[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 117 (Saturday, July 30, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5089-S5090]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
DEBT CEILING NEGOTIATIONS
Mr. REID. Mr. President, Republican leaders in the House of
Representatives wasted this week pursuing a rightwing proposal they
knew from the start could not pass the Senate. From the very beginning,
Speaker Boehner's Band-Aid approach was fatally flawed. It would have
put us back in this incredible position we are in today--debating
whether the debt limit should be increased, something that was
increased I don't know really how many times but about 19 or 20 times
during the Presidency of Ronald Reagan.
I had a little whisper to my left that said 18 times, so 19 or 20 was
not too bad. The Band-Aid approach the Speaker came up with was totally
flawed. It would have put us back in this incredible position of
fighting to increase the debt limit--something we did 18 times during
Ronald Reagan's administration. We would be fighting the clock to
prevent financial collapse. We would start that again in just a few
weeks.
The Speaker's legislation was a concession to tea party extremists.
Yet it barely passed the House yesterday with only Republican votes. It
failed on a bipartisan basis last night in the Senate.
There was an excellent article in the New York Times yesterday. The
headline was ``The Centrist Cop-Out.''
The facts of the crisis over the debt aren't complicated.
Republicans have, in effect, taken America hostage,
threatening to undermine the economy and disrupt the
essential business of government unless they get policy
concessions they would never have been able to enact through
legislation.
That is the way it is. It could not be said more clearly. But knowing
all along that this radical legislation, which was neither balanced nor
bipartisan, would not and could not pass in our Chamber, Democrats have
been working on a true compromise in the Senate. We have solicited
ideas from our Republican friends and colleagues.
Let it never be said that Democrats in the Senate were afraid to
compromise. We would welcome compromise. As recently as yesterday, I
asked my friend the Senate minority leader to help make this Senate
compromise more palatable. But we have heard very little from the
Republicans.
I am satisfied that in the conversations I have had with a couple of
Republicans this morning--I hope it bears fruit. I spoke to the
chairman of the Budget Committee a short time ago. One of the proposals
propounded by a Republican--my friend Senator Conrad is working on it
to see if he can work it out so it is language we can all live with.
Senator Conrad is an expert with
[[Page S5090]]
budget matters. I thought it was important that he take a look at that.
I would have hoped, though, that someone would come to us, come to
the bargaining table on behalf of the Republican caucus with ideas to
improve a proposal already cut from the Republican cloth. Democrats are
still willing to sit down and negotiate. My door is still open. I say
again that I appreciate that several of my Republican colleagues have
reached out to me in the last few hours hoping to reach a compromise.
Senate Democrats welcome their input and look forward to working with
them on a path forward.
My friend the Republican leader must generate some more action on
behalf of his Republicans. The two parties must work together to forge
an agreement that preserves this Nation's economy. We will need input
from reasonable Republicans, including my friend the Republican leader,
to get this done. But, unbelievably, another filibuster stands in our
path. Republican filibusters have become routine. From the smallest
measure to the greatest measure of national importance, they stall and
delay and use every procedural trick in the book to keep this body from
doing its job. But a filibuster at this late hour and when so much is
at risk is irresponsible; it puts our economy at risk.
A majority vote was good enough for the Speaker's proposal in the
House yesterday, but Republicans believe it is not good enough for the
Senate today. And I have heard from my friends on the House side, to
show how they are gaming the system over there, that they are going to
have a vote on my proposal on suspensions. For those of us who served
in the House, this is for naming courthouses and little measures that
are of little importance. But this important matter, this matter
dealing with the debt limit of this country, will take a two-thirds
vote to pass. So they have gamed this system from the very beginning.
As I said earlier from the New York Times article:
The facts of the crisis over the debt ceiling aren't
complicated. Republicans have, in effect, taken America
hostage, threatening to undermine the economy and disrupt the
essential business of government unless they get policy
concessions they would never have been able to enact through
legislation.
So they are going through, as I understand, on the House side, an
effort to vote on our legislation, setting up a two-thirds standard to
get this done, recognizing, of course, as I will outline here in a
minute that a filibuster at this late hour here in the Senate and when
so much is at risk is really irresponsible, and to say it puts our
economy at risk is an understatement, and that is for sure. A majority
vote was good enough for the Speaker's proposal in the House, but
Republicans believe it is not good enough for the Senate today.
Rather than filibuster, I ask my Republican colleagues to work with
Democrats to make our proposal better. We have offered a reasonable,
rational way for Republicans to help us avert default.
But let me tell you about the legislation at issue, how we believe
how reasonable our legislation is.
This legislation was written by Democrats with both parties'
principles in mind. It would avert default while cutting $2.5 trillion
from the deficit over a decade. It includes no revenues--a concession
to House Republicans and Senate Republicans. It establishes a joint
congressional committee to find additional savings this year and
guarantees that the committee's recommendations will see an up-or-down
vote on the Senate floor. It takes into consideration that--that
committee must take into consideration proposals like the Gang of 6.
Literally every single spending cut has been voted on or endorsed by
Republicans in both Houses. That is the gist of the legislation: $2.5
trillion and extending the debt ceiling until March of 2013--a pretty
fair deal.
We have made some changes to this proposition. We hope it becomes
more amenable to Republicans. We have improved the program integrity
language to allow for more savings by combatting government waste and
fraud.
We have removed a measure that would have raised revenue by selling
the spectrum--some $15 billion--which will be done, and we should do it
now, but it caused what is called a blue slip problem, which says if
you have any revenue measures, according to our Constitution, they have
to originate in the House. So it presents a so-called blue slip
problem. I just eliminated it from this bill. It was $15 billion out of
$2.5 trillion.
We also added a process conceived by my friend Senator McConnell to
allow two additional votes over the next year and a half, two motions
of disapproval before the President can raise the debt ceiling.
This proposal also protects Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid
benefits.
As you can see, this legislation was designed to appeal to our
Republican colleagues as well as to our Democratic colleagues. We are
willing to listen to ideas--I have said this several times--from
Republican Senators to make this proposal better. But to say the time
is short is an understatement. We can amend the underlying legislation
that is here before us in the so-called message to the House. We still
have time to do that. We could do it tonight and we could still meet
the deadline on Tuesday. But we need to do it soon. That is why, at
1:10 in the afternoon this Saturday, I hope I have more Republicans
contact me to see if they can work out something to work with us.
Already the economy has gone from bad to worse. Stocks continued a
weeklong slide yesterday. I know my Republican colleagues love this
country, every single one of them. I believe they want to do what is
best for our economy, every single one of them. But I have to say--and
I say this for the third time:
The facts of the crisis over the debt ceiling aren't
complicated at all. Republicans have, in effect, taken
America hostage, threatening to undermine the economy and
disrupt the essential business of government unless they get
policy concessions they would never have been able to enact
through legislation.
That is why together we must avert a default that would jeopardize
veterans' benefits, senior citizens' benefits, Social Security
payments, and checks for troops, even troops on the front line. It
would also effectively raise taxes on every American family: Vermont,
Illinois, Kentucky, Idaho, Nevada, all over this country. Oregon. All
of the Senators on the floor. Even Wyoming, which does not pay much in
the way of taxes. We could do that. It would effectively raise taxes on
every American family. And businesses would also suffer by the increase
in the cost of everything from groceries to their mortgages.
So I urge my Republican friends to join me and move forward with the
only compromise plan that is left--in fact, the only option left at
all--to save this country from default.
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