[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 4 (Monday, January 24, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S130-S132]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  PRIORITIES OF THE DEMOCRATIC CAUCUS

  Ms. STABENOW. Mr. President, I rise to speak to the American people 
about the values and priorities of the Senate Democratic caucus. Today 
Senate Democrats introduced 10 ambitious leadership bills that will 
make our country more secure, expand opportunity for all, and honor our 
responsibility to future and past generations.
  The Democratic agenda stands in stark contrast to the priorities 
advanced by Republicans. Democrats understand that putting America's 
security first means providing troops and their families with the 
resources they have told us they need to protect our freedom. Where 
Republican mismanagement has put our country's security at risk, 
Democrats will stand with our troops and step up efforts against 
terrorists by targeting and shutting down the institutions that create 
them. Where Republicans have stood with big corporations and put the 
needs of the special interests ahead of the American people, Democrats 
will work to expand opportunity for families by bringing down health 
care costs, strengthening education, and creating good-paying jobs.
  Democrats will promote fiscal responsibility in Washington with a 
return to commonsense budgeting. But our most urgent priority is to 
protect our Nation's security. That is why we will stand up for our 
troops. We believe that putting America's security first means standing 
up for our troops and their families. We will work to increase our 
military end strength by up to 40,000 by 2007, and we will create a 
Guard and Reserve bill of rights to protect and promote the interests 
of our dedicated citizen soldiers. That includes making sure our troops 
have the body armor and equipment they need and that their families 
receive health care and their pay on time while their loved ones are 
serving abroad. This bill would increase survivor benefits from $12,000 
to $100,000 for their families, if, God forbid, a loved one loses his 
or her life while serving our country.
  We will also target the terrorists more effectively. We will keep 
America secure by stepping up the fight against the radical terrorists. 
We will work to increase our special operations forces by 2,000 to 
attack the terrorists where they are and to protect our freedoms here 
at home.
  Democrats are also united to ensure that the world's most dangerous 
weapons stay out of the hands of terrorists. We will expand the pace 
and scope of programs to eliminate and safeguard nuclear materials, 
enhance efforts to keep these and other deadly materials out of the 
hands of terrorists, and assist State and local governments in 
equipping and training those responsible for dealing with the effects 
of terrorist attacks involving weapons of mass destruction.
  When our veterans come home, we will not abandon them. We will keep 
our promise to them. We now have a new generation of veterans returning 
from Iraq and Afghanistan. We will ensure that all veterans get the 
health care they deserve. We will make sure that no veteran is forced 
to choose between a retirement and a disability check.
  We will also make the same commitment to the soldiers of today that 
was made to past veterans with a 21st century GI bill. We understand 
that one of the most effective ways to increase opportunities for our 
families is a high quality, good-paying job. The promise of America is 
that if you work hard and play by the rules, you should have a real 
opportunity to provide for yourself and your family. For too many 
Americans, this promise is out of reach today. We must ensure that it 
is within their grasp.
  We must expand economic opportunity for all Americans by protecting 
American workers and ensuring that we are creating good jobs for today 
and for the future. Our plan creates new jobs with an expansion of 
infrastructure programs, encourages innovation, and ensures fair wages. 
It also eliminates tax incentives for companies that move jobs 
overseas. It ensures that we enforce our trade policies.
  The Stabenow-Corzine bill ensures fair wages for our American 
workers. It restores overtime wages to 6 million workers and increases 
the Federal minimum wage over the next 2 years so that we can ensure a 
livable wage for every American worker. These are the people who serve 
our food and stock the shelves of our local grocery stores, care for 
our children and our elderly parents, and it is incredibly important 
that we honor, respect, and support them and the dignity of work.

  It also provides relief to multi-employer pension plans to make them 
more solvent. These plans are used predominantly by small businesses to 
provide pension benefits to an estimated 9.7 million American workers. 
The Stabenow-Corzine bill creates good jobs for today and new jobs for 
the future, with an expansion of infrastructure programs and the 
encouragement of innovation.
  Across America, thousands of infrastructure projects, from our 
smallest rural communities, to our biggest cities, await the Capitol to 
move forward. Making these investments in our roads, bridges, and 
buses, will enable our quality of life to improve and protect public 
health and safety. These investments will also create a huge boost to

[[Page S131]]

