Jobs (Cong. Rec., May 10, 2021)
Summary
A page of the Congressional Record, Senate, dated May 10, 2021, at page S2407, carrying floor speeches and a vote. A speaker at the top of the page says the best economic stimulus is a job and argues that the federal unemployment insurance plus-up is keeping workers from filling open positions, and also criticizes H.R. 1, the For the People Act. Mr. Barrasso then criticizes the green energy spending of the 2009 stimulus, citing Solyndra and the Cash for Clunkers program. The vote on whether debate on the nomination of Andrea Joan Palm, to be Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services, shall be brought to a close is recorded as yeas 62, nays 35.
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“Jobs (Cong. Rec., May 10, 2021).”
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May 10, 2021 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S2407
footsteps of the losing candidate for to normal. You cannot walk 10 feet in ees. They gain nothing by poisoning
Governor 2 years before. She lost by Knoxville, TN, for example, without the well with false accusations. Anyone
over 50,000 votes and has never even running into a ‘‘help wanted’’ sign. who has ever run a business knows
bothered to try to prove voting irreg- Normally, this would be an indicator of that.
ularities on that scale. a successful economic comeback, but They also know it is a difficult call
Just ask Georgia Secretary of State here is the problem: Those signs just for these potential employees to make,
Brad Raffensperger, who got into hot are not working, not for retail or res- even when signing bonuses and higher
water from Trump supporters and was taurants or even for the industrial sec- wages are on the table, but therein lies
briefly celebrated by the Democrats for tor with small business manufacturing. the disconnect. While businesses are
defending the integrity of the Georgia Some businesses are getting so des- incentivized to do all they can to at-
election. He will be the first to tell you perate for help that they are offering tract workers, the Federal Government
that attacks on Georgia’s election sys- signing bonuses worth hundreds of dol- has incentivized workers to hold out as
tem started not with Trump but with lars to anyone willing and able to come long as they can before taking the leap
Democrats. back to work. into a new job. It is not their fault, but
Democrats decided to take their par- All year, we have used a particular it is the reality that Congress created.
tisan election attack nationwide. This catchphrase to encourage people to get What we are seeing now isn’t eco-
is what led to H.R. 1, the so-called by their vaccinations. We have said that if nomic stimulus. I would offer that it is
Speaker PELOSI For the People Act. we could only get shots in arms, then an economic stalemate. And if we don’t
The title alone reveals it as a propa- we could get back to normal. Well, as break the ties that bind recovery to
ganda bill. They didn’t take the time it turns out, that was step 1. We are the success or failure of a government
to draft something from scratch since getting the shots in arms. People are program, we will suffer long-term eco-
the purpose was partisan messaging, getting vaccinated. Now it is time for nomic consequences.
not enacting thoughtful reform of our step 2, and that is getting people back As I said, some of my Democratic
election laws. They just cobbled to- to work, getting them to fill these jobs. colleagues fundamentally disagree
gether every election mandate bill in- I have said time and again and I will with that approach. They have made
troduced by a Democrat in recent years say it again: The best economic stim- that disagreement clear to the tune of
into one giant package, taking little ulus there is, the very best economic $6 trillion worth of spending that
care to make sure it all made sense to- stimulus there is, is a job. It is a job. would be like nothing else that we have
gether and without working with local This holds true not just for those pull- ever seen and making it a permanent
election officials to see if it was even a ing in a paycheck but for the busi- part of our economic landscape.
practical approach. nesses that are hiring. They gave us a COVID relief package
Democrats have now reframed the My Democratic colleagues—many of that had almost nothing to do with
same bill in a response to what they them—disagree with me on this point, fighting the pandemic, an infrastruc-
call the big lie, that the 2020 election but I firmly believe the best economic ture proposal that dedicates 60 per-
was illegitimate, but it was actually stimulus is a job. For months, some cent—60 percent of its total pricetag to
written in 2019 to double down on have refused to discuss an end to the job-killing proposals like the Green
Democrats’ own big lie questioning the various emergency relief programs we New Deal fantasies and, most recently,
legitimacy of the various elections a supposedly pro-family proposal that,
all agreed were necessary to help work-
they lost in 2018. if implemented, will in fact replace the
ers and businesses survive the
America’s elections are free and fair.
lockdowns. But they were never meant stability of the nuclear family with a
That is true in Iowa, in Georgia, and
to be permanent programs; they were lifelong tether to the welfare state.
all 50 States. It was true in 2018 and in
there for a time of specific need. Talk about never letting a crisis go
2020, and I am confident it will be true
I think, if some of my colleagues to waste. This isn’t compassion, in my
in 2022.
