Senate Opening

The Senate Convened.

Opening Remarks

 
Senator Reid: (9:34 AM)

·         Today --

·         There will be a one hour period of Morning Business with Senators allowed to speak up to 10 minutes each.

·         The Senate will then proceed to the consideration of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act (S. 181) and the Hutchison Amendment.

·         A roll call vote is expected at 11:30 AM related to the Hutchison Amendment.

·         The Specter and Enzi Amendments will likely be addressed after the roll call vote.

Morning Business

 
Senator Kyl: (9:35 AM)

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

o    SUMMARY "Like my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, I strongly support both of these anti-discrimination laws. Unfortunately, some of my colleagues are misleadingly stating in the debate about the legislation pending that it's about pay discrimination. That's not true. The only issue is the length of time of the statute of limitations that will apply in such cases."

o    SUMMARY "I believe that Senator Hutchison's Amendment strikes the right balance between the needs of employers for certainty and the need of an aggrieved employee to file a valid claim alleging discrimination."

 
Senator Alexander: (9:42 AM)

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

o    SUMMARY "The first priority of the new Democratic Congress already passed the House, brought to the Floor of the Senate without even being considered by a committee. What we're debating today is a trial lawyer bailout. Let's give our friends, the trial lawyers, a big bailout as the first order of business in our effort to help the economy."

o    SUMMARY "If Senator Hutchison's Amendment does not pass, you better get ready to hire a record keeper. You better get ready to pay some settlements to lawyers because for the interminable future, a lawyer and someone who used to work for you or a relative of that person may come in and allege pay discrimination even though it was 25 years ago and they knew it all the time. What does that mean for you? You better set aside $25,000, $50,000, money you could use to hire more people or pay a dividend, or get the economy moving, in order to bail out the trial lawyers."

 
Senator Bennett: (9:50 AM)

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

o    SUMMARY "Under this legislation, the statute of limitations that is crafted to deal with the situation where there are no available witnesses anymore, somehow magically by virtue of this bill, keeps getting set again and again and going forward. The Supreme Court got this one right. The attempt on the part of those who want to curry favor with the trial lawyers have got this wrong. What will happen, more people who have had wage discrimination receive benefits? No guarantee that will happen. Will trial lawyers who are looking for causes of action receive fees? Pretty good guarantee that will happen."

o    SUMMARY "Here we are in the worst financial situation that any of us can recall, talking about a circumstance that would destroy jobs among small businesses, that would discourage employers who are struggling to create new jobs in medium-sized businesses; we're talking about putting out billions in stimulus at the same time we are discussing legislation that would destroy jobs and create chaos among those who are trying to survive in this financial circumstance. This is bad legislation."

Morning Business

 
Senator Brownback: (10:01 AM)

·         Spoke on the anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision.

o    SUMMARY "Today, 36 years ago, the Supreme Court ruled in Roe vs. Wade that they ban all impediments to having an abortion in the United States. Abortion is a Constitutional right that an individual carries in the United States and that it cannot be limited...the reason I say it's a sad day is there's been roughly 40 million children that are not here today because of that decision. It ratcheted up, escalated up substantially the number of abortions in the United States that took place after that. It moved forward to the point that most estimates are that one in four pregnancies in the United States will end in an abortion and the child dying."

o    SUMMARY "It's a sad day. It's a tough day. I hope it's a day that doesn't go on for many future annual recognitions of the Roe vs. Wade decision, but rather that in the future we will be a life affirming place and that we will say that in a dignified culture, every life, in every place and in every way is beautiful and it's unique and it's amazing, and it's something that really should be celebrated."

 
Senator Durbin: (10:17 AM)

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

o    SUMMARY "I don't question those who oppose this. I understand they don't favor discrimination but I have to say that I disagree with them. We believe when there is discrimination in the workplace whether it's in pay, age, or gender discrimination that, in fact, that's not American; it's not consistent with our values and that the person who is wronged, the person who is the victim, should have an opportunity to come to court for justice."

·         Spoke on the economic stimulus package.

o    SUMMARY "We have to act together, Democrats and Republicans. We cannot do this alone. All the Democratic votes cannot reach the magic number of 60 in the Senate Chamber. We need to hope that some of the Republicans who understand the gravity of this economic crisis in their own states and in our nation, who understand the need to move quickly that we hear from economists of all political stripes and backgrounds, who stood and listened to our new President challenge us to act quickly, we need to hope they'll join with us."

