[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 178 (Friday, November 16, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S14603-S14604]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           DEMOCRATIC AGENDA

  Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, Ron Hindle has done a tremendous job of 
finding any information that I need and putting it in tremendous format 
so that it is easily understandable, and even writing it up in words 
that I can understand. He has been with me the entire time that I have 
been in the Senate. This is my 11th year. He has done a tremendous job. 
He worked for Senator Simpson before that. So I welcome him to the 
floor.
  Mr. President, in the history of politics, I don't think anyone has 
ever had their finger on the pulse of the Nation quite like former 
President Ronald Reagan. Anyone who knew him or heard him speak was 
instantly warmed by his charm and captivated by his personality. He had 
a way of expressing himself that enabled him to connect with all of 
America. He had a unique way of speaking, and that unforgettable Reagan 
wit let everyone know he was on their side and would do everything he 
could to make this a better world for us all.
  I remember one day in particular. It was 1992, and the Republican 
Convention was going strong. Ronald Reagan approached the podium to 
give one of his trademark speeches. As he spoke, something told us that 
this night, this speech, would be different from all the rest. 
Something told us that we were watching the last major address he would 
ever give.
  In his message, he spoke of the importance of doing everything we 
could to point America toward the day when the nations of the world 
would turn to us and say: America, you are the model of freedom and 
prosperity. That was when we would turn to them and say: You ``ain't'' 
seen nothing yet.
  It was a wonderful catch phrase that had been around for so many 
years, but it expressed his feeling that when that day came, something 
even bigger and greater would be about to make its presence felt 
throughout the Nation. Unfortunately, today when we hear those words, 
we are reminded not of a great President, but of a Congress that 
continues to lag further and further behind the expectations it created 
in the last election.
  I know I am not the first one to notice. There have been editorials 
in the papers asking us when we are going to fulfill the promises that 
were made in the elections last year by the Democratic majority party.
  This is also the anniversary of another event. It was about a year 
ago that what is now the Democratic Party put together a strategy that 
proved to be successful and they won both Houses of Congress. People 
were excited and looking forward to the change the Democrats said the 
election would bring. It seemed that every Member had a press 
conference during which he or she offered a long laundry list of 
legislation that was going to be taken up as soon as possible.
  With such a celebrated beginning, you may be wondering why you ain't 
seen nothing yet. Trust me, you aren't the only one. I don't think you 
will see any celebrating in the leader's office or the Speaker's office 
about the past year's results. So much of what they fought so hard to 
attain has been lost over the past year. So much of the progress they 
promised and that we all hoped to see has somehow failed to 
materialize. I do need to note an exception. The HELP Committee, the 
Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee that Senator Kennedy 
chairs and on which I am the senior Republican, has produced a few 
bills and virtually all of the bills that have passed. If someone as 
liberal as Senator Kennedy and as conservative as I am can move bills, 
everyone should be able to, but it requires putting aside ``gotcha'' 
politics and working for the 80 percent that we can agree on.
  Is it any wonder that Congress's approval ratings are at an all-time 
low?
  As the Senate's only accountant, I well remember all of those times I 
would come to the Senate floor to debate our Nation's budget. The 
Democratic Party didn't have the numbers back then to control the 
Senate, so all we heard was a steady stream of complaints from them 
about the lack of progress that we were making on the budget and the 
lack of a coherent plan for spending. Now that the shoe is on the other 
foot and the Democrats are in charge, what have they produced?

[[Page S14604]]

