[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 1]
[Senate]
[Page 1314]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            STIMULUS PACKAGE

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, what we have seen here on the Senate floor 
this morning is very much in keeping with what has happened in the last 
7 years with the Bush administration. The Bush administration is 
Orwellian. It says something that means something else. The President 
comes to town and wants to be a ``uniter'' and not a divider. The 
American people know how disingenuous that has been.
  The President had the ceremony on an aircraft carrier. He had his 
flight suit on, with a big banner up saying ``Mission Accomplished.'' 
That was almost 5 years ago. Since that time, 3,000 American soldiers 
have been killed, and more than 20,000 have been wounded. Is that 
Orwellian? I think so.
  What has taken place here on the Senate floor today is in keeping 
with this Bush situation.
  By the way, the Bush White House--for the first time in more than 130 
years--has someone working in the White House who is indicted and 
convicted of a crime. The same White House had someone in charge of 
budgeting and taking care of Government contracts who is now in prison, 
Mr. Safavian. This is the same President who presided over a House 
majority leader who had two ethics convictions. What did he do to avoid 
any penalties? He changed the rules in the House until he was indicted 
by the State of Texas. Now, a number of House Members' staff who dealt 
with that are in prison, and others are planning on going there.
  Mr. President, what we have heard today here on the Senate floor is 
as Orwellian as anything could be. Two weeks ago, the House passed a 
bipartisan bill. Sure, they did. They sent it over here for us. Under 
the Constitution, we have an obligation to consider that. It is an 
insult to the bipartisan bill that came out of the Senate Finance 
Committee to call this matter which is now before the Senate 
``Senators' pet projects.''
  We have millions of people who are out of work and others who are 
looking at being out of work. We have in our bill a ``pet project'' 
calling for extending unemployment benefits. That is our ``pet 
project.'' I have to stand accused, and I am guilty of that because I 
support that.
  As we speak, we have some people--even though in Washington it is 
fairly warm and the low last night was 41, other people are cold. We 
have a ``pet project'' in the bill dealing with giving them assistance 
so they can pay their heating bills. They will spend that money very 
quickly.
  We have another ``pet project'' that was supported on a bipartisan 
basis in the bill to give homeowners relief. One of the ``pet 
projects'' in this bill was talked about by the President in his State 
of the Union Message. When we heard him say it, we all knew he probably 
didn't really mean it, but he talked about doing something to refinance 
homes that are in default. We took the President's word, and one of our 
``pet projects'' is what the President wanted and which is in this 
Senate stimulus package.
  To talk about the timely nature of this, a rebate check, even under 
the most generous timeframe, cannot come until after the income tax 
returns are filed in April of this year. So we are moving this as 
quickly as we should.
  One of the ``pet projects'' we have in this bill is to take care of 
about 250,000 disabled veterans--American veterans who, in the course 
of their duties serving this country, have become disabled. We, as one 
of our ``pet projects,'' decided it would be nice--if everyone else was 
getting a rebate check, shouldn't a disabled veteran get one? So that 
is a ``pet project.'' I support it, and I think it is very important.
  One of the ``pet projects'' we support--and I think there is 
bipartisan support for it--is to take care of 21.5 million seniors who, 
with the House-passed bill, get a big goose egg--nothing. I have not 
criticized the House bill. It was a good start. But even Speaker 
Pelosi, my dear friend, recognizes that what they did is inadequate and 
that what we are going to do is much better. We are going to give 21.5 
million seniors a rebate. What does that mean? They will spend it and 
stimulate the economy.
  Mr. President, to say they need time to read this gargantuan bill we 
have--it was best summarized by the Senator from California; she did it 
last night. Senator Boxer brought to the Senate floor the addition to 
the bill that they are still reading. It is a page and a half long. So 
we have had 12 to 14 hours; they could have read two or three words an 
hour and gotten through that.
  Today, we should be able to finish the Foreign Intelligence 
Surveillance Act legislation and have a time set for tomorrow to finish 
the vote on the stimulus package. Sixty votes is all we want. There are 
51 Democrats, and everyone will vote for this. It is the House package 
with those ``pet projects'' that take care of seniors, disabled 
veterans, and a few other people where we feel it is important, 
especially the unemployed people who are desperate for another check 
and are trying to find a job.
  Mr. President, the Orwellian Bush administration has now slopped over 
into the Senate, and now the Republican leader is becoming Orwellian 
himself.

                          ____________________