 
Senator McConnell: (10:31 AM)

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

o    SUMMARY "Every Member of this body supports equal pay for equal work. You couldn't find anybody who doesn't support that. But this so-called Ledbetter Bill is really a trial lawyer's bailout. It's not about fair pay. Pay discrimination has been illegal since 1963. Let me say that again. Since 1963. This bill is about effectively eliminating the statute of limitations on pay discrimination. It unfairly targets business owners who in many cases will no longer have the evidence they would need to mount a just defense."

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

 
Senator Mikulski: (10:36 AM)

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

o    SUMMARY "It also fails to recognize that pay discrimination, unlike other kinds of discrimination, is repeated each time a worker receives an unfair paycheck. I'm going to repeat that. The Hutchison Amendment fails to recognize that pay or wage discrimination, unlike other forms of discrimination, is repeated each time someone receives an unfair paycheck. Instead, the Hutchison Amendment creates a new, confusing standard that requires workers to either be subject to the Ledbetter Rule or prove that they had no reasonable suspicion of discrimination when the employer first decided to pay them. Well, you have to prove a negative. That's almost impossible."

 
Senator Graham: (10:41 AM)

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

o    SUMMARY "If we go down the road that this bill is charting, we're going to make it harder to do business in this country and we will not enhance fairness. The whole concept of the Hutchison Amendment is that you have 180 days from the time you knew or should have known you're being discriminated against. The Supreme Court Case was a ruling that said you have 180 days from the event. That doesn't seem quite fair to me. But this idea that you could realize discrimination or know of it for 20 years and file a lawsuit 20 years later based on the last paycheck is not fair to the legal system and not fair to business because a lot of the people have left."

 
Senator Hutchison: (10:51 AM)

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

o    SUMMARY "We don't want to do anything that causes fewer people to be employed because of greater potential liabilities and we don't want to do anything that adds to the instability of the job market today. We want to help our businesses get through this time by keeping people working. I'm afraid that the underlying bill will be a deterrent in that respect. I appreciate those who have spoken for this Amendment and I hope we can continue to work on it together."

 
Senator Mikulski: (10:52 AM)

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

o    SUMMARY "The Hutchison Amendment is vague and foggy and the rule encourages premature claims which will increase litigation. Workers will feel compelled to file formal claims with EEOC or take legal action for fear they will be accused of delay. So that's what the Supreme Court accused Lilly Ledbetter of. They didn't accuse Good Year of discrimination in their paycheck. They accused Lilly Ledbetter of delay and Lilly Ledbetter lost out."

 
Senator DeMint: (10:59 AM)

·         Propounded a UC that the Hutchison Amendment be laid aside in order to offer amendment #30 (without objection).

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

 
Senator Hutchison: (11:03 AM)

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

o    SUMMARY "I'm just trying to make sure that we try to keep the equal and level playing field so that people who own a business, who are struggling in this very tough economy have the ability to make the decisions that will keep those employees employed and make the judgment calls that an owner who is the one that's signing the checks, the one that's signing the loan applications, the one that's putting forth their whole livelihood and their family's security also has the fair chance in any kind of a dispute to do what is best for the business and for the employees of the business."

 
Senator Boxer: (11:05 AM)

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

o    SUMMARY "I urge my colleagues to defeat these pernicious amendments that are coming. The one from my friend, Senator Hutchison, believe me, it's a wolf in sheep's clothing. If we pass the Hutchison Amendment, people like Lilly Ledbetter simply would not be helped. The Hutchison Amendment essentially adopts the flawed decision by the Supreme Court in the Ledbetter case. It creates a confusing new standard for employees."

 
Senator Tester: (11:12 AM)

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

o    SUMMARY "The jury awarded Ms. Ledbetter significant, significant damage. The U.S. Supreme Court said too much time had passed since her first paycheck, and the court ruled that Ms. Ledbetter's claim was invalid and even took away that jury award. Mr. President, thankfully this legislation undoes a wrongheaded decision, and it clarifies the law to make it fair to America's workers."

