Floor Statements

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 83, which was submitted earlier today.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Foreign Relations Committee be discharged from further consideration of S. Res. 37, and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

I ask unanimous consent that the amendment to the resolution at the desk be agreed to; that the resolution, as amended, be agreed to; that an amendment to the preamble, which is at the desk, be agreed to; the preamble, as amended, be agreed to; further, that an amendment to the title be agreed to; and the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 9:30 a.m., Wednesday, March 25; that following the prayer and pledge, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed expired, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and there then be a period for the transaction of morning business for up to 1 hour, with Senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each, with the time equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees, with the majority controlling the first half and the Republicans controlling the second half; that following morning business, the Senate resume consideration of H.R. 1388, the national service legislation; finally, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate recess from 12:30 p.m. until 2 p.m. to allow for the Democratic caucus luncheon.

Mr. President, under a previous order, the Senate will vote at 12 noon on confirmation of the nomination of David Kris to be an Assistant Attorney General. That will be the first vote of the day. Additional votes in relation to amendments are expected to occur throughout the afternoon.

For the information of all Senators, there will be no rollcall votes on Monday, March 30.

Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that it adjourn under the previous order.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

I yield the floor, and I reserve the remainder of the time on our side.

Mr. President, there are a number of factors that caused the economic recession we are faced with today. All of us know that.

We can blame executives on Wall Street, who made reckless choices and ignored long-term consequences to make a quick profit.

We can blame the financial industry regulators, whose lax oversight failed to see the potential risks posed by the new, complex financial products that Wall Street was selling, and we can point a finger at those in the mortgage industry, who ignored that all bubbles eventually burst and that--in the case of housing bubble--the American taxpayers would be left to clean up the mess.

But we also need to look a little closer to home as well. The reality is that one of the contributing causes of this recession is the fact that too many Americans made poor and very often uninformed financial choices when they bought homes in the last several years.

Too many overestimated their own resources, didn't read the fine print, and didn't grasp the terms of their mortgages before signing on the dotted line.

In fact, we need to recognize that too many Americans, from college students to senior citizens, are financially illiterate.

The problem is not limited to mortgage holders. Too many Americans don't know how to budget their household expenses, manage their credit card debt, or even pay their bills on time.

We need to ensure that we don't get into this situation again, by giving all Americans the skills to make sound financial decisions.

We used to say the 3 R's of school are reading, writing, and arithmetic. Well, I think we need to add a fourth R--resource management.

That is why today I am introducing legislation that will help ensure that all Americans get the skills they need to make financial decisions that will protect them and their families.

The Financial and Economic Literacy Improvement Act of 2009 will require the Federal Government to step to the plate and become a real partner in helping Americans manage their finances and make good decisions about housing, employment, and education.

This bipartisan bill, which is cosponsored by Senator Cochran, is aimed at helping people of all ages. Our goal is to ensure that high school and college students know the pitfalls of signing up for credit cards and can make informed decisions about student loans.

All young people understand the importance of saving and making smart decisions to ensure a comfortable and dignified retirement and, most important, that we are taking steps to ensure we do not repeat the misguided and uninformed decisions that have contributed to the recession that we find ourselves in today.

Under our bill, the Federal Government will become a strong supporter of making financial literacy education a core part of K-12 education.

I believe that focusing this effort on young people is critical for two reasons:

One, if we are going to avoid another crisis such as this one, we must begin by teaching the next generation to make smart financial decisions; two, because all signs point to another generation that is coming of age already saddled with debt, and we need to help them before it is too late.

This past Sunday, this article ran on the front page of the Olympian newspaper from my State of Washington. I ask unanimous consent to have this article printed in the Record.

Mr. President, the article discusses the legislation I am introducing today. It also talks about the financial path that the next generation is currently on. The article pointed out that, right now, one-third of our college students have four credit cards when they graduate. More than half of our graduates have piled up $5,000 each in high interest debt. The number of 18 to 24-year-olds who have declared bankruptcy has almost doubled in 10 years.

That article also points out that many of our young people are financially illiterate. They understand very little about concepts such as interest or minimum payments or credit reports and the financial reality of having to pay off their student loans for years to come.

