EDA

Floor Speech

Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, there was a vote yesterday on the Senate floor about a bill that was pending. It goes directly to the topic just raised by the Senator from Iowa. It was the Economic Development Revitalization Act. The EDA is an agency created almost a half century ago to create incentives for businesses to build, expand, and locate in places across America where there is high unemployment. It has been a success in Illinois and almost every other State.

For every $1 the Federal Government puts on the table, it generates $7 in economic activity. There is not a lot to go around, so they pick those projects that are the most promising, and it is a good agency. It is an agency that has enjoyed wide bipartisan support. Yet, when it came time yesterday to vote on whether we go ahead and pass the bill to reauthorize the agency, unfortunately, we could not find 60 Senators on the floor to vote yes. So the bill languishes and basically was pulled from the calendar.

It is the second time this year, when we face this recession and high unemployment, the Senate has refused to take up a bill that literally will help businesses create jobs across America. It does not make sense, does it, that when we have so many people out of work, we cannot even agree on a bill to create jobs and help business. It does not make sense, unless the premise of this debate is understood.

The Republican minority leader, Senator McConnell, said his highest legislative priority this session was to make sure President Obama is a one-term President. It is that guiding force that led to the vote yesterday. It is that guiding force that has stopped us from passing meaningful legislation when it comes to unemployment in America, time and again. You see, if we are destined and determined to stop this President and frustrate any efforts to build jobs, then the Senate will continue to languish.

How does this work? It works because when bills come to the floor, brought by the majority leader, Harry Reid, Senators from the other side of the aisle start a steady stream procession to this desk to file amendment after amendment, until we had literally 100 amendments filed to the Economic Development Administration bill. You say: Well, maybe this bill needed some work.

The amendments had little or nothing do with the bill.

They are about everything under the Sun--every issue a Senator can dream up or that his or her staff thinks might be interesting. Believe me, 100 is a modest number. We could certainly, our staff people and others, come up with hundreds more. But at the end of the day we still would not pass the Economic Development Revitalization Act. We would not help businesses locate, expand, and create jobs, and we will still continue to languish with millions of Americans unemployed.

I think it is time for us to face reality. The reality we face is that America has two deficits. The one we talk about a lot is the budget deficit, and it is serious. I was on the deficit commission, the Bowles-Simpson Commission. We looked at it long and hard and realized it is unsustainable for America to borrow 40 cents for every dollar it spends in Washington. We can't continue to do this. The debt of our Nation is growing dramatically, and we have to bring it to a stop. That means cutting spending and raising revenue. Those are the only two ways to reduce the deficit, and we have to do both. That is what the Bowles-Simpson Commission said--and I voted for it--a bipartisan vote for the Commission to move forward on the deficit. But they said something else: Don't do this too quickly; don't do it precipitously; be careful that we don't kill off the recovery we are engaged in.

The Bowles-Simpson Commission basically said to wait a year. Make a plan, make a commitment, but say for this year we are going to get America back to work. The Bowles-Simpson Commission knew--and we all know--we can't balance America's budget with 14 million people out of work. These are folks who should be earning a paycheck and paying taxes but instead are home looking for work, searching the Internet, searching the classifieds, and drawing benefits from the government instead of paying taxes. So as long as 14 million Americans are in that position, then, sadly, we are going to have a deficit that is aggravated rather than one that is cured.

So the Bowles-Simpson Commission said don't move too quickly to kill programs that make a difference. They are
right. I happen to think they were right in many other respects.

When we deal with our budget deficit, let's be honest about it. It is going to take sacrifice from everybody. Maybe some of the poorest among us cannot sacrifice any more. I understand that. But for most of us a little change in our lifestyle, a little change in the government benefits we might be receiving or the taxes we might be paying is not too high a price or too much to ask to put this economy on the right track.

I think a lot about sacrifices being made by Americans, and the first people who come to mind are our men and women in uniform who are serving around the world. I think about the sacrifice they have volunteered to make every single day. They are willing to risk and, in many cases, give their lives for this Nation. If they are willing to make that kind of sacrifice, can we honestly say with a straight face we can make no sacrifice to make America stronger? I think we can. I think we should. I think we ought to come together in a bipartisan fashion.

