[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 1]
[House]
[Pages 307-314]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1915
                        THE STATE OF THE ECONOMY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 18, 2007, the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Walz) is recognized 
for 60 minutes.
  Mr. WALZ of Minnesota. Mr. Speaker, in coming today on the first day 
back in this new session, the second session of the 110th Congress, I 
wanted to take a little bit of time to reflect on some of the changes 
that happened in this Congress but also more importantly to look 
towards the future and look at the priorities that this new Congress is 
bringing.
  It's very apparent that myself and my 43 Democratic colleagues were 
brought to this House, the reason we were sent here was to change the 
way business has been done. It wasn't about maintaining a status quo. 
It wasn't about talking about issues that weren't relevant to their 
lives. It was very apparent that at least in my district of southern 
Minnesota that they chose to send a schoolteacher without political 
experience to Congress to speak about those issues that were most on 
their minds, to talk about the issues of economic equality, to talk 
about the issues of true national security, to talk about the issues 
that were going to impact their children for generations to come.
  And in doing so, they sent several loud and clear messages to us. And 
I think first and foremost, as I'm joined with some of my other 
freshman Democratic colleagues, it was very apparent to many of us that 
we were sent here to talk about those issues in a manner that was about 
effectiveness. It was not about ideology. It was not about espousing to 
have a firm belief or the firm understanding that we had all the 
answers. The belief was to work together, to work with the experts, to 
work with local elected officials and come up with some of the most 
pressing solutions.
  And I think many of us understood during our campaigns and the time 
that we've been here in Congress, it's not surprising to anyone, and my 
colleagues tonight will talk about these things, they didn't need to 
see a poll to understand that Americans were becoming very nervous with 
the state of the economy.
  They were told over and over and over again by this administration 
that they were living in the best economy America had ever seen, and 
they would quote facts and figures like the gross domestic product and 
things like that. And when I would talk to my constituents in southern 
Minnesota, they would come up with something that was very insightful. 
They would say, I don't know. It's very possible that the GDP is 
growing, but that's not filling my gas tank; and, I don't know about 
you, but college is becoming more expensive; and, I'm concerned about 
heating oil prices this fall; and, I'm concerned that what's happening 
with the economy is not moving any closer to addressing those issues 
that I care most about.
  They were concerned about the loss of their jobs. They were 
continuously told that this global economy and these trade agreements 
that we were working on would grow these wonderful jobs, wonderful 
prosperity, and what they continued to hear in the news was global 
corporations making record profits as we saw real wages for working 
Americans sink.
  They were told that this great awakening of the global economy would 
be so helpful to them, and then they would open up their gas bills for 
heating and find out that they were having trouble making ends meet. 
They were told that this great global economy would bring a lasting 
prosperity to them, and they were receiving lay-off notices or many of 
the other ills that had come with it.

[[Page 308]]

