proposing and did propose in the budget. unfortunately, under the compromise package, certain of our colleagues on the other side insisted that the exemption level be raised to $5 million for individuals or individuals n for couples with a rate of 35%. this will reduce the number estates subject to the estate tax to .7%. it adds about $20 billion to the cost of the package over two years and will do absolutely nothing to generate economic growth and create jobs according to the economic analysis made available to us. if made permanent, this provision would add $100 billion in lost revenue to the treasury over the next ten years -- $100 billion more than the package that i proposed. i don't think that's fiscally

responsible. i don't think it's wise. and i don't think it should be approved. while we need to pass the overall package to give a near-term boost to the economy, we must also now pivot to deal with the nation's growing debt. gross federal debt is already expected to reach 100% of the gross domestic product of this country in 2011, well above the 90% threshold that many economists see as the danger zone p. one of our nation's leading economists, dr. carmen reinhardt, came before the president's fiscal commission. she had recently coauthored a study of the impact of debt on more than 20 countries over the last 200 years. she concluded that when government debt as a share of the economy exceeds 90%, economic growth tends to be about one point lower than if debt levels were not so high.

but don't be misled by one point lower. that sounds like nothing. if the economy is growing typically at 3.5%, one point less would be about one-third less economic growth. so we need to understand the consequences of debt are lower economic growth for the future. mr. president, our long-term debt outlook is even more serious. according to the congressional budget office, federal debt could rise on the current trend to almost 400% of g.d.p. by 2054. that is a completely unsustainable course. i personally believe the deficit and debt reduction plan assembled by the president's fiscal commission on which i serve could prove a way forward. even though the plan did not receive the necessary 14 of the

18 votes on the commission to guarantee a vote in congress, it did receive the support of 11 of the 18 commission members, which is more than 60% of the panel. 60% here, we can pass anything. but on our commission, we required 14 of 18 of the commissioners to agree to assure a vote in congress this year. and, by the way, the 11 who supported the plan was completely bipartisan, five democrats, five republicans, and one independent. that outcome proved that democrats and republicans can come together to solve this challenge. here's a quick overview of the fiscal commission plan. it provides nearly $4 trillion in deficit reduction over the next ten years. it lowers the deficit from 8% of g.d.p. in 2011 to 2.3% in 2015 and 1.2% in 2020.

it stablizes the debt by 2014 and then lowers it to 60% of g.d.p. by 2023 and 40% of g.d.p. by 20356789 it reforms social security to ensure its solvency for at least 75 years and puts the program on a more success sphainable path beyond -- sustainable path beyond the next 75 years. a understand it includes fundamental -- and it includes fundamental tax reform make the tax code simpler and more efficient while also raising more revenue for deficit reduction. so now we have a responsible and realistic bipartisan plan on the table and national attention is focused on the issue. it's up to congress and the president to finish the job. mr. president, tax reform may be the most important component of the fiscal commission plan. here are the key elements included in the fiscal commission plan: one, it eliminates or scales

back tax expenditures that are currently runnin running $1.1 tn a year. and lowers tax rates. that will promote economic growth and dramatically improve america's global competitiveness. and it makes the tax code more progressive. the commission's illustrative tax reform plan demonstrates how eliminating or scaling back tax expenditures can lower rates. mr. president, this plan is a beginning, it's got to become law in order to have its full effect. mr. president, i hope very much our colleagues will consider supporting this plan, the tax plan before us and the deficit-reduction plan that needs to be an integral component of a long-terms as pol

do the same. with that, mr. president, i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from georgia. mr. chambliss: mr. president, i rise today to talk on a matter with my colleague, senator warner. i understood that senator warner and i had the sometime from 4:15 from senator sanders. unfortunately senator harkin used some of senator sanders time. i know senator kirk is coming down to give his maiden speech at 5:00. we have a number of folks that are going to speak quickly today on an issue of major importance to america. our fiscal house is in disarray. our budget process is broken and future generations will end up paying the price if we continue to ignore the difficult decisions required to fix things that this grave threat to this country's fiscal stability. recently the national commission

on fiscal responsibility and reform has worked in a bipartisan manner to produce recommendations on how to best address our current levels of debt. while these recommendations may not reflect the beliefs of all members of this body, i commend the commission's members for having the courage and the open minds to tackle the problems. at the very least their recommendations can serve as a starting point for serious debate on how we can ensure a better life for our children and our grandchildren. today spending has reached almost 24% of america's gross domestic product while our revenues were at their lowest levels last year in 60 years. not too long ago the debt ceiling was increased by the largest amount in history: $1.9 trillion. nearly twice as large as the previous record of $984 billion. our current statutory limit on the public debt is now set at

