[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 80 (Tuesday, May 25, 2010)]
[House]
[Pages H3802-H3807]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  2000
                     THE ROAD TO ECONOMIC RECOVERY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 6, 2009, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Tonko) is recognized 
for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.
  Mr. TONKO. Madam Speaker, we are going to use the time made available 
to us in the majority to speak this evening about contracts and about 
choices--about the change in the direction that this Nation is 
pursuing.
  It is important for us, I believe, Madam Speaker, to talk about the 
changed order of policies, the new direction, the opportunities that we 
believe are essential if we are going to grow this economy after having 
witnessed what many would suggest to have been the worst financial 
crisis since the Great Depression. It took a turnaround in thinking. It 
took new leadership. It took a transition from the failed policies of 
the past.
  The Bush recession, the Republican policies that dominated 
Washington, brought us into economic woes. It brought this country into 
a situation that found people in the ranks of the unemployed and 
brought the American economy to its knees--as I indicated, the worst 
since the Great Depression.
  What I think is important to note is that, when we talk about 
choices, when we talk about contrasts, it is looking at where the 
allegiances lie. With the Republican Party, it was siding with big 
banks, with Wall Street, with the big oil companies, with credit card 
companies, certainly with the insurance industry, and in making certain 
that those special interests were their priorities.
  Well, the turnaround here is an alignment with the American worker. 
Rather than with special interests, the Democrats have aligned with the 
American worker. Rather than with big oil companies and big banks, the 
Democrats have aligned with American families. Certainly, when it comes 
to the special interests that were held precious by the Republican 
leadership of the past, we here, as Democrats, have aligned with small 
business and in seeing that as the springboard to a recovery, in seeing 
that as the backbone of our economy. So there is a difference. There is 
a change of heart. There is a policy enhancement that finds us moving 
in a new direction.
  What has that meant? I believe that one needs merely to look at the 
statistics out there. Let's look at the facts.
  This chart here will show us in very stark contrast where we were 
headed with the economy over the last several years. The red lines, the 
bar graphs of red, will show us that severe drop, that constant loss in 
jobs, in payrolls, across this country.
  Then, finally, a change in direction with the blue bars suggests the 
turnaround, the investment through policy that has enabled us to begin 
the climb upward. This formation of red and blue will show the sharp 
contrast. It will show the choices--the priority shift, if you will--
where we have now begun to climb forward, where we are now experiencing 
absolute job growth.
  Since December of 2009, this Nation has experienced some 573,000 jobs 
created, 84 percent of which are in the private sector category. That 
has been a goal to enable us to grow the economy, to create and retain 
jobs and to add to that private sector column. This goal is beginning 
to be achieved.
  Now, one needs to recall that the changes here in our economy are not 
going to come nearly as quickly as we would like, because the problem, 
the dilemma, the siding with special interests, occurred over a number 
of years. So, with the change of leadership with the Obama 
administration, with the leadership in the House and, certainly, in the 
United States Senate, we have been able to march forward in a way that 
allows us to speak with dignity toward the American worker, to speak 
with compassion toward the American family, and to speak with 
productivity and growth toward the small business community.
  How do we do that?
  Well, there are a number of measures that have been proposed and 
passed here in the House, in both Houses, and in some cases that have 
been signed by the President. We are still in the midst of unfinished 
business, but we are continuing to work on a number of items. What we 
have currently is in this last bit of recovery where we are seeing that 
over one-half million jobs added to the picture are in sharp contrast--
again, contrast and change here--to the 8 million jobs lost through the 
course of the Bush recession. That rivals--in fact, it surpasses--the 
statistics, the job losses, from the Great Depression.
  It is a change in thinking where we embrace science and technology, 
where we look toward the strengths of an innovation economy, one that 
can use the American intellect and that can embrace the intellectual 
capacity of this Nation to not only advance research and development 
and basic research, which translates into jobs, but to also create new 
products, new discoveries, innovation that leads to businesses, that 
leads to production, that leads to job security and job growth, 
oftentimes, again, in the private sector.
  So it was this stewardship of our economy arriving on the scene, 
inheriting a gross bit of policy that drove us deep into a recession, 
that found an impact not only on American workers and on the budgets of 
American households but on house sales and on all sorts of investments 
that need to be part of a robust economy. All of these were dulled. The 
competitiveness of business was dulled simply by this recession.
  Again, the contrasts and the change, the choices.
  As we approach an election this November for Members of this House, 
which will be a report card on the progress made to date, it is 
important to note that there is a changed order of thinking--the choice 
to be one of tremendously stark contrast, one that will look at hope, 
inspired simply by the opportunity to land a job. Now, there are still 
millions of people out of work. We know that. We are not happy yet with 
the point at which we've arrived. It is not our final destination, but 
it is certainly a climb in the right direction, and it is a climb out 
of what

[[Page H3803]]

was a very low, low pit in the Nation's economy.

