Rebuild America Jobs Act--Motion to Proceed
Floor Speech
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. DURBIN. I thank the Senator from California for her presentation. As she talked about her wonderful hometown of San Francisco, one of my favorite cities outside Illinois, I thought about my most recent trip there to that Golden Gate Bridge and the wonderful work that is done in the Presidio. What a tribute it is to that beautiful part of our country that the investments are being made now so people can enjoy it. It was filled with people, bicyclers, walkers, runners, families, tourists, and everybody. It is an indication to me that if you build it, they will come.
In this situation, I couldn't help but reflect as the Senator went through the litany of all the great achievements in America over the last 60 years from the viewpoint of infrastructure. Think back to President Eisenhower and the big debate that was on then about the interstate highway system: Was it going to be bonded or paid for with taxes? It went back and forth, and it ended with a bipartisan agreement, and thank goodness it did. We need that kind of bipartisan agreement right here.
Were it not for the interstate highway system, your State would be much different today. So would mine. Thank goodness, 60 years ago, a Republican President and a Democratic Congress reached an agreement. It can be done.
The Democrats did not say if Eisenhower gets this, people are going to think better of him. They thought better of the Nation, and that was a commitment that made a difference.
I thank the Senator for telling us this story. I appreciate it.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I just left a meeting with President Obama at the White House, and we discussed the jobs bill that is pending before the Senate. It is a bill which the President put together and presented to Congress almost 2 months ago. He invited the Republicans at that time to come forward with their ideas, and hoped that we could come up with a bipartisan approach to dealing with the 9-percent-plus unemployment in our country and the 14 million people out of work, not to mention another 10 million who are underemployed and could do better with a better job.
We had a briefing this morning from an economist from labor and business who talked about some of the realities facing America today, and they are daunting: that one out of five men in this country is out of work; that we have seen, since 1969, a 28-percent decline in the purchasing power of working families in America; that we are seeing growth rates which are at least anemic and maybe even worse in terms of the future of our economy.
There are those who are criticizing the President and saying his approach is all wrong. But what those who criticize him offer is nothing. Nothing. There is no Republican plan for creating jobs in this country. It is a litany of complaints that they have had about the Federal Government for decades. For example, they argue there are too many rules and regulations, and that is what is impeding job growth.
I spent 2 straight weeks going across Illinois visiting businesses, large and small, that have done well in this recession. Not a single one has raised that issue. None. I don't think that is a real issue. It is an issue that we should be concerned about when it comes to job creation. It is not an issue for causation.
Secondly, the Republican approach has been, and consistently so, that the most important thing they can do is to protect the income taxes paid by the wealthiest people in America. That is not why I was sent to Congress. I believe my responsibility is to look to the common good and beyond the wealthiest in this country, particularly to help working families who are struggling so much.
The bill that will come up tomorrow will give the Republicans a chance to join us again in part of the jobs bill which they used to support. Some of the elements of that bill are pretty straightforward: $60 billion that will be spent on infrastructure, $50 billion for transportation funding, and another $10 billion for the infrastructure bank. Of that, $27 billion is for highways across America. I will take a big chunk of that in Illinois, and I will bet you will in Colorado. There is plenty to be done out there to alleviate congestion, to make the roads safer. There is another $9 billion for mass transit. We need it desperately. Mass transit, of course, keeps people off the highways, moves them back and forth to work in a most economical way. Our mass transit systems in Illinois and most places could use a shot in the arm with an investment for safety and for reliability. There is $4 billion for high-speed inner city passenger rail corridors. That is working in Illinois, proof positive, almost $1 billion in our State. We got the money, incidentally, that the Republican Governor of Wisconsin said he didn't want. We said we will take it in Illinois and the people in Wisconsin can wave as the train goes by. We are going to put that money into better rail beds, faster service, more reliability.
We broke all records in Amtrak passenger volume a few weeks ago, 30 million passengers, the most ever in any 1 year in Amtrak history. Eighty-two percent of passengers say they are satisfied with the good service of Amtrak. It is an enterprise that has a lot of support in America, and we want it to grow. Unfortunately, the other side has come out against it many times. So the President has put $2 billion directly into Amtrak. They can use it for new trains, new locomotives, and passenger cars built in America. How about that? Good-paying jobs in our country. There is $3 billion for TIGER and TIFIA grant loan assistance, $2 billion for FAA improvement grants, $1 billion for FAA NextGen air traffic control. And for the record, those of us who fly on airplanes every week think this is long overdue. The air traffic control system in America is based on science that is decades old and goes back to World War II, and it is time to move beyond it. And we can, but we need to invest to make sure that happens. Then there is $10 billion for the national infrastructure bank. That is absolutely critical for us so that we can continue to grow and continue to build.
