[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 14]
[Senate]
[Pages 18867-18869]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              THE ECONOMY

  Mr. DORGAN. Mr. President, let me talk, just for a moment, about the 
economy.
  I have listened to some of the discussion, and I know there is a 
tendency to talk about the economy and to talk about, the other side is 
to blame. It is always the other side that is to blame. It does not 
matter which side you are on, you are just pointing in the opposite 
direction. And I suppose there is some blame that can be availed to 
virtually everyone in Government for our problems with respect to the 
American economy.
  I worry, however, there is not very much attention being paid to the 
economy. Today's speeches in the Senate represent a departure because 
in most cases nobody wants to talk about the economy these days.
  We have very serious, relentless, difficult problems in the American 
economy. Just take a look at what is going on in the economy. More 
people are out of work. More people are losing their jobs. More people 
are losing money in their 401(k) accounts. The stock market is behaving 
like a yo-yo.
  The big budget surpluses that we were told last year would last 
forever--most of us did not believe that, but that is what we were 
told: These budget surpluses will last for as long as you can count, so 
plan on the next 10 years of having consistent surpluses, and let's 
spend it now in the form of tax cuts--well, those surpluses have now 
turned into deficits, and big deficits. Big surpluses have turned into 
big deficits.
  On top of all that, we have corporate scandals that have developed 
and been unearthed in recent months in this country that shake the 
confidence of the American people in this economy of ours. I will talk 
just a bit more about that in a while.
  But I am not here to say the President is solely to blame for what is 
going on. I do wish he would provide more leadership at this moment and 
say, yes, the economy is in trouble, instead of having Larry Lindsey 
trot out here and say: The fundamentals are sound. Let's hang in here. 
Don't worry about it.
  This economy is in significant difficulty. I think it is time for us 
to recognize that. It is time for us to have an economic summit with 
the President, invite the best minds in this country to come together, 
have the executive branch, the President, and the legislative branch 
sit down together and evaluate: What do we do about a fiscal policy 
that does not add up?

[[Page 18868]]

  It is true, as my friend from Wyoming just said, we do not have a 
budget this year. Why don't we have a budget? We have a fiscal policy 
that does not add up. There isn't anybody in this Chamber who can make 
sense of this fiscal policy, and they know it. It does not add up. This 
fiscal policy was a policy developed a year and a half ago, in which we 
were told: We will have surpluses as far as the eye can see, so let's 
have a $1.7 trillion tax cut over 10 years, and then hold our hands 
over our eyes and think things will turn out just fine. Well, they have 
not turned out just fine.
  I think it is incumbent on us, on behalf of the interests of the 
American people, to sit at the same table and decide we are all 
constituents of the same interest, and that interest is the long-term 
economic progress and opportunity here in the United States.
  We need an economy that grows. There is no social program we have 
worked on in this country--none--that is as important as a good job 
that pays well. There is no program we work on that is as important to 
the American people as a good job that pays well because that makes 
virtually everything else possible. If we do not have an economy that 
grows and expands and provides opportunity, then we have some 
significant future trouble.
  Let me talk, just a little, about what it means when our economy 
isn't doing well. I spent time this morning at a hearing. The airline 
industry came in. We had a hearing in the Commerce Committee. The 
airline industry lost $7 billion last year--$7 billion.
  We have carriers that have filed for bankruptcy; more probably will. 
And they say: Look, we have a huge problem. Fewer people are flying. 
Some worry about safety. Some are concerned about the hassle factor at 
airports. The economy is in trouble, so fewer people get on airplanes.
  So you have an industry in trouble. That is just one industry. And 
that was just this morning. Nonetheless, it is indicative of what is 
happening in our economy. And the result is, when you have a soft 
economy, and the kind of trouble we are heading towards, and that we 
have already experienced, it means things, such as health care--the 
kind of health care that families need and expect--is not affordable, 
not available. It means we do not deal with the education problems we 
are supposed to be dealing with.
  Leave No Child Behind--that was a slogan last year, and a piece of 
legislation passed last year. But then the proposal comes out of the 
budget, and it leaves all kinds of kids behind because the money does 
not exist to do it because the fiscal policy is out of whack.
  We have talked about the corporate scandals that undermine confidence 
in this economy, and we passed a piece of legislation dealing with it. 
But it is just one piece of legislation, and it falls short of what is 
necessary.
  Also, if you are not disgusted about these corporate scandals, then 
there is something fundamentally wrong.
  Tyco Corporation. The CEO of Tyco has since been arrested. He has a 
$6,000 gold and burgundy, floral patterned shower curtain, paid for by 
his company--a $6,000 shower curtain.
  Did anybody in this Chamber ever see a $6,000 shower curtain? How 
about a $17,000 toilet kit, a traveling toilet kit, or a $445 pin 
cushion; has anybody ever seen that in their life?
  There are stories about Tyco having paid $15,000 in corporate money 
for an umbrella stand. People ask: How could you spend $15,000 for an 
umbrella stand? The decorator said this was an 1840s antique stand in 
the shape of a 3-foot high poodle. That is how you spend that kind of 
money for an umbrella stand.
  Staying with Tyco one more time: A birthday party paid for with 
corporate funds, it cost $1 million. They are fleecing investors. The 
guests come into the pool area--this is related by the person who 
arranged the birthday party. They actually transported people to Europe 
for the birthday party of the wife of the CEO of the corporation using 
corporate funds. The band was playing. There was a big ice sculpture of 
David, lots of shellfish and caviar at his feet; a waiter pouring Stoli 
vodka into the statue's back so that it came out his private parts into 
a crystal glass.
  I don't know. I grew up in a small town. Maybe it is just me that 
doesn't understand this, or maybe this is nuts. Maybe it is just nuts. 
But there is story after story after story of avarice and greed in 
board rooms, in executive suites.
  Here is a story about the Securities and Exchange Commission. It says 
the SEC now says it is unlikely they will pursue Enron's board of 
directors.
  The board of directors of Enron had a professor do a study of what 
was going on inside the company. The board of directors' own study said 
what was happening inside Enron ``is appalling.'' Here is the SEC 
saying: We are not going to worry about these board of directors of 
Enron. We are not doing an inquiry into their responsibility. That is a 
low priority.
  A former SEC chief accountant says this:

       If you don't go after this board, you are telling the 
     public you ain't ever going after any board.