  Let's look at the contrasts.
  Again, there are those who would have chosen and did choose to align 
with Wall Street, with big banks, with credit card companies, with Big 
Oil, with the insurance industry, with special interests. They had 
their day and made our day extremely gloomy and dark, made our economy 
bleak. However, there are those who align with American households, 
with America's families, with the hardworking middle class, with small 
business, with senior populations, most of whom are looking to enjoy 
those golden years and who have been threatened by this crash that has 
hurt us so badly.
  Let's look at some of those opportunities that we've had here in the 
House--opportunities to work with the President, opportunities to work 
with the leadership in the House of Representatives.
  We had an opportunity called the American Recovery and Reinvestment 
Act. Many would like to suggest that it should have been avoided, that 
we should not have invested through what are economically difficult 
times. Well, a panel of a cross-section of economists, from very 
conservative thinking to more liberal thinking, in advising the 
President, the White House--the President's administration--and in the 
panel's advising both Houses, both parties in each of the Houses as to 
where and how to recover the economy, advanced the notion that 
investing in these difficult times was essential, investing in a way 
that found a growth of some 2.8 million jobs to date with the American 
Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
  That includes individuals in the public sector, which includes our 
educators, teachers, the school system, and support personnel. It 
includes public safety, which includes our police officers, our 
firefighters, who are essential to the quality of life of communities. 
Educators are essential to growing the workforce of tomorrow. These 
were important measures, again, equating to some 2.8 million jobs that 
are part of that recovery--keeping Americans working, keeping services 
provided.
  More than a third of the package of the American Recovery and 
Reinvestment Act came in the form of tax cuts for 98 percent of 
America's workers and her small business community, so there were 
advancements there of the largest historic tax cut in this Nation's 
history. For that income strata, it is a part of this package that is 
easily documented and that should be touted as a form of relief that 
engaged this economy. It allowed for people to circulate the dollars in 
their regional economies and, again, to see the climb out of this 
difficult and very deep and painful recession.
  It also allowed, as an American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, for us 
to play catchup with investments that were long overdue--investments in 
the area of clean energy, which is where this Nation looks to advance 
and needs to advance the concepts of energy security; in the 
enhancement of energy independence; and, yes, in national security. For 
as we reach to experts and their opinions, many suggest that our 
gluttonous dependency on fossil-based fuels not only endangers our 
environment but finds us shipping hundreds of billions of dollars per 
year to unfriendly and unstable governments that will oftentimes, as we 
put those American consumer dollars into these foreign treasuries of 
unfriendly governments, utilize these dollars against our troops in the 
Middle East.
  Don't take our word for it. Take the word of those who are part of 
the tool of Veterans for American Power. They recently traveled to New 
York State, which was the only stop made by the tour of our veterans 
who defend this Nation's liberties and her principles. These veterans 
made a stop in New York State. It was our fortune to host them in 
Schenectady, New York, part of the 21st Congressional District, where 
we were joined by vintages of veterans, including our World War II 
vets, who were the oldest in the clustery. They listened intently to 
the message, and the message was this:
  We witnessed daily on the battlefield what was happening. Dollars 
were invested into the treasuries and then spent to train the Taliban 
that would then go to harm and threaten our American troops. So they 
said that, if we do not resolve this climate change/global warming 
issue, the battle they see out there will be enhanced because, with 
flooding and drought and, therefore, famine, we will have a weaker 
people around the globe with lesser and lesser available land--a 
perfect storm if you will--that will then create the chances and will 
enhance the situation of terrorist activity. As they look for less 
available land with a weakened people, it enhances that concept. So 
they said we witnessed the destruction and the devastation to our 
troops, funded by our sending dollars into the treasuries of these 
unfriendly nations.
  The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act allows us to break away 
from those concepts, from that thinking. It allows for a new mindset. 
It takes projects from the back burner to the front burner. It allows 
us to invest, as we have, in a clean energy economy with the Recovery 
Act, enabling us to talk about smart grids, smart thermostats, smart 
metering. It is an investment in our transportation and distribution 
system--the artery and veins of how we wheel electrons to the workplace 
and to the homeplace.
  That is part of the Recovery Act so as to invest in a way that grows 
jobs in research, that grows jobs in trades over to Ph.D.'s. It goes on 
and on with broadband opportunities for our communities that are 
economically distressed or that are rural in nature or that are remote 
in location. It allows for us to invest in education, with technology 
in the classroom, to stretch opportunities for our Nation's students. 
It allows us to invest in health care with technology introduced into 
record keeping imaging and in making certain that mistakes and 
unnecessary duplications are avoided.

