[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 17 (Wednesday, January 28, 2009)]
[House]
[Pages H758-H764]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  THE CONGRESSIONAL PROGRESSIVE CAUCUS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 6, 2009, the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Ellison) is 
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.
  Mr. ELLISON. My name is Keith Ellison, and we are here for the 
progressive message, the 1 hour when the Congressional Progressive 
Caucus will come to the American people and talk about what our agenda 
is.
  Tonight it's important to specify, Mr. Speaker, that the Progressive 
Caucus is going to be on the floor for the next 60 minutes talking 
about America's economic picture, the landscape that we're facing, and 
what the progressive vision is for solving these problems.
  I am joined tonight by some stellar members of the Progressive 
Caucus. We have with us tonight, Mr. Speaker, our outstanding, 
stupendous, colossal, fearless leader, none other than Lynn Woolsey, 
who just got through talking about the war. She has been a champion on 
many fronts. But I'm also joined by my classmate, a tireless fighter 
for all people across America, none other than Yvette Clarke, who never 
bends, never bows, and always stays strong for the American people. I 
think it's important for us to know that we're also joined by none 
other than Donna Edwards, who is going to grab a mike in just a moment. 
And the four of us and other members of the Progressive Caucus for 
about the next 58 minutes are going to be talking about the stimulus 
package, the economic picture facing the American people, and what the 
Progressive Caucus believes we need to do about it. Your progressive 
voice on progressive issues.
  So with that, I invite my colleagues to jump on in. We're going to 
have a colloquy over the next few minutes where we come in and out and 
share the ball, if you will, to talk about the stimulus package. And 
let me just kick it off with our chairperson.
  Congresswoman Woolsey, how do you look at the stimulus package we 
passed today?
  Ms. WOOLSEY. First of all, I would like to say to you, Congressman 
Ellison, that, as the cochair of the Progressive Caucus with Raul 
Grijalva, it's just an honor to be here tonight to talk about the 
economic recovery bill that we've passed in the House today. I really 
thought that's what we were talking about. I'd be glad to talk about 
everything that you want us to be working on with our Progressive 
Caucus, but I think that what we have done today shows that the 
Democrats are very much together, that we know where we're going. And 
this recovery package that was passed was very much in step with a 
letter that I sent, as the Chair of the Progressive Caucus, to 
President-elect Obama and to our leadership laying out what the 
Progressive Caucus wanted in this recovery bill. And 90 percent of what 
we asked for is in the recovery. We didn't get as much as we wanted on 
everything because we were looking at about $1 trillion and we weren't 
thinking of having the tax cuts in there. But we are very proud that 
most of what we looked for is in this bill.
  Mr. ELLISON. So did the Progressive Caucus ask for things like 
extension of unemployment benefits, increasing food stamps, and 
infrastructure projects, things that are really going to have a big 
punch when it comes to stimulating the economy? Were those some of the 
things in the Progressive Caucus letter?
  Ms. WOOLSEY. If the gentleman would yield, those were the top three 
asks on our list.
  Mr. ELLISON. Reclaiming my time, I would like to direct the 
gentlewoman's attention to this graph, which an economist named Mark 
Zandi estimated the multiplier effect for various policy proposals.
  Essentially, the higher the number is, the more punch; the lower the 
number is, the weaker the punch. And the things that the Progressive 
Caucus

[[Page H759]]

asked for had, for example, at the bottom here it says increase 
infrastructure spending, 1.59. Now, that's pretty high. And also 
temporary increase in food stamps, 1.73. That's very high. Extend 
unemployment compensation benefits, 1.64. That's very high.

