quorum call:

tart starquorum call:

mr. harkin: mr. president in. the presiding officer: the senator iowa. mr. harkin: i ask that further proceedings you should the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. harkin: i ask unanimous consent that march republican and shelby keegah be granted floor prills for the duration of today's session. officer without objection. mr. harkin: before i get to today's remarks that i came history of 0 give, i just had a very wonderful phone call from a young matt rutherford. i have spoken about him on the for that on a couple of occasions. he just made it safely home with

-- on his boat, the saint brendan. he just crossed the finish line coming out of the atlantic ocean into the chesapeake bay. for those of how haven't followed this, about 310 -- 309 days ago young matt rutherford on a 20-foot sail boat left chesapeake bay on one of the most audacious adventures ever underteafnlt it's nevada been done before. he sailed his little boat out of chesapeake bay, sailed it in the atlantic ocean up around new finland, labrador, by greenland, sailed that little boat through the northwest passage, from the atlantic ocean over to alaska, has been certified now as the first person to ever do so solo

in a small sail boat, sailed around ache alaska, sailed from alaska down to cape horn. he is on abby himself son a 27-foot boat. rounds cape horn, comes up the east coast of south america through the caribbean, and back as of just a few hours ago, back into chesapeake bay, solo, nonstop, all by himself, never touched land in all these days. he will set foot on land this saturday at a homecoming in annapolis at the sailing hall of fame dock in annapolis this saturday. around noontime. i'm sure it'll be a big welcome for matt rutherford, and even more -- even to add frosting to the cake sort of, what he did, which is again an incredible,

incredible adventure, he did it to raise funds for crab, the chesapeake region bein accessibe boaght, which is an organization that helps beam with disabilities, including wounded warriors from our servicemen who have service-connected disabilities, to get them out on boats to teach them how to saicialg to let them know that they can participate in that recreational activity. so, matt rutherford, who has done something that's never been done before, welcome back. glad you're safe. glad you made it okay. and to thoafs how -- and to thoafs how want to catch up on this incredible journey, think about perry going to the north pole, think about alnmondson going to the south pole, think about joshua slocum who sailed around the world, solo around the world, think about hillary

climbing mt. everest. these are the kinds of people that matt stands alongside of in sailing solo. you can go to the web site, www.solotheamericas ompleght sailing all the way around by the north pole, all the way almost down to the south poacialtion up to america again nonstop, never touched land, and never stopped. did it so low, in a small 27-foot sail boat. one of the greatest adventures of our time, of any time. so we're -- i'm happy that he's back and he's safe, and will be back on dry land this saturday. mr. president, as chair of the health, education, labor, and pensions committee, i have come to the floor on a number of occasions over the last dwreer express my concern about the distressed state of the american middle class. i do so again today in order to share with my colleagues my ideas for how we can rebuild the

middle class in america and make our economy work for those who work for a living. over the past year while washington has been gripped by a fear of budget deficits, i gave speech after speech here on the senate floor pointing out an even more serious deficit, the deficit of vision in washington, our failure to confront the current economic crisis with the boldness that earlier generations of americans summoned in times of national challenge. by this economic crisis i don't just mean the current economic downturn. instead, i'm referring to the economic crisis that has taken place over the last 30 to 40 years that have resulted in a shrinking middle class, rising inequality in our country, a weakened economy, and a sense that the american dream is slipping away. mr. president, this is the fundamental challenge, the fundamental challenge facing our

nation today: rebuilding the american middle class. altogether i have now chaired five "help" committee hearings on the crisis of the middle class. last year my state staff visited all 99 counties in iowa to gain greater insight into the challenges facing working americans. during these events i have heard from a diverse array of americans, including economists, employers, union members, community college students, and everyday, hardworking, middle-class families. not surprisingly, we found that more and more people are struggling just to make ends meet. their scwobs are insecure. their scaisks and pensions have shrunk. they see an economic system that is rigged in favor of the very rich and the powerful. at a hearing last june i invited amanda gruble, a social worker in her local iowa school district, to share her story with the "help" committee.

during her testimony, she define what had it means to be in the middle class in this way. and i quote her, "my husband and i didn't have dreams of great wealth. we never expected to have summer homes or expensive cars or vacations on the riviera. we chose careers that inspire us, knowing that we would never make six-figure salaries. all we have ever wanted is security and a little comfort, to know our bills are paid, our needs are met, that we can have a get-away every now and then, that our children can pursue higher education without the burden of student loan debt, and that someday we can retire and enjoy our final years together in the way we choose. when i think back over our adult lives, it strikes me that we did everything we were always told to do in order to have the american dream. we did everything all the

experts said we should do, and yet we're still struggling. when you work as hard as we have and still sometimes scrape for the necessities, it really gets you down. that was amanda. unfortunately, those of us in washington haven't listened enough to people like amanda. people like amanda don't feel this way because of factors like globalization or technology change. indeed harnessing those developments have helped to make the u.s. economy the envy of the world. instead, the crisis of the middle class can be traced largely to unwise policy choices made here in washington. for starters, for the last three decades, too many here in washington have bought in to the failed economic doctrine that says if we give more and more to the very wealthy and to the largest corporations, then prosperity will somehow trickle

down to the rest of us. that idea has utterly failed to work for the american people. it's time we got back to policies that are premised on hour our economy really works. a strong, vibrant middle class with money in their pockets to spend drives the economy forward because, very simply, businesses won't make things if they don't have any customers. as mr. nick hanhour, put it in a recent "business week" column -- "rich business people like me don't create jobs. middle-class consumers do. and when they thrive, u.s. businesses grow and profit." end quote. so what is the best way forward? instead of the slash-and-burn approaches of the past year and the failed economic doctrine of the past few decades, we need a way forward that rebuilds the

middle class by reflecting the hopes and the can-do spirit of the american people. people like amanda grub le. to meet the great challenge of our day, restoring and revitalizing the middle class. after having a number of hearings last year, as i said, and countless people throughout my state, i recently introduced sweeping legislation called the rebuild america act. it now has a number, senate file 2252. this legislation provides comprehensive solutions to rebuilding the american middle class. some will say it's too bold and too ambitious, but i disagree. the sweep of this legislation is commensurate with the extraordinary challenge that it addresses. it aims to rebuild the middle class in four broad ways: creating jobs, investing in the future, helping families and bringing balance back in to our

tax system. let me touch briefly on those four principles. one, we need to create jobs for all americans, including for groups of americans such as people with disabilities who have been especially hard hit by the recent recession. with the official unemployment rate over 8% and some unofficial measures as high as 17%, the middle class will continue to lose ground. when jobs are scarce, workers don't have the leverage to demand fair treatment, paychecks stop growing or even fall. and even people who are fortunate enough to have a job become fearful of losing it. people have less discretionary money in their pockets or the confidence to spend it. in the absence of robust consumer demand, businesses choose not to expand or invest. secondly, we must invest in our future.

