[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,

[[Page S14361]]

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,

[[Page S14362]]

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.

                          ____________________