                              {time}  2015

  So that is one investment that we made here in the House. We had a 
choice. The President placed it before the House. Democrats said yes. 
Republicans said no. And repeatedly, the contrast, the choices, the 
differences that need to be understood by the public out there, are 
what we are talking about here this evening.
  I am joined by a fellow freshman who has an outstanding record in the 
State of California. He was a State leader there, knowledgeable, 
extremely knowledgeable on insurance issues and small business issues, 
and a leader extraordinaire.
  This evening we are joined by the gentleman from California, 
Representative Garamendi. I welcome you, Representative. Share with us 
your thoughts on change and contrast.
  Mr. GARAMENDI. I will, and thank you very much for this discussion of 
what is one of the most important national security issues facing this 
Nation, which is our energy policy. It is a situation in which we are 
finding about $1 billion a day of our money is being transferred 
offshore to people and countries who are really not our friends at all. 
So the American energy policy is crucial to national security. We need 
to break our addiction to oil. And you are bringing out not only the 
necessity of breaking that addiction to oil and reducing the amount of 
money we are sending to very dangerous places in the world, but you are 
talking about creating the jobs of the future.
  Now, I represented California. I was the lieutenant Governor there, 
and throughout the State of California we are looking to the green 
economy as being the next great opportunity.
  We talk about Silicon Valley, and certainly 30 or 40 years ago the 
move to computers and silicone chips and all of those things did create 
a huge industry. Now, what is the next step? Everyone in Silicon Valley 
says the next step is the green economy, and the venture capital 
community, the scientific community, the research is all moving to the 
green economy.
  We see it in my own district. The biggest wind farms in California 
are in my district, in the Montezuma Hills and Solano County and the 
Altamont Pass. Those are the industries of the future, and as we move 
to those green economies, we free ourselves from oil.
  It is a huge issue. You so correctly pointed out that the stimulus 
program, the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act, pushed us in that 
direction by providing research dollars. The biggest increase in 
research in the last 12 years has occurred as a result of that stimulus 
program.

[[Page H3804]]

  We have another piece of legislation that was on this floor last 
week, and it was the COMPETES Act, which is the next step in giving us 
the opportunity in America and in California to compete internationally 
with science, research, and the educational system that we need to have 
those engineers and scientists and technicians educated.
  Unfortunately, right here on this floor last week the Republicans put 
forth a motion to reconsider that gutted that legislation, took away 
half of the potential money and stopped it cold in its tracks. It was 
one of the worst situations I have seen. Every other business group, 
the American chamber of commerce, all said we have to have that piece 
of legislation, yet the Republican Party, for pure political reasons, 
stalled that legislation, derailed it.
  We are working hard to put it back on, because this is the future of 
America. We cannot any longer be held hostage by those countries that 
control our oil supply in the Middle East, in Venezuela, and even in 
the Gulf of Mexico. We now know how risky it is even in our own Gulf to 
rely upon oil. We need these new sources of energy.
  The next step is going to occur this week when we vote on the 
American Jobs and Closing Corporate Tax Loopholes legislation. That 
bill is going to be up on the floor of this House this week. What it 
does is to provide a very significant amount of funding for small 
businesses, increasing the Small Business Administration loan 
potential. It provides funding for research for green technologies. It 
provides tax credits and subsidies so we can advance the green 
industries, so that future jobs of this Nation are going to be 
advanced.
  I know what is going to happen. The Republican Party on that side of 
the room is going to do everything they can to stop this critical piece 
of legislation, 250,000 summer jobs for youth that are otherwise going 
to be on the street causing trouble.
  Mr. TONKO. Representative Garamendi, I believe you are citing yet 
another contrast we can feel is coming in the near future. But we can 
even point to history, just recent past history about the Wall Street 
reform package that came before the House, yet another contrast, yet 
another choice that becomes very clear in terms of the behavior 
patterns here to the American people.
  The Wall Street reform legislation gave us a golden opportunity to 
fix what is broken on Wall Street, to deal with consumer protection 
when it comes to predatory lending, when it came to addressing 
executive bonuses and salaries, when it came to providing a watchdog in 
the equation.
  We are joined by another colleague, another freshman in the House who 
is yet another powerful voice. It is just a great class to work with. 
As a fellow freshman, I am enjoying this first term in Congress, 
because we see fresh thinking, we see soundness of advocacy.
  We are joined by the gentleman from Ohio, Representative Driehaus, 
who has been banging away at reforms, and again speaks to the contrast, 
the change, the change in thinking that I think aligns up a very sharp 
choice as we move toward this fall's campaign activity.
  Mr. DRIEHAUS. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from New 
York for his leadership on this issue.
  When we talk about the economy, obviously clean energy is a critical 
piece of this. Wall Street reform is critical to making sure we don't 
repeat the mistakes that were made.
  But oftentimes as I am sitting in that chair and you are sitting in 
that chair, you hear Republican after Republican after Republican come 
down to the floor and tell the American people that the sky is falling; 
that this is the worst economy, and we are still in that recession; 
that people can't find jobs; that the Recovery Act isn't working.