not only will investing in our infrastructure help create badly needed jobs in the short term, these investments will late groundwork for sustained economic growth in the long term. my bill tackles this challenge head on by providing for robust new investments in america's infrastructure, including, of course, time-tested things like roads and bridges, energy-efficiency systems, also rebuilding and modernizing our public schools, rebuilding our manufacturing base in america. in addition, there's the investment in the human infrastructure, helping to prepare great teachers, providing better pathways to good jobs for workers, job retraining so that the old jobs that are now gone, that we can now take those workers and retrain them for future jobs to ensure that current and future workers will have the education and skills they need to be successful and to be in the middle class.

three, we need to do more to help middle class families succeed. mr. president, it's time for us in washington to wake up to the harsh reality that middle-class families have been living in for the last few decades. unfortunately, the programs and policies that help create the middle class have been either intentionally discarded or fallen victim to neglect. for example, the real value of the minimum wage has declined for the last four decades, dragging down all workers' paychecks. in 1968, that was the high point. that was when someone making the minimum wage had the highest purchasing power ever since we ever had a minimum wage. in 1968. since that time it has fallen in real terms. if in fact the minimum wage had kept pace just with inflation

from 1968 to today, the minimum wage would be slightly over $10.30 an hour. right now the federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour. so think of it this way. the same class of people that was making the minimum wage in 1968 is basically the same class of people making the minimum wage today. young people, people -- minorities, people in businesses that are just starting out, people that that aren't highly educated, new immigrants to this country, for example. the same kind, people that were making the minimum wage then are the same kind of class of people making the minimum wage today.

but think about it this way. that same class of people today -- today -- has a 30% less buying power than that same class had in 1968. 30% less. 30% less. think about that. that same person making the minimum wage today is making 30% less than his or her counterpart in 1968. so what my bill does is basically over a stage raise that minimum wage and then peg it to inflation in the future so we don't have that erosion again in the future. also, families, workers have seen basic rights, such as the right to organize and to bargain collectively eroded. it's harder and harder and harder all the time for people to organize and join a union in this country. the right to overtime pay has

been eroded under the fair labor standards act. so a lot of these things have been eroded by misguided regulations, bad court decisions and years of lax enforcement. the fourth part of the bill, it is essential that we put balance back into the economy through a balanced tax system that will help reduce our deficit, get our fiscal house in order over the longer term. to do so, among other provisions, my bill includes a tax on wall street trades, often called a financial transaction tax. at just three cents per $100 in trade value, that would raise $350 billion over ten years. again, you might say, well, is this something new? now, we had a transaction tax, a financial transaction tax in this country until 1966. and it was done away with. well, that's, again, one of the reasons why we've seen this

terrible inequality grow in our society where more and more of our wealth goes to fewer and fewer people. a small transaction tax would do two things. it would raise money. it would also discourage a lot of the spinning and the churning of transactions on wall street whereby some of these traders make hundreds of thousands of dollars a day, megamillions of dollars a year, but not really adding much to our economy at all. so a small transaction tax. in addition, the bill requires high-income taxpayers to pay their fair share. well, sort of like the buffett rule that the present occupant of the chair, the distinguished senator from rhode island championed the other day that we voted on here. it got voted down on party lines. i don't understand this, that we can't even ask those who have the most in our society to pay

their fair share. well, just because we lost the vote on the senate floor the other day doesn't mean we have to give up on it. i'm sure that the senator from rhode island, senator whitehouse, is going to continue his efforts, as he always has, to make sure that we have more fairness in our tax system. and so, that's in our bill also. restoring balance and fairness to the tax code is critical to the success of our economy, and it's critical to the rebuilding of the middle class in america. so in sort of broad strokes, that is my rebuild america act, s. 2522. mr. president, over the last few years the american people have heard from too many of us politicians and talking heads that our country's broken, that we can no longer afford the investments that make for a strong middle class.

you know, that's sort of the premise of the ryan budget in the house. cut and slash. the premise is one that has been in favor around this town for far too long, and here's the premise. the premise is that we're broke. the united states of america is broke, and we can't afford to do these things. this is false. the united states of america remains a wealthy nation. we are the wealthiest nation in the history of the world. we have the highest per capita income of any major country. so one might reasonably ask if we're so rich, how come we're so broke? think about that. if we're the richest nation in the history of the world, if we have the highest per capita

income of any major country, then why can we not afford to invest in our infrastructure, invest in better teachers, make sure our kids get a good education without a mountain of debt on their heads? why can't we invest in making new energy systems that are cleaner and more productive for the future? we can. we can do these things. the problem is not that we're broke. the problem is that because of actions or inactions by this government over the last 30 years, america's wealth has not been spread among our people in a reasonable way. the wealth has been concentrated in fewer and fewer and fewer and fewer hands. and the middle class in the meantime has been decimated. i submit there can be no sustainable economic recovery to america, no sustained return to

fiscal balance without the recovery of the middle class. that is exactly the aim of the rebuild america act. is it comprehensive? yes. is it ambitious? of course. but it rises to the challenge of our time. so i urge my colleagues to join me in advancing this legislation and doing all we can to restore the american middle class. it is the fundamental challenge of our time. mr. president, with that, i yield the floor and note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll.

the presiding officer: the senator from new hampshire. mrs. shaheen: mr. president, is the senate in a quorum call? the presiding officer: the senate is in a quorum call mrs. shaheen: the united states postal service is a fundamental part of our nation's history and what it means to be an american. it was talked about in our constitution. nationwide the postal service employs 550,000 americans and it serves as a linchpin in an industry that contributes over $1,000 to our economy. i've heard from a number of businesses in new hampshire, one goss international, which is in a neighboring community and has been a major competitor in the area of printing presses and now

they're making wind turbines or parts of wind turbines. mrs. shaheen: they are very concerned, as is a company called polaris direct about what's going to happen to our postal service and are we in congress going to resolve this issue. in new hampshire, the postal service provides thousands of jobs as well as a critical economic connection for many of our rural communities who are not -- often in some areas of new hampshire not connected to the internet so they don't have high-speed broadband, and the postal service is their connection with much of outside commerce and community. today, as we know, the postal service is facing a fiscal crisis that threatens its future. we should all be concerned about draconian proposals that seek to slash 220,000 good jobs, close

