Transcripts For CSPAN2 Key Capitol Hill Hearings 20140625

She was able to enroll her twins into four, fourday kindergarten next year and start friday fun days this summer. Not only is jamie getting to spend time with her kids, she is, she also has peace of mind that every monday she wont with to catch up on a days worth of missed meetings. Rei was another company that participated in the discussion. They allow for flexible commuting to employees can go in earlier and miss rush hour. Im sure that is something everybody here can relate to coming into washington. As an Outdoors Company they also want their work place culture to encourage employees to live healthy lives. What they refer to as nature nutures. So they encourage employees to get outside, go for a hike, and engage in activities that they enjoy outdoors. Pretty nice, huh . The participants also discuss other ways to address many of the challenges every working family faces offering on site day care, providing a set amount of paid leave and connecting workers with elder care programs. Underscoring all of these policies was another theme. Employers should trust employees and trust that these Solutions Make workers happier and productive. It is important that businesses adopt policies that recognize life is rarely simple and that the American Family has changed. When we think of caregivers, we often think of a mother caring for her child but that image simply does not reflect todays realities. Particularly those in the sandwich generation, individuals who are caring for their children at the same time they are caring for their parents. Like so Many Americans both my husband joe and i have had firsthand experience of caring for our parents in the final years of their lives. I can vividly recall how caring for joes parents, both of whom came to live with us in the last months of their lives. But the role of caregivers in Todays Society is, is expanding far beyond children caring for parents. A role that remind me of two brothers i met last fall, kyle and bret pletky. Kyle is an Army Specialist who was injured in his first deployment to afghanistan in late 2012. During his recovery brets employer encouraged him to make the most of the companys leave policy. They kept his job open that he could go and care for his brother. Stories like theirs are why this convening is so important. Everyone participating in this important discussion can contribute innovative ideas to help make life a little better for our working families. Whether its resources and flexibility for employees who are acting as caregivers or mentoring for women, or offering Flexible Working arrangements all of us must continue to think creatively about the work place of the future, so that we can insure that every working american has an equal opportunity to succeed and care for our children. Thats what i know our next speaker wakes up every morning thinking about. [applause] it is my great pleasure to introduce my husband, Vice President joe biden. [cheers and applause] thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Before jill leaves the stage, let me say im sure glad she took me to work today. [laughter] tom, i think you have, i dont know, i was just outat starbucks headquarters, i think you get the double jolt in the morning here, i dont know, man. By the way he is that way at midnight too. Thats why i love working with him on the work he and i are doing about jobs for the future but, valerie, thank you, kiddo. Youve been a great, great friend to me personally but youve also, you and tina have never left up on this subject. You have from the moment we took office been focusing on and it matters. [applause] it matters a great, great, great deal and and neera, you do an incredible job at cap but you do an incredittable job of everything you touch and its a pleasure to work with you. Look, let me begin by stating the obvious. Sometimes its not, not always so obvious. Every, every single circumstance is different. Everyone of you in this audience has a different circumstance. Different opportunity, different problems. How many of you have children out there, raise your hand . Okay. In everyone of your cases there are different pressures. Theyre not all the same, theyre not all the same and the fact is that, the fact that youre here, the vast majority of you, youre among the lucky ones. Like jill and i, youre among those who are educated. Youre among those who have, have options mostly. Youre the ones who generally make enough money that you can get some help in caring for your children or your parents. Even if you dont have the salary to do that, youre the ones that know your way around. You know the existence of programs to help your elderly parents. Or your children. Youre the ones in your communities who have, were not going to speak about it much today, as i looked at the agenda, but for example, theres a whole lot of things that are going on and weve been working on for, in my case, for over 35 years to to ameliorate the pressure on families and that is, you know, everything from afterschool programs. They mike a gigantic difference. That is a government program. But when mom and dad [applause] i mean we have millions of turnkey children going home after school. No one there. 3 00, 3 30, and circumstances sometimes that are not always, theyre, i was raised in the grade school bit nuns of the they say, you know, you know, temptation. Well, you know, it, i dont care how good your child is but 12yearold going home turning on the key to get in the house even in a safe neighborhood, there is still concern. So there is a whole lot of things were not going to be talking in detail about but the vast majority of single moms and, i might add dads, dont have these opportunities. [applause] each one of you here, if youre honest and you all are honest, you know, i mean this sincerely, you know how difficult it is to do your job, advance in your job, and be the parent or caregiver for your parents that you want to be. Youve been raised, 99 of you, with the notion that your first and foremost obligation is to your family, whether it is your parents in distress, or your children. And it is really difficult. A lot has to do with the personal choices that we make as to how we allocate our time versus relative to our careers. I dont think anyone participating here is, makes any moral judgments about any of the choices people make as long as theyre conscious choices with real opportunities and our job it seems to me is to provide as many opportunities so that the choices that are always going to be difficult, the choices that have to be made, are at least more rational, at least have more options but there are a lot of factors and a lot of players that can have a ameliorating impact on difficult choices, women primarily but men also have to make in raising their children. If you have, do you have an extended family that can help you . Well, thats a big factor. Can you afford safe and nuturing daycare . What organizations including out side of your school are available from your community from a ywca to boys clubs and girls clubs. No, by the way, we owe you. You do an incredible i spent of bulk of my career chairing the judiciary committee. There is an absolute direct correlation between children getting in trouble and having access to boys and girls clucks, ywcas, ymcas. It matters. You have to give children choices. Children basically [applause] children basically want to do the right thing. But the peer pressure is overwhelming. Sometimes they need an escape, they need an excuse when mom or dad are not present. But look, you all know all of these things. But one of the factors were talking about today is, also the can be incredibly ameliorating, not just the policies but how understanding is your employer . How understanding . You know, lastly, what if anything can the federal government do to help . I say lastly. All the other things out there in the community if theyre working really well including your employers, less others there is need for minimum wage and whole range of things we discussed and equal pay and things weve been working on our whole careers but there is an awful lot to be done to change the atmosphere. The examples jill gave. You know, you will get to discuss all of these things today and more but if you excuse, as we used to say in the senate, a point of personal privilege i can speak a little bit from my own experience. The first thing i was going to say, look at biden, man. He got, has a mildly expensive suit on. [laughter]. Hes Vice President of the United States of america. He makes, notwithstanding, this is poorest man in congress he still makes a lot of money as president of the United States and i do by the way, i do. Dont hold it against me that i dont own a single stock or bond. Dont hold it i have no savings account. I have a good pension and i have got a good salary. And, for real. For real. [applause] sometimes we talk about this stuff about struggle. My struggle, my god compared to where i grew up and where people are trying to go through things. But heres the point i want to make. Ive been really, really fortunate. Jill is a Community College professor. She has seen the struggle of working parents trying to secure an education while earning a living and raising a family and many times being victim of Domestic Violence in the process. As a military mom and through the great work she and the first lady have been doing in joining forces she knows the stress on military families face and struggle through multiple deployments, caring for returning veterans, coping with financial, emotional pressures. These are real. These are real. And you know, she knows what you know. That no family is alike, no struggle is the same, no opportunities are identical but all families, whether headed by two parents or single mom or single dad, share the same basic dream and same goals for themselves and their children. We cant equalize it all but we sure in heck can do a lot better. So i want to support look, they want to support their families. They want, they want to feel comfortable. They want to feel safe. They want to be in a secure home and a secure neighborhood. They want to send their kids to college. They want to care for their mom and dad if they have to. And put aside this, a little bit, maybe they will have enough for their own retirement. They want to achieve these goals without having to sacrifice all of the moments that really matter. My generation, and obviously im a lot older than you, you can see that, but all kidding aside, in my generation, as i was getting in college, coming out of college in the late 60s, it was, you know, its not quantity time. It is quality time. Give me a break. Give me a [applause] theres not one important thing my sons or daughter have said to me that came about, when i said, now, we have quality time. Lets go fishing. Lets discuss this. Every, and as parents you know that to be the truth. The most incredible things your children say to you, ask of you, reveal to you, are in those moments that you dont anticipate. Moments that occur when youre reading them a story at night. When you get home and climb in bed with them even though theyre already asleep and you pet them. No. [laughter]. One of the great memories of my daughter, who is a grown woman and a social worker, as i stroke her hair, she says, daddy, you know what i miss most . How you used to smell coming home from work, lying down in bed with me. You and i, you know what im talking about. They are the things that matter for gods sake. Not all of us