our economy. For each $1 billion in investment, we create 47,000 good-
paying American jobs.
  We also need to make investments in technology. Too many communities, 
mostly in rural and economically disadvantaged areas, lack access to 
broadband Internet service. More and more, Internet access is a 
critical part of our economy and our schools. This bill expands 
broadband access to those underserved areas by allowing broadband 
service providers to immediately deduct one-half of the cost of their 
investment in equipment to provide broadband access to rural and 
underserved areas. This is not just the right thing to do, it is the 
smart thing to do. We are a nation of innovators, of ideas. The key to 
our economic strength is our leadership in science and technology.
  The U.S. is losing ground today to our foreign competitors. Research 
and development helps create higher quality jobs, better and safer 
products and higher productivity among American businesses.
  It makes permanent a tax credit for entities that increase their 
research activities, which is so critical; and it makes credit 
available for collaborative partnerships, for research done by a group 
of businesses or other entities. We also want to ensure that we 
continue to lead and educate future leaders in science and technology.
  Our bill also supports increases in federally funded research at the 
National Science Foundation, the Office of Science at the Department of 
Energy, the National Institutes of Health, and the National Institute 
of Science and Technology, as well as investments in math and science 
and technology programs at our secondary education institutions.
  The Stabenow-Corzine bill eliminates tax incentives for companies 
that move jobs overseas--a critically important feature today for 
workers in every State, and I would certainly say in my State of 
Michigan, where we make things. We make things and grow things and do 
it well, and we don't want to see incentives in our Tax Code for 
companies to move jobs overseas.
  We must eliminate tax incentives that actually give companies a tax 
incentive to move production facilities and jobs overseas. It doesn't 
make sense to reward a company for moving jobs overseas and, in effect, 
for pushing the promise of America farther away, farther out of reach.
  Let me give you an example. In Greenville, MI--I have spoken about 
Greenville many times on the floor--is Electrolux. In Greenville, MI, 
they had three different shifts going and added over $100 million in 
new investments in equipment at the Greenville Electrolux plant. They 
are efficient, effective, and they are doing the job. They are selling 
refrigerators. Electrolux decided they could make a bigger profit if 
they moved the plant to Mexico and paid $1.57 an hour and no health 
benefits. We are losing 2,700 jobs as a result of that and we, 
unfortunately, have incentives in the law today that encourage that to 
happen. That is wrong.

  We need to tackle the issues of health care, and we are doing that in 
our legislation, with a lower cost for prescription drugs and a lower 
cost of health care for our businesses. Ultimately, we cannot compete 
and have a middle class in this country if we are telling everyone they 
need to work for $1.57 an hour in order to have a job and we will 
create incentives for their businesses to move to another country. Our 
bill would require companies to immediately pay tax on the profits they 
earn abroad for products that are imported back to the United States. 
We think that is fair.
  The Stabenow-Corzine bill ensures that America has a trade policy 
that addresses our now record trade deficit by enforcing our trade 
agreements, maintaining a level playing field, and helping workers who 
have lost their jobs due to unfair labor practices of other nations. We 
are determined to pursue a trade policy that protects American workers 
and addresses our record trade deficit.
  This bill requires the administration to identify the most important 
export markets that remain closed to U.S. products and provides the 
tools needed to open them. As I have said so many times, if we create a 
level playing field--all we ask for are the same rules. If we have the 
same rules for our businesses and our workers that we see in other 
countries, we will compete and we will win. But it is our job to make 
sure that happens. That is why this legislation also creates the office 
of chief enforcement investigator/negotiator, whose sole responsibility 
will be to police our trading partners' performance of their 
obligations.
  This bill will force China to stop manipulating its currency and 
force China to choose between revaluing its currency to its market 
value or face a tough tariff on all Chinese imports to the United 
States, equal to the unfair trade advantage China currently enjoys.
  Let me give you an example of what I think is important. There are 
many in Michigan, but let me share this. I met with a group of people 
from Rexair Company in Cadillac, MI, a couple of weeks ago. They 
produce vacuum cleaners. The company's vice president claimed that the 
Chinese-made motors for the vacuum cleaners are cheaper because of 
currency manipulation. The motor is $28.80 in the United States and 
$21.30 in China. The company would prefer to use U.S.-made motors, but 
they have to go with the lower cost alternative in order to be 
competitive. There is no reason for that difference, except for 
currency manipulation.
  When jobs are moved overseas it doesn't just hurt individuals, it 
hurts families, communities like Greenville, MI, and it hurts all of 
us. Trade adjustment assistance has helped thousands of manufacturing 
workers get retraining, keep their health insurance, and make a new 
start. This bill will expand TAA to cover service workers who lose 
their jobs when companies move jobs overseas. It will also provide 
health coverage for unemployed workers who are in training programs so 
that they can complete their training and help rebuild communities 
affected by outsourcing or exporting jobs, by coordinating Federal, 
State, and local resources to develop a new plan and a new future for 
the people who live there. We have a ceiling of a national debt, but we 
don't have a ceiling on the U.S. foreign debt, or the annual trade 
deficits that feed it. That is wrong. It is irresponsible, particularly 
if you consider that America is now the world's largest debtor nation.
  We will have serious consequences if our trade deficits continue. In 
the 109th Congress we are going to change that and put America on the 
path of a more responsible approach. Our bill will require the 
administration to convene an emergency interagency meeting and provide 
Congress with a trade deficit reduction plan, to lower debt levels 
below the statutory ceiling, whenever the overall foreign debt reaches 
25 percent of our GDP or when the annual trade deficit reaches 5 
percent of GDP.