3,700 post offices and make mail delivery slower across america. the bill before us today attempts to avoid the worst of these outcomes. i want to commend all of the bipartisan managers of this legislation, senator lieberman, senator collins, senator carper for their tireless work to save the united states postal service. i was proud to join a group of 28 senators who pushed for important changes to the bill in an attempt to better protect rural post offices, to develop new sources of business and maintain the reliable and timely service americans have come to expect. some of these changes have been incorporated into the legislation, and i think they are an important step toward improving it. now, with that said, i think we have more work to do and i know that there are a lot of people in this body who would like to see us debate a number of amendments related to the bill and try and make changes to improve the work that's already

been done. rural communities rely on the postal service, and i think congress and this senate should improve the legislation to make sure that people have a real voice in the process when their post office is threatened. but if we don't act, the postal service could go bankrupt or it could be forced to make devastating service cuts, and so while this legislation isn't perfect, i would urge my colleagues to vote for cloture tomorrow so that we can consider relevant amendments and we can make sure that this important american institution, the u.s. post office, is saved for all of americans who so desperately need the services that it provides. thank you very much, mr. chairman. or mr. president. i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from georgia. mr. isakson: mr. president, i would ask unanimous consent to address the senate as if in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. isakson: mr. president, i rise today to speak to the

senate but in a broader sense to the american people and in particular the young people of america. an internet listing, posting went viral a few ekes ago by a group called invisible children. it was about joseph kony in uganda and the central african republic and the congo and the south sudan. as a member of the africa subcommittee of the foreign relations committee and one who travels to africa quite frequently, i have just returned from a trip to meet in part with our special forces and u.s. advisors that have been deployed in those countries to help assist in the search for joseph kony. i would like to share with the senate the information about what america is doing, what joseph kony has done and how important our commitment is to central africa to see to it that this evil man is brought to justice. joseph kony is under indictment by the international criminal court today, but for 26 years he has roamed central africa with his lord's resistance army, killing, raping and maiming the

african people. by some estimates, joseph kony has abducted 66,000 children into his army or young women into sex slaves. he has displaced over two million africans into camps, and they have had to be displaced because their villages were destroyed, their families were disrupted, and he has killed untold tens of thousands of people. he is by all stretch and all imagination an evil person. invisible children's posting which went viral on the internet has caught the attention of america's youth because they have seen the damage that's been done to the carruth of africa, and they want to know what is it america's doing. and i'm proud today to include in my remarks what america is doing and has been doing even before the posting went viral on the internet and most people didn't know who joseph kony was. our president deployed 100 special advisors into the central african republic, the sudan and uganda about two months before this posting went viral. i met with them in a private

secured briefing, a lot of which i can't talk about but a lot of which i can. because of u.s. technology, u.s. resources and the commitment of these individuals, we're assisting to a much higher level in the intelligence that we're gaining on joseph kony. a lot of people think joseph kony is in uganda. he hasn't been in uganda for five or six years. he is somewhere near the central african republic, a place where it is extremely easy to hide. we thought vietnam had jungles. you haven't seen foliage until you have seen the central african republic, the south sudan and the congo. there is no electricity, no roads, no paths. there are no listening devices. intelligence is all human intelligence. we're fortunate to have great intelligence operatives over in that part of the world. we're great to have great resources over in that part of the world. we're gaining more and more information. i commend our forces also on what they have done in an amnesty program. they drop leaflets in villages that are known to house some of

kony's workers and cronies. they drop leaflets that offer amnesty for anyone that leaves kony, comes back to their village and gives information to our forces and the ugandan army and the african union army as to information as to where joseph kony might be. we're getting closer all the time. we're not there yet. thanks to our assistance of foreign-deployed individuals, thanks to the commitment of our country and thanks to the commitment of uganda, the democratic republic of the congo, the central african republic and the new country, the south sudan, we're going to close that noose and we're going to stay until the job is finished because joseph kony needs to be brought to justice. he is an evil man that has killed far too many, raped far too many and maimed far too many people. africa is too good a friend to the united states of america for us not to offer the assistance necessary. so my message to the american people and our youth is we are doing our job. joseph kony hasn't been caught but we're in pursuit. i want to commend senator kerry, the chairman of the foreign relations committee, senator

coons, the chairman of the africa subcommittee, senator lugar and myself. we are joined together to support legislation that will be introduced in the senate to include joseph kony or information leading to the arrest and quick of joseph kony in our rewards program that we offer mostly now for terrorist capture. that is going to be incentive for more information to be brought forward so the noose will close tighter. it is time for joseph kony to be brought to justice and the united states of america is making every effort to assist in that process in central africa. my other reason for going to central africa is equally important. i was accompanied by members of care. care is a tremendous nongovernmental organization that delivers humanitarian aid, assistance, education, knowledge and technical assistance to countries around the world, but in particular in the nation of africa. it was the second time i traveled with care. the first time was ten years ago to antelope where i saw their outreach in terms of basic education and improvement and

enhancement of educating young muslim women. in this case, i got to see what they are doing firsthand on the border with congo and northern uganda, an area that five or six years ago because of joseph kony had been destroyed, people were displaced, everybody was in hunger, there was a lot of violence. it is now a beautiful village. granted, it's not a village like you and i might know. mud huts with thatched roofs, small enclaves of african citizens eking out an existence in a very difficult part of the world. but because of what care is doing in their project known as the village savings and loan, they are bringing about microeconomics to africa and they are empowering women. the village savings and loan program is a very simple program. it teaches basic economics and capitalism to these villages. groups form together, they are given a strongbox. literally just like the ones that used to be on the stagecoach back in the old lone ranger days. in that strongbox, each of the women will make con tricks of the money that they have into the strongbox, and they get a

passbook savings account just like the president and i used to get when we were in elementary school a long, long time ago. and then they make loans out of that money that they save to other people in the village to start businesses, whether it's making beads, whether it's using the shea tree to make butter or whether it's doing batik cloth or whatever it might be. as those little cottage industries develop, the money they make goes back into this savings and loan to be reinvested in other plans. we met a young lady who was making beads. i bought about 12 strands of them. my wife loves them. my grandkids love them. she makes beadz for a german distributor in europe. it's unbelievable what you can see being developed because of what care is doing. they are empowering african women and african families. they are bringing about the principles of economics that you and i enjoy and appreciate. they are uplifting people who need that uplifting with empowerment so they can be sufficient on their own, so they can rise up economically and

rise up educationally. i also visited with the c.d.c. folks who are delivering health care and better awareness and better testing to identify those with aids to get our retrovirals distributed to those mothers who are pregnant so that their babies can be born without aids and their babies can be born and live a happy life. one of our great challenges now in africa used to be the challenge was what we did with all the children who died because they were born to a mother with aids. now what we do is see what we can do to keep them through their life because they live a normal and happy life, and their mother, although infected with aids because of the retrovirals and the united states technology and the c.d.c. are providing them with a lifetime of drugs and opportunity to live as normal and productive a life as entirely possible. so it was great to go with care and great to see u.s. tax dollars that are deployed and helping uplift a nation, uplift a people, help solve the greatest scourge on the continent which is aids and its spread, and help people to be

