[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 156 (Thursday, December 2, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8374-S8377]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
UNANIMOUS-CONSENT REQUEST--S. 3981
Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, the American people deserve to know why we
are not legislating. We are all here, and we are not passing any bills,
bills that are important to the American people; for example, a bill to
keep the government operating. We are getting to the point where we are
running out of time. We are not doing that today. A bill to authorize
the Defense Department, here we are in the middle of two wars, we are
not doing that bill. A bill to help victims of 9/11, the brave first
responders who are suffering because they worked, some of them almost
24/7, in the debris that was so toxic to them, and I remember then EPA
Administrator Whitman saying it was all fine, it was all safe, the air
was OK. We need to help them. We are not doing that. A bill to help our
firefighters, a bill to help firefighters have the dignity to be able
to negotiate for their wages, a bill called the DREAM Act to help many
productive young people join the military and go to college and help
our country, we are not doing those either. We are doing nothing. We
are not doing a bill to promote manufacturing that was offered by one
of my colleagues. We are not doing a bill to give tax breaks to
companies that hire unemployed workers. We are not doing a bill to end
tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas. We are not doing the
START treaty, a treaty that is endorsed by international experts from
America on both sides of the aisle, including George Shultz, and people
who worked for Ronald Reagan and George Bush. We are not doing that.
All these bills, including the unemployment insurance extension,
which is so critical, all that is being held hostage by my Republican
friends who all wrote a letter and put their names on it. I am not
making this up. It is in writing. They said they would do nothing until
they won tax break bonuses for those who earn over $1 million, the
millionaires and the billionaires. They are holding up all this
important work. To me, it is shocking. I have heard of having an
objection to a bill and having a strong moral objection to a bill and
holding things up. They are holding up every single thing, as my
friend, Senator Stabenow, has talked about for days now.
Here is the point: Democrats have agreed to give every working
American a tax break on their first $250,000 of income, every working
American, up to the sky, a tax break on the first $250,000 of income.
We even offered to go up to the first $1 million because some of our
friends said: Oh, 250 isn't high enough. There are some small
businesses in there. We investigated that, and 97 percent of small
businesses would be protected with the $250,000 level. But if we go up
to 1 million, all the small businesses are taken care of. We have
expressed interest in going up to $1 million. Guess what. This is not
enough for the Republicans in the Senate. They are fighting for those
earning over $1 million, over $1 billion. It doesn't matter. They are
holding everything hostage.
Let's be clear. They are fighting, they are united, they are strong,
they are adamant on behalf of the billionaires of this country, by the
way, many of whom said: Please, we don't need any more tax breaks. We
are doing great.
So if ever people wanted to know which party fights for whom, this is
it, folks. This is the clearest example I have ever seen in my life.
Do you know that under the Republican plan a family earning $10
million a year--listen, $10 million a year--will get back, under their
plan, $460,000 every single year? They are fighting for that.
They say they care about the deficit. I do not see that because their
position on tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires will add
hundreds of billions of dollars to our deficit. But when you ask them
whether they would be willing to help us to extend unemployment
benefits to the workers who are caught in this deep, dark recession,
they say: Oh, we can't afford it.
So listen, they will not pay for the tax cuts to their millionaire,
billionaire friends, but they insist on cutting the Federal budget to
pay for extending unemployment insurance, which, as far as I know, has
never been done before. It is an emergency funding, and it is, by the
way, $50 billion compared to $400 billion.
So I hope the American people--I know they have a lot of things to
do, getting ready for the holidays and caring about families;
unfortunately, many of them are worried this holiday; more than 400,000
workers in California will lose their unemployment benefits by the end
of December--I hope they see who is fighting for them versus who is
fighting for the millionaires and the billionaires. It is right out
there.
I could not believe that one of my colleagues from the other side of
the aisle, from Massachusetts, was outraged that we tried to extend
unemployment benefits. Why is he outraged? He should be outraged that
more than 2 million workers nationwide will lose their benefits by the
end of December. We just got a report that 7 million unemployed workers
could be denied access to benefits by the end of next year, while my
Republican friends are fighting to get $460,000 a year for someone who
earns $10 million. They would allow 7 million unemployed workers in our
country to go without benefits.
