[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 2]
[Senate]
[Pages 1540-1541]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            STIMULUS PACKAGE

  Mr. CORKER. Mr. President, as you know, I very seldom come to the 
floor. Last week, I came to the floor to talk a little bit about the 
stimulus package that is before us now. Last night, we had a vote that 
blocked the Senate Finance Committee package. I know that probably 
sometime during the course of this day--or very soon--we will be voting 
on the House version of the stimulus package. I have to say that I 
realize I am a voice in the wilderness--actually more of a voice in the 
wilderness this week than last--but I continue to be almost shocked at 
the lack of debate regarding this stimulus package and its nature and 
effect on our economy.
  This is a roughly $150 billion package. Most of this package is 
oriented toward sprinkling, if you will, checks around our country. I 
know there are many people in our country in need, and there have been 
attempts to add various groups that ``have been left out'' of the 
package. I really feel for people around our country who are in 
tremendous economic distress. But I have to say that, to me--and this 
is just one opinion, and I have tremendous respect for this body and 
the various opinions that exist here--this has to be, in my humble 
opinion, one of the most irresponsible things we have done since I have 
been in the Senate.
  I think about all the debate we have had here, for instance, 
regarding earmarks, the wasteful spending that can sometimes take place 
over congressional earmarks. I know the public has been focused on that 
particular item now for over a year, as that issue has been debated on 
the floor and as people have tried to weed out, if you will, wasteful 
earmarks.
  In one fell swoop today--or tomorrow--we are going to be taking $150 
billion and, from the standpoint of having an effect on our economy for 
the long term, in essence, wadding it up and throwing it, for lack of a 
better expression, into a mud bowl. I have heard no serious 
economists--and I have not read every economist--speak to the virtues 
of this stimulus package.
  I think you know the President just put forth a budget that shows a 
$410 billion budget deficit next year. All of us know that is not even 
close to the real number because operations in Afghanistan and Iraq are 
not fully funded by that budget.
  We are talking about in 2009 a half-a-trillion-dollar budget deficit, 
money that none of us will ever, of course, pay for. Mr. President, you 
and I will never have anything to do with paying back this money. Our 
grandchildren and their children will pay this back.
  As I mentioned last week on the floor, $150 billion becomes in a 
generation, 20 years, $322 billion. We, in essence, are borrowing this 
money. All of us know much of this money will be lent to us from 
countries such as China and other places. Most of us know that between 
the fiscal policy we are talking about today and the monetary policy 
that has been followed recently by the Fed, the U.S. dollar has 
devalued. Companies in our country are becoming greater bargains for 
people in other countries. There has been tremendous investment by 
other countries buying up companies in our country.
  Many of the products people will spend this money on, if they spend 
it on items other than electricity bills and those kinds of items, will 
be products that are made in other countries.
  All of us--and, Mr. President, I know you are new to this body as I 
am--came here recognizing the tremendous recklessness that has occurred 
as it relates to our country's fiscal and financial matters. I think 
all of us came here wanting to rectify that situation. I find it truly 
hard to believe there is such a rush in this Congress to take $150 
billion and sprinkle it around America as if we feel that is going to 
do something to stimulate our economy.
  I know that much of this--again, I am not saying by any measure this 
relates to every Senator, but I know much of this is politically 
motivated, to make sure people in our country think we are doing 
something, even if it is wrong. I know this is an election year. In 
some ways, to some constituent groups, this might build political 
favor. I certainly have not had private conversations with every 
Senator, so that should be noted. But I have to tell my colleagues, in 
private, I have not found one Senator--not one--who believes what we 
are getting ready to do is going to do anything to stimulate this 
economy. Again, economists around the country are mentioning the fact 
daily that this will have little or no effect.
  Recently a well-respected person I know, whom I will not quote, said: 
Look, this is an awful lot of money. It probably will not do any harm. 
I think about what $150 billion would do invested in ways that actually 
created jobs for the long haul, whether it is in research, whether it 
is in promotion of energy security, maybe doing something to solve some 
of the health issues we have in our country. Certainly, there are other 
ways for us to spend $150 billion.
  I have listened to some of the debates on the floor that go on for 
days, if you will, over spending $1 billion or over spending $10 
billion maybe at a university or something such as that. I realized 
that in the very near future, this body, without any real debate, is 
getting ready to spend $150 billion we will never pay back.
  I will close with this, and I said this the last time I spoke. There 
are children all over America today in classrooms. We have some who got 
up this morning who are in front of us--our pages--at 5 in the morning 
and went to class at 6. They come here every day and work with us. They 
are looking to their parents, their teachers, their coaches, their 
Sunday school teachers to help teach them life principles and to help 
make decisions that hopefully will cause their lives to be more whole 
and more full, and hopefully from time to time they look to those of us 
in Washington to do the same--their elected officials.
  I hope, and I say this with all due respect to the Members in this 
body who have a different opinion--this is solely my opinion, and I 
have deep respect for the other 99 Members of this body, but from my 
own personal vantage point, I hope they are not looking at us this 
week. I do not think there are many Members in this body who believe 
this $150 billion these young people and their children will pay back 
is being spent in a meaningful way. I think many Members of this body 
realize this is an election-year stunt, if you will, to make it look as 
if we are addressing a problem when, in my humble opinion, we are not.
  I do hope that sometime, in a bipartisan way, all of us can work 
together and address the fundamental fiscal problems which our country 
has to deal with. I know there is a bill that is going to be debated on 
the floor, hopefully in the near future, the Conrad-Gregg bill, to get 
us together and focus on Social Security and Medicare. Again, we have 
not even begun to see the stresses those programs are going to create 
for our country. Yet in this next fiscal year, we are looking at half a 
trillion dollars in a 1-year annual budget deficit.
  We have been fiscally reckless as a country. As they say back in my 
home State, the chickens are going to come home to roost. I am 
tremendously discouraged that we in this body are getting ready to 
spend $150 billion the way

[[Page 1541]]

that we are and to ask these young pages and the young people across 
our country and the young people coming after them to pay the tap on 
that money so that in this election year, we can act like we have 
actually done something to solve a problem, when I think there are many 
in this body who know that is not what we are doing.
  Obviously, it has been made clear, I am going to vote against the 
House package, the Senate package, and any other package that focuses 
on sprinkling money around America in a way we know is not going to 
affect our economy in any meaningful way.
  Mr. President, as you know, it is a tremendous pleasure for me to 
serve with you in the Senate.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, I wish to proceed for 10 minutes in 
morning business.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senate is in morning business.

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