[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 8]
[Senate]
[Page 10510]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                             BUDGET DEBATE

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, later this morning, we will have a vote 
whether to proceed to a nonbinding resolution on whether to raise taxes 
at a time when 14 million Americans are out of work. I oppose the 
resolution, but I will vote to move to it so we can finally have a real 
debate about the economic crisis we face. That is what we were supposed 
to be doing this week, and that is what we will do. This is an 
important debate to have as discussions continue over at the White 
House this morning in connection with the President's request to raise 
the debt ceiling.
  Americans want to know where their elected representatives stand on 
these issues. Today we will have an opportunity to show them where we 
stand on entitlement reform, where we stand on government spending, 
where we stand on balancing the budget, where we stand on our 
unsustainable deficits and debt.
  For too long, Democrats have tried to evade these questions. It has 
been 799 days since Democrats passed a budget. They have presented no 
plan to reduce our debt. So today is an opportunity to offer real ideas 
for addressing our debt and job crisis, to make our positions clear, 
and, for our part, Republicans intend to offer more than a vague, 
nonbinding resolution.
  I yield the floor.

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