Today, with many of our schools struggling to pay teachers and maintain their current programs, a lot of our State and local governments cannot afford to ramp up financial literacy education right now. That is exactly where I believe the Federal Government needs to step up. We cannot afford for our young people to not understand their own finances.

Our bill will authorize $125 million annually to go to State and local education agencies and their partnerships with organizations experienced in providing high-quality financial literacy and economic instruction.

This funding we will provide will help make financial and economic literacy a part of core academic classes, develop financial literacy standards and testing benchmarks, and provide critical teacher training.

This bill will also help schools weave financial concepts into basic classes, such as math and social studies.

Importantly, this training will not end in high school. Our bill makes the same $125 million investment in teaching financial literacy in our 2- and 4-year colleges.

That is critical. My constituents often write or tell me about the financial trouble they are struggling with. A lot of them are very desperate for help. They got into situations they didn't understand, and they don't have the resources to fix.

For example, one woman from Olympia, who put off credit card bills to pay her mortgage, wrote to me and said:

I am educated, but was unaware that by being late on a

payment or by skipping a payment and trying to make it up, my

interest rate could skyrocket to over 26 percent, and late

fees could be exponential.

Whether it is skyrocketing interest rates or credit cards or an adjustable rate mortgage that somebody can no longer afford or a retirement plan that they don't understand, I often hear the same thing from people: I wish someone had taught this to me in high school.

This bill we are introducing ensures that we are teaching it in our schools, and it will help people learn the basic skills that will give them a leg up when they are dealing with their bankers.

This crisis we are in cost us dearly. Every weekend when I go home I hear about another business that is closing or another family who cannot pay their bills. But we know if we make changes and smart investments, we can move our country forward. I believe this is one of those smart investments. In January, after President Obama took office, he called for an era of personal responsibility. I believe our bill helps Americans to usher in that era.

I encourage my colleagues to take a look at the bill and cosponsor it and help us move it forward so we can make sure that we have a financially literate country.

Mr. President, there are a number of factors that caused the economic recession we are faced with today. All of us know that.

We can blame executives on Wall Street, who made reckless choices and ignored long-term consequences to make a quick profit.

We can blame the financial industry regulators, whose lax oversight failed to see the potential risks posed by the new, complex financial products that Wall Street was selling, and we can point a finger at those in the mortgage industry, who ignored that all bubbles eventually burst and that--in the case of housing bubble--the American taxpayers would be left to clean up the mess.

But we also need to look a little closer to home as well. The reality is that one of the contributing causes of this recession is the fact that too many Americans made poor and very often uninformed financial choices when they bought homes in the last several years.

Too many overestimated their own resources, didn't read the fine print, and didn't grasp the terms of their mortgages before signing on the dotted line.

In fact, we need to recognize that too many Americans, from college students to senior citizens, are financially illiterate.

The problem is not limited to mortgage holders. Too many Americans don't know how to budget their household expenses, manage their credit card debt, or even pay their bills on time.

We need to ensure that we don't get into this situation again, by giving all Americans the skills to make sound financial decisions.

We used to say the 3 R's of school are reading, writing, and arithmetic. Well, I think we need to add a fourth R--resource management.

That is why today I am introducing legislation that will help ensure that all Americans get the skills they need to make financial decisions that will protect them and their families.

The Financial and Economic Literacy Improvement Act of 2009 will require the Federal Government to step to the plate and become a real partner in helping Americans manage their finances and make good decisions about housing, employment, and education.

This bipartisan bill, which is cosponsored by Senator Cochran, is aimed at helping people of all ages. Our goal is to ensure that high school and college students know the pitfalls of signing up for credit cards and can make informed decisions about student loans.

All young people understand the importance of saving and making smart decisions to ensure a comfortable and dignified retirement and, most important, that we are taking steps to ensure we do not repeat the misguided and uninformed decisions that have contributed to the recession that we find ourselves in today.

Under our bill, the Federal Government will become a strong supporter of making financial literacy education a core part of K-12 education.

