Floor Statements

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

Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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 President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, I recently received a letter from a woman in Sultan, WA, that I want to share with you today as we work to finalize the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. She wrote to me because her family is going through some very hard times and she doesn't know where else to turn.

Her husband, who is a veteran who received a Purple Heart, lost his job in October. Her own wages have been cut and her daughter and her 3- year-old granddaughter had to move in with them because they can't afford rent and childcare. At the end of this month, they are going to lose their home to foreclosure.

She said her family is living ``both literally and figuratively on the edge.'' As she put it:

We are the textbook middle class . . . sliding into a

jobless, homeless, and hopeless future.

Mr. President, I come this afternoon to share her story with you because the pain she is going through is being felt by millions of Americans who have lost their jobs and their homes in the last couple of years. Families such as hers feel as though their lives are slipping out from under them, and they are looking to us for help.

The House and the Senate have taken a critical step forward by passing the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. It is going to give our economy the jolt it needs to create jobs and help our country get back on track. But we are not done yet. We still need to get that bill to the President. Every day we wait, the economy gets worse. Every day, more jobs are cut, more small businesses close their doors, more homes are lost, and more families are forced to make new sacrifices just to make ends meet. That is why I have come to the floor this evening.

The American people need action now. They need us to set aside our differences and put a final bill into President Obama's hands so we can start the real work of getting our country moving again. So I urge my colleagues in the House and the Senate to finish this job and give this bill final approval.

We know the bill that is coming out of conference is not perfect, but it makes tried-and-true investments that will help create jobs and get our country back on track. It makes a downpayment on the future by rebuilding our roads and bridges, our water and sewer plants-- investments that will put people to work today and strengthen our economy for years to come.

The bill expands our renewable energy options, creating good-paying jobs in a growing industry and helping to end our addiction to oil. It will also help improve health care and cut costs by computerizing health records and boosting research. It invests in education and job training that will help our laid-off workers learn new skills and find new jobs.

Mr. President, our economy is not going to recover overnight. We still have very hard times ahead. But I am confident this is the urgent action we need to begin moving forward again. I want to take a few minutes this evening to talk about what it will mean for families in my home State of Washington.

To begin with, this bill offers a helping hand to thousands of families in Washington State who are struggling to meet their basic needs. In the last couple of months, we have seen a demand for food stamps, Medicaid, and other programs rise dramatically. Food stamp applications are up 15 percent over last year. State workers have said they are having trouble keeping up with the demand. This bill is going to help us meet the needs of the most vulnerable families by extending unemployment insurance benefits, expanding food stamps, and increasing funding to help with Medicaid costs.

This isn't just the moral thing to do, we would not be able to dig ourselves out of this economic crisis until people have money to spend. So this is the right decision economically as well. The money we spend on unemployment and food stamps will go right back into the economy as people use the benefits to pay for things they need. That is the same reason we are working to get money into the hands of working families and small business owners.

Like families all across the country, people in my home State are scared, they are struggling to make ends meet, and they aren't spending. So we include in this bill an income tax cut that will give almost 2\1/2\ million Washington workers some extra money in their paychecks every week. Because this bill is about stabilizing our economy and getting our country back on track, we are also including funding to help struggling families pay for critical expenses, such as childcare or health care or college tuition.

I was a working mom. I know that reliable childcare is what makes it possible for millions of parents to go to work every day. This bill increases the childcare development block grant so more parents can afford quality daycare for their kids. It increases Pell grants and higher education tax credits to help thousands of our students stay in college, get their degree, and then qualify for a good-paying job. Importantly, the bill also makes COBRA more affordable so people who have lost their jobs can keep their health insurance while they look for work.

So we are helping working families pay for their basic expenses, stay in school, and keep their jobs and their health care. That is critical to getting our country back on track.

But the biggest jolt to our economy will come from the millions of jobs we are creating in construction, in environmental cleanup, and in energy development. In my State, this bill will help put thousands of people to work fixing our roads and bridges and upgrading our mass transit and ferry systems. These are investments that will also make our communities stronger and more attractive to businesses in the long run. It will help us take a big step toward energy independence and lower energy costs for everyone.

This bill expands the Bonneville Power Administration's existing borrowing authority, and it will help us take advantage of more renewable energy sources and hire hundreds of thousands of new employees who will be trained to update our energy transmission systems. That will allow the new energy we hope to produce, such as wind, get to our homes and our businesses and save all of us money in the future.

This bill will also help create and preserve jobs at Hanford, and it will keep our legal and moral commitment to cleaning up nuclear waste in Washington State and across the country. It will also ensure that we can fulfill our responsibility to our Nation's veterans by making investments in badly needed construction and repair projects at our VA hospitals and medical facilities in Washington State and across the country.

But we are not just creating construction jobs in this bill. We are helping our local and State governments keep critical employees on the job--our police and our firefighters, our teachers, our university employees. This economic crisis has hit State and local governments terribly hard. They have had to make cuts across the board, including in education and emergency response. Local officials have told me they are very worried about what that will mean for their communities. Police chiefs and sheriffs have been warning me that I.D. theft, burglary, bank robbery, fraud, and gang activity are going to increase as jobs vanish and people become more desperate.

In this bill we provide money for Byrne and COPS grants to help keep

our police on the beat and our families safe. Just as important, this bill will help our schools and our colleges and our universities keep their doors open and keep the teachers in the classroom.