  So I thought perhaps I would share with our audience not what you and 
I think and not what the Republicans have to say when they come down to 
the floor, but what other people are saying about the economy today, 
because there has been a lot of dispute as to the impact of the 
stimulus, of the American Recovery Act, as we passed it, what was it 
now, just over a year ago.
  So let me tell you what has happened in that year. Just one year 
later the numbers speak for themselves. U.S. consumer confidence rose 
in April, reaching its highest level since September 2008. GDP grew for 
the third straight quarter, 3.2 percent. Consumer spending is up for 
the sixth straight month, surpassing pre-recession levels. 
Manufacturing activity increased for the ninth straight month at the 
fastest rate in nearly 6 years. Pending home sales are up for the fifth 
straight month, a 5.3 percent jump in just the last month, largely 
attributed to the tax credit for first-time home buyers that was 
included in the stimulus. Factory orders increased by the largest 
amount in more than 9 years, and car sales were up by 20 percent, 
according to The Wall Street Journal.
  According to Market Watch, this is what they had to say. Hiring has 
increased in all 4 months so far in 2010, reversing nearly 2 straight 
years of job losses after the recession that began in December 2007, 
according to The New York Times.
  This is unambiguously a strong report for growth implications, James 
O'Sullivan, chief economist at MF Global said. It adds to the evidence 
that the pickup in growth is leading to a clear-cut pickup in 
employment. It is very clear there has been a bounce here and momentum 
has been up, according to CNNmoney.com, another sign the recovery in 
the U.S. economy is taking hold.
  According to the AP, clearly companies have found a newfound 
confidence in the future of the economic recovery on the part of their 
business prospects, said Joel Naroff, president of Naroff Economic 
Advisors. The broad-based job gains are an indication that businesses 
are feeling more comfortable about expanding their workforces.
  According to Bloomberg, companies such as General Electric are 
boosting staff as sales improve, leading to income gains that may spur 
consumer spending and more hiring.
  There is no doubt that the economy is recovering. There is no doubt 
that the stimulus that we voted on, that we infused into the economy, 
not only shortened the length of the recession, but shortened the 
severity of the recession.
  But I think it is worthwhile to explore, because you brought up 
regulatory reform. We know the Senate recently passed their version of 
the bill, a bill that we passed last December. But I think it is 
important to take people back, take people back to where we were during 
the Bush administration and what was happening.
  The former Congresswoman from northern Ohio, Stephanie Tubbs Jones, 
who passed away, Representative Tubbs Jones repeatedly came to this 
floor and sought predatory lending legislation to be heard on this 
House floor. It was denied her in 2000, in 2001, in 2002, in 2003, in 
2004, in 2005, and in 2006.
  In the meantime, Ohio was experiencing the worst foreclosure crisis 
that we have seen in generations, due in large part to the predatory 
lending activity that we were seeing on the part of brokers, on the 
part of out-of-town financial institutions.
  What was enabling this? Well, we have come to find out what was 
enabling this. It was the mortgage-backed securities on Wall Street. It 
was the credit default swaps that backed up the mortgage-backed 
securities. It was the collateralized debt obligations. It was all of 
these fancy derivative products, none of which were being regulated.
  They were being rated by the rating agencies hired by the same 
financial institutions that put the products together. So investors 
were purchasing these products, yet they didn't know what the 
underlying risk was.
  So what happened? Well, I will tell you what happened. Because there 
was lax regulation, because the Bush administration and the SEC didn't 
look at these various securities and the various derivatives, they were 
shifting the risk away from the local markets. So in the past, when you 
would have to go to your local financial institution, you would have to 
go to the savings and loan and you would have to show proof of 
employment, you would have to show proof of income, and then the bank 
would offer you a loan, and you would share the risk. The bank would 
then take that mortgage paper and hold on to it. It would be part of 
their long-term investment portfolio.

