S380 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE January 14, 2009 

Senate, and I am not prepared to accept the abdication of these traditions 

for the purpose of political expediency 

for the majority party. 

In the 110th Congress, the majority 

leader used this tactic to block Republican amendments on 16 different occasions. Important legislation such as 

FAA reauthorization, climate change 

legislation, an energy speculation legislation and energy speculation legislation were all derailed because the majority leader’s decision to deviate from 

regular order and deny minority participation in the debate. 

Mr. President, as my colleagues have 

mentioned, it has been over 120 days 

since a Republican amendment has received consideration on the floor. It is 

my hope that the Senate will return to 

fair procedures for debate, which have 

well served this proud institution since 

its inception. 

Mr. President, I suggest the absence 

of a quorum. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The 

clerk will call the roll. 

The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll. 

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the 

quorum call be rescinded. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without 

objection, it is so ordered. 

f 

UNANIMOUS-CONSENT 

AGREEMENT—S. 22 AND S. 181 

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that at 12 noon tomorrow, Thursday, January 15, all 

postcloture time be considered yielded 

back except for 10 minutes to be equally divided and controlled between Senators BINGAMAN and COBURN or their 

designees; that upon the use or yielding back of that time, the pending 

amendments be withdrawn, that the 

managers’ amendments which have 

been cleared by the leaders and managers be in order, and that if cleared, 

the amendments be considered and 

agreed to; that the bill, as amended, be 

read a third time and the Senate proceed to vote on passage of the bill; that 

upon passage, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table; and the 

Senate then vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed 

to S. 181. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without 

objection, it is so ordered. 

f 

ORDER OF BUSINESS 

Mr. REID. Mr. President, we are trying to work out a time agreement as to 

how much debate is necessary on the 

consideration of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act. 

We understand statutorily there is 10 

hours. We will finish this tomorrow. 

We will have a vote on this tomorrow. 

If the people want to use all the 10 

hours, we will vote when the 10 hours is 

up. 

MORNING BUSINESS 

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed 

to a period for the transaction of morning business with Senators allowed to 

speak for up to 10 minutes each. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without 

objection, it is so ordered. 

f 

TRIBUTE TO TOM WATSON 

Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President, I 

rise today to honor a well-respected 

Kentuckian, Mr. Tom Watson. 

Throughout his life, Mr. Watson has 

contributed immensely to Owensboro 

and to the Commonwealth. 

Recently the Messenger-Inquirer in 

Owensboro, KY., published a story 

about Tom and his work as mayor of 

Owensboro. Throughout his career as a 

public servant, Tom has worked hard 

to give back to the community that he 

loves so dearly. I have worked closely 

with Tom over my career and have 

seen firsthand his dedication to the 

people of Owensboro. 

I ask my colleagues to join me in 

honoring Mayor Watson and wish him 

the very best as he embarks on new 

challenges. I further ask unanimous 

consent that the full article be printed 

in the RECORD. 

There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in the 

RECORD, as follows: 

[From the Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer, 

Dec. 19, 2008] 

WATSON BIDS FAREWELL

(By Owen Covington) 

Owensboro Mayor Tom Watson closed out 

his term Thursday night in the lobby of the 

RiverPark Center, just yards away from 

where work has begun on a $37 million river 

wall for which he helped secure funding. 

The farewell reception attended by dozens 

of friends, families and colleagues was just 

two blocks away from The Commerce Center, 

a ‘‘one-stop-shop’’ for business and economic 

development that became a reality at Watson’s urging. 

‘‘I, for one, look forward to what he’ll do 

next,’’ City Commissioner David Johnson 

told the crowd. ‘‘Everything he does is special, and he does it well and he does it with 

a passion.’’ 

This week, Watson talked with the Messenger-Inquirer about his four years in office 

and said he had no regrets about his decision 

to leave city government. 

‘‘I’m just happy I had a chance to serve, 

and I’m humbled that I made it through four 

years,’’ Watson said. 

UNIFIED GOVERNMENT

Watson jumped in the mayoral race in 2004 

as a former chairman of the Greater 

Owensboro Chamber of Commerce who had 

built a successful prosthetics and orthotics 

business with offices in Owensboro and 

Evansville. 

Central to Watson’s campaign was a drive 

for unified government, a push to bring city 

and county government under one entity to 

‘‘speak with one voice.’’ 

That push took Watson to Frankfort in 

2006 when he helped lobby support for a bill 

that would put cities and county on a more 

even footing as they looked at unified government. 

That bill became law, and Watson and the 

commission adopted an ordinance in early 

2007 to create a commission to study merger, 

but inaction by Daviess Fiscal Court meant 

Watson’s merger push went no further. 

‘‘I feel good we tried, but it didn’t work 

out,’’ Watson said. ‘‘It was something you’ve 

got to try to do.’’ 

Greater Owensboro Chamber of Commerce 

President Jody Wassmer said Watson’s election in 2004 is evidence that the issue is one 

that will not go away. 

‘‘I think we’ve been able to move some 

things to the forefront that will pay off in 

future administrations,’’ Wassmer said. ‘‘I 

think Tom will probably be known as the 

man that brought government merger back 

to the forefront.’’ 

At Thursday night’s reception, Watson was 

made an honorary judge-executive by 

Daviess County Judge-Executive Reid Haire, 

with Haire noting with a smile that the title 

was probably something the mayor had 

‘‘lusted for’’ in the past. 

‘‘We have worked well together,’’ Haire 

told Watson. 

STATE, FEDERAL ATTENTION

As mayor, Watson was able to use his connections with state and federal elected officials to help bring the community notice 

when in the past it had been overlooked. 

‘‘I think one of his greatest strengths was 

the relationships that he developed with 

state and federal officials, and those efforts 

brought Owensboro an unprecedented 

amount of state and federal funding,’’ said 

former City Manager Bob Whitmer, who 

served for three of Watson’s four years. 

U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell said during a 

phone interview Thursday that Watson is responsible for making him realize how important riverfront development was to the community. 

‘‘He had a lot to do in getting me even 

more interested and enthusiastic about the 

future of the Owensboro riverfront,’’ McConnell said. ‘‘Tom deserves a lot of credit for 

pushing that project, believing it was important and believing it would transform the 

city.’’ 

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Just months after taking office, Watson 

along with Haire unveiled a ‘‘white paper’’ 

that presented a plan with a broader look at 

economic development efforts and resulted 

in a more coordinated effort by the community. 

The paper also led to the creation of the 

separate Greater Owensboro Economic Development Corp. and The Commerce Center, 

which is now home to EDC, the chamber, the 

office of Downtown Development Director 

Fred Reeves and the Owensboro Metropolitan Planning Commission. 

‘‘I certainly think he and the judge presented and articulated a vision about how 

they wanted economic development to be a 

little more streamlined,’’ said Nick Brake, 

EDC president and CEO. ‘‘He had some real 

strong ideas about doing some things much 

differently than what we’ve done in the 

past.’’ 

Thursday night, EDC board chairman Darrell Higginbotham presented Watson with a 

framed copy of the cover of the ‘‘white 

paper’’ and said a duplicate will be hung in 

the EDC’s offices. 

‘‘Your vision for The Commerce Center is a 

reality today,’’ Higginbotham told the 

mayor. 

‘‘MAN OF GREAT ENERGY’’ 

Commissioner Al Mattingly Jr. noted 

Thursday night that he got to know Watson 

as the two squared off in the mayoral election in 2004 and has seen the sacrifices that 

Watson has made as mayor. 

‘‘I know of no other man in the city of 

Owensboro that is as compassionate, is as 


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