Senate Proceeding on Sep 26th, 2008 :: 0:22:19 to 0:42:19
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Speech By: Richard Durbin

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Richard Durbin: there's nothing on the tableo help them. and that, to me, is unconscionable and unacceptable. take this economic crisis seriously at the top but don't forget at the bottom of the pyramid are the people of

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Tom Harkin: america who have been sphroeuded by people on -- who have been exploited by people on wall street. the final point, i'm glad john mccain is back on the presidential trail. his visit to washington yesterday

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Speech By: Tom Harkin

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Tom Harkin: didn't help a bit. it hurt. it riled up and roiled up all of the forces, the political forces in this town because he summoned the presidential campaign to capitol hill. that didn't help one bit.

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Tom Harkin: he needs to get back running for president. he needs to show up in mississippi tonight for this critical presidential debate. and we need to roll up our sleeves on a bipartisan basis and find a

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Tom Harkin: good solution to this crisis that we face. mr. president, i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from iowa is recognized. mr. harkin: mr. president, first,

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Tom Harkin: i just want to thank senator durbin for what he just said, because i've come to the floor here to talk about that bottom of the pyramid, to talk about a vote that we're going to be having here, i think

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Tom Harkin: in another hour and a half or something on the stimulus package that goes directly to the kind of people that senator durbin's talking about: the people at the bottom. they're unemployed. they need help.

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Tom Harkin: they need food stamps. they need unemployment benefits extended. they need infrastructure jobs to rebuild our economy. and we're not talking about them. so i want to thank senator durbin. i want

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Tom Harkin: to thank you so much for pointing that out. i want to talk about that for awhile, mr. president. before i do, i want to ask unanimous consent that following my remarks, senator graley be recognized

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Tom Harkin: to speak for up to 30 minutes. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. harkin: mr. president, following on what senator durbin was talking about, you know, we've been -- all the news,

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Tom Harkin: of course, all the time is about this bailout for the financial institutions. actually, they're talking about $700 billion, but it really is about $1 trillion when you take in a.i.g. and you take

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Tom Harkin: in freddie mac and fannie mae, you're into $1 trillion there. and they're all talking about this. well, what about honest, hard-working, play-by-the-rules citizens at the bottom of this pyramid left in

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Tom Harkin: the ruins? left in the ruins after years of mismanagement and outright malpractice by the titans of financial -- financial industry. so i want to talk about the economic recovery package, the reid-byrd

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Tom Harkin: economic recovery package i think that we're going to be voting on here very shortly, otherwise called the stimulus package, that meets the urgent needs of working families all across america. the

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Tom Harkin: special interest is on those that have been hardest hit by the economic tkwurpb. there is no need -- downturn. there is no question that we need this stimulus package. the first stimulus package we had,

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Tom Harkin: that was sort of the white house package. it was to send checks out to everybody. so we sent checks out to everybody. well, i got to admit, i voted for it. i kind of wish now i hadn't. i voted for

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Tom Harkin: it. and a lot of those checks went out. who knows what happened to that money. some of it may have been saved. okay. some of it may have been spent to reduce credit card debts. okay. sof it may

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Tom Harkin: have been used -- some of it phaeufrb used -- may have been used to buy a flat-screen tv made in china. you don't know if it was a stimulus or not. what you need now is a real stimulus, something

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Tom Harkin: that will help the economy that has been proven economically. for every dollar you put in, you're going to get more than a dollar back. the unemployment rate has been rising for eight straight months.

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Tom Harkin: home prices continue to plummet. millions of americans face the prospect of foreclosure, losing their homes. prices are rising sharply for staples like food, gasoline, electricity, home heating oil.

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Tom Harkin: and so now we urgently need this second stimulus measure. winter is coming on, and people are hurting. instead of just sending out checks, this bill targets it to those who have suffered the most.

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Tom Harkin: it injects money into infrastructure projects to create jobs directly and generate new economic activities. the bottom line is we need a package that actually stimulates, provides maximum stimulus for

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Tom Harkin: each dollar spent. we know what works. we have the data. we have history. we get the biggest bang for the buck stimulus-wise, number one, by expanding food stamp benefits. that's the best. the second

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Tom Harkin: best, extending unemployment benefits. third, immediately pumping money into infrastructure projects that will employee people and create jobs. let me just discuss a few of the things that comes

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Tom Harkin: under the jurisdiction of my subcommittee on health and labor and education, human services. the package extends unemployment insurance for seven weeks in all and 13 weeks in high unemployment areas.

