Senate Proceeding on Feb 13th, 2009 :: 5:03:45 to 5:14:35
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5:03:41 to 5:04:02( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: exerts a much greater multiplier effect in terms of the economy than does direct government spending. and finally, the idea that we can spend mon that we don't have on things that we can't afford simply defies logic. mr. president, i'm sorry that this is a missed opportunity both for bipartisanship and an opportunity to actually solve a

5:03:45 to 5:14:35( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Amy Klobuchar
Bill: H.R. 1: American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009

5:04:03 to 5:04:25( Edit History Discussion )

Amy Klobuchar: real problem confronting the american people. i believe there are better ideas available, and those ideas remain available if we simply have the will to embrace them. thank you, mr. president. i would yield the floor. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: who yields time?

5:04:26 to 5:04:46( Edit History Discussion )

Amy Klobuchar: the senator from minnesota. ms. klobuchar: mr. president, i'm honored to be here to speak in favor of the economic recovery plan. yesterday we celebrated lincoln's 200th birthday. as i sat there and listened to the historians talk about abraham lincoln's life, there was one thing that stood out to me, and that was the importance of timing.

5:04:47 to 5:05:08( Edit History Discussion )

Amy Klobuchar: and they talked about when he was there in those very dark days of the civil war and that he had to make a decision. he had to make a decision about whether he was going to sign the emancipation proclamation, freeing the slaves. and he thought about it for awhile. and he knew if it did it at one time, would be too early. if he waited too long, it would be bad.

5:05:09 to 5:05:29( Edit History Discussion )

Amy Klobuchar: he final lip signed the emancipation proclamation. what the historians said yesterday, they said it was very possible if he had done it six months earlier, we would have lost a number of the states. if he had done six months later, we would have lost the momentum that propelled us forward to win the civil war. it reminded me again that timing is everything and that timing matters. and this is a time,

5:05:30 to 5:05:51( Edit History Discussion )

Amy Klobuchar: mr. president, to take action with our economic crisis. this is the time. with each passing day, we get more bad news. another round of layoffs, dropping consumer confidence, increasing debt. just last month we learned that the united states had lost

5:05:52 to 5:06:13( Edit History Discussion )

Amy Klobuchar: 598,000 jobs, in just one month -- the month of january. as the president pointed out, that is basically the equivalent to the total number of jobs the state of that happened in one month in the united states of america. in my home state of minnesota, the unemployment rate rose to 6.9% last month. that is the highest it has been in 20 years.

5:06:14 to 5:06:34( Edit History Discussion )

Amy Klobuchar: and the national unemployment rate is now at it is across the board. great companies -- great companies in my state like target and best buy and ameriprise, trying everything to do the right thing, but they are still having to lay off employees. behind these numbers and statistics are real families. not just a number like 598,000.

5:06:35 to 5:06:56( Edit History Discussion )

Amy Klobuchar: they are real families, people i have talked to across our state, moms and dads that put their kids to sleep and then sit at the kitchen table with their heads in their hands thinking how are we going to make it? wome had gotten a little inheritance from her father. she was going to use it for her daughter's wedding, and now she had to spend it on her

5:06:57 to 5:07:18( Edit History Discussion )

Amy Klobuchar: retirement because it got blown in the stock market. it is important to rember how we got here. our economic crisis is a result of bad decisions on wall street as a result of greed and also the result of a failed economic policy for eight years. there's a diner that used to be down the street from me in minnesota. it was a motorcycle diner and it

5:07:19 to 5:07:39( Edit History Discussion )

Amy Klobuchar: was called betties bikes and buns. there would always be a bunch of motorycycles parked in front. they had a sign in the window that said betty's bikes and buns where lies become legends. you look athe past eight years. we were told by the past administration that they would create jobs. last month, the last month of this administration, the past administration, we lost 598,000 jobs.

5:07:40 to 5:08:00( Edit History Discussion )

Amy Klobuchar: they told us that they would restore fiscal responsibility. well, we went from the budget surplus left by the clinton administration to a record-high budget deficit left by the bush administration. they told us they would reduce that deficit. they didn't do it. where lies become legends.

5:08:01 to 5:08:21( Edit History Discussion )

Amy Klobuchar: the people of this country in this last election said they had enough. they had enough of the lies. they had enough of the legends. they wanted change. they wanted to put a president in that was going to tell them the truth and not sugar coat it, not make a bunch not keep it. if we're going to get out of this crisis, we're not going to be able to rely on the ideas

5:08:22 to 5:08:42( Edit History Discussion )

Amy Klobuchar: that got us here, as other side argued. we need a new direction, and that is what in bill offers, mr. president. it's not a perfect bill, but it is the first step to jolting this economy back on direction. the american recovery and reinvestment act will skwrufrpb start our economy -- jump-start our economy in the near term by creating jobs.

5:08:43 to 5:09:04( Edit History Discussion )

Amy Klobuchar: but it's also going to give the people of this country something to show for their money. the legislation provides economic assistance aimed directly it provides working families, sma businesses, and seniors. it gives critical support to states and communities so they can ensure a safety net for families hurt by the economic downturn.

