[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 62 (Tuesday, April 29, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2435-S2462]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
MINIMUM WAGE FAIRNESS ACT--MOTION TO PROCEED--Continued
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the time until 3:30
p.m. will be under the control of the majority.
The Senator from Iowa.
Mr. HARKIN. Madam President, we are now debating legislation that
will be up for a vote tomorrow. It will be a cloture vote on bringing a
minimum wage increase bill to the floor.
Let's be clear about this. It is a cloture vote. This means it is
going to take 60 votes, and that will happen tomorrow. I assume most of
the day we will be discussing that. I hope so. I know others have come
to the floor previously to discuss this.
As the chairman of the committee and as the chief sponsor of this
bill, I intend to be back on the floor later today to respond to some
of the allegations made by Senators on the other side of the aisle
regarding this bill and minimum wage as a concept, but I wish to take a
few minutes to sort of set the stage for this legislation and what it
is going to mean for our economy and for working Americans.
What I would say at the outset is that the minimum wage bill is about
a lot of things: It is going to give an economic boost. It will
increase the GDP of our country. It will do a lot of good economically
for our society, but basically it is about economic fairness. It is
about what kind of society we want America to be.
Keep in mind, the Fair Labor Standards Act which set the minimum wage
was passed at the end of the Depression, 1939, when we were still in
the Depression, and it was immediately to give a raise in wages to
hard-working Americans. That is what it did.
Since that time, actually on both sides of the aisle, we have raised
the minimum wage a number of times. This is just another step in making
sure that those at the bottom of the economic ladder in America also
get a hand up, to get help to make sure they too have a fair shot at
the American dream.
So that is what this minimum wage bill is truly about. It is about
core American values; the value that no one who works full time all
year long should live in poverty. That is what this is about.
The fact is the value of the minimum wage has eroded so much over the
last few years that the minimum wage right now is way below poverty. In
other words, someone can work full time every day, all year long, and
they are still in poverty. But they are working every day. That is not
fair. The American value system is one that if someone puts in their
work and works hard, they ought not to be living in poverty.
Right now, tens of millions of Americans are struggling just to keep
a roof over their heads, to pay the heating bill, to find some money
for an extra pair of shoes for a growing child, even getting money
together to take the bus to work. Think about this: A minimum wage
worker's paycheck has stayed the same since 2009. This chart
illustrates what has happened.
If we go back to 2009, the minimum wage has increased zero percent.
But
[[Page S2436]]
look what has gone up: Electricity has gone up 4.2 percent; rent, 7.3
percent; auto repairs, 7.6 percent; food at home, 8.8 percent. This is
since 2009. Childcare has gone up 11.7 percent. Mass transit, which is
how people who make minimum wage get back and forth to work, has gone
up 17.8 percent since 2009. Yet their paycheck has not gone up.
What does this chart tell us? This tells us that people making
minimum wage are falling further and further behind because these are
things that low-income Americans have to spend money on: lights, rent,
fixing up their old car, food, childcare, and mass transit. Look how
much they have gone up. Yet the minimum wage has stayed the same. That
is why this is a value issue.
When people who work hard and play by the rules have to rely upon
food stamps and food banks to feed their children and the minimum wage
has them trapped in poverty, it is unacceptable. It is un-American. It
is not what our Nation is about.
So Americans deserve a raise. That is why this bill raises it from
$7.25 to $10.10 an hour in three annual steps. It will link the minimum
wage to the cost of living in the future. In other words, we index it
for the future so we don't have this prospect that as other things
increase in price, the minimum wage stays the same. It is time to index
it in the future.
Our bill also provides for a raise for tipped workers--the people who
serve your food, push the wheelchairs at the airports, and park cars.
Every time I tell somebody this, they tell me I can't be right; I must
be mistaken. I tell them the tipped wage today is $2.13 an hour, and it
has been that way since 1991. Not a 1-cent increase since 1991. People
find that hard to believe. It is hard to believe, but it is very true.
So our bill would increase tipped wages from $2.13 an hour up to 70
percent of the minimum wage over a 6-year period of time, the first
increase in tipped wages in 23 years.
An increase in the minimum wage benefits everyone. Twenty-eight
million workers will get a raise--15 million are women, so over 50
percent of the increase--4 million African-American workers; 7 million
Hispanic workers; and 7 million parents will get a raise. And we forget
about this. How about our kids? Fourteen million kids will benefit from
a minimum wage increase. That means their families will get an increase
in the minimum wage. This benefits the kids. So think about the
children in America. They are going to get a raise too.
Again, raising the minimum wage helps our families and it helps our
economy. This is why we had a press conference this morning with a
group called Business for a Fair Minimum Wage. One thousand businesses
across the country representing every State in our Nation have signed
on saying: Yes, we need to increase the minimum wage to at least $10.10
an hour. They understand and Main Street businesses understand this.
If we increase the minimum wage for people in the community, they are
not running off to Paris, France, to spend the money. They are going to
spend that money on Main Street, and that helps our small businesses.
This is why so many small businesses get it. They understand that if we
raise the minimum wage, that helps them. That helps the local economy
on Main Street.
The Economic Policy Institute estimates that our minimum wage bill
will put $35 billion in the hands of millions of workers, and that
money will be spent on Main Street. It will pump an additional $22
billion into our GDP, supporting 85,000 new jobs as the raise is phased
in over 3 years.
There is another issue I think we need to address, and that is what
happens with low-wage workers and how they do sustain themselves. They
are in poverty from the minimum wage. So what do they rely on? They
rely on food stamps, Medicaid or the Children's Health Insurance
Program. They rely upon the earned-income tax credit and the Temporary
Assistance for Needy Families Program. That costs taxpayers in America
$243 billion a year.
Again, I am not saying that by increasing the minimum wage we are
going to knock that down to zero. I can't say that, but what I can say
is that a study was done just on food stamps, and if we raise the
minimum wage, in the first year we will save $4.6 billion in taxpayers'
money because people will now have enough money to go out and buy their
own food. They will not rely on food stamps.
A lot of these other things will be cut back too, such as TANF and
Medicaid or CHIP. I can't say how much, but people understand that this
is what we are paying as taxpayers to support a minimum wage below the
poverty line.
Again, people understand how important this minimum wage is. That is
why it is so broadly supported by such a cross-section of American
people.
Here is a poll that has been done. A USA Today and Pew Research
Center poll this year indicated that 73 percent of all voters support
raising the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour--90 percent Democrats, 71
percent Independents, and even 53 percent of Republicans believe we
ought to raise it to at least $10.10 an hour.
So the American people get it. There is overwhelming support for
raising the minimum wage. But I am just mystified by how vehemently my
Republican colleagues oppose this modest increase. I just don't
understand it. But what I hear is the same old outdated, disproved
arguments against giving working Americans a raise.
There are some on the other side who believe we should do away with
the minimum wage. There should be no minimum wage at all. Try that one
on for size. Talk about a race to the bottom. Four dollars an hour
maybe? Three dollars an hour? Two dollars an hour? You see, I have
always said that without a strong minimum wage and without a good,
strong Wage and Hour Division at the Department of Labor to make sure
people adhere to it--if we don't have that, then there is always
someone a little worse off than you who will bid lower than you for
that job.
So someone says: We will pay $7 an hour. There is always somebody
that just needs the job a little more, they are desperate, and they
say: I will take it for $6 an hour. Then there are some a little worse
off than that who say: We will take it for $5 an hour, and we get a
downward spiral.
That is why I say our American value is to have a strong minimum
wage, whereby people who work hard--and some of these jobs are hard
work. People are on their feet 8 hours a day or they are doing some
manual labor or they are doing the kind of jobs a lot of people don't
do. Yet they live in poverty. It is not right. Raising the minimum wage
is common sense that adheres to our American values and gives everyone
a fair shot at the American dream.
I hope my colleagues will do the right thing and vote for cloture,
allow us to get on the bill. We can have some amendments offered, and
we can vote to give working Americans a raise after all these years.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Mexico.
Mr. UDALL of New Mexico. Madam President, I rise to join my
colleagues to urge support for increasing the Federal minimum wage.
Today's minimum wage of $7.25 falls short and working families are
falling behind. It hasn't kept up with the rising cost of everyday
life. In fact, it is $2 less than it was in 1968, when adjusted for
inflation. A full-time worker earning the minimum wage in 2014 makes
less than someone did in 1968, almost half a century ago.
Now, $7.25 may be just a number to some but not for so many families
in my State struggling to get by. It means working two or three jobs
just to put food on the table or fill the gas tank or buy clothes for
their children and still not be able to climb out of poverty.
Our Nation was founded on a basic premise that no matter who you are,
if you work hard, you can get ahead. You can make a decent living. We
haven't always kept that promise. We have the opportunity to do so this
week for millions of hard-working men and women, young and old, who are
paid the minimum wage.
Working Americans are not moving forward. They are falling behind.
Year after year, paycheck by paycheck, they work just as hard, but they
earn less and less. This is a disturbing trend, not just for minimum
wage workers but all across the board. Worker productivity is rising
pretty dramatically--69 percent in the last 25 years--but real hourly
wages are not keeping pace, up 26.5
[[Page S2437]]
percent in the last 25 years. For the top 1 percent it couldn't be
better. Their share of earned income is the highest it has been since
1929. But the average worker has to run faster and faster just to stay
in place.
This is not the promise we made. This is not the way to a better
America for each generation, but this is the reality for too many
workers in New Mexico and across the Nation. They are living it every
day. They get up, they take care of their kids, and they go to work.
They may run faster, they may work harder, but they cannot get ahead.
A full-time minimum wage worker makes only $15,000 a year, well below
the $23,550 poverty line for a family of four with two children. New
Mexico has too many families in poverty, working hard, doing their best
but falling further and further behind. This bill would give them a
chance to build a better future for themselves and for their children.
I have received many letters from my constituents because they know
how important raising the minimum wage is. Here is a letter from
Kathryn from Fruitland, NM. She says: ``Morally, raising the minimum
wage is the right thing to do, because people working full time deserve
to live decently.''
Barbara from Clovis, NM, told me: ``There are so many people who work
for minimum wage and have a desperately hard time paying the bills.''
Liz from Albuquerque says: ``I hope you will do all in your power to
assure that every working American will be assured of making a living
wage, not just a `minimum' wage.''
Increasing the minimum wage helps families and helps the economy. It
is one of the best things we can do to kick-start New Mexico's economy.
It means workers in New Mexico would have over $200 million more to
spend. It means boosting our State's GDP by $127 million, helping local
businesses and generating 500 new jobs. It means moving forward, and it
means that we honor an important idea that folks receive a fair day's
pay for a hard day's work. That is the deal, and it is a big deal.
Let's consider the alternative: When every year costs rise and the
minimum wage stays the same, that is like a pay cut for families that
can least afford it.
The bill before us increases the minimum wage in three steps. Six
months after the bill is signed, it raises the minimum wage by less
than $1. A year later it bumps up the minimum wage by 95 cents, and two
years after the first increase, it would finally reach $10.10, which is
about where it would be if it had kept up with inflation over the past
40 years. But this bill does more than just give hard workers today the
chance to earn a decent wage. It also includes an important provision
to allow the minimum wage to continue to keep up with every-day costs
so that future generations who are working their way up can have a fair
shot.
Our country has debated raising the minimum wage several times in the
past. Opponents always paint a very gloomy picture, but we have been
able to get bipartisan agreement to do it. Afterwards, families and the
economy have been better off, and the pessimistic predictions haven't
come true. We need to build an economy that works for everyone. Most
Americans believe it is time to increase the minimum wage because it is
the right thing to do, and it is the smart thing to do. It is time to
keep our Nation's promise to reward hard work. It is time for all
families to have a fair chance at the American dream.
I urge my colleagues to support increasing the minimum wage. It is
long overdue for millions of working families who continue to struggle,
who continue to wait, and who have waited long enough.
I yield the floor, Madam President.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Hampshire.
Mrs. SHAHEEN. Thank you, Madam President.
I came to the floor to join Senator Harkin, Senator Udall, and
Senator Boxer in supporting the increase in the minimum wage that would
give 28 million American workers a very long overdue raise.
I know that the years since the economic collapse in 2008 have really
been hard for families in New Hampshire and across the country.
Although we have seen CEO salaries rise, pay for working families has
stagnated. While the cost of food, transportation, and childcare all
continue to climb and families struggle to make ends meet, the minimum
wage for American workers has been stuck at $7.25 an hour since 2009.
At that rate a single mother working full time in New Hampshire does
not earn enough to keep her family out of poverty. So let me just be
clear: Adults working full time cannot support their families on the
minimum wage, and that needs to change.
The fair minimum wage act would increase the minimum wage to $10.10
over 2 years. That would provide a raise to nearly 20 percent of New
Hampshire's workforce and lift 10,000 people in New Hampshire out of
poverty. Nationwide, nearly one-third of all minimum wage workers are
women over the age of 25. In New Hampshire 70 percent of minimum wage
workers are women. This effort is about these women and the 34,000
children in the Granite State whose parents would have a little more in
their paychecks each week if we increased the minimum pay to $10.10.
I know that many critics claim that only teenagers hold those minimum
wage jobs but, sadly, that is just not true. Teens make up only 12
percent of those who would get a raise if we boosted pay to $10.10 an
hour. Minimum wage workers are also veterans. The fair minimum wage act
is about giving a raise to the 4,500 New Hampshire veterans who now
earn $7.25 an hour--the minimum wage--and who are struggling to get by.
I urge my colleagues to join me in voting to give these veterans a
raise.
Making sure workers in New Hampshire get a fair wage for an honest
day's work is something that I have focused on since I was Governor. In
1997 I signed a bill into law that boosted minimum wages for tipped
workers in New Hampshire. Nearly 75 percent of those tipped workers are
women. As was the case then, today we must act to raise the minimum
wage to ensure that hard-working Americans get a fair shot at success.
I urge my colleagues to join me on both sides of the aisle in
supporting the fair minimum wage act. Thank you, Madam President.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from California.
Mrs. BOXER. Madam President, it is my honor to rise today to support
this very important bill, the Minimum Wage Fairness Act of 2014. I am
very proud of my colleagues who have just spoken, and particularly, I
want to say, of Senator Shaheen who, as I understand it, is the only
woman here in the Senate who is both a former Governor and a Senator;
is that correct?
Mrs. SHAHEEN. It is.
Mrs. BOXER. When Senator Shaheen was a Governor she stood up for the
people, and as a Senator she certainly fights for her people.
Part of this fight involves making sure that when you work hard and
you work full time you don't have to live in poverty. It just isn't
fair. Remember most of the people on the minimum wage are adults. They
are not children. They are not teenagers. They are adults. So many of
them are trying to raise their children in jobs at the minimum wage
level, and you don't have to be a mathematician to know that the
current minimum wage leaves you in poverty. So you have a full-time
job, you work your heart out, and you wind up in poverty.
I went back into my little memory books, and I found my son's first
paycheck when he was working his way through school. He went to a
supermarket to work as a checkout clerk. He came into a store called
Lucky Stores. They were a union store, so he joined the union. Do you
know what that young man made in those years? In 1986, 28 years ago--it
is right here--it was $7.41 an hour. Imagine. So he was so proud he
could work hard. When he came home, he was able to help pay for his
tuition and his books.
We are talking about a minimum wage that is $10.10 an hour. Here is
this young man working as an entry level checkout clerk at a
supermarket in 1986 making over $7 an hour. This minimum wage has got
to be raised.
We have the chart. If you put inflation on the minimum wage as it was
in 1968--just inflation--the minimum wage would be $10.69 an hour. We
are not even going that far. We are saying $10.10 an hour. So all we
are suggesting is, make sure inflation is covered. That is all we are
saying.
[[Page S2438]]
Increasing the minimum wage will give people a chance, a fair shot.
Remember, most of the people on minimum wage are adults. If you stop
someone on the street and ask who they think is on the minimum wage, a
lot of folks guess it is teenagers. No. By the way, most of those
happen to be women.
I am deeply disappointed and distressed that the Republicans are
opposing this measure. Why do Republicans want to deny hard-working
Americans a raise? The country supports it overwhelmingly. I don't
understand it because in 2007, the last time we raised the minimum
wage, it was bipartisan. A huge majority of Senators then agreed that a
full day's work deserved a fair paycheck. The minimum wage in 2007 was
during George W. Bush's Presidency. Let me say that again. For the
minimum wage in 2007, which was the last time we raised it, the
increase passed 94 to 3, and George W. Bush signed it into law. What
has changed in the Republicans' hearts? What has changed in the
Republicans' minds? Are they turning against the people?
If you ask them they will say that it is just not fair to small
businesses. Well, more than 80 percent of small businesses pay their
people more than the minimum wage. So come on. A majority of small
businesses support what we are trying to do. So don't come on the floor
and say you are opposing it because it is too much too soon. Wrong. It
is even lower than the inflation rate, and secondly, regarding that
small business doesn't want it, in fact, they do.
Now before that was 1989. We raised the minimum wage then, and it was
89 to 8, and at that time it was George H. W. Bush. So wait a minute.
What is going on here? I don't get this. It is not about who is in the
White House; it is about the working people of this country. Where is
the bipartisan spirit? It is gone, and America is paying a heavy price
with the minimum wage stuck at $7.25 an hour and with inflation eating
away every day at it.
Let me read you just two or three stories about workers. Alicia
McCrary, a single mom who testified in March before the Senate HELP
Committee, struggles to support her sons with a minimum wage job in
fast food. She has trouble getting them haircuts, shoes, clothing, and
other items that kids need. She says: ``My boys ask: Why isn't there
enough money? You work, and you work really hard, Mom.''
She said: ``I don't have a good answer other than I don't get paid
enough.''
She is right. She doesn't get paid a fair minimum wage.
NBC News ran a story of a man who works three jobs. Two of them are
overnight--he works three jobs--two of them are overnight jobs for
minimum wage. He said:
I have four young children. They need a dad around. That is
why I work a day job when they are in school and then go back
to work when they go to bed. But it takes 3 jobs to make ends
meet because of $7.25 an hour. I am 43 and have over 20
years' experience and make $7.25 an hour.
That is wrong. These parents work so hard and their kids are growing
up with so little, and their parents look in their children's eyes and
they suffer because they want to do more for their children.
Economists project that this bill--which I hope most or almost every
Democrat will support--will raise the wages of 28 million people in
America. All we need is a handful of Republicans to join with us and we
will get it done. By the way, if it were a majority rule, we would get
it done. They are filibustering it. Let's be clear. They not only
oppose it; they are forcing us to get 60 votes.
Twenty percent of the children in America are counting on this, 14
million children who would be lifted out of poverty if we pass the
Harkin bill.
Then we have tipped workers. If I asked anyone on the street how much
tipped workers make, they would say minimum wage. Most people don't
know what the Federal tipped minimum wage is. I know the Presiding
Officer has worked on this. It is $2.13 an hour. Can my colleagues
imagine? Again, $2.13 an hour is the tipped minimum wage.
Many tipped workers live in poverty and instability. They don't know
if they will make enough to cover the bills.
We will hear that if we pay the full minimum wage, it will be too
hard on the restaurant owners. In my State the tipped workers get the
full minimum wage, and that wage is $8 an hour, going up to $10, in
California. So the tipped workers get the minimum wage amount every
hour. Guess what. Our restaurants are going gangbusters. And guess what
else. When a person does well and has their minimum wage plus their
tips, they get to go out once in a while to a restaurant. They can go
down to the corner store and get something for their children.
Sandra Samoa is a bartender in Chicago. She says if the bar is slow,
she might take home just $40 after an 8-hour shift. She lives with her
mom and her young son. This woman sleeps on the floor so her son can
sleep in a bed. If we don't represent people such as these, who the
heck do we represent--the Koch brothers? They are worth billions. This
woman comes home Sundays with $40 in her pocket, she sleeps on the
floor, and she says, ``My whole plan is to have a room for him one
day.''
So, listen, if we are who we are supposed to be--the representatives
of the people and working families--then we want to make sure we raise
the minimum wage. It helps everybody, including those in business. That
is why most small businesses support this.
We know the great story of Henry Ford, who raised the day rate of his
workers way back in the olden days, and people said: What are you
doing? You are raising wages? You could get away with paying them--
whatever it was.
He said: I am raising them because I want them to buy my car--the
cars we make.
What we are going to hear on this floor from our colleagues is that
we are going too fast, we are raising this too much. I have already
shown my colleagues that we are raising it less than inflation, so that
is baloney on its face.
No. 2, they say: Oh, it is going to hurt small business.
I have already stated that 82 percent of small businesses already pay
all of their employees more than the Federal minimum wage, and more
than half of them support raising it to $10.10 because they know people
will spend money on their products and in their stores.
Then the next thing they are going to say is it is a job-loser. They
are going to cite one study, which I call an outlier, from CBO. It said
the minimum wage would reduce employment by three-tenths of 1 percent
over the next 2 years. When I heard that, I thought, what is this
about? I looked at some other studies. A study by three prominent labor
economists from the University of Massachusetts, the University of
North Carolina, and the University of California-Berkeley found that
minimum wage increases absolutely do not cause job losses. The Economic
Policy Institute found that the Harkin bill would increase employment
by 84,000 jobs and add $22 billion to our economy over 2\1/2\ years.
Let me repeat that. The Harkin bill would increase employment by 84,000
jobs and add $22 billion to our economy.
But let's look at history. We have to really ask ourselves--these
guys and gals who are saying don't raise the minimum wage because it
will lose jobs--what if they said that going back through time and they
prevailed? We would never have raised the minimum wage. I worked for
the minimum wage a long time ago. At that time it was a dollar an hour,
and I earned 50 cents an hour because I was a teenager. It was great
then. I earned 50 cents an hour. I am looking at the young people here,
and they are thinking, you must be really old. They would be right.
