Hire More Heroes Act of 2013 -- Motion to Proceed -- Continued

Floor Speech

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Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, last week the Wall Street Journal published an article entitled: ``Obama Team Crafts President's Midterm-Election Pitch.'' I want to read from the article's opening. This is what the article said:

The White House is carving out a role for President Barack Obama in this fall's midterm elections, which he will try to pose as a choice between the parties' economic visions. ..... The driving theory in the White House is that this election, like every one since the 2007 recession, is foremost about the economy. Mr. Obama already has been drawing contrasts between his economic program and that of Republicans.

That is from a Wall Street Journal article of last week.

All I can say is that Republicans welcome this debate. We agree this election will be first and foremost about the economy, and we look forward to discussing the contrast between our economic program and the President's. I am just surprised the President wants to discuss it because even many Democrats realize the Democrats' economic record over the past 5 years isn't going to win them any elections.

The Wall Street Journal article quoted Democratic pollster Mark Mellman, who said:

..... the key for Democrats is to frame the election as a choice between governing philosophies. ``If it's a referendum on whether you like the way Democrats have governed ..... that's a harder election for us to win.''

So since they can't run on their record, Democrats are going to make the case their philosophy offers the best hope for working Americans.

The Journal goes on to quote Joel Benenson, a pollster for the 2008 and 2012 Obama campaign, who says:

The fundamental question here that the country faces is: Which party has a philosophy and an approach that puts average, hard-working Americans front and center? ..... We ought to be making that the centerpiece of the campaign.

Democrats have had 5 1/2 years to take an approach that puts average hardworking Americans front and center, but their record has not been pretty. Despite the fact the recession technically ended almost 5 years ago, our economy continues to limp along. In the last quarter, growth averaged a miniscule one-tenth of 1 percent. Meanwhile, unemployment has remained at recession-level highs for the past several years.

Last month 806,000 Americans gave up hope of getting work and dropped out of the labor force entirely. Currently, nearly 10 million Americans are unemployed, 3 1/2 million of them for 6 months or longer. Over the 5 1/2 years the President has been in office, 6.7 million additional Americans have fallen into poverty.

Household income has declined by $3,500. The poverty rate for women has increased to 16.3 percent, income for women has fallen, and 19.4 million Americans have been forced to join the food stamp program.

Meanwhile, prices have risen. Gas prices are 99 percent higher per gallon today than they were when the President took office. Health care premiums are more than $3,600 higher. College tuition has soared.

Basically, thanks to the failed policies of the President and congressional Democrats, American families today are paying more and making less.

It is all very well and good to talk about the concern for the average hardworking American, but what really matters is not what you say but how you govern by what you do. Democrats seem to think their speeches and good intentions and the ``philosophy'' should give them a free pass, even if their policies are making it harder and harder for working families to achieve economic security and stability.

They want to coast on the fact that their party has historically been thought of as the party of working men and women, while ignoring the fact that the Democrat party today looks more like the party of billionaires and special interests than the party of hardworking Americans.

Take the Keystone Pipeline. Blue collar unions strongly support the pipeline and the more than 42,000 jobs it would support. The Washington Examiner reported yesterday morning the 750,000-member-strong International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers is, as the paper notes, the latest of the growing number of traditional blue-collar unions taking an aggressive pro-Keystone position.

In a letter to Senate Democrats, the IBEW's president writes:

At a time when job creation should be a top priority, the Keystone XL Pipeline project would put Americans back to work and have ripple benefits throughout the economy. ..... From pipe manufactured in Arkansas, to pump motors assembled in Ohio and transformers built in Pennsylvania, workers from all over the United States will benefit from the project.

That is from the president of the IBEW.

So given the jobs and benefits the pipeline would create, how do you think the President and the party of so-called average hardworking Americans has responded? Has he approved the pipeline and the jobs it would create for American workers throughout the country? No.

Despite five separate environmental reviews from his own State Department, testifying to the minimal impact the pipeline would have on the environment, the President has aligned himself instead with far-left environmental special interests like billionaire Tom Steyer, who is pouring money into anti-Keystone campaigns. So much for being the party of working men and women.

Democrats may talk about putting hardworking Americans front and center, but over the past few years hardworking Americans have often come in last. Take ObamaCare. It is hard to even know where to start when talking about the negative impacts ObamaCare has had on American workers.

There is the 30-hour workweek rule, which has forced businesses to eliminate full-time positions and cut workers' hours below 30 hours per week.

There is the employer mandate, which has made it difficult or impossible for many businesses to expand and hire new workers.

There is the tax on lifesaving medical devices, such as pacemakers and insulin pumps, which has already cost thousands of jobs in the medical device industry and which will eliminate many more if it isn't repealed.

Then, of course, there are the numerous burdens placed on small businesses, the higher premiums and out-of-pocket costs, and the fact that the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates the law will shrink the full-time workforce by 2 1/2 million workers and lower wages by more than $1 trillion.