  I think many of us understood, and not denying that there is a global 
economy, there is a need for an interconnectedness, but it needs to be 
based on some solid principles that benefit those vast majority of 
Americans.
  So I think as we get ready to talk about some of those priorities we 
get ready to talk about what this Congress can do and what this Nation 
should do to make sure that our economic prosperity is not limited to a 
small slice of the population, and in fact, it's limited to the slice 
of the population that quite honestly isn't producing that well.
  Americans over the last 5 years have got a record that I think they 
can be very proud of. Their productivity levels are as high as any 
Nation in the world. The thing that becomes a disconnect on that is, as 
that productivity levels went up, their real wages went down. At the 
same time, they watched CEO salaries and corporate profits reach an 
all-time high. And that disconnect is breeding that sense of anxiety 
amongst the public, and I think there's some things that this Congress 
can do and will do to address those needs and to put policies forward.
  I have a couple of interesting statistics that I think Americans 
should know. First and foremost, on December 21, President Bush, giving 
a speech on the economy, was clear to stress how strong this economy 
is. And in fact, his outgoing economic policy adviser said, We just 
don't see the reason the economy won't continue to expand. Had I been a 
reporter in that room or a Congressman there, I might have asked, For 
who will it expand? And the issue or the answer to that is not for the 
working middle class.
  We see 47 million Americans without health care. I think a more 
telling statistic is this. I came to this Congress as a high school 
teacher. I was lucky to have years of experience and advanced degrees 
that put me a little further on the pay scale. Had I been a first year 
teacher teaching high school in southern Minnesota, I would have 
started at just around $32,000 a year. My share of the premium for 
family health care coverage would have been $7,200 a year right off the 
top of that. And this is an issue that would expand that 47 million 
into another possibly 50 million that are on the verge of being unable 
to pay for it.
  So we have issues of health care costs. We have issues of energy 
costs. We have issues of tuition and those types of things. And as this 
Congress came to session, those are the issues we were talking about, 
making college more affordable, addressing the issue of moving into 
renewable energies and passing CAFE standards to make our automobiles 
reach that level of efficiency that will help working class families.
  So, as I'm joined here tonight by my colleagues from across this 
great Nation, and I might add, a very optimistic group at that and a 
very visionary group that understand, and the last statistic I will 
give before letting some of my colleagues join in on this, we had a 
piece of research that was done by the independent, nonpartisan 
Congressional Research Service. And they did a study asking what had 
added to our national deficit, and their conclusion was that 98 percent 
of that was added by legislative choices, the biggest being tax cuts 
for a very small percentage that, quite honestly, we were told on 
theory would generate wealth back into the economy.
  The fact of the matter is the tax cuts were not targeted at our great 
entrepreneurial class. They were not targeted at those people who were 
going to create jobs and reinvest. They were targeted to people that 
would continue to build trust funds to pass on to future generations of 
that very, very thin privileged class.
  And because of that, this Congress has got work to do. This Congress 
and these Members that were sent to this Congress that will speak 
tonight were sent by their constituents not to talk ideology, not to 
argue with the other side, but to look at the issues and not come with 
facts and figures, but to say, Hey, I'm a schoolteacher sitting in 
southern Minnesota and I'm having trouble making ends meet and I 
actually could qualify for food stamps. What's wrong with an economy 
that does that and what can be done to bring back a sense of fairness 
to it?
  I think the good news in this is, if 98 percent of the Federal 
deficit was caused directly as a consequence of legislation, we've got 
the opportunity to reverse that. And I'm proud to be standing with 
three Members that I know have that as a priority, and I'd like to 
first of all yield to my colleague south of the border in Iowa, Mr. 
Braley.
  Mr. BRALEY of Iowa. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to thank the gentleman for 
yielding and also thank you for your outstanding leadership with this 
special time we get to share together here on the House floor.
  My district in northeast Iowa, the First District of Iowa, is in some 
ways very similar to yours, my friend, Mr. Walz's. It's the rust belt 
of Iowa. It's got a lot of agricultural, manufacturing history, and I 
think it's a microcosm of what you've been talking about.
  We have great manufacturers that I'm fortunate enough to have in my 
district, companies like John Deere that have been around for years and 
have stayed in the communities providing jobs and opportunity. But 
we've also had a tremendous impact on our economy in Iowa this year 
from our loss of our Maytag plant in Newton, one of those manufacturers 
that people know as a brand name that used to be on the game shows we 
used to watch as kids growing up. And then just recently, the Schaeffer 
Pen Company in Fort Madison closed after over 100 years of being one of 
those symbols of what American manufacturers can produce.
  Those aren't just losses of jobs to people in those communities. The 
ripple effect throughout those communities in terms of people who move 
out and leave a void of volunteers who work in community service 
organizations, who work as mentors to the next generation of leaders 
that are going to be responsible for leading this country in a great 
new direction, those are the disturbing trends we never hear about from 
the President when he's talking about the rosy state of the economy.
  And one of the things that brought all of us here to Congress is our 
sense that the middle class was increasingly being shut out of the 
American Dream, that the opportunity for our children and the next 
generation of children to follow them was being limited by economic 
policies that did not provide incentive for the middle-class 
entrepreneurs to make risks and create jobs and provide opportunities 
in their home communities. And what we want to do as a Congress is make 
sure that our fiscal policies are creating those types of opportunities 
in our own districts and throughout this country, because that's what's 
going to make us competitive in the 21st century.
  So what I'd like to do at this time is let my friend Mr. Yarmuth, who 
comes from the great State of Kentucky and has probably a different 
perspective on what he sees in his home district, share with us some of 
the things he observes that are directly related to the state of the 
economy that brings us here tonight.
  Mr. YARMUTH. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. WALZ of Minnesota. I yield to the gentleman from Kentucky.
  Mr. YARMUTH. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague and thank him for his 
comments and also Mr. Walz for his leadership as well.
  I will say, no, the situation in Kentucky is not much different than 
it is anywhere else in the country, and throughout the campaign 2 years 
ago and before that, as I talked to people in my district and around 
the State of Kentucky, what I heard was the same message you have 
heard. You know, we're working harder and harder, we're struggling, 
we're doing the best we can, and yet we're falling behind. We're not 
making progress. Our standard of living is not getting better, not 
improving.
  And I know that we don't want to burden the audience with too many 
statistics, but Mr. Walz talked about productivity, and one of the most 
astounding statistics I've heard recently is that 25 years ago, when 
there was a

[[Page 309]]

productivity gain in the United States, workers benefited to the tune 
of 70 percent of that productivity gain. So for every dollar increase 
in productivity, workers got 70 percent, owners got 30 percent.
  In the current era, that number is down in the 20s. So while American 
workers are working harder and harder, most of the gain in their 
productivity is not going to them. It's going to owners. It's going to 
the corporations, and the workers working harder and harder are not 
getting the benefit of that.
  And we're seeing it day in and day out. And not only that; we're 
seeing instances in which people who have worked their entire lives, 
because of emergencies, because of businesses going out of business, 
are losing their life savings.
  I will never forget being at a Catholic picnic one day in 2006 and 
talking to a man who had worked for Winn-Dixie Corporation. He had 
worked 28 years for Winn-Dixie, and he had accumulated $150,000 in his 
retirement plan. Winn-Dixie had gone into bankruptcy. He was left with 
$30,000. He lost 80 percent of his life savings because of the problems 
inherent in his corporation, and they had not planned adequately to 
secure his retirement benefits.
  So these have ripple effects. These are stories that are heard by 
relatives, by friends, by neighbors, and that increases the anxiety 
throughout society. And this is what I sense that we face in this 
country today is not just the actual fact of people's standard of 
living not increasing despite the fact they're working harder and 
harder, but their faith in the future is declining and faith in the 
future of their neighbors and their friends because they see the 
threats to them, and they say what am I working for, what am I trying 
so hard to accomplish.
  Then we had the added specter, as I know one of our colleagues will 
discuss this evening, of the incredible crisis in the health care 
system where 50 percent of the bankruptcies that we now experience in 
this country are due to health care costs and people, again, who have 
done everything the right way and have lost everything because of bad 
luck of the draw. They've come down with cancer. They've come down with 
a serious injury that's preventing them from working.
  So as we go across the entire spectrum of American society that's 
what we find day in and day out. I like to think of government as the 
way we organize our responsibilities to each other, and in this day and 
age we do face these very serious choices and very clear choices in how 
we perceive our economy and what government's role should be.

