[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 2]
[Senate]
[Pages 1445-1454]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     HEALTH CARE AND THE JOBS BILL

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, first, I want to welcome everybody 
back. I don't think there is any snow in the forecast, so hopefully we 
can get some work done around here. Having spent the past week in 
Kentucky, I can assure you that my constituents are concerned, first 
and foremost, about jobs and the economy. And another thing they are 
concerned about is lawmakers in Washington making matters worse.
  Americans are worried about the growing national debt. That is why 
Republicans hope to offer amendments to the jobs bill that we will be 
voting on today that would lower it. Those ideas should be considered.
  Millions of Americans want to get back to work. That is why 
Republicans will offer ideas that will make it easier for businesses to 
hire new workers. Those ideas should be considered too.
  Small business owners want greater certainty about the future. That 
is why Republicans will propose ideas that will keep their taxes from 
going up and make it easier for them to invest in their businesses. 
Those and other ideas from both sides of the aisle should be 
considered.
  Later this week, we will have the health care summit at the White 
House. Americans want the administration to scrap its massive 
government scheme in favor of an incremental approach to health care 
reform. Unfortunately, the White House still seems unwilling to do the 
one thing Americans want most. It is still clinging to a massive bill 
that Americans have overwhelmingly rejected again and again for months.
  The tragedy of this approach is that the longer Washington sticks 
with its failed approach to health care, the longer Americans will have 
to wait for the real, step-by-step reforms that will actually lower 
costs and lead to a better system. That is the kind of real reform 
Americans have wanted all along. That is what they have been asking for 
and that is what Republicans in Congress will continue to fight for.
  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.
  Mr. CASEY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the order for the 
quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Kaufman). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  Mr. CASEY. Mr. President, I ask consent to speak as in morning 
business.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Pennsylvania is recognized.
  Mr. CASEY. I thank the Chair.
  (The remarks of Mr. Casey pertaining to the submission of S. Res. 418 
are located in today's Record under ``Submission of Concurrent and 
Senate Resolutions.'')
  Mr. CASEY. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, we all went home over this recess--most of 
us did--and we heard very clear messages. At least I can tell you I 
did. The messages are: Address the problems that face us and reach out 
a hand across the aisle and do it together. Pretty simple.
  Today we have a chance to do that. Today we have a very clear chance 
to do that and to lift the spirits of the American people. The bill we 
will be voting on--actually we are voting to take it up, in essence; we 
need 60 votes to do that, unfortunately, because there is a filibuster 
again on this--is a very simple, straightforward jobs bill.
  It has four parts. Two relate to tax breaks for business for doing 
good things. One is buying new equipment and getting a break on the 
expensing. The other is hiring people who have been unemployed for 60 
days or more. The other two pieces involve the extension of the highway 
trust fund and the Build America Bond program, and that relates to 
building our infrastructure. In the case of the highway trust fund, of 
course, it does fund transportation of all kinds: transit systems as 
well as highways, bridges, roads. Very important.
  Build America Bonds is a way to help the States issue bonds that they 
have voter approval to do, and helps them with the interest rate. In 
California, that program--Build America Bonds--resulted in billions of 
dollars of bonding to build roads and schools and all kinds of 
important necessities for my people back home.
  So we have four things before us in one package: two tax breaks very 
important to businesses and two very important infrastructure measures.
  I want to have printed in the Record--and I ask unanimous consent to 
do so--a very important letter sent to us by the American Association 
of State Highway and Transportation Officials, the American Road and 
Transportation Builders Association, the Associated General Contractors 
of America, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Laborers International 
Union, and the International Union of Operating Engineers.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

         The American Association of State Highway and 
           Transportation Officials, The American Road and 
           Transportation Builders Association, The Associated 
           General Contractors of America, The U.S. Chamber of 
           Commerce, The Laborers International Union, 
           International Union of Operating Engineers.
     Hon. Richard Durbin,
     Majority Whip,
     Hon. Barbara Boxer,
     Chairman, The Environment and Public Works Committee,
     Hon. Max Baucus,
     Chairman, Finance Committee,
     Hon. James Inhofe,
     Ranking Member, Environment and Public Works Committee.
       Dear Senators: We are writing on behalf of the undersigned 
     organizations to express our strong support for prompt Senate 
     passage of an extension of the highway and transit programs 
     in the SAFETEA-LU legislation and inclusion of a transfer of 
     General Funds into the Highway Trust Fund in an amount 
     sufficient to support the appropriated FY10 funding levels 
     consistent with at least a nine month period and should the 
     Senate decide a one year extension period.
       Passage of legislation that includes an extension and the 
     funds transfer will provide much needed certainty and 
     stability within the states, local transportation authorities 
     and transit agencies to make long-term capital commitments 
     and plan for a full season of work. All 50 states continue 
     their highway construction season through September and into 
     October, at least 45 states continue highway work into 
     November and one-third of the states are still working in 
     December. Without an extension that also stabilizes the 
     Highway Trust Fund, the transportation construction industry 
     will continue to decline and much needed transportation 
     investments cannot be made.

[[Page 1446]]

       We continue to support Congressional efforts to enact a 
     well-funded, long-term surface transportation bill. That work 
     can go on in Congress while the program continues to fund 
     needed transportation assets. Swift passage of a multiyear 
     bill will have an impact in the out years but shoring up the 
     trust fund now will allow the maximum job creation during the 
     2010 construction season. We face a shortfall in the trust 
     fund at this time that makes an extension and funds transfer 
     essential to creating much needed jobs in the construction 
     industry this year and to continuing to improve this nation's 
     transportation infrastructure. The nation needs these 
     investments now and we urge the Senate to act to move this 
     critical legislation.
       It is critically important given the urgency of the 
     investment and jobs issues that these provisions be included 
     in the Senate jobs bill to be introduced next week.

  Mrs. BOXER. I have to say I have worked with these organizations over 
the break to talk to them about what will happen if we vote this 
measure down and we do not continue our funding through the highway 
trust fund. They are very clear, and I am going to give you the 
information they told me about job losses that will happen if we do not 
act today.
  As I read this list, I hope, Mr. President, you realize these 
organizations are Republican organizations, Democratic organizations, 
bipartisan organizations. They have Independents, Republicans, and 
Democrats. The Chamber of Commerce, we all know they tend to go with 
the Republican side most of the time. They want a ``yes'' vote. The 
general contractors, they generally go--generally go--with the 
Republicans. They want a ``yes'' vote. Then you look at the unions, the 
workers, they generally go with the Democrats. They want a ``yes'' 
vote.
  And why? Because they are fearing if we do not act, we are going to 
hurt business and we are going to hurt the working people of this 
country. They say:

       Passage of [this] legislation . . . will provide much 
     needed certainty and stability within the States, local 
     transportation authorities and transit agencies to make long-
     term capital commitments and plan for a full season of work. 
     . . . Without an extension that . . . stabilizes the Highway 
     Trust Fund--

  Which, by the way, this does--

     the transportation construction industry will continue to 
     decline and much needed transportation investments cannot be 
     made.