able to reinvest in themselves. so care is a great nongovernmental entity in our country that happens to be housed in my state of georgia, that's helping all over the continent of africa, and they are empowering women, they are empowering african citizens, and they are making their plight and their life better, and they are reducing the amount of federal assistance we will provide in years to come because they will be more productive, which is the payback you want to see on foreign assistance dollars when they are invested. and as far as joseph kony is concerned, america knows he's a bad man. america knows he is indicted by the international criminal court. america is making an investment of our intelligence and our manpower to assist the central african public, to assist uganda, to assist the congo and to assist the south sudan to pursue joseph kony until he is captured. he needs to be brought to justice for the evil and the terror he has contributed to the continent of africa. i was proud to go see, mr. president, america's investment of our best, our men and women in harm's way there in africa looking for joseph kony

and providing the assistance necessary to bring him to justice. mr. president, with that said, i yield the floor and note the absence of a quorum -- i don't note the absence of a quorum. i recognize the senator from ohio. the presiding officer: the senator from ohio. mr. brown: thank you, mr. president. i thank the senator from georgia. the senior senator from georgia. i so appreciate senator isakson's comments about international health, and he is lucky enough to represent the centers for disease control which is one of the great organizations in human history that has made such a difference in health care for low-income people in this country and around the world, and frankly not just low-income people but for what we call public health in this country, and few -- few achievements greater than the achievements of public health, whether it's eradicating smallpox internationally or we're both old enough, as the presiding officer may not be quite old enough, but senator isakson and i are old enough to remember kids that we knew from

grade school that were afflicted with polio, and the fear of every parent that their child might get polio, and it's the centers for disease control and the public health system in this country which removed that threat, with the vaccines and all that. i thank the senator from georgia. mr. president, i rise briefly today, for just four or five minutes, to talk about one way that companies in my state grow and create jobs, and that is by selling their products around the world. we know president obama set a goal to double exports from the united states in the next five years. i'm part of the president's advisory council. there is a handful of senators and a few members of the house of representatives who are part of this advisory committee with many of the -- many business leaders in this country, c.e.o.'s of large companies and presidents and c.e.o.'s of small companies, small businesses, too, to advise the president to work on this. earlier today, i joined with fred hochburg who is president

of the export-i am port bank of the united states and irk burkeland president of the ohio manufacturers association in columbus to cause the need to reauthors the export-import bank. ohio has had quicker increases in job growth than other states. we are coming back. our unemployment is now lower than the national average. it's still far too high. there are far too many ohioans who want to work who can't find work. there are far too many ohioans who have jobs but aren't working full time whose pay has been cut or is stagnant. we note the manufacturing sector nationally has gained back some 740,000 jobs since january, 2010. to put that in a little historical perspective. for 12 years in this country, from 1997 into 2010, for 12-plus years, we saw manufacturing job loss in this country every single year from the year before. fewer factories, fewer workers

and manufacturing. but since early 2010, we have seen almost every single month in ohio and across the country we have seen job growth in manufacturing. not enough, it's positive, but we're not clearly out of the woods yet. i fear we take a step back if congress fails to reauthorize the export-import bank. we know that ohio manufacturers, we know that small businesses from zanesville to springfield, from ashtabula to toledo, that small businesses can compete, american manufacturers compete with anyone in the world if there is a level playing field. we know how to make things in ohio. when we stamp made in ohio on a product, it's a sign the item was made with pride by some of the most efficient, progressive companies in the world and some of the best workers in the world. but exporting is tough, especially for small businesses. less than -- fewer than 1% of the nation's 25 million small businesses export their

products. very few small businesses are able to export for a whole host of reasons. i hear from small business owners who want to expand, they want to get access to foreign markets, but they can't secure private financing due to the credit risks associated with some overseas investments. one of the most important resources to help small business and mid sized manufacturers is to boost their exports -- to help them boost their exports is the export-import bank. ex-im's mission is simple. it facilitates exports. it could be tributes to job creation in the united states. it does it through loans, through guarantees, through insurance. it fills in gaps in trade financing at no cost to taxpayers. the private market, the market sometimes doesn't deliver in these situations. the export-import bank can fill in some gaps and help companies that have the ability to grow and export to actually do that. the ex-im bank generates revenue to the u.s. treasury, yet

despite this record of success, exports and jobs are at stake because congress cannot agree to ex-im reauthorization. the ex-im bank's lending authority expires may 31. we know that companies that export products, create jobs, pay higher wages and are more likely to be able to remain in business. export-supported jobs linked to manufacturing already account for an estimated 7%, one out of 14 of ohio's total private sector employment. so one out of 14 ohio workers is linked to export. more than 1/4 of manufacturing workers in ohio depend on exports for their jobs, the eighth among the 50 states. we need to do a better job in ensuring that america's small businesses have access to that global market. the export-import bank helps provide credit that otherwise wouldn't be available to turn export opportunities for businesses into increased jobs, higher wages, increased sales.

in 2011, the bank worked with almost 100 ohio businesses to support more than $400 million in export sales. according to the national association of manufacturers, ex-im supports 290,000 export-related jobs, more than 85% of ex-im's transactions supported small businesses last year. renewing the bank's charter should be a cause that all senators support. just like the 25 times the senate overwhelmingly reauthorized the agency since its establishment in 1934. think about that. since 1934, time after time after time, this body has unanimously or overwhelmingly reauthorized, kept going the export-import bank. teared, for whatever reason, perhaps the same reason that when the presiding officer's buffett rule was on the floor of the senate this week, a number of senators have said no to moving forward. i don't know if it's because the republican leader has said he

wants president obama to fail, i don't know if it's just this rigid philosophy that thinks there is no positive role for government, whether it's the highway bill, whether it's the buffett rule or whether it's the ex-im bank, but we know that the ex-im bank works, it's strongly supported by the chamber of commerce, the national association of manufacturers, the machinists who testified in our committee this week and banking committee. it's supported by all kinds of people that want to see this economy grow. unfortunately, a number of my colleagues think, for whatever reason, that they don't want to move forward on it. this is a matter of american jobs, it's a matter of competitiveness. we face a trade deficit with china, of $295 billion in 2011, meaning we import about $800 million -- every day, we buy about $800 million of goods from china more than we sell to china. president bush the first some years ago said that one billion dollars in exports or imports could be translated into 13,000

jobs. when we have a $295 billion deficit with that one run alone last year, you can see the kind of job loss it means. we know that china's export-import and development bank provide as much as $100 billion in export credits each year. that's three times as many new he can port credits as the u.s. export-import bank does. so we know that even with reauthorization, china still does way more of this than the united states, but we are unilaterally disarming if we allow this may 31 date to come and go in the export-import reauthorization expires. it makes no sense for our manufacturers, for our big companies, for our small companies. it makes no sense for our workers. it makes no sense for our communities that will -- that will all be heard if we don't do that. it's time to end the delay. it's time, mr. president, to reauthorize the export-import bank. i yield the floor, and i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll.

