[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 14]
[Senate]
[Pages 19026-19027]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           ECONOMIC RECOVERY

  Mr. WYDEN. Madam President, thousands of working families in Oregon 
feel as if they have been hit by an economic wrecking ball. From 
Ontario to Portland, OR workers have been laid off their jobs, left to 
fend for themselves, while their medical and energy bills skyrocket, 
and they have been left out of what Larry Lindsey and the 
administration's economic team keep calling an economic recovery.
  Oregonians are hungry for leadership on the economic issue. We are 
trying to do our part at home down the road at the election. All of 
Oregon's elected officials are going to be working with the private 
sector on a new economic game plan. I think starting in January, with 
the ISTEA legislation, we will have an opportunity to make some 
important investments. But Oregonians expect economic leadership from 
Washington, DC, now. That is what they want today.
  I am anxious to work with the administration on these issues, but 
there has just not been the leadership forthcoming. For example, on the 
trade issue, I cast a vote--unpopular with many with whom I am close--
to give the President the authority to negotiate trade agreements. 
Trade involves one out of seven jobs in Oregon. The trade jobs pay 
better than the nontrade jobs. So I want to meet the administration 
halfway.
  Unfortunately, the administration and its economic team is not 
willing to move forward and, in fact, is moving backward on a host of 
issues. I want to outline several of those this morning, Madam 
President.
  It is very obvious we need a transfusion--immediate transfusion--that 
can restore our economic health. There is nothing that could bring our 
economy back faster than getting increased transportation funds for the 
States. One State after another has shown that money for transportation 
projects, particularly repaving and other maintenance items, gets money 
into our economy and creates family wage employment for our workers 
faster than any other area.
  A number of Senators, Democrats and Republicans, understand this. 
Unfortunately, the administration's economic team does not agree. They 
continue to propose significantly less money than is needed for our 
economic and transportation needs and push for it.
  While the transportation officials of my State calculate that the 
administration's approach will mean tens of millions of dollars less 
funding for Oregon's struggling economy and hundreds of fewer family 
wage construction jobs that could put our citizens back to work, the 
administration persists in taking an approach that I think is a huge 
mistake for our country, particularly our economic needs.
  On the health issue, something the Chair knows much about, we can 
find common ground, for example, on a measure that could significantly 
lower health costs, a bipartisan approach involving making wider use of 
generic drugs, the same drug as essentially the brand name in the 
majority of instances.
  Senators of both political parties want to support this issue. There 
is support on the Democratic side and the Republican side. The 
administration will not support something that could have immediate 
benefit--immediate benefit--for the economic crunch that our citizens 
face and would have bipartisan support in the Senate.
  Finally, it seems on issues such as unemployment compensation, we 
have Senators, again, who would like to move forward to provide what I 
call this transfusion of assistance to the people who are so hard hit. 
Thousands of laid-off workers are exhausting their temporary extension 
of benefits every week. The program expires on December 31 of this 
year. Anyone laid off before June 30 of this year is going to lose all 
their benefits come December 31, and anyone who lost a job after June 
30 will not have any Federal extension in place when their State 
benefits expire.
  For my home State with soaring unemployment, this means that nearly 
30,000 laid-off workers currently getting a temporary extension of 
unemployment compensation would see the end of their benefits at the 
end of the year, according to the Department of Labor.
  Again, it seems to me this is an issue where Democrats and 
Republicans could, as has happened so often, come together and provide 
some solace, some actual relief to these families who are hurting in 
our country. I will be talking more about this issue in the days

[[Page 19027]]

ahead while working on a significant health reform proposal that I have 
been discussing with colleagues.
  I come back in closing to the central reason I have come to the 
Chamber, and that is that in my State and in much of the country, our 
families are hurting and our economy is hemorrhaging. I have listed 
three issues where, if there was some leadership from the 
administration--transportation, lowering medical costs immediately, 
particularly on the prescription side, which has the support of 
Senators of both parties, the expanded access to generic drugs, and 
finally unemployment compensation--three steps where, with a little bit 
of leadership from the administration on these vital economic issues, 
we could take steps now that would help working families.
  Let's not go the wrong way. Let's find an opportunity for Democrats 
and Republicans to work on key issues and go the right way, which means 
providing economic relief to our working families.
  I know the Senator from Georgia has been waiting very patiently. I 
yield the floor, Madam President.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Georgia.

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