5:09:05 to 5:09:25( Edit History Discussion )

Amy Klobuchar: and it will save, create 3.5 million jobs. in my state of minnesota, the projections are that this bill ll create 66,000 jobs. that the economic recovery bil could create as many as 91,000 jobs in minnesota by 2010. additionally, it will provide a tax cut to 95% of working

5:09:26 to 5:09:46( Edit History Discussion )

Amy Klobuchar: families and offer additional unemployment benefits to so many of the people in our state who have lost their job this legislation will put americans back to work building bridges, building roads, building schools. that's what this legislation is about. the legislation invests 6

5:09:47 to 5:10:07( Edit History Discussion )

Amy Klobuchar: billion in infrastructure and science, roads, bridges, highways, transit systems. the federal highway administration estimates for every billion of highway spending, it creates nearly 35,000 jobs. we know a little bit about the need to invest in infrastructure in my state. we had a right in the middle of the

5:10:08 to 5:10:29( Edit History Discussion )

Amy Klobuchar: mississippi river, six blocks from my house. as i said that day, a bridge just shouldn't fall down in the middle of america. not a six-lane highway, not a bridge six blocks from my house, not a bridge that my daughter drives with me and my husband every day when we go to wor when we go visit our friends. it shouldn't have happened. the federal highway administration estimates that

5:10:30 to 5:10:51( Edit History Discussion )

Amy Klobuchar: more than 25% ofhe nation's 600,000 bridges are either structurally deficient or functionally obsol that is the good thing about this bill, mr. gives us those immediate short-term jobs but it is going to give us sometng to show for it. years later when this economy running again we're going to have the good bridges, the good rail, the internet.

5:10:52 to 5:11:12( Edit History Discussion )

Amy Klobuchar: this plan will also create jobs by investing 3 billion in homegrown renewable energy, creating new energy jobs across the country. as i've traveled across my state, i've seen the possibilities. i've seen the l i've seen the wind turbine farms. you know, when we had the information technology revolution, the i.t. revolution,

5:11:13 to 5:11:33( Edit History Discussion )

Amy Klobuchar: mr. president, it created jobs. a lot of those jobs were for people that had graduate degrees and ph.d.'s. they happened to be in certain parts of the country. that's what's great about this e.t. revolution. we've had experts testify before our environmental committee a they told us that the e.t. revolution will create not just those ph.d. jobs and graduate

5:11:34 to 5:11:55( Edit History Discussion )

Amy Klobuchar: student jobs. they will create jobs for working people, building those wind turbines, working on those solar panels, putting in those lines for that electricity grid. it is jobs across the demographic spectrum of this country. it is green helmet jobs. not

5:11:56 to 5:12:16( Edit History Discussion )

Amy Klobuchar: finally, i want to highlight the billion this plan contains for broadband -- that's internet -- and for telecommunications infrastructure. you know, when president roosevelt in 1935, when he looked at this country he knew there was a problem. only 12% of american farms had electricity. there we were in the middle of the depression, only 12% of

5:12:17 to 5:12:38( Edit History Discussion )

Amy Klobuchar: american farms had elericity. did he put his head in the sand and say times are bad, we're not going to do anything? no. he said let's invest. let's invest in some jobs and let's invest in making things better for people so we can get this economy moving again. you know what? 15 years later because of rural electrification we had about 75%

5:12:39 to 5:12:59( Edit History Discussion )

Amy Klobuchar: of the farms with electricity. we went from 12% to 75% in 15 years. that's what government action will do when it's done right. in so many counties in my state, to go to the present day, we have internet service but it is too slow or too expensive. this country has gone from fourth in the industrialized

5:13:00 to 5:13:21( Edit History Discussion )

Amy Klobuchar: world for internet service subscribership to 15 in just eight years. how are we going to compete? how are we going to compete with countries like japan and india if we're going downhill, if we're nose diving when it comes to internet service? this job, this bill puts over billion in infrastructure for internet. in these tough economic times,

5:13:22 to 5:13:42( Edit History Discussion )

Amy Klobuchar: broadband internet deployment creates jobs. not only direct creation of jobs in the technology center, but also the creation of even more indirect employment opportunities by access to the internet. i want these jobs to go to lanesborough, minnesota neff india or japan. i want them to be in our

5:13:43 to 5:14:05( Edit History Discussion )

Amy Klobuchar: country. this recovery plan offers an economic mr. president. tax cuts that will promote more consumer and business spending by providing relief to middle-class families, small businesses and seniors. second, federal spending that will create jobs and strengthen the economy with investments and transportation, renewable energy

5:14:06 to 5:14:27( Edit History Discussion )

Amy Klobuchar: and high-speed internet. mr. president,he american people, they're tired of the lies and -- the presiding officer: the senator's time has expired. ms. klobuchar: -- mr. president, if i could have 30 more seconds. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. klobuchar: theyre tired of the lies and legends of these last eight years. they want action. they want the tru. we literally can't afford to wait any longer to pass something. as president obama recently said, the time for talk is over.

5:14:28 to 5:14:35( Edit History Discussion )

Amy Klobuchar: the time for action is now. if we don'tct, a bad situation will become dramatically worse. this is our time.