[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 48 (Thursday, March 25, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2105-S2106]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     CONTINUING EXTENSION ACT OF 2010--MOTION TO PROCEED--Continued

  Mr. DURBIN. Madam President. I yield 5 minutes to the Senator from 
Vermont.
  Mr. SANDERS. I thank my friend for yielding.
  Madam President, the Senator from Oklahoma and the Senators who spoke 
before him are obviously right. This country has a record-breaking 
deficit, a huge national debt, and it is an issue that has to be dealt 
with. The debate is, how do we deal with it? Let me very briefly 
mention some of the factors--not all, but some of the factors, some of 
the policies that got us into the national debt situation we are in 
right now. Six years ago or so, President Bush decided to take us to 
war in Iraq. That war was misguided. It was a mistake. But in terms of 
the issue of tonight, that war was not paid for and will end up costing 
this country some $2 or $3 trillion. Many of my friends on the other 
side who now decry the national debt voted for that war without 
worrying about how it was going to be paid for.
  During the Bush era, despite the growing gap between the very 
wealthiest people and everybody else, our Republican friends, who then 
controlled the House, the Senate, and the White House, decided that the 
very richest people, millionaires and billionaires, needed huge tax 
breaks, hundreds of billions of dollars in tax breaks. That is what 
they wanted. I didn't want it. I didn't vote for it.
  During the Bush era, we passed a Medicare Part D prescription drug 
bill, a huge bill written by the insurance companies. We could have had 
a much better bill, if we negotiated prices with the pharmaceutical 
industry. We chose not to do that. A prescription drug Part D bill, 
unpaid for. That is what they voted for.
  After the bailout, after the collapse of Wall Street, President Bush 
and others came together and said: We ought to bail them out. Unpaid 
for. I brought an amendment on the floor to pay for that. It fell. 
Unpaid for.
  Ironically, within the next couple of weeks or months--I am not sure 
which--many of our friends are going to come back to the floor and say: 
We need to loosen up the estate tax. We need to give massive tax breaks 
to the wealthiest three-tenths of 1 percent of the population, the very 
richest people in the country. Estimates are it is going to cost $350 
billion over 10 years, giving it to the richest people.
  My point is, if we are going to deal seriously with our national debt 
and our deficit--enormous problems--let's be honest and let us get our 
priorities right.
  In terms of today's debate, let us not on the one hand say we are 
going to give massive tax breaks to millionaires and billionaires by 
loosening up on the estate tax, but today we cannot regard as an 
emergency situation extending unemployment compensation to people who 
are in desperate economic trouble.
  Since December of 2007, over 8 million Americans have lost their 
jobs. Sixteen-and-a-half percent of the American workforce is today 
either unemployed or underemployed. Here is the important point. Over 6 
million Americans have been out of work for more than 6 months, the 
highest on record. What we are experiencing now is not only 
unacceptably high unemployment but a level of long-term unemployment 
this country has never seen before. In other words, people are losing 
their jobs, but they are not getting them back, not in 2 weeks, not in 
4 weeks. Month after month people are wondering how they are going to 
get a job, how they will feed their family, how they will take care of 
basic needs. That is what we are talking about today.
  When we talk about deficit reduction and dealing with the national 
debt, in my view we don't do that by denying unemployment benefits to 
families in desperate need. I think we take into consideration the 
reality that the top 1 percent of this country now earns more income 
than the bottom 50 percent. And those very same people, the top 1 
percent, over the last number of years have been given huge amounts in 
tax breaks. We take into consideration the fact that as a nation, we 
are spending a very significant and growing amount of money on the 
military. There is study after study which indicates there are 
significant amounts of money that can be saved, if we take a hard look 
at military spending, including a number of weapons systems that are 
not designed to fight international terrorism but to continue the 
effort in the Cold War which no longer exists.

[[Page S2106]]

