[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 81 (Tuesday, June 7, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3519-S3523]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT REVITALIZATION ACT OF 2011--MOTION TO PROCEED
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the Senate will
resume consideration of S. 782, which the clerk will report by title.
The bill clerk read as follows:
A bill (S. 782) to amend the Public Works and Economic
Development Act of 1965 to reauthorize that Act, and for
other purposes.
Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, as the chairman of the Environment and
Public Works Committee who watched with pleasure as we voted this bill
out of our committee with total unanimous support--except for one, we
almost had everyone--I am delighted that the leader has chosen to go to
the reauthorization of the Economic Development Administration.
I will tell you why. There are three reasons: jobs, jobs, jobs. We
know when President Obama took over, he faced a situation where we were
losing 700,000 to 800,000 jobs a month. Imagine. We were bleeding those
jobs. Credit was frozen. We almost lost the auto industry. We had to
take tremendous steps to turn this around.
I personally believe, after listening to the experts evaluate what we
did, that we did some very important work to stabilize this economy.
But clearly this recession we are trying to get out of is the worst
since the Great Depression. The job loss has been severe. So it is very
difficult. When you lose 7, 8 million jobs in that kind of a downturn,
you need robust job creation to get these jobs back.
We had a very important bill on the floor dealing with small
business--to help small business. That bill was loaded with a bunch of
extraneous amendments and it never got off the floor. Now is our
chance. I do not mind it if people attach amendments that they think
are very important, and we have some reasonable time set aside for
those, we have votes on those. I do not have any problem with that. But
we have got to get on with the business of job creation.
Let me tell you a little bit about the EDA. For 50 years, the EDA,
the Economic Development Administration, has created jobs and spurred
growth in economically hard-hit communities. This bill, S. 782, will
ensure that EDA will continue to create employment opportunities,
maintain existing jobs, and drive local economic growth.
We know the EDA's authorization expired in 2008. And, by the way, the
last time it was voted on it was I believe under George Bush, and it
was done by voice vote. Even in the House it was an overwhelmingly
bipartisan vote. George Bush signed it. Can't we get back to the days
of bipartisanship? I say to my colleagues, this is the moment.
A bill that has been voted out of the committee with near unanimous
consent, a program that has been in place since 1965, and we know these
are tough times. All of our communities are going through tough times--
most of our communities are.
The EDA has worked beautifully with local communities to spur
economic development. EDA provides a wide range of assistance to these
areas. They fund water and sewer improvements. They help manufacturers
and producers become more competitive. And here is the thing about
these investments: They attract State dollars, local dollars, nonprofit
dollars, private company dollars, so that every dollar we put into this
program yields us $7 in private sector investment.
This is the first point I want to make to my colleagues and to the
American people. EDA leverages Federal dollars to create jobs. One
dollar of Economic Development Administration investment is expected to
attract $7 in private sector investment. This comes from congressional
testimony in March of 2011. That is why we got such a great vote out of
our committee.
You are going to hear from Senator Cardin later, who serves in a very
senior position on that committee. It is rare that we have these type
of votes. Since January of 2009, even though the EDA was not
reauthorized, it still continued to go along under the old program. It
continued to go along with appropriations.
Since 2009, public-private projects that grantees have looked at say
they have created 161,500 jobs. Let's look at that chart. This is good
news. I have good news today. This is a program that is working for the
American people. Since January 2009, EDA has funded public-private
projects that grantees estimate have created 161,500 jobs.
What we bring to you is a reauthorization of a very popular program
that has been in place since 1965, that has always had tremendous
bipartisan support, that is working on the ground, that the local
people love. Let me tell you who has already endorsed this bill: the
U.S. Conference of Mayors, the American Public Works Association, the
National Association of Counties, the American Planning Association,
the Association of University Research Parks, the Educational
Association of University Centers, the International Economic
Development Council, the National Association of Development
Organizations, the National Business Incubation Association, the State
Science and Technology Institute, the University Economic Development
Association, the National Association of Regional Councils. These are
people on
[[Page S3520]]
the ground very close to our constituents. Who could be closer than the
mayors and the counties? I started out as a county supervisor in a
beautiful county called Marin. I can tell you on the ground, when you
see these Federal dollars work it is very exciting because the cities
and counties cannot do it alone. With the infusion of Federal funds,
that sparks $7 of every $1 from private sector folks, and it makes a
difference. I believe this is a win-win situation for our people.
