[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 103 (Monday, July 31, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8418-S8420]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
109TH CONGRESS
Mr. REID. Thank you very much, Mr. President.
Very difficult thing to get anything out of this . . . Congress. They
don't want to do anything for the people. They are awful anxious to do
things to the people, and they have done a lot of things to the people
. . . and it's beginning to hurt.
That is a quote of Harry Truman.
Again:
Very difficult thing, to get anything out of this . . .
Congress. They don't want to do anything for the people. They
are awful anxious to do things to the people, and they have
done a lot of things to the people . . . and it's beginning
to hurt.
Those are the words of Harry Truman in 1948. He was referring to the
80th Congress, but those remarks are directly in tune with the 109th
Congress.
Like the ``do-nothing Congress'' of 1948, it is ``very difficult'' to
get anything out of this Republican Congress. The things they are doing
are ``beginning to hurt.''
Look at national security. The majority's rubberstamping of President
Bush in Iraq has made America less safe and emboldened our enemies such
as Iran, North Korea, and al-Qaida. For the third week in a row, Iraq
and the Middle East are plunging further into crisis, and what is the
response of this Republican Congress? The estate tax, repeal of the
estate tax.
Look at our economy. The majority's reckless fiscal policies have
created a $9 trillion debt, placing a birth tax on our children and our
children's children. In recent years, the poor have gotten poorer and
the rich have gotten richer, and the middle class have been squeezed.
What is the response of the Republicans? Repeal the estate tax--
hundreds of billions of dollars to go to a small group of Americans, a
very small group of Americans, a country with 300 million people. This
repeal of the estate tax may affect 10,000 people--less than two-tenths
of 1 percent of the American people.
Look how divided America has become. The majority's focus on issues
such as marriage and flag desecration has divided our country and
distracted this body from more pressing concerns, problems in health
care, ignoring global warming, energy and gas prices.
I appreciate the distinguished majority leader saying he believes we
should move to energy independence--and we certainly should. I support
this drilling bill. President Clinton supported it. It allows drilling
in the gulf coast. And it is important because it allows coastal
restoration--and money goes to that. But it has little to do with
energy independence.
With energy and gas prices and the rising cost to the middle class,
what is the response of the Republicans? Repeal the estate tax.
There are just 15 legislative days left this year. Everyone knows
that Mondays and Fridays are not voting days in this Republican Senate.
That leaves us with 3 days this week and 12 when we return. What is the
response of the Republicans today in the U.S. Senate? Move to repeal
the estate tax. Fifteen days ahead of us, and behind us 19 wasted
months. The truth is this Republican Congress is actually worse than
the famous ``do-nothing Congress'' of 1948. That Congress worked almost
a month longer than we have.
Republicans ought to be ashamed of their dismal record, but it is
clear from press reports that they are not. I got up to read the
Washington Post yesterday morning and was really appalled when I read a
quote from the House Republican leader in which he actually bragged
about how little this Congress has done.
I quote:
Republican leaders shrug off the ``do-nothing'' charge.
``You get used to hearing that nonsense,'' said House
Majority Leader John Boehner (R-OH).
He went to say:
As for beating the 1948 Congress' record for lethargy, he
joked, ``Most Americans will be pretty happy with that.''
I don't know what his congressional district is like and how people
feel there, but in the rest of the country, that is not how they feel.
Americans aren't ``happy'' that they are paying hundreds of dollars
more for gasoline--sometimes every month--because this Republican
Congress refuses to pass relief measures and won't investigate the
surging profits of big oil. Exxon is going to make $40 billion net
profit this year--$40 billion; British Petroleum, the best year they
have ever had.
They will not be investigating the surging profits of big oil because
this administration is the most oil-friendly administration in the
history of the country.
This Congress doesn't have the political will necessary to rapidly
make us more energy independent. And what is the Republican response?
Repeal the estate tax for two-tenths of 1 percent of the American
people, the richest of the rich.
Americans aren't ``happy'' that our troops are in the middle of a
civil war in Iraq because the Republican Congress won't demand the
President change course.
That is the law which passed on a bipartisan basis. The law, as we
speak, is there should be a change of course in Iraq. The law says that
the year 2006 will be a year of significant transition in Iraq. Not
happening.