  And, Mr. Speaker, I just want to toss it over to Yvette Clarke, and 
just ask, in your view, Congresswoman Clarke, are the things that the 
Progressive Caucus asked for in this stimulus package, they're not only 
good and decent and demonstrate compassion, but they're also good 
economic sense. Was that your view?
  Ms. CLARKE. You're absolutely right.
  First of all, Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my distinguished colleague 
Congressman Keith Ellison for managing the time requested by the 
Progressive Caucus on the floor to speak about the economic recovery 
package.
  You just pointed out, it's there in black and white, Zandi's 
estimates for the multiplier effect, the top three items that were 
requested by this caucus were in this recovery package.
  When we talk about economic stimulus, we're talking about things that 
people need from our economy in order to stimulate it. People must meet 
the needs of their homes and families' ability to feed themselves. 
Hence the use of food stamps is something that is constantly churning 
in communities across this Nation.
  Infrastructure repair, I remember the most demonstrative thing that I 
could see since I've been a Member of Congress was that bridge fall in 
Minnesota, a neglected infrastructure that, thank God, we didn't see 
much more harm done to the population of Minnesota. But life was lost, 
Commerce was disrupted. Infrastructure, the multiplier effect. Just 
think about all of those trucks that have got to move the goods and 
services across our Nation. Truck drivers are being employed. Let's 
talk about the folks who are going to do the bricks and mortar of it 
all. They're going to be able to meet their mortgage payments, do some 
savings, make sure that their kids can go get a great education, be 
responsible for their families and their communities. That's what it's 
all about.
  So I want to commend our leadership in the Progressive Caucus, Ms. 
Woolsey and Mr. Grijalva, for having the vision to reach out to the 
administration, to make sure that they're aware that there are some 
easy matter-of-fact things we could do within this package that will 
make the difference almost instantaneously in communities across this 
Nation. And those three items that were discussed are the items that 
make the difference each and every day in every community in which we 
live.
  Mr. ELLISON. Let's get our colleague Donna Edwards from right next 
door in Maryland into this conversation.
  Congresswoman Edwards, you've been an advocate for working people all 
of your life and have been fighting for justice. How do you see this 
stimulus package? Do you think that it was more or less what the Nation 
needed? Are you happy with some of the key elements of it, or do you 
think it really needed to bone up on some parts?
  Ms. EDWARDS of Maryland. Let me just say, Mr. Speaker, today wasn't 
just a good day for the House of Representatives. It was a great day 
for the American people.
  I know sometimes people may not know what a stimulus is, but we know 
what a job is. And this bill that we passed today created jobs. Three 
to four million jobs across this country will be created, and they're 
created because people will be put to work. They're being put to work 
not just for the jobs that have to be done today, rebuilding all of our 
infrastructure, our roads, our bridges, our sewers, our water mains 
that are all falling apart, laying in broadband for the future, but 
also investing in some of those jobs that really are the future, 
science and technology jobs, investing in research so that we can get 
from here to there. So the American people may not quite understand 
that word ``stimulus,'' but we all understand the word ``jobs.'' And at 
the rate we have been losing jobs in this country, I think on Monday, 
just this past Monday, we lost 55,000 jobs in this country in 1 day. 
And so we needed to create jobs. And I think what we've done here is 
exactly that.
  I know that in my neighborhood just in front of my house I had a 
water main break a couple of weeks ago. Well, our water mains across 
this country, that water infrastructure is falling apart. So we need 
those water mains repaired. We had people going without water, without 
potable water, right outside the District of Columbia in Maryland in my 
district because of a water main break. So it's not acceptable that we 
continue in this vein in this country, and what we have done is we have 
created jobs for today and jobs for the future.
  Mr. ELLISON. A very important observation.
  I think it's important to point out that H.R. 1, the American 
Recovery and Reinvestment Act, does spend about 75 percent of the money 
within the first 18 months. Much of it is on infrastructure. It will 
create 3 to 4 million jobs. It does give about 95 percent of American 
workers a tax cut. Not the people who already get one but the folks who 
often don't get a tax cut.
  If I may, I don't want to spend time on gloom and doom, but I would 
ask my colleagues to spend maybe 10, 20 minutes or so talking about 
what got us here. I don't know if you want to go back there, but I 
think it's important to say it is the absence of a progressive vision 
that got us to this point. We're talking about years of deregulation 
and tax cuts for the wealthy. We're talking about an economic 
philosophy that said that poor people have too much money and rich 
people don't have enough money; so what we're going to do is take from 
them and give to the ones upstairs. We're talking about tax cuts in the 
middle of a war, and we're talking about a war that never, ever, ever, 
ever should have been started. We're talking about an economic 
philosophy that really was not in favor of the average working family. 
And we know that when the average working family is doing well, then 
everybody does well, and when they're not doing well, then we get what 
we got. The fact is it is an economic philosophy that has been driving 
us.
  What's needed is a progressive vision for our country, an economy 
that is inclusive, an economy that helps lift all boats because we do 
believe a rising tide lifts boats but you've got to raise that tide. 
It's not the ocean liner but the dinghies that need to be rising up.
  So with that I invite you all, if you would, just to talk a little 
bit about what you believe got us here and what the situation is we're 
confronting. I think it's important for the American people to know 
that we are not just spending $825 billion on a whim. We're in serious 
financial trouble. We're talking about the loss of 2 million jobs and 
change last year.
  This is an unemployment chart in 2007 and 2008. The blue is 2007 
numbers. The red is 2008 numbers. Now, if you can see, every red bar is 
longer than every blue bar. Can you see that? That means we had a 
dramatic jump in unemployment in nearly every State. Minnesota's right 
here, California, Florida, Illinois, Iowa. Every State has had a 
dramatic leap forward in unemployment, a very serious issue, and I 
think that it's important to point out that we are here to do something 
about it.

