USA FREEDOM Act of 2015
Floor Speech
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Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I hope our colleagues in the Senate and the American people are listening to this discussion because there isn't anything that is more important than defending our country. The debate we are having in the Senate today is really about the tools our intelligence community uses to prevent terrorist attacks.
As we look at and discuss the legislation in front of us, I think it is very important that we not forget we are living in dangerous times. This is the most dangerous time, literally, since 9/11 in terms of the terrorist activity that is out there. As the Senator from North Carolina pointed out, we have a big bull's-eye. The United States and people in this country, the things we believe in--the terrorists would love nothing more than to be able to take out and destroy, through some terrorist act, Americans and American interests. So I think it is very critical.
The Senator from North Carolina did a great job. I know the Senator from Indiana is going to speak here on the subject in a few minutes. But I hope everyone listens carefully because we are on the cusp of doing something that does weaken the very tools that have been used, the very capabilities that have been used to prevent those terrorist attacks.
The ironic thing about it, as you frame this up, you look at the threats that are out there, the dangerous times in which we live, and the success of these programs and how effective they have been in the past at preventing a terrorist attack, and what is being talked about are potential abuses, hypothetical examples of how these programs could be abused, but they haven't been. The fact is, they haven't been.
We have a long period of time now in which to examine the effectiveness of these tools relative to the arguments that are being made about their abuse. They just don't exist. There isn't a documented case, in the time these tools have been in existence, of anybody's privacy being breached.
So it is very important that we look at these issues in light of what we are up against and what our No. 1 responsibility is; that is, defending Americans and Americans' interests. And this discussion is critical to that.
THE ECONOMY
Mr. President, I wish to speak on another subject this morning, and that has to do with the headline of the New York Times from Friday morning of last week, which I thought was pretty grim, and that is ``U.S. Economy Contracted 0.7% in First Quarter.''
Let me repeat that. Not only did our economy fail to grow in the first quarter of 2015, it actually shrank.
That is pretty discouraging news for millions of Americans still struggling in the Obama economy, and the Obama administration didn't offer them any consolation. Too often the administration has met stories of economic woe with excuses: uncertainty in the eurozone, not enough foreign demand, the Japanese tsunami, too much snow, too many congressional Republicans, and of course the Obama administration's favorite excuse, the Bush administration.
This time, among other things, the administration is blaming the measurements themselves. The administration claims the Bureau of Economic Analysis is not accurately measuring economic growth from quarter to quarter. Now, of course, the Department of Commerce should always be looking for ways to modernize our measurements and adjust for seasonal changes, but no arithmetical sleight of hand can disguise the fact that our underlying economy is so weak that isolated events can shut down economic growth altogether and actually push our economy into the red.
Economic growth has averaged an abysmal 2.2 percent under this administration since the end of the recession. That is one of the weakest economic recoveries in the past 70 years. If the Obama recovery had met the average economic growth experienced in all post-World War II recoveries, our economy would be $1.9 trillion larger than it is today.
If you look at the President's record, it is easy to see why our economy is still sputtering along: a failed $1 trillion stimulus, $1.6 trillion in new taxes, the President's health care law, which raised premiums for families and increased costs for small businesses, 2,222 new regulations costing more than $653 billion in new compliance costs, a Federal debt that has doubled on the President's watch, a financial reform bill that has overreached and is stifling community banks and lending across the country, and a runaway EPA that wants to increase electricity rates on families who are already struggling with stagnant wages and now--now--wants to regulate ditches and ponds in farm fields across the country.
All of this has led some economists to wonder if 2 percent growth is the new normal. If it is, it is very bad news for American families who will face a future that is less prosperous with less economic opportunity and mobility.
During the entire postwar period, from 1947 to 2013, our Nation averaged 3.3 percent growth. At that pace, the standard of living in America almost doubles every 30 years. Incomes rise, financial security increases, and more people are able to afford homes, take vacations, and save for higher education. At the pace of growth we have seen since 2007, on the other hand, it will take closer to 99 years for the standard of living to double.
Unfortunately, our recent weak economic growth shows every sign of continuing. The Congressional Budget Office projects our economy will grow at an average pace of 2.5 percent through 2018 and just 2.2 percent from 2020 through 2025.
That is not good news for American families. For generations, individuals have clung to the promise America has always held out: If you work hard, you could build a better life for yourself and an even better one for your children. But after years of economic stagnation, that promise is now in jeopardy.
A survey released last September reported that nearly half of Americans over 18 believe their children will be worse off financially than they are. A similar percentage of Americans no longer believe if you work hard you will get ahead.
Their disillusionment is not surprising. The weak economic growth we have experienced over the past several years has left families struggling to make ends meet. Americans are struggling to make health care costs and to make mortgage payments. They are no longer sure they can put their children through college and retire comfortably. Some have even lost their homes. Good-paying jobs are few and far between.
The U.S. Census Bureau reports that for the time since the government began tracking the number, more businesses are closing each year than are being opened. Think about that. More businesses are closing. There are more business deaths than there are business births in this country today.
Millions of Americans are unemployed, and millions more are being forced to work part time because they can't find full-time work. Forty percent of unemployed Americans have become so disillusioned with the lack of opportunity, they have given up entirely looking for work--40 percent. That is a staggering number. If the unemployment rate were changed to reflect the number of unemployed who have given up looking for work, our current unemployment rate would be well over 9 percent.
The good news is that things don't have to stay that way. We can enact progrowth policies that will return our economy to a more prosperous path in the 21st century. According to former CBO Director Douglas Holtz-Eakin, the differences between 2.5 percent growth and 3.5 percent growth would have a major impact on the quality of life for low- and middle-income families.
If our economy grows at a rate that is just 1 percentage point faster than what is projected, we will have 2 1/2 million more jobs and average incomes will be $9,000 higher. Average incomes would be $9,000 higher if we grow just 1 percentage point faster than what is projected. For a lot of Americans, that is the difference between owning your home and renting one. It is the difference between being able to send your kids to college or forcing them to go deeply into debt to pay for their education. It is the difference between a secure retirement and being forced to work well into old age.
Additionally, the CBO estimates that for every additional one-tenth percent increase in economic growth, it reduces our deficits by $300 billion over the next 10 years. That means an additional percentage point in economic growth will reduce our deficits by $3 trillion over the next 10 years, and that in turn--reducing deficits--would further enhance economic growth.
Senate Republicans have laid out a number of policies to help grow the economy and open up opportunities for low- and middle-income Americans. We proposed energy policies that will expand domestic energy development which will help drive down energy prices. We are advancing trade policies that will help create more opportunities for American workers here at home by increasing the market for U.S. goods and services abroad. We have proposed tax reform that will simplify our outdated Tax Code and make our businesses more competitive, which will open up new jobs and opportunities for American workers. We have laid out entitlement reforms that will keep our promises to our seniors while protecting our economy by reducing our long-term deficits. We are pushing for regulatory reforms that will rein in the out-of-control government bureaucracies that are stifling economic growth.
Years and years of government overspending, burdensome taxation, massive government programs--many of which don't work--and excessive regulation have taken their toll on our economy, but we can still undo that damage. For generations, America has held out the promise of hope and opportunity, and Republicans are committed to ensuring it does so again. We invite our colleagues to join us because we can have a better, brighter, and more prosperous future for future generations of Americans by changing directions, changing the policies, doing away with the regulations, the overreaching government that has made it so difficult for so many Americans to get ahead.
Mr. President, I yield the floor.
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