[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 8]
[Senate]
[Pages 11785-11787]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          GROWING THE ECONOMY

  Mr. MORAN. Mr. President, I am disappointed by the outcome of the 
vote today in which a proposal I believe had the most merit for moving 
us in the right direction in regard to raising the debt ceiling and 
moving us toward the direction of a balanced budget failed in the 
Senate.
  I have spoken this week several times about the importance of cut, 
cap, and balance. It is the plan that has passed the House of 
Representatives and was the path we could take here, and I have 
encouraged my colleagues throughout the week to come together

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to try to make this cut, cap, and balance plan the framework by which 
we resolve this issue of the impending necessity of raising the debt 
ceiling.
  I have said on every occasion it would be irresponsible not to raise 
the debt ceiling. I do not know exactly what the consequences are and 
at what point in time those consequences occur, but I do know it would 
be damaging to the economy. I also believe it would be equally, if not 
more, irresponsible to simply raise the debt ceiling without taking the 
necessary steps to put our country on the right path toward a balanced 
budget in the future.
  I thought cut, cap, and balance really did present that opportunity 
in which we cut spending back to previous years' levels, we cap that 
spending so it is not more than a certain percentage of our gross 
national product, our country's economy, and, finally, that we pass a 
balanced budget amendment, something I have supported since I came to 
Congress each and every year. I believe we do not have the necessary 
discipline and courage, the necessity we need to make the decisions to 
put us on the path toward balancing the budget. Of course, if we 
approved a balanced budget amendment in the House and the Senate, it 
still would be considered by the American people through the State 
legislatures.
  So I speak this morning with disappointment that on a straight party-
line vote, this issue, this legislation was tabled. But I have also 
said throughout my conversations about the debt ceiling and about 
getting our country back on the right path that I believe there is a 
fourth component to cut, cap, and balance.
  In my view, that fourth component is grow--cut, cap, balance, and 
grow the economy. Certainly, in my view, the Federal Government does 
not create jobs. But we have millions of Americans across our country 
who are looking for work, looking for better work, looking for full-
time work, and we have way too many people who are discouraged, who 
have looked for a long time with no success.
  In my view, the primary message of the November elections of last 
year was this insistence that Congress get it right in order to help 
Americans find employment. It is important. These two things are 
related in regard to how our country progresses.
  As I have indicated, the last time our budget was balanced was at the 
end of President Clinton's term in office. Yes, there was some spending 
restraint. There was an inability of Republicans and Democrats to come 
together and create new programs and big government spending. But what 
really was happening, what was the primary reason for a balanced budget 
back in those days was a growing economy.
  So if we want to balance our budget, I am one who says, yes, we need 
more revenue. But that revenue comes not from tax increases but from a 
growing economy that puts people to work and generates the revenue that 
then flows to the Federal Treasury to pay down our debt.
  It is actually the most enjoyable aspect of how we could balance the 
budget. The side benefits beyond an improved fiscal house in 
Washington, DC, is that Americans would have jobs. We help create an 
environment in which they can put food on their families' tables, in 
which they can save for their kids' education, and have the opportunity 
to save for their own retirement.
  So today I once again, in the absence of an agreement between the 
White House and the House and the Senate--as has been indicated, there 
are ongoing negotiations about this issue of the debt ceiling. But we 
ought to be looking also at that opportunity to grow the economy, put 
people to work, creating those opportunities and raising the revenue 
necessary to fund, in my view, a much smaller government.
  So we ought to be promoting a Tax Code that is fair, that is 
efficient, is not overly bureaucratic, that is certain. We need a 
regulatory environment in which every businessperson is not fearful of 
adding employees or investing in the plant and equipment because they 
do not know what next government regulation is going to come their way.
  I spent much time this year as a member of the Senate Banking 
Committee where we have heard from bankers across the country, 
particularly our community banks, where the uncertainty of what next 
happens under Dodd-Frank determines whether it is desirable to make a 
loan. What next is the examiner going to say? What next are the 
