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Floor Speech

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Mr. DURBIN. Socialism. This is all about socialism. I listened very carefully to my friend from Texas, and he is my friend--we work together on many things--and he believes the downfall of America is the advent of socialism. Well, I am not sure what that label means to him, but I want to take a look at some of the areas that he made a comment on.

He thinks it is socialist for us to expand the coverage of the Affordable Care Act. We are down to 8 percent of Americans without health insurance--8 percent. The goal is zero. We may never reach it. We have dramatically decreased the number of Americans without health insurance.

Have you ever lived in a situation where you didn't have health insurance, when you are a new father of a baby with a health problem and no health insurance? I have been there. You don't want to go to that place.

We want to give everybody the peace of mind that they have quality healthcare available to them. Is that socialism? Is that the government making the decision that you are going to have health insurance? I don't think so. Right-thinking people across this country, regardless of political stripe, believe that health insurance is critical for a happy and healthy family.

He used the term--he said Medicare is a socialist objective. Ha. Try that one on for size in any State. Run your campaign on getting rid of Medicare and see how it works. I can tell you what the result will be. Medicare, over the last 60 years, has liberated senior citizens in America so that they can live longer and live independently and have quality care through the later years of their lives. Socialism? The government knows better? It is a program which people value, just like Social Security. I hope people won't brand that as socialism. Many did when it was created. These are programs that families count on, real families. These programs are not socialist; they are as American as can be.

The student loan program? I support what President Biden did. I might have done it a little differently. But the fact that he is tagging that student loan forgiveness to the wealth of the individual and family is the right thing to do. A $10,000 student loan forgiven for those with individual income below $125,000 a year--that is not unreasonable. That means that middle-class and lower income kids are going to have $10,000 of their student loan forgiven. If they happen to be on Pell grants, which means they really were low-income families when they went to school, they get an additional $10,000.

I hear all this lamenting and whining and crying of socialism. Where in the heck was this comment about socialism when we were giving out PPP loans all across America by the thousands?

It turns out that some of the harshest Republican critics of student loan forgiveness took out PPP loans. Do you know what that meant? They were forgiven. They didn't have to pay them back. It was OK when they were receiving the money, these conservative Republicans, but the idea of some student burdened with student loans having loan forgiveness is socialism. Not where I am standing.

Now, I also want to say something about fiscal responsibility. Do you know, after the reconciliation bill, after the Inflation Reduction Act, how much we will reduce the deficit this year? One-point-seven trillion dollars. How did we achieve this? Well, we achieved it by saying we are going to establish a minimum tax for certain corporations. Which ones? Corporations that showed an average of $1 billion a year in net profit--average of $1 billion in net profit a year--over a 3-year period of time will finally have to pay some Federal income tax. Is that too much to ask? Is that socialism? No. It is fairness.

In terms of the EV socialism, this is one where Senators ought to take care. When they give speeches on the floor about electric vehicles and electrification, they are basically betting that the future is going to be a lot different than I see it.

Why do we have so many electric vehicles? Well, it must be a Federal mandate. No, it wasn't. It was a decision by the private sector to build electric vehicles and make that the future of transportation in America.

Take a look at Ford Motor Company. We had one of the Ford family come and tell us this story. They made a decision that electric vehicles were part of their future, a big part of their future, and they made a marketing move that I thought was genius. What were the first two vehicles they electrified and advertised? One was the Ford F-150 Lightning--the most popular pickup truck in America. A lot of White males drive those around. I am sure the Presiding Officer knows a couple. I drive one myself. They are going to electrify that vehicle, and they can't produce them fast enough to meet the demand.

So the people who many Republicans feel are the national allies on this subject are waiting in line to buy a Lightning, an F-150.

Then what was the other car they were going to electrify? A Mustang.

Well, I just want to tell you that certain age groups still dream about Mustangs. I can remember in 1964 when they put them on the market for the first time. They are going to electrify them. These cars are wildly popular, and they can't build them fast enough. So the Republicans who are betting that this is just a fad and it is going to go away are dead wrong on this. The private sector's production of automobiles is moving toward electric vehicles in a big way, and it is going to happen.