Their proposal is: Well, let's cut a program. Well, ask any economist
about that. That is harmful to an economic recovery. We know that for
every $1 of unemployment insurance that gets spent, it has an impact of
$1.61 to the economy because folks on unemployment are not like the $10
million-a-year family that is going to stick it in their trust fund;
they are going to spend it in the corner grocery store, and that has a
ripple effect throughout the economy.
I wish to read to you a statement by Laura from Long Beach, one of my
constituents.
Today my parents' unemployment benefits expired. Today, I
don't know how they're going to make it. I don't know what
I'm going to do.
This morning I woke up to hear that the Republicans in the
Senate have signed a letter pledging not to allow anything to
pass until Bush tax cuts are reinstated. These are the same
tax cuts that only help people who are employed, excessively
wealthy, and people who will never hire my dad, who is a hard
worker--but nearing 60.
He experienced losing his job when a lot of Americans did.
Since then, he's been working low paying jobs at local
businesses--businesses that little by little have had to cut
back. Unfortunately, this usually means that they fire their
newer employees--employees like my dad.
Since losing his job, his 10 year old car has quit working,
leaving him bereft of transportation and making it even more
difficult to find a job. My mom isn't as healthy as she used
to be and can't work because she needs to provide childcare
for my sister, who works hectic hours in the healthcare
industry.
I'm currently in graduate school--the first of my family to
graduate from college. My husband and I are debating whether
or not I need to drop out so that I can help provide for my
parents, who currently live out of state.
Suffice it to say, when I read the news this morning, I
broke down in tears.
Let me divert. She heard about the letter from the Republicans saying
they would do nothing until these tax cuts went in, and she broke down
in tears. She said:
My family has lived a hard life, and this just made it
harder. But really, I'm crying because I can't believe that
this is what my country has come to--or more importantly,
this is what my father's country has come to.
. . . . He was raised believing that this country was the
best country in the world--that it would always look out for
the best interest of its people. He served in the military,
bought American cars, and worked at the same job for over 20
years. So as much as I am writing this letter because I'm
upset about my own familial circumstances, I'm equally
interested in writing you to remind you of the middle class--
and those of us who are slipping out of it.
I have a number of other letters, but I know other colleagues are
here. But no one could be more eloquent than Laura and I want to thank
her and everybody else who wrote to me and I
[[Page S8375]]
will come back again during the time we are in session to put these
letters in the Record.
But in summing up, it is very clear where we are. My Republican
friends, to a person, have all signed on to a strategy, and that
strategy is to keep us from passing very important legislation,
including an unemployment insurance extension, including the Defense
bill, including the START treaty--everything I put in the Record--until
they get their tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires. That, to me,
is a shame. They have a right to do it. I support their right to do it.
But I also think the American people ought to know what is going on.
With that, Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Finance
Committee be discharged from further consideration of S. 3981, a bill
to provide for a temporary extension of unemployment insurance
provisions; that the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration, the
bill be read a third time and passed, and the motion to reconsider be
laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate, and any
statements related to the bill be printed in the Record.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
The Senator from Wyoming.
Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, there are
a couple ways we can help people who are currently looking for work.
One is by extending unemployment benefits for those who have been out
of work now 99 weeks. This is what the extension is about: for those
who have already----
Mrs. BOXER. Is there an objection?
Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, as I have
just heard from my colleague, would the Senator agree to include an
amendment that has been proposed by Senator Brown that would offset the
cost of the bill with unspent Federal funds, the text of which is at
the desk? Would the Senator include that amendment that has been
proposed?
Mrs. BOXER. Absolutely, I would not agree to that modification. It
goes to the very point I was making. They want to give tax breaks to
millionaires and not pay for it, but they are forcing cuts in other
jobs programs here. It would only make a worse recession and I object
and I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Wyoming.
Mr. BARRASSO. Thank you, Mr. President. So I do object to the motion
by the distinguished Senator from California.
As I was saying, there are two ways to help those who are looking for
work and one of which is to improve the economy. We can do that by
giving some certainty--certainty--to people who provide jobs, who build
businesses, who create opportunities, the job-creating sector of this
country. We can do that by giving them certainty regarding what their
tax rates will be come January 1. Right now there is an incredible
amount of uncertainty.
The second way is to deal with the unemployment benefits for those
who have been out of work now 99 weeks because that is what this is
about. These are people who have been collecting unemployment benefits
for 99 weeks. I will tell you, there are people across the Nation
having a tough time due to this poor economy. I wish to see the economy
improve.
