with incomes above $200,000 in 2007 which is the last year of these figures. gains and dividends taxes. raising capital gains and dividends tax would greatly discourage the investment our economy so urgently needs. indeed capital taxes are among the most distorted and least efficient taxes the government collects. in my view, any comprehensive tax reform should include significant reductions in capital taxation. but for now i'm glad that members of both parties have decided to at least block a capital gains tax increase which would have a severe impact on job-creating investment. death tax reform is another measure in this bill that will provide certainty to job provide certainty to job i want to thank senator lincolns for her i leadership on thisov issue. few we have spent a lot of time isse together over the past few yeart working on the issue, and she deserves much credit for her expertise and devotion to crafting this plan, which will l provide relief to job creatings. small businesses. the result is a true compromise.

from this year's zero percent estate tax rate, which is one that i favor, to a 35% rate. but that's much less than the 55% rate that will be in place on january 1. and the exemption is $5 million, which is much preferable to the $1 million exemption after january 1. should death tax reform not occur and the rate rise to 55%, small businesses could be forced to reduce their payrolls by more than 500,000 workers over the next ten years according to former c.b.o. director douglas holtz-eakin. that is a half a million people whose jobs could be threatened. the effect of the compromise would be to eliminate the death tax liability for about 90% of estates that would otherwise owe exorbitant sums. according to the institute for research and economics, the proposal would add more than $200 billion in annual economic growth relative to current law.

so this is not about giveaways to the healthy as some have asserted. to the wealthy, as some have asserted. madam president, a final word about the deficit. it's true that will extending unemployment compensation without cutting other government spending will add to the deficit, and there are some tax incentives in the bill that should be offset with spending cuts. it is important to note we should not raise taxes to provide the revenue. that would just grow the size of the federal government. and democrats are unwilling to find spending cuts. so we are left accumulating more debt instead. the political reality is that the unemployment benefits would certainly pass both chambers and there are not and will not be the votes in the senate to cut spending to offset the costs either this year or next. i admit that i'm surprised to hear some conservative commentators lump the extension of current tax rates and death

tax reform into the same argument about the deficit. congress has never offset theoretical revenue laws from the annual a.m.t. relief, for example, because we know there was never ann tent to collect it. -- any intent to collect it. the republicans view the tax ags extending new law. the left delight in misrepresenting as providing tax cuts for the rich but these are not tax cuts, only extensions of decade-old existing tax rates for everyone. the only new tax cuts are the expensing for businesses sought by the president with which republicans generally agree and the payroll tax holiday. the actual revenue loss, therefore, is about $237 billion, not the $900 billion some assert. while any increase in the deficit is unwelcome, the

overall merits of this bill, including preventing a massive tax increase on every taxpayer outweigh that deficit increase in my opinion. in conclusion, americans are looking for economic growth in solutions to unemployment. keeping tax rates where they are and providing some certainty is a good place to start. i urge my colleagues to support the bill and see to it that job-killing rates are not imposed on anyone. mrs. boxer: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from california. mrs. boxer: thank you so much, madam president. i just had a number of issues i wanted to bring up today for the record to explain a lot of the things that we're faced with here as we wind down before christmas eve maybe. the first thing i'm going to ask

you to do is to place into the record the california-connected service members who have died in afghanistan and iraq. i put their names in the record continually, and sometimes i have time i read them. i want to say this: since august 5, 52 more california-connected service members have died in afghanistan and two more have died in iraq. and i would ask unanimous consent to place their names in the record. thank you. these heroes, these americans who have sacrificed and given it all for this nation, i am humbled by their service. i'm humbled by the service of their families, because this is a family commitment. i'm so proud for senator byrd to

be the cochair of the military families caucus and i will continue to do whatever i can do to make sure our commitment to our military families is constant and that we're fulfilling our role to make sure that they get treated with honor and respect and that we lessen their hardships. we cannot take away the pain of their loss. i also want to say that i'm working in every way i can to end this war in afghanistan. i support beginning to bring the troops home in 2011. there's some talk that it might be extended to another year. i don't support that. as someone who voted to go after osama bin laden and the taliban and go into afghanistan, we lost a lot of years because the

president george w. bush turned and focused his attention in iraq, a war i did not support, didn't think it was based on truth. it turned out it wasn't. and history will speak to that. but, we've been in afghanistan a long time, and they're going to have to stand up and defend their own country, as all nations have to do, defend themselves. we've given so much, and today 52 more california-connected service members since august 5. it's an ongoing sacrifice. we just heard yesterday about a tragic explosion against nato forces there on a headquarters in southern afghanistan where we lost six. so, i support that withdrawal

and doing it in a way that makes sense. we're not going to do it in one day or six months, but we should start it. connected to that, the second issue i wanted to bring up is the passing of ambassador richard holbrooke, someone i consider to be a friend, an advisor, a brilliant mind, a warm personality, a man who lived for his work and his family. it's so ironic in a sense, i saw him twice last week because he and his wife had gone to the kennedy center awards, and he seemed so fine and so engaged and so well. and it was a shock to read about what happened. i just send my love to his family, his wife and his

children, and he will be missed so much because he had a very unique approach to diplomacy. it was a love of what he did, that you can't create. and when you talk to him, he engaged you because of his deep commitment and his love of his work and his understanding that diplomacy is really the answer, and not war. and that you had to be tough. and as he pointed out, meet with people that you wouldn't want to be in a room with, as he had to do when he negotiated the end of the war in bosnia. but i will miss him both personally and certainly as a member of the foreign relations committee with you, madam president. i wanted to talk about a couple of other issues, just express my

disappointment that because of an artificial line laid down in the sand by our colleagues on the other side that they wouldn't vote on a civil rights matter to end don't ask, don't tell, which is a policy that makes our nation weaker, not stronger. it's a policy that brings pain to so many of our fellow americans, where they have to keep a secret as to who they are and how they live their life, and it's -- it runs counter to this country, because the thing is when you're in the military and you are side by side and you're in trouble, whether you're gay or straight has nothing to do with the mission you're facing.

it's a very strict code of conduct in the military that says whoever you are, you cannot abuse your rights and privileges, whether it's about sexual harassment or anything else, that's very clear. so we already have a code of conduct that could apply to everyone, and i was proud that in the survey that was taken, our military said they -- they didn't think it would harm us in terms of our ability to have a strong defense. good for them. i read into the record a number of cases of heroes who have been run out of the military because of their sexual orientation, heroes. a couple of them have been reinstated. the courts are going to do away with don't ask, don't tell, so i would rhetorically ask my colleagues why on earth would we

leave this to the courts when we could have the pride in standing up for civil rights? it's -- it's just unfortunate. and some on the other side have flip-flopped on this issue, said oh, well, when the military leaders say it's okay, i'll be there, and now they're not. they set the bar every day a different height. it's wrong. we should get it done. now there was an excuse, let's do the tax cut first. okay, we did the tax cut. so i'm hoping they will let us go to this and vote on this, and we could be proud as americans here across party lines that we put aside partisan differences when it comes to civil rights. i just was watching a tv special on civil rights law that passed in 1964, and the beautiful part of it was the coming together of the parties at the end of the

day on an issue that was so right for this country. i hope we can do this again, i just hope we can do this again. and if not, i say to the courts do the right thing. you're doing it, but keep it up because we are not any stronger as a nation. we are weaker when incredibly talented, dedicated, patriotic americans are turned away for absolutely no reason. and so i want to talk about that as well as the "dream" act, another area where this country is made stronger. when we look at a child that may have been brought here by their parents, their parents broke the law, brought a child here, say 3 months or 4 months. the child doesn't even know they don't have their papers until they get to be 18 years old. this is their country. they love their country. a lot of them are president of

the student body. since when do we win the crimes of the parents on a child? we don't do that here. and again, what are we gaining? we are losing. so the "dream" act, which started off with huge bipartisan support, suddenly has gotten into the place where don't ask, don't tell has gotten us, where we're moving away from justice. and everybody has got their reasons. oh, it can't be part of the military bill, and then if it's part of the military -- if it's not part of the military bill, they say why isn't it prt of the military bill? it just seems to be a moving bar. and i -- you know, as -- there was a big meeting, i read about it, called no labels where people got together and said we're tired of the two parties not working together.

and it was sort of interesting because it was on the day when the two parties did work together, and we got over 80 votes for our tax bill, but be that as it may, we'll set that aside. here are two issues that have nothing to do with partisan politics because they're good for the country to help our young people and to make sure that people can serve in the military if they're qualified and their sexual orientation essentially has nothing to do with it. we have a chance to come together for the good of the country on these. 57bd i still hold out hope that we can do it and we can also take care of those heroes, talk about heroes of 9/11 who went to that toxic pile in new york and looked for the survivors and then looked for the remains and breathed in that toxic air, which those years the e.p.a. said was safe wasn't safe, and they're sick. and we can't seem to get the votes to help them.

but i don't give up. i think, you know, we can do this, so let's work together on those things. now, another area where we have been able to work together in the past, where i hope we will continue to work together, is the transportation bill. we usually enact our highway trust fund programs for about four, five or six years at a time. last time we extended it for a year, and now the extension is ending, and we need to extend again the existing transportation authorization. i'm optimistic on this one because in the house, it didn't seem controversial, they added it to the continuing resolution, extended it to the end of the fiscal year 2011. september 30 is the date. it's important to note that

900,000 jobs nationwide depend on this highway trust fund and the re-authorization of it and all of those programs. 85,000 jobs in my home state of california. and it's -- it's very important that we do this work, whether it's through an omnibus budget or through the continuing resolution, however it ends up. this is an area again where the political parties have come together. my ranking member, jim inhofe, and i have been very -- working very closely on this, and we support this extension. it has the support of the members of the americans for transportation mobility coalition. i'll name some of them. the american public transportation association, the american road and transportation builders, the associated equipment distributors, the associated general contractors, the society of civil engineers, the international union of

operating engineers and laborers international, the national asphalt paving association, national stone, sand and tbraf he will, united brotherhood of carpenters and joiners and the u.s. chamber of commerce. now, listen, that's quite a group. when you have got unions and you have got the employers and you have got the u.s. chamber of officers, which is negative on so many things, unfortunately, positive on this, that's a good matchup. so i ask unanimous consent that the letter from the americans for transportation mobility be placed in the record. so this extension will save jobs not only in the short term, but it gives -- really gives certainty to our states, madam president. we know our nation's highways, bridges and transit systems need to be in good repair. i can say this. with the construction industry still in a downturn, it's tough for them because of the housing

crisis. construction work is few and foor between and we have a very high unemployment rate in the construction industry. this extension is important. it gives the certainty. it will save hundreds of thousands of jobs. it will improve our infrastructure and provide that foundation that we need for a solid recovery. and so i look forward to taking that up. and, madam president, the last topic i wanted to talk about -- and i ask how much time remains in my 25 minutes? the presiding officer: the senator has used 15 minutes. mrs. boxer: thank you. the last topic i wanted to talk about was my vote yesterday to move forward on the tax bill that was the -- the framework of which was sent to us by president obama, and there were negotiations with our republican colleagues, and then a couple of -- one very important

addition was made to the bill because many of us here in the senate wanted that, and i'm grateful for that addition, and it was the 1603 program, which is critical to our clean energy businesses and will result in tens of thousands of jobs, because it allows companies that are moving forward with solar, wind, geothermal projects, clean energy projects to essentially get a tax credit up front. and it's essential because there is a lot of plans on the drawing boards, and if this hadn't been renewed, we would have lost those plans, we would have lost those jobs. so i'm very pleased about that. madam president, so much has been said about this tax bill. i don't know that i'm going to say anything that's going to add to the debate, but i wanted to just lay out some of what compelled me to vote yes to move

