[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 191 (Tuesday, December 13, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8494-S8495]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          A BALANCED APPROACH

  Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, today the House of Representatives 
will vote on a bill that extends the temporary payroll tax cut as well 
as unemployment insurance and which will not add a dime to the Federal 
deficit. In other words, the House bill would do both of the things the 
President and Senate Democrats have described as their top legislative 
priorities before the close of this year.
  So it was surprising, to say the least, to read this morning that 
President Obama and my friend, the majority leader, are now plotting to 
block this very legislation--even to the point of forcing a Government 
shutdown--over the inclusion of a job-creating measure that the 
President thinks will complicate his reelection chances next year.
  That is what is happening in Washington this week, and the American 
people need to know about it. So let me repeat what is unfolding right 
now in the Capitol.
  Yesterday, the members of the Senate Appropriations Committee--
Democrats and Republicans alike--agreed to a spending bill that would 
fund the government through the end of the fiscal year; that is, next 
September 30. Today, Republicans in the House will consider a bill that 
contains the President's top priorities: an extension of the payroll 
tax cut and unemployment insurance.
  But here is the problem: The House bill also includes a provision to 
accelerate construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline, a project that has 
been described as the biggest shovel-ready project in America. 
Evidently, the President does not want this project approved before his 
election next November--because a small faction of very liberal voters 
he is counting on to get reelected do not like the pipeline.
  We have already had 3 years of environmental studies. This project 
was not only ready to go from an environmental point of view, it is 
shovel ready. It will produce jobs almost immediately, as soon as the 
President signs off on it.
  Here is a project that would create tens of thousands of jobs, as I 
indicated, right away. It also would not cost the taxpayers a dime to 
build. It is being built by the private sector. It would reduce the 
share of energy we import from unfriendly countries overseas, and it is 
a project which everybody from labor unions--labor unions--to the U.S. 
Chamber of Commerce says they support because it would create tens of 
thousands of jobs right away.
  The Teamsters support getting the pipeline started right now. The 
AFL-CIO supports getting the pipeline started right now. This is the 
kind of project the Democrats themselves, including the President, have 
been saying all year they want.
  But the Presidential campaign seems to be getting in the way, to the 
point that my friend, the majority leader, now says he is willing to 
hold up a bipartisan bill to fund our troops, border security, and 
other Federal responsibilities rather than letting the President

[[Page S8495]]

decide if this pipeline project should move forward.
  Let me say that again. The President and the Democratic majority 
leader, my friend, Harry Reid, are now saying they would rather shut 
down the government than allow this job-creating legislation to become 
law. That is what would happen if they succeed in blocking this 
bipartisan funding bill from coming to the floor for a vote.
  House Republicans are giving the President everything he asked for 
today. They just think that instead of simply providing more relief to 
those who continue to struggle in this economy, we should also help 
prevent future job loss and incentivize the creation of new private 
sector jobs, all at the same time.
  That is what the House bill does. It goes beyond government 
benefits--beyond government benefits--and takes us a step toward 
addressing the jobs crisis at hand.
  Most people would view this proposal as evidence that the two parties 
are putting their best ideas on the table and addressing both sides of 
this jobs crisis--the relief side and the incentive side. Most people 
would call it a balanced approach.
  Unfortunately, the President does not seem to be happy these days 
unless he has an issue over which to divide us. If the Republicans are 
proposing it, he is against it, regardless of how many job losses it 
prevents or how many private sector jobs it would help create, and he 
is not even trying to hide it.
  The majority leader signaled yesterday that he and the President are 
so determined to turn even the most bipartisan job-creating legislation 
into a political issue that he will ask his Members to hold off signing 
the government funding legislation--that they have already agreed to on 
an a bipartisan basis--just to hand the President what they view as a 
political victory this week.
  This is not just irresponsible, it is reckless. The House is about to 
pass a bill we believe--certainly going to consider today--would help 
working Americans by extending the temporary payroll tax cut, help 
unemployed Americans by extending unemployment insurance, and which 
would help Americans looking for work by accelerating the construction 
of the single biggest shovel-ready project in America. This is the 
biggest construction project in America, ready to go. It only needs a 
signoff from the President of the United States.
  It deserves to pass with broad bipartisan support. They had a vote on 
that earlier this year in the House. Forty-seven House Democrats voted 
to get this project started. So I would suggest that our friends put 
the political games aside and give the American people the certainty 
and the jobs they deserve. Take up the House bill, pass it right here 
in the Senate, and send it to the President for a signature without 
theatrics and without delay.
  I yield the floor.

                          ____________________