                              {time}  1930

  And the question is, do we reward wealth versus work? And I think 
this group that was elected in 2006 has a clear position on that; we 
want to reward work and not necessarily wealth. We want to make sure 
that when people work harder, they benefit. And we want to make sure 
that the economy is fair to everyone and works for everyone. And if we 
can't do that, then we don't deserve to be representing the American 
people because we have let them down. And I know that this group is not 
going to let them down; I know that's why we came here. And I'm proud 
to be here for that reason, and I'm not going to stop fighting as long 
as I'm here.
  So, I thank all of you for your collegiality and all of your efforts 
in this behalf. We are part of a great cause for the working families 
in America, and I'm very proud to be a part of that.
  With that, I will yield to my colleague from out west, the site of 
this year's Democratic convention, Mr. Perlmutter.
  Mr. PERLMUTTER. Thank you, Mr. Yarmuth.
  It's great to be standing on the floor with gentlemen who have been 
elected by the people in 2006 to change the way this Nation is being 
run, and to provide the hope that we need to deal with the problems 
you've outlined. And we can do this, we know we can do this. This is a 
time where we change the focus from the wealthiest 1 percent to the 
hardworking people of middle America. This is the time for hardworking 
Americans. And we're going to provide, based on this stimulus package, 
a package of different approaches to help middle Americans, hardworking 
Americans, we're going to provide them with refunds so that there will 
be some money in their pocket, not just in the pocket of the wealthiest 
1 percent, but in the pockets of everyone across America. Ronald Reagan 
used to talk about trickle down. Well, that's not how the economy 
works, it works trickle up. It's a flood up. If people in the middle 
have money, they spend it, and that will generate all sorts of new 
business in America.
  We're also going to provide stimuli that will create many new jobs, 
whether it's in the energy sector. We can improve how we're dealing 
with health care and increase jobs there. But this is a time when we 
really are going to change how Washington is conducting business. The 
President would like us just to focus on the wealthiest. He would like 
us just to keep things the same. We're not doing that. We're here to 
provide hope to people and change so that people in their everyday 
lives know that they've got folks here who were elected to fight for 
them. And we are going to change things by providing a whole new 
approach to the economy this year.
  We hope to provide a package that will be $100 billion, that's about 
10 months in Iraq, that's nothing, where we can help this country 
really get on a solid footing economically, and then for the long-term 
future, really develop a whole new energy system that will provide 
thousands and thousands and thousands of jobs across this country, as 
well as revamp our health care system that has become such a drag on 
the economy.
  This is a time when we have to look very hard and be realistic about 
the problems that face us. But when America really turns its attention 
to something, it changes the future. And that's what this Congress is 
going to do. That's our job. That's why we were sent here was to change 
the future and to provide hope to people.
  With that, I would like to turn this over to my friend from 
Wisconsin, Steven Kagen. And with that, sir, would you let us know what 
you think of this stimulus package that the Speaker is talking about.
  Mr. KAGEN. Well, thank you very much, Congressman Ed. I really 
appreciate being with you, not just here on the floor, but many people 
don't realize that you're my roommate. We've got an apartment. We're 
working together to pay our rent, we're working together to pay our 
Nation's bills, and we're working together to build a better nation for 
everyone.
  And before I mention anything about our economy, you have to all be 
thinking about the Green Bay Packers this weekend. We've got a football 
game up in Green Bay that we're going to rock the world. We're going to 
demonstrate not just how professionals can work together as a team in 
athletics, but we have to imitate them here on the House floor by 
beginning to work across party lines.
  And if you're looking for a good example of how corporate America 
should be run, look no further than the Green Bay Packers because they 
will never, ever be outsourced. They cannot be shipped overseas. Why? 
Because the community owns the Green Bay Packers. Not a bad example.
  I'd like to turn your attention to two questions, questions that I 
think are important for all of us in this class of '06, what some of us 
call ``America's Hope,'' whose side are we on? Now, does anybody 
sitting here, standing here having this conversation with America, 
anybody here sitting in a board room of a major corporation? I don't 
think so. We're working hard for everyday people who are trying to make 
it through the day.
  The second question is, what kind of Nation are we, what kind of 
Nation are we when we don't educate our children, when we don't 
guarantee access to affordable health care for every child in America, 
for every citizen, every legal resident of this country? Who are we now 
as a Nation? Now, you don't want to talk much about statistics because

[[Page 310]]