[[Page H3805]]

  That didn't happen anymore. What we saw was that as soon as that 
mortgage was closed, it would be immediately sold on to a secondary 
market. That would then be bundled into these mortgage-backed 
securities. So no longer was there any risk at the close of the deal.
  So what did that incentivize? You had people closing as many deals as 
they possibly could to whoever walked in the door at the highest rates 
they could possibly get, putting people that shouldn't have qualified 
for loans into bad loans destined to fail. That is what was contained 
in most mortgage-backed securities. That is what those credit default 
swaps were backing up, and that is why it was a house of cards ready to 
collapse.
  Where were the regulators? Where was the Republican leadership, when 
so many times Democrats came to the floor and said we needed to crack 
down on this behavior? Well, the mortgage bankers were supporting the 
Republican leadership. They didn't want to see change. They were making 
handsome profits on Wall Street.
  But finally we have an opportunity. Finally we have an opportunity 
after this crisis, knowing that it led to the greatest recession in our 
lifetime. Finally we have an opportunity to do something about it, and 
that is Wall Street reform. That is what we passed in the House. That 
is what we passed in the Senate. That is what the Republicans are now 
standing in the way of.
  Mr. TONKO. You are so very right. The gentleman from Ohio outlined 
the greed that was allowed to take over because there was no watchdog 
in the equation. Tonight, in this Special Order hour, we are sharing 
with the American public the sharp contrast, the change in direction, 
the choices that exist out there in terms of, do we pursue this course 
and climb out of this recession and continue along the path of 
progress, or do we go back into the Bush recession era and go to those 
choices where we cater to these special interests?

                              {time}  2030

  When we talk about these bank outcomes, with this investment 
financial community and all of the woes that accompanied it, we're 
talking about everyday people who perhaps live paycheck to paycheck and 
go to work and are proud of the living that they earn. This is the sort 
of community that got impacted, homeowners who lost their homes, 
retirees who had relied upon these savings and the growth of these 
savings upon which to retire, totally evaporating from their 
surroundings.
  Looking at small businesses not being able to have credit lines 
available because the community banks were impacted by the big banks, 
this is an alignment with the special interest community, from big 
banks to Big Oil to insurance companies, to the credit card companies. 
And the gentleman from California is wanting to jump in here. I think, 
you know, the choice is very clear to me.
  Mr. GARAMENDI. It's very, very clear, Mr. Tonko, and thank you so 
very much for pointing out that there's a dichotomy. There are two 
different views about what America needs to do. The Republican view, as 
articulated by Mr. Driehaus, is one of hands off, let the big boys do 
whatever they're going to do. We saw the result of that, the deepest 
recession since the Great Depression occurred because of a lack of 
regulation and the notion that somehow the marketplace would take care 
of itself. Well, it took care of the economy of the world.
  We need that regulatory system in place, and we're going to see it in 
the next week to two weeks, whether the Republicans are going to stand 
for reining in Wall Street or letting it rip once more.
  We know where we came from. We did pass a bill in December. I was 
fortunate enough to be here. The Senate has now acted with just a 
couple of Republican votes in support. Now it's going to be back. We'll 
see.
  In this week, however, we have another opportunity to see where we 
stand, where the Republicans stand. This is the American jobs and 
closing corporate tax loopholes and bringing jobs back home. I want to 
go to Wal-Mart some day and see ``Made in America'' on the things I 
buy. I've seen enough ``Made in China.'' I want to see ``Made in 
America.'' And we can do that.
  And this piece of legislation that we're going to be voting on this 
week, the American jobs and ending corporate tax loopholes for those 
corporations that have sent the jobs overseas, right now those 
corporations have a tax break when they send American jobs offshore. 
Enough of that. We're going to bring that back.
  And we're going to get some of our money back from Wall Street 
because we're going to raise the taxes on those Wall Street barons that 
have ripped this country off to a fare-thee-well.
  You take a look--one more little fact before I turn it back to you, 
Mr. Tonko, is that in the last days of the Bush administration, in the 
very last days of the Bush administration, when it was obvious that the 
entire financial institution of this Nation and the world was 
collapsing, Bush came forward with what became known as the TARP 
program, Troubled Asset Relief Program. That turned over some $700 
billion to the financial industry. About $400 billion of that went 
directly to Wall Street. What did they do with that money?
  I can tell you one thing they did not do. With all that money they 
received, they reduced the number of loans and the amount of loans that 
they made to small businesses on Main Street.
  Now, the business banks on Main Street, the community banks, actually 
increased their loans, even though they got less than 18 percent of the 
money; 81 percent of the money went to the big banks. They reduced 
their lending to small businesses; 18 percent went to the small banks. 
They increased.
  So what we're doing in this bill is shifting the direction. We're 
shifting the support to the small banks, and we're going to build up 
small businesses.
  Mr. TONKO. Well, I think the contrast is clear. You know, when it 
came to whether you want a watchdog in the equation, when it comes to 
Wall Street behavior, Democrats in the House say yes. Republicans say 
no.
  Do you want to have consumer protection for the general public out 
there that invests? The Democrats say yes. Republicans say no.
  Mr. GARAMENDI. Now that's in the bill, the consumer protection.
  Mr. TONKO. As these instruments were invented to circumvent 
regulation, the Democrats have said yes, we're concerned about that. We 
want to fix it. Republicans say no. The vote was clear. No to Wall 
Street reform.
  You look at the GDP growth. You look at the changes that have come 
since the first quarter of 2009. We were hitting a job loss that was 
incredibly difficult, nearly 750,000 jobs lost per month. Lately, 
187,000 jobs increase.
  We talked earlier about December 2009 forward. In the last 4 months, 
84 percent growth of the private sector from those over one-half 
million jobs; 573,000 jobs created. So the GDP is improving.