My point is that the minimum wage was a buck an hour and it was
raised many times. Since 1989 the minimum wage has been raised three
times. It was raised many times before that. There have been 18
increases since 1956. So we can put that in our minds--18 increases in
the minimum wage since 1956. Suppose the other side had taken that
attitude: Don't raise it. Well, it would still be, I guess, a buck an
hour, 50 cents if you are a kid. Today ``50 Cent'' is a singing group,
right?
We have raised the minimum wage over and over again. What has
happened? The economy has added millions of jobs. Since 1956 it has
added 80 million. Since 1956, we have raised the
[[Page S2439]]
minimum wage 18 times and we have created 80 million new jobs. So if
anybody says this is a job-killer, I just say, read the history books.
Americans support raising the minimum wage. I hope my colleagues are
listening. The American people know $7.25 an hour is not enough. A Wall
Street Journal/NBC poll found that 63 percent of Americans support
raising the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour. Let me say that again.
Sixty-three percent of Americans support raising the minimum wage to
$10.10 an hour.
All we need is a handful of Republicans. If they are listening to me,
I hope they heard some of my arguments. No. 1, it is good for business
to raise the minimum wage because people have more to spend. No. 2,
history has shown that we have raised the minimum wage over and over
again and we have created 80 million jobs. No. 3, most of the people
earning minimum wage are adults, and most of those are women, and
people are trying to raise their families on the minimum wage.
The last point is that we have always had strong bipartisan support.
When George W. signed it into law, there was strong support from the
Republicans. When his dad was in office, there was strong support. I
can't believe the Republican Party has turned its back on working
people, but if they have, we will find out tomorrow. The American
people know what this is about.
The American dream is within reach, but we have to have fairness out
there. People need a fair shot. We shouldn't tell someone who is a dad
that he has to work three jobs. That is wrong. We need to lift up these
workers and not let them fall behind.
When workers do better, families do better. When parents buy their
kids enough to eat and shoes to wear, when they can go get a haircut at
the local barber, when they can put gas in their car and fix up their
house just a little, everybody does better. The community does better.
Businesses do better. Families can walk tall when we reward hard work.
When our workers earn a fair wage, our economy is stronger and our
country is better. So let's give American working families a fair shot.
We are not asking for the Moon and the Sun and the stars. All we want
is just a little light at the end of the tunnel.
Thank you.
I note the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The assistant bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Ms. BALDWIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order
for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Manchin). Without objection, it is so
ordered.
Ms. BALDWIN. Mr. President, nearly 7 years ago both parties worked
together to pass bipartisan legislation that raised the minimum wage.
Nineteen of my Republican colleagues, with whom I serve in the Senate
today, voted for that bipartisan legislation, and Republican President
George W. Bush signed it into law on May 25, 2007.
Since that time big banks on Wall Street drove our economy into a
ditch. We faced a financial sector meltdown and were confronted with
the worst recession since the Great Depression.
Hard-working Americans lost jobs. They lost their homes. They lost
their retirement savings. Hard-working families paid a steep price for
the reckless actions of others when all they ever asked for was that
their hard work be rewarded.
Today people are working as hard as ever. Many are working full time.
Many are working two jobs just to make ends meet; they deserve to get
ahead. Yet far too many are barely getting by or living in poverty.
Middle-class incomes have flat-lined and income inequality in the
United States is at a record high. And, today, a full-time minimum-wage
worker earns only $15,080 per year.
The sad reality is the minimum wage is not high enough to keep full-
time workers out of poverty. That is simply wrong, and it is our job to
work together to change it because in America no one who works hard
full time should have to live in poverty.
I am here today to urge my colleagues to help lift nearly 2 million
people--2 million of their fellow Americans--out of poverty.
I am here today to urge my colleagues to support the Minimum Wage
Fairness Act and give 28 million hard-working Americans the raise they
have earned.
Some opponents of this bill have dismissed this effort as nothing
more than raising the wages of teenagers who are simply working in the
summer months. Well, that simply is no longer true. In fact, it never
was true.
Eighty-eight percent of minimum-wage workers are adults age 20 or
older, and the average age of a minimum-wage worker in America is 35
years old. More than half of minimum-wage workers are women. These are
Americans who are working hard to get ahead, and they deserve to have
us working together to help give them a fair shot.
Raising the minimum wage is not just the right thing to do to reward
hard work; it can certainly boost our economy because studies show that
minimum-wage workers spend the extra dollars they earn on basics such
as food and clothing at businesses right in their home communities.
For someone earning $7.25 an hour and working full time, raising the
minimum wage to $10.10 puts an extra $5,700 into their pockets. That
$5,700 provides groceries for a year or utilities for a year, money to
spend on gas and clothing for a year, or 6 months of housing--fueling
our local economies at a time when our recovery continues to limp
along.
Raising the minimum wage would lift 2 million hard-working people out
of poverty. Passing this legislation would mean that more hard-working
Americans will be able to provide for their families without the help
of government programs such as SNAP, otherwise known as food stamps,
saving taxpayers $4.6 billion from reduced nutrition assistance
payments in 1 year alone.
I believe we need to build a fairer economy and grow the middle class
from the bottom up. And I believe our economy is strongest when we
expand opportunity for everyone, when everyone gets a fair shot.
I am proud to join my colleagues here today and tomorrow to deliver a
call for action. It is simple. The time is now to give hard-working
Americans a raise. We can do that if both parties work together to
reward hard work so that an honest day's work pays more.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Minnesota.
Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, I rise today to speak about the
importance of raising the minimum wage.
People truly deserve a fair shot at the American dream, and it is
time to come together to raise the minimum wage.
Our State just raised the minimum wage. We actually had one of the
lowest minimum wages in the country--$6.15 per hour--and we are now at
$9.50 per hour. So that was a major jump up. It was something that was
needed, and it had a lot of support in the State of Minnesota, a State
that has a very strong economy, with an unemployment rate of only 4.8
percent. But even when they have jobs people still have found it very
hard to afford basic things or to send their kids to college.
We should follow Minnesota's example. We should raise the Federal
minimum wage to $10.10 per hour.
I am a cosponsor of the Minimum Wage Fairness Act. I want to thank
Senator Harkin for his leadership on this issue and his dedication to
the working families of America.
I also want to thank Senator Merkley and all of my colleagues who
have worked tirelessly to raise the minimum wage.
As the Senate chair of the Joint Economic Committee, I held a hearing
on income inequality earlier this year with former Secretary of Labor
Robert Reich. His data showed--and this is a number I will never
forget--that the top 400 people in this country--the top 400 people--
have the same amount of wealth as the bottom 50 percent of Americans.
This means that half of Americans--of everyone in this country--have
the same amount of wealth as the top 400 people.
So how do we address this? We know there are a lot of things we need
to do: training people who do not have the jobs and do not have the
skills right now, increasing exports, immigration reform--there are all
kinds of things we can do. But we know one major thing we can do to
help an individual family have a fair shot is to increase the minimum
wage.
Like many of my colleagues who have spoken today, I worked my fair
share of minimum-wage jobs. I started as a carhop at the A&W Root Beer
stand in Wayzata, MN. I then graduated to being a waitress, for about 3
years, at Bakers Square pie shop,
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where I once spilled 12 iced teas on 1 customer. That is when I decided
to go to law school. But I worked those jobs, and it gave me a sense of
what it was like for some of the people I worked with--that this was
their job, this was their job cutting pies, this was their job washing
dishes. This was how they supported themselves. It gave me a sense of
how important it is to look out for those people who are doing the work
we depend on every single day.
Think of how this affects women. Two-thirds of today's families rely
on the mother's income in some way. Mothers are the primary
breadwinners in more than one-third of families. Yet we also know that
women make up nearly two-thirds of all the workers who earn the minimum
wage or less.
An example of this is a waitress named Tiffany from Houston, TX, who
recently came to Washington. We did an event together and answered
questions. Her story is the story of so many American women across this
country. She is a single mom. She loves her daughter so much. She is
working as a waitress, and many times, with the way the laws work down
in Texas, she does not make many tips in one night. So what does she
do? She fills in by working on holidays. She has worked many Christmas
Eves. She has missed every single Halloween with her daughter because
it was a good night to be working at the bar at the restaurant. She has
missed all kinds of other holidays, and she went through them, as we
stood there.
You think to yourself: Sometimes, especially when you first start
off, that happens. I have had it happen. But it should not keep
happening after you have worked years and years at the same place. But
it is just one example of what our minimum-wage workers have to do to
try to make ends meet. They have to work another job. They have to work
a holiday. They have to work another shift. That goes on every single
day in America.
A woman working full time in a minimum-wage job only makes about
$15,000 per year, which is not enough for her to work her way out of
poverty. It is not enough for her to send herself or her kids to
college. A full-time job should not mean full-time poverty.
Today, more than 15 million women in America are counting on us to
help them get a fairer wage. Many of them, as I noted, are working in
demanding retail and hospitality jobs--as waitresses, store clerks,
hotel maids--where they are on their feet and they are running all day.
They may not be able to come here today and sit in the gallery and say:
Hey, I need a raise. So we have to be their voices. We have to talk for
them today.
Despite their hard work, they have an almost impossible time making
ends met. They struggle to afford the basics--a decent place to live or
food for their family, never mind being able to save for a rainy day or
for college or for their own retirement.
I released a Joint Economic Committee report on Earnings, Income and
Retirement Security for Women. One striking thing we saw in this report
is that a woman's lower lifetime earnings means lower retirement
security. So this is more than about today's wages. This is about an
entire lifespan. Women live longer. If they are making less, if their
minimum wage does not allow them to save for retirement, it is even
tougher for them in their golden years.
There is also a strong economic case for raising the minimum wage
today. Low-wage workers would see their earnings increase by $31
billion if we raise the minimum wage. And we know what they are going
to do with this. They are going to try to save a little of it, but they
are going to spend it. They are going to spend it in Washington State.
They are going to spend it in West Virginia. They are going to spend it
on clothes for their kids, on food for their families, and filling up
their gas tanks. They are going to help keep the economy going.
I once saw a documentary that Robert Reich did where he talked to a
major CEO with tons of money. He took him into his room, and he said:
OK. I only have three pairs of jeans. How can you really have more than
three pairs of jeans? Maybe you could have four, but you really don't
need more than that.
His point was this: If we want to have an economy that works, we
cannot have all of the profits and money sucked up by the people who
run things. We want them to be rewarded for their work, but they can
only buy so many jeans.
If you have that money go fairly across the spectrum, then everyone
gets to buy their pair of jeans. What we are doing is literally cutting
down our markets by not making sure--in a consumer-driven economy,
where 70 percent of our economy is consumer driven, we are putting
ourselves in a situation where people are not able to buy things.
We also know that raising the minimum wage is good for business. We
know that raising the minimum wage to $10.10 per hour could help
approximately 28 million workers, with almost half of the benefits
going to households with incomes below $35,000 per year.
We know that more than 15 million women would receive a raise. We
know that $31 billion would be added to our economy. We know that seven
Nobel laureates in economics, along with over 600 economists, support
raising the minimum wage to restore the value that has been lost to
inflation over the years. The minimum wage is now a third of the value
of what it was in 1968.
It was the beloved late Paul Wellstone of my State who famously said:
``We all do better when we all do better.'' If he were here today, that
is what he would be saying. I know it is still true, and so do my
colleagues who join me today. We need to be focused on doing better so
we all do better.
With this in mind, I urge my colleagues to join me in fighting for
working families, and especially the working women of this country, to
give them a fair shot and pass a long overdue minimum-wage increase.
Thank you.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Washington.
Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I thank the Senator from Minnesota for
her really important statement. I come here today to join her and talk
about this one small idea that stands for a huge difference in the
lives of all of our constituents and, as she pointed out, for women in
particular; that is, of course, the idea that if you are putting in 40
or 50 or 60 hours of work per week, you are able to put food on the
table and pay your bills and you will not be stuck below the poverty
line.
This idea could change the lives of millions of Americans if Congress
simply acted and raised the minimum wage. But we have to act now
because right now one in four women in our workforce is making the
minimum wage. That is 15 million American women who are making the
equivalent of about two gallons of gas per hour.
Are we prepared to tell them that should be enough to support
themselves and their kids? In fact, as we have heard several times now
here in this Chamber, nearly two-thirds of those who earn the minimum
wage or less are women. This is coming at a time when more and more
women are depended upon as the sole income earners in American
families.
Right now, in cities and towns across America, there are millions of
those women who are getting up at the crack of dawn for work every day
who are stuck living in poverty, who cannot save for a car, much less a
house. They cannot pay for school to get new skills and a new job, and
they cannot even afford to provide their children with warm winter
clothes or basic medical care.
Unfortunately, this also comes at a time now when we are seeing CEO
salaries skyrocketing across the country, all while America's minimum
wage stays flat. In 2013, the average S&P CEO earned $11.7 million.
That is 21 percent more than they earned in 2009--21 percent--and 630
percent more in real value than in 1983--630 percent more.
Unbelievably, this means that the average CEO today earns more before
lunchtime on his first day of work than a minimum-wage worker earns all
year. That is not how it is supposed to work in America, the country
where you are told if you work hard and you play by the rules, you can
get ahead.
So when we talk about the minimum wage, let's be clear: Raising the
minimum wage is about bringing back our middle class. I am proud that
in my State we are taking the lead. In my
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home State of Washington, our workforce enjoys the highest minimum wage
in the country. I wish to point out to our friends on the other side of
the aisle, Washington State's economy has not been negatively impacted
by our high minimum wage. In fact, our economy has benefited from a
high minimum wage. Job growth has continued at a rate above the
national average. Payrolls in our restaurants and in our bars have
expanded because more people have more money in their pockets to spend
out at dinner at night or on the weekend. Poverty in Washington State
has trailed the national level for at least 7 years.
It is not just in Washington State that we are seeing those
successes. In fact, this week the Center for Economic and Policy
Research reported that of the 13 States that increased their minimum
wage in early 2014, 11 of them have seen a gain in employment since
then, and half of the 10 fastest growing States by employment were
among this group of minimum-wage raisers.
This is just one of many reasons why I strongly support increasing
the national minimum wage to $10.10. It is not going to make anyone
rich, but for the 400,000 Washington residents who would be directly
impacted, it would mean an average annual raise of approximately $375.
That is no small amount for the over 48,000 in my State who would be
lifted out of poverty with an increase in the minimum wage.
But we have to do more. In fact, today two-thirds of our families
rely on income from both parents. Thanks to our outdated Tax Code, a
woman who is thinking about reentering the workforce as the second
earner may face higher tax rates than her husband. That is unfair and
it has got to change. So last month I introduced the 21st Century
Worker Tax Cut Act, which would help solve that problem by giving
struggling two-earner families with children a tax deduction on the
second earner's income.
My hope is that tomorrow here in the Senate we can come together on
behalf of the millions of Americans who, like my own mother when I was
growing up, are the sole breadwinner and caregiver in their family. I
hope our colleagues have gotten a sense of how $7.25 an hour translates
to a grocery trip for a family of four or to shopping for school
supplies or even how it impacts making the daily commute.
That is why all of us are here today, this afternoon, to give that
mom or that dad a fair shot at succeeding in America.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Florida.
Climate Change
Mr. NELSON. Mr. President, if you live along the southeastern coast
of the United States, you know the sea level is rising. We have a lot
of people who would question the reason for this rise of the sea level.
Some people deny there is climate change, that the Earth is warming up.
I think as we look at the science, we will clearly understand the
greenhouse effect is occurring. The more we put gases into the
atmosphere by human action such as carbon dioxide, the more the Sun's
rays come in and reflect upon the Earth's surface and would naturally
radiate out into space. The fact is, as the Earth's surface reflects
the Sun's rays back out into space, which is what Mother Nature
intended, keeping the delicate balance of the temperature of the Earth,
what happens when we put greenhouse gases such as CO2 into
the atmosphere, a shield or blanket, the effect of a greenhouse occurs.
As they reflect back out, they are trapped--the Sun's rays, the heat
from them--and it continues to warm up the Earth. Thus, we have the
greenhouse effect.
One of the consequences of the greenhouse effect is that the icecaps
in Greenland to the north and Antarctica to the south are melting. This
causes the sea level to rise.
Another effect of the greenhouse effect is that as the Earth's
temperature rises, most of the surface of the planet is covered with
seawater. Therefore, the water absorbs that heat. That causes
additional effects such as the intensity, the frequency, the ferocity
of storms that fuel the storm surge and power from the surface water
they consume.
Having said all of that, then, what are we seeing as a consequence?
As I said in my opening, if you live along the southeastern coast of
the United States, you know that seas are rising. The commerce
committee, under the blessing of our chairman, Senator Rockefeller,
just held a hearing in ground zero. Ground zero is Miami Beach, FL.
One of the people to testify was a NASA scientist, a Ph.D., who
happens to be a three-time shuttle astronaut. He testified in front of
the committee--not predictions, not forecasts, he testified what are
the actual measurements of the rise of the sea level over the course of
the last half century. That rise is anywhere from 5 to 8 inches along
the southeastern coast. The effects of that are being felt in southern
Florida. For instance, it is now a normal occurrence at high tide that
we are finding parts of Miami Beach are, in fact, flooded. The actual
beach itself and the dunes are higher than some of the land as it
progresses away from the ocean and the barrier island of Miami Beach
becomes lower.
There is a major north-south thoroughfare called Alton Road on Miami
Beach. At high tide, it is frequent that Alton Road floods. What we are
expecting in seasonal high tides coming this October, just as they were
last October, is we will see maybe up to a foot of water in Alton Road.
Why does this occur if it is not flooding over the dunes by the
beach? Because Florida sits on a porous substrate of limestone. It is
like Swiss cheese. This is why people say: Well, why do you not do what
the Dutch did? The Dutch built dikes. They are under sea level; New
Orleans, the same thing, dikes and canals. Under sea level. You cannot
do that in Florida, because with the porous limestone supporting the
earth, the land, what happens is the rise in tides causes more
pressure, and it causes the saltwater to start to invade this honeycomb
of limestone that supports the land of Florida and there you get
saltwater intrusion.
With the rising tides and rising sea levels, that water also starts
coming into the drainage systems that keep Florida dry. That is
happening now in Miami Beach at high tide. We had it last time in
October in the seasonal high tides. We are going to have it again in
the high tides coming this October. So naturally this is going to cause
a considerable extra expense since you cannot build a dike for the
local government, the State government, and the Federal Government to
keep people dry. I am happy to say the local governments of South
Florida have all banded together and you are seeing them speak with one
voice as they have, for example, not competing for a grant from the
Federal Government but instead they have banded together and supported
the grant application for the city of Miami which is the first ground
zero, in order for Miami to try to attack its problem.
There is an economic consequence to this as well, as we had someone
from the Miami-Dade convention bureau come and point out. I can sum it
up as I did during the hearing: No beach, no bucks. Florida is blessed
since we have more coastline than any other State save for Alaska, and
we certainly have more beach than any other State. Florida is blessed
with these beautiful beaches that people from all over the world want
to come and enjoy.
No beach, no bucks. It is going to have a huge economic consequence,
not only in the cost of government to try to hold back the water but
also in lost business.
I will conclude my remarks by saying not the measurements, 5 to 8
inches. That has already been done. That has happened, 5 to 8 inches of
sea level rise the last 50 years.
Now the forecast. The forecast in the scientific community--and we
had one of the scientists from one of the State universities testify,
along with the NASA scientist, is that it is going to be upwards of a
foot within the next 20 to 30 years. By the end of this century, we are
talking 2 to 3 feet.
Let me tell you what that means for the State of Florida. The State
of Florida this year will surpass New York in population as the third
largest State, moving on toward 20 million people, and 75 percent of
that population is on the coast of Florida. The east coast, the west
coast, which is the gulf coast, is 75 percent of our population. If we
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don't turn this back 2 to 3 feet by the end of this century, that 75
percent of our population will, in fact, be underwater.
We are trying to get insurance companies interested. We had a major
reinsurer testify that although insurance policies are set--property
and casualty policy premiums--in 1- to 3-year increments, over the
course of time that is certainly going to change.
I conclude my remarks by complimenting the next Senator who is going
to speak. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island has been our conscience.
He and Senator Barbara Boxer have been ringing the bell on this issue
for months and for years in trying to get people to pay attention to
what is happening.
I want Senator Whitehouse to share what he has done over his Easter
vacation in trying to bring attention to this subject.
At the end of the day, we have to do something about it, and that
means we are going to have to be very sensitive about all the stuff
that not only we, the United States of America, are putting into the
air and creating that shield, that greenhouse effect, but we are going
to have to get other countries that are polluting even more than we are
to do the same.
Senator Whitehouse, I thank you for what you have done as you share
your story with us. You have done a courageous act of patriotism in
bringing attention to this dramatic issue.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Rhode Island.
Mr. WHITEHOUSE. I understand the time is controlled now by the
Republicans. When Senator Hoeven arrives, I will yield the floor to
him. But in the meantime, I thank Senator Nelson for his leadership in
this area.
Let the record reflect that although Rhode Island may call itself the
Ocean State, Florida has its fair share of coastline as well. The
effects on Florida's coast are really very significant.
Because time is short and because I see Senator Hoeven has arrived
and because Senator Nelson is a modest individual who would not want to
brag on himself, let me say one thing and then I will come back later
and discuss my Easter southern climate tour at greater length.
The Miami Herald is a very significant newspaper in Florida, and it
attended and reacted to the Commerce Committee hearing Senator Nelson
led in his home State. I want to read from two short sections that
opened by saying:
For South Floridians, the topics of climate change and
rising sea levels are no longer to be dismissed as tree-
hugger mumbo-jumbo.
Pause next time you hear that parts of Miami Beach or the
intersection of A1A and Las Olas Boulevard have flooded
because of . . . high tides?
Let the light go off atop your head: It's science, stupid.
On Tuesday, Florida Democratic U.S. Senator Bill Nelson
brought illumination to Miami Beach--Ground Zero for our
unique coastal battle with Mother Nature.
