[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 8]
[Senate]
[Pages 11780-11781]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         DISAPPOINTED AMERICANS

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, today there are about 1 million people in 
America who are terribly disappointed at what took place yesterday--1 
million people. That is 1 million in one category. There are hundreds 
and hundreds of thousands of others who are disappointed because of 
different things done to them yesterday as a result of the Republicans 
not supporting legislation. It was fully paid for.
  The statements made by Republicans after this bill was rejected by 
them are simply without any fact.
  There were efforts made to work with Republicans. We cut the size of 
the bill. We paid even for things we had never paid for before. We 
decided to do that in an effort to get help for millions of Americans.
  One of the things we paid for was something called FMAP, which is 
money we would direct to the States that they could use for police, 
fire, teachers, nurses--to stop layoffs from taking place there. That 
was rejected.
  There are numerous editorials around the country rejecting what the 
Republicans did yesterday, and there are headlines in virtually every 
newspaper of America:
  LA Times: ``Senate GOP Blocks Jobless Aid Extension.''
  Business Week: ``Republicans Thwart Bill With Unemployment Aid, 
Buyout Tax Boost.''
  Boston Globe: ``Filibuster Halts Bill Boosting Jobless Benefits, Aid 
to States.''
  McClatchy Newspapers: ``GOP Blocks Jobless-Benefit Extension 
Breaks.''
  USA TODAY: ``Senate GOP Again Blocks Bill Extending Jobless Benefits, 
Tax Breaks.''
  Those tax breaks were for middle-class Americans.
  The Seattle Times: ``Republicans Continue Blockade of Federal Aid 
Bill.''
  The Republicans in the Senate have made the decision to do everything 
they can to turn the country upside down, to do everything they can to 
stop any economic recovery because they think it may help Barack Obama, 
it may help some of their people trying to run for Senate seats around 
the country. So they figure, as bad as they can make the economy, the 
better off they will be.
  That is a pretty difficult view for people who are Senators. The 
Presiding Officer is a Senator from the State of Oregon, and that is 
his prime responsibility, to take care of that State. But, also, as a 
United States Senator, he has to be concerned with what goes on in the 
other 49 States. That is our job, that is our role, that is the way we 
were constitutionally designated.
  The bill they rejected yesterday creates jobs. As the headlines say, 
it closes corporate loopholes. The bill yesterday that was rejected by 
the Republicans would stop jobs from being outsourced from American 
companies getting tax breaks by creating jobs overseas. Those jobs 
should be created here. That was rejected by the Republicans.
  The bill that was before the Senate was a bill that would help small 
businesses grow and allow them to hire once again, to be the engine 
that runs our country. Big businesses should not be rewarded for 
shipping jobs overseas when there are so many at home desperate for a 
paycheck.
  I have read a number of these stories. They are heartbreaking. I read 
the Nevada clips today. There was a statement from one man there in 
effect saying: What is going on back there? This

[[Page 11781]]

