S6500 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE September 20, 2012 

and we did that as quickly as we could 

so the House would have time to act 

and we could actually get things done 

in the summer before we got involved 

in what would be happening in the fall, 

with all of the critically important 

end-of-the-year issues that have to be 

addressed. So we passed a bill in June, 

as we all know, on a bipartisan basis. It 

took a lot of work. 

I continually thank everyone who 

was willing to hang in there with us to 

get this done—my ranking member, 

Senator ROBERTS, and our two leaders 

for giving us the time to do this. We 

worked hard and we got it done and we 

sent it to the House. Then the House 

committee went to work and they 

passed out a bipartisan bill. Never before, that I can remember—and I have 

been around here a while; this is my 

fourth farm bill—have we seen a situation where a bipartisan bill came out of 

committee and yet the House wouldn’t 

take it up. They wouldn’t take it up in 

July, the beginning of August, and 

wouldn’t agree to allow us to negotiate 

differences over the August break to 

come up with a way to get this done by 

the end of this month. 

So here we are. The House is leaving 

today. The Senate is leaving either 

today or tomorrow or the next day, and 

there are 10 days left on the clock to 

provide economic certainty for 16 million men and women whose livelihoods 

come from agriculture. Many of these 

men and women watched as their crops 

withered under the hot summer Sun 

this year, as days and weeks went by 

without a drop of rain in the worst 

drought in 50 years. Yet House Republicans are planning to leave without 

finishing their work on our farm bill. 

That is absolutely stunning to me. 

The work we did in the Senate passed 

on a strong bipartisan vote. As I said 

before, the committee in the House put 

forward their bill on a strong bipartisan vote. If nothing happens, in 10 

days we begin to see a transition over 

the next few months to what is called 

permanent law, which goes back to the 

1940s. 

We had over 90 different groups that 

came in last week. We had hundreds of 

farmers from around the country— 

farmers who got off their tractors, 

took their time at their own expense to 

fly in and say: Hey, wait a minute, 

When there is a job to do, you have to 

get it done. When the crops are ready 

to harvest, you don’t wait a month. 

You have to do what you have to do 

when it needs to be done. 

That is exactly where we are right 

now. They just need to do it. I am confident the chairman and the ranking 

member, working in a bipartisan way, 

could do this in 1 day. I really believe 

they could do this in 1 day. It is not as 

if there is a lot of other substantive 

work going on in the House. So 1 day. 

If they decided today: Okay, we are 

going to get this done before we leave, 

they would create a situation so our 

farmers, who are planning for next 

year, who have to go in and sit down 

with their banker, will know how to 

plan and what tools they have available. These are people who have been 

hit hard, have been devastated by disasters. 

In every single one of the counties in 

Michigan, 83 out of 83 counties, there 

has been a disaster declaration. They 

are looking at us and saying: Thank 

you for what the Senate did, but why 

won’t the House act? And, frankly, I 

don’t know why the House won’t act. 

But they should, because they are leaving an awful lot of people hanging. 

We know the consequences of not 

acting are that we begin to unravel a 

set of policies that need to be in place 

for production agriculture, for conservation, for local food systems, for 

energy, and for nutrition. We know 

also if we step up and do what we 

worked so hard to do in the Senate we 

will get the added plus of $23 billion in 

deficit reduction. The only thing that 

has passed the Senate that has bipartisan deficit reduction is our farm bill. 

We know we need to make reforms. 

That is why we eliminated four different subsidies, moved to a risk-based, 

market-based system, based on crop insurance providing tools for farmers to 

make sure they can make their own 

planning decisions, not plant for government programs, but make their own 

planning decisions and then have tools 

to support them and to manage the 

risks that come. We certainly know 

now, because we have seen this year, 

what kind of devastating risks may 

come for our farmers and ranchers 

across the country. 

I have gone through so many times 

what is in our farm bill that I will not 

do that now, except to say we have 

more reform—in fact, the Wall Street 

Journal said there is more reform in 

this farm bill than any in decades. We 

are proud of that. We have more in deficit reduction than in anything else we 

have passed. We have policies for the 

future. We have listened to farmers 

who said crop insurance is the most 

important thing for them in being able 

to manage their risk. We have focused 

on local food systems, providing 

schools with the ability to purchase locally and support their local farmers. 

There are energy opportunities for the 

future and bio-based manufacturing, 

where we truly can make things and 

grow things and grow the economy and 

grow the middle class of this country. 

There is rural development, where millions of Americans live—for small 

towns, such as Clare, where I grew up— 

with the ability to fund infrastructure—water, sewer, Internet—and have 

a business loan financed, and all those 

things that go into rural development. 

We provide for telemedicine to create a 

quality of life and health for seniors 

and families. 

All those things are involved in what 

we call the farm bill. All of those 

things were passed in the Senate. We 

did what I believe the American public 

wants us to do, and I certainly know 

people in Michigan want us to do—to 

make tough decisions, to evaluate 

what works and what doesn’t work and 

to cut out the duplication. We eliminated over 100 different programs and 

authorizations and we streamlined. 

That is what folks want us to do, and 

we did it. Now it is time for the House 

to do their job. 