The national unemployment rate in October was 9.6 percent. Today's
front page of USA Today says: ``Jobless data could break '80s
record''--a record from the 1980s. ``November was likely 19th month
above 9 percent.''
Mrs. BOXER. Will the Senator yield for a question--please, a very
quick one?
Mr. BARRASSO. Yes, Mr. President.
Mrs. BOXER. I thank the Senator so much, and he is my friend.
I just want the Senator to understand this extension is not for
anything beyond 99 weeks. Believe me. It is up to 99 weeks. We do not
have any extension beyond 99 weeks. I just wanted my friend to know
that.
Mr. BARRASSO. Thank you, Mr. President. I appreciate the comments of
the Senator from California. Senator Brown, who occupies the desk next
to mine, was on the floor talking about this just 2 nights ago and does
want to work to extend unemployment benefits and to do it in a way that
is paid for. That is why I came to offer the amendment to the Senator
from California to say: Well, let's do it but do it by paying for it
using unspent Federal funds, the text of which is at the desk.
We need to pay to extend this. But what we need to do is stimulate
the economy because of what we see on the front page of USA Today about
``Jobless data could break '80s record'' and ``November was likely 19th
month above 9 percent.'' We need to give certainty to business.
My colleague from California made comments about a letter signed by
42 Republican Senators. In fact, I did sign that. All the Republican
Members of the Senate signed it. In the first paragraph it says:
President Obama in his first speech after the November
election said ``we owe'' it to the American people to ``focus
on those issues that affect their jobs.'' He went on to say
that Americans ``want jobs to come back faster.''
That is why 42 of us signed the letter. Let's focus on that. Let us
get that done. Let us provide that certainty. If after that is done the
majority party wants to go and address the issues of don't ask, don't
tell, wants to talk about the DREAM Act, talking about incentives for
illegal immigrants with college education, if they want to talk about
issues of firefighters joining unions, fine. But let's get to the
fundamentals of what the American people want to have dealt with. That
is why I was happy to offer an amendment to my colleague from
California to say pay for it, and then we can move on. Because
businesses need that sort of certainty.
I heard her many comments about taxes, and I believe you should not
raise taxes on anyone in the middle of economic times such as these. My
colleagues on this side of the aisle all agree and there is actually
bipartisan agreement that you should not raise taxes on anyone in the
middle of economic times such as these.
The newest Members of the Senate--and since the election there are
now three new Members who have been sworn in; two on that side of the
aisle, one on my side of the aisle--are unanimous in saying one should
not raise taxes on anyone during these economic times.
Senator Manchin from West Virginia said: ``I wouldn't raise any
taxes.''
Senator Coons from Delaware said: ``I would extend them [the tax
cuts] for everyone.''
So when I look at this and also see statements by Joe Lieberman from
Connecticut, Senator Ben Nelson from Nebraska, Senator Jim Webb from
Virginia, Senator Evan Bayh from Indiana, Senator Conrad from North
Dakota, it is a growing chorus of Democrats saying: One should not
raise taxes on anyone during these economic times.
We need to give certainty to the job-creating segment of this Nation.
We need to do it in a timely manner. With it only being 4 weeks until
the end of the year and people wanting to know what is going to happen
with their taxes, I think the best thing this body could do is to
provide that certainty.
So with that, I notice a number of colleagues who are waiting to
speak and I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mrs. Shaheen). The Senator from Michigan.
Ms. STABENOW. Madam President, I agree with my friend from Wyoming.
We need certainty in the marketplace, and we are happy to do that. We
are happy to create certainty right now that middle-class taxpayers and
small businesses will be able to receive tax cuts permanently into the
future, that we will be able to extend those tax cuts.
We also believe it is important to give certainty to people who are
out of work through no fault of their own, who yesterday began to lose
unemployment benefits. Now, I personally believe, as long as the
economy is as sluggish, as slow, as challenged as it is, we ought to
extend benefits beyond 99 weeks. But the bill in front of us is not
that. It is the bill Senator Boxer talked about, which is just the
basic program. The program basically says, if you lose your job today
you have the same opportunity to receive some temporary help as the
person who lost their job on Monday or Tuesday because, right now, the
Republicans have been blocking us from even extending the basic program
for anyone who is newly unemployed, newly out of work.
So I think people who are out of work at this holiday season would
like some certainty.
