[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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