is not a partisan game. I need money to take care of my family. I need 
my unemployment check. I have tried to find work. I can't find work.
  But that had no bearing on the Republicans yesterday because they, as 
we learned in the health care debate, want everything that Obama does 
to be his Waterloo. Everything in this bill was paid for with the 
exception of unemployment compensation--about which there has always 
been a bipartisan recognition it is an emergency or they wouldn't be 
asking for unemployment benefits.
  The Republicans were even unwilling to allow us to bring up the bill 
for debate. They wanted to stop debate, stop further discussion of this 
bill. We could not invoke cloture to allow the debate to go forward. 
Every Republican voted against it.
  I was surprised by statements of some coming to the floor afterward 
to say: Yes, but I was in favor of the unemployment benefits.
  Let's be clear about all the good things a ``yes'' vote enables our 
country to do with this legislation. It would have allowed the Senate 
to pass this. It could have gone to the President for signature. A 
``no'' vote stopped us from doing things to help regular guys on the 
street, people who are desperate for help.
  Think of this one: The extension of a tax deduction for tuition. 
There are young men and women all over America today getting excited 
about going to school or going back to school. Because of what was done 
by the Republicans yesterday, there will be young men and women unable 
to go to school. They are going to have to stay out until the economy 
gets better, until their dad gets a job and mom gets a job because the 
tuition tax deduction is not going to be around. What a disappointed 
group of young men and women we are going to have. As sad as it is, 
some of those kids will never go to college because of this.
  This legislation has allowed tax benefits for working men and women 
of this country, allowed for a deduction for property taxes. We didn't 
do it yesterday. It is not available now.
  Teachers around America would have been able to deduct, with their 
income tax, not much--$250 a year to get a tax credit for the pencils 
and paper and stuff they buy every year.
  As you know, having been around teachers, as we all have, they spend 
lots of their own money for supplies for the kids. Yesterday, the 
Republicans took that small $250-a-year deduction away from these 
teachers, all teachers.
  Build America Bonds. Reading the Nevada clips today, because those 
monies are shrinking, there are not as many people making application 
for those Build America Bonds programs. This has been such a stimulus 
for our country since we passed that in the economic recovery act. And 
we are running out of money there. The bill yesterday would have 
provided $4 billion, all paid for--no running up the deficit, all paid 
for. That was rejected by the Republicans. They said no. That $4 
billion would have multiplied into many more dollars because if you 
have a contract worth $2 or $3 million, people go to work, they can buy 
groceries, they can buy shoes. It stimulates the businesses all over 
the community. But the Republicans said no to that.
  State and local governments are begging for these moneys. 
Infrastructure is down. We need to do water and sewer projects, street 
projects. But the Republicans said no.
  Legislation was rejected yesterday on an extension of the small 
business lending provisions that would provide low-cost loans to small 
businesses. The Republicans yesterday unanimously said no.
  The bill provided $2\1/2\ billion for State wage assistance programs. 
Starting in the Clinton administration, there was always talk by the 
Republicans and by everybody--not just the Republicans--about shouldn't 
we do more than provide welfare to people? Shouldn't we provide a way 
that, if they are on welfare, they can go to work? That is what this 
money is about. Those programs have been terminated, programs that have 
worked so well to have people go from welfare to work. Yesterday, the 
Republicans said no unanimously; let them stay on welfare; they do not 
need to learn how to work; they do not need to transfer to a job.
  This legislation that was rejected yesterday provided tax credits for 
research and development. A lot of companies, especially small 
companies, cannot do the research and development they need to do 
unless they get some kind of a tax incentive to do it. It will not be 
done.
  This bill provided $5 billion--all paid for--in new market tax 
credits. What this meant is that investments could be made in 
economically distressed areas. They exist in Oregon. They exist in 
Nevada. They are going to continue to exist without any improvement 
because of the rejection by the Republicans yesterday.
  Everything I have talked about creates jobs, and to have the 
Republicans come to the floor and say: We reject it because of the 
cost--it was rejected because they do not believe that middle-class 
America deserves a break; that all of the breaks should go to the fat 
cats.
  Right now, as a result of the Republicans rejecting this legislation, 
someone who is working for minimum wage will continue to pay more taxes 
percentage-wise than Warren Buffet or one of the multibillionaires on 
Wall Street. They will pay more of a percentage of their income than 
one of those very rich people.
  In this legislation, we had a provision to extend the first-time home 
buyers tax credit so that people who already qualified can buy a home--
rejected. They even rejected a provision we had in this legislation so 
that someone who is called away to fight in Afghanistan or Iraq--we had 
a provision in this bill to allow them to make up the difference 
between their military pay and the pay in their job so they would not 
lose their home, as they have done, and put a tremendous burden on 
spouses left at home.
  One thing my friends on the other side of the aisle should be very 
proud of is they protected corporate interests yesterday. They did that 
big time. They are betting on our country to fail. That is a sad 
commentary.
  We are going to continue. A bill is on the floor now. It is another 
bill to create jobs, small-business job creation. We have worked hard 
to get that done--Senator Landrieu, Senator Baucus, Small Business, 
Finance--and we will have a vote on that Monday. Again, it is being 
blocked by the Republicans, blocking us from even going to it. So we 
will need 60 votes Monday to allow us to debate whether this country 
needs small businesses to create jobs. We should be on that bill today 
so people could start offering amendments and do something productive. 
But, no, what will happen on Monday is they will probably vote for it, 
and then they will get the 30 hours to sit around and look at each 
other and do nothing. That is what the rules of the Senate allow. So 
they have accomplished more of their wasting time to prevent the Obama 
administration and the rest of us from accomplishing something good for 
the country. We are going to continue to try. We have to do that in 
spite of the obstructionism of the Republicans.

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