                              {time}  1900

  Ms. EDWARDS of Maryland. If the gentleman would yield?
  Mr. ELLISON. Congresswoman Edwards.
  Ms. EDWARDS of Maryland. You know, you raise a really interesting 
point, because with the job loss at just at 2.6 million jobs just in 
2008, what we have seen here is 8 years of a history of providing tax 
cuts for the very top and nothing for everybody below; and that's 
really played out in the worst way in this economy. And, you know, 
what's really shocking is that even today, even in the face of this 
economy, there were still those who are arguing that we should give 
more tax cuts to the wealthiest, even in this environment.
  So the American people actually came out on top today because we 
created jobs, we provided tax cuts for working people. We made sure, 
for example, there are people in my district who are asking for food 
stamps and energy assistance who have never asked the government for 
anything ever before, but they have to in this economy. And so we have 
made sure that we take care of those folks, too, even extending

[[Page H760]]

health care coverage. When you lose a job, you lose your health care 
coverage and you really do worry about your families. So we have been 
able to create jobs in every sector where we have lost jobs, and we 
have made sure that we keep that bottom line for family that is really 
in need.
  Mr. ELLISON. Very important point.
  Ms. WOOLSEY. If the Congressman would yield?
  Mr. ELLISON. Congresswoman Woolsey.
  Ms. WOOLSEY. One of the things we have to be particularly proud of in 
this stimulus package today, first of all, for every $1 billion we are 
spending on infrastructure, we are creating 40,000 jobs; so we did a 
very good job with that today. But we are also investing in programs 
that create jobs that also are needed and necessary in our country.
  We talked about the crumbling bridges and the infrastructure of the 
sewer pipes and all of that, but when we talk about the energy program, 
we have been supporting, as progressives, we have been supporting at 
least an Apollo-size energy program that not only provides jobs but 
will help us with our security so that we are not dependent on foreign 
fuels. Actually, green technology is jobs for the future. I mean, it's 
the industry of the future that the United States has to capture, and 
we are investing in our global warming, undoing the problems we have 
caused. And all of that costs money, but it makes jobs, and it makes 
jobs that leave behind projects that we need desperately in this 
country.
  Mr. ELLISON. Yes, so in other words, we are not just giving $825 
billion out, we are getting real value for these kinds of things, as 
Chairwoman Woolsey has said.
  I just want to say that I am very proud, Chairpersons, of our 
Progressive Caucus have been communicating with our leadership and the 
administration on the things that the American people who are 
progressive really want.
  Congresswoman Clarke.
  Ms. CLARKE. You know, as we are all just too keenly aware, the 
current economic environment that we are in the midst of was a gift 
left to us by the Bush administration. And I really want Americans to 
focus on the fact that we have had 8 years of neglect, destruction, of 
total malfeasance when it comes to the economy of this Nation.
  And we have just begun today, less than an hour ago, just minutes 
ago, to, you know, sort of begin to address in a very substantive way 
the impact of a mismanaged economy and, by extension, a mismanaged 
nation. We are excited about what is taking place, the level of 
enthusiasm that our Progressive Caucus had for this particular piece of 
legislation, H.R. 1, the Democratic Caucus has had, that the American 
people have had. And we are supporting our newly elected President, our 
newly installed, sworn-in President and his vision for taking us out of 
what is a very dramatic downturn in our economy, and it's going to take 
some time.
  We are at the advent of that, and, I mean, I think for each of us who 
is here tonight, there are many more things that we know will have to 
be done. We are at a good place, at a good starting point, for our 
communities and the turnaround of these economies, the investments we 
are making. Because these are truly investments, these are not just 
giveaways; we inherited a World War II infrastructure, if you will. If 
it weren't for those folks who, you know, sacrificed during the World 
War II generation, you know, the subway systems we enjoy today, the 
mass transit, the technology, all of that was invested during that 
period of time, and use of the benefit of mobility and economy and took 
us to this point. We kind of coasted off of that generation's 
innovations.
  It's our generation's time to step up. Barack Obama has led the way 
by being on the Hill, working in a bipartisan manner and making it 
unequivocally clear to the American people that it's our time now. And 
H.R. 1 speaks to its being our time now.
  And I am just really proud to be here at this moment to have the 
Progressive Caucus in lockstep recognizing that we are not going to get 
everything we want, but if you don't put it out there, you are not 
going to get anything of what you want. So you put out there everything 
that you think is needed to make your community strong, solvent again, 
to help small businesses, which are really the major employers in many 
of our communities.
  And it's all in here, the benefits and tax cuts and tax deductions 
for small business are phenomenal. They will be the ones that, when the 
contracts are broken down, we need those nails and those hammers, they 
will be the ones who can provide those, who can supply those. When 
their workers need to move goods from one place to another, the small 
businesses and our employers in our local communities will benefit from 
the work that we just did moments ago.
  So I want to thank you for that, Progressive Caucus members.
  Mr. ELLISON. Yes, well, let me thank you again, Congresswoman Clarke. 
You are right on the mark with everything that you have said.
  I just want to let everybody know we are the Progressive Caucus, we 
are here for 1 hour. It is our plan to be here week in, week out to 
come project a progressive vision, whether it's on economics, whether 
it's on war and peace, whether it's on civil rights.
  We talked about civil rights last week, we are talking about the 
economy this week. But this is the Progressive Caucus, and we are here 
tonight with our chairperson, Lynn Woolsey, with my colleague, 
Representative Clarke and my colleague, Representative Donna Edwards 
from Maryland.
  Congresswoman Edwards, I am sure that some thoughts were occurring to 
you as Congresswoman Clarke was stretching forth on her ideas.
  Ms. EDWARDS of Maryland. Well, you know, today was a great day. When 
I think about what we have done on education, we provided $300 million 
for Job Corps centers. These are training, you know, young people who 
may have fallen through the cracks, but they need the skills to 
participate in this economy and in the 21st century economy.
  We have provided the resources for our Job Corps centers to train up 
those people, not just in my home State of Maryland, but in every 
single State. I think that there are something like 125 Job Corps 
centers around the country, $300 million, train them for a green 
economy. Get those workers out into the workforce. They are 
weatherizing our homes, they are maintaining and building solar panels 
and wind turbines and learning how to lay broadband and do the 
construction jobs that we need throughout the economy.
  So I think it's a really great day for young people who want to go to 
college and whose parents may have lost a job, or not quite had the job 
that they had before this economy went into the tank. Those young 
people will be able to qualify for Pell Grants because we increased the 
opportunity for that. And so we will have our young people going into 
college, getting those 2- and 4-year degrees so that they can come out 
to be really full participants in our economy.
  So I am excited about what we have done, and I agree with my 
colleague from New York, Yvette Clarke, because we couldn't do 
everything in this bill, but we sure got a good start for January, 
2009, for this new President and this new Congress.
  When I think about what it means to be a progressive and part of the 
Progressive Caucus, it means that we are making progress for the 
American people, and that's what we have started with this bill.
  Mr. ELLISON. Well, if I may turn to our chairwoman here, you know, 
Congresswoman Woolsey, we are the Progressive Caucus. A stimulus 
package was passed through the House today.
  Does the Progressive Caucus still have a vital and essential purpose, 
given that we have a President that we happen to like nowadays? What is 
our role in the Congress? What do we do? Now that we have a Democratic 
President and a majority, what should the Progressive Caucus take on as 
its mandate? What's our role?
  Ms. WOOLSEY. Well, our role, Keith, is to support our new President 
in every way we can, particularly when he is doing what we think ought 
to be done, and certainly we are going to have a much easier time of it 
with Barack Obama, President Obama, than the last 8 years.
  But when it isn't going the way it ought to go from our perspective 
and with our progressive promise of things, the equality of all people, 
and the