$14.24 trillion and is expected to require an increase again sometime this spring. now, mr. president, with that backdrop, senator warner and i began talking this summer about this grave issue that's facing america and about the fact that if 2003 don't address it now then it's going to be too late and it was incumbent upon us to try to educate ourselves as well as educate other members of this body about the seriousness of this issue and what is the way forward. so we began talking among ourselves. we expanded our group, expanded and expanded and we now have a significant number of senators who are prepared to come forth and say we've got to address this and we've got to address it next year. some of the members of that group are going to be here today to give their thoughts on it. we're going to be joined by several republicans and democrats to pledge our commitment to addressing this issue and addressing it in the right way. i want to thank my friend,

senator warner, for his leadership, for his commitment to do this. it's been a pleasure to work with him. as we move forward next year, this group is going to provide the momentum to carry the ball to make sure that we address the issue of reductions in spending as well as major tax reform to get the fiscal house of the united states back in order. with that, mr. president, i would yield to senator warner. the presiding officer: the senator from virginia. mr. warner: mr. president, let me echo my comments of my good friend, the senator from georgia, senator chambliss. it is time for us in this senate -- and excuse the language -- to put up or shut up. a lot of folks talk about deficit reduction in both parties time and again. but over the next year there is a growing group of us, and i think folks will see this group in the next 45 minutes hopefulfully briefly, each one of us, start to raise the issue

that next year peeve to take on deficit reduction -- we have to take on deficit reduction and tax reform. the country is approaching $14 trillion in national debt. it's been estimated that every day that we delay we add close to $5 billion to that national debt. so whether your issue is the solvency of social security, whether your issue is tax rates, whether your issue is making sure that we pass on a balance sheet to our kids and our grandkids that allow america to continue to be the economic superpower that it has been, unless we take on this issue, we won't be able to accomplish those goals. and while i believe as imperfect as this compromise between the president and others in terms of short-term stimulus, that we will vote on later tonight, we also have to demonstrate that this body can actually walk and chew gum. we can do short-term stimulus

now but next year engage in meaningful tax reform and deficit reduction. if we act tonight we will be adding $900 billion over the next two years to our national deficit. today you're going to hear very briefly from a number of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle. i think in a new respectful way -- we may not agree on the ultimate solutions, but we are going to agree to listen to each other respectfully and recognize at the end of the day meaningful tax reform and the need for deficit reduction has to be a goal of this senate, of this congress in the next year. i yield the floor to my good friend, the senator from mississippi. mr. wicker: mr. president? i'm glad to join this bipartisan group. i see ten of us on the floor at this time. we have agreed to speak briefly about this because we want to make the case that over the next several months we mean business, and we intoned do what we can to actually make some tough choices. i join my colleague from georgia

in commending the membership of the national committee on fiscal responsibility and reform and particularly the leaders of this group:er kin bowls and -- erskine bowles and alan simpson, great patriots. they've come forward with some recommendations. in their preamble they make it clear none of us likes every element of the plan, but they put forward a plan that i think is a starting point for us. and we intend to use these next few months, frankly, we intend to use the run-up to the vote we will have to take on the debt ceiling around april of 2011 to make real progress. let me subscribe to several of the statements made in the preamble. they say we cannot play games or put off hard choices any longer. i think the american people know that, and they expect leadership from their elected

representatives in the house and senate in that regard. the report in the preamble goes on to say the american people are counting on us to put politics aside. that's what we're trying to do on the floor today with a bipartisan representation. pull together and not pull apart and agree on a plan to live within our means and to make america strong for the long haul. it's been pointed out that admiral mike mullen, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, said the most significant threat to national security today is our national debt. i agree with admiral mullen on that and i think americans agree also. picking the -- kick the can down the road is not going to suffice any longer, to quote our colleague from oklahoma, snow showe--senator tom coburn. the preamble goes on to say, the contagion of debt that began in greece and continues to sweep

through europe shows us clearly that no economy will be immune. no economy, not even the united states's economy. if the u.s. does not put its house in order, the reckoning will be sure and the devastation severe. the title of the report of the commission, mr. president, is "the moment of truth." and i think we're here on the floor of the senate today on the 14-g9s of december, 2010, to say that there is a bipartisan working group that believes we have arrived at a pivotal moment of truth, and we intend to get down to the business of rectifying the problem of national spending and our national debt. and i yield to my friend from montana. a senator: snrp. the presiding officer: the senator from montana. mr. tester: i would like to thank senator wick for his remarks. i tries share a few words about the debt and about the bipartisan tax cut compromise that we will vote on this evening. before i get into these remarks,

