[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 3 (Tuesday, January 7, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Pages S36-S37]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I indicated to the majority leader I 
was going to ask unanimous consent, which I am prepared to do at this 
point. I have to admit, I am a little surprised at the fervor with 
which the majority is dedicated to reviving the expired emergency 
unemployment benefits after they ignored the issue all of last year. I 
am sure there are many on my side who would like to see these 
additional weeks of benefits extended if--as the Speaker of the House 
indicated he supported--we could find a way to extend them without 
actually adding to the national debt.
  To that end I would like to propose that we be allowed--my side be 
allowed--to offer an amendment to pay for these benefits by lifting the 
burden of ObamaCare's individual mandate for 1 year and take care of 
our veterans who were harmed by the recently agreed-to budget deal 
while we are in the same amendment, and once that is disposed of we can 
have an actual debate on this issue and an amendment process in the 
Senate, which hasn't happened very often in recent times.
  Therefore, I ask unanimous consent that if cloture is invoked on the 
motion to proceed to S. 1845, all postcloture time be yielded back and 
the Senate proceed to the consideration of the bill and that my 
amendment with Senator Hatch be the first amendment in order and that 
there be up to 1 hour of debate on the amendment divided in the usual 
form; that following the use or yielding back of that time, the Senate 
then proceed to a vote in relation to that amendment. I further ask 
unanimous consent that following the disposition of that amendment, it 
be in order for the majority leader or his designee to offer an 
amendment and it be in order for the leaders or their designees to 
continue to offer amendments in alternating fashion, which used to be 
the way we did business around here.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Mr. REID. Reserving the right to object--and I appreciate how candid 
my Republican counterpart is and I say that seriously--I do speak with 
some, or I try, though I am not real good at speaking with a lot of 
fervor, as everyone knows--but I feel very strongly about this issue. 
For people who are unemployed and can't find a job, it is a tough deal. 
I have, fortunately, always had a job. I can't say the same for my 
family, especially my dad. So I do speak with as much fervor as I am 
capable on this issue.
  The reason I mention I am glad my friend is being so candid is--
listen to this--no one can in any way dispute my facts. For every $1 
spent, we get $1.50 back. That doesn't add to the deficit. So as I see 
this picture from the consent request, I am seeing that we are going to 
take away ObamaCare, which 9 million new people have and are signing up 
at the rate of thousands every day. We are going to take away their 
benefits, in some form or fashion, and we are going to trump the 
bipartisan agreement we have with Mikulski and Rogers. They are coming 
up with an omnibus bill. I know my friend has already stated he 
initially was against the budget deal, but I would bet that is 
addressed in this deal Mikulski and Rogers will come up with--this 
helping of veterans.
  So this is a guise to obstruct, as has been happening during the 5 
years President Obama has been President of the United States, and I 
object with as much fervor as I can.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, over the past several days, we have 
seen a number of stories about how Democrats plan to spend the year 
gearing up for the November elections by making an issue out of 
economic hardships faced by Americans; in other words, instead of 
working on reforms that would actually help people overcome the 
challenges so many of them

[[Page S37]]