[[Page H761]]

things we hold near and dear, then it is our job to pull him in our 
direction.
  We have to be very clear that if the moderates--and there is nothing 
wrong with being a moderate person, I just don't happen to be one--when 
the moderates become the left edge of our politics, then imagine what 
happens with the right wing.
  Mr. ELLISON. Then the center becomes the right.
  Ms. WOOLSEY. Then the center becomes the right, and then it just goes 
off the chart.
  It is our job to remind our President that, indeed, the progressives 
actually represent the core of the Democratic Party, and we are very 
proud of it.
  When people ask, Oh, we love him, I mean, he just has the heart of 
this country. And when they talk to me about it, I always say, I don't 
envy our new President. He has a lot to do. He is going to be going 
forward while he's trying to dig out from this hole that this past 
administration left.
  And you know what, it didn't have to have happened. It could have 
been avoided. For one thing, the lax regulations on Wall Street led us 
right to where we are today.
  Another thing is this war of choice--amazing, I haven't said anything 
about it so far tonight, but it will cost us at least $1 trillion when 
we should be investing here at home in the people of the United States 
of America.
  Mr. ELLISON. That's right, that's right.
  Well, thank you, Madam Chairman, for pointing out what the role of 
the Progressive Caucus is. I invite my colleagues to weigh in on that 
subject as well, as we talk about the stimulus package and our economy 
tonight.
  I think it's important that the American people know that they have a 
progressive voice, projecting a progressive vision. We will never lay 
down our role as a coequal branch of government.
  You know, we happen to like this President, and we will probably 
agree with him on a number of things, but it's not our job to agree 
with him. It's our job to represent the American people, to project an 
inclusive vision in which every American feels they can be successful 
where their rights are protected and where they can make a living for 
their family.
  So, with that, I would just like to throw it back to my colleagues.
  Ms. CLARKE. You know, I would like to ask about this progressive 
agenda. You know, we also have to be forward thinking; we can't just 
settle with this opening salvo in what will be a protracted struggle to 
realign our economy in this Nation, and our voices are going to be 
imperative because so many have been left out of the economy that was 
driven by deregulation, that was driven by greed, that was driven by 
policies that excluded such a significant part of our human resource in 
this Nation.
  You know, patience is really going to be a virtue for a lot of us, 
and it's in short supply, unfortunately, because people are 
experiencing real pain in this current economy. But patience is going 
to be what's required as we recraft, reshape, recalibrate the economy 
in which we operate, and we now know that our economy is not just an 
American economy, but is an essential component of a global economy.

