[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 70 (Wednesday, May 16, 2012)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3181-S3183]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
STOP THE STUDENT LOAN INTEREST RATE HIKE ACT OF 2012--MOTION TO PROCEED
Mr. REID. Madam President, I now move to proceed to Calendar No. 365,
S. 2343.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will report the motion.
The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:
Motion to proceed to calendar No. 365, S. 2343, a bill to
amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to extend the reduced
interest rate for Federal Direct Stafford Loans, and for
other purposes.
Mr. REID. Madam President, following my remarks and those, if any, of
the Republican leader, the Senate will begin debate on several motions
to proceed to Republican budget resolutions. Consent was asked last
night, I am quite sure, that the first hour be equally divided between
the two leaders, with the majority controlling the first half and
Republicans the final half. That is already done?
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator is correct.
Mr. REID. There will be up to 6 hours of debate on the motions to
proceed to the budget resolutions. Senators should expect five rollcall
votes around 4 p.m. if all time is used, and it probably will be.
Measure Placed on Calendar
Mr. REID. Madam President, S. 3187 is at the desk and due for a
second reading.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will read the bill by
title for the second time.
The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:
A bill (S. 3187) to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and
Cosmetic Act to revise and extend the user-fee programs for
prescription drugs and medical devices, to establish user-fee
programs for generic drugs and biosimilars, and for other
purposes.
Mr. REID. Madam President, I would object to any further proceedings
with respect to this legislation at this time.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Objection having been heard, the
bill shall be placed on the calendar.
Obstructionism
Mr. REID. Madam President, it is almost universally acknowledged that
Republican obstructionism has reached new heights in the Senate. There
are separate articles written about it. There are even now books
written about it. Democrats would have to break a filibuster, I guess,
to declare the sky blue or the Earth round, and passing the most
commonsense and consensus legislation could take weeks or months. So
with a mile-long list to do, we can't afford to waste any time. Yet
today Republicans will force the Senate to waste a day on a series of
political show votes. We will spend hours debating and voting on a
handful of nonbinding budget resolutions even though we already have a
legally binding budget. If one of the Republicans' budgets passed--
which it won't--by law, it is nonbinding. We have a binding budget
resolution.
The Senate could spend the day passing tax cuts for small businesses
that grow and hire people or even legislation to keep the Food and Drug
Administration running. We could be considering the Paycheck Fairness
Act, ensuring American women receive equal pay for equal work. We could
be debating cybersecurity legislation, and the Pentagon says the No. 1
issue facing this country today is cyber-insecurity. We could be
working on a farm bill. Senators Stabenow and Roberts have done such an
outstanding job saving the country $23 billion and reducing the debt by
that much. We should be on that bill. We could be protecting 7 million
students from rate hikes on their Federal loans. We could even move a
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series of appropriations bills to implement the budget we have already
enacted. Instead, we will debate and vote on a series of stunt budgets.
Republicans aren't interested in getting anything done this year.
They have said so from the very beginning. Their leader, my friend from
Kentucky, has said the No. 1 issue is to defeat President Obama. So
they don't mind wasting a day of the Senate's time on useless political
show votes.
Republicans can say over and over that they are only forcing votes on
four Republican budgets today because Democrats failed to pass their
own budget. That couldn't be further from the truth. In August Congress
passed and President Obama signed a budget that reduces the deficit by
more than $2 trillion. It is called the Budget Control Act. Twenty-
eight Republican Senators, including my friend the minority leader,
voted for that last legally binding budget. But since August those
Republicans have developed a case of amnesia. Why else would they walk
around Washington claiming we don't have a budget? And unlike the
hollow Republican budget resolutions the Senate will waste the day
debating, the Budget Control Act actually has the force of law. If
Republicans were serious about reducing the deficit, they wouldn't be
working so hard to undo that August law, which cuts more than $2
trillion from the deficit.
Democrats agree that the across-the-board cuts to domestic spending
and defense programs--agreed to in the Budget Control Act--aren't the
ideal way to solve our Nation's fiscal problems. But the cuts were
designed to be tough so lawmakers were forced to reach a balanced deal.
Unfortunately, Republicans refuse to be reasonable. They refuse to
raise even a penny of new revenue or ask millionaires to contribute
their fair share to help reduce our deficit. And Democrats won't agree
to a one-sided solution that lets the superwealthy off the hook while
forcing the middle class to bear all the hardship. The American people
agree with this.
These four stunt budgets all take that one-sided approach, which
protects wealthy special interests at the expense of ordinary
Americans, and they clearly illuminate the Republicans' priorities--to
shower the wealthy with tax breaks paid for by the middle class. All
four of the Republican plans cut investments that help middle-class
families get back on their feet in order to increase tax breaks for
businesses that ship jobs overseas. All four plans would double the
student loan rate. It would put colleges out of reach for many students
in order to protect tax loopholes for special interests. All four plans
end Medicare as we know it, gutting seniors' health benefits to lavish
more tax breaks on millionaires and billionaires.
