Senate Opening

The Senate Convened.

Opening Remarks

 
Senator Reid: (12:03 PM)

·         Today --

·         The Senate will move into Executive Session to consider the nomination of Senator Clinton as Secretary of State.

·         There will be 3 hours of debate equally divided and controlled.

·         The Senate will recess from 12:45 - 2:15 PM for the weekly caucus luncheons.

·         The recess will not be counted against the controlled debate time.

·         A roll call vote is expected at 4:30 PM considering Senator Clinton's nomination.

·         Following the vote, the Senate will resume consideration of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 (S. 181) and the Hutchison Amendment. 

·         Additional votes are possible.

Senator Clinton Nomination

 
Senator Kerry: (12:05 PM)

·         Spoke on President Obama's nomination of Senator Clinton to head the State Department.

o    SUMMARY "I think everyone can agree that at her confirmation hearing, Secretary-Designate Hillary Clinton demonstrated an impressive grasp of the numerous complex foreign policy issues that we face, and she demonstrated why she is going to make such an effective Secretary of State. She has the stature to project America's leadership globally and to help build alliances at home and abroad. And that is going to be vital to our success in the years ahead."

o    SUMMARY "Now, as we think about this issue, for anybody who is not yet decided about what they may or may not do, context is very important. The Clinton Foundation does extraordinary, worth-while work in areas such as HIV-AIDS, global climate development in many corners of this planet. It is important to remember that the Clintons do not in any way personally benefit from the actions of the Foundation. So, there's none of the sort of traditional notion of the financial conflict of interest. It just doesn't exist because there is no personal financial interest by either of them."

 
Senator Cornyn: (12:18 PM)

·         Spoke on President Obama's nomination of Senator Clinton to head the State Department.

o    SUMMARY "My concern is not whether our colleague, Senator Clinton, is qualified to be Secretary of State or not. She is. And I intend to vote for her confirmation, but I also believe it's very important to flesh out some of the concerns that have been raised legitimately by Senator Kerry, Senator Lugar and others that I think bears some public discussion and some debate here in the Senate."

o    SUMMARY "But we should not let our respect for Senator Clinton or our admiration for the many good works of the Clinton Foundation blind us to the danger of perceived conflicts of interest caused by the solicitation of hundreds of millions of dollars from foreign and some domestic sources. The perception and reality must be that the Office of Secretary of State is viewed around the world as beyond reproach."

 
Senator Nelson-FL: (12:30 PM)

·         Spoke on President Obama's nomination of Senator Clinton to head the State Department.

o    SUMMARY "We were reminded yesterday, with the inaugural celebration and the inaugural activities of the importance of getting the national security team in place and getting it in place fast. The President laid out the imminent crises that he is having to face, and we need a Secretary of State in place. Senator Clinton's integrity, her record of service is clear. We should not delay any longer, and we ought to confirm her quickly to be our next Secretary of State."

 
Senator McCain: (12:38 PM)

·         Spoke on President Obama's nomination of Senator Clinton to head the State Department.

o    SUMMARY "I really believe, Mr. President, that we should move forward with the nomination of our former colleague, I guess our still present colleague, Senator Hillary Clinton, to take up the urgent and important duties that she holds, which are to meet some very serious challenges. We shouldn't delay. Mr. President, I don't have to remind you or anyone else in this body, we're in two wars. There's a very fragile cease-fire in Gaza now between the Israelis and Hamas. The situation in North Korea seems to have deteriorated again with a paradoxical and unpredictable behavior of the North Korean dictator and government. And, I think that we need to immediately or as soon as possible this morning by voice vote move forward with the nomination and confirmation of the Senator from New York to be the next Secretary of State."

Senator Clinton Nomination

Colloquy (Senators Kerry and McCain)

·         Spoke on President Obama's nomination of Senator Clinton to head the State Department.

 
Senator McCain: (12:41 PM)

o    SUMMARY "I would ask unanimous consent at the completion of the remarks that any of my colleagues might have, that we vitiate the vote at 4:30 and proceed by voice vote to the confirmation of Senator Hillary Clinton to be the next Secretary of State of the United States of America."