It concludes with these last few words:
South Florida owes Senator Nelson its thanks for shining a
bright light on this issue. Everyone from local residents to
elected officials should follow his lead, turning awareness
of this major environmental issue into action. It is critical
to saving our region.
If we don't, we'll soon have water--not sand--in our shoes.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the time until 4:45
p.m. today will be under the control of the Republicans.
The Senator from North Dakota.
Keystone XL Pipeline
Mr. HOEVEN. I rise to discuss the Keystone XL Pipeline project. I
will be joined by a number of my colleagues, whom I will thank at the
beginning for joining me. They will come today with the same message
that I have; that is, the Keystone XL Pipeline project, the project
that has now been under review by this administration for more than 5
years--we are now in year 6. We are on the floor of the Senate asking
for, quite simply, a vote to approve the Keystone XL Pipeline project.
I have put legislation in on a number of occasions. In 2012 we approved
a time limit for the President to make a decision. I believe that bill
got on the order of 73 votes--strong bipartisan support. We attached it
to the payroll tax holiday, and it said that the President had to make
a decision on the Keystone XL Pipeline within 90 days. He did. He
turned it down, and he turned it down on the basis of the routing in
Nebraska.
So not only did the State of Nebraska go through an incredible amount
of work, but the State Department and others went back to work, did a
whole new environmental impact statement after Nebraska had rerouted
the pipeline, which was approved by both its legislature and its
Governor, and came forward with a new route and a new environmental
impact statement. That was right at the beginning of 2012.
So we set a timeline for the President to make a decision. He made
the decision and he turned down the project, but we addressed the
concerns he raised. They were fully addressed.
Then later we also offered a resolution of support putting the Senate
on record in support of the project. That was attached to the budget
resolution at the beginning of 2013. We came back the next year, and on
that occasion the Senate, with 62 votes, said: Hey, we support the
project. Here is a resolution in support of the project stating that it
is, in fact, in the national interest and ought to be approved.
Since then the President has done nothing. Well, that is not quite
right. Not only has he not made a decision now--and we are in the sixth
year after four environmental impact statements, all of which said
there is no significant environmental impact created by the project--
not only has the President not made a decision, with Congress on record
supporting the project, but, in fact, a little over 1 week ago on Good
Friday, on the afternoon of Good Friday, when he figured nobody was
paying any attention, the President came out and basically put out a
statement and said that not only has he not made a decision but he is
not going to make a decision, that on the basis of litigation he is
going to postpone the decision indefinitely.
So we are in year 6, having met all of the requirements on numerous
occasions on a project that will provide energy and jobs, that will
help with national security by reducing our dependence on oil from the
Middle East, a project that his own Department of State, after
environmental impact statement after environmental impact statement,
has come back and said will create no significant environmental impact,
will create 42,000 jobs, and will help us get energy and not only move
energy from States such as North Dakota and Montana in our country to
the refineries safely but also bring in oil from Canada to our country
so we don't have to import it from the Middle East.
The President says: Well, we are in year 6, but I am going to
postpone this decision indefinitely.
Here we are. We have a bill I introduced some time ago. We have 27
cosponsors on the bill, both parties. What the bill does, it approves
the Keystone XL Pipeline project congressionally. Instead of continuing
to wait after 6 years and now the President's announcement that he is
going to delay the decision indefinitely, passing this bill would
approve the project congressionally.
The way that works is that under the foreign commerce clause in the
Constitution, Congress has the authority to approve this project. They
have that authority under Congress's ability to oversee foreign
commerce, commerce with other nations. We know that because we took
time to research it. We had the Congressional Research Service do the
research for us, and they say this is a constitutional authority of the
Congress.
We have provided that bill. The bill has been filed. As I said, we
have 27 sponsors, and now it is time to vote.
We have been holding off on having a vote because the President said:
You know, we are going to go through the process--or he is going to go
through the process and he is going to honor the process.
The environmental--actually, the fourth and supposedly final
environmental impact statement came out at the end of January. There
was a 90-day comment period after that, which was to expire the first
part of May. The expectation was that now that the process at that
point--once the process was exhausted, the President would, in fact,
render the long-awaited decision.
But, as I say, on Good Friday, a little over 1 week ago, he came out
and said:
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No, no decision. Furthermore, he is not going to make a decision, and
that delay is indefinite. So clearly the administration opposes the
project and they are going to defeat it with delay. They are going to
defeat it with endless delays. There is no amount of process that will
ever be adequate for the administration. They will continue to delay
this decision, thinking that at some point it will go away, and so they
defeat the project through one delay after another. That is why it is
time to vote.
In a recent poll that was released last week, 70 percent of the
American people want this project approved--70 percent. That was a
Rasmussen poll.
The President is trying to defeat the project through delays in order
to appease special interest groups while the American people very much
want this project approved. It is Congress's responsibility to take a
stand. It is long past time to vote.
At this point, I am making some revisions to the legislation to
update it for the final environmental impact statement. We are working
to get every single Republican Member of this body on board, which I
believe we will do, and as many Democratic Members as possible. We are
pushing as hard as we can to get a vote. It is time for the Senate to
stand, exercise its responsibility, and vote.
Now the Senate majority leader is looking at moving to energy
legislation, energy efficiency legislation. That is good. Let's go
there. Let's have the debate. Let's offer amendments. Let's have votes.
Let's do the work of the people that this body is elected to do.
As part of that, we are going to require a vote on the Keystone XL
Pipeline, a vote to approve it congressionally, and everybody can
decide where they stand. But this is a project which is long overdue.
It is time to vote, and it is time to vote on congressional approval.
That is our message today, and that is going to continue to be our
message as we work on energy legislation.
I am very pleased to have other Members who have agreed to come join
this discussion. I turn to the good Senator from Kansas, the senior
Senator from Kansas, somebody who has been in this body for a long
time, who has seen these issues, and who understands the responsibility
we have to vote on behalf of these issues, to take a stand for the
American people.
I yield to the senior Senator from Kansas, a State through which this
pipeline passes, and ask him does he perceive that this project is in
the national interest.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Kansas.
Mr. ROBERTS. Thank you, Mr. President.
I would be more than happy to respond to my good friend and
colleague.
Thank you for your leadership, thank you for your bill, and thank you
for your statement. There is no question that this is in the national
interest--absolutely none.
I rise today to join my fellow Republican colleagues and then to
extend the arm of cooperation to our friends across the aisle.
I want to express my deep disappointment in this administration's
repeated delay of the final approval of the Keystone Pipeline. I hope
that what the Senator has indicated will come true, that if in fact it
is the wish of the majority leader to at least bring up an energy
bill--and I hope he would not limit it, I hope he would allow
amendments to it--then with the support we have within the Congress we
could get going on something that is truly a jobs act as well as
providing for the national security.
The irony should not be lost on anyone that while those on the other
side continue messaging and messaging and talking about supposed
government solutions to our high national unemployment rate--including
emergency unemployment insurance, income inequality, minimum wage--we
have a project right before us waiting for approval that would create
tens of thousands of jobs and all without using one dime of taxpayer
money. If you want an actual solution to unemployment, here it is:
Provide eager Americans with full-time jobs making well over the
national minimum wage. That is a jobs package.
Regarding the pipeline's environmental soundness, the Senator has
been absolutely correct. Just last June the President indicated he
would not grant final approval of the Keystone XL Pipeline if it would
exacerbate carbon emissions. The good news is this, Mr. President: The
State Department has already indicated that the construction of the
pipeline will have no measurable impact--none--on increasing global
carbon emissions. So from an economic standpoint, it is a no-brainer,
and from the scientific conclusions reached by this administration's
own State Department regarding the environmental soundness of the
project, it is a no-brainer.
At the end of the day, the Canadian oil sands are going to be
developed. That is a fact. The real question is, Will that oil be
shipped overseas? Will it be transported to the United States by rail
or will it travel by pipeline? In fact, transporting oil via pipeline
is the most environmentally sound way to do it.
Lastly--and this plays into the larger discussion we are having about
the escalating issues with regard to the Middle East, Ukraine, and
Russia reverting again to a growling bear--why not send a strong
message to the rest of the world--most especially to Russia--that we
are serious about energy security? At last, at last, energy security;
that we will work with our friends in Canada to start challenging
nationally run oil cartels as to who can supply our friends with needed
energy.
While the larger energy discussion regarding situations unfolding
around the world are focused mostly on LNG, Russia's influence goes
well beyond natural gas. We should understand that. Just look at our
own data produced by the Energy Information Administration, which shows
that Russia is second only to Saudi Arabia in exports of oil.
So this is our opportunity from a national security standpoint to
send an important message that the time of despotic governments wishing
to wield power by controlling the flow of energy is coming to an end.
Let's allow this project to be the first step in hopefully many more
toward showing we are serious as a government about achieving North
American energy security.
Again, this project has been reviewed, as has been noted by my
distinguished friend, for over 5 years, with five environmental impact
statements concluding it is safe. This project makes sense
economically, environmentally, and from a national security
perspective. What does not make sense is yet another treading-water
non-decision, another delay beyond the fall elections. With regard to
our national energy policy, it is long overdue for the United States to
lead by leading.
Mr. President, approve the pipeline.
To the majority leader: Let us have an amendment--if, in fact, we do
go on to consider energy legislation this work period--that will be in
the best interest of every State in the Union, every American, for our
national security, and our overall energy policy.
I thank my colleague again for his leadership. I really appreciate
it.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from North Dakota.
Mr. HOEVEN. I wish to thank the distinguished Senator from Kansas for
his words today and for his support of this important project.
I would also like to turn to the distinguished Senator from Iowa,
somebody who truly believes we should have an ``all of the above''
energy approach but one that means actually doing--not only producing
from our traditional sources of fossil fuels but also our renewable
sources. He is someone who also understands that if we are truly going
to have an ``all of the above'' energy plan in this country and do it,
not just talk about it, we need the infrastructure to make it happen.
So I turn to the good Senator from Iowa and ask him: Isn't this the
vital infrastructure this country needs in order to truly have an ``all
of the above'' energy plan that works?
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Iowa.
Mr. GRASSLEY. It is a jobs bill, it is an energy bill, it is a
national security issue, and it sends the message around the world that
we are not going to be dependent upon the rest of the world for our
energy. It is all those things and probably a lot more, and I thank the
Senator from North Dakota for putting this afternoon together and
[[Page S2444]]
also, over a long period of time, being a spokesman for the Keystone XL
Pipeline not only here in the Senate, but I have seen the Senator on
Sunday news shows speaking to the entire Nation about the value of the
Keystone XL Pipeline.
I think today we are saying enough is enough. We are saying it is
time to end the unjustified and--now we know--the political delay of
the construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline. I am glad so many of my
colleagues are coming to the floor today to call for the approval of
this project.
The TransCanada Corporation applied for a Presidential permit from
the U.S. Department of State to construct and operate the Keystone XL
Pipeline way back in September of 2008. Yet here we are still talking
about it. For nearly 6 years this administration has been sitting on
the application. Time and time again the State Department, which has
the responsibility to review, reviewed the environmental impacts of the
pipeline, and once again, time and time again, they found that the
pipeline will have no significant impact on the environment.
In 2011 Secretary Clinton said a decision would come before the end
of 2011. In March 2013, when President Obama was invited to come and
talk to Senate Republicans in our caucus--and he was told he could talk
about anything he wanted to talk about--one of the topics that came up
was that a decision would be made on this pipeline before the end of
2013. He said that 13 months ago, yet still no decision.
As has been stated by my colleagues, on Good Friday afternoon of this
year, the State Department announced an indefinite delay in the comment
period on the pipeline project. So it appears unlikely that President
Obama will make a decision at any time in the near future, if ever.
This indefinite delay is mind-boggling considering all the advantages
of this pipeline. Granting the permit for the pipeline will create
thousands of jobs directly and indirectly. It will provide more than
800,000 barrels of Canadian oil daily from a friendly economic partner.
Rejection of the pipeline permit will not affect Canada's decision to
develop these oil resources because they are smarter than we are. They
have made a national decision that they are going to harvest their
energy resources, whereas we are playing around as to whether we ought
to do that. As we play around, we tend to be more dependent upon
foreign sources. So the Keystone Pipeline is clearly in the national
interest of the United States. Yet President Obama is unwilling and
unable--or maybe I should say ``or unable''--to make a decision.
Just think of the economy today and what this could do to improve the
economy, particularly with regard to the unemployment factor in our
economy, currently at 6.7 percent. That means 10 million jobs that are
not available for Americans. That number is the unemployed. The labor
force participation rate remains near a 35-year low, at 63.2 percent.
If the labor force participation rate were the same as when President
Obama took office, the unemployment rate would be 10.3 percent instead
of 6.7 percent. With these deplorable unemployment numbers, one would
think the President would be very anxious to get as many people
employed as he could.
The President and the Senate majority here, which happens to be 55
Democrats, should be doing everything they can to grow the economy and
create jobs. This would be something that could be bipartisan. In fact,
we have already had bipartisan votes on this subject. Yet the Senate
Democratic leadership continues to block Senate action to approve the
permit. Instead, they are proposing ideas that would actually cost jobs
rather than create jobs at a time of 6.7 percent unemployment. For
example, later this week we in the Senate will vote on a proposal to
increase the minimum wage. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office
concluded that this proposal will cost 500,000 jobs and perhaps as many
as 1 million jobs. That is not the Republican Party making that
statement; that is the professional people of the Congressional Budget
Office.
It should be noted that while a higher minimum wage will benefit
those low-wage workers who remain employed, it will also push the least
skilled, most disadvantaged, and most vulnerable workers out of
employment. We should be doing everything to increase employment, not
having more people laid off.
We have the health care reform bill--another great example. The
Congressional Budget Office estimated earlier this year that the health
care reform bill will result in 2\1/2\ million fewer workers in our
workforce by 2025.
President Obama has also proposed another $1.8 trillion in new taxes
in his latest budget proposal. Higher taxes stifle economic growth and
cost jobs.
The policies being advocated by the majority party and by the
President limit opportunities for working families, reduce economic
growth, and prevent the economy from achieving its full potential.
Obviously, getting back to the Keystone Pipeline, the decision to
grant the permit for that pipeline is no longer being considered based
on policy but based on politics. That is too bad for America's energy
consumers and thousands of job seekers who would benefit.
I don't happen to come from the oil patches of Texas, Oklahoma, or
North Dakota. There are no oil or gas producers in my State. But I do
support an energy policy that is truly ``all of the above.'' I
represent farmers and consumers who want access to affordable, reliable
energy. I represent Iowans who would rather get their energy from a
friend and ally such as Canada rather than Venezuela or unstable parts
of the Middle East, where they will take our money and probably use it
to train people who want to kill Americans. I represent Iowans who
actually know that this oil will be developed regardless of this
pipeline, and they know it is just a question of whether it will come
to the United States or end up in China.
I represent Iowans who understand the economic and national security
impact of this pipeline. They want to see the government get out of the
way of this shovel-ready, private-sector infrastructure project.
How many times were we promised in the stimulus bill that we were
going to create X number of jobs that were shovel ready? Most of that
$800 billion went to public employment, not to shovel-ready jobs. The
President even admitted that.
This pipeline is shovel ready. It is time to end the political delay
and approve this pipeline.
I yield.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from North Dakota.
Mr. HOEVEN. Mr. President, I thank the Senator from Iowa, who has
made the case so well, and I look to his experience on energy issues
and ag issues and his understanding of what it takes to truly have an
all-of-the-above energy policy. As he said so well, it is not only
needed infrastructure but it is jobs.
Here we are, talking about getting the economy going and getting
people back to work. This doesn't cost one penny of Federal spending,
and it puts people to work and creates hundreds of millions of dollars
in revenue to help reduce our deficit and our debt.
So we are talking about putting people back to work, we are talking
about energy for this country, we are talking about revenues to reduce
the debt, and the administration refuses to make a decision. It is
almost beyond belief.
I turn next to the Senator from Alabama, the ranking member on the
Budget Committee. He speaks eloquently and often on the need to balance
our budget, on the need to reduce the deficit and the debt and to get
our spending under control.
So here we have a project that, without spending one penny, will
generate hundreds of millions of dollars in revenues to help reduce the
deficit and debt while we put people to work.
Those statistics are provided by this administration's State
Department. Those aren't our statistics. Those statistics come out of
the environmental impact statement put together by the State Department
of this administration.
So I turn to the Senator from Alabama, somebody who has led on the
need to get this economy going, to create good, quality jobs and to
reduce the deficit and debt. I ask the good the Senator from Alabama:
Won't this project help do all of those things?
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Alabama.
[[Page S2445]]
Mr. SESSIONS. I thank Senator Hoeven.
The Senator is exactly right; it will do all of those things. It is a
step in the right direction in every area.
I appreciate my leader on the Judiciary Committee and ranking member,
Senator Grassley. I would ask a rather simple question of Senator
Grassley which ought not to be forgotten in this process. If a pipeline
is built and an additional source of gasoline is brought into the
Midwest or other areas, if it is not cheaper than the gas that is
already being supplied, isn't it true that nobody will buy it?
So won't this mean an opportunity for people in the whole country to
be able to have another source of fuel which would be less costly and
help bring down costs?
Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I am glad to yield.
I think that is very basic economics: Increase supply and reduce
price.
The other matter is it makes us more energy independent. We spend
hundreds of millions of dollars every day to import oil. There is no
sense doing that when we can get it right here in North America.
Mr. SESSIONS. I thank the Senator.
I thank Senator Hoeven for his steadfast, consistent, principled
leadership on this important issue. He has been there consistently. I
don't think there is any Senator in this body who understands the
details of this issue more than he does. It is just a positive thing
for America. It just is, and I thank the Senator for his efforts.
We have been reviewing this for 5 years. Legally, as I see this
situation, it is this: There is no Federal law at this time dealing
with this issue. Presidents have issued Executive orders that created a
mechanism to allow the State Department to review a request for a
pipeline like Keystone XL. But clearly there is no doubt that Congress
has every right to legislate on this issue. Just because we haven't
yet, that doesn't mean we never will or never should, and I strongly
believe that with the failed leadership of President Obama on this
question, we are going to have to pass legislation. It is just that
critical.
The Secretary of State has essentially asserted that under these
Executive orders the State Department must evaluate the environmental
issue. They have dealt with that, and they have satisfied that
environmental process. There is the question left of the national
interest.
So if we don't have a serious environmental issue--which I don't
think we do, and pretty clearly we don't--then the question is: What is
in the national interest?
Senator Hoeven represents a state on the border with Canada, and we
have good relations with Canada.
First, I don't think there is any nation in the world with which we
need to maintain and enhance our relationship more than with our good
partner, Canada.
Second, let me ask the Senator this. The Senator is close to Canada.
He knows the situation. If this pipeline is not approved, will it
weaken and harm our relationship with our good neighbor, Canada, or
will it make it better?
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from North Dakota.
Mr. HOEVEN. Mr. President, Prime Minister Harper of Canada has said
on a number of occasions how important this project is to Canada. The
Ambassador of Canada to the United States is Gary Doer, somebody who
was formerly the Premier of Manitoba and somebody I worked with when I
was Governor of North Dakota. We worked together for about a decade on
all kinds of issues. As the Senator said, Canada is our closest friend
and ally, and they are a huge energy producer. And we are producing
more energy.
So here is a project which is incredibly important to Canada. It is
an opportunity for us to get more energy, both energy that we are
producing and energy from Canada, rather than from the Middle East--
something the American people very much want. If we don't approve it,
what are we saying to our closest friend and ally, when they have said
very clearly and repeatedly, this project is very, very important to
them?
To add irony to that indignity, they will still produce the oil, but
they will be forced to send it to China. So we will import oil from the
Middle East and force our closest friend and ally to export their oil
to China, creating more greenhouse gas emissions, not less? That is
what happens if we don't approve the project.
If the President refuses to do it, then we have the responsibility to
step up and do it. Yes, the Senator is 100 percent right that it is not
only a project that our people very much want approved but it is also
something the people of Canada and the Government of Canada very much
want approved. So the Senator is right.
I would yield the floor back to the good Senator from Alabama and
encourage him to bring in our esteemed colleagues from South Dakota and
South Carolina as well into this important discussion.
Mr. SESSIONS. The Senator is so correct. In my time here in the
Senate, this is one of the most inexplicable actions by a President I
have ever seen. He has persisted in this after months and years have
gone by and when the facts continue to come forward that justify this
pipeline--for jobs in America, for lower energy costs in America, for
importing oil from our ally Canada, where the people buy a great deal
from us. Any wealth that goes to Canada, we can be sure a lot of that
will come back to the United States because they purchase a great deal
from us. But does Venezuela or Saudi Arabia or other countries that we
buy oil from buy a lot from us? No.
So this is a partnership and relationship which benefits both
parties. I just am astounded that it has not been approved to date.
The Washington Post editorial board wrote last week that the
President's decision to delay the Keystone Pipeline was ``absurd.''
This is an independent, liberal-leaning newspaper that cares about the
environment. So it seems the President is clearly acquiescing in favor
of special interests.
Senator Thune is familiar with Mr. Tom Steyer, who a recent
Associated Press article characterized as ``a former hedge fund manager
and environmentalist, who says he will spend $100 million--$50 million
of his own money and $50 million from other donors''--to defeat
Republicans to promote environmental issues. He asked for some things
if he is going to put up $100 million.
I am not happy about it. I believe the interests of the people of
this country have been subordinated to either an extreme
environmentalist agenda or to plain money. There is no other rational
basis for the position we find ourselves in. It is really tragic.
We need jobs in this country. We have the fewest percentage of people
working in America today in the working age group since 1975. Median
income has dropped over $2,000 to $2,600. We are not doing well. These
are high-paying jobs. It keeps growth and creativity here in the United
States and in North America through our partner, Canada.
I am grateful to see others who are so interested in this issue. I
feel really strongly we should move forward with this. It is the right
thing to do. It is not politics. It is the right thing.