i want to thank senator warner and senator chambliss for their good work in putting together a group of senators to help address there issue -- this issue in a bipartisan way. aas far as the compromise tonight, i look forward to voting for this compromise. it is a matter of rebuildin cre. it is a plan that i would have written? no. but it does cut taxes for the folks in a need it the most. they are the real job creators in this country and aiming tax relief at them required compromise and working together and it happened and it is a victory for all montanans. it is a victory for all americans. mr. president, i want to point out another example of working together. over the past few days, a number of my colleagues, democrats and republicans, independents -- teamed up to put forward a resolution that we hope will be part of a package that we will

vote on tonight. this resolution puts all of us on record expressing our deep concerns about the unsustainable path of this country's debt. ensuring our commitment to working together to pull ourselves together and dig ourselves out of the ditch that we're in and to $that any plan will have to have tax reform, spending cuts, and deficit reduction. it's not going to be an easy process. in order have a a serious debate about cutting our debt, we're going to need to make some tough decisions, not just play it lip service or play political gaisms just like the report on fiscal responsibility, there are a lot of things that members of this group and of this body are not going to like in any potential plan. but what's important here is that all of these members are serious bh putting this -- about putting this country on a sustainable path and are committed to voting on a plan to do that within the next 12 months. it's that important of an issue. this is hands down the most important issue that this senate will deal with over the next few

years. putting our nation's economy on a sustainable path, to control this country's debt, and to offer opportunity for the future. mr. president, i look forward to working with my colleagues on this issue because i know they share my same commitment to getting something done. the truth is, we're not going to be able to get anywhere unless we trust one another. this process isn't going to be pleasant for anyone but we can be successful if we have a bipartisan effort. mr. president, this bipartisan resolution is more than just lip service. it is a plan to move forward together. and i yield the floor to my friend from nebraska, senator johanns. mr. johanns: i thank senator tester. the presiding officer: the senator from nebraska. mr. johanns: this is a rather remarkable moment. on each side, republicans and democrats are standing to describe a problem that literally jeopardizes not just the future of our children, our grandchildren, but it

jeopardizes our security, and that is our runaway spending and our deficit. let me, if i might, put this in perspective, mr. president. as a former governor of nebraska, i used to tell my cabinet when we were struggling through budget issues, this is not magic. it is math. and that's the reality of what we're dealing with here. we simply have a problem that is so gigantic, it can only be solved in a bipartisan way. let me offer a couple of statistics to back that statement up. if you look at the entire federal budget, mr. president, this is what you see: if you add medicaid, medicare, social security, and the interest we pay on our debt, that is 64 cents of every dollar we spend annually. let me repeat those programs:

medicaid, medicare, social security, and the interest we pay on our debt. everybody will acknowledge the importance of those programs. let's compare that to the revenues that are coming in this year. the revenues coming in don't even cover the full cost of those programs. so if anyone is out there suggesting that a little nip and a little tuck and a tweak here and a tweak there is going to solve this problem, it just fundamentally won't. you literally have a situation where if you just shut down the entire federal government -- national defense, every single program out there except the ones i mentioned -- you would still come up a bit short. we need to fundamentally change how we are operating this government because, quite

honestly, to date we all recognize -- democrats and republicans -- that we have been operating this government on the credit card of our children and our grandchildren, and it can't work. it just simply can't work any longer. so i conclude my comments today by saying, i appreciate the opportunity to work with my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, to work with my colleagues on this side of the aisle to try to solve what i consider the most pressing, most urgent need our nation faces today. mr. president, i yield the floor to senator wyden. mr. wyden: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from or our -- from oregon. mr. wyden: thank you, mr. president. i want to thank senator chambliss for his important work. tomorrow it will be even more important give than this agreement will pass tonight. mr. president, there is always another election around the corner, a big array of special

interest groups that need to be satisfied, and a constant stream of public opinion polling that politicians live and die for. why take action that could offend a group today if you can put it off for a while? the agreement that will pass tonight, in my view, is a victory for the politics of procrastination. at a time when americans are swimming in debt, more water will be put into the pool. instead of taking steps to fix the market distorting, job-killing tax code, last overhauled a quarter century of ago when china and india were blimps in the global economy, this tonight will prop up our broken tax code. millions of americans are out of work, small businesses are closing their door, and instead

of finding permanent solutions to the problem, the agreement is smiling like scarlet o'hara saying, "fiddle de-de. i'll think about it tomorrow." mr. president, it did not have to be this way. as senator warner and colleagues have mention the, there was a blueprint provided by the deficit commission. i don't happen to agree with everything, but clearly it was a very important blueprint. in the 1980's -- and i see senator alexander clearly remembers those days -- president reagan and democrats worked for bipartisan tax reform to clean out the loopholes, hold down the rates and keep progressivity. in the two years, colleagues, after democrats and ronald reagan worked together, our economy grew by 6.3 million jobs, twice -- twice the number that were created between 2001 and 2008 when tax policy was