  It seems to me we have two issues we have to address. No. 1, how do 
we create the jobs this country desperately needs? How do we protect 
the most vulnerable people? And simultaneously, how do we address the 
deficit crisis and our national debt?
  I suggest now is the time to rethink the priorities that have existed 
for a number of years. Now is the time to ask the wealthiest people to 
start paying their fair share of taxes. Now is the time to take a hard 
look at all of our Federal agencies for waste and fraud and abuse but 
also including the military.
  The issue is not whether we deal with the national debt and our 
deficit. The question is, how we do it, and how we do it in a way that 
protects the middle class and some of the most vulnerable people in 
society.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Illinois.
  Mr. DURBIN. I thank the Senator from Vermont and those who are 
gathered this evening. This was such an important day. Some in this 
Chamber may have heard some cheering in the hall. I believe that 
signifies that the House of Representatives has finally passed the 
reconciliation bill which passed this Chamber earlier this afternoon. 
Now health care reform, with its improvements, is on its way to being 
signed by the President and becoming the law of the land. It is a day 
of great celebration for those of us who had the privilege and honor to 
vote for it but to participate as well in the difficult task of putting 
this bill together--a controversial bill; lots of people hate it; lots 
of people love it across America. Many of us believe it is an 
extraordinary improvement. It is progress in America. It will give 
families across America a fighting chance to get health insurance they 
can afford, to be able to fight the health insurance companies that 
turn them down when they need it the most.
  Thirty million Americans will have health insurance who don't have it 
today. It is going to give seniors on Medicare better assistance to pay 
for their prescription drugs. It is a plus in many directions.
  We left the euphoria and happiness of that moment on the floor, when 
they announced the vote of 56 to 43, and within minutes, we were told 
there is another battle. This time the Republicans have come to the 
floor and refused to extend unemployment benefits to those unemployed 
in America. The date that occurs is April 5. In State after State, 
hundreds and then thousands of people will see their unemployment 
checks stop. These are people who lost a job and they can't find one. 
We estimate there are five unemployed people for every available job. I 
have met with the unemployed in my State. They are desperate. They have 
tried everything they could think of. We think our economy is starting 
to turn but not quickly enough for them. Out of work for weeks, months, 
sometimes years, they have exhausted their savings. They are living 
literally hand to mouth. Some have lost their health insurance. The 
only thing that keeps them going, that keeps the lights on and the food 
on the table, is the unemployment check.
  The Republicans came to the floor today and said: Cut it off. They 
said cut it off, because they believe this is the moment and this is 
the issue to take a stand against the national deficit.
  Do we have a national debt that should concern us all? Of course. The 
deficit we have is growing because of the recession, unemployment, 
fewer tax revenues by the government, and we understand that. Should we 
deal with it? Of course. But it is interesting that these Republicans 
would take their stand on fiscal conservatism and deficit reduction 
when it comes to unemployment benefits.
  Twenty-four hours ago, Senator Gregg of New Hampshire, a Republican, 
floor manager for their side, offered an amendment on the floor to the 
reconciliation bill to pay for the compensation of doctors treating 
patients under Medicare. It added $65 billion to the deficit, and it 
was not paid for. Every Republican voted for it. I think it is a good 
thing to do. It is a policy we should support, because we want doctors 
to treat Medicare patients. But how can these same Republican Senators 
ignore the fact that they voted to do so last night and then come here 
tonight and say: Unemployment benefits for a month in America? That 
will cost $9 billion. It is time to take a stand against the deficit. 
Sixty-five billion last night, these same Senators voted to add to the 
deficit; $9 billion for the unemployed today, they say, is the straw 
that broke the camel's back.
  This is unfair and unfortunate. Here is what we know. Every dollar in 
an unemployment compensation check that goes to an unemployed person is 
spent directly into the economy. The CBO says there is no faster and 
better way to inject billions of dollars into the economy that 
translates into the purchase of goods and services, helping small 
businesses and creating jobs. For the question of economic development, 
unemployment compensation is the most valuable thing to do. What 
happens to these poor people when we cut off their unemployment 
compensation? I am not sure where they will go.
  Bill from Illinois writes: I have been unemployed as a steel salesman 
since June of 2009. I am sitting in the Naperville library, as I do 
every day, applying for jobs on line. And still no luck. I will be 
ruined financially if you stop my unemployment benefits. Please extend 
them.
  Elliot from Illinois writes: As a citizen of the United States and a 
U.S. Navy veteran, I cannot believe the Senate would let unemployment 
funding stop for the millions of people struggling to make ends meet. 
Just one unemployment check not processing will hurt thousands of 
people and, with the lack of life-supporting employment, will push a 
bunch of folks closer to the edge of foreclosure and other losses.
  I acknowledge this deficit and this debt and what we need to do about 
it. This issue is a defining issue for this Congress and this Nation. 
If we have reached the point that we will turn around and walk away 
from those who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own, if 
we will turn a blind eye to families who are doing without the basics 
of life, if we believe this is the best fiscal policy for America, then 
we have lost our way. We are a caring nation. We care for one another. 
We are a community, a community that reaches out, through the taxes we 
pay and the good deeds that many do, to help the less fortunate. Yet 
when it comes to unemployment benefits, the Republican Senators have 
said: This is where we make our stand. This is where we enforce our 
deficit.

  Well, I think they have taken off and created more victims in our 
economy at a time when so many have lost their jobs.
  I looked at the States represented by the Republican Senators who 
spoke earlier today. The Senator from Nebraska is fortunate in one 
respect. His State has an unemployment rate of 4.6 percent. The Senator 
from Oklahoma, he, too, is fortunate. His State has an unemployment 
rate of 6.7 percent. My State is up at 12 percent unemployment, and 
others such as Michigan are over 14 percent unemployment.
  This is a crisis in our State, and it is a crisis that will be made 
worse when these checks are cut off. I would urge my colleagues to view 
this unemployment benefit request as the emergency that it is. If 
nations can rise to the occasion of disasters--unanticipated 
calamities, natural disasters such as floods and hurricanes--if we can 
view those as emergencies, shouldn't we look at the hurricanes that 
have hit the lives of those unemployed Americans and be ready to stand 
by their side?
  I hope when we return after the break over Easter and have our chance 
to vote, we can finally bring forward enough moderate Republicans on 
that side of the aisle to join us and say: Yes, we need to fight the 
deficit, but let's not do it at the expense of the neediest people in 
America.
  Madam President, I yield the floor at this time and 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. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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