School board members from across my home State of Washington told me this week they are struggling to afford everything from salaries to their light bills. Several of them have already started laying off, and they are worried there is more to come. Universities in my home State are looking at hundreds of job cuts.

Education is critical to our communities, especially when the economy is bad. We need strong schools and colleges to train the workforce of the future. We need to make sure they are strong so our current workforce can get the skills and training they need to qualify for better jobs as well. We can't afford to take a step backward. So we are sending billions of critically needed dollars to schools and colleges across the country to keep the lights on, the doors open, teachers on the job, and to make sure we can meet the needs of students who have been hurt by this economic crisis.

Mr. President, let me add one other note. We aren't just helping to make up for State budget cuts. We are adding incentives that make sure schools keep working to increase standards and improve education for all of our students.

Finally, we are also investing in our greatest resource--our workers--so that our communities can stay productive and competitive in the global economy. This bill includes $64 million for training and job research services that will help our laid-off workers in Washington State learn the skills they need so they can begin new careers and stay in the middle class. It also provides incentives to encourage businesses to hire homeless veterans and disadvantaged teenagers who are looking for jobs today.

Mr. President, this isn't just going to help our teens and our veterans find jobs, it is good for the economy too. Teenagers, in particular, as we all know, are more likely to spend the money they earn in their own communities, and some of them also contribute to their families' incomes to help pay rent or put food on the table. So this is a smart investment.

This bill we are going to consider in the next day or so is critical for my home State. In Washington alone it will create thousands of jobs and make investments that will strengthen our communities for years to come. It isn't perfect. It is not a silver bullet that will solve all of our problems, but it certainly is the first of many steps that we are going to have to take to get our country turned around.

As President Obama has outlined, getting our economy back on track is going to take an aggressive three-pronged approach. The first step is to recover and reinvest. We also have to stabilize our financial institutions to fix the credit and banking system. We need to address the housing crisis. But I want to emphasize, we have to do all three if we are going to get this economy moving again. We are starting today with a bold recovery bill. While there are no guarantees with any of this, we can guarantee that if we do nothing, things are going to get worse. As hard as it has been to write and put this bill together, it does not even compare to the pain that is being felt by millions of Americans who are going to wake up tomorrow without a job.

They are watching us now, and they are expecting us to make good on the promises we have made--to bring change to Washington and restore confidence and security in our country. They expect us to work together. They expect us to put our differences aside and make the difficult decisions that will move our country forward. They cannot afford to wait any longer.

When I was growing up, my father was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and all of a sudden he couldn't work any longer. My family-- all seven kids, my mom--had to survive on food stamps. My brothers and sisters and I were able to go to college because of Pell grants and student loans. So I want you to know I understand what a lot of our families are going through today as they struggle in this economy. That is why I am working so hard with so many others to find ways that our Government and our country can help today.

President Obama made it clear Monday night that if we do not act, the economic crisis we are in now could become an economic catastrophe. I urge my colleagues to help pass this bill out of the conference, through the Senate and House, get it signed, get Americans back to work, and get our country on the road to recovery.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I would like to engage my good friend, the Senator from Iowa and the chairman of the Subcommittee on Labor, HHS, and Education Appropriations in a colloquy.

I would like to take this opportunity to commend my good friend on his strong support for the education and

training of America's workers. As you know, I serve as chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Employment and Workplace Safety. The Senator and I have worked together on many initiatives on behalf of our workforce. That is why I would like to clarify certain provisions contained in the bill before us today that pertain to job training for U.S. workers.

First, is it the Senator's understanding that the additional funding provided through the Workforce Investment Act formula grants for adults and dislocated workers will be used predominantly for the direct delivery of services to those who are the most heavily impacted by this recession--the unemployed and the underemployed?

Is it also the Senator's understanding that the most innovative strategies with proven effectiveness in putting people back to work in high demand occupations, including sector-based and career pathways initiatives that are focused on green jobs, health care and other viable industries, should be utilized to the extent possible in carrying out the delivery of these employment and training services?

As my friend from Iowa knows, older workers have been particularly devastated by our current economic downturn. A recent Urban Institute publication reported that job loss for older workers is at a 31-year high. Is it the intent of this legislation that older workers will be a key population targeted for services with these additional resources?

Is it further the understanding of the chairman that funding under the adult formula grants will focus on serving individuals with multiple barriers to employment, particularly those with low skill levels, to obtain the education, skills training and support services they need to obtain jobs in high demand occupations, particularly in green jobs, healthcare, and other viable industries?

With regard to the funding for youth activities under the legislation, is it the Senator's understanding that in addition to summer and year-round employment opportunities, this funding may be used to provide related educational enrichment, including remediation, skills training, and supportive services that enable participants to work in high demand occupational areas, such as in the green jobs and health care industries, with the goal that such employment and enrichment activities will lead to further education or employment?

In the workforce provisions under consideration, we provide that training may be provided for jobs in high-demand occupations, through the award of contracts to institutions of higher education, as long as a customer's choice is not limited. Is it the Senator's understanding that such training may include the provision of adult basic education or English language education services, as long as these services are provided in connection with a job for which the individual is preparing? Is it the Senator's further understanding that these services may be provided through community colleges and other high quality public programs that offer postsecondary education and training within a community or region?

Yes, the Senator from Michigan State is correct. It is my understanding that the Secretary of Labor will use these funds to help retool workers who have lost their jobs due to the recession and declining industries, including those in the green-

collar industries the Senator mentioned.