 
Senator Mikulski: (11:20 AM)

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

o    SUMMARY "The difference between the Hutchison Alternative and the Lilly Ledbetter is this, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act restores the law to the way it was before the Supreme Court decision, Ledbetter vs. Goodyear. The Hutchison alternative creates a whole new legal standard which, regrettably, is very vague and I'm concerned will trigger a tremendous amount of lawsuits and will further add to hostility and suspicion in the workplace."

 
Senator Hutchison: (11:28 AM)

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

o    SUMMARY "I don't want anyone in the country to be discriminated against. I also want a small business person, a big business person, anyone who has created jobs in our country and trying to make it so we keep our economy strong and keep jobs from being let go, I want that person to have a fair chance, too."

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

The vote result was 40-55.

The Hutchison Amendment #25 to the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 (S. 181) is not agreed to.

The vote results will be posted here within an hour.    

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

 
Senator Isakson: (12:06 PM)

·         Offered amendment #37 to the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 (S. 181).

o    SUMMARY "Amendment number 37 does a very simple thing. It says that the provisions of this legislation take effect on the day the legislation becomes law and is not retroactive, which is obviously the intent of everything that we do. So any case that had been adjudicated in the past would not be reopened, but any case after this date would be governed by the new provisions of the law as they are in the new legislation."

 
Senator Harkin: (12:10 PM)

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

o    SUMMARY "A major decision in June of 2007 in the case of Ledbetter vs. Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, the Supreme Court took us backward. In a 5-4 ruling the court made it extremely difficult for women to go to court to pursue claims of pay discrimination even in cases where the discrimination is flagrant. A jury acknowledged that Lilly Ledbetter, a former supervisor at Goodyear had been paid $6,000 a year less than the lowest paid male counterpart. But the Supreme Court rejected her discrimination claim. Why? Well, the Court held that women workers must file a discrimination claim within 180 days of their pay being set."

o    SUMMARY "The very thought that an employer would say, well, we can't have this bill, this Lilly Ledbetter Bill we're talking about, because, gee, you know, after 180 days, I keep accruing liability. Well, stop it. Stop paying discriminatory pay. Go through your books. Find out what the discrimination is, if it exists, and pay everyone fairly."

 
Senator Nelson-FL: (12:36 PM)

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

o    SUMMARY "Since we are a government of three separate branches where there has been a mistake made, we have the opportunity to correct that mistake. And so we're going to do that today here in the United States Senate. And I'm certainly going to be a part of it, because I will be voting for this legislation."

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

 
Senator Harkin: (12:58 PM)

·         Propounded a UC that at 1:00 PM the Senate resume consideration concurrently of the pending Enzi Amendments #28 and #29, that they be debated concurrently for one hour, and that the time be equally divided between Senators Enzi and Mikulski or their designees.

·         Following the use or yielding back of time on the Enzi Amendments, the Senate resume consideration concurrently of the Specter Amendments #26 and number #27 and they be debated concurrently for one hour and that the time be equally divided between Senator Specter and Mikulski or their designees.

·         Following the use or yielding back of time on the Specter Amendments, the Senate proceed to votes in relation to the Enzi and Specter Amendments in the order listed below. Specter #26, Specter #27, Enzi #28, Enzi #29.

·         Further, that no amendments be in order to the pending Enzi and Specter Amendments prior to the votes. That there be two minutes of debate equally divided between the votes. That all roll call votes after the first vote be limited to 10 minutes (without objection).

 
Senator Inhofe: (1:00 PM)

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

o    SUMMARY "I have stated several times, and I again state that I am in opposition to Senate Bill 181, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, and reinforce my support for Senator Hutchison's alternative...What we are told by the other side of the aisle is that the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act is about protecting the right of employees who may not know that they have been discriminated against, but in reality, this bill represents a tremendous burden on employers and a boon to trial lawyers across the country."

 
Senator Lincoln: (1:10 PM)

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

o    SUMMARY "I hope that as we look at this, we realize what we're talking about here. For American women across this great land who are working hard, many of them in the same job as a man, maybe supporting a family by themselves, or taking care of an aging parent, financially and otherwise, that we would do the thing that this country is based on, equity and fairness and justice. The principles that we stand for in this country are not lost in them or in their paycheck, but that we do see the importance of standing up and saying how important it is to who we are and what we stand for, that they deserve equal pay."

