[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 101 (Wednesday, June 18, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5724-S5730]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
CHECKLIST FOR CHANGE
Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, I take the floor today as the dean of
the Democratic women in the Senate. I say to my colleagues and to all
who are watching: We women are mad as hell, and we don't want to take
it anymore. We are mad that in this institution, when all is said and
done, more gets said than gets done.
We are here today, united as Democratic women, to be a voice, a voice
for change. We have a checklist for change we think we can do before
this Congress adjourns.
These are issues that focus on the big picture of what our country is
facing, but they also focus on the impact these issues have on
families. We look at macroissues that affect the world and the
macaroni-and-cheese issues that affect families.
In order to get things done, women have checklists in their daily
lives--whether it is to get the laundry done or pick the kids up from
school. We have a checklist on what we want to do in terms of a
legislative agenda. This is not about gender; it is about an agenda. We
invite the good men of the Senate to join us, and we hope that people
from the other side will join us. We want to work to bring about
change, and we start with wanting to end the gridlock.
Look at these issues for which we stand. We want to provide equal pay
for equal work, good jobs that stay in the United States, we want to
make health care affordable, we want to take care of our military
families and veterans. If they fought over there, they should have a
safety net back here. We also want to restore America's credibility in
the world, protect our environment. We are looking out for gas, and we
are looking out for groceries. We want to make sure there is another
FEMA. And, along the way, we protect the family checkbook. We want to
make sure we get rid of the boondoggles that are eating up our Federal
budget.
For me, I am the leadoff. But every woman here has an issue to which
she will be speaking. What do I want to speak to? I want to speak to
equal pay for equal work.
Members might recall a few weeks ago we brought legislation to the
floor to correct the gap in wage discrimination law. We lost that, but
I said when the vote was over: The issue is not gone. I called upon the
women to put their lipstick on, square their shoulders, suit up, and
fight for an American revolution. This is why we are here today. This
is another salvo.
Many people think, wage discrimination, didn't we solve that? No.
Wage discrimination still exists. Women are earning just 77 cents for
every dollar our male counterparts make. We can see this now in the
famous Ledbetter v. Goodyear case. Lilly Ledbetter, a hard-working
woman, challenged the system. She didn't find out until years later
that she was being paid less than her male counterparts. She took it to
the EEOC. The corporation fought her every step of the way. It ended up
in the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court made an outrageous decision.
They said she waited too long to file her complaint. The Court also
said she didn't do it in time.
We think it is about time we change the law. What we want to do is
bring back the Lilly Ledbetter legislation called the Fair Pay
Restoration Act. We want to bring it back up for a vote because equal
pay for equal work is about fairness. It is about justice. It is about
respect. It is going to close the loophole on the so-called statute of
limitations on when one can file a wage discrimination case. We believe
the current practice has been a good one, but we disagree with the
Supreme Court.
We are going to bring it back up for a vote. We ask our colleagues to
join us. We don't want our agenda to die in parliamentary
entanglements. What we want to do is untangle this law and make sure
women get equal pay and experience it in their personal checkbook, and
we have to change the Federal lawbook.
We are ready. We are suited up. We have signed up. Join with us. We
know the Presiding Officer is one of the great guys in the Senate who
supports us. Before we go out at the end of this session, let's bring
about change. Let's make America proud of their Congress. Let's turn
the page.
I yield the floor to my new but very able and experienced colleague
from Missouri, who has been fighting boondoggles in that Federal
checkbook.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Missouri is recognized.
Mrs. McCASKILL. Mr. President, the United States is so lucky to have
the senior Senator from Maryland in this august body. She is smart and
feisty, and she is not willing to yield any
[[Page S5725]]
ground when she thinks the people she represents are not being treated
as they should be.
For women in this country, she has been a tremendous beacon of light
and hope to finally get over some of the barriers that have held women
back historically. So to the dean of the Senate women, I thank her for
her leadership as we work on this checklist for change.
One of the things we want to check off the list is fiscal
accountability. It sounds kind of boring, fiscal accountability. It
sounds like this is where the numbers drone on and one loses track.
This is a big deal. This administration has driven us into an
economic ditch. The numbers, frankly, are so big it is hard to believe
they are real. Federal spending since President Bush took office has
increased by almost $1 trillion. Let me say that again. Federal
spending under this President and under the leadership of the
Republican Party has increased by $1 trillion. Our debt has gone up by
$3.7 trillion. We now have a debt of $9.3 trillion.
This is change that is not just important, it is urgent. We must be
fiscally accountable for taxpayer money. It sounds nice, right? It is a
moral imperative for our kids. It is the right thing to do for the
generation that comes behind us, for our children and grandchildren. We
are presenting them with a train wreck of unprecedented proportion if
we don't get our fiscal house in order.
