[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 136 (Thursday, October 26, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11111-S11113]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         THE NOVEMBER ELECTION

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, my friend from Missouri not so subtly 
indicated that he thinks there is going to be a new world out there 
after the November 7 election. I think he is going to be very 
disappointed. He is going to be disappointed because the American 
people understand the record of George W. Bush better each day.
  For example, the prescription of George W. Bush for health care, I 
think, is bad medicine for America. Why? Because the State of Texas and 
George Bush have the worst record in the nation on health insurance 
coverage. That says a lot. But he has won that award; just like Houston 
is the most polluted city in America. He won that award. He also wins 
the award for the worse health coverage in America. Texas has fallen to 
last among all States in overall health insurance coverage. Texas ranks 
second to last in health insurance coverage for children, and the 
percentage of children without coverage has gone up under the Governor.
  While nationwide Medicaid enrollment has increased, Medicaid 
enrollment in Texas has declined.
  George W. Bush retains roadblocks to eligible populations in health 
programs. Even a judge found Texas guilty of not providing 1.5 million 
children with adequate health care. This was August of this year. The 
justice said the State failed not only the 1.5 million children but 
13,000 abused and neglected children. Rather than taking corrective 
action, the State decided to appeal the court's ruling over the 
objection of State legislators.
  Texas legislators blame Bush for Texas' poor health insurance 
coverage.
  In a letter to the Vice President from Texas State 
representatives, the Governor prioritized oil breaks over children's 
health insurance in 1999. In 1999, after Bush deemed a $45 million oil 
industry tax break an emergency and made it the first signed bill of 
the session, Democratic legislators questioned his priorities in 
putting the legislation before expanding the CHIP program, or children 
health insurance programs. ``It's about priorities,'' Democratic 
representative Dale Tillery said. ``I know a whole lot of uninsured 
children, but I don't know a whole lot of poor oilmen.''

  I could go into more detail about Governor Bush's record on health 
care but this gives us a general idea.
  The American public is beginning to find out more about George W. 
Bush. Yesterday, the Rand Corporation, a nonprofit organization that 
helps improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis, 
an independent, fair, nonpartisan corporation, said that claims 
Governor Bush has been making about education in Texas and how well 
they are doing is without foundation, not factual. In fact, the only 
way that Governor Bush is able to take any credit for it is that tests 
are skewed in Texas. The Rand Corporation said if you use Texas math in 
any State, the education scores all over America would be magnified.
  The fact is, the State of Texas is doing worse that most States. What 
Governor Bush is claiming about education is simply without foundation.
  In addition to the independent Rand Corporation, another independent 
nonpartisan body, the American Academy of Actuaries, reported today 
that Governor Bush's proposed tax cut will basically bankrupt the 
country. The American Academy of Actuaries report finds that George W. 
Bush's $3 trillion tax cut, combined with his plan to divert money from 
the Social Security trust fund into individual stock market accounts, 
would make it all but impossible to eliminate the publicly held 
national debt. In fact, one of the people from the American Academy of 
Actuaries who worked on this report said: I don't see any way they pay 
off the public debt. Given Bush's large package of tax cuts, the budget 
will go negative quickly. There won't be a surplus anymore.
  This is not a partisan report. It has been produced by one of the 
most widely respected organizations in America. The American Academy of 
Actuaries is part of a growing chorus of voices which have discredited 
Governor Bush's plan to privatize this Nation's most successful Federal 
program in our history, Social Security. In August, the Century 
Foundation also concluded that Governor Bush was making a promise to 
seniors and to young people that he couldn't keep with his Social 
Security privatization scheme. You can't do it for both.
  This study, which was written by the respected economist Henry J. 
Aaron and former Federal Reserve Board member Alan Blinder, found that 
diverting just 2 percentage points of the Social Security payroll tax 
into private accounts would result in a reduction of benefits by as 
much as 54 percent and higher payroll taxes to keep the Social Security 
trust fund solvent.
  In addition, Larry Summers, the Secretary of the Treasury, who is 
also a trustee of the Social Security system, and therefore has a 
fiduciary relationship to make sure the system remains solvent, said if 
just 2 percent of the payroll tax is diverted from the Social Security 
revenue stream, the Social Security trust fund will lack the resources 
to pay benefits by the time someone who is now 40 retires.
  By today's report, the most damning indictment of the Bush plan to 
date is this report from the actuary group, the first independent 
report finding that the Federal budget surplus, a result of hard 
choices we have made in this country, would be eliminated by Governor 
Bush's shaky retirement scheme. To add insult to injury, not only would 
we return to the bad old days of deficits as far as the eye could see, 
we would devastate the most popular social program in the Nation's 
history, a program which has virtually eliminated the poverty rate 
among the elderly, provides critical benefits to disabled Americans, 
and supports widows, many of whom have little or no retirement 
security.