[[Page S8376]]
I was interested in a story in the paper today--I believe it was
today--quoting the Michigan Retailers Association concerned about
Christmas and the inability to have unemployment benefits extended
would directly relate to the ability of families to have any kind of
opportunity to have Christmas, and it would affect retailers and small
businesses. They would like to see some certainty. I would also like to
see a more robust effort and certainty as it relates to jobs.
When we look at the way to stimulate the economy, the way to create
jobs, the budget folks tell us the No. 1 way right now to keep the
economy going is to help those who have no choice but to spend the
dollars in their pockets. That is somebody who is out of work. That is
the No. 1 way to stimulate the economy, to try to keep things moving,
and certainly we have heard that from our retailers. On a long list,
the least effective was to give another bonus tax cut to millionaires
and billionaires. That was the least effective.
So I agree we want economic certainty. What I would love to see is to
take those dollars that have been ineffective for 10 years--and we know
that simply because it hasn't created jobs. I have lost over 800,000
jobs in Michigan, 10 years of tax cuts for millionaires and
billionaires. I have one question: Where are the jobs? If my colleagues
can answer that, I am happy to support that policy.
What I would suggest as an alternative is that now, just a little
under 2 years ago, we invested in the recovery to, for the first time
in many, many, many years, invest in American manufacturing: battery
manufacturing, new clean energy manufacturing, making things in
America, making things at home. And we are beginning to see every month
now manufacturing slowly coming up. The investment in the American
automobile industry has paid off for us in turning things around, in
keeping manufacturing jobs here. We are moving from 2 percent of the
manufacturing of advanced battery technologies in America to 40 percent
of the world's manufacturing in 5 years because of a strategic
investment.
I am happy to talk about those kinds of investments, but what we have
heard from Republican colleagues is that they are willing to risk
everything. They will risk everything to get another tax cut, a bonus
tax cut on top of the one everybody is going to get if we extend tax
cuts for the first $250,000 in income per couple. They want a bonus tax
cut, and they are willing to risk everything and stop everything if
they can't get it. So it is very clear what their priorities are.
I can speak from Michigan that these are not our priorities. When I
look at our manufacturers, our suppliers; when I look at small
businesses; when I look at families who are struggling to keep their
homes to stay in the middle class--maybe trying to get into the middle
class--working families, their priority is not to give somebody making
$1 million a year another $100,000 bonus on top of the regular tax cut.
So what are we talking about? We are talking about everything being
risked for tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires. What are some of
the things we are risking? Another $700 billion on the national debt.
If we want to deal with the debt--and I don't know about my colleagues,
but I heard an awful lot about the debt, concern about the deficit in
this last election and through this last year. There were concerns when
we were investing in manufacturing, investing in other things to create
jobs, helping small businesses; the tax cuts for small businesses,
lending for small businesses. We heard an awful lot from the other side
of the aisle about the fact that we shouldn't be doing these things
because of the deficit. The most important thing was the deficit.
I am not willing to be lectured about the deficit. I voted to balance
the budget when I was in the House under President Clinton. We handed
President Bush a balanced budget, the largest surplus in the history of
the country. So I am not willing to accept that. I have great concern
about the deficit, but that concern means I don't want to see $700
billion put on the national debt for a bonus tax cut for millionaires
and billionaires.
So they are willing to risk the national deficit. They are willing to
risk jobs. Again, the least stimulative way to create jobs is to put
another bonus round of tax cuts in the hands of millionaires and
billionaires who, if they invest it--we don't know whether it will be
overseas, taking jobs overseas or where it will be--but we know it
hasn't trickled down to the people I represent, certainly, in Michigan.
The sense I get from the other side of the aisle is that they think
we just haven't waited long enough; we haven't waited long enough for
it to trickle down. Well, we are tired of waiting. We are tired of
waiting, and we are tired of an economic policy of tax cuts geared to
those up here when it doesn't work and we are losing jobs. Under that
policy of trickle-down economics, Michigan lost over 800,000 jobs in
the last 10 years. I am tired of that. I want to see a policy that is
going to work. That one hasn't worked. I don't see why in the world we
are willing to extend it.
They are willing to hold up the tax cuts for middle-class families
and small businesses. Again, I am not willing to be lectured about
small business when we have seen 16 different small business tax cuts
filibustered in the last 2 years on the other side of the aisle; eight
tax cuts in the small business jobs bill that only two colleagues from
the other side of the aisle courageously stepped over to support. So we
understand the importance of small business.
