Jumpstart Our Business Strength (JOBS) Act

JUMPSTART OUR BUSINESS STRENGTH (JOBS) ACT

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I thank my friend from Iowa for yielding what time he has remaining.

Rarely does the Senate have a simple decision on whether to create jobs or destroy jobs. That is a decision we are going to make shortly. Today we have that clear choice. We can create jobs or we can destroy jobs. We can destroy jobs by letting a 17-percent tariff on American businesses kick in, as has already begun, at 5 percent on March 4, or we can create jobs by stopping that tariff and instead giving manufacturing business a tax deduction of 9 percent from U.S. income taxes. We can, as I said, destroy jobs or we can create jobs.

It has been over 2 years since the WTO ruled the FSC/ETI tax break was illegal. It has been a year and a half since WTO decided $4 billion of EU tariffs could be charged against U.S. exporters. It has been almost 1 year since final approval was granted by the WTO to impose these tariffs. And now it is almost a month since the 5-percent tariff was imposed. Next month that rises to 6 percent and another percent each month until it gets up to 17 percent next March.

We have known for years we need to protect manufacturing businesses. That is what this bill is about-protecting manufacturing businesses. We have known for months the sword of Damocles was about to fall, and now it has fallen and we are still talking.
No one can claim to be surprised about our need to act. Over 6 weeks ago, we were told this by our minority leader. Six weeks ago, our good friend from South Dakota said we need to act. He said 6 weeks ago this legislation was urgent. He said 6 weeks ago we need to begin addressing the American manufacturing crisis. That was the Democratic leader of the Senate.

I could not agree more. He was exactly right 6 weeks ago, and he is exactly right today. It is time to pass this bill if we are concerned about manufacturing jobs in the United States. But here we are, 6 weeks later, and the EU has begun taxing, but we have not stopped talking. They have begun taxing, and we have not stopped talking.

This is a jobs bill we have before us. It is a manufacturing jobs bill. This is a manufacturing jobs bill reported out of the Finance Committee by a bipartisan vote of 19 to 2. Usually when a bill comes out of a committee with that kind of bipartisan support, we take it up and we pass it in short order.

The way to do that is to invoke cloture in a few moments. We have this 19-to-2 committee vote-Republicans for it, Democrats for it-tariffs kicking in, and jobs being lost as a result of our failure to act. It is time to act, and we ought to act now.