 
Senator Kerry: (12:41 PM)

o    SUMMARY "Mr. President, reserving the right to object, I'm in a very strange position here of wanting to protect the prerogatives of the Minority, which is an important part of how we work here, but at the same time completely supporting the Senator from Arizona...If we could ask for just a forebearance of the unanimous consent and perhaps it would be more appropriate if Senator Cornyn or someone from the other side of the aisle were willing to lodge that objection. Because I'm personally very uncomfortable doing so."

 
Senator McCain: (12:42 PM)

o    SUMMARY "I just had a conversation with Senator Cornyn, and he does not object to that."

 
Senator Kerry: (12:42 PM)

o    SUMMARY "Mr. President, could I ask, if the Senator would withhold his unanimous consent request just for a moment, if the Senator from Maine would be permitted to speak, we'll see if we can jump through this hoop."

 
Senator Collins: (12:42 PM)

·         Spoke on President Obama's nomination of Senator Clinton to head the State Department.

o    SUMMARY "Last Thursday, the Senate Foreign Relations committee overwhelmingly approved Senator Clinton to become our nation's top diplomat. I rise today to echo the Committee's approval and to urge my colleagues to vote in favor of her confirmation."

 
Senator Graham: (12:50 PM)

·         Spoke on President Obama's nomination of Senator Clinton to head the State Department.

o    SUMMARY "I have a lot of confidence in the Committee to provide oversight. Having said that, I have a lot of confidence in Senator Clinton to be a good Secretary of State. We've got a new President. We had a tough campaign. The campaign is over, but the wars are not. The challenges facing the country are enormous, domestically and internationally. I think this new President deserves to have his team in place and I could not think of a better choice for Secretary of State, and he had many to choose from."

The Senate stands in recess until 2:15 PM

Senator Clinton Nomination

 
Senator DeMint: (2:16 PM)

·         Spoke on President Obama's nomination of Senator Clinton to head the State Department.

o    SUMMARY "At the Committee level, I said she not only had the potential to be a good Secretary of State, but a great Secretary of State. But her success will be determined by more than just her considerable intellect and experience. It will also be determined by the policies she pursues. This is one area that concerns me. Based on her testimony, her answers to questions, and her public statements, I believe she will take our foreign policy in a direction that erodes our national independence and vendors sovereignty to international powers. I am deeply concerned she will take aim at decades old policies intended to protect the sanctity of life, ensuring our foreign assistance money does not fund abortions and do not lobby nations to repeal laws that protect unborn children."

o    SUMMARY "I will be voting against the nomination today, but I will do so with nothing but sincere hope and good will toward our new Secretary of State and pray for her success as she takes the helm of the State Department."

 
Senator Schumer: (2:25 PM)

·         Spoke on President Obama's nomination of Senator Clinton to head the State Department.

o    SUMMARY "President Obama laid out a daunting task to return the United States to its role as a moral help for the international community, and Hillary Clinton is exactly the right person for the job. She has studied the issues of foreign policy over the years, she has outstanding relationships with the leaders of the world, and she also has that internal gyroscope that will lead her to balance the very legitimate security needs of the United States along with the need to be a moral leader."

 
Senator Landrieu: (2:36 PM)

·         Spoke on President Obama's nomination of Senator Clinton to head the State Department.

o    SUMMARY "I think, as the Secretary of State, although she's going to be busy with many great issues of the world, her heart is big enough to find a space and to keep a space for orphans and for children. And as far as I'm concerned, they may be an afterthought to many big policy leaders today, but I'd like to paraphrase a quote that says, 'children may be an afterthought today, but they're 100% of our future.' And paying a little attention to them will help this world keep a steady course. Senator Clinton, now hopefully to be Secretary of State, most certainly will do that."