Yesterday the Senate showed it is possible to advance policies that
improve our economy and put Americans back to work as long as Democrats
and Republicans work together. On an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote
yesterday, we passed the Export-Import Bank reauthorization that will
support 300,000 jobs during the next year, and these jobs will help
American companies sell their products overseas. But every moment we
waste refighting old battles or revisiting Republicans' failed economic
policies is time that could be better spent creating jobs. The time for
show votes is over. Now it is time for the Senate to get back to work
putting Americans back to work.
Recognition of the Minority Leader
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Republican leader is
recognized.
The Budget
Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, before I was Republican leader, I was
probably best known as a lonely warrior against campaign finance reform
on the grounds that it violates the first amendment right to free
speech. Before that, I was probably best known--at least in some
quarters--for an ad that I ran in my first Senate campaign that
featured a pack of bloodhounds running around looking for my opponent,
who had missed so many votes giving paid speeches around the country
that we thought we should call him out on it. Well, I can't help but
think back on that ad when it comes to Senate Democrats and the Federal
budget. Where in the world is it? Where is the budget?
We have a nearly $16 trillion debt. We are borrowing more than 40
cents of every dollar we spend. Entitlements are going broke. Millions
are out of work. And Senate Democrats can't even put a plan on a piece
of paper so we can have a vote. What are they doing over there? What
are they doing?
Isn't anybody over there embarrassed by the fact that they haven't
offered a budget in 3 years? It has been 3 years since the Democrat-led
Senate felt it needed to put a budget together so the American people
can see what their priorities are and what they plan to do to fix this
mess, 3 years in which they have completely abdicated their
responsibility as the majority party to show the American people what
they stand for, to put their vision in black and white for all the
world to see. The fact is they don't have it. They don't have a budget.
As far as I can tell, their only plan is to take shots at our plans
and hope nobody notices that they don't have one of their own. They are
so unserious, they won't even vote for a budget that was written by a
President of their own party. It doesn't get more irresponsible than
that.
I think Treasury Secretary Geithner summed it up pretty well when he
was asked a few months ago what the administration planned to do to
address entitlements--the single biggest driver of the national debt.
Here is what the Secretary of the Treasury had to say:
We're not coming before you today to say we have a definite
solution to that long-term problem. What we do know is, we
don't like yours.
You have to give the guy points for candor--no plan of his own, but
he doesn't like ours. What breathtaking disregard for the problems we
face.
So if you are looking for a simple three-word description of the
Democratic approach to the problems we face, it is this: Duck and
cover. Duck and cover. They don't have a budget of their own. They are
going to vote against their own President's budget later today, in all
likelihood, and they are going to vote against every budget Republicans
put up.
Now, the majority leader has tried to get around all this by
suggesting that the Budget Control Act we negotiated last fall should
count as a budget since it sets the top-line amount we are going to
spend. But he knows as well as I do that is not a budget. A budget is a
list of priorities. It reflects your values as a party. It shows the
tough choices you are willing to make. It is not just dollar figures,
it is a vision. It is the responsibility of any majority party to put
one together, to stand and be counted. But since Democrats refuse to do
their duty by the Nation, Republicans will attempt to do it for them.
Later today we will vote on five different budget proposals: the
President's, Congressman Paul Ryan's, Senator Pat Toomey's, Senator
Paul's, and Senator Mike Lee's. We will give Democrats a choice and see
if they have the courage to get behind any of these proposals--or none
of them--and we will learn a lot in the process.
By the end of the day we will know whether there is a budget that
Washington Democrats support, and the American people will know without
a doubt who is voting for solutions in this town and who isn't. They
will know who has a plan to fix the mess we are in and who doesn't.
They will know who would rather spend their time criticizing others
than doing the hard work of setting priorities and making choices.
Senate Democrats do not want to explain how they will fix the fiscal
mess we are in. They do not want to say how they will preserve and
strengthen entitlements. What they want to do is complain about others.
They are putting their desire for campaign material ahead of their
responsibility to govern.
The tragedy is every year they do so, the problems we face only get
worse. The debt gets bigger, entitlements get closer to insolvency, and
the American people have to go another year wondering when things will
ever change.
Some people up here think it is time to do something now and we will
know who those people are by their votes.
Madam President, I now ask the Chair execute the order with respect
to the five motions to proceed to the budget resolutions provided for
under the order.
Reservation of Leader Time
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Under the previous order,
leadership time is reserved.
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