have the kind of flexibility that i had. Not all of us had the opportunity. Not all of us had the outside help. There is no substitute for being there. No amount of compensation to replace being physically, emotionally or mentally present when your child needs you but we all know there is going to be those times were not going to be there. It is just a fact of life. When i lost my wife and daughter in a car accident, shortly after i got elected before i was sworn into the United States senate, i had a whole heck of a lot of help. I have got an incredible family. My sisters is the origin of a phrase in our family, if you have to ask, it is too late. I mean that sincerely. If you have to ask it is too late. So i came home from the hospital and my sister had already moved into my home. No, with her husband. Gave up his job. No, im serious. Who has that . Who has that kind of help . My mother, who is nearby, my brothers, they all helped me raise my children. But i was a single father for five years. And i want to tell you, with all the help i had, and i was making a good salary. I was a u. S. Senator. I was making a lot more salary than average guy. I was making 42,000 a year. That was then. The average salary was close to 19,000. I was doing well and i had all this help and overwhelming goodwill of an entire state that wrapped their arms around me and my children. I used to think to myself, i give you my words, i used to think to myself, i have a secretary in delaware who had three children and is single and her child will be held to the exact same Standard Mine is, the exact same standard under the law. And how in gods name could she do what i was able to do . And i was finding it hard, really hard. But i got lucky. I still, i still had to find my way to be there for my boys. My son hunter was three. My son bowe was four. Still in full body cast, both arms, both legs, up to his neck. When i would leave for washington every day i could almost hear the fear in their voices, are you going daddy . They wanted to know if i was coming back. They wanted to know if everything was okay. To demonstrate, for them, i need ad point i thought i was openly going to stay for six months, i started to commute back and forth every day. 8,000 round trips later, not a joke. 8,000. [applause] no, no, no, no. Really and truly, by the way, it was, i needed to do that. I needed to do that, just for me. They helped raise me as much as i helped raise them. But heres the point. What i found out and employers can help in this, that it really matters that, even if it is only i get home at night and after five years, no man deserves one great love, let alone two, five years later jill came along and basically saved all of our lives, what happened i would come home and i used to get home late. Not real lay. I get home usually by 8 00. She would keep the boys up and have their dessert and i would have my dinner. I know jill would not like giving them dessert but it was healthy dessert. [laughter]. Look, look, but, you do it. You go up and, and, you lie in bed with them. Whatever your tradition is. My case we would say prayers. Like my grandpa finnigan would do with me. And they works you know, there are things they remember. When you woke up in the morning, it was no ozzie and harriet, all in the family kind of stuff where we all had breakfast together. When i was shaving they come in and they had whatever was on their mind that day. Im having cup of coffee theyre eating their breakfast. Young kids, young kids can only hold an important idea for about 12 hours. No, no, for real. You missed it. Its gone. You miss it, its gone. It matters to them and to you. Look, nothing is more important to me than being able to, being able to be there but i had this overwhelming luxury. I didnt have anyone boss. I had a Million People in delaware that were my boss. They were pretty understanding. I sincerely mean it. I missed my first six years, i was one of the lowest percentages of people voting. 87 , i think it was voting record. I never missed a vote that was a deciding vote and most were procedural votes. So everybody said, he came up with all these explanations. The other team was doing the right thing. They were attacking me on tv, made sense. Would you hire a man only showed up 87 of the time, et cetera . So i, over the advice of my, my, and i tell you this to tell you what i think about how people think. Over the advice of the experts i did one ad. I looked into the camera and i said, look, its true. I missed whatever it was, 13, 15 of the votes. And if you elect me again, i will do it again. No, im serious. And i said because i never, i will never miss a vote that will make a difference but if i have a choice between a procedural vote and my childs Parent Teacher meeting, im going to the meeting. [applause] no, no. But heres the point. It is not about me. Look at the luxury i had. How many of you would like to be able to do that . [applause] i am no different than anyone of you for real. Im not trying to say, oh, this is joe biden, he did the good i ad the ability to do it. You all want to do it. And i could make a choice and i was confident that the people in my state would understand because i was confident, and the reason i tell you this story, i think that is how almost every american thinks. They think, if they only could, if they only could they would. So, folks, look, the fact of the matter is, there are too many people who where it comes down to making a choice between doing that Parent Teachers meeting or going to that championship game or showing up at that debate or being there just when your child is sick, having to choose between doing that and their job, not one time, but like many of you, i, my family has been an incredible consumer of health care costs. My sons were critically injured. My daughter had her verb bringing in traction a long time. Both jill and i teaching. But we had the option. We could choose who had to stay home. I could operate from my home, assuming there werent a critical vote. But the point is those kind of choices, most times it comes down to not losing your job or not, it comes down to subtle things. It is about, if i dont stay and help finish the project, and not go to my daughters parents night, theyre going to think i dont really want to work hard. Theyre going to think i really dont care about my job. So damn it, your employer is not demanding to do it, but if i dont stay, look, ive had, i have some really incredible people work for me over the years. I forget one time we counted on, i had Something Like 25 roads scholars, more marshall scholars. I had a law firm of 65 people as chairman of the judiciary committee. Almost everyone graduating the top 5 of their class. Really, smart, smart people, ambitious people. I remember during the, during really difficult hearing, a hearing having to do, that i was conducting on the Supreme Court and a very controversial hearing, judge bork. And the young man who, and im not going to mention his name, one of the young men who had done most of the research and background on judge bork and he was having difficulty at home. He was having difficulty because he was spending so little time at home for the previous six months in preparation. Having difficulty in his marriage. And the day the hearing started, fortunately i have a guy named ron klein, chief of staff, wonderful guy came to me, soandso has a problem. Tell him if he comes into work hes fired. Not a joke. Not a joke. I wasnt being noble. I wasnt being noble. It was the right thing to do but beyond that, he was important. He could do it from home. He could be on the phone. He could let us know. And he had to be assured though that it would not affect his advancement. Thats all employers have to do sometimes, is let you know, that these subtle choices, dont have to have some massive policy. Particularly if theyre smaller. Look, no one, and the other piece about what jill pointed out about trust. You know, folks, we make such a mistake, i think, sometimes, because i dont know, im not quite sure why, but guess what . Trust is usually returned. Trust is really usually returned. I have a policy. Just hired on three very highprofile people. The first thing i sat with them when i hired them, i said, look, heres the deal. If you ever have any problem at home, no matter what it is, you dont have to tell me what it is because sometimes it is embarrassing. My child has a drug problem. Im taking him to counselor, vast majority of parents face that. My, im having difficulty. My wife is having, and i are having a problem. My father is. You dont have to give me an explanation is. Just say look, i need the time. I need the time. No explanation. You have no idea. I guess you do have an idea, how much not only is the right thing to do but how much loyalty that engenders. How much response you get. [applause] by the way, for those who are employers and corporate folks out there, you know when it is being abused. You dont need a road map. You know if that is really abused. And so, its a lot easier to trust. People dont abuse trust. If you really trust them, by and large, these are the things that, i think all employers can do. Now its true that many times problems are much bigger. Companywide policies have to be made. Decisions on flexible schedules, expanded leave policies, telecommuting and job training and education, onthejob training and education. These are all points youre going to discuss in some detail today. I wish i could stay, i really do, i wish i could stay to be in this conference. The point i want to make today is that all of the Corporate Executive Business Owners in this room, its about creating policies to allow your worker to balance family and work and it is never going to be an absolute balance up in a way that is better for them, if, if, if you give it a shot. I think you will find the return is overwhelming. When i was chairman of the Senate Judiciary committee a woman named, i mention this because in the book, lean in, her name is mentioned, she is still a great friend of mind, i know valerie knows her very well, Cynthia Hogan a really firstrate lawyer. She was my chief council. She was with me for a long time. She is one of the reasons we were able to successfully pass the violence against women act. She left in 1996 when her first child was born. When cheryl stamp berg said she was concerned she wouldnt be able to continue to have time for her family. Now, teenagers is a little bit older. So we worked it out. We found a way to give her time and flexibility she needed. Benefiting from her experience and her talents which were badlyneeded. As her employer, i benefited just as much as she did. There were certain, she left by a certain time so she could be home. Wasnt a hard thing. There was no loss of productivity in my office. I mean, i would have taken cynthia for five hours a day but the point is she was able to do it from home. So when the kids walked through the door which was important to her, important to her, she was there. She was in connection with the office. And i made, we made a rule. No matter how important it was, she didnt get any text message during dinner. Because it was important time. Important time. Look, heres the deal. You all know it, study after study, confirms my experience. Family friendly policies reduce turnover and boost performance and boost productivity. Speaking of cynthia and some other women in my shop with children, theyre the reason i was able to write the Domestic Violence law in the first place and i cant leave. Threatening coworkers. It