Senate Proceeding on May 6th, 2008 :: 3:57:24 to 4:17:57
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3:49:05 to 3:57:24( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Ted Stevens

3:57:12 to 3:57:24( Edit History Discussion )

Ted Stevens: to congress anually over a two-year-period over recommendations to improve this service and an explanation of the department's action on each of the recommendations. these are some of the important

3:57:24 to 3:57:33( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Durbin: provisions in the commerce commitee bill. they are in the bill that would be before us and they would be in the bill that i would like to see us pass that i have introduced and is being held at the desk.

3:57:24 to 4:17:57( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Richard Durbin

3:57:33 to 3:57:42( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Durbin: the substitute also addresses rural air service funding challenges by including additional funding for the circumstantial air service program if our smaller, underserved communities at $175 million

3:57:42 to 3:57:53( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Durbin: annually. these funds would go a long way toward improving access for our most rural communities -- communities that had air service, commercial air service in the past but lost that after deregulation.

3:57:53 to 3:58:04( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Durbin: as i stated last week, i hope my colleagues will appreciate the months of stalled negotiations that took place in trying to move this legislation forward. there is a very good balance in the senate

3:58:04 to 3:58:18( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Durbin: bill regarding f.a.a. financing and labor-related provisions. if the senate wants a final bill, we need to preserve that balance. without including highly controversial, unrelated provisions that

3:58:18 to 3:58:30( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Durbin: many people would agree do not belong in an f.a.a. bill dealing with aviation. we have an opportunity to pass f.a.a. legislation this week. the bill that i have introduced with senator stevens

3:58:30 to 3:58:42( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Durbin: would be everything the commerce commitee passed on a bipartisan basis and the provisions of the finance committee report on aviation, taxes, that would go toward modernization. it does not include the

3:58:42 to 3:58:53( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Durbin: controversial pension provisions that changes the previous law this congress has passed and affects some of our airlines in a way that could be so destructive as to possibly bring that air carrier down

3:58:53 to 3:59:07( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Durbin: and it does not include all of the taxes, all of the projects and earmarks that have nothing to do with aviation. it's just simply the senate bipartisan bill on aviation and the finance committee

3:59:07 to 3:59:18( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Durbin: package that deals with aviation. we could pass this bill and send it to the president and the president would sign this bill. he would sign the bill that senator stevens and i have put forward. he will

3:59:18 to 3:59:32( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Durbin: not sign the bill that would be put forward by my distinguished colleague, senator rockefeller. there are provisions of that bill that would not allow this bill to go forward at all, period, because

3:59:32 to 3:59:45( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Durbin: there are policy matters unrelated to aviation that more than 41 people in this united states senate, will object to putting on an aviation bill. so i think we have a way forward. i have introduced

3:59:45 to 4:00:06( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Durbin: a bill that i believe could get the majority of the votes in the senate. it would be signed by the president. it would do all of the things that i have just mentioned relating to aviation safety,

4:00:06 to 4:00:17( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Durbin: improvements, passenger bills of rights. it would modernize our air trafficontrol system. it would keep the balance in the system that we all agree we should have between air carriers and commercial

4:00:17 to 4:00:27( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Durbin: airports, general aviation and general aviation airports. it's really a good bill. mr. president, we have a way forward. we have made agreements that we can all agree would push the bill forward. the

4:00:27 to 4:00:41( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Durbin: substitute we we're going to vote on cloture without the process of amendments being open is not that bill. there is no reason for the commerce commitee bill on aviation to take on all of these taxes

4:00:41 to 4:00:54( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Durbin: and special interest projects that have nothing to do with aviation. if those projects can stand on their own, let's vet on those let -- let's vote on those projects alone. the finance committee has

4:00:54 to 4:01:12( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Durbin: many vehicles on which to put their legislation. to try to put nonaviation taxes on an aviation bill is going to bring this bill down. i hope we will not allow that to happen. we will vote "no" on cloture.

4:01:12 to 4:01:24( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Durbin: cloture will probably not be given because it's not an aviation bill we're going to be voting on but we have an aviation bill. let's vote open that. let's vote on the bipartisan bill from the commerce

4:01:24 to 4:01:40( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Durbin: commitee and the taxes from the finance committee that relate to avtion and let's move forward. i think we can do it. this is the united states senate senate. we can work on a bipartisan basis.

4:01:40 to 4:01:53( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Durbin: my colleague, senator rockefeller, and i, and senator inouye, and senator stevens and the members of our committee have done an incredibly good job of bringing that balance together. i hope we will not waste

4:01:53 to 4:02:07( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Durbin: that effort and well be able to put as one of the accomplishments of this session of congress an f.a.a. reauthorization bill that modernized our system, that created a passenger bills rights, that

4:02:07 to 4:02:17( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Durbin: created a safety program that further enhanced a really good program, that included war risk insurance, a bill that balances all of the aviation interests of our country which are so important to our

4:02:17 to 4:02:29( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Durbin: economic viability. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor. i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: ~| | quorum call: a senator: mr.