  I want to repeat that. This is not a quote from a Senator, Republican 
or Democratic or Independent. This is a quote from the Republicans and 
the Democrats and the Independents who are represented by the American 
Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, the American 
Road and Transportation Builders Association, the Associated General 
Contractors of America, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Laborers 
International Union, and the International Union of Operating 
Engineers. They are telling us this is critical. They say: ``The Nation 
needs these investments now.'' They put the word ``now'' in bold 
letters. Not tomorrow, not next week but now.
  We urge the Senate to act to move this critical legislation. It is 
critically important, given the urgency of the investment in jobs 
issues that these provisions be included in the Senate jobs bill and 
they are.
  Today, we have a chance to have a fresh start by voting for cloture--
in other words, ending a filibuster--on this package of four bills, two 
tax breaks for businesses and two very important investments in our 
infrastructure.
  I wish to give the numbers that were given to us by the American 
Association of State Highway Officials.
  We have asked the State highway officials in our States--and I see 
Senator Casey here; in his State--we have asked them all to give us an 
idea of the jobs we would lose if we do not make that $20 billion 
transfer into the highway trust fund that is included in the Reid jobs 
bill. In Arizona, it is estimated we would see 6,800 jobs lost; in 
California, 31,000; in Florida, 17,000--I am rounding these off--in 
Illinois, 11,000; Iowa, 4,000; Maine, 1,400; Massachusetts, 5,300; 
Michigan, 9,300; Missouri, 7,800; Nevada, 2,590, to be exact; Ohio, 
12,000 jobs--let me repeat, 12,000 jobs would be lost in Ohio--in South 
Carolina, 5,000; Texas, 29,000-plus jobs would be lost if we don't get 
moving on this bill; in Utah, 2,600; and in Wisconsin, 6,500.
  I just picked these States out for purposes of explanation.
  If we fail to pass an extension, period, we would lose 1 million jobs 
in this great Nation.
  So there are two scenarios. One is if we fail to extend the program, 
this is what will happen. The States will lose jobs immediately. If we 
don't authorize this program, we will lose 1 million jobs. Without the 
transfer, this highway trust fund will not have any funds by the 
summer. Some people say June. Some people say August. I ask my 
colleagues who may be watching this debate: Please consider what it 
will be like when you have your contractors come and tell you they have 
had to stop a project in midstream--a highway, a bike path, a freeway, 
fixing a bridge that is perhaps in danger of collapsing.
  So I will tell my colleagues I don't think we have a choice.
  I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record the estimated 
job loss if there is no extension whatsoever of the highway trust fund.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                           Estimated job
                                                           loss under no
                          State                                CR or
                                                             extension
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Arizona.................................................          15,558
California..............................................          70,111
Florida.................................................          39,244
Illinois................................................          25,831
Iowa....................................................           8,794
Maine...................................................           3,219
Massachusetts...........................................          12,121
Michigan................................................          21,294
Missouri................................................          17,921
Nevada..................................................           5,903
Ohio....................................................          26,934
South Carolina..........................................          12,683
Texas...................................................          66,434
Utah....................................................           5,964
Wisconsin...............................................          14,894
------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, this is a pretty straightforward vote for 
us today. In essence, everything in this jobs bill is bipartisan. 
Everything in it is bipartisan. I can tell my colleagues right now that 
my Republican colleagues tell me they want to reauthorize this highway 
trust fund through the end of the year. They want to make sure the 
trust fund has the dollars it needs. Well, then, what is the reason why 
one might not vote to end the filibuster?
  Some say we didn't get everything we wanted in this bill. Well, 
neither did I. There are many things I would like to see in a jobs 
bill, believe me. I didn't get them in this bill because Senator Reid 
said we have to go slowly. We are going to have these smaller packages. 
They are more understandable. I think he has a point. But each of us 
could write our own jobs bill. Senator McConnell could write his. I 
could write mine. The fact is, what Senator Reid has done is to take 
four provisions that are bipartisan in nature and put them in this jobs 
package.
  Frankly, I don't know how anyone could face their constituents in a 
time of unemployment that we are seeing now. Even though we have 
certainly gone from bleeding--600,000 jobs a month, 700,000 jobs a 
month--to very few in comparison, we have a long way to go. Building 
the infrastructure of this Nation is done by the private sector. We 
hear the Republicans on the other side say: Well, we want this to be 
built by the private sector. That is how this program works.
  I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record at this time a 
notice that went out from the Missouri Department of Transportation, if 
I may.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                                               Missouri Department


                                            of Transportation,

                            Jefferson City, MO, February 19, 2010.

               Special Notice to Contractors: Bid Opening

       All bidders--PLEASE TAKE NOTE!--Unless the federal 
     government takes the necessary steps to ensure the 
     availability of federal funds for the remaining fiscal year 
     prior to 12:00 p.m. on February 25, 2010, the scheduled 
     February 26, 2010 bid opening will be Postponed/Withdrawn 
     until further notice.

[[Page 1447]]

       If necessary, the final Notice to Postpone/Withdraw the 
     scheduled February 26, 2010 bid opening will be posted at 
     12:00 p.m. on February 25, 2010.
       As many of you are aware, the Surface Transportation Act, 
     titled SAFETEA-LU, which provides $42 billion per year 
     nationally in federal funding for highway and bridge projects 
     to cities, counties and states, expired on September 30, 
     2009. The U.S. Congress provided for an extension of SAFETEA-
     LU, but funded it at $30 billion per year. MoDOT, like other 
     State Departments of Transportation, developed its highway 
     program with the assumption that Congress would fully fund 
     the federal program at, or above, the SAFETEA-LU level. This 
     action by Congress has not happened.
       Congress has until February 28, 2010 to correct the 
     shortfall in transportation funding. If Congress takes no 
     action by February 28 to correct the federal funding 
     shortfall, MoDOT and other State DOTs will have to make 
     adjustments to their existing highway programs. The impact to 
     MoDOT, cities and counties will be a reduction of $250 
     million in federal funds for the remainder of this fiscal 
     year. This lack of action directly affects the scheduled-
     highway bid openings at MoDOT through the May 21, 2010 bid 
     opening. Because the February 26, 2010 bid opening is prior 
     to the February 28 deadline for Congress to address the 
     federal funding shortfall, MoDOT believes it is prudent to 
     postpone or withdraw the February 26, 2010 bid opening until 
     Congress has acted on the federal level for highway and 
     bridge funding.
       If you have any questions related to MoDOT's bid opening 
     schedules, please feel free to contact Dave Nichols, director 
     of program delivery, at 573-751-4586 or email at: 
     [email protected].
       Link to the projects scheduled in the February 26, 2010 bid 
     opening: http://www.modot.org/eBidLettingPublicWeb/
viewStream.do?documentType=general_ info&key=1198.

  Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, I wish my colleagues to hear this because 
it is very shocking, and it could happen in Delaware, California, 
Pennsylvania, any of our States. It is a special notice to contractors, 
dated February 19:

       All bidders take note. Unless the Federal Government takes 
     the necessary steps to ensure the availability of Federal 
     funds for the remaining fiscal year prior to 12 p.m. on 
     February 25, the scheduled February 26 bid opening will be 
     postponed or withdrawn until further notice.

  This is real. This is real. I know this is a political season. I know 
firsthand it is a political season. But there comes a time when we have 
to put politics aside for 5 minutes--I would say 15 minutes--when we 
vote, put it aside for 15 minutes and let's not have a circumstance 
where we hear from the Missouri Department of Transportation that they 
are about to shut down their bidding process.
  I also ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record a letter 
from the American Highway Users Alliance.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                                                  American Highway


                                               Users Alliance,

                                 Washington, DC, February 3, 2010.
     Hon. Harry Reid,
      Majority Leader, U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
     Hon. Mitch McConnell,
     Minority Leader, U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
     Hon. Richard J. Durbin,
      Majority Whip, U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
     Hon. Jon Kyl,
     Minority Whip, U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
       Dear Senate Leaders: On behalf of our 270 motoring clubs, 
     non-profit associations and businesses with an interest in 
     safe and efficient highways, the American Highway Users 
     Alliance asks for your support for the highway bill extension 
     and Highway Trust Fund restoration in the initial ``jobs 
     bill'' pending in the Senate.
       Our members represent millions of motorists, RVers, 
     motorcyclists, as well as hundreds of truck and bus 
     companies. It is critical to us that the Highway Trust Fund 
     remains solvent, that the expired highway bill is extended 
     through the current fiscal year, and that rescissions that 
     took effect on September 30, 2009 are repealed.
       Compared to last year, the Federal Highway Administration 
     is distributing about $1 billion less per month to the States 
     in budget authority for highways. This cut is devastating all 
     50 state highway programs and will create serious impacts on 
     the safety and efficiency of our Nation's commerce corridors.
       If the initial job bill is enacted with an extension of the 
     highway bill and a restoration of funds to the Highway Trust 
     Fund, FY10 contract authority will be restored to pre-
     rescission FY09 levels and the highway program will remain 
     solvent through the summer construction season.
       We also take this opportunity to urge your support for 
     additional highway funding in future jobs bills to be 
     considered this year. The House has proposed that $27.5 
     billion be appropriated for highways in their bill. We 
     strongly support this funding level and ask that the Senate 
     concur with the House on this provision. The use of jobs bill 
     funding for highways will not only add immediate construction 
     jobs, but will also create and support hundreds of thousands 
     of supply chain and induced jobs in every part of our 
     country.
       Thank you for your leadership on highway issues. Please do 
     not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.
           Sincerely,
                                                 Gregory M. Cohen,
                                                President and CEO.

  Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, it is signed by their CEO and President. 
They are asking us to support this bill. Here is what he says:

       Our members represent millions of motorists, RVers, 
     motorcyclists, as well as hundreds of truck and bus 
     companies. It is critical that the Highway Trust Fund remain 
     solvent, that the expired bill be extended through the 
     current fiscal year, and that the rescissions that took 
     affect in September be repealed.

  They get it. These are our constituents who drive on the highways and 
the freeways, and they are begging us to act and set aside our 
political games for 15 minutes and vote cloture. By the way, I am 
hopeful we can; I am.
  I also have a letter to the Members of the Senate:

       The current lack of funding certainty in the Federal 
     highway market is having a devastating effect on the 
     transportation construction industry. Our industry is in dire 
     economic shape. We urge the Senate to act promptly on passing 
     the Reid amendment.

  Let me tell my colleagues who signed this letter. The President and 
CEO of American Concrete Pavement Association, the President of the 
National Asphalt Pavement Association, the President of the National 
Ready Mixed Concrete Association, the President and CEO of Portland 
Cement, the President and CEO of the National Stone, Sand, and Gravel 
Association.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to have this letter printed in 
the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                                                February 19, 2010.
       To the Members of the United States Senate: As the 
     principal suppliers of materials used to manufacture our 
     nation's roads, highways and bridges, we call on the U.S. 
     Senate to promptly enact the Reid amendment that extends the 
     surface transportation programs and provides $19.5 billion 
     for the Highway Trust Fund.
       The current lack of funding certainty in the federal 
     highway market is having a devastating effect on the 
     transportation construction industry. Since SAFETEA-LU 
     expired on September 30, 2009, the program has been extended 
     151 days under which state highway funds have been reduced by 
     30 percent. As a result, state transportation departments and 
     contractors cannot plan for a full season of work just as the 
     transportation construction industry is suffering its worst 
     construction cycle since the Great Depression.
       Our industry is in dire economic shape. Production of 
     asphalt and concrete pavements experienced double digit 
     declines in 2009. Nearly one in four construction workers are 
     unemployed, and more job losses will occur in 2010 due to a 
     lack of contract awards by state transportation departments 
     across the country. While the American Recovery and 
     Reinvestment Act (ARRA) staved off a catastrophic decline in 
     highway construction, uncertainty about longterm federal 
     investment in state and local highway programs, combined with 
     a lingering recession and associated state budget problems, 
     poses a significant threat to the future of transportation 
     builders and suppliers.
       We urge the Senate to act promptly on passing the Reid 
     amendment. This legislation provides for a full year 
     extension of the Federal Highway Program and funding to shore 
     up the Highway Trust Fund.
           Sincerely,
     Gerald F. Voigt,
       President and CEO, American Concrete Pavement Association.
     Mike Acott,
       President, National Asphalt Pavement Association.
     Robert A. Garbini,
       President, National Ready Mixed Concrete Association.
     Jennifer Joy Wilson,
       President and CEO, National Stone, Sand and Gravel 
     Association.

[[Page 1448]]


     Brian McCarthy,
       President & CEO, Portland Cement Association.

  Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, these letters are stark in their message 
to us. If we don't listen to this incredible group of people who are 
writing us these letters--these are Republicans, they are Democrats, 
they are Independents, they are Americans. They are saying: Set aside 
your differences and fund the highway trust fund. This vote will send a 
shiver through the spine of our entire business community and our 
working people if we don't get 60 votes today.
  So we have an opportunity today to send the clearest of messages that 
we are ready to come together around a simple premise; that is, the 
transportation infrastructure of this Nation is not a political 
whipping boy. There is no time to play politics here--no time. We have 
one State already saying: Beware. We are putting off our contracting. 
What more do we need to see than that? This is just the beginning of 
what is going to happen. We know the Build America Bonds program, which 
will allow State and local governments to borrow at lower costs, is 
going to put people to work. Our treasurer, California treasurer Bill 
Lockyer, said Build America Bonds have enabled the State--our State--to 
sell more than $19 billion in general obligation funds to meet voter-
approved mandates for more than 7,000 vital infrastructure projects, in 
turn creating or sustaining more than 100,000 solid, middle-class, 
private sector jobs and businesses, large and small, in California.
  The Build America Bond program is something our local people want, 
whether they are in California or anywhere else in the Nation. This 
program can cover bonds for school construction, clean energy, and all 
the rest. It will allow us to put people to work, and the decisions 
will not be made here but in our cities, our counties, and our States.
  Clearly, the two infrastructure pieces in the Reid bill are essential 
in both saving jobs and creating new jobs. Investments in 
infrastructure are a crucial component of job creation in our Nation. 
As we work our way out of this recession, the last thing we want to do 
is create uncertainty about our transportation funding. Too many people 
are counting on it.
  I wish to mention, as the chair of the Environment and Public Works 
Committee, that what we are doing today will give us the time we need 
to pass a larger authorization, and I am working on that authorization 
with Republicans and Democrats on our committee. I wish to commend, in 
particular, Senator Voinovich for reaching out to me in an 
extraordinary way. He is reaching out his hand and he says: Let's get 
started. I say to him, through my remarks on the Senate floor: 
Absolutely. We are going to start working. That bill is going to be 
transformational. It is going to, I think, be another boon to our 
economy.
  There is one thing I can say after spending so much time back home. I 
have not heard one of my constituents in my State--and I traveled to 
every part of my State and I met with Democrats, Republicans, 
Independents, business, labor, nurses, firefighters, everybody--not one 
disagrees with this point; that is, a great nation must have a great 
infrastructure. Our infrastructure must be updated. That means our 
roads, our bridges, our highways, our transit systems, our sewer 
systems, our water systems. We have water systems with arsenic in them. 
We have water systems that are not healthful for our families. No great 
nation can be a great nation if our people are not at the top of their 
game. You can't be at the top of your game if your child is getting ill 
because they are drinking tainted water. These are the things we have 
to do, and they are done in the private sector. On the transportation 
side, there is a separate fund for that highway trust fund, separate 
funds that go into that user fee, and that is how we fund our highways 
and transit systems. It is a very sound idea.
  Again, I say to all colleagues: If we turn our back today on this 
very straightforward proposal that extends the highway trust fund and 
gives it the funding it needs to spend at the authorized levels, we are 
going to see more State departments of transportation, such as this one 
in Missouri:

       Special Notice: Unless the Federal Government takes the 
     necessary steps to ensure the availability of Federal funds 
     for the remaining fiscal year, then the bid opening will be 
     postponed or withdrawn until further notice.