it will put people to sleep at this hour of the night, but the 
Department of Labor has given us these numbers. The Consumer Price 
Index went up by .3 percent. That's a little bit of inflation, a little 
whiff of what we're going to get at the end of 2008. The unemployment 
rate up to 5 percent nationwide; some areas of my district even more. 
We got the news today earlier this morning that a paper maker in 
Niagara, Wisconsin, they're going to shut down 320 jobs. That's 320 
homes in a very small neighborhood that won't have a bread earner, in 
Kimberly, Wisconsin, just outside of my district, 120 paper making 
jobs.
  Now, how does it happen in this country at this time, how does it 
happen when we allow Communist China to target each and every sector of 
our economy and our manufacturing economy for extinction? They've 
targeted our steel. And what happened to steel production? It went down 
here and went overseas. They've targeted textiles. They've targeted 
auto production. So, what are we going to make in America? Because if 
we don't make anything, quite simply put, we won't have anything.
  The unemployment claims for the month of December, 322,000 jobs lost, 
people looking for work. What about the minimum wage, $5.85? You can't 
feed a family on $5.85 per hour. You can't educate yourself and your 
children.
  So, we have got a lot of work to do, not just in the Green Bay 
football game. I don't know who we're playing, some team from New 
Jersey or the New York Giants. I wish them well. I hope no one is 
injured because--well, they do have pretty good health insurance, I 
hear.
  So, we've got a lot of problems that we have to face together. I am 
very proud and honored to be able to serve with all of you here tonight 
as we talk about this economic stimulus, as I send it over to my 
colleague, Mr. Ellison, who represents the great State of Minnesota. 
And he is going to, perhaps, allude to the fact that we have to have an 
economic stimulus that's timely, that's targeted to those who really 
need it, and temporary.
  Mr. ELLISON. Well, Doctor, let me just add my voice and say I love to 
be on the House floor with my colleagues. You guys are servants of the 
people of the United States, whether we're from the upper Midwest or 
Iowa, Kentucky, or all the way out in Colorado, it's a joy to be in the 
company of people who care about the American working class and are 
willing to get out there strong to speak up for what working class 
people need.
  You know, this stimulus package is to signal change in a broader 
sense to make our economy fair and more productive. It's signaling 
change. One hundred billion dollars is a whole lot of money, but when 
you think about this trillion-plus-dollar economy we live in, it's not 
a whole lot by comparison. But it's not designed to solve every 
problem, it's supposed to spark economic change, signal an overall 
change in the way our economy is structured so that we can have working 
class people prosper and grow.
  My colleague from Colorado pointed out that it's not a matter of 
trickle down, it's bubble up. You put the money in the hands of middle-
class people, they go out and buy washing machines, they go out and buy 
food, they go out and buy groceries, they put their kids in school, and 
the next thing you know more deals are being done and you see an 
overall increase in the economy, a rising tide lifting all boats. You 
take care of the middle class and the rest will take care of itself.
  If you give tax cuts to the wealthiest of the wealthy, the very 
definition of being rich is that you don't need the money. So, what do 
you do? You don't spend the money. You merge. You go buy some company 
overseas and then they take advantage of comparative wage differentials 
and the next thing you know we're exporting jobs. The fact is is that 
an economic stimulus targeted to people who really will spend that 
money and really do need that money and can spend that discretionary 
income will spark our economy. But it will only be a signal of an 
overall shift of economic fairness that has to do with our innovation 
agenda, that has to do with increasing the minimum wage, that has to do 
with decreasing the cost of college loans, an overall economic package 
that is big and that is structural that has to do with making changes 
to predatory lending laws, that has to do with our housing markets, an 
overall package that will take a little more time to implement, but an 
economic stimulus package that will happen soon and will spark economic 
growth directly affecting the unemployment numbers that jumped in 
December, and as Mr. Perlmutter correctly points out, directly 
affecting the increase in the Consumer Price Index as well.
  Now, you know, the underlying source of this economy's weakness is 
the collapse in the housing market. In 1995, what happened to the 
housing market? Bam, straight to the moon. People thought it would 
never end. As a matter of fact, people bought houses, some of them 
subprime. Some of them found themselves thinking, well, if I buy this 
house right now, get into this subprime mortgage, the increasing 
housing values gives me wealth; I can refinance when this house is even 
worth more. But, you know, everything that goes up must come down. And 
as a matter of fact, when we saw people refinance these homes, they 
consumed that increased wealth in their house. That helped drive the 
consumer sector, but eventually these things come down and we are 
hitting the wall.
  People are not making it, folks. We have a negative savings rate in 
America. Negative savings rate. That means if you get paid on Friday, 
you're out of money Wednesday night. That means you're hanging on and 
you're hoping that you can stretch that penny out to get to the end of 
the week. That means that instead of steak you're eating hamburger and 
instead of salmon you're eating tuna fish. And it's not funny. It's 
serious business. People are really, really struggling.
  And so the fact is, folks, that we have a negative savings rate and 
that is why people are turning to the credit cards. That's why, when 
they get a big purchase, they've got to refinance their homes, although 
that's tough to do today, and that's why they go to title loans, payday 
loans and pawnshops. This is what is driving that move. We are drying 
up the consumer sector.
  And I just want to say that we have seen record foreclosures in 
America, record foreclosures. We haven't seen this many foreclosures 
since the Great Depression.
  Mr. BRALEY of Iowa. Would the gentleman yield?
  Mr. ELLISON. Absolutely.
  Mr. BRALEY of Iowa. Like all of you, I spent time out of my district 
during the recess between the holidays and coming back this week. And I 
was shocked to visit Davenport, Iowa, the largest city in my district, 
and learn that Davenport leads the country per capita in the number of 
subprime mortgage foreclosures. And I know that all of you have 
constituents in your districts that are being impacted directly by the 
subprime crisis. And although our friend from Wisconsin certainly spent 
a lot of time talking about the Green Bay Packers, and I know that's 
heresy in the State of Minnesota, what I thought maybe we could do is 
share some of the personal stories we've heard from people who are 
directly impacted by these mortgage foreclosures by the need to convert 
their spending habits to credit rather than cash because they're being 
pinched in the middle, and put a human face on the problems we're 
talking about and why this economic stimulus package is so important.
  With that, I will yield back.
  Mr. ELLISON. I want to respond directly to your point, Congressman, 
because I think this is one of the things that in a very palpable 
feeling way really struck home to me, and that was when I was 
campaigning back in 2006. I met a gentleman who kind of came to the 
front door when I knocked on his door. And he came in a very gingerly 
way; it was clear that he had suffered some kind of injury and wasn't 
feeling very good. And he said to me, you know, Keith, about a year ago 
I was up on my roof because me and my partner

[[Page 311]]

make a little more than minimum wage, not that much more than minimum 
wage, but we were able to get into the house because we got into the 
subprime mortgage. We got some credit cards that they sent to us that 
we didn't ask for. But because I didn't have a whole lot of money, I 
climbed up on that roof to fix it because it was leaking. I didn't want 
to see more damage happen to the house, we had to patch it. And I, as 
you might guess, fell off that roof. The guy fell off the roof and 
sustained some serious injuries. The injuries were too bad, his partner 
was going to try to put him in the car but he couldn't move him because 
he was hurting, and it was dangerous, and so he called the EMS truck, 
Emergency Medical Services. They came to get him. That was about 1,800 
bucks right there. He didn't have health care insurance. He put the 
medical bills on the credit card as long as he could, couldn't pay 
that; as a matter of fact, paid one credit card, but on the other one 
he was late. Guess what happened to the interest rate on the credit 
card that he was on time for? It went up. That's called universal 
default. So, now he's paying 32 percent interest. He's getting further 
and further behind. He's not working. His partner is struggling to keep 
the mortgage paid. They see a reset in the mortgage. Now they are 
totally up. They are just really in bad shape now, and they are facing 
foreclosure.
  When the man told me this story, he was dry in the eye but I was 
misty. I couldn't believe, I said, you know, not in America. People who 
work hard, 40 hours a week every week, cannot be in this situation. 
It's wrong. And I felt it was my responsibility to do something about 
it.