happens. And so you can on one and understand why employers, particularly and big operations, say we dont need this. We dont need this. Its disruptive. But the total cost to the economy, or the cost to the economy according to the center for Disease Control and prevention is about how they can list about 8 billion in lost productivity and health care. Thats not the total cost to the whole economy. Its much higher. Employers can and many are, i was going to list them but my staff says dont go listing the ones, because you leave somebody out. You know i always listen to my staff. [laughter] but all kidding aside, a number of Major Companies are making a big difference because they develop policies to help the victims keep their jobs and stay safe. It takes effort on the part of the company. But i would urge you at another time, not part of your discussion today, but i think you cannot talk about opportunity for women unless you talk about dealing with, in the work environment, the violence against them that occurs, the Domestic Violence. But i hope you employers will take a look at some of your fellow companies who have done and provided permissive environment for victims against Domestic Violence. Youre going to hear a lot more today, and i know many of you are already putting these policies in place. So i want to close by thanking you all here. Thanking you for everything to do for working families in your companies and your communities and your country. And like i said, we may need brothels is, and i think we do. Youll talk about them. But an awful lot of this, an awful lot of this could be done just by subtle, but nonetheless significant, understanding of the circumstance that single, particularly single moms and some single dads, have to deal with. Thank you for caring so much about our kids. Thank you for caring so much about being able to make sure that particularly women have the opportunity to meet their potential, and everyone of their expectations. God bless you all. May god protect our troops. Thank you. [cheers and applause] thanks, valerie. Je thank you. Thank you, everybody. Thank you. Thank you. This crowd looks fired up. [applause] all right, everybody have a seat, have a seat. You look like you have been busy. Just waiting on you. I know thats right. [laughter] i know thats right. Good afternoon, everybody. Have a seat, have a seat. I love you back. [applause] i do. Well, welcome to the white house summit on working families. [applause] and thanks to all of you for joining us. I know that for most of you, you are taking time off work, or family, or both to be here. And i know thats a sacrifice. And managers juggling schedules can be tough. And, in fact, thats one of the reasons that we are here today. I want to thank our cohosts, secretary of labor tom perez. Give him a big round of applause. [applause] as well as neera tanden and everyone at the center for American Progress for the work for the great work that they didnt. [applause] thanks is will to all the members of congress who are participating, especially nancy pelosi and the members of the democratic womens working group. [applause] and a longtime friend and champion of families and women and veterans, connie milstein. We could not have pulled this off without her great assistance, so we want to thank her. [applause] so i just walked over to chipotle for lunch. [laughter] i cause a lot of havoc, as you might expect. [laughter] it had been a while since i had the brutal bowl, and it was good. [laughter] burrito bowl. And i went there with four new buddies of mine. One of them is a father of a four year old and a two month old who has worked with his wife to come up with a flexible plan where he works three or four days a week. She works three or four days a week. And reason is because, as roger put it, he thinks its important that he be able to bond with his kids just as much as his wife is. Lisa you just heard from, who had twins who were prematurely born. And because the company was supportive, she was able to not just thrive and watch her kids grow up, but she is also been able to be promoted and continue to succeed in her Company Without being on a slower track while maintaining that life family balance, which is terrific, worth applauding. Surely young from new york works at a nursing home, and shes got older children. And she was most interested in talking about the fact that when her son it was discovered had curvature of the spine, that should health care should count on, otherwise there was no way she could deal with it. And our benefits on the job for good enough that she could use some Vacation Time when he was, when he had to go to the doctor. And then shelby from denver [applause] shelby has got a little fan club here. Shelby talked about the fact that on her job its been a little more challenging. Her kids are older and shes going back to school. And its wonderful that she is actually a taken some classes with her children and they are helping to math to for. [laughter] on the other hand, shes also got an aging parent. And when he had to go to the doctor, they dont have a policy of paid family leave. And since its hard to make ends meet in the first place, her dad had end up getting on a bus for eye surgery and come back on his own, because she couldnt afford to take the time. Each of these folks come from the different parts of the country. They have different occupations, different income levels. And yet what bound all of us together was a recognition that work gives us a sense of place and dignity, as well as income. And is critically important, but family is also the bedrock of our lives and we dont want a society in which folks are having to make a choice between those two things. And there are better decisions that we can make and there are not so the decisions that we can make as a society to support this balance between work and family. Most of our days consist of work, family, and not much else. And those two spheres are constantly interacting with each other. When we are with our family, sometimes we are thinking about work, and when we are at work we are thinking about family. Thats pretty universal experience. Its true even when youre president of the United States. [laughter] now, i am lucky that my daughters were a bit older by the time i became president , so i never had to meet a world leader with cheerios stuck to my fans for. [laughter] that has not happened. And im also lucky, because we live above the store, so to speak. [laughter] i have a very short commute. And as a consequence weve been able to organize ourselves to have dinner with michelle and the girls almost every night. And thats pretty much the first time weve been able to do that in our lives. [applause] but before i moved into the white house, i was away a lot sometimes with work, sometimes with campaigning. Michelle was working fulltime and was at home with the responsibility all too often of dealing with everything that the girls needed. And so we understand how lucky we are now because there was a big chunk of time when we were doing what so many of you have to deal with everyday, and that is figure out how do we make this whole thing work. A lot of americans are not as lucky as we have been. It is hard sometimes just to get by. Our businesses have created jobs for 51 consecutive months, 9. 4 million new jobs in all. [applause] but we all know somebody out there who still looking for work, and there are a whole lot of people are working harder than ever, i cant seem to get ahead at pay all the bills at the end of the month. Despite the fact that our economy has grown and those of us at the very top have done very well, the average wage, the average income hasnt gone up in 15 years in any meaningful way. And that means that relative to 15 years ago, a lot of families just arent that much better off. And the sacrifices they make for the families go beyond just missing family dinner. You look at Something Like workplace flexibility. This is so important to our family. This is so important to our family when i was away, because if malia or sasha got sick, or the babysitter did not show up, it was michelle got the call. And fortunately she had an appointment understood if you need to leave work in the middle of the day or change your schedule sadly. In fact, actually when she applied for the job, she brought sasha, who was then about six months into her car seat into the interview. [applause] just the kind of explained them this is what you will be dealing with if you hire me. [laughter] and so they signed up for that. And that flexibility made all the difference to our families. But a lot of working moms and dads cant do that. They dont have the leverage. They are not being recruited necessarily where they can dictate terms of employment. And as a consequence, if they need to bring their mom to the doctor or take an afternoon off to see their kids at school play, it would mean them losing income that they cant afford to lose. And even when working from home from time to time is doable, its often not an option, even though studies show that flexibility makes workers happier and helps companies lower turnover and raise productivity. The same goes with paid family leave. A lot of jobs do not offer it. So when a new baby arrives or an aging parent get sick, workers have to make painful decisions about whether they can afford to be there when the families need them the most. Many women cant even get a paid day off to give birth. Now, thats a pretty low bar. [laughter] you would think that we should be able to take care of. [laughter] [applause] for many hourly workers, taking just a few days often mean losing their jobs. And even though im paid family leave is available, if you cant pay the bills already, the idea of taking a couple days off and paid me mean you cant make the mortgage payment or the rent payment at the end of the month. Or look at child care. In most countries, it costs or in most parts of the country, it costs thousands of dollars a year. In fact, in 31 states, decent child care costs more than in State College tuition. In 31 states, in more than half the size. I recently got a letter from a woman in minnesota whose kids preschool is so expensive, it costs more than her monthly mortgage payment. Now, shes made a determination to make that sacrifice for her kids, but a lot of working families cant make that sacrifice. And by the way, there are other countries that know how to do childcare will well. This isnt rocket science. Or look at the minimum wage. Lowwage occupations disproportionately represented by women. Nearly 28 million americans would benefit if we raised the minimum wage to 10. 