[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 7]
[Senate]
[Pages 10231-10232]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          REDUCING THE DEFICIT

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I want to say a word about the 
President's press conference yesterday.
  What I heard him propose is that we solve the debt crisis by spending 
more money--solve the debt crisis by spending more money; that we solve 
the jobs crisis by raising taxes--solve the jobs crisis by raising 
taxes.
  I want to know, is there a single Member of Congress, Democrat or 
Republican, who thinks it is a good idea to raise hundreds of billions 
of dollars in new job-killing taxes at a time when 14 million Americans 
are out of work? If so, I haven't heard from any of them. But that is 
what the President was trying to defend yesterday.
  Who thinks the answer to a $1.6 trillion deficit is a second 
stimulus, that the answer is more deficit spending? Where in the world 
did that idea come from? That is what the President was trying to 
defend yesterday.
  Look, the President needs to get serious about this. He said 
yesterday that reducing the deficit grows the economy. That part of his 
press conference he got right. Reducing the deficit grows the economy.
  His own Small Business Administration has told him not to enact one 
of the tax hikes he was proposing at the press conference yesterday. 
This is what they said over at SBA: ``This can force many small 
businesses to close their doors.''
  Fourteen million people are out of work, and he wants to take an 
action that could force small businesses across the country to close? 
That is his vision of shared sacrifice?
  I think the American worker has sacrificed quite enough already. 
Besides, all of us know that Congress isn't going to approve hundreds 
of billions of dollars in tax hikes. It is simply not going to happen. 
We have known that for 6 months, and we have been saying it all along.
  The President does not seem to get it. So let me do something that I 
think would be constructive. I want to invite the President to come to 
the Capitol today and meet with Senate Republicans anytime this 
afternoon that he is available; come on up to the Capitol and meet with 
Senate Republicans. That way, he can hear directly from Senate 
Republicans why what he is proposing will not pass. So I invite him to 
come up today and meet with Senate Republicans, hear directly from 
them, and we can discuss what he has in mind. Maybe we can start 
talking about what is actually possible.
  The President says he wants us to get working. I can't think of a 
better way than to have him come right on over today--we are waiting--
and hear from our conference about the legislative realities in 
Congress right now.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to enter into a 
colloquy with my colleague from Nebraska.

[[Page 10232]]

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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