[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 9]
[Senate]
[Pages 11982-11985]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            MORNING BUSINESS

  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Under the previous order, the 
Senate will be in a period of morning business until 12:15, with 
Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each, with the 
time equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their 
designees, with the majority controlling the first 30 minutes, and the 
Republicans controlling the second 30 minutes.
  The Senator from California.
  Mrs. BOXER. Madam President, I want to thank Leader Harry Reid for 
stepping into the breach in this situation and offering us a way out of 
this what I consider to be a Republican-made crisis. Why do I say that? 
The debt limit has been increased 89 times since 1939, 55 times under 
Republican Presidents and 34 times under Democratic Presidents.
  Never has either party brought us to this brink of default. Never. 
Never. Never in the history of America. It is a manmade crisis. It is a 
Republican-made crisis. It has never happened before. The real 
challenge we face is clearly with our deficit and our debt. The good 
news is that we had this crisis before, this challenge before, and we 
stepped up to the plate. We passed a budget when Bill Clinton was 
President that not only balanced the budget--and we did not need a 
amendment to the Constitution to do it, we did it by working it out, by 
cutting out the waste and the fraud and abuse in government, by 
choosing to invest in important areas such as education, high-tech--
biotech at that time, which created jobs, which created so many jobs in 
this country--23 million jobs. That was the absolute result of this 
very good budget.
  A budget expresses the hopes and dreams of the people, the priorities 
of the people. That challenge was met before, so we know how to do it. 
You sit down, you figure out what is a waste of spending, what is 
important spending, and you pursue policies that create jobs. We did it 
before, we can do it again. It is a challenge, but we can do it because 
we did it.
  Others will say in order to do it you have to have a balanced budget 
amendment to the Constitution. Well, the facts do not back that up. In 
order to get a balanced budget, you simply have to balance the budget. 
You simply have to do the hard work to get it done.
  This manmade crisis, this Republican-made crisis, is totally 
unnecessary. I never heard one of these folks who says, let's go into 
default--I never heard them speak out during the George W. Bush years 
when we raised the debt ceiling seven times, and some of them were 
around during the Reagan years, and 18 times the debt ceiling was 
raised. Under George W. Bush, my Republican friends raised the debt 
ceiling by 90 percent. President Obama is asking for an increase of 
about 18 percent. So, America, figure it out. All of a sudden, after 
putting two wars on the credit card, tax cuts to millionaires and 
billionaires on the credit card as my Republican friends did, a 
prescription drug policy which was not paid for--none of it was paid 
for--they put it on the credit card. And now they say: Oh, woe is me. 
We have a debt.
  Well, they should have discovered that before. In 8 years George W. 
Bush turned a $236 billion surplus into a $1.3 trillion deficit, and 
that is what President Obama inherited. We have a moment of opportunity 
here, and I think what Senator Reid has done is given us a way out of 
this mess. We put into place $2.7 trillion of cuts, and we give a sense 
of certainty to the marketplace for 18 months that this debt ceiling is 
taken care of.
  Let's get back to business around here of taking care of this long-
term deficit and debt challenge, and creating jobs for our people and 
protecting Medicare and Social Security and all of the rest that we 
have to do.
  We have to build infrastructure. I am the chairman of the committee 
that is in charge of the highway bill. We have good bipartisan 
cooperation, but we need to get this resolved.
  The Boehner plan is so short term it sends a chill through the 
marketplace. I used to be a stockbroker many years ago. When the 
President got a cold, the stock market went down. It is very sensitive 
to these things. The Boehner plan, according to some commentators, will 
cause a downgrade of our securities.
  I don't think we should be in the business of downgrading America. We 
should be in the business of lifting America, of letting the people 
know we are taking care of their business.
  The Republicans' interest is going after the middle class, the 
working poor, to protect the millionaires and the billionaires. Here is 
where we are with that policy: The 400 richest Americans have more 
wealth than the first 50 percent of the American people. Imagine, the 
richest 10 percent of all Americans controls two-thirds of America's 
net worth. The average CEO

