[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 5]
[Senate]
[Pages 7397-7398]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                             MOVING FORWARD

  Ms. BALDWIN. Madam President, as I make my first remarks on the 
Senate floor, I have the honor of occupying the same Senate seat, and 
in fact occupying the very Senate desk, once used by Senator Robert M. 
LaFollette, Sr. ``Fighting Bob LaFollette,'' as he was known, was a 
Republican Senator from Wisconsin a century ago who is credited as the 
founder of the Progressive Party and progressive movement in this 
Nation. I admire Fighting Bob's legacy in many ways. But I wish to 
assure my colleagues who are present in the Chamber at this moment that 
I will not emulate his maiden speech, which went on for 3 successive 
days.
  Bob LaFollette ran for this office because he was concerned that 
while corporate interests were being well served in Washington, 
ordinary people weren't even being heard. He traveled all around the 
State of Wisconsin, literally speaking from makeshift stages of soap 
boxes and hay wagons at county fairs. His message came to define my 
State's progressive tradition. The things he talked about in that day 
still ring true.
  As I have traveled the State Wisconsinites have told me that the 
powerful and well-connected seem still to write their own rules while 
the concerns and struggles of middle-class families go unnoticed in 
Washington. They believe our economic system is tilted toward those at 
the top and that our political system exists to protect those unfair 
advantages instead of making sure everybody gets a fair shot.
  They see Washington happy to let Wall Street write their own rules 
but unable to help students pull themselves out of debt. They see 
Washington working to protect big tax breaks for powerful corporations 
but unwilling to protect small manufacturers from getting ripped off by 
China's cheating. They see Washington bouncing from one manufactured 
fiscal crisis to the next but never addressing the real and ongoing 
crisis of our disappearing middle class.
  The truth is, while we hear a lot about the wide distance between 
Democrats and Republicans, the widest and most important distance in 
our political system is between the content of the debate in Washington 
and the concerns of hard-working people in places such as Wisconsin. 
That distance parallels the large and growing gaps between rich and 
poor, between rising costs and the stagnant incomes, between our Nation 
and our competitors when it comes to education and innovation--and it 
is truly hurting people.
  When my grandparents were raising me, I learned that if you worked 
hard and played by the rules, one can get ahead. The Wisconsinites I 
talked to grew up learning that very same thing. They are working as 
hard as ever to get ahead, but many are finding they are hardly getting 
by. People are still working for that middle-class dream: a job that 
pays the bills, health coverage they can rely on, a home they can call 
their own, a chance to save for their kids' college education, and a 
secure retirement. But, instead, too many are finding that even two 
jobs are not enough to make ends meet, and those jobs are hard to find 
and hard to keep. They are finding the homes they worked so hard to own 
are not even worth what still remains on their mortgage. They are 
finding that the cost of college is going up, and they are worried they 
might never be able to retire comfortably.
  That is the biggest gap of all, the gap between the economic security 
Wisconsinites worked so hard to achieve and the economic uncertainty 
they are asked to settle for.
  If we cannot close that gap, we might someday talk about the middle 
class as something we used to have, not something each generation can 
aspire to. We all get it. We all see this happening. While 
Wisconsinites do not agree about what we should do, they want to see us 
working together to find a solution, even if it takes some spirited 
debate.
  But when they look across that yawning divide to Washington, they see 
us advancing talking points and playing politics instead of putting our 
varying experiences and talents to work solving these problems.
  But I am optimistic. I did not run for the Senate just because I 
agree with those complaints. I ran for the Senate because I think we 
can do better. I know I have a great example to follow in the people of 
Wisconsin. These are particularly tough times for my State. Even as the 
National economy is rebounding, businesses in Wisconsin and middle-
class families in my State remain stuck in neutral.
  The manufacturing sector that sustained our prosperity for 
generations has taken a lot of hits--some that could have been 
prevented and others that are simply a factor of our changing economy 
and our changing world. But we do not see Wisconsin workers and 
business owners wallowing in crisis or looking for someone to blame. 
Our State motto is one word, ``Forward.'' That is the only thing we 
know.
  In the short time I have been here, I have made it my mission to 
fight to make sure Wisconsinites have the tools and skills they need to 
succeed in a ``Made in Wisconsin'' economy that revitalizes our 
manufacturing sector and rebuilds our prosperity--and this means 
respecting our labor.
  It means investing in regional hubs of collaborative research and 
development, supporting the technical colleges that are working to 
provide a skilled workforce, and encouraging public and private 
partnerships to revitalize our manufacturing sector. But it all relies 
on the talent of individuals who are working hard to help our 
communities move forward.
  Years ago John Miller, a disabled Marine Corps veteran who lives near 
Milwaukee, invented a new kind of motorcycle windshield that uses LED 
lights embedded in acrylic. For years he has been working hard to find 
investors to bring his idea to market. He has been testing different 
acrylics, showing off his work at trade shows, and spending months 
trying to get approvals from the Department of Transportation. 
Investors are lining up at John's door. Harley-Davidson even wanted to 
buy his patent. But he doesn't just want to make a profit, he wants to 
make a difference. He is holding out until he knows that everything in 
his product will be made and manufactured in the United States--
hopefully by other disabled veterans, who often have a hard time 
finding work when they come home.
  Wisconsin is full of John Millers--ordinary people with ingenuity, 
determination, and civic spirit to become not just successful but 
engines of economic opportunity for their whole communities, committed 
to the common good.
  I am so proud of all the remarkable potential I have seen in 
Wisconsin: the Global Water Center in Milwaukee, which will open this 
summer as an incubator for water technology businesses; the partnership 
of Johnson Controls and UW-Milwaukee for the Innovation Campus research 
park in Wauwatosa; the advances in energy-efficiency technology being 
realized at Orion Energy Systems in Manitowoc, WI; the work on 
sustainable biofuels at the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center in 
Madison; and small business incubators at technical colleges across our 
State helping to build the dreams of entrepreneurs.
  These stories of innovation and cooperation and these exciting 
opportunities to build an economy made to last are happening all over 
our country.
  I am going to let people in on a little secret. We here in the Senate 
can be innovative too. We can cooperate. We can get excited by these 
opportunities. It is true of Democrats and Republicans alike because 
none of us came here just to audition for cable news or to win our next 
election before the bumper stickers from the last one even come off the 
cars.
  I have already had the great joy of working with colleagues from both 
parties, and I know neither party has a monopoly on compassion or 
common sense. There is nothing liberal or conservative about wanting to 
help our manufacturers compete and win on the world stage. There is not 
a Senator in this body whose heart has not broken when listening to a 
constituent who cannot seem to get ahead. We cannot fix all of those 
gaps in our economy with one bill. Not even ``Fighting Bob''

[[Page 7398]]

La Follette could close that divide in our political system with one 
speech.
  I am using this speech, my first here on the Senate floor, to say 
that I am ready to work hard and work with anyone to make progress on 
these challenges and help move this great country forward.
  I yield the floor.
  Ms. STABENOW. Mr. President, before the Senator from Wisconsin leaves 
the floor, I would like to indicate how thrilled I am to have another 
Great Lakes Senator with us in the Senate. Senator Baldwin is an 
invaluable member of the Budget Committee. She is fighting hard for 
Wisconsin agriculture. Now that we are in the middle of the efforts on 
the farm bill, I know she is deeply involved and concerned about our 
men and women who provide the food we put on our tables every day.
  We thank the Senator for her leadership. We are so pleased to have 
Senator Baldwin in the Senate.

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