[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 124 (Monday, July 24, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Page S4125]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



              Economic Policies to Help American Families

  Madam President, on another matter, today in Berryville, VA, the 
Democratic Party began presenting our vision for the future of the 
country. As I have traveled New York State, from upstate, rural, 
Republican areas, like Sodus Bay, where I was Friday, to suburban Long 
Island, to the inner-city Bronx, I have found one thing in common: 
Average families feel they have been pushed around by large economic 
forces, and they are losing that traditional, American faith in the 
future. Too many families in America feel as though rules of the 
economy are rigged against them. They feel as if they are getting a raw 
deal. And they are right. American families deserve a better deal so 
this country works for everyone, not just the elites and special 
interests. Today, Democrats started presenting that better deal to the 
American people.
  There used to be a basic bargain in this country that if you worked 
hard and played by the rules, you could own a home, afford a car, put 
your kids through college, and take a modest vacation every year, while 
putting enough away for a comfortable retirement. I should know. I grew 
up in that America. My father was an exterminator, and he worked very 
hard but managed to--not making a whole lot of money--build a good life 
for his family. But things have changed.
  Today's working Americans are justified in having greater doubts 
about the future than almost any generation since the Depression. 
Corporate interests and the superwealthy are allowed to spend 
unlimited, undisclosed money on campaigns and lobbying so they can 
protect their special deals in Washington. And for too long--far too 
long--government has played along, tilting the economic field in favor 
of the wealthy and the powerful, taking the burden off them and putting 
it on the backs of hard-working Americans. The result is an economy 
that has created enormous wealth at the top, while producing less work 
and less pay for average Americans. Incomes and wages have flatlined 
while everyday costs are skyrocketing.
  Democrats, frankly, have too often hesitated from directly and 
unflinchingly taking on the misguided policies that got us here--so 
much so that Americans don't know what we stand for. Well, not after 
today. Democrats are showing the country that we are the party on the 
side of working people and that we stand for three things: First, we 
are going to increase people's pay; second, we are going to reduce 
their everyday expenses; and third, we are going to provide workers the 
tools they need for the 21st-century economy.
  Today we announced three new policies to advance these goals.
  Right now, there is nothing to stop vulture capitalists from 
egregiously raising the price of lifesaving drugs without 
justification. We are going to fight for rules to stop prescription 
drug price gouging and demand that drug companies justify price 
increases to the public. And we are going to push for empowering 
Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices for seniors.
  Right now, our antitrust laws are designed to allow huge corporations 
to merge, padding the pockets of investors but sending costs 
skyrocketing for everything from cable bills and airline tickets to 
beer, food, and healthcare. We are going to fight to allow regulators 
to penalize big companies if they are hurting consumers and to make it 
harder for companies to merge if it reduces competition.
  Right now, millions of unemployed or underemployed people--
particularly those without a college degree--could be brought back into 
the labor force and retrained to secure full-time, higher paying work. 
We propose giving employers--particularly small businesses--a large tax 
credit to train workers for unfilled jobs, with a requirement to hire 
that worker at a good wage once the training is complete.
  In future weeks, we will offer additional ideas, from rebuilding 
rural America to fundamentally changing our trade laws to benefit 
workers, not multinational corporations. Now, we are in the minority in 
both Houses of Congress. We know that. We cannot delude anyone that 
this Congress will begin passing our priorities tomorrow, but this is 
the start of a new vision for our party. This set of economic policies 
will form the backbone of our agenda, and we welcome our Republican 
colleagues to join with us in any of these ideas they might find 
acceptable.

  ``A better deal'' is not just a slogan; it is a mission. It is about 
reorienting government to work on behalf of people and families. It is 
not going to be the work of only one Congress. It shouldn't be the work 
of one party. As I said, we welcome any Republicans willing to work 
with us on these issues because there is an American imperative and a 
moral imperative to do what we are doing here.
  If that torch, held by the lady in the harbor of the city in which I 
live--that symbol of optimism and hope for the future--starts 
flickering, it is a different America, an America no one will like.
  American families deserve a better deal, a government that has their 
back and helps make the economy work for them. That is how we will 
restore the fundamental optimism that defines the American spirit.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Maryland.