  Let's review what is at stake in this privatization scheme. We have 
turned a record deficit of $400 billion, counting the Social Security 
surplus we used to use to hide the deficit, in 1992, to a record 
surplus this year of $260 billion. We have paid down more than $450 
billion in debt. We sparked the longest expansion in economic history, 
22 million new jobs, the fastest and longest real wage growth in three 
decades, the lowest unemployment in three decades, the highest home 
ownership in two decades, and the largest 5-year drop in childhood 
poverty since the 1960s.
  I was on a debate a week ago last Sunday and two Republican 
colleagues who I had the pleasure of discussing the issues with started 
saying it is because the Gingrich Congress that we

[[Page S11112]]

were able to get this House in order. I said: You must have been 
talking to Frank Luntz who is the pollster who always tells you guys 
what to say. I didn't know, but as I was speaking, he was in the room. 
He had been there discussing with these two Members of Congress what 
they should say.
  We should state the facts. The 1993 Clinton Budget Deficit Reduction 
Act passed this body without a single Republican vote, passed the House 
of Representatives without a single Republican vote; the tie was broken 
by Vice President Gore, setting this Nation on a road to economic 
recovery. That is what happened. There were all kinds of prophecies of 
doom. I read them in the Record earlier today. That didn't come to be. 
This legislation has put this country where it should be.
  There is a real chance we could throw all this away with Governor 
Bush's $3 trillion tax cut and his dangerous Social Security 
privatization plan. For a month, the Vice President has been saying 
that Bush's plan would hurt Social Security and bring us record 
deficits. Governor Bush called that fuzzy math. Now the Nation's best 
mathematicians have found that the public's economic plans and Social 
Security plans could do just that--bankrupt this Nation and Social 
Security.
  This report validates everything that the minority has been saying 
over here. It tells us that George W. Bush's plan would make Social 
Security financially unstable during the lifetime of today's seniors. 
It shows Governor Bush outspending Al Gore, and Al Gore as the 
candidate of fiscal responsibility. By comparison, Vice President Gore 
and congressional Democrats want to preserve Social Security's 
fundamental guarantee to America's seniors. We can do that by 
dedicating all of the Social Security surplus to that program.
  Of course we have to take care of debt reduction. Our plan reduces 
publicly held debt and would strengthen Social Security by using long-
term interest savings to keep the system solvent.
  We talked about tax cuts. But the most important tax cut the American 
people would ever receive is to reduce the long-held debt this country 
has. If we reduce that debt, it will save this country $250 to $300 
billion a year according to where the interest rate is paid. That is 
where every American, no matter if they are rich or poor, will get a 
tax savings because everything they buy will be cheaper.
  The Vice President also proposes to end the motherhood penalty by 
giving parents a credit toward Social Security for up to 5 years spent 
raising their children. The widow benefit would be increased. He is 
proposing retirement savings plus, which is not a privatization scheme 
but would allow Americans to create individual retirement accounts that 
would supplement their Social Security and help them reap historic 
long-term gains in the stock market.
  Yesterday, I came to this floor, approximately 24 hours ago. I talked 
about this campaign being a campaign, we would hope, of ideas, of 
policy views, of a vision for what the country should be. Not the 
ability to operate a 7-Eleven store but to operate the greatest country 
in the history of the world, the only superpower left in the world.
  Having said that, I am going to again give some direct quotes and 
these are all brand new. I did not talk about them last night. I am, 
tonight, going to again read verbatim quotes that have been made by a 
person, Governor Bush, who wants to be President of the United States. 
Here is what he said.
  Interview with the New York Times, March 15, 2000:

       People make suggestions on what to say all the time. I'll 
     give you an example; I don't read what's handed to me. People 
     say, ``Here, here's your speech, or here's an idea for a 
     speech.'' They're changed. Trust me.

