[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 12]
[Senate]
[Page 16592]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        REBUILD AMERICA JOBS ACT

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, yesterday evening, I called my friend from 
Searchlight, NV, Arthur Fraijo. Arthur's family has been in Searchlight 
for many years. His mom and dad have passed away. I keep in touch with 
him. He is a wonderful, hard-working man. I said, ``Where are you 
today, Arthur?'' He said, ``I am at work.'' I said, ``You're kidding, 
where are you?'' He was at this project out by Primm, a big solar 
project. I said, ``How long have you been working?'' I remember that he 
said it was a matter of weeks. It is the first job he has had in 3 
years. He is an iron worker and he is working now, and he is very 
happy. Here is an iron worker, a construction worker, who has finally 
found a job.
  In Nevada we have thousands of other people who have been out of work 
for a long period of time--construction workers such as Arthur. Most 
are not fortunate enough to have a job such as he has. That is what our 
legislation is all about. The legislation we will vote on this 
afternoon deals with putting people back to work, hundreds of thousands 
of construction workers. This is a bill that does not add more deficit 
spending. It is paid for, and it is not an attack on millionaires and 
billionaires. Many millionaires and billionaires are very fortunate in 
that they may not, in a given year, make a million dollars but they 
still have assets, so they are millionaires and billionaires. We have 
made sure that a small percentage of Americans would help us put people 
such as Arthur back to work.
  What we have suggested in our legislation is so reasonable and so 
fair. What we are saying is that people who make all this money--more 
than a million dollars a year--should contribute to the restructuring 
of our economy. The plan is paid for by asking these people to 
contribute a little more to get the economy back on track. We are not 
asking all millionaires and billionaires; we are asking the people who 
have made more than $1 million a year to pay a little bit extra. It is 
the right thing to do. It amounts to two-tenths of 1 percent of the 
people who make money in America--two-tenths of 1 percent.
  It is unbelievable that the Republicans have lined up in the past--
and we have heard they are going to do the same thing today--in 
unanimous opposition to this commonsense plan that is supported by 
people all over America--not Democrats only, not Independents only, but 
Democrats, Independents, and Republicans.
  Americans are crying for jobs, crying for us to pass this bill. This 
would put 3,000 or 4,000 people to work in Nevada. I think that is 
extremely important. And in every State it is the same. I talked to my 
friend from New Mexico yesterday, Senator Bingaman, the senior Senator, 
and he said it would put 4,000 people to work there. New Mexico's 
economy is not as troubled as Nevada's, but they are not doing as well 
as in years past.
  This legislation levies a small tax on the top two-tenths of 1 
percent of the American taxpayers. Their income has increased 275 
percent over the last three decades. The top 1 percent of these people 
in America make as much as the other 99 percent put together.
  We are being told that, well, we want to help you, but we have taken 
a tax pledge from this person named Grover Norquist. As Alan Simpson 
said, does that mean more than your country? If it does, he said you 
should not be in Congress.
  I yield the floor.

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