So how do we do that? The Checklist for Change is all about being
tough and accountable with taxpayer money. The way you do that is:
First, how do you spend it? Do you give out contracts based on whom you
know? This administration has. Is it about cronyism? Too often it has
been. Is it about no competition? Unfortunately, yes. Is it about cost-
plus contracts? As a former auditor, I will tell you, cost-plus
contracts have no place in Government. Cost-plus means, hey, you can
charge the Government whatever you want, and then you get to make money
on top of that.
Believe it or not, that is the kind of contracting that ruled the day
in Iraq. As we were faced with a war that we did not have enough men
and women to fight, we had to contract out such as our country has
never contracted out in a time of war. What happened? We lost--and I am
being conservative now because auditors are conservative by nature--
literally, over $150 billion that went up in smoke to waste, fraud, and
abuse.
War profiteering. There has been an orgy of war profiteering during
this conflict in Iraq. If we focused on the Department of Defense and
the way they contract, we could realize enough savings so every young
person in America could have help going to college, so every young
child in America could have preschool--if we paid attention to the way
we do contracting in the Department of Defense.
I will tell you, today is a good day. I wish to say to my colleagues,
today is a good day because today a decision was rendered that shows we
can get it right if we force companies to compete and we enforce the
provisions of those contracts.
A major, expensive contract was the tanker deal at the Department of
Defense. There was a competition--good news. A company was awarded the
contract--fine. There were problems. So what happened? The losing
company went to GAO, under our process of procedures, and said:
Auditors, take a look at this. You tell us whether this contract was
done fairly.
The good news is, GAO, as it always does, did its work
professionally, and they announced their decision today and said Boeing
was, in fact, treated unfairly in the tanker deal, that Boeing did not
get a fair shake under that competitive contract, and that, in fact,
the Air Force must change its decision as it relates to Boeing and the
tanker deal.
Do I think that is important? Yes. But why is it important? It is
important because what we have said from the beginning is compete these
contracts. Do it fairly. Respect taxpayer money. Get a bargain. That is
what women in America relate to because we are all about getting a
bargain for our families. We need to treat taxpayer money the same way.
I am proud to be part of the Checklist for Change. I am proud to be
emphasizing fiscal accountability.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from California.
Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I thank you very much.
I particularly salute the Senator from Maryland. I thank her for her
leadership of our group of Democratic women. Senator Mikulski has, from
the get-go, been there for the women of the Senate. This is the second
time I have participated in this Checklist for Change, which she has
put together.
I also salute Senator McCaskill, who was on the floor, who has
brought a very talented dimension to our group of women.
I think, as the other Democratic women as well come to the floor to
discuss this Checklist for Change, you are going to see one thing; and
that one thing is, we are all very committed to this country and very
committed to see this country do the right thing by her people.
So it is with a great deal of pleasure that I participate in this
effort. I thank both of them and the women who will come after me
speaking as well.
My comments are forged by 15 years on the Senate Judiciary Committee.
With the exception of Senator Moseley-Braun for a short period of time,
I am the only woman who has served in history on the Judiciary
Committee of the Senate and also serving 7 years as a member of the
Intelligence Committee.
I have always taken great stock in the fact that the United States of
America has been a beacon of hope because people all over the world
look to American justice and American human rights for inspiration.
We have represented not only a brighter future for people, but we
have represented a government of law, a government under the
Constitution, a government by the people, for the people, with justice
for all--not just for a certain few but all.
Now that beacon has been dimmed. Despite President Bush's promise
that the United States would fight the war on terror consistent with
American values and ``in the finest traditions of valor,'' the decision
was made, as Vice President Cheney said in 2001, to ``go to the dark
side.''
Indeed, this administration has put our Nation on the wrong track in
so many ways, including: creating a prisoner of war detention facility
at Guantanamo Bay with a separate, lesser system of justice--now
repudiated by the Supreme Court; authorizing interrogation techniques
that constitute torture; reopening the nuclear door by seeking to
develop low-yield battlefield nuclear weapons and 100-kiloton nuclear
bunker busters; countenancing, for the first time, the use of nuclear
weapons as a first strike against a nonnuclear threat, if chemical or
biological weapons were threatened--not used but threatened--against
the United States; preemptively invading Iraq, under the guise of
weapons of mass destruction and a false nexus to al-Qaida.
So, today, we see America's credibility in the world diminished, and
the administration's policies have become a recruiting tool for our
enemies. So, in 7\1/2\ years, this great country has gone from a nation
embraced to a nation often tarnished.
Yes, the time has come for a change. The time has come to: lay out an
exit strategy in Iraq so we can begin to bring our people home; close
Guantanamo, shut it down. The Secretary of Defense says shut it down.
The former Secretary of State says shut it down. Governor Kean,
Congressman Hamilton, a litany of four-star officers and flag officers
have said shut it down. It does not become America's values.
The time has come to stop America's use of torture; establish a
uniform standard for detentions and interrogations across our
Government. This is part of the Senate's Intelligence authorization
bill, and it will remain part of this bill. That bill essentially says
all elements of the American Government will utilize the Army Field
Manual and the procedures therein, both the prohibitions on eight
specific items of torture as well as specific techniques to move ahead.