  That is not a threat; it is real.
  I yield the floor.
 Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I oppose invoking cloture on the 
motion to concur with the House amendment to the Senate amendment to HR 
2847, also known as Senator Reid's Hiring Incentives to Restore 
Employment Act.
  Only 2 weeks after President Obama stood in the House of 
Representatives to deliver his State of the Union address calling for a 
bipartisan solution to creating job growth, the majority leader has 
pulled the rug from underneath both Democrats and Republicans. Senators 
Baucus, Grassley, and others, including myself, had been spearheading 
an effort to put forth a bipartisan jobs bill. However, the majority 
leader inexplicably decided to gut our work product.
  Let me be clear, there is no doubt in my mind and in the mind of many 
of my colleagues that passing a jobs bill is crucial. We have seen our 
unemployment rate remain stagnant at around 10 percent since last 
September. The American people sent us here to do a job, and it is way 
past time we did it.
  That is why I worked with Senator Schumer to come up with a payroll 
tax holiday for those companies that hired more employees. Under this 
incentive, the sooner a company hired an unemployed worker the more tax 
incentive the company would receive.
  Regrettably, because of the majority leader's decision, it looks as 
though President Obama's hope for a bipartisan solution to job creation 
only lasted 2 weeks. What a shame.
  The original package, negotiated by Senate Finance Committee Chairman 
Baucus and Ranking Member Grassley, included an array of tax provisions 
aimed at providing the private sector with the ability to hire more 
employees and invest in more equipment.
  The extension of these expired tax provisions only support proven 
growth of companies that are slowly beginning to see the light at the 
end of the tunnel.
  The President set the tone at the beginning of the year by calling on 
Congress to put forth a bipartisan solution to creating jobs in this 
country. In response, both Democrats and Republicans brought innovative 
ideas to the table. Then, in a sudden change of events, many Republican 
ideas have been excluded from the jobs bill the majority leader has 
brought to the floor.
  And again, the majority leader has maneuvered this legislation to 
prevent any amendments from being offered by our side. If this is not 
an arrogance of power, then I do not know what is. I only hope the 
majority leader heeds to President Obama's plea for a bipartisan 
solution.
  I think it would be a grave injustice to the American people to pass 
this bill in this way. How is the minority supposed to have faith that 
the minority will not be excluded from debate of future legislation, 
such as health care and energy legislation? It is easy to label the 
Republicans as the party of no when you completely exclude them from 
the legislative process. No is the only option that remains.
  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, the Senate is about to engage in a 
cloture vote on the Senate Democratic leadership's third stimulus bill. 
What I find surprising is that what we are about to vote on 
indisputably and absolutely belongs to the majority leader. That is to 
say we are not going to vote on a bipartisan package that I put 
together with Finance Committee Chairman Baucus. I was under the 
impression that the Senate Democratic leadership was genuine in its 
desire to work on a bipartisan basis, but clearly I was mistaken. 
Although the Senate Democratic leader was highly involved in the 
development of a bipartisan bill, he arbitrarily decided to replace it 
with a bill he hopes to jam through the Senate.
  As much as I was surprised by the Senate Democratic leader's 
disregard

[[Page 1449]]

for bipartisanship, I am even more surprised by the explanations given 
by him and his cohorts.
  Perhaps the most significant change between the bipartisan package 
Chairman Baucus and I helped put together and the package we will be 
voting to move to is that a package of expired tax provisions has been 
removed. Normally referred to as extenders, these generally very 
popular and certainly bipartisan provisions have been extended several 
times over the past few years.
  What is surprising is that hyperpartisan members of the majority have 
suddenly decided that the tax extenders are partisan pork for 
Republicans. A representative sample comes from one report, which 
describes the bipartisan bill as ``an extension of soon-to-expire tax 
breaks that are highly beneficial to major corporations, known as tax 
extenders, as well as other corporate giveaways that had been designed 
to win GOP support.'' Just today the Washington Post includes this 
attribution to the Senate Democratic Leadership. From the Post:

       ``We're pretty close,'' {the majority leader} said Friday 
     during a television appearance in Nevada, adding that he 
     thought ``fat cats'' would have benefitted too much from the 
     larger Baucus-Grassley bill.

  The portrait being painted by certain members of the majority, echoed 
without critical examination in some press reports, is wildly 
inaccurate. For one thing, the tax extenders include provisions such as 
the deduction for qualified tuition and related expenses and also the 
deduction for certain expenses of elementary and secondary school 
teachers. If you are going to school or if you are a grade school 
teacher, the Senate Democratic leadership thinks you are a fat cat so 
you are on your own. If your house was destroyed in a recent natural 
disaster and you still need any of the temporary disaster relief 
provisions contained in the extenders package, too bad, because helping 
you would amount to a corporate giveaway in the eyes of some.
  The tax extenders have been routinely passed repeatedly because they 
are bipartisan and very popular. Democrats have consistently voted in 
favor of extending these tax provisions.
  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi released a very strong statement upon 
House passage of tax extenders in December of 2009, saying this was, 
``good for businesses, good for homeowners, and good for our 
communities.'' December of 2009 was not very long ago. In 2006, the 
then-Democratic leader released a blistering statement: ``After Bush 
Republicans in the Senate blocked passage of critical tax extenders, . 
. . American families and businesses are paying the price because this 
Do Nothing Republican Congress refuses to extend important tax 
breaks.'' I ask unanimous consent that both of these statements be 
printed in the Record in their entirety.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

  Pelosi: Tax Extenders Act Creates New Jobs, Growth, Innovation, and 
                     Opportunity for Every American

       Washington, DC--Speaker Nancy Pelosi released the following 
     statement today after the House passed the Tax Extenders Act 
     of 2009, which will help to create jobs and cut taxes for 
     American middle-class families. The House passed the bill by 
     a vote of 241 to 181.
       ``Today, Congress took another positive step forward in our 
     drive to create more jobs, strengthen our economy, and lay 
     the foundation for long-term prosperity. By passing the Tax 
     Extenders Act, we are placing our working families at the 
     center of our economic recovery.
       ``This legislation is good for businesses, good for 
     homeowners, and good for our communities. The bill extends 
     research and development tax credits for American companies, 
     encouraging them to invest in innovation and clean energy, 
     and create the high-tech jobs of the 21st century. It 
     provides property tax relief to 30 million families, ensures 
     our men and women called to serve overseas do not face a pay 
     cut here at home, and offers some security for millions of 
     parents, teachers, and consumers by extending deductions for 
     college tuition, classroom expenses, and state and local 
     sales taxes.
       ``Maintaining our commitment to fiscal discipline, this 
     legislation will not add to the deficit. The costs of this 
     proposal are fully paid for because we put an end to the 
     preferential tax treatment for hedge fund managers and 
     investment bankers and crack down on offshore tax havens.
       ``This bill is a down payment on new jobs, growth, 
     innovation, and opportunity for every American.''
                                  ____


          Reid: Republicans Should Stop Blocking Tax Extenders

       Washington, DC--Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid today 
     issued the following statement after Bush Republicans in the 
     Senate blocked passage of critical tax extenders.
       ``American families and businesses are paying the price 
     because this Do Nothing Republican Congress refuses to extend 
     important tax breaks. Families who just recently took their 
     sons and daughters to college now wonder whether the tuition 
     deduction that Republicans allowed to expire last year will 
     get reinstated. Teachers, forced to reach into their own 
     pockets to provide supplies for their students, now wonder 
     why Republicans refuse to extend the modest tax break they 
     get for doing so. Instead of holding such important tax 
     provisions hostage to ill-fated estate tax giveaways to 
     multi-millionaires, Republicans should join Democrats to pass 
     these measures today. Middle-class Americans deserve a new 
     direction, where they will not be forced to endure a tax 
     increase because of Republican inaction and obstruction.

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Recent bipartisan votes in the Senate on extending 
expiring tax provisions have come in the Emergency Economic 
Stabilization Act of 2008; the Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006, 
which passed the Senate by unanimous consent; and the Working Families 
Tax Relief Act of 2004, which originally passed the Senate by voice 
vote although the conference report received 92 votes in favor and a 
whopping 3 against. According to the nonpartisan Congressional Research 
Service, extension of several of these provisions go back even further, 
including the Tax Relief Extension Act of 1999, which again passed the 
Senate by unanimous consent but lost one vote on the conference report.
  Blinded and dazed by the power of their now not-so-super majority, 
certain Democrats have in the last few weeks turned against the 
extenders. One Democrat said:

       Our side isn't sure that the Republicans are real 
     interested in developing good policy and to move forward 
     together. Instead, they are more inclined to play rope-a-dope 
     again. My own view is, let's test them.

  Another member of this large 59-vote majority exclaimed:

       It looks more like a tax bill than a jobs bill to me. What 
     the Democratic Caucus is going to put on the floor is 
     something that's more focused on job creation than on tax 
     breaks.

  The only explanation for this behavior is that certain Senators have 
decided that it serves a deeply partisan goal to slander what have been 
for several years bipartisan and popular tax provisions benefitting 
many different people.
  Today's Washington Post article I quoted from earlier includes a 
statement from a Senate Democratic leadership aide saying:

       No decisions have been made, but anyone expecting us 
     immediately to go back to a bill that includes tax extenders 
     will be sorely disappointed.