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Tom Harkin: it temporarily increases food stamp benefits by 10%, includes an additional $450 million for the women, infants and children's program and goes to the lowest-income people in america to get our kids

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Tom Harkin: started right in life. it provides $60 million for senior meals programs. it also provides $500 million for weatherization programs. now, this is in addition to some of the money that we have in the

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Tom Harkin: continuing resolution for low-income home energy assistance. now, get this. in the continuing resolution we have $5.1 billion -- billion with a "b" -- for low-income home energy assistance program for

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Tom Harkin: low-income and elderly, and $250 million for weatherization. you know, when you get $5.1 biion for low-income and elderly for energy assistance, guess where that money goes? it goes up the chimney.

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Tom Harkin: i'mot saying it's not needed. of course people need it. but we ought to be putting a lot more emphasis on weatherization so they don't have to be spending so much money to heat homes. we know that works

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Tom Harkin: too. it provides jobs. and it will help our seniors and our low-income cut down on their energy bills this winter and next year. so that's why in the shrus, we put in $-- in the stimulus, we put in $500

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Tom Harkin: million for weatherization. for weatherization p programs. for every dollar spent on -- we create $1.73 in new economic activity. that's the most of any of these. so you have to think about this. when

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Tom Harkin: a food stamp recipient spends every penny of benefits that they receive when they do it just on food, they don't have much left for anything else. if you give them more money, they can buy the

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Tom Harkin: food that is pro produced, -- produced and transported here in america and that gets more effect in our own economy. it frees up more money for them to spend on housing, transportation, day care, other things

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Tom Harkin: that stimulate the broad customer. -- economy. that's why food stamps have a great multiflr effect. the second comes fromped extending -- from extending benefits. this is about fairness and compassion.

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Tom Harkin: unemployed individuals need the additional income. but on the second level it has a tremendous multiplier effect. according to moodies, every dollar we spend on increasing unemployment benefits, we add

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Tom Harkin: $1.64 in economic activity. again, talking about the increase in energy prices for low income. energy prices have increased by more than 22% this year. coming on the heels of a 17% increase in 2007.

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Tom Harkin: no question that americans, especially those of modest incomes, low income, elder, need assistance in paying their energy bills. they also need assistance in weatherizing their homes. a lot of

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Tom Harkin: low-income people live in housing that is poorly insulated. and ty need to be weatherized. it will save them money. it will increase the value of their home if they own it. this package -- this stimulus

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Tom Harkin: will provide that assistance. we also create hundreds of thousands of new jobs by investing in infrastructure projects including $10.8 billion for building and repairing highways, bridges, mass transports,

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Tom Harkin: airport, amtrak, schools. it includes $2 billion for school renovation and repairs. $2 billion for school renovation and repairs. $500 million for corps of engineer projects, that is flood control and

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Tom Harkin: environmental restoration. let me tell you about the experience that we had in iowa. in the last 10 years we've been able to get about -- i think about $127 million into iowa for rebuilding, modernizing

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Tom Harkin: our schools in iowa. about $127 million. this has provided jobs. it has provided for new schools. schools that are -- are better equipped for our students. but the figures come back and show us

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Tom Harkin: that $127 million is translated into over $1 billion of construction. what a great multiplier effect that has. and we know that schools need to be renovated all over america. that is in this stimulus

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Tom Harkin: package that we're going to vote on here very shortly. to rebuild and modernize our schools all over this country. and we had $2 billion for that. think about that multiplier effect. if that multiplier

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Tom Harkin: effect is about the same, that $2 billion could translate somewhere close to -- conservatively speaking between $10 billion and $20 billion in construction in this country to rebuild and modernize

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Tom Harkin: our schools. next, the package looks out for rural america, where i happen to live. it includes $792 million for the construction of community facilities, everything from hospitals to city buildings

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Tom Harkin: in small towns of less than 20,000. in small towns with less than 20,000. it will provide $500 million for loans an grants for rural water and wastewater grants and we have a huge backlog of that right