quorum call:

quorum call:

mr. whitehouse: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from rhode island. mr. whitehouse: mr. president, may i ask that the pending quorum call be lifted. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. whitehouse: thank you, mr. president. first i want to thank my colleague, senator cardin, and just recently senator brown of ohio for referencing the highway bill, the state of play on that at this point is that the house has just passed another

extension. we passed an extension back at the end of march that extended the existing highway program to the end of june. and what that will do is cause significant job loss because not knowing for sure what the highway plan will be means that jobs will fall off the list of the departments of transportation around the country. so a further extension to september, which just passed the house an hour ago, makes that situation even worse. the solution to that problem is to make sure that the house and the senate appoint their conferees so that we can goat conference quickly on that bill and get a lasting authorization out. so i want to thank, again, senator cardin for spending some time on the floor this afternoon

on that subject -- earlier today on that subject. and we will keep the pressure on until we actually have a highway authorization as we go through these different procedural hurdles. but the reason i came to speak on the floor right now is to talk about an issue that many in washington would prefer to ignore and that is the climate changes that are being caused by our carbon pollution. nature keeps sending us messages about what is happening out there and in washington we continue to ignore those messages. but they keep on coming. every week for the past 15 months i've distributed in our caucus, as the presiding officer knows, a quick thumbnail summary of the week's climate science news. the stories from this week

include that temperature variations, which relate to the extra energy put into the climate by the warming weather, could lower life expectancies of the "chroniclely" ill. that's one -- the chronically ill. that's one story. another report is a new report from noaa that coral risks extinction due to climate change. more 50 coral species in u.s. waters are likely to go extinct by the ends of the century. and -- by the end of the century. and the expert cited human driven reincreases of carbon dioxide as a driver to causing these extinctions. a third is tree diseases, according to rise by the u.s. forest service. forest diseases are expected to spread more quickly in the western u.s. as climate change warms the regions' forests.

and a fourth is a recent study publish in the journal "nature" which finds that rising carbon dioxide levels drove temperature increases at the end of the last ice age. that at the end of the of last ice age, atmospheric co2 concentrations rose 80 parts per million. over the past 100 years, co2 concentrations have risen roughly 100 parts per million. so the effects are linked very closely to climate. other news is a report in the "providence journal" on march 30 saying the winter's warm air cements have helped drive -- air temperatures have helped drive up water temperatures in the gulf of maine, in line with a continuing trerntiond and the warm waters could result in lobsters molting their shells earlier than usual and algae blooming ahead of usual.

an expert told the paper that the gulf of maine water temperatures have been rising gradually since at leastly 1870's but the increase has been pronounced in the past decade or so. moving from the north to the south, we have professor emeritus orrin h. pilke, a professor of geology at the duke university, who wrote in the "charlotte observer" on march 25 that new peer-reviewed research demonstrates that sea level rise and storm surge elevations could be greater along much of the u.s. coastline than has been predicted. his opinion piece went on to say that north carolina, washington, california, louisiana, florida, and maine have convened sea level rise panels that estimate a sea level rise of three to five feet by the year 2100. a new study has come out from the center for biological diversity confirming the link between massive oyster dieoffs in the pacific north west and

ocean acidification caused by carbon dioxide emissions. the release reports that each day the oceans absorb 22 million tons of carbon dioxide pollution from cars and industry, setting off an unprecedented chemical reaction that since the industrial revolution has made the world's oceans 30% more asidic. just this morning here in the the the senate, senators bingaman and murkowski held a bipartisan hearing on the devastates effects of sea level rise on coastal communities. so it's good that some leaders on both sides of the aisle are starting to talk about the terrible consequences of climate change. however, the special interests who control so much of what goes on around here and who deny that carbon pollution causes global temperatures to increase and deny that melting ice caps will raise our seas to dangerous levels, still have a strong

hold. dr. pilke writing in the "charlotte observer" wrote that the deniers' influence is tragically starting to influence local planning decisions, despite what he called new studies that predict higher than previously predicted sea level rise and storm surge levels in coming decades. he concludes, "preservation of the status quo, including real estate prices, may prevail on our coasts, but in a democratic society such as ours, the state has no right to shield citizens from unpleasant environmental realities." in the face of so much evidence constantly, daily, of a changing climate, we have special interests working overtime in washington to propagate a myth. this myth is that the jury is still out on climate change caused by carbon pollution. so with the jury still out, we don't need to worry about it or even take precautions. this is simply outright false.

virtually all of our most prestigious scientific and academic institutions have stated that climate change is happening and that human activities are the driving cause of this change. in october of 2009, october 21, to be specific, i think all of us in the senate received a letter stating, "observations" -- this is from virtually every leading scientific organization in the country. stating that -- and i quote -- "observations throughout the world make it clear that climate change is occurring and rigorous scientific research demonstrates that the greenhouse gases emitted by human activities are the primary driver. these conclusions are based on multiple independent lines of evidence." and the closer here, "and contrary assertions are

inconsistent with an objective assessment of the vast body of peer-reviewed science." "contrary assertions are inconsistent with an objective assessment of the vast body of peer-reviewed science." so the american association for the advancement of science, the chemical society, geophysical union, institute of biological sciences, meteorological society, society of agronomy, society of plant biologists, botanical society, on and on it goes of the scientific community signed up for this. it is, of course, not just the scientific community that knows that the jury is not, in fact, still out, that knows that, in fact, the verdict is in and that it's time to act. the insurance industry is alarmed about our inaction and has started to take action, holding a press conference with myself and senator sanders not too long ago. marcia mclennon, one of the

largest insurance brokers in the world, called climate change -- quote -- "one of the most significant emerging risks facing the world today." the insurance giant a.i.g. has established an office of environment and climate change to assess the risks to insurers in the years ahead. it's not just the insurance industry. it's our intelligence community. it's our military services. manufacture our electric -- many of our electric utilities, some of our biggest capitalists and investors all recognize that the jury is not still out, that, in fact, the verdict is in and that we should act. unfortunately, governor romney once wrote that, "i believe that climate change is occurring. i also believe that human activity is a contributing factor. under the pressure of the republican primary, he has changed his views and now claims , "we don't know what's

causing climate change on this planet." well, that runs contrary to the evidence. more than 97% of the climate scientists most actively involved in publishing on this issue accept that the verdict is actually in on carbon pollution causing climate change and oceanic changes. 97%. think of that in terms of your own life, if you were relying on expert opinion, if you had a child who was sick and you went to a doctor, and they said, "you know, she's pretty sick and she needs treatment." and you thought, let's be prudent, let's get a second opinion. and on you went and got a third opinion and a fourth opinion. and let's say you were just a wildly determined parent and you went and you got 99 more second opinions so that you had 100 opinions of doctors, and 97 of those 100 doctors said, yep, your child is ill and you need to do something about this? how foolish would you be if you