The Senator from Michigan is correct and makes an important point. Effective strategies for helping workers retool for jobs in viable industries should be informed by the critical stakeholders she noted. It is my hope that when distributing these funds, the Secretary of Labor gives due deference to those eligible entities with strategic partnerships among representatives from the affected industries, labor organizations, workforce investment boards, elected officials, and institutions of higher education, including community colleges and other training providers.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that at 5:45 today, the Senate proceed to vote in relation to the amendments specified in this agreement in the order listed; that no amendment be in order to any of the amendments prior to the vote; that there be 2 minutes of debate equally divided and controlled in the usual form prior to each vote; and that after the first vote, the succeeding votes be limited to 10 minutes each: Vitter amendment No. 179; Isakson amendment No. 106, as modified; Cardin amendment No. 237; DeMint amendment No. 168; Thune amendment No. 238; Martinez amendment No. 159, that the amendment be modified with the changes at the desk; McCain amendment No. 278, that the amendment be modified with the changes at the desk; Bond amendment No. 161; Inhofe amendment No. 262; Cornyn amendment No. 277; Bunning amendment No. 242; Dorgan amendment No. 300; and McCain amendment No. 279.

Madam President, I send an amendment to the desk on behalf of myself, Senator Feinstein, Mr. Specter, Mr. Reid, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Dodd, Mrs. Boxer, Mr. Leahy, Ms. Mikulski, Mr. Lautenberg, Ms. Stabenow, Mr. Levin, Mr. Brown, Mr. Cardin, Mr. Sanders, Mr. Lieberman, Ms. Cantwell, Mr. Udall of Colorado, Mr. Whitehouse, Mr. Begich, and Mr. Reed of Rhode Island, and I ask for its immediate consideration.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

Madam President, last year was tragic for workers who lost their jobs and their homes in this economic crisis. Through no fault of their own, millions of people are now wondering where they are going to find the next dollar to pay for groceries or to keep a roof over their heads. For them, putting money away to save for college or for a secure retirement is simply a dream. It is clear we need to take bold action to get us through this recession and back on the road to economic recovery. I believe the American recovery and reinvestment plan now before the Senate is that kind of bold investment.

Before I continue, I particularly congratulate our new Appropriations chairman, Senator Inouye, and commend him for his management and tremendous work on getting this bill and this part of it to the floor. He has always shown evenhandedness and poise, as he has managed dozens of bills on the Commerce and Appropriations Committees. We are very fortunate to have him as our chairman on the Appropriations Committee, helping us with this critical piece of legislation. I also thank our former chairman and ranking member for his long dedication to the Appropriations Committee, Senator Cochran. I truly appreciate his contribution to this committee.

I rise to offer an amendment that will make this good bill even better by boosting our investment in infrastructure and creating thousands more good-paying American jobs. Our economy needs a jolt. We have to create jobs, and we have to get commerce going again. I believe one of the best ways we can do that and bring stability to communities is by investing in construction projects throughout the entire country. The amendment I offer today will get more than 650,000 Americans back to work by injecting $25 billion into our highways and roads, mass transit systems, and water and sewer networks.

Investing in construction projects is the tried and true way to put people back to work. My amendment not only supports over 650,000 jobs, it supports the kind of good-paying jobs we desperately need to help families put meals on the table or send their kids to school or save a little money for retirement. These are also the jobs our State Governors and local mayors say they are praying for to help their communities. States and municipalities have felt the economic crisis particularly hard. They have had to make some painful cuts and layoffs. They are even canceling projects now under way to conserve cash. This weekend Governor Granholm from Michigan told CNN that her State could ``have dirt flying within 180 days'' if we pass a bill that increases Federal infrastructure investments.

With the amendment we are offering today, States such as Michigan could create jobs as fast as they are able to spend the money, and thousands of people in all 50 States would benefit. It would support, for example, more than 18,000 jobs in Georgia, 27,600 jobs in Florida, over 20,000 jobs in Michigan, more than 13,000 jobs in the State of Washington, to name a few.

I ask unanimous consent to print in the Record a chart that displays what this will do for every State.

But this amendment doesn't only help the economy today by creating new jobs. This amendment will literally pave the way for future economic growth across the country. These investments will help communities provide cleaner drinking water and roads that are free of congestion. They will help create modern railroads that will get workers to their jobs more quickly and safely. They will help improve our ports so they are more efficient and more competitive. We all know businesses need good transportation and stable water and sewer systems. Less traffic means more productivity, cleaner air, and a stronger economy. These investments will pay off for years to come because communities will be stronger and more competitive in the global economy.

Finally, this amendment is critically needed because roads, bridges, and water and sewer systems are literally falling apart. Year after year, we have had to put off repairs, while we have spent billions of dollars in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. In August of 2007, we all stood aghast and watched in horror as the I-35W bridge in Minneapolis collapsed into the Mississippi River. That tragedy brought home to everyone how critical it is that we invest in the national highway system.

Last week, we had another reminder when the American Society of Civil Engineers issued its annual report card on the condition of America's infrastructure. The results were truly dismal. The leading experts on the state of our Nation's infrastructure have reduced the grade point average of our entire system of roads and bridges and transit and sewer plants to a D. Let me make it clear, that was a D average for all of the Nation's infrastructure. Several specific areas which I am targeting in the amendment did even worse. Wastewater treatment systems, on which I have worked with Senator Feinstein, got a D-minus. The engineers pointed out that leaking pipes across the country lose an estimated 7 billion gallons of drinking water each and every day. The Nation's roads got a D-minus since a third of the major roads are considered to be in poor or mediocre condition. More than a third of urban highways are congested. American families now spend about 4.2 billion hours each year stuck in traffic. That is costing the economy almost $80 billion every single year. These are roads in every one of the States. It is time to fix them.

