[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 1]
[Senate]
[Pages 881-883]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     PROGRESS FOR THE MIDDLE CLASS

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, last night the President talked about the 
economy and the progress we have made. The United States grew 2.6 
percent last year, and in the third quarter alone our economy grew by 5 
percent. Nearly 3 million jobs were created--the best year for the U.S. 
labor market since the height of the economic boom under President Bill 
Clinton. Lower gasoline prices are providing relief to many families 
and consumer confidence is up. The deficit has been cut in half.
  Yet we know that while the economy is growing and unemployment is 
declining, sadly, much of the benefit is going to those at the very top 
of the ladder. The top 1 percent of American wage earners saw 49 
percent of the decline in incomes during the recession, but they have 
seen 95 percent of the income gained since the recovery started. Let me 
repeat that. The top 1 percent of wage earners have seen 95 percent of 
the gains since our economy has recovered.
  The gap between wages for low-income and middle-income families and

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those at the top is staggering. Forty-seven people in America own more 
than 160 million Americans combined. That has to change.
  This isn't just a Democratic observation. Even Republicans have 
publicly agreed with us that working families are falling behind. Let 
me quote a few. Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, a potential candidate 
for President, said: ``Here's reality: If you're fortunate enough to 
count yourself among the privileged, much of the rest of the Nation is 
drowning.'' Jeb Bush said that.
  Mitt Romney, a former Republican candidate for President and perhaps 
a Republican candidate for President again--here is what he said last 
week as he has rekindled his dream for the Presidency: ``. . . the rich 
have gotten richer, income inequality has gotten worse, and there are 
more people in poverty than ever before.''
  Even Speaker John Boehner said this in an interview:

       The top third of America are doing pretty good. The bottom 
     two-thirds are really being squeezed.

