[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 167 (Thursday, December 16, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10416-S10419]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
CONTROLLING SPENDING
Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, I would like to note that we just saw a
rather extraordinary event on the floor of the Senate. I first came to
the U.S. Senate in 1987, and I saw the practice of earmarking and
porkbarrel spending grow and grow and grow, to the point where last
November 2 the American people overwhelmingly rejected this practice of
out-of-control spending and debt that we have laid on our children and
our grandchildren.
I also, along with the Republican leader, would like to thank our
members of the Appropriations Committee, who clearly heard that message
and heard the outcry when the American people began to become aware of
what was contemplated to be done in the Congress of the United States.
This outcry reverberated all over America, including the State of
Arizona. And the outcry was finally heard by at least 42 Members on
this side of the aisle.
So I appreciate the fact the majority leader has agreed to a
continuing resolution. But have no doubt as to why it happened. It
happened because the majority leader didn't have the votes. He didn't
have 60 votes that would have then allowed for this monstrosity to be
foisted off on the American people.
So I wish to thank Members here on this side of the aisle, and some
on the other side, who also said they were ready to stand up against
this. But most of all, I wish to thank the American people. I thank
those who made the calls, those who sent the e-mails, those who stood
up and called in to the talk shows all over America and said: We have
had enough. Haven't they listened to the message we were trying to send
on November 2?
So I think this is a great victory for the American people today
because we would have spent $1.1 trillion, at least $8 billion of it,
$8.3 billion, in earmarks that had never had a hearing, that had never
had any scrutiny, had never seen the light of day, but had been put in
by very powerful Members of this body on the Appropriations Committee.
So I would like to extend my gratitude to the American people, the
tea partiers, those who have aligned themselves with the cause to stop
the spending and the mortgaging of our children's and grandchildren's
future. We have amassed a $40,000 debt for every man, woman, and child
in America. The latest commission that reported out clearly indicated
we are on a collision course that could bring down the very economy of
this country.
So I am encouraged greatly by the action taken tonight to do away
with this monstrosity and go back to maybe a one-page continuing
resolution to keep the government in business until the new Members of
Congress and the new Members of this body who were elected last
November can have their voices heard in the deliberations of this body
and how their tax dollars are dispensed with and how those that are
borrowed are dispensed.
I see the Senator from Missouri is about to speak. I wish to thank
her for her efforts in trying to bring about an end to this spending
spree.
So I again wish to express my gratitude to all Members, including
especially the tough decision made by the Republican members of the
Appropriations Committee, to stand so we could stop this thing in its
tracks. I want to thank the American people whose voices were heard in
this body, and that forced the decision that was made today.
Mr. KIRK. Mr. President, will the Senator yield for a question?
Mr. McCAIN. Yes.
Mr. KIRK. As the most junior people, for those who don't understand
what just happened, did we just win?
Mr. McCAIN. I think there is very little doubt. The majority leader
of the U.S. Senate would not have taken the action he just took if he
didn't have 41 votes to stop this monstrosity.
Mr. KIRK. So for economic conservatives, a 1,924-page bill just died?
Mr. McCAIN. A 1,924-page bill just died.
Mr. KIRK. And 6,000 earmarks will not now move forward?
Mr. McCAIN. Yes. I feel badly about some of those earmarks because I
had so much fun with them.
Mr. KIRK. All of the GOP Senators just signed a letter to the
leadership this morning saying we should not move forward with this as
representatives of the new mandate. It seems that change has come to
the Senate tonight with the death of this $1.1 trillion bill.
Mr. McCAIN. I have no doubt.
Mrs. McCASKILL. Mr. President, I----
Mr. McCAIN. I am not finished. Do I have the floor?
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Yes, the Senator from Arizona has the floor.
Mr. McCAIN. I appreciate the regular order.
This may be a seminal moment in the recent history of the Senate.
This may be a seminal moment that stops the practice which has moved
power all to the appropriators in this body--a few--and taken it away
from the rest of us and may return us to an authorizing and then
appropriating process. But most importantly, I think it is a seminal
moment because for the first time since I have been here, we stood up
and said: Enough. Stop.
Mr. KIRK. I congratulate the Senator.
Mr. McCAIN. Thank you.
Mr. President, I yield the floor
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Missouri.