 
Senator Enzi: (1:12 PM)

·         Propounded a UC that as soon as the Senate has disposed of Amendment #28, that the Senate will voice vote Amendment #29, based on the decision of #28 (without objection).

o    SUMMARY "They're two different sections of the law, but say the same thing. So we have to have both pieces, but if one is acceptable, the other one ought to be acceptable. If one is not acceptable, the other one should not be acceptable. So I know it's a change in parliamentary procedure, but I'm trying to speed things up by having as few votes as possible but still get the decisions made."

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

o    SUMMARY "I've heard many on the other side of the aisle state that S. 181 has been fully vetted because two hearings were held on it last year. I'd like to point out that the 'HELP' Committee Hearing was held before Senator Hutchison introduced her alternative legislation, her 'Better Ledbetter.' Neither hearing covered this nor any other alternative means to accomplish the goal we all agree on."

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

 
Senator Mikulski: (1:25 PM)

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

o    SUMMARY "Mr. President, I oppose Senator Enzi's Amendments to the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. Those amendments strike the words 'affected by' from sections 3 and 4 of the bill. Now, these amendments, I believe, are not necessary and I'm concerned that they could lead courts to mistakenly read this legislation in too narrow of a framework."

o    SUMMARY "The Senator from Wyoming argues that his amendments are necessary because the bill somehow expands the category of persons who may sue for discrimination under the civil rights laws referenced in the bill. His concern and his claim is that the Fair Pay Act, the Lilly Ledbetter Act, would allow spouses and other relatives of the workers who suffer discrimination to file their own lawsuits claiming that they had been affected by the discrimination of their relative. I appreciate his concern. What we want to do, though, is assure him and my colleagues that his concerns are not valid."

 
Senator Chambliss: (1:37 PM)

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

o    SUMMARY "The Enzi Amendment makes such common sense that oftentimes people in this town have a difficult time understanding it. But as I heard the Senator from Maryland discuss this issue a minute ago, I think we agree that only affected employees are covered. And we ought to clarify that. Senator Enzi's Amendment does that and therefore I'm in strong support of his amendment."

 
Senator Mikulski: (1:39 PM)

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

o    SUMMARY "I think I've presented a sound legal argument that shows that the only thing we mean by the affected party is that person who was actually discriminated against or if a federal entity sues on their behalf. I think we clarified it. But I think that we also need to be clear on why we're doing this legislation. We are righting a wrong."

 
Senator Enzi: (1:49 PM)

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

o    SUMMARY "This affected 'individual' will be permitted to sue under S. 181, but we don't know what the term means. Does it include spouses, etc? Why didn't the bill's sponsors use a defined term such as 'person'? This bill, as drafted, leaves the door open to lawsuits from people other than the employee. And my amendment shuts that door."

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

 
Senator McCaskill: (1:52 PM)

·         Spoke against the Enzi and Specter Amendments to the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 (S. 181).

o    SUMMARY "I think it is important we defeat these amendments. I think it's important that we restore common sense to allow someone to take action when they have in fact been kicked to the curb in the workplace because not of their job but because of who they are. Because of whether or not they are a man or a woman, whether or not they're old or young, whether or not they're black or white."

·         Propounded a UC that the nominations of Lisa Jackson, Nancy Sutley, Hilda Solis and Susan Rice be moved forward (objection).

 
Senator Specter: (1:57 PM)

·         Spoke in favor of Specter Amendment #26 to the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 (S. 181).

o    SUMMARY "This amendment provides that nothing in this act or any amendment made by the act shall be construed to prohibit a party from asserting the defense based on waiver of a right or an estoppel or lache doctrine. This amendment goes to the issue of giving the employers a fair opportunity for offering a defense."

·         Spoke in favor of Specter Amendment #27 to the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 (S. 181).

o    SUMMARY "In the statute, the language reads, 'pay or other practices.' And this amendment would strike the language 'other practices,' focusing on the pay. And as I said before, I believe there ought to be equal pay for women, the glass ceiling ought to be broken and they ought to be treated fairly and equally. But I am concerned about the language of 'other practices' which might well promote an enormous amount of litigation as to whether 'other practices' included such items as promotion, hiring, firing, training, tenure, demotion, reassignment, discipline, temporary reassignment, transfer and all of those items."