                              {time}  1915

  And as we make America stronger, there are going to be global 
implications in what we do and what happens with regards to the whole 
realignment of our market system.
  I want to make sure that there's always going to be a voice coming 
from our caucus that talks about human resource development. Human 
resource development. More productive Americans are in their skill and 
talent and ability, the stronger our Nation will be.
  So I would like to see us in the future, in the very near future, 
really look at how Community Development Block Grants can be utilized 
for rural and urban and suburban development. I know that it has been 
very successful in programs like the empowerment and enterprise zones 
of rural and urban communities. I think there may be a time within very 
short order where something similar will have to be engaged in order to 
make sure that we capture all of the human resource productivity that 
we can.
  Our productivity quotient has to really rise as a result of us 
stimulating our economy. And as we stimulate our economy and our 
companies begin to buzz again, as it begins to grow, we need to make 
sure that all of our talent, skill, and ability is applied, all 
shoulders to the wheel to, as you say, making the rising tide lift all 
ships.
  I yield back.
  Mr. ELLISON. Congresswoman Edwards, I'm sure you have some thoughts 
on this. As Congresswoman Clarke talked about building the resource 
development, the workforce development, the skill of our people, I'm 
really happy that the Green Jobs Act, which we authorized the last 
session of Congress at $125 million, has now been put through and 
appropriated at $500 million, which is a significant increase, and we 
have about $4 billion in job training and workforce development.
  That goes to the point you were making a moment ago, Congresswoman 
Clarke. We are investing in our people, and it is something we have to 
continue to do.
  Congresswoman Edwards, any thoughts on this?
  Ms. EDWARDS of Maryland. You know, this is really a terrific start, 
but it really is just a start. We are in the process now of creating 
and saving 3 million to 4 million jobs, but it's the beginning. And I 
think that we have a President, President Barack Obama, who understands 
that this is a start. Of course, we have to create jobs, stabilize our 
economy, get our credit and lending system functioning again so it 
works for our small businesses, so that it works for our students who 
are trying to get student loans, so that it really works for homeowners 
in this economy.
  But we have a lot of work to do. We have additional work to do. And 
our job in the Progressive Caucus, and I think the President would 
agree with this, is to challenge him to be the best President that he 
can be. I know that we can do that as a Progressive Caucus by focusing 
on the needs of working people, of focusing on bringing more people 
into low- and moderate-income housing, into reinvesting in our 
disinvested communities, and to making sure that people have health 
care that is quality, affordable, and accessible to all of us. These 
are things that we can do.
  We have to be smart and deliberate about it and we have to be very 
strategic about it, but I think that we have a President who's on the 
same page, and our job is to lay out an agenda that all of us can come 
around.
  I know that we can do that as a Progressive Caucus. I feel it and I 
hear it and I see it. You see threads of it in this recovery and 
reinvestment package that we passed today. You can see threads of a 
progressive agenda throughout this package that we need to build on 
over this next Congress.
  And so when I look, for example, at our push to expand low-income 
heating assistance, expand LIHEAP, what that does for us is also says 
we are going to invest in weatherization of some of our older homes. 
Many of these homes are occupied by our low-income families, occupied 
by our senior citizens, and we will do that, but we also create jobs in 
the process.
  So there are a number of elements of this reinvestment and recovery 
package that will get us to where we need to be in this current economy 
but will put us on a foot forward moving forward with this new 
President.
  Mr. ELLISON. Congresswoman Edwards, I want to thank you for pointing 
out that this stimulus package has been heavily influenced by the work 
of the Progressive Caucus. But for our efforts, it wouldn't be the 
great document that it is. Though it may not be all that we want it to 
be, it's much better than it would have been without our input.
  It's important for people to know that the role of the Progressive 
Caucus is to put forth a progressive agenda to help our leadership 
stake out a progressive policy, and if we are not pushing, if we are 
not agitating, if we are not arguing for that case, then the case 
simply won't be made.
  So it's critical that the Progressive Caucus come before the American 
people and talk about what we are doing, talk about what we are up to, 
but also we do some of the work that is our job as Members of Congress 
to do, which is to push that agenda right in here.
  Congresswoman Clarke.