Mrs. McCASKILL. Mr. President, I agree with my colleague from Arizona
on many things when it comes to appropriations, including that I have
made a decision that earmarking is not a process that I think is the
appropriate way to spend public money. But I am a little confused about
some of the righteous indignation coming from the Republican side of
the aisle about this bill.
The omnibus 2010 they have sitting out there--they are wanting the
American people to think this document came from Democrats. They want
the American people to think that omnibus 2010, all of those pages
sitting there, were done by Democrats. They weren't done by Democrats.
Those pages were done by Democrats and Republicans. Every bit of that
document was drafted by Republicans and Democrats, right down to the
earmarks. And for the minority leader to stand here and act as if this
document is something that is the fault of the Democratic Party when he
well knows he has been involved--I have been involved in terms of
trying to get the number down, and I am glad we succeeded in getting
the number down, as has been referenced, to the Sessions-McCaskill
number, but this was a bipartisan effort to get the number down.
The irony is, guess who has earmarks in there. The minority leader,
who just voted on a moratorium for earmarks 10 minutes ago. Did he pull
his earmarks out? No. Did any of the Republicans who voted for a
moratorium on earmarks pull their earmarks out before this bill came to
the floor? We could have eliminated a few pages. So I just don't think
the righteous indignation works.
This was a bipartisan effort, drafted by Republicans and Democrats.
It came to the floor after months of work by Democrats and Republicans.
It was presented to this body in a bipartisan way to vote on. I wasn't
going to vote for it. I am against it. So I think I have a slight bit
of credibility to call these guys on this notion that this is something
that sprung from nowhere out of some back room on the Democratic
[[Page S10417]]
side of the aisle. This sprung from a bipartisan effort of the
Appropriations Committee, and every Member on that side of the aisle
knows it. They know it. And they know the earmarks in there--there are
almost $700 million of earmarks in there from people who voted on a
moratorium on earmarks. That is like being half-pregnant.
They should have said, before this bill ever came to the floor--and
they were asked: Would you like your earmarks pulled out? No, no. They
were perfectly willing to vote no and take those earmarks home.
So, on one hand, I would have voted no had we had the vote, and I
said that from day one. I voted no on the omnibus last year. I voted no
on another omnibus because I don't think it is the right way to
appropriate. But this is an equal-opportunity sin. The problems with
this process don't lie on one side of the aisle; they lie on both sides
of the aisle. And the notion that the Republicans are trying to say
this is just about the Democrats is the kind of hypocrisy that gives us
the lowest ratings we have in terms of confidence of the American
people.
We need to own up here. This is not about the Democrats. This is
about both sides of the aisle and a flawed appropriations process that
couldn't get to the floor because of a lot of obstructionism, and when
it finally did get to the floor, it came in one package. But it is not
fair for the Republicans to act as though all those pages came from the
Democratic side of the aisle. They certainly did not.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Tennessee.
Mr. CORKER. Mr. President, I wish to thank the Senator from Missouri
for her work in setting the ceiling that was adhered to. I don't
support this bill, and I didn't ask for any earmarks, and I know the
Senator from Missouri did not ask for any earmarks.
I think there have been a lot of frayed feelings, no question. I
think we all know that even at the levels--and I would say that I think
the appropriators did agree to a number that was passed out here on the
floor. But I think we know that even at those levels, spending is
higher than it should be.
What I would ask is that the Senator from Missouri and I continue to
work together. I know we have an amendment that was going to be a part
of whatever passed to really cap spending and drive it down to the
appropriate level of spending relative to our gross domestic product. I
know it is going to take both sides of the aisle to do that. I know we
have had a deficit reduction commission that has just reported and has
done some great work. The Senator from Illinois, to his credit,
courageously supported that.
So there are a lot of frayed feelings right now. There is a lot that
has been attempted to be done here at the end. I know that has created
a lot of conflict.
The page is going to turn here soon. The year is going to end. The
holidays will come, and we will be able to share a few moments with our
families and then come back. What I hope is that in spite of all that
has happened--and again, I did not support this piece of legislation
for lots of reasons--many, many reasons. I do agree, though, there was
a ceiling that was set. I agree this is going to cause some damage. But
it was the right thing. It was the right thing for this bill not to go
forward, and I hope what we will end up with and have is a continuing
resolution that will take us for several months.