that bill forward. it's really kind of summed up in the "san jose mercury news" editorial where they say more than three quarters of the spending will go to middle and lower income families through tax cuts, tax credits for working families and unemployment insurance. that's the "san jose mercury news." now, one could quibble maybe it's 50 -- more than 50% or maybe it's 60%, but the fact is this bill will be a help to the middle class. you know, when you look at how bills become laws -- you know, when i was a kid in school, we had a big lecture on how a bill becomes a law, and it sounds so easy. you start in the subcommittee, in one house or the other. the subcommittee marks up the bill, the full committee marks up the bill. then it goes to the other house, they do it. if there are differences, they all meet happily in a conference

and chat a little bit and then they find the differences and resolve them, the bill goes to the white house. the the president either signs the bill and everybody celebrates, or he vetoes it and you have got to get three quarters of the chambers to override. it doesn't exactly work that way in real life. in real life, what you can't really explain in a textbook, is that different parties bring different passions to the table, and those passions are held deeply. and if i could tell you where i see the passion coming from on either side, my view -- there is no science on this, it's just my view. i think the passion that the democrats brought to the table was that we needed to make sure, first and foremost, that the people who have been desperately hurt by this slow economic recovery aren't left in the lurch for the next year, because

even though technically the recession has ended in terms of the g.d.p. growth, the fact is there is a very painful, agonizing recovery going on. yes, jobs are being created. up to now about 900,000 since january, but it's not enough to make up for the millions of jobs that were lost in the recession, so it's painfully slow. and we're worried about -- we brought that passion that we had to make sure that middle-class families who lost their jobs don't lose everything else, don't lose their home, don't lose the ability to send their kids to school, that they have this bridge of unemployment insurance. which, by the way, they pay for. they have to be actively looking for work in order to get it. that passion we brought to the table. the other passion was to make sure that the middle class

didn't get a tax increase. we were passionate on the point, and we wanted tax credits for business that resulted in jobs. those were the passions we brought to the table. i think it's fair to say the passions the republicans brought to the table were to help make sure that the very wealthiest got taken care of in any deal. why do i say that? it's a fact in evidence. their nonnegotiable terms included extension of the tax cuts to billionaires, millionaires. that was it, passionate, passionate. just as we were passionate about helping the middle class, they were passionate on this point. and they were passionate and they have been about the largest estates in america. they feel that -- a lot of them don't even think estates ought to be in any way taxed.

now, in america, for many years, we have -- we have had a -- i would call it an ethic, that this american dream is crucial. we want everyone to have it. we're proud when people get to be multimillionaires and billionaires, but we have a defense department to run, we have an education system to help, we've got roads to be built. our national security costs money. our domestic security costs money. social security has to be taken care of, people pay into the system. health care. and, therefore, we believe for years -- and it was bipartisan -- that the wealthiest estates that have an estate tax was something that worked. because, frankly, somebody who inherits, let's say, a $7 million estate from their parents, they're going to be

okay. by the way, that's a very small percentage. democrats feel 99% of estates wouldn't have any tax under our plan. but the republicans were passionate about this. they wanted a $10 million estate and they wanted a lower tax rate. so when i write the book "how a bill becomes a law," i would have a different way of writing it. i would say, yeah, technically this is what happens, to get it to the president, get the bill -- but what you need to know is what the passions are. and i think at the end of the day both sides could come away with this saying what we felt fashionate about in this bill was -- passionate about in this bill was good. the one thing that wasn't addressed is the deficit, and a lot of us on both sides feel passionate about that. but i think at the end of the day there was a decision, perhaps not voiced but certainly

understood, that this is a stimulus bill and we're going to have to do serious deficit reduction. and anyone who thinks you won't have to pay the piper for these tax cuts is living in another world. of course we are. and the question is: do we do it now or do we do it when this economy truly turns around? and then there will be another passionate debate, passionate debate about who's going to help solve the deficit. i have a feeling you're going to see the same thing, and the democrats are going to say the middle class aren't responsible for this. let's look to the upper income. and our republican friends are going to say it's class warfare. don't look to the wealthy. so we're going to have this battle again. but i voted for this bill because i think our economy continues to be in a fragile state when it comes to job growth. and i think we had to move

forward on this. and i'm glad that we did because this has been the worst recession since the great depression. i hate to remind people of what it was like, but when george bush was president and he came to us with hank paulson, then-secretary of the treasury, and ben bernanke, and they said to us this economy is going to collapse. nobody's lending. capital is frozen. we're in desperate shape. i have to tell you when the stock market went down, at one point it was as low as 50% down, those were tough, tough times. and we took many steps to get this economy back on track. and i have to say things have stabilized. since january 10, we have added

937,000 jobs to this economy. but because 8 million jobs were lost in this recession, in this great recession, that's just not enough. and the president knows this, and that's why he knew he needed to come to us with a framework that basically said we're not that basically said we're not class. today senators will be taking up the same issues, tax cuts and and deployment benefits. they are about to gavel and. more debate planned on the proposed tax in unemployment deal. that will start around 11 this point after an extended period of general speeches. an hour later there are four vote scheduled. the first three on consideration of amendments. if they fail the senate will take a final vote on the tax cuts and unemployment benefits deal. now live to the senate floor here on c-span2.

you heal the broken hearted and bring comfort to those who are bruised. you decide the number of stars, calling each one by name. you raise the humble, spread clouds over the sky, spread clouds over the sky, great and marvelous are your works; just and true are your ways. today, bless our senators as they seek to do your will. give them strength and encouragement by infusing them with your peace that surpasses all understanding.

we pray in your holy name. amen. the presiding officer: please join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance to the flag. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the presiding officer: the clerk will read a communication to the senate. the clerk: washington, d.c., december 15, 2010. to the senate: under the provisions of rule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing rules of the senate, i hereby appoint the honorable tom udall, a senator from the state of new mexico, to perform the duties of the chair. signed: daniel k. inouye, president pro tempore. mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader is recognized.

mr. reid: following the remarks of senator mcconnell and myself, we'll be in a period of morning business until 11:00 a.m., with senators permitted to speak for up to ten minutes each. at 10:00 this morning, senator bayh will deliver his farewell remarks to the senate. at 10:30 a.m., senator voinovich will deliver his. mr. president, i spoke yesterday about senator bayh, what an outstanding person he is and how much we'll miss him. i will have something to say in a few minutes about senator voinovich. at 11:00 a.m. today, the senate will resume consideration of the house message with respect to h.r. 4853, the vehicle for the tax compromise. there will be one hour for debate prior to a series of up to four roll call votes. there will be votes on three motion toss suspend the rule 22, and the last vote will be on a motion to concur with the reed-mcconnell amendment. following a series of votes, the senate will resume morning business until 2:15. at that time, i intend to move to executive session for the purpose of considering the start

treaty. senators should expect a roll call vote to proceed to executive session. and for the information of all senators, that's simply a majority vote. following the vote to proceed to executive session, senator lincoln will be recognized to deliver her farewell speech to the senate. upon conclusion of that, mr. president, the senate will resume executive session. mr. president, we have christmas which is a week from saturday. we have a lot of things to do. i've talked about that before. but let me just briefly say again what we have to do. we're going to finish this tax bill within the next couple of hours. a tremendous accomplishment. whether you agree with all the contents of the bill or not, everyone should understand this is one of the major accomplishments of any congress where two parties ideologically divided have agreed on a major issue for the american people.

it will go directly to the house of representatives, they will take it up quickly. we are going to move to the start treaty. mr. president, i hope that we can have a good, fair debate. no one needs to be jammed on that. there is lots of time for people to do what needs to be done. if people want to offer amendments, they can do that. but i would hope -- this treaty has been around since april or may. even a slow reader could finish reading every word of that many, many different times. i would hope that no one will require us to read the treaty. what a colossal waste of time. so i hope that's not going to be necessary. we then are going to move to the spending bill, which is so important to get done for our country. we will move to that as quickly as i can. we'll see how things go with this treaty, but it's clear, i have spoken on many occasions with the republican leader, we're going to be in session

this sunday. there is work to do. we hope that we can complete what we have to do here a day or two after saturday. we have -- when we complete the things that i have just mentioned, we're going to have to have a vote on the "dream" act. we have the 9/11 issue. we have -- we're working on nominations to complete the work that we need to do in this congress on that. and unless the senate -- i mean unless the house sends us something that we -- unless they send us something that i'm not aware of at this stage, i think i have pretty well lined out what we need to do. on nominations, the republican leader knows the president is very, very concerned about having somebody at the attorney general's office. we need somebody to be second in command, the deputy there, mr. mr. kohl, has been there a long time. there is one senator holding

that up. we hope that can be resolved. there is a lands bill we're trying to work out. that's a bipartisan bill. that's certainly possible. so we have a lot to do, and we need everyone's cooperation to get it done so we can get out of here as quickly as we can. mr. president, i just want to say a brief word about george voinovich. i've watched him for many, many years. he has a -- really an outstanding record, one of the most -- a senator now from the state of ohio who came to washington with as many credentials as anyone could have, a member of the state legislature, lieutenant governor of the state of ohio, mayor of the city of cleveland, now united states senator. he has a wonderful family. the thing that george voinovich brought to washington that a lot of people have recognized

because he is quite a quiet man is his work ethic. he gets up very early every morning and works on what is necessary here in the senate. he studies the bills. he really is aware of the issues that are before the senate on any given occasion. nothing gets past him. he always is up to date on everything we're doing here. i haven't agreed with senator voinovich on lots of different issues, but he has a quality that we all need to have. we never have to guess where he stands on an issue. he will always tell you how he feels. that has been a tremendous help to me. there have been occasions when his vote has been so very, very important for, i believe, the senate, the state of ohio and certainly the country, and he always tells you how he feels and what he's going to do, and once he makes up his mind, that's what he is going to do. i admire him very, very much. i have had such good feelings

about people coming from ohio. i had the good fortune to serve here, mr. president, with john glenn, a man who we all know about him, one of america's all-time great leaders. ohio produces very, very good people, at least from my experience here in the senate. senator metzenbaum, sherrod brown. i'm not going to run through the list of everyone, but i want the record to reflect prior to senator voinovich's final speech here today how much i respect him as a legislator, as a person, and i appreciate his friendship and hope in the years to come we can still work together on issues for the country.

mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the republican leader is recognized. mr. mcconnell: yesterday, democratic leaders unveiled an omnibus spending bill that some have described as one of the last spending binges for congress that will be long remembered for doing just that. the senate should reject it. it appeared to some of us that we were making good progress on the economy when lawmakers in both parties agreed monday to let taxpayers keep more of their own money, but yesterday, democrats unveiled a 2,000-page spending bill that repeats all the mistakes voters demanded that we put an end to on election day. americans told democrats last month to stop what they have been doing -- bigger government, 2,000-page bills jammed through on christmas eve, wasteful spending. this bill is a monument to all three. it includes more than a billion dollars to fund the democratic health care bill. for those of us who have vowed to repeal it, this alone is

reason to oppose the omnibus. it's being dropped on us with just a few days to go before the christmas break, ensuring that no one in congress has a chance to examine it thoroughly before the vote, and ensuring that americans don't have a chance to see what's in it either. this, too, is reason enough to oppose it. for two years, republicans have railed against the democrats for rushing legislation through congress, but this is, without a doubt, one of the worst abuses of the process yet. the voters made an unambiguous statement last month: they don't like the wasteful spending, they don't want the democratic health care bill, and they don't want lawmakers rushing staggeringly complex, staggeringly expensive bills through congress without any time for people to study what's buried in the details. this bill is a legislative slap in the face to all the voters

who rejected these things. for the first time in the modern era, for the first time in the modern era, mr. president, congress hasn't passed a single appropriation bill, not one. not one single appropriation bill. democrats have been too focused on their own left-wing wish list to take care of the very basic work of government, and now at the end of the session, they want to roll all these bills together, along with anything else they haven't gotten over the past two years, and rush it past the american people just the way they jammed the health care bill through christmas -- through -- just to -- excuse me, mr. president -- just the way they rushed the health care bill through congress last christmas. we all remember being here every single day throughout the month of december last year for the 2,700-page health care bill passed on christmas eve. this is early reminiscent of the experience last december, and i

predict the american people will have the same reaction to this bill they did to the health care bill a year ago. a more appropriate approach is available to us. we could pass a sensible short-term continuing resolution that gets us into next year when the new congress will have the opportunity to make a determination on how best to spend the taxpayers' money. the government runs out of money, by the way, this saturday. congress should pass a short-term c.r. immediately. we need to pass this tax legislation we voted on earlier this week, and we should accomplish the most basic function of government. we can at least votes to keep the lights on around here. i mean, the deadline for funding the basics of government was last october, and here we are on december 15 proposing treaties, treaties. we ought to pass the tax

legislation and keep the lights on. everything else, mr. president, can wait. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. under the previous order, there will be a period of morning business until 11:00 a.m. with senators permitted to speak for up to ten minutes each. the senator from florida is recognized. mr. nelson: thank you, mr. president. we are soon going to vote on the bipartisan compromise on extending the expiring tax cuts and unemployment benefits, and although, as i described it yesterday, a bitter pill to swallow because of the extended funding that will cause the deficit to rise, i doubt that

there is anybody in this chamber that wants the alternative, and that is that inaction or political stalemate certainly is not an option. job growth remains anemic for many of our constituents that are struggling to make ends meet in the midst of this jobless economic recovery, unemployment benefits have already expired, and so without action on january january 1, those fortunate enough to have a job would see a significant drop in their paycheck as the middle-class tax cuts enacted ten years ago also expire. with the effect that the taxes would be going up all across the income spectrum.

and so out of this stark reality facing us on january 1, this is when people of goodwill have come together, people of goodwill who have different opinions and who, as i said, have to swallow hard on some of the parts of this package. and it is my intention that as we vote in just a few hours that i am going to vote for this package. now, it does provide relief that is critical for middle-class families. for example, for a family making $63,000 a year, that means if we didn't pass this bill and the tax, existing tax law expired,

then that income level of family earning $63,000, their taxes would go up by $2,000. what this bill does is prevents that. these middle-class tax cuts are extended in this legislation for a period of two years, and that includes the 10% income tax bracket, the $1,000 child tax credit, an increase in the standard deduction for married couples, an expansion of the 50% tax bracket for married couples. the bill rewards work with by continuing provisions in the 2009 recovery act that expanded the earned-income tax credit and

the refundable tax credit. and the bill also continues the tax credit which allows taxpayers to claim a $2,500 tax credit for all four years of their higher education. and in my state of florida, 600,000 florida taxpayers benefited from that tax credit. it also has significant consequences for everybody across the board. for example, without an extension of the unemployment benefits through this coming year, 7 million unemployed workers would lose one of the last lifelines available to them. this bill is going to breathe life into the private sector through a payroll tax reduction

of 2% for one year. and what that does is put more money in people's pockets that then they will go out and they will spend. that spending will turn over in the economy, and that will produce jobs. the bill includes provisions of particular importance to my state. our state is one of six that does not have an income tax. as you know, when you calculate your federal income tax, you can deduct your state income tax. for those six states, we finally got a provision in six years ago whereas we don't have an income tax in florida. we have a state sales tax. we put that in. that is a deductible item comparable to other states that have an income tax, to deduct that in the calculation of the

federal income tax. i'm pleased that this agreement extends that deduction. and it also has an extension of section 1603, which is the treasury grant program for renewable energy projects to convert tax credits for the production of renewable electricity into an up-front tax credit and to receive a grant in lieu of the investment tax credit. it's certainly, as we're trying to move to renewable energy, that keeps that alive. and so, mr. president, it's badly needed, but what it illustrates is that there were some 20 to 25 senators out here on the floor yesterday that were talking about our commitment to

roll up our sleeves going into the next year, to try to do something about the reduction of spending, and, therefore, reduction of the deficit at the same time of reforming a tax code that has gotten so complicated and so fraught with special interest provisions that it is crying out for reform. one way or another, we're going to have to make it happen. and i believe that what we're going to vote on this afternoon is the first step, a badly needed step toward restoring trust and confidence and starting to get our economy moving again. mr. president, i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from oklahoma is recognized.

coburn our -- mr. coburn: our plan was i would have 15 minutes. i ask unanimous consent that i have that and share stphaf time with senator sham -- and share some of that time with senator chambliss? the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. coburn: if you look at the vote we're going to have today it's an interesting perspective if you're outside in america and looking at t. here's what people are saying: you're going to stimulate the economy with a 2% reduction in payroll taxes, you're not going to raise income tax rates, and then you're going to spend another $136 billion. with all this, you're going to borrow the money. we spent eight months on a deficit commission addressing the very real problems that are about to become acute for our country. and i have no disregard for those that bring this bill to the floor, but to bring this bill to the floor without the opportunity to cut wasteful

washington spending to at least pay for the outflows that are going to pay, that are going to come as a result of this bill, which will be the $136.4 billion that i mentioned, without an opportunity to at least make an effort for the american people to see that we understand that part of the waste, part of the duplication, part of the low-priority items that the federal government is presently enabling to happen, to not offer and not have the opportunity to offer a way to not charge that to our children and grandchildren, i think denies the reality of everybody else in the work that's looking at our country. and so this afternoon, or later this morning i will be offering an amendment that will suspend the rule, including any requirement for germaneness, and

then we'll have a vote. and we'll have an amendment that cuts $156 billion from the federal government to pay for the $136 billion that's actually going to go out the door in the next 11, 12 months. and this is not an easy vote. but the world's going to be looking to see if we get it. not only are the disgusted people in this country with our actions that we continue to borrow and steal and beg from future generations, but the world financial markets, and they're going to see. and you saw the reaction of erskine bowles and alan simpson, after working eight months trying to drive an issue to get us back on course, to create a future for us that will allow us to control our destiny rather than someone else to control our

destiny. and really, this is just a drop in the bucket. this amendment to the waste, the duplication, and the fraud. you know, we're going to run trillion-tkphrar deficits as far as the -- trillion dollar deficits as far as the eye can see with no grownups in the traopl say we ought to stop doing it, we're going to stop doing t. what are some of the things in this amendment? a cut in the executive branch and the congressional budget of 15%, a freeze on the salaries and size of the federal government, limiting what the government can spend on planning, travel and new vehicles, selling unneeded and excess federal property, stopping unemployment benefits to people who are millionaires. by the way, we are sending unemployment benefits to people who are unemployed but have assets in excess of $1 million. collecting unpaid taxes

currently in excess of $4 billion owed by federal employs and members of congress. force consolidation of duplicative programs. preventing fraud, taking some of the $100 billion that's defrauded from medicare and medicaid every year and preventing that from happening by the fast act. streamlining defense, spending and reducing foreign aid, including voluntary excess contributions to the united nations. the people of the world are astounded that we would spend another $136 billion and make no attempt to get rid of the excesses, waste and duplication in our federal government. because we aren't allowed under regular order to offer amendments -- and i understand the purpose for that -- this amendment will require 67 votes.

and the american people are going to be looking, and they're going to say does the senate get it? do they understand the severity and the urgency of the problems that face our fiscal future? and when the joint chiefs of staff of our entire military says the greatest problem facing america is not our military challenges but our debt, it should give us all pause to consider the reality and the impact of our excesses in the future. i yield to senator chambliss. mr. chambliss: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from georgia is recognized. mr. chambliss: mr. president, i rise to support the amendments offered by my good friend from oklahoma. you know, america is today at a crossroads and it's a crossroads where we have the opportunity as policy-makers to go in the direction that the people of america said we should go in on november 2, where we have the

opportunity to go down the road of continuing to spend money by this body and the body across the capitol without paying for the money we're spending. these amendments are pretty simple, they're pretty straightforward. and what they say is, you know, we as policy-makers have an obligation to listen to the people that sent us here, listen to the people who said, by golly, we don't like the way you're running the financial resources that we send to washington. and here we are, the minority leader, senator mcconnell, just sat down from saying and talking about an omnibus bill that goes in the wrong direction, a direction that's totally opposite of what the people of america said they wanted on november 2. and now we're going to have a vote today on a tax package that in my opinion is a good package.

and only in washington is it a package which says that if you continue to tax people at the rate they're being taxed today, it adds to the deficit. but there's another part to that. there are additions to that tax package that do provide for additional spending, spending that can be paid for, can be paid for without any feeling really on the part of the offsets or the people who are going to be affected by the offsets that senator coburn is proposing. these amendments make common sense, they make business sense, and they certainly make the kind of sense that the people in america want us to start reacting to and providing for. so, mr. president, i would ask unanimous consent that my full statement be entered in the record, but i support my colleague from oklahoma and his effort to let's be more fiscally responsible, and this is where we should start.

the presiding officer: without objection. mr. coburn: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from oklahoma is recognized. mr. coburn: i just close with the following comment. the gallop organization came out today with an approval rating, the latest approval rating on congress. you know what it is? it's 13%. 13% of the people in this country have confidence in what we're doing. 87% don't. i side with the 87%. i think they got it right. and if we continue with the omnibus package so we can have our earmarks, if we continue to pass expenditures by not reducing spiewrs elsewhere, -- reducing expenditures elsewhere, it's going to sink even lower. what does that mean that only 13% of the people in this country have confidence in us? what it really means is the

legitimacy of our positions and our power is at question. everybody recognizes the problems in front of us. the question is will you make the hard choices and do the tough things to get us out of the problems that we have? we can no longer borrow money that we don't have to spend on things that we don't need. with that, i would yield the floor and welcome the comments of the senator from indiana. mr. bayh: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from indiana is recognized. mr. bayh: if i could be permitted a few moments of personal privilege before i begin my former remarks, there are so many people i need to express my heartfelt gratitude to here today. starting with, of course, my wonderful wife susan. i know we're not supposed to recognize people in the gallery, but i will break the rules for one of the first times here to

thank my wife. we have been married for 25 wonderful years, and, frankly, mr. president, i wouldn't have been elected dog catcher without susan's love and support. i often remember a story during my first campaign when i met an elderly woman who took my hand, looked up into my eyes and said young man, i'm going to vote for you. i was curious and i asked her why. she said with a twinkle in her eye, she said well, i have met your wife. it seems to me you did all right with the most important decision you will ever make, i will trust you with the other ones, too. it's not uncommon in our state, as senator lugar can attest, that people say they really vote for susan's husband. darlg, i can't thank you enough. she is a -- she was a wonderful first lady, is a phenomenal mother, and is the partner for my life. next, i'd like to express my gratitude to my parents. even though they were very busy, i never doubted for a moment that i was the most important thing in their life. there is no question that my devotion to public service stems from their commitment, something, mr. president, i think you can relate to as well.