  What is the SEC doing? Are they not reading this stuff? Are they just 
missing what is going on in this country? What about the corporate 
responsibility bill we passed some while ago? I tried to offer an 
amendment. A couple people here blocked it for 3 days so the bill 
passed without it. Let me describe it and why there is unfinished 
business dealing with the economy with respect to corporate scandals.
  Of the 25 largest bankruptcies in America, 208 corporate executives 
took out $3.3 billion prior to the bankruptcies. As the corporations 
were run into the ground, the people at the top filled their pockets 
with gold, and the investors lost their shirts. We couldn't do a thing 
about it because I couldn't offer the amendment.
  There was unfinished business, and we should address it here in this 
Congress.
  Here is a story about the Treasury Department, the IRS. It says they 
are seeking now quick settlements in pending tax shelter probes. The 
IRS is seeking quick settlements in many of its tax shelter cases 
raising questions about how effective its crackdown on tax avoidance 
schemes will be. What does this mean? It means that Treasury has been 
concerned--and I have been, certainly--about these aggressive tax 
schemes to avoid paying taxes.
  Instead of going after them, what are they going to do? They will do 
quick settlements. They are going to move to settle these cases very 
quickly. And what is that going to do to discourage additional 
aggressive tax schemes? Nothing, unfortunately.
  We have serious problems. I am talking about corporate 
responsibility, but I talked about our fiscal policy that doesn't add 
up. I know we could just stand here and point fingers back and forth. 
That doesn't make any sense. We all serve the same interests.
  Ogden Nash wrote a poem talking about a guy who drank too much and a 
woman who nagged.
  She scolds because he drinks, she thinks. He drinks because she 
scolds, he thinks. And neither will admit what is true: He is a drunk; 
she is a shrew.
  Well, the fact is, we both have some responsibility on this area of 
the American economy and what to do about it. I say to the President--
not in the way of pointing fingers--we have to start dealing with this. 
We can't ignore it. We can't pretend a fiscal policy that added up to, 
or we thought added up 18 months ago, is a fiscal policy that works 
today. We have been through a recession. Now we are in a weak economy. 
Big budget surpluses have now become big budget deficits. We were hit 
with terrible terrorist attacks on 9/11. We went through corporate 
scandals which undermined confidence in the American economy.
  Let's not pretend that things are fine. They are not fine. A week 
from this Friday, we will do an economic forum in the Russell Building 
Caucus Room. I am hoping we can get a debate going. I will invite both 
sides. We will do it through the Democratic Policy Committee. I want to 
hear from every side. If somebody thinks this fiscal policy is great, 
good, come and defend it.
  I happen to think we need some significant changes. I will be there 
to talk about it. But let's get some people together to talk about what 
is happening

[[Page 18869]]

and think through what we can do about it.
  There is an old saying when everybody in the room is thinking the 
same thing, nobody is thinking very much. That is true here. It is true 
at the White House. If they think this economy is great, they are 
wrong. They are not thinking very much.
  We need a fiscal policy that relates to these days. When we were 
attacked on September 11, the President said we will embark on a war on 
terrorism. I supported that. Then he said we need $45 billion more for 
defense this year. I supported that. We need nearly $30 billion more 
for homeland security this year. I supported that.
  The question is, Where is the money coming from? Who is going to pay 
for it, when and how? My point is we had better decide, the President 
and the Congress, to pay attention to this economy and fix the problems 
that exist and do it now. We don't have a choice.
  Our responsibility is to fix what is wrong. This deals with virtually 
everything we have talked about all of this year: Health care, 
education, pensions, corporate governance, all of it.
  My colleague said we haven't even passed a budget. He is right about 
that. It is because none of it adds up. Everybody knows it doesn't add 
up.
  John Adams used to write letters to Abigail. In the book McCullough 
wrote about John Adams, he chronicled the discussions John had with 
Abigail in those letters. He would ask his wife: Where is the 
leadership? Where will the leadership come from as we try to put this 
country together? There is only us: Washington, Jefferson, Madison, 
Mason, Franklin, myself.
  Of course, ``only us'' in retrospect is some of the greatest talent 
ever gathered in the history of the earth. They put a country together.
  But it is fair to ask again now, especially given the problems and 
challenges we face, where is the leadership? I hope next Friday we can 
begin a discussion and a debate that leads to an economic summit in 
which we try to put together an economic policy that moves the country 
forward. Ignoring the problems is not in our best interest. It is not 
going to solve the country's problems.
  We face some significant challenges in national security dealing with 
the war on terrorism, dealing with Iraq, and a range of other issues. I 
respect that. But that ought not allow us to take a pass on the 
economy. It ought not allow the President to not want to talk about the 
economy. We have very serious problems with the economy, and it is long 
past time that we get about the business of working together to solve 
them.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the Senator from 
Missouri was to be recognized.
  Mr. REID. It is my understanding morning business time has run out; 
is that correct?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator is correct.

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