In fiscal year 2010 alone, EDA approved investments of $640 million
for 928 projects nationwide that are expected to create 74,000 jobs,
save 22,000 jobs, and leverage $10 billion in private investment. So
$640 million is expected to leverage $10 billion in private investment.
That is a huge leverage.
In my home State of California, we are struggling, as so many parts
of the country are, with unemployment rates. In California, EDA
approved investments of $24 million in fiscal year 2010 for 27 projects
expected to create 11,000 jobs, save 400 jobs, and leverage $400
million in private investment. As I stand here now, because of this
program, in 2011, we are going to see jobs saved and created. Imagine,
11,000 new jobs--11,000 families who can breathe easier, pay their
mortgage, and maybe go out to a restaurant once a week. That money
trickles into the community and helps the small businesses.
We now know that in California, the city of Dixon is working on a $3
million program for water system improvements. That is 1,000 jobs.
There is a project in the city of Shafter for $2 million for sewer
and water improvements, which will allow development of an additional
600 acres, and it will create 1,485 jobs and leverage $253 million in
private investment. Nationwide, you could look at Boeing. We all know
about Boeing. To help to mitigate Boeing's decision to reduce
manufacturing jobs in Renton, WA, EDA invested $2 million in 2006 to
help build infrastructure to serve the commercial redevelopment of a
42-acre aircraft manufacturing site. This redevelopment has created a
mixed-use campus used by businesses focusing on commercial services,
high-tech, and life sciences, which has helped create 2,500 jobs.
I say to my friends that right now we are struggling getting to the
bill. At this point in time, we have a Republican dissenter who doesn't
want us to move forward, and they want to look at this. I hope they
look at these numbers. The American people want jobs. This is a bill
that is directly related to job creation. This is a bill that leverages
the Federal dollar. Why on Earth should there be any objection? This is
a bill that passed the Senate unanimously when George W. Bush was
President. He signed it and it was law. We should not be struggling
over going to this bill. We ought to get on the bill and then get off
the bill and send a message to the people that we are serious about job
creation.
In Duluth, a $3.5 million grant, matched by $2.3 million from the
city, helped build the Duluth Aviation Business Incubator at the Duluth
Airport. This investment helped Cirrus Aircraft grow from a handful of
employees to 1,012 employees by 2008. The incubator is now leased to
Cirrus Design Corporation, which has the largest share of the worldwide
general aviation market.
Here is another one on the east coast. In 2002, EDA provided $2
million to help build the Knowledge Works pre-incubator facility as
part of the development of the Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center
in Blacksburg, VA. The center and its Knowledge Works pre-incubator
facility have led to the creation of 2,000 high-wage jobs and the
inception of 140 high-tech businesses. Repeating, a $2 million infusion
from the EDA led to the creation of 2,000 high-wage jobs and the
inception of 140 high-tech businesses. They built this corporate
research center in Blacksburg, VA.
EDA helps with disaster relief. In addition to helping communities
respond to job loss due to the closure of a manufacturing plant or
defense facility, for example, EDA helps communities respond to sudden
and severe economic dislocations to the natural disaster.
In 2008, Congress provided EDA with a total of $500 million in
natural disaster assistance through two supplemental appropriations.
With these funds, EDA was able to assume the role of a secondary
responder working with affected communities to support long-term,
postdisaster economic recovery in response to hurricanes, floods, and
other natural disasters. We know how important it is to have a program
that can respond and help FEMA.
