[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 8 (Wednesday, February 6, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Pages S388-S389]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      LEARNING FROM PAST MISTAKES

  Mr. KOHL. Mr. President, to distort Shakespeare's words, I come to 
the floor today to bury the stimulus package, not to praise it. There 
has not

[[Page S389]]

been much praiseworthy in the way Congress has responded to the 
recession that started last March and intensified after the attacks of 
9-11.
  Last fall, and even this month, there were short term actions we 
could have taken that would have had immediate and beneficial economic 
and humanitarian results. We could have extended unemployment benefits, 
as we have in every recession, and as I still hope we will. We could 
have offered an immediate tax rebate to those lower income workers who 
did not receive a full rebate from the first tax cut. We could have 
used the Medicaid payment formula to send financially strapped states 
struggling to provide health care for their residents an immediate 
infusion of cash. We could have offered a temporary acceleration of 
depreciation to encourage reluctant businesses to invest now in the 
recovering economy.
  We agreed on basic principles: help now, and do no harm in the long 
run. We agreed on the need. But we could not agree to put aside our 
partisan agendas long enough to do what we all agreed was right. 
Instead of talking about what we could do to help workers unemployed 
now, factories lying idle now, we redebated tax cuts passed last spring 
and pushed tax breaks that wouldn't even take effect for 10 years. We 
should have focused on workers, investment, consumer confidence. 
Instead we fought over estate taxes and tried to lay the blame for our 
inaction.
  As the recession winds down and the war on terrorism continues, I 
sincerely hope Congress will be able to rise above the partisan 
bickering that doomed the stimulus package. We will have many 
opportunities this year to act in a bipartisan manner to make this 
Nation stronger, safer, and better. We will also have many 
opportunities to wrap the flag around our pet proposals and fight for 
political advantage. We should commit today to learn from the mistakes 
that have killed the stimulus package--not to repeat them.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Iowa.
  Mr. GRASSLEY. Am I right the time on this side has expired?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator is correct.
  Mr. GRASSLEY. How much time is on the leader's time?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Ten minutes of leader time.
  Mr. GRASSLEY. I have been informed Senator Collins is on her way over 
and would like a couple of minutes. So I will yield myself 8 minutes 
and then yield the remaining time to Senator Collins.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. GRASSLEY. So at the end of 8 minutes, please notify me.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Chair will do so.

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