Foreign adversaries like Russia and took the time to speak to the owners opinion, and it isn’t recovery. This is a
China cast doubt on the soundness of whose businesses are short on labor, power grab. They took the majority,
our democratic system both to weaken they would hear the same story over put pen to paper, and produced a wish
it from within and to justify their own and over again. Their pool of potential list. They have wanted to check off
repressive regimes. Influence efforts to employees was drained dry, at least in items from that wish list since 2010. So
do just that have been part of the KGB part by the unemployment insurance their list is long.
playbook for decades. But foreign plus-up that we initiated last year. Be- This version of economic stimulus,
agents can’t hold a candle to what we cause of the way that program was de- which, in reality, is just a destructive
Americans are doing to ourselves. Cast- signed and because my colleagues on cycle of spending and dependency and
ing doubt on elections may be good pol- the other side of the aisle rejected our taxation and inflation, will require
itics in the short run, but it does real offers to amend it, potential employees more than just a general buy-in from
damage in the long run. Let’s all agree are drawing in more in unemployment the American people. They are going to
to stop this sort of peddling of doubts than they would make at some jobs. have to persuade people to cede author-
about the elections. Now, some of my colleagues across ity, to cede authority over their lives,
I yield the floor. the aisle dispute the notion that this their families, their businesses, their
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- imbalance has led to a labor shortage. jobs, their employment—cede that au-
ator from Tennessee. They claim that if there are people thority to the Federal Government.
JOBS staying home and collecting unemploy- Now, if this isn’t true, if this isn’t
Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam Presi- ment rather than taking their old job their goal, let the Democrats dispute
dent, I hope that you had a marvelous back, or maybe a new job, that those it. Let them come to the table and lis-
Mother’s Day. I enjoyed so much being examples are anecdotal. But to that ten to what these business owners are
back in Tennessee, and over the past point, I would ask: How many anec- telling us. Let them help figure out a
week, I really had the pleasure of hear- dotes does it take to create a trend? way to offer a light at the end of the
ing from so many Tennesseans who are In Tennessee, there are at least a tunnel to the unemployed and under-
just celebrating having reopened busi- quarter of a million jobs available, but employed instead of keeping them tan-
nesses and music venues and public as of last week, we still have about gled in a safety net that was neither
spaces in our communities. 49,000 people receiving the $300 plus-up. designated nor intended to be perma-
This means that there are five jobs— nent.
SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with SENATE
There was a lot of happiness across
our State as I was there. Everywhere five—five jobs available for every sin- We still have a long way to go before
you looked, you could see evidence gle one of those 49,000 people. we can declare victory over the
that people are ready to get back to I want to make it clear that these COVID–19 pandemic. But what my col-
work, and they want to get back to life business owners have no reason to lie leagues on the other side of the aisle
as normal. about the trouble they are having find- refuse to acknowledge is that we will
There is also a lot of evidence that ing help. Their survival depends on never make it across the finish line if
local businesses are ready to get back their ability to hire a team of employ- we don’t allow the American people to
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S2408 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE May 10, 2021
hope for that victory. We need to allow Manchin Reed Stabenow $500 million in government-backed
Markey Romney Sullivan
them to hope that last month’s terrible Menendez Rosen Tester
loans. Vice President Biden, at the
jobs report was just an anomaly. I cer- Merkley Rounds Van Hollen time Vice President, was actually the
tainly hope it was. Murkowski Sanders Warner one who announced that Solyndra
Murphy Schatz would receive hundreds of millions of
And most importantly, we need to Ossoff Schumer
Warnock
allow them to remember that a little Warren taxpayer dollars.
Padilla Shaheen Whitehouse
over a year ago, we didn’t have to rely Peters Sinema
Wyden Well, not too long after that, head-
on emergency supplements and direct Portman Smith lines across the Nation told the story
payments from the government to sur- NAYS—35 of what happened next. In September of
vive. We had the most robust economy Barrasso Hawley Risch 2011, the company failed miserably.
we had in decades and decades. Unem- Blackburn Hoeven Rubio More than 1,000 workers lost their jobs.
ployment numbers were at record lows. Boozman Inhofe Sasse Almost all of the 535 million taxpayer
Braun Johnson Scott (FL)
Wage gains were at record highs. Cassidy Kennedy dollars were lost.
Scott (SC)
So we have been there before. We can Cotton Lankford Shelby The leadership of Solyndra lied about
and we will recover. But encouraging Cramer Lee Thune the company’s value and what they
Cruz Lummis
total reliance on the government is not Daines Marshall
Tillis could produce. It also turns out they
going to be what gets us there, espe- Tuberville were big political donors to the Obama-
Ernst McConnell
Wicker
cially when so many businesses in this Fischer Moran
Young Biden campaign and the Democrats.
country are trying to hire workers, and Hagerty Paul
While the Obama-Biden donors got
workers are not taking the jobs. NOT VOTING—3 millions of grant money, taxpayers
I yield floor. Heinrich Murray Toomey back then were left holding the bag. It
CLOTURE MOTION ThePRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. was a terrible green gamble, and it had
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Pursuant BOOKER). On this vote, the yeas are 62, gone terribly wrong.
to rule XXII, the Chair lays before the the nays are 35. It wasn’t the only one of these
Senate the pending cloture motion, The motion is agreed to. projects. Other companies like A123
which the clerk will state. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- Systems, Beacon Power, Ener1, Fisker
The legislative clerk read as follows: ator from Wyoming. Automotive all received big govern-
CLOTURE MOTION GREEN JOBS PLAN ment-backed loans, and they all went
Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I bankrupt.