i've always admired my father's selfless commitment to helping our state and nation. i'm proud to follow in his footsteps here in the senate and to share his name. my mother taught me that even from the depths of adversity can come hope. she was diagnosed with cancer at age 38, passed from us at age 46, and the age i now recognize to be much, much too young. i miss her but i suspect, as so often in my life, she is watching from on high today. next are my wonderful sons, nick and beau. they came into our lives when i was still governor and were barely 3 when i was sworn into the senate. they are the joys of my life. i hope that one day they will draw inspiration as i did from their upbringing in public service and will choose to devote themselves in some way to making our country and state better places. i am so proud of you, my sons. next, to my devoted staff and to

the staff that serves us here in the senate. my personal staff has had the thankless task for 12 years of making me look better than i deserve, and in that, they have performed heroic service. they have never let me down. to the extent that i have accomplished anything on behalf of the public, it is thanks to their tireless efforts and devotion. each could have worked fewer hours and made more money doing something else, but they chose public service. it has been an honor to work with you. i will miss each of you and can only hope that we will remain in touch throughout the years. no one has been privileged to have better support than me. for the men and women who work in the senate and make it possible for us to do our jobs, i want to express my heartfelt gratitude. you have always been unfailingly courteous and professional. the public is fortunate to have the benefits of your devotion, and on behalf of a grateful nation and a thankful senator, let me express my appreciation. next to my colleagues. more about each of us later, but

let me simply say that it has been my privilege, the privilege of my lifetime, to get to know each of you. there is not one of you who is not exceptional in some way or about whom i do not have a fond recollection. each of you occupies a special place in my heart. i am especially fortunate to have served my career in the senate with senator richard lugar. i have often thought that congress would function better if all members could have the find of relationship that we have been blessed to enjoy. he has been unfailingly thoughtful and supportive. even though we occasionally have differed on specific issues, we have never differed on our commitment to the people of our state or to the strength of our friendship. dick, thanks to you and char for so much. you're the definition of a statesman. finally, to the wonderful people of indiana for whom i have been privileged to work almost my entire adult life. hoosiers are hard working, patriotic, devout and full of common sense. we are middle america and

embrace middle-class values. the more of indiana we can have in washington, frankly, the better washington will be. to my fellow hoosiers, let me say that while my time in the senate is drawing to a close, my love for you and devotions to our state will remain everlasting. as i begin my final remarks, my final former remarks on this floor, my mind goes back to my first speech as a united states senator. it was an unusual beginning. i was the 94th senator to deliver remarks in the first impeachment trial of a president since 1868. the session was closed to the public, emotions ran high, partisan divisions were deep. it was a constitutional crisis, and the eyes of the nation and the world looked to the senate. my first day as senator, i was sworn in as a juror in that trial. there were no rules. all 100 of us gathered in the

old senate chamber. the debate was hot, but we listened to each other. we all knew that the fate of the nation and the judgment of history, things far more important than party loyalty or ideolong cal purity, were in our hands. consensus was elusive. finally, we appointed ted kennedy, john kerry's esteemed colleague, a liberal democrat, and phil gramm, a conservative republican, to hammer out a compromise, and they did. their proposal was adopted unanimously. the trial of our chief magistrate, even in the midst of a political crucible, was conducted in accordance with the highest principles of due process and the rule of law. the constitutional balance of powers was preserved, and the presidency saved. the senate rose above the passions of the moment and did its duty. three years later, the senate was once more summoned to respond in a moment of crisis. the country had been attacked and thousands killed in an act of suicidal terror.

this building had been targeted for destruction and death, and that would have occurred but for the uncommon heroism of ordinary citizens. i was told not to return to my home for fear that assassins might be lying in wait, so i picked up my sons from their school, and we spent the night with a neighbor. two days later, those senators who could make it back to washington gathered in the senate dining room. there were no democrats or republicans there, just americans. without exception, we resolved to defend the nation and to bring to justice the perpetrators of that horrible crime. the feeling of unity and common purpose was palpable. fast forward another seven years. in october, 2008, i was summoned along with others late at night to a meeting just off this floor. the financial panic that had been gathering force for several months had attained critical mass. the secretary of the treasury, henry paulson, spoke first.

he turned to the new head of the federal reserve, ben bernanke, and said ben, give the senators a status report. bernanke and his low-key profferrial manner said the global economy is in a free fall. within 48-72 hours, we will experience an economic collapse that could rival the great depression. it will take millions of jobs and thousands of businesses with it, companies with which all of you are familiar will fail, trillions of dollars in savings will be wiped out. there was silence. we looked at each other, democrats and republicans, and asked only one question: what can be done? the actions that emanated from that evening helped to avoid an economic catastrophe. the jobs of millions and millions of people were saved, businesses endured. the measures required were unpopular. my calls were running 15,000- 20,000 opposed and only about 100-200 in favor of

acting. the house initially voted down the measures. the economy teetered on the edge of the precipice, but senators did our duty. some sacrificed their careers that evening. the economy was saved. i recount these moments from my tenure to remind us of what this body is capable of at its best. when the chips are down and the stakes are high, senators, regardless of party, regardless of ideology, regardless of personal cost, doing their duty and selflessly serving the nation we love, are capable of great things. on my office wall hangs a famous print: the senate in 1850. there is henry clay, there daniel webster, thomas hart bennett, john c. calhoun, william seward, james douglas,

james mason and sam houston. giants walked the senate in those days. my colleagues, they still do. in "profiles in courage," john kennedy tells the stories of eight united states senators whose acts of selflessness and fortitude rescued the republic in times of trial. serving in this body today are men and women capable of equal patriotism, if given the chance. new profiles in courage waiting to be written. it shouldn't take a constitutional crisis, a terrorist attack or a financial calamity to summon from each of us and from this body collectively the greatness of which we are capable, nor can america afford to wait. we are surrounded today by gathering challenges that if unaddressed will threaten our republic, our growing debt and deficits, our unsustainable energy dependency, increasing

global economic competition, asymmetric national security challenges, an aging population, and much, much more. each of these is difficult, each complex. the solutions will not be universally popular, but all can be surmounted, and i'm confident that they will, with the right leadership from us and the right ideas. i am confident because i know our history and i know our people. i know all of the challenges we have overcome, the wars, the economic hardships, the social turmoil. i know the character of the american people, our resiliency, our innate goodness and our courage, and i know that we can succeed, but it will not be easy and it will not happen by itself. it is up to us. america is an exceptional nation because each generation has been willing to make the difficult decisions, and, yes, the occasional sacrifices required by their times. america is a great nation not because it is preordained but

because our forebears both here in the senate and across the nation made it so. for ten generations, the american people have been dedicated to the self-evident truth that all of us are created equal and have been endowed by our creator with inalienable rights. from the beginning, it is freedom that has been the touchstone of our democracy. freedom, not from the benevolence of the king, not by the forbearance of the majority, not by the magazine anonymity of the state, but from the hand of almighty god. the freedom to enjoy the fruits of our labors, the freedom to speak our minds and worship god as we see fit, the freedom to associate with those of our own choosing and to select those that would govern us. from the hillsides of ancient athens to the fields of runny meade to the village greens of lexington and concord, to the halls of this great senate, it

has always been the same: the innate human longing for independence now finds its truest expression in the american experiment. we are the guardians of that dream. each generation of americans has been called to renew our commitment to that ideal, often in blood, always with sacrifice. now is our time. now is the time for us to keep faith with those who have come before and to do right by those who will follow, to lift high the cause of freedom in all of its manifestations within its surest sanctuary, this united states senate. all of this was put into perspective for me one day on a visit to walter reed army hospital. i was visiting wounded soldiers. there was a young sergeant from georgia. he had been married three weeks before deploying to iraq. he was missing his left arm and

both legs. his wife sat by his side. a look of dignified calm was upon his face. i asked if he was receiving the care he needed. yes, he said, he was. i asked if there was anything that i could do. no, no, there was not. anything he needed? no. i had never felt so helpless or so insignificant. i left his room, made my way to the hospital front door, walked outside into the bright sunshine, sat upon the curb and cried. all i could think of was what can i do, what can i do to be worthy of him? what can each of us do? look at what he sacrificed for america. what are we prepared to give? is it too much to think that while soldiers are sacrificing

limbs on our behalf that we can look across the aisle and see not enemies but friends, not adversaries but fellow citizens? when servicemen and women lay down their lives, can we not lay down our partisanship and rancor but for a while? can we not remember that we are one nation under god with a common heritage and a common destiny? let us no longer be divided into red states and blue states but reunite once more as 50 red, white and blue states. as a civil rights leader once reminded us, we may have arrived on these shores on different ships but we're all on the same boat now. so, my friends, the time has come for the sons and daughters of lincoln and the heirs of jefferson and jackson to no longer wage war upon each other, but instead to renew the struggles against the ancient enemies of man, ignorance, poverty and disease. that is why we are here.

that is why. if i had been able to contribute even a little to reconciliation among us, then i have done my duty. my prayer is that in the finest traditions of this senate both in my time and my father's time and days before, we may once again serve to resolve our differences, meet the challenges that await us and in so doing forge an american future that is worthy of our great past. so that when our children's children write the history of our time, they may truly say of us, here were americans and senators worthy of the name. i thank you. i yield the floor.

ms. landrieu: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from louisiana is recognized. ms. landrieu: i understand we're in morning business. the presiding officer: that is correct. ms. landrieu: i'd like to speak for the next five minutes. i understand senator voinovich is on his way, but i'd like to speak for the next five minutes. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. landrieu: thank you. mr. president, this senate is going to be not the same place without the senator from indiana. in fact, it will be a lesser

place because he's been such an outstanding senator, and i want to just let him know that he will be very much missed. he contributed enormously in his very quiet and dignified but powerful way to many important issues, both domestic and international. we look forward to hearing a lot more from governor bayh and senator bayh in the years to come. i want to thank the leadership on both sides for giving me an opportunity in just a few minutes to have a portion of the time when it comes to the discussion of the bill that we're going to be voting on at noon. but i thought before i got to that time that i've been allotted in the unanimous consent agreement -- and i'm very grateful to the leadership on both sides for giving me that opportunity -- i'd take a minute to give a preview while there was no one on the floor asking for time now.

mr. president, this massive tax bill has been negotiated by many people of goodwill. i see the senator from montana, the finance committee chair who has been at the table of these negotiations. and senator mcconnell and senator kyl and senator reid and men who have really worked very hard. there were representatives from the white house in these negotiations, and they did -- i know in their minds they did their very best. i've had some serious issues with portions of the package. i've expressed those on the floor of the senate on behalf of the constituents that i represent. i think i've made my points. i think they have been very clear. and i appreciate the opportunity as a senator to be able to voice those complaints. i'm not on the floor right now to talk about the major pieces of that tax package that i strongly disagree with.

i intend to vote for it. i signaled that in the vote two days ago. i am unhappy with many pieces of it, but that is not why i'm here to speak today. i am here to ask the members of this senate to consider when i ask unanimous consent later this morning to grant unanimous consent to fix a mistake, to fix a mistake. and if i could have the senate's attention, please. the presiding officer: the senate will come to order. ms. landrieu: i'm going to ask in just a few minutes for the senate to fix a mistake that was made in the negotiations. and i'm going to need all 100 senators to say yes in order to fix this mistake. senator vitter, senator shelby, senator sessions, senator

cochran, and senator wicker, all the senators from both parties and all the gulf coast states that are affected by this amendment join me in this request. there is not any difference of opinion among those of us that represent these states. only these states are affected by this amendment. it's very narrowly crafted. it has to do with a placed in service date for low-income housing. that's all. low-income housing. we lost, as many people will recall, six years ago over 250,000 -- not 5,000, not 25,000, not 50,000, but 250,000 homes in the aftermath of katrina, rita and the great flood that ensued. it's only six years that that happened, so of course we're still trying to build housing.