The time has come to use robust diplomacy; create coalitions; listen
to allies; talk with adversaries. This makes us stronger, not weaker.
The time has come to develop a new, sensible nuclear weapons policy,
so we do not encourage the very kind of proliferation we seek to
prevent.
[[Page S5726]]
Yes, the time has come for change. The time has come to restore
America's credibility as a moral and just nation, dedicated to liberty
and justice.
We are the greatest military and economic power the world has ever
seen. Our global influence is unmatched. For the past half century, our
country has embraced international cooperation, not out of
vulnerability or weakness but from a position of strength.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator's time has expired.
Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, if I can finish with this last
statement.
Our strength as a nation emanates not just from our power but from
our moral stature and our principled stand for truth, justice, and
freedom. It must be restored.
I say to the Presiding Officer, thank you for your indulgence.
Mr. President, I see the distinguished Senator from Louisiana, whom I
also compliment. I see my fellow colleague from California. They are
part of Senator Mikulski's Checklist for Change.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Louisiana is recognized.
Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I thank my colleague from California,
and I am pleased to join my colleagues in calling for the change
Americans are hoping for, which this next election opportunity will
bring, to focus on issues that need so much change in America.
One of the items on the top of our Checklist for Change is a FEMA
that works, a plan that treats local and State governments as respected
and able partners, having a disaster plan that spends taxpayer dollars
with care and efficiency, having a plan that puts a premium on helping
families and extended families stay together through an ordeal that
rocks the economic foundation and future of so many families as they
are displaced, sometimes for weeks, sometimes for months, and, yes,
even sometimes for years.
We need a new FEMA. We need a muscular, robust, able, efficient, and
effective FEMA to be a true partner with local and State governments
and individual businesses and families in times of disaster.
I have spoken many times on the floor about the disasters of Katrina
and Rita and how it affected the gulf coast, from Beaumont to Mobile,
with the great city of New Orleans and the metropolitan area being most
directly affected. But we are not isolated in that suffering by any
means.
This week, we have seen what is happening today in Iowa, Wisconsin,
Indiana, and Illinois. There has been $1.5 billion in damages in Iowa
alone, and 38,000 Iowans have been evacuated. More than 3,500 National
Guard are deployed. More than 4.8 million sandbags have been used. I
could go on and on about the towns that have been completely evacuated.
Yes, New Orleans was completely evacuated. So was Saint Bernard
Parish and so were large swaths of Jefferson Parish--a parish of more
than 450,000 people--3 years ago this August.
But today the towns of Hartford, Palo, and Fredonia have been
completely evacuated--not as large as New Orleans but towns of
substantial populations.
The question is, Does FEMA have its housing plan together yet? Is
there a plan for people to be able to get their medicines if they are
relocated, to get their prescription drugs from their hometown pharmacy
or their neighborhood? I am not sure that has been done yet.
So we need a FEMA that works. We need an administration that
understands it is not just disasters far away but disasters right here
at home and that homeland security starts with hometown security, where
people can be secure in their neighborhoods, in their homes, and that
the levees that have been put up to protect them will actually hold the
water and will not be breached or overturned.
We do not have that confidence right now in America. So not only do
we need a new FEMA, but we need a FEMA that will be an advocate for
proper investments in infrastructure.
It is embarrassing, I believe, to be in the atmosphere we are in,
where people can look up and any day a bridge could collapse or any day
a levee could break. We cannot prevent tornadoes. We cannot prevent
hurricanes. We cannot prevent earthquakes. But I promise you, we can do
a lot more than we are doing now to reform the Federal emergency system
so it works better with local and State governments so that when
earthquakes happen, when hurricanes happen, when other disasters
happen, the people of the United States are getting the help they need.
So that is one of our top issues on our Checklist for Change: a
disaster planning and response system second to none.
It is a long list. But it is a list that must get done. That is, in
large measure, what this next election is about. It is about the kind
of leadership that is going to bring about the changes necessary, so
when a business collapses after 20 or 30 years of making a profit, or
longer, when families' homes are destroyed, they have a Government they
can count on--not to give them charity but to give them a hand up, to
respond, to help them get back on their feet economically, spiritually,
and emotionally. That is what our Government can do.
So I am proud to join this team. Again, we are asking for a FEMA that
works.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mrs. McCaskill). The Senator from California
is recognized.
Mrs. BOXER. Madam President, it is wonderful to join the Presiding
Officer, Senator Landrieu, Senator Feinstein, and the other women who
have come to join us.
I have to say to Senator Mikulski, the dean of the Democratic women,
how much I appreciate her leadership and her ability to connect with
the American people. When she brought us together the first time--and
it was a while back--she said: You know, we women at home make a
checklist of the things we have to do for our families and the things
we have to accomplish for the people who depend on us. Well, let's do
the same thing for the people whom we represent. What emerged is each
of the Democratic women picked an issue she knew we needed to have
change on, and we have heard about some of them. As the chairman of the
Environment and Public Works Committee, I am so proud to have that
opportunity--the first woman, the first Californian to chair this
committee.