Then I would say to the Senator from Missouri that I look forward to
working with her. I look forward to working with the Senator from
Illinois so we can put in place a construct so that we know where it is
we are going. Each year, it is not just that the appropriations bills
don't necessarily come forward, and it happens--it has happened in
years past. I understand that. They don't necessarily come forward in a
way that allows us to spend time with them--one a week or maybe two a
week or whatever. But it is also that we don't really know where it is
we are going. We don't really have a construct that is taking us to a
place over time. So it is my hope that we will either vote on something
bold relating to deficit reduction and tax reform or that we will put
in place a construct to take us where we need to go.
I don't think it does any good to cast blame, candidly. We are where
we are. I think the Senate is taking actions that are appropriate and
responsible by moving to a short-term CR. The thing I think is most
beneficial to us about that is it allows us to very quickly, in
February or March, start moving toward a downward trending line that I
think is much better for our country.
I see the Senator from Missouri standing. I think there is a lot we
as a body have to work on together. That, to me, is the most important
thing before us, and I hope when we come back we will all work very
hard to make that happen.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Missouri.
Mrs. McCASKILL. Let me just say that had the tone of the minority
leader's remarks been the same as the Senator from Tennessee, I
probably wouldn't have felt as passionately as I did. I agree with the
Senator from Tennessee about the vote on this bill. I have publicly
said I wouldn't support it. I didn't support it for a number of
reasons. But if we want to work together, then we have to quit trying
to score cheap political points.
The notion that the minority floor leader tried to give to the
American people that this bill was somehow concocted in some back room
by Democrats--everybody knows that is not true. Everybody knows that
until about 8 hours ago, there were a bunch of Republicans voting for
this. Now, am I glad they are not voting for it? Candidly, I am. I am
glad you guys managed to get everybody to not vote for it because I am
opposed to it. But what I think was most offensive was trying to trot
this bill out here and put a label on it and try to say to the American
people that this was something that was done at the eleventh hour to be
jammed down people's throats. This was something done in a bipartisan
way. Thad Cochran had a huge role in that bill, as did every other
ranking member on all of the subcommittees on appropriations. So it is
offensive to me--it is not that we are defeating the omnibus. I like
that. But what is offensive to me is that we have gotten into this bad
habit of trying to score cheap political points. And for Senators to
come to this floor and say ``we won'' and do this kind of stuff when
you know how many Republicans worked hard on provisions in that bill--
and, in fact, Republicans worked hard--frankly, harder than our side
did on McCaskill-Sessions.
We had 17 Democrats supporting it. You had unanimous support. I was
pleased that we came together in that bipartisan way to bring the
number down. We won in bringing the number down to the level
Republicans wanted, along with 17 Democrats. That is what Sessions-
McCaskill was. I think if we can go forward in the manner the Senator
from Tennessee has spoken of, then it is important that we quit trying
to mislead somehow the American people that the bill we were going to
consider was the product of the Democratic Party, because it wasn't.
That is what causes frayed feelings.
You know, the Senator from Tennessee and I have had long discussions.
He was surprised to hear about how angry we were on this side and some
of the tactics that were being used. I was surprised to hear about how
angry some of the Senators on the Republican side were at some of the
tactics that were being used. If there is going to be a moment that we
come together, then we need to work a little harder at not scoring
cheap political points such as were scored a few minutes ago by the
minority leader.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Alaska is recognized.
Mr. BEGICH. Mr. President, I say to the Senator from Tennessee, I
signed on to the Sessions-McCaskill bill because I think we need to get
somewhere with the deficit. We signed a resolution letter to get it
under control. I wasn't planning to speak. I was going to head home.
But it triggered me when one of our colleagues on that side said, ``who
wins tonight?'' That is not what this should be about. It is not who
wins or loses. The American people are losing every day that we have
this bickering that goes on. Honestly, I didn't see the pile of paper
with the logo on it until I got to my seat. That is not necessary for
us to get on with our business.
I was listening to the Senator from Tennessee, who was a former
mayor,
[[Page S10418]]
and I was a former mayor. He was talking like a mayor. That is what we
need here, people who think in the long term, how we get there. That is
where we need to go. I didn't come here to hear the bickering that just
went on a little bit ago and see the prop that was brought out. That is
not why Alaska sent me here.
