[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 4]
[Senate]
[Pages 5724-5725]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          SPONSORING AMERICANS

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, NASCAR fans can easily find their favorite 
drivers simply by looking at the cars as they fly by because of 
corporate emblems on the hood of the car. In fact, they are all over 
the car. For our clothing here in the Senate, we don't bear any 
commercial logos. Many Republican leaders these days may as well wear 
the Koch Industries insignia, but as Members of the Senate, there 
should never be any doubt as to our sponsors--the American people.
  We are in the Senate for one reason: To give Americans a fair shot at 
providing for their families and having their voices heard, but 
Republicans seem more willing to identify themselves by their 
billionaire sponsors. While they don't wear Koch Industries ties and 
jackets, they display their sponsors proudly through their actions in 
the Senate. So it comes as no surprise Republican Senators stood on the 
Senate floor and voiced their support for Charles and David Koch. 
Senate Republicans depend on the Koch brothers to make their job 
easier.
  I appreciate the forthrightness of those who expressed their support 
of the Koch brothers. The chairman of the National Republican 
Senatorial Campaign Committee came to this floor praising the richest 
brothers in the world. If Charles and David Koch helped Republican 
Members in this Chamber, they should not be ashamed to defend the 
Kochs' power. If the Koch brothers have bankrolled efforts to keep 
Senators in their seats, those Members should publicly acknowledge 
their providers.
  If my Republican colleagues find my criticism of the Kochs' shadowy 
influence unjust, they should take their case to the American people. 
Senate Republicans should come to the Senate floor and take up the 
cause of the persecuted multibillionaires, but Senate Republicans 
shouldn't expect Americans to be easily fooled into ignoring the fact 
that the Koch brothers are trying to sweep middle-class families under 
the rug.
  Regardless of the words Charles Koch espouses, for example, in his 
Wall Street Journal op-ed last week, he and his brother don't have the 
interests of average Americans in mind. They have in mind increasing 
their wealth and hiding their efforts behind words such as dignity, 
respect, equality, and freedom. That ran throughout the column they 
wrote.
  Dignity? What about the dignity of struggling, long-term unemployed 
families? The Koch brothers continue closing plants and laying off 
employees in Alaska, Arkansas, North Carolina, and other places, 
devastating the economies in those communities. Americans need a fair 
shot at getting back on their feet and finding work, but Koch-backed 
groups are actively opposing the extension of benefits for the long-
term unemployed.
  What about the dignity of a single mother from Las Vegas, Christina, 
who is stuck living in her elderly grandmother's living room because 
she and her son were evicted when Christina's benefits were cut off? 
Perhaps Charles and David Koch should spend their nights sharing one 
air mattress, as Christina and her son do, and see what dignity there 
is living as Christina and her boy do. The Koch brothers want Americans 
to be dignified as they lose their cars and homes and security.
  The Koch brothers hide behind words such as ``respect.'' What about 
treating the American voter with respect? Instead, the Koch brothers 
have dumped hundreds of millions of dollars in dishonest ads about 
health care reform, trying to fool American families into thinking that 
affordable health care is bad for them. It is good for them. If the 
Affordable Care Act was so awful, why did Koch Industries use it to 
their advantage? Koch Industries applied for and participated in the 
temporary program called the Early Retiree Reinsurance Program, part of 
the Affordable Care Act. This program helped the company Koch 
Industries pay health insurance costs to retirees who were not covered 
by Medicare. In other words, the government helped subsidize health 
care which Koch Industries promised to its retiring employees. So it is 
OK for Koch Industries to save money through ObamaCare, but if an 
American family wants a fair shot at health care, they risk being 
labeled as collectivists. That was all through the article, the op-ed 
piece, ``collectivists.'' Is that the new rightwing buzz word for 
Communists? That doesn't sound like respect to me.
  The Kochs throw around phrases such as ``equality under the law.'' 
What about equality for hard-working American women? Yet the 
Republicans in Congress who carry water for the

[[Page 5725]]

Kochs are actively campaigning against legislation that will ensure 
that women are paid equally with their male counterparts for doing the 
exact same work.
  I have a daughter. I have four sons. My daughter, if she does the 
same work as any of my four boys, should be paid the same as they are, 
but that isn't how it is in America. She is paid only 76 or 77 cents on 
the dollar for what men make doing the same work.
  One of the Koch organizations is ironically called the Independent 
Women's Forum. They do this all the time. They fund money for the 
Chamber of Commerce, many other organizations, but one of their 
organizations is called the Independent Women's Forum, which is making 
the argument that the disparity between men's and women's salaries is a 
myth. But this tactic shouldn't surprise anyone, given the Republicans' 
utter disregard for women that is on display here in Washington.
  We are going to vote on Wednesday on a fair pay piece of legislation, 
simply saying women should get the same amount of money a man does 
doing the same work--not too absurd, not too radical. That is what we 
are trying to do. I repeat. This tactic shouldn't surprise anyone, 
given the Republicans' disregard for women that is on display here in 
Washington.
  For example, on one of the Sunday shows yesterday comments were made 
by former Director of the CIA Michael Hayden, who was there for a long 
time. In responding to the Senate Intelligence Committee's attempts to 
shed light on the CIA's questionable interrogation methods, General 
Hayden condescendingly accused Dianne Feinstein of being too emotional. 
How about that--Dianne Feinstein being too emotional. This woman has 
been an outstanding leader of the Senate Intelligence Committee. She 
has been fearless. She has been thorough and fair. For this man to say 
that because she criticizes tactics led by General Hayden as torture 
she was too emotional--I don't think so. Does this sound like a person 
or a party who respects women? So much for equality under the law as 
seen by the Koch brothers.
  Finally, the Koch brothers claim they are fighting to restore a free 
society--also some buzz words: ``Free society.'' Free in what way? They 
single-handedly turned the American electoral process into a pay-to-
play scheme. The Koch brothers' endgame is to elect officials, to elect 
people who will help overhaul our system of government and replace it 
with something more to their liking to increase their wealth. Even 
though they are the richest people in the world, they want to be 
richer.
  So I again extend the invitation to my colleagues, if you bear the 
logo of the Koch brothers, come on down and announce your affiliation 
openly. The Koch brothers' agenda is an agenda that is not my agenda, 
it is not our agenda, but is it your agenda, my Republican friends? If 
it is, come and tell your constituents that is the case. Let this 
Nation know where you stand. As for we Democrats, we will continue to 
defend American families from these oil baron bullies who want nothing 
more than to enrich themselves. We will continue to oppose their 
efforts to buy our democracy because we work for America, not just rich 
Americans.

                          ____________________