I can just say, because I know this: We desperately need change when
it comes to the environment. When we say the word ``environment,'' some
people think about the beautiful ocean, and they should; and they think
about beautiful wetlands, and they should; and they think about
beautiful lakes and streams and rivers and clean, flowing waterfalls,
and they think about beautiful creatures that roam our environment, and
all of that is true. But when we cut through it, a clean and healthy
environment means healthy families. Healthy families means people who
can work, kids who can go to school and not have to leave because they
have asthma. These are the things we have to remember.
For 7\1/2\ long years now, since George Bush became President, this
administration has done everything it could to roll back landmark
environmental laws. What are these laws? The Clean Air Act, the Safe
Drinking Water Act, the Endangered Species Act, and the Superfund Act.
In every case, they have done this.
They have also stopped our progress on global warming. We had a bill
on the floor a couple of weeks ago. They sent out a message that they
were going to veto this bill, even before they saw it amended. Imagine.
I wish to tell the Senate--and I know there are a lot of folks who
are watching in their offices--what I mean specifically by this
terrible record of the Bush administration and why we want change on
the environment. The first thing George Bush did--and I don't know if
the Presiding Officer remembers--when he became the President in terms
of the environment is try to weaken safe drinking water standards. He
tried to actually roll back the standard for arsenic in drinking
water--arsenic in drinking water. He tried to slip it through, weaken
the standard. I remember working with Senator Mikulski on that issue.
We turned it back. We worked in the Senate, and we stopped it. Then, a
National Academy of Sciences study found that EPA had actually
underestimated the cancer risks from arsenic in tap water, yet there
was an effort to roll back the standard for arsenic.
Then there is perchlorate. Thirty-five States have a real problem--
most of
[[Page S5727]]
our States--with perchlorate that has seeped into drinking water and
seeped, therefore, into some of our agricultural products. Perchlorate
comes from rocket fuel. It is a very dangerous leftover from rocket
fuel. Let me tell my colleagues, it poses risks to the thyroid and
special risks to pregnant women and infants.
The Bush administration not only has failed to set a standard for
perchlorate, but it has stopped enforcing a law that says the water
companies and the water utilities have to let people know how much
perchlorate is in their drinking water. They no longer have to test for
perchlorate. They have not set a standard. Here is their excuse: We
don't have enough information. Massachusetts had enough information;
they set a standard. California had enough information; they set a
standard. But the great big Federal, National Government doesn't have
enough information. We know perchlorate is dangerous, we know it is an
endocrine disrupter, and we know what that means for pregnant women and
children. It is bad news. They are doing nothing. That is why we have
the environment on our checklist for change.
Mercury. Mercury is toxic to the brain. Let me repeat that. Mercury
is toxic to the brain. We know that. There is no question about it. The
Bush administration, under pressure from big utilities--I ask unanimous
consent for 1 more minute.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mrs. BOXER. The Bush administration, under pressure from big
utilities, set weak requirements for toxic mercury emissions, and now
there is a big court case, and believe me, they are going to lose it.
There are other things. They slowed down Superfund cleanup. They are
not protecting endangered species. They are weak on protecting us from
smog pollution, particulate matter that gets into our lungs. We are
talking about life and death, and then we are talking about global
warming, the future of the planet.
Today, the President said to forget the offshore oil drilling
moratorium in the most pristine waters of our coastline. Go in there
and let the oil companies drill. What he didn't tell the American
people is his father put that moratorium in place. What he didn't tell
the American people is that there are 68 million acres of untapped
leases the oil companies hold that they haven't drilled on, and he
would put at risk God's gift that we have been given on these
coastlines and he would jeopardize a $60 billion coastal recreation and
tourism economy that fosters more than 2 million jobs.
I am so proud to stand with the Presiding Officer and the Democratic
women of the Senate, standing next to this checklist for change: Equal
pay for equal work, good jobs, health care, taking care of our military
and our veterans, restoring our credibility in the world, protecting
the environment, making us energy independent, preparing for future
disasters, enforcing fiscal accountability, and protecting the family
checkbook. This is a moment for change, and we Democratic women of the
Senate wish to be agents of that change.
I thank Senator Mikulski, and thank you very much, Madam President.
I yield the floor.
Ms. MIKULSKI. Madam President, before the Senator leaves the floor--
and we know our good friends, Senators Stabenow and Klobuchar, are here
who will speak. We know gas prices are a woman's issue. If anything is
driving up groceries and family bills, it is gas.
This whole issue today of lifting the ban on drilling--is the Senator
from California aware that there are currently 68 million acres of
land, Federal land, on which the oil companies have a lease, and if
they wanted to drill, they could drill?
Mrs. BOXER. That is right. The Senator from Maryland is reiterating
what I said in my statement. Absolutely. We have learned that they have
68 million acres of leases, both onshore and offshore, and they are not
drilling. They are holding those, I believe, for speculative purposes.
