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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S5805 

Vol. 158 WASHINGTON, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 1, 2012 No. 116 

Senate 

The Senate met at 9:30 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. 

O God, the light of the world, as You 

illuminate our path, may we walk in 

the brightness of Your presence. Use 

our Senators to select the plans that 

most honor You. May they feel concern 

when our Nation drifts from Your precepts and labor to restore those values 

that will keep America strong. Lord, 

help them to do their very best each 

day and leave the results to You. Give 

them the wisdom to lift each other’s 

burdens by being as encouraging to 

others as You have been to them. 

We pray in Your sacred 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, August 1, 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 

VETERANS JOBS CORPS ACT OF 

2012—MOTION TO PROCEED 

Mr. REID. Madam President, I now 

move to proceed to Calendar No. 476, 

which is the Veterans Jobs Corps Act, 

sponsored by Senator NELSON of Florida. 

The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will report the motion. 

The assistant legislative clerk read 

as follows: 

Motion to proceed to Calendar No. 476, S. 

3457, a bill to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish a Veterans Jobs 

Corps, and for other purposes. 

Mr. REID. Madam President, the 

first hour will be equally divided and 

controlled between the two leaders or 

their designees, with the Republicans 

controlling the first half and the majority controlling the final half. 

CYBER SECURITY

Yesterday I filed cloture on the cyber 

security bill. As a result, the filing 

deadline for first-degree amendments is 

1 p.m. today. We will let the Senate 

know about votes scheduled. We are 

trying to do one on Burma and the African trade bill that we have wanted to 

do for a long time, but Republicans 

have held it up to this point. But we 

will see what we can do to move forward on that. 

Madam President, last week GEN 

Keith Alexander, commander of the 

U.S. Cyber Command, was asked to 

rate how prepared America was to face 

a cyber terrorist attack on the scale of 

1 to 10. Here is what he said: ‘‘From my 

perspective I’d say around a 3.’’ 

Keep in mind, 1 is totally unprepared, 

10 is totally prepared. Three is what he 

said. One of the country’s top national 

security experts gave us 3 out of 10, a 

failing grade by any standard. 

He went to say that the type of cyber 

attacks that could black out the 

United States for weeks or months are 

up seventeenfold in the last 3 years. 

The Nation’s top security experts have 

said a cyber 9/11 is imminent. They say 

frailties in our defenses against these 

attacks are most urgent. They are a 

threat to our national security. Nothing is more important. 

So it was with disappointment last 

night that I filed cloture on legislation 

to reinforce our defenses against these 

malicious attackers. Some are countries, some are organizations, some are 

individuals. National security experts 

have been plain about the urgent need 

to act. They say the question is not 

whether to act but whether we will act 

in time. 

One need only look at the headlines 

in papers all over America today—all 

over the world today. As we speak, 600 

million people in India are without 

electricity. It is not believed there was 

any terrorism involved. It is believed it 

relates to the unusual weather, probably based, many experts say, on global 

warming. They have never had such 

heat in India, which has put a tremendous burden on their fragile power system. 

This legislation we are trying to finish has been worked on for years— 

years—not this Congress but going into 

last Congress. I was pleased to hear 

last week that many of my colleagues 

were working on thoughtful amendments to improve and strengthen this 

measure in spite of the untoward pressure by the Chamber of Commerce to 

kill this legislation. Senators on both 

sides have worked hard to address 

every concern raised by the private 

sector about this legislation. Senators 

LIEBERMAN and COLLINS have been exemplary. The bill that is before this 


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