A lot of Democratic members favor this pipeline. Union groups, who
tend to be Democrats, favor this pipeline. It is not a Republican-
Democratic issue. This is an extremist issue against a commonsense
issue. Sixty-two Senators voted for a budget amendment last year during
the Senate budget debate that was supportive of the Keystone pipeline.
My good staffer Jeff Wood found a Charles Dickens quote about the
fictional ``Circumlocution Office,'' of which Dickens wrote:
Whatever was required to be done, the Circumlocution Office
was beforehand with all the public departments in the art of
perceiving--how not to do it. . . . [W]ith projects for the
general welfare . . . , which in slow lapse of time and agony
had passed safely through other public departments . . . got
referred at last to the Circumlocution Office, and never
reappeared in the light of day. Boards sat upon them,
secretaries minuted upon them, commissioners gabbled about
them, clerks registered, entered, checked, and ticked them
off, and they melted away. In short, all the business of the
country went through the Circumlocution Office, except the
business that never came out of it . . .
(Chapter 10 of Charles Dickens' ``Little Dorrit,'' 1855).
In my opinion, this bill would create thousands of good jobs if it is
passed and this pipeline is built. It would strengthen, not weaken, our
relationship with Canada. It would bring a new
[[Page S2446]]
flow of oil into the United States and the Midwest which will provide
competition and which would reduce costs. It would be a competitive
source of energy for America.
Canada is a good trading partner. They buy a lot from us. The oil
will be sold somewhere else if it is not sold in the United States.
By the way, pipelines are everywhere in this country. In my State of
Alabama, pipelines crisscross the State. We don't have any problems
with this. The idea that we can't build another pipeline in this
country is about as ludicrous as one can imagine.
So I thank Senator Hoeven for the great leadership he has provided. I
appreciate the opportunity to join with him. It is the right thing for
the people of this country, and we need to get this done.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from North Dakota.
Mr. HOEVEN. I would like to thank the distinguished Senator from
Alabama not only for his outstanding argument but for his passion as
somebody who truly cares about getting this economy going.
I would turn to the distinguished Senator from South Dakota and also
to the distinguished Senator from Texas, and I would like to ask that
they both engage in this discussion, starting with the good Senator
from South Dakota.
In South Dakota they understand how to create a good business
climate. They have no income tax. They have a strong economy because
they understand what it takes to create a good environment so that
businesses will invest and grow and create jobs. I would like to ask
the Senator how this relates to the discussion of the Keystone XL
Pipeline.
To the distinguished senior Senator from Texas--clearly Texas knows
energy production--I would ask for his thoughts in terms of how
important this infrastructure is for energy development and production
in our State.
First, I would like to turn to the Senator from South Dakota.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from South Dakota.
Mr. THUNE. Let me just say to my colleague from North Dakota that we
would like to have more North Dakota energy in South Dakota, of course,
and have the direct benefit of that, but we focus in our State on jobs,
and that is what this is all about--jobs, jobs, jobs.
The President's own State Department says that this project would
support 42,000 jobs--16,100 direct jobs including construction, and
another 26,000 jobs that would be from indirect spending. That is not
us. That is not the Senator from North Dakota, the Senator from Texas,
the Senator from Oklahoma or the Senator from Missouri on this side
saying it would create jobs. That is the President's own State
Department saying it would create jobs and $2 billion in earnings--a
$3.4 billion contribution to the U.S. economy. When you think about the
States that are impacted--the State of North Dakota directly and my
State of South Dakota would be traversed by the pipeline--we have a lot
of local and State governments that would benefit from this.
They say in the first year of operations it would generate $55.6
million of tax revenue, $17.9 million in my State of South Dakota. When
you talk about what that can do in terms of infrastructure, what it can
do in terms of providing revenue to build schools, public services,
those sorts of things, it takes the pressure off the local property tax
owners, area ranchers, homeowners, and businesses. That is another
impact.
I would also say to my colleagues on the floor that it would
strengthen our energy security. Some 830,000 barrels a day would come
through that pipeline. That is half of what we import from the Middle
East and about the total of what we import on a daily basis from
Venezuela. So if you look at how much we can ship from that pipeline
and how much that lessens the dependence we have on areas of the world
that are much less favorable to the United States than is our neighbor
of Canada, that is a very real consideration in this debate.
Finally, I would say to my colleague, the Senator from North Dakota--
and I thank him for his leadership on this issue--that the time to act
is now. This has been studied and scrutinized and reviewed more than
any project in history--8\1/2\ years, 2,048 days as of Tuesday, today,
April 29. Five environmental reviews all concluded the pipeline would
not have a significant impact on the environment. Just when you thought
the process couldn't be dragged out any longer, this administration
once again decided to block construction of this project and delay the
national interest determination process.
Sean McGarvey, President of North America's Building Trades Union,
called this latest move:
. . . a cold, hard slap in the face for hard working
Americans who are literally waiting for President Obama's
approval and the tens of thousands of jobs it will generate.
That comes from a labor union leader in this country. The unions want
this, businesses in this country want it, and the American people want
it by overwhelming margins. The only people who don't want it are some
of the President's political supporters who, as the Senator from
Alabama has pointed out, are extending hundreds, hundreds of millions
of dollars, tens of millions of dollars, $400 million, as the Senator
from Alabama pointed out. That is what is holding this up.
It is an offense to the American people to have a project like this
that can do so much in terms of job creation and lessening our
dependence upon foreign sources of energy and helping millions of
Americans who are looking for work and simply being held up by the
President of the United States. I hope the Senate Democrats and
Republicans would come together to pass legislation that supports this
pipeline's being built, whether the President agrees to it or not.
Mr. HOEVEN. Mr. President, I would like to thank the distinguished
Senator from South Dakota and turn to our colleague from the State of
Oklahoma, certainly a State that understands energy production and
understands how vital this pipeline infrastructure is. So with the
indulgence of the Senator from Texas, I would ask to return to the
Senator from Oklahoma.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oklahoma.
Mr. INHOFE. I appreciate the Senator from Texas yielding at this
time.
Every time I hear people talking about the jobs at stake here I think
about my State of Oklahoma, which probably has more jobs at stake than
any other state because Cushing, OK, is the crossroads of the pipeline
now throughout America.
Looking at this chart, just over 2 years ago President Obama came to
Cushing to give a speech on national TV with all the pipeline in the
background. You can see these tubes over there. He talked about how
this is a major breakthrough and that we are going to `` . . . cut
through the red tape, break through bureaucratic hurdles and make this
project a priority, to go ahead and get it done.''
Yet he has done nothing but obstruct this since that time. The
southern leg of the pipeline may be finished, but that was part of the
project that the President didn't have any say in. The President could
do something when you cross international lines, but he could not do it
from that point south. The portion between Canada and Cushing is
completely stalled because the President has delayed making a decision,
as has been said, for 5 years now.
To me the Keystone XL Pipeline is the tip of the iceberg when it
comes to the way President Obama thinks about the oil and natural gas
industry. Today we heard great speeches from many of my colleagues, and
they are highlighting the great impact of the Keystone Pipeline's
construction and what it would mean to the economy. We know that it
would directly create 42,000 jobs and 10,000 more would be supported by
the overall manufacturing materials and processes that are required to
complete the project, but the real impact on the President's failure to
act on Keystone can be seen in this chart.
This chart shows the potential around this country. These are federal
lands. If we were able to develop these federal lands, what all would
be involved here? You know, it is incredible that we have a President
who talks about being friendly to oil and gas and denies the war
against fossil fuels. While we have had an increase in production on
State and private land of some 40 percent, on the Federal land
[[Page S2447]]
we have had a decrease in production of 16 percent. I don't know how
that is even possible, but the midstream infrastructure and the
pipelines in particular are one of the most important things we need to
fully develop in these resources. We need to be able to move oil and
gas from areas where it has been developed to areas where it is
refined, processed, and consumed. The need for infrastructure expansion
is astounding.
ICF International is a consulting firm, and I think their credibility
has been established. They released a report last week that says U.S.
companies will need to invest $641 billion over the next 20 years in
infrastructure to keep up with the growing oil and gas production. That
is just what they know about that right now. If you add to that what
would happen if they were able to open all of this and end the war on
fossil fuels, look at the potential we would have in this country.
The increase in oil and gas production we have seen in recent years
has occurred solely on State and private lands. There are many things
President Obama could do to make the numbers far higher. In fact, we
could have total energy independence in a matter of months, not a
matter of years, if the President were to lift his ban on federal
lands.
So the President has continued his war on fossil fuels. The
President's efforts have been intently focused on hurting the
production of oil and gas resources--be it through stall tactics or
efforts to establish complex and confusing regulations on the hydraulic
fracturing process. Every way we turn we see President Obama trying to
put the oil and gas industry out of business.
The Keystone XL Pipeline is the bellwether of energy policy today. It
is a simple decision. I know many of my colleagues have talked about it
and have had the information, as the leader of our group has here
today, on what we could be doing in this country. Yet there is some
kind of assumption that if we don't complete the pipeline, they will
stop the process up in Alberta, Canada. They are going to continue, but
it is going to be China and other countries that are going to benefit
from it. So I applaud the Senator for the great work he is doing. We
have to let the American people know of the potential we have right
here in this country and develop that potential. I thank the Senator
from Texas for yielding.
Mr. HOEVEN. Mr. President, I would like to thank the Senator from
Oklahoma for his work on this important issue, and I turn to the
Senator from Texas, a State that produces more oil and gas than any
other State in the Union, and ask for his thoughts and support.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Texas.
Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I appreciate the leadership from the
Senator from North Dakota. He has been a champion of this important
program that enjoys the support of huge bipartisan majorities all
across the country because they understand the importance of energy
security. They understand the importance of getting this energy from a
friendly country such as Canada. They understand the jobs that go along
with it. They understand the need for hard-working American families to
have affordable energy, whether it is gasoline, heating fuel or the
like. So this makes sense on so many different levels, but I have to
say that really the biggest obstacle is the Federal Government itself.
Not approving this pipeline makes exactly zero sense. I know some
people are put off a little bit--I would say to the Senator from North
Dakota--by the idea of a new pipeline as if this is some novel
creation. But just as an exercise in my own personal edification, I
happened to Google--or maybe it was Bing or some other search engine--
``oil and gas pipelines'' on the Internet, and I was astonished at the
huge complex interplay of oil and gas pipelines all across the United
States of America. Most Americans aren't even aware they exist because
they safely operate, and they move this oil and gas around the country
in a way that benefits our economy and creates jobs and helps us put
people back to work which is the most important thing we can do.
So we know for the last 5 years, since the great recession, we have
had an economy characterized by stubbornly slow economic growth and
persistently high unemployment. We have the smallest percentage of
people actually participating in the workforce since World War II. We
have seen a decline in median household incomes, so average hard-
working families have seen their income go down, and we have seen this
nagging sense of uncertainty about the future, not just because of the
economy but because of the obstacles the Federal Government puts in its
way.
I would ask the Senator from North Dakota--I know that North Dakota
has had some experience here--by not building this pipeline, what are
the other ways that this oil is being transported, and what is the risk
and benefit associated with that? People may think this is sort of an
either/or--you either have the oil flow or not. But the truth is there
are other alternatives, but they are not necessarily in the public
interest or as safe as this pipeline might be.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from North Dakota.
Mr. HOEVEN. To respond to the Senator from Texas, of course, by not
having a median pipeline infrastructure we are forced to move oil by
other means and that means primarily railcars, and it is overburdening
our rail system. As you have seen, we have had accidents, and it is
just the overburdening of the current capacity of our rail system.
For example, in North Dakota we produce a million barrels of oil a
day. Over 700,000 now has to move by rail car because we don't have
adequate pipelines. So this is not just about bringing oil from Canada
to the United States. It is also about moving oil from States such as
Montana and North Dakota to refineries in the most efficient and safest
way possible. For example, the Keystone XL Pipeline on the day it opens
will take 500 trucks a day off some of our roads in the western part of
our State. So it is clearly a safety issue. The State Department says
if this pipeline isn't built, to move that amount of oil you would have
to move 1,400 railcars a day. That is 14 unit trains of 100 railcars a
day. Clearly, we don't have that rail capacity. Clearly we don't have
that rail capacity, so we need this vital infrastructure. We can't
develop the energy in this country and work with Canada to truly become
energy independent without vital infrastructure, which this project
represents.
Mr. CORNYN. I know there are other Senators who wish to speak, and I
will conclude on this point. It is with some sense of appreciation that
I note the two lowest unemployment rate cities and regions in the
country are, I believe, Bismarck, ND, and Midland-Odessa, the Permian
Basin in Texas. Not coincidentally, those are the sites of some of the
shale gas and the oil and gas production we are seeing that is thanks
to modern drilling techniques and innovative practices that produce
this American renaissance in energy, for which we should be enormously
grateful.
This is the way to get our economy back on track. This is the way to
extract ourselves from dangerous parts of the world and unreliable
sources of energy. And this is the way to get Americans back to work.
I thank the Senator for his leadership, and I am happy to participate
in this colloquy. Thank you.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from North Dakota.
Mr. HOEVEN. Mr. President, I wish to thank the esteemed Senator from
Texas.
I wish to turn to the distinguished Senator from Missouri for his
thoughts on the importance of this project and the need for our country
to become energy independent.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Missouri.
Mr. BLUNT. Mr. President, I thank my friend for leading this
colloquy. I think the Senator from South Carolina, Mr. Scott, is going
to speak for a few minutes before I do, and then I will be glad to
enter into this discussion. It is an important topic. Nobody has been a
greater leader on this than my friend from North Dakota, and I thank
him for organizing this colloquy, as many of us wish to come to the
floor today to speak on this critical issue.
Mr. HOEVEN. Mr. President, I turn to the Senator from South Carolina
and I welcome his comments on this important topic.
[[Page S2448]]
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from South Carolina.
Mr. SCOTT. I thank the Senator from North Dakota for his strong
leadership on that which is obvious to most of us, which is the need to
move forward on the Keystone Pipeline.
I was a businessman before I arrived here in Congress and I will tell
my colleagues that our goal in business was to do the right thing. As a
Senator, I wish to do the right thing for all of the American people.
Thanks to the strong leadership of Senator Hoeven, we have an
opportunity to do just that. Yet this administration continues to
ignore policies that would help hard-working, hard-hit American
families.
I think back several years ago when I was growing up in a single-
parent household, and I think about the very difficult choices my mom
had to make between food and gas and energy consumption. What a
horrible position to put any American family in. Yet every single day
we delay a decision on the pipeline, we say to struggling families: Not
now, not here, but maybe later. That is not the right message to send
on the broader topic of this energy economy.
The fact is, if we factor in incomes under $30,000, 25 percent of
that income goes toward energy consumption. What a difficult position
to find a single parent in, struggling to make ends meet. Yet we have
an opportunity not only to address that issue in the broader topic of
the energy conversation but to specifically address the issue faced by
millions and millions of Americans, and that is the issue of
unemployment.
The pipeline is not an issue of politics, it is an issue of the
American people. The fact is that over 42,000 jobs would be created and
we would pump billions of dollars into the Nation's economy. Yet the
administration simply says--after 5\1/2\ years, after several studies--
we should wait a little longer, as if we have not waited long enough,
with those 42,000 American families who could be positively impacted by
going back to work. How long should we wait to see this administration
do the right thing?
I support this proposal. I support the legislation. I support
congressional action to move this administration into a position where
61 percent of the American people already find themselves. They are
already saying, Let's move forward on the pipeline. They are ready to
see action on constructing the pipeline because they understand that if
we can't solve this simple issue, where there is already bipartisan
support, how do we address the deeper challenges in the energy economy?
I don't often find myself in the position to quote from members or
even presidents of labor unions. I have to gulp when I make my next
statement, because it is so rare, so foreign to me. But I will say that
Terry O'Sullivan, general president of the Laborers' International
Union of North America, got it right when he said, ``This is once again
politics at its worst.''
Here we see an amazing collaboration between labor unions, Democratic
Senators, Republican Senators, and conservative groups, all coming
together, asking--even begging--the President to do the right thing. I
don't know exactly what it will take to get the President to do what he
said during a lunch meeting with all of the Republican Senators when he
said, Do you know what we should do? By the end of 2013, we should find
ourselves with a decision coming out of his office, his administration.
Yet this is 2014. It reminds me a little bit of ObamaCare; they
continue to move the deadlines.
We need action for the American people and we need action for the
American people right now.
Let me close, Mr. President by thinking through where we are today on
such a simple decision. I believe 62 Senators in this body during the
budget resolution debate supported moving forward on the Keystone
Pipeline; is that correct?
Mr. HOEVEN. That is correct.
Mr. SCOTT. I believe we have had a number of votes over the last 2
years where many Senators have said, have voted, and have written
letters asking for action on this pipeline. I think that is correct.
Yet if we can't solve a bipartisan issue on the pipeline today, how do
we start solving the broader issues regarding energy, including
offshore energy production? How do we get ourselves into a position, I
say to the Senator from Alaska, where we could have a conversation
about offshore production? My State could see 7,500 new jobs and $2.2
billion annually added to our economy, and $87.5 million of new revenue
generated for my State. But we can't solve the simple, bipartisan-
supported effort of the Keystone Pipeline.
I thank Senator Hoeven for his strong leadership and I hope we will
find it possible to move this legislation forward quickly, and let's
get it done.
Thank you, Mr. President.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from North Dakota.
Mr. HOEVEN. I wish to thank the Senator from South Carolina for
putting this issue in very human terms, including what it means for
people in this country who want a job. I thank him for his passion on
this important issue.
I turn now to the Senator from Missouri for his input on this
important issue.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Missouri.
Mr. BLUNT. I thank the Senator from South Carolina for pointing out
that bad Economic Policies have the most impact on the most vulnerable
among us, including the number he gave of the percentage of income of
families who have less than $30,000 of income a year, how much of that
already goes to energy.
The administration says they are for an all-of-the-above energy
policy. That appears to be an all-of-the-above energy policy unless we
know it works and unless we know it is available and unless we know we
could get it, in this case, from a friendly source. Somehow, they are
not for that. They are for ``all of the above'' until we really look at
what is there and what we know works and what makes our current energy
needs met in the best way.
The pipeline is an example of a solution that would decrease our
country's dependence on nations we can't rely on quite as heavily. It
increases our trading relationship with our very best trading partner.
That oil is going to be sold to somebody and a pipeline will be built.
The question is, Is the pipeline built to connect to the most logical
customer and the best trading partner and come south or does the
pipeline go to the west and the oil goes to Asia? This is not about
whether the oil comes out of the ground. It is not about whether a
pipeline gets built. It is about whether we do that which makes the
most sense.
On April 18, the State Department, by the direction of the President,
once again, said we are going to wait a little while longer. How many
deadlines do we have to blow by? I think it is interesting that in the
last couple of months when people have left the administration--when
the Secretary of the Interior leaves and is asked about the pipeline,
he says, Oh, of course we should build the pipeline. When the Secretary
of Energy leaves and is asked about the pipeline, he says, Oh, of
course we should build the pipeline. Everybody knows that the logical,
commonsense thing to do is to build this pipeline and let us benefit
from this energy. It has become an example of a commonsense decision
versus regulators out of control--regulators who don't want us to use
the resources we have or the resources that are right next to us.
The national security implications of Canadian oil are pretty great
and pretty obvious for everybody to figure out. The economic security
implications of doing business with somebody who does business with
us--every time we send the Canadians a dollar, for decades, they have
sent us back at least 90 cents. Every time we involve ourselves in that
trade and strengthen their economy, they turn right back around and
strengthen our economy. Why wouldn't we want to do that?
Just the cost alone of building the pipeline, talk about a shovel-
ready project: 20,000 jobs, not a single taxpayer dollar involved. In
fact, the company immediately starts paying taxes to State and local
government as that pipeline is extended through communities and almost
all of our States. Another 830,000 barrels of oil a day. Roughly 6
percent of all of our daily imports come from this one new source. But,
as others have pointed out, that pipeline then becomes available for
other objectives as well. A bipartisan determination on this floor has
shown that we should obviously build this pipeline.
[[Page S2449]]
We constantly talk about private sector job creation. Believe me, it
is not just building and producing more American energy that are the
jobs created, it is the jobs created when we have a utility bill we can
rely on and a delivery system we can count on. People will make things
in the United States again. The right kind of American energy policy
becomes immediately the right kind of American manufacturing policy.
The pipeline has almost become the tip of the iceberg that everybody
has their eye on, but it is an example of the problem that we refuse to
do things that will make our economy stronger, make our families
stronger, and create jobs in America that have better take-home pay
than the jobs that people have seen in the last 5 years. The take-home
pay for American families has gone down and down and down in every one
of those years when we look at the surveys.
This is a fight worth having. Again, nobody has been more dedicated
to that effort than the Senator from North Dakota who understands what
a difference energy can make in the State. He saw that happen as
Governor. We have seen that happen in the State he lives in. The right
kind of American energy policy can provide so many of those exact same
benefits for the United States of America. This is one of the easy
examples to talk about, out of a volume of examples of the
administration clearly headed on a path that makes no sense when we
really look at the national security impact, the economic impact, or,
most importantly, the impact on American families.
I again thank the Senator for leading this fight.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from North Dakota.
Mr. HOEVEN. I thank the Senator from Missouri and turn to our ranking
member on the Energy Committee, the Senator from Alaska, who deals with
energy issues every day.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Alaska.
Ms. MURKOWSKI. I wish to thank my colleague from North Dakota. I have
had an opportunity to go to North Dakota and see firsthand how, in
Senator Hoeven's State, they are embracing this energy renaissance we
are seeing in this country--a renaissance that is truly allowing us to
move forward with jobs and economic opportunity not only for the good
of this country but really for the good of so many others.
When we are talking about our neighbors to the north in Canada--or if
one is from Alaska our neighbors to the east--there is a recognition
that the United States and Canada are really joined at the well, if you
will. That is a term I have used quite frequently.
