Senate Proceeding on Feb 13th, 2009 :: 3:41:10 to 3:51:55
Total video length: 9 hours 27 minutes Stream Tools: Stream Overview | Edit Time

Note: MetaVid video transcripts may contain inaccuracies, help us build a more perfect archive

Views:405 Duration: 0:10:45 Discussion

Previous speech:

Next speech:

3:41:06 to 3:41:26( Edit History Discussion )

Roger F. Wicker: responsibly. and with accountability. the presiding officer: your time has expired. ms. murkowski: my exer have not done this with this stimulus p is that we have not done this with this stimulus package. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the chair recognizes the senator

3:41:10 to 3:51:55( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Roger F. Wicker
Bill: H.R. 1: American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009

3:41:27 to 3:41:47( Edit History Discussion )

Roger F. Wicker: from mississippi. mr. shelbmr. wicker: mr. president, as members can see from the debate that we've h today and throughout the past couple of weeks, almost everyone in this senate and in the house of representatives agrees on the need for congress to be working

3:41:48 to 3:42:09( Edit History Discussion )

Roger F. Wicker: with our new president on a stimulus plan to jump-start the economy. we have people in our home states that are hurting. 600,000 jobs lost last month acss our country. these facts underscore the need for something to be done to strengthen our economy. so we're all in agreement on that basic premise.

3:42:10 to 3:42:31( Edit History Discussion )

Roger F. Wicker: there's a great deal of good will out there in the country for our new president. and i want to commend president obama for making the economy his main focus. i also want to commend publicly stating that democrats don't have a monopoly on good ideas. the president said, republicans

3:42:32 to 3:42:54( Edit History Discussion )

Roger F. Wicker: have good ideas also, and he wanted to include them in his stimulus plan p. now, that is not what happened when house democrats met behind closed doors several days ago to write this bill. and it is not what has happened throughout the process.

3:42:55 to 3:43:17( Edit History Discussion )

Roger F. Wicker: republicans responded to the president's call. we came forward. we came to this floor. we talked to our constituents back home. we stood before every television camera that would film us. we talked tovery journalist we could find. and we've discussed our ideas with the american people.

3:43:18 to 3:43:39( Edit History Discussion )

Roger F. Wicker: we -- we presented ideas that i believe could have turned this economy around. our ideas focused, first, on getting the housing market out of the gutter. the housing problem is what got us where we currently are, and it should be where we begin in turning our economy around.

3:43:40 to 3:44:00( Edit History Discussion )

Roger F. Wicker: also relief formericans, working people, and for those people who create over half the jobs in this country, our nation's small businesses. additionally, our plan for targeted infrastructure investments with clear economic development purposes, in addition to putting an emphasis

3:44:01 to 3:44:22( Edit History Discussion )

Roger F. Wicker: on priorities like early investment in military equipment and facilities. items we know will be funded in the future but would create increased jobs focused on them now. just as importantly, the

3:44:23 to 3:44:44( Edit History Discussion )

Roger F. Wicker: republican idea that i supported would have stimulated our economy at half the cost of the plan we're considering today. and that's not just my opinion. that's the opinion of a lot of very well-considered democrats in this town. three days ago the senate cast

3:44:45 to 3:45:07( Edit History Discussion )

Roger F. Wicker: one of the most expensive votes in states of america. that 35 billion bill, which actually cost .2-plus trillion when you add in the cost of interest, has been given, at best, a small haircut.

3:45:08 to 3:45:28( Edit History Discussion )

Roger F. Wicker: the bill before us is being presented to the american people today at a cost of 89 billion still in the neighborhood of .1 trillion to .2 trillion when one adds the cost of the debt service.

3:45:29 to 3:45:50( Edit History Discussion )

Roger F. Wicker: in order to reach the current number, this so-called "compromise" cut much of the tax relief geared toward job creation and stimulating the housing market. in order to keep in place spending for slow, unending and noncreating government programs.

