[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 1]
[Senate]
[Pages 1373-1374]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          THE STIMULUS PACKAGE

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, before we leave, I want to say a couple of 
things.

[[Page 1374]]

  It is a very important vote we have tomorrow. I want the Senate to 
know we have received support from all over the country on the Senate 
stimulus package. I picked two of these just to comment on at this 
time.
  The Los Angeles Times editorial policy in recent years has not been 
very progressive in nature, but to date here is what they said:

       It's looking all but certain that Congress will pass an 
     economic stimulus bill before mid-February, which isn't 
     necessarily good news. It's questionable whether handing 
     taxpayers a few hundred bucks each would really jolt a 
     sluggish economy, yet there's no doubt at all that it would 
     increase an already scary national debt. Still, some stimuli 
     are more appealing than others, and if we must have a bill, 
     the Senate has a better plan than the House.

  Among other things, this editorial says:

       The Senate's plan extends unemployment insurance by an 
     additional 13 weeks, provides rebate checks to about 20 
     million seniors living on Social Security and about 250,000 
     disabled veterans (neither group would get a penny under the 
     House version), and expands home-heating subsidies. Jobless 
     people and those on fixed incomes are much more likely to 
     spend their rebate checks quickly than those in the middle 
     class, so if the goal is to stimulate spending, this is 
     precisely the population Congress should be targeting.
       The Senate also addresses one of the biggest failings of 
     last year's energy bill. Wind and solar power installations 
     are growing at a sizzling pace, but that growth is fueled by 
     production tax credits that expire at the end of next year. 
     An extension was stripped from the energy bill because of an 
     unrelated dispute over taxing oil companies. The credits must 
     be extended as quickly as possible because investors won't 
     pump money into clean power if there's a danger of losing 
     their tax incentives. Renewable energy reduces reliance on 
     foreign oil while cutting greenhouse gases and other 
     pollutants; green technology is also an extremely promising 
     growth industry that could help make up for the loss of 
     manufacturing jobs.

  The final paragraph of the editorial is as follows:

       McCain has made much during the campaign about his 
     determination to combat global warming. If he's the man of 
     conviction he claims to be, he should return to Washington 
     and back the Baucus bill.

  That was the Los Angeles Times.
  Mr. President, now the Arizona Republic, which is a very conservative 
publication. That is an understatement. But here is what they said:

       The economic stimulus package from Congress needs some 
     power. Renewable power. The plan should include an extension 
     of tax credits for renewable-energy sources, such as wind, 
     solar and geothermal.
       We would get a three-for-one impact: creating jobs, 
     diversifying our energy supply, and reducing pollution.
       These aren't new tax credits. They're existing ones that 
     are serving us well. Last year, nearly 6,000 megawatts of 
     renewable energy came on line. That injected $20 billion into 
     the economy. . . .

  Mr. President, this bill that came out of the Finance Committee, 
which we will vote on tomorrow, is a good piece of legislation--the 
Arizona Republic, the Los Angeles Times--and we have had support from 
all over the country.
  I will quote directly from the President's State of the Union Address 
when he said:

       We should allow State housing agencies to issue tax free 
     bonds to help homeowners refinance their mortgages. 
     (Applause.)

  This was greeted by applause.

       These are difficult times for many American families, and 
     by taking these steps, we can help more of them to keep their 
     homes.

  That is in our bill.
  We are going to have an opportunity at a quarter to 6 tomorrow to 
vote on this package. We are not going to pick and choose which of 
these provisions on a bipartisan basis is placed in the bill. Are we 
going to throw overboard the seniors? No, they are part of the package. 
Are we going to throw under the bus disabled veterans? No. Are we going 
to do away with these business provisions that the business community 
loves because it will create jobs? Are we going to throw over the 
homebuilders who are in Washington trying to get this package passed? 
No. It is important. It is important because it will stop foreclosures. 
It will help an industry that is in peril. Are we going to tell people 
who are unemployed, some of whom have been unemployed for a long period 
of time, that we are not going to help them, we are going to strip them 
out of the package?
  Everything we have in this bill is good. We have to go to conference 
anyway because there is a provision in here dealing with people who are 
undocumented and getting benefits.
  This is a program, it is a package, it is a good package. That is why 
we have had support from all over the country as to how much better it 
is than the proposal we got from the House. Is there anything wrong 
with the House bill? No, not as far as it goes; it just didn't go far 
enough. Democrats will vote for this bill, all 51 Democrats will vote 
for this, but I plead with my Republican friends, this is an important 
piece of legislation, not for Democrats, not for Republicans, it is for 
the American people.
  I was called by one of my Senators this afternoon. He said he talked 
with one of the Republican Senators, one of the senior Senators, and 
said: Can you support us? He said: No, I can't because the Republican 
leader said at our conference today that he thinks we will have an 
opportunity to put in the seniors.
  Democrats are not willing to throw overboard the very needy people 
who we believe should be part of this package. It is a package and it 
is a good package. Are my Republican colleagues going to tell the 
unemployed it is unnecessary they get help? Are they going to tell the 
business community this is not necessary now? I am not going to go 
through all the provisions of the legislation, but it is good, it is a 
package. And my Republican colleagues, nine of them, we need nine of 
them. We know we have three from the Finance Committee, and I hope we 
have some other brave souls who will do the right thing for the 
American people and not follow the path that for 7 years has led this 
country into a period of where today--the last report I got is the Dow 
Jones was down about 350 points. Up and down--it is very bad for the 
economy.
  My Republican colleagues should understand that the White House has 
done the country and not done the Republicans any favors during these 
past 7 years. The economy is in a deep trip south, and we have to do 
what we can to rectify that situation. It would help if we passed our 
package. I cannot imagine why they would keep walking over that cliff 
as a result of what this President is telling them to do. It is 
disaster for them. It is disaster for the American people. And nine of 
them should step forward and do the right thing.
  Senator Grassley supports this package. Senator Grassley is one of 
the most conservative Members in this entire Senate. He is doing it 
because it is the right thing to do. This gentleman farmer is a great 
legislator. My Republican colleagues, support this man, support the 
ranking member of the Finance Committee. It would be good for our 
country, good for our economy.

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