purely partisan. i don't think if had to be this way -- i don't think it had to be this way. senator warner and senator chambliss tried very hard to add a provision that might at some point insert consequences for inaction. colleagues -- and i'll close with this -- nothing will happen in this town, where there is this culture of process crassty nation, unless there aren't some consequences for inaction. there are provisions in this measure tonight that i support very strongly: unemployment insurance, help for the middle class, a small business. i was willing to extend the whole bush-era program for a year in order to force action. but that's not going to be done. tonight i intend to vote "no." tomorrow i will be back with senator warner and senator chambliss to build on the good work of the deficit commission, billetebuild on the good work tt

democrats and ronald reagan did in the 1980's to give us a model so that finally in this country we tackle the major problems: debt reduction and fixing the job-killing tax code to bring back the middle class to the prosperity they deserve. mr. president, i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the snoer from idaho. mr. risch: mr. president, i also -- mr. crapo: mr. president, i also have honored to join this bipartisan group who is speaking to the nation tonight about the fact that we cannot any longer delay dealing with the most significant problem our nation faces -- our debt and our fiscal difficulties. i was one of the members of our president's commission on fiscal responsibility and reform and had the opportunity over the past year to work on a bipartisan basis with people on that commission who took testimony from experts, evaluated the issues, studied the economies of the world, studied the details of what was happening in the american

economy and came forward with a plan. this plan got 11 of the 18 votes on that commission. it was required by the president's order to get 14 of the 18 votes in order to force that plan to congress for a vote. and i was disappointed that that didn't happen, but let me make a couple of points of clarification. 11 of the 18 votes represents over 60% of the votes of the commissioners on that commission. that's enough votes to pass any bill in this senate. it's enough votes to pass any bill in the house of representatives. and to get that bill to the desk of the president. 14 of 18 would have been over 77% of the votes, a margin that has rarely been met in this congress. my point in making this clarification is to say that on a bipartisan basis, we were able to come up with a supermajority of support on the commission for a plan. now, did that plan contain contain everything that i wanted and leave everything out that i didn't like?

no. tbhaw plan did put america own a path toward a balanced budget. it stopped the erosion. in fact, it stopped the explosion of our debt across this country. and it did so in a way that focused on the right elements. what were those? spending and tax reform. many of us were worried at the outset that the commission would focus on just trying to solve the problem with more tax increases. until the american people -- and tell the american people that our spending habits here in congress were too important to be dealt with and we simply have to increase your taxes in order to keep congress spending at its breakneck rate. the commission denied that. the problem in congress is they spend too much and it puts spending caps on discretionary spending and started at least -- not as much as i thought it should do, but at least started the debate about how to deal with our entitlements. and one very important addition: it proposed a major reform of our tax code, probably the most sweeping tax reform that i've

seen in my lifetime. if you were to try to come up with a tax code that was more unfair, more complex, more costly to comply with and more anticompetitive to americans seeking to do business in the world, you probably couldn't do much worse than we've done with our tax code. and one of the most important parts of dealing with our fiscal policy is to reform that tax code. so that's another reason i'm so glad to see that we have bipartisan support for that kind of reform. i would simply say, as i close, that i am heartened by the fact that we see republicans and democrats alike saying the time for further inaction is gone. the time for gridlock is gone. we do not have time to continue the kind of gridlock debate that we've seen over the years here in congress, as we deal with this issue. and it's my hope that in the near future we will force process reforms on this congress that will put votes on the difficult issues that we must

face as americans before us. and with that, mr. president, i yield my time -- or, i yield my time and yield the floor to the senator from north carolina. mrs. hagan: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from north carolina. mrs. hagan: thank you. when the fiscal commission released itsz report on december 1, it started with a guiding principle that all americans can agree on: we have a duty to make america better off tomorrow than it is today. but the picture is pretty bleak right now. let me give you a few examples. in 1982 our deficit had never exceeded $100 billion. by march of 2004, 22 years later, the debt was $3.7 trillion. and today, six years passed, the debt held by the public has ballooned to $8.7 trillion. the federal debt was 33% of g.d.p. in 2001. it's now 62% and on a trajectory to reach 90% of g.d.p. by 2020.

interest on our national debt could rise to nearly $1 trillion annually by 2020. mr. president, that is the entire amount of individual income taxes we are collecting this year. it's impossible to look at these numbers and believe that this trajectory will result in an america that's better for our children than it is for us. we can't continue to just grow the debt and run huge deficits each year with the expectation that our children will pay the bill. this trend of borrowing will eventually have to come to an end one way or another. the only question is how. are we going to reduce or deficit responsibly, in a bipartisan fashion and in a way that encourages investment and economic growth? or are we going to cruise blissfully along until some external crisis forces us to make these adjustments in the most sudden and painful way possible?