But when it comes to energy issues, there are 17 operating oil
pipelines between the United States and Canada. There are another 30
electric transmission lines. There are 29 natural gas pipelines. This
is all energy infrastructure that crosses the border with Canada--
whether it is into Montana, Washington, North Dakota, Michigan,
Minnesota, New York, Vermont, Idaho, Maine.
You have to wonder--you have to wonder--are not these all in the
national interest? What is so unique, what is so compelling about this
Keystone XL Pipeline that it is not only taking the 5 years of study
that has already been done but is now on indefinite hold for yet
further study?
So it causes one to kind of go back in time. Let's look at some of
the pipelines that have been already determined as being in the
national interest.
Back in August of 2009, the Department of State signed off on
Enbridge Energy's Alberta Clipper Pipeline. When you look at what they
did in signing off on that, it is exactly what we are talking about
here with the Keystone XL. It said--and this is coming from the
national interest determination on the Alberta Clipper. I ask unanimous
consent to have that application printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
7.0 Decision and Basis for Decision
The Deputy Secretary of State has determined that a
Presidential Permit will be issued to Enbridge Energy,
Limited Partnership to construct, connect, operate, and
maintain facilities at the border for the transport of crude
oil between the United States and Canada across the
international boundary, as described in the Application for a
Presidential Permit dated May 15, 2007 and as further amended
by the subsequent filings of Enbridge with the DOS and by
information incorporated into the Final EIS issued June 5,
2009. The Deputy Secretary also finds that:
Construction and Operation of the Alberta Clipper Project
Serves the National Interest--The addition of crude oil
pipeline capacity between the Western Canada Sedimentary
Basin (WCSB) and the United States serves the strategic
interests of the United States for the following reasons:
It increases the diversity of available supplies among the
United States' worldwide crude oil sources in a time of
considerable political tension in other major oil producing
countries and regions. Increased output from the WCSB can be
utilized by a growing number of refineries in the United
States that have access and means of transport for these
increased supplies.
It shortens the transportation pathway for a sizeable
portion of United States crude oil imports. Crude oil
supplies in Western Canada represent the largest and closest
foreign supply source to domestic refineries that do not
require, in contrast to other suppliers, many days or weeks
of marine transportation.
It increases crude oil supplies from a major non-
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries producer which
is a stable and reliable ally and trading partner of the
United States, with which we have free trade agreements which
augment the security of this energy supply.
Moreover, the United States and Canada, through bilateral
diplomacy and a Clean Energy Dialogue process that is now
underway, are working across our respective energy sectors to
cooperate on best practices and technology, including carbon
sequestration and storage, so as to lower the overall
environmental footprint of our energy sectors. The Government
of Canada and the Province of Alberta have also set
greenhouse gas reduction targets and implementation programs
to help them achieve them.
Approval of this permit will also send a positive economic
signal, in a difficult economic period, about the future
reliability and availability of a portion of United State's
energy imports, and in the immediate term, will provide
construction jobs.
It provides additional supplies of crude oil to make up for
the continued decline in imports from several other major
U.S. suppliers.
Construction and Operation of the Alberta Clipper Project
Meets Environmental Protection Policies--The DOS concludes
that the proposed Alberta Clipper Project, if designed,
constructed, and operated in accordance with the Project
Description in Section 2.0 of the FEIS, as amended by
additional approaches and mitigation measures agreed to by
Enbridge as a result of the DOS environmental analyses and as
further amended by specific permit conditions contained in
the permit and those to be assigned by the state and federal
agencies with jurisdiction over aspects of the project along
the pipeline corridor, would result in limited adverse
environmental impacts.
Concerns have been raised about higher-than-average levels
of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with oil sands
crude. The Department has considered these concerns, and
considers that they are best addressed in the context of the
overall set of domestic policies that Canada and the United
States will take to address their respective greenhouse gas
emissions. The United States will continue to reduce reliance
on oil through conservation and energy efficiency measures,
such as recently increased Corporate Average Fuel Economy
(CAFE) standards, as well as through the pursuit of
comprehensive climate legislation and an ambitious global
agreement on climate change that includes substantial
emission reductions for both the United States and Canada.
The Department, on behalf of the Administration, will urge
ambitious action by Canada, and will cooperate with the
Canadian government through the U.S.-Canada Clean Energy
Dialogue and other processes to promote the deployment of
technologies that reduce our respective GHG emissions.
The Scope of the Permit Issued to Enbridge shall extend
only up to and including the first mainline shut-off valve or
pumping station in the United States. Executive Order 11423,
initially delegating the President's authority to the DOS,
specifically notes that ``the proper conduct of the foreign
relations of the United States requires that Executive
permission be obtained for the construction and maintenance
at the borders of the United States of facilities connecting
the United States with a foreign country.'' Similarly,
Section I of Executive Order 13337, further delegating the
President's authority, states that DOS has authority for
issuance of Presidential permits for the ``construction,
connection, operation, and maintenance at the borders of the
United States of facilities . . . to or from a foreign
country.'' Hence, in reviewing an application for a
Presidential permit, the DOS, takes into account the impact
the proposed cross-border facility (i.e., pipeline, bridge,
road, etc.) will have upon U.S. relations with the country in
question, whether Canada or Mexico, and also on the impact it
will have on U.S. foreign relations generally. While the DOS
also takes into account the various environmental and other
domestic issues
[[Page S2450]]
mentioned above, DOS does not have, and has never had,
authority over facilities, including pipeline, bridges,
roads, etc., located entirely within the United States that
do not cross the international border with either Canada or
Mexico. For these reasons, the Department does not believe
that the scope of the permit it issues in this case should
extend any further than necessary to protect that foreign
relations interest. The permits the DOS issues under
Executive Orders 11423 and 13337 routinely include provisions
permitting DOS to take possession of the facilities at the
border for national security reasons or to direct the
permittee to remove the facilities in the immediate vicinity
of the international border if so directed by the DOS. Since
that is the case, the DOS has concluded that a limitation of
the scope of the permit in this case to those pipeline
facilities within the United States up to and including the
first mainline shut-off valve or pumping station would
adequately protect the DOS' foreign relations interest in
implementing Executive Orders 11423 and 13337.
8.0 National Interest Determination
Pursuant to the authority vested in me under Executive
Order 13337 of April 30, 2004, as amended, Department of
State Delegation of Authority No. 118-2 of January 23, 2006,
and Department of State Delegation No. 245-1 of February 13,
2009, and subject to satisfaction of the requirements of
sections 1(g) and 1(i) of Executive Order 13337, I hereby
determine that issuance of a permit to Enbridge Energy,
Limited Partnership, a limited partnership organized under
the laws of the State of Delaware, which is a wholly owned
subsidiary of Enbridge Energy Partners, L.P. (``Enbridge
Partners'') which is a Delaware master limited partnership
headquartered at 1100 Louisiana, Suite 3300, Houston, Texas
77002, to construct, connect, operate and maintain facilities
at the border of the United States and Canada for the
transport of crude oil between the United States and Canada
across the international boundary at Cavalier County, North
Dakota, would serve the national interest.
The Presidential Permit issued to Enbridge shall include
authorization to construct, connect, operate, and maintain at
the border of the United States facilities for the transport
of crude oil between the United States and Canada across the
international boundary as described in the Presidential
Permit application received from Enbridge by DOS on May 15,
2007, as amended, and in accordance with the mitigation
measures described in the Environmental Mitigation Plan (and
other similar mitigation plans) contained in the FEIS, as
amended. No construction or other actions shall be taken by
Enbridge prior to Enbridge's acquisition of all other
necessary federal, state, and local permits and approvals
from agencies of competent jurisdiction. Enbridge shall
provide written notice to the Department at such time as the
construction authorized by this permit is begun, and again at
such time as construction is completed, interrupted or
discontinued.
This determination shall become final fifteen days after
the Secretaries of Defense, Interior, Commerce, Energy,
Homeland Security and Transportation, the Attorney General,
and the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency
have been notified of this determination, unless the matter
must be referred to the President for consideration and final
decision pursuant to section 1(i) of said Executive Order.
Date: 03 August 2009.
James B. Steinberg,
Deputy Secretary of State.
Ms. MURKOWSKI. Some of the things the Alberta Clipper line provided
were increasing the diversity of available supplies. It shortens the
transportation pathway for a sizable portion of our crude imports. It
increases crude oil supplies from major non-OPEC countries. It allows
our country to cooperate on best practices in technology. And then,
finally, approval of the permit would send a positive economic signal,
in a difficult economic period, about the future reliability and
availabilty of a portion of U.S. energy imports.
These are not from the Keystone XL Pipeline. This is coming from the
Alberta Clipper Pipeline, approved back in 2009, for exactly the same
reasons that President Obama should sign off on the Keystone XL
Pipeline and sign off now. It is in the country's best interests. It is
clearly in the best interests of our friend and ally and neighbor to
the north, Canada.
I think we recognize there is so much opportunity for us. But we need
to get out of the way of the stops and the hurdles that have been
placed by this administration--limiting our jobs, limiting our economic
opportunities, and truly working to restrict our energy independence.
With that, I yield the floor, as I know several other colleagues wish
to speak in the time remaining.
Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, I rise today to again express my great
disappointment about a matter of importance to our Nation--the
administration's decision to put off a decision to start building the
Keystone Pipeline so they can do a little more study and review--again.
It is getting to be like watching a rerun of the same show--over and
over and over again.
How many times have we been through this? I have lost count. Time
after time momentum seems to build to finally approve this project so
we can reap the benefits that will come from the pipeline--namely, the
jobs that will be available to people who need them and the boost to
our Nation's energy supplies that will help to bring some certainty to
our energy policy.
Well, we can forget about those benefits in the near term. The
administration has once again spoken with certainty that they aren't
certain about what they want to do--they just know they don't want to
do it now. If one is supportive of the pipeline one can still hope it
may happen someday. If one is opposed to it, one can be assured that
``someday'' won't happen anytime soon.
I think there is more of a political reason than a practical reason
for this delay. After all, there have already been 5 years of studies
that have reaffirmed the benefits of building the pipeline now.
That isn't all. The State Department reviewed the proposal and found
that it was the safest way to transport the oil. Most pipelines require
a presidential permit that is issued after an 18-to 24-month review
process. We did that. In fact, the first leg of the Keystone XL
pipeline took 21 months to obtain approval. Most times that would be a
cause for optimism. Not this time. We are 5 years down the road and we
are still awaiting the start of construction.
Instead of spending this week on misguided legislation that will
actually discourage new hiring and harm the job prospects of long-term
unemployed individuals, we should be doing everything we can to
encourage the creation of new jobs and the growth of new business
opportunities. According to the State Department, the Keystone XL has
the potential to create 42,000 jobs with good wages that will help to
get the economy going again, strengthen our energy supplies, and put
those 42,000 individuals further along the road of living the American
dream and supporting their families. What is not to like about that?
Plus, it will accomplish all that without raising taxes or increasing
our crushing national debt. In fact, this would increase revenues--jobs
increase revenues, sales increase revenues. More people driving to work
also creates more money for highways.
Getting this massive private sector job creator moving into high gear
is a win-win for all Americans. Unfortunately, it hasn't happened yet
and the White House has decided to step in again and once again delay
the project for political reasons. Instead of supporting a job creator,
the administration is putting up a job barrier. We deserve better. We
deserve an administration that is willing to work overtime to lead us
out of this dismal time of long-term unemployment--a slump that shows
no signs of ending soon.
That isn't the only reason why we need to take action on this
immediately. Haven't we all spoken time and time again about the need
to do something to reduce our dependence on sources of energy from
unstable countries? This pipeline will help us to do that.
The administration's own Department of Energy stated in a June 2011
memo that Keystone XL would lower gas prices in all the markets in the
United States. Flipping the XL switch from ``standby'' to ``on'' should
have been done years ago. It is a no-brainer that calls for action--not
more thought, reflection, meditation, consideration, review, and
planning--and who knows what else.
The record is clear. We have been told time and time again that a
decision on the pipeline was ``in the pipeline'' and would be coming
our way shortly. In March of last year the President told us that the
final decision as to whether or not he would approve the pipeline would
reach us by year's end. We never heard from him.
Before that, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made a promise that
we would have a decision on the status of the pipeline by the end of
2011. We never heard from her, either.
That is unacceptable for so many different reasons. We need the jobs.
We
[[Page S2451]]
need the energy. We need the certainty that comes from knowing whether
this project will be completed or not.
The resources this pipeline is intended to carry will be developed
whether the administration approves it or not. Doesn't it make sense by
having the United States of America receive the benefit of all that
energy instead of our competitors?
We have an alternative before us. The senior Senator from North
Dakota has a new bill that I am cosponsoring that would recognize the
final supplemental environmental impact statement and give approval to
the Keystone XL Pipeline. It will put the Senate on record and
recognize the need for the pipeline and all the benefits it will
provide. It has strong bipartisan support and should move forward with
all deliberate speed.
There is an old saying that reminds us that he who hesitates is lost.
We have been hesitating for years and have nothing to show for it but
lost time. We have a chance to change things and put ourselves on the
right side of this equation. It is time to do it--now! Let's leave
yesterday behind and move forward to tomorrow by taking action instead
of putting it off again for another round of thoughtful gazing and
reflection while our problems grow more serious and our options start
to diminish.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from North Dakota.
Mr. HOEVEN. Mr. President, I have conferred with the good Senator
from Illinois and beg his indulgence. He has offered 3 minutes for each
of our remaining speakers. I thank him for that and ask for the Chair's
indulgence.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. HOEVEN. I thank the Chair.
Mr. President, I again thank the Senator from Illinois and turn to
the Senator from South Carolina for his thoughts on this important
issue.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Durbin). The Senator from South Carolina.
Mr. GRAHAM. Mr. President, I thank you.
I have been to the Canadian oil sands that I would recommend every
person in this body go visit. The Canadians are being very
environmentally responsible when it comes to extracting the oil sands
product. This is an equivalent to a Saudi Arabian oil find from our
Canadian friends.
Here is the choice and here is the debate: They are going to sell the
oil to China or they are going to sell it to us. How many people in
America really have a hard time figuring out what we should do? It is
not as though the oil is not going to be sold and extracted from the
ground. It is going to be sold to us or the Chinese. If we buy oil from
Canada, it is like buying oil from your cousin. We trade with the
Canadians. They are very reliable partners. It is less oil to buy from
Russia and Venezuela, and you can go down the list.
What is at stake here is that the people who object to this
pipeline--I do not doubt their sincerity--would not allow us to buy oil
from anybody or explore for oil here at home. The people objecting to
this pipeline do not have an all-of-the-above approach when it comes to
American energy. If you left it up to them, we would be doing
windmills, solar, no nuclear power.
So the President of the United States has turned this issue over to
the most extreme people in the country when it comes to politics. They
are trumping the unions. They are trumping the former Presiding
Officer. They are locking down developing an energy source that we need
as a nation. I really regret that the President has let them take over
this issue at a time when we need more oil from friendly people and
less oil from people who hate our guts.
Dirty oil to me is buying oil from people who will take the proceeds
and share it with terrorists. This oil content from Canada is slightly
greater in carbon content than Mideast sweet crude, the same level as
oil we find off the coast of California, and has less sulfur. So the
environmental argument does not bear scrutiny.
At the end of the day, we are not going to get this oil from our
friends in Canada because of the upcoming elections. President Obama is
afraid of turning off environmental support so he has turned off the
pipeline--very bad for America.
I yield.
Mr. HOEVEN. Mr. President, I thank the Senator from South Carolina
and turn to the esteemed Senator from Georgia.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Georgia.
Mr. ISAKSON. Mr. President, I thank the Senator from North Dakota,
and I acknowledge and thank the distinguished majority whip for
allowing us extra time to talk about a subject he would probably prefer
us not to talk about, but I appreciate it very much. So I will be very
brief and succinct.
For this administration and our country not to build the Keystone
Pipeline or delay it is at best professional malpractice. There are
three reasons for that.
We are a country that 40 years ago was held hostage by OPEC. We had
our parents waiting in line to fill up their cars. Businesses closed
because there was no oil supply, and prices went through the roof.
With the Keystone Pipeline and its capacity added to the Marcellus
and the Haynesville shale, America will truly be independent in its
energy and never be held hostage again by someone like OPEC. That is
No. 1.
No. 2, it is important for our diplomacy around the world. Soft power
is always preferable to hard power. And one of the best soft powers you
can possibly have is having energy. Think about it for a second.
If Russia were not a factor in Ukraine because America could supplant
their natural gas, think what that would do to what is happening right
now in that part of the world. We need it for our soft power and for
our diplomatic power.
Lastly, it is environmentally the thing to do. That oil is going to
be refined somewhere in the world, and it is going to be delivered in
some way. The safest and most environmentally sound way to deliver it
is in a pipeline, No. 1. The best country in the world to refine it is
the United States of America, No. 2. And, No. 3, and most importantly,
it is environmentally sound because you keep trucks off the road,
trains off the track. The oil goes underground. It does not generate
any carbon and go into the global warming or any other part of our
environmental threat.
It is the right thing to do, and it is professional malpractice for
us not to be doing it for our people, for our country, for our
diplomacy, and for peace around the world.
I thank the distinguished Senator for the time.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Manchin). The Senator from North Dakota.
Mr. HOEVEN. Mr. President, I thank the good Senator from Georgia, who
is putting forward common sense.
I would like to turn, in closing, to the Senator from Wyoming, who is
a senior member of the energy committee and truly understands energy
issues.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Wyoming.
Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, it seems the President's decision is
absurd, to delay the Keystone XL Pipeline. That is not just me saying
that. That is the Washington Post, Thursday morning, April 24:
``Keystone XL's absurd delay. President Obama should approve the
pipeline project now.'' They say:
If foot-dragging were a competitive sport, President Obama
and his administration would be world champions for their
performance in delaying the approval of the Keystone XL
pipeline.
They go on to say:
The administration's latest decision is not responsible; it
is embarrassing. The United States continues to insult its
Canadian allies by holding up what should have been a routine
permitting decision amid a funhouse-mirror environmental
debate that got way out of hand.
They conclude by saying:
The president should end this national psychodrama now, bow
to reason--
Think about that: ``bow to reason''--
approve the pipeline and go do something more productive for
the climate.
That is not just the Washington Post. We see also the Wall Street
Journal, on Wednesday: ``Keystone Uncensored.'' They talk about a labor
leader calling the administration ``gutless,'' ``dirty,'' and more.
So why would a union leader--who endorsed President Obama in 2008 as
a candidate, endorsed him again in 2012--why would he say this? He
actually went on to say: ``It's not the oil that's dirty, it's the
politics.''
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To get an answer to that, you have to look at an article that
Politico ran last Thursday called ``The left's secret club.'' It said:
Some of the country's biggest Democratic donors--including
Tom Steyer . . .--are huddling behind closed doors next week
in Chicago to plan how to pull their party--and the country--
to the left.
The meeting will be held in the ballroom of the Ritz-Carlton.
Politico describes the group as ``a secretive club of wealthy
liberals.''
So who is Tom Steyer? Well, he is a hedge fund billionaire who has
said he is hoping to spend at least $100 million to defeat candidates
who support the Keystone XL Pipeline and who oppose his extreme
environmental agenda.
I want to be absolutely clear. There is nothing wrong with legal
participation in elections. If a hedge fund billionaire like Mr. Steyer
wants to spend his money talking about his views, he is free to do it.
I disagree with his views, but I would never come to the floor of the
Senate and denounce him as un-American. But that is exactly what the
majority leader, Senator Reid, has done, repeatedly coming to the floor
to criticize and demonize people who do not share his views. I have not
heard Senator Reid demonizing Tom Steyer or any other wealthy liberal
donors.
According to Politico, the majority leader was actually scheduled to
attend a fundraising dinner at Mr. Steyer's home a few months ago.
So the coincidence, to me, of the administration's announcement right
before this big liberal political event remains suspicious. The silence
of the majority leader about one person's spending when he has been so
outspoken about the spending of other people is certainly suspicious as
well.
Maybe that is what the union head meant when he said: ``It's not the
oil that's dirty, it's the politics.'' Whatever the reason, the
important thing is that President Obama continues to turn his back on
thousands of middle-class families in desperate need of jobs.
That is what needs to change. The administration and this body,
controlled by Senator Reid and the Democrats, can no longer put
politics ahead of policy substance. It is time for the administration
to do the right thing and to approve the Keystone XL Pipeline no matter
what the Democrats' secretive billionaires say.
Thank you, Mr. President.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from North Dakota.
Mr. HOEVEN. Mr. President, I will close.
It is time for the Senate to vote on this important issue.
With that, I will turn to the Senator from Illinois and again thank
him for the additional time.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. Hirono). The Senator from Illinois.
Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, I have listened, as my friends--and they
are my friends--and colleagues have come to the floor to talk about the
Keystone XL Pipeline.
It turns out that what America needs more than anything else--more
than an increase in the minimum wage, more than paycheck fairness so
that men and women are paid fairly in the workplace--more than anything
else, we need one more pipeline coming in from Canada.
If you listen to the other side, you would think the jobs that will
be created by the Keystone XL Pipeline will finally turn this economy
around.
How many jobs are we talking about? Madam President, 2,000--2,000
construction jobs? That is at the high end of estimates I have heard.
How many jobs at the refineries in Texas to process this oil and ship
it overseas? It is not for sale in the United States. I am not sure.
But it really is amazing to me that they continue to focus on Keystone
XL as if it is the only issue when it comes to the American economy.
Here is what I find particularly curious. For the record--and I am
glad my friend, the Senator from North Dakota, is still in the
Chamber--the Keystone XL Pipeline is not the first Keystone Pipeline.
The first Keystone Pipeline, from Alberta, came into the United States
and ended up in Wood River, IL, at the Conoco refinery. It is shipping
Canadian tar sands down to be refined at the Conoco refinery. And then,
after it is refined, in a pipeline it is distributed all across the
United States.
