klobuchar: i'm here to talk on behalf of commerce secretary nominee john bryson. mr. bryson testified before our commerce committee. i was impressed by his background and by his ability to answer the questions, by his understanding of business. i think everyone knows we are facing difficult economic times in this country, and we need someone in that job that understands business. mr. bryson has strong and broad support within the business community and his nomination has been endorsed by such groups as the u.s. chamber of commerce, the business round table and the national association of manufacturers. six former commerce secretaries from george w. bush, bill clinton, george h.w. bush, nixon administrations, those commerce secretaries from those presidential administrations have also joined in strongly supporting his confirmation. mr. bryson, as you know, mr. president, was reported favorably to the entire senate by the commerce committee. you look at what some of the groups have said about mr. bryson. the business round table, they say john bryson is a proven, well-re

the reason i opposed john bryson, he's been very active in this whole movement on cap and trade and we all know what that is, we talked about it for ten years, we had the kyoto convention and we did not become a part of that. there have been several efforts to have bills on the floor, to have cap and trade supposedly to stop catastrophic greenhouse or global warming and now people know that the science is debunked and it's not real yet they're going ahead and doing it. if the president is able to pass these regulations, it's going to be tantamount to about a -- between $300 billion and $400 billion a year for people in america. now, i would say this: there are a lot of people out there saying well, it doesn't hurt to pass a tax increase of $300 billion if it's going to do something about global warming. even president obama's nominee and choice and now confirmed, lisa jackson, at the e.p.a., has said in response to a question on the record, if we were to pass any of these bills whether it go back and be the mccain-lieberman bill or the waxman-markey bill, these cap and trade bills that

president, we were hopeful that today we could clear the nomination of john bryson to be secretary ofcommerce. this has been outstanding for a long time. we are told by our republican friends that as soon as we got the trade bills done we would work this out. the trade bills are done, so i hope that we can move forward on this. it's really unfortunate that one of the president's very important cabinet positions, that is secretary of commerce which is directly related to the jobs bill is not filled at this time. hopefully we can get the minority to work with us in processing this. i hope i don't have to file cloture on something like this. mr. president, i ask consent the senate proceed to calendar number 96. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 96, s. 275, a bill to amend title 49 of the united states code and so forth and for other purposes. the presiding officer: without objection the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. reid: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the committee reported substitute be considered, rockefeller and paul amendments

agreement on the third -- i'm sorry, on three district court judges as well as the nomination of john bryson to be commerce secretary. madam president, my friend, the republican leader, -- i will go in more detail in a few minutes -- is complaining about a tax of .5%, .5% on people who make more than $1 million a year to stop a program that would lay off teachers. the massive layoff we have had in america today, of course rooted in the last administration, and it is very clear that private sector jobs are doing just fine. it's the public sector jobs where we have lost huge numbers, and that's what this legislation is all about. it's unfortunate my friend the republican leader is complaining about that. i would also note that my friend said the house passed another bill. well, they pass lots of bills, but they rarely go anyplace. a report led by henry waxman of california, a long-time member of the house, indicated last week that the house has voted 168 times to roll back regulations on clean air, clean water. these safeguards are important to have a healthier america, but the republican resp

we also hope to vote on the confirmation of the nomination of john bryson to be commerce secretary aswell today. additionally, cloture was filed on the motions to proceed to s. 1723 and s. 1726, and if no agreement is reached, those cloture votes will occur on friday. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. under the previous order, the senate will resume consideration of h.r. 2112, which the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 155, h.r. 2112, an act making appropriations for agriculture, rural development, food and drug administration, and related agencies programs for the fiscal year ending september 30, 2012, and for other purposes. the presiding officer: the senator from missouri is recognized. mr. blunt: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i just want to thank my colleagues for bringing amendments to the floor on the agriculture bill and also on the other two bills that we're dealing with, transportation and housing and urban development and commerce, justice, state. we have had a vigorous debate o