 
Senator Sessions: (2:13 PM)

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

o    SUMMARY "The need to ensure that women are not discriminated against in the workplace is very real. Congress has acted on that more than once. In fact, this litigation has arisen from statutory actions to make sure that discrimination does not occur. One lady who lost her suit because she brought it too late, according to the Supreme Court, her allies and friends and others have promoted the idea that we should change the statute of limitations in an historic way, in ways that we really should not do to deal with this problem. I think that is a mistake."

o    SUMMARY "I just want to express my support for equal work for equal pay and I would urge my colleagues to recognize that this evisceration of the historic principles of limitations of actions is not a way to fix it...I urge my colleagues to spend some time in reviewing this. Making sure that we realize what kind of wall we're knocking through a historic principle of the Anglo-American rule of law."

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

 
Senator Mikulski: (2:36 PM)

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

o    SUMMARY "This amendment is unnecessary and unfair. These are technical legal terms, and I'm going to be very clear that the language is unnecessary because nothing in the bill changes the availability of the long-standing equitable defenses. Parties have been able to raise equitable claims in employment discriminations, and nothing in the pending legislation would change that."

o    SUMMARY "I strongly oppose the amendment offered by Senator Specter to strike the word 'other practices' from section 3 of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. This amendment is unnecessary and would seriously undermine the bill's goal of protecting employees, like Lilly Ledbetter, but are denied a fair chance to challenge pay discrimination in the workplace."

 
Senator Dorgan: (2:46 PM)

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

o    SUMMARY "I would say to my colleague, I think this is the easiest vote to cast. We come to this Floor sometimes to cast wrenching, difficult, controversial votes. This is not one of them. This cannot be one of them. Requiring women who have been discriminated against, to bring a lawsuit before they knew they were discriminated against is absurd, yet that is what the Supreme Court said. It seems to me that it's time to correct that Supreme Court decision."

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

The vote result was 53-43.

The motion to table the Specter Amendment #26 to the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 (S. 181) is agreed to.

The vote results will be posted here within one hour.  

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

The vote result was 55-39.

The motion to table the Specter Amendment #27 to the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 (S. 181) is agreed to.

The vote results will be posted here within one hour.

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

The vote result was 55-41.

The motion to table the Enzi Amendment #28 to the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 (S. 181) is agreed to.

The vote results will be posted here within one hour.

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

·         The motion to table the Enzi Amendment #29 to the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 (S. 181) was agreed to by voice vote.

·         Senator-Designate Michael Bennet was sworn in as the Junior Senator from Colorado.

 
Senator Mikulski: (4:16 PM)

·         Propounded a UC the Senate resume consideration of the Isakson Amendment #37, with up to 10 minutes equally divided between Senator Isakson and myself or our designees.

·         Upon the use of or yielding back of time on the Isakson Amendment, the Senate resume consideration of the DeMint Amendment #31, with 20 minutes of debate, 10 minutes under the control of Senator DeMint or his designee, five minutes of control under Senator Mikulski, and Senator Alexander, or our designees.

·         Following the use or yielding back of time on the DeMint Amendment, the Senate proceed to vote in relation to the following amendments,  DeMint #31 and Isakson #37.

·         Further, that no amendments be in order to the pending DeMint or Isakson amendments prior to the votes and that there be two minutes of debate equally divided between the votes.

 
Senator Reed: (4:20 PM)

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

o    SUMMARY "It returns to law the pre-Ledbetter precedent by clarifying that each discriminatory paycheck restarts that 180-day period. As such, this bill does not modify the time limit for filing a claim or the two-year limit on back pay but re-establishes when the statute of limitation begins to run. This allows workers to demonstrate a patent or cumulative series of employer decisions or acts showing ongoing pay discrimination rather than simply reacting to any perceived notion of discrimination to fall within this 180-day period.

