Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions

Floor Speech

Mr. BROWN of Massachusetts. Mr. President, I rise to speak about legislation that I have introduced today in the Senate. The name of the bill is the Fiscally Responsible Relief for Our States Act of 2010.

As you know, over the past week, the Senate has vigorously debated three different versions of the extenders bill, and we will be debating a version of it again today. Even though it is true each of these packages contained extensions of programs important to all of our constituents, especially in these tough economic times--such as emergency unemployment benefits, which I know we are trying to work on again today; increased FMAP reimbursements; and funding for summer jobs for the youth throughout America--it is also true that each of these packages contained billions of dollars of tax increases for businesses, and each added billions to our record $13 trillion and rising national debt which our kids and grandkids and great-grandchildren will have a difficult time paying back, and they will have the responsibility to pay it back.

A lot of what I am proposing today in this bill, and other bills that we will probably be discussing, is whether we should use our bank account or we should put it on our credit card. That is all we are talking about. We are not talking about the viability of these proposals. Of course we want to help with summer jobs. Of course we want to help people who are hurting with unemployment insurance. Of course we want to provide FMAP and Medicaid reimbursements to help our struggling States. But do we use our checking account or do we use the credit card? I am in favor of using the checking account by using unallocated stimulus dollars, by finding other monies that are in the so-called slush funds that haven't been used in years or are still available or cutting across the board in various entities to come up with the money we need to fund these programs.

As I said, no one is disputing the value of these very important programs, especially in my home State of Massachusetts, but throughout the country as well. Our economy has shown signs of slowly recovering, but people out of work certainly need some help to search for new employment and, as I said, States need help in providing funding for some of the most vulnerable in our population. But we also have to make tough choices, and we have to live within our means.

It is clear the American people want their elected Representatives in Congress to start paying for the initiatives and start exercising the type of fiscal responsibility as each and every citizen in Massachusetts and in America is already doing. They are looking to us for guidance to show a better way. They are challenging us to do it better, to look outside the box and pay for things with the checking account, not the credit card; to not continue to add to the debt, continuously adding to the debt.

As evidenced by what the Banking Committee chairman did--and he is sitting in the Chamber of the Senate--they thought about it a little better. They found a way to pay for the financial reform bill. They did better. They thought outside the box. Why can't we do the same?

Today I introduce the Fiscally Responsible Relief for Our States Act of 2010. It provides for an extension of emergency unemployment benefits through November 30, 2010. It also includes extension of enhanced FMAP reimbursements for States. But also, as has been previously discussed, it includes the gradual drawdown of the enhanced funding because we need to send a clear message to the State governments that they must get their own fiscal houses in order and they cannot always come to the Federal Government with a can saying: Please help us. So we need to ensure that we do the necessary reforms to ensure their future budgetary viability is real and so is that of the Federal Government.

Last, this proposal I am making provides important summer jobs--obviously summer is just starting--for the youth in our cities and towns.

The cost of extending these programs is fully paid for through the rescission of unobligated Federal funds including stimulus funding as well as cuts in other areas. In fact, my legislation reduces the deficit, all of this accomplished without raising taxes on businesses at a time they cannot afford it, or when our economy is just about to recover, putting more and more burdens on businesses and individuals in the middle of a 2-year recession. Some of these pay-fors are even provisions the majority party has supported in previous bills.

My legislation is an attempt to compromise, listening to the concerns of so many Americans who have called for us to extend these programs but also taking into consideration not burdening future generations. Some of them are sitting right here. It will allow us to provide for the needs of our citizens without putting more debt on the credit card. Once again, it is the checking account versus the credit card. Commending Senator Dodd for what they did with the bill we are going to be discussing next week, that is a perfect example of thinking outside the box and finding a way to pay for a lot of these things we are trying to do. If we use these commonsense steps, we can get our fiscal house in order, and we will continue to put our country on the path to recovery.

Madam President, I have great respect for you and everyone in this Chamber. I have been in Washington a little over 5 months now. I have been following you and others--it seems that everybody is following my voting record. It speaks for itself in that I worked to work across party lines to solve problems. But the thing that is a problem is, it needs to be a two-way street. Bipartisanship is not just from the new Senator from Massachusetts. It needs to be with the majority party looking outside the box, as Senator Dodd and his team did, to find a realistic solution to pay for a lot of these things the people are requesting, that they expect. But they also expect us to use fiscal sanity and fiscal responsibility to do our very best, to get the job done. It is not only good for Massachusetts, it is good for this Nation.

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