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Tom Harkin: now ready to go. but no money to pay for it. it is critical to the health and well-being of people who live in rural america. this bill also provides up to $3.4 billion in loans and loan guarantees

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Tom Harkin: for single-family homes in rural areas. there's a huge backlog of projects. many of them are already on the books ready to go. now, again, a lot of what i'm talking about will probably be funded and

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Tom Harkin: built sometime in the future. we're not going to continue to let our schools deteriorate into nothing. so why not do it now when unemployment is going up, when people on the bottom are hurting

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Tom Harkin: because of increased energy price, fuel prices, food prices? when a lot of housing values are going down, isn't this the time to do the kind of jobs that need to be done in america? i also might add

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Tom Harkin: one other thing that's in this bill. and that goes to the safety and security of americans. this stimulus also provides $490 million for the burn justice assistance grants to make up for the devastating

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Tom Harkin: cuts that were made last year as a result of president bush's vetoes and veto threats. i've been leading the effort to restore this funding. it's absolutely critical for law enforcement and especially for

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Tom Harkin: iowa law enforcement. in 2007 in iowa alone, the burn support task force seized illegal drugs valued at more than $31 million and netted more than 2,000 criminal convictions. that is in iowa they have

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Tom Harkin: 85% of iowa's drug cases originate from the task forces. also it is not just on the enforcement side. it is on the rehabilitation side that we use burn justice grants. over 2,065 drug addicted use

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Tom Harkin: this grant in iowa to get them started on the right pathogen. again our iowa law enforcement agencies are struggling to maintain crucial law programs in the wake of last year's cuts. this funding in the

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Tom Harkin: stimulus would allow them to pick up and redouble their efforts against crime and drugs. the two last things, mr. president, i wanted to mention, and that is the area of biomedical research, public

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health, and job training. in the stimulus package funding for the national institutes of health is included. $1.2 billion. why did we put that in there? because the funding for the national institutes

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of health have declined in real terms by over 10% in the last five years. so what's happened is we're losing cutting-edge biomedical research. we're losing a generation of talented scientists who can

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Tom Harkin: pursue treatments an cures. this $1.2 billion in the stimulus for n.i.h. will be sufficient to fund approximately 3,300 new research grants in the areas like cancer and tiebts and alzheimer's -- diabetes,

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Tom Harkin: an -- and alzheimer's and heart disease. senator specter and i worked very hard, along with others here, to double the funding of n.i.h. between 1998 and 2003. we did it. we gt it up. and we -- got it

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Tom Harkin: up. and we got it up to the level where it was years ago. we have fallen down 10% in real terms. shameful. fameful what we're doing to the national institutes of health. this package provides $509

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Tom Harkin: million for public health to enhance the nation's preparedness against bioterrorism and prepare in the event of an influenza pandemic. it will help more than 79,000 people receive services including

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Tom Harkin: job search, career counseling and training. think about tt. this is, as senator durbin said, these are people on the bottom of the pyramid, folks. you can give all that men you want to wall street.

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Tom Harkin: it isn't going to help these people. what help these people are job search, career counseling, job retraining to give them the skills they need to work. the bill includes $300 million for youth employment

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Tom Harkin: an training programs. -- and training programs. right now the jobless rate for teenagers has reached historic lows this year. historic, the jobless rate. it is now considered the worst employment environment

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Tom Harkin: for teenagers since world war ii. the worst employment environment for teenagers since world war ii. more than 80,000 teenagers would receive services under the stimulus package. so, mr. president,

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Tom Harkin: we've all been readi about how the economy is at a dangerous inflection point. the financial and credit prices, falling house prices, rising unemployment, rising prices for food and energy, all of these things

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Tom Harkin: kind of hitting at the same time threatening to plunge our economy into a recession -- deep recession. well, certainly we do have to shore -- to -- we have to shore up our financial system. but we

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Tom Harkin: have to do some other things in the broader economy. we need to extend a helping hand to those americans hardest hit by this broken economy, a generous helping hand. are we going to extend a generous

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Tom Harkin: helping hand to wall street? pr everything that i'm read -- from everything that i'm reading it looks like the congress is about to do that. but the purpose of the reid-byrd economic recovery

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Tom Harkin: package is to also extend a helping hand to those at the bottom. it addresses the urgent needs of working americans it is well crafted to deliver maximum stimulus. we're going to vote on this and i guess

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Tom Harkin: by an agreement it takes 60 votes. 60 votes. we'll probably get over 50 votes. but i'm told because of the opposition to the republican side, we won't get 60 votes. we won't get 60 votes. what a shame.

