[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 23 (Thursday, February 5, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1616-S1617]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            STIMULUS--DAY 3

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, briefly, I didn't see the article the 
majority leader is referring to, but I will say again publicly today 
what I said publicly yesterday and privately to him as well. We are 
pleased with the way the amendment process is being handled. We have 
many additional amendments to be offered today.
  The majority leader said earlier in the week, and I certainly agree, 
that we know that the final vote will meet the 60-vote threshold. But 
regardless of what the article may have said, my view is we proceed as 
we did yesterday, get as many votes as we can in, and later in the day 
we can discuss what the endgame might be.
  Now, the effects of the economic crisis are inescapable. Every day we 
hear about some of America's most venerable companies slashing jobs. 
The longer we wait, the worse this crisis could become. But action 
simply for the sake of action is always unwise. What is needed is the 
right action. The stimulus plan that Democrats in the House and Senate 
have proposed is not the right action.
  First, it is too costly. Including interest, the proposal before us 
comes to a staggering $1.3 trillion, a figure that makes most people's 
head spin. It includes billions in wasteful spending and it increases 
permanent Federal spending. Let me say that again: This bill, which is 
supposed to be temporary, timely, and targeted, increases permanent 
Federal spending by nearly $300 billion, locking in bigger and bigger 
deficits every year.
  Apparently, the authors of this bill couldn't resist inserting scores 
of long-cherished pet projects. That is how you end up with $70 million 
for climate research, tens of millions to spruce up Government office 
buildings here in Washington, and $20 million for the removal of fish 
passage barriers in a stimulus package, as I indicated earlier, that 
was supposed to be timely, temporary, and targeted.
  The President said Sunday night we need to ``trim out things that are 
not relevant to putting people back to work right now.'' It seems some 
in Congress haven't been listening. The bill's remaining defenders say 
it contains a number of projects essential to our long-term economic 
health. But with millions of struggling Americans learning to live with 
less, Congress needs to resist the temptation to load this bill with 
unnecessary spending that doesn't create jobs or which only touch on 
the problems that demand long-term planning and serious thought.
  Yes, now is the time to act. But it is not the time to act foolishly. 
This week, Republicans have tried to improve this bill in a number of 
ways. One goal was to cut out the waste and bring down the total cost. 
So far, Democrats have rejected these efforts. Yesterday, they said no 
to cutting $25 billion from the bill. That used to sound like a lot of 
money, but in the context of this bill, it was a relatively paltry 
amount. They said no to turning off spending on newly created programs, 
and they said no to turning off spending once the economy recovers.
  In fact, throughout this entire debate, the two parties seem to have 
been guided by two different philosophies. The Democrats, it seems, 
decided on a random dollar amount of about $900 billion and have spent 
most of their time either defending it or adding to it. Republicans, on 
the other hand, have thought all along that what we needed to do was to 
identify the core problem first and then see how much money it would 
cost to fix it.
  In our view, and in the view of most economists, the root problem of 
the current crisis is housing--housing. It just so happens that fixing 
that problem would cost a lot less than $1 trillion. In his op-ed in 
this morning's Washington Post, the President wrote that in this debate 
we can ``place good ideas ahead of old ideological battles, and a sense 
of purpose above the same narrow partisanship.'' I couldn't agree more. 
But this bill doesn't do either one of those things.
  Republicans remain committed to working with the President and with 
our friends on the other side to address this crisis. We agree 
something must be done, but it will require a lot more

[[Page S1617]]

work. Today, Republicans will present in greater detail our ideas for 
making this stimulus work. Our friend and colleague, Senator McCain, is 
here now to explain his proposal.
  Mr. President, with that, I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Montana.
  Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, I know the Senator from Arizona is eagerly 
awaiting the opportunity to offer his amendment. I only have a couple 
of words.

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