the time for congress to act is now. there's a mounting chorus growing from all sides that recognizes our current path is unsustainable. 11 members of the fiscal commission voted for the bipartisan deficit reduction report, including my friends, the senators from illinois, north dakota, oklahoma, idaho, and new hampshire. just today, monday's announcement -- moody's announcement that it could move a step closer to cutting the a.a.a. rating on our u.s. debt. that's why i am here today joining with my colleagues in vigorous support of concerted bipartisan action on the deficit in 2011 and the resolution increased by my colleague, senator chambliss, and senator warner. mr. president, it is past time to get to work. we need to think seriously about reforming the tax code and tackling the deficits and the debt in a civil and bipartisan

manner and we need to do it now. mr. president, i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from idaho. a senator: mr. president, fellow senators, i rise today to speak very briefly about this issue. mr. risch: this easily could be "the" most serious issue that we deal with in recent years and in future years. we have an enemy today that is at the door. this is an enemy that is out there somewhere and you can talk about philosophically. it's an enemy that is at the door. last year, the federal government spent around $3.8 trillion. that really doesn't mean anything to me or probably much to anybody because nobody knows what $3.8 trillion is. if you say it's a little over $7 million a minute, it starts to sound a little bit more like you could understand it. but none of that is important. it's how much do you have. and the federal government was short 41% of that money.

41 cent out of every dollar -- 41 cents out of every dollar that the united states government spent it borrowed. i hope everyone listened closely to the senator from nebraska when he said that if we funded only social security, medicare, medicaid, and the interest on the national debt, we would be short of the money coming in to pay for that. if you shut down all other aspects of the federal government, you still couldn't put it in the black if you paid for just those. this -- this moment in history is an absolutely critical moment for the american people. we've gotten jaded because all of our lives we've heard about the national debt annual deficid we get jaded about it. but these numbers today are re real, they are serious, and they could bring down this government, there is absolutely no question about that. this congress has to do something about that and it's

not going to be done by republicans, it's not going to be done by democrats, it is going to take i'm here today to support that. i want to yield the floor to my good friend, senator udall from colorado. mr. udall: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from colorado. mr. udall: madam president, i'm pleased and proud to follow my colleague from idaho, and what we're hearing about here is that of all the challenges that face our nation -- and there are many of them right now -- that this massive set of annual budget deficits and the overall debt that we face, it's a crippling debt, probably are the most serious and difficult efforts that we have to -- we're facing right now as a people. a strong country -- i heard senator wyden say this, in affect -- is an insolvent insolt country. and conversely, a broke country is a weak country. i heard erskine bowles, cochairman of the commission that we're talking about today, he was asked why are our interest rates low and why are our bonds still desirable.

and he said, let's not fool ourselves, and senator chambliss would appreciate this because he used a southern turn of frayed. he said, look, we're still the best-looking horse in the glue factory, that's the only way our interest rates and our bonds are still strong. so what do we do about that? well, there's a way forward. the bipartisan commission has put in front of us a plan that we don't -- none of us agree with every single item but it's a way forward. and it's important to also note that of the 11 votes, five of those votes i believe were senators from our body. five of our six senators who represented us on that commission voted to move forward. so that's the way forward, is for us to join together, democrats and republicans alike. and despite our differences of opinion on many other issues, we can agree i think on one thing and that's to developing fundamental tax reform and addressing in the process our long-term debt problems. now, like senator wyden, i'm going to vote "no" tonight. i think this is a misguided effort and we will add $900 billion to our debt load. but i respect my colleagues who

see it otherwise. but i'm going to vote "no." i'm going to come right back here to work tomorrow, with all of us here in this chamber, we're going to meet this challenge head-o. the stakes are too high if i don't. madam president, i yield the floor to the senator from tennessee, senator alexander mr. alexander: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from tennessee. mr. alexander: i'm here tonight in the spirit of my late friend, the author of roots "roots," alex haley, who lived and died by these words, "find the good and praise it." i'm here to commend senator warner, senator chambliss, and the bipartisan group of senators who have focused their attention on this urgent crisis that our country faces, the national debt. this is the way our nation is supposed to work, to see an urgent need, to develop a bipartisan consensus to go to work on it, come up with a strategy to deal with it and get a result. not just make speeches but get a

result. we've heard the evidence. we've had the good examples set by five members of our body, two democrats, three republicans, who took a courageous step in their action o on the fiscal commission the other day. we should follow that example. but i'm so encouraged by what i hear. this is the way the senate is supposed to work. let me conclude with just one example from history. i was -- picked up a book the other night called "the british overseas." it's a british historian's view of the american revolution. you can imagine what some of the comments might be, written several years. but it pointed this out, that at the time of the american revolution, the interest on the national debt of the british empire amounted to one-half of the national revenue of the british empire. in other words, at the time we won our independence, great britain had an unconscionable debt and it forced them into