                              {time}  1945

  So when I stand on the floor to talk about working class prosperity 
with you here tonight, six Members of Congress, and when I heard our 
Speaker talk about this stimulus package, I was reminded of what 
happened when the great President Franklin Delano Roosevelt died. Back 
in those days, Representative Yarmuth, they used to have the coffin of 
the President loaded up on the trains. You know what I am talking 
about, Representative Walz? And that train was carrying that casket 
across the country. And there was a man who appeared at one of those 
train stops where that casket was being carried across the country, and 
there was a journalist there too, and the man was crying about the 
President. He was in tears over President Roosevelt. And as you know, 
he was the President during the Great Depression.
  And the journalist walked up to the man and said to the man, ``Sir, I 
see that you're crying and very emotional over what happened to the 
President. Did you know President Roosevelt?''
  And the man gathered himself, cleared his threat, and he said, ``No, 
I didn't know President Roosevelt. But he knew me.''
  Mr. WALZ of Minnesota. Absolutely. And as I said, it's very 
encouraging, and I think it should be, Mr. Speaker, to the American 
people to see the dedication and the commitment. I know my colleague 
from Minneapolis has taken a lead role on this issue of foreclosures. 
And as my colleague from down in Iowa has said, this is an area that no 
one is escaping being touched by this. Mr. Ellison may represent a very 
urban area in Minneapolis, but Mr. Braley and I and the rest of us here 
have areas that are somewhat rural, and we are feeling that pinch. 
We're feeling it.
  One thing I would say is it reminds me, in thinking of the story that 
you just recalled about President Roosevelt's knowing us, I'd like to 
give you a quote from our current President when he was out meeting 
constituents. And this was out in Omaha, Nebraska, a little while back, 
and it was with a woman named Mary Mornin. And Mary was explaining, she 
was a woman in her fifties, a divorced mother of three, including a 
special needs child. And she was explaining to the President at that 
time, just several years ago already, of the growing anxiety she had 
about what was happening. And she mentioned to the President that to 
make ends meet, she was working three jobs. And the President said, 
``You work three jobs?''
  Ms. Mornin said, ``Yes, sir, three jobs.''
  And the President said, ``Wow, that's uniquely American, isn't it? I 
mean, that's fantastic that you're doing that.'' And then he laughed 
and said, ``laughter'' in parentheses here, ``Do you get any sleep?''
  And Ms. Mornin said, ``No, not much.''
  This President has been so out of touch with the reality that affects 
most Americans that he can stand in front of them and tell us this is 
the greatest economy ever. He can stand there and watch as the housing 
market imploded and the indicators were there and people were asking 
him to do things about that. He can stand there and talk about this 
being the greatest economy under his watch full well knowing that the 
facts indicate he took office with a $126 billion surplus and he has 
continuously driven us into debt.
  We are at a point in this great Nation now that last year alone we 
spent $406 billion servicing the interest on the debt, not the 
principle.
  Mr. ELLISON. Will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. WALZ of Minnesota. I yield.
  Mr. ELLISON. How much is your debt for this big debt that he has run 
up?
  Mr. WALZ of Minnesota. It's $30,000 for each and every one of us.
  Mr. ELLISON. How about little Gus, your son?
  Mr. WALZ of Minnesota. Gus is 14 months. His is $30,000, not counting 
the interest.
  I would just make this point that the President, in the theatrics of 
the appropriation bills to run this country, held up funding across the 
spectrum from veterans to health care research to our soldiers' pay 
increase that he pocket vetoed, all of these things, over $22 billion. 
And I want you to put this into perspective. What this President has 
done in his fiscal irresponsibility, which should not surprise a single 
person in this country given his track record on the private sector and 
given that he was practicing, as my colleagues have said, a very 
tenuous principle of trickle down, that took the complexity of the 
entire economy and shook it down into one mantra. Today as this economy 
and this Democratic Congress is looking for real solutions for working 
Americans, the President is concerned about making tax cuts permanent 
in the year 2011 when they expire. All of the money that we spent last 
year on higher education, on our veterans, on conservation, and on 
medical research does not equal the amount we spent servicing the debt. 
Think what this great Nation can do.
  And with that, I yield to the doctor from Wisconsin.
  Mr. KAGEN. Thank you very much for yielding. I just wanted to make a 
more accurate diagnosis of the condition that you are in. Mr. Walz, 
it's not $30,000 of Federal debt sitting over your head or your newborn 
son. It's $375,000 on an accrual basis when you factor into all the 
debts that we're going to owe to those of us who very soon will be on 
Social Security or Medicare as we retire.
  So you have to begin to accurately diagnose the problem in health 
care, physically, or an architect has to do it, a plumber has to do it. 
Let's identify what's really going on here. What is it that has caused 
millions and millions of manufacturing jobs to jump overseas, to be 
taken away from the workers that we represent, the families that we 
represent? Because people back home are asking me, as they are asking 
you, Hey, Kagen, what are you going to do for me? The first thing you 
have to do is identify the two causes I believe are doing this.
  First, it's the trade policy. A trade policy that allows corporations 
to take away our jobs. Listen, Mr. Perlmutter, if I go to your home and 
I take your car and you don't even know about it, if I steal your car, 
I go to jail. I get punished for stealing, for taking away your 
property. But if I go to where you are working, if it's a paper 
company, if it's a steel factory, if it's some auto manufacturer in 
Detroit, if I take away your job, I get