The reality is, even though there are 

10 days until the end of the month, the 

Speaker said they are going home with 

no action. So the real number is zero. 

We are out of time for farmers and 

ranchers and their families, and, frankly, for all of us. If we are fortunate 

enough to have lunch or breakfast 

today, we ought to care about the farm 

bill and the people who provide us with 

the safest, most affordable, and abundant food in the world. That is what we 

do in this bill. We are proud of it. And 

the House of Representatives should be 

ashamed of themselves for leaving 

town without supporting rural America. 

Madam President, I yield the floor, 

and I suggest the absence of a quorum. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The 

clerk will call the roll. 

The assistant bill clerk proceeded to 

call the roll. 

Mr. LEVIN. Madam President, I ask 

unanimous consent that the order for 

the quorum call be rescinded. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without 

objection, it is so ordered. 

f 

MAKING CONTINUING APPROPRIATIONS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2013— 

MOTION TO PROCEED 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under 

the previous order, all postcloture time 

has expired. The question occurs on 

agreeing to the motion to proceed to 

H.J. Res. 117. 

Mr. LEVIN. I ask for the yeas and 

nays. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a 

sufficient second? 

There is a sufficient second. 

The clerk will call the roll. 

The bill clerk called the roll. 

Mr. KYL. The following Senators are 

necessarily absent: the Senator from 

Oklahoma (Mr. INHOFE) and the Senator from Illinois (Mr. KIRK). 

The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. 

CARDIN). Are there any other Senators 

in the Chamber desiring to vote? 

The result was announced—yeas 67, 

nays 31, as follows: 

[Rollcall Vote No. 195 Leg.] 

YEAS—67 

Akaka 

Alexander 

Baucus 

Begich 

Bennet 

Bingaman 

Blumenthal 

Blunt 

Boxer 

Brown (MA) 

Brown (OH) 

Cantwell 

Cardin 

Carper 

Casey 

Coats 

Cochran 

Conrad 

Coons 

Durbin 

Feinstein 

Franken 

Gillibrand 

Hagan 

Harkin 

Heller 

Hoeven 

Hutchison 

Inouye 

Johanns 

Johnson (SD) 

Kerry 

Klobuchar 

Kohl 

Kyl 

Landrieu 

Lautenberg 

Leahy 

Levin 

Lieberman 

Lugar 

McCaskill 

McConnell 

Menendez 

Merkley 

Mikulski 

Murkowski 

Murray 


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September 20, 2012 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S6501 

Nelson (NE) 

Nelson (FL) 

Portman 

Pryor 

Reed 

Reid 

Rockefeller 

Sanders 

Schumer 

Shaheen 

Stabenow 

Tester 

Udall (CO) 

Udall (NM) 

Warner 

Webb 

Whitehouse 

Wicker 

Wyden 

NAYS—31 

Ayotte 

Barrasso 

Boozman 

Burr 

Chambliss 

Coburn 

Collins 

Corker 

Cornyn 

Crapo 

DeMint 

Enzi 

Graham 

Grassley 

Hatch 

Isakson 

Johnson (WI) 

Lee 

Manchin 

McCain 

Moran 

Paul 

Risch 

Roberts 

Rubio 

Sessions 

Shelby 

Snowe 

Thune 

Toomey 

Vitter 

NOT VOTING—2 

Inhofe Kirk 

The motion was agreed to. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. 

CARDIN). The majority leader. 

Mr. REID. Mr. President, for the last 

several days I have been telling everyone that we needed to do a couple of 

things before we leave. We have to do 

the CR, and we have to do the sportsmen’s package. 

Mr. President, just a second on the 

sportsmen’s package. If we flip through 

the dictionary and find the word ‘‘bipartisan,’’ part of that definition would 

be TESTER’s sportsmen’s package because it is a Republican and Democratic bill. It involves hunters, fishermen, and other sportsmen, including 

offroad vehicles. It is a very good piece 

of legislation for a group of people who 

are totally unrecognized most of the 

time. We are going to do those two 

things before we leave. 

In order to bring us to that result, I 

will fill the tree and file cloture on the 

CR. Unless we get consent, the cloture 

vote on the CR will occur sometime 

after midnight on Saturday, at 1 a.m. 

or thereabouts. Once we invoke cloture 

on the CR, the 30 hours postcloture will 

run until 7:30 a.m. on Sunday, give or 

take an hour. We would vote at that 

time to pass the CR. Immediately 

thereafter we will vote to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to the 

sportsmen’s package. 

So here is where that leaves us: We 

file cloture on the CR and the motion 

to proceed to the sportsmen’s package. 

That sets up two votes for very early 

Sunday morning in addition to tomorrow night, Saturday morning at 1 a.m. 

or thereabouts. We can do those votes 

now and finish everything today or we 

can wait. The choice is clear. We end 

up in the same place Sunday morning 

or we can get there today. 

I have had some Senators come to me 

and say, well, we are not going to vote 

on the sportsmen’s package. Well, yes, 

they are. We have that set up. There is 

a clear path. The problem with the rest 

of the stuff is not our problem; it is the 

Republicans’ problem. 