face in this economy, Democrats plan to exploit those folks for 
political gain. It is pretty amazing when you think about it.
  We are now in the sixth year--the sixth year--of the Obama 
administration. We all know the stock market has been doing great, so 
the richest among us are doing fine. But what about the poor? What 
about working-class folks? What about folks who work in industries 
liberals don't approve of, such as coal? How many of these Americans 
have been doing well during the Obama economy?
  Record numbers of them are having a perfectly terrible time. One 
indicator is the growth of the Food Stamp Program. Consider this: Since 
the President took office, the number of Americans who have signed up 
for food stamps has literally skyrocketed--skyrocketed. It is up almost 
half. Nearly 4 out of 10 unemployed Americans are trapped--literally 
trapped--in long-term unemployment. What is worse, the poorest 
Americans are the ones who have often had the hardest time recovering 
in this economy.
  Yes, the President took office in the midst of an economic crisis. No 
one disputes that. But for many Americans, a terrible situation seems 
to have only gotten worse over the course of this administration. For 
the President to turn around and try to blame his political opponents 
for the suffering we have seen out there takes a pretty good amount of 
nerve. It also assumes a collective case of national amnesia. It would 
take a collective case of national amnesia to reach those conclusions 
because, remember, these are the same folks who gave us the stimulus, 
who gave us tax increases, who gave us ObamaCare, and all of it was 
done in the name of helping the little guy, in the name of greater 
equality.
  What has it given us? It has given us this mess we have in our 
country: record numbers of long-term unemployed, record numbers on food 
stamps, people losing their health care plans, others seeing the 
premiums shoot up when they can least afford it, and now another call, 
one more call, for a government fix.
  Washington Democrats have shown almost no interest for 5 years in 
working together on ways to create the kind of good, stable, high-
paying jobs people want and need. This is a real disservice, first and 
foremost, to those who are struggling the most out there--from the 
college graduate who suddenly finds herself wondering why she has huge 
student loan debts but no prospects of work to the 50-year-old dad who 
has worked his whole adult life but suddenly can't find a job that 
meets either his needs or his potential. Yet this administration's 
proposed solution is just to slap another bandaid from Washington on it 
and call it a day.
  Yes, we should work on solutions to support those who are out of work 
through no fault of their own, but there is literally no excuse to pass 
unemployment insurance legislation without also finding ways to create 
good, stable, high-paying jobs and also trying to find the money to pay 
for it. So what I am saying is, let us support meaningful job creation 
measures and let us find a way to pay for these UI benefits so we are 
not adding to an already completely unsustainable debt.
  Unfortunately, the administration seems almost totally disinterested 
in solutions that don't put government in the lead, and it seems nearly 
incapable of working with those who don't share that belief. That, in 
many ways, is precisely why we are in the situation we are in--because 
it is only when one believes government is the answer to all of our 
problems that we talk about unemployment insurance instead of job 
creation and the minimum wage instead of helping people reach their 
maximum potential.

  It is time to get away from ``temporary government programs'' and 
give the American people the tools they need to drive an economy that 
truly works for them and for their families. We could start with one of 
the real bright spots in our economy; that is, energy, a field that is 
poised to help our economy create literally millions of jobs, if only 
the administration would get out of the way.
  Another area in which we should be able to work together is health 
care. By almost any metric--affordability, accessibility, even the 
ratio of cancellations to enrollments--this law has imposed more pain 
and more distress than many had ever thought possible. Centrists, 
moderates, conservatives, just about any sensible person outside the 
congressional Democratic leadership in Washington has long understood 
this. But now even the left is starting to come to grips with the 
painfully obvious fact that the law it fell in love with can't possibly 
work.
  Last week one of the great pooh-bahs of the left admitted that 
``ObamaCare is awful,'' calling it ``the dirty little secret many 
liberals have avoided saying out loud.'' I don't agree with that man on 
much else, including his broader ideas on health care, but it is good 
to hear a grandee of the left at least admit this isn't working.
  His words point to a larger truth, that the President's amen chorus 
had ample opportunity to speak truth to power when it mattered and that 
most--most--chose to remain silent. For that the law's apologists have 
left the American people to pay the price.
  Let me read part of a letter I recently received from Jennifer Bell, 
a constituent of mine in Hopkinsville. This is what she said:

       I have less coverage than I did before. I didn't get to 
     keep my policy that I was happy with. Every dollar I have to 
     pay more is a dollar taken from my family. I never thought 
     that in America we would be forced to purchase something we 
     cannot afford. We worked hard to get where we are. Now we are 
     being forced to pay more in order to pay for somebody else's 
     insurance. How is that fair?

  I hear you, Jennifer. Everyone on this side of the aisle hears those 
concerns.
  Here is something else. Many Kentuckians are finding ObamaCare is 
about more than just higher premiums and cuts to Medicare. It is also 
about a lack of access to doctors and hospitals. One of the most 
leftwing papers in my State recently ran a big story about how many 
ObamaCare coverage networks exclude--exclude--so many of the hospitals 
my constituents want to use.
  A few weeks ago, the majority leader basically said criticisms of 
ObamaCare amounted to jokes. He might like to think this is all some 
joke, but the constituents who have been writing me about the 
consequences of this failed law don't see it that way.
  I know this must weigh heavily on our Democratic colleagues. I know 
they can't see so many Americans hurting because of decisions they made 
and feel absolutely nothing.
  Let me say this to our colleagues on the other side of the aisle. It 
is a new year and a time for new beginnings. If you are ready to work 
with us, we are here. Together we can start over on health care. 
Together we can give the American people the kind of health care reform 
they deserve--reform that can lower costs and improve the quality of 
care.
  But as with solving the problems of joblessness and unemployment, it 
is something we can only do together.
  I yield the floor.

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