[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 147 (Tuesday, October 4, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6066-S6067]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 CURRENCY EXCHANGE RATE OVERSIGHT REFORM ACT OF 2011--MOTION TO PROCEED

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the Senate will 
resume consideration of the motion to proceed to S. 1619, which the 
clerk will report.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       Motion to proceed to the consideration of S. 1619, a bill 
     to provide for identification of misaligned currency, require 
     action to correct the misalignment, and for other purposes.

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Massachusetts.


                            working together

  Mr. BROWN of Massachusetts. Mr. President, I appreciate the 
opportunity to come down to the floor once again to speak to you and 
the American people. I come to the floor today because there is 
something that too many people in Washington, DC, are missing right 
now; that is, we are Americans first.
  It is a simple idea but one that seems easily forgotten in politics 
because Washington has a way of making elected officials act like 
partisans rather than problem solvers. For example, how can any one 
Member of the Senate be 100 percent right? I just don't know how that 
happens. How can they also vote 100 percent of the time with their own 
party? Do they honestly believe their party is right 100 percent of the 
time or is it easier than going with the alternative--easier than 
working together with people whom one doesn't agree with on every 
single issue?
  I ran for the Senate to make a difference, and I believe the voters 
of this country sent us here to find ways in which we can all agree, to 
move our country forward and to make things better. Governing wisely 
doesn't mean spending all our time politicking--making the other side 
uncomfortable by voting a certain way or taking uncomfortable votes, 
putting those votes in the bank for more petty attacks during the 
election season. But why else would we spend hours and days trying to 
ram through one-sided bills that can't pass simply to highlight our 
differences? Is that honestly why we were sent here today? Because 
there is no Republican bill that is going to pass and there is no 
Democratic bill that is going to pass. It needs to be a bipartisan, 
bicameral effort that the President will sign.
  We face very huge challenges. That means we must rise to the occasion 
and rise above politics to accomplish the very big things the American 
people expect from their elected officials. Our jobs and economic 
picture, as we all know, is bleak. The line of unemployed workers would 
stretch across America and back again. Our national debt and deficits 
are spiraling out of control. Working families are getting squeezed by 
the high cost of energy, high health care costs, high education costs. 
Businesses are squeezed by high tax rates, burdensome regulations, and 
uncertainty about the future and the political leadership in this 
country. Our housing market is frozen, and the government is making it 
harder and harder, rather than easier, for borrowers to refinance. Yet 
with all these challenges we have, the answer here in Washington is 
just more of the same--more threats, more gridlock, more partisanship. 
I say enough already, because I have said this back home in 
Massachusetts and people, I think, greatly appreciate the sentiments: 
We are Americans first. If we don't work together right now--at this 
moment in time, right now--then we are going to miss a great 
opportunity.
  We need to focus on jobs. We need to focus on the economy. That is 
what I have done since the day I got elected. I believe the American 
people deserve better. They deserve better than congressional gridlock 
and political gamesmanship. For example, the President--not you, Mr. 
President, but the President--has given us a jobs bill that isn't 
perfect, but it is a start. The majority leader has said the Senate 
might consider the President's package eventually. Really? Eventually? 
We are in a financial emergency. We are going to talk about creating 
jobs eventually?
  Let's be honest with those who sent us. The current proposal from the 
President isn't going to pass either Chamber if it relies entirely on 
tax increases to pay for it. I know it and the Presiding Officer knows 
it. So when we bring it up, are we going to try to make it better? Are 
we going to try to pass it?
  I urge the majority leader to bring the jobs bill--or jobs bills--to 
the floor that can actually get 60 votes as well as have a chance of 
passing in the House. What would they look like? They would look like 
parts of the President's proposal that actually have bipartisan support 
and can help our fellow Americans immediately. We should take the 
things everybody agrees on and bring them forward now--right now. We 
could pass a payroll tax cut for both employers and employees. I stood 
when he said that. I clapped. I agree with him.
  We can also pass his version of the Hire A Hero Act that provides tax 
incentives for employers to hire our heroes who are returning from 
doing incredible service for our country. It puts them back to work. 
Their unemployment rate is 25 percent. I am all for it. I clapped 
again. It is a great idea.
  We can get to work on reforming our Tax Code in a way that eliminates 
loopholes and leads to lower rates. We can do these things. It is 
possible. Those are the things we agree on and we should be doing 
immediately--not just bringing a bill forward, knowing it is not going 
to pass and then spotting a particular person or party for an election 
season that is so far away that if we don't do something right away, we 
are going to be in deep trouble and miss the opportunity. We are 
Americans first. We can do it better and we should do it better.
  I have been a little bit discouraged--it seems to go in ebbs and 
flows--about the ability to actually have an open amendment process. We 
had to sign a letter to the President guaranteeing we would actually 
move forward with the trade agreements. Then we had an open amendment 
process and, quite frankly, I think when it was done, everybody was 
satisfied that it was just that--an open amendment process--and we got 
some good suggestions and sent them off to the President. I am eager 
for those bills to be passed.
  We need to allow our Members to offer their own ideas on job 
creation. There is no one particular person, whether it be the 
President, the majority leader, the minority leader, or any individual 
here, who has all the ideas on job creation. Since when? I have a vote, 
just as each and every one of my colleagues does. I am sure the 
Presiding Officer has some amendments he thinks would help job growth 
in his State. I know we have worked on one that was cited by 
independent groups as being probably the No. 1 way to actually get the 
economy moving, but we will not even have the opportunity to allow that 
to be filed as an amendment. Is that right? Of course not.
  I have a number of bipartisan pieces of legislation, one of which I 
just referenced with the Presiding Officer, to help boost our economy 
in Massachusetts. Whether it is working with our fishermen to protect 
that industry which provides food for American citizens and throughout 
the world or whether it is the high-tech sector, biofarming--you name 
it--my bills will help solve, as will the Presiding Officer's and 
others, some of our economic problems. It will not be done overnight, 
but it is a first step. There is absolutely no reason we can't move 
forward to have an open amendment process on a bill that will actually 
create jobs. But they will make a difference in

