[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 64 (Thursday, May 9, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4886-S4887]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           A HEALTHY ECONOMY

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I quote from the majority leader of the U.S. 
Senate in late February of this year, when he stated, ``It is also 
true''--said Senator Dole--``as some have said, that our economy is the 
strongest it has been in 30 years.''
  The business publication, Barron's magazine, that is looked upon with 
favor by the business community and has been for many, many years says:

       In short, Clinton's economic record is remarkable. Clinton 
     rightfully boasted that our economy is the healthiest it's 
     been in 30 years.

  This came, Mr. President, late in March of this year. DRI McGraw-
Hill, late March of this year:

       The normal economic indicators suggest that the economy is 
     in its best shape in decades.

  Mr. President, the statements that I have given here, the quote from 
the majority leader of the U.S. Senate, from Barron's magazine, and 
from DRI McGraw-Hill are not publications of the Democratic National 
Committee. We could not go further from the Democratic National 
Committee than the majority leader of the U.S. Senate, Barron's 
magazine, and McGraw-Hill, yet each of these state that the economy is 
the best it has been in decades.
  I am the first to acknowledge that we can do better. But we are doing 
pretty good. We are doing real well. The reason I want to talk about 
this this morning is I understand from listening and watching very 
closely what has transpired in this Chamber, especially on the other 
side of the aisle, that there is some tendency to talk about how bad we 
are doing.
  The economy is on fire. The economy is doing well. These are not 
statements. They are based upon statistics. The smallest deficit share 
of our economy since 1979. This will be the fourth year in a row where 
we have had a declining deficit. I, Mr. President, last year with pride 
talked about it was the third year in a row where we had a declining 
deficit, the first time in 50 years we had 3 years in a row with a 
declining deficit.
  I said then, as I say now, it should be smaller, but 3 years in a 
row, the first time in 50 years, a declining deficit. This next year 
will be 4 years in a row with a declining deficit; the first time since 
the years of the Civil War that we have had 4 years in a row with a 
declining deficit.
  The lowest combined rate of unemployment and inflation since 1968. 
Strongest job growth. In fact, it is a stronger job growth than any 
Republican administration since the 1920's. Nearly 8.5 million new jobs 
added in just over 3 years. That is a faster annual rate of growth than 
from any Republican administration since the 1920's.
  Mr. President, we have heard a lot of talk in years gone by about the 
Federal employment being too high. President Reagan, when he was 
Governor, used to rail about how big the Government was. Yet while he 
was Governor of California, the government of California got bigger and 
bigger. When he got off his job of being Governor, he had a radio 
program, and about one out of every two programs dealt with how big the 
Federal Government was. It is interesting to note, when President 
Reagan was President, the Government got bigger and bigger.

  Vice President Gore, in this administration, was given the job to cut 
back the size of Government. The Government has been cut back. It is 
not talked about. We have over 200,000 fewer Federal jobs than we had 3 
years ago. That is a cutback that is staggering. The smallest work 
force since the days of President Kennedy. Highest share of jobs in the 
private sector again since the 1920's. And 93 percent of all new jobs 
have been created by the private sector.
  We have had the lowest inflation during any administration since the 
days of Kennedy, the strongest industrial production growth in 30 
years. The industrial production has grown almost 4 percent annually. 
That is faster than any administration since the days of Lyndon 
Johnson.
  Strongest business investment growth for an administration since the 
days of John Kennedy. Business investment has grown almost 11 percent 
annually. As I have indicated, that is a faster rate of business 
investment growth than any administration since John Kennedy was 
President.
  Lowest mortgage rates in 30 years. Strongest stock market growth 
since World War II. Highest home ownership in 15 years. Strongest 
construction growth since Truman was President. Almost 900,000 new 
construction jobs have been created in just over 3 years. That is the 
fastest annual rate of construction since Harry Truman was President.
  It is no wonder that Barron's magazine says:

       Clinton has rightfully boasted that our economy is the 
     healthiest it's been in 30 years.

  Mr. President, we have had 10 Presidents since the Second World War. 
If we listed the Presidents, we would find we have had five Republican 
Presidents and five Democrat Presidents. But if you looked at job 
growth during the years of those 10 Presidencies, you would find that 
Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 were Democrats. The bottom five were Republican 
Presidents.
  If you want to look at that same list of Democratic Presidents, you 
would find that they also led from 1 to 5 in economic growth. I think 
it is important that we here on the Senate floor make sure the record 
is clear and not try to frighten the American public.
  We acknowledge that we need to do better. We acknowledge that we have 
problems that need to be looked into. We believe that the minimum wage 
should be raised. We believe that it is not a question of making sure 
that teenagers that work at McDonalds get paid more, because the vast 
majority of the people who earn minimum wage are not teenagers. Sixty 
percent of the people who earn minimum wage are women, and for 40 
percent of those women, that is the only money they get for them and 
their families.

  We believe one of the ways we can make the economy better is to raise 
the minimum wage. Why? Because it will tend to force people off welfare 
and cause people not to go on welfare. We need to do better, but we are 
doing well. The so-called misery index, the combined rate of 
unemployment and inflation, is at its lowest level since 1968. We think 
that is good.
  Car manufacturing. The United States is in the world lead. In 1994, 
the United States surpassed Japan as the world leader in automobile 
production. The last time the United States was No. 1 was way back in 
1979. In 1995 and 1996, America has and will retain its status as the 
world's largest producer of cars. There have been times in the history 
of our country when the business sector has done as well, but never 
have they done any better. Economic numbers point to the business 
community as being very happy with what is going on.
  We can look at areas where not everyone can enjoy this, but a family 
that invested money in the stock market----
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Chair informs the Senator he has reached 
the 8-minute mark.
  Mr. REID. I thank the Chair.
  A family that invested money in the stock market, under the Clinton 
administration, for example, if they invested $10,000, they would get 
almost a 50-percent return on that money, in fact a little over 50-
percent return.
  Jobs have been added, as I have indicated, and the fact of the matter 
is, Mr. President, they have been good jobs, high-wage jobs. Over 60 
percent of the jobs added have been high-wage jobs.
  So we have work to do. We have a lot more that we can do. There are a 
lot of people not enjoying the success of the economy that is doing so 
well. We have to try to make sure that we do a better job in allowing 
people to succeed in this great country that we have.
  But I want everyone within the sound of my voice to appreciate the 
fact that

[[Page S4887]]

we as an economy, we as a country, are doing extremely well. We have to 
feel good. We have to have confidence in our economy, confidence in our 
Government. We can only do that by understanding that we need to work 
together in a bipartisan fashion to move the country along.

  We can do that by, first of all, allowing up-or-down votes on the 
minimum wage, repeal of the gas tax, and if the majority leader wants 
to bring forward the TEAM Act, let us have a debate on that like we 
have done in the Senate for over 200 years.

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