[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 15]
[Senate]
[Pages 21118-21119]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            PAYROLL TAX CUT

  Mr. CASEY. Mr. President, I rise to speak about the payroll tax cut 
we have been debating and considering these many weeks and which we 
seem to be making some progress on today. I know we will hear more 
about that later today. I wish to make a couple points--first about the 
issue itself and then a few points about what is happening in 
Pennsylvania. I wish to highlight some of the constituent mail we have 
received about this issue and about the state of the economy and 
people's lives.
  But first and foremost, by way of review, we have had a number of 
weeks now of debate about the payroll tax and putting in place an 
agreement where both parties can come together to make sure we put in 
place the payroll tax cut we agreed to last year. Many who have been 
watching this debate know what that means. Instead of having an 
individual worker or employee pay 6.2 percent as a payroll tax, we 
reduced that last year to 4.2 percent. I think it is vital, at a 
minimum, we do that, we extend it.
  I had two pieces of legislation--two different versions--to reduce 
that even more, to cut it in half and also to do the same for 
businesses. I think that is a good idea, but for whatever reason we 
have not reached agreement on that. But we seem to have made progress 
in the last couple days--even in the last couple hours--coming together 
on an agreement on the payroll tax. We do not have an agreement yet. 
But we are all working very hard because we all know both the benefits 
of it and the consequences of not extending the payroll tax cut.
  The benefits are plainly evident. If we put in place this payroll tax 
cut, we can jump-start, kick-start job creation and move the economy 
forward. I say that in light of some recent numbers we have in 
Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania's unemployment rate has hovered around 8 
percent for a long time. The number of people unemployed in our State, 
the 8 percent, does not sound as high as in some places, but that meant 
over half a million people were out of work. It was not too long ago--
just a few months ago--when we had roughly 525,000 people out of work. 
That number reduced to about 513,000. Fortunately, just yesterday, we 
got news that the number has fallen below 500,000 for the first time in 
a long time. We are at 499,000--not much below half a million, but that 
is good news for Pennsylvania. What that meant is, our unemployment 
rate went from 8.1 percent down to 7.9 percent. So we are below 8 
percent.
  As many people know, the national rate went below 9 percent to 8.6 
percent. So we are seeing the unemployment rate nationally and in a 
number of States, including Pennsylvania, going in the right direction, 
meaning it is going down. The unemployment rate is going down. The 
number of people out of work, fortunately, is shrinking a little bit.
  We have a long way to go to completely dig out of this economic ditch 
our economy has been in for a long time. One of the best ways to 
continue that progress is to pass a cut in the payroll tax again, as we 
did last year. It was the right thing to do last year. It is the right 
thing to do this year, to continue the progress. We want to make sure 
we are doing everything possible so our month-to-month job creation 
number is much higher than it has been.
  We have been averaging in the roughly 150,000 range of private sector 
job growth. That is not enough. We need that above 200,000, and we need 
it even above 250,000. If we take this step--it is not the only step--
there is no magic wand to any policy we pass. Cutting the payroll tax 
will not solve all our economic challenges. But it is one of the most 
constructive, one of the most effective steps we can take.
  If we do not do it, here is the consequence, at least as it relates 
to Pennsylvania--a big State that has a lot of the economic challenges 
many States have. Mark Zandi, a respected economist, did some analysis 
just on Pennsylvania. If we do not extend the payroll tax cut, which, 
as we know, has the potential to benefit 160 million American workers--
in my home State of Pennsylvania last year that meant more than 6.5 
million workers had a cut in their payroll tax, a tremendous benefit 
for a State such as Pennsylvania. We grew in the last year about 50,000 
jobs. That is the good news. The bad news could be, if we do not pass a 
payroll tax cut, for Pennsylvania--for the country, which, obviously, 
would have an impact in Pennsylvania--the job loss number, according to 
Mark Zandi, would be just shy of 20,000 jobs lost in the State of 
Pennsylvania in 2012.
  So it is vitally important for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. I 
think that applies for the Nation as a whole. It is one of the steps, 
and, frankly, one of the few steps Congress can take that will have a 
direct impact not just on the economy overall but to directly put 
dollars in people's pockets--take-home pay. That is what this whole 
issue is about for employees--what is going to be their take-home pay 
in 2012. If we pass the tax cut, it will be about $1,000. If we do not 
pass a tax cut, it will be zero in terms of an extra benefit.
  Working Americans who have been struggling through this economy and 
suffering should have the right to expect we take the action they are 
telling us to take to cut the payroll tax.
  Let me cite two examples of what people are asking us to do, from two 
constituents, and then I will conclude my remarks.
  Here is a letter from a woman in Pennsylvania, central Pennsylvania. 
I will not give her name. We do not have the authority to do that. But 
I wish to read some of her words. Here is what she says about how she 
perceives Washington and what is happening here. I will just read about 
two sentences from her letter:

       Please make sure something is done in Washington before the 
     end of the year. I feel that no one should be able to have a 
     break--

  Talking about us in Congress--

     before taking action on the tax breaks that will expire at 
     the end of this year. If you all cannot do this then you 
     should all leave office and let someone in there who can work 
     together and get things done. Stay and do your job. Period!!

  She has two exclamation points after the word ``period.'' What she is 
telling us is what so many Americans are telling us: that we have work 
to do here, to come together, to agree not just on a budget for the 
next year but especially on something as fundamental as this payroll 
tax cut. So she said it very well, and she encapsulated a lot of what 
people are feeling.
  I am going to read an excerpt from a second letter, one from a woman 
from the eastern side of our State, in the so-called Lehigh Valley of 
Pennsylvania. I will not read the whole letter. It is about her family 
and some of the economic challenges they have had. I wish to read just 
two excerpts. She says:

       Now I find myself questioning whether or not anyone has an 
     answer and if they do, will it be too late.
       You see, over the last 2 years, all four members of my 
     family, myself included, have lost our jobs.

  This is a woman from one family in one part of Pennsylvania talking 
about how many members of her family have lost their jobs. She expects 
us to get our job done--to come together and to work together to pass a 
cut in the payroll tax.
  Later in the letter she says this--and I will conclude with this 
quotation:

       We need to put people back to work. Only then can the 
     economy get turned around. I don't care who comes up with the 
     plan, but the parties need to work together if this country 
     is going to survive. My family is only one example. I know of 
     SO many others who are struggling and in an even worse 
     position than we are.


[[Page 21119]]


  She is talking about other people being in a worse circumstance, and 
she has all four members, including herself, of her family who have 
lost their jobs in the course of the last year or so. So if she can 
demonstrate--this woman from the Lehigh Valley in Pennsylvania--if she 
can demonstrate that kind of empathy and compassion and understanding 
of what others are going through, when she herself and her family have 
suffered so substantially in this economy, the least we can do in the 
Senate, in Washington--the very least we can do--is come together and 
work together to get this job done.
  The leading indicator of that, I would argue, is making sure we put 
in place a cut in the payroll tax so at a minimum--as people are still 
doing holiday shopping and still wanting to have a bright and happy 
holiday and want to have some measure of peace of mind, some measure of 
security about next year--at least know we came together and made sure 
this payroll tax cut was in place.
  It is vital for the people of Pennsylvania, and I think it is 
essential for economic growth across the country. We need to come 
together and get this done.
  I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. 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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