[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 165 (Thursday, September 23, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6640-S6642]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                           Government Funding

  Mr. SANDERS. Mr. President, as chairman of the Senate Budget 
Committee, I want to say a few words about some of the important 
budgetary issues that Congress is now facing. I want to focus on the 
$3.5 trillion reconciliation bill, but before I do that, I want to 
comment on the looming debt crisis that we face.
  The Republican leader, Mitch McConnell, this morning once again 
reiterated that the Republican Party will not vote to lift the debt 
ceiling; and in an extraordinarily irresponsible manner, Republicans 
have indicated that they will not pay the debts incurred under the 
Trump administration.
  In his statement, as he has done time and time again, Senator 
McConnell implies that this debt ceiling has something to do with 
future spending. It does not.
  In his statement, as he has done time and time again, Senator 
McConnell implies that this debt ceiling has something to do with 
future spending. It does not. Like anyone who owns a credit card, the 
payments that are made are for past spending--in this case, spending 
incurred under the Trump administration.
  Let us be clear. If the United States, the largest economy in the 
world, defaults on its debt, it will plunge not only our country but 
the entire global economy into what could become a severe economic 
depression. That means massive unemployment, higher interest rates, 
severe reduction in government services, and possible cuts in such 
programs as Social Security and Medicare.
  The irresponsibility of the Republican leadership is not just 
something that I worry about. According to press reports, former 
Republican Secretaries of Treasury Hank Paulson, who worked under 
George W. Bush, and Steven Mnuchin, who worked under Donald Trump--
Republican Secretaries of the Treasury--both of them visited with 
Senator McConnell to make the case about the need to extend the debt 
ceiling. They understand, as I think all of

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us do, how important it is that the United States of America does not 
default on its debt, and it is about time that my Republican colleagues 
listen to them.
  Now, let me say a word about the $3\1/2\ trillion reconciliation 
bill. There has been a lot of talk lately about the need to compromise. 
Well, let me be clear. To a very significant degree, that has already 
taken place. Of the 11 Democratic members of the Senate Budget 
Committee, 9 understood the need for a $6 trillion bill, which would 
finally address the unmet needs--the long-ignored needs--of the working 
families of our country, as well as begin the process of tackling the 
existential threat of climate change. My guess is that at least 40 out 
of the 50 Members of the Democratic caucus supported the $6 trillion 
proposal. We compromised big time. We cut that proposal--agreed to cut 
that proposal--almost in half, down to $3\1/2\ trillion. That, to my 
mind, is a major, major compromise.
  As we go forward in this debate, let me be as clear as I can be as to 
why every penny of that $3\1/2\ trillion is absolutely needed, and let 
me also make clear that this bill, despite some of the rhetoric coming 
from my Republican colleagues, will not add--should not add and will 
not add one nickel to the deficit.
  It will be paid for. It will be paid for by finally demanding that 
some of the wealthiest people in this country, who in any given year--
we are talking about multibillionaires who in a given year do not pay a 
nickel in Federal income tax or dozens of large, profitable 
corporations that in a given year do not pay a nickel in Federal income 
tax. Well, we are going to demand that these people start paying their 
fair share of taxes, and that is more than enough money to cover the 
$3\1/2\ trillion that is in this proposal. So anyone who suggests to 
you that this bill is not going to be paid for and that it is going to 
add to the deficit is simply not telling the truth. It should and will 
be fully paid for.
  Now, the media is very worried about process. When are we going to do 
this? What about that person? What about that Senator? But they have 
forgotten to a large degree to talk about what is in the bill. I am not 
quite sure that the average American is staying up nights, worrying 
about whether it is completed on a Wednesday or a Friday or what this 
Senator thinks or what that Senator thinks; they would like to know 
what is in the bill.
  The reality is that for many, many decades, while Congress has paid 
rapt attention to the needs of the wealthy and large campaign 
contributors, it has significantly ignored the needs of working 
families, the middle-class, and low-income people. I think the reason 
that many of my Republican colleagues are so upset about this 
legislation is that we are changing the dynamic. We are now beginning 
to pay attention to the needs of working families and not just the 
wealthy and the powerful.
  So what is in this bill? First, as a result of the extraordinarily 
successful American Rescue Plan, which went a long way to pull this 
country out of the severe economic decline that we experienced as a 
result of the COVID pandemic, as a result of the American Rescue Plan, 
we cut childhood poverty in the United States of America by over 50 
percent, and for Black and Brown families, that cut was even higher.
  Year after year, the United States has the highest rate of childhood 
poverty of any major country on Earth. We took a major step forward in 
cutting childhood poverty. Now it is clear to me and I think to people 
all across this country that we must extend the $300-a-month-per-child 
direct payment that working-class and middle-class families now 
receive.
  Let me be very clear. If we do not pass the reconciliation bill and 
not continue those payments, we would once again plunge the children of 
this country, millions of them, back into poverty, and that is morally 
unacceptable.