[[Page H762]]

  Ms. CLARKE. When the American people called for change, Congressman 
Ellison, they were really calling for progress. We were stuck in a rut. 
The morale of your average, everyday citizen was being diminished with 
each and every hour that the Iraq war was raging, that the Dow Jones 
was dropping, that they were receiving letters about foreclosure at 
their doorsteps, as they were receiving pink slips from their former 
employers. I mean it was an all-time low.
  The one area where people saw sort of like a glimmer of hope was in 
the change in administration, a new leadership that spoke to progress, 
that spoke to the need to turn the page and get things going again.
  Today, our act on H.R. 1 was turning that page. It's the advent of 
something new, something progressive. As my colleague, Donna Edwards 
has said, it's sewing that thread together of innovation, of progress, 
of understanding the needs and the desires of the average, everyday 
American.
  These are not the wealthy people who can afford the lobbyists. These 
are not the wealthy people who can jet off to another location and put 
their sorrows behind them. These are the folks who wake up every 
morning and wonder, Will I have enough dollars left in my pocket to 
make sure that my children eat this weekend?
  So what we did today was we brought dignity back to those who were 
struggling and who have been left out of the equation of our common 
humanity for quite some time.
  Mr. ELLISON. Congresswoman Clarke, are you talking about those people 
who work so hard and struggle so much to make this country really go, 
that this Congress needs to respond to them when they need a hand? Are 
you talking about those people?
  Ms. CLARKE. Those are the people I'm talking about.
  Mr. ELLISON. Those people who are trying to wonder whether they need 
to put some cardboard in their shoes to go another couple of weeks or 
whether they can get some shoes, whether they can get lunch money for 
the children. Those are the folks you have got in mind?
  Ms. CLARKE. Those are the seniors who were just about to retire when 
the market went down and their 401(k)s went down the drain, who now 
have to choose between a mortgage payment and purchasing their 
medication.

  Mr. ELLISON. Right.
  Ms. CLARKE. Those people.
  Mr. ELLISON. So, the Progressive Caucus, that is who we are for. 
Because we know that the war makers and the big dogs, they have people 
who look out for them around here. They're paid to do so, as they wear 
their monogrammed shirts and fly their jets here. Sometimes they fly 
three different jets from the same industry here.
  But, Congresswoman Edwards, how do you feel about the people we are 
here to fight for?
  Ms. EDWARDS of Maryland. You know, we are fighting for those people 
every day. I'm am talking about working people. I'm taking about people 
who get up in the morning and they get on the public transportation, 
they get on the trains every morning, they ride the buses to work, and 
then they come home and take their children to the basketball game and 
soccer practice and sitting down and doing the homework, and they are 
struggling.
  And these are working people who are struggling in this economy. And 
then some people who had a job yesterday but don't have a job today. 
These are the people that we are fighting for, that the Progressive 
Caucus is fighting for.
  If the gentleman would continue to yield, I want to point out to you 
that I know that in my home State of Maryland--my State is just like a 
lot of States--where the budget of the State is being cut. In our case, 
it's being cut by about $2 billion this year because our State has to 
balance its budget.
  And so what we were able to do in this reinvestment and recovery 
package is to provide some help for the State so they don't have to cut 
vital services for people who work every single day. And I think that 
that is really important for the American people to know because we are 
out there fighting for them. And when it's all said and done, there 
will be those who will complain about this provision or that provision 
or other, but the reality is we have created jobs here. And we are 
going to protect and preserve those jobs and we are going to create 
better jobs for the future.
  It was because of a progressive voice in that fight, working with 
this President and this Congress and our leadership, making sure that 
we passed something that really will make a difference, not just in the 
lives of the people in my home State of Maryland, but some of those 
other States where the unemployment is skyrocketing to double-digit 
unemployment.
  Mr. ELLISON. If the gentlelady yields back, I'd just like to point 
out that on this chart that Mark Zandi noted--a conservative economist, 
quite frankly--in his study he showed that the revenue transfers to 
State governments have a pretty high multiplier effect of 11.36, which 
is pretty high.
  If you notice nonrefundable rebates, they're pretty low. Some of 
these things extend--the alternative minimum tax, that is very low. 
Less than one. Make income tax cuts expiring in 2010 permanent. That's 
extremely low. And reduce corporate tax rates. That's pretty low too.
  So if you really want to get the economy moving, if you want to help 
small business, help the average person, and help those States that you 
just mentioned a moment ago, Congresswoman, revenue transfers to State 
governments.
  If I may just point out, you mentioned your State, and I am glad you 
did, because it's important for people across all the States to know 
that we are in this thing together; Maryland, New York, Minnesota. We 
are in this thing together.
  In my State of Minnesota the impact of this recovery bill will be 
State fiscal relief in a significant amount, which is actually over $1 
billion, which is quite a lot of money. Title I education, $117 
million; special education--always fighting for every penny--$216 
million. Very happy to point out Workforce Employment Services, $19 
million. That is a lot of money. That makes a big difference.
  Weatherization. We like to get up to zero in Minnesota. If it got to 
be zero, it would be a heat wave in Minnesota. Weatherization is 
important for us. $210 million. A very important program.
  Of course, as you pointed out, when you lose your job and you lose 
your health care, so our Medicaid funding of $737 million is a 
significant amount of money. All told, Minnesota is going to be able to 
benefit $3.3 billion from the stimulus package. We have a State budget 
deficit of about $5 billion. It won't cover everything, but it's going 
to help an awful lot, and there will be vital services that will not be 
cut because the Federal Government, with the influence of the 
Progressive Caucus, responded to the needs of the people in a real way.
  Let me yield to the Congresswoman from New York.
  Ms. CLARKE. I'm just thinking about what a pressure valve this piece 
of legislation is for so many States. We can probably count the number 
of States that are currently not in deficit and not cutting services on 
both hands. This Nation is really rocked by the devastation of an 
economic downturn, like your State, like the State of Maryland, the 
State of New York.
  We were here just before our significant break before we came in for 
the new session to deal with the automobile industry. Prior to that, we 
did the TARP. The TARP for New York City and New York State was like 
saving and industry that was a free-fall in terms of being an economic 
engine not only for our city, not only for our State, but for our 
Nation.
  So I can really relate to what so many of my colleagues from across 
this Nation, whether they are from the Midwest, the far West, the 
Atlantic region, the Southwest, have been experiencing when 
manufacturing has been leaving all these years, when so many other 
industries have faltered and we were not there responsibly addressing 
those unemployment issues.
  This ripple effect has hit home for every single American. If you 
have not personally been touched by what is happening in this economy, 
you are not breathing on this earth right now. You either know someone 
who's been impacted or you are yourself have been impacted, whether 
it's your home