[[Page 312]]

rich. So there is something wrong with our trade policy that allows 
communist China to compete unfairly using an abundance of what I would 
call slave labor.
  The second reason is we have had a fiscal policy by the Republican 
administration that has plowed more debt onto everybody. The debt in 
2000 on an accrual basis, according to the most trusted man in 
Washington, David Walker, the Comptroller General of the GAO, was $20 
trillion and at the end of 2006 was $53 trillion. From $20 trillion to 
$53 trillion is a debt no one in this room, no one living today can 
afford to repay. So we have to repair our trade policies, and we have 
to come to an end with this policy of borrow and spend and borrow and 
spend and borrow and spend. We cannot afford to stay on this path.
  I believe in large part those are the reasons why we came here to the 
House to do the people's work and why we are going to speak up every 
day for the people that tell us their problems. And I will share with 
you just one story of my constituents.
  I went up north to northern Wisconsin. On the way back, I stopped 
into Two Angels Restaurant in Antigo to see what's going on, to put my 
finger on the pulse of their community. And there at the counter was a 
55-year-old former carpenter, a former carpenter because he has gone 
through bankruptcy not once but twice because of health care bills. The 
first time, since he works by himself, he's his own employer, he went 
bankrupt because he didn't have enough health insurance when he had 
cardiac surgery, and the second time he had a new heart valve put in. 
The second bankruptcy he went through, and he went through it twice, 
was due to an abscess in his brain. He can't think straight. He can't 
work. And he's counting on us to do something to help him, to guarantee 
he has access to health care he and his wife can afford. They can't 
take away his home, but they have destroyed his spirit.
  So I think we are here to give hope to everybody, that by working 
together we will repair not just this idea of borrow and spend with pay 
as you go, with fiscal responsibility, but also ultimately, and we 
won't get to it tonight, we have to fashion a trade policy that is not 
just fair but is balanced.
  I yield to Mr. Perlmutter.
  Mr. PERLMUTTER. Mr. Speaker, I think we have got again to realize and 
understand why the people sent us here to change America, to change the 
way Washington runs, and they want us to look out for middle America, 
hardworking people. They want us to look out in the short term, the mid 
term, and the long term.
  And in the short term, you talked about it. We want to provide in a 
bipartisan way, working with our friends on the other side and with the 
administration, real relief to millions of people across America. And 
you described it as timely, targeted, and temporary. Relief that gets 
right into people's pockets where they can then buy those necessities, 
whether it's a washer or they have got to fix the sink or whatever it 
might be, because people, even those that don't run into terrible 
problems as you described, are having a heck of a time making ends 
meet. They're working 40 hours. They're working 60 hours. But if there 
is one bump in the road, a kid who has to have braces or any little 
thing just sets you back, because everybody is that close, as energy 
prices go up, as tuition goes up, as health care costs go up. So our 
job is to give them some relief. And when we do that, that will help 
the economy as a whole.
  Then we have the mid term and long term, the trade policies. But for 
me in my area, which is primarily the suburbs of Denver, it is middle 
America. It is right down the middle politically. It is right down the 
middle financially. It's not rich. It's not poor. It's not Democrat or 
Republican. It is right down the middle as an independent kind of an 
area. And they are expecting of us to turn the attention to them, to 
middle America, and not just the wealthiest people. And when we do 
that, we're going to change the face of this Nation again.
  John Yarmuth was talking about the fact that as we have improved 
productivity, the worker, the average guy, hasn't seen the benefit of 
that, but it's been more of the owner. And that's okay, too, that the 
owner sees some benefit, but it should be shared across the board, 
because at the end of the day you have this disparity between the rich 
and the poor continue to grow, and that's not healthy for any country. 
This country has thrived and progressed because of the middle class, 
because of the hardworking people in the middle.
  So we have long-term strategies, which would be investments in 
energy, rebuilding our infrastructure. The speaker comes from the city 
where we had the bridge collapse. We have too many roads, too many 
things that have to be repaired in this country, and it is time for us 
to turn our investments to this country, and lots of jobs will be 
developed as a response to that.
  I yield to my friend from Kentucky.
  Mr. YARMUTH. Thank you. One of the things that I want to follow up on 
what you were talking about was we were sent here to solve problems. 
And I think one of the reasons that we have gotten into the predicament 
we're in is because a lot of people in the White House and in this 
Congress thought that you can govern by dogma. And when people say the 
free market's infallible or that regulation is bad or government should 
get out of the way and we hear those kinds of dogmatic philosophical 
statements, a lot of people bought into those. And what we see time 
after time, and I guess we are all slow learners in this country, but 
what we see time after time, whether it's with the subprime mortgage, 
whether it's with Katrina, or in all sorts of areas, with our health 
care system, is that dogma doesn't do very well when the rubber meets 
the road. There are real facts that we have to deal with.
  So we come here, and I know a lot of people, when we try to suggest 
that the disparity between rich and poor has gotten too great or that 
corporations have too much power, think we are playing at class war or 
we are trying to pit one part of society against the other. And that's 
not at all what we're doing. And I hope the audience has understood 
that everybody tonight has talked about fairness and, dare I say it, 
balance, and we are talking about the fact that in this country over 
the last couple of decades the economic pendulum has swung way too far 
to one side. And the marketplace works where there is some kind of 
balance in power, and now there is no balance in power because the 
rules are all stacked against every working American.
  So we're not trying to say that corporations are evil. I don't think 
anybody would say that, or that the rich are evil and that they don't 
care about the working class. But we have a situation in which that 
pendulum needs to be moved back to the point where everybody shares in 
the growth of this country.
  So as I look at this group, all of whom are committed to solving 
problems and not necessarily to advancing a dogma, I think that's what 
the American people expect us to do and I think that's what we are 
going to continue to work to do.
  I would like to yield to my distinguished colleague and friend from 
Vermont (Mr. Welch).