I can give you example after example of disaster relief. There was
one case in Cedar Rapids, IA, where EDA provided funding to construct
and install an upgraded, energy-efficient, natural gas-fired boiler
system following a 2008 flood that destroyed the boiler that had
provided steam heat and hot water to St. Luke's Hospital and Coe
College. When the utility that owned the damaged facility decided not
to rebuild after the flood, it left the hospital and college without a
reliable energy supply. We all know what happens when there is a
disaster and our hospitals cannot function. They came in and made a
$4.6 million investment, and it was critical in keeping the hospital
and college open, saving hundreds of jobs.
I can only say, in closing my opening remarks, let's step back and
look at the big picture. I think Dick Durbin spoke to it quite
eloquently. Senator Durbin was very clear when he said we are at a time
now where we have to create jobs. He gave kind of the overview of what
has happened.
When Bill Clinton was President, I was privileged enough to be here,
sent by the people of California--my first term here. Bill Clinton
faced a deficit, a debt, and a struggling economy. But with very smart
plans, we turned it around. What were the smart plans? We reduced the
deficit to zero, but we did it in a smart way. How did we do it? We
kept on making investments that made sense at that time in energy,
high-tech research, biomedical research. We made those investments. We
cut the fraud and waste. We said to billionaires: You know what, you
can do more for us, please. They are happy to do it, actually. So the
millionaires and the billionaires paid their fair share, and we made
smart investments and cut the waste, fraud, and abuse. We not only
balanced the budget, but we created a surplus.
In comes George W. Bush, and our Republican friends decided that the
thing they wanted to do more than anything was give tax breaks to the
billionaires and millionaires--to the Warren Buffets, who don't need
it, and to the Donald Trumps, who don't need it. They don't need it.
The average of these tax cuts to these millionaires and billionaires
was hundreds of thousands a year. What that means is, we are short
funds here.
What do our Republican friends want to do now? They want to cut
Medicare--end it--in order to continue to pay for the tax cuts for the
millionaires. It is not necessary to go down that road.
That is not before us today. What is before us today is, in the
battle of how to get that deficit under control, what are we going to
do about jobs. Today, we are looking at a program that has strong
bipartisan support, that leverages the Federal dollars, that gets great
reviews, that got out of our committee with only one dissenting vote;
that is, the EDA, the Economic Development Administration. They have
six regions. They have six regional offices, and each region--including
East, West, Midwest, South--gets a fair share of the appropriations. It
goes to places that have good ideas on how to attract local and State
nonprofit and private sector funding. Every $1 of EDA investment is
expected to attract $7 in private sector investment, thereby saving and
creating thousands and thousands of good jobs.
I understand my Republican friends are going to have a discussion at
lunchtime as to whether to allow this bill to move forward. I hope,
from the bottom of my heart, they will do so.
I yield to Senator Cardin.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Maryland is recognized.
Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, let me compliment Senator Boxer for her
leadership as chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee. I
also compliment Senator Inhofe, the ranking member.
This is an important bill, dealing with economic development and the
Economic Development Administration. This is all about creating jobs,
as Senator Boxer pointed out, particularly in underserved communities.
That is what EDA does.
This is a reauthorization bill. It was worked on in the last
Congress. It came
[[Page S3521]]
out of the Environment and Public Works Committee in the last Congress.
It enjoys strong bipartisan support. Historically, it has been agreed
to. It is important this reauthorization bill move through the Senate
and the House and that the President has an opportunity to sign this
bill so we can continue this important economic tool for our
underserved communities.
I also compliment the majority leader, Senator Reid. The bills he has
brought forward in this Congress have been focused on creating jobs. We
had the FAA reauthorization bill, which was important for the
modernization and safety of our air traffic system, but it also created
jobs and provided economic opportunity for more jobs in America.
We then considered the SBIR bill, which would have helped small
businesses with innovation, growth, and job growth. I regret that that
bill could not be completed because of extraneous amendments. But it
shows our priority on moving legislation forward that will create jobs.