I believe that focusing this effort on young people is critical for two reasons:

One, if we are going to avoid another crisis such as this one, we must begin by teaching the next generation to make smart financial decisions; two, because all signs point to another generation that is coming of age already saddled with debt, and we need to help them before it is too late.

This past Sunday, this article ran on the front page of the Olympian newspaper from my State of Washington. I ask unanimous consent to have this article printed in the Record.

Mr. President, the article discusses the legislation I am introducing today. It also talks about the financial path that the next generation is currently on. The article pointed out that, right now, one-third of our college students have four credit cards when they graduate. More than half of our graduates have piled up $5,000 each in high interest debt. The number of 18 to 24-year-olds who have declared bankruptcy has almost doubled in 10 years.

That article also points out that many of our young people are financially illiterate. They understand very little about concepts such as interest or minimum payments or credit reports and the financial reality of having to pay off their student loans for years to come.

Today, with many of our schools struggling to pay teachers and maintain their current programs, a lot of our State and local governments cannot afford to ramp up financial literacy education right now. That is exactly where I believe the Federal Government needs to step up. We cannot afford for our young people to not understand their own finances.

Our bill will authorize $125 million annually to go to State and local education agencies and their partnerships with organizations experienced in providing high-quality financial literacy and economic instruction.

This funding we will provide will help make financial and economic literacy a part of core academic classes, develop financial literacy standards and testing benchmarks, and provide critical teacher training.

This bill will also help schools weave financial concepts into basic classes, such as math and social studies.

Importantly, this training will not end in high school. Our bill makes the same $125 million investment in teaching financial literacy in our 2- and 4-year colleges.

That is critical. My constituents often write or tell me about the financial trouble they are struggling with. A lot of them are very desperate for help. They got into situations they didn't understand, and they don't have the resources to fix.

For example, one woman from Olympia, who put off credit card bills to pay her mortgage, wrote to me and said:

I am educated, but was unaware that by being late on a

payment or by skipping a payment and trying to make it up, my

interest rate could skyrocket to over 26 percent, and late

fees could be exponential.

Whether it is skyrocketing interest rates or credit cards or an adjustable rate mortgage that somebody can no longer afford or a retirement plan that they don't understand, I often hear the same thing from people: I wish someone had taught this to me in high school.

This bill we are introducing ensures that we are teaching it in our schools, and it will help people learn the basic skills that will give them a leg up when they are dealing with their bankers.

This crisis we are in cost us dearly. Every weekend when I go home I hear about another business that is closing or another family who cannot pay their bills. But we know if we make changes and smart investments, we can move our country forward. I believe this is one of those smart investments. In January, after President Obama took office, he called for an era of personal responsibility. I believe our bill helps Americans to usher in that era.

I encourage my colleagues to take a look at the bill and cosponsor it and help us move it forward so we can make sure that we have a financially literate country.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Madam President, what is the order?

I thank the Chair.

Madam President, for years, we have talked about the fact that the annual budget process is the truest test of priorities that the President and Congress engage in. For years, I was concerned about the last administration's budgets, and I was very vocal about that--too little investment in America, too many gimmicks, and too much focus on the few and not the many. It was those budgets and the policies they imposed that led us to the challenges we are now facing.

President Obama inherited huge problems not of his own making. That is why his first budget blueprint is such a breath of fresh air. President Obama's budget is both a statement of priorities and a test of our commitment to making our country stronger for all Americans.

Our Nation faces serious challenges now, but it is not a time to shy away from the investments that will ensure our prosperity and our competitiveness in the future. His budget builds the foundation that will make America stronger by investing in health care, energy independence, and education. The President inherited an economic recession and staggering deficits. The shortsighted budgets and policies of the past have left our infrastructure crumbling, our education system falling behind, and the debt of war in the pockets of our grandchildren.

There is no doubt we have to take some serious steps to dig out of this hole. President Obama's budget takes steps to cut our deficit in half and to restore fairness to our tax system. Importantly, after 8 years of gimmicks, this budget is transparent and tells the American people exactly where we are spending our money. The President accounts for war spending and leaves room for natural disasters or other emergencies we might face.