Our transit systems only got a D, but that is still not acceptable. With ridership skyrocketing, it could get worse, if we don't make the upgrades and improvements so dramatically needed.

Speaking as a mom and a former teacher, a D-minus or a D is not going to cut it. As far as I am concerned, when it comes to infrastructure, a D stands for disappointment. A D means demand change, demand attention, and demand investment.

The amendment I have offered is going to help us address these deficiencies head on and put over 655,000 Americans back to work. For any of my colleagues who are worried about whether we can spend infrastructure dollars fast enough, I want to be clear: More than a million workers across the country are today ready and able to start tomorrow. The unemployment rate in the construction industry is now just under 16 percent. More than 1.5 million construction workers are out of a job, a 54-percent increase over a year ago. Skilled workers all across the country are now forced to try to pick up whatever odd jobs they can to pay for their week's groceries. This amendment is about bringing jobs back to those workers and stability to their families and making the kinds of investments America has ignored for too long.

I am proposing in the amendment that we invest another $25 billion in this bill, bringing the total spending on infrastructure to $167 billion. My amendment would increase transportation investments from $45.5 billion to more than $63.5 billion, with the largest boost going to highway construction. It would give all States and communities the equivalent of 2 years of Federal highway contributions at once, enabling them to support 362,000 construction jobs alone, and another $5 billion would go to mass transit, supporting 139,000 jobs. Senator Feinstein will discuss how it will increase water and sewer grants within the Environmental Protection Agency by $7 billion, supporting 154,000 new jobs.

It is a scary time for millions of families across America. They are extremely worried about their stability and the future of their families. They are worried about how they will pay their bills and whether they will be able to keep their homes. They have put their faith in all of us and in our new President to set us on a path that will not only turn things around but leave our country stronger and more resilient than ever. Today they are watching this debate, and they are expecting us to take bold, swift action to get us started. This amendment is that kind of bold action. It supports 655,000 new, good- paying jobs. It will help us rebuild roads, bridges, mass transit networks, water and sewer systems that we have neglected for too long. Most importantly, these investments will leave communities stronger and more secure in the future.

I urge my colleagues to support the amendment and help put thousands of American workers back on the job and the country back on its feet.

I am happy to yield.

I thank the Senator.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to add as cosponsors Senators Schumer and Byrd.

Mr. President, I thank Senator Feinstein for her cosponsorship and working with me and the chairman on including this amendment that would provide 655,000 jobs.

I heard the Senator from Iowa earlier talking about providing or increasing Government jobs. I would let our colleagues know that this amendment before us is about private construction jobs.

In fact, I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record a letter from AGC of America, Associated General Contractors, as well as a letter from FasterBetterSafer, Americans for Transportation Mobility, which represents the American Public Transportation Association, the American Road and Transportation Builders Association, the Associated Equipment Distributors, the Association of Equipment Manufacturers, the Associated General Contractors, the American Society of Civil Engineers, the International Union of Operating Engineers, the Laborers International Union of

North America, the National Asphalt Pavement Association, the National Stone, Sand, and Gravel Association, the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, in support of this amendment.

Mr. President, the point is these are private sector jobs. In fact, less than 1 percent of these will go to Government jobs, and those jobs will be oversight and accountability to make sure our taxpayer dollars are spent wisely.

I look forward to having a vote on this amendment as soon as our chairman determines the time. I ask our Senate colleagues to join us in making sure we create the kind of investment, infrastructure, job creation that we have told America about, and we know will get us back on our feet.

May I ask how much time is left on our side?

As the sponsor of the amendment, I ask unanimous consent for 30 seconds prior to the vote.

I ask unanimous consent that Senators Carper and Tester be added as cosponsors of the amendment, and I ask unanimous consent that the Senator from Pennsylvania be given 2 minutes prior to my closing remarks.

Mr. President, I thank my colleague from Pennsylvania. I urge my colleagues to approve this $25 billion for the 655,000 jobs across the country to rebuild roads, bridges, sewers, and infrastructure. This amendment will put people to work, and it will get the country back to the point where we feel strong again. I have heard the arguments about offsets, and I know there are a number of Senators who are working to find agreement on how we can reduce the cost of the underlying bill. We will work with them. But let's make sure we understand that infrastructure is a priority and approve this amendment.

I ask for the yeas and nays on the motion to waive the Budget Act.

Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote.

Madam President, I move to reconsider the vote.

Madam President, regular health care is critical for a child to grow up to be a strong and healthy adult. We all know that. Yet every day millions of American children are denied access to this very basic need. They cannot get regular checkups or see a family doctor for sore throats or ear aches or fevers. So as our economy continues to struggle, this problem is growing worse.

At the end of 2007, all of us came together on a bipartisan bill that would have taken big steps toward helping millions more kids get health care. It would have renewed the Children's Health Insurance Program and made sure that almost 10 million low-income children would be covered.

It is a tragedy and a shame that children's health care became the victim of a partisan fight. But, this week, now we have the opportunity to make children's health a priority by renewing and expanding the Children's Health Insurance Program and getting it signed into law. And it could not come at a moment too soon.

