[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 176 (Wednesday, November 14, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S14360-S14362]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
GETTING RESULTS
Ms. STABENOW. Mr. President, I come to the floor because it is
amazing to listen to my friends on the other side of the aisle lament
what they view are things not getting done when, in fact, we are
getting things done. The truth is, we have been operating this year
with an extraordinary slowness on the other side of the aisle because,
first of all, they have participated in 52 filibusters since the
beginning of the year--52 filibusters, maybe 53 by the end of the week,
every week now. This is unprecedented. It never happened before. It
never happened before; to see the minority in the Senate obstruct,
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obstruct, obstruct with 52 different filibusters, trying to stop us
from getting the people's business done.
I find it so interesting and amazing when my colleagues lament that
not more of the appropriations process is done. As the Presiding
Officer knows, our colleagues, the previous majority, didn't do a
budget at all last year--at all. We are moving through the process.
Despite the continual slowdowns, the efforts to stop us from
proceeding, we are moving ahead. But last year, our colleagues, who
lament so passionately and who come to the floor every day, didn't even
pass a budget. We came in in January to a new majority and had to clean
up the mess, literally. There was no budget. We had to pass a budget
just to get us through the end of the year, to be able to keep services
for the American people going, and we did that. We did that.
Also, during that process we put in place a few things along the way
that we clearly put at the top of the list in terms of appropriations:
Additional money for our veterans, clearly a priority for us; a Pell
grant for our low-income students trying to go to college to have the
American dream. We are now at a point where we have the budget, the
appropriations process that we are working on for next year. We have
seen nothing but efforts to slow that down, to veto it.
Yesterday the President vetoed the part of the budget that focuses on
health care, education for our people, health research into new cures
for cancer. It focuses on diabetes and Alzheimer's and Parkinson's
disease, all of the areas where we hope to make breakthroughs to be
able to save lives. The President vetoed that.
The President says the slight increase for restoring cuts that the
President and the Republicans have made in the last several years, in
our efforts to restore those funds to get the priorities right and put
us back on track for middle-class families, was too much. Eleven
billion dollars invested in America is too much. Twelve billion dollars
a month on a war--putting our men and women in the middle of harm's way
in a civil war every day--is OK, and it is not paid for. The most
important thing is we are losing lives, but it is outrageous that we
are seeing $12 billion a month being spent.
The President vetoed an investment in America yesterday that was less
than 1 month in Iraq--an investment in our families, in our seniors, in
our children, and in the future in terms of education and opportunity
and research. He vetoed a bill that was, in fact, an effort to invest
in America.
I have to say, despite 52 filibusters, we are, as Democrats, working
with colleagues, obviously. We don't get anything done unless it is on
a bipartisan basis. We know that, and we do it every day. But the truth
is, our majority is getting results for middle-class Americans every
day. I am proud we have placed veterans at the top of our budget. We,
for the first time, have listened. We, the new majority, have listened
to the veterans of this country, the veterans organizations. We took
their budget called the Independent Budget--the veterans budget--and
made it our own so we would make sure our veterans were fully funded.
We have addressed the concerns about Walter Reed and what happens when
our veterans come home and get caught between the military health
system and the VA system.
Mr. President, I believe you are about to give me a high sign on the
time. I ask unanimous consent for an additional 10 minutes.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
Without objection, it is so ordered. The Senator is recognized for an
additional 10 minutes.
Ms. STABENOW. Mr. President, I am very proud of the fact that one of
the first things we did this year in addition to supporting our
veterans was to pass the first minimum wage increase in 10 years for
working Americans. An awful lot of those are moms with two children,
three children, working one job, two jobs, three jobs, trying to hold
things together for their family, working hard every day. I am proud we
have passed that. I am proud we have also focused on middle-class
Americans and the American dream of college and the opportunity to be
able to get the skills that young people and people going back to
school can receive in order to be able to work hard and be successful
in our new global economy. We have passed the largest student financial
aid program since the GI bill. I am very proud we have done that. We
are getting results for middle-class Americans every day.
On a bipartisan basis, we have also passed the America COMPETES Act,
which redirects critical resources into math and science and technology
for education as well as for research. I am very proud of the fact that
despite the need to pass the 9/11 Commission recommendations, we have
done that. Again, one of the early efforts by the new Democratic
majority was to pass the 9/11 Commission recommendations to focus on
critical needs, such as making radios work, so the police officers and
firefighters in America can actually talk to each other and not be put
in the same situation as they were on 9/11 where they were running into
buildings they should have been running out of because they did not
have the communications equipment that worked. We have focused on real
security. We have focused, through the appropriations that we have
passed, on our troops and their families, and I am very proud of that.
