[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 11]
[Senate]
[Pages 15951-15952]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


[[Page 15951]]

                         CONGRESSIONAL INACTION

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I thank the Senator from Massachusetts 
because I think he has made his case convincingly that there are many 
things we have failed to do in this Congress which mean a lot to the 
American people.
  Take a look at the inaction of the Republican-controlled Congress on 
so many issues that are really life-and-death, day-to-day issues that 
families across America expect us to lead on, such as the issue of 
commonsense gun safety; 30,000 American lives were lost to gun violence 
in 1999. We lose 12 children every single day in America. As many 
children are dying in America because of gun violence every day as were 
lost at Columbine High School. It is a reminder that we have a 
situation with gun violence that is unprecedented in the history of the 
world. The obvious conclusion from the Republican leadership is, there 
is nothing we can do or want to do to change it.
  We believe, on the Democratic side, that commonsense gun safety is 
something we should enact, and do it very quickly. We passed a bill 
here on the floor of the Senate. It had a tie vote of 49-49. Vice 
President Al Gore cast the deciding vote. We sent it over to the House 
of Representatives. In 2 or 3 weeks, the gun lobby tore it to pieces. 
They sent it to a conference committee. For over 1 solid year, that 
bill has been stuck in a conference committee because the Republican 
leadership is unwilling to bring forward any gun safety legislation. 
Yet we see these statistics where literally thousands of Americans are 
victims of gun violence.
  In my State of Illinois, in the city of Chicago, there are now 
gathering together summit conferences of leaders from communities 
because of the unprecedented killings which are taking place--
particularly of our children--with drive-by shootings. Children are 
being killed while lying in bed or sitting on the front porch with 
their parents. It is becoming too commonplace. The obvious attitude of 
the Republican leadership is, there is nothing they are willing to do 
to even try to address it.
  We think if you buy a gun at a gun show, you should go through the 
same background check as a person who buys a gun from a gun dealer. We 
want to know if you have a history of violent mental illness. We want 
to know if you have committed a violent felony in the past. We want to 
know if you have a history of the kind of activity that has required an 
injunction to protect someone against domestic violence. We think it is 
only fair and just that we ask people who want to exercise their rights 
under the second amendment to accept the inconvenience of a few 
questions being asked. Yet the Republicans apparently disagree. They 
refuse to move any gun safety legislation.
  As to the Patients' Bill of Rights, which Senator Kennedy addresses, 
every day 14,000 Americans are denied their needed medicines; 10,000 
are denied their needed tests and procedures. You know the stories. You 
know that in your hometown convenience store there is a little canister 
which says, can you leave your change for this little girl, who needs a 
certain medical treatment, which is even denied by her insurance 
company, for which she has no insurance. That is a reality for a lot of 
families who are struggling to pay for expensive medical care. It is 
the reality of many of these families who turn to these insurance 
companies. These companies say: No, it is not one of our recommended 
procedures; your doctor is just going to have to be told no. I have 
talked to those doctors who have said to mothers and fathers what their 
child needs, and then they turn around and find an insurance company 
overruling them.
  We think patients in this country should come first, that quality 
medical care should be in the hands of professionals and not in the 
hands of insurance company clerks.
  More than 11 million Americans have been denied an increase in the 
minimum wage for over 2 years. In Illinois, 350,000 people got up and 
went to work this morning for $5.15 an hour. These are not lazy people. 
These are hard-working people who are asking this Congress to keep them 
in mind as we give tax breaks to wealthy people, to keep them in mind 
as we approve congressional salaries for those of us who serve in the 
House and Senate. But no, the Republican leadership has told us we have 
no time to consider an increase in the minimum wage.
  Of course, the prescription drug benefit under Medicare--13 million 
seniors in America have no prescription coverage.
  I met a woman in Chicago who had a double lung transplant. Her 
medical bills are $2,500 a month for the drugs she needs so her body 
will not reject these lungs. She can't afford it. She has to turn to 
welfare and to Medicare. She lives in a basement with her children 
because, frankly, she has no income, no resources. She has had times 
when she didn't have the money to fill her prescription, and she has 
suffered irreversible lung damage every time that has happened. That is 
her life every single day.
  That is what it means to be poor in America--or, even those with 
Social Security checks who do not think themselves to be poor and able 
to afford prescription drugs.
  Yet when we propose a plan that offers guaranteed universal coverage 
under Medicare for prescription drugs, the Republican leadership says: 
No, we think we ought to turn to these same insurance companies that 
have treated us so well--I use that term advisedly--under our HMO and 
managed-care system and ask them to give prescription drug benefits, 
the same insurance companies that have been cutting people off when it 
comes to HMO supplemental policies under Medicare.
  Over 1 million Americans have been cut off, many in my State of 
Illinois. I don't trust the insurance companies to provide, out of the 
kindness of their hearts, prescription drug benefits. I think there 
should be guaranteed universal coverage under the Medicare system.
  Another bill stopped by the Republican Congress is school 
modernization.
  We should debate a bill that will allow us to increase the limits of 
immigrants coming into this country to provide those immigrants to fill 
highly-skilled jobs and good-paying jobs in this country that can't be 
filled with American workers. I think it is a reality. It is the No. 1 
complaint of businesses that can't find skilled workers.
  Yesterday, as I got on the plane in Springfield, IL, a fellow from a 
local company, Garrett Aviation, said: Let me tell you that my biggest 
problem in business is I can't find workers to fill the jobs.
  The industries come to Congress and say: Allow us to have more people 
immigrate to the United States who can fill these jobs. I think it is a 
real problem. If we don't allow this immigration, some of those jobs 
and companies will go overseas.
  But let's look at it in the long term. What are we doing to improve 
the workforce in America to make sure we have people who are skilled 
enough to fill these jobs and make these good incomes? Are we 
dedicating our money in our schools and in training to make this 
happen? I don't think so.
  In the 1950s, we were afraid of the Russians. When they launched 
Sputnik with their advances in science, we passed the National Defense 
Education Act. We said: We are going to help kids across America pay 
for their college education. We believed that these kids, once trained, 
would make America strong so we would not have to worry about this 
threat from Russia.
  I know about that program. I was one of the beneficiaries. I borrowed 
money from this Government to go to college and law school. I hope many 
people think that was a good investment. Some may not think so. I paid 
the money back. Shouldn't we do the same thing again with a national 
security education act that says we want to train our workers for the 
future needs in America to make certain they can fill the jobs with 
Boeing Aircraft in St. Louis or Motorola in the Chicago area? We are 
not doing that.

[[Page 15952]]

  This Congress won't address that. It won't address school 
modernization. It won't address the question of the deduction for 
college education expenses. It won't address the need to improve 
teacher skills. That is something we don't have time for on the agenda 
of this Congress.
  Businesses across America look to us for leadership. Families across 
America expect us to create opportunities. Time and again, we have seen 
instead efforts by the Republicans in the Senate to give tax breaks to 
the wealthiest people in America and to ignore the realities facing our 
families. I think our agenda has to be an agenda closer to the real 
needs of America.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Missouri.

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