers, and even librarians to prison. 

Can you believe this craven response? 

The Cuban Government couldn’t 

blame this Cuban-born effort on the 

United States, on other outside forces, 

on any of the usual suspects on which 

it blames all the island’s woes. 

Thousands of brave Cubans asking 

for political reform within the bounds 

of their own constitution were simply 

belittled, ignored, and harassed. 

Paya ́ was a modest man. I had hoped 

to meet him on my trip to the island 

earlier this year, but we were unable to 

visit—you see, the Cuban government 

doesn’t want outsiders to visit people 

like Paya ́. 

His peaceful and tireless efforts for 

peaceful change earned him the European Parliament’s Sakarov Prize for 

Freedom of Thought in 2002, the National Democratic Institute’s W. Averell Harriman Democracy Award in 2003, 

and a nomination for the Nobel Peace 

Prize from Va ́ clav Havel in 2005. 

Paya ́’s daughter Rosa Maria said 

amid her loss and tears last week that 

her father never gave up hope that the 

country could be changed from within 

and that ‘‘he just wanted for Cubans to 

have their rights . . . that’s all he ever 

wanted.’’ 

Tragically the Cuban Government 

even arrested almost 50 Cubans who 

showed up to pay their respects at 

Paya ́’s funeral. 

Can you imagine—arresting people at 

a peaceful memorial service? 

My colleagues, Senators BILL NELSON, MENENDEZ, and RUBIO, have introduced a Senate resolution recognizing 

his work and calling for the peaceful 

democratic changes in Cuba that Paya ́

spent his life pursuing. I am pleased to 

be a cosponsor of that resolution and 

was happy to see that it passed the 

Senate just yesterday. 

Lastly, let me note that Paya ́ was 

often concerned for his safety—sadly, 

given the Cuban Government’s treatment of those wanting political freedom, not an unwarranted fear. 

So I want to emphasize an important 

point in the Senate resolution on Mr. 

Paya ́. Specifically, I call on the Cuban 

Government to conduct a credible and 

transparent investigation into the auto 

accident that caused his death. 

The Cuban Government owes this 

Cuban patriot and the Cuban people 

nothing less than a full accounting of 

his death. It also owes them the basic 

freedoms he tirelessly stood for. 

Mr. President, I want to also take 

this opportunity to talk about another 

tragedy that continues day after day in 

Cuba—that of the detention of American citizen Alan Gross. 

Alan was arrested more than 21⁄2

years ago while trying to help the 

Cuban people have greater ability to 

communicate with one another. 

When you go to Cuba, you realize the 

Castro regime not only blames the 

United States for all its woes but cynically makes it difficult for everyday 

Cubans to communicate or connect to 

the outside world using the Internet. 

That is why thousands upon thousands of Cubans use a free Internet library every year at the U.S. Interests 

Section in Havana. 

Alan Gross was arrested initially as a 

spy and eventually sentenced to 15 

years in prison. 

That is right—15 years. 

Mr. Gross apologized for his actions 

and has asked for Cuban compassion to 

allow him to visit his 90-year old mother suffering from inoperable lung cancer in the United States. The United 

States recently let a former Cuban detainee who was out on supervised release in the United States visit his ailing brother in Cuba, but the Cuban 

Government has shown no such decency in return. 

I met Alan in January in Cuba, and I 

am appreciative of the Cuban Government for allowing me that visit. He 

tried to remain in good spirits, but it 

wasn’t easy. He has lost more than 100 

pounds since his incarceration. He 

struggles to keep busy and healthy in 

jail, but it is not easy. Quite simply, he 

has been separated from his family for 

far too long. 

Alan Gross is a kind, decent man. He 

is no spy. He is no threat to anyone. In 

fact, despite all that has happened, he 

noted to me how deeply he still cares 

for the Cuban people. 

Let me say this as clear as I can: 

Alan Gross should no longer be a pawn 

of the Cuban Government in its disagreements with the United States. 

The Cuban Government has made its 

point. It will get nothing but international shame from holding Alan any 

longer. 

Let me also note that I do not support the failed U.S. embargo against 

Cuba and think the best way to see 

change on the island is to flood it with 

American ideas and people. 

But I will have to think long and 

hard before I do anything further to 

ease our relations while Alan remains 

so cruelly behind bars. 

To Oswaldo Paya ́’s family and brave 

colleagues and to Alan Gross, please 

know that you are not forgotten here 

in the Senate and around the world. 

f 

TRIBUTE TO REPRESENTATIVE 

PAUL FINDLEY 

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, today I 

wish to honor former Congressman 

Paul Findley—a great American who 

served his country in war and in the 

hallowed halls of Congress, a son of Illinois, a prolific writer and Lincoln 

scholar, a former political adversary, 

and my now friend. 

Paul Findley was born in Jacksonville, Illinois, on June 23, 1921. And at 

91 years of age, today Paul is as active 

and involved as he has ever been. Paul 

earned a bachelor’s degree from his beloved Illinois College in his hometown 

in 1943, where he was inducted into the 

prestigious Phi Beta Kappa society. 

After college, Paul served as a lieutenant in the Navy in the Pacific Theater 

from 1943 to 1946. His honorable service 

and that of the dwindling number of 

living Americans who served during 

World War II—one of the most difficult 

periods in our country’s history is 

something we should all take time to 

reflect on and thank them for. 

After the war, Paul became president 

of Pike Press, Inc., in Pittsfield. He 

spent several years as editor of this 

small town weekly newspaper. In 1952, 

Findley lost a bid for the Republican 

nomination for State senator—something he and I have in common, having 

lost our first campaigns for public office—but it didn’t stop either of us. 

In 1960 Paul Findley was elected to 

the U.S. House of Representatives representing the 20th Congressional District of Illinois. He served in the House 

honorably for more than 20 years, until 

in 1982 a young lawyer from Springfield 

and a long shot to win surprised a lot 

of people, including many of his supporters, by unseating the incumbent 

Findley. Though Paul Findley and I 

were opponents in that campaign, I always respected him and his public service. Notwithstanding what is often a 

bitter and rancorous climate of partisan politics, I am proud to call Paul 

Findley my friend. 

One of Paul Findley’s greatest accomplishments during his long and distinguished congressional career was his 

dogged, ultimately successful effort to 

preserve a great American treasure— 

the Springfield home of our beloved 

son of Illinois, Abraham Lincoln. 

Strolling today through this historic 

neighborhood at the heart of Springfield, as thousands of visitors do each 

year, it would be almost inconceivable 

that preserving Lincoln’s home was 

ever a matter of debate. But it once 


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