did not pay attention to the 97% and you allowed the 3% to sway your judgment and not take action to protect your child? well, it looks like governor romney is with the 1% when it comes to the economy for the middle class and he is with the 3% when it comes to the science of carbon pollution. this is really not very debatable stuff. the basic principle that carbon dioxide traps heat in the atmosphere and traps more of it as its concentration increases was determined in 1863, at the time of the american civil war. there is nothing new about this. in the early 1900's, it became clear the chaiption in the amount of carbon dioxide in the air could account for increases and decreases in the earth's temperatures and that carbon dioxide released from man-made

sources, primarily then the burning of coal, would contribute to these changes. this is well-established stuff. and the effects are measurable. over the last 800,000 years, until very recently, the atmosphere stayed within a bandwig of 170-300 parts per million of carbon dioxide. that's the band wig. that's a measurement. not a theory. we can find ancient ice and measure and there are different ways scientist dozen this but it is measurement. since the industrial revolution we have burned carbon-rich fuels also in a measurable way and now we know that we burn up to 7 to 8 gigatons a year. that is a billion metric tons. when you release that enormous amount into the otomost spheerks

it is having a result. we now measure carbon concentrations climbing in the earth's atmosphere. again, a measurement, into the theory. the present concentration exceeds 390 parts per million, so for 8,000 centuries we were in a band wig between 170 and 300 parts per million and in recent years we veered out of that bangdz wig. we're at 390 parts per million and climbing. the increase that we're on has a trajectory, nothing new about ploght trajectories either. children do that in school. soldiers do that in the field. corporation dozen that to plan their businesses. scientist dozen that -- we do this every day. if you follow the trajectory of our carbon pollution, it predicts 688 parts per million at the end of this century, and 1,097 parts per million tend of the next century. those carbon concentrations are not just outside the bounds of

8,000 centuries but of millions of years. and it's coming home to roost, particularly in our oceans, which is a matter of real concern to me as a senator from the ocean state. in april of last year a group of scientific experts came together at the university of oxford to discuss the current state of our oceans and their workshop report stated "human actions have resulted in warming and acidification of the oceans and are now causing increased hypoxia." that's when there's not enough oxygen in the water to sustain life. study of the earth's past indicate thew this athese are the three symptoms associated with each of the previous five mass stings on earth -- exsphinxes on earth. we experienced two mass ocean extinctions. last year at brown university in providence, rhode island,

jessica whiteside publish add study demonstrating that after the earl yish extinction, 251 million years ago, it took 8 million years for plant and animal diversity to return to preextinction levels. and we also know that in the lead-up to those extinctions, scientists have estimated that the earth was emitting carbon into the at moos most sphere of 2.2 in the first year and 1 to 2 gigatons per year respectively. we're current lit releasing at the rate of 7 to gigatons per year. so we are taking some very dangerous chances this our planet. we have very solid information that is the product of measurement and not theory, about the changes that are already under way, and it is a continuing disgrace that in this building and in this chamber we are unable to do anything about this issue because of the

continuing power of a small group of special interests that are controlling the debate, that are interfering with progress, and that are putting us all at risk. mr. president, i taw thank the chair. i yield the floor. i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

mr. moran: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from kansas. mr. moran: mr. president, i ask that the quorum call be lifted. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. moran: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that i be athrowed address the senate as if in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. moran: mr. president, thank you. i'm here this evening to express concern about the developments of the day in which i thought we were going to be addressing the issue of postal reform with the goal of making certain that this senate, this congress makes decisions in short order that would preserve the financial viability, the future of postal delivery and the postal service of the united states, and i'm concerned now because apparently the process has been put in place by which virtually no amendment can be offered to the postal service -- the 21st century postal service act of

2011. on two occasions h occasions i'o proceed to this piece of legislation. it is an important one in my view, the idea of reforming and improving and postponing -- i'm sorry, improving the opportunity for the financial viability of the postal service is pooern to- is important to the country. it matters to the nation. we have an obligation to the united states constitution to provide postal service. it matters in the sense that there are many items that are transported in commerce on an ongoing, daily basis in which the postal service is the method by which that transportation occurs, by which we certainly deliver mail and packages, shipping occurs in the united states as a result of the viability of the united states postal service. it's important, in my view, especially to me as a kansan. one of the things that's pending in the absence of reform, improvements, and financial stability in the postal service

is the potential demise of many rural post offices across kansas and around the country. in my view, and i've expressed this to the postmaster general, the united states postal service on many occasions has made decisions that i thinke think es -- while may save a few dollars reduces the service that the postal service provides and ultimately hastens the day in which the postal service has even more challenges in remaining viable. one of those was the decision by the postal service to close many rural post offices across the country, 130-plus in kansas. we have had attendance at more than 90 of the community meetings that revolve around the potential closing of a post office, and i have expressed great concern both in the committee -- and i serve on the committee on homeland security in which this bill originates -- and during that mark jo and debate, i expressed -- and during that markup and debate, i

expressed concern then and expressed concern on cephalo indications to the post -- on several occasions to the postmaster general that there is no basis on making an intelligent decision on which post office should and should not be closed and whe citizens across kansas and across the country attend one of these meltings, their question is, what can our community do? what can i do to make certain that our post office remains open and we have the opportunity to receive and have mail delivered from here at the united states post office in our community? and so in working with the committee, provisions were added to the 21st century postal service act that create criteria by which these decisions would be made and the community has an opportunity to appeal, should the decision be adverse and those criteria not met. so there, in my view, the senate should not delay any longer addressing the issue of what we do to make certain that the

postal service is and remains viable today and in the future, and it matters, as i say, for series of reasons because especially to me as a kansan who is concerned about what happens to the community, its senior citizens, if there is no longer postal service provided. and i know there are some in the senate and in the country, in the house of representatives, across the counsel who want to -- across the country who want to make sure that the postal service is operated as a business and i support that concept and believe we ought to do the things necessary to improve the business environment by which the postal service conducts its business. and it has to do -- there's a long list of things, some of them are addressed in the legislation that i hope remains pending here in the united states senate. but there's another reason we -- in addition to the need to provide service to americans, that we need to address this issue. i want to make certain that the decisions we make today

eliminate the needed that there ever would be a call upon the taxpayers of the united states to provide taxpayer dollars to support the postal service. and so i'm here this evening to encourage my colleagues but particularly the majority leader to work to find an agreement by which amendments can be offered to this bill so that we don't lyses thlose the opportunity wee this week and next to address this issue of making certain that we make changes to the postal service that allow it to be successful. and i'll concerned that, as i understand it, there is no agreement yet that would allow members of the senate to offer amendments to this legislation. and while this -- the provisions of this bill are important to me and important to kansan, i also recognize the importance of every member of the united states senate to be able to

