[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 1]
[Senate]
[Page 1202]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            STIMULUS MARK-UP

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, last week, Americans saw something many 
of them thought they might never see: Speaker Pelosi, Minority Leader 
Boehner, and the President working as a team. Republicans and Democrats 
rose above politics and put the people and the economy first. And on 
Tuesday, the House passed their compromise stimulus plan by a vote of 
385-35. Then all eyes turned to the Senate: Would we put our individual 
interests aside, or would we throw the whole plan into jeopardy by 
loading it down with gifts for anybody who came calling?
   Apparently the temptation for giveaways was too great for some to 
resist. As soon as the bill hit the Senate, it started to look a lot 
like Christmas over here. Chairman Baucus added 10 new provisions 
before the bill was even considered in committee. Three more amendments 
were added in committee. You could almost hear Bing Crosby's voice 
coming out of the Finance Committee. And so the stimulus train is 
slowing grinding to a halt here in the U.S. Senate.
   All of this only reinforces my view that the only way we'll get 
relief to the people soon enough for it to work will be to insist on 
speed over spending. And the only way to do that is to pass the 
bipartisan, House-passed bill. That way we can send it to the President 
for a signature--and get much needed relief into the hands of millions 
of Americans as quickly as they are now expecting it. This is the only 
way to pass an economic growth package that doesn't grow the government 
or raise taxes and that can be signed into law in a timely manner. The 
other option is to bring it to the floor, where we know it will only 
grow and slow under the weight of endless additional spending 
proposals. We need to act quickly. The majority leader called for a 
bill that is ``timely.'' The House acted quickly. Now it is our turn.
   We have a choice: We can accept Washington politics as usual and 
spend weeks and weeks arguing over how much more can be added to an 
already unwieldy bill or we can act right now and deliver a timely 
economic growth package with bipartisan support that can be signed into 
law now. We could get a bill down to the President in thirty seconds if 
we want to. The White House and the House have done their part. Now 
let's do our part. Let's vote on the House-passed bill, without any 
further delay.

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