[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 35 (Tuesday, February 28, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Page S1458]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS TO CONGRESS

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, this evening, the President will give his 
first address to a joint session of the House and Senate. We look 
forward to hearing from him. Tonight's speech from the President will 
be far less important than past Presidential addresses for one very 
simple reason, this President has shown throughout his campaign for the 
Presidency and now his first month in office that there is a yawning 
gap between what he says and what his administration actually does for 
working Americans.
  He talks like a populist but governs like a pro-corporate, pro-elite, 
hard-right ideologue. He promised to be a champion for working people 
in his inauguration, and then 1 hour later signed an Executive order 
making it harder for working people to afford a mortgage. He told 
raucous crowds that he would tear down the power structure in 
Washington and drain the swamp, but he has spent his first month in 
office appointing bankers and billionaires and titans of Wall Street to 
fill his administration. He ran a campaign against the elites, 
promising to stand up to Wall Street, but as soon as he was in office, 
he started to try to roll back Wall Street reform and consumer 
protections designed to prevent another economic crisis and protect the 
interests of hard-working Americans.
  In his inauguration, he said that Washington and the special 
interests have enriched themselves while ``the people did not share in 
its wealth.'' Then, one of the first bills he signed made it easier for 
large oil, gas, and mining companies to hide payments--potentially 
bribes--they make to foreign governments.
  That is the swamp. He is not cleaning it; he is making it worse. 
Despite all his talk, he seems to be full steam ahead on a program to 
help big business, the special interests, and Wall Street. Meanwhile, a 
massive infrastructure proposal, a centerpiece of his pitch to working 
America, is nowhere to be found. A program to stop jobs from moving 
overseas--not just tweeting about a few hundred jobs at Carrier plants 
staying in the United States--is nowhere to be found.
  President Trump ran as a populist and still talks like one, but his 
first month has been a boon for corporations, the wealthy, and the 
elite in America and has provided absolutely no relief to folks who are 
struggling to make ends meet--no relief to the middle class and those 
struggling to get there. In fact, many of his proposals shift the 
burden off the backs of the special interests and keep it on the backs 
of working families. He likely isn't finished yet.
  Tonight, the President might discuss his tax plan. He said that every 
decision on taxes would be made to ``benefit American workers and 
American families.'' It is another grandiose promise. But every 
indication we have gotten about the administration's plan is that it 
would give tax breaks to the wealthy and shift the burden onto the 
middle class and working class.
  So no matter what the President says tonight, we will have to look at 
the details of his proposal and see who it really helps, and every 
American should, as well.
  Tonight, if past is prologue, the President will use populist 
rhetoric in his speech, but he won't back it up with real actions. He 
will use populist rhetoric in his speech to hide what he is actually 
doing, which is helping the special interests and making it harder to 
stay in the middle class. He talks like he favors working people, but 
his actions ultimately desert them.
  He will present himself as a President for the forgotten man, but he 
will forget him the moment it comes to governing. So while I hope the 
President offers a message of inclusivity and talks about some issues 
where Democrats and Republicans can perhaps find common ground, his 
speech tonight will mean nothing the very instant after it is delivered 
unless he backs up his words with real actions.
  His speech tonight will be nothing if his Cabinet of billionaires and 
bankers, his main advisers who seem to favor the wealthy, and an agenda 
far away from what America wants, continue to govern from the hard 
right, which is very far from the American mainstream and even the 
Republican mainstream. His speech tonight will mean nothing if he 
continues to do as he has done these first few months since being 
elected--breaking promises to working people and putting an even 
greater burden on their backs while making it easier to be wealthy and 
well-connected in America.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Ms. CANTWELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Flake). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

                          ____________________