Floor Statements

I thank the senior Senator from Connecticut for that very eloquent tribute to our team. I am not going to try to match the cheer this year but perhaps next. And I thank him for providing such a model of support for the University of Connecticut, truly a government program that works but also, obviously, one that is completely nonpolitical, bipartisan--perhaps providing another lesson for us here.

I am very honored to rise in celebrating this remarkable accomplishment. This majestic and momentous victory culminates a kind of magical journey for this team. They defied the odds. They disproved the doubt and the doubters, and they stared down adversity with real grit and grace. Remember that they rallied after losing 4 out of 5 of their last regular season games and then had an extraordinary streak of 11 straight wins to win the Big East and then the NCAA championship. They were relentless and courageous in believing in themselves throughout that very tough battle. At some point, as someone said, this team forgot how to lose--again, a life lesson for many of us.

As in every remarkable triumph, this one had a team effort and it had stars. Kemba Walker was perhaps the most notable among them, and he won awards that recognized his remarkable individual effort, but there were also freshmen who were important--I say that as a freshman Senator-- Jeremy Lamb and Roscoe Smith.

As important as any player, as my colleague has recognized, was Coach Calhoun, who really demonstrated again the reason he is a champion and a hero to Huskies fans throughout the State of Connecticut and the Nation.

He gave his team strength at the critical time, and he drew that strength from his own life experiences. Just last Sunday, he recalled his day, shortly after his father's death, when he was pumping gas and cutting stone and collecting metal in a shipyard in Massachusetts. He is a fighter, he is a leader, and the UConn basketball program has come a long way under his leadership.

Many recall the days when they had no championships and certainly no winning teams. The program began in 1901, with a season that consisted of a single game against Windham High School, and it was 98 years until Coach Calhoun won them their first championship and now their third. He won that championship because of the great playing of those teams and the players who have gone on to performances that are remarkable in other leagues.

I also wish to join in paying tribute to Geno Auriemma and the Lady Huskies. They came very close, heartbreakingly close, to another championship. Maya Moore and every member of that team deserves our gratitude and admiration.

There is no doubt that both teams--both of them--have a bright future. I look forward to being here again next year and celebrating another Huskies victory, hopefully by both the women's and the men's teams.

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

Mr. President, the people of Connecticut sent me here to fight for their interests and today I rise to amplify their voices and share their concerns in my first remarks from the floor of the United States Senate.

I know these voices firsthand from listening day after day, year after year, traveling the State to be with people and to see people where they live and work, and recently on a 2-week listening tour as one of my first actions as a Member of the Senate.

What I am hearing is people are still hurting, still struggling, trying to stay in their homes, make ends meet, find jobs, and keep their families together. They feel rightly that Washington is not listening, Washington is not heeding their voices or responding with the right action or results.

The people of Connecticut are clear about their priorities. They want to be back at work with good jobs and a growing economy and responsible, smart cuts in government spending to reduce our debt and deficit. They want to know that Washington is listening to them and that their leaders are fighting for them, standing up and speaking out against powerful special interests and predatory wrongdoing. And that is the kind of listener and leader they sent me here to be.

In the northeast corner of my State, known as the ``Quiet Corner,'' the president of Nutmeg Container Corporation, Charlie Pious, tells me he is hoping to hire more workers, but he has difficulty finding people with the skills he needs.

Not far away, in Putnam, at a meeting at the Putnam Bank with chairman Thomas Borner, one after another small business leaders tell me they could create more jobs with more certainty and consistency in government action.

In Hartford, our State's capital, we celebrate a Jobs Corps graduating class--kids who dropped out and came back through training and determination.

In Bridgeport, unemployed, older workers are crowding the WorkPlace, a highly successful job training center. There and all around the state, people simply want work.

At the Fuel Cell Energy Corporation in Torrington, R. Daniel Brdar, the president of this cutting-edge green energy manufacturer, plans to expand his workforce, but he needs to know that he can continue to count on the renewable energy tax credit and workers with the right skills.

In Waterbury, at a meeting hosted by Joe Vrabley, president of Atlantic Steel, small business manufacturers described again and again how they are facing unfair competition from companies in countries breaking the rules.

At Crescent Manufacturing in Burlington, Steve Wilson demonstrates the destructive consequences of Chinese currency manipulation, when they effectively devalue their money and subsidize their exports so the prices of their products undercut Connecticut-made goods and jobs.

The people of Connecticut don't need Washington to tell them what is wrong; they need help making it right. They want job creation to be the priority in Washington, just as it is in Connecticut. They are frustrated because Washington seems beholden not to them but to some of the financial gamblers who made the economy their own personal casino and put millions of Americans out of work and out of their homes.

On Main Street, small businesses struggle to get started and ongoing businesses face roadblocks when they try to grow. They can't get capital, credit, or loans. They can't find workers with the skills they need. They face unfair trade practices from foreign governments promoting the products of their manufacturers.