  Having put their heads into the sand, this chamber's Democratic 
leaders seem intent on keeping them there. I appeal to all of you to 
vote against the Democratic Leadership's effort today to jam the 
Senate. A vote for the Senate Democratic Leadership's cloture motion is 
a vote to foreclose an opportunity to improve the bill. It also is a 
vote to forbid any corrections to mistakes in the bill. And there is a 
significant mistake in the Senate Democratic Leadership's bill. The 
bill as currently written would allow employers of illegal workers to 
benefit from the payroll tax holiday. We should correct that mistake 
with an amendment.
  The Senate Democratic Leadership's posture prohibits this correction.
  Either the Democratic leaders are playing partisan politics with tax 
extenders, or they don't understand the worth of the provisions to the 
economy, including job retention and creation. The biodiesel industry 
alone says 23,000 jobs are at risk due to the biodiesel tax credit 
being allowed to expire. Those workers are not fat cats.
  And in case anyone thinks biodiesel is something only Iowans worry 
about, these green jobs are in 44 of the 50 states. There are 24 
facilities in Texas. There are 15 facilities in Iowa. There

[[Page 1450]]

are 6 facilities in Illinois and 6 in Missouri. There are 4 facilities 
in Washington. Ohio has 11 facilities. There are 5 facilities in 
Indiana. There are 3 facilities each in Mississippi and South Carolina. 
There are 7 facilities in Pennsylvania and 4 in Arkansas. New Jersey 
has 2 facilities.
  There is one facility in North Dakota. Only 6 of the 50 States do not 
have some biodiesel production. They are Alaska, Delaware, Maine, New 
Hampshire, Vermont, and Wyoming. The other 44 States have some 
biodiesel presence. I have an article from the Erie, PA, newspaper, 
describing the struggles of a local biodiesel plant.
  So we need to turn away from talk of fat cats. We need to get back to 
work on the bipartisan package that was in the works until the Senate 
Democratic Leadership's dramatic change in direction. Many people who 
are not fat cats or a part of large corporations are counting on these 
provisions being extended, and they are counting on their elected 
representatives to work together, as we were doing, to get the job 
done.
  I ask unanimous consent the article be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

     Erie-Based Biodiesel Company Presses for Return of Tax Credit


              Hero BX suffers without biodiesel incentive

                            (By Jim Martin)

       A major financial incentive to purchase biodiesel fuel 
     disappeared Jan. 1, and companies such as Erie-based Hero BX 
     are feeling the pain.
       Hero, which can make up to 45 million gallons a year and 
     ranks as Pennsylvania's largest biodiesel company, ran full 
     steam for most of 2009.
       But now, the loss of a $1-a-gallon tax credit for buyers 
     who blend biodiesel with petroleum-based fuels has softened 
     demand dramatically, said Mike Noble, Hero BX president.
       The plant has operated only about 10 days since that credit 
     expired at the end of 2009, he said.
       ``We are running today and tomorrow. Then we will be done 
     for a few days,'' he said Friday. ``It comes and goes, but 
     there is not a lot of demand.''
       He's hoping the problem is temporary. So far this year, 
     however, efforts to reintroduce the tax credit, which makes 
     blodiesel prices more competitive, have fallen flat.
       An extension of the credit was included in a draft of an 
     $85 billion Senate jobs bill.
       However, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat from 
     Nevada, announced he would trim the tax credit, along with 
     other provisions, to a more modest $15 billion.
       Now, Reid and other Democrats in the Senate are under 
     pressure to restore the tax credit, not only from Republican 
     senators, but from Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, who has 
     called the credit, ``an important credit and support 
     mechanism'' for renewable fuels.
       There seems to be general agreement in Washington that the 
     credit will eventually be extended. The question that remains 
     is, ``When?''
       The timing matters a great deal to Hero BX, where Noble 
     said biofuel production supports 40 jobs directly and another 
     40 or so office jobs indirectly.
       So far, none of those employees have been laid off, despite 
     a dramatically reduced production schedule.
       ``Once we get them trained, it's a very technical job. I 
     really don't want to lay them off,'' Noble said, citing the 
     time and expense of training new employees.
       Noble said Hero BX has received support from U.S. Sens. 
     Arlen Specter and Bob Casey, both Pennsylvania Democrats.
       ``Senator Casey thinks we must quickly restore the 
     biodiesel tax credit to preserve jobs in Erie and promote 
     energy independence,'' Stephanie Zarecky, his press 
     secretary, said in a statement. ``Senate leadership has 
     announced their intention to bring an extension to the floor. 
     Senator Casey hopes that it will come to the floor soon and 
     receive bipartisan support.''
       Kate Kelly, press secretary for Specter, said her boss has 
     been a champion for the industry as a co-sponsor of the 
     Biodiesel Tax Incentive Reform and Extension Act of 2009, 
     which would have extended the tax credit through 2014.
       She said in a statement that ``Senator Specter's office has 
     been working closely with stakeholders on the matter and is 
     looking for an appropriate legislative vehicle through which 
     to reinstate the tax credit so that companies like Hero BX 
     can get back on their feet.''
       Both Hero BX and Erie-based American Biodiesel Energy Inc. 
     can look forward to May 1, when a new state mandate takes 
     effect that will require a 2 percent blend of biodiesel in 
     all diesel sold for over-the-road use in Pennsylvania.
       Noble said that mandate will be good for business but hopes 
     he doesn't have to wait that long to see some relief.
       ``The longer it takes, the further we go in debt and the 
     harder it will be to get out of the hole,'' he said.

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, what is the order before the Senate at this 
time?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The time until 5:30 p.m. is under the majority 
leader's control.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, if we are going to get the American economy 
back on track, we have to get the American people back to work. We know 
our serious troubles were not created in 1 day and we know they will 
not be solved overnight. But we have to begin. We have to take that 
first step. That is what the bill before us represents: a strong first 
step in the right direction.
  This is a jobs plan that will cut businesses' taxes as an incentive 
to hire unemployed workers. It is a plan that includes tax breaks for 
keeping those workers on the payroll and even more help for small 
businesses to write off their investments. In fact, this legislation 
will allow small businesses to write off up to $250,000 for equipment 
and materials they purchased. That is a good deal. They do not have to 
depreciate it.
  It will extend the highway trust fund and expand Build America Bonds. 
I just finished a meeting a few minutes ago with 11 Governors. This is 
one of the best programs with which they have ever dealt. We have no 
more money. It creates jobs immediately. It is oversubscribed. It is a 
wonderful program that will build roads, will build other projects, 
bridges. The highway trust fund, for example, will save 1 million jobs; 
in Nevada, thousands of jobs.
  I have a letter, if people think this is not a serious issue we are 
dealing with--and I do this because it is the only one I have--from the 
Missouri Department of Transportation:

       All bidders--PLEASE TAKE NOTE!--Unless the federal 
     government takes the necessary steps to ensure the 
     availability of federal funds for the remaining fiscal year 
     prior to 12:00 p.m. on February 25, 2010, the scheduled 
     February 26, 2010 bid opening will be Postponed/Withdrawn 
     until further notice.

  That is how it is. Missouri is not alone.
  With this bill, we will create the right conditions for the private 
sector to start hiring again, and we are doing so in the right places.
  These moneys, even though they come from Congress, the taxpayers' 
dollars go to create private jobs. These highways are not built by a 
bunch of Federal employees; they are built by private contractors. For 
every $1 billion we invest in infrastructure, we create 47,500 high-
paying jobs and other jobs that spin off from them.
  With this first bill, we will create the right conditions for the 
private sector to start hiring again. I think we are doing it in the 
right places. When we help small businesses thrive, we will create jobs 
that will let more entrepreneurs innovate and invent. When we invest in 
improving our roads and bridges, we will create jobs so workers can 
support their families but also create infrastructure to support our 
growing Nation.
  This bill is as good for the employees as it is for the employers. 
This bill is good for the employers who will do the hiring. This is 
such a good deal. If a person is out of work for 30 days, a business 
can hire them. If they hire them for up to 30 hours a week, they do not 
have to pay their withholding tax, and at the end of the year they get 
a $1,000 tax credit.
  On my trip home, businesses on the verge of hiring people said: This 
is going to allow us to hire people. We can afford to do this. This is 
as good for the employers doing the hiring as it is for the employees 
who will be getting hired.
  One thing about this bill. Everybody should hear this. It is fully 
paid for, no deficit spending, which means we are not adding a single 
dime to the deficit, not a penny. We are doing this the responsible 
way, holding ourselves to the same budgeting standards we teach our 
children: You can only spend the money you have.

