September 20, 2012 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S6493 

dubbed the 80th Congress as the donothing Congress—passed 906 bills. I 

don’t even know if he would have a definition of what we have done. 

So a do-nothing Congress is something I am not proud of. It is clear to 

me that betting on Congress getting religion after the election is also a risky 

gamble—a gamble with America’s future, a gamble with the next generation. We tried that with the supercommittee, but it failed. That is the reason 

we are here today facing the fiscal 

cliff. The sunsetting of the Bush tax 

cuts, the tax extenders, the end of 

emergency unemployment benefits, sequestration, those are all meat axe 

cuts, and we know that. 

The Congressional Budget Office says 

the fiscal cliff could cut the GDP by 4 

percentage points next year and send 

the economy back right into a recession. Look at the time we have wasted. 

The supercommittee fell apart almost 1 

year ago, and yet here we are. Instead 

of voting on a real and permanent solution to our financial problems, we are 

getting ready to vote on yet another 

temporary measure that will allow us 

to leave before we have addressed a single one of these most critical issues. 

What has happened since the supercommittee shut down with no agreement? One thing that has happened is 

our long-term national debt has topped 

$16 trillion a couple weeks ago. That is 

a figure that is almost impossible to 

wrap your mind around. But I think 

you can wrap your mind around this: 

Each one of us who lives in this great 

country is now in debt $50,700, every 

man, woman, and child. 

Sixteen trillion dollars is roughly the 

same as our country’s entire economic 

output for the first time in 40 years. 

The last time our debt was 100 percent 

of GDP was right after World War II. 

We were fighting to save our Nation, to 

save a society, to save a way of life. 

This has been self-inflicted, and we 

can’t keep going on this way. 

We have reached what the National 

Commission on Fiscal Responsibility 

and Reform called the moment of 

truth. The report it prepared for the 

President almost 2 years ago—in fact, 

that was the title of its report, The 

Moment of Truth. And while the commission faced the moment of truth 

with a comprehensive bipartisan plan 

for reducing our debt, Congress has yet 

to do so. Now is the time. We know how 

to fix things. Congress has done it before. 

In the early 1990s, our economy was 

faltering because deficits and debt were 

freezing capital. But Congress sent a 

signal to the market that it was capable of being fiscally responsible. And it 

was. The result was the longest economic expansion in history: the creation of over 22 million jobs and unprecedented wealth in America, with 

every income bracket rising—every income bracket, not just the chosen few. 

The budget framework put together 

by Congress and the White House led to 

the first balanced budget in generations and put our country on track to 

be debt free this year, in 2012. If we had 

stayed the course, we would be debt 

free as a United States of America 

right now. Let me repeat that. This 

year we would have been debt free. 

But we got totally off track with tax 

cuts, two wars, and expansion of the 

prescription drug benefits for Medicare 

recipients—none of which was paid for. 

All great ideas, but none was paid for. 

And the 10-year $5.6 trillion surplus 

forecast in 2001 has become a debt of 

more than $16 trillion. That is a $22 

trillion swing in less than a decade. It 

is unbelievable. It is mind boggling. 

But we can get back on track if we 

follow a simple formula, roughly the 

same one the Bowles-Simpson debt 

commission recommended. We have to 

curtail spending, we have to have a fair 

revenue stream, and we have got to 

look at cutting the fat; and, to do that, 

an overhaul of our tax system so it is 

not only more equitable for everyone 

but also encourages the kind of entrepreneurship that makes our country 

the bedrock of the global economy. 

In America, we need a tax system 

where everybody pays their fair share, 

and where American businesses are free 

to do what they do best: outproduce, 

and outinnovate competitors all 

around the world. To keep a bright future, we have to reform our entitlement programs so we can preserve the 

benefits. There is serious trouble ahead 

if we don’t act. 

Think about this. In 2016, Social Security disability is basically insolvent; 

2024, Medicare insolvent; 2033, Social 

Security will only be able to deliver 75 

cents on the dollar, a 25-percent discount. 

The American people are hungry for 

plain talk on our debt. That is why a 

few weeks ago in Charleston, WV, we 

hosted Senator Alan Simpson and 

White House Chief of Staff under Bill 

Clinton Erskine Bowles. They packed 

the house, and they spoke the truth. 

What they were saying is, give the 

American people the facts, show them 

the options the way we did at our fiscal 

summit, and they will do their part to 

get our country back on the right 

track. They always have. That is what 

makes this country so great. 

So don’t sell the United States of 

America short. Don’t sell the American 

people short because this is an election 

year. They can tell when you are dealing straight with them or when you are 

playing politics. Right now, there is no 

more time to play politics. 

In fact, I got a letter yesterday from 

James of Clarksburg, WV, talking 

about the summit. Here is what he 

said. 

