Stimulus Package

Floor Speech

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I have a brief opening statement, and then I will be happy to confer with the majority leader after that, if he is available.

From the very first moment of this debate, there has been strong bipartisan agreement on one thing: the original version of this bill was too big and too unfocused to work. The President, Senate Democrats, and just about every single Senate Republican agreed this bill needed a massive overhaul.

One Democratic Senator said he was very committed to making sure we get it scrubbed clean of many of these programs. Another Democrat said: It needs some work; it needs some surgery. Virtually everyone agreed this bill lacked focus, didn't create enough jobs, had too much permanent Government expansion, and was just way too expensive with the national debt already reaching frightening new dimensions.

The morning papers suggest that, in the Senate, these bipartisan concerns persist, and so do the concerns of most Americans. The more the American people learn about the bill, the less they like it. Americans realize a bill which was meant to be timely, targeted, and temporary has instead become a Trojan horse for pet projects and expanded Government.

We have a $1 trillion deficit. Our national debt exceeds $10 trillion. Soon we will vote on an Omnibus appropriations bill that will cost another $400 billion, bringing the total to $1 trillion for appropriations this year alone--a new record. The President is talking about another round of bank bailouts that could cost as much as $4 trillion. When you include interest, the bill before us will cost nearly $1.3 trillion.

At some point, the taxpayers will have to pay all of this back, and they are worried. Americans can't afford a trillion-dollar mistake, however well meaning the intent. At this point, that is what many of us think this bill would be.

Republicans are ready to support a stimulus bill. That really hasn't been in question. But we will not support an aimless spending spree that masquerades as a stimulus. The economy is in terrible shape. Millions are out of work. This morning's unemployment numbers are a further sign of the severity of the crisis. But putting another $1 trillion on the Nation's credit card isn't something we should do lightly. We need to get a stimulus but, more importantly, we need to get it right.

I yield the floor.

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