 
Senator Isakson: (4:24 PM)

·         Spoke in favor of the Isakson Amendment #37 to the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 (S. 181).

o    SUMMARY "I just ask the fairness question, is it right to go back to the inception of the civil rights laws, take an established principle that applied to housing, pay, employment of 180 days and change the rules so that people can reach back after the passage of this and create new litigation under changed rules? In the interest of fairness, I would submit that it should be prospective, that all the applications of law should begin with the passage of the law and its enactment."

 
Senator Mikulski: (4:27 PM)

·         Responded.

o    SUMMARY "I oppose the Isakson amendment because it would create an arbitrary and unfair cutoff for who gets the benefit of this unfair bill. The Isakson Amendment #37 would limit application of the bill to only claims that arise out of discrimination that takes place after the bill passes. There is no principled reason for applying this bill only to the future cases."

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

 
Senator Isakson: (4:29 PM)

·         Spoke in favor of the Isakson Amendment #37 to the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 (S. 181).

o    SUMMARY "With deference and respect for the Chairman, this amendment would do nothing to a pending case. This amendment would only apply to a case that has not been filed and could have reached all the way back to the civil rights pending case that has been filed since may of 2007. It would only affect those cases that haven't been filed all the way back to the civil rights act. Again, I think it's a matter of fairness and equity."

 
Senator DeMint: (4:32 PM)

·         Spoke in favor of the DeMint Amendment #31 to the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 (S. 181).

o    SUMMARY "I'm afraid the Ledbetter Bill is another example that the Majority here in the Senate really doesn't understand the American economy or how businesses really create jobs or how freedom works for all of us to create a better quality of life. Recessions are caused by uncertainty. This bill creates more uncertainty for the very businesses that we need to create the jobs and to keep the jobs that we have in our country today."

o    SUMMARY "I have an amendment that gets at some of the issues that have been talked about with this bill. About fairness and about discrimination. One of the biggest forms of discrimination in this country today is when we force an American worker to join in union. My amendment is a right to work amendment. Right now in this country we have a federal law that forces American workers to join a union...My amendment, which is a national right to work amendment, would restore the right of every American not to join a union.

 
Senator Alexander: (4:37 PM)

·         Spoke against the DeMint Amendment #31 to the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 (S. 181).

o    SUMMARY "The DeMint Amendment would take away from states the right to decide whether or not they wanted to be a right to work state, or an agency shop, or a union shop...Let Tennessee decide whether it wants a right to work law enforcement. I can think of nothing more fundamental for my state than preserving the principle that states have a right to decide whether or not you have a right to work law enforcement. I oppose the amendment."

 
Senator Mikulski: (4:42 PM)

·         Responded to Senator DeMint.

o    SUMMARY "Are you amending Lilly Ledbetter or are you amending another piece of legislation? Could you clarify what does your amendment amend? "

 
Senator DeMint: (4:42 PM)

·         Responded.

o    SUMMARY "It is a discrimination and fairness bill. And my bill would change the National Labor Relations Act to remove a mandate on states."

 
Senator Alexander: (4:52)

·         Responded.

·         SUMMARY "I greatly respect my colleague and friend, the Senator from South Carolina, on principle he is right. There is another principle on Federalism. We could decide that for ourselves. I urge my colleagues to vote against the DeMint Amendment."

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

The vote result was 67-30.

The motion to table the DeMint Amendment #31 to the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 (S. 181) is agreed to.

The vote results will be posted here within one hour.

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

The vote result was 59-38.

The motion to table the Isakson Amendment #37 to the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 (S. 181) is agreed to.

The vote results will be posted here within one hour.  

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

 
Senator Reid: (5:38 PM)

·         Propounded a UC that when the Vitter Amendment is introduced, there will be 15 minutes for debate, 10 minutes for Senator Vitter, 5 minutes for Senator Mikulski, upon the use or yielding back of the time, the Senate proceed to vote in relation to the amendment, that no amendment be in order prior to the amendment voted on, prior to the disposition of the amendment, no further amendments be in order, the bill be read a third time, the Senate proceed to vote, the vote be as if it were a cloture vote, if the threshold is reached, the bill is passed (without objection).

 
Senator Vitter: (5:42 PM)

·         Spoke in favor of the Vitter Amendment.

o    SUMMARY "This amendment would provide real equal opportunity and open competition in federal contracting. Congress has a duty to ensure that infrastructure projects paid for by taxpayers are free from favoritism. And these interests would not be served if Congress were to require union-only project labor agreements or P.L.A.'s for construction projects in the 111th Congress."