                              {time}  2000

  Mr. WELCH of Vermont. Thank you. I have been listening, partly 
presiding, but I have been thinking about this question of why is it 
there is such a sense that we need to do something called a stimulus 
package, where we are talking about $100 billion going into an economy 
that is $14 trillion, and it's a modest amount. Why is it that there is 
such a sense that this stimulus is needed when in fact, by historical 
standards, unemployment is actually relatively low. We had bad news. It 
went from 4.7 to 5 percent. But the historical average is well above 5 
percent.
  The reason there is such anxiety is the reasons my friend from 
Kentucky and all of you have mentioned, that this has not been a rising 
tide that lifts all boats. Most people, even those who are employed, 
have not had wages that

[[Page 313]]

have come close to keeping up with their bills, and that has been 
intensified, of course, with energy, buying gas, buying home heating 
fuel, paying for your college education for your kids, and medical 
bills. The story that the Speaker told about that young family with 
medical bills is painful, but it's true. So what you have had is this 
economy that is simply not working for average people.
  So what do we have an opportunity to do? A stimulus package is 
something that is concrete. We don't offer it as something that is 
going to ``solve'' the problem, but it is going to show that there's a 
cop on the beat. And there is an opportunity, by following the advice 
of economists across the spectrum, from conservative to liberal, that 
say that in a time of declining incomes, a stimulus is a mainstream 
Keynesian approach to giving a shot in the arm to the economy and a 
boost in confidence.
  Now, we do that and do it quickly, hopefully in the next 2 weeks, and 
we do it together with our colleagues. It's a statement of confidence, 
and it also, by the way, establishes that where you need to help is 
with those folks who are paying their bills on the basis of their 
salary or punching a clock. Then we have the longer term work to do, 
and that is to right the inequities that have been so systemically 
applied to have this vast spread between the middle class, low-income 
folks, and everyone else. It's all these things people have been 
talking about, credit card abuse, this scheme that was cooked up by 
Wall Street and others on the subprime mortgage, and even the so-called 
exceptional mortgages that are below subprime, the way that Wall Street 
has found to package these and then sell them to, in some cases, 
unsuspecting buyers, and in some cases, to knowledgeable buyers who 
thought they could make money; the degradation of any kind of 
regulatory oversight, when regulatory oversight done right is going to 
protect average people. The chairman of Financial Services, I think, 
put it right on regulation. There's only two problems; one is when you 
do too much, and the other is when you do none at all. It is something 
that has to be done in order to protect the pocketbooks of everyday 
Americans.
  Mr. BRALEY of Iowa. Would the gentleman yield for a question about 
the great State of Vermont?
  Mr. WELCH of Vermont. Yes.
  Mr. BRALEY of Iowa. I have made this statement before, that my family 
wound up in Iowa because of one of the greatest Federal economic 
stimulus packages in history, something called the Homestead Act. One 
of my great great grandfathers, George Washington Braley, walked to 
Iowa from Northfield, Vermont, because of the Homestead Act. My other 
great great grandparents, John and Nancy, left Ireland during the 
potato famine and went there because of the Homestead Act. One of the 
first things they did was found a Presbyterian Church, which they named 
the Homestead Church because of the importance of that stimulus package 
in creating opportunity and hope for that generation of Americans.
  So my question to you, my friend, is as you look at your State now 
and the people that you have the privilege of representing here in 
Congress, what type of real world benefits are they going to receive 
from this stimulus package we are talking about to give hope and 
opportunity to the next generation of people from the Green Mountain 
State?
  Mr. WELCH of Vermont. The elements of the stimulus package, as we 
know, are being discussed, but basically it would be a short-term tax 
break or check to families; it would be food stamps for folks who are 
struggling; it would be an extension of unemployment benefits from 26 
weeks to 39 weeks for folks who have been laid off from their jobs. So 
those are some of the things that would help.
  It's not just Vermont, as you know, my friend from Iowa. By the way, 
I am a great fan of the Homestead Act, but if your forebears had not 
walked from Vermont to Iowa, you might be a Congressman from Vermont 
right now.
  I yield to my friend and class president from Minnesota.
  Mr. WALZ of Minnesota. I think it's interesting, and the changes that 
this Congress has meant to bring, this stimulus package has meant, as 
all my colleagues have talked about, is of being that short-term, 
targeted, temporary reform that will put money right into the economy. 
That is in exact opposition to, I guess, the plan this President has 
espoused for the past 6 years that has drained money from not only the 
Federal coffers, but has drained jobs and siphoned them overseas.
  I think it's really critical. A couple of points. I think my 
colleague from Louisville was exactly right when he was talking about 
the pendulum has swung. The only thing I wished on that is, and I think 
people need to be very clear about is, there is no natural order to 
things where that pendulum will come back on its own. The change to 
make that pendulum come back was the votes that were cast last year for 
Members, just like this, standing here. Sometimes you have got to reach 
up and grab that pendulum and get your hands a little bit bloody, 
pulling it back to where it needs to be.
  That is exactly what we are trying to do. But as we are doing this 
today, some of the leadership on the Republican side of the aisle held 
a news conference and put forward a piece of legislation that they 
would do, that they would target to help this situation, to take away 
the anxiety of working class Americans, to make them feel like they can 
feed their family, heat their homes, and keep their good job. And their 
solution? Corporate tax breaks. The only thing in their package, 
reducing the corporate tax rate.
  We all understand the theory that that will allow for corporate 
America to reinvest in infrastructure, to reinvest in jobs. In theory, 
it sounds brilliant. In practice, it's going to mean higher CEO 
salaries and more imports coming from China where they put the 
factories to save the money on the labor, to save the money on the 
environmental standards.
  So those are the type of things that I think need to be clear, and I 
hear my colleague from Colorado saying very clear that we were not sent 
here to bicker, we were not sent here to espouse ideology, but we were 
sent here with a very clear mandate: Force change. The status quo would 
say, Continue on with President Bush's tax cuts, give corporate tax 
breaks. But everyone in this room knows that your constituents, the 
vast majority of Americans know that is not going to work.
  So I am quite intrigued that our colleagues on the other side are 
going to stick with that. And I don't know if they need to poke their 
heads outside a little bit more, but that wind of change is blowing 
very hard and it will sweep this place clean. It will sweep this place 
clean and put people here who understand those needs, who don't need to 
go and find talking points to understand how hard it is to send your 
kids to college, to understand paying a gas bill becomes a major family 
issue. And it needs to understand that what President Bush failed to 
realize with Ms. Mornin is, this wasn't a sense of she wanted to be 
away from her child, working three jobs. She had to be.
  And the idea that you should be proud, and we are going to hear more 
about this, this idea of productivity is a great thing, but in many 
cases, Americans will work as hard as they possibly can. But the 
problem with this economy is the return is not coming.
  Before I yield to my colleagues, I think this is one thing that we 
were sent here to reinspire, to get Americans to change their view on 
this, because I think this is one of the most disturbing statistics 
that I have ever heard. Now, for the first time since they have been 
asking this question, since President Bush's Presidency, and during 
this time period, when asked if their children will be better off than 
they were, the majority of Americans respond no. They do not believe 
that the leadership out of this administration or the previous years of 
Republican-led Congresses have done anything to set a vision for 
America.
  So I don't know if we should be surprised that the solution would be 
more

