S154 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE January 7, 2009 

is the case and is due for its first reading. 

The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will report the bill by 

title for the first time. 

The legislative clerk read as follows: 

A bill (S. 22) to designate certain land as 

components of the National Wilderness Preservation System, to authorize certain programs and activities in the Department of 

the Interior and the Department of Agriculture, and for other purposes. 

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I now ask 

for its second reading but object to my 

own request. 

The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Objection is heard. The bill will 

be read a second time on the next legislative day. 

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ORDER OF BUSINESS 

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I have notified a number of Members—I had a 

meeting with them at 9 o’clock this 

morning—that because of a Senator 

not allowing us to move forward on 

this legislation last night and throwing 

every procedural hurdle in the way of 

these bills, which is now in the form of 

one bill, we are going to have a vote 

Sunday morning in the Senate. So everyone should understand, Sunday 

morning we are going to have a vote in 

the Senate. 

I have had a number of meetings with 

President-elect Obama. We have a lot 

to do. I spoke with Senator MIKULSKI

right before coming in. I have spoken 

with Senator KENNEDY today. The 

Ledbetter legislation, to make things 

more fair for people, especially women, 

is the next piece of legislation we are 

going to move to after this bill. We 

have just a few days to do all this 

work. 

As President-elect Obama has said, 

there are people out there who would 

love to work on Sunday. We are going 

to have to spend time on Saturdays, 

Sundays, and nighttime, especially 

during the first several months of this 

difficult time in which we find ourselves in this country. Everything that 

should be up is down. Alcoa is laying 

off 13,500 people today. The word is out 

that they expected about 400,000 jobs to 

be lost this month. They are reporting 

within the next few hours almost 

700,000 jobs were lost this month. Do 

you think we can work a weekend, 

maybe take a Saturday vote or a Sunday vote? I think we better do that. 

Senators should cancel their travel 

plans this weekend. 

I have a family just like everyone 

else does, and I would rather not be 

here this weekend. But I want everyone 

to understand—I am glad Republicans 

are on their retreat. That is important. 

We are going to have one later on. I 

hope the staff will alert them that on 

Sunday we are going to have a vote. I 

am sorry for the inconvenience, but as 

President-elect Obama has said, there 

are people out there who would like to 

be able to work on Sunday. They would 

like to work anytime; they don’t have 

jobs. Mr. President, 670,000 people this 

month have lost jobs. Think about 

that—670,000 people have lost jobs. 

Mr. President I want to say just one 

thing. This is Senator BYRD’s 50th anniversary. I spoke at some length yesterday about his record. I don’t want 

this day to go by without having acknowledged the 50th anniversary of 

Senator BYRD’s service in the Senate. 

Senators will be coming to the floor 

today to talk about Senator BYRD’s 50 

years of service. At a later time, we 

will put that into a document and have 

that available for the public and individual Senators. 

I suggest the absence of a quorum. 

The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll. 

The legislative clerk proceeded to 

call the roll 

Mr. TESTER. Mr. President, I ask 

unanimous consent that the order for 

the quorum call be rescinded. 

The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so ordered. 

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RECESS 

The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Under the previous order, the 

Senate will recess until 2:15 p.m. 

Thereupon, the Senate, at 12:33 p.m., 

recessed until 2:15 p.m. and reassembled when called to order by the Presiding Officer (Mr. CARDIN). 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Pennsylvania is recognized. 

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RECESS SUBJECT TO THE CALL OF 

THE CHAIR 

Mr. CASEY. I ask unanimous consent 

that the Senate stand in recess subject 

to the call of the Chair. 

There being no objection, the Senate 

at 2:15 p.m., recessed subject to the call 

of the Chair and reassembled 3:04 p.m., 

when called to order by the Presiding 

Officer (Mrs. MCCASKILL). 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Maryland. 

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ISRAEL AND GAZA 

Mr. CARDIN. Madam President, a nation’s first responsibility is to defend 

its citizens against hostile threats. The 

United States exercised that responsibility when the Taliban Government of 

Afghanistan supported terrorist attacks against our country. Israel has 

the responsibility to protect its citizens from Hamas terrorist attacks. 

I am deeply saddened by the continued violence and loss of innocent lives 

on both sides of the Israel-Gaza border. 

I strongly support Israel’s right to 

defend its citizens against threats to 

its security and its existence. I wholeheartedly agree with President-elect 

Obama who defined the problem very 

clearly: 

If somebody was sending rockets into my 

house, where my family slept at night I’m 

going to do everything in my power to stop 

that. 

The recent military action in Gaza is 

in direct response to numerous rocket 

and mortar attacks from militants in 

the Hamas-controlled Gaza, which have 

killed and injured Israeli citizens and 

currently paralyzes the southern regions of Israel. 

Southern Israel cities have been the 

target of over 4,000 rockets and thousands of mortar shells since 2001, the 

majority of which were launched after 

Israel withdrew from Gaza in August 

2005. During the more recent 6-month 

truce, more than 215 rockets were 

launched at Israel. Hamas has been extending the range of its striking capability, with new rockets supplied by 

Iran. The Israeli Government now 

knows that Hamas had acquired rockets that can reach Ashdod and even the 

outskirts of Beersheba. 

Hamas’ willingness to extend its 

reach deeper into Israel and its overall 

failure to end attacks exacerbates the 

already fragile humanitarian situation 

for the residents of Gaza and undermines efforts to attain peace and security in the region. As a result of the 

fighting, Gaza City and its main medical center, Shiffa Hospital, have been 

left without electricity and hospitals 

are pushed beyond their capacity to 

handle the number of victims. Hamas 

seems to care more about inflicting 

damage on Israel than the protection 

and welfare of its own citizens. 

Hamas poses a critical challenge to 

the regional peace process. Labeled as 

a terrorist organization but holding 

seats in the Palestinian Government 

and acting as the controlling authority 

in Gaza, the organization’s leaders encourage violence and cling to the belief 

that Israel itself should be destroyed. 

Questions remain as to whether or not 

the organization should even be included in peace negotiations, but the 

fact remains that the threat Hamas 

poses to Israel is an obstacle to any negotiation efforts. 

I urge Israel and the Palestinians to 

take advantage of the current efforts 

to broker a sustainable cease-fire and a 

negotiated peaceful settlement. Any 

such cease-fire must include Hamas’ 

ending its rocket and mortar attacks, 

recognize its neighbor’s right to exist, 

renounce violence, and honor all past 

agreements in order to move toward a 

two-state solution based on mutual 

peace and security. 

I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The 

clerk will call the roll. 

The legislative clerk proceeded to 

call the roll. 

Ms. KLOBUCHAR. 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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ECONOMIC STIMULUS 

Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Madam President, 

we all know the American economy is 

in a challenged state. That is a nice 


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