  The household income lost $17.5 trillion over the last 18 months of 
the Bush Presidency. Now 60 percent recovered, some $6 trillion 
recovered. And it goes on and on and on.
  And even with the tax situation, I know that Representative Driehaus 
is concerned about the tax situation. The tax cut that was part of the 
Recovery and Reinvestment Act was a part of it, but there are tax cuts 
galore. And the gentleman from Ohio, I believe, wants to address that 
factor.
  Mr. DRIEHAUS. And the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the 
largest single tax cut for middle income families in the United States.
  Mr. GARAMENDI. Ever.
  Mr. DRIEHAUS. And it's pretty clear to me that the Republican Caucus 
wants to take us back to the failed policies of the Bush 
administration, the exact same failed policies that brought us to the 
worst recession we've seen since the Great Depression. And they do it 
using scare tactics. They go out to the American people and suggest 
that we're raising their taxes.
  Well, I was struck, as many people were struck, by the headline in 
USA Today on May 11. May 11: ``Tax bills in 2009 at lowest level since 
1950.'' Since 1950.
  Now, you might ask, where does this come from? Well, it comes from 
the Bureau of Economic Analysis, where they say, Federal, State and 
local taxes, including income, property, sales and other taxes, 
consumed 9.2

[[Page H3806]]

percent of all personal income in 2009, the lowest rate since 1950. The 
lowest overall tax rate since 1950.
  On average, though, the tax rate paid by all Americans, rich and poor 
combined, has fallen 26 percent since the recession began in 2007. That 
means a $3,400 annual tax savings for a household paying the average 
national rate and earning the average national household income of 
$102,000.
  Every once in a while, the facts get in the way of the arguments 
being made by the Republicans because, time and time again, they will 
come down to the floor and talk about how the taxes are going up for 
middle-income Americans. But the proof is far different.
  You know, I know that, through the stimulus package, we lowered 
taxes. And according to reports all across America, the economists 
agree with us that these are the lowest tax rates since 1950.
  So I think, when you talk about the stimulus, and the Republicans 
often say, we need to be putting money back in the hands of the 
American taxpayer, that's exactly what we did. That is exactly what we 
did in the stimulus, and it's reflected in the tax rates
  Mr. TONKO. And I think the results here are driven by a number of 
things, choices, contrasts. The choice here was to put American 
families, American workers, small business, as a high priority. No more 
alignment with Big Oil, big banks, insurance companies, credit card 
companies.
  Let's drive a benefit, let's drive the focus for America's 
hardworking families across this country; 98 percent of Americans were 
part of that tax cut that was part of the Recovery and Reinvestment 
Act; 98 percent of Americans and small businesses, a tremendously 
strong statistic, a contrast to the behavior before, the decade before, 
which found two wars off-budget. Let the credit card cover that, I 
guess. Tax cuts for the highest income brackets, off-budget. A deal 
with the pharmaceutical company, Medicare part D, which suggests that 
Medicare paid for a part of the program, when we know seniors, 
oftentimes retirees, dug into their pocket to pay for pharmaceutical 
costs.

