Floor Statements

Madam President, I move to lay that motion on the table.

The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to a period for the transaction of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each.

Madam. President, today I recognize the Garfield- Palouse High School Junior Engineering Technical Society, JETS, design team from Washington State. These outstanding young students and their teacher, Mr. Jim Stewart, are finalists in the National Engineering and Design Challenge.

The Garfield-Palouse JETS team researched and built a prototype paraplegic agricultural lift to meet this year's National Engineering and Design Challenge to design a device to assist disabled people in the workplace. Their work to build this lift was inspired by their desire to help a classmate and will allow access to agriculture equipment for individuals with a disability. Agriculture is an important part of Washington State's economy, and I am pleased these students worked on a project that highlights a local industry and will help individuals with disabilities attain greater independence.

The JETS program at Garfield-Palouse High School is an integral tool to empower students to take a deeper look at understanding and addressing problems that many individuals with disabilities face.

I would like to commend Colby Cocking, Beau Fisher, Spencer Gray, Anna Iverson, Travis Mallett, Sean Neal, Miles Pfaff, Aaron Rager, Katie Redman, Steven Tronsen, and Jim Stewart for their accomplishments. Washington State is fortunate to have a talented and motivated team that placed in the top 5 out of over 100 entries in this unique and rewarding competition. I am proud of the dedication and hard work of these students from Washington State. I wish the team well in the final round of competitions.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of H.R. 5270, which was received from the House.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be read a third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate, and that any statements relating to the bill be printed in the Record.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 452, submitted earlier today.

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

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 453, which was submitted earlier today.

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

Madam President, I understand there are two bills at the desk, and I ask for their first reading en bloc.

I now ask for a second reading en bloc, and I object to my own request en bloc.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that an errata be printed with respect to Senate Report 110-259, which I now send to the desk.

Madam President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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

Madam President, I understand S. 2636 introduced today by Senator Reid is at the desk. I ask for its first reading.

I now ask for a second reading, and I object to my own request.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand adjourned until 9:30 a.m., Thursday, February 14; 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 the Senate resume consideration of S. 1200, the Indian Health Care Improvement Act.

If there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that it stand adjourned under the previous order.

Madam President, like all of our colleagues, I have gone home, I have listened to my constituents who are deeply concerned about the state of the economy today. We are concerned about the housing crisis, about the rising cost of fuel and gas, about the rising cost of health care. The economic crisis that is facing many people today was reflected in the economic numbers we have seen coming in over the last quarter. We came back here a month ago united to make sure we did what everyone agreed to--a temporary, targeted package to get money back into the economy quickly. Today, we are about to do that.

But I have to say--and I heard my colleague from California say it-- the Speaker of the House did a good job in the limited amount of time with the agreement she had to do to get a package here. The Senate, in doing its job of looking at it carefully and asking, What do we need to do to improve this to make sure it works, was highly commendable.

The package we voted on last night had a number of very important provisions: extension of unemployment insurance; LIHEAP for millions of families who are very concerned about being able to heat their homes; the energy package that my colleague, Senator Cantwell, worked hard to put in to stimulate jobs and bring jobs in critical regions of the Nation and deal with the energy crisis as well. We are all disappointed on this side that but for one vote those would be part of this package which would then go back to the House and, we would hope, be signed by the President. But because we were stymied by one vote, we are here today saying: What can we do?

We are delighted that our Republican colleagues have come with us to say we can do better, and we added money to make sure millions of seniors as well as thousands of disabled veterans would be part of this economic stimulus, families that are really struggling today.

We did agree with the Republicans, and I commend our leader, Senator Harry Reid, as well as Max Baucus, the minority leader, as well as Senator Grassley, who have worked hard over the morning hours to come to this. But I would say to the Senator from Tennessee, we can express our disappointment that but for one vote, we feel we could have had a better package. But we are pragmatic on this side. We believe we need to move forward. We know we cannot face days and days of delay. We know we need to get this done, and we have come together with Democrats and Republicans to move a package that I believe is in the best interest of the country at this time.