  We have all heard about the slow boat to China. Well, this is a slow 
boat that is going nowhere. The same people who criticized the 
Republican budget, the same people who promise they would do better 
have instead done worse--a lot worse.
  We are long past the start of the fiscal year--about 6 weeks or so--
and still only two appropriations bills have been sent to the 
President, and that was just last week. If you want to find another 
Congress that was this tardy with spending bills, you would have to go 
back quite a while, I would imagine. In fact, I think you would have to 
go back through all of U.S. history.
  Remember all the talk we heard about fiscal discipline and 
controlling spending? Once again, you might be thinking that you ain't 
seen nothing yet, and you would be right again.
  Reminiscent of Everett Dirksen's words that a billion here and a 
billion there and pretty soon we are talking about real money--the 
Democratic Party seems unconcerned about the difference between their 
proposed spending and the President's proposals over the next 5 years. 
After all, what is $20 billion or so among friends? We have even had 
times of gaming to pay for the spending to the tune of nearly $40 
billion.
  So what is the record of the Democratic Party so far? Not too good. 
Are we surprised? The Democrats continue to insist that they support 
the troops. At the same time they are professing their support for the 
troops in Iraq, they are suggesting it is time to cut funding off for 
our military. With our backs against the wall, they have been keeping 
their foot to the pedal--the brake pedal--when it comes to providing 
our troops with emergency supplies they need--the body armor, the 
bullets, the mine-resistant vehicles. These things save lives, and we 
need to give our troops what they need when they need it so that they 
will come home safe and sound to their loved ones.
  This isn't all. There is a long list of promises made during the last 
election that haven't been kept. After questioning whether the war in 
Iraq made us safer, they refused to deal with the reforms we need to 
gather the intelligence we have to have to keep our people safe.
  I am strongly supportive of the rights guaranteed to us by our 
Constitution. There is no question that our rights as Americans are 
sacred and they have to be respected. But if you ask the average 
American if terrorists deserve to be treated as citizens, if terrorists 
deserve to be treated as citizens and given those same rights, I think 
you will hear a decisive no. I believe our constituents know they have 
been kept safe for these past 6 years by this administration, and they 
want Congress to work together with the administration to continue that 
pattern of safety. I don't think they want us to work against each 
other.
  When the new Congress began about 11 months ago, we were promised a 
new attitude. We were told we would be walking arm in arm, working 
together to make this a better Nation for us all.
  Unfortunately, that hasn't happened either. Instead, we have seen a 
general unwillingness to work together to get things done. The 
``gotcha'' politics. In fact, in 2007, at least 70 cloture motions have 
been filed by the majority so far. That is the same number of motions 
filed by the Republicans in the entire 109th Congress spanning 2 years. 
We are supposed to be here to conduct the people's business. Instead, 
more often than not, we are just getting the things done on cloture 
petitions, and that is not getting anything done at all.
  How do you get things done? We quit playing ``gotcha'' politics. We 
have been on the farm bill for 2 weeks, but there hasn't been a single 
amendment voted on. There hasn't been a single amendment allowed to be 
voted on.
  I did some checking. The farm bill has never passed without votes. I 
think we could have done this bill in a week. It came out of committee 
unanimously. So why not give the rest of the Senators a shot and move 
on? I have checked. We have always done about 25 amendments on the farm 
bill, in the history of the farm bill. A lot of them failed, but we 
have the right to have votes.
  Parliamentarily, we have been precluded from having votes, from 
offering amendments. Until that happens, there is not going to be any 
progress on the bill. As soon as it happens, there will be progress on 
the bill.
  So how about health care? Well, you ain't seen nothing yet, and I 
know you will not this year. You may not next year.
  Are you concerned about energy? Again, you ain't seen nothing yet. 
There has to be something done.
  How about training our workers for the good jobs that will come 
during the current global economy? Once again, unfortunately, you ain't 
seen nothing yet. I am bringing these sentiments to the attention of 
Congress that could do great things, and does do great things when it 
wants to, or probably more accurately when it needs to. It can come 
together with a snap of a finger in a time of crisis.
  Remember September 11? We came together not as Democrats or 
Republicans or Independents. We came together as Americans, and we 
swore we would work together to make this a better country. 
Unfortunately, that magic moment didn't last, and it wasn't long before 
we were back to our old ways.
  Sometimes it seems like partisanship and gridlock are just a way of 
life back here. It doesn't need to be. It doesn't have to be. If we 
work together and take the action on health care, education reform, and 
so much more of the Nation's needs, and look to get it done, when we go 
home to hold town meetings and meet with our constituents and we are 
asked what we are doing in Washington to make their lives better, ease 
their burdens, and make their futures brighter, we will be able to 
answer truthfully: You ain't seen nothing yet--not because we haven't 
done anything yet but because we have, and there is a lot more to come. 
And it can come. We agree on 80 percent of the issues. So if we just do 
the 80 percent instead of concentrating on the 20 percent we are not 
going to agree on--but I guess makes good political ads--we can get 
something done.

  As every football fan knows, it takes four quarters to make a 
football game. We are only coming up on halftime. There is plenty of 
time to put our heads together and develop a winning strategy--not for 
our parties but for the American people.
  At the close of the speech I referred to earlier, Ronald Reagan said 
that he hoped we would have the heart to conceive, the understanding to 
direct, and the hand to execute the works that will make the world a 
little better for our having been here. That is our charge, our 
mission--to leave the world a little better than it was when we got 
here. It is a difficult mission, but it is one we can accomplish. We 
can accomplish it by joining and working together because the future is 
quite literally in our hands.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor, and I suggest the absence of a 
quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Casey). The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. DORGAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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