  Furthermore, in the United States of America, every person should be 
outraged by the dysfunctionality of our childcare system. I don't think 
there is anybody who disagrees with that. We have millions of people 
who cannot find childcare. We have families in Vermont and Maine paying 
20, 30, 40 percent of their limited incomes for childcare, which is 
pretty crazy. We have childcare workers who are employed at starvation 
wages. The system is not working. It is broken. It is dysfunctional.
  It is not a radical idea to say that every family in America, when 
mom goes to work and dad goes to work, should be entitled to high-
quality and affordable childcare. There are a lot of studies out there 
that say that the best investment we can make of Federal dollars is to 
our children, and that is why we have got to expand what we are doing 
in childcare. Under this legislation, no working family in this country 
will be paying more than 7 percent of their income for childcare. So if 
you are paying 20 percent now or you are paying 30 percent, we will 
reduce that to no more than 7 percent.
  On top of that and of extraordinary significance, we are going to 
make pre-K education for 3- and 4-year-olds universal and free, and we 
are going to do, bottom line, what almost every other industrialized 
country on Earth does and understand that the most important investment 
we can make is in our children.
  By the way, importantly, when we do that, we are going to allow well 
over a million women to go back into the workforce because they no 
longer will have to stay home because of a lack of affordable 
childcare. So if you are worried about labor shortages all over this 
country, you must support significantly expanding our childcare 
capabilities.
  Further, what is in this legislation is, at a time when the 
pharmaceutical industry charges us the highest prices in the world for 
prescription drugs, we are going to demand that Medicare start 
negotiating prescription drugs with the pharmaceutical industry.
  I know that Americans now have seen a lot of the ads--the completely 
dishonest ads from the pharmaceutical industry, and let's be clear. 
Over the last 20 years, the pharmaceutical industry has spent well over 
$4 billion on lobbying and hundreds and hundreds of millions more on 
campaign contributions. Guess what. They own the U.S. Congress. And 
that is why--when you walk into a pharmacy and you find that the price 
of your medicine has doubled, it is because they can do anything they 
want to do. They write the laws. They, right now, have 1,400 lobbyists 
running all over Capitol Hill, trying to make sure that we do not lower 
the cost of prescription drugs. And that is what this struggle is 
about.
  These guys, year after year, make outrageous profits. Their CEOs get 
extraordinary compensation benefits, and they do that by charging us by 
far the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs. Well, those 
days are coming to an end if Members of the Congress finally have the 
guts to stand up to them.
  Now, I understand that the pharmaceutical industry owns the 
Republican Party. I got that. And I understand that there will not be 
one Republican in the Senate who has the guts to stand up for his or 
her constituents and lower the cost of prescription drugs. Well, there 
should not be any Democrat who is in that position. There should be no 
Democrats who are not prepared to stand up to the pharmaceutical 
industry.
  When we have Medicare negotiate prescription drug prices, we can save 
over $500 billion. One of the things we are going to do with that $500 
billion is do what the American people desperately want us to do, and 
that is to expand Medicare to cover dental, vision, and hearing aids. 
This is the United States. Elderly people should not walk around 
without any teeth in their mouths. They should be able to afford to go 
to a dentist. It is not a very radical idea. Grandparents should be 
able to communicate with their grandchildren because they have a 
hearing aid that they need in their ears that today they cannot afford. 
Older people should be able to read their daily newspaper because they 
can get a pair of glasses that works for them.
  The need to expand Medicare to cover dental, hearing aids, and 
eyeglasses is absolutely critical. Nobody in the year 2021 denies that 
oral health, hearing, and vision are essential parts of healthcare. 
Medicare is supposed to cover the healthcare needs of seniors. Well, 
oral health, hearing, and vision are parts of healthcare.
  Not surprisingly, out of all of the provisions in President Biden's 
Build Back Better plan, expanding Medicare to provide dental, vision, 
and hearing