Who suffers the most from all those provisions? Average, hardworking Americans, the small business owner who can no longer afford to hire new employees, the middle-class family suddenly faced with a $10,000 deductible, the low-income worker whose hours are suddenly slashed from 35 to 25 hours a week, and the out-of-work American who can't find a job because businesses are too reluctant to hire.

One would think the supposed party of average, hardworking Americans might sit back and rethink things a little bit after seeing the devastating economic impact of ObamaCare. But the Democrats and the President are pushing again with more job-killing policies.

Recently, the Democrats and the President have been pushing for a massive 40-percent minimum-wage hike--a measure the Congressional Budget Office says could eliminate up to 1 million jobs. Even the President's own Federal Reserve Chair recently testified before Congress that a minimum wage hike would negatively affect jobs.

Once again, the people most likely to lose their jobs as a result of this policy are those least able to afford it: Namely, low-income workers.

Mr. President, Democrats can talk all they want about their commitment to ordinary Americans, but actions speak louder than words. It is going to be hard to convince people to believe, when their actions over the past 5 years have made things harder for working Americans, that they are actually on their side.

If Democrats really wanted to provide permanent relief to the millions of Americans who are struggling to get by, they would focus on measures that would create jobs, improve wages, and expand opportunity.

Instead of spending their time on far-left liberal policies and priorities, such as government-run health care and extreme environmental regulations, they would be supporting bills that have been offered by some of my colleagues here on our side of the aisle to provide one-time, low-interest loans to out-of-work Americans to enable them to relocate to cities and States with more job opportunities. That is a piece of legislation I have introduced. Or they could support the bill put forth by Senator Lee to improve workplace flexibility for working families; or the bill of Senator Hoeven, to approve the Keystone Pipeline and open up the 42,000- plus jobs it would support; or the bill of Senator Collins to fix the ObamaCare 30-hour workweek provision so we don't have so many part-time employees in this country and put more people to work on a full-time basis; or the numerous Republican proposals that have been offered by our colleagues to check EPA's overreach and to protect the millions of jobs EPA's proposed regulations could destroy; or the Democratic majority could allow an open amendment process to the tax extender bill we are going to be considering here soon to allow for the consideration of permanent tax relief measures for American families and small businesses.

Because Americans deserve tax certainty and not more short-term measures, I intend to file amendments to the tax extenders bill this week to make a number of important progrowth provisions permanent, such as the ability for small businesses and farmers to expense more of their business investments. I intend to work with Senator Cantwell and others on an amendment to make permanent the ability of taxpayers to deduct State and local sales taxes against their Federal income tax--a measure that is important for States without income taxes like South Dakota. And I intend to work with my colleagues to make permanent the existing moratorium on State and local taxes on Internet access before that moratorium expires on November 1 of this year. Failure to act is going to mean a tax increase on the many millions of Americans who use the Internet.

This week's tax debate also provides the Senate an opportunity to address the job-destroying taxes in ObamaCare. Several of my colleagues, including Senators HATCH, TOOMEY, and COATS, have been fighting for repeal, or at least delay, of the ObamaCare medical device tax. Repeal of this tax has the support of over 70 Senators, and it is time for a vote on this proposal.

However, the ObamaCare taxes don't stop there. This year, millions of young, middle-class families will face a tax penalty for failing to purchase government-approved health care. Many of these individuals and families may not be able to afford ObamaCare and cannot afford to pay the tax either. I will be filing an amendment to the tax extenders bill that would prohibit the IRS from ever collecting this penalty.

Considering this administration has already delayed the mandate for employers, it is only fair to waive this penalty for families and individuals as well.

Finally, Mr. President, I will be offering an amendment to exempt the long-term unemployed from the ObamaCare employer mandate head count. If you are a business in this country and you hire somebody who has been unemployed for 6 months or longer, then you wouldn't be subject to the ObamaCare employer mandate, which is so devastating to employers across this country.

The tax extender package on the floor today will reportedly retain the Hire Our Heroes Act, which is championed in the Senate by Senator Blunt. If that is the case, I am pleased to see the majority has finally realized the employer mandate is hurting the job prospects of veterans who have proudly served this country. We should expand this exemption to the 3 1/2 million long-term unemployed as well, and that is what my amendment seeks to do.

Mr. President, Democrats may claim to be the party of average Americans, but their record over the past 5 years says some things entirely different. Ordinary Americans are suffering as a result of Democratic policies, and they are not getting any relief.

It is time for Democrats to stop talking about helping Americans and to start actually helping them.

We have an opportunity with this tax extenders bill on the floor this week to do some things that are for jobs and the economy. If we can get a chance to get these amendments in front of the Senate and allow the voices of the American people to be heard and to get votes, we can start moving this country in a different direction--a direction that will lead to better paying jobs for middle-class families, a better standard of living for people in this country, and a brighter and more prosperous future for future generations of Americans. I hope that will be the case.
I yield the floor.

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