some imprudent decisions. one was the stamp act and one was the little tax on tea, which occurred at about that time. so big debts force big countries into bad decisions. the leadership that we've seen across the aisle is a good start toward a serious effort toward dealing with our debt crisis. i'm here today to commend those senators, both democrats and republicans, who are part of it. i yield the floor to the distinguished senator from colorado. mr. bennet: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from colorado. mr. bennet: madam president, i'm so pleased to be here in this room with democrats and republicans talking constructively with each other about something that's been a long time -- about something. it's been a long time since we've seen that. and it's one of the things that i heard day after day after day over the last 33 months as i had town hall meetings across the state of colorado. i, too, wanted to read something from the words of the deficit and debt commission because i

think it's important for people to understand, people that are watching this at home and people working in washington, that this is not optional. they write, "large debt will put america at risk by exposing it to foreign creditors. they currently own more than half of our public debt and the interest we pay them reduces our own standard of living. the single largest foreign holder of our debt is china, a nation," they write, "that may not share our country's aspirations and strategic interests. in a worst-case scenario, investors would lose confidence that our nation is able or willing to repay its loans, possibly triggering a debt crisis that would force the government to implement the most stringent of o osterity measure" as the president knows, i had never run for office before this election. i spent half my life in the private sector and half working in things like the dem republic

schools, our former secretary of education is here today. nothing else in the world runs like this. nowhere else would we say to ourselves that our theory is that we're going to look the other way, borrow the money from the chinese, one of our greatest competitors, and stick our kids with the bills. and the reason this has become so important now is because the size and the scale of this debt puts us in the position where one day -- and i'll close with this, madam president -- where one day somebody may say, i'm not going to buy your debt at that price. and the day that happens, our interest rates are going to spike and this recession is going to look like nothing compared to what we're going to face. we owe it to our kids and our grandkids to make sure that we're paying our way, and i'm so pleased that we're here today in a bipartisan way to talk about this. a senator: madam president? mr. warner: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from virginia. mr. warner: i know that the senator from illinois is going to be doing his maiden speech in a couple of moments. i would ask his forbearance for an extra four or five minutes if our colleagues all could be brief. we've been a little bit

oversubscribed, which i think is an indication of 9 enormous interest in this issue and i know senator shaheen, senator corker, senator klobuchar, senator nelson wanted to speak briefly on this issue. and if the senator from illinois would grant us those couple of minutes, we would all be very grateful because i know he will be, once he makes his maiden speech, part of this -- part of this effort as well. so with that, to senator corker. mr. corker: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from tennessee. mr. corker: thank you, very much. i rise to speak on the topic that's been discussed here over the last hour and i want to thank my colleagues for focusing on this issue. i want to say that yesterday's vote and tonight's vote are tough votes for me and i think they're tough votes for each of us. we've got a bipartisan compromise that's come forth. there are things in this bill that trouble each of us for different reasons. but i think all of us understand that -- that our deficit issue is the biggest threat to our

country's economic security, in many ways to our sovereignty. over this summer, i had 46 deficit presentations around the state of tennessee, and i think the thing that people walked away from those meetings -- these were large meetings -- was the severity of the issue. and i'm not sure that most americans had really focused on the severity of our debt issue. i think most americans think that this is going to affect their neighbor, that it might affect another generation. i think a lot of americans think that if we would do away with things like earmarks -- and i don't earmark -- that we would solve our problem. that's the thing that i hope to accomplish this summer in tennessee, was to make people away of how big this issue is and that the steps we're going to have to take are draconian. i applaud those that have been involved in the process that has just taken place, the deficit reduction commission, and i'm hopeful that sometime very soon,

in the next few months, we'll either have the opportunity vote on something similar in nature that deals with real spending constraints. i think all of us know that spending as a percentage of g.d.p. is at all-time news modern history, and i think we know that spending has to come under control. at the same time, we understand that in our tax code, we give away each year $1.2 trillion. i think that shocks people. and if we were to eliminate those -- and i know senator wyden and others have worked on these kind of things -- if we would eliminate those, everybody's taxes could be less. we could lower individual rates, we could lower corporate rates, we could have our -- help our economy be spurred on. so, madam president, i know that it's irresponsible when a debt ceiling comes before us to not vote for a debt ceiling in that it's like running up a credit card tab and not agreeing to pay