offer legislation to have debate, to make certain that our rights are protected. i know that particularly as -- in a sense -- a member of the minority, as a republican in the senate, but i know that even more as a member of a minority called rural america. i do not want to lose the opportunity in the united states senate for me to be able to speak on issues that are important to my constituents and to be able to offer amendments to legislation that is important to a minority of americans called rural america. and so what i am troubled by and what i want to see addressed is, we need to address the legislation that's pending. i don't want it to disappear because there is no agreement for members of the senate, all 100 of us, majority and minority, to offer amendments. and so i'm asking that the majority leader work with senators to make certain that their amendments are available for consideration in this

legislation, and don't put me and other senators who care about this legislation in the position of not being able to support moving forward because the rights of some senators have been violated in their ability to offer amendments to this piece of legislation. again, this matters. and the postal service desperately needs our atefntle the american people who are served by the postal service desperately need our attention. and we need to set the stage today in which the taxpayers of the united states are protected from any future calls for support from the united states postal service, and tweendz make certain in that process, as we pursue this legislation, that those who live in rural communities where it is very difficult for the postal service to be financially viable, that their ability to have access to the postal service is not trampled on by the desire to see that only those post offices that are financially viable

individually are the ones that remain. and in fact i would remind my colleagues that the postal rate service commission said we could close 3,700 post offices in the united states and save less than .7% of the money necessary to put the postal service back on financial sound basis. so, mr. president, i thank you for the opportunity to speak tonight. the request, this legislation is important. the concepts represented in it are important to me. but i also know how important it is to make sure that we do not lose our ability to offer amendments on this legislation or legislation in the future. please, mr. majority leader and other senators, please come together to make certain that those rights are protected so that this legislation can be fully considered by the united states senate. mr. president, i notice the lack of a erm quo. the presiding officer: -- mr. president, i notice the lack

of a quorum. the presiding officer: roll payroll. the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: i. quorum call:

quorum call:

quorum call: quorum call:

mr. reid: madam president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the call of the quorum be term made it. -- terminated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask that the senate proceed fired of morning business, senators allowed to speak for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the judiciary committee be discharged from consideration further of s. res. 406. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: senate resolution 406 , commending the achievements and recognizing the importance of the alliance to save energy. and so forth. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection, the committee is discharged and the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motion to reconsider laid on the table, there no be intervening action or debate and any statements be placed in the

record as if read. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i now ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to s. res. 425. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: senate resolution 425, designating april 23, 2012, as national adopt a library day. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding to the measure? without objection. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be laid on the table and if there are any statements related to this matter, they be placed in the record as if read. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to s. res. 426. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: senate resolution 426 426 -- 426, congratulating the lady bears of baylor university and so forth. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding to the measure? without objection. mr. reid: i ask consent that the resolution an an agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the

motion to reconsider is laid upon the table. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: madam president, i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today, the senate adjourn until thursday, april 19, at 9:30 a.m. that following the prayer and pledge, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed expired, and the two for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day. that the senate resume consideration of the motion to proceed to s. 1925 tomorrow, that is the violence against women authorization act. and that following remarks of the two leerkdz the next hour -- leaders, the next hour be equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees, with the majority controlling the first 30 -- the republicans controlling the first 30 and the majority controlling the final 30. minutes. that the filing deadline be 11:00 a.m. on thursday. that the cloture vote with respect to the substitute amendment, as modified and s. 1789, the postal reform bill, occur at 2:15 p.m. on thursday. that is, that we'd have two cloture votes, one with regarding the substitute

amendment number 2000, and as i indicated, s. 1789. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: we're working on an agreement with respect to the postal reform bill. if no agreement is reached, there will be a cloture vote on the substitute amendment at 2:15 tomorrow f. there's no further business to -- tomorrow. if there's no further business to come before the senate, i ask it adjourn under the previous order. the presiding officer: the senate stands adjourned until senate stands adjourned until

ohio really year-to-date to talk about a drop training aimed at helping unemployed americans the skills to find jobs in high demand industries. this is 25 minutes. >> thank you. thank you so much. [applause] thank you. everybody, please have a seat. >> well, hello ohio. it's good to be back here. last time i was here i got my own presidential football hall helm at. i have a feeling i may need it between now and november. it's also great to be back at

loranne community college. i want to thank that wonderful introduction. [applause] from the dwayne i just what his wife to know he gives her all the credit in the world so just in case you are watching she loves you to death. [laughter] i also want to thank the president. >> for holding us here today. i want to recognize my outstanding secretary of labor held us a -- hilda solis. [applause] and think of you for coming. i came here for a simple reason.

in an economy that is so recover from the worst financial crisis and the worst economic crisis of our lifetimes, the work that's going on here couldn't be more important. i need to business owners all the time who want to higher in the united states but they can't always find the workers with the right skills. you've got a growing industries in science and technology and twice as many openings as we have workers that can do the job. that makes no sense. opening a time there still lot of americans including some on the stage for looking for work. so, we've got to do a better job training more people for the skills for the business they are looking for. what i met with manufacturers a while back, they said it's starting to make economic sense

to bring jobs back to ohio, back to michigan, bring jobs back to bill inouye and ali alatas and indiana because even if labor costs are lower, the workers are better here and when you factor in the transportation costs, a lot of times it makes sense to in stores now but that's only going to be true if we can make sure we have workers with higher skills who can manage fancier machinery than folks in other places. and all that sort of community colleges like this one. so i just had a chance to listen to four of your classmates and your little bit about how they got here and where they are headed. dr. dwayne who was at a packaging company is learning how to operate high-tech machinery. and reagan lost her job as an h.r. analyst but is now getting certified in the field of electronic medical records.

david, who in addition to being a truck driver was also a marine so we know he can do the job comegys year to retrain for a higher-paying job and you just heard from bronson who was laid off two years ago and you heard what he said. he was at a dead-end in his life, and this program along with his wife gave him an opportunity cities and be a learning hands on machine after having already done some of the book work. i have to tell you when i meet these folks these folks inspire me. andrea stated the aftermath of them have supportive family members and it's hard being out of work. it's hard especially when you

are having to change jobs, and the resilience the show and the determination, that's what america is about. that is our defining spirit. we don't quite. so the question now is how do we make sure that all of america is expressing the spirit through making sure everybody is getting a fair shot? that's going to be a major debate we have in this country not just for the next few months but the next few years. should we settle for an economy where people do really well and a growing number are struggling to get back. or do we build an economy where people like duenas and andrea and david and bronze and have a chance to get ahead where there are ladders of opportunity and

every but it's a fair shot and everybody does their fair share and is playing by the same set of rules. [applause] this isn't just another one of the well political debate. there is always chatter in washington. folks argue about the sun rises in the east and sets in the west. whether the sky is blue, there's always going to be arguments in washington but this one is different because we are talking about the central challenge of our time. right now we have the competing visions of our future. and the choice couldn't be clearer. let me say the folks on the other side, i sure they're patriots and they are sincere in terms of what they say, but to their theory i believe is long.