Who wins and loses? My State of Alaska is losing tonight, because we
cannot get our work done after a year. Almost a quarter of the Senate
sat and worked on this in multiple committees to get this bill to us.
Here we are. We can argue the timing and all that, but the fact is, I
look to both Democrats and Republicans on the Appropriations Committee.
I listen to them, and my staff works with them to hear about the bill
that is being put together. I am impressed all the time when I hear the
votes that come out of there. They are almost unanimous. That is rare
in this world we live in here. We cannot continue to bring props like
that down and say who wins and loses, and then giggle about it as they
leave the floor.
The public is fed up with that. If there is one thing they told us in
November, it was to get busy and quit the gamesmanship. So I am looking
forward to the Senator's comments. We had a very productive meeting
talking about tax reform, deficit management, and how we need to
control spending. That is the direction we have to go in. But we are
not going to get there with these games. I know both sides--and you are
right, we should not cast blame. We are all at fault here. This may be
the moment that we finally say to ourselves, no more show and tell, no
more gimmicks. Let's get serious, and the winners should be the
American people. I sat here and listened to the Senator and I feel like
the mayor was coming out of him. As a former mayor, he has had to reach
across to both sides. Senator Gregg said in his farewell speech that we
get work done between the 40 yard lines. He is right. We have to get
back there and quit being on the fringes for the media that sits up
here, and wherever else they watch us from.
I am looking forward to maybe going home and getting a good night's
sleep and coming back with a fresh attitude tomorrow. I am controlling
my emotions as best I can tonight. The words of the Senator from
Tennessee--I wish those were the words that started the debate tonight.
That is not what happened. I look forward to whatever we can do to get
through this maze and get on with the show and get what the American
people are looking for, and that is results from the Congress maybe
will go from 13 percent popularity to 14 percent approval.
Thank you, Mr. President. I yield the floor.
Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I thank my colleague from Tennessee for
the kind words about the deficit commission. It was a controversial
vote. I think it was the right vote to deal with our deficit and the
problems we face.
I want to put what happened tonight into some perspective in light of
the deficit commission. First, the Omnibus appropriations bill. The
total amount being spent there was $1.108 trillion. The amount of that
bill that was earmarked for specific projects was less than 1 percent
of that--$8 billion out of $1.108 trillion. That is less than 1
percent. And that was within the total amount we were limited to spend.
It wasn't as if we added it on. We were given a total amount, and less
than 1 percent of it was earmarked as to where it was going, with
complete transparency and disclosure. Again, it was $8 billion.
It troubles me when I hear Members come to the floor, as some did a
few minutes ago on the other side, saying we put an end to porkbarrel
spending, and now we are dealing with our deficit. Well, $8 billion is
a lot of money to anybody, but in the context of the debt we face as a
nation and the need to address it, it is not significant. It is not
significant in that context.
I think about the fact that yesterday most of us voted--81 of us--for
a tax bill, and included in that tax bill were tax cuts for people who
were pretty well off in America; $20 billion a year in tax cuts for the
richest estates in America to escape Federal taxation--$20 billion. We
voted yesterday, and there weren't a lot of high-fives and glorious
speeches given about the fact that we were adding $20 billion to the
deficit with that vote yesterday for the wealthiest people in America.
And $70 billion of it was for tax cuts for people making over a million
dollars a year. Nobody came here and talked about deficits then. In
fact, it was considered out of bounds.
We decided yesterday, on a bipartisan basis--and I joined in--that
getting this economy moving again was critically important. That is why
I voted for it--even though two of those provisions I particularly
loathe. That is the nature of a compromise.
I want us to remember, as we talk about going to CRs and reducing
spending, the tax bill we passed yesterday, which the House may pass
today, is a stimulus to a weak economy, in an effort to help
businesses, help individuals create more demands for goods and
services, and create more jobs and reduce unemployment. That is what it
is.
As we take spending out of the Federal side of this equation, we are
removing money from the economy. The deficit commission was sensitive
to this and said that before you start the cuts in spending for deficit
reduction, get well, get the patient well first. Stop the bleeding
before you address the fractured bone. Stop the bleeding of the
recession. That is why the deficit commission did not call for
significant spending cuts until January of 2013. We talked about it for
a long time. If we let the deficit break--and that is what we are going
to hear, I am afraid, for some time to come--too early, this economy is
going to sputter and fail.