4:02:29 to 4:02:43( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Durbin: president? the presiding officer: the senator from alaska. mr. stevens: i ask that the quorum call be rescinded. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. stevens: what is the situation parliamentarywise?

4:02:43 to 4:02:56( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Durbin: the presiding officer: h.r.2881 is pending with amendments. mr. stevens: is there any time agreement at the present time? the presiding officer: there is a vote scheduled at 2:30. mr. stevens: are we

4:02:56 to 4:03:09( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Durbin: on morning business? the presiding officer: we're on the bill. not in morning business. mr. stevens: thank you. mr. president, our young state, alaska, this past weekend lost one of our greatest

4:03:09 to 4:03:24( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Durbin: 20th century pioneers when lou william jr. died while vacationing in scottsdale, arizona. through his six decades in alaska journalism, lou brought news to alaska through a series of newspapers which

4:03:24 to 4:03:41( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Durbin: he edited and owned. five southeast towns were home to him. junia was the first where he delivered the "empire" the paper on which his dad was a reporter. wrangle was next, his dad was the owner

4:03:41 to 4:03:50( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Durbin: editor -- and became. pardon me. my error here. turn that off. i beg the chair's pardon. "rangel" was next, his dad was the editor-owner. and lou became his 15-year-old apprentice. later, after navy service

4:03:50 to 4:04:01( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Durbin: in world war ii, lou bought the paper from his father. next the beautiful town of petersburg, alaska claimed lou when he and his bride dorothy bought the "petersburg press" from that time on dorothy

4:04:01 to 4:04:11( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Durbin: helped lou to set the path followed by their own three children. in 1966, lou took over the editorship of the "catch can daily news," and a decade later he and dorothy bought the paper setting in for

4:04:11 to 4:04:27( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Durbin: the long run and spending the last of his life there. when "the daily sentinel" fell on hard times after major mechanical problems and a fire in 1969, lou offered assistance to the owners, that turned

4:04:27 to 4:04:40( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Durbin: into ownership of that paper also. in 1975 he sold "the sentinel" to the thad palson's. thad pollson was a former reporter in juneo and a.p. representative in juneo. he remains in ownership of the

4:04:40 to 4:04:51( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Durbin: paper today. despite the close ties these five townings, lou was truly a man for all of alaska. mr. president, he was one of my close friends and i really mourn his passing. early on -- in the 1950's,

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Richard Durbin: when the larger southeast daily newspapers were against alaska state hood, lou williams joined in the fight to become the 49th state. the concerns that face alaska as a territory and later as a state,

4:05:05 to 4:05:21( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Durbin: lou adopted as his concerns, no matter where the problem was in our 586,000 square miles, lou williams became acquainted with it and tried to do something about the problem. whether the issue was

4:05:21 to 4:05:37( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Durbin: minerals or timber, fishery or land or hundreds of other matters, lou wrote clearly and forcefully in his paper as the editor to help his readers understand the solutions best for all of alass ka and

4:05:37 to 4:05:53( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Durbin: alaskans -- alaska and alaskans. critics who disagreed on his issue were unanimous in their praise for his writings, his columns were carried throughout state an throughout nation and they continued

4:05:53 to 4:06:09( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Durbin: to run until a few weeks ago in what we call "the anchorage post of the time" printed as an op-ed in" the anchorage daily news" although lou's newspaper was the smallest, lou was in the forefront when

4:06:09 to 4:06:23( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Durbin: it came to technology. he bea out what we call the big bois in the larger town when's he was the first to offset printing and color and among the first with newsroom computers. along the way lou collected

4:06:23 to 4:06:36( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Durbin: dozens of honors for his papers throughout the nation and for his community service. he served on boards ranging from the chambers of commerce, to fish and game advisory boards, school boards and

4:06:36 to 4:06:49( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Durbin: the rotary. he was appointed to the board of regions of the university of alaska, he was with the blue ribbon task for for the public lands act and that was in short we call it anilka passed in 1980. and

4:06:49 to 4:06:57( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Durbin: he served on the board of governors of the alaska bar association, although he was not a lawyer. and there's more. as the television commercial said, lou founded the alaska newspaper association, named

4:06:57 to 4:07:10( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Durbin: the business man of the year for alaska. founded the southeast alaska conference and for 29 years was an adult leader of our boy scouts. these honors pail besides lou's greatest gift to our state and this