This is not the end of this debate. This is our answer to get quickly a short economic stimulus. But we are committed on this side--and with a number of Republican Senators who joined us last night in that vote-- to continue to work to do a long-term economic stimulus.

This crisis started with a housing issue that became the face of this crisis as millions of homeowners were losing their homes across the country and facing foreclosure. We are committed to continue to move forward to address that housing crisis in a smart, pragmatic way to make sure we can do everything to help those families and to get this economy back on its feet. We are committed to work with our colleagues from Michigan and California and other States that are facing high unemployment to get extended unemployment insurance benefits for those families that are now facing a very real crisis in their homes and with their ability to put food on the table. We are committed to continue to try to get that one last vote for an energy package that will mean our jobs will be brought here to the United States to create new alternative energy that will help not only job creation but our energy crisis as well.

I commend all of us for coming together and, in a few short minutes, voting to pass quick, temporary relief that is well needed but also a commitment from all of us to continue to work to make sure we address the long-term economic stimulus as well.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, how much time remains on the Democratic side?

Mr. President, if the Senator would be so gracious, that would be very much appreciated on our side, so that the Senator could finish her remarks. We thank the Senator from Tennessee for that.

Mr. President, I believe all time has expired on this side.

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 ask for the yeas and nays.

I move to reconsider the vote.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that following my remarks, the Senator from Michigan be given 10 minutes, the Senator from Colorado 10 minutes, and if any Republicans come to the floor seeking recognition, that they be intervening between the Democrats.

Madam President, first, I thank our budget Chair, Senator Conrad, for presenting to us what has been given to Congress to consider from the President and the White House concerning our budget. I, too, am here this afternoon to talk about President Bush's proposed budget because, as we all know, we began debating it in our Budget Committee today. We have all had a look at this proposal now, and I think many of my colleagues on the Budget Committee agreed we could say it was nothing short of being dishonest and irresponsible and, frankly, unacceptable to many of us.

We are facing some pretty serious problems in this country today, but the budget President Bush sent to us on Monday fails to take any of those challenges into consideration. We are out here trying to pass an economic stimulus package in response to the fact that more than 1 million workers lost their jobs last year in this country. Across the country, we are seeing unemployment claims rise. People are very concerned about what is happening to their paychecks. They are worried about whether they are going to be able to pay for food or their mortgages in the future.

On top of that, we see as many as 2 million Americans who are losing their homes because of the current subprime mortgage crisis. Economists now are telling us that problem is going to get worse before it gets better.

So here we are, and the President sends his budget to us on Monday. It is his eighth and final budget request. He had a chance to send us a budget that would set us off on a fiscally responsible path, one that would help us strengthen this economy, invest in our country's future, and help those families who are struggling today to keep their homes and pay their bills. But instead, the President gave us more of the same, more of what we have seen for the last 7 years. Instead of taking steps in his final budget to help American families get back on their feet, he cut programs, such as heating assistance and job training. Can you imagine how that feels if you are worried about how you are going to pay your home heating bill or if you just lost your job?

Instead of laying the groundwork to reduce our debt, which the chairman of our Budget Committee, Senator Conrad, has repeatedly told us is a huge issue facing us, instead of dealing with that, he gave us a dishonest budget that fails to state the true cost of war. He sent us a budget that put out a blueprint of $70 billion. He is asking $190 billion or $200 billion for this year alone. Does that mean the President is going to bring our troops home? No. He is simply being dishonest about what his programs and his proposals cost. The budget he sent us is going to require us to borrow billions from foreign governments to meet our expenses. I think that is irresponsible.

Over the last 7 years, America has paid dearly for the investments this President has failed to make, and this year in his budget we see nothing different. The Bush budget that was sent to us cuts critical programs at the Veterans' Administration, including medical research. When we have veterans coming home today who have post-traumatic stress syndrome, who have traumatic brain injury, who have lost their limbs, who are suffering from very debilitating issues, he cuts the medical research budget. He cuts funding for extended care facilities, even though we know the number of troops coming home who will need extended care is growing. And he asks the next generation of combat veterans to risk their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan and then says to them they are going to have to pay for part of the cost of their health care as a result of their serving this country.