We cannot let that happen. It is not in the interest of either
political party. We have to find the right combination that moves us
toward long-term deficit reality but the short-term economic reality we
face. I think the deficit commission got the right balance. I hope we
can build on that. I say to Senator Corker and Senator Alexander, if at
the end of the day those of us in the Senate who voted for the deficit
commission--in this case, it would be Senator Conrad, Senator Crapo,
Senator Coburn, and myself--if we could reach the point where we come
together in a bipartisan budget resolution based on that deficit
commission, if we have a Senate budget resolution--and take the word
``bipartisan'' out of it--that reflects the feelings of that deficit
commission, then that commission will have been a success and put us on
the right track, and we can stand strong together.
I hope you agree that would be the best thing for this country. I
hope we can reach that point. I thank the Senator for his kind words.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Tennessee, Mr. Alexander, is
recognized.
Mr. ALEXANDER. Mr. President, I congratulate my colleague from
Tennessee, Senator Corker, for his usual common sense, as well as the
assistant Democratic leader, Senator Durbin, for his courage on the
debt commission.
I believe that the decision made tonight about the omnibus bill is
best for the country, but there could have been a better result. It
would have been along the lines of what the Senator from Illinois
described. If we had been able earlier in the year to agree on a budget
in the Senate, which is how much are we going to spend, and if we could
have gone committee by committee--and there are 13 subcommittees, and
we both serve on the Appropriations Committee--and we could have
brought those to the floor by August, voted on them, and got on with it
so the government could run, that would by far be a better result.
There is no need to say why that didn't happen, whether it was a
Democratic or Republican fault. It didn't happen. So that falls on all
of us to look ahead and see if it can't happen in the future. I believe
it can. In fact, I believe that it must. We have a time coming up next
year when we will be asked to raise the debt ceiling. We will have
before us a recommendation from the debt commission that five of the
six Senators who served on it voted for. They stuck their necks way out
to do that. The Senator from Illinois, the Senator from North Dakota,
and three Republican Senators, as well. So I think it is incumbent upon
all of us--we can find points of division fairly easily. That is not
hard to do. Finding points of consensus is harder. Cutting taxes is
easier. Reducing the debt is going to be harder.
So in the next 3 or 4 months, when we come back, I hope we will build
on the
[[Page S10419]]
conversation that I heard earlier this week with Senators Warner and
Chambliss, and a group of nearly 20 Senators on both sides, who
committed themselves to work on the debt commission. I hope we can, in
the Appropriations Committee, start out the year with some way of
agreeing on a ceiling, and then work together to work within that
ceiling so we can run the government.
A continuing resolution for a year is a lousy way to run a
government. It wastes money, because you end up funding things that
should be cut and not funding things that need increases. I think this
was the right result for the American people of the choices we had
tonight. But there could be a better choice. It is our responsibility
to see next year if we can offer ourselves, and therefore the American
people, that choice.
I thank the Chair and yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Tennessee is recognized.
Mr. CORKER. I also thank the Senator from Illinois. I thank the
senior Senator from Tennessee, who is always doing and saying the right
thing from the floor and leads us in such a great way.
I say to the Senator from Illinois, through the Chair, I hope there
is some way that we don't let what happened over the course of the last
3 months on the deficit reduction commission go to waste. I fear that
what is happening right now is that people are beginning to talk about
some kind of situation where we then revisit all of these things for
the next year or so. I know I am not privy to all the details that all
of you worked on for so long, but I do think when this debt ceiling
vote comes up, which will be in April, May, or maybe the first week in
June, it seems to me that is the next moment in the Senate.
I talked with some of the members of the deficit reduction commission
on my side and certainly look forward to talking to the Senator from
Illinois about the same thing. I hope there is a way that we actually
vote on something that is real and not kick this down the road with
some meaningless resolution that makes the American people think we
have done something, when in actuality we have done nothing and just
kicked it down the road.
I thank the Chair and I hope that is the case.
I yield the floor.
Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mrs. McCASKILL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order
for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
____________________