[[Page H763]]

being foreclosed on or it's that company that has left town and has not 
been replaced in any form or fashion.
  All of these issues are at the premium right now in everyone's minds, 
everyone's hearts, and everyone's pockets.

                              {time}  1930

  And so H.R. 1 to the rescue. We are here, and we have opened the door 
with the advent of something new, something progressive, and we are 
supporting it 110 percent.
  Mr. ELLISON. We have about 15 more minutes left in our hour, so start 
thinking about what we want to leave the folks with tonight. But I just 
want to point out that one of the progressive values that we share is 
that we have an inclusive vision; so that we don't engage in 
regionalism, we think about what all Americans need. And so we are 
concerned. When I see an unemployment number in New York at 7 percent, 
that sends chills through my spine because in Minnesota we have got 6.9 
percent, which is pretty much the same. And we look at Michigan really 
hurting.
  So we know that we need those workforce development dollars there to 
help get people trained. And the year before that they were at 7.4. So 
they have been hurting for a long time. And Rhode Island people are 
really taking a hit, and in North Carolina as well.
  One of our values as the Progressive Caucus is that we stand for the 
American people as a whole. And Congresswoman Edwards, again, here we 
are moving forward on this stimulus package, and we are going to 
continue over the course of the year to project a progressive vision 
and a progressive economy.
  I guess one of my questions to you is, how critical is it that we 
continue to keep up the struggle to project a progressive vision for 
our Congress and for our Nation?
  Ms. EDWARDS of Maryland. I thank the gentleman for yielding.
  I think that our job is to make certain that we project a vision that 
is about the future and that we ensure and say to the American people--
and I know that I am going to say this to the people in my home State 
of Maryland, in the Fourth Congressional District of Maryland--that 
every day I want to listen to them so that we are articulating here in 
this body, in this Congress, in this House of Representatives, what is 
important for them.
  When they get up in the morning, I want them to know that we are 
thinking about them. I want them to know that we want them to have a 
job, that we want their children to have an opportunity, that in 
retirement we want to make sure that they are safe and well taken care 
of, and that our senior citizens have the benefit of all those golden 
years that they have worked up to. And I know that we can do that. And 
we have to say to the rest of the world that we are leaders and not 
just followers.
  And when I think about a progressive vision for this country, I think 
that we didn't realize until the bubble burst out of our housing market 
how much of a deep impact that had on the rest of the world economy.
  And so we are in a global economy, but part of that carries a 
responsibility. It carries a responsibility for oversight, it carries a 
responsibility for accountability, and we have to make sure that we are 
investing our money in our families, in our working families, and in 
our communities. And I think if we have that kind of progressive 
vision, that we are going to be able to not just convince the President 
of the United States, but we are going to bring him along and the rest 
of our colleagues in that same direction.
  Mr. ELLISON. Thank you for yielding back.
  Let me say tonight that it is important for us to realize that this 
stimulus package really is emergency surgery. It is a crisis, and we 
are addressing a crisis. But when we talk about a progressive vision, 
we are not just talking about dealing with this crisis; we are talking 
about setting forth a new way of doing business, saying that the market 
will not be allowed to run amuck, that the market does not answer our 
questions, that the market has market failure, and that there is a 
critical and indispensable role of government. Government is not the 
problem, but when government doesn't monitor people at the SEC and at 
other agencies, then we see problems arising. It is a vision of saying 
that the government has a responsibility to make sure that our economy 
is fair, that our economy is inclusive, that everybody matters, that 
everybody counts, and people are just not going to be left out.
  It is a vision that says America should be at peace with the rest of 
the world, that we should pursue peace, we should promote peace, we 
should engage in dialogue and diplomacy and negotiation, and that war 
is the enemy of the poor. Not only is war dangerous to people on the 
business end of a missile, but it is the enemy of the poor in our 
country because it saps what poor people need.
  And we also understand our progressive vision is that our country, a 
caring nation, a loving nation, should be concerned about the health of 
its people. And because of that, we need to have universal health care. 
And one of the best things we could do for the auto industry is to have 
universal health care, and they would have a lot of problems taken off 
of their shoulders.
  So it is important to talk about that as we move into the final 
minutes of our special hour as we talk about a progressive vision that 
we are today dealing with a crisis, but that crisis is not the end of 
the story; that we are going to be moving into the future, and that we 
are going to be laying down a progressive vision for quite a long 
while.
  Let me yield to Congresswoman Clarke.
  Ms. CLARKE. I thank you very much.
  I just want to close by thanking you, Congressman Ellison, for 
organizing this special order with members of the Progressive Caucus 
this evening.
  I think we have pretty much driven home that we are at the advent in 
the passing of H.R. 1 of the remaking of America, as our President, 
Barack Obama, likes to state it; that the things that we need to do 
have just been putting in place fundamentals, sort of the railing on 
which our economy will roll out from in the next 18 months to the next 
4 years.
  There is a lot of work to be done, a lot of human resource 
development to take place, a lot of training, and a lot of stimulating 
of our economy. And I want to take my hat off to all of my colleagues 
who voted in favor today of supporting the Reinvestment Act that we 
passed today, the economic stimulus and Reinvestment Act. And I look 
forward to getting back to my district and working with the folks in 
the community to be able to make sure that they access and hold 
accountable this Congress for making sure that this measure works for 
them.
  We all have to be engaged in this for it to work. If anyone is 
sitting back thinking that someone is going to come and hand something 
to them, I think that they missed the whole point of why we voted for 
change. The change is that we are going to stay engaged, that we are 
going to ask for accountability in government, that we are going to 
demand it, and that we are going to see it come to fruition in the same 
way that we saw a new President become elected and installed.
  Mr. ELLISON. Thank you, Congresswoman Clarke. And I just want to say 
thank you for yielding back. You do a wonderful job. And I want you to 
know that it is an honor to be serving with you. I admire the work you 
do, and just stand in awe of the way you just go about fighting for the 
people.
  And the last word and the closing is going to be carried forth by our 
colleague, Donna Edwards. But before I yield back to her, I just want 
to say I was proud to vote for the American Recovery and Reinvestment 
Act. This bill creates 3 million to 4 million jobs, gives 95 percent of 
Americans an immediate tax cut; 75 percent will be spent in the first 
18 months. And this bill is designed to get America working again. I am 
proud to vote for it, and honored to be able to be here with the 
Progressive Caucus.

