Barbara Boxer

Mrs. BOXER

Mrs. BOXER. So I say to my friend from Arkansas--because I would like to continue this give-and-take--what we are seeing is a devastating change in what has been known as economic progress in America--a devastating change--something we have not seen since Herbert Hoover. This is serious business. For our small businesses that are creating whatever jobs are being created--although we still are not seeing a net increase in those jobs--we need them to get help. So in this amendment not only do we suggest a reserve fund to help our workers, but we suggest tax credits and tax breaks to our businesses that create manufacturing jobs. For every job they create, they get a tax credit, and also for those businesses that pay for health care for workers. So I think the question was right on the mark. I would be glad if my friend has any other questions.

Mrs. BOXER. I thank the Senator for asking this question. I have never known that we have offered such a comprehensive jobs amendment on a budget resolution. These are not ordinary times. My friend is right when he asked this question. If we go back over time to Herbert Hoover in the Depression years in the 1930s, that is the only time we have actually lost jobs. We have created jobs under Roosevelt, Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Clinton, and now we are down to this and we have seen 3 million jobs lost. We need a jobs amendment.

Mrs. BOXER. I yield 4 minutes to Senator Kohl.

Mrs. BOXER. Thank you. Our amendment creates a $24 billion job reserve fund for the following purposes: The Manufacturing Extension Partnership Program, $110 million cost; Advanced Technology Program, $125 million cost; Federal science at $1 billion cost; new manufacturing jobs tax credit at $7 billion cost; small business health insurance tax credit at $14 billion cost; stop jobs from moving overseas and end the runaway plant tax break, which saves $2 billion; the Dodd amendment with no Federal funds for outsourcing, no cost; worker notification, which is Senator Daschle's amendment in relation to jobs moving overseas, no cost; and worker assistance and trade adjustment expansion for service workers and expanded health insurance, $2 billion. The way we pay for this amendment is the following: We end the runaway plant tax break, which brings in $2 billion, and we reduce tax breaks for millionaires, which brings in another $1 billion. I want to spend just a moment explaining why I think that is fair. If you earn over $1 million, under the Bush tax cut you are going to get a refund of about $140,000 every single year. Let me rephrase that. You are going to get a tax cut of $127,000 every single year. We reduce that refund to $85,000 for a very noble purpose. That purpose is to get America back to work and to help our middle-class families. I think if you ask the average person in your State, just from what I can tell by looking at polls and talking to people, they will say even if they were in that millionaire category, we will have a stronger economy and more people working by not giving millionaires $127,000 a year from their taxes. We reduce it to $85,000. Let us talk about that. They will now get back $85,000. How much is that? That is 7.5 times the annual income of a minimum-wage worker, just in the millionaire tax cut. We are, in fact, cutting it to $85,000, but that is 7.5 times the annual income of a minimum-wage worker. It is also two times the median household income. If you are a millionaire and get back $85,000 a year instead of $127,000, you are still getting back every year twice the median household income and 7.5 times the annual income of a minimum-wage worker. I want to briefly tell you about each of these job creation plans. Be providing a tax credit for creating new manufacturing jobs--this is a tax credit that goes to businesses that create jobs in manufacturing, originally sponsored by Senator John Kerry--the manufacturing jobs tax credit gives the tax cut to companies that create a new factory job in 2004, 2005 and 2006. This is a good thing for business. It is a great thing for workers. It is a good way to deal with this issue. We increase the funding for the Manufacturing Extension Partnership. It sets aside $110 million of the reserve fund for the Manufacturing Extension Partnership Program. In 2003, this program helped create or retain 35,000 jobs. The administration only asks for $13 million in 2004, and it is requesting only $39 million for 2005. They say they care about jobs, but they ought to do more, and $110 million will create a lot more jobs. For the Advanced Technology Program, this amendment sets aside $140 million in the reserve fund. The administration proposes zeroing out this ATP program. The ATP helps companies get to market and grow, and that means jobs. Of the first 33 small companies to complete ATP programs, 60 percent doubled in size, and 4 grew more than 1,000 percent. The ATP program bridges the gap between the research lab and the marketplace. We need to see that go up to this $140 million level. I might say, even with that, it is still less than we have spent in the past on the program. George Bush, in 2005, requests zero for this important program. Then we have Federal research and development, which is so key, at the National Science Foundation. It falls $1 billion short of what is called for in the bill we passed 5 years ago. It is very important. When President Bush says he increases Federal research by 5 percent, the problem for our Nation's researchers and research institutions is that increase is largely targeted for weapons development. However, we have other things we need to do which will create jobs, as well. That is the purpose of this amendment. The health insurance tax credit for small business is clear. If business pays health insurance for its people, we think they ought to get a tax break. That is the kind of tax break we believe in on this side of the aisle because it is to encourage businesses to help employees with their health care. We end tax subsidies to U.S. companies that send plants overseas. This is a Dorgan-Mikulski idea. This amendment includes language bringing to an end tax subsidies for employers that ship production of goods abroad. This part brings $2 billion. We prohibit Federal funds from being used for offshore jobs. This is Senator Dodd's amendment that passed the Senate 70 to 26. When we give State and local governments Federal funds and when we decide to issue contracts, the jobs ought to stay here. In my own State, the Defense Department wanted to buy rice for Iraq. Instead of buying it from California, which has the best rice in the world, they bought it from a foreign country. That is my farmers, taxpayer dollars, and all my people's dollars going into the war effort. We give a contract on rice to a foreign country when the sons and daughters of our farmers and our people are going to war. I don't get it. This is an important amendment. We are improving the Trade Adjustment Assistance Program and extending it to service workers. That means help for people who are pushed out of a job because of trade agreements. I will save some time for colleagues. How much time remains?

Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, let me continue with the story that is not a very happy story about job loss. We have seen 3 million jobs lost in the last 3\1/2\ years. We see unemployment for 27 weeks or longer. We see that 1.9 million workers are unemployed for more than 6 months. We have statistics that say although the unemployment rate looks to be 5.6 percent, in reality it is over 9 percent if you factor in the people who have given up their search for jobs. We see the smallest share of the population at work since 1994, with 62.2 percent of the population unemployed. These are startling statistics. Manufacturing jobs in America: From 1993 to 2000, 385,000 manufacturing jobs created; and from 2001 to 2003, 2.785 thousand jobs lost. That is 75,270 jobs lost per month. For my people in California, we have seen an enormous drop in manufacturing jobs. I want to show my colleagues the context of this job loss if we look back to other administrations. This is the average number of jobs created or lost per month. Under Ronald Reagan, we had 165,000 jobs per month; under George H. Bush, we had 47,604 jobs created every month; under Bill Clinton, we had 236,625 jobs created per month; and under George W. Bush, 58,815 jobs per month on average lost. By any standard, this is a unique time. We have a chance to do something about it with this budget resolution. California jobs: From 1993 to 2000, under the Clinton administration, 25,644 jobs were created per month in my State of 35 million people. Under George W. Bush, 284,900 jobs lost. That is 7,913 jobs lost per month. Nearly 8,000 jobs are lost per month in my State. That is about 8,000 family members coming home to tell their families they are in big trouble. We ought to do something about it. The good news is we can do something about it with this amendment I offered. I want to show one more chart. President Bush promised a whole different story--promises, promises, wishful thinking on jobs. The Bush administration has consistently over-predicted job growth for 2002, 2003, and 2004. Today, I read in the paper that the President is going to appoint a manufacturing jobs czar. He came to a decision about the individual he wants to appoint. We have learned that this particular individual built a plant in China. Whether he will continue with that nomination, I do not know, but clearly that sends a very mixed signal, to be polite about it. Let me talk for a moment about the amendment I am offering to protect America's jobs. How much time do I have remaining?

Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to set aside the Corzine amendment and send my amendment to the desk.

Mrs. BOXER. I will if I can reserve the remainder of my time.

Mrs. BOXER. I thank my colleague very much. I have been looking forward to offering this amendment. I hope at the appropriate moment in time I will be able to send it to the desk. Mr. President, if you were to go out all over this country and ask most of our constituents from every State in the Union what is on their minds, they are going to say it is the economy; it is jobs; it is their security. In this particular budget we should do much more to ensure that jobs are created and that our families are protected. So what we do in this amendment, which we pay for, is a number of initiatives which will help us create and retain jobs in this great country. First of all, I want to give my colleagues a sense of why this is so important. The amendment I am offering is cosponsored by Senators Daschle, Sarbanes, Clinton, Schumer, Kennedy, Kohl, Durbin, Levin and Dodd. I see Senator Kohl is here. I am hopeful he will want to make a few comments as well. Let me paint a picture of where we are. I think the best way to do it is just show a series of charts, that are very clear: Private sector jobs decline: Three million jobs lost since January 2001. We see the incredible graph that just shows, essentially, almost a straight line down. We did see in February we had a little increase of 21,000 jobs, as I understand it, in the public sector. There is very little in the private sector.

Mrs. BOXER. I thank my friend.

Mrs. BOXER. Madam President, do I have a remaining minute on my time?

Mrs. BOXER. I ask my friend if he will yield an additional minute to the Senator.