[[Page 11983]]

receives 180 times more in compensation than the average production 
worker. In 1965, CEOs made 24 times more in compensation. Now it is 185 
times.
  What we hear when we suggest millionaires and billionaires pay just a 
little bit more to help America get out of this challenge we face is an 
almost out-of-control defense from the Republicans about why we should 
not even consider asking them to pay even 2 cents more. They say: Don't 
tax the job creators. I said to my staff: Let's take a look at who are 
the job creators and what they earn.
  As everybody knows, the small businesses are the biggest job 
creators. I wish to make it clear that only 1.4 percent of taxpayers 
with any business income make over $500,000 per year. What I am saying 
is, they say don't tax the job creators, and we are looking at taxing 
people over $500,000 a person. That is only 1.4 percent of the job 
creators. We are not touching 98 percent of the job creators. So don't 
get up there and say we want to tax job creators--not true. We do want 
to ask millionaires and billionaires to pay their fair share.
  On July 21, 200 millionaires signed a letter asking congressional 
Republicans to consider sealing the budget gap with increased revenue--
higher taxes on them. They say:

       Despite our willingness to provide additional support to 
     the country financially to assure its continued well-being, 
     despite the overwhelming support of the idea among the 
     American people, despite the reality that millionaires like 
     us are paying lower taxes now than at any other time in the 
     last 60 years, and despite the fact that the Bush tax cuts 
     are the single largest cause of the deficit, you have 
     repeatedly refused to consider reasonable steps to address 
     our country's fiscal challenges.

