mr. wyden: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from oregon. mr. wyden: i would also ask unanimous consent that joel garrison, a legislative defense fellow in our office be granted floor privileges for the duration of these amendments. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. wyden: mr. president, the first amendment has previously passed the senate, and it would solve a problem created by the lawyers at the pentagon who in effect at the last minute on a critical issue for eastern oregon pulled the rug out from under our -- our communities. mr. president, when we have a problem or conflict in our state, we solve it the oregon way, by finding consensus and building common ground. that's why when it became apparent 20 years ago that the u.s. army's chemical depot in umatilla, oregon, would be closing once all the chemical weapons were destroyed, the community leaders gathered all of the critical organizations together and began the process of planning what to do with the land once th

wyden: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from oregon is recognized. mr. wyden: mr. president, before he yields the -- before he leaves the floor, i just want to commend the senator from massachusetts. he has said much this afternoon that i certainly agree with, but i also want to touch on one other point about the senator's work -- the senator from massachusetts' efforts in this area. and that is, the public perhaps more than anything else is talking about why people in washington, d.c., can't work together, why we can't come up with ways to build coalitions. and i'm not sure people picked up on it in your remarks, and particularly your remarks with respect to china are indisputably right. there are investing far more than we are. but you have pulled together the chamber of commerce and the afl-cio for an infrastructure package. that doesn't happen by osmosis. it doesn't just happen because somebody puts out, you know, a press release. you put in the time to try to build that coa

mr. wyden: mr.dent, i come to the floor today to talk about creating more good-paying jobs in america and how tax reform can play a key role in job creation if it's done right. mr. president, as we all know, no member of congress has a piece of machinery on their desk that's just a job-creation device. you can't just start something like this up, press a button, and then after it whirs around a bunch of time, create a lot of new jobs. nobody has a contraption like that here in the senate, and the reality is the president doesn't have one, nor does anybody else in america. but there are policies that are relevant to how you create more good-paying jobs, and those involve, first, looking at what's worked in the past. and, second, what hard objective data is relevant to the future. now, nobody can know the ideal, sure-fire way to create jobs, but we can document what has worked in the past. in the case of comprehensive tax reform, what we know is that after the 1986 tax foreman act, where -- 1986 tax r

mr. wyden: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from oregon. mr. wyden: mr. president, soon the senate will vote on the hutchison resolution that, as you have said very eloquently, mr. president, would overturn the decision of the federal communications commission on what has come to be known as net neutrality. the bottom line for me is straightforward. a vote for the hutchison resolution will enable a handful of special interests to occupy the internet. now, these elites will then have the power to crowd out the voices for change and the ideas of the future. the net would become a glide path for a relatively small number of people to gain enormously rather than an opportunity for all americans to prosper, and some of the ideas that have been offered up with respect to the hutchison resolution just, i think, defy the facts. for example, mr. president, we have had some discussion about section 230 of the communications act, and i wrote that section. it was a key development, in my view, in the growth of the net because it gave us a chance to deal with smut and

mr. wyden. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i commend you, mr. chairman for a good income and afford one, particularly timing because of the super committee. that's what a want to ask you about, dr. elmendorf, because fortunately in the super committee, one of the issues that is very much in play is the prospects of pro-growth tax reform. you and i have talked about it before but i want to walk you through a different aspect of it because it goes right to the heart of this debate about stimulus, particularly stimulus right now. as you know, over the last five years, i've had the chance to work with two colleagues on the other side of the aisle, certainly call themselves conservatives. senator gregg, former senator gregg and senator coats, and senator begich, two democrats and two republicans have worked on this over the last five years. and i want to talk about the stimulative affect what would happen if tax reform was enacted, certainly in 2013. in other words, there is discussion about the time of 2012 and 2013, but let's talk about, say, 2013.

mr. levin: they are senator sherrod brown, 1259, 1260, 1261, 1262, 1263, senator leahy 1080, senator wyden 1296, senator pryor 1151 and 1152, and senator senator -- senator bill nelson 1209, 1210, 1236 and 1255. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. ayotte: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from new hampshire. ms. ayotte: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent to temporarily set aside the pending amendment and call up the following amendments en bloc. senator mccain's amendment 1281 regarding the transfer of arms to georgia, senator blunt's two amendments, 1133 and 1134, senator murkowski's two amendments, amendment 1286 and 1287, and senator rubio's two amendments, 1290 and 1291. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. levin: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from michigan. mr. levin: i would then ask for the regular order after all those actions are taken. the presiding officer: the amendments are now pending. mr. levin: mr. president, i now ask unanimous consent to call up en bloc five amendments

senators wyden and durbin have also recently cosponsored the amendment. i want to recognize their leadership as well. mr. president, again, let me turn to the amendment itself. a growing number of our colleagues have strong concerns about the detainee provisions in this bill. and at the heart of our concerns is the, is the concern that we've not taken enough time to listen to our counterterrorism community. and have not heeded the warnings of the skraurd, the director of -- the secretary of defense, the director of national intelligence and the be director of the -- equally concerning, we have not had a hearing to fully understand the implications of our actions. my amendment would take out these provisions and give us in the congress an opportunity to take a hard look at the needs of our counterterrorism professionals and respond in a measured way that reflects the input of those who are actually fighting our enemies. specifically, the amendment would require that our defense intelligence and law enforcement agencies report the congress with recommendations for any additional authorities or flexibility

senators wyden and durbin have also recently cosponsored the amendment. i want to recognize their leadership as well. mr. president, again, let me turn to the amendment itself. a growing number of our colleagues have strong concerns about the detainee provisions in this bill. and at the heart of our concerns is the, is the concern that we've not taken enough time to listen to our counterterrorism community. and have not heeded the warnings of the skraurd, the director of -- the secretary of defense, the director of national intelligence and the be director of the -- equally concerning, we have not had a hearing to fully understand the implications of our actions. my amendment would take out these provisions and give us in the congress an opportunity to take a hard look at the needs of our counterterrorism professionals and respond in a measured way that reflects the input of those who are actually fighting our enemies. specifically, the amendment would require that our defense intelligence and law enforcement agencies report the congress with recommendations for any additional authorities or flexibility

mr. levin: i ask unanimous consent that joe garrison, a legislative fellow in senator wyden's office be granted floor privileges during the consideration of s. 1867. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. levin: i ask unanimous consent now that the senate proceed to a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. levin: i understand that senate bill 1917 which was introduced earlier today by senator casey is at the desk and i ask for its first reading. the presiding officer: the clerk will read the title of the bill for the first time. the clerk: s. 1917, a bill to create jobs by providing payroll tax relief for middle-class families and businesses, and for other purposes. mr. levin: mr. president, i would now ask for its second reading and object to my own request. the presiding officer: objection having been heard, the bill will be read for the second time on the next legislative day. mr. levin: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today, the senate adjourn