[[Page S6067]]

Massachusetts today, and that is what my constituents sent me here to 
do.
  Secondly, we need to focus on our debt and deficits. They are out of 
control. When I got here, we had an $11.5 trillion national debt. It is 
now up to $14.5 trillion in a little over 1 year. There is plenty of 
blame to go around. I hear my colleagues ranting and raving and blaming 
everybody, but everybody is at fault. Let's acknowledge that and set 
aside the sniping of whether we should blame this administration or 
that administration because, quite frankly, it doesn't matter. It 
doesn't matter at this point. Everyone has contributed, and now 
everyone needs to work together to solve these very real problems.
  I am urging the debt committee to put aside partisanship and remember 
that we are, once again, Americans first and we have an opportunity 
right now--right now, in this moment in time--to do it better and to 
solve these very real problems. We should not get lost in party 
politics. We should think the way great American leaders have always 
thought. They didn't waste time scoring points. They took the long 
view. They thought about leaving a legacy for the next generation and 
leaving our country in a better place. I know, as the Presiding Officer 
does, and many others, I have pictures of my children and my family--no 
grandchildren yet--here in my office in Washington and in my home and 
in Boston. If we care about the young people in those photos, we should 
be demanding--absolutely demanding, we should have a lot of the folks 
who are not in leadership actually get up and demand a bipartisan 
compromise on the debt, one that finally puts us back on the track 
toward a balanced budget. As the Presiding Officer knows, because I 
believe he served with him, before I held this Senate seat, it was held 
by the late Senator Ted Kennedy and before that it was held by John F. 
Kennedy. I wish to remind my colleagues that it was President Kennedy 
who famously said: ``Those to whom much is given, much is expected.''
  The voters have given us so much. They have given us so many 
opportunities to do it better and to be better in solving our country's 
very real problems. They have given us a responsibility and an 
opportunity to come here and work and get something done. Every minute 
we waste, we let them down. With every petty attack, they get more 
cynical and expect less and less from the people who serve in this 
great and historic Chamber. While Washington bickers, their faith in 
our democracy is waning. So I, for one, challenge the majority leader, 
the minority leader, and all the Members to finally do something for 
the American people who need our leadership so badly. Let's work 
together on these big challenges. Let's renew the faith the people of 
America have bestowed in us and let's remember we are Americans first 
and we owe it to them to do it better.
  I thank the Presiding Officer. I yield the floor and suggest the 
absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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