When I look at this, what it translates into is pretty amazing. It would put people to work upgrading 150,000 miles of road in America, laying or maintaining 4,000 miles of train tracks, restoring 150 miles of runways at airports, and putting in place a NextGeneration air traffic control system to reduce time delays and add safety. The plan includes $27 billion for roads and bridges, $9 billion, as I mentioned, for transit systems, and money for a competitive grant program, $5 billion, $4 billion for construction of high-speed rail. It is no wonder this has been supported not only by the labor unions--they want to put people back to work--but by businesses all across America that have an interest in highway construction.
The national infrastructure bank, of $10 billion, will leverage private and public capital to fund a broad range of infrastructure projects. The bank would be based on a bill introduced by Senators John Kerry and Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas, which has been endorsed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. So if you think these are all Democratic ideas with no business support, one of the central elements here, the infrastructure bank, has the support of the Chamber of Commerce. It builds on legislation offered by Senators Rockefeller and Lautenberg, and long-time bank champion Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro.
How do we pay for this? I think that is where the conversation starts falling apart on the floor of the Senate. We pay for it and don't add to the deficit by adding a new income tax surtax on those making over $1 million a year. Listen carefully. Those making over $1 million a year. So you have to already be making $20,000 a week before you pay the first penny in new taxes, and the tax just applies to the additional money over $1 million, and it is 0.7 percent.
I want to apologize, for the record. I think I misstated this earlier when I said that for the first $100 of new income over $1 million, that those who were millionaires would pay 7 cents more in taxes. I misstated it. I missed it by a factor of 10. It turns out to be 70 cents instead of 7 cents. So the burden is 10 times what I suggested.
For every $100 a millionaire earns over $1 million, under this bill to put America to work, they would have to pay 70 cents. The Republicans have said, ``Unacceptable.'' It is unconscionable that we would tax what they call the job creators.
We did a survey, incidentally, and found out that 1 percent of small business owners make $1 million or more--1 percent. For 99 percent of small business owners this is no tax increase, so it is not hurting job creators. It is creating jobs and that is what we need to do, and I cannot believe we are going to see this fail tomorrow again because we do not want millionaires to pay 70 cents out of every $100 more they make beyond $1 million, 70 cents in taxes. I think it is worth a lot more than 70 cents to get America back to work, and I think the sooner we do it, the better.
The Congressional Budget Office released a report that highlights the trend in household income between 1979 and 2007. As I mentioned earlier, American families, working families, have fallen further and further behind. The data showed that the top 1 percent of earners saw a dramatic increase in their share of household income. The remaining 99 percent were relatively unchanged.
The share of aftertax household income for the top 1 percent of the population more than doubled, climbing to 17 percent in 2007 from 8 percent in 1979. For the top 1 percent of household earners, the highest earners in America, average real aftertax household income grew by 275 percent between 1979 and 2000.
What happen to the others? The top quintiles were receiving 53 percent of aftertax household income in 2007, up from 43 percent in 1979. People in the lowest fifth of the population received about 5 percent of aftertax household income--that is 20 percent of the people receiving about 5 percent of aftertax household income in 2007, going down from 7 percent in 1979.
People in the middle? Three-fifths of the population saw their share of aftertax income decline by 2 to 3 percent in those years, 1979 to 2007.
If you wonder why people are sitting in tents in these ``occupy'' areas and why there is a rage across America, it has a lot to do with this. People are working hard, playing by the rules, and falling further and further behind. They are looking up at the top and saying, I don't understand this. Why is it that the bank CEOs are getting multimillion dollar bonuses and the management of my company is getting a dramatic increase, while they tell us we are the most productive workers in the world? It is understandable they want a fair shake, and it starts with putting people to work.
With 14 million people out of work today, getting them jobs where they can start paying taxes instead of drawing benefits is something they want and we should want. It is worth saying to the wealthiest in America, pay your fair share; maybe a little bit more than you did today. If it makes America a stronger nation and the economy stronger, my guess is those folks making over $1 million a year will prosper too. That has been the story of America. I am sure that story will be repeated.
The question tomorrow is whether there will be a single Republican vote to support us. I am not certain. I have to think back. I do not believe we have had one Republican vote supporting the President's jobs bill so far, any aspect of it. We are going to keep trying, and the American people expect us to.
The President spoke today at Key Bridge, right here between Arlington, VA, and DC, a bridge right near where I went to college and crossed hundreds of times. It is a bridge that needs some work and he was making that point, let's put Americans to work right there, creating good American jobs with this jobs bill. The President made a point of noting that while we are talking about passing a jobs bill in the Senate, the House of Representatives is talking about commemorative coins and reaffirming our belief in the phrase ``In God we trust.'' The President said in the speech there is no doubt in his mind that people do trust in God, they just don't trust in the House of Representatives to get the job done here, to pass a jobs bill that will get people back to work.
That is the challenge we face. That is the challenge America faces, and a bipartisan solution will serve the Nation well.
I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Source