[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 54 (Thursday, April 3, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2136-S2137]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              JOB CREATION

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, all week Republicans have been coming 
to the floor to talk about our proposals to ignite job creation and get 
the economy back on track. We have been talking about ideas that can 
help middle-class Americans who have been struggling just to make it in 
the Obama economy. But our Democratic colleagues don't seem to care all 
that much. They seem too preoccupied with an election still 7 months 
away. Instead of working with us on ideas for job creation, they have 
been talking about pretty much anything else.
  Time and again yesterday Republicans asked our Democratic colleagues 
for consideration of our amendments by the Senate. And time and time 
again those efforts were rebuffed.
  Republicans have a lot of good ideas. All we are asking is for those 
ideas to get fair consideration. Let's get our amendments pending, have 
a debate, and actually take a vote.
  Some Senate Democrats seem to see things entirely differently. They 
don't even want the elected representatives of the people to have a 
say--a say on what Americans say is the most important issue facing our 
country. This is especially galling because our friends across the 
aisle always seem to find time for poll-tested show votes aimed at 
firing up the left. They may not be overly concerned about passing jobs 
legislation for the American people, but we can bet they will be 
forcing everyone to endure plenty of political show votes as we get 
closer to November. The so-called agenda that rolled out last week 
basically guarantees it. They have already admitted they don't intend 
to pass the things it contains. That is not the point, they say. The 
true end is to help Democrats retain their Senate majority. They have 
essentially already admitted that, which is somewhat dishonorable. No 
wonder Americans are so disillusioned with Washington.

  Look, the American people want us to focus on their concerns, not 
political show votes talked about by a few political strategists over 
at the Democrats' campaign committee. As I indicated, jobs are right up 
there at the top of that list. We will see today whether Senate 
Democrats are actually serious about giving our constituents what they 
want. It appears our colleagues might allow consideration of one 
amendment--just one. We are not even sure about that yet.
  At least the amendment we would be considering is a good one, and I 
appreciate the work of Senator Thune and others in putting that 
together. This would reduce the tax burden on small businesses. It 
would provide relief to the Kentucky coal communities that have been 
under continual assault by this administration. It would approve the 
Keystone Pipeline, which would create thousands of jobs right away. It 
would repeal the medical device tax, which even many Democrats 
acknowledge is killing jobs. It would eliminate

[[Page S2137]]

ObamaCare's 30-hour workweek rule which is cutting paychecks to the 
middle class. In other words, this is an amendment that seeks to take 
the causes of joblessness head on rather than simply treating the 
symptoms of a down economy. It is an amendment that aims to help 
Americans find jobs with a steady paycheck and the promise of a better 
life.
  There are other amendments not contained within this package the 
Senate should be voting on too. For instance, the national right-to-
work amendment Senator Paul and I have just introduced--
transformational legislation that would empower American workers and 
put our country on a path to greater prosperity.
  But the larger point is this: The Senate needs to be allowed to 
function again. While Members file amendments on behalf of their 
constituents, those amendments should get due consideration. That is 
particularly true when those amendments have bipartisan support and aim 
to address our still-ailing economy and the families struggling in it. 
My hope is our Democratic colleagues will allow this to happen.
  These are serious times and we cannot afford to waste months on 
purely partisan proposals that have no hope of passing. We need to work 
together to advance serious proposals that expand jobs and opportunity.

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