We, the undersigned Senators, in accord-
ance with the provisions of rule XXII of the come to the floor today to discuss what The waste didn’t stop at loans for
Standing Rules of the Senate, do hereby I have seen happen now over the last private companies. No, the Obama ad-
move to bring to a close debate on the nomi- 100 days of the Biden administration, ministration gave a $3.5 billion grant
nation of Executive Calendar No. 69, Andrea and that is President Biden seems to be to California for a high-speed rail
Joan Palm, of Wisconsin, to be Deputy Sec- project. This was California’s planned
retary of Health and Human Services.
doubling down on some of the failures
of the Obama administration. bullet train, and it was supposed to go
Charles E. Schumer, Patty Murray, Mi- from Los Angeles to San Francisco.
chael F. Bennet, Jack Reed, Jeanne Last week, as the ranking member of
Shaheen, Patrick J. Leahy, Martin the Senate Energy and Natural Re- Let’s fast forward 10 years and see
Heinrich, Catherine Cortez Masto, sources Committee, I released a report, where we are with that bullet train.
Kirsten E. Gillibrand, Christopher Mur- and it is called ‘‘Solyndra Syndrome After skyrocketing project costs, the
phy, Christopher A. Coons, Tammy and the Green Stimulus Delusion.’’ Governor of California has recently
Baldwin, Tammy Duckworth, Chris Solyndra syndrome. thrown in the towel. Only a fraction of
Van Hollen, Tim Kaine, Thomas R. the original project is going to be com-
I tell you, I think it is an important
Carper, Amy Klobuchar, Margaret pleted, and delays continue to be an-
Wood Hassan. thing to highlight because this 20-page
report really is an in-depth look at the nounced.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. By unan- failed green energy policies under the So you might ask: Well, why are they
imous consent, the mandatory quorum Obama administration. Now what we completing a small fraction of this
call has been waived. are seeing is President Biden is deter- railroad, this high-speed bullet train
The question is, Is it the sense of the mined, in my opinion, to repeat them, that was supposed to go from Los An-
Senate that debate on the nomination on a much larger scale. geles to San Francisco? Well, by com-
of Andrea Joan Palm, of Wisconsin, to In 2009, under the direction of Presi- pleting a small part of the original
be Deputy Secretary of Health and dent Obama, Democrats passed a par- project, California can avoid having to
Human Services, shall be brought to a tisan stimulus spending bill. The legis- pay back the taxpayers of the Nation—
close? lation included $90 billion for green job more wasted money.
The yeas and nays are mandatory training, for green energy loans, and Americans clearly remember Cash
under the rule. for high-speed rail. It also included for Clunkers. What a program that
The clerk will call the roll. about $3 billion for a program more was. It gave subsidies to folks for the
The legislative clerk called the roll. commonly referred to now as ‘‘Cash for purchase of a new greener vehicle as a
Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Clunkers.’’ way to stimulate auto sales and auto
Senator from New Mexico (Mr. HEIN- The goal was to produce millions of industry jobs. The big problem was it
RICH) and the Senator from Washington green energy jobs. They wanted to do it didn’t work. One analysis found that
(Mrs. MURRAY) are necessarily absent. by investing taxpayer dollars in emerg- the Cash for Clunkers Program created
Mr. THUNE. The following Senator is ing green energy companies and also one job for every $1.4 million spent.
necessarily absent: the Senator from subsidizing new vehicles. That is quite a lot of money for a sin-
Pennslyvania (Mr. TOOMEY). So what did American taxpayers get gle job. The program itself was a
The yeas and nays resulted—yeas 62, for all of this money? What did they clunker, and it spent way too much
nays 35, as follows: get as a return on this hefty invest- taxpayer cash.
[Rollcall Vote No. 179 Ex.] ment? Well, they didn’t get the prom- The list goes on and on, as I have
YEAS—62 ised jobs. They got boondoggles. Bil- outlined in this report. The Obama ad-
Baldwin Casey Grassley lions of taxpayer dollars wound up ministration frittered away billions of
wasted on green tech companies taxpayer dollars. They chose people
SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with SENATE
Bennet Collins Hassan
Blumenthal Coons Hickenlooper through loans or grants. Several of the close to the administration to receive
Blunt Cornyn Hirono
Booker Cortez Masto Hyde-Smith companies then failed. the money. The economy remained
Brown Crapo Kaine The most famous of these was, of sluggish, and the taxpayers got fleeced.
Burr Duckworth Kelly course, Solyndra. This was a solar There actually was one bright eco-
Cantwell Durbin King panel company with many personal nomic spot during the great recession,
Capito Feinstein Klobuchar
Cardin Gillibrand Leahy ties to the administration. It was lo- and, of course, I will tell you that was
Carper Graham Luján cated in California and received over the oil and gas sector in this country.
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