stand-alone single-family housing, multifamily housing, housing for seniors. it's a huge work. in fact, it may be the largest single residential building program going on in this century. maybe not after world war ii -- i don't have the figures pwurbgs it's big -- but it's big, a huge residential rebuilding program. this package was crafted -- could i have the attention of the senate, mr. president? the presiding officer: the senate will come to order. ms. landrieu: this go-zone package was crafted with the help of almost every senator in the aftermath, and we are grateful, and it had basically three main components. what i call bonds for big infrastructure project development, bonds for historic credits, because many of these neighborhoods, particularly waveland, new orleans, some of these historic places along the

gulf coast were just destroyed. and waoepbted to preserve -- and we wanted to preserve when we rebuilt the historic nature and so we asked the senate and were granted historic preservation credits. and the low-income tax credit to replace the thousands of low-income units for seniors, for the disabled and for the poor and the working poor. in this package, we got -- the negotiators got everything, but they forgot and left out, out of the total $800 million for the go-zones for all the gulf coast states for everything i just described, they forgot to extend the place in service date for the low-income housing projects. as a result, mr. president -- and i see senator voinovich on the floor, and i know he's in line to speak. as a result, if we don't fix this today -- i'm not asking --

it's not really an amendment. it's a correction to the underlying bill. these projects will come to a halt. there are 77 of them. they are narrow. it does not open pandora's box. it fixes a mistake. i have had testimony from the senator from montana. i have testimony from the white house. i have testimony from the republican leadership that it was not their intention and that they just didn't understand clearly enough that if this placed in service date was not extended that these projects, they thought they could go on; they can't. they will come to a halt. only low-income housing projects. only in the gulf. there are 77 of them. not all of them will collapse but the largest ones will because they cannot be corrected -- the presiding officer: the time of the senator has expired. ms. landrieu: they cannot be built in this year alone.

we need to give them two years to be built. if tkwaoebg -- we can do that, great redevelopment in new orleans will continue. my colleagues, contemplate this. i'm going to ask for your unanimous consent. i hope i can get it. the presiding officer: the senator from montana is recognized. mr. baucus: mr. president, i know the senator from ohio wants to speak and i ask his indulgence for 15, 30 seconds. i've discussed this matter with the senator from louisiana. she's right. these projects cannot be built fast enough. there is just not enough time. the place and service date should be extended an extra year. it's not expensive at all. and i just hope we can find some way to accommodate this need. people in louisiana and i suppose most of all around new orleans need this, and the whole gulf coast need this extended service state because otherwise these homes would not be built, and i would hope we could find

some way to pass what the senator from louisiana is suggesting. and i thank the senator from louisiana, i thank the chair and i thank my good friend from ohio. mr. voinovich: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from ohio is recognized. mr. voinovich: mr. president, i rise today to say farewell to the senate after 12 years. i would like to take time to convey my heartfelt thanks to all those who have helped me during my time in the senate and to reflect briefly on the work we were able to get done, work that i think made a difference for the people of my state and our nation. i also will share a few observation was my colleagues, both those who are staying as the 112th, and as well as senators yet to come. at this stage in my life, i look back on my 44 years in public service and i cannot help but

thank god for the immeasurable blessings he has bestowed upon me. each time i walk the steps of the senate, i look up at the statue of freedom on the top of our capitol dome, and i think of my grandparents who came to america with nothing but the clothes on their backs, they couldn't read or write and spoke only a few words of english. i have to pinch myself as a reminder that this is not -- this has not been just a wonderful dream. the grandson of serbian and slovenian immigrants who grew up on the east side of cleveland is a united states senator. only in america, truly, none of us should take for granted the economic and political freedoms we have. my dad used to say that the reason why we have more of the world's bounty is because we get more out of our people because of our free enterprise and

educational systems. mr. goodikans, my social studies teacher, said a democracy is where everyone has an equal opportunity to become unequal. and so during my final days in the united states senate, i think of the people in my life who have gotten me up the steps to this hallowed chamber. my wife of 48 years, janet. she is god's greatest blessing on me. she has never pulled or pushed me, but she has always been at my side. my three children on earth, george, betsy and peter, and my angel in heaven, molly. and my eight grandchildren, my siblings and their extended families. it's not easy to have a father, brother or uncle in this business. to the people of ohio who facilitated my election to seven different offices, who have stuck with me even though on occasion they don't agree with me, my deep appreciation.

i can never thank you enough. i hope that you know that every decision i've made and every policy i have crafted, although not always the easiest or most popular at the time, has aimed to improve and make a positive difference in your lives. i'm very humbled to have been given the privilege to serve you through the years. here in the senate, my wonderful staff, both in ohio and in washington, i'm so proud of what they have done for me and the people of ohio, and i take fatherly pride in having had the chance to touch their lives and see them grow. i also think of their colleagues in the other senate offices who have helped and cooperated with them as we work together to solve our nation's problems, meet challenges and seize opportunities. my colleagues and i should be most humble, for all we are is a

reflection of these wonderful, loyal, hard-working individuals. i also thank all of you in this chamber for your courtesy you've extended to me. i really missed my first two years when i presided over the senate, first one to get the 100 hours in the chair. that was a wonderful time, and thank you all for what you have done for me over the years. the folks in the attending physician's office have taken care of me physically, and our two great chaplains, lloyd ogilvy and barry black, along with the wonderful priests of st. joseph's on the hill that have helped me grow spiritually. and i have to mention jim inhofe hosting our bible study each week. he honored me by inviting me to a codel to africa this year, and there is no one in this senate that's done more for public

diplomacy for the united states in africa than jim inhofe. i have learned in my life that you cannot do anything alone, so of course i think of my colleagues in the senate who i have learned to know and respect. i have been blessed to call them friends. the american people have made it clear that they are not happy with partisanship in washington, but the fact is there are some great partnerships here, and those partnerships and relationships result in action. i don't think many people outside washington understand that a lot gets done here on a bipartisan basis. many americans think the only action in the senate is on the floor of the senate, but much of the action in the senate is in the committees and meetings with other members off the floor, as well as through unanimous consents. once a bill gets through committee, perhaps one or two people might have a problem with it, but you work it out, call them, go see them, it gets done, but it's never reported in the paper about how we are working

together on so many pieces of legislation. i'm proud of the contribution i've made to the country in the area of human capital and government management. the fact is, though, without my brother dan akaka -- and he is my brother -- the changes never would have occurred. there is nobody who has done more to reform the way we treat our federal workers, to make us more competitive and work harder and smarter and do more with less than what dan and i have tried to do over the years, 12 years of working at it. it's an area that's negligented by most legislators because they don't appreciate how important the people are that work in government. i call them the a team. any successful organization has to have good finances and good people. i'm also proud of my work in helping to relaunch the nuclear renaissance which will help deliver base load energy for america, reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and reignite our manufacturing base in ohio and

in our country. i couldn't have done this without senator tom carper who has been both a friend and a colleague since our days as governor. tom's leadership was key to organizing our recent successful nuclear summit in washington, and tom has taken the baton from me and will carry nuclear energy to the finish line as part of the future of america's energy supply, along with mike crapo, jim risch, lamar alexander and others. i also recall the passage of the landmark pro-i.p. bill, a bill to protect our intellectual property. by the way, the last bastion of our competitive -- global competitiveness. it was a multiyear process that wouldn't have succeeded without the work of the business community and my friend evan bayh who i first met when we were governors of neighboring states. as many of you know, i have been an ardent champion for my brothers and sisters in eastern europe, the baltic states and

the countries of the former yugoslavia. as such, i am proud to have led the effort to expand nato and increase membership in the visa waiver program. these two accomplishments would not have happened without the bipartisan leadership of dick lugar and joe biden on the senate foreign relations committee and the help of joe lieberman and susan collins on the homeland security and government affairs committee. i pray that the bipartisanship that i have witnessed and enjoyed in both foreign relations and homeland securities will continue. i must also acknowledge senator jeanne shaheen for her keen interest in southeast europe. we traveled together to the region in february of this year, and i'm heartened that she has picked up the mantle on our mission to ensure the door of nato and european union membership remains open to all states in the western balkans, which is key, i believe, to our national security. i've also championed the cause of monitoring and combating

antisemitism, making it a priority within the organization for security and cooperation in europe and our state department. the progress that's been made over the years could not have happened without the leadership of senator ben cardin, congressman chris smith and the late congressman tom lantos. one of the highlights of my brother was the passage of the global antisemitism bill which created a special envoy at the state department to monitor and combat global antisemitism. these are just a few examples of great bipartisan work going on in the senate, but much of the time this is blurred because of the media's addiction to conflict. even though i don't agree with the bipartisan resolution on extending the bush tax cuts, i compliment the president and leaders in congress for sitting down and working together to find a compromise. one of my frustrations after working so hard to find common

ground on significant issues over the past 12 years has been it doesn't happen often enough. the american people know that even when members of a family get along, it's difficult to get things done, so they most certainly know that when we are laser focused on fighting, politicking and messaging, their concerns and plight are forgotten and nothing controversial gets done. there is a growing frustration that congress is oblivious to their problems, anxieties and affairs. frankly, i think one action leaders could take at the beginning of each congress is to assess the issues at hand. what are the items that republicans and democrats agree should get done to make our nation more competitive and really make a difference in people's lives and set a common agenda, by setting collective goals, by an agreement from

leadership i believe will set the environment for committee chairmen and ranking members for the year. think about it. what kind of planning do we do? most successful corporations have five-year plans. where are we going, what are our priorities, what are the things that we agree upon, and let's not spend time on those things that we disagree. additionally, an unacceptable amount of time is spent on fundraising. it's my estimate that 20% to 25% of a senator's time is spent on raising millions of dollars, and with it comes the negative fallout in terms of the public's view of congress bowing to contributions from special interests. in addition to this negative impression, the time spent raising money too often interferes with the time we need for our families, our colleagues and most importantly doing the job the people elected us to do. my last two years have been my most productive and enjoyable because i've not had to chase money at home and around the country. you know something?

none of us like it, but nothing seems to get done about it. nothing seems to get done about it. ideological differences aside, it is necessary for us to have good working relationships if we are going to get anything done for the people who elected us, and i know it's possible from my personal experience. as mayor of cleveland, i worked side by side with george forbes, the most powerful democratic city councilman in cleveland's history. my entire city council were democrats. george and i first met when our children attended the major works program in the cleveland public school system. who would have guessed that we would become the tag team that turned cleveland around after it became the first major city to go into bankruptcy? i was pummelled, pummelled by the media on occasion in regard to who was actually running city hall? my answer was both of us. forbes and i worked together as friends and partners. one of the great satisfactions

when i left the job of mayor was "usa today" highlighted both of us, the tall african-american democrat big george and the short white republican little george working together to bring about cleveland's renaissance. in columbus, i found a worthy adversary when i was governor in democrat vern wright who was speaker of the house for my first four years as ohio governor. my office was on the 30th floor of the building named after wright while he was still alive and serving an unprecedented 22 years as speaker. every day when i went over to the wright tower, i had to genuflect before his bust, but somehow vern and i decided we were going to figure out how we could work together and move ohio forward and become good friends. needless to say, folks, i was dismayed when i learned this year that president obama had held only a single one on one

meeting with mitch mcconnell. one meeting. when i was governor, i met with vern wright and starn ernoff who was president of the senate every two weeks, developing good interpersonal relationships and a trust which allowed us to move ohio forward from the rust belt to the jobs belt. i am hoping that we have entered a new era in the relationship between the president and leadership in congress. our situation today is more critical, more critical than any time in my 44 years in government. how we work together will determine the future of our country. we must also recognize that if we diminish the president in the eyes of the world, it is to the detriment of our nation's international influence and will impact our national security. we are on thin ice, and we need the help of our allies, and they

need our help as well. for example, the start treaty. although i have had some reservations about it, they have been satisfied. it is vitally important to get done this year, or alternatively we must make it clear that the senate will ratify the treaty as soon as the 112th congress convenes. to not do so would do irreparable harm to america standing with our nato allies and would be exploited by our enemies, particularly those factions in russia that would like to break off communication and revert back to our cold war relationship. and there are plenty of them over there who are still smarting from the fact the wall went down, nato expanded and we encroached on their area of influence. two weeks ago janet and i attended a farewell dinner hosted by pheurb mcconnell.

