[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 176 (Wednesday, November 19, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10615-S10616]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              THE ECONOMY

  Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, next week Americans across our country 
are going to be celebrating Thanksgiving. It is a time that we reflect 
and give thanks for our families and friends and all that we have. But 
far too many of our families across my State and across this country 
have far less than they did just a year ago. They lost their homes, 
their cars, their health care, their 401(k)s, and their jobs. Just this 
month, we learned that this country has lost a total of 1.2 million 
jobs this year. Over half of that decrease came in the last 3 months 
alone.
  Across this country, people are hurting, and some of the hardest hit 
have been our veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Thousands 
of our veterans are still recovering from physical or psychological 
injuries that make it very hard for them to pay their bills or to find 
a job, and too many find themselves sliding quickly into bankruptcy or 
foreclosure. Yesterday, in fact, the New York Times reported that 
advocacy groups have seen a huge increase in the number of veterans 
asking for financial help over the last year.
  Americans made it very clear on election day that they want a new 
direction in this country. They want action that will help pull us out 
of this economic crisis. President-elect Obama has already announced 
that his first priority will be an economic recovery plan that invests 
in our country's infrastructure. As chair of the Appropriations 
Transportation and Housing Subcommittee, I stand ready to help with 
that. But, as the latest jobless reports show, we can't afford to wait 
even until January, when we have a new President, to start providing 
the help Americans need today. That is why I have come to the floor. We 
need to take action that will create jobs, diversify and modernize our 
economy, and help our families cope with this economic downturn.
  This week, Senator Byrd and our majority leader, Senator Reid, 
proposed an economic stimulus bill that would do just that. Their bill 
is targeted at the biggest needs in our country today. It will create 
more than 635,000 jobs by investing in infrastructure and green energy 
development, and it would help our most vulnerable citizens put food on 
the table and keep a roof over their heads.
  Congress can make a real difference for millions of families across 
our country. If there was a mandate given on November 4, it was for 
Government to work for the people once again. America's working 
families want a government that will turn our economy around and end 
this war, and they want true progress on health care and on education. 
That is our mandate. We have an awful lot of work to do, and we need a 
bipartisan effort to do it. But we cannot just sit around waiting until 
we have a new administration and a new Congress. Americans are hurting 
today.
  We have the ability in this Congress to come together across party 
lines and pass a bill that will put Americans back to work and 
stabilize our communities across this country. I wish to take a couple 
of minutes this morning to outline how that package will help get our 
country moving again and help those most in need.
  First of all, it is critically important that we help families who 
have already lost their jobs and are drawing unemployment today. 
Especially with employers cutting jobs each month, there are hundreds 
of thousands of Americans who need help for basic needs while they look 
for work. This package reaches out to those families by extending 
unemployment benefits by 7 weeks across the country and 13 weeks in 
States where the jobless rate is the highest. It also brings relief to 
communities, since every dollar of unemployment benefits generates 
$1.64 in additional economic activity. This helps everyone.
  This bill also provides help for the millions of families who are 
struggling today to find safe and secure housing. Across the country, 
public housing is badly in need of repair and improvement. This bill 
will allow communities to rehabilitate vacant public housing units, 
improve energy efficiency, and jump-start construction of new projects 
that will serve those tenants. It will also help address a growing 
problem in our community: renters who lost their homes because their 
landlords were foreclosed on. This bill will help protect these 
innocent victims of the foreclosure crisis and help them find immediate 
shelter and long-term housing.
  One reason we need this bill badly is because it offers help to those 
who need it most, those who have lost their jobs and homes who are 
struggling to find housing today. But this bill will also help our 
communities and jump-start our economy by creating more than 635,000 
jobs, investing in new technology and repairing our infrastructure. For 
example, this package would make investments in highway and bridge 
construction in every single State--all 50 States--by providing $10 
billion to help fund projects that are ready to go today. We know that 
for every $1 billion we spend on highways, we create more than 34,500 
good jobs. So this package will create more than 345,000 jobs.
  Additionally, it is important to note there are no earmarks in this 
bill, no special projects as part of the highway funding in this bill. 
All highway dollars will be spent according to the formula that has 
been established for the Surface Transportation Program in our SAFETEA-
LU highway bonds. States would have to put this money to work in 180 
days.
  We also know that roads are not the only area where communities need 
transportation dollars. Cities across our country are struggling to 
repair and expand their bus and rail systems as demand for mass transit 
and public transportation is skyrocketing. So this bill will improve 
and expand mass-transit systems so that millions of commuters can get 
to work smoothly and on time. It will help repair and improve our 
Nation's airports. It will make needed investments in our Nation's 
ferry transportation system and modernize our Nation's shipyards to 
make them competitive and efficient.
  While creating these jobs will help get our economy going again, we 
also need to work to make sure our workers are prepared to compete for 
the jobs of the future. So this package does that by helping 160,000 
dislocated workers and youth get education, training, counseling, and 
job assistance. This is particularly important for young people who are 
disengaged from school and for disadvantaged teenagers who are often 
hurt the most when our unemployment rates are high. It is critical that 
we enable these young people to get work experience now because if they 
lose out, they are less likely to move successfully into a career 
later.
  We know teens without jobs are more likely to turn to crime or join 
gangs which cost our communities millions in law enforcement and lost 
productivity. Not only will the programs this bill supports pay off as 
the economy picks up over time, they will help stimulate the economy in 
the short term too, because, you know, teens spend immediately all the 
money they make. So that will help everyone.
  This package also recognizes that we need to start investing in new 
and healthy industries that will help create new, good-paying jobs and 
help strengthen our economy for the long term. I think one of the most 
promising fields is green technology. That is why this package would 
invest almost $7 billion in research and development that would help us 
create new energy sources and improved energy efficiency.
  Not only is the research and development absolutely vital in order to 
create the technology and the new jobs that come with it, but research 
and development and clean technologies are critical if we are going to 
become energy independent.
  So these are parts of the package which I believe will be a shot in 
the arm, that will help our economy for many years to come.
  Before I finish today, I do want to address the provisions in this 
bill that would help the country's struggling auto industry. I want the 
auto industry to remain viable and continue to support the millions of 
jobs across this country which depend on its success. But I cannot 
support any more funds without concrete assurance the automakers have a 
strategy to restructure and become viable, competitive companies. The 
auto industries cannot continue to follow a failed business model and 
then come here and ask for help.