  Another component of expanding opportunity for everybody is to 
provide our children with the best education possible. We talk a lot 
about that. We have an opportunity in the 109th Congress to put in 
place those opportunities and mean it for our children.
  That is why we are going to keep our promise to our children by 
increasing support for preschool education, fully funding No Child Left 
Behind, and improving its implementation.
  We are committed to finally meeting the Federal commitment to 
children with disabilities. How long have we talked about that on the 
Senate floor?
  We will also address the shortfall of math, science, and special 
education teachers by creating tuition incentives for college students 
to major in these critical fields. We will help expand educational 
opportunities for college by providing relief from skyrocketing college 
tuition, increasing the size and access to Pell grants, and supporting 
proven programs that encourage more young people to attend and succeed 
in college.
  We will also work to make health care more affordable. Spiraling 
health care costs are putting the opportunity of America at risk, 
making it harder for families to buy health insurance and placing a 
difficult burden on our small and large businesses, our manufacturers, 
certainly.
  We will address these concerns by making prescription drugs more 
affordable. How often have I spoken about this on the Senate floor? We 
will make prescription drugs more affordable through the legalization 
of prescription drug reimportation--in other words, allowing the 
pharmacists in America, in

[[Page S132]]

Michigan, to do business with pharmacists across the border in Canada 
and in other places where we know it can be done safely.
  In our legislation, we will be making sure prescription drugs are 
safe by ensuring that drugs are monitored after they are approved for 
use. We will ensure all children and pregnant women will have health 
care. We understand how critical it is that we protect Medicaid and 
work with the States across this country to make sure that health care 
is available through Medicaid.
  We will also reduce the growing cost of health care to small 
businesses by offering tax credits, while also modernizing health care 
to cut costs for patients and businesses.
  While we are lowering health care costs, we are going to revamp the 
last Congress' Medicare bill--if we have the opportunity to do so, that 
is certainly our wish as Democrats--and take the special interests out 
of the Medicare bill by repealing the provision that makes no sense at 
all that prevents Medicare from negotiating the best possible price for 
our seniors.
  While we will eliminate the slush fund for HMOs, we will also improve 
the prescription drug benefit by phasing out the current coverage gap 
where seniors pay a premium but do not get a benefit.
  I am told that if, in fact, we negotiated in Medicare the same price 
cuts that we do through the VA for the veterans, we would not have a 
gap in the Medicare prescription drug law at all. There would not be a 
gap in benefit. We need to make that change so our seniors have the 
very best possible Medicare prescription drug benefit.

  We as Democrats will work to lower Part B premiums so premium 
increases are not as steep as the one that took effect in January. We 
will address incentives that encourage employers to drop retiree 
benefits and ensure that our seniors will not be forced into HMOs while 
other seniors transition into a new benefit.
  In the United States, the foundation of our incredible democracy is 
the fundamental right to vote. That is another important part of the 
legislative package we have put forward today. It does not matter if 
one is rich or poor, black, brown or white, all Americans have the 
right to one vote. It is the great equalizer. When one is voting and 
walks out of the voting booth, each one of us walks out as an equal. 
Unfortunately, we have had major problems in our voting systems in the 
last few elections, as we all know. We have determined, as Democrats, 
to reform the voting system in this country to create Federal standards 
for our elections and to be able to add verification, accountability, 
and accuracy to this system. Together we should be moving as quickly as 
possible to do this.
  Our legislation increases access to the polls with election day 
registration, shorter lines, early voting. The bill also aims to 
modernize our election equipment and increase impartiality and provides 
the resources to our States to implement the bill.
  While our agenda is ambitious, we have a plan to pay for every single 
initiative we are proposing at the beginning of this session, our 
vision of keeping America's promise.
  Unfortunately, in the past 4 years, colleagues on the other side of 
the aisle and the administration have turned a large surplus, in fact 
the largest surplus in the history of the country, into the largest 
debt. We know that fiscal mismanagement today only leads to greater 
problems for our children and our grandchildren. It is our 
responsibility to address the fiscal irresponsibility of the current 
administration by imposing discipline today and we invite our 
colleagues on the other side of the aisle to make that a new priority, 
a fresh priority, in this new Congress. We are united to strengthen our 
budgeting rules that require the Government to live within its means.
  The bottom line is that we today, the first day, we can introduce 
bills in the new session, have come together as Democrats to put 
forward our vision of keeping the promise of America. It is rooted in 
security. We must be safe. Our families must be safe. We must make sure 
we are providing all that we must for our troops and those who have 
served us and are now our veterans.
  We are also committed to creating opportunity for everyone who works 
hard and plays by the rules, cares about their children, to create 
opportunity to be successful. We want everyone to dream big dreams and 
be able to reach for the stars and touch them and be successful within 
the American dream.
  We also understand that when we create opportunity, with that comes 
responsibility. We each have responsibility to step up and work hard, 
but we also know we have responsibility for each other. We have 
responsibilities as parents to our children to create the security they 
need, the opportunity they need, and to instill responsibility in them, 
and that as a community we have responsibility one to another, just as 
we do for our family, and our country has a responsibility to make sure 
those opportunities are present.
  This is an important day. It is the beginning of the new session, a 
new opportunity. We stand ready to work with the administration and our 
colleagues on the other side of the aisle to truly keep the promise of 
America, not just for some but for everyone in our country who is 
working hard every day and counting on us to make sure that dream is 
available and that promise is kept for them and their families.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Illinois.

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