[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 1]
[Senate]
[Pages 1381-1382]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                             VIOLENT STORMS

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, being from the desert and seeing, on 
occasion, storms in the northern part of the State, it is hard for me 
to understand the power of nature we see so often--and that we see more 
often than we used to with these tornadoes occurring throughout this 
country.
  Last night and this morning, violent storms raged through five 
States, including Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, and 
Tennessee. They were violent. It appears there will be more than 50 
people declared dead, scores of people have been injured, and there was 
a tremendous loss of personal property. Our thoughts, of course, this 
morning go out to the victims. We, in all our States, have had 
occurrences relating to natural disasters. But I think we should all 
pause and think about the lives of these people who have been snuffed 
away by this violent set of storms throughout the country and the loss 
to their loved ones, their neighbors, and their families.
  We have heard reports this morning of how our first responders 
reacted. The police, firefighters, and National Guard medics worked 
through the night, around the clock, to save lives. The latest event we 
had in Nevada was so minor compared to this. We had a levy break and 
flood waters inundated hundreds of homes. We were very concerned about 
that. But the one thing we did recognize is how the police, 
firefighters, and other first responders reacted so quickly. What took 
place last night is so much more significant than what we had in 
Nevada. It is difficult to comprehend the severity of what happened 
last night. The work of the first responders, and others, will continue 
around the clock for some time. Rebuilding will begin and I am 
confident that, as a congressional body, we will be called upon to help 
in some form or fashion.


                              the economy

  Mr. President, the top priority of this Congress right now is to 
bring relief to Americans who are struggling through a troubled 
economy. One need only listen to the morning news, as I did, to see 
that the economy is stumbling and staggering. The stock market fell by 
3 percent yesterday. The Japanese markets, after that--we got reports 
today on that--fell by almost 5 percent. The European markets are down.
  Today, our work continues to try to focus attention on this troubled 
economy, to try to help in some way. As I have indicated, at 5:45, we 
will hold a cloture vote on the plan to proceed to the Senate Finance 
Committee's economic stimulus plan. I spread on the record of this body 
last night editorials from around the country supporting the Senate 
stimulus plan. It is the one that will get money into the pockets of 
people who need it and will spend it very quickly. This is in no way to 
denigrate the House plan. It was only a start.
  Why do we need a stimulus plan? Look at the stock market, look at the 
rising gasoline prices, heating for our homes, and the housing crisis, 
the foreclosure rate, which is more than 600 percent in Reno, NV. It is 
275, on average, in Florida. It is more than 300 percent in California, 
with 37 million people. The Labor Department's recent jobs report 
showed the economy lost 17,000 jobs in January. That is a few of the 
problems we should be concerned about.
  Whether American families are investing in the market--some are and 
some aren't--the gathering storm clouds point to the need for Congress 
to take action.
  The Finance Committee's plan builds on the House bill and makes it 
better. I repeat, this is not Harry Reid speaking, it is from all over 
the country, talking about the need to do something quickly and focus 
attention on the Senate stimulus plan.
  A couple of my friends on the other side have talked about why didn't 
we do this. One referred to what we have in the stimulus package as 
``Christmas tree ornaments.'' Another referred to

[[Page 1382]]

them as ``pet projects.'' I have to plead guilty to the pet projects.
  Providing rebate checks to 21.5 million seniors is a pet project of 
mine. I think it is a good program. All 51 Democrats agree it is a pet 
project we all support. Providing rebate checks to 250,000 wounded 
American veterans is another of my pet projects. Give the money to the 
seniors and to the wounded American veterans and they will spend it. 
Providing tax incentives to small and large businesses is also a pet 
project. Why? Because it will stimulate the economy and give them the 
money and they will spend it.
  I was at a breakfast at 8 o'clock this morning. We had a number of 
groups there, but the homebuilders were there. They are out in force. 
They have covered Washington. They are focusing attention on Republican 
Senators because this legislation is the most important legislation for 
the homebuilding industry to come about in the past decade. This is 
important legislation. The homebuilders have representatives in 
Washington trying to help them.
  One of the pet projects we have is extending unemployment benefits to 
people who have been out of work for a long time. I very much 
appreciate the homebuilders being advocates for our Senate stimulus 
package.
  Those who are unemployed don't have anyone here. They don't have 
lobbyists calling for Republican Senators to support it. This is the 
package we got from the Senate Finance Committee. This is an important 
part of the stimulus package--to give rebates to people who are out of 
work and have been for an extended period of time. They will spend it.
  Helping Americans struggling to pay their heating bills through the 
LIHEAP is a pet project. I have supported this project for years. We 
support this project. You give these people the money and they will 
spend it--and they will spend it now.
  The growing housing crisis is certainly a pet project of mine, as 
indicated by the statistics we have in Reno, NV, and other places in 
Nevada. We should join to build on the House bill. The bill that comes 
from the House has to go to conference anyway because there is language 
in the House bill dealing with people who are undocumented who would 
have benefits.
  I hope we can join to put this package out as quickly as possible, 
take it to conference and work with the President and come up with 
something better than the House bill.
  The stimulus package will put money in the pockets of those who will 
spend it and help our country recover from this troubled economy. We 
are in for a long, slow grind, but we can shorten it by doing something 
to stimulate the economy now. The Senate Finance Committee package does 
that. It is bipartisan, and it needs to be done as quickly as possible.

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