i've never believed the government can or should try to solve every problem we get. i believe that the free market is the greatest force for economic progress in human history. i believe that everybody has a personal response of the for their own lives to lead a free goodies got to work hard. nothing is ever handed to us. but also agree with our first republican president a guy named abraham lincoln, who said that through government we should be able to do together what we can't do as well on our own. there's some things we don't do well on our own. that's why we've got a strong military to keep us safe. that's why we have fire departments, because we never know when we might have a fire in our house. that's why we've got public schools to educate our children. that's how we laid railroads and

highways and supported research and technology that's saved lives and helped create entire industries. that's why we have programs like medicare and social security and unemployment insurance, because anyone of us -- i don't care how lucky you are, how rich you are, bless you are coming you could face a lay off or crippling illness or a run of bad luck or a tragedy. folks in ohio know about that. nothing is given. that's why we are helping more community colleges like this one to become community college centers. so folks who are looking for a new job or a better paying job can learn the schools the businesses need right now, and that's good for all of us. investing in a community college just like a new road or highway or broadband lines that go to the communities, these

investments are not part of a grand scheme to redistribute wealth. they've been made up by democrats and republicans for generations because they benefit all of us. that is what leads to a strong, durable economic growth. that's how america became an economic superpower. that's how we built the transcontinental railroad and how we have the best universities and colleges in the world. that's why we have cutting edge research that takes place here and that then gets translated into new jobs and businesses because somebody did the groundwork. we created a foundation for those of us to prosper. somebody gave me an education. i wasn't born with a silver spoon in my mouth. meshaal wasn't, but somebody gave us a chance.

it was like these folks up here are looking for a chance. when you take classes at the community college like this one and learn the skills you need to get a job right away that doesn't just a benefit to, it benefits the company that ends up hiring and profiting from your skills. it makes the entire region stronger economically. it makes this country stronger economically. in this country prosperity doesn't trickle down. prosperity grows from the bottom-up and it grows from a strong middle class out. that's how we grow this economy. [applause] and that's why i'm always confused when we keep having the same argument with folks we don't seem to remember how america was built. they keep telling us if we

weaken the regulations and keep the water clean, protect our consumers, if we just cut a free but these taxes and convert these investments and community colleges and research and health care into the tax cuts especially for the wealthy, that somehow the economy is going to get stronger. in ohio and the rest of the country will prosper. that's the theory. ohio, we tested this theory. take a look at what happened in ohio between 2002 to 2008. it's not like we didn't try. and instead of the faster job growth, we have the slowest job growth in half a century. instead of the broad base prosper become a typical american families of their income fall by about 6%. outsourcing, rampant, holding

financial process all over the place, and instead of strengthening our economy, our entire financial system almost collapsed. we spent the last three and a half years cleaning up after that mess. so of the theory didn't work out so well. maybe they haven't been paying attention but it didn't work out so well. maybe this didn't work so maybe we should try something different. they decided to double down. instead of moderating the view even slightly you now have republicans in washington and running for president, proposing budgets that shower the wealthiest americans with more tax cuts, the folks like me don't need them, we are looking for them.

when you give somebody like me a tax cut this to ways of paying for it, it ads to the deficit meaning it's not pay for or you end up which is what they proposed, gooding investments in education and medical research and clean energy and job-training programs like this one. if these cuts or spread out evenly and 10 million college students, including some of you, but senior financial aid cut by an average of more than a thousand dollars each, thousands of medical research grants for things like alzheimer's and cancer and aids would be eliminated. our investment income and energy holding tikrit dependence on foreign oil, creating jobs here in know how you would be cut buy nearly half. by the time you retire medicare would have been turned into a voucher system but likely wouldn't cover the doctors that

ought to come out of your pocket to get a job training programs like this one would be forced to cut back thousands of americans when blew out on the training surfaces. that's the truth. when you ask the republicans what do you say about that, they say obama is making this up because we didn't specify which cuts we would make. the reason they didn't specify is the new the folks wouldn't like to but if you have to cut a certain amount of money, and they've already said they are not going to cut the defense spending, and they are going with their tax cuts than we have to go to all the other stuff that's left over or add to the deficit and that's just matt that isn't theorizing on my part

we have to do this because the deficit is so bad. we have to deal with the deficit and that means all of us have to make tough choices. but it's one thing to deal with the deficit in a way that is fair and asks everybody to do their fair share in dealing with the deficit as an excuse to do what you want to do anyway. the argument might fly if it were not for the fact there are also proposals to spend $4.6 trillion on lower tax rates on top of the 1 trillion they would spend, tax cuts for people making more than two entered $50,000 a year or more. that's their priorities. they want to give more of a tax break i sound like i love paying taxes. i can afford it. i don't need another tax break. right now companies can't find

enough qualified workers for the jobs they need to to read so programs like this one are training hundreds of thousands of workers with the skills the companies are looking for and it's working and it's going to help america grow. i've seen it. here in lorain county people to graduate from this program have a job three months later. 90%. that is a big deal. [applause] >> why would we want to cut this program to give folks like me a tax cut that we don't need and that the country can't afford? what is the better way to make our economy stronger? give more tax breaks to every millionaire or millionaire in the country or make investments in the research and health care and job training and make investments in bonds bronson and

dwayne and andrea. this is common sense. understand this isn't a redistribution argument or about taking from rich people to give to poor people. it's about us how to get your making investments in the country so everybody has a fair shot. and that will make all of us better off. [applause] nearly every republican voted to block the rule, the budget rules and to make a million dollars or more, i'm not saying you've got a million dollars trial let's say you are a small person to lead a business person and saved and worked after, you know, ten, 20, 30 years of work and save up your nest egg that's what i'm talking of it. you make a million dollars a year coming and we said you should at least pay the same percentage of income tax as middle class families do.

a teacher or bus driver. [applause] and by doing about that helps being able to say to the 90% of the families that need to under $50,000 a year or less, their taxes won't go up. it's been supported by a strong majority of the american people than including nearly half of republicans. a majority of millionaire support. the even come up for votes and refuse to ask the wealthiest upon us to do their fair share meanwhile the republicans in the house signaled their willingness to get the programs like this one that make a difference in people's lives. folks that are trying to get into the middle class, and my point is the middle class sector first enough over the last few

decades. they are having enough trouble. [applause] as i travel around the country, people are not just concerned about their immediate circumstances, they are also concerned about the future and they are thinking, do we make sure america stays ahead and make sure if somebody is willing to work hard they can get ahead and people understand the government is not old answer and if they see taxpayers' money wasted that makes them angry. and they know the government has to be lean and mean and do smart things.