I would say the Republicans who believe it is pure socialism to have electric vehicles in our future should get out of the way because those electric vehicles are going to run all over you in no time at all.

Also, this idea of 87,000 IRS agents was invented by one Senator who came to the floor and made his calculation. It was like the death squads. They pick up a phrase, and they say this is the reality--87,000 IRS agents. That isn't even close to the truth.

What we know is this: The vast majority of Americans and American families pay their taxes legally and on time, and they should be respected for doing that. Who we are looking for are the people who don't do that--either don't pay their taxes or don't pay what they owe. Those people are not accepting their fair share of responsibility for this Nation's future.

The IRS has been starved in the past of basic things-- computerization, for example, and agents to do audits. The President has made it clear that his target is never going to be working families. His target is those who are defying the law and defying the system of taxation. He believes they should pay their fair share, and I couldn't agree with him more.

In terms of this idea--of this socialist mantra--that we know better, that the government knows better, it is interesting when it comes to personal liberty and freedom. When you get into another area, like the reproductive freedom for women, exactly the opposite position is being taken by many people on the other side of the aisle.

Here is the point I want to make: We considered the reconciliation bill just a few weeks ago. We had 41 straight rollcalls. I know because I was on the floor for every one of them. At the end of the day, we passed the reconciliation bill, the Inflation Reduction Act. What has happened since? Well, if you want to call it socialism, let me tell you what our socialist moves have done so far.

Tomorrow, President Joseph Biden is going to New Albany, OH, to join the CEO of Intel in breaking ground on a new multibillion-dollar semiconductor plant. It is one of the largest investments of its kind in American history, and it is going to create thousands of good-paying jobs for construction workers and engineers. Over the next decade, Intel plans to transform New Albany into one of the largest semiconductor manufacturing sites in the world. That is a big shift from the days when we shipped microchip production overseas to Asia.

Socialism? Is this Joe Biden's brand of socialism to open up a plant that finally is going to make computer chips, which are absolutely essential to the growth of our economy?

This investment in America's future was made possible by the CHIPS and Science Act, and I want to give credit where it is due. There were some Republicans who stepped forward and joined us in that effort. I wish there would have been more. I wish they all would have been with us in this effort. We believed--and the President backed us up--that if we were going to make this investment in semiconductor chips for our future, America was going to be there. I don't think that was inspired by socialism; that was inspired by common sense.

Yesterday, the New York Times reported that, in the weeks since the Inflation Reduction Act was signed into law--and that is the one with 41 rollcalls--companies throughout the country have unveiled ``a series of big-ticket projects to kick-start our clean energy future.''

Socialism--a future that will be made in America by American workers?

I would like to remind everyone that we passed that law without a single Republican vote. Not one Republican Senator would join us in this effort.

Well, what has happened in the 4 weeks since we passed it?

Well, Toyota announced it is going to invest billions of dollars in manufacturing batteries for those electric and hybrid vehicles here in America. That has happened since we passed the bill.

One solar company, named First Solar, announced another billion- dollar investment to build a new facility in the Southeast.

Socialism?

Honda, LG, Samsung--all of them announced billions of dollars in investments to make components for electric vehicles right here in America.

In West Virginia, one company plans to build a nearly 500,000-square foot electric battery factory. And who is going to be working in it? Well, they are targeting laid-off coal miners. They want to put them to work first.

Socialism?

Thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act, these jobs aren't going overseas anymore. They are staying right here in America.

New manufacturing projects are lighting up across the country, like a constellation of hope, marking a new era of renewal and renaissance for American families. I am glad to say that a big piece of it is taking place in the Midwest.

Earlier this week, in my home State of Illinois, the company T/CCI announced it is going to invest millions of dollars into retooling its facility in Decatur, IL, to make compressors for--hold onto your socialist hat--electric vehicles. Here they come again. And our Governor, Pritzker, announced that the State will work alongside Richland Community College to establish a climate center for innovation and research--an innovation hub.

Socialism?

This is a chance for the Decatur community to play its part in an electric vehicle revolution. Most importantly, once again, these investments are going to create good-paying jobs right here in America. For cities like Decatur, this is a lifeline. It wasn't that long ago that the city was struggling with population decline. Now it is a new story.