It is time for responsible Members of the 

Senate like you to take to the floor and tell 

your fellow Senators, ‘‘It is past time for us 

to take responsible action to address the fiscal crisis which is our responsibility to the 

people who sent us here—because it is just 

that. There is no excuse for delaying action 

until after the election. 

No excuse to delay it just because of 

an election. 

James got it exactly right; there is 

no time to waste. I am not naive. I understand some of the choices we face 

are going to be hard for some of us to 

make. I know Republicans don’t want 

to talk about new revenue, and I know 

Democrats don’t want to talk about 

entitlement reform. But we need to 

start thinking more about the next 

generation than of ourselves, or the 

next generation than the next news 

cycle or the next flight out of Washington. 

Millions of Americans are struggling 

in this tough economy, working overtime to pay their bills, find a job, and 

find a way forward for their families. 

They are looking to us for the leadership they need. They are looking to us 

for solutions. They are looking to us to 

come together and do what is best for 

the country in a balanced and practical 

way. They are simply looking to us to 

do our job, and I intend to do that to 

the best of my ability. 

Winston Churchill once said: You can 

always count on Americans to do the 

right thing—after they have tried everything else. 

I think we have tried everything else, 

including kicking the can down the 

road 12 times before. Now it is time for 

us to do the right thing. This temporary step is the wrong thing at the 

wrong time. We have work left to do, 

and we need to stay and do it. The people of America expect us to do better, 

to stand up for them, to put politics 

aside. The people of West Virginia can 

be assured that I will always stand, and 

I will continue to try to do the best 

that I possibly can for them and for the 

people of this great country. 

I yield the floor. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mrs. 

HAGAN). The Senator from Rhode Island. 

f 

HONORING RUSSELL TRAIN 

Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Madam President, this week the conservation community mourns the passing of a great 

American leader, a passionate individual, and an inspiration and friend to 

many, Russell Errol Train. 

President Nixon first named Russell 

Train as Under Secretary of the Department of the Interior and then as 

the first Chairman of the new White 

House Council on Environmental Quality from 1970 to 1973. Russ Train then 

became the Administrator of the EPA, 

serving there from 1973 to 1977. He was 

at the forefront of the legislation that 

became the bedrock of our country’s 

environmental policy: the Clean Air 

Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act, the 

Endangered Species Act, the Toxic 

Substances Control Act—laws that 

keep the American public safe and that 

protect our American natural resources. 

His desire to protect wildlife and 

habitat predated these years of public 

service. He founded the Wildlife Conservation Foundation in 1959 and then 

the African Wildlife Foundation. When 


tjames on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with SENATE
S6494 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE September 20, 2012 

the World Wildlife Fund was established in the United States, he became 

its first President. 

This week the World Wildlife Fund 

U.S. CEO Carter Roberts described 

Russell Train as ‘‘a true national treasure and an inspiration to all of us who 

embrace conservation as their life’s 

work.’’ 

Mr. Roberts went on to say: 

Undoubtedly, Russ would prefer that we 

not spend a lot of time mourning his passing. 

He would want us to redouble our efforts to 

save the animals and places we care about, 

to solve the problems of climate change and 

resource scarcity, and to build leadership capacity in those countries where it is needed 

most. 

So it is with his legacy in mind that 

I come to the Senate floor today, as I 

try to do every week, to discuss climate change, the science behind it, and 

the reality of the changes we are already seeing. This week I will focus on 

how the carbon pollution that is causing these climate changes is also affecting our oceans and causing an 

equally threatening problem—ocean 

acidification. 

Sea water absorbs carbon dioxide; 

and when it does, chemical reactions 

occur that change the concentration of 

carbonate and hydrogen ions in a process that lowers the pH of sea water, 

commonly referred to as ocean acidification. 

Since the Industrial Revolution, we 

have burned carbon-rich fuels in measurable and ever-increasing amounts, 

now up to 7 to 8 gigatons each year. We 

have raised the average parts per million of CO2 in our atmosphere from 280 

parts to 390. By the way, the range for 

carbon dioxide in our atmosphere for 

the last, say, 8,000 centuries has been 

170–300 parts per million. So we are 

well outside of that range. Indeed, in 

the Arctic, measurements have already 

reached 400 parts per million. 

The oceans of the Earth have absorbed more than 550 billion tons of 

carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. 

That is approximately 30 percent of all 

of our carbon dioxide emissions. The 

good news is that absorbing all this 

carbon has significantly reduced the 

greenhouse gas levels in our atmosphere. The bad news is that because of 

all this carbon absorption, the ocean 

pH has changed globally, representing 

a nearly 30-percent increase in the 

acidity of the ocean. By the end of the 

century, ocean pH is predicted to 

change further, leading to a 160-percent 

increase in acidity. 

This is where we are so far. This is 

what is projected. This rate of change 

in ocean acidity is already thought to 

be faster than anytime in the past 50 

million years. A paper published in 

Science this year concluded that the 

current rate of CO2 emissions could 

drive chemical changes in the ocean 

unparalleled in at least the last 300 

million years. 