-- mitch mcconnell. although i have had differences with mitch, i have to credit him with keeping the republican team together. there is no one more strategic than mitch, jon kyl and lamar alexander. still -- still -- i share the concern of many of my colleagues that too often, too often the herd mentality has taken over our respective conferences. at the dinner that mitch hosted, i shared with my republican colleagues what ohio state university coach jim trussel defines as success in his book "the winner's manual." it is the inner satisfaction and peace of mind that comes from knowing i did the best i was capable of doing for the group. success is a team sport. hopefully this will become the senate's definition of success because finding common ground and team work is what it will take to confront the problems facing our nation. my colleague, senator chris

dodd, hit the nail on the head when he said -- quote -- "it is whether each one of the 100 senators can work together, living up to the incredible honor that comes with the title and the awesome responsibility that comes with the office. we do have a symbiotic relationship, and i'm encouraged that more and more of my colleagues understand that. i was quite impressed with the fact that 60% of the senate representation on the national commission on fiscal responsibility and reform supported the recommendations of the chairman, including tom coburn, mike crapo, judd gregg, kent conrad and dick durbin. as far as i'm concerned, there are -- they are true patriots. as our colleague tom coburn said just before the commission vote -- and i quote -- "the time for action is now. we can't afford to wait until

the next election to begin this process. long before the skyrocketing costs of entitlements costs tax traoeuts double, our -- tax rates to double our economy may collapse. we are near precipice. in the near future we can experience collapse in the value of our dollar that would force congress to set a -- face a set of choices far more painful than those tphroepd this plan. -- proposed in this plan." here we are on a fiscal course caused by explosive and unchecked costs in spending. we've got an outdated tax code that does not sufficiently encourage savings and economic growth, a skyrocketing national debt that puts our credit rating in serious jeopardy and should give all of us, all of us great pause. farid zacharia posed questions

that should haunt us in monday's "post." "when will we get serious about our fiscal mess? in 2020, 2030 when the need in spending hikes gets much harsher? if we cannot inflict pains now, who will impose pain later? what if while we're getting around to doing something countries get nervous about lending money and our interest rates go up?" i believe the american people get it. they recognize that our fiscal situation is in the intensive care unit on life support. as i walk down the steps of the united states capitol for the last time, i pray that the holy spirit will inspire my colleagues to make the right decision for our country's future and work together to tackle our fiscal crisis.

you have the future of our nation and the future of our children and grandchildren in your hands. mr. president, i've already spoken too long. if my wife janet were here, she would be scratching her head. it's the signal she gives me. she's watching on television. i got your signal, dear. but i'd like to finish with a reading from one quiet moment, a book of daily readings from the former senate chaplain, lloyd ogilvie, which i read every day for inspiration and proper perspective. perhaps some of my colleagues are familiar with his readings. this is what he said on election day. here was his admonition. "may the immense responsibilities they assume and the vows they make when sworn into office bring them to their knees with profound humility and unprecedented openness to you.

save them from the seduction of power, the addiction of popularity, and the aggrandizement of pride. lord, keep their priorities straight. you and their families first, the good of the nation second, consensus around truth third, party loyalties fourth, and personal success last of all. may they never forget they have been elected to serve and not to be served." mr. president, i y. -- mr. president, i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from ohio is recognized.

mr. brown: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from ohio is recognized. mr. brown: thank you, mr. president. as ohio junior senator, i would like to add my remarks to, as well as i can, to remarks after that to the comments of senator voinovich. he didn't talk much about himself and his career. i would like to do that for a moment. his almost 50 years in public service, always has been his own man, whether he was a state legislator or county auditor in cuyahoga county, whether he was a county commissioner. when he was lieutenant governor, when he was mayor of cleveland, when he was governor of ohio and now his 12 years in the united states senate, he has always been his own man. he was rewarded in some sense when as a 1958 graduate of ohio university in athens ohio, the school created the voinovich school of leadership and public affairs. it's not often that a state university or any public entity

names something after someone still in office, particularly something as prestigious as the voinovich school, ohio university which i visit sometimes and it is always inspiring and lifting up the public discourse. and i thank senator voinovich for that. no matter how high george voinovich rose, he always lived with his wife, janet, and his children and his grandchildren nearby in ohio in the same house, in the same neighborhood in cleveland, never forgetting where he came from. and that tells me a whole lot about george voinovich as a public official. he likes to say that reflecting his respect for our state's tremendous potential, george voinovich likes to say the rust is off the belt when people used to refer to cleveland as the rustbelt. but we're probably going to have the first place in the nation

inside of cleveland to have a field of wind turbines and fresh water, will be the first place in the world. clearly this city has turned around, in some significant measure to the efforts of mayor voinovich, governor voinovich, senator voinovich. i will be brief i. know others want to speak. there are three things i particularly think of -- i should make that four things -- when i think of george voinovich. one is janet. janet often travels back and forth. i see both of them on our flight from cleveland to washington and back. janet has always been at his side whether as first lady or so many other ways, as his life's partner and his loving life's partner and the relationship they have is inspiring to connie and me and to so many others. and we thank you most importantly for that, george. the other three things i think about with george voinovich about his career are how he brought to this body the perspective of an executive, of

a governor and of a mayor. and that's always something many of us look to as governor shaheen, senator shaheen and soon to be governor brownback, doing it in reverse, but it does help in our deliberation that is someone has had the experience as a big-city mayor in a challenging, challenging time, mayor of cleveland and governor of ohio. perhaps a less challenging time but a challenging time nonetheless and the perspective george voinovich has brought as a chief executive coming to the senate sharing those thoughts and ideas with legislators. the second thing i think of is lake erie. if you live in northern ohio or if you live in the right places in wisconsin, minnesota, michigan, new york and pennsylvania, you think about the great lake you near. if you live in northern ohio, especially, there is an old story -- i grew up 75 miles from the lake. george grew up much closer. it is something about people who grew up within ten miles of lake

erie, you can ask them which way is north and they always seem to know which direction the lake is even though they can't see it from that point. much of his career has been driven, you can see what he's done with the importance of the greatest natural resource next to our people that our country has -- the five great lakes. his commitment always to maintaining that lake as the pristine quality of that lake in terms of recreation, in terms of drinking water, in terms of industry, in terms of all the things that the great lakes that erie does. the other thing i think of with george voinovich is that his push always, is always elevating the discussion about the quality of the federal workforce. the term public servant, unfortunately, doesn't mean -- those two words don't mean in the public's mind what they used to. partly deserved perhaps because

of some people's missteps or worse, but mostly because people, they run campaigns against the government or whatever the reasons there. but the term "public servant" is so important to george sroeupb v.i. he has done -- george voinovich. he has done more than just compliment the workers, which he's done and i applaud him for that. he's played a major role in shining the light on how do we improve our federal work *s workforce? how do we give them opportunities for advancement? how do we attract the right people to public service? i still think we have a terrific public workforce, whether it's city or county or state or federal. it's the high quality in the great majority of cases that it is because of a few -- and i say a very few public servants like george voinovich that has kept the public spotlight on government service that has, i know with ralph, regula, the

congressman from canton who retired in 2008, shared a lot of those thoughts and ideas and continue to with george voinovich and has made as his work with lake erie, his contributions here, has made the united states senate a better place. more important, it made the united states of america a better country. senator voinovich, i thank you for that, as my senior senator. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from kansas. mr. brownback: mr. president, i want to rise to pay tribute to my colleague george voinovich as well. what a great gentleman. the body is, it's an august body. it's a wonderful place. it's a delightful place to serve in. it has great issues before it. but then there are people that are gentlemen and gentleladies in it as well that conduct themselves with one of the highest regards and highest abilities. and i think of that in george voinovich. a really good guy, doing a great job, a real gentleman in the senate and a man who lives his

faith, who believes it, which is tough. it's tough to do in this body. it's tough to do in any position in life. yet he's done it, done it for over four decades of public service to the people of the state of ohio and the people of the united states. and that is quite a tribute. he and his wife i get to see often at different places. you know, when it talks about two people becoming one, i don't know if i can describe it any better than the voinovich, how two have become one, the mile is the same, the -- the smile is the same, the look is the same, the attitude. it is a wonderful togetherness that the two of them live. at a time when marriages have a lot of difficulties, it is great to see an example of somebody in high office that lived in public life for over four decades and then has this oneness of their marital relationship. i think they both have served in that capacity, whether for their family or for the people of ohio or the united states.

and both living publicly the right way and living privately the right way are both just beautiful attributes and difficult things to be able to get done, and it's great to be able to see it happen. and for that i give great tribute to a won diserfu wonder, george voinovich. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the time allotted for morning business has expired. a senator: could i ask unanimous consent to speak out of order for perhaps two minutes? the presiding officer: without objection, the senator from delaware. mr. casey: thank you very much. george voinovich as i served as governors together for six years. he chaired the national governors' association. he was good enough to be the vice-chairman. he chaired the jobs for america's graduates. i was his vice-chairman. he chairs the subcommittee on

clean air and nuclear safety and i got to be his vice-chairman. so i'm used to being the second banana. i love the guy, and i've learned an enormous amount from him. he's one of those people who really every day tries to say, what is the right thing to do, not the easy thing to do, not the expedient thing to do, but what is the right thing to do and he tries to do it. he is the kind of thing, he goss his bible study group. we're always reminded by barry black of the golden rule, treat other people the way they want to be treated. the cliff notes of the new testament. george repeally personifies that. he treats everybody the way he would want to be treated. he is one of the people that focuses on excellence in everything he's done, as mayor, governor, here in the united states senate, and he's always looking for ways to do better what he does and to call for the rest us to do the same. finally, this guy is tenacious. he doesn't give up. when he knows he's right, just get out of the way. and you know he's going to

prevail. he has wonderful folks -- some of his staff are here with him today. we salute awful you. he knows how to pick good people and to really inspire them. and i don't think janet is here today. maybe she is watching on television. i hope soavment but to her and her family, things very, very much for sharing with us an extraordinary human being. we love you, george. i yield back.

the presiding officer: morning business is closed. under the previous order, the senate will resume the house message to accompany h.r. 4853, which the clerk will report. the clerk: motion to concur in the house amendment to the

senate amendment with an amendment to h.r. 4853, an act to amend the internal revenue code of 1986, and so forth and for other purposes. mr. coburn: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from oklahoma. mr. coburn: i understand under the previous order i have ten minutes? the presiding officer: that is correct. mr. coburn: i will attempt not to use that complete time. we have an amendment, number 4765, which is a motion to suspend the rules and consider the amendment, and i will make that motion in a moment. we have before us a bill. we're going to spend $136 billion more than what we planned to before this agreement walls made. we have no opportunity under

regular order to offset that with less priority, less important items. so we have an amendment for the senate to vote on. it's not pain-free. it's painful. but it cuts $150 billion from federal expenditures to pay for the additional federal expenditures that will go out the door as a result of this bill. and i actually believe every one of my colleagues in the senate understands the jam we're in. where i'm confused is that when we bring cuts to the floor, not only do they not vote for the cuts, they don't offer alternative cuts. and you really can't have it both ways. you can't say you recognize the significant difficulty our country is in and turn around

and vote against somebody making an effort to get us out of that jam and not offer other additional spending cuts for which to pay. we don't have that privilege any longer. so either the recognition of the problem is real or it's not. and let me describe what's happened just in the last two and a half years. we've run a budget deficit for now 27 straight months, including this month. 2009 budget deficit, as reported, was $1.4 trillion. it was actually $1.6 trillion when you take the money that we actually stole from trust funds and other items. in 2010, $1.3 trillion. on the basis of how we're going now, our budget deficit will

probably be in real terms -- not what's reported to the american people -- $1.6 trillion to $1.7 trillion. how long can we continue to do that? as a matter of fact, the largest budget monthly deficit ever reported was october, $291 billion. the time to act is now. if you don't like what i've put up, then put something else up. let's have a debate about it. let's have an honest discussion about the problem and the possible solutions. that's what the deficit commission was trying to do. that's what a group of us, including the president pro tempore, are trying to do on a bipartisan basis. but the fact -- there's no longer a debate on whether or not we're going to have to cut

spending in our country. almost everybody agrees to t the question is, when will we start? and i will tell you, if this amendment passes, we will send a notice to the world that we get it, the international financial community will start seeing us acting like adults, and no longer delaying the time at which we will start chipping and stop digging. we have a hole so deep, we may not climb out of it now. the last thing we want to do is make that hole deeper. so i move to suspend rule 22, including any germaneness requirements being for the purposes of proposing and considering amendment 4765, and i ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: the motion is pending. is there a sufficient second? at the moment, there is not. mr. coburn: i will reoffer.