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Tom Harkin: well, i hope i'm wrong. i hope what i've heard and i've read, i hope, is wrong. i hope when we have this vote on the stimulus package that senators will come here and say, if we're going to be called

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Tom Harkin: upon to bail out wall street and the financial services and we're not even going to put a limit on how much income they can make, we can't help these peoe that are at the bottom of that pyramid?

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Tom Harkin: well, if that happens, i mean, if it happens that we do bail out wall street and the financial services industry, and we don't take care of people at the bottom, the gap between the rich and the poor

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Tom Harkin: will get wider and wider in our country. the cynicism of people toward their government will grow. and it will be well-founded cynicism. that somehow we're here only to help those at the top. that only

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Tom Harkin: if we just put more into the top, it will trickle down. the same old trickle-down economics i have been fighting against all of my public life. that same theory that you just give it at the top and

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Tom Harkin: it trickles down. now, later on we're going to be discussing more about the bailout. but i couldn't help but read the paper this morning about this so-called bailout and i thought this was interesting.

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Tom Harkin: it said the critics of this so-called bailout package can be roughly divided into two camps much one group thinks that money should go directly infused into banks which should then allow it to trickle

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Tom Harkin: down to borrowers. a second group thinks that the government should buy individual mortgages, help americans more directly and let the benefits trickle up to the bankers. count me in the second group.

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Tom Harkin: count me in the second group. we have -- we know from past experience going clear back to the new deal that when you put money in at the bottom, you get the biggest bang for the buck. and it does trickle

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Tom Harkin: up. it helps our whole economy. that's why food stamps has the biggest multiplier effect. because you're getting the people really at the bottom. but you put things up at the top and it trickles down. by

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Tom Harkin: the time that everybody takes their cut, it neverrites get down to help -- it never quites get down to help people at the bottom. -- quote -- "the plan is a strikele-down approach from banks to

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Tom Harkin: main street." said allen s. blinder a professor at princeton university. -- quote -- "but if you reduce the flood of foreclosures an defaults -- and defaults, which he would have the government do by buying

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Tom Harkin: loans directly and redirecting the terms, it would make mortgage-backed securities worth more." now they say, well, it might help ordinary americans, but it would be difficult to administer. difficult to

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Tom Harkin: administer. i don't think so. i don't think so. it might be a little bit more difficult than just giving a bushel basket of money to wall street. yeah, that's easy. but if something is a little more

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Tom Harkin: difficult, should that be an argument why we shouldn't do it in? -- do it? quote there is a kind of suggestion in the -- -- quote -- "there is a kind of suggestion in the pulse an proposal that

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Tom Harkin: if only we provided enough money to financial markets, this problem will disappear." said joseph stiglas. -- quote -- "that does nothing to address the fundamental problems of the bleeding foreclosures

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Tom Harkin: and the holes in the balance sheets of banks." now, again, everything is being rushed here. everything is being rushed on this bailout. we have to do it now, now, now. we have to do it yesterday. 10 days

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Tom Harkin: ago this wasn't a big problem. quite frankly, it wasn't a problem until mr. paulson, with mr. bernanke, but mr. paulson said the sky's falling. and thus, putting out there a self-fulfilling prophecy,

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Tom Harkin: you know? in fact, i would go so far as to say, mr. president, that the credit crunch that we see happening in america today, the drying up of credit is not happening -- that's now happening is because

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Tom Harkin: of mr. paulson's statements scaring everybody that the sky is falling. and yet, it was mr. paulson who has been there for two years and three months and has been saying that things are fine. as late as

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Tom Harkin: may of this year, secretary paulson said -- i don't have the exact quote in front of me, but basically the credit crunch -- the worst is behind us. i have to ask was he wrong for two years and right

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Tom Harkin: nowr was he right for two years and wrong now? but nonetheless, his posture of last week of raising the stakes, of scaring everyone has put everybody in kind of a panic mode. as i said, ten days ago,