The authors of that Science study in 

March warned that we may be ‘‘entering an unknown territory of marine 

ecosystem change.’’ As the pH of sea 

water drops, so does the saturation of 

calcium carbonate, a compound critical to marine life for the construction 

of their shells and skeletons. Some organisms absorb calcium and carbonate 

directly right out of the water, others 

out of the food they ingest, but 

changes in the concentrations of these 

chemicals mean the building blocks become less available to make the shells 

of species such as oysters, crabs, lobsters, corals and the plankton that 

comprise the very base of the food web. 

As oceans get more acidic, it gets 

harder and harder for these important 

species to thrive, and it puts at risk 

the economies that depend on these 

species. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority leader. 

Mr. REID. I appreciate very much my 

friend from Rhode Island yielding, and 

I appreciate his focusing attention on 

something we do not focus on nearly 

enough—and that is a gross understatement—and that is our oceans. I admire 

the work he has done in so many different areas. We thought we had a path 

forward to do some good for oceans. It 

did not work out the way Senator 

WHITEHOUSE and I wanted. We will 

come back again because we have to do 

something about oceans. We study everything else but not our oceans, and 

most everything else depends on what 

happens in the ocean. 

Mr. WHITEHOUSE. I thank the leader. 

f 

UNANIMOUS CONSENT REQUEST— 

EXECUTIVE CALENDAR 

Mr. REID. Madam President, we currently have 17 district judges on the 

calendar, 14 reported by voice vote. For 

the people within the sound of my 

voice, what that means is they are not 

controversial. Twelve will fill judicial 

emergencies. These are places around 

the country where we have judges who 

are tremendously overworked on these 

important cases. 

We have heard this kind of joke: 

What are you trying to do, make a Federal case out of it? What that means is 

the Federal system is so good that people look at it as being the best there is 

as far as judicial activity. 

I am disappointed to say my Republican friends on the other side have informed me they will not agree on votes 

on any of these nominees. Republicans 

can offer no reason for blocking these 

bipartisan consensus district court 

nominees. I understand why they 

didn’t want us to do circuit courts—I 

understand that. I may disagree, but I 

understand that because Democrats 

have set boundaries in the past, as 

when we would no longer accept circuit 

court judges. But this is district court 

judges. 

Historically, the Senate has considered district court nominees as late as 

October in Presidential election years. 

In the past five Presidential election 

years, Democrats have never blocked a 

district court nominee from receiving a 

vote on the Senate floor, never. But 

our Republican colleagues are setting 

new standards for obstruction, not only 

in all the legislation but in judges. 

For the 28 district court nominees we 

have considered this year, I filed cloture 19 times. In other words, we have 

had to break a Republican filibuster on 

67 percent of the district judges we 

have considered and confirmed. President Obama’s district court nominees 

have been forced to wait 300 percent 

more than President Bush’s nominees; 

three times more. Only two people 

whom the President nominated this 

year have been confirmed. The kind of 

qualified consensus nominees who in 

years past would have been confirmed 

in a matter of minutes are now taking 

weeks and months, languishing with no 

action. These votes should be routine. 

There should not be a fight that 

delays action on important job measures. In September 2008, right before 

the last Presidential election, Democrats confirmed 10 of President Bush’s 

district court nominees in 1 day. More 

than half of the Nation’s population, 

160 million Americans, live in the part 

of the country where there has been a 

judicial emergency declared. That 

means more than half the people in 

this country seek justice from courts 

and judges that are strained to the 

breaking point under a backlog so intense an emergency has been declared. 

The chairman of the Judiciary Committee, of course, knows I am here. He 

wants to be on the Senate floor, but 

the time did not work. He has done a 

remarkably good job getting the judges 

out. With 1 out of every 10 Federal 

judgeships standing vacant, Americans 

can no longer wait on fair and speedy 

trials, and that is what they have to 

do. They cannot rely on them. 

Republicans should work with Democrats to confirm consensus district 

court nominees now. Refusing to do so 

is irresponsible. The Senate could act 

today and put highly qualified judges 

on the Federal bench, judges supported 

by both Democrats and Republicans. 

I hope we can get something done before we leave. I don’t want to file cloture on these nominees before the end 

of the year. It is not the way we should 

be working around here. We should be 

working together. 

I have a consent request. I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed 

to executive session to consider the following nominations: Calendar Nos. 674, 

675, 676, 760, 761, 762, 818, 828, 829, 830, 

832, 833, 834, 835, 875, 876, and 877; that 

the nominations be confirmed; the motions to reconsider be considered made 

and laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate and that no 

further motions be in order to any further nominations; that any statements 

relating to the nominations be printed 

in the RECORD. 

Further, Madam President, before 

you rule, we have the gamut. We have 

California, Utah, Connecticut, Maryland, Florida, Oklahoma, Michigan, 


tjames on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with SENATE