The EDA bill now before us I hope we can get to and move it quickly
because it is, to me, a very important part of our strategy for the
recovery of our economy and to create jobs in particularly underserved
communities.
In Maryland, we have many communities that depend upon EDA funding in
order to save and create jobs. The EDA, through the economic
development districts, is helping plan to build roads, spread commerce,
office parks, business centers, and for private sector businesses to
locate to and expand access to broadband, which is critical to
communication in today's global economy. These are the types of
projects EDA sponsors. There are road projects and broadband to connect
communities together.
EDA is responsible for promoting job growth and accelerating
industrial and commercial development in communities suffering from
limited job opportunities, low per capita income levels, and economic
distress.
As the only Federal agency focusing solely on promoting private
sector job growth in economically underserved communities, EDA pursues
regional comprehensive strategy development, public works, and business
loan funds. They put together a strategy for our areas that have high
unemployment, areas that are difficult to attract new job
opportunities. They developed a winning strategy to create jobs.
In Maryland, the EDA and our State university centers and economic
development districts are responsible for helping administrate public
works projects in rural communities on the Eastern Shore and in the
western part of our State. These projects have assisted with the
regional commercial needs as well as services to meet the needs of
residents.
For example, the EDA has been essential in assisting with the
planning and installation of the broadband communication network in
western Maryland. Maryland will be a State that will be totally
connected by the broadband. EDA has helped to bring that into
underserved areas. We are connecting communities together by having
jobs in broadband capacity.
It is also helping us create more small business opportunities, which
is what we find is the dominant economic growth engine. We know in the
Nation overall it is small businesses, but when we are dealing with
underserved communities, small business growth is critical to their
economic future. These investments go toward revitalizing, expansion,
and upgrading of physical infrastructure in order to attract new
industries, encourage business expansion and diversify local economies.
In so doing, EDA seeks to establish foundations that enable communities
to develop their own economic development programs for sustained
development.
The EDA has an established and proven record of using increasingly
limited resources to complete projects in a timely manner that
leverage--leverage--private sector investment. Senator Boxer pointed
that out. We are leveraging private sector investment with a relatively
small amount of public funds.
In my home State of Maryland, EDA has supported more than 33 projects
in the last 4 years that are credited with creating more than 2500
jobs, retaining over 100 jobs, and leveraging $218 million in private
investment from $12 million in EDA investments. That is a much higher
ratio than the average, as Senator Boxer pointed out. It is important
we provide EDA with the resources necessary to continue this work. Many
of these projects are in the more rural or underserved parts of the
State.
Most recently, EDA provided seed money for two exciting projects on
Maryland's Eastern Shore. In Dorchester County, near the town of
Cambridge, on the Eastern Shore, the EDA is investing more than
$600,000 in the renovation and repair of an existing vacant industrial
building to be reused by a new manufacturing company that specializes
in the production of green products made from recyclable materials.
This is a win, win, win situation. This is a project that will
restore a defunct industrial facility--recycling an industrial
facility--and saving jobs on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. It reduces
material waste by making new products out of recyclable waste material,
helping us with our energy and environmental policies, and saving 103
jobs while creating 20 new jobs. These 103 jobs would have been lost.
Instead, we now have 123 jobs in an area where it is difficult to
attract new jobs. It is leveraging more than $600,000 in direct
investment in a facility that is expected to generate $6.6 million in
private investment once the facility is operational, once again,
referring to what Senator Boxer said, the leveraging of public funds
for private investment in underserved areas and saving and creating
jobs. This means for every Federal dollar invested, it generates $10 in
private investment.
The economies of Wicomico, Worcester, and Somerset Counties have
historically been linked to the health of the Chesapeake Bay. Years of
Chesapeake Bay impairment have taken their toll on the bay's fisheries.
Closely linked to the bay's impairment is the decline in lowland forest
lands due to development pressures. The effects of these natural
resource crises have resulted in the decline of jobs in the seafood
harvesting and forestry industries on the lower shore. It is a priority
of mine to restore the health of the Chesapeake Bay and the natural
systems and jobs that support a healthy bay.