[[Page S10616]]

  I supported the $25 billion with strong restructuring language for 
the auto industry in the continuing resolution we passed a month ago. I 
will need to be convinced that adding funding will not only save jobs 
but the industry leaders will take seriously the issue of restructuring 
and work to reinvigorate an industry that continues to teeter on the 
brink of failure.
  I am also, I have to say, very concerned about the blame being laid 
at the feet of the hard-working men and women in this industry. The 
auto industry's current financial industry crisis is the result of many 
financial factors, not the result of the cost of employee health care 
and negotiated contract benefits upon which numerous working families 
and retirees depend.
  If the Federal Government, funded by working and taxpaying families, 
is expected to explore financial aid to ailing corporations, then I 
expect to hear about sacrifices industry management will make during 
these tough times. I am very hopeful we can do that.
  A month ago this Congress came together and passed a bill to help 
restore stability in our financial markets. Well, we need this bill to 
provide stability for our communities and for our working families at 
home. We need it to help the most vulnerable among us to keep food on 
their table and a roof over their head.
  We need it to help unemployed workers pay the bills while they start 
another job search. We need it so that we can create jobs, invest in 
our communities, and support new developments in sustainable and 
emerging industries.
  We can start solving this economic crisis now. We can provide our 
families with the help they need for the holidays and before this 
economic situation gets worse. I hope our colleagues will join 
together, work across party lines, pass this stimulus bill, and offer 
hope this year to millions of struggling families across this country.
  I yield the floor, and I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Menendez). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak in 
morning business.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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