Highway Trust Fund Extension - Continued
Floor Speech
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, I rise in opposition to the Ensign amendment. I know the Senator has the best of intensions. The underlying bill takes care of the unemployment insurance account. It does it in a deficit-neutral fashion. In fact, it generates a surplus, extra funds beyond what is needed for this purpose.
What the Senator from Nevada wants to do, if you can imagine, is he wants to cut back on spending in the stimulus program, which is building highways and projects across America. He wants to reduce the President's effort to create jobs, thereby creating more unemployment in order to have more money for unemployment in America. It does not work.
We have a good program here. The underlying program takes care of the need of the UI fund, and the President's stimulus package, now 150 days into operation, is generating jobs and opportunities across America. We do not need to kill the stimulus package at this moment. We need to make sure it works to get America back to work.
Please defeat the Ensign amendment.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, I would like to ask my colleagues if they will follow me for just one moment. This is a little complex, but if you will follow me.
First, I agree with Senator Bond's amendment and will vote for it, but not at this moment. Here is why. This rescission Senator Bond wants to achieve is something most of us agree with. If it doesn't happen, the penalties will come to our States on September 30. What we have is the assurance of the chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee that she will put this rescission in the reauthorization of the highway trust fund before September 30 so there would not be any loss to States.
So what is the problem? Why don't we do it today? Because if we do it today, we jeopardize this extension of the highway trust fund until September 30. We are trying to get this done in short order so we can end the session and come back and do the right thing before September 30. All we are asking today is for you to join us in saying to Senator Bond: Thank you for your good thought, but hold that thought until September.
We still have time to make sure we do the right thing, and we have the assurance of the chairman that it is going to happen. It pains me greatly to raise a point of order against my friend from Missouri on an amendment whose substance I agree with, but if we want to protect the highway trust fund and we want to have an orderly adjournment to the session and not jeopardize jobs, then we need to vote against the Bond amendment.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Source