i yield the floor.

ms. landrieu: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from louisiana. ms. landrieu: i'd like to ask unanimous consent to use the general time, not my own ten minutes. the presiding officer: there is no general debate time. ms. landrieu: can i ask to use my leadership time? the presiding officer: the senator does not have leader time. ms. landrieu: okay, then i'll use one minute of my time out of the ten that i have. the presiding officer: the senator is recognized.

ms. landrieu: thank you, mr. president. in just a few minutes, sometime before the hour of 12:00, i'm going to be asking for unanimous consent to correct a mistake that was made in the final negotiations of this tax package, which contains, as you know, $890 billion worth of items. it is a big, big bill. it was negotiated with the white house, the republican leadership, pry maicialtion and then the democratic leaders had some input into it as well. and what happened was, mr. president -- and please stop me in a minute and a half -- what happened was there was a misunderstanding, a terrible misunderstanding when it came down to the go-zone housing credits. all of the goal zone package was put in the bill except -- except -- for the $42 million -- i'll take 30 more seconds. of my time.

except for the $42 million that applies to low-income housing tax credits, so the entire go-zone package, $800 million for the gulf coast, was put in. this little $42 million was left out. it was a misstage of the only way to fix that today -- it was a mistake. the only way to fix that today is to get unanimous consent. and i'll be asking for that in just a few minutes. i thank the senator and yield back and reserve the balance of my time. the presiding officer: who yields time?

quorum call: a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from michigan. mr. levin: mr. president, in a moment i'm going to ask unanimous consent that it be in order to call up my amendment number 4787 to the motion to concur to the house amendment. now, my amendment would restore

the estate tax exemption level and top a estate tax rate to the 2009 levels of $3.9 million and 49% respectively. it would leave all the other modifications to the estate, gift, and so-called generation skipping transfer taxes the same. the same as they appear in the underlying amendment. raising the estate tax level to $5 million and lowering rate to 35% is just not the responsible thing to do given our current fiscal situation. and it only would exacerbate why wealth -- wealth and inequality in america. only three of every 1,000 decedents have estates in excess of $3.5 million. at a time when some people are seriously discussing cutting social security, which is relied upon by so many millions of

americans, how can congress consider this action to benefit the top .3% of 1% of the population. -- population? now, we don't have an estimate of a savings to the tresh fri this amendment -- treasury to this amendment. but we do know it would save our treasury tens of billions of dollars which we need to help continue unemployment insurance, social security, and other critical programs. mr. president, whether one agrees with this amendment or not, this is an amendment which should be debated. the senate should have an opportunity to debate this issue. and unless we get unanimous consent the way this is currently structured, the senate will be denied this opportunity whether people support it, oppose this -- the estate tax change or don't know. the way the senate ought to operate, we should have a chance to vote on this amendment. so, mr. president, i now ask unanimous consent that it be in

order to call up my amendment number 4787 to the motion to concur to the house amendment. the presiding officer: is there objection? a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from wyoming. mr. barrasso: i object. the presiding officer: objection is heard. mr. levin: i yield the floor.

a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. sanders: thank you, mr. president. i would appreciate it if at the end of 9 1/2 minutes, you could alert me, please. the presiding officer: the chair will do so. mr. sanders: mr. president, let me begin by adding senators whitehouse and begich as part of this amendment, 4809. mr. president, as i think many people know i have been extremely critical of the agreement struck between the president and the republican leadership. i have spoken out against it and i voted against cloture just yesterday. it is one thing to be critical of a proposal, it is another thing to come up with a better alternative. and i think i have done that today. i think the amendment that i'm offering is, i believe, a

significant improvement over the agreement struck between the president and the republican leadership and i would hope very much that we can get strong bipartisan support for it. let me very briefly tell you what it does. first, as i think most americans appreciate, at a time of a record-breaking deficit, it makes very little sense to be providing huge tax breaks to the wealthiest people in our country, drives up the national debt, forces our kids to pay higher debt in the future to pay that debt off. what this does is end all of the bush tax breaks for the wealthiest 2% of americans beginning on january 1st of this year. now, what does it do with the savings? and that's the -- perhaps the most important point that i'll be wanting to make. over the long term what this amendment would do is devote half of the revenue raised by

this provision, by eliminating the tax breaks for the top 2%, it would use half of that money to reduce the deficit. half of that money goes to deficit reduction, which i would hope appeals to many of my republican friends who have consistently, and appropriately, talked about high deficits and the danger of those high deficits to this country. half of the savings by eliminating tax breaks for the wealthy goes to deficit reduction. what does the other half go to? it seems to me, mr. president, that while we should be and must be concerned about the deficit, we must also understand that we continue to be in a major recession, millions of our fellow americans are unemployed. we have got to do everything we can to create decent paying jobs and put those people back to work. what the other half of the savings does is invest in our

infrastructure -- in our infrastructure. i don't have to tell anybody here that our infrastructure is crumbling, that is our roads, bridges, schools, dams, housing and transferring our nation's energy sector. we need to put billions of dollars into building a 21st century rail system. and when we do that, we not only create jobs now, and this is the fastest way that i know to create jobs, we make our country more productive and internationally competitive in the future. and if we do not build our infrastructure, if it continues to crumble, and the engineers out there tell us we need trillions of dollars investment, we are going to lose our place in the global economy. so we've got to invest in infrastructure, half of the savings does just that. mr. president, in addition this amendment replaces the payroll tax holiday.

-- holiday with a one-year extension of the make work pay credit. in other words, we are giving targeted tax breaks to the middle class, not reducing payroll taxes for millionaires and members of congress. and this proposal would not endanger social security and, in fact, it would go to the people who most need it. it would be a lot fairer because lower-income people would do better, upper-income people would not get it. there's addresses a concern that i think many americans have, and that is diverting money away from the payroll tax endangers the long-term solvency of social security. as eric kingson, the co-chair of the strength in social security campaign, an organization representing tens of millions of senior citizens and workers said, extending and expanding the make work pay tax credit is

far superior to the payroll tax cut to most americans. it is more stimulative, fairer in distribution, imposes no new administrative costs on employers and includes over six million public sector employees who will receive nothing from the payroll tax cut and it doesn't run the risk of undermining the -- et cetera. so it addresses that issue as well. third, this amendment addresses another issue that i know a lot of people in this country have concern about, and that is the estate tax giveaway in the underlying bill by inserting in its place the 2009 estate tax rate for two years. mr. president, let's be clear the estate tax only applies to the top .3% of 1%. what we are doing now is not lowering estate tax and raising exemptions, which only benefit

the very, very wealthiest people in this country. what we are doing now is bringing us back to the 2009 estate tax rates for two years. further, mr. president, this amendment addresses an issue that, to me, is very important, and i know to many members here because we had a lot of support for it when i brought this amendment up last week. as you well know our seniors who are on social security and disaibleanddisabled vets have nd a cola in the last two years. a lot of those folks are trying to get by on $14,000, $16,000 a year. what this amendment also includes is a $250 cola for over 57 million americans, senior citizens, veterans and persons with disabilities. without this provision, seniors, as i mentioned, would be going through their second year without a kolla and i think that -- cola and i think that that is unfair.

further, of course, this amendment would keep all of what i consider to be the positive aspects of the president's agreement wit with the republic. obviously it would extend middle class tax cuts for 98% of americans, it would extend unemployment insurance for 13 months, it would extend the child earned income tax credit included in the recovery act so, mr. president, what we are doing here is i think bringing forth a far better proposal than the agreement struck between the republicans and the president. let me summarize, ends tax breaks for the rich, uses half of that money for deficit reduction, half of that money to create millions of jobs rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure. it would replace the payroll tax holiday of which many people

have concerns, diverting money away from social security with a one-year extension with the make work pay credit, much more targeted to low and moderate income people, not to members of congress and the richest people in this country, not threatening social security. this amendment would strike the estate tax proposal in the underlying bill and insert the 2009 estate tax rates for two years. and that is, i think, a much fairer proposal than giving even more tax breaks for the wealthiest people in this country. and, lastly, this amendment would provide a $250 cola for over 57 million american senior citizens, disabled veterans, and people with disabilities. it also includes an extension of middle-class tax cuts for 98% of merntion an extension of unemployment insurance for 13 months, and an extension of the child tax credit, earned-income tax credit, and college tax credit extension. so i think this is the alternative that many americans

would like to see -- creates jobs, cuts the deficit, and is much fairer, much fairer than the agreement, the underlying bill that we are voting on now. mr. president with that i would move to suspend rule 22 for the purposes of proposing and considering amendment number 4809 to the house message to accompany h.r. 4853, and i ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: the motion is pending. is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the yeas and nays are ordered. mr. sanders: with that, i would yield the floor. mr. baucus: mr. president, i yield myself four minutes from the time under control of the leader's time. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. baucus: the national is about to pass a bill that should

significantly bolster our economic recovery. the bill we are about to pass will cut rates for families, it will reauthorize unemployment insurance, it will extend the child tax credit and the college tuition tax deduction, it will extend the research and development tax credit, and accelerate depreciation for businesses, it will cut payroll taxes for workers. these are important provisions. but the bipartisan leadership did not include several other important items, several that include important attention. i worked hard to include these provisions in the bill we just passed. but some on the other side of the aisle would prevent their inclusion. these are commonsense provisions that frankly i cannot imagine how any senator could oppose them. one provision i would like to highlight this morning is the provision to repeal the 1099 reporting requirements. small businesses across america

were disappointed that this provision was not included in the bill. i'm talking about the repeal of the recently expanded form 1099 information reporting requirements. surprisingly, some on the other side of the aisle blocked inclusion of a provision to repeal these requirements. i included repeal of these requirements in the tax alternative the senate voted on earlier this month and senator schumer included a repeal of this provision in his alternative. several mages measures to repeal the new rules have received bipartisan support and frankly repeal of this reporting requirement ought to be a no-brainer. the new rules take effect at the beginning of 201 that. means that many small businesses will soon begin spending money to gear up for them. small businesses across montana and across this great nation should not have to spend their time and money to fill out more government paperwork. instead, we should let them

focus on staying in business, growing their business, and creating jobs. many small business owners have contacted me about this provision. many are puzzled that some republicans now appear to oppose repeal in private after having advocated repeal in public. i can understand why small businesses are puzzled and frankly i don't see how any senator can oppose repealing it. i intend to keep working on behalf of america's small business to see that this u unrealistic information reporting requirement is repealed. so, mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the finance committee be discharged of h.r. 4849, that the senate proceed to its immediate consideration, that the senate agree to the baucus amendment to repeal the form 1099 reporting requirements -- it is at the desk -- at that bill as amended be read a third time and passed, the motions to reconsider be laid on the table, and that this all occur without intervening action or debate.