If no Keystone XL Pipeline is ever built--and I do not know whether
it will or will not be--there will still be a steady flow of Canadian
tar sands into America for refining.
Just this week, Senator Kirk and I met with the North American
president of BP. They have a huge refinery in Whiting, IN, at the south
end of Lake Michigan. They are refining Canadian tar sands into oil
that can be sold in different products.
I asked the head of the North American operations for BP what is
going to happen to that refinery when it comes to Canadian tar sands?
He said: We are going to triple--triple--our capacity to deal with
Canadian tar sands. He did not say contingent on the Keystone XL.
Because, you see, there is a vast network of pipelines moving Canadian
tar sands to the United States already, and they are already going
through a refinery--many of them--even the BP refinery in northern
Indiana.
So this notion that we are somehow turning off the Canadian tar sands
coming into the United States--if someone is suggesting that, I would
ask them to bring proof to the floor. We are not.
What the President is doing is trying to make a decision on what is
best for this country and our economy. He is trying to weigh it in a
thoughtful manner. There is an element that needs to be part of this
record. The President is trying to take into consideration the
environment. I think he should. I think it is his responsibility.
We had a debate several weeks ago on the floor of the Senate. It was
about global warming and climate change. It went on through the night.
Many of my Democratic colleagues stayed up all night to talk about it.
Brian Schatz of Hawaii, Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island spoke at
great length with their colleagues about the issue.
I came up early in the debate and simply made one point. I believe
the Republican Party of the United States is the only major political
party in the world--in the world--that denies climate change and global
warming. I have asked my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to
give me an example. Tell me where I am wrong. Somebody said there may
be a party in Australia. That is where they have to reach to find any
other political party in the world that agrees with their position on
global warming and climate change. So it is no wonder when we discuss
energy and the future they do not want to talk about what is happening
to our environment, the extreme weather situation we are even seeing
this week, the devastation from storms in a magnitude we have never
registered since we kept records.
What the President is trying to do is to take into consideration not
just energy but also our environment, so ultimately we leave a world to
our children and grandchildren which is safer and cleaner than the one
we have today. My friend the Senator from Wyoming, Mr. Barrasso, came
to the floor and talked about what he called a highly secretive, high-
level meeting in Chicago, and then he proceeded to say at what hotel it
was being held. It is not much of a secret if he knows where it is
being held.
It is true there are meetings of people who oppose the Keystone
Pipeline and support candidates who oppose it, as there are meetings of
those who support the pipeline and support the candidates who join in
their position. That happens to be the nature of the political scene.
He even suggested that the person opposed to the pipeline was going to
put $100 million into this campaign.
I, for one, would like to see an end to big money in our political
campaigns. I would certainly like to see transparency and where it is
coming from and how it is being spent, but the reality is, the Citizens
United decision from the Supreme Court across the street changed the
rules and people can play with big money now, a lot of their own.
What he did not mention were the Koch brothers. I would like to
mention them for a moment because they are relevant to this discussion
about Canadian tar sands and the Keystone XL Pipeline. The Koch
brothers are very wealthy, billionaires. They come to play when it
comes to the American political scene. In the last cycle, we were able
to identify over $248 million these two brothers spent on political
causes and campaigns around the
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United States, and we are told they are going to spend considerably
more than that this time around.
Do the Koch brothers have an agenda when it comes to this issue? Let
me give an illustration. It was about 3 months ago that I went into the
southeast corner of the city of Chicago, an old steel mill
neighborhood, which happens to be in the neighborhood where Barrack
Obama, fresh out of college, was a community organizer. They are modest
homes, frame homes, primarily Hispanic and African-American
populations.
They called me down to this section, the southeastern section of the
city of Chicago, to show me something. What they wanted to show me were
piles of black soot. It is called petcoke. Petcoke is what is left
after you take the Canadian tar sands, ship them through the pipeline
to a refinery, making diesel fuel, aviation fuel and gasoline. What is
left over, this black gunk substance called petcoke.
It turns out that the BP refinery was selling the petcoke to a
company owned by the Koch brothers. The Koch brothers were shipping
this petcoke into the neighborhoods of Chicago. The mothers with their
kids were calling me to their homes and schools to show me what
happened when the wind blew. When the wind blew, this nasty black stuff
flew through the air. It was all over windowsills and buildings, nasty
as can be.
The city of Chicago is doing something about it. They are kind of
changing the equation in terms of petcoke and what you have to do to
store it. But if the other side is coming to the floor and saying our
people are pure of heart, they just want to see the Keystone XL
Pipeline, the fact is, the largest benefactors to the Republican Party
in the United States today, the Koch brothers, have a financial and
commercial interest in these Canadian tar sands, at least in the
disposal of this petcoke. The way they were doing it in the city of
Chicago was the height of corporate irresponsibility--just pile it and
let the wind blow it across the neighborhood. It is going to be
criminal when it is all over after the city of Chicago changes its laws
to prohibit this kind of conduct.
But those are the things that are at stake in this conversation. I
hope at the end of the day the President makes the right, thoughtful
decision, not just in terms of energy but in terms of our environment,
does the best thing for America. I hope we also understand that if we
do nothing with the Keystone XL Pipeline, we are still going to face
the challenges with Canadian tar sands, coming down through the United
States, being refined and sold in our country and around the world. It
is a challenge we have to face honestly.
I may disagree with some of my colleagues on the other side. I
believe that if we want to leave a world for future generations--our
kids, our grandchildren--that is a cleaner and safer world, we have to
accept some responsibility in our generation, in our time, to clean up
the mess of this environment. It may call for some sacrifice as
individuals, as families, as businesses, but I do not think it is too
much to ask.
God gave us this great world and asked us to keep an eye on it for
the next generation. Are we going to do it or will we ignore it and
say: If there is money to be made, we can start bringing in any source
you wish. That to me is irresponsible.
Tribute to Dr. Jerry Umanos, John Gabel, and Gary Gabel
Madam President, Robert Kennedy once said, ``The purpose of life is
to contribute in some way to make things better.'' Around the world and
here at home, dedicated American citizens are living by this principle,
trying to improve the lives of those in greatest need. Sadly, on April
24, we lost three Americans from my home State of Illinois who were
killed at the Cure International Hospital which focuses on maternity
and pediatric care in Afghanistan: Dr. Jerry Umanos, John Gabel, and
his father Gary Gabel.
Both John Gabel and Dr. Jerry Umanos were working to help the Afghan
people receive health care. In a country still coping with the legacy
of decades of terrible conflict that devastated the medical
infrastructure of Afghanistan, they were helping by volunteering to
address the real needs of the Afghan people and improving the lives of
those whom they assisted.
This is Dr. Jerry Umanos. His picture is an indication of this young,
dedicated, idealistic man who lost his life. He was dedicating to
helping kids. After he finished his residency at the Children's
Hospital of Michigan, he could have made some money with his training,
but instead he decided to help those who needed a helping hand.
He worked for years at an amazing place that I have visited, the
Lawndale Christian Health Center in the city of Chicago. It is one of
those neighborhood health centers which makes you feel good about the
world, where great professionals, such as Dr. Umanos, give of their
time, make very little money, and help the poorest of the poor.
He was an important part of that community. They loved him, not only
his patients but his colleagues as well. He worked to help so many in
Chicago who otherwise did not have a chance for quality health care. He
followed this calling to Afghanistan where the needs of people were
even greater. He was dedicated to making a difference there by helping
the Afghan people, by teaching, by making certain that the next
generation of Afghans had a better life. The breadth and depth of his
work is a testimony to his love for and commitment not only to the
people of Afghanistan but to the needy. What a loss that his life was
taken from us.
John Gabel was a man who cared for others and made a real difference
in the lives of those he touched. He used his skills to run a health
clinic in Afghanistan and to help address the glaring needs of health
care with the Afghan people. John was working in other ways to help
build a better tomorrow for the people of Afghanistan. He used to teach
at Kabul University, where he was remembered as a great teacher and a
great friend.
He used his expertise in computer science, not to enrich himself but
to teach others. Perhaps it is not surprising that John was so focused
on helping those in need when we consider the example of his parents
Gary and Betty Gabel, who also dedicated their lives to others.
Tragically, Gary Gabel, who was visiting his son and his family in
Afghanistan, was lost as well in the senseless shooting.
Gary Gabel helped his community in and around Arlington Heights, IL.
He was an active member of his church. He had a commitment to helping
those most innocent and vulnerable members of society, our children. He
worked with church youth groups. He provided a strong model to his
community and his family of a man committed to helping others. I am
sure my colleagues join me in expressing our heartfelt condolences to
the families and loved ones of those lost and injured in this tragic
attack, as well as the countless people whom they helped, all of whom
join us in mourning their loss. They represent the best of who we are
as a people and make this world a better place.
Minimum Wage
Tomorrow, we are going to have an important vote. It is a vote that
is going to be watched carefully by over 1 million workers in the State
of Illinois and millions across our Nation. The question is whether the
United States of America and its government will increase the minimum
wage for workers all across the country.
It is an important vote. It would raise the Federal minimum wage from
$7.25 to $10.10 in three steps of 95 cents each. If we pass it this
year, the final increase would occur in the year 2016. This is a 39-
percent increase in the minimum wage, roughly the same percentagewise
as the last minimum wage bill we enacted over the same period of time.
It provides for automatic future increases in the minimum wage based on
the cost of living so we do not have those lurches from one level to $2
or $3 above it.
It raises the minimum wage for tipped workers for the first time in
more than 20 years. People find it hard to believe that under Federal
standards, tipped workers receive $2.13 an hour as their base wage.
They are expected to make up the difference with their tips. We raise
it to 70 percent of the minimum wage, phased in over 6 years. We extend
some business expensing rules to help businesses invest in their
equipment and what they need to grow the business. We do this in a
fashion to incentivize small businesses to grow.
This increase in the minimum wage brings us down to a very
fundamental
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question as Americans. The fundamental question is this: If someone is
willing to get up and go to work and work hard every single day, should
they receive a compensation that lets them get by so they do not have
to survive from paycheck to paycheck or should they be put in a
position where the only way they can survive is with government
assistance--food stamps, SNAP program, child care subsidies--things
that we provide as a government to people in low-income categories?
Keep in mind, we are talking about workers. You see them in Chicago
early in the morning. They are the blurry-eyed travelers on those buses
heading off to the workplace. They are the ones we see on the trains,
quietly moving from their homes to where they work and repeating the
reverse journey every single day as they head back home at night.
Can you imagine the frustration of going through that day after weary
day and never, ever catching up, living paycheck to paycheck, falling
further and further behind? That is what is happening to too many of
them. It is amazing to me when we hear the critics of minimum wages
step forward. In our State of Illinois there are two prominent
politicians, both of them happen to be multimillionaires. Their views
on minimum wage are amazing to me. One of them, who made $53 million
last year, said he adamantly opposes raising the minimum wage. He made
$53 million last year. He adamantly opposes raising the minimum wage.
Another one of them who is worth millions of dollars himself has
said: I will agree to raise the minimum wage but only for people over
the age of 26.
He just eliminated half of the people earning the minimum wage in
America today who happen to be under the age of 26.
Let's think about the people whom he wants to keep on a subminimum
wage. It would include all college students under the age of 26 trying
to work their way through school. He would want to give them a
subminimum wage. It would include single moms raising their kids--the
moms being under the age of 26, they would get a subminimum wage--and
it would also include veterans coming back, struggling to find a job.
If they haven't reached the age of 26, he would give them a subminimum
wage.
I have one basic question: What are these politicians thinking? Have
they ever left where they live and where they work and met up with some
people who are struggling paycheck to paycheck to get by?
Tomorrow we have a chance on the floor of the Senate to raise the
minimum wage, but we cannot do it with Democratic votes alone. If there
will not be five, six or seven Republicans who cross the aisle and join
us in this debate, it will fail--and that will be a sad day--because
for a lot of these workers this is their only hope that they will get a
decent increase in the minimum wage through the law.
I hope my colleagues on the other side will take into consideration
that so many of these workers are women and so many of them are even
over the age of 35 and still rely on minimum wage jobs. These are not
lazy people. These are hard-working people, people who are working hard
every single day for a paycheck that they know is not going to cover
their expenses every single week.
It is time we give them a chance and give them a break. It used to
be--and I can remember it very well--a bipartisan issue to raise the
minimum wage.
President Ronald Reagan, when he was President, raised the minimum
wage. He understood it. If you value work and you value working people,
you should give them a wage which respects the integrity and decency of
work. That is what this is about. That is what this minimum wage is
about tomorrow.
Without the help of Republicans, it will fail. If it isn't done on a
bipartisan basis, it will not go forward.
I might add one other item. A minimum wage is injecting into the
economy literally millions of dollars of purchasing power. People who
are living paycheck to paycheck spend those checks as fast as they can
for food, clothing or shoes, paying the utility bills, paying for a
cell phone, putting gas in a car. That money goes right back into the
economy.
I ask my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, tomorrow break
with some of the extreme people in your party, join us in a bipartisan
fashion and raise the minimum wage. It is only fair.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Alaska.
Mr. BEGICH. Before the Senator leaves I would like to ask him a quick
question if I could. I know he talked toward the end of his comments--
and I am going to speak on minimum wage also--but he mentioned
President Reagan. I think the last time minimum wage passed was under
President Bush, again a bipartisan approach; is that correct? I wasn't
here during those times, but I know the Senator has served in Congress
a long time.
Mr. DURBIN. I respond through the Chair to the Senator from Alaska.
There was a time when there wasn't that much controversy associated
with this. We knew that we waited too long. People had fallen behind in
their earning potential. We had to pick the right number. We came up
with it and moved forward on a bipartisan basis. But now things are so
partisan and so poisonous in the Senate that even something as basic as
raising the minimum wage for hard-working families turns out to be a
political lift.
Mr. BEGICH. The $10.10 wage is just getting to the poverty level.
That is what I understand and why I cosponsored this legislation.
Mr. DURBIN. It basically does for some, but what I found though is if
you are a family with two kids, for example, you have to make almost
$15 an hour to get beyond the poverty level. We are talking about
$10.10 phased in, and many of those people will still qualify for a
helping hand from the government because they are still in very low-
income categories.
Mr. BEGICH. Thank you for giving me a moment to ask those questions.
I rise to address an important issue--just as we were asking some
questions back and forth--that would help 49,000 Alaskans, raising the
minimum wage. The bill before us would increase the minimum wage to
$10.10 an hour.
The minimum wage, as mentioned by my colleagues a little earlier, has
lost its purchasing power by one-third over my lifetime. The increase
will lift millions of Americans out of poverty, reduce their reliance
on the safety net, and literally pump billions more into the economy.
I know I look at this a little differently. I come from the business
world. I come from the small business world. My first business was at
the age of 14. I have been in it ever since in some form or another.
You can probably name the business--retail, real estate. I have been a
publisher. I have owned different companies, and I have even owned a
small, very small, percentage of a restaurant. I felt like I was a 100-
percent owner at one point because it is a tough business. I was in
there moving the slop buckets and doing a remodel to the kitchen on a
Saturday night. I am there like everyone else working double time and
trying to make sure we get the job done.
My wife is a small retailer. Her business is selling smoked salmon on
a counter or a cart--no bigger than two of these desks--and building
her business now to 5 retail stores, 30-some employees. I might note
none of our employees are paid minimum wage. They are paid above
minimum wage.
I know some people are concerned minimum wage will cut into their
business. There is no question in my mind what it does; that is, when
we increase the minimum wage, it is actually good for business because
we help consumers have more resources to put into the economy that then
churn back into the business world.
Along with this bill another provision a lot of people don't realize
is the minimum wage is one piece, a pretty significant piece but also a
provision that I requested be put in this bill, what they call a 179.
It is a business tax deduction, something that is important for
businesses that are growing, expanding, building new business, small
businesses mostly.
This is the No. 1 priority of the business community that I talk to,
not the politically driven business communities but the ones that
actually do business and actually work with small businesses, the ones
that look at their local communities and try to figure out what is
important in legislation. One is to make sure they can write off
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some of their improvements in an expedited way which, in turn, puts
more money into the business for reinvestment. That is another piece of
this bill.
So it not only has an important part for the hard-working folks who
are making minimum wage to raise that amount, but it also helps the
hard-working small businesses ensure that they can continue to put
money back in their business, grow their business, expand their
business, and then receive some benefit from that.
As we know, we look at the whole issue in Alaska a little
differently. Our minimum wage is 50 cents higher than the Federal
level, $7.75. There is a reason: Because it is very expensive, similar
to the Presiding Officer's State. It is not cheap in our two States,
Hawaii and Alaska. The cost of living is much greater. In order for
folks to have a decent living, we pay a little bit more, and we play it
off of the Federal legislation, but still it is a problem in keeping
the wage competitive to the cost of living.
When we look at Alaska and we look at the cost of living in Alaska--
Anchorage specifically is 30 percent higher than the average cost of
living in this country and Fairbanks is 40 percent higher. Again,
having this higher ratio for us is very important.
It doesn't mean all the time that a dollar still goes far. When we
look at the whole country, in terms of buying power, what you can buy
for the dollar you earn, Alaska has 3 of the cities in the bottom 11.
When you look at the whole list, there are 11 at the bottom. Alaska has
three of them: Juneau, Kodiak, and Fairbanks, because their dollar
can't go far enough. That is why raising the minimum wage will help
them be able to purchase more and enjoy a better quality of life.
I will say Alaskans, similar to Hawaiians, know challenges, and we
have tough jobs because we are kind of isolated lots of times and
sometimes forgotten that we actually exist in the Union. And we have to
make that point more than once. But it doesn't matter if we are doing
the drilling in the Arctic, which is a great challenge, or fishing for
crab in the Bering Sea, which is an unbelievable test of someone's
capacity and ability, but we know how to overcome challenges. We just
don't want more challenges.
A minimum wage increase will help reduce some of those challenges.
The minimum wage is truly, at the rate it is today, an obstacle to try
to get people moved forward because we don't have it at the rate it
should be. The $10.10, in a lot of minds, is an easy step over a 2- to
3-year period, and it is honestly one we can fix. We can fix it
tomorrow. We just need a bipartisan approach as it happened under the
Reagan administration, it happened under the Bush administration.
Again, to remind folks who may not be familiar with those two
Presidents, they were Republicans. We did it, and I wasn't here, but
Democrats and Republicans sat down and said: Let's figure this out
because it is important for the working people of this country who are
working hard every day.
Another group it impacts in my State of 49,000 Alaskans is 1,700
veterans--veterans in our country, veterans in my State who will get a
boost.
What does that mean? When you calculate by family members, it is
about 3,000 families of veterans will benefit from raising the minimum
wage. As I said earlier, it is 49,000 Alaskans, and this is one subset.
More than half of the Alaskans are women. About 5,000 Alaskans will be
boosted right out of poverty with this change, and it means they will
be on less government programs such as food stamps.
I would think we are all here to try to make government run more
efficiently, improve the economy, and create jobs. That is what we do
every day, we attempt to do every day, and we do every day. If we can
get people above poverty, that means fewer government programs, which
means fewer government tax dollars, which means they are living on
their own and they have their own capacity to make it in this world.
One would think this is a unique opportunity for Democrats and
Republicans to be joined together. Why wouldn't we want fewer people on
food stamps because they are making a living now and able to take care
of themselves? That is what we all work toward, to have the American
dream to buy that home or live that quality of life, have that great
education, all the pieces to the equation.
Again, I cannot believe we are having a struggle trying to get just a
few votes. We don't want them all. We get there are some who are
opposed to anything about the Federal Government, but why not support
this effort to raise people up as President Reagan thought about and
President Bush thought about.
It is this moment, giving these people a fair shot, a fair shot to
have their American dream come true; $10.10 doesn't seem like a big
stretch, but it seems today it is by some politicians.
In fact, when we look at this--and I know the complaint on the other
side is this will hurt business. Again, as I said earlier, this is
good. You are talking to someone who is a small businessperson, who
pays above minimum wage. I understand the value of making sure my
employees, my wife's employees, have a good, decent wage, because when
they leave the workplace, when they get their paycheck, they will spend
it in the economy. That will help grow the economy.
I know some will talk about the CBO report and all of these
government reports, but let me put it this way. The last two times the
minimum wage has been raised, the economy didn't collapse, people
weren't fired--actually, the economy grew. So I don't understand that
comment and debate.
I know they will whip out these reports, and I am appreciative of
those and the work CBO does, but I can only go by history and what has
happened. If we raise the minimum wage, jobs are great, economy grows,
and the next issue is businesses are reinvesting because they have more
customers, which means more customers more profit. More profit means
more investment. This is not only a fair shot for the people working,
it gives an opportunity for small businesses and businesses across this
country.
To put it in perspective for my colleagues who have never been in
small business or have not run a business, the reason you hire people
is because you have demand. Demand is created by expenditures,
expenditures by consumers.
The reason you lay off people is because demand has gone down because
there are not expenditures by consumers. Raising the minimum wage gives
more opportunity, more investment, more people making money, and more
return.
Let me give some national statistics. Again, this is about making
sure we give every American, especially those making a minimum wage
today--a raise in their minimum wage, to give them a fair shot to be
part of the American dream.
The bill will help 30 million Americans earning an additional $51
billion to put back into the economy over the next 3 years by this
raise--huge. The family who today can't afford the new car can now
maybe look at a new car or maybe they are choosing between groceries
and paying their heating bill. Now because you are raising the minimum
wage they have an opportunity to pay these bills and enjoy life a
little bit more.
The higher minimum wage will also help 12 million people in our
country to get out of poverty. It could lift 4.6 million out of poverty
immediately.
This is about empowering families, giving them a fair shot, a chance
again to achieve the American dream, helping parents to make ends meet
and to raise children in a healthy home and an opportunity for them.
More than a one-fifth of all children in our country have a parent on
minimum wage; 56 percent on a national level are women making the
minimum wage.
