[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 4]
[Senate]
[Pages 5728-5729]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                             A MORAL BUDGET

  Mr. REID. Madam President, I am always moved to hear the Pledge of 
Allegiance that marks the beginning of a new legislative day in the 
Senate. On the 150th anniversary of the beginning of the Civil War, the 
words ``one nation, indivisible'' mean more today than most other days. 
Along with Chaplain Black's inspired invocation, the pledge motivates 
us and reminds us of the true purpose of our work. Together, they 
recall our responsibility to our country, to our countrymen, and to our 
conscience.
  I am particularly pleased to see the Senate open this morning. As we 
all know, last week at this time, even as recently as just a few 
evenings ago, whether the government would stay open was a very real 
question. As I said here late on Friday night, I am pleased we reached 
an agreement on a budget in time to keep the country operating.
  I am pleased that the budget will make historic cuts, saving the 
country money so we can lower our deficit and do a better job of living 
within our meanings.
  At the beginning of this debate and throughout the last few weeks, I 
reminded the Senate that in this negotiation, as in any negotiation, 
neither side would get everything they wanted. From the start I also 
expressed my firm belief that what we cut would always be more 
important than how much. That is because our Nation's budget is a 
representation of our values and of what we value. It is one of the 
many ways we demonstrate as a Congress and a country what matters most 
to us, what is important. This concept is not unique to Democrats.
  As the Speaker of the House and the chairman of the House Budget 
Committee have both said, our budget is a moral document.
  Those following the budget debate have noticed something 
unmistakable. While both parties may agree in principle that a budget 
is more than simply a collection of numbers, our positions couldn't be 
more different. We stayed true to our values. We value the rights of 
Americans to afford a healthy life. That is why we passed historic 
health reform last year, but Republicans tried to use the budget to 
repeal those rights. We stayed true to our values, and we didn't let 
them.
  We value women's health, but Republicans tried to use the budget to 
make it harder for women to get contraception that reduces abortions. 
Their budget also tried to make it harder for women to get cancer 
screenings, and they even tried to slash funding for cancer research. 
We stayed true to our values and we didn't let them.
  We also value seniors' ability to support themselves, but Republicans 
tried to use the budget to slice the Social Security Administration. 
That would have meant delays for seniors and disabled Americans who 
count on the benefits they have earned over a lifetime of hard work. 
They also tried to use the budget to reopen the doughnut hole which 
would have sent seniors' prescription drugs skyrocketing. We stayed 
true to our values; we didn't let them.
  We value our children's education, but Republicans tried to use the 
budget to kick little boys and girls out of prekindergarten programs 
and slash Pell grants that help so many students afford college. We 
stayed true to our values and we didn't let them.
  We value our environment, but Republicans tried to use the budget to 
give polluters a free pass to poison the air we breathe. We stayed true 
to our values and we didn't let them. We value our economic security, 
but Republicans tried to repeal the promise we made to taxpayers that 
they will never again be asked to bail out a big bank when the bank 
loses its risky bets. They tried to use the budget to reverse rules we 
put in place to hold Wall Street accountable. We stayed true to our 
values and we didn't let them.
  Finally, we value our responsibility to create jobs, but Republicans 
also tried to use the budget to reverse the momentum we have seen in 
recent months. The policies they tried to jam through the budget would 
have cost us 700,000 jobs and slammed the breaks on our economic 
growth. We stayed true to our values and we didn't let them.
  There are many more examples in this vast budget, examples of 
programs Republicans wanted to destroy but Democrats demanded we 
protect. There are many examples where they wanted to cut recklessly 
and we insisted on cutting responsibly. Throughout this debate, we 
stayed true to our values. The American people noticed, and they are 
glad we did. By clear majorities our constituents are glad we stood up 
for health reform, women's health, cleaner air, and on and on.
  This budget battle has once again illustrated for the American people 
the fundamental differences between the two parties. In some cases our 
priorities are poles apart. That is obvious to the American people, as 
well it should be. They are the ones who will always decide whether the 
morals of their representatives more closely match their own.
  As we work toward finalizing this year's budget, we start the 
conversation about next year's budget, and we engage in the many other 
debates before us, Democrats will continue to insist on policies that 
reflect and respect our values.
  I ask unanimous consent that my time be charged against leader time 
and not morning business.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

[[Page 5729]]

  The Senator from Oregon is recognized.

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