Now the President announces--even without them lifting a finger on
those leases, he wants to destroy the coastlines that are the economic
engine of the Senator's State, my State, and many other coastal States.
Yes.
Ms. MIKULSKI. Does the Senator share my frustration--and I believe
the American people's frustration--that the President is trying to
change the subject rather than change the policies, particularly the
policies where he could, by Executive order, deal with price gouging of
the consumer as well as the casino-like speculation that is going on?
Mrs. BOXER. Absolutely. My friend is so right. The Senator from
Maryland is right.
This Senator from California can tell you this: His proposal to
destroy our coastline is an economic disaster, and he has avoided going
after the oil companies and their supply manipulation. He is ignoring
the speculators. We believe they have added $30 to $50 to a barrel of
oil. He is ignoring his Antitrust Division. He is doing nothing.
By the way, his own administration said today that even if they
lifted this moratoria and every single inch was drilled--let's just say
that were true, although we would never allow that to happen--we
wouldn't feel one penny of price reduction until 2030. What he said is
not true. This is changing the subject, and he is not using the power
of the Presidency to go after the people who are manipulating this
market. My colleague is correct.
Ms. MIKULSKI. So if people really want their gas prices lowered
today, they should just e-mail the President and say: Don't change the
subject, change the policies. Get rid of price gouging and get rid of
the speculation. You can do it by Executive order.
Mrs. BOXER. Exactly right, I say to my friend.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Michigan is recognized.
Ms. STABENOW. Madam President, I wish to thank our dean of the
Democratic women, Senator Barbara Mikulski, for once again being right
on point and Senator Barbara Boxer for her leadership as it relates to
protecting our environment and energy security. She and Senator Maria
Cantwell have been our leaders as it relates to cutting gas prices and
at the same time doing those things that allow us to protect our
beautiful land and water and air. So I wish to thank my colleagues.
Listening to the discussion about what is happening in terms of gas
prices just brings me back to what is an essential part of our
checklist for change; that is, making sure Americans have jobs. We are
going to pay those high gas prices which are absolutely outrageous.
Senator Mikulski is right, it takes a change in policy. Senator Boxer
is right when she talks about the fact that there are a lot of places
the oil companies could be drilling right now. That is the problem.
Right now, instead of buying more corporate jets and putting more money
into bonuses for themselves, if they were to reinvest in the land that
is already there, that would address their concern about supply. We
know what is really happening. Unfortunately, for the last 8 years, we
have literally had two oilmen in the White House, and we have watched
the price of gasoline go beyond our wildest expectations. I know people
in Michigan never would have thought we would be at over $4 a gallon.
To add insult to injury, during this same time when we are looking at
foreclosure rates at the highest level in my lifetime, certainly, and
gas prices at the highest levels, food prices going up, the cost of
health care going up, what is going down--and what is frightening for
families across America--is their incomes, their jobs, and their
standard of living. Just since January, 324,000 good-paying American
jobs have been lost--just since January of this year, 324,000 families
without a job, yet paying those high gas prices, paying those high food
prices, trying to figure out how to send the kids to college or to pay
tuition if they are in college. How do I make ends meet? How do I have
my piece of the American dream when I am losing my job or my income is
going down?
Our checklist for change is about the things Americans want to have
happening in this country. It is frightening to see that since 2001, we
have lost 3 million--3 million--think about this number--3 million
manufacturing jobs in this country. Certainly, the people in Michigan
have taken a big hit of that 3 million. But overall now, considering
all of the policies and the lack of
[[Page S5728]]
action, including the dollars being sent to a war in Iraq rather than
being invested here at home, we now are in a situation where 8.5
million Americans are unemployed--8.5 million Americans.
Our Republican colleagues would say: They should just go find a job.
We don't want to extend unemployment benefits because that encourages
people to stay home. That makes no sense if you are somebody who has
been out of work trying to keep your house, trying to pay the food bill
and the gas bill and everything else. But the reality is that we have
about 4 million jobs in this country right now and 8.5 million people
out of work--roughly 4 million available jobs and 8.5 million people
unemployed.
We also have what I call a race to the bottom in general economically
where Americans are being told: In a global economy, if you will only
work for less, we can be competitive. If you will only lose your
pension, lose your health care, we can be competitive.
We reject that. Our checklist for change rejects the notion of a race
to the bottom and the loss of our American way of life.
What we embrace are strategies that create good-paying jobs, middle-
class jobs at home in America. What we embrace is a race to the top. We
want to export our products--not our jobs--in a global economy. To do
so means a level playing field on trade, enforcing our trade laws, as
well as creating new trade agreements. We want to make sure people are
not losing jobs because of the high cost of health care, the burdens on
small and large businesses today. So we believe the race to the top
means a change in the way we fund health care in this country.
