[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 1]
[Senate]
[Pages 255-256]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       THE PRESIDENT'S LEADERSHIP

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, in less than 300 days, the American people 
will head to the polls to elect the President of the United States. An 
election year places the state of our Union under intense scrutiny. At 
this time it is important to remember just how far we have come through 
the leadership of President Barack Obama.
  I can remember the first time I heard Barack Obama's name. I was in 
the House gym, where I worked out for many years. Former Members have a 
little room in the back. Abner Mikva--long-time Congressman from 
Illinois, top lawyer for President Clinton, appellate court judge, and 
has had quite a remarkable career himself--was there. While we were 
getting dressed, he said to me: We have a Senate race in Illinois. And 
I asked: Well, whom are you supporting? He said: Barack Obama. I 
thought he was trying to be funny. Barack Obama? Come on. That is 
basically what I said to him, but I was wrong and he was right. This 
man with the unusual name was elected President of the United States.
  It is important to remember just how far we have come through his 
leadership. After 8 years of disaster under President Bush, the 
American people embraced President Obama's message of hope and change. 
On January 20, 2009, Barack Obama became the first African-American 
President in the history of our country. Instead of working with the 
President to repair our economy, strengthen the middle class, and help 
working families, Republicans have chosen a path, for 7 years, of 
relentless obstruction.
  In fact, during the President's first term, the Republican leader 
publicly said: ``The single most important thing we want to achieve is 
for President Obama to be a one-term President.'' As we look back over 
7 years of the Obama Presidency, one thing is clear: Republicans have 
failed in their radical crusade against him. President Obama inherited 
the worst recession since the Great Depression. He acted immediately to 
address the economic crisis and begin rebuilding our economy. Because 
of President Obama, our economy has fought back from the brink of 
destruction, which is what it really was.
  Last month, record car sales were announced for the year 2015. How 
did it come about? Because President Obama went against the Republicans 
every step of the way by saving Chrysler and GM and giving Ford a great 
boost. The most significant car and truck sales in the history of our 
country occurred last year. Millions of Americans now have health care. 
The President made sure he fulfilled his promise of getting Osama bin 
Laden, and he did. He was killed. The President has taken bold action 
to address our broken immigration system, doubled our country's 
production of renewable energy, and expanded access to higher education 
for millions of Americans.
  I have a lot of affection and admiration for President Obama and most 
everyone knows that. I have had the good fortune of working with him 
for the past 9 years in the Senate and as President. His rescuing the 
Nation from crisis, his bold legislative achievement, and his refusal 
to back down in the face of Republican obstruction have made him one of 
the best Presidents of all time.
  No State was hit harder by the recession and foreclosure crisis than 
Nevada. President Obama provided the resources necessary to stabilize 
the shattered housing markets, keep responsible borrowers in their 
homes, and reduce foreclosures. Through the efforts he made, the 
President and his administration were able to provide about $200 
million to Nevada's hardest hit homes, and there were lots of them. It 
didn't take care of all the problems, but it certainly helped a great 
deal. These were programs that provided unemployed and underemployed 
homeowners financial assistance.
  Nevada's unemployment rate reached almost 14 percent. Across the 
country, the rate of unemployment was about 10 percent. Today we have 
seen over 70 consecutive months of job growth, and our economy has 
added more than 14 million private sector jobs during the Obama years. 
Keep in mind what was happening during the last months of the Bush 
administration. During the first 2 months after the President was 
elected but not sworn into office, 800,000 jobs were lost 2 months in a 
row. It is hard to comprehend that, but that is what happened.
  Now we have seen the evidence of our Nation's job market continuing 
to bounce back. Last week alone almost 300,000 jobs were announced in 
the preceding month of December. A recent report shows that businesses 
have added 5.6 million jobs in the last 2 years alone, the most since 
the end of the Clinton administration. This certainly wouldn't have 
been possible without President Obama's leadership.
  Nevada's unemployment rate, which I have already mentioned, was the 
worst in the Nation. We had an ongoing struggle with the State of Rhode 
Island for years as to which had the worst unemployment--Rhode Island 
or Nevada. Neither State wanted to win, but we both won on many 
occasions as to which had the highest unemployment rate. Thanks to 
President Obama's leadership, we are finally coming back in a very 
strong way.
  In December, the President signed a tax bill that includes one of the 
biggest anti-poverty tools in a generation. It will help lift 16 
million modest- and low-income working families out of poverty, 
including 8 million children. Renewable energy is taking off like