I worked something out in good faith 

with RAND PAUL. He in good faith 

worked something out with me. I am 

not here to be a cheerleader for RAND

PAUL; I am here to tell everyone what 

happened. Now, if the Republicans 

don’t want to vote on that, I think it 

would be too bad because RAND PAUL, 

after all of this time—whether anyone 

agrees with what he wants to do or 

not—he and I in good faith worked 

something out. 

We had a number of Senators come 

here, including the senior Senator from 

Arizona to name one, who said we need 

more time on that. I have no problem 

with that. Yesterday when he said he 

wanted more time, I said just take the 

hour because Senator PAUL has been 

here talking about this for weeks and 

weeks. We have heard a lot from him, 

and he said: I have talked a lot on 

this—and I am paraphrasing—and 15 

minutes would be enough for me. I 

thought I was being generous by setting up an hour rather than 15 minutes. 

If the senior Senator from Arizona 

wants more time, I don’t care. I really 

don’t care. 

Also, I had some conversations with 

LINDSEY GRAHAM. He and Senator LIEBERMAN have been pushing very hard 

on a containment resolution that deals 

with Iran. It is another bipartisan 

piece of legislation. Eighty Senators 

are cosponsors of it. The other 20, I bet, 

like it also. If not, the majority of the 

20 do. It is something we overwhelmingly need to do. I think it would be 

good in that we are trying to work 

things out in Iraq, which is not stable 

at this time—at least not the way we 

want it to be. It would be nice if America had an ambassador to go to Iraq. 

That has been held up. 

With all the problems we see with 

Pakistan, I think it would be a good 

idea if we had an American ambassador 

to Pakistan. That has been held up for 

a long time. 

Again, to his credit, Senator PAUL

said have a vote on the containment 

resolution and have a vote on the two 

ambassadors. He is not standing in the 

way of that. 

Momentarily, I am going to file cloture and procedurally block any other 

amendments on the continuing resolution. We will vote on that whenever the 

Republicans want, but no later than 

Saturday morning at a time we will decide. When I say ‘‘we decide,’’ it is a 

statutory clock, and that is when it 

runs out. Following that, we will have 

a vote on final passage of the CR and a 

motion to proceed to TESTER’s sportsmen’s package. That is what we have 

to complete. For people to try to get 

out their stuff is just unfair. 

I have seen newspaper accounts of 

Republican Senators who love the 

TESTER legislation. I didn’t ask them; I 

read it in the paper. They think it is 

good because it is good. It is bipartisan. It does something we have been 

trying to do for a long time; that is, a 

lot of these little bills have been held 

up—hundreds of them. TESTER and the 

people who support this legislation 

have joined together 20 of these little 

bills into this one piece of legislation. 

It really is the right thing to do. I hope 

we can get this done. 

Remember the choice—I repeat for 

the third time—is very clear. We can 

quickly complete everything tonight 

or we can come back here Saturday 

morning in the middle of the night 

sometime and early Sunday morning. 

We will be at the same place. Those 

votes are going to take place. It is up 

to the Republicans and what they want 

to do with Senator PAUL and the unanimous consent request they objected to 

yesterday. 

f 

MAKING CONTINUING APPROPRIATIONS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2013 

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I have an 

amendment at the desk as it relates to 

H.J. Res. 117. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The 

clerk will report the bill by title. 

The assistant bill clerk read as follows: 

A resolution (H.J. Res. 117) making continuing appropriations for fiscal year 2013, 

and for other purposes. 

AMENDMENT NO. 2844

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The 

clerk will report. 

The bill clerk read as follows: 

The Senator from Nevada [Mr. REID] proposes an amendment numbered 2844. 

The amendment is as follows: 

At the end, add the following new section: 

SEC. lll. 

This joint resolution shall become effective 5 days after enactment. 

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask for 

the yeas and nays. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a 

sufficient second? 

There appears to be a sufficient second. 

The yeas and nays were ordered. 

AMENDMENT NO. 2845 TO AMENDMENT NO. 2844

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I have a 

second-degree amendment at the desk. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The 

clerk will report. 

The bill clerk read as follows: 

The Senator from Nevada [Mr. REID] proposes an amendment numbered 2845 to 

amendment No. 2844. 

The amendment is as follows: 

In the amendment, strike ‘‘5 days’’ and insert ‘‘4 days’’. 

CLOTURE MOTION

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I have a 

cloture motion which I ask the clerk to 

report with the permission of the 

Chair. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The cloture motion having been presented 

under rule XXII, the Chair directs the 

clerk to read the motion. 

The bill clerk read as follows: 

CLOTURE MOTION

We, the undersigned Senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule XXII of the 

Standing Rules of the Senate, hereby move 

to bring to a close the debate on H.J. Res. 

117, a joint resolution making continuing appropriations for fiscal year 2013, and for 

other purposes. 

Harry Reid, Daniel K. Inouye, Patty 

Murray, Bernard Sanders, Jeanne Shaheen, Richard J. Durbin, Sheldon 

Whitehouse, Debbie Stabenow, Max 

Baucus, Mark L. Pryor, Christopher A. 

Coons, Jon Tester, Michael F. Bennet, 


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