Finally, we understand it means investing like crazy in education, in
innovation. That is the race to the top. That is what we embrace in our
checklist for change. I am very proud of the fact that the Democratic
Senate and House have put together a budget resolution for the next
year that focuses on three major areas of job development--jobs and
innovation through our green-collar jobs initiative: investing in the
new advanced battery technology for the new vehicles; investing in
conservation and energy efficiency through buildings and other kinds of
efficiencies that are so important; job training in the new green-
collar economy, investing not only in biofuels but making sure the pump
is actually there, so when you drive your vehicle, you can get biofuel
or biodiesel--you can actually find a pump. So green-collar jobs are an
important piece of what we have put in place.
Secondly, jobs in America. When we are rebuilding highways, bridges,
and water and sewer systems, those are jobs that will not be exported
overseas. Those are good-paying jobs in America. Our checklist for
change, as well as our budget, believes change should be done, and we
can invest in good-paying jobs at home.
Finally, in our budget resolution we invest in job training and make
a major investment in opportunity through education, from preschool all
the way up to college.
We know that serious changes need to be made in the priorities of
this country. I had the opportunity a while ago to be on a television
show following a Republican colleague--a woman in the House--who looked
at our checklist and said: We Republicans can support all those things.
In looking at that, I am scratching my head and going: We have had 6
years with President Bush and an entire Republican Congress, and they
had control of every piece of the Government. They were not focusing on
jobs, energy alternatives, fiscal accountability--as the occupant of
the chair has talked about--or education or equal pay for equal work.
They didn't fix that. They didn't address these issues that American
families and businesses are asking us to do.
In the last 2 years, instead of working with us on the changes we
have initiated, we have been blocked over and over again on the floor
of the Senate. All we get is filibuster, filibuster, filibuster. So we
come to the floor and to the American people as Democratic women who
have been fighting, along with our Democratic male colleagues, for real
change that will send gas prices down, not up, and that will send
health care costs down, not up, and make it more available, to bring
food prices down and, most important, bring wages up.
In the greatest country in the world, we can do better than losing
324,000 good-paying jobs just since this past January.
I am proud to join my wonderful colleagues in putting together a
checklist that speaks to the things we know American families want to
see happening. We are going to do everything possible, both this year,
and as we go to the changes that we hope will happen next year, to
embrace and actually get results on our checklist for change.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Minnesota is recognized.
Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Madam President, I am proud to follow the Senator from
Michigan, who has done so much to fight for jobs in her State, with its
difficult economic conditions, and speak from the heart not only as a
Senator but as a mother when she talks about this checklist for change.
So many of us who have come to the floor today are not just Senators
but also mothers. I think about my family generations back and the
women who have kept the checklist. My grandmother in Ely, Minnesota--I
think of her writing in her perfect handwriting the lists that she made
throughout the day. My grandpa, her husband, worked 1,500 feet
underground in the mines in Ely. Neither of them graduated from high
school. She had a checklist for her family. That list was making sure--
at the top of that list--that my dad and his brother went to college.
They saved money in a coffee can in the basement of that little house.
They had that coffee can to save the money in to send my dad and his
brother to college. And I think of my own mother, who got divorced when
I was about 16. My dad was always there for me, but my mother had to
decide she was going to try to stay in her house raising two kids in
the suburbs of Minneapolis. She decided she had to go back to work when
they got divorced. She would write on the calendar in blue ink, which I
remember.
In her head I know she was thinking would she be able to raise her
kids and stay in that house when she retired. She ended up having to
teach. At age 70, she had 30 second-graders. At age 80, she is still in
that house. So she did it.
As for me, my husband and I have our own checklist on the
refrigerator, with the things on it that we have to buy from the
grocery store. Last week, my daughter who is 12, added to the checklist
to get her a swimming suit for the seventh grade pool party.
So I think all the women in America understand what it is like to
have these lists. What we are talking about today is a checklist for
the entire country. For all of us, every American family, on the top of
that checklist is balancing the family checkbook, protecting the family
checkbook. As families sit down every day at the kitchen table to write
their budgets and figure out if they have enough to make ends meet,
they find out that things on their list cost a lot more. They have to
manage to do a lot more with less.
In fact, as you can see on this chart, in the last 7 years since this
administration took office, the average family wages have gone down
$1,175 for your average middle-class family making around $48,000 a
year. That is hard enough, but at the same time, as we all know, the
average family expenses have increased. I can tell you that these are
last year's figures, before we saw the huge increase in gas prices. But
the average family expenses have increased more than $4,500, and this
is per year. We are talking about higher mortgage payments of $1,700;
higher gas bills of $2,000; high food costs of $230; higher phone bills
of $112; higher appliance costs of $42; and higher health insurance,
which is up $363.
When you look at the wages lost and expenses gained, that is $5,739
per year out of the average American families' checkbooks. So families
are feeling the hurt. They are not doing anything wrong, but this is
what we are seeing all over this country.
Why is this going on? In part, it is because everybody is nickel-and-
diming our families. The oil companies are taking a huge chunk out of
the family checkbook every week. In Minnesota, I saw family cars
wrapped around the block at Costco, waiting in line for the discount
gas pumps--just to save a few bucks.