In the year since former President Bush last vetoed CHIP, unemployment has skyrocketed nationally and in my home State of Washington. As a result, millions of families across our country have lost their health care in just this last year alone. That is wrong, and it is one of the reasons we have now put CHIP at the top of our agenda this year.

In difficult times such as this, it is more important than ever we make sure our Nation's children have a place to go where they can get medical care. So I am here to urge all my colleagues to support the 2009 CHIP reauthorization. It is the smart thing to do for our economy. It is the moral thing to do for our children.

Most of us in the Senate support reauthorizing and improving the Children's Health Insurance Program because we share the goal of ensuring that all our kids can get health care. Study after study has shown the benefits. Children in this program are much more likely to have regular doctor and dental care. The health care they do receive is better quality. They do better in school because they are healthy.

This bill is almost identical to the one we passed overwhelmingly in 2007. It ensures the children already enrolled in CHIP will continue to receive health care, and it provides another 3.9 million low-income children with coverage. Most of those are kids who never had insurance because their parents could not afford it or kids who lost Medicaid coverage or kids who were recently dropped from private insurance rolls. I think it is critical we expand health insurance to make sure they are covered.

Now, there are a couple specific provisions in this bill I wish to highlight to make sure everyone understands why it is so important to pass this bill now.

First, as I said at the beginning of my remarks today, the economic recession has made it even more critical that we make children's health care a top priority and reauthorize this CHIP program.

On Monday of this week, some of the strongest companies in our Nation announced they would cut 75,000 jobs

combined. Unemployment is now at the highest level in 16 years, and we are being told we have not seen the worst of it yet.

The Kaiser Family Foundation estimates every time the unemployment rate increases a point, 700,000 more children lose their health insurance. By those numbers, well over a million more children have lost their insurance in the last year alone, and many more will lose their coverage in the weeks and months to come.

This bill makes it easier for our States to ensure those children will continue at least to get health care. It adds more flexibility to the program and sets funding rates based on State budget projections, so our States that are in the worst financial shape will get more money to help pay for health care. This would be a huge help for my home State of Washington and for the many families who are struggling to provide health care for their children.

At the same time, the bill will strengthen CHIP by making sure resources are targeted at covering the low-income, uninsured children Congress meant to help when we created CHIP back in 1997. It gives States new tools to raise awareness about CHIP in rural, minority, and low-income communities to help reduce the disparity in care for minority children and extend care where it is most needed. Also, it creates a performance-based system that rewards our States for reducing the number of uninsured children by making sure that the lowest income children are the top priority for CHIP and Medicaid.

Finally, CHIP is paid for. The $32.8 billion cost is covered by a 61- cent per pack tax increase on cigarettes and other tobacco products. We aren't taking away from our other economic priorities, Social Security isn't raided, and the deficit won't be increased. It is a win-win for everyone because experts estimate that by increasing the cost of cigarettes, almost 2 million adults will quit smoking and then we will prevent millions of kids from ever getting hooked. It is good for our children now and it will help millions stay healthy in the future as well.

Although this bill does have broad bipartisan support, some of our colleagues on the other side of the aisle have tried to throw up some obstacles that distract us from the real issues. I wish to make clear right now what this bill is about. It is about our kids. This legislation is about making sure our children can see a doctor when they are sick. It is about making sure they get medicine that will help them get better. It is about honoring our promise to provide 10 million kids with health care that will help ensure they can grow into happy and healthy adults.

I come to the floor this afternoon to share a story about a little girl from my home State because I think it puts the importance of this legislation in perspective.

Meet Brenna. She is 6 years old, a bright and happy child, but she has a serious genetic condition called cystic fibrosis. Brenna's family lives in Marysville, WA, in a part of my State that has been hit tremendously hard by the economic downturn. Like a lot of people with cystic fibrosis, Brenna's health care costs are about 10 times more than the average child. It is nearly impossible for her to get private health insurance to cover the bills she and her family are facing. In fact, almost half of the children with cystic fibrosis would not have health care at all if they didn't have CHIP or Medicaid.

Brenna's mother Brandy recently wrote to me to tell me that her family depends on CHIP for Brenna and to keep her family going. I wish to read what she wrote. She said:

I don't know what I would do if I did not have this

wonderful program. I simply would not be able to pay for her

to receive the care she does now. I would be in never-ending

medical debt, and in the end of it all, I would most likely

lose my daughter either way.

The economy is rough enough right now. The SCHIP program is

something I am extremely thankful for. It provides me sanity

and strength every year to take care of my child and her

needs. Please allow this program to continue. Our lives

depend on it.

Those are heart-wrenching words from a mom. Most of us can't even imagine being in Brandy's shoes. Her daughter's story shows us how critical this Children's Health Insurance Program is. This bill in front of us today is about Brenna and the millions of children like her around the country.

What it comes down to is this: When a child gets a cut that needs stitches, has a fever or an earache or develops a serious illness such as cystic fibrosis, they should be able to get health care period. I want to make sure Brenna's mom never has to worry about her going into debt to keep her own child alive, or whether health care will be there for her daughter.