  They say they are reiterating their demand that we look to the 
millionaires and billionaires. Look, our challenges of deficit and debt 
can, in fact, be met. We know the road. The road is clear. The road was 
built by President Bill Clinton and the Democrats at that time and 
eventually a lot of Republicans came on with us--eventually. In the 
beginning, they predicted gloom and doom from the Clinton budget.
  I have a bunch of quotes from Members who are still here on the 
Republican side who said the Clinton budget is going to lead to a 
recession, it is going to lead to unemployment, and it is going to lead 
to deficits. But we went into a great period of prosperity, with 23 
million jobs, a budget in balance, and a debt about to be extinguished 
down the road. That all got upended by the Republican plan to lower the 
taxes on the richest Americans and put it on the credit card, to go 
into two wars and put it on the credit card, pass a prescription drug 
benefit and protect Big Pharma by saying Medicare cannot negotiate for 
lower prices. They put that on the credit card.
  It is no wonder we face this problem. When President Obama got in, we 
were bleeding jobs at 800,000 a month--almost 1 million a month. 
President Obama and all of us knew there was a frozen banking system. 
We had to make sure that credit system was working. We had to make sure 
we created some jobs. We passed the stimulus bill. Despite all the talk 
about how it didn't work, experts say it stopped a depression. So, yes, 
we had to add those things as well.
  Now it is time to pull together as Americans. This isn't about 
Republicans or Democrats. The people of this country agree that 
millionaires and billionaires should pay more. Right now, what Senator 
Reid has said is let's set that aside, get on with our work and get out 
of this mess and, for 18 months, give a sense of certainty to the 
marketplace and let's address the issues.
  John Boehner, who spoke to the Nation last night, is presenting a 
patchwork quilt that expires in a few months, and we will be back to 
this nightmare. We face downgrades of our creditworthiness. Let's get 
behind the Reid proposal and work together and get this country back on 
its feet. Uncertainty is the worst option.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Illinois.
  Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, this is a historic week in the Senate. 
She has spelled out what we face. I guess most people around America 
are looking at Washington and Capitol Hill and asking if there are any 
grownups left; can't adults sit down there in both political parties 
and solve our Nation's problems? It is a legitimate question because we 
are up against the deadline of August 2, the expiration of America's 
mortgage, the debt ceiling. It means that for the first time in 
history, if we don't act, we will default on our debt.
  That is significant because the United States enjoys a reputation 
around the world--the highest economic reputation around the world, a 
AAA bond rating, which is as good as it gets. If a person asks for 
credit and they have that rating, they are in great shape; they can 
borrow what they need at a good interest rate. That is what we have 
today. If we fail to do what we are supposed to do between now and 
August 2 and default on our debt, it will be the first time it has 
occurred, it will mean the promise of America to pay its bills has been 
broken, and it will mean our creditors around the world will have 
questions about whether we can be trusted. When creditors have 
questions, they cover the risk by raising interest rates. So if the 
interest rate on America goes up 1 percent--just 1 percent--it costs us 
$130 billion a year, added to our debt; projected over 10 years: $1.3 
trillion for every 1 point interest. So tempting fate and going to 
August 2 in that circumstance is not good, not just because America's 
debt grows but because interest rates around America will then rise 
with it. So if one is borrowing money for a car, a home or on a credit 
card, their interest rates will go up. Congress, without passing a tax 
bill, has just imposed a new tax on us. It will be the tax for 
defaulting on our debt ceiling.
  What we are trying to do this week is to work out some sort of an 
agreement between Republicans and Democrats, House and Senate, and the 
President to avoid this crisis. As the Senator from California 
accurately said, this is not a crisis similar to a natural disaster or 
even a terrorist attack; this is a manufactured political crisis on 
Capitol Hill. We don't have to have this. It has never happened before. 
What we are doing with this kind of a ``High Noon'' scenario, waiting 
until the last minute to solve our problem, is creating a problem that 
will cost us dearly. There are ways around it.
  Majority leader Harry Reid is going to come forward on the Senate 
floor on behalf of the Democrats, and we hope with Republican support, 
with a plan to deal with this deficit and this debt ceiling. What the 
majority leader will propose is that we will make cuts in spending, 
which will reduce our deficit $1.2 trillion in cuts over 10 years. I 
think it is a significant indication that we are serious about our 
debt.
  In addition to that, what we will have is an increase of our debt 
limit until February of 2013. It is only in Washington, as one of my 
colleagues said this morning, that 18 months is considered a long-term 
commitment. What we know is that if we don't make a long-term extension 
of the debt ceiling, we are going to have to go through this scenario--
political scenario--again and again. Each time we do, it calls into 
question the credit status of the United States. So what we are going 
to try to do this week with bipartisan support is move forward in 
dealing with this crisis in a responsible way--reducing spending, 
extending the debt ceiling; and I can say that everything included in 
Senator Reid's proposal, which he brought to the floor, has been either 
proposed by or voted in favor of by Republicans. It is a bipartisan 
approach. I think it is an honest approach. I am hoping we can reach an 
agreement on it.
  I see my colleague from Maryland. I ask him if he is asking for time 
in morning business and how much time.
  Mr. CARDIN. Ten minutes.
  Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, how much time remains in morning 
business on the Democratic side?
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. There is 13 minutes 40 seconds 
remaining.
  Mr. DURBIN. I will be brief and then yield to my friend from 
Maryland.
  I believe we can deal with our debt responsibly. I say that having 
been through a year and a half working on

[[Page 11984]]