[[Page 1451]]

  Each of these components--what are they? The Build America Bonds 
provision I talked about; extending the highway bill for a year; the 
provision Senator Hatch and Senator Schumer came up with that I talked 
about that allows an employer to hire somebody who has been off work 
for up to 60 days; and the final provision that allows them to write 
off $250,000 in purchases--is a good deal. That is what is in this 
bill.
  We are doing this bill in a way that is responsible. You should not 
spend money you do not have, and that is what we are doing here. Each 
of these components--the tax breaks, the support to help small 
businesses grow and hire more workers, the new construction projects, 
and the fiscally responsible way we are doing it--is a nonpartisan 
idea. Republicans have supported every part of this bill in the past--
every part of this bill--and Democrats have also done the same. There 
is simply no reason it should not receive overwhelming support from 
both sides of the aisle. But so far, I am sorry to say, this has not 
happened. I am disappointed that this has been the case.
  As the Presiding Officer knows, we had to file cloture some 70 times 
last year--70 times. That is remarkably bad. Let's change that. I have 
spoken some with some of my Republican colleagues this past week and 
said: Let's don't do that anymore. Let's work together.
  Who can complain about this bill? I have told the Republican leader 
and I have told anyone who will listen that we are going to move very 
quickly to a bill that will take about a day--travel promotion--after 
this. In every State in the Union, No. 1, No. 2, sometimes No. 3, but 
mostly No. 1 and No. 2, the economic driver is tourism. We are the only 
modern Nation that does not advertise itself. Watch TV and see the 
advertisements coming from Australia, New Zealand, South American 
countries, the Caribbean islands, and European countries. We should do 
the same. The Travel Promotion Act will save $\1/2\ billion, and it 
also pays for itself. There is no deficit spending.
  As we finish that bill--it should be toward the end of the week--we 
are going to move into the tax extenders, unemployment, COBRA, issues 
such as those. I have explained that to the Republican leader.
  Rather than figuring out how we can up the other politically, let's 
figure how to put Americans back to work. I am sorry to say my friends 
on the other side of the aisle are looking for ways not to vote for 
this bill. The business community supports this legislation. It is 
jobs. Rather than rally around a plan we know will create jobs, I have 
heard excuse after tired excuse. But the American people want us to 
work together. They are not buying these excuses.
  Why wouldn't we do this bill? We can create jobs starting in just a 
few days. If someone could explain to me what is wrong with this bill, 
I would be happy to listen to them. What is wrong with this 
legislation? Some have questioned the size of the bill. Only in 
Washington is a $15 billion investment to create and save more than 1 
million jobs not enough. I was stunned to hear on the radio this 
morning--when I received my press briefing, I was told that the unions 
and the left--whoever that is--oppose our bill because it is not big 
enough. Now try that one on, Mr. President. Only in Washington is a $15 
billion investment to create and save more than 1 million jobs not 
enough.
  The answer is not to do nothing. It is to do something to create jobs 
and then create more jobs and then create more jobs after that. That is 
why this is not the only jobs bill we are going to be dealing with or 
the last jobs bill we will bring to the floor. We have a jobs agenda, 
not a jobs bill. We are not going to stop until every American who 
wants a job can get one.
  Some Senators--one Senator in particular, but there are others; this 
Senator does not stand alone--think that money that was spent on TARP 
should be returned for the deficit. Other Senators said: I think the 
money that has not been spent from the stimulus should be returned to 
employees. These are all good ideas, and amendments are going to be 
able to be offered when we get to our package later this week. That is 
the way it should be.
  We want every person in America who needs a job to get a job, but we 
cannot do it alone. My friends on the other side of the aisle share 
this responsibility. When I had 60 votes, all the responsibility was 
mine. It is no longer that way. We are down to 59, and 1 of my Senators 
is sick today. I did speak with Senator Lautenberg last night. He is 
doing fine. He is such a strong man. He said he will be back in a week 
or two. He is doing just fine.
  If Republicans support this bill, as they have all the elements of it 
in the past, and they join us to pass it, we are going to do many more 
bills just like this to create jobs. However, if my friends on the 
other side of the aisle want to put partisanship ahead of people--
people who are out of work--if they once again try to distract from the 
issue at hand, they will only confirm their reputation as the party of 
no. They will only confirm the American people's fear that Republicans 
refuse to do anything to help them.
  So to my Republican colleagues, I say as seriously and fervently as I 
can: Work with us. Show us you are serious about legislating. Show our 
constituents you are serious about leading. Show the skeptics that you 
know that putting people back to work is far more important than 
putting points up on the political scoreboard. Most important, I ask my 
Republican colleagues to show those Americans who deserve a job they 
can go to every morning, a job they can get up and go to, that we are 
willing to do our job tonight.
  It is remarkable we have to hold a procedural vote on a bill that 
will create jobs. It will be regrettable if the minority prevents us 
from moving forward, from taking that first step, from giving millions 
of unemployed Americans the hope that tomorrow will be better than 
yesterday.
  Think what it is for someone to get up in the morning and have no 
place to go to work. I have met with some people, while I was home, 
dealing with domestic abuse. It has gotten out of hand. Why? Men do not 
have jobs. Women do not have jobs, either, but women are not abusive, 
most of the time. Men, when they are out of work, tend to become 
abusive. Our domestic crisis shelters in Nevada are jammed. That is the 
way it is all over the country. Jobs bring dignity, and that is what 
this legislation is all about.
  I hope we can pass this legislation and move on during this work 
period and work together in doing some good things for this country.
  We have a couple minutes until 5:30 p.m. It is my understanding the 
vote is to occur at that time. Since there is no one on the floor, I 
ask unanimous consent that the vote start early, and we will not cut it 
off early.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.


                             Cloture Motion

  Under the previous order, pursuant to rule XXII, the Chair lays 
before the Senate the pending cloture motion, which the clerk will 
report.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

                             Cloture Motion

       We, the undersigned Senators, in accordance with the 
     provisions of rule XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate, 
     hereby move to bring to a close debate on the motion to 
     concur with an amendment to the House amendment to the Senate 
     amendment to H.R. 2847, an act making appropriations for the 
     Departments of Commerce, and Justice and Science, and Related 
     Agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2010, and 
     for other purposes.
         Harry Reid, Patrick J. Leahy, Barbara Boxer, Charles E. 
           Schumer, Mark R. Warner, Tom Harkin, Kay R. Hagan, 
           Daniel K. Inouye, Bill Nelson, Al Franken, Max Baucus, 
           John D. Rockefeller IV, Robert Menendez, Amy Klobuchar, 
           Daniel K. Akaka, Frank R. Lautenberg, Byron L. Dorgan, 
           Richard Durbin.

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. By unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum 
call has been waived.
  The question is, Is it the sense of the Senate that the debate on the 
motion to concur with an amendment to the House amendment to the Senate 
amendment to H.R. 2847, an act making appropriations for the 
Departments of

[[Page 1452]]

Commerce, and Justice, and Science, and Related Agencies for the fiscal 
year ending September 30, 2010, and for other purposes, shall be 
brought to a close?
  The yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk called the roll.
  Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from New Jersey (Mr. 
Lautenberg) is necessarily absent.
  Mr. KYL. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator 
from Utah (Mr. Bennett), the Senator from Kansas (Mr. Brownback), the 
Senator from North Carolina (Mr. Burr), the Senator from Wyoming (Mr. 
Enzi), the Senator from Alabama (Mr. Sessions), the Senator from 
Georgia (Mr. Isakson), and the Senator from Utah (Mr. Hatch).
  Further, if present and voting, the Senator from Georgia (Mr. 
Isakson) would have voted ``nay,'' and the Senator from Utah (Mr. 
Hatch), would have voted ``nay.''
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there any other Senators in the Chamber 
desiring to vote?
  The result was announced--yeas 62, nays 30, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 23 Leg.]