The President has been honest about the challenges that face this country, and now he is being honest about where we need to invest. He has warned Congress and the American people about the sacrifice we all have to make to

move our country forward, and they are many. But he has also been clear that now is the time to continue to invest in health care and energy and education reform to ensure our long-term strength and prosperity.

I come to the floor today to talk specifically about the need to invest in education. Investing in education is one of the most certain ways we can create jobs and strengthen our economy well into the future. Education means economic recovery, and in this global economy a good education is no longer just a pathway to opportunity, it is a prerequisite for success. Ensuring quality education for every American is essential to our future as a nation.

The President and this Congress made a downpayment on that commitment in the Economic Recovery Act we passed last month. That bill meant help for students in Washington State--my State--who are struggling to afford and attend college and students across the country. It means serving more K-12 students' needs. It means the ability to restore the education cuts our States are facing. It means keeping teachers in their jobs and our class sizes down.

Those investments we made in the economic recovery package are going to not only help create jobs, they are going to help our teachers and our parents in our communities keep their jobs while they modernize education for today's students. Those students are going to be tomorrow's highly skilled workforce, so we need to make this investment to stay strong as a nation. That economic recovery bill made a downpayment on our students' future. The next step we have to take is our budget, to help improve education for our kids and for all.

The budget we are going to be seeing puts a long-needed emphasis on preparing students for the jobs of today and tomorrow, with the focus on science, math and technology skills and equipment. It focuses on 21st century skills and early childhood education. It talks about career and technical education and accessing and affording higher education, which includes 2-year colleges and technical training.

So let me talk a minute about the budget and its details. The budget creates a 0-to-5 plan, which will continue to increase funding for Head Start, Early Head Start, and the child care development block grants. It encourages State and local investment in early education to help get information to parents about quality child care programs, including important home visiting programs for parents with young children.

The budget will make important investments in preparing and supporting great teachers and school leaders for our schools. It will allow students to achieve their college dream by making critical funding to raise the Pell grant in this time of need, and it continues the new American Opportunity Tax Credit, which will help families across the Nation afford tuition.

The budget also makes a 5-year, $2.5 billion investment in a new Access and Completion Incentive Fund to ensure that low-income students complete college. We know that only about 50 percent of our students who start a college education in this country complete it. We have to do a lot better than that because almost all of our good-paying jobs today require a credential beyond high school.

I come to the floor today to say that now is not a time to sit back and just worry. Now is a time to be bold and make the critical investments in our country that are so long overdue. Nowhere is this clearer than in education. I applaud the President for making his commitment clear, and I pledge to work with him and every one of my colleagues who are willing to ensure that ours becomes the greatest education system in the world.

Now let me say a word about some of the criticism we have been hearing from our friends on the other side of the aisle. I have heard a lot of talk about this budget ``taxing'' too much. Well, they must be reading a different budget than I am. President Obama's budget would not raise taxes on 95 percent of Americans. I think that is important, so let me say it again. Ninety-five percent of Americans will not see their taxes raised under this plan. In fact, too much of the tax burden in this country is being borne today by our working families, and President Obama is working hard to fix that. Nine of ten working families will see their taxes go down with his budget plan.

The President's Making Work Pay credit--$400 for individuals and $800 for families--is extended under his budget plan. That credit cuts taxes for 95 percent of our working families. It cuts taxes for 95 percent of our working families.

The American Opportunity Education Tax Credit is going to help our families pay for college by providing a $2,500 credit to offset the cost of tuition and related expenses, and it makes the credit partially refundable.

Finally, the budget increases eligibility for the refundable portion of the child credit.

Those are just three ways this administration is focusing on tax relief for those who need it most--our working families. So while we are hearing a lot--and we will continue to hear a lot, no doubt--from our friends on the other side about ``taxing'' too much, it is important that we all look at the facts and not buy into the rhetoric.

After 8 long years of budgets that left our American families behind, I look forward to working with President Obama and a bipartisan group in Congress to move forward and invest in the future strength of this Nation. We have a lot of great challenges ahead, but I believe we can and we will overcome them by working together, making some tough choices, and investing in the best resource we have--the American people.

I yield the floor, and I suggest the absence of a quorum.