Mrs. BOXER. Clearly, we give tax breaks in this amendment to small businesses that pay or help pay for their employees' health benefits. When we talk to people, they are scared about the cost of health insurance. They are frightened. They are frightened that the costs are going up, that they may lose it, not to mention their entanglements with HMOs that want to walk away. We say to employers, employees, we will help if, in fact, you pay for your employees' health care, or at least part of it. We also give a manufacturing jobs tax credit. And this is Senator Kerry's idea.

Mrs. BOXER. No, 20 minutes a side.

Mrs. BOXER. No, no, 30 minutes on my side, or 20 minutes on my side.

Mrs. BOXER. I was hopeful, when I spoke last night, that I could have 20 to 30 minutes for the entire amendment. That would be fine for me.

Mrs. BOXER. I ask Senator Conrad if he wants me to take time by discussing Senator Corzine's amendment and making other remarks or take time off the managers' time? Either way he wants it.

Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, I appreciate that. I am so sorry. I was sure Senator Nickles had seen this amendment. I don't think there is anything surprising. It is essentially a jobs amendment, initiatives that have been introduced by other Senators. We packaged it in one package.

Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the pending amendment be laid aside.

Mrs. BOXER

Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, today I am introducing legislation to prevent chemicals that leak from underground storage tanks from causing environmental and public health damage. My colleague in the House of Representatives, Mr. Dingell, is introducing companion legislation. Underground storage tanks can hold extremely toxic chemicals that can move rapidly through soil, contaminating the ground, aquifers, streams and other bodies of water. Underground storage tanks are located in urban and rural areas. When they leak, they present substantial risks to groundwater quality, human health, environmental quality, and economic growth. There are approximately 700,000 underground storage tanks in the United States, and more than 430,000 confirmed releases from these tanks as of mid-2003. By and large, MTBE contamination has come from leaking underground storage tanks. MTBE has contaminated water supplies in 43 States. Twenty-nine States have drinking water contamination. Estimates indicate that it will cost at least $29 billion to clean up MTBE contamination nationwide. Currently, the leaking underground storage tanks program and other laws ensure that responsible parties pay to clean up the damage caused by these leaking spills. However, the best solution to leaking underground storage tanks is to prevent them from leaking in the first place with the use of secondary containment, such as double walls. There is already widespread support for this throughout the country. Twenty-one States already require secondary containment, either for all new or replaced tanks--such as in California, or for all new or replaced tanks in sensitive areas. In addition, two States are awaiting final passage or approval of such requirements, and one State requires tertiary, such as triple walls, containment. According to figures from the Petroleum Equipment Institute, 57 percent of all tanks installed from 2000 through 2003 were double walled. But this is not fast enough in the face of the threats to our drinking and groundwater. Approximately 50 percent of the population relies on groundwater for their drinking water. In 2000, 42 States had MTBE detected in soil or groundwater at gasoline-contaminated leaking underground storage tank sites. The time to prevent contamination is now. We must ensure the environmental health and safety of our water. I encourage my colleagues to support this bill.

Mrs. BOXER

Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, today, I am proud to introduce the Consolidated Student Loan Reduction Act of 2004. A college education is becoming more and more crucial as American workers seek to compete in the global marketplace. Yet, the cost of a college education is rising each year, making it less accessible to low and moderate income individuals. While grants and scholarships are available, students have come to increasingly rely on student loans. Between 1992 and 2002, Federal student loans increased by 165 percent, and in 2003, $65 billion--or 70 percent of total Federal student aid-- was in the form of loans. The average debt for a college graduate is $17,000, and it can exceed $100,000 for a graduate student. Under Federal law, and in order to receive longer repayment terms, individuals may consolidate their student loans into one loan. The interest rate on the consolidated loan is fixed. So while current law gives individuals a longer time to repay their student debt, it does not allow them to take advantage of the low interest rates that prevail in the marketplace today. Graduates may refinance their houses at lower rates but cannot do the same with student loans. My bill would change that and would permit individuals to refinance their consolidated Federal loans at the same interest rate as Federal Stafford loans, which fluctuate with the market and are generally below the prevailing market rate. Individuals could refinance anytime their consolidated loan rate exceeded 1 percent of the Stafford loan rate. And under my bill the borrower is not required to pay any fee or costs when they refinance. There are many in Congress who have introduced legislation to make a college education more accessible and affordable to American students. I support many of those efforts. My modest bill is a step in this direction, and I encourage my colleagues to support this effort.