the bill. but i've heard a great senator -- he's getting ready to retire and i won't say what his name is -- say that it's also irresponsible to not be responsible prior to voting on a debt ceiling increase. so it's my hope that sometime between now and april or may or early june, whenever this vote has to take place, then instead of us just talking about this today -- and i applaud all those who are; i thank you for that -- but that we actually vote on something of substance that deals with this issue in a real way and does not kick the can down the road. this is the issue that could create the greatest crisis in our country. something, by the way, is totally in our control. many of the problems that we face as a country we can't deal with solely ourselves. it involves lots of other people. this is one much those issues

that we have totally in our control. and all it takes is the courage to deal with this issue. and the -- the reasoning that we're not going to get everything exactly the way we want it, but as a group we're going to have the courage to actually deal with it. so i hope we move more than just to a construct, but just to -- to a real vote. i have a bill on the floor. and i'm thankful that claire mccaskill has agreed to cosponsor an amendment to actually this tax bill that i know is probably not going to pass. probably not even going to have a vote. but toward building a momentum to have a construct in place that sequesters spending to drive us from where we are today to a more responsible place, a place where we've been over the past 40 years. madam president, i thank you for the time. the senator from illinois, who i respect, thank you for your forbearance. with that, i yield the floor. a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from new hampshire. mrs. shaheen: i'm pleased to be here on the floor to join my

colleagues on both sides of the aisle to talk about the need for us to deal with our deficits and our debt in this country. i made the decision to vote for the tax cut package that we're going to be voting on this evening. i did that with some -- some sense of ambiguity because it doesn't adequately put in place a plan to address our debt in this country. and all the economists, however, that i've spoken to have indicated that this is important for us as we're looking at continuing to stimulate our economy and provide the relief that middle-class families and small businesses need. so despite the fact that there are things in it that i don't like, i'm going to support it. but i would feel a lot better about it if it contained

language that all of us have talked about that says as part of doing this, once we get this economy moving again, we've also got to address the long-term debt that we face in this country. and make no mistake about it, we've got to do that both by addressing spending and by addressing tax reform. i was at a small business in salem, new hampshire, yesterday, a company called m.s.i. they did hvac systems, a small business, they have about 25 employees. and i asked them what they were looking for from us in washington, and they said a fair, simple tax code. so we've got to get serious about this problem. all we've got to do is to look at what's happening in europe to know that we are headed that way if we gon don't get this debt ur control and we've got to make

some tough decisions that include both tax reform and fiscal restraint. and i would feel better if this language were in the legislation that we're going to be voting on, but i think it's clear that it's a sense of senate i think that if we can get this resolution done, it will be important to send that message to nrve the country about what -- to everybody in the country about what we need to do. i yield the floor. a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from florida. mr. nelson: madam president, i want to say to the new senator from illinois, thank you for your forbearance. 10 years ago this senator made his maiden speech on the floor and it was about this very same issue because then, a decade ago, we had the privilege of having surpluses and my maiden speech was about exactly if we didn't watch out, what was going to happen was those surpluses were going to go into deficits,

and if we had been good stewards of our condition, we could have paid off the national debt over the course of 12 years. but we took a different direction. i am to be followed by the senator from minnesota, the senator from california, and i think what we're hearing here in a bipartisan way, after we are swallowing a bitter pill of what we're going to vote on tonight that is going to increase the debt $900 million, because it is the right thing to do to jump-start the economy. i think what we're hearing now is a confluence of events that is going to bring us starkly face-to-face that we're going to have to reduce the debt and we're going to have to do tax reform. and because the conditions are so raw now, it is our responsibility to explain what

we see as the economic circumstances of the country, explain it to the american people and then act on it. and when emergency conditions arise, there is opportunity and that is the opportunity to make change for the good. madam president, i yield the floor. a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from minnesota. ms. klobuchar: madam president, i also want to acknowledge the new senator from illinois and thank him for the time. but i also wanted to acknowledge the senior senator from illinois who's here who just spent the last few months serving honorably on the debt commission on the national commission on fiscal responsibility. they came out with some recommendations. and a number of us in this chamber, while we may not support everyone and disagree with some of them, think that that is something that we must pursue. as they wrote in their report

every modest sacrifice that we refuse to make today only forces far greater sacrifices of hope and opportunity upon the next generation. and they're right. the longer we wait, the more wrenching the choices become. and guess who's going to have to make those painful choices, it's our children and our children's children. but you know what else, madam president, it's ourselves. as the senator from california pointed out about an hour ago, 6% -- 6% of our spending is just interest on that debt. so there are some commonsense suggestions that are in that report. that's what we have to do next year. when you look at this idea, people making over $250,000, the fact that just going back to the clinton levels -- the clinton tax levels when our country was incredibly prosperous that that would bring in $700 billion to bring down the debt, that's why the majority of the people in this country -- the vast majority of the people in this country want to see that as one of the options for the long

