Senate Proceeding on Feb 13th, 2009 :: 6:22:10 to 6:27:55
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6:22:06 to 6:22:27( Edit History Discussion )

Bernard Sanders: against it. we have to stand up on something and this is a bill we should stand up on. i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from -- mr. chambliss: i'd recognized for unanimous coent. i understand we're going back and forth. i would ask consent that sanders be recognized for up to

6:22:10 to 6:27:55( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Bernard Sanders
Bill: H.R. 1: American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009

6:22:28 to 6:22:51( Edit History Discussion )

Bernard Sanders: five minutes, senator coburn be recognized for up to 30 minutes and i be recognized for 7 minutes following that. and if a democrat comes in, wants to speak between senator coburn and myself, that they be allowed to do so. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection, so ordered. the senator from mr. sanders: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, my sense of history is a little bit different than my friend, good

6:22:52 to 6:23:13( Edit History Discussion )

Bernard Sanders: i was under the recollection that george w. bush was president for the last eight years. my recollection was that the republicans controlled the house and the senate for six of those eight years. my recollection is that during the americans slipped out of the middle class and went into poverty.

6:23:14 to 6:23:34( Edit History Discussion )

Bernard Sanders: my median-family income for middle-class workers -- middle-class families declined by over , yes, the wealthiest people in the country did very, very well under president bush, but that ordinary people struggled to

6:23:35 to 6:23:56( Edit History Discussion )

Bernard Sanders: keep their heads above water. mr. president, the bill that we are addressing not perfect. i would have written it different. i suspect everybody here would have written it different. but what it does do is that in the midst of the greatest economic crisis this country has faced since the great

6:23:57 to 6:24:17( Edit History Discussion )

Bernard Sanders: begin to address the unmet needs of the american people, and we begin marching forward to create the millions of jobs that this cotry desperately needs. most importantly, we begin the process of moving america in a very different direction so that in fact this country does not

6:24:18 to 6:24:39( Edit History Discussion )

Bernard Sanders: fall into a great depression from which it would take us years and years and tremendous human suffering to dig our way out. mr. president, what this legislation does is says that after years of neglect, let us create millions of good-paying

6:24:40 to 6:25:00( Edit History Discussion )

Bernard Sanders: jobs by rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure. in the state of vermont, our bridges need work. our roads need work. our water systems need work. that's true all over this country. let us put people to work rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure, and that is what this legislation does. mr. president, for decades now

6:25:01 to 6:25:23( Edit History Discussion )

Bernard Sanders: people have been saying what a terrible shame it is, how silly it is that we import every single year hundreds of billions of dollars of oil from foreign countries. how silly it is. well, finally we are beginning -- beginning -- to address that absurdity. we are saying now and we're investing in energy efficiency.

6:25:24 to 6:25:45( Edit History Discussion )

Bernard Sanders: we are investing in wind, solar, geothermal, biomass, sustainable energy. let's end the talk of moving us in a new energy direction. let's i that america in fact c energy-independent. mr. president, my republican friends over the years have said

6:25:46 to 6:26:06( Edit History Discussion )

Bernard Sanders: what we need to breaks to the wealthiest people in this country. in fact, right now -- today -- despite the fact that we have the most unequal distribution of wealth and income of any major country, the republican leadership today says let's repeal the estate tax. mr. president, do you know that if we did as the republicans

6:26:07 to 6:26:29( Edit History Discussion )

Bernard Sanders: wanted and repealed tax completely, we would provide trillion in tax breaks to the wealthiest .3% millionaires and billionaires all. not one person in the middle class would gain one nickel from that effort. trillion for the top .3%. and then they come to the floor of theenate and they say what

6:26:30 to 6:26:51( Edit History Discussion )

Bernard Sanders: a terrible thing, you're investing 00 billion rebuilding america, creating 3.5 million jobs, giving millions of middle-class and americans tax breaks. what a bad idea it is. you shouldn't do that. we shouldn't invest 00 billion rebuilding america. we should give trillion to the top .3%.

6:26:52 to 6:27:13( Edit History Discussion )

Bernard Sanders: that is the contrast in terms of how they wan us want to go. mr. president, what this bill does is not only begin the process of rebuilding our infrastructure, not only b the process of moving us away from fossil fuel and foreign oil, but it also understands, is that middle-class families can't afford to send their kids to college. so we're putting a significant

6:27:14 to 6:27:34( Edit History Discussion )

Bernard Sanders: sum of money in expanding the pell grant program. this bill understands that in the hard economic times, when millions of our fellow americans have lost their jobs, hunger in america is a real so we're putting money into food stamps. we're putting money into emergency homeless shelters, so

6:27:35 to 6:27:57( Edit History Discussion )

Bernard Sanders: that those among us, those least among us are protected. working-class and middle-class families can't afford child care. we're putting billions helping them get the child care they nee need and creating jobs in that area as well. mr. president, it is an 800-page bill. it ain't perfect. everybody knows that.