10 and our. [applause] we are not just talking about young people on the first job at the average worker who would benefit from an increase in the minimum wage is 35 years old. Many have kids, a majority are women. And right now, many fulltime minimumwage workers are not making enough to keep their children out of poverty. So these are just a few of the challenges that were parents face. And everyday i hear from parents all across the country. They are doing everything right. They are working hard. They are living responsibly. Theyre taking care of their children. They are participating in their community, and these letters can be heartbreaking, because at the end of the day it doesnt feel like theyre getting ahead. And all too often it feels like theyre slipping behind. And a lot of the time they end up blaming themselves thinking, if i just worked a little harder, if i plant a little bit better, if i sleep a little bit less, if i stretch every dollar a little bit farther, maybe i can do it. And that thought may have crossed the minds of some of the folks here from time to time. Part of the purpose of this sum is to make clear youre not alone. Because heres the thing. These problems are not typically the result of poor planning or too little diligence on the parts of moms or dads, and they cannot just be fixed by working hard are being and even better parent. [applause] all too often, they are the results of outdated policies and old ways of thinking. Family leave, childcare, workplace flexibility, a decent wage. These are not frills, they are basic needs. [applause] they shouldnt be bonuses. They should be part of our bottom line as a society. Thats what we are striving for. [applause] parents who work fulltime should earn enough to pay the bills, and they should be able to head off to work every day knowing that their children are in good hands. Workers who give their all should know that if they need a little flexibility, they can have it. Because their employers understand that its hard to be productive if youve got a sick kid at home or a childcare crisis. Talented, hardworking people should be able to say yes to a promotion or a great new opportunity without worrying about the price of their family will pay. There was a new poll by nielsens that found that nearly half of all working parents say they have turned down a job, not because they didnt want it but because it would put too much of a burden on their families. When that many members of our workforce are forced to choose between a job and their family, something is wrong. And here is a critical point. All too often these issues are thought of as womens issues, which i guess means you can kind of screwed them aside a little bit. At a time when women are nearly half of our workforce, among our most skilled workers, are the primary breadwinners and more families than ever before, anything that makes life harder for women makes life harder for families and makes life harder for children. [applause] when women succeed, america succeeds, so theres no such thing as a womens issue. [applause] theres no such thing as a womens issue. This is a family issue and an american issue. These are common sense issues. [applause] these are common sense issues. This is about you, too, and then. [laughter] men care about having high quality childcare. Dads rearrange their schedules to make it to teacher meetings and school plays, just like moms. Although somebody pointed out to me, this is a useful insight, that when dads say yes, ive got to leave early to go to the parentteacher conference, everybody in the house has all, isnt that nice . And then when women do, everybody is like issue early committed to the job . Right . So they can be a double standard there. [applause] but sons help care for aging parents. A whole lot of others would love to be home for their new babies for sweets in the world. People ask me what do i love most about being president , and its true air force one is on the list. [laughter] the truman balcony has a really nice of you. [laughter] but a nice view. But one of i was telling folks the other day that one of the best perks about being president is anybody will hand you their baby. [laughter] here. [laughter] so i get this baby fix like two or three times a week. [laughter] but the reason its so powerful is because i remember taking the night shift when molly was born and when sasha was born, endingd being up at two in the morning and changing diapers and burping them and singing to them, and reading them stories, and watching sportscenter once in a while, which i thought was good for their development. [laughter] it was. We want them to be wellrounded. [laughter] but the point is, i was lucky enough to be able to take some time off so that i was there or the 2 a. M. Feeding and assisting, and just getting to know them and making sure they knew me. And that bond is a replaceable. And i want every father and every child to have that opportunity. But that requires a society that makes it easier for us to get folks that opportunity. [applause] so the bottom line is, 20 of families deserve 21st century workplace is. [applause] and our economy demands them because its going to help us compete. Its going to help us lead. And that means paid family leave, specially paid parental leave. [applause] there is only one developed country in the world that does not offer paid Maternity Leave, and that is us. And that is not the list you want to be on by your lonesome. Its time to change that, because all americans should be able to afford to care for their families. [applause] it means high quality early education. We know that the investment we make in those early years pays off over a childs entire lifetime. And these programs give parents a great place to know what their kids to know that the kids are driving while they are at work. Other countries know how to do this. If france can figure this out, we can figure it out. [laughter] [applause] we can figure it out. All our kids need to benefit from the early enrichment. It means treating pregnant workers fairly, because too many are forced to choose between their health and their job. [applause] right now, if youre pregnant you could potentially get fired for taking too many bathroom breaks, clearly from a boss who has never been pregnant, or forced unpaid leave. That makes no sense. Congress should pass the pregnant workers fairness act without delay. [applause] speaking of congress, by the way [booing] no, dont boo, vote. [cheers and applause] as long as congress refuses to act on these policies, we are going to need you to raise your voices. We need you to Tell Congress dont talk about how you support families, actually support families. Dont talk the talk. We want you to walk the walk. In the meantime, if congress will not act, were going to need mayors to act. We will need governors and state legislators to act. We need ceos to act. And i promise you, you will have a president who will take action to support working families. [applause] the good news is, the good news is you dont have to do it alone and i dont have to do it alone. Now thats part of the purpose of this summit is to recognize that theres all kinds of exciting stuff going on around the country. We just have to make sure that we lift up conversations that are taking place at the Kitchen Table every single day. Some businesses are already taking the lead, knowing that familyfriendly policies are Good Business practices. Its how you keep talented employees. Thats how you build loyalty and aspire your workers to go the extra mile for your company. Some of those business are represented here today. So jetblue, for example, has a Flexible Work from home plan in place for its Customer Service representatives. Representatives. They found a lead to happier and more productive employees, and that lowered the cost which translate into higher profits and lower ticket prices for the customers. It was Good Business. In 2007, google realize women were leaving the company at twice the rate that men left, and one of the reasons was that the Maternity Leave policy wasnt competitive enough. So the increased paid leave for new parents, moms and dads, the five months. And that helped to cut the rate of women leaving the company in half. Good business sense. Cisco estimates that by letting their employees telecommute, they save more than 275 million each year. They said its the main reason why they are rated one of the best places to work in america. So its easy to see how policies like this make for better places to work. Theres also a larger economic case for it. The strength of our economy rests on whether we are getting the most out of our nation scotland, whether were making it possible for every citizen to contribute to our growth and prosperity. We do better when we field an entire team, not just part of a team. And the key to staying competitive in the Global Economy is your workforce, is your talent. Right now too many folks on the sidelines who have the desire and capacity to work, but theyre held back by one obstacle after another. So its our job to remove those obstacles, help working parents, improve job training, improved Early Childhood education, invest in better infrastructure so people are getting to work safety. Just about everything i do as president is to make sure that we are not leaving any of our nations talent behind. Thats what this summit is all about. Working families love you, mr. President. Well, thank you. [applause] so we are seeing businesses set a good example. Weve got states were setting a good example. California, [applause] rhode island, new jersey [applause] all gave workers paid family leave. Connecticut offers paid sick days and so does new york city. [applause] since i ask congress to raise the minimum wage last year, theyve been a little slow, shockingly, but 13 states have taken steps to raise it on their own. [applause]. Nobody says, well, i dont know. Im not sure whether the republican platform agrees with paid family leave. Theyre thinking, i could really use a couple paid days off to take care of dad. Regardless of what their Party Affiliation is. So, even as were waiting for congress, whenever i can act on my own im going to. That is why we raised minimum wage for employees of federal contractors. [applause] nobody who cooks our troops meals or washes their dishes should have to live in poverty. Thats a disgrace. Thats why i ordered, tom perez, our secretary of labor to review overtime protections for millions of workers to make sure theyre getting the pay they deserve. [applause] thats why i signed an executive order preventing retaliation against federally contracted workers who share their salary information or raise issues of unequal compensation because i think if you, if you do the same work you should get the same pay and you should be able to enforce it. [applause] which is why congress should pass the paycheck fairness act today, for all workers and not just federally contracted workers. [applause] and yes, thats why i fought to pass the Affordable Care act, to give every american access to high quality, Affordable Care no matter where they worked. So far over eight Million People have enrolled in plans through the aca. Millions with preexisting conditions have been prevented or, have been confident that their Insurance Companies have not been able to block them from getting health insurance. And by the way, women are no longer charged more for being women. [applause] theyre getting the basic care they need including reproductive care and millions are now free to take the best jobs for their family without worrying about losing their health care. Today im going to sign a president ial memorandum, directing every agency in the federal government to expand access to Flexible Work schedules and giving employees the right to request those Flexible Work schedules. [applause] because whether Public Sector or the private sector, if theres a way to make our employees more productive and happier, every employer should want to find it. And to help parents trying to get ahead im going to direct my secretary of labor, tom perez, to invest 25 million to helping people who want to enroll in jobs programs but dont currently have access to child care they need to enroll in the job training programs. Well make it easier for parents to get the training they need to get a good job. So well do everything we can to create more jobs and more opportunity for americans and let me just