term. for the short term right now we know that our country is still in a fragile state. we know that we can't sock the middle class with a $3,000 tax increase, we know that we have people unemployed through no fault of their own that are still unemployed. that's why we're passing this bill tonight. beyond, that as we go to the next year, we must work together as you see what's going on in a bipartisan way to put a plan in place. because the market will respond to that. it will be good to our economy. we will show we mean business. and we won't turn into one of those countries overseas that is experiencing what they're experiencing now because they didn't make that long-term commitment. thank you, madam president. i yield the floor. a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from california. mrs. feinstein: madam president, i also am one of those who worried over this vote that we cast yesterday over the weekend. i spoke on this very floor about the fact i didn't like the estate tax. i didn't think wealthy americans

needed a sustained tax cut. and then i began to make some calls to economists. and what i found is the kind of -- is a kind of double-edged sword. one, they did believe that the package had a stimulative nature of anywhere between .6% and 1.1%. .6% is about 600,000 jobs. so 600,000 to 1.2 million jobs. the payroll tax cut was stimulative, et cetera. and that we needed to do this. but then the flip side. and the flip side was, we are now reaching 63% of g.d.p. in debt. and what will happen is one day, if this continues, we will just go off a cliff economically. now, some time ago during the end of the bush administration many of us were on a phone call

and we heard secretary paulson and federal reserve bernanke say that we are on the brink of a major collapse of this economy. everything could go down. banks, credit institutions, et cetera. i never thought this could ever happen in america. i now know that the unprecedented can affect happen in america. and that when we vote for a package that puts almos almost $1 trillion additional on debt and deficit, that we had better have a way to make a pivot, as some people have called it, and really do these things that can curb expenditures. we are fortunate. this national commission on fiscal responsibility outlines a course -- not everything do i agree with, just like the tax bill -- but nonetheless it's a course of action which can bring down this debt and bring down

this deficit. i'm very proud of those members who voted to sustain this report. even with 11 members, i think it gives the kind of substantial ability to this report to bring it before this body. and i would hope that before we have to raise the debt ceiling, that we would have before us a package that we would set limits on spending, that we would freeze pay across the board, that we would make substantial across the board cuts in travel, in printing, in those things not because it's a big item, because it's an item that wakes people up. i found that on a city level. it exists on a state level. and it exists on a federal level. there is much that we can do. and i think at 63% of g.d.p., this debt and deficit says to america, america, be concerned.

america and american business, come home. build your plants here. help us rebuild this great country. help us build the industries of the future, but at the same time, right now, we've got to make very -- i think very deep cuts across the board. thank you, and i yield the floor. a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from alaska. mr. begich: thank you, madam president. thank you to the senator from illinois for giving us a little time before you have your maiden speech. appreciate that. thank you very much. let me echo and associate my comments with all the problemses that have spoken previously and thank senator warner and senator chambliss for bringing a truly bipartisan approach to starting

the tax reform which is critical for this country. you heard all the statistics all the numbers, all the reasons why we should do it. pretty simple, if there is one issue in my 2008 campaign that i talked about in the beginning of my campaign was about the deficit and what was happening, how much of your tax dollar was going toward paying the debt. paying the interest, madam president, you smoke about it, that is absorbing the budget. and a crash occurred at the end of 2008. and everyone wanted to talk about it. where we are today is an important point. tonight we'll have a vote on a tax package that will be temporary, a two-year fix to a much more complicated problem. when i came to the body here, i sat down with a couple of senators both on the republican side and democratic side, talked about reform and recognized that we're going to change the way

our tax code works. we cannot do these bits an piece, it has to be true reform. as we move into the next year, 2011, not only do we have to take the tough decisions regarding the deficit we have to be tough about tax reform if you want to create certainty to our business an economy. a two-year fix does not do that. there have been many that has spoken before me on the data points, but purely, simply put if we do not deal with this now and now is in the next few months, we will hit that crashing wall, we will hit it hard and we will not have choices because we have nod mate a -- not made a plan regarding the deficit and tax reform. i thank the people who put this together, senator warner, senator chambliss, and thank the members, two dozen republicans and democrats talking about the need and the serious situation we are facing regarding the deficit and tax reform. deficit and tax reform.

>> each week the house of commons is in session we err prime minister david cameron taking questions from members of the house of commons life wednesday mornings here on c-span2. this is expected to be the final prime minister's question time before the house of commons takes their holiday break. and now, prime minister's question time. >> this week we will be sending a paper to the executive board discussion looking at ways to turn it into an enterprise zone. >> question for the prime minister. heidi alexander. >> number one, mr. speaker. >> thank you, mr. speaker. this point i had meetings and in addition to my duties in this house i shall have further such meetings later today. >> heidi alexander. >> thank you, mr. speaker. time and time again the prime minister has said he wants to