So let me say it again: This bill is about making sure our kids can see a doctor. Passing it is the smartest thing we can do for our economy, but it is also the moral thing to do for our children. So on behalf of 6-year-old Brenna, the 115,960 uninsured children in my home State of Washington, and the almost 9 million uninsured children across the country, I urge all of our colleagues to support this bill.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I rise today to recognize Ardis Dumett for her 20 years of service to the U.S. Senate and the people of Washington State. Ardis has served on my staff for the last 16 years of her distinguished public career. For 4 years prior to her service in my office, she worked for the revered Senator Henry ``Scoop'' Jackson. On January 20, Ardis retired from my office. We are sad to see her go and hope that she enjoys her well-earned retirement.

Throughout her career, Ardis has been a thoughtful and dedicated public servant. Initially, as my constituent services director, she led by example in her commitment and compassion to the constituents of Washington State. Covering immigration and environmental casework, she ensured the people of my State were well served by their Federal Government.

As the director of special projects in my Seattle office, she worked on numerous issues on my behalf over the years, ranging from the environment and emergency response to tribes and the transfer of military property. She worked tirelessly to guarantee that our State's people and communities received a fair process--and often a successful outcome--when working with Federal agencies. Over the years I have received many notes from constituents thanking me for Ardis' diligent work.

I would like to thank Ardis for her years of service to me and the people of Washington State. Her career is a tremendous example of public service; and her dedication to her work is truly appreciated. I wish her all the best in her future endeavors.

Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote.

I move to reconsider the vote.

Mr. President, I began my career as a preschool teacher back in my home State of Washington. That background has given me valuable insight into how important early childhood education is throughout a person's life.

As a preschool teacher, I could tell from the first day which kids in my class had parents at home who read to them. At 4 years old, those kids were already ahead of their classmates because they had been introduced to words and books, and they were interested in learning.

I have been proud to work here in the Senate to support education programs like Head Start that help more kids get an equal start in school. So I rise today to talk about two bills I reintroduced this week with my colleague on the other side of the aisle, Senator Bond, as well as Senator Clinton.

The bills--the Education Begins at Home Act and the Ready to Learn Act--are a pair designed to help prepare children for school by focusing on their learning at home and at preschool and childcare programs.

Both of these bills are based on research, and they expand on programs and efforts we already know work. They also have one component I especially like--they don't just focus on teachers--they support parents learning how to give their kids a healthy start. So I would like to spend a moment describing them.

The first--the Education Begins at Home Act--would create the first Federal stream of money to help teach parents how to care for their kids, starting at birth.

The bill would enable State and local governments to create programs that teach parents about healthy parent-child relationships, about boosting child development, about the demands and stress associated with caring for babies, about how to deal with difficult behavior, and about how to recognize postpartum depression.

Most of us here know how difficult it is to be a new parent-- especially when you are under stress because of work or military service. The programs this bill would create will help prevent child abuse and teach parents about how their children grow and develop emotionally and intellectually.

I know how important the Parents as Teachers Program is to families in Washington State with young children, and I believe we need to expand on the success of this program and others around the country.

The second bill builds on the first by creating a competitive matching grant program within No Child Left Behind. It would fund high quality early childhood programs aimed at promoting school readiness for low-income children, particularly 4 year olds. And it would help reduce class sizes, increase teacher salaries, and require States to report regularly on the effectiveness of these programs.

Research shows that children who get good prekindergarten education are less likely to fall behind or need special education services--and they are more likely to graduate from high school.

To give you just one example, kids who learn the names and sounds of letters before they enter kindergarten are 20 times more likely to read simple words by the end of kindergarten. And children who don't learn the same skill before they start school often fail to catch up--ever.

In other words, the early childhood education programs--like those we fund in this bill--are a great investment that will pay off in dividends later. They save money in the long run and help kids get the best possible start in life.

As I said at the beginning of my remarks, I have been a strong supporter of early childhood education for my entire career. But given our economic crisis, investments like the ones I am talking about today are more important than ever before.

I believe that strengthening our schools and making sure our kids are prepared for tomorrow's workplace are going to be the keys to economic recovery. We need to build a workforce that is the most competitive in the world so that we can recruit and hold onto good-paying jobs. And we can't do it unless all of our children get the strongest possible start in life.

So I urge my colleagues to support these bills and help our kids get on a path to learn and succeed.

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

Madam President, next week, we will inaugurate a new Commander in Chief. It is a time of hope and opportunity for people across this country.

While many Americans are hopeful today, too many of them are hurting, and they cannot wait another day for the change they have been promised. People in my home State of Washington are feeling the pain.

When I held an economic roundtable in Everett, WA, earlier in December, the room was filled to overflowing with people who came out in the middle of the day to express their concerns and to listen to business owners and families and community members talk about the struggles they are facing.

Unemployment in my State, like States across the country, is at record highs. Businesses, big and small, are struggling to meet their payroll. And too many families are still wondering how they are going to stay in their homes or get a loan to pay for school for their kids.

We stood here on this floor almost 3 months ago debating whether to approve the President's request for economic rescue funds. At that time, communities across my State were hurting. Families were struggling to pay for their groceries, to afford health care, and wondering how they were going to pay for college.

My constituents were angry they were being asked to fork over their tax dollars to cover the consequences of years of reckless abandon on Wall Street and the failure of this administration to regulate or rein in their folly.

Here we are today, 3 months later, and my communities and my families are still hurting. Many people are still struggling with health care and education and foreclosures. Just this week, the people of my State heard Boeing announce plans to lay off thousands of workers in the State of Washington. The Seattle PI--a newspaper that thousands have welcomed into their homes every day--was put up for sale. And today we learn that foreclosures in our most populated county have spiked by 88 percent over last year.