Senator Clinton Nomination

 
Senator Boxer: (2:44 PM)

·         Spoke on President Obama's nomination of Senator Clinton to head the State Department.

o    SUMMARY "What Californians are saying to me is that we need a strong and respected Secretary of State who's knowledgeable on day one. And they basically say there's two reason for that, and I agree with them. First reason is there are so many hot spots in the world and so many complicated issues out there for the next Secretary of State. And Hillary Clinton, having run for President, having been a United States Senator, having served on the Armed Services Committee is supremely ready for these challenges...the other reason my friends from California have stated is this. We need someone with that prestige, with that recognition, with that charisma, because we have so many problems here at home that our President has to attend to."

 
Senator Corker: (2:53 PM)

·         Spoke on the state of the U.S. economy.

o    SUMMARY "It's my belief that we have a number of banks in this country, large banks, banks that we know and respect, that need to be seized, that writedowns need to take place and get down to a base level where normal investors would be willing to invest in these banks. And the longer that we put this off, Mr. President, the longer we're going to be away from actually solving the root cause of this problem."

 
Senator Cochran: (2:59 PM)

·         Spoke on President Obama's nomination of Senator Clinton to head the State Department.

o    SUMMARY "I'm pleased to support the nomination of Senator Hillary Clinton to be Secretary of State. Her service as the Senator from New York for the past eight years has been proof of her impressive ability to effectively and thoughtfully contribute to the governance of our nation. I've enjoyed working with her in the Senate and look forward to continuing that relationship in her role as Secretary of State."

 
Senator Durbin: (3:06 PM)

·         Spoke on President Obama's nomination of Senator Clinton to head the State Department.

o    SUMMARY "It's been my good fortune to serve with Senator Clinton for many years here in the United States Senate, to have known her when she was our First Lady, and to have worked with her on many issues. There's no question of her competence, no question of her skill. As someone who supported our current President in the last Presidential campaign, and witnessed the spirited contest between Senator Clinton and then-Senator Obama, there is obviously no lack of determination when it comes to Senator Clinton and task she assumes. So when President Obama made the decision to ask her to serve as Secretary of State, I felt that it was a decision which would bring to this country a leader in that position who could make a real difference."

Senator Clinton Nomination

 
Senator Specter: (3:17 PM)

·         Spoke on President Obama's nomination of Senator Clinton to head the State Department.

o    SUMMARY "I believe that Senator Clinton brings extraordinary talent and an extraordinary record to this very, very important position. Her educational and professional backgrounds are sterling."

o    SUMMARY "There is one additional comment that I have to make, and that is on the potential conflict of interest between contributions which are made to former President Clinton's Library and the activities of Secretary of State Clinton, if and when she is confirmed...I trust Hillary Clinton's good judgment, and I think she will work through the issues. And the Memorandum of Understanding which was executed on December 8 of last year, and the additions which she has made go a long way."

 
Senator Leahy: (3:34 PM)

·         Spoke on President Obama's nomination of Senator Clinton to head the State Department.

o    SUMMARY "Secretary-Designee Clinton's stature and influence make her uniquely qualified to take on this role, a role at a critical time in our history. As Chairman of the Committee that funds the State Department, I look forward to working closely with her and President Obama as they embark on the critical task of restoring America's leadership and image abroad, and I appreciate the conversations I've had with both of them in this regard."

 
Senator Cardin: (3:41 PM)

·         Spoke on President Obama's nomination of Senator Clinton to head the State Department.

o    SUMMARY "Our colleagues have talked frequently about how our colleague, Senator Clinton, is the right person at the right time to be the Secretary of State. We've talked a great deal about her experience as the First Lady of this nation. She traveled frequently around the world. She knows firsthand the problems America confronts internationally. Her experience as the United States Senator for New York, serving on the Armed Services Committee, she understands the critical role that the State Department plays in our national security."

o    SUMMARY "I particularly want to thank the former President and the Foundation that he's responsible for, for the unprecedented disclosures that they're making. We will know all the contributors. They have agreed before new contributions are made that it will be cleared through the Government Ethics Bureau to make sure there is not even an appearance of a conflict."