I am frustrated by the fact that for the last 5 months I have been meeting with a bipartisan group of Senators and we have come up with the basic outline of an approach which would dramatically reduce America's deficit in a balanced and fair way. It would put everything on the table. Let me underline the word ``everything.'' Many of my colleagues don't want everything on the table. On this side of the aisle they don't want to talk about our entitlement programs. On the other side of the aisle they don't want to talk about revenue. I understand that, but we both have to give a little for the good of this country. But after 5 months of long, tortured negotiation; after what I consider to be a successful effort--95 percent successful--in producing a plan for deficit reduction, I am sorry to report we are just not ready to let the world in on what we have been doing. I wish we would.

I am prepared, and I hope other colleagues will be too, to come to the floor and to lay this out and say: If this helps--if this helps our country, if this helps Congress, if it helps the President, if it helps those who are working with Vice President Biden--then here is our offering. Here is our best effort. It is not perfect, and it won't be the end product. But for goodness' sakes, the time is over for talking behind closed doors. I appeal to all of my colleagues who believe we should come forward with this Gang of 6--now down to Gang of 5--proposal, to let it be known: Come to the floor, talk to our colleagues, let us break this logjam which has stopped us from bringing these ideas forward.

I want to keep my good faith with those who are engaged in this effort. I am not going to stand here and describe in any detail what we have been doing. I will, however, tell my colleagues I have reached a level of frustration. After all this work and all this time, all this effort and all the political courage I have seen exhibited behind closed doors, we need to step forward and say something publicly. We need to do it in a fashion that gives some guidance to those who are making critical decisions.

Let's not reach the point where we literally test the creditworthiness of the United States of America by refusing to extend the debt ceiling. That is a bill which goes largely unnoticed each year. It is when America renews its mortgage. It comes due August 2 this year. If we don't do it, I can tell my colleagues what is going to happen. My projections are not based on any great expertise I have but on what has been told to me by the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, by the Secretary of the Treasury, by the President.

Here is what will happen: If the United States does not show we are ready to pay our debts in a timely fashion, what is going to happen automatically is that interest rates will rise. The Federal Reserve is supposed to report this week that they are going to keep interest rates low because they want America's economy to recover. We can spoil this party in a hurry if we get engaged in a political cat fight between the House and the Senate and both political parties and do not extend the debt ceiling. Failure to extend the debt ceiling or creating uncertainty about its extension will raise interest rates. Who will pay the price? Americans across the board.

When we want to buy a car, we will pay a higher interest rate. When we want to buy a home, we will pay a higher interest rate. If we want to start a business and expand and hire more people, if we can borrow money, it will be at a higher interest rate. This will slow down our recovery at a time when we need just the opposite.

So let me suggest that those who believe, as I do--and I think I have put up my beliefs for display when it comes to this deficit--that we need a bipartisan approach that is serious, for goodness' sakes, let's not bargain with the debt ceiling. Let's do what is right for America in a bipartisan fashion and then stand up together and accept the responsibility of governing, the responsibility of reaching a decision and moving forward.

When we see a bill such as the Economic Development Administration bill die on the Senate floor, as we did last night, it is a reminder of how partisanship run amok can hurt us when America needs leadership the most. To put 100 amendments on the floor to a bill as simple as this--it used to pass with a voice vote--is an indication there are some in the Senate who want to accomplish absolutely nothing except partisan debate. That is not good for this country. If the best thing we can do at the end of the day, after all 100 Senators come filing through the door, is to pass some resolution extolling the virtue of someone across America--if that is the best we can do--maybe we don't deserve these paychecks we are being sent. Maybe it is time for the American people to demand an accounting of those elected to office.

We have to be ready to not only make the speeches and make the political points, but we have to stand and make a difference. That means standing together. It means taking a risk of putting everything on the table and getting America moving. If we can get this deficit resolved, we can convince people across this country and around the world we are serious about it and we are going to launch an economic recovery that will create jobs and help businesses and make us a stronger nation and give our kids a chance. The alternative is unacceptable.

Today, I hope my colleagues--if they believe we should move forward on a bipartisan basis to deal with this deficit and to put everything on the table now and get down to business--will come to the floor and say as much.

I yield the floor.

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