[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 1]
[Senate]
[Pages 912-913]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                               THE BUDGET

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, nursing our economy back to health is not 
just about giving it the right short-term treatments; it is about 
setting a new, responsible foundation for our future security and 
stability; it is about recognizing that what got us into this mess will 
not get us out of this mess; it is about making sure this kind of 
crisis can never again threaten American families.
  There are three things above all else I wanted to see in President 
Obama's budget: No. 1, a plan to put Americans back to work; No. 2, a 
plan to ease our deep deficit, bring fiscal discipline back to our 
government, and leave our children a stronger economy; and finally, No. 
3, a plan that will strengthen Nevada's economy and make Nevadans 
safer.
  As far as I am concerned, the President has gone three for three. 
Regarding jobs: Ensuring every American who wants to work can find a 
job is the top priority of the American people and it is the top 
priority of President Obama's budget. His proposed tax cuts will 
encourage small businesses to keep workers on the job, hire new ones, 
and give those employees bigger paychecks, and it will encourage 
entrepreneurs to start new companies and encourage existing owners to 
grow their businesses, which will in turn grow our economy.
  This budget is also about smart investing. It looks forward to 
building industries of the future by creating clean energy jobs that 
can never be outsourced and jobs in infrastructure, science, 
technology, and research. It extends middle-class tax cuts so hard-
working families can invest more of their income in the economy rather 
than sending it back to the government.
  As far as fiscal responsibility goes, his budget does some good 
things. It continues Democrats' efforts to reduce the deficit and 
restore fiscal responsibility to the government.
  This budget comes with a lot of zeros. Its numbers are in the 
millions, billions, and trillions. It is easy to mischaracterize those 
numbers and what they mean, but let's keep some perspective. When you 
look at this budget as a share of our entire economy, it will cut the 
deficit by more than half in 2 years. It is not the last thing we will 
do to slash the deficit, but it is a good, promising start.
  The President also has endorsed the pay-as-you-go rules the Senate 
approved last week, as well as a commission dedicated to reducing the 
deficit, which I support. Unfortunately, many of our Republican 
colleagues do not. They voted in unison against pay-as-you-go--the 
simple concept that we should only spend what we as a government have. 
Some Republican Senators who sponsored the legislation creating the 
deficit-reduction commission turned right around and voted against 
their own bill when it came before the Senate. Had they voted with us--
if they had voted the way the bill was sponsored--it would have passed. 
We had 53 votes. One Senator was gone because of a funeral. There are 
54 Democrats, and with 7 Republicans, that would have brought us to 61.
  It is a real shame. People worked on this so hard, and one of those 
who did so is the Presiding Officer. The Presiding Officer is an expert 
at balancing budgets, having been Governor of the Commonwealth of 
Virginia, and the Presiding Officer used that knowledge to work with 
Senator Conrad and others to bring about the pay-go rules and to bring 
about this deficit-reduction commission. Then to have people who 
sponsored the legislation vote against it is hard to comprehend. This 
budget knows our economy and our future cannot afford partisan games 
such as that.
  As far as Nevada is concerned, the recession has hit Nevada harder 
than most every other State. Nevadans will benefit more than nearly any 
other State's citizens when we see the implementation of the job-
creating and money-saving ideas in this budget.
  Nevada will also benefit in another very specific way. The President 
has declared dead the dreadful plan called Yucca Mountain--to turn a 
piece of the magnificent Nevada desert just outside of Las Vegas into a 
national dumping ground for dangerous nuclear waste. This budget ends 
funding for that reckless project and pulls its license application.
  That means families in Nevada and throughout America no longer have 
to worry about trucks and trains loaded with tons of the most toxic 
nuclear waste known to man passing by their children's schools, their 
neighborhoods,

[[Page 913]]

parks, and their own backyards. It means we will all be safer.
  The President's plan will walk us further down the path toward 
economic recovery, but we still have a long way to go. Let's keep in 
mind this budget is merely a blueprint, not a silver bullet. It will 
guide Congress, not restrict us.
  No matter what the items and numbers are in this document, neither 
Democrats nor Republicans should ever forget that every single dollar 
in this budget belongs to the American people. We know we cannot make 
our economy work again for the middle class unless we invest taxpayers' 
money as responsibly and efficiently and as transparently as possible. 
Senate Democrats are committed to doing just that.

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