[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 192 (Wednesday, December 14, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8555-S8556]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
PROTECTING MIDDLE-CLASS WORKERS
Mr. REID. Madam President, this has become a familiar scene on
Capitol Hill. As time ticks down to the wire, the House has sent the
Senate yet another bill that will not pass. Meanwhile, American
families stare down a $1,000 tax increase, and on January 1 they will
be scrambling to afford the necessities because of Republican
obstructionism that Americans don't understand.
It has become the Republican fallback play: Waste precious time
catering to tea party extremists when they could be working with
Democrats to compromise.
Republican leaders have already spent weeks drumming up tea party
support for legislation they knew was dead on arrival in the Senate.
Now it is time to get this vote over with so real negotiations can
begin to prevent a tax increase on 160 million middle-class Americans.
This morning I will ask unanimous consent to vote on the House-passed
bill. Democrats were ready to vote on this legislation last night, but
I can't set a vote at this time under Senate procedures without Senator
McConnell's approval. Even though we already knew the bill was dead,
Senator McConnell wasn't ready to hold a vote on it last night.
That is an about-face from just a few hours before--even as recently
as yesterday morning, Tuesday morning--and on Monday, for example, when
Senator McConnell urged us to take up the House bill as soon as
possible.
This is what he said:
My suggestion is that once this legislation comes over from
the House, we pass it without delay.
That is what I tried to do last night--not pass it but at least have
a vote on it.
Senator McConnell repeated that call yesterday morning--Tuesday
morning. Here is what he said yesterday morning:
I would suggest that our friends put the political games
aside and give the American people the certainty and the jobs
that they deserve. Take up the House bill, pass it right here
in the Senate, and send it to the President . . . without
theatrics and without delay.
Then yesterday afternoon Senator McConnell said:
[[Page S8556]]
The first thing we need to find out is whether there are
the votes in the Senate to pass what the House has passed.
So I say to my friend the Republican leader let's find out whether he
has the votes in the Senate to pass what the House has passed. Let's
vote on this now. We knew Monday the bill wouldn't pass the Senate, we
also knew yesterday this bill wouldn't pass the Senate, and we still
know it will not pass the Senate.
Here is why this legislation is a nonstarter. I will give 3 of about
33 reasons: The bill cuts unemployment benefits for 1 million Americans
at a time when there are not jobs for one out of every four people
seeking work. It weakens safeguards that keep our air clean and our
children healthy, and the President has already threatened to veto it.
In fact, he said he will veto it.
Legislation written to appeal only to the extreme rightwing of the
Republican Party can't pass the Senate. Republicans will see that
again, whenever they allow us to vote on this legislation that my
friend, the Republican leader, said let's vote on right away. Right
away was last night.
So let's get this vote over with. Then we can begin serious
negotiations on how to prevent a $1,000 tax hike on American families.
The sooner we put this useless, partisan charade behind us, the sooner
we can negotiate a true bipartisan solution that protects middle-class
workers.
Madam President, there has been a lot of talk about let's get to the
omnibus, and let's pass it. However, it is not complete. There are
major issues. We have made significant progress. There are still
critical issues to be ironed out. There are issues that deal with
foreign policy. There are issues that deal with the environment. There
are issues that deal with--we have about seven or eight--what some
would refer to as game stoppers. We could complete that work, but it is
something that is not done now.
There is no reason, while that work is continuing, to hold up the
middle-class tax cut. Congress is not going to go home for vacation--
remember, the bill that some want to pass, the omnibus bill, takes care
of us, it takes care of legislators. It has Legislative Branch
appropriations in it. So we shouldn't go home until we finish the
business of the American people.
Preventing a $1,000 tax increase on American families is the most
pressing business we have, and we are not going to allow Republicans in
Congress to take care of themselves without taking care of middle-class
families as well.
We hope to complete this important work soon--this week. If we can't,
we should pass a short continuing resolution to keep the government
open while we work through each compromise. We have passed short-term
CRs many times before, and we should do it again if that is what it
takes to prevent a tax on the middle class.
The bottom line is this: It is time for the two sides to come
together and compromise. As I told the Speaker Monday and as I spoke on
the floor yesterday and I have said this to my friend the Republican
leader the House can't pass legislation that will succeed over here
unless they get Democrats to support their legislation. We cannot pass
legislation here because of how the Republicans have set not a majority
rule but we have to get 60 votes. We can't get 60 votes unless we get
Republican assistance. So we need to compromise. Legislation is there
to compromise, but it might take a little more time. Republicans should
give Congress a few more days to finish its job rather than rushing
home for vacation.
I have already talked about the importance of doing this legislation
as quickly as we can. I think it is extremely important, and we
understand that it could be done--the vote could take place, and it
would take 20 minutes to do that.
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