I get a report on my way to work every morning from my stalwart
staffers. I talked to Nathan this morning on the way to work. He said:
Senator, I don't know where to start with Iraq. We know at
least four American soldiers have been killed, as
mentioned on page A10 of the Washington Post. It doesn't
make the front page anymore.
The death and destruction of Iraq, as Nathan said, is hard to keep up
with. In the past 24 hours, scores dead. Today, there were a dozen
Iraqis beheaded. In the last month alone, 1,200 Iraqis have been
killed, murdered. We tried to offer the military in Iraq a strategy for
success, but Republicans chose instead to rubberstamp the President.
What is the response to date to all these problems? Repeal the estate
tax. We have spent more time on repealing the estate tax than any other
one issue for the entire Congress, in this Senate. It should be clear
who the majority favors. We have spent all this time on less than .2
percent of the American people, costing the country hundreds of
billions of dollars.
Americans are not happy this President has worn down, exhausted,
overstretched our military. In a paper I don't read very often, the
Washington Times today reported that the military is in a state of
disrepair. If you are not on the front lines, you are using equipment
that does not work, equipment that is in need of repair. As Senator
Jack Reed has said for months and months, we have a military
infrastructure that is failing. The soldiers are
[[Page S8419]]
fighting valiantly. The Washington Times reports our military is
showing the wear of 5 years of war.
Rather than doing the Defense appropriations bill, we are going to
work on the estate tax repeal. Think about that. The Defense
appropriations bill should take a few days. Readiness levels for the
Army are at lows not seen since Vietnam as virtually no active
nondeployed combat brigade is prepared to perform its wartime mission.
The Army has asked for $17 billion in emergency funds, but the
President has not submitted that. His military leaders in the field
have said $17 billion is what we need.
We do not hear anything from the President on this except ``repeal
the estate tax.'' Can anyone imagine that? Rather than doing what we
should do to help our valiant soldiers, we are going to move this week
to repealing the estate tax. Talk about dangerous incompetence from the
administration and Congress, as well as making us less safe.
America is not happy with our borders remaining unsecure 6 years
after September 11, but this Republican Congress cannot pass
comprehensive immigration reform. Rather than the President pushing on
this--he says he is in favor of it--we still have this bill in the
House that makes a felon of everyone, including health care workers,
preachers, Catholic priests, and undocumented people in this country.
What is the answer to that in the Senate today? Repeal the estate
tax, giving hundreds of billions of dollars to a few of the richest
people in the world.
Contrary to Majority Mr. Leader Boehner, Americans are not happy with
this Republican Congress which has bowed to the radical right and
refused to override a Presidential veto of legislation to allow our
best and brightest scientists to explore the promise of stem cell
research. On the news today it was reported Prime Minister Blair is
going to California to do a deal with the State of California to do
stem cell research in Great Britain. We have farmed out hope for the
most desperate of the sick, people who have suffered injuries, who are
paralyzed from the neck down, the waist down.
And what is the answer of this Congress, this Senate? Repeal the
estate tax. Contrary to what my friend says, the majority leader in the
House, Americans are not happy. This Republican Congress has
concentrated all its efforts on the well-off, well-connected few and
done nothing to assist America's middle-class families who are
struggling to pay the rising costs of health care, education, energy,
with paychecks that keep shrinking. If you are college educated in
America today, you have lost 5 percent of your earning power under this
administration. What is the answer of this Senate, led by the
Republicans? Repeal the estate tax.
Americans are not happy this Republican Congress has virtually
ignored the health care crisis. I have talked about stem cell research.
That is only part of it. Forty-six million Americans have no health
care. During this administration, 1 million people every month have
been added to the roll of those who have no health insurance, and
millions of others have inadequate health insurance. The Republicans
have sat on their hands for 6 years as millions and millions have lost
their insurance, while companies such as Ford and General Motors,
companies that used to drive this economy, staples of the U.S. economy,
have been crippled by the rising costs. What are we doing to help them?
We are being asked to repeal the estate tax.
Americans are not happy with this Republican Congress that has pushed
its investigation of the President's manipulation of Iraq intelligence
until after the election. We were promised--promised--we would do all
five investigations. No way. Nine months after Democrats sent the
Senate into a closed session over this issue, it has been announced the
Republican-led Intelligence Committee will not complete its work before
November. And I bet they don't do it even after that. Vice President
Cheney will not let them. He runs the Intelligence Committee; we all
know that.