 
Senator Kerry: (3:44 PM)

·         Spoke on President Obama's nomination of Senator Clinton to head the State Department.

o    SUMMARY "As I've said earlier in my opening comments, I believe that Senator Clinton is in a position to provide an historical shift in American foreign policy where we reach out to the world with the best of our values, the best of our thinking and the best of our hopes and intentions. And I think this can be a moment where we renew America's proud role as a global leader, where we touch the hearts and minds of people all across this planet and where we really have an opportunity to say to future generations, we met our responsibility."

 
Senator Reid: (4:06 PM)

·         Spoke on President Obama's nomination of Senator Clinton to head the State Department.

o    SUMMARY "Senator Clinton is uniquely capable and profoundly prepared to lead our State Department at a time of unprecedented global challenges, at a time when quick confirmation of President Obama's national security team is critical to protect us here at home. We face two wars abroad, complex and unpredictable crisis in the Middle East and the nuclear ambitions of a volatile Iranian regime together with the complexities of dealing with North Korea. Senator Clinton has earned the admiration and respect within the global community with the understanding that our international power must be both strong and smart, that the true measure of our influence is not the size and strength of our military but also how we use other tools, including diplomacy, foreign assistance to make the world safer and more free."

·         Propounded a UC that all time be yielded back and that the Senate move to consider the nomination of Hillary Clinton to be Secretary of State (without objection).

·         After the roll call vote, the Senate will resume consideration of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 (S. 181) and the Hutchison Amendment.

Senator Clinton Nomination

The vote result was 94-2.

The nomination of Hillary Clinton to be Secretary of State is confirmed.

The vote results will be posted here within an hour.  

The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 (S. 181)

 
Senator Leahy: (4:46 PM)

·         Spoke against the Hutchison Amendment to the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 (S. 181).

o    SUMMARY "I think we have to pass a bipartisan Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act so employers are not rewarded for deceiving workers about their illegal conduct. And maybe it is a signal to the Supreme Court to stop legislating. Stop being an activist court. Uphold the law as we write it."

o    SUMMARY "The reality is the Supreme Court Ledbetter's decision could lead to more litigation because people feel they have to file premature cases. The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act is the only bill that gives workers the time to consider they have to work out solutions with their employers."

 
Senator Voinovich: (4:58 PM)

·         Spoke in favor of the Hutchison Amendment to the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 (S. 181).

o    SUMMARY "Under the approach taken by the Ledbetter Legislation, defendants could potentially find themselves facing lawsuits that are years, if not decades, old. Because she recognizes that paycheck discrimination may not be obvious in the modern workforce and a bad actor should not benefit from such discrimination, Senator Hutchison crafted a sensible compromise."

 
Senator Hutchison: (5:02 PM)

·         Propounded a UC that the Hutchison Amendment be laid aside so other amendments can be offered (without objection).

 
Senator Specter: (5:05 PM)

·         Introduced Amendment #26 to the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 (S. 181).

o    SUMMARY "The time when the statute of limitations begins to run is when the employee knew or should have known. I think that is fair. I think that it is reasonable to say to an individual where you are being discriminated against and you know about it or you should in reasonable diligence know about it. This is a standard used in the law in many, many areas, actual knowledge or constructive knowledge where somebody should have known. That is, it is fair to say at that point, when a person is on notice they ought to begin their lawsuit. It is fair for the statute of limitations to begin, at that time, to give the defendant a fair opportunity to know about it. The amendment which I am offering really fits hand and glove with the concepts of 'should have known,' and that is 'actual' knowledge or 'constructive' knowledge. That the defense will be based on waiver or estoppel."

·         Propounded a UC that Amendment #26 be laid aside so other amendments can be offered (without objection).

·         Introduced Amendment #27 to the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 (S. 181).

o    SUMMARY "The essence of this amendment is to strike the term 'or other practices.' The core issue here is pay. And that's what I think we ought to deal with."

