[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 133 (Thursday, October 10, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10350-S10351]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                          ECONOMIC GROWTH NOW

  Mr. EDWARDS. Mr. President, today the members of the Senate are 
focused on Iraq. There's no task more serious than deciding whether to 
send our young men and women into harm's way. My position is clear: The 
time has come for decisive action to eliminate the threat of Iraq's 
weapons of mass destruction once and for all.
  But as we act to defend America's interests abroad, we must also act 
to make America strong at home. With 8 million people out of work and 
millions more struggling to make ends meet, our government is falling 
down on the job of protecting economic security. To restore an economic 
environment where businesses are creating jobs and parents are earning 
a better living for their children, I believe we need to act, and act 
now. I want to explain very specifically why and how we should act. And 
I call on the President and my colleagues to join together immediately 
to take decisive action.
  Nobody is a greater optimist about America's future than me. Our 
long-term economic outlook remains strong because our free enterprise 
system remains strong--our spirit of innovation, our leadership in new 
technologies, and of course our people's hard work and productivity.
  But sound economic fundamentals and strong economic growth are not 
things we can take for granted. They are things we have to work for.
  Like all Americans, I have hoped that our economy is on the way to a 
speedy recovery. While I continue to hold out hope, I do not believe 
that hope can stand in the way of action any longer. There is too much 
uncertainty and there are too many disturbing signs. Economic 
indicators that had started to turn up, including consumer confidence 
and manufacturing, have turned back down again. Many industries, 
particularly telecommunications, have far too much capacity, and they 
will continue to cut back in order to restore profitability. Job growth 
remains stagnant, and CEOs report that they are planning to cut jobs 
rather than hire. As more and more Americans worry about their 
prospects, the last bulwark of the economy, consumer spending, shows 
signs of weakening.
  We should not overreact. We need to keep our faith in the fundamental 
strength of our economy. But we cannot turn away from the reality we 
face. This administration has spent months saying that recovery is just 
around the corner, but wishful thinking will not create jobs, pay the 
bills, or get the economy going again.
  America is right to prepare for action against Iraq. But we ought to 
apply that same logic to our economy. If you look at the recent 
economic evidence, the risks of inaction on our economy now outweigh 
the risks of action. We cannot wait until thousands more people lose 
their jobs before taking steps to defend our economic security. We can 
and should take preemptive action against this economic slump.
  The President's plan is: Do nothing to promote economic growth in the 
short-run, and pretend that deficit-exploding tax cuts for the 
wealthiest will promote economic growth in the long-run. That is wrong 
for our economy and our security.
  What our economy needs is the reverse prescription: a shot-in-the arm 
in the short-term, and a tighter grip on fiscal discipline in the long-
term.
  Contracting the economy in this environment makes no economic sense. 
On the other hand, stimulating the economy while exploding the long-
term deficit would be self-defeating. The loss of confidence in long-
term fiscal discipline can undermine both long-term confidence and 
short-term progress.
  With a shot-in-the-arm now and a tighter grip on fiscal discipline in 
the long run, we can have the best of both worlds. Right now, we can 
increase demand, prevent a negative or even deflationary cycle, create 
jobs, and get incomes growing again. In the long run, we can get back 
to balanced budgets and maintain the investment climate we need for 
prosperity.
  Let me be very specific about what we should do.
  On the long-run side, we have to take two major steps. Number one, we 
have to tackle excessive spending by restoring the budget enforcement 
rules that have lapsed. Congress should not go home without making sure 
these rules are back in place. If Congress and the administration can't 
agree on spending bills before the election, let us at least show the 
voters that we are serious about holding down spending.
  Number two, we must ask our most fortunate citizens to forgo the full 
extent of future tax cuts. Since the President took office, a $5.6 
trillion surplus has almost entirely disappeared, and the biggest 
single reason was a tax cut whose full cost was over $2 trillion. As I 
have said before, we need to ask Americans at the very top of the 
economic ladder to live with smaller tax cuts than the tax bill passed 
last year. If we stop cuts in the top two rates, eliminate new 
deductions for very high-income earners, and triple the estate tax 
exemption without repealing it, we can save over $1.3 trillion in the 
next two decades.
  This kind of fiscal discipline will have at least five advantages for 
our country: Number one, it will help bring us back to the strong 
economic fundamentals that led to growth during the 1990s. Number two, 
it will enable us to save for grave national security needs. Number 
three, it will help us save Social Security and address the coming 
explosion of baby boom retirements. Number four, it will reduce our 
dependence on foreign capital. Number five, it will allow us to 
confront emergencies when we need to. The fiscal surplus inherited by 
President Bush has helped our country to meet its challenges since 
September 11. Restoring long-term fiscal discipline will help us meet 
the challenges of the future.
  To meet the challenge of today, we need decisive action that 
satisfies two basic principles. First, we should provide an efficient 
and effective spur to the economy. Second, the effect must be immediate 
and temporary--with incentives for business investment and consumer 
demand that will jumpstart the economy now, and get out of the way when 
they are no longer needed.
  We all have to admit that the stimulus package of last spring did not 
meet that test. In the fall, I advocated a stimulus package that would 
have provided greater depreciation in the near-term, then tapered off 
quickly. That package would have been efficient and temporary. 
Unfortunately, the President and his party blocked proposals like that 
because they supported special-interest giveaways that the independent 
Congressional Budget Office found to be the most ineffective on the 
market. While we all hoped for the best, the business incentives that 
eventually passed did not create the surge our country needed. In 
addition, the tax rebates bypassed in part or in full 50 million 
Americans who would have been most likely to spend the money and 
increase economic activity.
  This time, we should do it right. Here is how.
  First, and most important, we have to make sure the economic 
uncertainty and higher energy prices we're likely to face this winter 
don't hurt the economic confidence and consumer spending that have been 
so critical over the last year. Today, I am proposing a one-time 
refundable energy tax cut of $500 per family. This tax cut will put 
money into the pockets of Americans who will spend it where they need 
it most: to pay their heating bills; make their homes more energy-
efficient, and prevent higher energy prices from squeezing out other 
vital needs. Unlike last year's rebate, this energy tax credit will 
leave no American behind.

