mr. baucus: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from montana. mr. baucus: mr. president, we will soon be voting on whether to establish permanent normal trade relations, otherwise known as pntr, with russia and moldova and to update russian human rights legislation. we have to take many difficult votes in this chamber, but this is not one of them. in fact, this is a rare opportunity to pass a good bill that we all can agree on. pntr is good for united states

mr. baucus: mr. president, i understand that in effect -- i ask that -- i ask further proceed ftion of the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. baucus: mr. president, i understand we're in effect debating russia pntr. robert louis stevenson once said -- quote -- "the mark of a good action is that it appears inevitable in retrospect." when i traveled to russia in february, many doubted that congress would establish permanent normal trade relations known as pntr earlier this year. but in july the finance committee unanimously approved legislation to do just that. and last month the house of representatives passed very similar russia pntr legislation with 365 yes votes. passing the pntr clearly is a good action for the united states. it is also an obvious one. why obvious? jobs. pntr will mean more jobs and opportunities for american farmers, ranchers, businesses, and workers. russia is a fast-growing market. the united states to share in that growth we must first

mr. baucus: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from montana. mr. baucus: mr. president, we will soon be voting on whether to establish permanent normal trade relations, otherwise known as pntr, with russia and moldova and to update russian human rights legislation. we have to take many difficult votes in this chamber, but this is not one of them. in fact, this is a rare opportunity to pass a good bill that we all can agree on. pntr is good for united states jobs. russia is a fast-growing market. when russia joined the w.t.o. in august, it opened its markets to the other 155 members of the w.t.o. who have pntr with russia. pntr will give u.s. farmers, ranchers, businesses and workers new opportunities in russia and new jobs here at home. our competitors in china and canada and europe are not taking advantage of these opportunities because they have pntr with russia, they already have it. we are the only w.t.o. member missing out on these opportunities. if we now pass pntr, we can level the playing field and compete, and if we compete we will win. we sell more b

mr. baucus: mr. president, might i inquire of the chair or the chairman of the appropriation committee who is managing this bill whether i might speak on another subject? now, i don't want to speak out of turn, but i was going to make a brief statement with respect to the fiscal cliff and urging resolution showing the chart that i have that we're not that far apart, but i don't want to get in the way here, given the manager's preference in how to manage the bill. i would like to defer to the managers because it's their bill. ms. mikulski: i wish to -- if the senator will withhold? the next amendment under our agreement with senator mccain, he will be here in five minutes, so the gentleman may proceed. mr. baucus: i will speak within that period of time. thank you very much. and i thank both senators. the presiding officer: the senator from montana is recognized. mr. baucus: mr. president, president kennedy once said there are risks and costs to action but there are far less than the long-range risks

mr. baucus: by all means. i encourage the senator from rhode island to proceed. is speech is very interesting and i appreciate what he's saying. mr. whitehouse: madam president, the public is ready for to us take action. but we're not. we are as i've said in previous speeches, sleep walking. as congress sleepwalks, americans actually be taking action on their own. in coordination with the nonprofit organization 350.org for example, students at more than 150 colleges and yoofortsd across the country -- universities across the country are pressing those institutions to sell off the portions of their endowment portfolios invested in fossil fuel companies. they are forcing schools to divest from the polluters. this type of divestment campaign was deployed effectively to pull investments from south africa during apartheid. with american college and university endowments estimated to total more than $400 billion this movement by students deserves significant attention. here in the senate, key legislation such as the water resources development act must reflect the reali

mr. sherman, for his fine support and fine work and his work on this issue. i want to thank chairman baucus, ranking member frank, chairwoman capito and ranking member maloney for their assistance in ensuring that this legislation passes without delay this common sense legislation has garnered widespread bipartisan support and i urge my colleagues to join me in supporting its passage. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from california is recognized. mr. sherman: i'll take a minute to put into the record the statements of adam lev tan, professor of law at the georgetown university law school, in support of this bill and he came before our committee in may of 2012 and stated there are unquestionably financial regulations that do little other than add to regulatory burdens, he cited in particular the provision that this bill addresses and said i would also urge the elimination of the privacy disclosure requirement even if there is no substantive replacement for it, but then he added, and at very least, eliminate the requiremen

baucus, senator conrad and others. he has also served on the joint economic committee. he has been a valued democratic member of this body, the caucus he has been terrific. for me, mr. president, he has been really a -- someone i can call upon to ask for advice. over the years that we have served together, he didn't come and visit with me often, but when i knew jeff bingaman wanted to see me, i knew immediately that he had thought it through. he knew what he wanted to talk about and he knew what he wanted me to help him with. i think so much of him. i admire him. i appreciate him. i will always remember this good man and the work that he has done. i'm sorry to see this brilliant, hard-working leader depart this body. when jeff announced his retirement a couple years ago, this is what he said, and i quote -- "it's not easy to get elected to the senate, and it's not easy to decide to leave the senate. there is important work that remains to be done. it's true today and it will be the case at the end of this congress and it will be true at the end of every future congress as well." that's what he said. again, he hit the mark. there is plenty of important work left to b

baucus, ranking member frank toward swift passage of legislation. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california. mr. sherman: i thank the gentleman from missouri for his work and leadership on this bill. i want to also thank the ranking member for his support and the gentlelady from west virginia. when this bill, if this bill becomes law, a written copy of the privacy policy will still go by postal mail to every customer when he becomes a customer or she becomes a customer of the financial institution. another copy will go every time that policy is changed and the policy will be available day and night on the internet on the website of the financial institution. the privacy policy will be known to everyone who has an interest in reading it, whether $100 is paid as a bonus for reading it or not. with that, i have no speakers. i yield back the balance of any time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentlelady from west virginia. mrs. capito: thank you, mr. speaker. i urge passage of the bill and yield back the balance of my time. the speaker: the gentlelady yields back. the questi