My constituents live 2,500 miles away from here, and they are listening to our debate here today. They are asking why on Earth Congress would approve billions of dollars more after the way the last chunk was handled.

The rescue funds we approved in October prevented economic collapse, but regular people are still struggling. They say they have not felt the impact of these funds on their job security, on their incomes, or their ability to stay in their homes.

I have to say, I understand their frustration, and I share their concerns. I am angry too. I am angry about the lack of transparency into how banks are using these dollars. I, in fact, picked up the phone and called Secretary Paulson to express my outrage when I read stories of those lavish parties held by companies that received our precious rescue dollars.

There has not been enough accountability or transparency to date. That must change. There has not been enough benefit to regular families and small business owners and homeowners. That must change. When I voted in favor of these funds in October, I said it was not a cure-all but an attempt to keep an already very bad situation from getting much worse.

It takes both investment and honesty to get our economy back on track. Unfortunately, we have not had much of either. The disbursement of these funds was the current administration's entire plan to improve the economy. But their philosophy was like using a Band-Aid when the economy needed surgery.

The administration will change next week, but the challenges facing our Nation will not. I spoke with President-elect Obama earlier this week, and I expressed my concerns about how the economic rescue funds had been used up to this point. He agreed.

Today, I met with Timothy Geithner, the President-elect's nominee to head the Treasury Department. He gave me his assurances that transparency and accountability will be improved and that there will be more done to help responsible homeowners avoid foreclosure.

With those assurances, I believe the American people are finally going to get the investment and the honesty they deserve. President- elect Obama is inheriting an economic crisis. That is a very tough place to start. But he told me, in order to move ahead and focus on America's families and businesses, we have to ensure the stability of our financial markets. The President-elect has assured me that while he believes these funds are important, they are only one part of his plan to get America back on track.

So I said yes to those funds today because I believe we can move forward, and I want our new President to have the ability to focus on our economic recovery. The President-elect and Members of Congress are committed to ensuring a full and accurate accounting of how the Treasury Department has allocated the funds spent to date and going forward, and we will ensure that assistance does not just flow to large financial institutions, but will be available to our community banks and small businesses as well. We will take a hard look at the factors that brought us to this point and address them.

Our new President has promised to work with Congress to pass and implement new regulatory measures to better protect consumers and businesses and investors and to ensure that our taxpayers are never again put in this terrible position. We will work with this new administration to quickly implement aggressive policies to reduce preventable foreclosures for responsible homeowners.

This crisis started in the housing market, and we will not dig ourselves out without overhauling the system. I will not be done with this process until Americans who have lost their jobs and their homes are back on their feet.

People of my State know what it will take to get America working again, and so do I. We have to value our workforce and find a way to make health care affordable and accessible. We have to invest in research and development and reward American innovation. We have to implement a smart forward-looking energy policy that ends our addiction to foreign oil once and for all. We have to invest in our roads and our bridges and our highways and the projects that will pave the way for further economic growth. We have to recognize that education is a priority. We cannot fill those great jobs of the future without an educated and skilled workforce.

It is time to put America's families first. It is time to restore their faith that government works for, not against, them. Americans who are hurting today will not see a change overnight. There is a long, hard path ahead of us, but the American dream of owning a home or running a business or going to college is still alive in communities across this country. To pull back now and allow our credit markets to freeze would tie the hands of an incoming administration with plans to invest in America again and potentially cause lasting economic harm.

This is just one step in the process. We will provide these rescue funds to stabilize our financial markets, but we will also implement strict regulatory reforms and pass an economic recovery package that invests in our communities and puts Americans back to work.

I grew up in a country that was there for my family in very hard times. When my father got sick and could no longer work while raising seven kids, there were Pell grants and student loans and food stamps when my family needed them. I will always remember that. That is why I will always work to make sure our country is there now for today's American families.

I supported this rescue package today because we have to keep our country moving forward, and our incoming President deserves the support of Congress to make that happen.

Thank you, Madam President. I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that I be allowed to speak as in morning business for 12 minutes, and that following my remarks the Senator from Georgia be recognized.

Mr. President, I also ask unanimous consent that my statement be printed in the Record prior to the previous vote.

Mr. President, I first thank Senator Enzi for his accommodation to allow me to follow Senator Mikulski.

I thank the Senator from Maryland. She has been tireless on this issue and a champion for women and their families for many years. I am very proud to be with her today as she leads the Senate and the country in restoring the credibility and confidence of women across this country to be able to get what they should be getting when they go to work every day. So I thank her for that.

This Senate has a very proud history of working across the aisle to pass civil rights laws. Those historic laws ensure that all people in our Nation have equal rights regardless of their race, their religion, gender, or national origin. I am very proud that because of those laws, my daughter now has the right to work in the same job and achieve the same success as my son.

But despite all of the years of progress, we have not eliminated unfairness in the workplace. I believe we should all fight long and hard whenever Americans are denied the ability to fight for their rights, and that is why I have come to the floor today to speak.

With its May 2007 decision, Ledbetter v. Goodyear, the Supreme Court reversed years of progress in the fight for fairness in the workplace. Their decision made it almost impossible for workers who suffer discrimination to seek justice. It went against congressional intent, and it set us back 40 years in the fight for equal opportunity

in the workplace. The decision was wrong, and we here in this body need to take action before it weakens our civil rights even further.

