[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 12]
[Senate]
[Pages 16999-17000]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                             JOBS CREATION

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I would like to start today on a 
positive note. Later this very day, the two parties will come together 
to do something we haven't been doing enough of around here: we will 
pass a jobs bill on a bipartisan basis, and then we will send it back 
to the House, where we hope it will pass shortly. In other words, we 
are going to legislate. I know that might sound a little like a 
groundbreaking idea to some of my colleagues on the other side who 
would rather spend all of their time putting together legislation aimed 
at sending a political message, but hopefully today's votes will help 
change that.
  As I have been saying for weeks now, we have two choices: We can 
either acknowledge the fact that we live in a two-party system and work 
together on legislation both parties can embrace or we can spend our 
time, as Democrats have for the past 2 months, putting together 
legislation that is designed to fail.
  House Republicans have chosen the former approach. Since taking over 
the majority earlier this year, they have searched for common ground 
when it comes to jobs legislation, and they have found it, passing more 
than 20 bills aimed at spurring the economy and creating jobs that have 
attracted strong bipartisan support.
  Meanwhile, the Democratic majority here in the Senate has opted for 
the latter approach. Taking their cues from the political team down at 
the White House, Senate Democrats have spent most of their time trying 
to make Republicans look bad instead of looking for ways to work with 
us on meaningful jobs legislation.
  But today they have taken a break from all that, and I am pleased to 
say the two parties will pass two important pieces of jobs legislation: 
Senator Brown's 3 percent withholding bill, which eases the burden on 
government contractors, freeing up more money they can use to expand 
and to hire, and a veterans bill sponsored by Senator Murray that not 
only helps returning veterans but the businesses that hire them.
  On their own, these bills won't solve our jobs crisis--far from it. 
No single piece of legislation can. But this attempt at bipartisanship 
that has been used to get them over the finish line represents our best 
shot at making progress on jobs and the economy as long as Republicans 
have the majority in one half of Congress and Democrats have the 
majority in the other. We can still improve on the process, of course, 
through greater consultation within the committee of jurisdiction, but 
it is a good start nonetheless. This is how divided government works--
through genuine cooperation and a search for common ground. It is what 
Republicans on the joint committee have been doing these past several 
weeks, and it is what House Republicans have been doing for the past 
year on legislation of the kind we will actually pass today.

[[Page 17000]]

  This isn't to say we shouldn't have open, full-throated debates that 
showcase our differences. The two parties clearly have different points 
of view when it comes to restoring the economy and creating jobs. That 
is why we will also have a vote today for the McCain-Paul-Portman bill, 
which aims at unleashing the private sector instead of shackling it 
with more government, as our Democratic friends propose. The McCain-
Paul-Portman bill is a clear alternative to the President's failed 
model of endless stimulus. Members should have a chance to express 
their support for it, and I am glad we will, even as we vote on things 
on which we can all agree.
  So my message is this: Let's keep it up. Let's build on today's 
success and move on to some of the other jobs bills that have already 
passed the House on a very broad bipartisan basis. I have highlighted 
two of them already. Today, I will highlight two more: the Access to 
Capital for Job Creators Act, H.R. 2940, and the Entrepreneur Access to 
Capital Act, H.R. 2930--two bills that make it easier for small 
businesses to raise money in innovative ways from small donors, 
generally over the Internet, often through social media. Here is a way 
to enable the little guy to raise money for his or her business and let 
small investors get into the game too. We all know access to capital is 
one of the key ingredients to economic growth. Here is a way to make it 
easier for folks to get that capital that also creates new avenues for 
the little guy to invest. Senators Thune and Scott Brown have companion 
bills here in the Senate. We should take them up and we should pass 
them.
  You don't hear a lot about Republicans and Democrats agreeing on 
legislation these days, but here is some on which we do actually agree. 
So I would say let's take them up, pass them, and send them to the 
President for his signature. The Obama administration has already said 
it supports these ideas, and 169 Democrats in the House voted for one 
of these bills last week, with 175 voting for the other. Republicans 
support both overwhelmingly as well. So let's do it. Let's build on the 
momentum we have today, after passing the 3-percent withholding and the 
Veterans bill. Let's show the American people we have discovered and 
embraced a formula for success around here.

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