this issue. I am still not an expert, but I know a lot more about it 
than I did from the start. Democrats and Republicans worked together on 
the President's deficit commission and came up with a plan supported by 
11 out of the 18 members, including myself, and a number of Republican 
Senators and Democratic Senators, including Kent Conrad, chairman of 
the Budget Committee. We all supported it. We believe there is a way to 
reduce the debt by $4 trillion over 10 years and in a sensible, 
balanced way, bringing into consideration not only spending cuts but 
also reform of our entitlement programs and revenue.
  On the entitlement programs, many Senators and many people get 
nervous when we talk about Social Security and Medicare. I will say I 
am committed to these programs. I believe in them. The reason I stayed 
with this conversation is because I wish to make certain that at least 
one, maybe more, at the table feel as I do about the importance of 
Social Security and Medicare. I believe we can make reasonable changes 
in each of those programs, preserve the basic benefit structure, 
particularly for working Americans, and make sure they have the promise 
of the security which these programs bring.
  I know people in retirement wonder if the savings are going to last, 
whether their pension will be around. But they know for sure that 
Social Security will be there. I wish to make sure that promise is 
kept, not just for 25 years but for 50 years and beyond. We can do it, 
and making modest changes now can achieve it.
  On Medicare, health insurance for the elderly and disabled people, 
Medicare is a bigger challenge. In 6 years or so, we start running out 
of money. Let's do things now that will avoid that crisis. We don't 
want that. We want to make sure people have the peace of mind of 
knowing they have health insurance. We can do it in a sensible, 
responsible way. Let's do it together, not with a determination of 
ending the program. I will never let that happen on my watch. We need 
to make sure the program has a long solvent life.
  When it comes to revenue, there is a way to do this.
  Madam President, $1.2 trillion is lost each year in our Tax Code to 
deductions and credits and exclusions and special treatment given to 
some and not to others. We can take a look at that and do it in a way 
that says we are going to preserve the basics that we need. Yes, we 
need the mortgage interest deduction. Yes, we need the charitable 
deduction.
  We need to make sure people have health insurance exclusions from 
their income. We can still do that and lower the amount of tax 
expenditures and use that money to reduce the deficit. That is a 
reasonable way of raising revenue in a sensible manner.
  Men and women of good faith in both political parties can do this. 
Let's pass Senator Reid's proposal and avert this crisis and tackle the 
long-term deficit and debt challenge in a balanced way, by putting 
everything on the table. We did it with the deficit commission. We did 
it with the Gang of 6. We can do it again with the support of the 
American people to encourage us beyond our critics--that will always 
happen--to the kind of conclusion where people will once again feel 
pride in what goes on in Washington.
  Mr. CARDIN. Madam President, let me first thank our assistant 
Democratic majority leader for his incredible work on the Bowles-
Simpson Commission. Senator Durbin was a real voice of reason and 
brought together diverse views. We need that this week. And then with 
the Gang of 6, with our colleagues in the Senate on both sides of the 
aisle, he was able to bring us together in achieving two goals--and 
that is what we need to do--one is we need to raise the debt limit and, 
secondly, we need a credible plan to deal with the deficit. I think 
Senator Durbin has added greatly to accomplishing those goals, reaching 
across party lines, and understanding that it cannot be what the 
Democrats want or what the Republicans want but we have to work 
together.
  But I must say that at this moment, we are 7 days away from the 
August 2 date. So we have two goals. Goal No. 1 is to raise the debt 
limit so that we don't default on America's obligations. Raising the 
debt limit needs to be our goal No. 1. We have already incurred this 
debt. This is not about increasing America's spending; this is for 
spending that has already occurred, and now we have to pay the bills.
  The cost of default is unimaginable to the American people. We will 
pay more as taxpayers because the cost of government borrowing will go 
up. We know that. That is not speculation; we know that. But the cost 
to every American will go up because the cost of home mortgages will go 
up, the cost of credit card interest will go up, and student loan costs 
will go up. All of the borrowing costs in America will go up. It will 
also hurt our economy. It will cost us jobs.
  It makes no sense whatsoever to be here without raising the debt 
limit. Senator Reid's proposal does that through 2012. It gets the job 
done. Speaker Boehner's proposal does not get it done--another short-
term extension.
  We should listen to the experts in the market. Christian Cooper, who 
is a currency expert and trader, said:

       From the markets' point of view, a two-stage plan is a 
     nonstarter . . . There is significant risk of a downgrade 
     with a deal that ties further cuts to another vote only a few 
     months down the road given the significant resistance to do 
     the right thing now.

