American Jobs And Closing Tax Loopholes Act Of 2010 - Continued

Floor Speech

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Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, I indicated to my friends on the other side of the aisle I would be propounding a consent agreement. Let me make a few brief observations and then I will do precisely that.

The majority wants to make this debate about Republicans opposing something. Let me be perfectly clear: The only things Republicans have opposed in this debate are job-killing taxes and adding to the national debt. We have offered ways of paying for these programs and we have been eager to approve them.

What we are not willing to do is to use worthwhile programs as an excuse to burden our children and our grandchildren with an even bigger national debt than we already have. So the biggest reason the cloture vote we just had failed is because Democrats simply refused to pass a bill that does not add to the debt. That is the principle we are fighting for in this debate, and let me suggest that I can prove it. In a moment I will offer a 1-month extension of the expired unemployment insurance benefits, COBRA subsidy, flood insurance program, small business lending program, and the 2009 poverty guidelines. This extension would be fully paid for using the very same stimulus funds that our friends on the other side just voted--almost unanimously--to redirect for these purposes. Let me repeat that. We would pay for the extension with a Democratically approved stimulus offset.

If the Democrats object to extending these programs using their own stimulus offset to pay for them, then they will be saying loudly and clearly that their commitment to deficit spending trumps their desire to help the unemployed.

Let's be clear about the principle that is at stake here. Are our friends on the other side willing to extend these programs without adding to the debt? That is the real question in this debate.

So, in that regard, I ask consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of H.R. 4853; that all after the enacting clause be stricken and the McConnell amendment at the desk be agreed to; that the bill as amended be read a third time and passed and the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?

Mr. DURBIN. Reserving the right to object, Madam President, for 8 weeks Senator Baucus and Senator Reid have negotiated with Republicans in an attempt to pass this important jobs bill. They have been asked to make the package smaller, which they did. They have been asked to pay for portions of the package, which they did. And still Republicans continue to filibuster and stop this bill.

What the Senator from Kentucky wants to do would be virtually unprecedented, that we would pay for the emergency spending for unemployment compensation by removing money from our jobs program, the stimulus program. So he is going to kill jobs on one side to pay for the unemployed on the other side. It makes no sense economically and it is certainly not within the tradition of the Senate, and I object.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The objection is heard.

Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, I would only briefly offer that the offset I offered was one that the majority just voted for. Obviously they did not find it offensive in the context of the measure that was defeated.

We will continue to work on this in the hopes that we can pass this worthwhile measure without adding to the national debt.

I yield the floor.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Illinois.

Mr. DURBIN. The filibuster that has been waged by the Republicans in the Senate has gone on now for 2 months to stop unemployment benefits. What the minority leader just offered was a 1-month extension. We have been limping and dragging our way from one short extension to another, and that is not fair.

It is not fair to 80,000 people in Illinois, unemployed, who just lost their unemployment benefits because of the Republican filibuster. Why do the Republicans oppose this bill? Well, the good reason they say is the deficit. But let me tell you the real reason. The real reason is because this bill pays for virtually all of the programs except unemployment by making changes in the Tax Code, changes to which the Republicans object.

Let me give you an example. One of the changes would eliminate the loopholes in the Tax Code which allow American businesses to relocate American jobs overseas. We know what that means to manufacturing in this country. We are losing good-paying jobs right and left, and the Tax Code rewards the companies that make those bad decisions. We want to eliminate that, and the Republicans want to protect it.

Secondly, this bill provides help to small businesses across America, and we pay for it. Third, this bill will provide money to governments so we would not have to lay off teachers, policemen, firefighters, and nurses. That is going to happen. We are trying to send emergency money back to the States to avoid that.

The Republicans continue to filibuster it and to say no--no to plugging up the loopholes so jobs will not move overseas, no to the assistance for small businesses so they can create jobs, and, no, so that we can help to protect the jobs of the people who protect us in our homes and communities and schools.

I do not understand the Republican sentiment. There used to be a bipartisan sentiment that when America faced a disaster, we would pull together, whether it was the flooding and hurricanes in Louisiana or the disastrous situation in the Gulf of Mexico. We have a national emergency with this recession and 14 million Americans out of work.

We are asking only--only--to extend them an unemployment check so they can feed their families--literally feed their families for the next few months. The Republicans continue to filibuster and continue to say no.

The record is clear. It is a party of no which is hoping the voters will vote yes in November. I hope they will remember that the Republicans had no alternative when it came to this disastrous economic situation, and we are doing our best to create jobs and help those who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own.

I yield the floor.

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