close by saying i was interviewed in the runup to this on friday, somebody asked, well, its wellknown that women are more likely to vote for democrats, which i said, women are smarter. [laughter] [applause] this is true. But, they said, so isnt this working families summit political . And i said, no, i take this personally. I was raised by strong women. Who worked hard to support my sister and me. [applause] i saw what it was like for a single mom who, you know, was trying to go to school and work at the same time. And i remember her coming home and having to try to fix us dinner and me saying, are we eating that again . And she saying, you know what, buddy, i really dont want to hear anything out of you right now because i have to go do some homework after this and i remember times where my mom, you know, had to take some food stamps to make sure we had enough nutritious food in the house. And, i know what she went through. I know what my grandmother went through, working her way up from a secretary to the Vice President of a bank but she should have run the bank except she hit a Glass Ceiling and was training people who would leapfrog ahead of her year after year. I know what thats like. Ive seen it. I take this personally because, im the husband of a brilliant woman who struggled to balance work and raising our girls when i was away and i remember the stresses that were on michelle, which im sure she will be happy to share with you later today. [laughter] and most of all i take it personally because i am the father of two unbelievable young ladies. [applause] and i, i want them to be able to have families and i want them to be able to have careers and i want them to go as far as their dreams will take them. I want a society that supports that. And i take this personally as the president of a country that built the greatest middle class the world has ever known and inspired people to reach new heights and invent and innovate and drew immigrants from every corner of the world because, because they understood, because they understood that no matter what you look like or where you come from here in america you can make it. Thats the promise of america. Thats what were going to keep on fighting for. Thats what youre fighting for. Thats what this summit is all about. Lets go out there and get to work. Thank you guys, i love you. God bliss you, god bless america. [applause]. [applause] [inaudible] [applause] oh, this, is a lively crew. Are you ready . Are you ready for this . Wow. Weve been listening backstage. Wow what a panel. Very dynamic. Lets pick up, how are you . Im doing great. How are you . Im doing well. Doesnt robin look good . Thank you. Youre looking good. Youre saying it because it is true. [laughing] but it has been all day long here. Yes. And that lively Group Discussion that just preceded us, talking about the role of women in the work place. Yeah. And the fact that nearly half of the workforce is made up of women. Yet, when you see the fortune 500 companies, only 24 women are ceos. Yeah. That is less than 5 . Like anyone youre involved in any type of work you want to be in an environment where you can excel and grow. What do we need to do to change that environment . You know, i think youve heard it all day today. We have to use our voices particularly, particularly the young generation. Because we have to realize, now that the numbers are on our side, right . More and more people are realizing, that this is an issue for everybody. And, we have to use our voices, our power and our leverage to make demands, to feel like we can make the requests, to make the asks, to our employers. I had to find that, that voice within me, myself and it occurred, during my, after the birth of sasha. And barack, i think he mentioned this everybody was like, what was he talking about . This is what he was talking about. [laughter] this is what he was talking about. I had, you know, sort of dealt with the tug of, how am i balancing things. Barack was in springfield. Then he was in washington. I was in chicago, trying to manage these two beautiful girls, trying to still hold down a part time job. The first thing i tried to do, which was a mistake, i tried the part time thing. But what i realized is i got gypped on that front because when you are, working a professional job, what happened was, i got a parttime salary but continued to work full time. So, so after that experience, i said, never again will i shortchange myself because we were still paying for full time babysitting. When there was a professional meeting that they had to happen they expected you to be there. We had had fall time babysitting, so that was a net loss for us. Then i had sasha. We lost our babysitter, which was probably the worst time of my, my motherhood. I was so devastated because, that balance, that workfamily balance. You realize ow fragile it is with the blink of an eye, a broken toilet a sick child, a sick parent, that balance is thrown off. And after we lost that first babysitter, someone we developed trust with, you let them in your home, they were wonderful and loved your kids and she left, she left for good reason, but she left because eshe needed to make more money but it was devastating. I said, i quit. Forget it. Im not doing it again. But a call from the university of chicago hospital. They wanted me interview for a job. By then i was ready to be done but that empowered me, i said, i dont even want this job. So i will go to the interview. And im going to be whoever im going to be. [laughter]. And theyre going to have to deal with it. Who i was at the time was a Breast Feeding mother of a fourmonthold. [applause] and i didnt have a babysitter. So i promptly took sasha to the interview with me and i thought, look, this is who i am. I got a husband who is away. Ive got two little babies. They are my priority. If you want me to do the job, you got to pay me to do the job and youve got to give me flexibility. Flexibility means i will work my tail off for you, but you better pay me and value my family. And the guy said, of course. And i thought, are you kidding . [laughter]. And so, i became a Vice President at the university of chicago hospitals and it was one of the best experiences that i had because they, because he put my family first and i felt like i owed that hospital because they were supporting me and thats what we have to, we have to get employers to understand that this is about their bottom line as well. So your approach [applause] your approach to your career changed as you became a mother and how you first you learned, not to ask for part time. So you were more direct in what you needed and your employer responded. There are a lot of people though are going to say, yeah, but, im at risk if i do that. Thats true. I might lose my job. I really need this job. Thats true. That is why it is so important for women and men who are in the position to make these demand to do it. So this isnt just, you know, this fight isnt about me or barack because things are different now, you know. We live in the white house. [laughter]. Grandma lives upstairs, thank god and, we have resources that we never could have imagined. So this isnt, the fight isnt about us. It is about every mother and father out there who doesnt have the leverage to make those demands. Were fighting for them, because we know how bad it is. We know how tough it is. I knew back then when i was a Vice President at a hospital, i understood the advantage i had. If i were a teacher or bus driver or a nurse or shift worker, which my father was, there is no room for that kind of negotiations. If youre an hourly worker. But the needs are even greater because the balance is even, it is even more delicate for many working families, folks on an hourly wage. Child care is beyond expensive. I mean, we had, you know, the luxury of looking at nannies right. We couldnt even afford to keep the one we had, but we werent looking at the cost of child care, bringing, taking a baby, packing them up, putting them in the car seat, dropping them off, at a child care center. Coming back. Just that emotional tug on its own is powerful and it is not lost on either me or barack, how tough it is, which is why we all have to be in this fight. This is something were doing for each other. [applause] you bring up so many excellent points. I know that there are so many. So many places to start. Heat me in, but no, but, the fact that youre saying working families because the landscape is changing. Women are going into the workforce. There are more stayathome dads, is that part of the movement in letting everybody know it is an issue for everyone in the family . Absolutely. That is why i love the fact that this is a working family summit. You guys heard from barack. At least i heard you heard from him. What i heard that he talked about was just how important those first months that he had with the girls was, you know. And, men, you know, understand that, you need that time too. You because that bonding time, that time that he spent getting up, taking the latenight shift, not only did it save me, you know, gave me some sleep and some peace of mind, but, he connected with our girls in a way that i still see, you know. That connection is real, and we as mothers, you know, we dont take that for granted. But i think more and more men are understanding that you dont miss that time, because you dont get that time back. Let me tell you, now that malia and sasha are teenagers, they dont want to be bothered with us. It is that time he spent rocking in the chairs and reading them stories. He was able to do that because not only did he value it but he was in a work situation that allowed him to do that. And that brought us closer. You know, so this is about strengthening the whole family. And i think more and more men are realizing, they just cant pass off those responsibilities and they have to fight for these changes for themselves. This isnt a womens issue by any stretch of the imagination. They realize that. And your husband really, he was, he was, things that he was saying and one thing that really touched a lot of people when he said, yes, you are a strong woman, a strong mother, a strong wife but that early in the marriage, to see you break down in tears because you were trying to juggle so much. And how that, after all this time has still stayed with him. Did you . Were you in tears trying to do everything . Oh, my goodness, the minute those kids come into the world, they just rip your heart out of your chest. That is why i tell young women and young families, that, you know, we grow up as professionals, many of us, and we think we have it all figured out. We have a plan. Four years here at this university and i will go down this path. I will earn this money and get this promotion. Im like, just have a bibby. And that baby comes out and looks you in the face and all the plans go out the window. You dont know how youre going to feel. And every child is different. You know. They add a whole new set of joy, a whole new set of worries to your life. There is nothing more important to me than my girls. Thats when we first came in and people asked me what was my agenda when we first came in the white house and i said, it is making sure my kids were whole. I thought it was being honest. Some people judged me for that. The truth of the matter whether im the first lady and hes the president , our first job is to make sure our kids are on point. That is the most important legacy we will ever leave. [applause] so, thats why this issue was so important because employers have to know that