Executive Session

Floor Speech

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Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, I have a statement I wish to make, but if Senator Baucus should come to the floor, or his designee, I will yield the floor at that point if they want to close the debate. But I want to make a statement in reference to the nomination of Mr. Geithner to be the Secretary of the Treasury.

Today's press reports were staggering. The largest manufacturer in my State, Caterpillar, is cutting 20,000 jobs--18 percent of their workforce; Pfizer is laying off 8,300 workers; Sprint Nextel, 8,000; Home Depot, 7,000; Corus, 3,500 workers. That is a shortened list of announced job losses--over 47,000 in total--in just today's newspaper. Last week, Harley-Davidson, 1,000 jobs; Microsoft, 5,000; Intel, up to 6,000; United Airlines, 1,000; Bose, 1,000; Clear Channel, 1,850 workers.

It is abundantly clear that our economy is in a tailspin, and it is clear to me as well that we will need leadership in the Department of the Treasury. Mr. Geithner, who is the nominee of this administration as Secretary of Treasury, has been the subject of hearings. There have been disclosures concerning taxes that he has paid in the past. He has acknowledged his own shortcomings when it comes to some of these issues. I would say at this point, now more than ever, we need a person with his background and his skills to lead us in the Treasury Department. When you take a look at the state of the economy, I hope the Senate will respond as quickly as possible--this evening--in appointing him to this position.

Then we should move quickly. Once we have finished the Children's Health Insurance Program this week--the majority leader, Senator Reid, has said we will finish it this week--then we need to move into the recovery and reinvestment plan which President Obama is going to offer to Congress. Tomorrow, in historic meeting, President Obama is coming to Capitol Hill to meet with Republican Congressmen to talk about the plan. He is doing everything in his power to work together with Democrats and Republicans to put together the right investment for our Nation's future.

We know what is at stake. It isn't just the immediate job losses, it isn't just the unemployment rate we face, which is at a record high level for the last 16 years, but it also is a question of investment in this country. There are some who want this to be a temporary program. I hear that from Senator McConnell--he wants this to be temporary. But we have to acknowledge some of the investments we want to make are long-term investments to stabilize the economy. When we decide to build classrooms, laboratories, and libraries for the 21st century, it creates jobs today and over the next several years, but it also creates an asset that will pay back over long periods of time. When we invest in information technology when it comes to health care, it is an investment that will pay off in bringing down the cost of health care and reducing the medical errors that result when we don't have accurate information. When we make investments in providing energy incentives for new green businesses to lessen the dependence of America on imported oil, it creates a job today, but it may be something that pays back over the long term.

I don't think the American people expect us to do something which will disappear in 18 months and have to be repeated. They want us to invest this money as best we can in those projects that have long-term value.

Mr. Geithner, the Secretary of the Treasury, will have important responsibilities when it comes to other aspects of this--financial institutions that will be brought into this equation to find ways to stabilize our economy and move us forward--but the key issue, over and over again, is the creation of jobs--jobs. We lost over 500,000 American jobs in the month of December, we are anticipating losing 600,000 this month, with no end in sight--17,000 Americans a day losing their jobs. We have to act quickly--not with haste and not without due consideration, but we have to act quickly to respond to this economic crisis.

I think the approval of Mr. Geithner as Secretary of the Treasury is a first step, and then the recovery plan which will follow. The House will take it up this week, and we will take it up in committee. We are going to finish it
before we leave on February 14. It is a target date which all of us understand is very serious because we are facing economic circumstances we have not seen in this country in over 75 years. I want to make sure we do this and do it quickly; that we act boldly and swiftly, and at the end of the day we create the jobs that are needed in this country, we cut taxes for working families so they will have more resources to cope with the expenses they face, and we invest in long-term investments that pay off and stabilize our economy. We are talking about roads and bridges and airports and schools, and we need transparency and accountability when it comes to this recovery program.

Madam President, I yield the floor.

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