  Interview with the Associated Press, March 8, 2000:

       It's evolutionary, going from governor to president, and 
     this is a significant step, to be able to vote for yourself 
     on the ballot, and I'll be able to do so next fall, I hope.

  Next direct quote:

       It is not Reaganesque to support a tax plan that is Clinton 
     in nature.

  February 23, 2000, USA Today:

       I don't have to accept their tenants. I was trying to 
     convince those college students to accept my tenants. And I 
     reject any labeling me because I happened to go to the 
     university.

  New York Daily News, February 19, this year:

       I understand small business growth. I was one.

  Florence, SC, February 17, 2000:

       The Senator has got to understand if he's going to have--he 
     can't have it both ways. He can't take the high horse and 
     then claim the low road.

  To Cokie Roberts, February 20, 2000:

       Really proud of it. A great campaign. And I'm really 
     pleased with the organization and the thousands of South 
     Carolinians that worked on my behalf. I'm very gracious and 
     humbled.

  He said:

       I am very gracious and humbled.

  Newsweek, February 28, 2000:

       I don't want to win? If that were the case why the heck am 
     I on the bus 16 hours a day, shaking thousands of hands, 
     giving hundreds of speeches, getting pillared in the press 
     and cartoons and still staying on message to win?

  Same interview:

       I thought how proud I am to be standing up beside my dad. 
     Never did it occur to me that he would become the gist for 
     cartoonists.

  Hilton Head, SC:

       If you are sick and tired of the politics of cynicism and 
     polls and principles, come and join this campaign.

  That was on February 16, 2000. Again, that same day, those in 
Beaufort, SC:

       How do you know if you don't measure if you have a system 
     that simply suckles kids through?

  Here, in Beaufort he was explaining the need for educational 
accountability.
  In a South Carolina debate, February 15:

       We ought to make the pie higher.

  ``Meet The Press,'' February 13:

       I do not agree with this notion that somehow if I go to try 
     to attract votes and to lead people toward a better 
     tomorrow somehow I get subscribed to some--some doctrine 
     gets subscribed to me.

  ``Meet The Press,'' February 13, 2000:

       I've changed my style somewhat, as you know. I'm less--I 
     pontificate less, although it may be hard to tell it from 
     this show. And I'm more interacting with people.

  Nashua, NH, February 1, New York Times:

       I think we need not only to eliminate the tollbooth to the 
     middle class, I think we should knock down the tollbooth.

  San Antonio Express-News, January 30:

       The most important job is not to be governor, or first lady 
     in my case.

  January 29, 2000:

       Will the highways on the Internet become more few?

  Concord, NH:
  Los Angeles Times, January 28:

       This is Preservation Month. I appreciate preservation. It's 
     what you do when you run for president. You gotta preserve.

  Chamber of Commerce in Nashua, NH, January 27:

       I know how hard it is for you to put food on your family.

  Quoted by Molly Ivins, this is from the San Francisco Chronical, 
January 21:

       What I am against is quotas. I am against hard quotas, 
     quotas they basically delineate based upon whatever. However 
     they delineate, quotas, I think vulcanize society. So I don't 
     know how that fits into what everybody else is saying their 
     relatives positions, but that's my position.

  Iowa Western Community College, January 21:

       This is a quote: ``When I was coming up it was a dangerous 
     world, and you knew exactly who they were. . . . It was us 
     vs. them, and it was clear who them was. Today, we are not so 
     sure who the they are, but we know they're there.''

  This is from the Des Moines Register, January 15:

       The administration I'll bring is a group of men and women 
     who are focused on what's best for America, honest men and 
     women, decent men and women, women who will see service to 
     our country as a great privilege and who will not stain the 
     house.