I also support the immediate work the EDA is doing to address the
decline in jobs in the traditional industries on the lower shore by
investing over $800,000 in workforce and business development centers
that serve the lower counties of the Eastern Shore.
Much of the hard work that goes into selecting and developing
projects is done by the hardworking men and women on the ground working
for the local economic development districts and the university
centers. These are the ones with the best understanding of the economic
needs in the communities in which they work. That is why I worked hard
with my colleagues on the Environment and Public Works Committee to
improve the potential resources available to economic development
districts to do the necessary planning for economic development
projects in their districts.
Planning funds are hard to come by, but planning funds are essential.
When the Environment and Public Works Committee took up the bill last
Congress, the issue my economic development district urged me to fight
for was increasing the authorization level for planning grants because
they were so useful to the work they were doing and represented a sound
investment of Federal dollars in the communities that needed the help
the most. Planning grants provide invaluable matching funds for
economic development districts, tribes, and local communities to pursue
regional economic development goals and strategies.
None of the projects the economic development district helps
administer would be possible without these planning grants. The demands
on the economic development districts have increased significantly due
to the current economic downturn as well as the new mandates by the EDA
and the evolving nature of the global economy. The scope of the
economic development districts' work goes well beyond EDA's projects
and spans into planning and coordination of rural transportation
projects, USDA rural health and water systems projects as well as HUD
projects.
[[Page S3522]]
Without the annual planning investment EDA provides through the
economic development districts, most rural areas would not have the
capacity to apply for or administer economic development resources. The
planning and administrative work done by the economic development
districts is the backbone of EDA's public works and facilities
development projects and would not be possible without the planning
grants.
I greatly appreciate the leadership of Senator Boxer and Senator
Inhofe on our committee, and I am pleased by the bipartisan support of
our committee that brought out a comprehensive bill, including the
areas I have mentioned, that will allow EDA to continue its core
purpose of creating jobs for our community. It is exactly this type of
legislation we need to help continue our economic growth to bring us
out of this recession, to create the type of jobs we need, and to
encourage private sector capital.
This bill translates into jobs. I urge my colleagues to allow this
bill to move forward, to limit the amendments, particularly those that
are not relevant to the underlying legislation, so we can get this bill
to the House and to the President because it will help our communities
grow and create jobs.
With that, Mr. President, I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Hampshire.
Ms. AYOTTE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak as in
morning business.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Remembering Governor Walter Peterson
Ms. AYOTTE. Mr. President, I rise today to honor the memory of
Governor Walter Peterson--a great New Hampshire citizen who represented
the very best of the Granite State's independent spirit.
Governor Peterson came from what is well-known as the ``greatest
generation,'' and he more than lived up to that label. A veteran of
World War II, he committed his life to public service and civic
engagement, leaving behind a legacy of civility, decency, and integrity
in politics.
Following his graduation from Dartmouth College, Governor Peterson
settled in Peterborough, NH, becoming a lifelong figure in the
Monadnock region. A small businessman, he went on to serve in New
Hampshire's citizen legislature and rose to the position of speaker of
the house. In 1968, New Hampshire voters elected him as the State's
Governor, a position he held for two terms.
Governor Peterson represented a special breed of politician--someone
who could disagree without being disagreeable. A strong leader, he had
the courage of his convictions. He believed it was more important to
stand firm for what he believed was right for New Hampshire rather than
worry about being reelected. That principled approach and inherent
goodness secured his place in New Hampshire history as a deeply
respected statesman.
Outside of public life, Governor Peterson was the beloved patriarch
of his family. Together with his wife Dorothy, to whom he was married
for over 60 years, they had two children, Meg and Andy. The Peterson
family is well known in the Monadnock region because of their strong
commitment and dedication to the community. Andy Peterson followed in
his father's footsteps and served in our State legislature with
distinction.