The budget proposal he sent us cuts $484 million from critical workforce training programs right at the time that 7.7 million people are out of work

and asking: How can I get trained for the next job out there?

The budget he sent to us, as Senator Conrad talked about, freezes Medicare reimbursement levels for our hospitals, for our hospices, for ambulance services, and long-term care facilities, even though it threatens access to facilities that are already stretched to the limit. This is going to affect every one of us who will need access to our hospitals, long-term health care facilities for ourselves and our parents in the coming years.

And for the fourth year in a row, amazingly, the President is proposing deep cuts to community development block grants. These are programs that every mayor in every city has told us are the most flexible dollars the Federal Government sends to them that helps them create jobs right at a time when they are facing these tough economic times.

Sadly, the President is slashing funding for section 8 and other low- income housing programs, even as more of our families are set to lose their homes than at any time since the Great Depression.

In the last 7 years, we have gone from a budget surplus to a record deficit, our roads and our bridges are crumbling, and we are paying for a misguided war on the backs of our grandchildren. People desperately want to see leadership that invests in those priorities and helps begin to turn this economy around.

People at home say to me: Invest in our future at home. But sadly, I think the legacy of this administration is going to be red ink and broken promises.

We have some hard work ahead of us as we try to repair the economy and build a budget in the Congress that matches our country's real priorities. That was pretty obvious today at our first hearing of the Budget Committee.

During that hearing, we listened to our OMB Director, Mr. Nussle. He talked a good game about wanting to work with Congress on his budget. But when we began to ask him critical questions, it was pretty clear how little President Bush and his Cabinet understand the priorities of the American people today. It was clear when I asked Director Nussle about why the President is proposing deep cuts to the Veterans' Administration construction budget when thousands of new veterans are entering the system every year.

We all remember what happened at Walter Reed a year ago, when it exposed the deplorable conditions at our VA facilities across this Nation, where we are sending those Iraqi war veterans and veterans from previous wars in horrible conditions. He stood with us and said we are going to fix this situation. Yet today, we get a budget that cuts the construction budget. How are we going to rebuild those facilities and make them into a place Americans can be proud of if the President doesn't ask for the money to do it? It was clear when Mr. Nussle refused to estimate the full cost of the Iraq war even for this year that they were not serious about this budget.

Just like any American family that is sitting down to balance its own checkbook, we are going to have some pretty tough decisions ahead in this Congress. We have to do it now. We have to be honest about what our obligations are and the expenses we face. It is time we take stock of our finances and get our books back in order. We have to invest in the priorities of America's families, and it is going to take a true commitment, but that is certainly something the President's budget failed to do.

We need an economic plan that works for everyone in this country. We need the economic stimulus package that we are trying to get passed that the Finance Committee did an excellent job in the Senate to put forward that will help provide short-term economic stimulus that is dramatically needed. Beyond that, we need a budget that invests in the American people and their priorities so our families can begin to feel strong once again. That is how we are going to get this economy moving.

It is time for a change, and I am looking forward to getting it started now.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I come to the floor this afternoon to speak about the economic stimulus, but before I go to that, I wished to take a moment of personal privilege to recognize a special member of the Senate family whose last day in the Senate is today, and that is someone we all know well: Marty Paone. He has been a tremendous asset to all of us. His good will, his steadfastness, the way he works with all of us, because he loves the Senate and understands the dignity of it and yet had a great passion for the work he was doing, will be missed.

Marty came to the Senate nearly 30 years ago and joined the Democratic cloakroom back in 1979 and worked his way up to become secretary of the minority back in 1995 and currently as secretary of the majority. He has been a tremendous asset to every one of us. I speak on behalf of myself as well as all Members of the Senate in saying he will be greatly missed, but we wish him absolutely the best in his new career.