                              {time}  2040

  So we come up with a health care reform measure to which Republicans 
said ``no.'' Contrast again, Democrats say ``yes.'' We make certain 
pharmaceutical costs are covered. We make certain that deductibles and 
copays are taken out of the picture for our Medicare-eligible 
population.
  There are huge contrasts here, siding with people who really make 
America's economy work. They invest their money on basic core needs. 
They work paycheck to paycheck and then invest in the community. So 
when we had an opportunity here to further grow opportunity for this 
country and for people, we said ``yes'' to student loan reform, said 
``yes'' to community college investment. Republicans said ``no.''
  All of these activities, all of this legislation, all of these 
improvements, all of this sensitivity, all of this fairness is equating 
to a resurgence in the economy. Because what is it? The large, broad 
middle class that needs to be fairly treated in public policy terms and 
budgeting are now being able to have more dollars available. The GDP 
tells the story. The household income situation, the graph that we had 
here last week talked about trillions of dollars, $17.5 trillion of 
household income lost in the last 18 months of the Bush Presidency. 
That Bush recession drained American households. And now, since the 
beginning of '09, 30 percent of that has been recovered. Some $6 
trillion has been recovered.
  We're not stopping there. We're going to continue to go. The choice 
here is, based on the contrast, very clear. Do we continue along the 
path of progress or do we, as the President said a few days ago, give 
back the keys to the people who drove the car into the ditch and it was 
a painful measure to pull the car out of the ditch?
  Mr. DRIEHAUS. I think it's important to note, though, that we didn't 
just stabilize the economy, we didn't just keep it from continuing to 
go into the ditch, we didn't just stop the recession. We also laid the 
foundation for future growth. I think our colleague from California was 
mentioning this earlier, and I think this is really important for all 
of us to understand.
  When we talk about the future economy, it's an economy of knowledge 
and it's an economy where there is investment in new energy 
technologies, where there is investment in energy efficiency, where 
there is investment in health care IT. There are such huge 
opportunities for all of us in these areas.
  I know in Ohio, the Governor was just down in Cincinnati the other 
day talking about all of the energy companies wanting to come to Ohio 
and take advantage of the investments being made in new energy 
technology, much of that coming from the stimulus as well as funding 
coming from the State of Ohio.
  I know when I went out in Cincinnati to a foundry where they used to 
work with steel and they built steel rolls, they have now changed their 
technology, realizing that that same steel, that same fabrication, 
those same talents and skills can be used to make the gears for 
windmills. They see into the future. They get it. And we are laying the 
foundation for the future growth of this economy.
  Mr. GARAMENDI. The gentleman from Ohio just touched on something that 
is really a serious issue, and I want to just drive home, because you 
said something that I want to take back to California. As I said 
earlier, we have some of the biggest wind farms in the Nation. Texas 
has done some that are a little bit bigger, but I was out touring there 
with a couple of the companies that are building those things.
  I said, ``Well, this is interesting. Where is it made?'' It turns out 
that the tower, steel tower, was made in Korea. Yet just across the 
river 20 miles away is a Korean company's steel mill that could have 
been made in California, but instead they shipped it in from Korea. The 
big blades and the gears in the wind turbines all have been made 
overseas. And I told the company, ``Enough. You will have no more 
support from me for one more wind turbine in this area until you start 
buying America.'' They said, They don't make it in America.
  Mr. Driehaus, you and I need to get together and I need to know where 
those gears are, because I'm going to go back to California and tell 
them, I know where you can get a gear. That may be one one-hundredth of 
this machine, but by God you are going to make it in America and you 
are going to build it in America because, one more thing, our tax 
dollars are subsidizing that industry. And if our tax dollars are going 
to be used to subsidize any industry, they are going to be made in 
America. And we are going to help out Ohio by making that happen.
  I've had enough of these jobs being shipped offshore by corporations 
that get a tax break, get a subsidy from the American taxpayers so that 
they can send our jobs overseas. Enough. And this week we are going to 
see the kind of division that you talked about, Mr. Tonko, because the 
Republicans are going to be held accountable. Are they going to stand 
with the corporations that have been shifting jobs overseas and 
continuing that tax loophole? Or are they going to stand with the 
American public and bring the jobs back to America and close those 
loopholes?

  Mr. TONKO. If my colleagues would yield, the colloquy you developed 
reminds me that the change in thinking here, the policies initiated and 
the change in direction, I think it was Fortune magazine in its April 
16 issue said, the economy has taken a sharp U-turn, and they're 
applauding the efforts of achievement in this short time frame to date.
  What I think has been sparked here is a sense of optimism. We see the 
confidence growing. And so that can't help but grow the economy and get 
a fresher feel. Because people were weighted down by this recession, 
which was extremely painful and long. What it does also I think is tap 
into the pioneer spirit that is always in the DNA of this country. It 
is part of our fabric as a people, as a society. We see it time and 
time again.
  Throughout the course of history, this Nation has stories that are 
replete with the sense of courage and determination and optimism. I 
represent a district in Upstate New York that is the host to the Erie 
Canal bed that gave birth to a westward movement, an industrial 
revolution that grew the United States and impacted the world. Because 
as we developed this necklace of communities called mill towns, they 
became the epicenter of invention and

