[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 8]
[Senate]
[Page 11163]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       FAR-REACHING CONSEQUENCES

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, what we do on the Senate floor has 
consequences far beyond this building. We know our work has real world 
costs, far beyond the beltway. But it is not just what we do that 
touches our constituents' lives and livelihoods, it is also what we do 
not do. When the Senate refuses to pass good bills, the people in our 
States pay the price. I hope we can avoid more of that this week and we 
can come together and work productively.
  Right now, loopholes reward corporations for shipping jobs out of 
America, putting them out of reach of the many unemployed workers in 
each of our States. Every day we do not act, the loopholes remain wide 
open, those jobs vanish, and those we represent get hurt.
  Right now, small businesses are desperate for tax incentives to 
create jobs at home. Every day we don't act, those small businesses 
have a harder time hiring, and the unemployment rate has a harder time 
falling.
  Right now, Nevada's unemployment rate is the highest in the country. 
Victims of the recession who have been out of work for a long time are 
struggling to make ends meet while they are looking for a job. This 
bill extends the emergency unemployment assistance they need, critical 
help that, for many, has expired or dried up.
  Every day we don't act, those families in Nevada and across the 
Nation continue to suffer unnecessary pain. This will be the eighth 
week since March the Senate has debated the tax-cutting, job-creating 
bill currently on the Senate floor. That is 2 full months, 2 full 
months we have been waiting and they have been waiting--the people in 
our States--for us to respond to an emergency. That is unacceptable.
  The richest corporations continue to get richer while the unemployed 
remain out of work. Every minute we waste, it gets worse. It is our job 
to debate and not to delay. It is our job to legislate; it is our job 
to do something about the plight of the people in America. We need to 
legislate relief.
  As we serve our citizens, it would serve the Senate well to remember 
the consequences of decisions that are driven by politics, purely, and 
the consequences of our actions and our inaction alike.

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