During my visits to Peterborough--the idyllic New Hampshire town
Governor Peterson lived in and loved--I always knew he would extend a
warm welcome to me. A steadfast source of Yankee wisdom, I came to
cherish Governor Peterson's friendship as much as his keen insight into
the people of New Hampshire.
After leaving statewide office, Governor Peterson took his special
brand of leadership to academia, serving as a college president and as
a trustee of the university system of New Hampshire. In those roles, he
worked to build institutions of higher learning that empowered students
to take full advantage of the opportunities our great country provides,
believing in the transformative power of education.
With Governor Peterson's passing, New Hampshire citizens have lost a
wonderful, true, and loyal friend. At this sad time, we celebrate his
life, grateful to have known a leader who embodied the very best of
public service.
Mr. President, I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Cardin). The Senator from Montana.
Mr. TESTER. Mr. President, when we are able to move the economic
development bill, I will have a bipartisan amendment that will address
the interchange issue in a way I think most Senators can support.
I wish also to note that I appreciate Senator Durbin's passion on the
issue--and with any number of issues we have in common--and I look
forward to working with him again very soon.
Most of the folks in this body know I am a farmer; that I come from
the agricultural sector. It is important because, over the many years I
have been able to be in agriculture, I have watched consolidation in
agriculture, where fewer and fewer companies control more and more of
the food supply. We call it consolidation. The same thing has occurred
in our energy sector, where we have fewer and fewer companies, with
less competition in the marketplace. And we are paying that price in
both areas.
We have seen enough consolidation in the financial area. Why is this
important? It is important because the amendment I am going to offer--
the bipartisan amendment--will help so that we don't further
consolidate the financial industry. I also come from rural America. We
all know, as the Senator from Illinois pointed out, that we are coming
out of a very difficult economic time. In fact, the Senator pointed out
he voted for the bailout of the big banks because it was for jobs. I
want the record to be clear that I did not vote for that TARP bailout,
but I too am concerned about jobs. I am concerned about jobs across the
country, but particularly in rural America.
The amendment we voted on a year ago had a provision in it that
exempted banks under $10 billion from this debit swipe fee rule.
Everybody thought it would work--at least those who voted for the
amendment thought it would work. But the fact is every regulator has
said, with regard to this $10 billion exemption, we don't know how to
enforce it. The regulators have said, we do not know how to craft a
rule to exempt those small community banks and credit unions under $10
billion.
The single regulators have said the same thing. In fact, Chairman
Bernanke admitted the rule could ``result in some of the smaller banks
being less profitable and even failing.'' That is because the two-
tiered system will not work under the current law. That is not my
opinion. That is the opinion of the folks whose job it is to regulate
these banks. And the customers--the hard-working folks--are going to
get stuck with higher fees, potentially no access to capital or, even
worse, no local banks at all--further consolidation in the banking
industry.
Let me be clear. If any one of the regulators--the Chairman of the
Federal Reserve, the Chair of the FDIC, the Comptroller of the
Currency--told me that the interchange rule we passed last year would
actually protect small banks, I would not be here, we would not even be
here having this debate, we would be moving on. But that is not what
happened.
The Wall Street banks are going to be just fine. My amendment is not
about the Wall Street banks. They can distribute their costs. They have
a lot of different irons in the fire. They can distribute their costs.
The fact is, the small banks, credit unions and community banks cannot
distribute those costs. That will result in less access to capital in
rural America and I think across the country. It will result in fewer
jobs because you have to have capital to grow business and create jobs.
Oftentimes we make decisions based on incorrect information. It is
nice when you make decisions based on good information, and that is
what we are asking to do here: Take a step back, take a look at this
stuff, and make a good decision, a decision that will work not only for
rural America but for the whole country.
This is an important amendment. It is a critically important
amendment, from my perspective. If we shut down access to capital in
rural America because community banks and credit unions cannot compete,
not only will
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we further consolidate the financial industry but we will take away
opportunity for small businesses, opportunity that will allow them to
grow and create jobs at a time when we need growth in our economy and
we need more job creation.
With that, I yield the floor.
____________________