  Financial Times, January 14:

       This is a dangerous world. It's a world of madmen and 
     uncertainty and potential mental losses.

  Same interview:

       We must all hear the universal call to like your neighbor 
     just like you like to be liked yourself.

  Florence, SC, January 11:

       Rarely is the question asked: Is your children learning?

  Same interview:

       Gov. Bush will not stand for the subsidation of failure.

  ``Larry King Live,'' December 16 of last year:


[[Page S11113]]


       There needs to be debates, like we're going through. There 
     needs to be town-hall meetings. There needs to be travel. 
     This is a huge country.

  New Hampshire, Republican debate:

       I read the newspaper.
       In answer to a question about his reading habits.

  ``Meet The Press,'' November 21, of last year:

       I think it's important for those of us in a position of 
     responsibility to be firm in sharing our experiences, to 
     understand that the babies out of wedlock is a very difficult 
     chore for mom and baby alike. . . . I believe we ought to say 
     there is a different alternative than the culture that is 
     proposed by people such as Miss Wolf in society. . . . 
     And, you know, hopefully condoms will work, but it hasn't 
     worked.

  From ``A Charge to Keep,'' by George W. Bush, published last year in 
November:

       The students at Yale came from all different backgrounds 
     and all parts of the country. Within months, I knew many of 
     them.

  New York Times:

       The important question is, How many hands have I shaked?

  The Washington Post, July 27:

       I don't remember debates. I don't think we spent a lot of 
     time debating it. Maybe we did, but I don't remember.

  This is on a discussion of the Vietnam war when he was at Yale.
  Knight Ridder News Service:

       The only thing I know about Slovakia is what I learned 
     first-hand from your foreign minister, who came to Texas.

  The fact is, the meeting was not with the Minister of Slovakia but 
with the Prime Minister of Slovenia, two different countries.
  June 16, New York Times:

       If the East Timorians decide to revolt, I'm sure I'll have 
     a statement.

  Economist, June 12:

       Keep good relations with the Grecians.

  CNN Inside Politics, April 9:

       Kosovians can move back in.
       I was just inebriating what Midland was all about then.

  This is from an interview, as quoted in ``First Son'' by a man named 
Bill Minutaglio.
  Arlington Heights, IL, October 24, a day or so ago, to make sure we 
are current:

       It's important for us to explain to our Nation that life is 
     important. It is not only life of babies, but it is life of 
     children living, you know, the dark dungeons of the Internet.

  The debate to become President of the United States is a very serious 
debate. It involves things we talked about tonight. Tax policy, 
established by an independent group--the tax policy of want-to-be-
President George W. Bush would bankrupt the country. His Social 
Security policy would bankrupt Social Security. His education program 
in Texas has been a failure. His efforts to talk about bipartisanship 
is without any foundation.
  He, in the debates, talked about bipartisanship. The fact is, on 
major issues in play in this election, bipartisan projects have been 
blocked by the highly partisan Republican majority. Overcoming that 
kind of determined partisan opposition means working with people such 
as Dr. Charlie Norwood on the Patients' Bill of Rights.
  Although George W. Bush claimed credit for the Texas Patients' Bill 
of Rights, the truth is he initially vetoed it and later let it become 
law without signature. Or working with John McCain on the bipartisan 
campaign finance reform bill or Gordon Smith and 12 other Republicans 
on the bipartisan hate crimes bill or John Warner and Richard Lugar on 
the bipartisan legislation to close the gun show loophole. Not only 
does Governor Bush fail to appreciate what kinds efforts these involve, 
he actually opposes every one of these bipartisan measures.
  Instead of showing bipartisan leadership, Governor Bush stands 
squarely with the entrenched Republican majority on every one of these 
issues, and that is not bipartisanship.
  I read quotes tonight and last night. The American public must decide 
for themselves if this man is the person who should be President of the 
United States.
  Mr. President, until my friend, Senator Brownback, arrives, I suggest 
the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak as in 
morning business.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

                          ____________________