as families if life isnt right, if theres a worry, if you dont think that youre leaving your child in good care, if theyre not healthy and whole and happy, you are going to bring that worry to work. It will eat away what youre able to do. I dont care what you do, you know. You wait, as working families, dont you wake up every morning just praying that nobodys sick . Dont be sick, my god. You know we all pushed them out the door, a little sniffly, like, okay, cough again. Youre not really sick. Not 100. Not 100. We all, sent them to school just a little youre fine. Try to get through lunch. [laughter] call me. Tell me how you feel, you know . But you send them off, all youre doing and worrying theyre falling apart in school. These are really emotionaldraining issues and, you know, there are, because there are employers who figured how to do this, how to give us families the space to be good workers, but also to, first and foremost be good families, if some can do it, they all can do it. Some are doing this not all are doing this. In part why were here in washington, people want to know the role of the federal government, and in some cases the state government. Is that something that should be done . Because there are a lot of people who are not certain of that. Well, you know, there are two ways to focus on this. You see in this administration theyre going to do everything in their power administratively to make changes and lead by example. One of my young staffers, said she got an email from the chief of staff, because of the summit, this administration is going to start asking a set of different questions. So the first thing that the president can do is make sure that his administration is leading by example. Now what we need to do on the policy front requires congressional action a the some point in time. I know, i just heard nancy say it and i heard the president say it, you have got to have elected officials who believe in this, these issues and the changes that need to be made as passionately as we all do, and that is going to require us to help them understand just how important these issues are. [applause] you know. But you know there are some who feel, when we talk about the minimum wage and equal pay, but mainly minimum wage, i think first time we sat down had an interview, you brought it up. You were passionate about it then and fighting and saying how important it is knowing the importance of that. When there are people that are there who are zareing it will cause jobs to be lost it is such a political debate. What are you going to do if we lose that debate, what can be done to push that through . I think building momentum, because again, most employers are private employers. They can make decisions based on what is most financially expedient for them. And studies are showing that having a fair wage, having decent family leave policies and the like, creating a flexible environment, that that improves the bottom line for companies. We have to start getting that information out so that every Company Looks at the bottom line for themselves. The question is, is everybody even looking at it . Because if we allowed this not to be an issue because were sucking it up, let me tell you, women, we suck it up. Were just going to figure it out. Maybe it is me, the reason why i feel crazy. Not because i, we tell ourselves i should be able to manage this, right . I should be able to have a fulltime job and pick my kids up from day care and drop them off and kick a meal and fry it up in the pan and all that stuff. Never forget he is a man, im a woman. Remember that . Remember that. [applause] im old school. Yeah. What robin said. But, because we wind up taking these issues on and were just going to do it all, right . Were not focusing on the need to push for change. And the 21st century work place as you have pointed out, its very different, you know. Women are working more. Men are understanding their value as caregivers. Women are primary breadwinners. We could go on and on. Things are different. We cant keep operating like everything is the same. I think that is what many of us have done. Think it is up to us to change the conversation. This summit is hopefully the beginning of a shift in dialogue, so as nancy said, as good speaker said, we have to change the public conversation. And we cant underestimate the power of that. You cant just wait for politicians to do what they, what you think they should know you want to do. They have to feel the pressure. And thats, thats the job of all of us and it starts here but these conversations have to continue at the regional level. I know many people have been working, absolutely. [applause] this is just the beginning and it has to be a movement and there has to be momentum and it has to continue and to the point where the pressure is too real and this is the conversation that were having at every socioeconomic level, within every race and every community, that we are now demanding that we can have the resources to do it all, to be good workers, to earn a decent living and to raise your families so that theyre whole, happy and healthy. That is the american way. That is the american way. [applause] and, it was said here about how women, there are more women that are in law school and medicine and other fields, but, when it comes to the stem field, the one, you know, science, technology, engineering and mathematics, thats where the growth is. Thats where women can make even more money than any other field but yet women, even though there are more of us on College Campuses were not in those fields. Yeah. And there seem to be a stigma attached to that how do we eradicate that . We have to start very early on. More and more resources are being put in to encourage more women and girls to enter stem fields. As you know it starts very early on. You have to create that pool. So much of that field requires, stairsteps of math and science and you cant sort of skip a step because everything builds upon Everything Else and so many girls shy away from math and science. They automatically say, im not good at that. I was a victim of that, you know. I didnt go to medical school because i thought i wasnt good in sciences. My mother told me i talked a lot. So i went to law school. But, weve got to get girls when theyre young. Right. Before they, move away, or, sort of buy into the, you know, the mythology that women cant do these things. So we have to start very early. You had said in, i think it was parade magazine, that you and your husband would like your daughters to get a minimum wage job, to build character, to understand what its like. Uhhuh. What kind of job would you like when you say that . I dont care. I dont care. Just a job that pays them, you know. It really doesnt matter what it is, you know. I think the whole point is that they, you know, learn how to roll up their sleeves and work hard and understand what the vast majority of folks in this country have to do to earn a living and that it is not glamorous and it is not fun all the time. There are people who get up every day for their entire lives and go to a job thats not fun and they do it to put food on the table. My father was one of those folks, one of those men. Watching him get up every day and go to work and go to a job that didnt, that wasnt exciting and glamorous, but go to a job that paid the bills and sent us to college, it motivated me to never take midcation or my opportunities for granted and i want my girls to understand that. [applause] so and, when you and your husband, when you leave washington, lets see, malia will be in college. I know. Sasha will be in high school. There are many people that are wondering what is your next act . Me . Will it be political . No, it will not be political. Yeah, no, it definitely will not be. It will be, it will be missionbased. It will be servicefocused. It will, you know [applause] just not in that regard. Yeah. Here we are. Were talking, we have nancy pelosi that was up here. We have women at the Supreme Court. And there are many feeling that if were going to talk about leadership and thats what were doing here, that a woman president is part of that. And what an example that would set for your girls and for young boys and all of us. Absolutely. Do you perceive that happening . When should that happen . That should happen as soon as possible. [applause] and, you know, i think this country is ready. This country is ready for anyone who can do the job and what we have learned is that the person who can do the job is, you know, doesnt have a particular race or gender or background or socioeconomic status or, you know. That, the person who can do the job is the person who is the most qualified and i think we, we have some options, dont we . [applause] you sure youre not getting into politics . Because that answer was really good. I am positive. [laughter] quick reminder that you can watch the entire working families summit on our website at cspan. Org. President obama is hosting israeli president shimon peres at the white house today. President peres will head to capitol hill to receive the gold medal in the capitol rotunda. Several notable results in yesterdays primary elections. Mississippi senator thad cochran narrowly held off a challenge ever state senator Chris Mcdaniel after coming in second in the june third primary. The sixterm senator holds 6,000 vote lead with 99 of the precincts accounted according to the associated press. Latest numbers out of new yorks harlem and manhattan district show 22term congressman Charlie Rangel holding a slight lead over the his democratic challenger. That is still too close to call with number of absentee ballots. Well update results after the day progresses. Live to the u. S. Senate. Members working on a federal jobs training bill, series of votes including final passage scheduled for 2 30 eastern this afternoon. Live to the floor of the senate here on cspan2. The presiding officer the senate will come to order. The chaplain, dr. Barry black, will lead the senate in prayer. The chaplain let us pray. Merciful god, a gracious and willing guest in every heart, thank you for the opportunities and privileges of this day. May your peace rule within our senators hearts. As they remember how you have guided us in the past, give them strength for today and bright hopes for tomorrow. With the ebb and flow of lifes seasons, may they grow more certain of your reality and power. Lord, when much seems obscure to them may they be even more faithful to the little they can clearly see. Continue to shower them and their loved ones with your daily mercies. We pray in your holy name. Amen. The presiding officer please join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance to the flag. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. The presiding officer the clerk will read a communication to the senate. The clerk washington d. C, june 25,2014. To the senate under the provisions of rule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing rules of the senate, i hereby appoint the honorable edward j. Markey, a senator from the commonwealth of massachusetts, to perform the duties of the chair. Signed patrick j. Leahy, president pro tempore. Mr. Reid mr. President . The presiding officer the majority leader. Mr. Reid i move to proceed to calendar number 384, hagan sportsmens legislation. The presiding officer the clerk will report. The clerk motion to proceed to calendar number 384, s. 2363 a bill to protect and enhance opportunities for recreational hunting, fishing and shooting and for other purposes. Mr. Reid mr. President following my remarks and those of the republican leader, the senate will be in a period of morning business until noon. The time will be equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees. The republicans will control the first 30 minutes, the majority the next 30 minutes. At noon the senate will proceed to the consideration of h. R. 803, the workforce innovation opportunity act. At 2 30 there will be three roll call votes on amendments and passage of the bill. Mr. President , this afternoon the senate will consider and pass the bipartisan workforce innovation and opportunity act. While the Unemployment Rate has steadily declined since the recession and more than nine million privatesector jobs have been created, too Many Americans are still unemployed or lack the tools necessary to compete for todays jobs. Thats why this legislation, which updates and streamlines our nations job training and local Workforce Development program, is so vital. Mr. President , this legislation is very complicated, is very complex, and its vital. It proves, though, the mere fact that you have legislation thats complicated, complex, and vital; we can pass it. This act will help improve training and Educational Opportunities for those americans looking for a job or to advance their careers. It will also help businesses grow and strengthen local economies across the whole country. In nevada, tens of thousands have benefited from the job training placement and Educational Programs funded by the workforce investment act. Many found their first job. Others were able to reenter the workforce. And still others took advantage of programs to improve their skills. For all, it meant a paycheck. Or to some, a raise to support their families. This legislation is also an example, mr. President , of how the senate can and should function. I repeat this legislation is not a walk in the park. Extremely complicated. It shows how congress can operate when both sides are willing to compromise and work in good faith to craft legislation that helps improve the lives of americans. It hasnt been easy. This program was last authorized in 1998. Think of how much the world has changed in the 16 years. Look at the internet. Its transformed training and education programs. Even the way most americans look for work. In these 16 years there have been several attempts to reauthorize this legislation. And they have all fallen short. So after 16 years of attempts, its even more impressive that chairman harkin, senators murray, alexander, and isakson along with their counterparts in the house were able to forge a bicameral, bipartisan agreement. So, mr. President , congratulations to each of these senators and the house members who work with them. Theyve worked in a bipartisan, bicameral approach to successful legislation. You know, mr. President , they say in basketball if youre not doing well, you have a lot of off days, that the best way for a shooter to get his rhythm back is to sink a couple of baskets. So i hope this theory proves true here in the senate. Its time we sank a couple of baskets. Its time we start working together to get things done. Hopefully by witnessing the success of a good bipartisan bill like this, the United States senate will get its rhythm back. Mr. President , i ask unanimous consent that following the disposition of h. R. 803, which is the workforce innovation opportunity act, the senate proceed to executive session and consider calendar number 499, 501 and 787 and the senate proceed to vote on confirmation nominations in the order listed. Further, that if the nomination is confirmed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid on the table with no intervening action or debate and no further motions be in order to the nominations. That any statements related to the nomination be printed in the record, and that president obama be immediately notified of the senates action and the senate resume legislative session. The presiding officer is there objection . Without objection, so ordered. Mr. Mcconnell mr. President . The presiding officer the republican leader. Mr. Mcconnell influence. Influence. Its a word we hear a lot about these days, spicialg from especially from our friends on the other side who suddenly feel the need to convince their constituents that their quote, unquote moderate moderate democrats despite the voting records that say just the oppose. These Senate Democrats cant stop boasting about how much supposed influence they have on Energy Issues, but its really a baffling claim to the rest of us because its so hard to point to what theyve actually accomplished. So lets take the Keystone Pipeline. The Senate Democrats im referring to claim to have so much influence within their party to get it approved, but evidence actually leads to the opposite conclusion, that they really have almost none at all. When it comes right down to it, they havent even been able to secure a serious gimmickfree floor vote from the majority leader to approve the Keystone Pipeline. That should be the bare minimum here. The events that transpired yesterday only underscore the point. Yesterday afternoon several of my republican colleagues again tried to pass the Keystone Pipeline. Once again the democratic leadership blocked the bill and the socalled moderate democrats simply stood by while their own party blocked this important jobcreating legislation. They didnt even put up a credible fight. Its disappointing, but its no surprise. Because washington democrats have blocked approval of this shovelready job creation project for years now. Even though it would create thousands of wellpaying american jobs. Even though it would help our struggling economy. Even though it would increase north American Energy independence. And even though the Obama Administration has already admitted that constructing the pipeline would have almost zero zero Significant Impact on the environment. In other words, Senate Democratic leadership is constructing construction of the Keystone Pipeline for one main reason, to please their patrons on the far left. And lets be clear about something. The only reason theyre able to get away with it is because socalled moderate democrats let them. The same socalled moderates who claim to have so much influence around here. The bottom line is that these socalled moderates cant have it both ways. They cant credibly claim to have influence on issues like these even as they let their Party Leaders shoot down almost every effort to achieve the things they claim to want, like keystone. Frankly, its hard to see how we could ever hope to get a keystone bill over to the president s desk and to sign into law while democrats run the senate, especially when the socalled moderates stand idly by as the president has yet another meeting yet another meeting with the antikeystone jobs lobby tonight. The president is meeting with an antikeystone fundraiser today and will be hearing with an administration to stop these important jobs. But he needs to hear from americans across the country who are desperate from work in the obama economy. Preaching to the choir is not going to get that done. Now, ironically enough, the president will be meeting with these same antikeystone interests right after holding a pep rally with Senate Democrats. His reliable antikeystone back stop here in congress. So i think its time to put aside the charade. The American People have already had to suffer through more than five years five years of delay and obfuscation on this pipeline. The bureaucrats and the experts have studied it to death over and over and over again. And every time we learn basically the very same thing, that theres a ton of up side to building keystone and minimal, minimal substantive down side. So its time to end all the politically motivated delays and get serious around here. Its time for democrats who claim to support these important jobs to stand up to the party bosses and stand with their constituents. Not just talk about doing it. We owe it to the American People to get these Keystone Pipeline jobs approved as soon as possible. Unfortunately, it seems increasingly clear that that will never happen under the current democraticrun senate. But one way or another, we need to get this thing done. Mr. President , i yield the floor. The presiding officer under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. Under the previous order, the senate will be in a period of morning business until 12 00 noon with the time equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees, with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each, and with the republicans controlling the first 30 minutes and the majority controlling the next 30 minutes. A senator mr. President . The presiding officer the senator from south dakota. Mr. Thune mr. President , in a moment or so my colleagues will be coming down here to the floor and asking to enter into a colloquy to discuss an issue that is important to many of us, particularly those of us who represent states in the west and the midwest. The issue i want to speak to has to deal with something that over the past five years, the Obama Administration has been particularly mr. Reid mr. President , would my friend allow me to ask a question through the chair . I was in the office and i heard the statement from the republican leader about keystone. So this question i direct to my friend from south dakota, who is a fine senator and understands Energy Issues. We agreed to have a vote on keystone. My friend, the republican leader, keeps misdirecting things. We can have a vote on keystone. That was part of the deal we made. We had a bipartisan bill, portmanshaheen. They worked on that for months, since last fall. They put in it amendments that people wanted. And so Jeanne Shaheen came here yesterday and said lets have a vote on keystone but just vote on Energy Efficiency. And you can have a vote on using the mcconnell rule, 60 on both of them. So, mr. President , this is so transparent that my friend, the republican leader, is doing the bidding again of the koch brothers, who own the first or secondlargest tar sands that exist in the world. So i say to my friend from south dakota, why cant we just have a vote on both of those, Energy Efficiency and on keystone . Mr. Thune i would say through the chair to the majority leader that the offer, as i understand, that was put forward by the majority with respect to the Energy Efficiency bill was, you pass this bill without amendment, no debate, no amendment, and then somewhere down the road you might get the vote on Keystone Pipeline. Well, it strikes me at least, as many of my colleagues on this side has been pointing out now for sometime, that the way in which the majority leader is running the floor and calling up legislation preventing amendments to be offered, to be debated, to be voted upon, denies the rights not only of us as senators but ignores the voices of the people we represent. So for the majority leader to say that you pass this bill without any amendment energy is an important issue in many of our states. It is important in my state of south dakota. It is important to a lot of members on our side, i would stowing a lot of members i would suggest to a lot of members on the leaders side who would like to debate an energy bill on the floor. The leader has come down, no amendments, no debate, you pass this. Well jam this bill down without amendment, and then sometime you get the vote on keystone. Well, wed love to get a vote on keystone. The leader can call that up anytime. And weve been