Taxpayers are angry for good reason, not just for themselves but for their children and the growing danger to the American dream, the great fear they will be the first generation to leave the next a lesser America and trillions in unpaid bills.

A new report from the Government Accountability Office documents what we instinctively have known: Waste and duplication in government costs taxpayers billions of dollars every year--early estimates say between $100 billion and $200 billion. And experts say we could save tens of billions of dollars by aggressively prosecuting health care waste and abuse, just as we saved millions of dollars going after health care fraud when I was attorney general.

The people of Connecticut--indeed, of America--will not tolerate and should not tolerate billions in waste and duplication. It must be cut. That is where we should focus, not on the thoughtless slashing of essential services that provide a safety net for our most vulnerable citizens. When we cut, let's be smart about it.

The people of Connecticut are sick of the special breaks and tax loopholes that have been protected for far too long--tax breaks to companies that send jobs overseas; subsidies to huge oil and gas interests, some of them the most profitable companies in the history of the planet; and giveaways to giant agribusinesses, many given tax dollars not to grow anything.

Shutting down those loopholes and special breaks and sweetheart deals will take a fight, but the people of Connecticut and the country are ready for that fight, and so am I. And we must fight. That fight will require support for the prosecutors and enforcers who prevent and go after waste, abuse, and lawbreaking. Cutting enforcement funds may make appealing political sound bites until we realize that real-world lawlessness has real-world consequences. Consistent, vigorous enforcement is critical. Good cops on the beat make a difference.

These steps--responsible cuts in spending, clear rules, and consistent, rigorous enforcement--are absolutely necessary to help our economy grow again, but they alone are not enough to create jobs. Washington must provide tools and remove obstacles to the people and small businesses that are the real job creators. We have to make ``Made in Connecticut'' and ``Made in America'' mean something again. We must invest more, we must make more, and we must invent more right here in the United States.

Step No. 1, we must invest more. We must invest in infrastructure and education--in roads, transmission lines, and airports, in everything from our grade schools to our community colleges and job-training programs. In New Haven, as just one example, cutting-edge biotechnologies are taking root and growing thanks to the Downtown Crossing project, where a new building and road rebuilding are necessary for dynamic growth. Instead of thoughtless threats to slash Downtown Crossing transportation grants, we should be encouraging this promising development.

In the coming weeks, I will introduce new legislation that will help small businesses to set aside money to invest and reinvest in their business.

Step 2, making more, which means more manufacturing and fair trade, and strengthening ``Buy American'' requirements to ensure that our tax dollars are creating jobs here not abroad. Chinese currency manipulation is costing us jobs and undermining our businesses, and it must be stopped. And we need stronger enforcement of laws to prevent foreign export subsidies and intellectual property theft.

Third, we must invent more. The renewable energy tax credits and other incentives which encourage businesses to create and produce green energy solutions should be made permanent. The R&D tax credit, which creates incentives for businesses to invest in research, should be extended indefinitely and expanded.

The people of Connecticut want bipartisan efforts to achieve job creation and economic growth. They want partnerships among business, labor, and education. They want bipartisan efforts to help our veterans so that after those veterans serve our country, they return to a paycheck instead of an unemployment line. That is why, in coming weeks, I will introduce a bill to help secure job opportunities for our veterans and provide training, health care, higher education, and more.

As I travel across the State of Connecticut, I listen to people like the Squatritos of Carla's Pasta. Their business is in South Windsor. An immigrant from Italy, Carla Squatrito started making pasta in her kitchen and grew it into a successful small business. This year, thanks to smart, targeted tax incentives, Carla's financial recipe includes investing in a fuel cell from the Fuel Cell Energy Corporation in Torrington to provide a low-cost source for most of her company's electricity needs. This cleaner, greener energy source will lower their energy bills and allow them to hire more workers and create more Connecticut jobs.

The people of Connecticut sent me here to fight for them--to fight for jobs and justice, to fight against a Capitol that caters to powerful special interests. The best moments of my career have been when we fought and won battles for ordinary people--for Skylar Austin and others when their health insurance companies wrongly denied them medically necessary, sometimes lifesaving treatment; for businesspeople such as Kathy Platt when General Motors sought wrongfully and unfairly to shut down her car dealership, Alderman Motors; or Terry, a marine, like many veterans, who returned from Iraq or other military service only to be denied proper treatment from our own government. I am here because the people of Connecticut know me as a fighter, and in the challenging time, again, I will fulfill that trust by listening to them and working for them and fighting for them.

As we gather today, young Americans are serving and sacrificing at home and abroad. Like all of you, I am grateful to them every day, and to all the veterans who have served and sacrificed before them, for giving us the freedoms we enjoy every day, including the extraordinary opportunity to speak today in this historic Chamber and participate in the greatest democracy in the greatest Nation the world has ever known.

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