Mrs. BOXER

Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, today I am introducing legislation to prevent chemicals that leak from underground storage tanks from causing environmental and public health damage. My colleague in the House of Representatives, Mr. Dingell, is introducing companion legislation. Underground storage tanks can hold extremely toxic chemicals that can move rapidly through soil, contaminating the ground, aquifers, streams and other bodies of water. Underground storage tanks are located in urban and rural areas. When they leak, they present substantial risks to groundwater quality, human health, environmental quality, and economic growth. There are approximately 700,000 underground storage tanks in the United States, and more than 430,000 confirmed releases from these tanks as of mid-2003. By and large, MTBE contamination has come from leaking underground storage tanks. MTBE has contaminated water supplies in 43 States. Twenty-nine States have drinking water contamination. Estimates indicate that it will cost at least $29 billion to clean up MTBE contamination nationwide. Currently, the leaking underground storage tanks program and other laws ensure that responsible parties pay to clean up the damage caused by these leaking spills. However, the best solution to leaking underground storage tanks is to prevent them from leaking in the first place with the use of secondary containment, such as double walls. There is already widespread support for this throughout the country. Twenty-one States already require secondary containment, either for all new or replaced tanks--such as in California, or for all new or replaced tanks in sensitive areas. In addition, two States are awaiting final passage or approval of such requirements, and one State requires tertiary, such as triple walls, containment. According to figures from the Petroleum Equipment Institute, 57 percent of all tanks installed from 2000 through 2003 were double walled. But this is not fast enough in the face of the threats to our drinking and groundwater. Approximately 50 percent of the population relies on groundwater for their drinking water. In 2000, 42 States had MTBE detected in soil or groundwater at gasoline-contaminated leaking underground storage tank sites. The time to prevent contamination is now. We must ensure the environmental health and safety of our water. I encourage my colleagues to support this bill.

Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, today, I am proud to introduce the Consolidated Student Loan Reduction Act of 2004. A college education is becoming more and more crucial as American workers seek to compete in the global marketplace. Yet, the cost of a college education is rising each year, making it less accessible to low and moderate income individuals. While grants and scholarships are available, students have come to increasingly rely on student loans. Between 1992 and 2002, Federal student loans increased by 165 percent, and in 2003, $65 billion--or 70 percent of total Federal student aid-- was in the form of loans. The average debt for a college graduate is $17,000, and it can exceed $100,000 for a graduate student. Under Federal law, and in order to receive longer repayment terms, individuals may consolidate their student loans into one loan. The interest rate on the consolidated loan is fixed. So while current law gives individuals a longer time to repay their student debt, it does not allow them to take advantage of the low interest rates that prevail in the marketplace today. Graduates may refinance their houses at lower rates but cannot do the same with student loans. My bill would change that and would permit individuals to refinance their consolidated Federal loans at the same interest rate as Federal Stafford loans, which fluctuate with the market and are generally below the prevailing market rate. Individuals could refinance anytime their consolidated loan rate exceeded 1 percent of the Stafford loan rate. And under my bill the borrower is not required to pay any fee or costs when they refinance. There are many in Congress who have introduced legislation to make a college education more accessible and affordable to American students. I support many of those efforts. My modest bill is a step in this direction, and I encourage my colleagues to support this effort.

Mrs. BOXER

Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, as the ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs, I want to express my deep concern about recent developments in Iran. Today, the International Atomic Energy Agency is meeting to discuss a proper response to findings that Iran has failed to disclose many nuclear related activities in violation of the Non-Proliferation Treaty. This is a serious issue. There is no doubt that Iran is in violation of its commitments under the NPT. The IAEA Board of Governors must insist that Iran come into complete compliance with its obligations, disclose all information about its nuclear program, and allow unrestricted access to IAEA inspectors. Given the high degree of enriched uranium found in Iran--weapons grade uranium--and yesterday's statement from Iran indicating that it planned to resume enrichment, this matter should immediately be referred to the United Nations Security Council for further action. I am also deeply troubled by Iran's terribly flawed elections of February 20. The people of Iran deserve our support and they deserve true democratic reform. We cannot turn our backs on the people of Iran because its political leadership has failed them. There are an estimated 700,000 Iranian Americans living in California who are so hopeful for democratic change in their homeland. The election of February 20 was clearly a step in the wrong direction. On February 12, the Senate passed an important resolution, S. Res. 304, that was submitted that same day by Senator Brownback. Denouncing the elections as harmful for true democratic forces in Iran, the resolution stated that the policy of the United States should be to advocate a democratic government in Iran that will restore freedom to the people of Iran, abandon terrorism, protect human rights, and live in peace and security with the international community. I fully agree. I hope that the Iranian people know that they have the support of the Senate as they aspire for the freedom denied them by the current Iranian regime.

Mrs. BOXER

Mrs. BOXER. Will the Senator yield for a question?