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




                          EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP

  Mr. McCONNELL. Last night, the President explained to the Nation the 
crisis we face right now as he sees it. His hope was to lift the debate 
out of the gritty legislative particulars, and we all understand that. 
Unfortunately, the situation the President described last night bears 
very little resemblance to the realities on the ground right here in 
Washington.
  I know the President would rather give speeches about our problems 
than resolve them, but he wasn't elected to talk about the United 
States; he was elected to lead it. In our system of government, that 
means working with people and a Congress with which you sometimes 
disagree. This is not a unique situation. Other Presidents have been in 
a similar situation where they had to work with a Congress composed of 
people, many of whom disagreed with them.
  Last night, the President rejected not just the only proposal that 
has passed either House of Congress, he rejected the only plan the 
Democrats have proposed as well, a plan that would increase the debt 
limit without raising taxes. Just a few days ahead of a potential 
default, the President announced that he is the only person in 
Washington still calling for a massive tax hike, even as his party has 
dropped their own demands for what we know will make the current 
unemployment situation even worse.
  In short, the President is now clinging to two things we all know 
Congress can't support: a massive tax hike and the biggest debt limit 
increase in history aimed, in his own words, at getting himself past 
the next election. As Speaker Boehner said last night, that is just not 
going to happen. There is bipartisan opposition to it in Congress. So 
it was deeply irresponsible, in my view, for the President of the 
United States to present the American people with a false choice last 
night between tax hikes on the one hand and default on the other.
  The real choice is this: a bill that can get us past this moment of 
crisis, that cuts Washington spending, and that actually gets through 
Congress, or one that can't. Republicans have offered the only proposal 
that attempts to get at the root of the problem and that actually has a 
chance of getting to the President's desk. That is why we will continue 
to press for the legislation Speaker Boehner has proposed, and that is 
why we will fight against anything that pretends to solve the problem 
but doesn't. The majority leader proposed a plan yesterday that is 
nothing more than another attempt to pull the wool over the eyes of the 
American people.
  The decisions we make in the next 72 hours will have a real impact on 
every American. These decisions should be made based on how they will 
affect the people who are struggling to get a job, not how they affect 
some politician's chances of getting reelected.
  The President can claim to be concerned about this impending crisis, 
but one question continues to linger above every press conference he 
has called or every speech he has delivered: Where is his plan to 
resolve it? Republicans have proposed multiple plans that have support 
in both parties. It is time for the President to put his electoral 
interest and preferences aside and do what is needed. Americans are 
waiting. Americans are waiting for the President to do what they 
elected him to do--not to lecture but to lead.
  Madam President, 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 Senator from Arkansas.
  Mr. BOOZMAN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  Mr. BOOZMAN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

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