  With that, I yield to my distinguished colleague from Maryland, the 
gentlelady from Maryland.
  Ms. EDWARDS of Maryland. I thank the gentleman, and thank you for 
organizing this discussion. I too am very proud to have supported the 
American Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Act, H.R. 1.
  This is about creating jobs in this tough economy and moving us 
forward.

[[Page H764]]

And I know that, like many of my colleagues, I will be proud to go back 
home to Maryland and say to the folks in my State, we are bringing $782 
million in transportation and infrastructure funding to our State. I 
will be proud to say we are bringing $1 billion back to Maryland to 
help offset that horrible $2 billion deficit that we are facing. And to 
89,000 students, you are going to be able to get your average award of 
$3,000 for Pell Grant assistance. Those are the kinds of things: 
elderly nutrition programs, real job creations, investment in science 
and technology.
  I mean, our district houses some of the labs that are on the 
forefront of development in this country for science and technology and 
research, and we are going to be bringing dollars home to create jobs 
and make those investments for the future. And so like my colleagues 
around the States, we are going to go home to our folks and we are 
going to say we are bringing jobs back home.
  And then we will come back into this Congress, and we will work for 
working people. We will fight for working people. We will do that every 
single day. And as members of the Progressive Caucus, our job will be 
every day to come here and fight for the American people.
  And so it is an exciting time, but it is just a first step. And our 
job will be to work with this President to make sure that we take this 
first step into the next step for the American people.
  And we've created jobs, don't forget that. We have created jobs today 
for the American people, 3 million to 4 million jobs created or saved 
today for the American people.
  And I thank my colleague, and I yield the balance of my time.
  Mr. ELLISON. So let me just close it out and say that it has been a 
pleasure coming to you with this special order with a progressive 
message with my colleagues, Congresswoman Woolsey, Congresswoman 
Clarke, Congresswoman Edwards. And this has been the progressive 
message here. Thank you.
  I yield back the balance of my time.

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