[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 102 (Monday, July 12, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5721-S5722]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
JOBS AGENDA
Mr. REID. Mr. President, I welcome back my colleagues and hope they
are as eager to get to work as I am.
During the week I spent in Nevada, I saw again how desperate our
unemployment situation has become. As I talked to Nevadans, I heard
over and over how they need us to help create conditions to help
businesses create jobs. For example, I met one man in Reno who is 51
years old. He said he
[[Page S5722]]
had never missed a payment on his home since he had bought it many
years ago. He was going to this month because he was unemployed and
couldn't find a job, and he had worked very hard to try to find a job.
But now, like 14 percent of Nevadans, he is out of work and can't find
a new job. There are just too many people looking for too few jobs. Now
he cannot make his mortgage payment, as I have indicated.
He is the kind of person we need to keep in mind when we talk about
creating jobs. His family is the kind of family we need to keep in mind
when we talk about helping the unemployed with emergency aid. This man
knows he will not get rich off his unemployment check, but it might
help him keep a roof over his head.
Those unemployment benefits we are working to extend--for every job
that becomes available, five people line up for that job. And for every
$1 we spend in unemployment benefits, $1.61 is returned to the economy
because that money is spiraled into doing a lot of good things because
they can pay their rent, make their house payment, buy some clothes.
I repeat what I have said here before: Mark Zandi, who was, during
the Presidential run, John McCain's chief economic adviser, said the
most important money we could spend right now is for unemployment
benefits.
As to my friend in Reno, NV, his struggle, his fears--what keeps this
man up at night--is what we should remember when the other side
pretends this is more about politics than it is about people.
This work period, like every work period, will be about jobs--the
work period here in the Senate--how to create them, how to save them,
and how to prevent another crisis such as the one that killed them in
the first place.
We are going to build on momentum we have already seen from the
economic recovery plan, also known as the stimulus. This jobs crisis
was not created in a day, and it will not be solved overnight. But in a
short time, we have come a long way.
Three million Americans who are going to work today have the Recovery
Act to thank for their jobs. In Nevada, the Recovery Act created or
saved more than 4,000 jobs this spring, and as more projects get
underway, it will create even more jobs this summer. And don't forget
that the stimulus also cut taxes for families, small businesses,
students, home buyers, and the unemployed.
But it is just a step, a first step. Over the next month, we are
going to do everything we can to make a few more big steps. One of
these steps will be to pass the small business jobs bill. It is now on
the floor. We know the best way to create jobs, innovate, and help our
economy recover is through the private sector. We know the engine that
runs the private sector is made up of small businesses. These
businesses are the ones that have felt the most pain in this recession.
Two out of every three jobs we have lost were from small business. Our
bill, which is fully paid for, will put people back to work through a
number of initiatives.
First, it gives small business tax incentives to help them hire and
grow more people. Two, it increases Small Business Administration loan
limits. Three, it makes it easier for small businesses to export goods.
And four, it creates a small business lending fund that will give small
banks more capital.
Another step we will take this month is the long overdue--it is long
overdue; and I have talked about it a little bit this morning--
extention of emergency unemployment insurance for so many who have been
out of work for so long. It is more than 2 million people.
When millions of Americans lost their jobs, they lost their incomes,
their homes, their savings, their gas money, their tuition payments,
and on and on and on--all through no fault of their own. Democrats are
not about to turn our backs on out-of-work Americans, which is why we
are trying to help them keep their heads above water in this crisis.
The third step is Wall Street reform. It is just as much a jobs bill
as the first two I mentioned. We all know greed on Wall Street is what
triggered the recession, suffocated the job market, and robbed millions
of their incomes. By cleaning up Wall Street, we are going to make sure
big bankers can never again gamble away our economy. We are going to
make sure there is not a next time.
Helping small businesses, helping the unemployed, and cracking down
on Wall Street are three equally important approaches to the same
problem--and to our No. 1 priority--jobs. But these three also have
something else in common: A minority of Senators is standing in the
way.
We have tried for months to help people. Nearly every Democrat has
said yes, and nearly every Republican has said no. That opposition is
stopping recovery in its tracks.
Every day we keep small businesses from creating jobs, or deny the
unemployed the assistance they need, or let Wall Street get away with
the same tricks that nearly sank our economy, we are making a difficult
situation even worse. We are keeping people off payrolls, keeping
businesses from hiring, and keeping our country from coming back
stronger than ever.
Simply put, obstruction of these good bills is costing Americans
jobs. The other side thinks saying ``no'' helps them. But it sure does
not help the people we are supposed to represent.
I hope we will get our priorities straight this work period. It will
be a productive one if we do. The next time we go back home to talk to
our constituents, we will be able to deliver better news, and they will
be able to tell us the same in return.
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