  Earlier this week, this administration's own experts said that 
families in the Midwest will be paying 19 percent more for natural gas 
and 22 percent more for heating oil. Increases in the Northeast will be 
even higher. All the price hikes will fall particularly hard on the 
elderly, who have watched their life savings disappear in the stock 
market and have no way to make up the lost income.
  Americans are prepared to sacrifice to win the war on terrorism and 
in Iraq. But America can win a war without leaving old people to cut 
back on their medicine to keep from shivering in the dark. We can 
protect people against rising oil prices and, at the same time, reduce 
our country's dependence on Middle Eastern oil. This administration 
approaches energy the same way it approaches the economy: doing nothing 
in the short-term and ignoring the big problems in the long-term. That 
is wrong.

[[Page S10351]]

  I also continue to believe we should take the steps to stimulate the 
economy that the administration failed to take earlier this year. To 
encourage businesses to invest, we should raise the bonus for investing 
in new equipment from 30 percent to 45 percent--a 50 percent increase--
but do it through June 30 of next year only. This will do what the 
administration's stimulus has failed to do so far: persuade businesses 
to get off the fence and put their money to work in our economy.
  We also should act to prevent painful property tax increases and 
education cuts at the State level, giving States relief to deal with 
what the Wall Street Journal this week said is a $58 billion budget 
gap. The Senate has already acted to provide relief in the quickest 
possible way--through the Medicaid program--and there is no excuse for 
further delay.
  Last but not least, we have to change a terrible reality: At a time 
when the index of Help Wanted listings is at historic lows, we are set 
to cut off unemployment benefits for nearly a million out-of-work 
Americans just three days after Christmas. These are good people who 
want nothing more than to get back to work. Last September, 800,000 
Americans had been out of work for 6 months or more. By December, that 
total will have climbed to over 2 million. We have to do what is right 
for the workers who have done the worst in this economy and extend 
their benefits. They are sure to pump the money right back into our 
economy.
  I call on the President and my colleagues in both parties to put 
politics aside and come together immediately to take these urgent steps 
to get our economy going again. Americans deserve nothing less from us.

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