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aids is by far the most popular. According to a June 30 Morning Consult 
poll, adding dental, vision, and hearing benefits to Medicare is 
supported by 84 percent of the American people. It is not often you get 
84 percent of the American people supporting anything. And yet that 
includes 89 percent of Democrats, 79 percent of Republicans. This is 
what the American people want, and this is what we must deliver for 
them.

  Given that, it is just hard for me to imagine that any Member of the 
House or Senate would oppose this very popular and important provision.
  It is a bit embarrassing that our Nation, the richest on Earth, is 
the only major country not to guarantee paid family and medical leave. 
I have been all over this country, and I have met with women--low-
income women--who are forced to go back to work 1 week after having 
their baby because they need the income. We are the only major country 
on Earth not to guarantee paid family and medical leave, not to make 
sure that a mom can stay home with her sick kid or a dad can spend time 
with his dying father or mother.
  This legislation finally does what should have been done a long, long 
time ago and guarantees paid family and medical leave.
  And what this legislation does is address the reality that many of 
our younger people are unable to obtain the good-paying jobs that are 
out there because they lack the ability to get a higher education.
  Now, my own view is we should make public colleges and universities 
tuition free. My own view is we should cancel all student debt in this 
country. That is not in this bill. But what is in this bill is the 
reality that every American will have the right to get at least 2 years 
of community college tuition free. And they can use that to get the 
training they need for jobs. They can use that to accumulate credits 
that can be transferred to a 4-year college, if that is what they 
desire.
  A few blocks away from here and in every major city in America, there 
are Americans sleeping out on the streets. They are veterans. They are 
people with all kinds of issues. They are working people who simply 
cannot afford the housing in their community. Two blocks away from the 
U.S. Capitol there is an encampment of homeless people. Six hundred 
thousand Americans are homeless today, and on top of that, we have some 
18 million households that spend 50 percent of their limited incomes on 
housing.
  In other words, we have a major housing crisis. This legislation 
addresses that, and, in an unprecedented manner, invests in low-income 
and affordable housing. And when we do that, by the way, we create a 
whole lot of good-paying jobs.
  We are an aging society. And whether people have severe disabilities 
or whether they are just getting old, people would rather stay at home 
in many cases rather than be forced into nursing homes. What our 
legislation will do is to significantly improve home healthcare in this 
country and make sure that those people who provide that important 
service, that difficult service, are adequately compensated, because 
today they are not. We need more of those workers, and we need to pay 
them decent wages.
  I am sadly aware that many of my Republican colleagues do not believe 
that climate change is real or, at the very least, don't believe that 
we should do anything about it. But they are dead wrong. In my view, we 
cannot go home and look our children and grandchildren in the eye 
knowing what we know and knowing that the scientists are telling us 
that we have a very, very few years to address the climate crisis or 
else there will be irreparable harm done in our country and around the 
world.
  We have turned on the TV this past summer, and we saw the 
unbelievable fires in Oregon and California and learned that in Siberia 
their fires were larger than all the other fires combined; smoke went 
thousands of miles. We learned that July was the hottest month ever and 
that climate is exacerbating extreme weather disturbances like 
Hurricane Ida, which brought havoc to Louisiana.
  This legislation that we are proposing does not go as far as I think 
it should on climate. But make no mistake about it. It is a major, 
major step forward in transforming our energy system away from fossil 
fuel to energy efficiency and sustainable energy.
  So that is where we are right now. We are at a moment where millions 
and millions of Americans have lost faith in their government. They 
think that we are incapable of addressing their needs, that all we do 
is listen to wealthy campaign contributors and the lobbyists and the 
billionaire class.
  The question we face right now is, At this moment, do we have the 
courage to keep faith with the American people and show them that their 
democracy in fact can work for them and not just powerful special 
interests?
  So let us go forward. Let us do the right thing. Let us pass this 
$3\1/2\ trillion reconciliation package.
  With that, I yield the floor.