| 00:00:00 | THE FINAL HALF. |
| 00:00:04 | IT WAS LAST NIGHT BUT JUST BARELY WHEN WE FINALLY WORKED OUT SOME AGREEMENT ON THE PIECE OF LEGISLATION WE'RE DEALING WITH. |
| 00:00:21 | THE HOUSE POSTED THAT LAST NIGHT JUST BEFORE MIDNIGHT TO MEET THEIR RULES. |
| 00:00:25 | IT INCLUDES THE TRANSPORTATION CONFERENCE AND FLOOD INSURANCE AND STUDENT LOANS IN ONE PACKAGE. |
| 00:00:32 | MR. PRESIDENT, I SAY TO ALL MY SENATORS THAT WE'RE GOING TO FINISH THIS BEFORE WE LEAVE. |
| 00:00:37 | I HOPE WE CAN DO IT TODAY. |
| 00:00:40 | WE CERTAINLY CAN IF THE WILL IS THERE. |
| 00:00:43 | OTHERWISE, IF IT TAKES TOMORROW OR WHATEVER, WE HAVE TO FINISH THE BILL. |
| 00:00:47 | I KNOW EVERYONE HAS LOTS OF THINGS TO DO, BUT WE HAVE TO FINISH THIS LEGISLATION. |
| 00:00:55 | THE STUDENT LOAN EXPIRES AT THE END OF THE MONTH. |
| 00:00:58 | THE HIGHWAY PROGRAM HAS TO BE COMPLETED BY THE END OF THE MONTH. |
| 00:01:01 | THE WORK THAT HAS BEEN DONE HAS BEEN HARD. |
| 00:01:09 | I MET WITH THE DEMOCRATIC CHAIRS YESTERDAY AT NOON. |
| 00:01:14 | I EXPLAINED TO EVERYONE WE WERE TRYING TO WORK OUR WAY THROUGH THIS. |
| 00:01:22 | MY VETERAN LEGISLATORS, CHAIRMAN OF MAJOR -- OF ALL THE COMMITTEES HERE IN THE SENATE. |
| 00:01:27 | I EXPLAIN TO THEM WE TALK A LOT ABOUT COMPROMISE BEING THE -- WHAT LEGISLATION IS ALL ABOUT. |
| 00:01:34 | LEGISLATION IS THE ART OF COMPROMISE, CONSENSUS BUILDING. |
| 00:01:38 | BUT WHEN IT COMES RIGHT DOWN TO DOING THAT, IT'S HARD FOR SENATORS TO GIVE UP THINGS THAT THEY WANT. |
| 00:01:43 | MR. PRESIDENT, THIS IS A BILL THAT AFFECTS ALMOST THREE MILLION PEOPLE. |
| 00:01:49 | THAT IS, JUST THE TRANSPORTATION PART OF IT. |
| 00:01:53 | THE FLOOD PART, SEVEN MILLION PEOPLE. |
| 00:01:57 | THE STUDENT LOAN, SEVEN MILLION PEOPLE. |
| 00:02:00 | SO, MR. |
| 00:02:02 | PRESIDENT, EVERYONE HAD TO GIVE A LITTLE BIT OR WE COULDN'T HAVE GOTTEN THIS DONE. |
| 00:02:08 | I'M TERRIBLY DISAPPOINTED IN PART OF WHAT DIDN'T GET DONE. |
| 00:02:13 | I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN A BIG FAN OF THE LAND AND WATER CONSERVATION FUND. |
| 00:02:18 | I DON'T HAVE A BETTER FRIEND IN THE WORLD THAN KEN SALAZAR. |
| 00:02:22 | THIS IS SOMETHING HE WANTED SO VERY, VERY MUCH, BUT WE COULDN'T GET IT DONE. |
| 00:02:30 | SO THERE IS A LOT OF DISAPPOINTMENT IN MANY DIFFERENT AREAS, BUT THIS IS A -- THIS IS LEGISLATION AT ITS BEST, AND I SAY THAT PURPOSELY. |
| 00:02:42 | IT'S HARD TO GET THESE PIECES OF LEGISLATION DONE, BUT WE GOT IT DONE, AND AS I SAID, WE'RE GOING TO WORK THROUGH THE PROCESS. |
| 00:02:50 | THERE CAN ALWAYS BE -- WITH THE SENATE BEING SUCH AS IT IS, PEOPLE CAN HOLD THINGS UP BUT THEY CAN'T HOLD THINGS UP FOREVER, SO WE'RE GOING TO WORK THROUGH THIS. |
| 00:02:59 | I THINK IT'S FOR THE BETTERMENT OF OUR COUNTRY IF WE COMPLETE THIS LEGISLATION AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE. |
| 00:03:05 | MR. PRESIDENT, S. |
| 00:03:06 | 3342, I'M TOLD, IS AT THE DESK AND DUE FOR ITS SECOND READING. |
| 00:03:11 | THE PRESIDING OFFICER: THE CLERK WILL REPORT. |
| 00:03:12 | THE CLERK: S. |
| 00:03:14 | 3342, A BILL TO IMPROVE INFORMATION SECURITY, AND FOR OTHER |
Mr. REID. Mr. President, the next hour will be divided between the Republicans and Democrats. The Republicans will control the first half and the majority will control the final half.
It was last night, but just barely, when we finally worked out some agreement on a piece of legislation we are dealing with. The House posted that last night just before midnight to meet their rules. It includes the transportation conference and flood insurance and student loans in one package. I say to all of my Senators that we are going to finish this before we leave. I hope we can do it today. We certainly can if the will is there. Otherwise, if it takes tomorrow or whenever, we have to finish the bill. I know everyone has a lot of work to do, but we have to finish this legislation. The student loan program expires at the end of the month. The highway program has to be completed by the end of the month. The work that has been done has been hard.
I met with the Democratic chairs yesterday at noon. I explained to everyone that we were trying to work our way through this. These are veteran legislators, the chairmen of all of the committees here in the Senate. We talked a lot about compromise being what legislation is all about. Legislation is the art of compromise, consensus building, but when it comes right down to doing that, it is hard for Senators to give up what they want. But this is a bill that affects almost 3 million people. That is just the transportation part of it--the flood part, 7 million people, and the student loan, 7 million people. So everyone had to give a little bit or we could not have gotten this done.
I am terribly disappointed on a part of what did not get done. I have always been a big fan of the Land and Water Conservation Fund. I do not have a better friend in the world than Ken Salazar. This is something he wanted so very much, but we could not get it done. So there is a lot of disappointment in many different areas.
But this is legislation at its best. I say that purposefully. It is hard to get these pieces of legislation done, but we got it done. And as I said, we are going to work through the process. With the Senate being such that it is, people can hold measures up, but they cannot hold them up forever. So we are going to work through this. It is for the betterment of our country if we complete this legislation as quickly as possible.
MEASURE PLACED ON THE CALENDAR--S. 3342