[[Page 256]]

never before as a result of that legislation. President Obama and 
Senate Democrats have brought our economy back from the brink of 
destruction. I have already talked about the auto industry. We took on 
Wall Street to ensure that the greed and corruption which produced the 
great recession would never happen again. Republicans said no at every 
turn, but we succeeded in spite of their obstruction.
  Health care. Before President Obama took office, tens of millions of 
Americans were denied health insurance. Thanks to the hard work of 
President Obama and the Democrats in Congress, the Affordable Care Act 
has banned insurance company discrimination, requiring coverage without 
regard to preexisting conditions or health status. That is just a 
little bit of what has been done. Since the law took effect, 17 million 
uninsured Americans have now gained insurance coverage. The success of 
ObamaCare is undeniable and made health care available to millions, 
slowed the rate of health care cost growth, and it did not cause any of 
the horrible problems that were talked about, prophesied, and that were 
suggested would happen by Republicans. In effect, what they said was 
all wrong.
  Immigration. Immigration was a problem before President Obama took 
office, but he tried to do something about it, and of course 
Republicans blocked that also. At the State of the Union Address 2 
years ago, he said: I worked with you. I have tried, I have pleaded, 
and I am tired of doing this. I will have to do things on my own now 
because you will not do it legislatively. And he has done that.
  We failed to pass the DREAM Act in 2010. President Obama acted to 
protect DREAMers, by announcing DACA, deferred action for childhood 
arrivals. To date, almost 700,000 young individuals have been protected 
from deportation. Since then, Democrats led the charge for 
comprehensive immigration reform to fix our Nation's broken immigration 
system.
  The Senate passed bipartisan immigration reform in 2013, which was 
important, but we now have people, such as the junior Senator from 
Florida, for example, who helped pass that legislation, but once he 
started running for national office decided that everything he did in 
bringing that bill to the Senate floor was wrong, and he has taken a 
360-degree turn and said: I did all of that, but I guess I was wrong. 
We haven't been able to get it out of the House, and now we have people 
such as the junior Senator from Florida who is denigrating his own 
bill.
  President Obama acted within his legal Executive authority to unite 
American families and strengthen our immigration system, including 
protecting some adults with children in the United States from 
deportation. It is a longer story than that, but that is the short 
story.
  Energy and the environment. Climate change is one of the greatest, if 
not the greatest threat, the world has ever known. Because of President 
Obama's leadership, the world is on track to keep temperatures from 
rising and avoid the most catastrophic impact of climate change. By 
negotiating the historic Paris climate agreement, the President has 
crafted a version of clean energy and climate change for our country by 
establishing carbon emission standards on vehicles that help consumers 
save money on fuel for the first time by limiting carbon pollution from 
powerplants.
  He established or expanded 19 national monuments. Why? Because 
Republicans--bills we passed matter-of-factually here--always refused 
to allow us to have votes on them. So he moved forward, as he said he 
would do, with an Executive action for 19 national monuments. In 
Nevada, it includes the 750,000 acres of the Basin and Range National 
Monument, which is something that is great and all Americans can share. 
The President believes these lands belong to all Americans and that our 
children and grandchildren should be able to enjoy the beauty and 
bounty of our country.
  Education. When President Obama took office, our Nation's education 
system was in desperate need of reform. No Child Left Behind crippled 
schools around the country and graduation rates were at historic lows. 
One of the most important actions President Obama took through the 
recovery act was nearly $100 billion in aid for K-12 and higher 
education.
  Today students across the country have made tremendous progress. More 
students have graduated than ever before, particularly low-income and 
minority students. President Obama also took historic steps to address 
extreme levels of student debt in this country. By working with 
Democrats, President Obama created new programs to help college 
graduates manage their student debt by capping their loan payments by 
10 percent of their income. We wanted to do more, but obstruction 
raised its ugly head and Republicans refused to allow us to do even 
more.
  Guns. Mass murders have taken place all over, and Nevada is no 
exception. It has happened there also. From the time he was elected 
President, Republicans have tried every means possible by working arm 
in arm and hand in hand with the NRA to stop everything the President 
has tried to accomplish. Even though more than 80 percent of the 
American people said there should be background checks for people who 
are crazy and criminals, it is not good enough for Republicans. They 
have still stopped us.
  The President tried to work with Republicans and they have refused. 
This has brought about his new efforts to use Executive action. Last 
week he did just that. He addressed the epidemic of gun violence in 
this country through legal Executive action. Republicans have blocked 
this action, even in the wake of cold-blooded mass murders in schools, 
houses of worship, movie theaters, and many other places.
  Tomorrow the President will deliver his final State of the Union 
Address to the American people. I look forward to hearing ways in which 
he plans to continue and push our Nation forward during his last year 
in office. We will do everything in our power, as Democrats, to build 
on the strong legacy President Obama has established. We will continue 
to fight to strengthen the middle class and working families by 
addressing the mountain of student debt that saddles Americans' higher 
education. We will continue fighting to increase the minimum wage. We 
will not rest until wages of women match the wages of their male 
counterparts, and we will continue to keep Wall Street accountable by 
prioritizing Main Street and protecting the good work the Dodd-Frank 
legislation did.
  As we begin this legislative session, I hope we will find in our 
Republicans
a willing partner to protect and strengthen our Nation. I hope it is 
not wishful thinking, but it probably is. We stand ready to work with 
our Republican colleagues to do what is right for the American people.

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