[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 127 (Tuesday, September 21, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Page S7230]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, it is no secret that Americans are 
unhappy with the way our friends on the other side have handled things 
over the past few years, and especially the last year and a half. 
Americans have been speaking out across the country about the need to 
return to a smaller, more competent, more accountable government that 
lives within its means. Instead, Democrats in Congress have given them 
more government, more spending, more debt--and now they are threatening 
a massive tax hike to top it all off.
  What has been most remarkable to me in watching this all play out is 
the way our friends on the other side have doubled down on their plans 
in the teeth of public outrage. Yesterday, we saw a CNBC survey showing 
most Americans don't like the idea of seeing taxes raised on anybody at 
this point. CNN says that most of the economists it surveyed said the 
best thing we can do for businesses is to assure them their taxes won't 
go up at the end of the year.
  Yet Democratic leaders are still clinging to the discredited idea 
that government needs more power, more money for more Washington 
programs. Maybe the reason is that the Democratic vision of recovery--
their idea of success, according to the assistant majority leader--is 9 
percent unemployment. That is right. Yesterday, the No. 2 Democrat in 
the Senate said that Congress could ``breathe a sigh of relief'' at 9 
percent unemployment or less. That is their idea of success.
  Well, our idea of success is for businesses to start hiring again and 
to get this country back on track. It seems the more Americans say they 
want Democrats to stop what they are doing and focus on jobs and the 
economy, the more determined they are to press ahead with their various 
liberal agenda items while they have still got the chance.
  That is basically what today's vote on the Defense authorization bill 
is all about. The Defense authorization bill requires 4 or 5 weeks to 
debate. But instead of having that debate or turning to the Defense 
appropriations bill, which funds the military, they want to use this 
week for a political exercise. They want to weigh this bill down with 
controversy in a transparent attempt to show their special interest 
groups ahead of the election that they haven't forgotten them.
  It is quite astonishing. Democrats have called up this bill not to 
have a vote on it or to consider amendments to help our troops in the 
field but to put on a show--to use it as an opportunity to cast votes 
for things Americans either don't want or aren't interested in seeing 
attached to a bill that is supposed to be about defense.
  My friend, the majority leader, has already said this bill isn't 
going to pass with these items attached to it before the election. But 
he is keeping them on there anyway. So this is not a serious exercise, 
it is a show. And it is because of shows such as this our friends have 
lost credibility with the public.
  Americans want us to take care of the basics and do it competently--
take care of the basics and do it competently. This isn't too much to 
ask. But evidently it is too much to ask of Democratic leaders in 
Congress right before the election.
  Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  I withhold my request.

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