the presiding officer: is there objection? mr. barrasso: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from wyoming. mr. barrasso: thank you, 34r-7. reserving the right to object, as the chairman knows, senator johanns that is proposed a republican alternative on this issue. would the senator amend his request to substitute the johanns amendment? mr. baucus: mr. president, i appreciate my good friend from wyoming, but i cannot agree to amend my request in that way because of the cuts in the spending in the johanns amendment. the johanns amendment is way beyond the repile of 1099. it is a totally different animal. therefore, i cannot agree to that amendment. the presiding officer: the senator from wyoming. mr. barrasso: i object. the presiding officer: objection is heard. mr. baucus: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from montana. mr. baucus: mr. president, i have two unanimous requests for committees to meet during today's session of the senate.

they have the approval of the majority and minority leaders. i ask consent that these requests be agreed to and these requests be printed in the record. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. landrieu: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from louisiana. ms. landrieu: i see my good friend, senator demint, and i know he has time allocated to him. i also have eight and a half minutes left. i just want to make sure that i will be able to retain my eight and a half minutes. the presiding officer: the senator has seven minutes remaining. ms. landrieu: my seven minutes. i'd like to retain my seven minutes after senator demint speaks. mr. demint: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from south carolina. mr. demint: mr. president, i have an amendment at the desk, i believe. a motion -- a motion, excuse me. the presiding officer: the motion is pending. mr. demint: thank you, mr. president. in just a moment i'll move to

suspend the rules for the purpose of offering my motion to permanently extend the current individual income tax rates, finally repeal the tax tax once and for all and permanently patch the alternative minimum tax. mr. president, i know a lot of work has gone into this tax compromise, and i appreciate the fact that both sides have worked so hard to strike a deal. while i appreciate the efforts that have been made, i'm concerned the bill currently under consideration does not permanently extend tax rates and thus will have a marginal, if any, benefit to our economy. temporary rates make for a temporary uncertain economy. my substitute amendment ensures a long-term stable economic environment for americans to create jobs, buy a home, invest their assets, save for

retirement, and preserve their family farm or business. mr. president, we need to stop and consider what we are doing to our country and to our economy. we are the premier free market economy in the world. yet almost all our federal tax rates are temporary. i've been in business most of my life, and i understand a lot about how free markets work, how businesses plan, usually in a five- or ten-year win dorks looking at their bottom line, how many people can they afford, can they build a new plant. and now they're not only looking at whether or not to do it in the u.s. but all over the world. but now in our country we have a temporary, uncertain tax code that makes it very difficult for businesses to plan. and it's not just with the tax code. for the last several years we've waited until december to tell

doctors what we're going to pay them to see medicare patients the next year. how do they plan their staff in their offices? we know some have already laid people off not knowing what they're going to get paid next year. free markets, free enterprise work within a framework of a rule of law where people know what their taxes will be, what the laws will be, what the regulatory environment will be. but in america tailed if we take -- but in america today, if we take this compromise, almost all of the tax rates are almost one year or two years, and then people can expect them to go up or to change. we cannot operate the world's largest economy in this type of environment. mr. president, washington does not have a tax revenue problem. it has a spending problem. we must let all working americans keep their hard-earned money, not just for a year or two but allow people actually to

look out and to see, can they make those car payments for four or five years? can they make those house payments for 15, 20, or 30 years? they need to know what their tax rates are going to be. we must repeal the immoral death tax once and for all. it's zero this year, but the proposed compromise will have it at 35% of any estate over $5 million next year. now, that may sound like a much better deal than we would have had, but even with that, the estimates are that this could cost 850,000 jobs to let this tax reemerge. we must commit ourselves to recovering from our years of overspending, overtaxing, overreaching. the american people deserve better. and they told us so in the november elections. mr. president, according to rule 5 of the standing rules of the senate, i move to suspend the

rules for the purpose of proposing and considering amendment 4804 to permanently extend the 2001 and 2003 income tax rates, permanently repeal the estate tax, and permanently patch the alternative minimum tax, and i ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the yeas and nays are 0 ordered.

mint midgets i reserve the balance of my time and yield the floor. mr. demint: i reserve the balance of my time and yield the floor.

the presiding officer: the senator from louisiana. ms. landrieu: how much time do i have remaining? the presiding officer: the senator has seven minutes remaining. ms. landrieu: thank you, mr. president. i'm going to take two of my seven minutes now and reserve the balance of my time because we only have under the agreement arrived at between leader reid and leader mcconnell, we only have 15 minutes to correct this mistake. because at 12:00, we're going to have to vote on several issues. this is not one of them because

this is not an amendment. this is a mistake. and i've only got 15 minutes to correct it. so i'm going to try to explain again how important this is. there are $890 billion worth of amendments and projects in the bill that we're about to vote on. within that $180 billion there's a package of $800 million in go zones. that package was put together by me and my colleagues from the gulf coast. we fashioned it. we designed it. we created it. we're proud of it. and so it was supposed to be part of this much larger package, and lo and behold, all of it got its way in except for $42 billion for low-income housing. that's it. that was the only thing left out of the go zone. so senator vitter and myself, senator shelby, senator sessions, senator wicker and senator cochran have cosponsored

a one-line provision. this isn't really an amendment to the bill. it's a provision to fix a mistake that's been acknowledged by the finance chair and actually acknowledged by the republican negotiators. they meant to include it but they just didn't, because in order to include it, the low-income housing tax credits to build these units have to go to 2012. everything else in the bill is 2011. but they knew if they didn't extend it to 12 -- i'll ask 30 more seconds, that we can't build these projects and these projects and their financing will be in jeopardy. there's 77 projects across the gulf coast for the seniors, for the disabled, for the working poor, and these projects are transforming the city of new orleans, the gulf coast, in

biloxi. time geithner supports this, the president supports, it secretary donvan supports it. i'm going reserve my time in hopes that before 12:00 we can get this fixed. the presiding officer: who yields time?

ms. landrieu: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from louisiana. ms. landrieu: how much time do i have remaining? the presiding officer: the senator has three minutes remaining. ms. landrieu: thank you, mr. president. i see the senator from montana, the finance chair on the floor, and also senator kyl, the senator from arizona who's been one of the chief negotiators on the package and the senator from louisiana, senator vitter. and i'd like to try before we get to the time allotted for voting say, again, how important it is to try to get this provision in the underlying bill corrected. it really is a technical correction that we're asking for here to allow a placed in service date to be extended from -- december -- jan 1, 2012,

to jan 1 -- january 1, 2013, to finish the low-income housing projects under way in the gulf coast. i want to submit a "new york times" editorial, march 2, and i want to submit to the record a letter of support from secretary donvan and secretary geithner testifying to the importance of these projects. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. landrieu: thank you. i'd like to ask at this time if senator baucus and then senator kyl and then senator vitter might comment -- i see them on the floor -- about the importance of getting this fixed, the likelihood of us doing it today and what might happen as we move forward. senator baucus? mr. baucus: i think that -- the presiding officer: the senator from louisiana. mr. vitter: thank you, mr. president. i certainly join my colleague from louisiana in stressing the importance of this second year of a go-zone extension and look

forward to continuing to work with all of these folks in ge getting that done absolutely as soon as possible in 2011. i want to emphasize one major point, which is, this is not a new benefit to fund new projects which were never envisioned when the go-zone was initially created. this is simply an extension to fund those crucial projects which were at the center of this provision from the very beginning that have taken longer than was initially forecast because of labor and other shortages after hurricane katrina. so this is simply a time extension to get the very same crucial projects done. not to add on to that list. and these projects are are extremely important, including the wholesale ren novation and

reconstruction -- renovation and reconstruction of four major houses post katrina using a mixed income, lower density, not the old-styled housing project from the 1940's and 1950's, which were, in my opinion, horrible social experiments. so i certainly join in this effort. i've been working with all of these folks to try to get this second-year extension in this tax bill. unfortunately we weren't able to do that because of a general decision that was apparently made that none of the extenders would go past the end of 2011. but working with these folks, and particularly senator kyl, we came to an agreement that we would absolutely work to include this in the first possible technical corrections or other measure that we would be teed up

in early 2011, and i thank everyone, particularly jon kyl, for the commitment and i look forward to getting that done at the earliest possible moment. ms. landrieu: i'd like that time charged to the other side. senator baucus. the presiding officer: the senator from montana. mr. baucus: both senators from louisiana stated the indicates very, -- the case very, very well. this is not a typical extender this is an important proposal the place in service date because the projects in the first year could not be placed in the second year. it is not a traditional extender where we extend for one year, two years. this is more of the nature let's let the start of the first year get accomplished and the second year and that's why this one year added on is so important. i will work with the senators from the finance committee, our committee, when we bring up the legislation next year to do our

very best to make sure this provision is included so that we can help -- help these people who really desperately need housing in louisiana. ms. landrieu: does the senator have any idea about the time and i'd like to see if senator kyl would like to say any words on this. his view is very important. mr. baucus: my view would be the earliest possibility. i don't know when that is exactly. it should be something placed high up somewhere near the top. ms. landrieu: somewhere in january or february? mr. baucus: i hope. the senator knows how this place operates. but certainly very, very early. ms. landrieu: senator? mr. kyl: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from arizona. mr. kyl: thank you. senator vitter brought this matter to my attention as the bill was being wrapped up, and i told him at that time that while we could not provide an extension longer than the one in the tax bill, that i would work with him in early 2011 to help

these projects obtain the necessary extension. and i say the very same thing to the senior senator from louisiana today. i also share the confidence of the chairman of the finance committee that we will find an appropriate tax bill early in 20 2011 to include this change which i think we all view as a technical change that will allow this special financing to be used as congress intended. ms. landrieu: i have a question for the senator. the presiding officer: the senator from louisiana. ms. landrieu: is it his understanding now having had several conversations with senator vitter and myself, that this technical correction we seek is only and limited to the 77 low-income housing, mixed-income projects through the gulf coast. is that his understanding? mr. kyl: mr. president, i would say to the senator from louisiana, i don't know the technical whether it's 77 or 42 or whatever. but we have all discussed the fact that it is limited to those projects that are started but couldn't be completed within the one-year extension and would require the second extension and

it is limited to this area, yes. ms. landrieu: is it the senator's attention to push for a tax bill? you were so successful in pushing this tax bill forward. is it your intention to do that in early january, mid-january, early february? mr. kyl: i would say to my colleague, the chairman of the finance committee, how quick can we do this? he gave me the same answer he gave you. yes as soon as we can. it is hard to make a commitment about a tax bill coming to the floor. as i also told the senior senator from louisiana, there are some other reasons why we have to act quite quickly next year dealing with some technical fixes to other aspects of the tax bill. so there are other reasons to act quickly as well as this particular situation. ms. landrieu: well, i would just say if i have 30 seconds left. i'm encouraged, mr. president, but what i heard from the senate finance chair and the chief negotiator of tax issues on the republican side, they recognize this is a technical correction,

they recognize it is limited to low-income housing, they recognize the importance of these projects. they committed to work on it as early as possible in the next congress. i think that gives us a glimmer of hope. we won't get unanimous consent today because there remains objections on the other side of the aisle. but we can move forward with confidence, i think, knowing senator kyl is good on his word. senator baucus is good on his word. that they will try to fix this at the earliest possible date and i thank the senator from arizona. and the senator from montana. the presiding officer: the senator's time is expired. the senator from oklahoma. a senator: mr. president, i move to suspend rule 22 including any germane requirements for the purpose of proposing and considering amendment 4765 and i ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: the senator's motion is pending. is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the yeas and nays are ordered.

the senator from montana. mr. baucus: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that all subsequent votes after the first vote be 10 minutes. and -- in duration and further prior to the vote on the motion to concur, there be two minutes for debate equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. all time has expired. the question now occurs on the coburn motion to suspend with respect to amendment number 4765. the yeas and nays are ordered. the clerk will call the roll. vote: