[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 4]
[Senate]
[Pages 5129-5131]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




              MINIMUM WAGE FAIRNESS ACT--MOTION TO PROCEED

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I move to proceed to Calendar No. 250.
  The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will report the motion.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       Motion to proceed to Calendar No. 250, S. 1737, a bill to 
     provide for an increase in the Federal minimum wage and to 
     amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to extend increased 
     expensing limitations and the treatment of certain real 
     property as section 179 property.


                                Schedule

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, following my remarks and those of the 
Republican leader, the Senate will be in a period of morning business 
for 1 hour, with the majority controlling the first half and the 
Republicans the final half.
  Following morning business, the Senate will resume consideration of 
H.R. 3979, the legislative vehicle for the unemployment insurance 
extension legislation.
  The Senate will recess, as we do every Tuesday, from 12:30 p.m. to 
2:15 p.m., to allow for our weekly caucus meetings.


                             Koch Brothers

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, as I went about my business in the Senate 
yesterday, I was informed the Koch brothers are at it again. We know 
they are at it, but now they are at it in Nevada, among other places.
  I am told one of their puppet organizations is going to run 
commercials against me in Nevada. That is quite interesting. As I 
understand it, they had focused on places where there is an election. 
They may not know it, but I am not running for anything for a few 
years, until my 6-year term is up.
  What issues will they raise in those ads they say they are going to 
run in Nevada? That by my criticizing the Koch brothers, I have 
attacked their freedom of speech. The gall of these two brothers is 
staggering.
  Keep in mind, they are the fifth richest people not in whatever State 
they live in--they have lots of different homes in America--but they 
are the fifth richest people in the world. These two mogul 
multibillionaires are so eager to force their will on the American 
people that they will do it even in the face of their own hypocrisy, 
which we have already established some time ago.
  I am beginning to think April Fools' Day arrived 1 day early. See, it 
is a fool's errand for the Koch brothers to think they can use their 
money to frighten me or to brainwash Nevadans or the rest of the 
country. They are spending lots of money to try to do that. People of 
this Nation trace their freedom of speech back to the Constitution, not 
a bank account which has lots and lots of zeros at the end.
  The Koch brothers are trying to use their immense wealth to buy their 
way around the laws and regulations of this Nation to make themselves 
even richer. Everything they do is so selfish, so self-centered in an 
effort to make them--I guess the sixth richest is not good enough, the 
fifth richest isn't good enough. They want to be the richest because 
they are into making money and as much as they can. There is nothing 
wrong with that, except what they are doing with their money.
  I know they say: Well, we gave money in--I think--New York City to 
cancer research. But what they have done to damage the National 
Institutes of Health is not possible to measure.
  Here are the rules the multibillionaire Koch brothers want to play 
by: They should be allowed to say false and misleading statements about 
the Affordable Care Act, but we are not allowed to criticize them for 
it.
  Just listening to the news, and I haven't heard anything from the 
White House directly, but I am told that yesterday, in 1 day, more 
people signed up for ObamaCare than the previous 3 months. People are 
anxious to have health insurance. They are anxious to have health 
insurance. I have been very satisfied that I and Members of my caucus 
and people around the country have been standing up to these moguls and 
their false, misleading, fearmongering ways.
  It should be no surprise that these multimillionaire, billionaires, 
very, very rich, fifth richest people in the world have decided: What 
we will do is try to frighten Reid. There have been times in my life 
when I have been a little afraid, but I am not afraid of them. I 
understand they have spent $30,000. Let them spend $300,000 in Nevada. 
I don't care--and I truly don't.
  These oil barons have commissioned a group--one of their many 
organizations. As I have said on the floor, most of the ads we see we 
think have come from Americans for Prosperity. That is their name. But 
they funnel money through many organizations--the chamber of commerce. 
What does the chamber do with those ads? Run ads against Democratic 
Senators because the chamber of commerce is a Republican-oriented 
organization, and it is good to get money from the Koch brothers 
because they can hide under the chamber of commerce.
  This organization they are now floating around that is going to run 
these ads, against me I am told, is called American Encore. It was 
previously called the Center to Protect Patient Rights. I guess that 
didn't work so well, as well more than 10 million people have now 
signed up for ObamaCare, people who didn't have the opportunity before. 
I guess they decided running ads against me is more important than 
protecting patients' rights, so now they came up with another catchy 
name, American Encore.
  No matter what they call their organization or the myriad of 
organizations, they all have one stated purpose, to make these oil 
barons even richer. If anyone needs further proof--and I am not sure 
anyone does--take a look at the legislation they have influenced with 
their money. In recent years, the tea party-driven House of 
Representatives has never missed a chance to funnel more tax cuts to 
the wealthy by raising taxes on the middle class.

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  The vast majority of wealthy people in America are willing to do 
more. They have spoken to my friend the Presiding Officer. There are a 
lot of rich people in the State of New Jersey. Even though the 
Presiding Officer has worked with people who are badly in need of help, 
people in New Jersey have walked up to the Presiding Officer and said: 
I am willing to pay more--and the same in Nevada. But every time we try 
to do something to get a few more resources to build roads, bridges, 
highways, dams, water systems, sewer systems, Republicans in the 
Congress say no.
  The Republicans in Congress do not represent mainstream Republicans 
in America today. They don't even represent mainstream rich Republicans 
around the country. They are driven by and they are afraid of the tea 
party.
  We have a budget proposal coming out today from the House of 
Representatives. The person who ran for Vice President the last go-
around on the Republican ticket is the chairman of the Budget Committee 
and he is coming out with a budget. It is a blueprint for a modern 
``Kochtopia.'' In fact, call it whatever one wants. We might as well 
call it the Koch budget because that is whom they are protecting, the 
Koch brothers.
  I am fascinated by this. These proposals are called the Path to 
Prosperity. It is a path to prosperity for some people--the rich--
because that budget would end Medicare as we know it. Similar to the 
last budget the chairman of the Budget Committee in the House came out 
with, it would slash education funding while expanding tax loopholes 
for the megarich.
  Whose prosperity is being plotted in these schemes? Today, as we get 
closer to the new Ryan budget, we will have to see how much of the Koch 
brothers' agenda is reflected in this year's budget. We don't have to 
be a fortune teller to know the similarities are extensive.
  To any and all groups that wish to attack me on behalf of 
multibillionaires, fire away. I am very happy--I am even proud--to be 
targeted by those attacks and will gladly endure them in order to call 
attention to the unscrupulous acts of these two barons. But don't 
expect Americans to go along with their attempt to rig our democracy 
and hand it over to a couple of power-hungry tycoons--I guess from 
Kansas. I know they have homes in New York, and one of them lives near 
here.
  The country will be watching but not fooled by the Koch brothers' 
attempts to purchase influence for whom--for the Koch brothers.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Booker). The Republican leader.


                          Igniting the Economy

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, Washington Democrats have controlled 
the White House and the Senate for years now. They have tried just 
about every tool in the liberal toolbox to turn the economy around. Yet 
according to the latest Gallup tracking poll, just 19 percent of 
Americans think the economy is doing well. Millions are out of work, 
and close to 60 percent of Americans say things are getting even worse.
  By basically any objective standard, we would have to say the 
Washington Democratic approach hasn't worked. We would have to say it 
is time for a change, to do something that can work, and that is what 
Republicans are proposing again this week.
  While Senate Democrats dust off the same poll-tested ideas for 
papering over the symptoms of malaise, Republicans are proposing 
concrete ideas aimed at igniting the economy and giving people real 
hope for something more, something better than what they have been 
getting for the last 5 years, something which speaks to their hopes and 
their potential. In other words, the other side is doubling down on the 
status quo while Republicans are offering change.
  Specifically, we will be proposing numerous jobs-related amendments 
which have one unifying purpose; that is, to break through the 
stagnation of the Obama economy and kick domestic job creation into 
high gear.
  Our approach is simple: Let's give free enterprise and private 
initiative a chance. Let's use the tools we know can lead to the 
creation of the stable, well-paying 21st century jobs our constituents 
want and deserve.
  Too often it seems our friends on the other side are single-mindedly 
focused on treating the symptoms of a down economy rather than actually 
providing struggling Americans with positive, meaningful paths to a 
better life. They can't seem to get their minds around any legislative 
proposal that puts ordinary Americans and private initiative in the 
driver's seat instead of the government. To me that largely sums up the 
difference between the parties. But it goes even further than that, 
because Washington Democrats are not just reluctant to embrace any idea 
that doesn't emanate from Washington; they don't even want to hear 
about it.
  If we are going to get this country back on track, that needs to 
change, and that is what Republicans are arguing for this week. What we 
are saying is, if all you want is subsistence-level relief, then that 
is what the party of government is going to give you. But if your goal 
is to help those who want to truly aspire to join the middle class, if 
you want to really help people maximize their potential and build a 
better life, it is time to start looking beyond Washington.
  Deep down I think our Democratic friends understand this too. I think 
they understand that pushing big government legislation with words such 
as ``jobs'' or ``affordable'' in the title isn't the same as actually 
creating jobs or actually making things more affordable. It is like 
handing someone a menu instead of serving them a meal. The tragic 
effects to this approach are clear: from an Affordable Care Act that 
turned out to be anything but, to a stimulus bill that seemed better at 
stimulating late-night punch lines than good paying jobs. But despite 
all the evidence, Washington Democrats remain stubbornly attached to 
the same old playbook. If you need proof, just take a look at the poll-
tested, campaign-crafted agenda they rolled out this week--an agenda 
packed to the brim with base-pleasing show votes and few if any real 
solutions for the middle class. In fact, the non-partisan Congressional 
Budget Office tells us that one of their proposals could cost up to a 
million jobs--cost jobs, not create jobs.
  Look, this prioritization of party-pleasing show votes over actually 
helping grow the middle class is a tragedy for our country. The 
American people really deserve two national parties that are serious, 
and it is long past time for Democrats to start engaging with us in a 
serious effort to help Americans who struggle so much in the Obama 
economy.
  The good news is they will have their chance this week. The 
Republicans are filing amendments on a whole range of job-centered 
policies, amendments that deserve not just a vote but bipartisan 
support. For example, an amendment from the junior Senator from South 
Carolina would eliminate ObamaCare's 30-hour workweek rule, which is 
hurting Americans' take-home pay in our already depressed economy.
  One of our Members from Utah is putting forward an amendment to 
repeal ObamaCare's job-destroying medical device tax. A good number of 
Democratic Senators have joined us in the past to get rid of this job 
killer, and they deserve the opportunity to help us eliminate it once 
and for all.
  The senior Senator from North Dakota has an amendment that would 
speed approval of the Keystone Pipeline. This is a project that would 
create thousands of jobs right away, and it is just a no-brainer. 
Senate Democrats need to join Democrats across the country who have 
already endorsed this commonsense initiative and help us pass it.
  I personally plan to file an amendment that would give Congress the 
ability to stop EPA's back-door national energy tax and would also keep 
unelected bureaucrats from blocking desperately needed jobs in Kentucky 
by sitting on surface mining permitting. Remember, this 
administration's anti-Kentucky policies have helped bring about a 
depression--that is a depression with a capital D--in many Kentucky 
coal counties. It is about time

[[Page 5131]]

they started having a little compassion for the coal families who just 
want to put food on the table, and that is exactly what my amendment 
aims to do.
  So these are just a few of the many proposals Republican Senators 
will be putting forward this week. They represent the kind of solutions 
our country needs right now to finally emerge from this awful economy--
real solutions that focus on creating well-paying jobs, increasing 
take-home pay, training a world-class workforce, and breaking a 
seemingly endless cycle of chronic high unemployment.
  As I have indicated, we have tried the Washington Democratic approach 
for years now. We know that it just hasn't worked. We know their new 
agenda isn't serious, that it is nothing more than an ObamaCare 
distraction strategy. We know this because Democrats actually told us 
it was created by their campaign committee, that it was designed to 
appeal to their base.
  So if the Democratic majority is finally ready to get down to 
business and create jobs, this is a moment to prove it. This is the 
moment to drop the endless campaigning. This is the moment to work with 
us to actually create jobs and help the middle class, and this is the 
moment for legislation that would do just that.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.

                          ____________________