The only conclusion to draw is that the investigation is too
embarrassing to Republicans to make public before the November 7
election. What is the answer? I repeat, repeal the estate tax.
Even though my friend Congressman Boehner thinks Americans are happy,
Americans are not happy with this Republican Congress's cynical plan to
play politics with minimum wage and pensions later this week. For 10
years, American workers have waited for the Republican Congress to
raise the minimum wage. Isn't it interesting, even though it is in a
convoluted legislative package--and that is an understatement--when we
said there would be no congressional pay raises until the minimum wage
is increased, they are suddenly interested? During the 10 years that
poor Americans have been waiting for a wage increase, Congress has
given itself $30,000 in pay increases. In that time, the cost of
everything--from gas to housing to heat--has gone up. And the answer of
the Republicans? Repeal the estate tax.
The Federal minimum wage has stayed the same, $5.15 an hour. For
someone earning $10,000 a year, it is hard to live. Oprah did a story
on that. Maybe that is one reason--in addition to Congress not further
getting pay raises--for this bill. This issue is about to catch up with
them. But they are afraid to come forward on a straight minimum wage
vote. They stick it in with everything else. To think they have stuck
the minimum wage package into the estate tax repeal. The majority does
understand that elections are just around the corner and they are about
to pay the price for ignoring America's workers. In a most transparent
and cynical trick, Republicans have offered to give America a raise if,
and only if, their wealthiest friends also get billions of dollars in
tax breaks. It is such an unbelievable ploy, let me say it again:
Republicans are threatening to deny a $2.10 raise for 11 million
Americans unless they can give away hundreds of billions to less than
.2 of 1 percent of the American people. The $2.10 raise is over a
period of years. It should be immediate. The $2.10 an hour raise occurs
if the richest of the rich get billions of dollars. It is political
blackmail that reeks of desperation. It should fail. The estate tax has
been defeated before in the Senate. Democrats have been willing to deal
with the estate tax and change it. We are willing to do that.
Now Republicans have backed off and only about 80 percent agree. This
is the most contemptuous election year trick I have ever seen. It has
nothing to do with giving workers a raise and everything to do with
providing Republicans political cover. Everything we have done in this
Senate has been directed toward repealing the estate tax.
We had a deal we worked for a year on a conference on pensions. It
was all done. They were ready to sign the papers. It was a bipartisan
agreement. It is gone because of the estate tax. Now we have a
freestanding bill on pensions coming to the Senate.
To make matters worse, Republicans are willing to put the defense of
our Nation on the back burner. I talked about the deterioration of our
military. It was recorded in the news today all over the country. I
read it in the Washington Times. The Senate has not acted on a Defense
appropriations bill even though the President's own military leaders
have said they need an emergency supplemental appropriation of $17
billion to take care of the equipment that has gone to pieces as a
result of the war.
The Defense appropriations bill funds our national security policy
and includes money for our troops and our equipment and determines how
we address our national security challenges around the world. What are
they doing? Not the Defense appropriations bill, but how can they get
to the meat of repealing the estate tax?
With all the problems we have in this country, where are their
priorities? We see what their priorities are. In a time of war, one
would think this bill would be priority No. 1, that we would do
everything in our power to ensure the Senate has ample time to debate
and pass this important legislation, but Republicans are threatening to
jeopardize Senate passage of this bill so they can focus on their
million-dollar friends. It is an insult that the American people can
see through, as they can see through the tricks Republicans are playing
with the pension bill.
As I indicated, the conferees have worked to reconcile this House
pension bill for more than a year. They basically have completed it,
and now the wealthy few are ahead of the retirement security of
millions of working
[[Page S8420]]
Americans, further evidence that America needs a new direction. Cry as
they might, Republicans cannot escape the record. History will record
this as the do-nothing Congress of 2006 and it will be forever, most
likely, the 1948 do-nothing Congress. No one is happy about this
situation, contrary to what Republican leaders say.
We have 15 days left. I respectfully suggest to the other side it is
time to get to work on the real problems, not the estate tax.