3:45:51 to 3:46:11( Edit History Discussion )

Roger F. Wicker: as "the washington post" reported yesterday morning, this final product "claims many coauthors including house liberals who saw a opportunity to secure new social spending." and to take advantage of that

3:46:12 to 3:46:32( Edit History Discussion )

Roger F. Wicker: opportunity they did, indeed. it now appears that the majority leadership in the house and senate have taken a bad bill and made it worse. two popular items -- one republican and one democrat -- added to the senate bill on the floor have been dropped from the final version is replaced with weaker alternatives that are

3:46:33 to 3:46:53( Edit History Discussion )

Roger F. Wicker: less likely to work to stimulate home sales and automobile sales. the first is the isakson amendment which was so widely agreed upon in this chamber it was approved by a voice vote. it went right to the housing problem and provided a 5,000 tax cdit to all home buyers a concept which has worked in the

3:46:54 to 3:47:14( Edit History Discussion )

Roger F. Wicker: past in the united states of america. yet the final conference report reverifies back to the house-passed proposal providing much less money and ,000 credit, and limits the provision to first-time home buyers. we need to encourage home buying by every american who is credit

3:47:15 to 3:47:36( Edit History Discussion )

Roger F. Wicker: worthy. this provision doesn't get the b done. the mikulski amendment offered by our democrat, our democratic colleague from maryland, also had wide bipartisan support. it passed this chamber by a vote of 71-26, mr. president. it has been dropped in favor of

3:47:37 to 3:47:58( Edit History Discussion )

Roger F. Wicker: a weakened alternative. the plan now allows new car buyers to deduct from their federal taxes the sales tax they paid on a new car. but the mikulski provision that would have also allowed them to duct interest on their car loans was stripped. the mikulski amendment would have helped struggling u.s.

3:47:59 to 3:48:19( Edit History Discussion )

Roger F. Wicker: automakers and auto dealers get buyers in the show room, and help move cars off our lots and help protect then dangered automobile industry jobs. and like the isakson amendment, it was, unfortunately, removed from this final package. so while the conferees tinkered around the edges making this

3:48:20 to 3:48:41( Edit History Discussion )

Roger F. Wicker: bill worse, we stand here today debating a bill that will add over trillion to the national credit card. mr. prident, i've said it before in this debate and i'll say it one more time: trillion is a terrible thing to waste but that's exactly what this bill does.

3:48:42 to 3:49:02( Edit History Discussion )

Roger F. Wicker: this bill is full of bad decisions that will take americans decades to pay for. much has been made during this debate by me and by many of my colleagues about how much trillion is. i think we well established that this is a staggering amount of money and, again, mr. president,

3:49:03 to 3:49:23( Edit History Discussion )

Roger F. Wicker: this is the most expensive piece of legislation ever passed in the history of our republic. last september, congress approved the 00 billion wall street bailout. that came on top of

3:49:24 to 3:49:45( Edit History Discussion )

Roger F. Wicker: approximately 00 billion-plus early in the year in the form of rebate checks. i think the american people have the right to ask of that 00 billion and then the 00 billion -- almost trillion right there and certainly more than trillion when you add

3:49:46 to 3:50:06( Edit History Discussion )

Roger F. Wicker: the debt service -- what did we get? what did the taxpayers get? what did the american public get for that unbelievably expensive expenditure o taxpayer funds last year? a worsened economy. that is what we've gotten. we certainly didn't get the economic boost that was

3:50:07 to 3:50:27( Edit History Discussion )

Roger F. Wicker: promised. in an "wall street journal" it was noted that the congressional budget office estimates the 2009 deficit will reach 8.3% of the economy a number that does not include the stimulus or the tarp bailout funds.

3:50:28 to 3:50:49( Edit History Discussion )

Roger F. Wicker: we know that after this is enacted -- and it does appear that the proponents of this conference report have the votes to move it to the president's desk -- we know that another very expensive financial package wille forthcoming from the administration in a matter of days. so what does this mean for people across america?

3:50:50 to 3:51:12( Edit History Discussion )

Roger F. Wicker: each household now owes more than 00,000o pay for the debt we alrea have not including the additional debt that is coming. senators need to ask themselves, mr. president: when is enough, enough? when we will begin making hard choices -- the presiding officer: the

3:51:13 to 3:51:34( Edit History Discussion )

Roger F. Wicker: accept has used ten senator accept i ask unanimous consent to consume another 30 seconds. the presiding officer: without objection. a senator: we need to ask ourselves in the senate, within is enough, enough? will welfare begin making hard choices between what will truly work to smulate this economy and what we just would like to

3:51:35 to 3:51:58( Edit History Discussion )

Roger F. Wicker: have but will not work to get the job done? americans expect us to get this right and to take the time necessary to make sure we get this right. this bill fails to hit that mark. i'll vote "no" because we simply cannot afford, again, to make a