4:07:10 to 4:07:21( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Durbin: is his three children that grew up in the newspaper offices what a tribute to his dad that they adopted his profession an carry it on. lou the third and tina and kathy, his children, accepted the

4:07:21 to 4:07:30( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Durbin: reins from their dad in 1990; but he still remained in that office and he gave his time to finishing writing and editing a 700-page book. it's called "bent pins and chains," a history of alaska through

4:07:30 to 4:07:41( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Durbin: its newspapers. he had -- he had begun this with the late historian, the wife of the publisher of "the anchorage time," it is an interesting book for anyone interested in alaska. alaskans are fortunate that

4:07:41 to 4:07:50( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Durbin: the vibrant younger generation carries on to lou's commitment to fine writing and his dedication to make alaska the greatest place in the towns live. those of us who knew lou williams and shared

4:07:50 to 4:08:00( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Durbin: laughs and triumphs and many, many days are among the luckiest among alaskans, i always look him up when i was in town and he always had news and advice for me and i usually followed it, mr. president.

4:08:00 to 4:08:09( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Durbin: we do have the knowledge that we could not have had that has been delivered to us through a better and more loyal friend. he -- i've got say. it's tough to lose a friend like lou. the joy that he brought

4:08:09 to 4:08:33( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Durbin: to my life and to my family's life and to so many others just cannot be measured in a statement of this kind. i tell the senate that everyone makes a statement like this not often that we make a statement

4:08:33 to 4:08:43( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Durbin: pretend -- pertaining to someone who has so much to do with our lives and what we've done. when i first decided to run for senate, i talked to lou williams to see if he agreed. that was back in 1962,

4:08:43 to 4:08:54( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Durbin: mr. president. i've known lou williams an dortsdz andy the children -- and dorothy and the children for a long time. katherine and i send our love and our deepest sympathy. and we know that our friend

4:08:54 to 4:09:06( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Durbin: and their loved one is gone. but he will not be forgotten by many of us -- by any of us. i ask unanimous consent that a recent editorial and comments about my friend lou williams be printed in the record

4:09:06 to 4:09:15( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Durbin: after my comments. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. stevens: i suggest the absence of a quorum. i withhold that. the presiding officer: the senar from illinois. . durbin: mr. president,

4:09:15 to 4:09:27( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Durbin: it is my understanding that the f.a.a. reauthorization is the pending business before the senate, is that correct? the presiding officer: that is correct. mr. durbin: thank you for that information. this

4:09:27 to 4:09:45( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Durbin: is a bipartisan bill that senator rockefeller of west virginia, senator hutchison of texas, and many others worked on very, very long and hard. we voted unanimously to go forward on thi s bill

4:09:45 to 4:10:01( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Durbin: last week. this is long overdue to modernize the air traffic control system, to establish a basic set of rights for airline passengers and so many other things included in this bill. to move the technology

4:10:01 to 4:10:19( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Durbin: of air traffic control forward so that america can be on the same page as many other developed nations that have found more efficient, safer ways to guide aircraft. you would think that that sort of

4:10:19 to 4:10:35( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Durbin: thing would be nonpartisan when it came to the floor of the senate. but i'm sorry to say that we haven't had much luck. if the senators were paid by the vote, last year we would have deny pardon me we

4:10:35 to 4:10:49( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Durbin: would have been on short rations. we had one vote last week. we all came out here and very ceremoniously showed up one time on the floor of the senate to vote one time and leave. i kind of thought

4:10:49 to 4:11:05( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Durbin: when i ran for the senate that there was something involved here like debate, deliberation that senators would come forward offer amendments. and other senators who disagreed might debate those

4:11:05 to 4:11:19( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Durbin: amendments and maybe even offer an amendment of their own. it's like the senate was once portrayed in the movies, i mean,ings that the senate of -- i mean, that's the senate of "mr. smith goes to

4:11:19 to 4:11:35( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Durbin: washington," so many great depictions of senate activity. but not this senate. we're in a different mode. we're in the filibuster mode imposed on us by the republican minority. in the history of

4:11:35 to 4:11:54( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Durbin: the united states senate, looking back over 200 years, the maximum number of filibusters in any two-year period of time is 57. a number easy to remember. and now, unfortunately, in this senate session,

4:11:54 to 4:12:10( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Durbin: as we go into our second year, the republican minority has broken that record -- we've now had 69 filibusters, 69 filibusters and we're not even halfway through this year so some speculate that

4:12:10 to 4:12:27( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Durbin: there will be over 100 filibusters before this session comes to an end. that's unfortunate. a filibuster means that the senate stops. any member can stand up, object and stop the senate and then it

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Richard Durbin: takes a motion to be filed and some 30 hours to pass before you vote on that motion and start up again.~ if you're lucky enough to get 60 votes. the republican minority knows this, and so time

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Richard Durbin: and time and time again they have filed these -- started filibusters and caused us to file motions for clotures to try to get us to an issue. for an outsider, they might say what difference does it make?

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Richard Durbin: why don't you all just get over it and try to get something done there? well, unfortunately, we're not having any luck with that. and the republican minority has now reached new heights, or new

4:13:21 to 4:13:34( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Durbin: depths, depending on your point of view, when it comes to applying a filibuster. you know we have a technical corrections bill that comes around once in a while, when we have drafting errors in bills

4:13:34 to 4:13:45( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Durbin: and we have to change the spelling and grammar. it was a big highway bill, a huge bill. then over time people looked at it and said wait a minute, that shouldn't have said "road." it should have said "avenue"

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Richard Durbin: the spelling's wrong. let's put these technical corrections in, and the republicans filibustered the bill. one of the republican senators got on the floor and said, "well, there were some things

4:13:53 to 4:14:05( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Durbin: in there we objected to." well, the way it works, at least by most tradition in the senate, if you object to something, you file a motion to strike that section. you debate it, there's a vote, and

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Richard Durbin: the senate moves to the next consideration. that is the orderly process. but not the approach being used by the republican minority. their approach, initiate a filibuster, tie up the senate, make us

4:14:15 to 4:14:28( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Durbin: burn off 30 hours of doing nothing, with as few votes, as few amendments, as few bills as possible. why? well, for several reasons. first, they like the world as it currently exists. they don't believe that

4:14:28 to 4:14:46( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Durbin: improving aviation safety is worth the effort here on the floor to try to work together. time and again they've stopped efforts at progress because they don't want us to have, i guess, a record

4:14:46 to 4:14:58( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Durbin: to point to that shows that we've achieved something. and finally, they're afraid of controversial votes. you know, i had the good fortune many years ago to serve with the congressman from oklahoma

4:14:58 to 4:15:10( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Durbin: named mike synar, and mike synar was a real character. he was a throwback. he invited controversy. he welcomed it, and it eventually did it him. he lost a democratic primary. he just managed to anger

4:15:10 to 4:15:24( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Durbin: enough people that it didn't work. but he was a character. and he used to say, "if you don't want to fight fryers, don't -- fight fires, don't be a firefighter. and if you don't want to vote on

4:15:24 to 4:15:36( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Durbin: kr-frl controversial issues, don't run for the senate." so, we had hoped last week that this bill, the federal aviation administration bill, would be different. you know, modernizing air traffic control,

4:15:36 to 4:15:50( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Durbin: making our skies safer, making sure that our planes are well inspected. that seems to me like an issue that really isn't a republican-democratic issue. so last week the majority leader, harry reid of nevada, came

4:15:50 to 4:16:05( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Durbin: to the floor and said to the republican side, if you have amendments, let's see them and let's get going. let's start dealing with those amendments. and if they relate to federal aviation administration,

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Richard Durbin: let's bring them up, let's debate them, let's vote on them. and we had hoped, since we had this exhausting week last week where we voted one time, that maybe the republicans would have time to

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Richard Durbin: come up with a list of amendments that they wanted to -- wanted to come forward with. but i'm afraid that the majority leader's invitation to offer amendments was declined by the other side, and

4:16:26 to 4:16:37( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Durbin: here we are stuck in the middle of another filibuster. they tell us that what is haunting them is a project in this bill that relates to the city of new york. my colleague and friend, senator chuck

4:16:37 to 4:16:49( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Durbin: schumer, and senator clinton are pushing for something in new york which he they feel the president has promised, in fact the president has included in his budget. some republican senators don't like

4:16:49 to 4:17:03( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Durbin: it. they don't want it in there. well, they certainly have the right to offer to strike it. we give them that opportunity. but because this lingering resistance to the bill is there, they won't let us

4:17:03 to 4:17:17( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Durbin: move forward on the bill. i was optimistic that maybe after a long weekend, we could finally make some progress, that the republican members would comeorward and offer some amendments and start to

4:17:17 to 4:17:28( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Durbin: debate the bill. well, the weekend's over, and we're in tuesday of this week, and nothing's happening. and that's regrettable. there is a portion of this bill that was in the original substitute which

4:17:28 to 4:17:39( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Durbin: has now been removed, which i thought we had put behind us last week. it was a measure related to airline pensions, mr. president. i assumed at some point we would revisit it. i was surprised when

4:17:39 to 4:17:57( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Durbin: my good friend, the ranking member of the senate finance committee, senator grassley of iowa, took to the floor earlier today to reopen the debate. senator grassley said that a provision in the original

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substitute amendment last week would have in some way corrected a provision that i had supposedly -- in his words -- airdropped into conference report last week as a result of smoky backroom dealing