Social Security and Medicare: We have a debt commission that has a
number of proposals that are very difficult on Social Security and
Medicare, and that is based on the deficit we have now not another $700
billion. I wonder if my colleagues are willing to support cuts in
Social Security and Medicare, additional cuts to pay for their tax cuts
for millionaires and billionaires. I don't know. Is that what they are
suggesting? It certainly is something that could happen if we add
another $700 billion.
Then there is the one we have been talking about that is not an
economic issue but a moral issue for us as a country: Are we going to
help folks who have gotten caught up in this country and who find
themselves in a situation that is unprecedented through no fault of
their own? They didn't cause the recklessness on Wall Street. They were
not the ones who made the decision not to enforce trade laws in a fair
way or tax policy that allows jobs to go overseas.
The people in my State were not the ones who made any of the
decisions that caused the situation they are in. Yet Wall Street did
pretty well. A lot of folks did pretty well. A lot of folks now are
back doing very well.
The folks left holding the bag are working families, folks who have
been in the middle class and are now mortified because they have to go
ask for help at a food bank for the first time in their lives. That is
not an unusual situation in my State; people who have always worked,
who want to work but find themselves in a situation, because of the
economy, they did not create; where they now have to ask that our
country be willing to support them at this time for their families
until we can turn this economy around. Who are we if we are not willing
to do that as a country?
Frankly, I am embarrassed we are having a debate on the floor of the
Senate about whether to extend help for somebody who has lost their
job, the bread winner who no longer can bring home the bread versus a
$100,000 bonus tax cut for a millionaire next year, and whatever it is
for billionaires. I find that embarrassing, and I find it more than
that, actually. If ever we are going to talk about our values and
priorities and get them right in terms of what affects the majority of
Americans, it ought to be when we are looking at these choices.
People in my State want to work. They want us to focus on jobs. They
want us to partner with business. They want us to do those things; when
it is necessary, stand back, get out of the way; stand up and partner,
do all of the things that will allow us in a global economy to compete,
to be able to make things in America and, of course, I prefer they be
made in Michigan. But they want jobs. They want the economy to turn
around.
Nobody is out there asking for a handout. They do want us to
understand what they are going through and to be willing to have the
same sense of
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urgency about the average family in this country as we did for the Wall
Street banks. That is ultimately what we are talking about on this
floor, is what the priorities are going to be.
Our colleagues have sent a letter, with everybody signing it, saying
they are not willing to do anything else. They are not willing to
extend unemployment benefits. Two million people started losing their
benefits yesterday--temporary help, by the way--$250 to $300 a week,
which just barely kind of maybe keeps the heat on, because it is
getting cold in Michigan, and a roof over their heads while they are
desperately sending resumes out all over the country.
I get on planes now with people who are flying all over the country
because they want to work. They are flying all over the place and
coming home on the weekends, trying to find work. Our colleagues say:
Well, you know what. Forget them. They need to wait because the most
important thing is extending the tax cuts for the wealthiest people in
our country.
I happen to--as we all do--know a lot of people in that category who
say to me: I am willing to do my share. I am not asking you for this. I
am willing to do my share. I have done well. I understand we have a
national deficit. I understand we have a country that has a lot of
challenges right now, and I am willing to step up and do my part. So
this is not trying to beat up on people or demagogue against people who
have worked hard, in many cases, and done well for themselves. But it
is about having a set of priorities about what is important. In the few
days we have left between now and the end of the year, what is the most
important thing we could be doing?
I know other colleagues wish to speak. Let me just say, in my
judgment, we can create certainty. It certainly doesn't have to be
extending tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires. It certainly can
be extending tax cuts for the middle class and small businesses,
creating certainty with the R&D tax credit for those who want to
innovate and invest. There are other kinds of certainty we can create
for businesses in our Tax Code. We need to do that before the end of
the year.
We need to remember that there are a whole lot of families right now
who are trying to create some certainty in their lives about whether
they can put up a Christmas tree because they are still going to have
their house. That is not rhetoric; that is happening to people. We as
Democrats are not willing to risk all this. The Republicans may be
willing to risk everything to give a bonus tax cut to millionaires and
billionaires, but we are fighting for everybody else.
I yield the floor 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. DORGAN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order
for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. DORGAN. Madam President, are we in morning business?
The PRESIDING OFFICER. We are.
Mr. DORGAN. I ask unanimous consent to speak for 30 minutes.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
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