  Speaker Boehner's proposal just kicks the can down the road for a 
couple more months without resolving the problem. And that is Goal No. 
1. The Reid plan accomplishes that.
  Goal No. 2 is having a credible plan to get our debt under control. 
The President was right as he explained last night how we got here. He 
went through how, under the Bush administration, the previous 
administration, we took a surplus to a deficit by cutting taxes not 
once but twice, by two wars that were not paid for, by spending 
programs that weren't paid for, and now we are in a situation where we 
have a nonsustainable deficit. That is accurate.
  It is our responsibility to make sure we have a credible plan to deal 
with the deficit. Leader Reid's proposal gives us that glidepath. I 
think all of us would like to see a grand deal, a grand bargain. That 
is not going to be achieved by August 2. Senator Reid's proposal gives 
us the glidepath for a responsible, credible plan to bring our debt 
under control. Speaker Boehner's proposal does not do that. It just 
basically says we will deal with it at a later time.
  Look at the downpayment. Leader Reid gives us $2.7 trillion of 
deficit reduction now that we can enact by August 2, while Speaker 
Boehner gives us $1.2 trillion. It is clear that $2.7 trillion really 
gets us much closer to the $4 trillion goal we all know we need to 
achieve, but it also gives us a game plan to be able to achieve the $4 
trillion in deficit reductions we all know we need to do.
  Madam President, you and I are in agreement on how we can get that 
done now. We know that. We have a plan. The problem is that we can't 
get that done by August 2 because we can't get the Republicans in the 
House to move on a balanced plan. We understand that.
  Well, the Reid proposal preserves all options but gives us a way to 
get to the $4 trillion of deficit reduction that is clearly needed. It 
allows the use of a joint committee that will use a balanced approach. 
We have models they can look at. The Bowles-Simpson Commission is a 
balanced approach to bring in a credible plan to deal with the deficit. 
The Gang of 6 gives us a balanced approach in order to deal with our 
deficits. So we have the model before us in order to get it done.
  Let me tell you why I think Leader Reid's proposal is the best way 
for us to proceed 7 days before the August 2 deadline. It gives the 
Republicans basically what they have asked for. We can't do this by 
Democrats alone. We need Democrats and Republicans working together. 
The Reid proposal represents the views of the Members of the Senate on 
both sides of the aisle. Why do I say that? From the beginning, the 
Republicans have been saying we have to have a dollar-for-dollar 
reduction in debt for a $1 increase in the debt ceiling. There is no 
relationship between

[[Page 11985]]

our current spending and what the debt ceiling represents because, as I 
said earlier, it represents what we have already spent. But, OK, that 
has been what the Republicans said we had to do. Leader Reid's proposal 
does that--a $2.7 trillion reduction in the deficit with a $2.7 
trillion increase in the debt ceiling.
  The second thing the Republicans have asked for--not all but many--is 
that we can't consider revenues in the package. Now, I disagree with 
that. I don't believe you can have a credible plan to deal with the 
deficit unless you include revenues, getting rid of the loopholes, 
getting rid of shelters. We could do that without increasing rates. We 
have said that many times. But the Reid proposal--what we would vote on 
by August 2 that accomplishes our goals--will do it without additional 
revenues. It preserves the right of revenues in order to have a 
credible plan to reach the $4 trillion target, but we get our $2.7 
trillion without any revenues--something the majority of Republicans 
have been asking for.
  The third point: The $2.7 trillion in cuts the majority leader put on 
the table represents cuts that have been negotiated between the 
Democrats and Republicans. Madam President, $1.2 trillion was included 
with Vice President Biden, the $1 trillion in cuts in regard to our 
overseas operations was included in the Ryan budget, and the list goes 
on. So these are cuts that are achievable, that have already been 
negotiated or agreed to between Democrats and Republicans.
  I applaud Senator Reid. I think Senator Reid understands the 
seriousness of us moving forward. It allows us to move to increase the 
debt ceiling and preserve our rights to negotiate and get the grand 
bargain done and has a fallback mechanism with a joint committee that 
would have required votes on the floor to make sure we all have a 
chance to vote up or down. It preserves our options, allows America to 
move forward, and allows us to concentrate on job growth and security, 
which should be our focus as we rebound our economy for the future of 
our Nation. For all those reasons, I hope my colleagues will support 
the effort of Senator Reid to bring us together to avoid the 
unspeakable default that could occur 1 week from today.
  Madam President, I yield the floor, and I suggest the absence of a 
quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Republican leader.
  Mr. McCONNELL. I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum 
call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

                          ____________________