So today as we begin this new Congress and a new administration, I am urging all of our colleagues to support the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act to reverse Ledbetter v. Goodyear and ensure that our workers again have a fair shot at fighting discrimination.

Before I describe the bill that is before us today, I want to say a few words about Lilly Ledbetter and her Supreme Court case. As the Senator from Maryland talked about, Lilly Ledbetter worked for Goodyear Tire for 19 years before she found out that her male counterparts were being paid more for doing the exact same work. So she sued, charging her employers with pay discrimination.

But, as you know now, the Court sided with Goodyear. It was not because the Court thought she was wrong. They, in fact, agreed she had been discriminated against. But the Court said she did not have the right to sue. That is right, that is what the Court said. They said she should have sued within 180 days of her very first unfair paycheck, even though she did not know about it until many years later.

It made that ruling despite the fact that courts around this country had for years assumed the opposite, that the clock starts ticking after any discriminatory act, including every time a worker is paid unfairly. Now, I think that sounds an awful lot like our Supreme Court is asking workers everywhere to be mind readers. It is unfair and it is not what Congress intended when we created that law in the first place.

Lilly Ledbetter has, to her credit, not let that decision go without a fight. She has been a tireless champion for her rights, and I truly want to thank her for everything she has done to raise awareness about her case.

The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act before us today would reverse the Court's unfair decision. It will allow workers to file a claim within 180 days of any discriminatory paycheck, and it would again allow workers to discover the facts and to challenge ongoing discrimination as Congress always intended. Purely and simply, it restores a worker's right to fight for her rights.

I also want to take a little bit of time to talk about why it is so important that we ensure our workers have all of the tools necessary to fight for their rights. As I said earlier, what we are talking about today is not just a philosophical issue of rights and discrimination. The truth is that although we have made tremendous progress in civil rights, there is a lot of work to be done yet. The pay gap is only one example. Women still make less than men even though they are doing the exact same work. On average today, women earn only 77 cents for every dollar that is paid to their male coworkers. That pay gap, by the way, is even wider for African-American and Latino women. African-American women earn 67 cents on a dollar, and Latino women earn only 56 cents for every dollar a white man makes.

Pay discrimination like that has real and harmful impacts on our families and for our Nation as a whole. It hurts an individual's ability to earn a living or to care for their children or to contribute fully to society. Yet it is so deeply ingrained in our society today that many jobs dominated by women pay less than jobs dominated by men even when the work they do is almost the same. That disparity hurts millions of families. In almost 10 million households today, mothers are the breadwinners. In many of those cases, those women are also supporting their parents and other extended family members and, in far too many of those households, women have to struggle to pay for rent or heat or food or gas, much less send those kids to college.

Think of how much better off our families and our country would be if women were paid a wage equal to men, especially, of course, as we face this deepening economic crisis and all of our expenses are rising every day. If women and men made an equal wage, single working women would have 17 percent more income every year. Ensuring that they have a fair paycheck would cut their poverty rate in half. That is to the benefit of this entire country.

There is one other issue I want to raise. Although the Ledbetter case involves gender discrimination, the decision applies to all discrimination: religion, race, age, disability, national origin. I think it is only fitting that in the days before we honor the life and the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. we are considering this issue today. The truth is, all the laws we pass guaranteeing rights have little meaning if Americans do not have the ability to challenge the discrimination in court.

This case could set a terrible precedent. We run the risk that antidiscrimination laws will grow weaker, not stronger, if we do not act here in the Senate. So I urge our colleagues to support this bill to reverse this unfair decision and restore congressional intent and to ensure the Senate's history of protecting civil rights will not be eroded.

I again thank my colleague from Maryland, Senator Mikulski, for her tremendous fight over so many years to make sure that women have equal access in the workplace.

Mr. President, I rise today on behalf of many citizens of Washington State who are friends of the Senator from Alaska. On their behalf today, I say thank you for all of the work that you have done for your neighbor to the South.

Obviously, everyone here has listed the many accomplishments of the senior Senator from Alaska in his many decades of service. We are a State that considers Alaska a neighbor. He has been an ally of ours many times over, and throughout his long service in serving his own State, has also helped the citizens I represent. I thank him for that today. I thank him for his years of service on the Appropriations Committee where I watched him as the Chair and ranking member, where though he may be a strong adversary, he also understood that everyone had a right to speak and had a right to offer arguments and respected that. I think that is truly a lesson all of us should remember.

But I want to share a lesson that the Senator from Alaska also taught me that I think is important for this time as well. Several years ago I was privileged to join the Senator from Alaska and the Senator from Hawaii on a delegation trip to China where we met with officials across the country to talk about the important issues facing our country and China.

Senator Inouye was called away, and I was left as the senior Democrat on the trip. We met with leaders from China across the table from us. Senator Stevens led many of these meetings but on several occasions turned to me to ask me to lead those. As we were leaving China, I thanked him for that respect he gave me in front of our delegation and in front of theirs. He said to me he thought it was important that the people of China see that even though we have two different parties here with very strong opinions we respect each other and out of that respect are able to lead this country facing the challenges we have in front of us.

He used that as a lesson to China, but it was a lesson to me as well, that we do have two strong parties, but in the end we serve the people of America, and we do it by respecting each other. So I stand today and join my colleagues in thanking the Senator from Alaska for being the leader he has been here, for the work he has done, and wish him the very best in his future.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the time for morning business be extended until 2 p.m., with Senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each.