Concurrent Resolution On The Budget, Fiscal Year 2016 -- Continued
Floor Speech
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Ms. BALDWIN. Mr. President, my amendment would create a free community college program, making a bold investment in our Nation's students, its workforce, and the future of our economy. It pays for this investment in a balanced way, and my amendment would actually reduce the deficit by enacting the Buffett rule--asking millionaires and billionaires to pay their fair share of taxes while giving our students a fair shot at the opportunities a higher education brings. I believe every student in America deserves a fair shot and an affordable education, and I believe a college education should be a path to the middle class, not a path into debt.
Inspired by programs in Tennessee and Chicago, this spring President Obama proposed a program that would allow students to attend community college for 2 years at no cost. This will give students who are willing to work hard the opportunity to obtain a certificate, an industry-recognized credential, or associate's degree. That provides the skills they need to access in-demand jobs or earn credits they can transfer into a 4-year institution.
I would urge all my colleagues to support the Baldwin, Schumer, Sanders, Stabenow amendment in order to support higher education, to support free community college, and invest in our students and our workforce.
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Ms. BALDWIN. Mr. President, amendment No. 436 is also cosponsored by Senators WARNER, MCCASKILL, and WHITEHOUSE. This amendment is very simple. It would strike section 405 of the chairman's mark. Section 405 eliminated a point of order against reconciliation legislation which either increases the deficit or would reduce a surplus.
I see no good reason why we should be making it easier to increase the debt and deficit that the majority claims to care so much about. If their reconciliation legislation is so important, then they ought to pay for it. If this amendment fails to be adopted, we will find ourselves in the same situation we were in the early 2000s.
In 2001 and 2003, the then-Republican majority used reconciliation to pass a $1.3 trillion tax cut in 2001 and then another $350 billion tax cut in 2003. Both of these efforts were entirely unpaid for. Not a single dime was offset. So much for fiscal responsibility. It was not until 2007, when Chairman Conrad took control of the Senate Budget Committee, when a point of order was put into place to stop reconciliation from being used as a tool to add to the deficit. Let's not use the reconciliation process to add to our deficit.
I urge my colleagues to support my commonsense amendment.
I yield the floor.
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