saying for sometime that we ought to have a vote on keystone. Theres broad, bipartisan support for that in the senate. There are a lot of democrats who support the Keystone Pipeline. But what the leader is suggesting again is, hes going to put a bill up, fill the amendment tree, prevent republicans from offering amendments. We dont think thats the way the senate ought to operate. Mr. Reid mr. President . The presiding officer the majority leader. Mr. Reid i say to my friend from south dakota, it is so transparent what is going on here. Theyre hung up on procedure. If this keystone rot vote is so important to them, lets have a vote on it. Thats what i was told when we brought up, for the second time, the Energy Efficiency. In fact, i was told by a republican leader who was pushing that bill, go ahead and fill the tree. Weve already worked out all the amendments. The bill is different from when we first brought it up. So again we get right where weeppedz to bweneed to be to pae legislation. If this keystone is such a big deal, lets vote on t let it. Lets vote on Energy Efficiency. But, no, we cant do that. We cant do that because we wouldnt be able to offer more amendments. Now remember, the republicans, who were part of that arrangement th, the Energy Efficiency bill of shaheenportman, they thought it was a good bill. But i repeat, this this was such a big deal to the republicans, why do they get hung up on procedure . Lets vote on both of them. Let the cards fall where they may. Mr. Thune i would say to the distinguished democrat the majority leader, that we on this side believe that when you bring an energy bill to the floor to talk about energy, we ought to be talking about energy. Now, he may suggest that there were certain Things Incorporated in the bill that some of his members wanted, maybe even perhaps some of our members wanted, but we have a lot of members on this side that have been shut out, who havent been able to offer amendments for the past year. Since july of last year there have only been votes on nine republican amendments. Theres only been votes on seven democrat amendments, out of 1,500 filed. This is insanity. You know, we would love to get a vote on Keystone Pipeline, but we also think there are a lot of other Energy Issues foreign this country. If you other Energy Issues that are important to this country. If you bring a bill to the floor, it is offer to amendments. There are issues in addition to Keystone Pipeline there are critically important to jobs and the economy and to Energy Security in this country. And so the way that the leader has suggested that this ought to work isnt simply about an argument on procedure. This is about whether or not the senate is going to function in a way where the views of the millions of people that are that we represent, those of us here who would love to offer amendments on these bills, are being prevented from doing. So i would simply say to the leader that this is not simply about Keystone Pipeline. This is about the broader debate on energy, what it means for jobs, what it means for our economy. And youve gotten to the place now where were not even getting votes in committee. Appropriations bills are being pulled back at the Committee Level because Democrat Members dont want to vote on amendments that republican members might offer. Thats not the way this place is supposed to work. And i would so i appreciate the majority leaders understandable frustration. But it is a frustration thats grounded in the way that hes runninrunning this institution,n anything our side is doing. Mr. Reid mr. President , no one needs to take my word for it. Take the word of one of the most Senior Republicans in this body, the senior senator from tennessee. He came to the floor a few days ago and said, on the Appropriations Bills we hear this plaintiff plea, lets have some votes. So the senator from tennessee said, why dont we have the votes. Because what has been established around here is that we have 60 votes on anything thats controversial and 50 votes on Everything Else. Thats what the senator from tennessee said. Lets just go ahead an vote through the bills. No better example of that than doddfrank, the bill that the republicans hate. It passed. On the 24th amendment that we voted on on that bill, senator durbin offered an amendment on swipe fees, and he was told i. T. Going to be 60 votes. And he was told its going to be 60 votes. Everything else had been 50. So he had to do his with 60 votes. Thats how things work here. The republicans dont want to have votes. They want to have an issue on procedure. We should finish every one of those aeption pro appropriation, every one of them, if we followed what Lamar Alexander said. So, mr. President , it is interesting. Energy issues this is a buzzword for, lets take care of the Energy Companies some more. They want to protect bill oil. If they want to have all the Appropriations Bills passed, lets pass them. All we have to do is follow what ive suggested, what senator alexander has suggested. Thats what we should do. The presiding officer the republican leader. Mr. Mcconnell mr. President , i would simply offer the consent agreement that the majority leader objected to when he pulled the shaheen bill a while back. It was Pretty Simple and pretty easily understood. This was the consent that was offered when the majority leader, as i said, pulled the shaheenportman bill a while back. This is what i said. I propose a different unanimous consent agreement. I ask unanimous consent that the only amendments in order be five amendments from the republican side related to energy policy, with with a 60vote threshold a doption o on adoptih amendment. I ask that the bill be read a third time, the senate proceed to passage of the bill as amended, if amended. Now, mr. President , that gives the majority leader what he was asking for on the last bill, 60vote thresholds. It gives them amendments from our side related to energy policy. And it would have led to a vote on keystone. So i would propound that consent agreement again. It sounds to me like we may be getting somewhere, if the majority leader really wants to give us a chance to have a keystone vote out here on the floor. The presiding officer is there objection . Mr. Reid mr. President , reserving the right to object to my friends suggestion the presiding officer the majority leader. Mr. Reid i would ask that it be modified to have a vote on keystone and have a vote on shaheenportman. A 60vote threshold, ofnlgt. The presiding officer will the republican leader modify his request . Mr. Mcconnell reserving the right to object, we didnt get amendments on shaheenportman, so what the majority leader is now saying is he wants to pass a kind of comprehensive energy bill deal waing with a variety f different subjects without any amendments at all as a condition for having a vote on keystone with five amendments related to the subject. I can remember when we used to vote around here. In fact, his members have only had seven roll call votes in a year. Hes got one member from alaska whos never had a roll call vote on the floor in his entire senate career. So i think, you know, rather than these u. C. s going back around forth be, maybe we ought to Start Talking and maybe the senate can start voting on things again. I object. The presiding officer is there objection to the original request . Mr. Reid yes. Mr. President . The presiding officer objection is heard. Mr. Reid mr. President , lets not have revisionist history. Lets have real valid history. Shaheenportman was worked on for weeks last fall. Shaheenportman worked on this new version of the bill for months, and they worked out many, many amendments in the committee, and they came to me and said, weve gotten all of this worked out. Shaheen and portman and a number of other senators. And i said, great. So before one of our recesses, the day we were getting treed leave, they came to we were getting ready to leave, they came to me and said, what would be better is if we had a sense of the senate resolution. We already agreed what we were going to do. The bill is different. Like the workforce investment act were going to this afternoon. I came back and said, thats fine. Were going to do this as soon as we get back. We come back and then im told, we dont want a sense of the senate resolution. We want an upordown vote here. I said, okay, lets do it. Thats when that still wasnt good enough. That still wasnt good enough because they want the issue. The Energy Efficiency bill is a good bipartisan bill. Its like the one were going to work on this afternoon. Its a complex bill. But the differences have been worked out and we should go ahead and vote on that. So if they really care about keystone, if this is such a big deal the republican leader said, weve been working on this for five years the time has come, lets belly up to the bar where we vote and lets vote on it. But in the process, lets also do the bipartisan Energy Efficiency legislation that Jeanne Shaheen has put her heart into. So thats where we are. Another obstruction, diversion to keep us from really voting on things. They want the issue. Theyre focused on procedure, mr. President. And what the American People, they want us to do things. They want the minimum wage raised. They want Unemployment Benefits extended. For the longterm unemployed. They would like it so that a man working doesnt like more money than a woman that does the same work. They think the American People believe that they should not be burdened with college debt, which is larger than any other debt. It is 1. 3 trillion now. Theyve stopped us from doing that based on procedure. Why dont we work on things that would help the mileperhour . Why dewe wor dont we work on tt would help the American People . Mr. Mcconnell i ask unanimous consent that the exchange between the majority leader and myself come out of our leader time, in order to not take further mr. Reid i would agree with that. Mr. Mcconnell yeah. I yield the floor. The presiding officer without objection. The senator from south dakota. Mr. Thune mr. President , as i mentioned previously, we intend to enter into a colloquy here on the floor of the senate to talk about an issue thats important to many of our states. The senator from i would wishing thesenator from wyomie impacted by something the e. P. A. Has been pursuing and has been particularly active in issues misguided and illperceived proposals that do little more than overburden hardworking americans and families. One of the worst is the obamas e. P. A. Proposal to slig expand its authority to significantly expand its authority to create stock ponds and ditches under the e. P. A. Clean water act. The federal government could expand its Regulatory Authority from waters like rivers and lakes to the ditches on your grandfathers property or the dry creek bed behind your house. Thats what were talking about. This could lead to untold Compliance Costs and bureaucratic wrangling for ordinary families and literally cripple farmers and businesses. E e. P. A. And army corps of engineers propose clean water act jurisdictional rules seeks to redefine waters of the United States which would effectively eliminate the clean water act provision. Congress specifically did it to guarantee limits to federal authority. Bodies of water currently deemed waters of the United States are subject to multiple regulatory requirements under the clean water act including permitting and reporting, enforcement and mitigation. Despite opposition in congress, the e. P. A. And corps relentlessly pursu