Right now, thousands of Alaskans work full time--maybe extra work on
the side--but still struggle to put food on the table. It is wrong.
That is why raising the minimum wage will be helpful to those families.
It saves the government money by helping people get off food stamps.
Also, higher wages would cut, as I said, food stamps, they estimate by
$4.6 billion a year. We have been very good at moving the deficit
down--a $1.4 trillion deficit annually, down a little over $500 billion
and continuing to go down. I think we all want to see that deficit go
to zero.
The way we do that is with programs such as this that engage the
private sector and their responsibility, at the same time lowering
costs for the government. Also, an interesting statistic
[[Page S2456]]
is that it also increases the wages, obviously, by the minimum wage
going up. So it increases and strengthens Social Security because now
they are paying into Social Security. Social Security contributions
from an extra $51 billion in wages would go right to the trust fund.
Since benefits are tied to lifetime earnings, workers will earn larger
checks when they retire. Right now an average minimum wage worker with
40 years of paying into the system receives only 900 bucks, give or
take a few bucks, at the age of 65. That is well below the poverty
line.
So why wouldn't we want to raise the minimum wage, move people out of
poverty, get more people off of food stamps, save the government some
money, and, by the way, help strengthen Social Security and give
families and individuals a fair shot to meet and reach the American
dream? Why wouldn't we want to do that? Again, under the Reagan
administration and the Bush administration, they seemed to think it was
a good idea.
I agree with the Senator from Illinois who was on the floor a little
while ago. If we weren't in this toxic political environment where
everything has to be politicized until the last man is standing, we
would probably do this. We would be down here together talking about
how it would help our folks in our different States and in our
communities and in the country overall. Instead, everyone wants to just
kind of even the scorecard. This is not about a scorecard; this is
about giving a fair shot to Americans, to Alaskans, so they have a
chance to make a living and meet and reach the American dream.
This is a simple thing for us to do, and we could do it tomorrow. I
don't know what the House will do, but maybe if we act in a bipartisan
way here, the House will see that. Maybe they will wake up and see this
is a good thing to do because if we want to build the economy, if we
want to make a difference, as I said--and I am talking as a small
businessperson--if we grow the amount of money consumers spend by
making sure they make a good living, the net result will be that every
businessperson benefits because they have more consumers, more people
buying products. In turn, everything from manufacturing, to shipping to
the retailer, to the large business, the small business--all benefit.
Again, it is amazing to me that we debate this issue. Actually, I was
not planning to come to the floor until last week because I thought
this should be easy. Why are we not doing this? Republican Presidents
saw it as a good idea. Now that it has been a long time coming, it is
time.
I know some don't like the current President. I have my issues with
him, I can tell you that. The list is long. But we should not get
caught up in the personalities. I tell my staff all the time--when I
get a piece of legislation a Member is proposing, I say: Don't look at
who is sponsoring; look at the content of the bill. If we like the
bill, we sign on. We participate. Too much time is spent here worrying
about who is sponsoring what, who is on the list, who made the comment.
Who cares? If it is a good piece of legislation, then we should do it.
In my State we will have raising the minimum wage on the November
ballot because Alaskans signed an initiative--35,000 or 40,000 people--
saying this is the right thing to do for Alaska. I think it is the
right thing to do not only for Alaska but for this country. It is
important that we do this because it is our obligation to make sure for
Alaskans and for all Americans that we don't create obstacles in their
ability to reach the American dream, that we make sure they have a fair
shot at anything they want to do.
I hope tomorrow we will have a different outcome than the pundits are
predicting. They think it will fail tomorrow. I hope not. But if we
fail tomorrow and don't get enough votes from the other side, it is not
that we lose the battle today but that the American people lose.
Alaskans lose. The 49,000 Alaskans I mentioned will lose. The 1,700
veterans in my State will lose. Let's try to do something to make them
winners and give them a shot.
Madam President, I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Connecticut.
Mr. BLUMENTHAL. Madam President, I think many of my colleagues feel
very at home with this image, which is a reminder of a household name--
Ramona and her father. It is a great story written by Beverly Cleary.
In fact, it is a prize-winning story, part of a series, and my favorite
of the series, Ramona the Pest, was written in 1968.
In 1968 and in this story Ramona's dad is struggling, along with his
wife Dorothy--his name is Robert--to get by and keep the family
together on a minimum wage job, which in 1968 paid $1.60 an hour. Today
the minimum wage, if it had kept pace with inflation, would be $10.71
an hour.
We know, many of us--and probably many of my colleagues who have read
this story--that Robert and Dorothy Quimby are engaged in a quiet
struggle to make ends meet. Even as Ramona is engaged in all kinds of
antics and play, he is working as a grocery bagger at a local store.
Ramona's mother is working too--an early example of a two-family
household and two-income family. They are able to keep their family
afloat on that minimum wage in 1968--$1.60 an hour in 1968.
For millions of Americans who read Ramona's story today, the idea of
a minimum wage enabling a family to stay afloat, keep a roof over their
heads, and food on the table is a storybook fiction. It is very
difficult today to believe that Robert Quimby, as a bagger in a grocery
store, could enable his daughters, Ramona and her sister, to have the
life they did then. In fact, it would be impossible because today the
minimum wage has failed to keep pace with inflation. The minimum wage
today is $7.25--nowhere near what it would need to be to keep pace with
the rise in the cost of living.
That is why we are here today--to raise the minimum wage to $10.10,
which is still below the $10.71 it would have been for Robert Quimby,
making minimum wage in a grocery store, if it had kept pace with
inflation. In fact, it is well below what is necessary to enable
families to continue a normal life. That is why they are living in
poverty--working men and women living in poverty--despite being paid
the minimum wage. That is a travesty and a mockery. It is a moral
outrage. It is bad for our economy, it is bad for our families, it is
bad for the fabric of our society, and it is bad for America.
I am proud to support an increase in the minimum wage. I am proud
Connecticut has decided it will raise the minimum wage to $10.10 an
hour--still below that $10.71 that is needed to get by today.
We know the impact on families. We know the impact on children. We
see them in our schools--millions of children, 14 million children--in
families who are paid less than a minimum wage. We know the impact on
our veterans. Half a million or more are paid less than the new minimum
wage our bill would establish. That is itself an outrage. Men and women
who have served and sacrificed for our country come back to civilian
life to be paid less than what they need to stay out of poverty. They
are working and working hard but still making less than a minimum wage.
These are veterans who have served our country, who have put their
lives on the line, have put themselves at risk, coming back to a
society that rewards them--rewards them--with less than what they need
to survive.
I have talked to a lot of businesspeople. Some of them are
apprehensive, no question about it, but a lot of them say: Our workers
are more productive because we pay well above the minimum wage.
Many who will be impacted by this law if it is passed say it is the
right thing to do, and they support it. I am talking about, for
example, Max Kothari. For 25 years he, along with his wife Parul, has
owned and operated Star Hardware in Hartford--one of the oldest
hardware stores in the State of Connecticut. He supports this measure
to raise the minimum wage to $10.10.
So does Doug Wade, who operates one of the oldest dairy companies in
the State, started by Doug's great-grandfather in 1893--Wade's Dairy in
Bridgeport. He supports raising the minimum wage.
A thousand businesspeople have signed a statement and petition--we
mentioned it this morning--that supports raising the minimum wage. They
say it is a fairness issue. It is simply a
[[Page S2457]]
way to give folks a fair shot at the American dream, a fair shot at a
quality of life that is good for their families and children, good for
our society, and, by the way, also good for our economy.
We know that $35 billion would be added to consumer demand because
folks who make minimum wage, if it is raised to $10.10, are not going
to put the difference under their mattresses. They are going to spend
it. They are going to buy more food, clothing, and gas for their cars.
They are going to buy things that drive the economy. They are going to
purchase stuff that creates demand and more jobs and business for Max
Kothari at his hardware store and for Dough Wade at his dairy.
This kind of reasoning is not advanced economic theory; it is basic
common sense. Americans understand it. That is why Americans support
raising the minimum wage as a matter of fairness and enlightened self-
interest economically. It is the right thing to do.
The arguments made against it are without basis rationally and
economically. The ones who suffer from the minimum wage as it exists
right now are not teenagers. I know there is a myth that they are part-
time workers or teenagers. That is just not true. Nearly ninety percent
of minimum wage workers are adults. They are disproportionately women
and people of color and workers with disabilities, and they will be
helped disproportionately by raising the minimum wage. But they are not
teenagers or part-time workers. They are deserving, for the hard work
they do, of fair pay and a fair shot. That is all the minimum wage
would really do, is give them a fair shot at economic opportunity.
And those veterans, they deserve more than a fair shot. They deserve
a hand up, not a handout. There is nothing about the minimum wage that
is an entitlement. It is simply fair pay and a fair shot. We have
trapped half a million of those veterans in poverty--3,800 veterans in
Connecticut alone who will benefit from the $10.10 minimum wage.
But we should guarantee that in this great land--the greatest in the
history of the world--people such as Ramona's dad, Robert Quimby, and
Dorothy Quimby and her sister are being paid at least what they were
getting back in 1968 in today's dollars. That is the way to keep
families together. That is the way to keep faith with the dream all
Americans have that they will have a fair shot.
No one who works full time should live in poverty. No one who works
should be so poor that they can't put food on the table or provide
clothes for their children, or give them the erasers that Robert Quimby
gave his daughters as a gift.
To enable 14 million children in America to have a better life, let's
pass this measure. And let's make sure that if it fails this week--and
it shouldn't, but if it does, we bring it back, and we continue to
bring it back as long as necessary to ensure a fair shot for all
Americans who work hard and play by the rules.
Madam President, I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Georgia.
Mr. ISAKSON. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent to be
recognized for up to 2 minutes as if in morning business.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Tribute to Bill Cathcart
Mr. ISAKSON. Madam President, this Friday, May 2, a gentleman from
Georgia will retire after 29 years of service.
William--Bill--Cathcart, with WTOC for 29 years as general manager
and 2 years with the firm, will be saying goodbye to his leadership
with WTOC, one of the leading media stations of the coast of Georgia
and one of the leading media stations around our State--a station I
have dealt with often, and a station I have found to be professional,
fair, and thorough.
In fact, even as I speak on the floor of the Senate today, my State
of Georgia has already had a bad shooting incident this morning,
terrible tornadoes this afternoon, and bad weather coming in this
evening. It makes me appreciate the broadcast network and the people
who come together to let our citizens know about things happening,
giving them early warnings about bad weather and reporting the news
fairly and straight.
Bill Cathcart is a great Georgian and a great American. He has done a
tremendous job for our State and for WTOC. I wish him the best upon his
retirement. I hope he will always call on me if I can ever be of help,
and I thank him for all he has done for me.
I yield back my time.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Iowa.
Mr. HARKIN. Madam President, tomorrow about noon we will be voting on
something in the Senate that I daresay a lot of Americans will be
paying close attention to. The reason they are going to be paying close
attention is because that vote will affect them and their families in
the future in a very big way. That vote will be on whether we will
actually bring debate to a close and vote on increasing the minimum
wage in America.
If we were to bring that to a vote, we could pass it, the President
would sign something like that into law, and in 6 months the minimum
wage would go up by 95 cents an hour; then next year it would go up by
another 95 cents; and the year after another 95 cents from where it is
now at $7.25 an hour.
What we are going to vote on tomorrow will have a drastic effect on
millions of American families--and it is going to have a big effect on
our economy, because it will boost our economy and get the wheels going
again, because people will have more money to spend. They will spend it
on Main Street. And that is what is lacking right now--consumer
demand--consumers with enough money to spend on Main Street. All the
economists will basically tell you it is the lack of aggregate demand
that is keeping our economy from moving ahead. Tomorrow at noon we will
have a vote on that.
Tens of millions of American families are struggling, trying to make
ends meet to give their kids a little bit better life. And, quite
frankly, a lot of them on low wages are on public assistance which is
costing American taxpayers nearly $250 billion every year--in food
stamps, earned income tax credits, Temporary Assistance to Needy
Families, and Medicaid. Add all those up and it is about $243 billion a
year.
Taxpayers are subsidizing a lot of these companies that are paying
very low wages. Many of the companies that pay such low wages are
large, multibillion dollar companies raking in big profits and
showering their CEOs with wealth. The average CEO pay of a Standard &
Poors 500 company was 21 percent more last year than in 2009. In other
words, from 2009 until the end of last year, CEO pay at these 500
companies went up an average of 21 percent. However, since 2009, the
minimum wage has not increased 1 penny. The CEO pay averages now about
$11.7 million a year, while a minimum-wage worker today makes $15,000 a
year. That is working full time, all year, no time off.
It was pointed out to me that a CEO earns that $15,000 by about 11:30
a.m. on the first day of work of the year. Imagine that. By 11:30 a.m.
on January 2--assuming they don't work on January 1--they make $15,000.
The minimum-wage earner has to work the rest of the year to make that
$15,000. And many of these companies are paying the minimum wage.
It is the families who are getting hurt. This is wrong. This is not
what America is about. We want people who get up and go to work every
day to be able to rely on that work to support themselves. Working
families want that, too. They want a paycheck which supports them,
gives them a fair shot at being a member of the middle class, and a
fair shot of achieving the American dream.
So now we can do something about it. We know that raising the minimum
wage will help tens of millions of workers. When we raise it to $10.10,
as our bill does, the bottom fifth of the workforce--nearly 30 million
workers--will get a raise.
By the time this fully phases in at $10.10 in 3 years, nearly 7
million people will be lifted out of poverty. If we want an antipoverty
program, we have it tomorrow when we vote on raising the minimum wage.
Seven million people will be lifted out of poverty, and it won't cost
the American taxpayers one single dime, and taxpayers basically
[[Page S2458]]
will save money because we won't be putting as much money out for
public assistance such as food stamps.
I thought it was kind of interesting that the Ryan budget the House
passed cuts more than 3.8 million people off of food stamps. In raising
the minimum wage, our bill would save billions of dollars--about $4.6
billion a year--not by cutting people off of food stamps, but by
getting their income up so that over 3 million people don't have to
rely on food stamps. So under the Ryan budget, people are kicked off of
food stamps and they still get minimum wage. Under ours, you get a
raise in the minimum wage and you don't have to rely on food stamps,
and you save about the same amount of money.
Again, I am mystified by how vehemently my Republican colleagues
oppose raising the minimum wage. Certainly they must know the polling
data, that the vast majority of Americans support raising the minimum
wage to $10.10 an hour. But it seems my friends on the Republican side
are sort of locked into some philosophy or ideology that says there
shouldn't be a minimum wage. In fact, some of my colleagues on the
Republican side actually believe there should be no minimum wage. None.
Nothing. Well, we got over that 70 years or more ago, in 1938, when we
first passed a minimum-wage law in America.
Again, we hear from the other side that by raising the minimum wage
there will be this massive loss of jobs. That is simply not true. It is
a myth. But it is brought up every time.
I have been in Congress now 40 years. We have raised the minimum wage
several times during that period of time both under Democratic and
Republican Presidents. Every time it has come up, we hear that same old
song: It is going to cost jobs. Guess what. Every time we raise the
minimum wage, there has been no big loss of jobs. So there are no
historic facts my Republican colleagues can point to to show that
raising the minimum wage costs jobs.
They do refer to the Congressional Budget Office study. Actually,
that is wrong. It was not a Congressional Budget Office study. They
didn't do a study themselves. What they did is looked at the literature
out there going back many years on potential job losses. Some of the
old studies showed there would be a job loss; under a new study they
said there wouldn't be. What CBO did is they averaged them all and
said: Here is the average. They didn't say specifically 500,000 jobs
would be lost. They said somewhere between zero and 1 million jobs will
be lost, so we will pick the midpoint at 500,000. But, again, there is
no historical evidence for this in terms of looking back.
We can go back and look at what happened to our economy every time we
raised the minimum wage, and there has not been a massive job loss.
There has been shifting of jobs. People have been raised out of
poverty. Working families do better. But there has been no massive job
loss. So this is another myth.
As I said, the historical evidence is there has not been any job loss
generally--not among teenagers, not among restaurant workers. In fact,
this year there has been more job growth in the 13 States that raised
their State minimum wages at the start of this year than in the States
that didn't raise their minimum wage. Let me repeat that. There has
been more job growth in States that raised their minimum wage beginning
in January of this year than in the States that didn't raise their
minimum wage. A lot of businesses are now understanding this. They
understand that, as economists will tell you, it is the lack of
aggregate demand: not enough customers. People don't have enough money.
My Republican friends want to give more money to the top, more tax
cuts for the wealthy. They get more money--millions more--a year. They
don't necessarily spend that on Main Street. They may go to Paris, they
may buy a new jet, a new big yacht. They do things like that, but it
doesn't really put money right on Main Street.
What small businesses and most economists know is that when you raise
the minimum wage, those people who get that raise aren't going off to
Paris. They aren't buying a private jet. They are spending it on Main
Street in their local stores and local businesses, and that gives a
great economic boost to our whole economy.
So when we focus on the best research, the latest research that has
been done, it unequivocally shows that raising the minimum wage does
not cause a job loss. Again, 600 economists, including 7 Nobel prize
winners, have endorsed a minimum wage hike of $10.10 an hour. Six
hundred economists, including 7 Nobel prize winners, signed a letter
supporting $10.10.
We urge you to act now and enact a three-step raise of 95
cents a year for three years--which would mean a minimum wage
of $10.10 by 2016--and then index it to protect against
inflation . . . these proposals will also usefully raise the
tipped minimum wage to 70 percent of the regular minimum.
The evidence now shows that increases in the minimum wage
have had little or no negative effect on the employment of
minimum-wage workers. Even during times of weakness in the
labor market research suggests that a minimum-wage increase
could have a small stimulative effect on the economy, as low-
wage workers spend their additional earnings raising demand
and job growth and providing some help on the job front.
So, again, forget about the job loss. That is not going to take
place. What will take place is we will lift 7 million people out of
poverty and 14 million children in America will be in families who will
get a raise. That will be good for our kids.
We also hear from Republicans that some of the people who are going
to benefit from a raise in the minimum wage aren't the poorest of the
poor. It is not just people below the poverty line, but a lot of other
people will make more money, so therefore it must not be a good policy.
First of all, I want to dispel the myth that raising the minimum wage
does not affect poverty. It does. Whether you use the CBO estimate of
close to 1 million workers lifted out of poverty or the results of more
sophisticated economic research showing that up to 7 million workers
will be lifted out of poverty by the time the bill is fully
implemented, the evidence unequivocally shows that raising the minimum
wage is an effective poverty-reduction tool.
But I will be the first to admit--and gladly, proudly--that this bill
doesn't just help people in poverty. It also helps low-income families
who are above the poverty line, and that is a good thing. That is a
good thing. A lot of low-income working families will get a raise. Here
is basically the breakdown: 52 percent of those who will get a raise
have family incomes under $40,000; 31 percent, $60,000; and 17 percent,
$40 to $60,000. So, again, it is for the people. Families making
$40,000 a year will actually get a boost. How could that be? One person
may be making $20,000 and the other person may be making $15,000 or
$18,000. They get a boost in the minimum wage, and they benefit. Is
that wrong? I don't think that is wrong at all. These are still
struggling families, struggling to make sure they get enough for their
kids, make sure they put a little away for a rainy day, help their kids
get a good education.
Evidently, our friends the Republicans are saying: Look, we should
only have something that benefits those who are in extreme poverty.
Then they turn around in the Ryan budget and cut food stamps. What are
they saying? You know what they are really saying: Tough luck. You are
on your own. If you are a minimum wage worker, tough luck, and we don't
want to raise your minimum wage.
Well, 69 percent of the workers who would get a raise under this bill
have incomes that are under $60,000. So, yes, not everybody who is
going to get a benefit from this is in poverty, but it will raise
nearly 7 million people out of poverty and will also help some of our
lower and middle-income families in America. I say that is a good
thing, and I am proud that it does.
Consider an example. Jane and Joe--those are not their real names--
are from Buchanan County in Iowa. They have two young boys. She is a
waitress and earns a few dollars an hour plus tips. He works at a gas
station for $7.25 an hour. They rely on food stamps and Medicaid. They
have applied for assistance through the Low Income Home Energy
Assistance Program. They work opposite shifts, so they don't have to
pay for childcare--and it is difficult to find adequate care for their
younger son's medical needs--but this means they hardly ever see each
other. A minimum wage increase would allow them to be together more as
a family.
David is a pizza cook in Iowa. He is getting married soon and has a
child on
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the way. He earns $9 an hour at his pizza job. So what did he do? He
took on another job framing houses. He is working about 65 hours a
week, no overtime. He has two jobs, so he is working 65 hours a week.
That is still not enough. If he worked an entire year at 65 hours a
week, he would only earn $30,400 a year. He is working 65 hours a week.
That is technically above the poverty line, but no one would say he is
making plenty of money and he couldn't use a raise. He is starting a
family.
When we raise the minimum wage, David will get a raise at both of his
jobs. At one job he is making $9 an hour, and at the other job he is
making $9 an hour. He gets a raise at both. He told the Quad City Times
that a minimum wage raise would mean quite a bit to improve his life
and help his growing family. So, yes, he is making 30,400 bucks a year
working 65 hours a week--two jobs.
You say: No, he shouldn't get this minimum wage increase.
That is what I hear from my Republican colleagues. But these are the
types of families who are struggling. They need a boost, and we want to
give them a boost. We want to help them earn more money--not get more
in food stamps or government programs but earn more money to provide
for their families and build a better life and have a fair shot at the
American dream.
My Republican friends are not only opposing a raise, they are
proposing drastic cuts to programs that low-wage workers must rely on
to survive. As I said earlier, the Ryan budget cuts more than 3.8
million people off of food stamps, leaving them without any lifeline to
put food on the table. By contrast, raising the minimum wage would
reduce the food stamp rolls by almost the same amount--as many as 3.6
million people--because it would allow them to earn enough money to buy
food for themselves. Both proposals save the taxpayer money, but under
our proposal people get to eat. They get to put food on the table.