                                YEAS--62

     Akaka
     Baucus
     Bayh
     Begich
     Bennet
     Bingaman
     Bond
     Boxer
     Brown (MA)
     Brown (OH)
     Burris
     Byrd
     Cantwell
     Cardin
     Carper
     Casey
     Collins
     Conrad
     Dodd
     Dorgan
     Durbin
     Feingold
     Feinstein
     Franken
     Gillibrand
     Hagan
     Harkin
     Inouye
     Johnson
     Kaufman
     Kerry
     Klobuchar
     Kohl
     Landrieu
     Leahy
     Levin
     Lieberman
     Lincoln
     McCaskill
     Menendez
     Merkley
     Mikulski
     Murray
     Nelson (FL)
     Pryor
     Reed
     Reid
     Rockefeller
     Sanders
     Schumer
     Shaheen
     Snowe
     Specter
     Stabenow
     Tester
     Udall (CO)
     Udall (NM)
     Voinovich
     Warner
     Webb
     Whitehouse
     Wyden

                                NAYS--30

     Alexander
     Barrasso
     Bunning
     Chambliss
     Coburn
     Cochran
     Corker
     Cornyn
     Crapo
     DeMint
     Ensign
     Graham
     Grassley
     Gregg
     Hutchison
     Inhofe
     Johanns
     Kyl
     LeMieux
     Lugar
     McCain
     McConnell
     Murkowski
     Nelson (NE)
     Risch
     Roberts
     Shelby
     Thune
     Vitter
     Wicker

                             NOT VOTING--8

     Bennett
     Brownback
     Burr
     Enzi
     Hatch
     Isakson
     Lautenberg
     Sessions
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mrs. Shaheen.) On this vote, the yeas are 62, 
the nays are 30. Three-fifths of the Senators duly chosen and sworn 
having voted in the affirmative, the motion is agreed to.
  Cloture having been invoked on the motion to concur with an 
amendment, the motion to refer falls.
  Mr. REID. Madam President, I hope this is the beginning of a new day 
in the Senate. Whether this new day was created by the new Senator from 
Massachusetts or some other reason, I am very happy that we were able 
to get this vote. But there are some winners--not any individual 
Senator, not Democrats or Republicans; the winners are small business 
people throughout this country.
  On my trip home this past 10 days, people are excited about the fact 
they may be able to write off $250,000 for things they badly need--not 
depreciate it, just write it off. The other three provisions are 
wonderful. To extend the highway bill for a year is going to save 
thousands of jobs in Nevada and 1 million jobs throughout the country. 
So the small business communities throughout this country are winners, 
and also workers. This is going to create jobs.
  I had a long conversation today with the Republican leader, and I 
told him what the plans are in the Senate. He listened very closely, 
and we had a very good conversation. We are going to move, for a day or 
two after we complete this, to travel promotion, another bipartisan 
bill. It will save $\1/2\ billion. It will create thousands and 
thousands of jobs. All around the world countries advertise their 
tourism, but we do not. In this great country of ours, we do not see 
anything on TV. All we see is money being spent by other countries 
having us go to their countries. We want to do the same in their 
countries. That is what this is all about. Every State in the Union, 
all 50, the No. 1, 2, and in a few instances the third economic driving 
factor is tourism. This will help tourism.
  As soon as we finish that, toward the end of this week, what we will 
do is move to the Finance Committee matters that they worked on before, 
and they worked very hard. I am glad we have made progress in that 
regard. I told Senator McConnell that will be open to amendment. I will 
try to work out with him so many amendments on each side. If we cannot 
do that, we will not do that. I hope we can do that. But if we cannot, 
we will move forward on the tax extenders, the expiring provisions, and 
a few other things.
  It is really a new day. I look forward to this work period being one 
where we can all go home and say: You know, ladies and gentlemen from 
Nevada and New Hampshire and Illinois and New Jersey and New York and 
Arkansas, we are working together. We are really getting things done 
together. That is what legislation should be about. Legislation is the 
art of compromise. It is building consensus and working together.
  Basically that is what this piece of legislation is all about. This 
is not the jobs bill that we just completed. At least cloture has been 
invoked, and we will vote on that in another day or so. It is part of 
an agenda. We are going to have, later this month, another jobs bill. I 
have spoken to a number of Republican Senators. They have specific 
provisions they want in this bill. It will deal with small business. 
During the last 10 years, 96 percent of all jobs in America were 
created by small businesses. I am very happy we were able to do this.
  I express my appreciation to Senator Boxer, chairman of the Public 
Works Committee. She has worked so hard. I love her committee. I was 
chairman on two separate occasions. It is a committee I have fond 
memories of serving on. Every time I see the enthusiasm of Barbara 
Boxer, I know why the State of California cares so much about her.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from California.
  Mrs. BOXER. Madam President, before the majority leader leaves the 
floor, I want to say to him that today jobs triumphed over politics. 
That is a great day around here. Jobs triumphed over politics. I want 
to say to Senator Reid, this idea you have to keep these bills very 
straightforward and very easy to understand, this bill, four parts to 
it, two parts dealt with infrastructure, two parts dealt with tax 
breaks that were related to making capital investments and hiring 
unemployed workers, is very simple for people to understand. I have to 
say to my Democratic colleagues, 57 of whom voted for this, thank you. 
And to the five Republicans who joined us, thank you so much. It means 
so much to the working families of this country, to the business 
community.
  I want to say a special word to Senator Lautenberg if he is watching. 
I know how strongly he supports transportation. He is kind of Mr. 
Transportation in New Jersey. We all wish him well. We know he would 
have been here if there was any way for him to be here. I will not say 
any more than I said before. I want to thank specific people out there 
around the country whom I talked to on several conference calls over 
this break. They were always there. Night and day we talked. I 
explained to them how close this vote would be. They explained to me 
that they understood what the stakes were, a million jobs at stake in 
relation to the highway trust fund, thousands more at stake in relation 
to the Build America bonds. This is a good day.
  I thank the American Association of State Highway and Transportation 
Officials; the American Road and Transportation Builders Association; 
the Associated General Contractors of America; the U.S. Chamber of 
Commerce; the Laborers International Union; the International Union of 
Operating Engineers; the American Highway Users Alliance; Faster, 
Better, Safer Americans for Transportation Mobility; the AAA, which 
wrote to us. I want to say to all

[[Page 1453]]

of them, they made this vote work because they knew what was happening 
on the ground.
  In closing, I have one more thank you. This is a strange thing to say 
but I want to thank the Missouri Department of Transportation for 
telling the truth. Listen to what they wrote:

       All bidders--PLEASE TAKE NOTE!--Unless the federal 
     government takes the necessary steps to ensure the 
     availability of federal funds for the remaining fiscal year, 
     bid openings will be postponed or withdrawn until further 
     notice.