The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 (S. 181)

 
Senator Durbin: (5:14 PM)

·         Spoke in favor of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 (S. 181).

o    SUMMARY "Let me tell you what the issue is here. It is fundamental. In the case of Lilly Ledbetter. Here is what it comes down to, should women be paid the same for work as men? That's it. That's the basic question...President Obama said that passing this bill is part of an effort to update the social contract in this country to reflect the realities that working women face each day. I urge my colleagues to help update the social contract with this new Administration and this new day in Washington. Let us, after we've cleaned up the Mall, and all of the folks have gone home, not forget why we had that election, why we made that decision as a nation and why America is watching us to see if our actions are going to be consistent with our promises."

 
Senator Murkowski: (5:26 PM)

·         Spoke in favor of the Hutchison Amendment to the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 (S. 181).

o    SUMMARY "I rise this afternoon to speak in support of the substitute amendment filed by Senator Hutchison to the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. I do believe that this substitute amendment strikes a fair balance in ensuring that employees can be relieved of discrimination."

o    SUMMARY "Senator Hutchison's substitute amendment would also restore the reasonable requirement that the employee file a complaint in a timely manner. Mr. President, we all know memories have a tendency to fade away, paperwork may be lost, thrown away. People leave their jobs. So requiring an employee to file a timely claim benefit, this benefits the employee in pressing his or her claim."

 
Senator Hutchison: (5:43 PM)

·         Spoke in favor of the Hutchison Amendment to the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 (S. 181).

o    SUMMARY "It is, I think, essential if we are going to have a statute of limitation that goes beyond the Act itself, and in this case it would be six months, which is the law today, that it accrue to the person and not some other person on behalf of the person who did not bring the case."

The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 (S. 181)

 
Senator Cardin: (5:51 PM)

·         Spoke against the Hutchison Amendment to the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 (S. 181).

o    SUMMARY "I don't want to see us put additional roadblocks in the way of women being able to have an effective remedy. I respect greatly my colleague from Texas. She's a very sincere and very effective member of this body. But I don't want to get lawyers debating whether a person can bring a claim or not as to whether they have reasonable cause or try to think of what someone was thinking about at the time. This is very simple. If you discriminate against an employee, your employee should have an effective remedy."

 
Senator Mikulski: (5:53 PM)

·         Spoke against the Hutchison Amendment to the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 (S. 181).

o    SUMMARY "My bill, the Kennedy-Mikulski bill, which has 54 cosponsors, simply restores the law before the Supreme Court decision. It is a legal standard that nine separate decisions in front of courts of appeals agreed with."

o    SUMMARY "The Hutchison Amendment acknowledges that the Supreme Court Ledbetter decision is unfair and it has closed the courthouse door for legitimate claimants. Unfortunately, Senator Hutchison's effort to fix Ledbetter's problem is, I think, flawed. I think it is a well-intentioned, but misguided attempt."

o    SUMMARY "I urge my colleagues to vote against the Hutchison Amendment and to vote for the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act."

 
Senator Hutchison: (6:07 PM)

·         Spoke in favor of the Hutchison Amendment to the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 (S. 181).

o    SUMMARY "My amendment codifies the employees' right to establish why he or she didn't know. It is so necessary that we have this right and it is necessary to know when the person should have known and make that a part of the record, otherwise it would allow a person to knowingly sit on a claim to run up the amount that might be added to skim the discriminatory act in punitive damages. That should not be a part of our legal system."

 
Senator Menendez: (6:26 PM)

·         Spoke against the Hutchison Amendment to the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 (S. 181).

o    SUMMARY "Wage discrimination is real, and the Fair Pay Act would strike a clear blow against it. So we have to make sure to keep the legislation strong. Unfortunately, I'm afraid the amendment offered by our colleague from Texas, Senator Hutchison, would severely undermine it. That amendment would require people to prove that they had no reason, no reason, to suspect their employer was discriminating against them in 180 days. The amendment is pretty confusing just on its face. I have to ask, how does an employee prove she doesn't suspect discrimination?"  