We have also focused on important and long overdue and neglected water
resources projects.
And it is wonderful to see that not only was it passed on a
bipartisan basis, but when the President vetoed the bill, we joined
together to say yes to protecting our waters, when the President said
no. So we are getting things done. We are getting things done every
single day.
We are putting the priorities of the American people first. In our
budget, we have said veterans are at the top of the list, education
funding opportunity is at the top of the list, and we also place
children's health insurance at the top of the list. In this area, we
have worked together in a wonderful bipartisan way. People are to be
congratulated on both sides of the aisle for working together on
children's health insurance.
The President again said no. He has vetoed the bill. We are working
hard, and we have the votes in the Senate to override the veto. We are
working hard to get House Republican colleagues to join us so we can
invest and cover 10 million children with health insurance.
This is another example of where we have been pushing forward,
changing the direction of this Congress, focusing on middle-class
Americans, getting things done--trying to get things done over the
objection of the President. Again, I have to go back to the whole
question of the funding of the war: $12 billion a month on this war--
not paid for. To cover 10 million children in America with health
insurance, it is $7 billion a year, and it is in our budget. We have
fully paid for that.
What kind of priorities has the President set, when he will veto
children's health insurance and yet continue to ask for more and more
dollars for this war? Everything we do around here is values and
priorities, based on what we think is important, what we think the
people who have sent us here think is important. The majority of
Americans are saying this country is going in the wrong direction, that
while people find themselves worried about whether they will have a job
or whether it is going to go overseas or whether they will lose pay,
lose income, while their health insurance premium goes up--if they even
have health insurance--their gas prices go up, and college tuition is
going up. They may find themselves in the situation where they cannot
sell their homes due to the mortgage crisis or in a situation of
foreclosure or in a sales situation where they are losing dollars.
Middle-class Americans look around them and see a world, under this
administration, for the last 6 years, of failed policies and
priorities--a world that doesn't work for Americans, losing
opportunities rather than gaining them, working harder and harder but
seeing the American dream slip away for themselves and their families.
We, as the new majority of the Senate, understand this, we get it. We
are laser focused on what makes a difference to the American people
every day. We are focused, and we will be coming forward with efforts
to help with the mortgage crisis. I have legislation we will be
bringing forward to make sure that when you lose your home to
foreclosure or a short sale, you don't get a tax bill on top of that,
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which will happen now if your financial institution gives you any kind
of a break on refinancing. You end up, with the value of the
difference, paying taxes on it. We are going to make sure that doesn't
happen. We are laser focused on getting the children's health insurance
bill done, focusing on the right kind of trade policy that is fair for
Americans--American workers and businesses. We are focused on
strengthening our country, opportunity, valuing work, focusing on the
things people care about every single day. When we get up in the
morning and we are focused on what we want for our children and
grandchildren, in order to be able to have a wonderful life, those are
the things we have been bringing forward every single day. We will
continue to do that.
We are getting things done for middle-class America. That is our
focus. We are getting things done. But I have to say, in conclusion,
that this has not been easy. We have had 52 filibusters--which is
unheard of in the Senate--in less than a year--52 filibusters that
require us to get 60 votes to stop, including, I might add, on the war.
We have a majority of Members of this body who want to end this
strategy on the war, who have been willing to say we want to put a
deadline on what is happening there and refocus on what will truly keep
us safe. We have a majority of Members--an overwhelming majority--who
supported Senator Webb's effort on troop readiness, to say to our
troops who are being deployed, redeployed, and redeployed, we should
follow the traditional policies of the military; if you have 12 or 15
months in combat in theater, you should get the same at home for rest,
retraining, and the opportunity to see your family.
We have the majority of Members who have voted to change this policy
in Iraq, get us out of a civil war, bring our troops home, to have
troop readiness policies that make sense; but we have had 52
filibusters, which is too many, stopping us from changing this war.
This can go to 53, 54--we know it will keep going through the next
year. But so will our focus. We are not going to stop. We are focused
on getting things done. We are getting results for middle-class
Americans, and we are going to continue to do that every single day.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order
for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak as in
morning business.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
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