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Energy costs are skyrocketing, grocery bills are climbing, and while
families are looking for ways to save every penny, big companies
continue to nickel-and-dime them.
The drug companies are nickel-and-diming consumers by refusing to
negotiate drug prices under Medicare Part D. The predatory lenders and
unscrupulous creditors are taking a chunk out of the family checkbook
with credit card scams and bad loan deals that are bringing down the
values of homes.
Cell phone companies are nickel-and-diming families with early
termination fees and excessive charges. Middle-class families are being
squeezed from all sides, trying to keep up with the costs. You have
heard about the ``sandwich generation''--middle-class families trying
to take care of their kids, while at the same time taking care of their
aging parents.
Look at the cost of college and child care. Today, I am not sure my
grandparents could have ever fit the money for college in a coffee can.
The average student graduates with more than $25,000 of debt. We owe
our students a better start in life. Meanwhile, while my mom scrimped
and saved to keep her house into retirement, many families do not have
that same luxury and, instead, are putting every penny into nursing
home living facilities.
On top of these financial worries, parents who may want to get a toy
for their child's birthday are trying to save a few dollars, and they
worry if they are going to get a toy that contains lead. They wonder
about the tomatoes they bought at the store, or whether the pool drain
in the local public pool will hurt their child. They worry: Is my
family safe?
This isn't the American dream, and it should not be in this day and
age. American families deserve an advocate for them, and the Democratic
women today in the Senate stand ready to be those advocates, ready to
make the change these families desperately need.
We not only need to change the agenda to help our middle-class
families, we need to put a little change back in their wallets.
This last year, we stood up for America's middle-class families and
their checkbooks: making college more affordable, increasing the
minimum wage for the first time in 10 years. We took on the special
interests from the oil companies to the toxic toy manufacturers.
So much more needs to be done to protect American families'
checkbooks. We need to give tax breaks to the middle class by closing
the loopholes that benefit only the wealthy.
We must put America's families first and find the relief they need
from rising prices and falling wages and help them protect the family
checkbook.
We must put the people of the country first, not the special
interests, by enacting comprehensive, affordable health care reforms to
make health care more affordable and enact a comprehensive energy
policy so that instead of spending $600,000 a minute on foreign oil and
sending that money to the sultans of Saudi Arabia, we are spending it
on the farmers and workers in this country.
We must be vigilant in protecting consumer rights, as we stand on the
verge of passing the most sweeping consumer product reform in 16 years.
We must continue to keep toxic toys and products off of our shores and
out of our stores.
This checklist for change is from a group of women who all know what
it is like to balance the family checkbook, and we know it is time for
a change. The American people know it is time for a change.
As Senator Barbara Mikulski, the dean of our delegation of women
Senators, said today as she called on women of the Senate to work on
this together: I call on the women in this country to put on your
lipstick, square your shoulders, and suit up and take up this fight for
change.
We are here today, shoulders squared, and with a checklist to
accomplish the change that American families so desperately need.
I see that my colleague from Arkansas, Blanche Lincoln, is here. She
has always been a strong advocate for America's families. We both have
children in the same junior high school. Mine is in seventh grade,
quickly going into eighth. Hers are in the sixth grade. We have been
dealing with the half schooldays in the Virginia schools. So it is good
to be here together to talk about that issue.
I turn it over to the great leader from Arkansas, Senator Lincoln.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Arkansas is recognized.
Mrs. LINCOLN. Madam President, I thank all of my colleagues today. I
am so pleased to come down to the floor and join my fellow Democratic
women colleagues in the Senate to discuss our checklist for change.
Just so that people know, this checklist is not new. We started this
several years ago. We got together and realized that all of us kept
lists, like our mothers and grandmothers before us. Those checklists
were helpful in accomplishing things. If there is anything we recognize
from our constituents, it is that they are desperately wanting their
Government to provide results, to get the results that the American
people need, and they want to be able to move forward. And so we
decided at that point, several years ago, that a checklist for change
would be a good thing.
So here we come back to this body, come back to our colleagues
presenting, yes, another checklist for change and to say it is time to
change the direction our country is going in, and here are some of the
biggest priorities we face. These are age-old problems that we need new
and innovative solutions to, but they are not problems we can't solve.
When we come together, when we work together, we can solve these
problems and bring forth for the American people what it is they are
asking for, and that is results, there is no doubt.
We have heard our colleagues today touch on several issues of
importance to the American people that we have listed on our checklist.
I know my checklist is full of a lot of different things, as Senator
Klobuchar mentioned, with the end of school coming around, but I want
to take a few minutes to discuss one of the most important priorities,
and one of the most important things that appears on my personal
checklist most frequently, and that is health care needs. Whether it is
the health care forms for my boys to go to summer camp, or making sure
they get their dental checkup, or ensuring they have gotten their
immunizations to be able to start school, all those things are
critically important to me, and there are many health care needs our
working families out there are facing as well.
