Morning Business

The Senate is Convened.

Morning Business

 
Senator Reid: (1:02 PM)

·         Today --

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

·         At 2:00 PM there will be a roll call vote on the motion to proceed to S. 22, The Public Lands Bill.

 
Senator Levin: (1:04 PM)

·         Spoke on the economic stimulus package.

o    SUMMARY "To be successful, that short- term and long-term investment program must include programs to revitalize the manufacturing sector. Many have urged the implementation of a national manufacturing policy for years, without success, during the eight Bush years. Years of neglect of this vital sector of our economy that saw our nation lose 3.7 million manufacturing jobs. An American manufacturing initiative requires a true government partnership with the private sector, a partnership that recognizes that our companies are not competing with companies overseas, but instead are competing with countries whose governments support manufacturing."

 
Senator Coburn: (1:12 PM)

·         Spoke against S. 22, The Public Lands Bill.

o    SUMMARY "Here's a 131,300 page bill. People are going to say it's been around for a long time, it doesn't need debate. But it's 1,300 pages. The C.B.O. refused to score this when the last one they scored between $6 billion and $8 billion. This is somewhere between $10 billion and $12 billion. Here we sit with a 1,300-page bill that has 45 blatant earmarks in it, with no ability to amend it."

o    SUMMARY "But most of all, what we're going to do, is we're going to disappoint the American people because things haven't changed. What is a priority for us here in terms of political benefit at home is going to trump doing what's in the best long-term interest of the country."

Morning Business

 
Senator Bingaman: (1:29 PM)

·         Spoke in favor of S. 22, The Public Lands Bill.

o    SUMMARY "It is time to pass these bills and to move on. Some have suggested these bills are not a priority and not deserving of the Senate's time. I disagree strongly. Many of the bills in this package resolve major land and water policy issues that have been contested for many years. And in some cases, for decades."

 
Senator Murkowski: (1:37 PM)

·         Spoke in favor of S. 22, The Public Lands Bill.

o    SUMMARY "This omnibus has been criticized as being large and it is a large pile of paper. It's almost 1,300 pages. We acknowledge that. But this package of bills before us today also represents a huge commitment of time, a large commitment of resources by the Committee on Natural Resources as well as the other four senate committees. "

o    SUMMARY "While this process that we have in front of us may not be the preferred method for passing legislation, I do believe that overall, this package will improve our nation's management of its public lands and parks and will be of benefit to our nation."

 
Senator Crapo: (1:42 PM)

·         Spoke in favor of S. 22, The Public Lands Bill.

o    SUMMARY "To call this legislation bipartisan is an understatement. This bill, as has been mentioned, contains over 150 individual provisions sponsored by almost 50 different members of this Chamber, nearly half of them. It represents every region of the country and has an almost equal number of bills from each side of the aisle. It will provide significant protection to existing public lands, improve recreation, cultural and historic opportunities and provide important economic benefits for rural economies such as in my home state of Idaho."

 
Senator Bennett: (1:56 PM)

·         Spoke in favor of S. 22, The Public Lands Bill.

o    SUMMARY "Let's take what we have on the table before us. Let's consume it with gratitude and give thanks. It is time to see this issue put to bed. Time to see resolution of it and see people of good will acting in good faith on different sides of the argument come together with an agreement that makes sense. For that reason, I stand here urging my colleagues to support the motion to invoke cloture and once cloture is invoked to support all of the subsequent procedural motions that will be necessary for this bill to become law."

 
Senator DeMint: (1:48 PM)

·         Spoke against S. 22, The Public Lands Bill.

o    SUMMARY "I smell the same stale air of good 'ol boy, pork-tariffen, lobbyist politics. Folks, we're here on a Sunday voting about something in the middle of a recession, very difficult economic times, many critical issues, but the majority has asked us to come back today to vote on a conglomeration of bills which no one has read. You know the Chairman said the Committee has had it posted on the Committee site for a few days. But as of Friday, if anyone in America wanted to go to the official Senate web site, or if the media wanted to find out what was in this bill, it was not available to them."

 
Senator Coburn: (1:54 PM)

·         Spoke against S.22, The Public Lands Bill.

o    SUMMARY "I believe we're at the ultimate tipping point in this country. I believe if we don't make drastic changes over the next year and a half, that 2012 will see the default of the United States government on its bills."

The Public Lands Bill, S. 22

The vote result was 66-12.

The motion to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to S. 22, The Public Lands Bill is agreed to.

The Senate Stands adjourned until 2:00 PM tomorrow.