[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 2]
[Senate]
[Page 2317]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       JUMP STARTING THE ECONOMY

  Mr. McCONNELL. On the same subject, Mr. President, I think we all 
agree it is important to jump start the economy, and this week we will 
have the opportunity, as the majority leader and I have been 
discussing, to have full debate and many amendments on how to do that 
and how to improve on the bill passed by the House.
  Republicans agree with President Obama that we should trim things out 
that don't put people back to work. The standard he set for this bill 
is pretty simple and easy to understand. He wanted to incorporate good 
Republican ideas and trim the fat that won't put people to work right 
now. I think that is a pretty good principle. Republicans believe a 
stimulus bill must fix the main problem in the economy, which is 
housing. We need to fix housing first.
  Republicans also believe we must put money back into the pockets of 
taxpayers, and we believe we must eliminate wasteful spending from this 
package.
  The American people have real questions about the merits of spending 
tens of millions of dollars sprucing up government buildings here in 
Washington, for example, or removing fish barriers, rather than growing 
the economy and creating jobs. We will have an opportunity to further 
craft this measure as it moves through the Senate. Republicans are 
anxious to offer amendments, have debate, and have votes.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor, and I thank the majority leader for 
deferring to me for a moment.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The majority leader is recognized.

                          ____________________