[[Page 314]]

of the same coming from the other side. The solution that the American 
people want is not more of the same. It's a change that reflects their 
values.
  So with that, I would yield to my friend from Wisconsin for a few 
closing words from him.
  Mr. KAGEN. Thank you, Mr. Walz. I certainly appreciate it. I think 
what people in Wisconsin are telling me in Green Bay and Clintonville, 
everywhere I go throughout my district, is they want their country 
back. I was walking in a parade and a lifetime Republican pulled me 
over and said, hey, Doc, we sent you to Washington because I want my 
country back. I said, Exactly what do you mean by that? He said, Heck, 
I want a border I can see and defend. I want my Nation back. Without 
any borders, we cease to exist. I agree with him.
  Several blocks later in that same parade a retired teacher pulled me 
in and said, Hey, Kagen, we sent you to Congress because we want our 
country back. I said, What is this, an epidemic? I said, What do you 
mean by that? He said, Well, I want my constitutional rights back. I 
want my government to protect my fourth amendment rights, my rights to 
habeas corpus.
  People want their country back. We all feel it here in Washington. We 
want our country back. We don't want to take it back; we want our 
values back. We want a government again that believes in being 
responsible with our hard-earned tax dollars. Everywhere I go, I ask 
people in Wisconsin, Hey, I'm working for you. I'm your hired hand. I 
have got your hard-earned tax money here from your family. Where do you 
want me to spend it, overseas or right back here at home? And everybody 
tells me they want it spent at home.
  But, Mr. Walz, this United States dollar doesn't buy what it used to 
buy. It has been devalued. In Milwaukee we've got Miller and Miller 
Light beer. Well, we have got dollar light. The gold hasn't changed for 
millions of years, but it takes a lot more money to buy an ounce of 
gold. The oil that drives our economy, our fossil-based fuel economy, 
our oil that we are purchasing hasn't changed in millions of years, but 
it takes a lot more money today. How much? Almost $100 a barrel. To do 
what? To drive our economy.
  Folks, we have to get our country back, and it begins by working 
together, no matter what party you're in, to give people hope and 
confidence that their government can work together across party lines. 
But we have to be able to see the same problem and begin to work on it 
together.
  This economic stimulus that we are putting together in Washington 
today, that the Democrats are preparing to work with the Republicans, 
is great for America. It gives me hope that we can work together across 
party lines and put together a stimulus package that will help every 
working family in America. Because what do we have to do? We have to 
reward work just as we do wealth.
  I yield back to my colleague from Louisville.
  Mr. YARMUTH. I would just like to add as maybe a closing remark that 
one of the things in the area of dogma we talk about, or cliches, we 
want government out of our lives. Everybody hates government until they 
need government. That is from the richest to the poorest. We know 
there's a lot of subsidy to the wealthiest people, the wealthiest 
corporations. They say they don't like government, but they are always 
coming here to ask for help when it suits them.
  This is one of those times when everyone needs government in this 
country. Everyone needs the stimulus that we are about to try to 
provide. It's the right thing, it's the smart thing, and it's the moral 
thing to do. I think that if we can convince enough people on the other 
side of the aisle, we will strike a great victory for this country and 
for the American people. I look forward to doing that in the next 
couple of weeks.
  Mr. PERLMUTTER. I just would like to close. I think our friend from 
Minneapolis, Mr. Ellison, used the right word; the economic stimulus is 
a spark. It will help those people who really can use it just make the 
ends meet that week. Once that happens, that moves an economy as 
millions of people in unison do that.
  So we have a chance to really change the way this economy is headed, 
we have a real chance to change the focus from the wealthiest 1 percent 
to the people who are working so hard every day across America. Those 
people that make this country so wonderful, so great.
  I am just glad that the folks from Wheat Ridge and Lakewood and 
Arvada and Golden and Brighton and Commerce City and Aurora and a 
number of other places in my District gave me the chance to come here 
and help make that change. I think that they are looking for change, 
and they are looking for hope, and we are going to deliver that.
  With that, I will turn it back to the president of our class, the 
eminent Mr. Walz.
  Mr. WALZ of Minnesota. I thank the gentleman. I thank all of my 
colleagues. I cannot tell you how proud I am to have each and every one 
of you here, and while all of us believe in the free market, the one 
thing I know for sure is I believe a lot more in my fellow citizens, 
and I thank the citizens of Colorado and of Wisconsin and of Kentucky 
and of Iowa for sending people here who care about those values, who 
want to get that right.
  So with that, I leave in an optimistic state of mind. I leave with 
the American people, Mr. Speaker, knowing that these gentlemen here are 
going to direct us in the right direction and truly bring back that 
sense of equity.

                          ____________________