[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 7]
[Senate]
[Pages 10273-10274]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              THE ECONOMY

  Mr. McCONNELL. For 5\1/2\ years the Obama administration and its 
allies in Congress have sought cover for their disastrous economic 
agenda with routine broadsides against an endless procession of straw 
men. It is hard to recall a single speech from a Democratic leader in 
Washington that didn't involve some spirited defense of a principle 
nobody ever challenged or some attack on a villain that doesn't exist. 
Instead of working with us on ideas that would actually do something to 
alleviate the concerns and anxieties of the middle class, these 
Democratic leaders have been blissfully content to play politics year 
after year after year.
  Instead of delivering relief, they have delivered a steady diet of 
bad political theater day in and day out with the same ridiculous and 
predictable moral every single time: Democrats care. So vote for them 
and all will be well.
  If you haven't noticed, all is not well for working families in this 
country. Four years after administration officials trumpeted ``recovery 
summer'' in June 2010, working men and women in this country are more 
anxious about work and family and the high cost of living--and that is 
to say nothing of the millions who can't find work at all.
  The White House knows all of this, and that is why they are planning 
to hold a summit on the topic next week. They want everyone to think 
they are on the case, that they have a plan, but what they don't seem 
to realize is nobody believes them anymore and that folks have moved 
on.
  The sad truth is most of the folks I have talked to are convinced 
government is working against them, not for them. I don't blame them. 
Whether it is frustration over an absurdly complicated Tax Code that 
drains people of their time and energy or just a general sense that 
government programs are rigged to help the well-off and well-connected, 
an increasing number of our constituents don't even think government is 
capable--let alone interested--in making their lives any easier these 
days. It is a shame because while the Obama administration has been 
playing politics, Republicans have been quietly assembling a lot of 
good ideas to help Americans deal with the stresses of a modern 
economy.
  All of these ideas are consistent with our party's longstanding 
commitment to the principles of upward mobility, shared responsibility 
for the weak, and a strong but limited central government. Every single 
one of them deserves a vote.
  For my part, I have pressed for legislation that addresses a variety 
of concerns of the people in my State. The Family Friendly and 
Workplace Flexibility Act, which I introduced with Senator Ayotte, 
would enable working mothers to enter into a voluntary agreement with 
their employers whereby they could bank overtime compensation in the 
form of time off with their families. It would give families the 
choice, not just the employer.
  Another bill I will introduce today will fix a flaw in the Tax Code 
so men or women who work at home are not prevented from claiming a 
deduction for a home office if that office includes a baby crib so they 
can take care of their child while working. The Working Parents Home 
Office Act would not only help parents save on childcare costs, it 
would help increase their earning potential by incentivizing them to 
create new income streams from home.
  For parents worried about failing schools for their children, Senator 
Kirk introduced the Expanding Opportunity Through Quality Charter 
Schools Act--a bill that would provide more and better educational 
choices and some much needed compensation for teachers unions that too 
often put their own interests above those of our children.
  Then there is the National Right to Work Act, a bill I cosponsored 
with Senator Paul, which will eliminate a Federal rule that requires 
employees of certain companies to join a union or pay union dues 
whether they want to or not. Lifting this rule would vastly increase 
job opportunities in my State for women and men who want to work but 
can't find it, especially in the area of manufacturing.
  The senior Senator from Maine has a proposal that would repeal a 
senseless provision in ObamaCare that is incentivizing employers all 
across the country to limit their employees to 30 hours a week.
  The junior Senator from Nebraska has a bill--the Workplace 
Advancement Act--that would further equip women in the workplace with 
the knowledge and tools they need to fight employer discrimination.
  The junior Senator from Florida has a bill--the RAISE Act--that would 
amend the National Labor Relations Act to allow employers to give 
merit-based pay increases to employees who are currently prohibited 
from receiving them because of outdated labor rules,

[[Page 10274]]

and the junior Senator from Utah has a number of good proposals in a 
variety of areas.
  These are just a few of the very good ideas that Members of my 
conference have put together to address the concerns and anxieties of 
working men and women whose wages have remained stubbornly flat during 
the Obama years, even as the cost of everything from college tuition to 
health care continues to soar. There are many others, including bills 
passed by the House that the Democratic majority in the Senate 
continues to block.
  I am very proud of the work so many of my colleagues have done in 
putting all this legislation together. This morning some of us will 
present a number of these ideas at a press conference to draw attention 
to the urgent needs of our constituents and the short-sightedness of 
the majority leader in blocking our ideas to address them. Every one of 
these Republican ideas is meant to address some common concern of 
working families in our country, but none of them ever get a vote 
because it would not fit the story line Washington Democrats are 
peddling.
  Apparently Senate Democrats would rather people didn't know 
Republicans have been working overtime behind the scenes to make their 
lives easier or paychecks bigger for working moms and recent college 
graduates. They would rather people didn't even know about these or 
dozens of other ideas we have that are aimed at making life a little 
easier for middle-class Americans, because if they did, they might 
realize there is an entirely different approach to the problems that 
have been plaguing this economy for years now and choose it over 
theirs.
  What Republicans have been saying is that there are a number of 
things we can do right now to help folks deal with the pressures they 
face every day in this economy. We have been talking about these ideas 
for years, and we will be talking about them later today because 5\1/2\ 
years into the Obama economy Americans are eager for some fresh 
thinking. They are tired of the same old big government solutions that 
only make life harder and more complicated. They are tired of a 
Democratically controlled Senate that will not allow a debate or a vote 
on any of our better proposals.
  Most of our constituents are thinking about long commutes, shrinking 
budgets, obscenely high tuition and health care bills. They think about 
how nice it would be to have some more flexibility at work. They are 
frustrated with a Tax Code that seems to punish their efforts to make a 
little bit more money for their family, and they are not getting 
anything from the White House but empty rhetoric and more of the same.
  Today Republicans are reminding people there is another way. While 
Democrats have been plotting ways to hold on to their majority, we have 
been listening to the concerns and anxieties of our constituents and 
figuring out new, creative ways to address them.
  It is long past time we had a real debate in this country, instead of 
the false choice Democrats constantly present to the public between 
their own failed ideas and some political villain that doesn't exist. 
It is time Americans saw the real choice before them, and once they do, 
I think the choice will be an easy one.

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