regulations going to be?
  Access to credit for our small business men and women in Kansas, our 
farmers and ranchers--the ability to borrow money has a significant 
role to play in whether we have a growing economy that puts people to 
work. So we certainly need to have that fair and certain Tax Code. We 
certainly need to make certain the regulatory environment is totally 
different than what it is today. And we need to make certain there is 
no doubt about the ability--due to regulations--that a bank can make a 
loan to a creditworthy borrower.
  We also desperately need a policy in place that encourages domestic 
production of oil and gas, that helps us reduce the cost of energy. I 
do not know how we have a booming economy if energy prices are going to 
continue to escalate at the rates they are. The more that cost of 
gasoline reduces the spending power of American families, the less 
likely we are going to have any opportunity to see a growing economy.
  Certainly, we have challenges in our housing market that need 
attention, and it is difficult for many of us to make decisions about 
spending more money if we do not have the sense of security that comes 
from knowing there is value in our homes.
  Finally, I want to point out--and the issue I want to focus on for a 
moment because of what appears to be coming from the Obama 
administration in regard to trade--there is an indication that, once 
again, the ability for Congress to consider the trade agreements with 
Colombia, Panama, and South Korea is being delayed. Much of our 
country's economy--and certainly in my home State of Kansas--is 
dependent, and many people by the millions work in the United States 
because of things we manufacture and agricultural commodities we grow 
that are exported abroad.
  The last three trade agreements that have been negotiated have been 
pending now for a very long time. The consequences of those trade 
agreements are significant. I certainly know this as a Kansan. We 
manufacture airplanes and general aviation. We grow lots of 
agricultural commodities: wheat, cattle, corn. Much of that is 
exported, and these countries present opportunities for us to grow our 
economy and put more people to work.
  The South Korea Free Trade Agreement, for example, if approved, is 
estimated to create 70,000 new jobs. It is estimated that it would be 
an increase in U.S. exports of $9.7 billion, and our gross domestic 
product would increase by over $10 billion. Yet the framework by which 
we can begin to increase our exports to those three countries is once 
again stalled.
  The White House announced this week those trade agreements will not 
be presented to Congress before the August recess. In my view, that is 
a terrible mistake, and it is particularly a problem because, as we 
speak, other countries are assuming the role of exporting to those 
countries, assuming the role that the United States has historically 
played, and we are being left out in the market.
  A free-trade agreement just recently took effect between South Korea 
and the European Union. Colombia and Canada have an agreement that 
comes into force on August 15. The more time we delay in approving the 
opportunity for Americans to export to those countries, the more likely 
it is that the markets are going to be taken by exporters from other 
countries.
  So while we continue to work to see that an agreement is reached in 
regard to this issue of the debt ceiling, let's not take any steps back 
in regard to this issue of growing the economy. Let's continue to work 
in regard to that Tax Code, in regard to that regulatory environment 
that so hinders the ability of business to expand, in regard to an 
energy policy that returns those jobs back home and creates greater

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stability in the price and cost of energy. We also need to make certain 
we have access to credit.
  But, finally, today, let me again ask the administration to 
reconsider their position, and let's put these trade opportunities--the 
ability to increase exports--back on the table so Congress can 
adequately address the terms of those agreements and get them in place 
before we lose more market opportunity around the globe.
  This is not about taking care of big business. This is about making 
certain that business has the opportunity to sell goods and 
agricultural commodities to those countries, so that in the process of 
their business growing they put more and more Kansans and Americans to 
work.
  So we have our agenda, and it is an important one for America. Yes, 
fiscal sanity has to return, but let's not forget the fourth component 
of cut, cap, balance, and grow the economy. If we do these things, 
America will be a better place today. But, more importantly, every 
American child will have the opportunity to pursue the American dream.
  Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. KIRK. 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. KIRK. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak as in 
morning business.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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