  In other words, the Department of Transportation in Missouri, being 
the first State to be hit with this mess--by the way, followed closely 
by North Dakota, they are very close to this place, all of our States 
are--they came forward and told the truth that we had to act today. I 
hope the House will act with us, and we will get this resolved. In 
March we will start on the new bill. It is a good day.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from North Dakota.
  Mr. DORGAN. Let me thank the Senator from California, Mrs. Boxer, and 
certainly Senator Reid and others. This vote was very important. The 
question for the Senate and the Congress is when 25, 26 million people 
wake up in this country and go looking for a job and can't find it--the 
numbers I know are 16 to 17 million people, but the real number of 
people who are unemployed in America is much higher than that. There 
are many who have given up hope. At a time when that many Americans are 
looking for work and can't find it, they need some hope. This Senate 
has a choice of doing nothing or doing something. There are too many in 
this Senate who have always been satisfied to do nothing. Tonight, 
finally, in a piece of legislation that will put people to work, we 
know, for example, that the private sector hires people, small and 
medium-size businesses. But we also know that when you spend money for 
highways, highway contractors are going to put people on payrolls 
immediately, because those programs and those projects are already 
engineered, already designed, ready to go. The money doesn't exist for 
them. When the money is made available, people will be hired 
immediately.
  The same is true with respect to the wage tax credits in this piece 
of legislation. I held a hearing in the policy committee. We had three 
small to medium-size businesses there, all of which are profitable, all 
wonderful businesses, all ready to expand. But none of them could 
because none of them could find capital or they had no access to 
capital from their banks. Money was not available. These are successful 
businesses, profitable businesses, businesses wanting to and ready to 
expand, wanting to hire more people and can't do it.
  The fact is, this legislation is another step in the direction of 
saying to small to medium-size businesses, when you are ready to begin 
hiring again, here is an additional incentive to hire that next worker. 
Slowly but surely we have to find a way to give people confidence, give 
the American people confidence that this economy is improving, that 
there will be a job, there will be opportunity and hope in the future.
  We don't so much spend our days with people who are out of work. Most 
people serving in the Senate have a pretty wonderful opportunity. They 
put on a suit in the morning. We are the kind of people, we shower in 
the morning, put on a suit, are dressed up all day, come here. Our jobs 
are not being shipped overseas. In most cases, people in this Chamber 
have not been so much subject to the deep recession. But a lot of 
people have. Five-and-a-half million people who used to work in 
manufacturing making things have lost their jobs in recent years. The 
question for most of those people who are looking for some hope from 
their leaders is: Will somebody do something, or is the government 
going to be content to do nothing?
  The action this evening by which these four pieces of legislation, 
which include some incentives for small and medium-size businesses, 
some bonding authority that will increase economic activity, the 
extension of the highway program that will put people back to work, 
expensing for small businesses--these are all things that are going to 
actually put people on payrolls. It is not a case where we will hire 
somebody as a government worker. It is a case of incentivizing highway 
contractors to hire people to help build roads and bridges and repair 
roads and bridges. It is a case of incentivizing small to medium-size 
businesses to say: If you need that extra little incentive to hire that 
next person, here it is.
  Finally, and even more important than the incentive, is the signal 
this sends, the signal that maybe at least, at long last, we will begin 
to see some progress, some cooperation, circumstances in which 
Republicans and Democrats vote together in sufficient numbers that 
things can get passed and get done. With as deep a recession as we are 
in, the deepest since the Great Depression, there is an urgency. It 
ought to be treated as an urgent situation. This vote this evening may 
well put us on the road to understanding how urgent it is and how 
important it is that we take action rather than delay.
  I thank the leader and so many others. Senator Durbin and I worked on 
a jobs package. These four provisions are in that package. There are 
other pieces we can implement in the future that will also be 
substantially important in getting people back to work, putting America 
back to work. I know the Senator from Ohio will speak next. I know he 
hopes that perhaps we will not just put people back to work but perhaps 
will make products that say ``made in America'' once again. Wouldn't 
that be a wonderful thing.
  One additional point. I spoke earlier describing the metaphor of 
filling the bathtub. We are trying to get the faucet going with 
incentives to put people to work. At the same time you have to plug the 
drain a little bit. We have a drain of jobs going out of this country. 
The President, in the State of the Union, said: Let's get rid of that 
unbelievable tax break that we provide people for moving jobs overseas. 
I have been in the Senate working on that for a long time. It is 
unbelievable that we say to somebody: Close up your factory, fire your 
workers, move the jobs overseas, and you get a big fat tax break. We 
need to plug the drain, in addition to opening the faucet to try to get 
additional jobs and work on that in addition to the progress we have 
made this evening that will give some hope to the American people who 
want to go to work and need a good job.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Ohio.
  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Madam President, I thank Senator Dorgan, who has 
led with Senator Durbin on all kinds of job creation efforts, 
understanding that although the private sector creates these jobs, it 
is a partnership with the private and public sector and State and local 
and Federal governments. He had it right. We need to follow his 
suggestions and those of Senator Durbin as we move forward, including 
what was on the floor earlier this evening.
  There are in my State some 640,000 unemployed people, in a State of 
about 11 million. There are hundreds of thousands more who are 
underemployed. There are tens of thousands of small businesses across 
Ohio. There are hundreds of thousands of Ohioans who help ensure that 
roads and bridges and transit systems serve the best interests of 
residents and businesses.
  The bill we voted on today would help those Ohioans. These Ohioans 
didn't bring about our Nation's economic crisis. It wasn't people who 
work every day in Zaynesville and Lima or Findley who brought this on, 
but they are paying the price for it every day. Too many people are 
losing health insurance.
  I was just on public television with the senior Senator from New 
Hampshire. I pointed out that 390 Ohioans every day lose their health 
insurance. This economy has squeezed more and more people, people who 
have jobs, let alone the anxiety of people who have jobs and are afraid 
that they will lose those jobs. Small businesses in my State have 
everything it takes to thrive, but they are undermined by this perilous 
economic climate. Construction workers, manufacturing

[[Page 1454]]

workers, small businesses, other hard-working Ohioans who keep our 
State going are losing jobs, not because they are not good employees, 
not because they don't show up, not because they aren't working hard, 
but because the dollars aren't there to pay them because employers are 
laying them off, whether in the private or public sector. Unemployed 
workers are remaining that way not because they don't have the drive or 
the skills to succeed.
  Majority Leader Reid has introduced a bill based on proposals from 
Democrats and Republicans alike that would give tax breaks to small 
businesses and ensure dollars continue to flow into the highway trust 
fund. It is a bill designed to cut businesses a break. It is a bill 
designed to sustain our roads and bridges and transit systems to 
prevent massive job loss among the millions of Americans who work to 
ensure the safety and the effectiveness of our transportation 
infrastructure. If they are working, if people are working 
construction, if our bus drivers in the cities who are getting 
particularly the elderly and low-income people to their doctors' 
appointments or to their workplace, if they are working, if the bus 
drivers and the transit workers and the construction workers and the 
highway builders, if they are working, then there is more money in the 
economy and more people are working.
  It is a bill, unfortunately, most Republicans in this Chamber, for 
whatever reason--they always have a reason to be obstructive literally 
100 times in this session, more than 100 times--it is a bill that most 
of my Republican colleagues are determined to kill. I thank Senator 
Voinovich, the senior Republican in my State, for his support. I thank 
the other four or five Republicans who voted at least to let us debate 
this bill, something in the past they haven't even been willing to do 
on other legislation.
  So at least we have made progress that way. But if the press is 
right, the Republican leadership and their lobbying friends gathered 
together. They have been working 24/7 to convince the public that a 
bill solely focused on small businesses and middle-class jobs is a bad 
bill. You may have seen news reports that 100 lobbyists sat down with 
Republicans and figured out a strategy to try to kill this jobs bill. 
It is the same story, it is the same movie we watched last year on 
health care. It is the same story again that we have seen, that they 
are doing whatever it takes to kill this legislation. Fortunately for 
the American people, fortunately for these hundreds of thousands of 
Ohioans who are unemployed or underemployed, they did not get away with 
it today, that enough Republicans broke with their leadership and 
supported efforts to move forward on jobs legislation.
  Earlier today, I met with 200 to 300 Ohioans to unveil a report on 
how to get our State's economy back on track. This was a group of 
Democrats, Republicans, and Independents, and it was a group that had 
everyone from the mayor of Mansfield and the mayor of Marietta, to 
small businesses, to large companies, a couple of executives, American 
Electric Power Company, to a whole host of citizen activists who want 
to do whatever it takes. They want to fight for made-in-America 
legislation that Senator Dorgan mentioned. They want a manufacturing 
industrial policy in this country. We are the only country in the 
developed world that does not have a real plan on how to do 
manufacturing, on how to build an industrial economy, on how we begin 
to lead the world not just in the technology, which we have done in 
solar and wind turbines and biomass and fuel cells--we lead in 
technology; we do not lead in industrial development and making those 
products. We developed the wind turbine technology in Sandusky, OH, 
about 30 miles from where I live, but most of the wind turbines, the 
components--a lot of components are made in Ohio, but most of the wind 
turbines are manufactured and assembled overseas. It is the same on 
solar technology, the same on biomass, the same on fuel cells. Our 
scientists, our engineers, our professors, and our researchers develop 
a lot of this technology, but we are not making it in Ohio and New 
Hampshire and States around the country.
  So today, as I said, all couple hundred, 250, 300 Ohioans--Democrats, 
Independents, Republicans--gathered to figure out how to do this, to 
move our State forward. As I said, there were a lot of Republicans. But 
Republicans in Washington look at the world differently. Many of them 
are trying to demonize a bill that provides tax breaks, that saves 
jobs. They need to take a step back, the Republicans in this body who I 
believe are very out of step with Republicans and everybody else in 
States such as mine. They need to take a step back and remember for 
whom they work.
  Opposition for opposition's sake is not working for the American 
people. On the Senate floor, we need to work together to save small 
businesses, to help these small businesses get credit, to help these 
small businesses work with local communities to provide jobs. That is 
what they want to do. We can do this if we work together.
  Madam President, I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
order for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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