It is not a secret that a health care crisis is looming on the
horizon. Health care access and affordability is out of reach for way
too many of our hard-working American families. When we go out to our
States, at least for me, anyway, and I talk with people, one of the
issues that is paramount on their minds is health care, but it is
synonymous, when they speak about it, with the economy and whether they
can afford it with the economy of their family budget, and what it does
to the economy of their small community if health care is not
available, and what it does to the economy of this country if we wait
so long to provide the access to affordable health care so that people
are in acute care because it is more costly. It is costing our economy
more and it is lessening the quality of life of Americans who so
desperately want to find that access to affordable and good health
care.
As many of my colleagues are very well aware, the number of uninsured
in this country stands at about 47 million. You know, we see Americans
are living longer. My husband's grandmother turns 111 this year, and
she still lives on her own and does amazing things. My husband and I
find that we are not just the sandwich generation, but we are the club
sandwich generation.
As Americans live longer, we also know, because statistics tell us,
that a baby girl born in this country today has a 50-percent chance of
becoming a centenarian. Moreover, as the baby boom generation begins to
retire, the current Medicare system is not equipped to effectively
handle the strains of such a major demographic shift. It is an issue
that constantly weighs on my mind, whether it is as a caregiver for my
children or for aging parents or aging grandparents, and we know it is
on the minds of all working Americans out there, not just mine and not
just my colleagues.
I am sure it is on the minds of many of my colleagues, because we
talk
[[Page S5730]]
about it all the time. We talk about caring for our aging parents and
the needs of our kids, and it is not going away any time soon. And it
is certainly not going away if we don't begin to make it a priority and
do something about access to health care.
As mothers and daughters, wives, sisters, and legislators, the
Democratic women of the Senate are committed to providing access to
quality, affordable health care for all Americans. One way to address
this issue is to put the focus first on small business owners, their
employees, and self-employed individuals, who very often are those who
are uninsured.
To give a snapshot, my small businesses are the No. 1 source of jobs
in my home State of Arkansas. However, only 26 percent of businesses
with fewer than 50 employees actually offer health insurance. Small
businesses need assistance. They need innovative ways to offer
affordable, accessible health care to their employees.
There is a misnomer out there that small businesses don't want to
offer health insurance. They do, desperately. They know it increases
their productivity, it increases their competitiveness, and their
ability to attract good workers. But it has to be affordable. Small
businesses have to maintain their competitive nature with big
businesses and businesses all over the globe. That is why I have worked
hard to design a comprehensive solution that will allow our small
businesses to ban together and spread their risk, much like the
programs that we as Federal employees enjoy.
We also have to focus on critical reforms of Medicare if we have any
hopes of ensuring our seniors, those who have built this great land we
enjoy, continue to receive the essential care they need as they age.
Efficiencies, quality measures, all of these issues we have talked
about recently in some of our Medicare efforts and what we are trying
to do in our Medicare reform bill, will lower our costs and provide
greater quality, which is what we want to do. Modernizing Medicare to
take advantage of those efficiencies, those new technologies--health
IT, e-prescription, and a whole host of different technologies--will
help us, if we make that investment, by providing the quality as well
as the efficiencies we need.
And we can't forget about the State Children's Health Insurance
Program, known as SCHIP. We must make it a priority to expand health
care coverage to the most vulnerable of our society--our children. I
hope if my colleagues don't want to do it just because they love
children, which most of us do--we understand they are our greatest
blessing in this whole wide world--we should do it because it is an
investment in our future.
We know children who are healthier are going to go to school, they
are going to learn better, they are going to turn out to be better
adults, they are going to get their education, get better jobs, and pay
more taxes. There will be a whole host of different things that will
mean so much to this country if we provide that health care for our
children.
The clock is ticking, and it is up to us in Washington to find a
solution so the hard-working families of this country can be assured of
a healthy tomorrow. Each year that passes without action places more
and more Americans in a vulnerable position. I challenge our President
and our colleagues in the Senate and on the other side of the aisle to
stand with us, not against us, in providing quality and affordable
health care for all Americans. Look at how much it means to this
country, to those individuals, those working families who are the
fabric of this country.
As the richest, most powerful country in the world, we owe it to our
working families who want to protect themselves and their families from
an uncertain future to provide the health care coverage they so
desperately need. We owe it to the taxpayers of this country today and
for generations to come to provide a quality health care system that is
cost effective and sustainable. That is why I believe that providing
access to good health care to America's working families is worth
fighting for, and that is why it is primary on our checklist for
change.
I thank the Chair.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Tennessee.
Mr. ALEXANDER. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the hour
of morning business under the Republican control be divided equally
among the following Senators: Senators Alexander, Kyl, Hatch, Cornyn,
Bond, and Murkowski.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. ALEXANDER. Madam President, I ask that I be informed when I have
consumed 9 minutes and have 1 minute remaining.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Chair will inform the Senator.
____________________