[[Page H3807]]

innovation. And it was all the intellect of the worker and the pride of 
producing along that assembly line process, these discoveries that 
would be the magic to enhance the quality of life of people not just in 
these United States, but around the world.
  That same magic can be prompted today. And it is the turnaround in 
policies, it's the fairness, it's the focus on American job production, 
American energy independence, innovation. My gosh, I know that the 
history of Schenectady, the birthplace of electricity, was the place 
that converted a factory that was producing locomotives. And we had 
mostly women at that time in World War II changing their agenda, 
rolling up the sleeves--you can see the Rosie the Riveter symbolism--
and producing for the troops.
  They were producing for the troops. The transitioning, the 
transformation, came because of the intellect and the can-do attitude 
of American workers. And so I think we've tapped into this resource in 
a way that is very powerful. And it's not just turning around the 
economy, it's showing respect, it's enhancing the dignity of the 
American worker, and it's bringing us together as a people so that we 
can grow this economy. To me, that is the validity here. And tonight 
this discussion of contrast, of change, of choices couldn't be more 
clear.
  We cannot afford to fall back into those Republican recessionary 
policies. We cannot afford to fall back to the huge deficit inherited 
by this administration, passed on from the Bush administration after it 
inherited a surplus. So the choice, the contrast, the change that 
should be endorsed, becomes very clear to me.
  Mr. DRIEHAUS. I think we have tremendous opportunity. And I think we 
are close to wrapping this up. But I would agree wholeheartedly that 
this is about innovation. It's about giving American businesses the 
tools to move forward. They were in desperate straits in January of 
2009, when you took that oath of office, when I took that oath of 
office, when President Obama took the oath of office. We were in the 
middle of the worst recession in our lifetimes, caused by greed and 
corruption on Wall Street. We have an opportunity to address that greed 
and corruption.
  The Republicans have the opportunity to turn things around, to join 
us in holding Wall Street accountable. But more importantly, they have 
an opportunity to embrace the policies that are making a difference. We 
know the economy is turning around. We have spent the last hour citing 
the various sources who support that notion. We know the GDP is 
growing.

                              {time}  2050

  We know people are going back to work, and we're investing in their 
intellect. We're investing in their skills. We're investing in new 
technology. That's what's so critically important. If we are to see 
continued growth over time, we have to be making those necessary 
investments, and we are making those investments.
  But at the same time, we have to have the courage to stand up--stand 
up to the oil companies who would have us dependent upon foreign oil 
for years to come. We have to have the courage to stand up to the Wall 
Street investment bankers who want to control all of the decisions when 
it comes to the economy but don't have the best interests of small 
businesses in mind. We have to have the courage to stand up to do the 
right thing and make the right investments in our economy. That's what 
we're doing. That's what this agenda has done as we move forward.
  And I'll pass it back to the gentleman from New York.
  Mr. TONKO. Thank you so much for joining us this evening, Mr. 
Driehaus.
  And Representative Garamendi, thank you. And I'm sure you have some 
final statements that you'd like to make.
  Mr. GARAMENDI. I do, and I'd just like to run through a list.
  You've been very, very forthright in pointing out the differences 
between the Republican agenda and the Democratic agenda. I'll put my 
reading glasses on here. I'm going to go through this very, very 
quickly because I know we only have a few moments.
  The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Jobs. We talked about it. 
All House Republicans voted ``no.'' The Worker Homeownership and 
Business Assistance Act; 93 percent of the Republicans voted ``no.'' 
Health insurance reform; all House Republicans voted ``no.'' Student 
Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act; all House Republicans voted ``no.'' 
Cash for Clunkers; 55 percent of the Republicans voted ``no.'' Hiring 
Incentives to Restore Employment, the HIRE Act; 97 percent of the 
Republicans voted ``no.'' We passed every one of those. Many of those 
are now law.
  The Wall Street reform passed this House. Every Republican in this 
House voted ``no.'' American Workers, State, Business Relief Act; 93 
percent of the Republicans voted ``no.'' Small Business and 
Infrastructure Jobs Tax Act; 98 percent voted ``no.''
  Bottom line here is that every effort that has been made to advance 
the economy has been done by the Democratic Party, and it is working, 
as you so carefully pointed out.
  Thank you for bringing this to our attention and giving us the 
opportunity to point out the extraordinary contrast here. Our efforts 
to move the economy, to take action, to do what must be done to move 
the economy forward, we have done it. The Republicans have consistently 
and every time either voted ``no'' or tried to block it.
  Thank you so very much for leading us in this discussion, 
Representative Tonko.
  Mr. TONKO. Thank you, Representative Garamendi.
  I would just close with this and thank my colleagues for joining me. 
The change is working. The contrast is stark. The choice is clear.
  And so I appreciate my colleagues sharing some very strong thoughts 
about what's happening here for the good. It has been a climb out of 
the toughest times America has known, but we need to continue to pursue 
in the direction, I believe, that has been strengthening our economy 
and, therefore, the American families, the American workers, and the 
American small business community.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back.

                          ____________________