The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 (S. 181)

 
Senator Klobuchar: (6:29 PM)

·         Spoke against the Hutchison Amendment to the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 (S. 181).

o    SUMMARY "What this amendment basically says is that you're not going to be able to bring any kind of claim of discrimination, even a valid one, without having to go through a bunch of hoops and dot a bunch of I's and cross a bunch of T's. If you really want to make sure this discrimination doesn't take place, make it a rule, make it a brightline rule, as we do in so many other cases."

 
Senator Mikulski: (6:43 PM)

·         Spoke against the Hutchison Amendment to the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 (S. 181).

o    SUMMARY "This Hutchison Amendment, I think, is going to create a nightmare and is going to create more lawsuits and more lawyers arguing about what have or should have suspected. The Hutchison Bill also permits employers to escape accountability for continuing pay discrimination. Like the Ledbetter decision, the Hutchison substitute immunizes an employer from any challenge of pay discrimination, even when the employer continues to profit from it."

 
Senator Hutchison: (6:50 PM)

·         Spoke in favor of the Hutchison Amendment to the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 (S. 181).

o    SUMMARY "We are clarifying and trying to make it more fair, more clear and more uniform across all of the districts and our country. That is our goal, and I do hope that we will be able to have this amendment that will make this, I think, a law that is better for employees who might have been discriminated against, but also giving the fair right to an employer."

The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 (S. 181)

 
Senator Whitehouse: (6:52 PM)

·         Spoke on possible wrongdoings within the Bush Administration.

o    SUMMARY "Our new President has said that America needs to look forward. I agree. Our new Attorney General Designate has said we should not criminalize policy differences. I agree...but consider the persuasive, deliberate and systematic damage that the Bush Administration did to America, to her finest traditions and institutions, to her reputation and integrity."

o    SUMMARY "I say this in no spirit of vindictiveness or revenge. I say it because the past bears upon the future. If people have been planted in government in violation of our civil service laws to serve their party and their ideology instead of serving the public, the past will bear upon the future. If procedures and institutions of government have been corrupted and are not put right, that past will assuredly bear on the future."

 
Senator Enzi: (7:06 PM)

·         Propounded a UC that the Hutchison Amendment be laid aside in order to offer amendments 28-29 (without objection).

·         Spoke on the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 (S. 181).

o    SUMMARY "I'll support Senator Hutchison's wise and effective approach, one that could probably be negotiated finer and done more carefully, but that would be committee work. But I will support it because I think it's a wise and effective approach that will ensure that no one loses their right to sue because they didn't have the information to realize they were being mistreated. That's our goal."

o    SUMMARY "The Hutchison Bill is a rifle shot to solve a problem that everyone agrees must be solved. The Ledbetter Bill is a shotgun blast that causes collateral damage to important safeguards in our system of law."

 
Senator Reid: (7:28 PM)

·         Performed wrap up.

·         The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 (S. 181) is expected to be completed tomorrow. If not, a cloture motion will be filed.

 
Senator Sanders: (7:36 PM)

·         Spoke on the poverty in the United States.

o    SUMMARY "I know this is not an issue that many people in the Congress choose to talk about, but it is an issue that must be talked about. Not only from a sense of morality, but from a sense of basic economic well-being. In my view, it is not acceptable that the top 1/10th earn more income than the bottom 50%, it is not acceptable that the top 1% earn more than the bottom 90%. It is greed that we as a Congress and a nation have to talk about. Do people really need billions and billions and billions of dollars in personal wealth when we have children in this city and all over this country who are living out in the streets and who are denied basic, decent quality child care."

·         Tomorrow --

·         The Senate will convene at 9:30 AM for a one hour period of Morning Business.

·         Following Morning Business, the Senate will resume consideration of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 (S. 181).

·         There will be one hour of debate equally divided and controlled.

·         The first vote is expected at 11:30 AM in relation to the Hutchison Amendment (#25).

The Senate stands adjourned until 9:30 AM tomorrow.