[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 16 (Thursday, January 31, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S518-S519]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            STIMULUS PACKAGE

  Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, let me share with my colleagues my 
experiences of traveling through the State of Maryland during these 
last few weeks. I had the chance to be on the Eastern Shore of Maryland 
this week. I have been to western Maryland. I have been to the urban 
centers.
  I can tell you, there are families in my State that are hurting. They 
are uncertain about their future. They are not only worried about 
whether they should buy an automobile or go out to eat dinner, they are 
concerned about their economic security. They are not sure what 
tomorrow will bring. They see a shrinking of the middle class. They do 
not know how bright their economic future will be.
  I have seen seniors who are concerned about their financial 
stability. They hear all this talk about trying to cut back on Social 
Security and Medicare, and they are worried about where they will be as 
far as being able to pay their bills. They need to know we are 
confident about America's future.
  I must tell you, I think what the Federal Reserve did in reducing the 
prime rate was the right thing to do. It will have an immediate impact 
as far as reducing the prime interest rate, but it also instills 
confidence in our economy and in our future.
  I believe the Congress has a similar responsibility. It is important 
we pass a short-term economic stimulus package as quickly as possible. 
But that package needs to be targeted. By ``targeted,'' I mean it needs 
to put money in the hands of people who will spend that money, who will 
be able to help our economy, and it must be fair. It must be fair to 
those who are really at risk because of the economic conditions our 
Nation is confronting.
  I think the bill that passed in the other body was a good start. It 
was a bill that would provide money to basically middle-income 
families. I think that money is likely to get back into our economy. 
Just as importantly, it was a signal of confidence in our economy and 
confidence in America's future.
  I believe it is our responsibility to try to improve that package. I 
thank the leadership of the Senate Finance Committee and my colleagues 
on the Senate Finance Committee for bringing out a package that I 
believe improves the bill that came over from the other body. It 
improves it in several ways. Let me just talk about three of the 
provisions because I think they are very important to a short-term 
economic stimulus package.
  First, the Senate Finance Committee's recommendations would include 
low-income seniors. Now, low-income seniors are really concerned about 
their future. But just as importantly, it is not only the fair thing to 
do, the right thing to do, it is going to help our economy because low-
income seniors, if you give them that check, are going to go out and 
buy something. That is going to help us. It is going to help the 
grocery stores. It is going to help the retail establishments. It is 
going to help the restaurants. It is going to generate economic 
activity. So it is in our interest to accomplish the objectives of an 
economic stimulus package to include low-income seniors. I am very 
proud the Finance Committee included that in their package they are 
recommending to us.

  The second thing they put in their package, which I think is very 
important, is the extension of unemployment insurance benefits. All 
States would get an extra 13 weeks and, for those high-unemployment 
States, 26 weeks. Now, again, this is a matter of fairness. The people 
who are directly impacted by the downturn in our economy are those who 
are on unemployment, who do not have jobs, who have lost their jobs. We 
are finding that the unemployment rates are getting higher.
  I come from a State that does not have a high unemployment rate. We 
have a rather diverse economic structure in Maryland, so we are not 
quite hit as hard as the rest of the country as far as employment 
numbers are concerned. But I am proud to support the provision and 
encourage my colleagues to support that provision which provides the 
extra benefits for those States that have been hit the hardest because 
they have people who are going to have a much more difficult time 
finding new employment. So it is a fair thing to do. It is the right 
thing to do during an economic downturn.
  But it also is going to help our economy. If you give money to people 
who are unemployed, those individuals are going to spend that money. 
They are

[[Page S519]]

going to spend it on basic necessities. That is going to help economic 
growth. It is going to help everyone in this country. So it is 
targeted, and it is fair.
  The third provision that I really appreciate being in the Senate 
Finance bill is one to help the housing market. We have a housing 
crisis. In all parts of Maryland, we have homeowners, some of whom are 
in foreclosure and many others who are at risk of losing their homes. 
But we have young families that are trying to buy a home, we have 
people trying to sell a home, and they can't. There is a credit crunch 
out there.
  The Senate Finance bill will at least start us on the way of trying 
to help the trigger for our current economic problems. I say ``the 
trigger'' because there were signs we were going to have a slowdown in 
our economy, but it was triggered by the mortgage crisis. In that 
regard, the Senate Finance bill does something about that. It is 
targeted to the problem we have in our economy.
  So I thank the members of the Senate Finance Committee, the 
leadership, the bipartisan leadership of that committee for improving 
that package. It is a modest change from the House package in dollars, 
but it is huge as far as the impact it will have on the people in our 
communities in trying to deal with the current economic problems.
  I thank Leader Reid for being prepared to bring up this issue now. We 
cannot delay it. It is timely. It is important. We have to get this 
bill done. I appreciate our leader bringing this bill to the floor as 
quickly as we possibly can.
  I have urged my friends on the other side of the aisle to please work 
with us. We might have some differences. Let's work out those 
differences. But do not use the delaying tactics of this body so we 
cannot vote on a stimulus package as soon as possible. We would like to 
do it today. If we cannot do it today, let's do it Monday. But let's 
get it done because the effectiveness of an economic stimulus package 
depends upon it getting out as quickly as possible. Part of it is a 
message to the people of this country. I think if we put aside our 
partisan differences and get it done, it will be an incredible message 
to the American people.
  Let me also point out that once we have gotten that done, once we are 
able to work out this short-term stimulus package, I hope we can use 
the same spirit of cooperation for the long-term economic challenges we 
have in this Nation. We have long-term economic challenges to deal with 
if we are going to be as competitive as we need to be and if we are 
going to see the kind of economic growth we should have and see the 
growth of the middle class and middle-class families being able to 
enjoy the fruits of our society.
  We need to deal with the frustrations of typical families in Maryland 
and around the Nation that are worried about energy costs. They are 
worried about the cost of gasoline and filling up the tanks of their 
cars. They are worried about health care costs and the rising health 
care costs in our communities. They are concerned about the housing 
market.
  We can use the same degree of bipartisan cooperation and focus, as 
we, hopefully, will have on the short-term economic package, on our 
long-term economic problems. Let's get energy independence in America. 
Let's bring down the cost of energy. Let's make it predictable. Let's 
not be dependent upon the whim of other countries. Let's develop 
alternative fuels. Let's do the conservation we need. Let's make energy 
more reliable and affordable and, by the way, more environmentally 
friendly. Let's bring down health care costs. Let's deal with the 
number of people who are uninsured--which is terribly expensive to all 
of us--who use our health care system in a more costly way, many times 
through the emergency room. Let's work together to bring down the cost 
of health care so it is more affordable and accessible to every family 
in our communities. Let's deal with the credit crunch in a responsible 
manner so homeowners who need to sell their homes have a market in 
which they can sell their homes and so families who want to buy homes 
have the resources in order to do that. That should be our challenge 
for 2008. If we get this package done and can address these underlying 
issues, then I think we have carried out the responsibility each of us 
has.
  Mr. President, I am pleased we are on the verge of passing the short-
term economic stimulus package. I urge my colleagues to make sure this 
is brought up quickly. I hope we are able to take up the provisions 
that are included in the Finance Committee package, and perhaps some 
additional improvements.
  With that, Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Washington is recognized.

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