[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 1]
[Senate]
[Page 1081]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



               THE PRESIDENT'S STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS

  Mr. WELLSTONE. Mr. President, regarding the President's speech last 
night, I will start out with his style. I thought it was rather amazing 
that, given all that has happened--like our trial here--that the 
President came before the Congress and delivered a very good speech. He 
certainly had confidence and he outlined some important proposals.
  I think his proposal dealing with Social Security was extremely 
important. I think it is a solid proposal. And it does not go in the 
direction of some of the privatization schemes which I think would have 
taken the ``security'' out of Social Security. But it also recognizes 
we need to make some changes and we need to make sure that we support 
or save the Social Security system. But we keep it as a social 
insurance program. It is a contract. It is for all the people in the 
country.
  The emphasis on the COPS Program, community policing, is right on the 
mark. The law enforcement community in Minnesota has done some great 
work with this community policing program, including dealing with all 
of the issues having to do with domestic violence. Every 13 seconds a 
woman is battered in the United States of America in her home--a home 
should be a safe place--and many children see this, as well. God knows 
what the effect is on the children.
  Mr. President, I also want to just be very honest about my 
disappointment in this speech. Here we are, going into the next 
century, the next millennium. Here we have this great economy, booming 
along. We hear about it all the time. This is our opportunity now to 
take bold initiatives, to put forth bold proposals that really respond 
to children in America.
  The President talked about low-income, elderly citizens, many of them 
women. I think it is terribly important to address that reality. Mr. 
President, what about the reality of close to 1 out of 4 children under 
the age of 3 growing up poor in our country? What about the reality of 
1 out of every 2 children of color under the age of 3 growing up poor 
in our country?
  We have heard from the experts. We have had the conferences. We have 
seen the studies. We know about the involvement of the brain. We know 
we have to get it right for these children by age 3 or many of them 
will never be able to do well in school and never be able to do well in 
life.
  I see a real disconnect between some of the words uttered by our 
President and his proposals that don't meet the challenge. The 
commitment of resources to affordable child care for so many families 
in our country doesn't even come close to meeting the need. I thought 
we were going to make a commitment to affordable child care for 
everyone, not just for welfare mothers and their children. Not that 
we've done enough for those on welfare. That, in and of itself, is 
important, and we are not doing nearly as well as we should. But we 
need to help not just low income, but working income, moderate income, 
even middle-income families, for whom good child care is a huge 
expense, so that their children can get the best of nurturing and 
intellectual stimulation. But this is not in this budget. It is not in 
this budget. There's money, but the President's solutions are not in 
the same scope as the problems themselves.
  The President has a proposal that focuses on afterschool care. I am 
all for that. But when I think about the poverty of children in our 
country, when I think about a set of social arrangements that allow 
children to be the most poverty-stricken group in our country, when I 
think about what a national disgrace that is, and when I think about 
all we should be doing to make sure that every child in our country has 
the same opportunity to reach his and her full potential, and when I 
think about what we are going to be asking our children to carry on 
their shoulders in the next century, I don't see in the President's 
State of the Union Address a bold agenda that would lead to the 
dramatic improvement of the lives of so many children in our country. 
Why the timidity? With this economy booming along, in the words of 
Rabbi Hillel, ``If not now, when?'' If we are not going to speak for 
our children now, when will we? If we are not going to move forward 
with bold proposals, start with affordable child care, when will we?
  Finally, Mr. President, on the health care front, some important 
proposals:
  Give credit where credit should be given. I meet with people in the 
disabilities community and this is a huge problem. You want to work and 
then when you get a job you lose your medical assistance and you are 
worse off. To be able to carry health care coverage for people in the 
disabilities community so more people can work--yes.
  A tax credit proposal that says if you have a problem of catastrophic 
expenses--I know what this is about; I had two parents with Parkinson's 
disease--as a family, you can get up to a $1,000 tax credit per year. 
But this credit is not refundable. Why in the world do we have a tax 
credit that is not refundable, in which case families with incomes 
under $30,000 a year get no help whatever? Are we worried about 
providing assistance to low-income people, poor people, as if they have 
it made in America?
  Second of all, catastrophic expenses go way beyond $1,000 a year.
  And here is what I don't understand about the President's downsized 
agenda. Whatever happened to universal health care coverage? Now we 
have 44 million people with no health insurance, more than when we 
started the debate several years ago. Now we have another 44 million 
people who are underinsured. We have people falling between the cracks. 
They are not old enough for Medicare, prescription drug costs are not 
covered, they can't afford catastrophic expenses, they are not poor 
enough for medical assistance, they are getting dropped for coverage by 
their employers, and copay and deductibles are going up and are way too 
high a percentage of family income.
  Several years ago, the health insurance industry took universal 
health care coverage off the table. We ought to put it back on the 
table. I don't understand the timidity of the President's State of the 
Union Address when it comes to making sure that we can provide good 
health care coverage for all of our citizens. Our economy is booming, 
we are going into the next century, this is the time for bold 
initiatives. This is not the time for timidity. This is a time to make 
a connection between the words we speak and the problems we identify 
and the challenges we say we have as a Nation and the investment.
  Where is the investment in the health, skills, intellect and 
character of our children in America? Where is the investment to make 
sure that every citizen has health coverage that he and she can afford 
for themselves and their families? I didn't see it in the President's 
State of the Union Address. For that reason, I am disappointed. I 
believe our country can do better. I believe our country can do better. 
I believe the U.S. Congress can do better, and I hope that we will.

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