Under President Biden and a Democratic Congress, we are leaving no town behind. We are investing in the future of every community from Chicago to Decatur. In doing so, we are honoring America's history as the land of opportunity.

There is a statue in downtown Decatur. It is a site where it says that a 21-year-old, barefoot Abraham Lincoln delivered his very first political speech supporting the Whig platform. Just 2 years after that speech, Lincoln announced his first campaign for public office in my home county of Sangamon. He ran for the legislature.

So, as we celebrate the new funding for jobs and development coming to cities like Decatur, I find it interesting that one of the first policies Lincoln supported was known as internal improvements. He announced at his first run for office:

Time and experience have verified to a demonstration, the public utility of internal improvements. That the poorest and most thinly populated countries would be greatly benefitted by the opening of good roads, and in the clearing of navigable streams within their limits, is what no person will deny.

The challenges we face in America today are more sophisticated, but we also passed an infrastructure bill, the largest in the history of the United States.

Under the previous President, Donald Trump, he promised every week was going to be infrastructure week. Unfortunately, his response was so weak there was never an infrastructure week--never during his Presidency--and that is a fact. President Biden turned that around, and we passed an infrastructure bill that is putting America back to work, as it should. It is about time.

For decades, the Republicans have prayed to the altar of trickle-down economics. They call every initiative that we have on the Democratic side socialism: Social Security, socialism; Medicare, socialism; this idea of leading into the electric vehicle revolution, socialism; the government knows best.

Well, I will tell you they are wrong. What we see is leadership and leadership that is long overdue. We can't leave working families behind in this country. Four decades of cutting taxes for the rich on some wild theory that this was somehow going to lift all boats just turned out to be false.

I will tell you this: Roads and bridges crumbling beneath our feet, generations of good-paying jobs going overseas, the world's wealthiest trying to save a few bucks, and skyrocketing economic inequality is not American. Fixing it is not socialism; it is just fairness.

The last President spent 4 years declaring infrastructure week but had nothing to show for it. In less than 2 years, President Biden and the Democrats have delivered on their promise of rebuilding America and putting American workers back to work. We have had the largest growth and job creation--ever in the history of the United States--in the last year and a half under President Biden, and 660,000 of those jobs are manufacturing jobs--real jobs with a good paycheck. We are investing in the interest of industries of the future. More importantly, we are investing in American families.

The policies we have enacted during this Congress are going to help move America forward. Together, they represent a new vision for America's future: roads and bridges, microchips, wind turbines, deep research into advanced technologies like quantum computing. What does it mean for the American people? Take a look at the auto industry. Today, the industry, which with Barack Obama as President was saved despite Republican opposition, is an industry in which major manufacturers are betting big on its electric future.

Members of the Republican Senate caucus may not see electric vehicles in the future, but they have closed their eyes if they are in that position.

With the infrastructure package, we are going to create good, good jobs--union jobs--of fixing and building our roads and installing charging stations all across America.

With the CHIPS and Science Act, we are shoring up the domestic supply of semiconductors so we can assemble the next generation of electric vehicles in American factories. That chips bill also authorized billions of dollars in funding for scientific research--laboratories like Argonne and Fermilab. This research even has the potential to unlock new discoveries in battery technology.

Now, with the Inflation Reduction Act, we are making life more affordable for working families. That is not just to bring down costs of prescription drugs and energy bills; it will help lower the costs of American-made electric vehicles so more families can buy one.

This is the Democratic platform in action: building products and components we depend on here at home, pioneering technology breakthroughs to change the world, and leveling the economy so that every family has a fighting chance. Thanks to the policies we have passed so far under the Biden administration, we are rolling.

I do want to tell you this for the record: On my way to catch the plane at the airport in St. Louis earlier this week, I saw gasoline for sale at $3.46 a gallon. That is still high, but it is a heck of a lot better than the $5-plus we were paying just a few weeks ago. Is that socialism? I think it is the government at work, and this President has done everything he can to bring down the cost of living that families face.

It is still a challenge. We haven't conquered it, but we are moving in the right direction, and this economy is moving in the right direction. I wish we could have had some Republican support for that effort.

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