Energy Savings and Industrial Competitiveness Act of 2013
Floor Speech
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Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, it is one thing for a politician to say he misspoke and another for most ordinary people to say they got it wrong.
I made a statement on the floor of the Senate earlier this morning which turns out was not entirely accurate, and I would like to clarify it and correct it for the Record.
I was recounting the history of the Social Security Program created by Franklin Roosevelt in 1935, and recounted that it faced a filibuster in the Senate. I mistakenly believed it was a Republican filibuster when in fact it was a filibuster by Senator Huey Long, a nominal Democrat, who was filibustering because of his support of certain agricultural subsidies. I want the Record to be clear the filibuster to delay or in any way impact the implementation of Social Security was in fact by Senator Long, not a Republican filibuster.
I also note the information I used on the floor was derived from a book which I am reading entitled ``Citizens of London'' by Lynne Olson, and it is no reflection on her that I got that fact wrong. I remembered it wrong when I spoke to it on the floor.
The Washington Post is going to go to great lengths tomorrow to explain my other errors in my statement, and I acknowledge I could have done more research before coming to the floor, but I stand by the premise that the notion we are somehow going to filibuster the Affordable Care Act to delay its implementation is not in the best interests of the United States. If this bill or law needs amendment or repair, let's do it on a bipartisan basis, rather than voting 41 times, as they have in the House, to abolish it.
I also believe it is valuable for this country to face the cost of health care. If we are going to deal with America's debt and deficit, we have to acknowledge that 60 percent of it relates to health care costs. The Republican side has not come up with any alternative to deal with this health care crisis. We believe the President's legislation--which I proudly supported--is a step in the right direction. It can be improved. I will work to improve it. But simply saying we are not going to allow it to be implemented is not a positive effort to improve the situation in America.
I yield the floor.
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