Mr. DURBIN addressed the Chair.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Under the previous order, the
Senator from Nebraska is next.
Mr. REID. I have not yielded the floor. I still have the floor.
I yield for a question.
Mr. DURBIN. I see the Senator from Nebraska, and I will not take much
time, but I would ask a question of the Senator from Nevada.
The Senator from Nevada has been in the Congress as long as I have.
We came together in 1982. We have seen a lot of things happen. I ask
the Senator from Nevada if, in his time in serving in Congress, he has
ever seen a worse special interest bill than this bill which would
repeal the estate tax which affects about 2 families out of every
1,000, families who are the wealthiest in America, that the Republican
leadership in the House and Senate insist we have to reduce their taxes
before we can ever consider giving an increase in the minimum wage to
11 million workers who get up every morning and go to work? For 9
straight years, the Republican leadership in the White House and
Congress has said to these hard-working Americans, no pay raise. Now--
now--comes the deal. The Republicans have finally said: OK, all right,
our conscience has finally gotten to us--or maybe it is the fear of
losing our congressional pay raise--but now we will consider the
minimum wage pay raise as long as you will cut the taxes on the
wealthiest people in America as part of the bargain.
Has the Senator from Nevada ever seen a worse special interest
bargain in 24 years?
Mr. REID. I say to my friend, the distinguished minority whip, the
time we have spent on this Senate floor dealing with estate tax, think
what we could have done in energy, health care, education, the debt,
but they are spending it on this massive debt increase. Hundreds of
billions of dollars we will increase the debt--this year's deficit--the
debt over the next 10 years. I have never seen anything like it.
Mr. DURBIN. I would like to ask the Senator from Nevada this--and he
goes to the point. It is not just the basic injustice and unfairness of
saying you will not give the hardest working, lowest paid Americans any
increase in their hourly wage unless you give the wealthiest Americans
a tax break that, frankly, only but a few of them have asked for.
I ask the Senator from Nevada, the outcome of this deal--if they pull
it off--will increase the debt of America, will increase the money we
have to borrow from China and Japan and Korea and Saudi Arabia, will
leave a greater debt for our children so the Republican dream of
reducing the estate tax for the wealthiest people in America will come
true. Does the Senator from Nevada think that increasing America's
debt, cutting taxes in the midst of a war, is sound evidence of fiscal
conservatism?
Mr. REID. This increases the national debt by hundreds of billions of
dollars. I ask my friends on the other side of the aisle, how could you
let this happen? I say that. I plead: How can you let this happen?
We will try to stop it. We would like a little help. How can you let
this happen? I am really troubled. I cannot understand how they would
even have the audacity to bring this up: a $2.10 increase over 2 or 3
years--it is not all at once--and a massive, immediate cessation of the
richest of the rich having to pay basically any taxes on their estates.
Mr. DURBIN. Last question I would like to ask the Senator----
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The time of the minority in morning
business has expired.
Mr. REID. I will use my leader time.
Mr. DURBIN. I ask the Senator from Nevada to yield for one further
question. I thank the Senator from Nebraska for his patience.
We have struggled long and hard over the last several months to ask
the Republican leadership in the Senate to bring up the issues, the
bills, the laws that people care about: reducing the cost of gasoline
for working families and businesses and farmers in Nevada, Illinois,
Texas, and Nebraska; working on doing something about the 46 million
uninsured Americans; dealing with the issues that we face when people
cannot afford to send their kids to college; dealing with the real
security of America so we live up to the 9/11 Commission
recommendations to make America safe.
I will ask the Senator from Nevada, in closing, as we have asked time
and time and time again, to bring up the real issues that count, such
as an increase in the minimum wage, is it not a fact that, instead, the
Republican leadership has pushed aside the real issues, such as money
for our troops, pushed aside the energy program which we need for
America, and said, instead: We are going to have a parade of
constitutional amendments that are extreme--many of them--and then we
have to always come back to repealing the estate tax? It is a higher
priority to them than anything I have mentioned.
Mr. REID. Legislative heaven, obviously, for the Republicans in this
Congress is the estate tax.
Mr. DURBIN. I thank the Senator.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Nebraska is
recognized.
Mr. HAGEL. Thank you, Mr. President.
____________________