December 10, 2008 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S10859 

put aside partisanship and lead the way 

toward recovery. I hope we can get on 

with that. I hope we can get here to the 

floor, work as long and as hard as we 

have to, and with urgency, to show 

once again that we are supporting the 

interests of the American people. 

It happens that these companies are 

in an obvious place where something 

terrible can happen. But what matters 

is that we work to do something that 

brings value to our country, value to 

our people. We have to at least consider it. I am not saying we have to 

pass any particular bill. We want to 

make sure the things we are concerned 

about are in there. But we have to have 

activity instead of stubbornness and an 

unwillingness to actively consider solutions to the problems facing us. 

We are a great country, America, 

with its abundant resources and strong 

people, willing and eager to do their 

share. And as their representatives, we 

can do no less. So I hope we will see 

some activity fairly soon that tells the 

world out there that the Senate and 

the Congress are at work trying to help 

solve the problems instead of searching 

for ways to obstruct solutions. 

Mr. President, I yield the floor. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Nebraska. 

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TRIBUTE TO SENATORS 

CHUCK HAGEL

Mr. NELSON of Nebraska. Mr. President, I rise tonight to recognize and 

pay tribute to my colleague from Nebraska, Senator CHUCK HAGEL, who is 

retiring from the Senate. When I entered this body nearly 8 years ago, Senator HAGEL welcomed me, and since 

then we have worked together on a 

number of important issues for the 

good of our great State and our country. We teamed up to seek Federal assistance to help Nebraskans recover 

from natural disasters, such as floods, 

ice storms, and drought; to win congressional approval for naming the new 

FBI building in Omaha after our esteemed late colleague, Senator J. 

James Exon, and on numerous other 

Nebraska projects. 

Like me, CHUCK HAGEL grew up in 

small communities in Nebraska. It is a 

special experience to be raised among 

Nebraskans under the wide open skies 

of the Great Plains. Helping hands are 

always nearby and opportunities seem 

limitless. From our families, friends, 

and neighbors, we both learned the bedrock values of love, of community, of 

faith, responsibility to others, and devotion to country. These values have 

been evident during Senator HAGEL’s 

tenure in this body. 

Also evident has been an important 

perspective he shared, one only a few 

Senators know firsthand, about the reality of war, gained as a decorated U.S. 

Army sergeant on violent battlefields 

in the Vietnam war and later as Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Veterans’ Administration during the Reagan administration. 

Here in the Senate, he represented 

the people of Nebraska and the United 

States well as a member of the Foreign 

Relations Committee, the Banking 

Committee, the Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, the Intelligence Committee, and the Rules Committee. He 

will long be remembered as one of our 

most outspoken and candid Members, 

as a patriot, and as one who took seriously his duties. Particularly through 

expressing his views on foreign policy, 

he fiercely advocated the constitutional principle that the legislative, 

executive, and judicial branches of government are equal partners. 

I take this opportunity to commend 

him for his honorable service to our 

State and Nation over these many 

years. And whatever path CHUCK HAGEL

embarks on next, I wish him and his 

wife Lilibet, daughter Allyn, and son 

Ziller only the best in their lives. It 

has been an honor to serve with him. 

Mr. President, I yield the floor, and I 

suggest the absence of a quorum. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The 

clerk will call the roll. 

The legislative clerk proceeded to 

call the roll. 

Mr. REID. Madam President, I ask 

unanimous consent the order for the 

quorum call be rescinded. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. 

CANTWELL). Without objection, it is so 

ordered. 

Mr. REID. Are we in a period of 

morning business or has it been closed? 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Yes, The 

Senate is in morning business. 

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CONCLUSION OF MORNING 

BUSINESS 

Mr. REID. I ask unanimous consent 

that morning business be closed. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Morning 

business is closed. 

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ADVANCING AMERICA’S PRIORITIES ACT—MOTION TO PROCEED 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under 

the previous order, the Senate will resume consideration of the motion to 

proceed to S. 3297, which the clerk will 

report. 

The legislative clerk read as follows: 

Motion to proceed to S. 3297, a bill to advance America’s priorities. 

Mr. REID. I now ask that motion be 

withdrawn. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator has that right. The motion is 

withdrawn. 

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ALTERNATIVE MINIMUM TAX RELIEF ACT OF 2008—MOTION TO 

PROCEED 

CLOTURE MOTION

Mr. REID. I now move to proceed to 

Calendar No. 1128, H.R. 7005. I send a 

cloture motion to the desk. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The cloture motion having been presented 

under rule XXII, the Chair directs the 

clerk to read the cloture motion. 

The legislative 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 debate on the motion to 

proceed to Calendar No. 1128, H.R. 7005, the 

Alternative Minimum Tax Relief Act. 

Harry Reid, Debbie Stabenow, Byron L. 

Dorgan, Robert P. Casey, Jr., E. Benjamin Nelson, Joseph I. Lieberman, 

Sherrod Brown, Claire McCaskill, Carl 

Levin, Daniel K. Akaka, Barbara A. 

Mikulski, Charles E. Schumer, Christopher J. Dodd, Patty Murray, John D. 

Rockefeller, IV, Richard Durbin, Frank 

R. Lautenberg. 

Mr. REID. Madam President, I ask 

the live quorum, mandatory under rule 

XXII, be waived. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without 

objection, it is so ordered. 

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MORNING BUSINESS 

Mr. REID. Madam President, I now 

ask the Senate proceed to a period of 

morning business, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 

minutes each. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without 

objection, it is so ordered. 

Mr. REID. I suggest the absence of a 

quorum. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The 

clerk will call the roll. 

The legislative clerk proceeded to 

call the roll. 

Mr. HARKIN. I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call 

be rescinded. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without 

objection, it is so ordered. 

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AUTOMOBILE CRISIS 

Mr. HARKIN. Madam President, I 

come to the floor to talk a little about 

the so-called auto bailout bill that is 

someplace out there wandering around. 

We don’t know where. 

I was in Iowa last week and traveling 

around and talking with people. A couple things kept coming up from time to 

time. One was the money we put into 

the so-called TARP program, the 

money we gave to Secretary Paulson 

before we adjourned in October and 

went home for the campaign, the $700 

billion. As we know, they got $350 billion of that, and now there is some talk 

that they will come back for the other 

$350 billion sometime, probably not 

this year but early next year. 

As we look at what happened to that 

$350 billion, a lot of people are quite 

disturbed, and count me among them. 

Rather than using the money to put 

out to banks to help extend credit, 

some of the banks were using it to buy 

other banks and get bigger. Some 

banks are using this money to invest in 

private equity firms, buy up businesses. One came to my attention last 

week when I was in Iowa—a company I 

don’t need to name—a company that 

had gone into bankruptcy. The owner 

of the company had wanted to buy it 

out of bankruptcy for a certain