  So how do we address these challenges? Our parties look at it 
differently.
  The Republican majority in this Chamber had to pick the first bill 
they would bring to the floor of the Senate once they reached the 
majority. There were a lot of initiatives they could have considered. 
We know what they chose--the Keystone XL Pipeline--a pipeline owned by 
a Canadian company. That is the No. 1 priority of the Republicans in 
the Senate, bar none. When they wanted to respond to President Obama's 
State of the Union Address with Senator Ernst of Iowa, they focused on 
the Keystone XL Pipeline. What a limited vision of the future--one 
pipeline.
  Then we took two votes yesterday on this pipeline, and it started to 
become clear what this pipeline is all about. It is moving Canadian tar 
sands from Canada, through the United States, and to a refinery in 
Texas. We learned yesterday the Republicans will not even support the 
proposition that the refined oil products coming out of this refinery 
will help America.
  We had a simple amendment Senator Markey of Massachusetts offered 
which said that at the end of the pipeline, the refinery's oil products 
will be sold in America. The Republicans defeated that amendment. So 
all this argument about how this oil out of this pipeline is going to 
help our economy in the future? Nope, don't expect it to happen. 
Yesterday's overwhelming Republican vote made it clear.
  There was a second part that was considered yesterday. This bill--the 
No. 1 priority of the Senate Republican majority--is going to build a 
pipeline, that is for sure. We said, good, if it is going to be built, 
use American steel in building the pipeline. That is not an outrageous 
suggestion. If this is such a priority for the Republicans, wouldn't 
they want to put Americans to work to make the steel to build the 
pipeline? We offered that as an amendment yesterday. Senator Franken 
offered that amendment and the Republicans rejected it. The Republicans 
rejected the premise that the steel that goes into the most important 
pipeline in the history of America, from their point of view, should 
actually come from America. That is the second amendment we considered.
  This special interest project, the Keystone XL Canadian-owned 
pipeline, is going to continue to be the No. 1 dominant issue in the 
Senate for days to come.
  Republicans plan to do everything they can to help build a pipeline, 
but they want to deny millions of Americans access to health care. That 
is what the House Republicans have come up with. They want to come up 
with a plan that will literally take away the coverage of health care 
from Americans. Is there anyone in this country who thinks that is the 
right thing for our future? We are trying to reduce the number of 
uninsured. The Republican changes to the Affordable Care Act would 
increase the number of uninsured and increase the number of Americans 
dependent on government-sponsored health care. It doesn't sound like a 
Republican idea to me, but it is. That is what is coming from the House 
of Representatives.
  There are pretty clear differences in how we help working families. 
For the Senate Republicans, it is to build a Canadian pipeline. Don't 
use American steel, don't keep the oil in America, but build this 
pipeline--No. 1 priority. The House Republicans take away health 
insurance coverage for hundreds of thousands of Americans at a time 
when we know that leaves people in a precarious position.
  Here is what the President said last night: We want to make certain 
we focus on projects and programs and new ideas that can leave our 
children a better world and our grandchildren as well. Do we want an 
economy where everyone has an opportunity to climb that economic ladder 
or do we want a world where those who are born into lives of luxury set 
the rules and always come out ahead? Do we want an economy that rewards 
those who work hard and play by the rules or an economy where 
corporations rig the game so it is tails you lose, heads I win?
  We know that an economy with a strong middle class is key to growing 
America. Yet it is becoming harder and harder for families to even 
reach the middle class. Working families aren't looking for a handout--
not in my State. They just want a chance for a better life for their 
kids.
  There is a way we can do this. It is called the earned-income tax 
credit. This is an idea supported by Republican Presidents in the past. 
Historically both parties have supported it. The earned-income tax 
credit is designed to encourage work by providing a tax credit to 
working families.
  The President's proposal, similar to one that Sherrod Brown and I 
have introduced, would expand the credit to help the only group that 
our Tax Code pushes into poverty: childless workers. What a difference 
this would make for millions of working families, the difference 
between paying a heating bill or putting it off, the difference between 
getting a prescription filled or waiting. A small refundable tax credit 
for these workers can make a bigger difference than many U.S. Senators 
would ever realize.
  The President also proposed making 2 years of community college free 
for responsible students and giving motivated students a path to a 
solid educational foundation without debt. This is not a Democratic 
idea. The President acknowledged last night that this idea came from a 
Republican Governor in Tennessee. I might add that a Democratic mayor, 
Rahm Emanuel of Chicago, has a similar program, but the President went 
to Tennessee to acknowledge that the Republican legislature and the 
Republican Governor had come up with a good idea. So to argue this is 
somehow a partisan idea, it sure isn't in Tennessee. If it is partisan, 
it is a Republican partisan idea.
  The President understands that in the 20th century, maybe K-12 was 
just enough to make it. In the 21st century it is not enough. K-14, 
most of us understand, is the ticket to a good-paying job.
  I called in to some of the media this morning from Illinois, and they 
said, oh, this community college free tuition idea--another Federal 
mandate. Well, let me disabuse you of this idea. This is voluntary. It 
is original. States decide if they want to be part of it, but I think 
those States that want to be part of free community college tuition for 
good, achieving, hard-working students are on the right track, and 
those who ignore it may fall behind.
  The jobs of this century will require more training and education 
than ever. I think this notion is a good one. Have we ever gone wrong 
in the history of the United States by investing in education, 
investing in our students, investing in our future? That is what the 
President's proposal does. It has been dismissed out of hand by the 
Republicans, even though it had a Republican origin. That is a mistake. 
We should count on our community colleges, the affordable alternative 
for higher education for 40 percent of America's college students. And 
thank goodness it steers these kids away from these God-forsaken for-
profit colleges and universities which too often exploit these young 
people, these young men and

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women, sink them deep in debt and, if they are lucky, hand them a 
worthless diploma at the end of the day. Community colleges are the 
affordable ticket in Kentucky, in Illinois, and across America.
  The President reminded us last night that we live in a great country 
and our economy is recovering. But while the wealthiest Americans are 
doing fine, more American families are spending hours at the kitchen 
table trying to figure out how to make ends meet. Let's help those 
families. Let's agree to help those families. One Canadian-owned 
pipeline is not the answer. We need to think about education, we need 
to think about a Federal transportation bill, and we need to think 
about investing in America and its future.

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