I have a hard time giving a lot of credence to people who say the
increase of the minimum wage doesn't really help people who are in
poverty. It is untrue. The professed concern about the poorest of the
poor stands in stark contrast with a Republican agenda that would
increase poverty and sacrifice a program that helps low-wage working
families survive.
Now I want to dispel another myth--that it would hurt small business.
We hear about this all the time, but every small business I have talked
to says their biggest problem is not payroll costs; it is lack of
demand, lack of customers. They don't have customers with money to
spend. So raising the minimum wage would help their bottom line.
A lot of small businesses I talk to also tell me they are frustrated,
infuriated by the fact that their competitors--the Walmarts and
McDonalds and other big businesses--pay rock-bottom wages that force
their workers into public assistance. Well, this places responsible
small businesses at a competitive disadvantage. It forces them to
subsidize their competitors' low wages through their tax dollars. That
is not fair. It is bad for workers, small business, and our economy.
Small business owners understand this, and that is why the majority of
them support this bill. Again, opinion polls--small businesses support
the minimum wage 57 percent to 43 percent because they understand that
a raise in the minimum wage means their customers are going to have
more money to spend on Main Street.
That is why today I received a letter from Business for a Fair
Minimum Wage, and 1,000 businesses, large and small, across the country
support raising the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour--1,000 all across
America. I ask unanimous consent to have this letter printed in the
Record following my remarks.
So this letter and the polls show that most small businesses get it.
They know that increases in the minimum wage will increase consumer
demand. They also know they will have loyal, productive workers who
will stay longer and save businesses from having to constantly hire and
train new people. Experienced workers who have been on the job longer
are more efficient and deliver great customer service that keeps
customers coming back.
Finally, some of my Republican colleagues have suggested that we
shouldn't raise the minimum wage because they are better served by the
earned-income tax credit. I support the earned-income tax credit, and,
unlike many of my colleagues on the other side, I actually want to see
it expanded so it better serves young and childless workers. Right now,
if you are under the age of 25 and you are making the minimum wage of
$7.25 an hour, you are making too much money to qualify for the earned-
income tax credit. If you are over age 25 and you make the minimum
wage, $7.25 an hour, and you have one child, you get $3,250 in earned-
income tax credit, plus your childcare tax credit. That gets you up to
19,300 bucks a year. What a deal. But if you are childless, you get no
earned-income tax credit.
The veterans who were mentioned earlier--let's say a vet went into
the military when he or she was age 18. They got out after 3 years, 21
or 22, and they went out and got a job, a minimum wage job. They do not
get the earned-income tax credit.
I am for expanding it. Let's expand the earned-income tax credit to
cover childless workers under the age of 25. My Republican colleagues
won't support that. They won't support that.
The earned-income tax credit does provide some good support, but
think about this: It only does it once a year. The only time you get
the earned-income tax credit is after you file your taxes--then you get
a refund. That is once a year. Families don't live like that,
especially low-income families. They have a budget month after month
for heating, for electricity, for fuel, for car repairs, for clothes
for the kids. They cannot count on what is going to happen next year.
Their income tax credit is good, but it only happens once a year. That
is not very good for budgeting purposes for any family. After all, the
gas company will turn your gas off in the winter even if you are going
to get an earned-income tax credit next April or May. They don't take
that into account. They take into account the fact that you cannot pay
your bill then. So the best way to help low-income families--minimum
wage-earning families plus low-income families--the best way to help
them throughout the year is to increase the minimum wage.
Again, all the arguments we hear from the other side of the aisle
don't hold water. Today, while what I heard from the other side of the
aisle is more talk about the Keystone Pipeline--as if that is going to
solve all our problems--all we have to do is build the Keystone
Pipeline, and that solves all of our problems. It does? The restaurant
worker in Maine, the hospital orderly in South Carolina, the parking
lot attendant in Mississippi--they are all going to benefit from the
Keystone Pipeline? I don't think so. Somehow that is going to take the
place of raising the minimum wage.
So they are trying a little diversion on this Keystone Pipeline. We
will provide some jobs, yes, for a couple of years, and when that is
over, then what are you left with? And those kinds of jobs are not the
kinds of jobs low-income workers would get, which would be pretty high-
skilled, high-paying jobs for the Keystone Pipeline. So it doesn't
really hold water that the Keystone Pipeline is going to be the end-all
and be-all for the economy. It just won't.
Raising the minimum wage is the most commonsense, practical thing we
can do right now to help low-income families, give a boost to our
economy, and save the taxpayers money. So I hope all my colleagues will
do the right thing.
So I hope all of my colleagues will do the right thing tomorrow,
allow us to proceed to debate, and vote on increasing the minimum wage.
Millions of American families will be watching this vote tomorrow. If
they are working hard during the day, they won't be tuning in to C-
SPAN, but they will read about it, and they will know what this Senate
did about their paychecks and what we did about their desire to have a
better life for their families, for their kids, and for their future.
I will also say this. If my Republican colleagues will join with us--
at least five or six of them because we need 60 votes to get over the
filibuster--if we get five or six, then we can move to the bill. I hope
we will get 5 or 6 or 8 or 10 Republicans who will join us. If not, we
[[Page S2460]]
will be back. This issue is not going away. I can guarantee we will be
back. We will be back again and again and again.
The American people need a raise. CEOs are getting their raises: a
21-percent increase since 2009--a 21-percent increase, an average CEO
is paid; zero increase for minimum wage workers. It is now time to play
a little catchup ball and provide fairness for low-income workers in
America. So that is the vote tomorrow--a values vote, American values,
family values, sound economic values. That is what the vote is about
tomorrow. I hope and I trust that some of my colleagues on the
Republican side will join with us so we can move ahead to give working
Americans a raise and a fair shot at the American dream.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
Business for a Fair Minimum Wage Federal Sign on Statement
As business owners and executives, we support raising the
federal minimum wage to strengthen our economy. The minimum
wage of $7.25 an hour amounts to just $15,080 a year for
health aides, childcare workers, cashiers, security guards
and other minimum wage workers. With less buying power than
it had in the 1960s, today's minimum wage impoverishes
working families and weakens the consumer demand at the heart
of our economy.
Raising the minimum wage makes good business sense. Workers
are also customers. Minimum wage increases boost sales at
local businesses as workers buy needed goods and services
they could not afford before. And nothing drives job creation
more than consumer demand. Businesses also see cost savings
from lower employee turnover and benefit from increased
productivity, product quality and customer satisfaction.
Increasing the minimum wage will also reduce the strain on
our social safety net caused by inadequate wages.
A recent national poll shows that 67 percent of small
business owners support increasing the federal minimum wage
and adjusting it yearly to keep pace with the cost of living.
The most rigorous studies of the impact of actual minimum
wage increases show they do not cause job loss--whether
during periods of economic growth or during recessions. The
minimum wage would be over $10 if it had kept up with the
rising cost of living since the 1960s instead of falling
behind.
We support gradually raising the federal minimum wage over
three years to at least $10.10 an hour, and then adjusting it
annually for inflation to keep up with the cost of living. A
fair minimum wage makes good sense for our businesses, our
workforce, our communities and our nation.
Mr. HARKIN. Madam President, I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Texas.
Mr. CRUZ. Madam President, I rise today to address the idea of
raising the Federal minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to $10.10 an hour.
But first I wish to spend a few moments talking about the state of the
Senate and why the latest push for a higher Federal minimum wage isn't
an issue that appears to be driven by solving the underlying economic
problems our Nation faces.
Over the past few weeks, the Senate majority leader has relished in
making personal attacks on two private citizens, David and Charles
Koch, on this Senate floor. He has used the Senate floor for the
purpose of attempting to assassinate their character. They have
committed no crimes, although the majority leader appears to treat it
as a crime that they don't support him politically. Many political
observers can see this for exactly what it is: a desperate political
strategy designed to distract from the economic misery that is being
visited on the American people by a failed economic agenda. The Senate
majority leader is using the Senate floor to run a political campaign
against entrepreneurs and philanthropists who have dared to stand and
speak out against the failed Obama economic agenda. The reason he is
doing so should not surprise anyone. On substance, the record of this
administration cannot be defended. They can't talk about how great
ObamaCare is working because millions of Americans have lost their
health insurance plans and lost the doctors they like, despite the
President's repeated promises to the contrary. Health insurance plans
have skyrocketed in States all across this country, especially for
young people in the individual market who are seeing their rates
sometimes double or triple. And they certainly can't talk about the
state of the economy.
Today, we have the lowest labor force participation since 1978. The
official unemployment rate is 6.7 percent, but that doesn't capture the
millions who are underemployed. When we include them, the number rises
to 12.7 percent. The rates of poverty in the United States are right
now at historic highs--15 percent. As CNN recently noted, this is ``the
first time the poverty rate has remained at or above 15 percent 3 years
running since 1965.''
Among full-time workers, there are more than 3.8 million fewer
employed today than there were before the recession. The number of
people not in the labor force today is at its highest level since 1978.
Over 91 million people are not in the American workforce. Roughly three
of five working-age Americans have jobs today. This is a travesty. It
is a denial of the American dream to millions of people across this
country.
Long-term unemployment persists. Nearly 36 percent of the unemployed
are long-term unemployed. When President Obama took office, the average
number of weeks that an individual was unemployed was 19.8. Today, the
average duration is 35.6 weeks.
It is also a good thing the President has begun to talk about income
inequality. It is a good thing because income inequality has increased
dramatically under President Obama. Today, the top 1 percent in our
economy earn a higher share of our income than any year since 1928, and
those who are being hurt the most in the Obama economy are the most
vulnerable among us--the people who are struggling. The working class
Hispanics, African Americans, and single moms are the ones paying the
price for the great stagnation in which we find ourselves.
According to Gallup, the percentage of Americans who describe
themselves as middle or upper class fell 8 points between 2008 and
2012. President Obama's terrible economy doesn't discriminate. It hurts
Americans from every demographic. On the President's watch, women have
lower incomes today. The median income for women has dropped by $733
since President Obama took office, and, indeed, poverty among women has
gone up markedly under President Obama. The poverty rate for women has
increased from 14.4 percent when the President took office to 16.3
percent. In real terms, that means 3.7 million more American women are
in poverty today than when the President took office.
The President is not responding to any of this. Instead, we see the
President, we see the Senate majority leader shifting to the topic of a
mandated Federal minimum wage in an effort to change the subject. But
the undeniable reality, the undeniable truth is that if the President
succeeded in raising the minimum wage, it would cost jobs for the most
vulnerable. The people who have been hurt by this Obama economy would
be hurt worse by the minimum wage proposal before this body.
In 2013, the President, in his State of the Union address, proposed
raising the minimum wage to $9. A year later, the request has magically
changed to $10.10. There is no economic justification. The only reason
is politics. I suppose if the approval ratings of Democratic Members of
this body continue to fall, in another month we will see a proposal for
$15 an hour and then maybe $20 or $25 an hour.
But I think the American people are tired of empty political show
votes.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office says that raising the
minimum wage could cause the loss of 500,000 to 1 million jobs. I want
the American people to realize, and every Member of this Senate, that
votes for the minimum wage is voting to tell up to 1 million Americans:
Your jobs don't matter to me because I am voting to take away your job.
By the way, this view is not only the view of the nonpartisan
Congressional Budget Office. On March 12, 2014, over 500 economists,
including three Nobel Laureates, sent a letter to Congress that said
the minimum wage is a poorly targeted anti-poverty measure. I will give
one example from my home State. GO-Burgers, which is a Texas company
with six Burger King restaurants, analyzed the effect of the minimum
wage increase on their employees and their businesses. The last minimum
wage increase we have seen was from $5.85 an hour in 2007 to $7.25 an
hour in July of 2009, and 2010 was the first complete calendar year
that GO-Burgers had to analyze the impact
[[Page S2461]]
on their workers. GO-Burgers discovered that raising the minimum wage
by 23.93 percent caused these Burger King restaurants to reduce the
available hours worked by 24.98 percent, for a net sum loss in hours
and wages for the typical employee.
Let me repeat that. The experience in these Burger King restaurants
was the employees were worse off after the minimum wage was raised
because their hours got cut in direct response to the increase. These
six restaurants eliminated over 40 jobs and reduced the average number
of hours worked per employee. In total, these six Burger King
restaurants reduced the man-hours allocated by over 60,000 hours in
2010. Sadly, the people that bear the brunt of that are not the rich
and powerful. They are not those who walk the corridors of power in
Washington, DC, and have gotten fat and happy under the Obama
administration. The people who would bear the brunt if this bill were
passed would be, to a substantial degree, young African American
teenagers and young Hispanic teenagers. Right now, young minorities, if
we look at unemployment rates by race--just looking at the official
unemployment rates, Anglos have an unemployment rate of 5.8 percent;
Hispanics, 7.9 percent; African Americans, 12.4 percent--nearly double
that in the white community. It is even more heartbreaking among
teenagers. White teens currently have an unemployment rate of 18.3
percent, but African American teenagers have an unemployment rate of
36.1 percent--36.1 percent. Every Senator who votes yes is voting with
an absolute certainty that hundreds of thousands of workers, including
a great many African American teenagers and a great many Hispanic
teenagers, will be laid off as a consequence of their vote. I would
challenge any of the Senators in this Chamber to look in the eyes of
those African American teenagers, those Hispanic teenagers who are
looking for a better opportunity.
If my colleagues detect a note of passion in my voice as I discuss
this, it is because in my family this is not an abstract, hypothetical
situation. Fifty-seven years ago, when my father fled Cuba and came to
Texas at the age of 18, penniless, not speaking English, his first job
was working in the restaurant industry as a dishwasher making 50 cents
an hour. The restaurant industry had been such a terrific avenue for
climbing the economic ladder, for achieving the American dream. My dad
washed dishes at 50 cents an hour to pay his way through college to go
on and start a small business to work toward the American dream. If the
majority leader had his way, if the minimum wage were jacked up, if
back in 1957 the restaurant where my father worked were forced to pay
every worker $2 an hour, the odds are very high that restaurant would
have fired my dad and bought a dishwasher instead. It was that entry-
level job that gave him the grip on the first rung of the economic
ladder that led him to pull to the second and the third and the fourth.
This bill, if it were to pass, would hammer those on the bottom of the
economic ladder and would take away jobs from the most vulnerable among
us.
So what should we do instead? We can talk about the problems we have
in this country, but we need to talk proactively about better
solutions. Fortunately, we are on the cusp of a great American energy
renaissance.
I have introduced legislation to remove the barriers to developing
the abundant energy resources we have in this country--barriers that,
if removed, would allow the creation of millions of high-paying jobs.
The discussion before this Chamber is whether to raise the minimum
wage to $10.10 an hour. But even if it passed, that is not the Obama
minimum wage. Rather, the real Obama minimum wage is $0.00 an hour. We
have right now the lowest labor participation rate since 1978.
To the millions of Americans who have lost their job because of $1.7
trillion in new taxes, because of crushing regulations, this is the
Obama minimum wage: $0.00--not the political window dressing of $10.10;
the reality, the hard, brutal reality.
Last week, I was in Nebraska at a rally. A woman named Barb came up
to me. She hugged my neck. She said: Ted, I am a single mom. I have six
little kids at home. My husband left me, and he is not paying child
support. I am working five jobs, trying to keep my kids fed, trying to
keep them with clothes on their backs. Barb had tears in her eyes.
One of the most brutal consequences of ObamaCare is it has forced
millions of Americans like Barb into part-time work because the
threshold for ObamaCare is 30 hours a week.
So instead of having one or two jobs, Barb and millions of other
single moms are going from one job to another, to another, to another,
and they are not spending the time with their kids. This is the brutal
reality of the Obama minimum wage.
But, Madam President, I am happy to tell you, there is a better
alternative. The better alternative, I would note--far better than
zero, far better than the promise of $10.10 an hour--is $46.98. Madam
President, $46.98--that is the average hourly wage in the oil and gas
industry in the State of North Dakota.
Every one of us should want to see millions more jobs at $46.98 an
hour, and we should want millions rescued from the Obama minimum wage
of $0.00 an hour. That is the choice before this body--of expanding
this American energy renaissance, creating opportunity.
Let me tell you, in the State of Texas--Texas is an incredible
example--there is a reason why 1,400 people a day are moving to Texas,
moving from high-tax, high-regulation States, represented by many of
our friends on the Democratic side of the aisle. They are coming to
Texas because Texas is where the jobs are and Texas is where the
salaries are.
Oil and gas industry jobs in Texas paid, on average, 150 percent more
than other private sector jobs in Texas--$128,000 a year compared to
$51,000 a year--in 2012.
In the 23 counties atop the Eagle Ford shale in South Texas, average
wages for all citizens have grown by 14.6 percent annually since 2005.
The top five counties in the Eagle Ford shale region have experienced
an average 63-percent annual rate of wage growth.
How many millions of Americans would love to see 63 percent annual
wage growth?
In Texas, the average pay for an entry-level truckdriver ranges from
$36,000 to $45,000, but it rises to $50,000 to $70,000 in the oilfield.
These are kids straight out of high school making $70,000 a year.
As reported in an AP story from March 28, 2014: ``James LeBas,
economist for the Texas Oil and Gas Association, said the industry
directly employed 416,000 employees in 2013 and they averaged $120,000
a year in wages.''
As a separate nation, Texas right now would rank as the ninth largest
oil-producing country in the world.
Not only can energy development bring good-paying jobs, it can also
help our children and schools. Cotulla, TX, was once one of the poorest
districts in Texas, but now--because of the Eagle Ford shale energy
development--it is one of the richest. The taxes that are coming from
the energy development mean money for fixing schools, for hiring
teachers, for paying them more, and for purchasing technology in the
classrooms.
One thing that is striking is what has happened across the country.
If you look, this is a map I have in the Chamber of changes in median
household income by county from 2007 to 2012. Madam President, 2007 to
2012 is a long time.
On this map, green indicates that the median household income has
gone up; yellow indicates no statistically significant change; and red
indicates it has gone down.
Overlaid on this map is an overlay of the geological shale formations
in this country. What is striking about looking at median incomes in
the United States is where median incomes have gone up. This is almost
exactly a geological shale map of the United States.
You can see median incomes have gone up up here in the Bakken shale
in and around North Dakota. You can see the Permian Basin shale, the
Eagle Ford shale, the Barnett shale. You can see the Marcellus shale.
Green, green, green, green--median income going up--for everyone in the
county median income going up where energy production is occurring.
Now, strikingly, the Marcellus shale extends north to New York, and
yet for
[[Page S2462]]
the entire State of New York, you can see there is not a county in the
State of New York where median income has gone up. Why? Well, one of
the main reasons is the Democratic politicians in New York have
prohibited developing those natural resources because they ban
fracking.
So in Pennsylvania, Pennsylvanians apparently would like jobs, would
like higher median incomes. They are seeing the benefits. But in New
York, New Yorkers are not because Democratic politicians in New York
have prohibited developing those resources.
I would note that one of the most promising areas is the Monterey
shale in California--abundant resources--and you would note, in the
entire State of California there is not one green county. That is
because California, likewise--even though they have those resources,
the Democratic politicians there have concluded Californians do not
want jobs, they do not want higher incomes, and they are going to
prohibit developing their natural resources rather than providing for
the very real suffering that is being caused.
I would note, there is one striking exception from this pattern being
largely a geological shale formation of this country, and that is the
bright green on the map that is located right here where we are
standing--the District of Columbia and the surrounding areas.
Let me tell you, it is a good time to be in and around government.
The lobbyists, the consultants, those who make money on the growing and
growing and growing Federal Government spending and debt, are getting
fatter and happier every day. You look at the rest of the country, and
you see stagnation, you see median income falling.
Rather than engaging in political games--driven by polling done by
the Democratic Senatorial Committee on this minimum wage bill that, if
passed, would only hurt low-income African-American and Hispanic
teenagers--instead, we ought to come together with bipartisan unanimity
to say: We will stand with the American people to bring millions of
jobs. We will stand with the American people to raise median income. We
will stand with the American people to make it easier for people who
are struggling to achieve the American dream.
Therefore, I have proposed an amendment to replace the text of S.
2223, the minimum wage act, with the text of the American Energy
Renaissance Act that I have introduced, S. 2170.
We should all come together and vote on removing the government
barriers, opening new Federal lands and resources, developing high-
paying, promising jobs that expand opportunity.
In conclusion, let me say this debate comes down to two numbers. It
is not a complicated debate. This debate comes down to two numbers. On
my left, the real Obama minimum wage: $0.00 an hour. I am sorry to say,
in this Democratic Senate, this Chamber is largely empty. There is no
discussion of fundamental tax reform or regulatory reform, of removing
the barriers that have caused the lowest labor force participation
since 1978.
Instead, we are debating a bill to increase unemployment. This
minimum-wage bill--the nonpartisan CBO has told us more people would be
paid $0.00 an hour under the bill before this Chamber. No wonder
Congress's approval rating is 8, 10, 12 percent, when you take the
greatest challenge facing Americans right now--the need for economic
growth and jobs--and the U.S. Senate in Democratic control will not
even talk about providing real relief there. No wonder people are
disgusted with the U.S. Congress.
You want to know what this debate is about? Compare $0.00 an hour to
$46.98 an hour. I want to see millions of Americans making $40, $50,
$60 an hour, providing for their kids, having a better future.
As I travel this country, over and over again, men and women come up
to me. They look me in the eyes and say: Ted, I am scared. I am scared
that we are bankrupting this country. I am scared that my kids and
grandkids are not going to have the future, the opportunity, the
freedom we have been blessed to have.
This U.S. Senate has an opportunity to address that. We should pass
the American Energy Renaissance Act. We should stop making it harder
for working Americans, but, instead, we should come together for jobs
and economic growth.
Thank you, Madam President.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. REID. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for
the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
____________________