 
Senator Mikulski: (5:47 PM)

·         Responded.

o    SUMMARY "I want to be clear that I object to the Vitter Amendment. And I do it on both policy and procedural grounds. First, on procedural, this amendment has nothing to do with the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act focuses on wage discrimination. The Vitter of Louisiana Amendment focuses on project labor agreements by federal agencies...this Amendment will prohibit federal dollars from being used for something called Project Labor Agreements. These agreements which contractors and labor organizations establish to set the terms of employment for large construction projects, they both benefit the government and workers."

 
Senator Vitter: (5:50 PM)

·         Responded.

o    SUMMARY "It has been clearly demonstrated that Project Labor Agreements, union-only Project Labor Agreements, do hurt women and minorities and also hurt women and minority-owned businesses. And they're often shut out or disadvantaged through those agreements because of historical factors. That's why, one reason among many, all of those organizations I cited, including organizations representing minority and women-owned businesses, strongly support my stand-alone bill and strongly support my amendment."

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

The vote result was 59-38.

The motion to table the Vitter Amendment #34 to the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 (S. 181) is agreed to.

The vote results will be posted here within one hour.  

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

The vote result was 61-36.

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

The vote results will be posted here within one hour.

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

 
Senator Mikulski: (6:34 PM)

·         Thanked staff and Senators for their work on the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 (S. 181).

 
Senator Grassley: (6:36 PM)

·         Spoke on the Physician Payment Sunshine Act of 2009.

o    SUMMARY "Today I'm here introduce, along with Senator Kohl, 'The Physician Payment Sunshine Act of 2009.' The Physician Payment Sunshine Act would require that manufacturers of drugs, biologics and medical devices disclose on an annual basis any financial relationships that they have with physicians. That information would be posted on-line by the Secretary of Health and Human Services in a format that is searchable, that would be clear and easy for the public to understand."

 
Senator Murkowski: (6:57 PM)

·         Spoke on benefits for members of the Alaska Territorial Guard.

o    SUMMARY "It wasn't until the year 2000 that Senator Stevens succeeded in adding language to the Defense Appropriations Bill to recognize the Territorial Guard, and that legislation required the Secretary of Defense to treat the Alaska Territorial Guard just like any other soldiers and to require them to issue discharge certificates to those that remained alive."

o    SUMMARY "Sometime this week, letters will be mailed from the U.S. Army Human Resources Command in St. Louis, Missouri, to 25 elderly Alaskans and those letters will tell these 25 elderly Alaskans that the Army has changed its mind, it's changed its mind about whether their service in the Alaska Territorial Guard during World War II counts towards military retirement. Mr. President, the effect of this abrupt reversal in position is to reduce the monthly retirement payments to each of these 25 elderly Alaskans."

o    SUMMARY "It's time for some soul searching on this at the Pentagon. I'm looking for answers. I know you are looking for answers. We're looking for solutions. And there's really very little time left."

 
Senator Corker: (7:08 PM)

·         Propounded a UC that his vote in roll call #11 be changed from "yea" to "nay" (without objection).

Leader Remarks

 
Senator Reid: (7:25 PM)

·         Propounded a UC that at 4:00 PM on Monday, the Senate move into Executive Session to consider the nomination of Timothy Geithner, followed by 2 hours of debate to be equally divided and controlled. The Senate will proceed to vote on the confirmation at 6:00 PM (without objection).

·         Upon disposition of the nomination, the Senate will proceed to the Children's Health Insurance Improvements Act (H.R. 2).

 
Senator Durbin: (7:27 PM)

·         Propounded a UC that the Senate consider the nominations of Susan Rice, Lisa Perez Jackson, Nancy Helen Sutley, Shaun Donovan, Mary Schapiro, Ray LaHood en bloc and that the nominations be confirmed (without objection).

·         Next Week --

·         The Senate will convene at 2:00 PM on Monday for a period of Morning Business with Senators allowed to speak up to 10 minutes each.

·         At 4:00 PM the Senate will move into Executive Session under the previous order.

The Senate stands adjourned until 2:00 PM on Monday.