Sherrod Brown

Mr. BROWN of Ohio

Mr. BROWN of Ohio. I ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motions to reconsider be laid on the table, with no intervening action or debate, and any statements be printed in the Record.

Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S. Res. 494, submitted earlier today.

Mr. BROWN of Ohio

Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that it adjourn under the previous order.

Mr. BROWN of Ohio

Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S. Res. 492, submitted earlier today.

Mr. BROWN of Ohio. I ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be laid on the table, with no intervening action or debate, and any statements be printed in the Record.

Mr. BROWN of Ohio

Mr. BROWN of Ohio. There will be up to 3 hours for debate prior to a vote on confirmation of the Schroeder nomination. Senators should expect that vote to occur around lunchtime.

Mr. BROWN of Ohio

Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, April 21; that following the prayer and the pledge, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed expired, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and there be a period of morning business for 1 hour with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each, with the majority controlling the first 30 minutes, and the Republicans controlling the final 30 minutes; that following morning business the Senate proceed to executive session to consider the nomination of Christopher Schroeder to be Assistant Attorney General as provided for under the previous order.

Mr. BROWN of Ohio

Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. BROWN of Ohio

Mr. BROWN of Ohio. I ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motions to reconsider be laid on the table, with no intervening action or debate, and any statements be printed in the Record.

Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S. Res. 493, submitted earlier today.

Mr. BROWN of Ohio

Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. President, for too long the interests of the middle class have gone ignored--simply an afterthought in a financial system that has enabled a few Americans to help themselves, to accumulate immense wealth, while middle-class wages stagnated. Wherever I go in Ohio, the story is the same: From Toledo to Marietta, from Ashtabula to Middletown, the entrepreneurs and small business owners can't get the credit they need to expand operations and hire workers. College students are worried about signing away their financial future when signing up for college. They are worried a bank's exorbitant interest rate will follow them into their career, through parenthood, and into retirement. Neighborhoods across Ohio--especially in our cities, but it has spread way beyond that--have been shattered because of the housing crisis, caused in large part by Wall Street gambling with the American dream. Cities and towns face massive budget shortfalls, shortchanging vital public services such as education, law enforcement, and transportation. Today, I brought to Washington--for the third straight year--55 presidents of colleges and universities, 2-year, 4-year, private and public, from Ohio to talk about what we do with public education. All of them face significant budget problems because of what Wall Street has done to our communities, to our colleges and universities, to our cities, towns, and small businesses. Workers worry about their pensions--whether they spend their later years living off the fruits of their labor or working part-time jobs just to get by. The hallmarks of middle-class life--a stable job, a secure home, a safe community--in too many places in Ohio, in Colorado, and across the country are at risk. Let's not forget what got us here in the first place. Some might say we don't need to pick winners in our economy, but we don't need to pick losers either. Yet look what we have done on Wall Street and in Washington. Washington's permissive attitude toward Wall Street has thrown our entire economy into turmoil. The financial sector can't be allowed to call the shots, as they have, when it comes to our economy. Let me cite one quick statistic. In 1980, 35 percent of our Nation's GDP was manufacturing. Less than half that amount, less than one-sixth, was financial services. Today, those numbers have flipped--at least before this recession. Manufacturing accounted for only about 15 percent of our GDP, financial services was almost twice that. But look what that brought us. Look what it brings us in mining towns in Colorado or industrial towns in Ohio, where town after town after town has been hollowed out because of Wall Street, because of Federal policies from the last decade that have chosen financial services over manufacturing, that have chosen Wall Street over Main Street. Megabanks can't hold such a large stake in our economy that their downfall becomes our economy's downfall. Despite the economic meltdown and bailout, our Nation remains vulnerable to the next economic crisis. Yet what is happening in this institution? People are trying to block us from action. The biggest banks grow bigger--the six largest U.S. banks have total assets equal to 63 percent of our overall GDP. Let me say that again. The six largest banks have total assets equal to 63 percent of our overall GDP. We must take action to ensure that no bank can hold so much of our Nation's wealth that if it fails our Nation either bails it out or our financial system crumbles. What kind of a Hobson's choice is it for the House and the Senate, the President and the Federal Reserve to make when a bank is so big that if it is about to fail, we have two choices: Either we bail out that bank with taxpayer dollars--as we had to do a couple years ago, at the end of the Bush years--or we allow the financial system to implode and crumble. But size alone is not the problem. We also have to cut back on Wall Street's risky speculative activity where taxpayer interests are involved. For decades we have had a system that incentivizes reckless behavior without accountability and very little consequence to the bankers who got us into it, all the while taxpayers and the middle class are left footing the bill. That is why Wall Street reform is so important. It would make big Wall Street banks accountable and impose strict regulations to forbid Wall Street from gambling with our financial security. In the last 10 years, the banks got bigger, the speculation grew more rampant, and the risk from very highly paid Wall Street bankers, managers, and executives became more rampant. When everything fell apart, the middle class and poor people in this country paid the price. They paid it through lost jobs, they paid it through lost homes, they paid it through more debt, they paid it through losing the American dream. In the end, if we do Wall Street reform right, if we are able to overcome the opposition to Wall Street reform--the opposition from the Republican leader and those who follow him, which is all about protecting the banks--if we win this debate and outvote the Republican leader and the banks and all who would follow him, it would make Wall Street banks accountable, it would impose strict regulations, and prevent Wall Street from gambling. It would end taxpayer bailouts for good. Financial institutions, not American taxpayers, would then pay for their own mistakes. If someone starts a small business in O'Leary, OH, and fails, he pays for it. If someone has a job and fails at her job, loses her job, she pays for it. When Wall Street banks fail at their work, they collect, in many cases, millions of dollars and suffer little punishment while the rest of us pay for it. If we do this right, Wall Street reform will provide the strongest consumer protections for people in Ohio, in Colorado, and in every State in this country--no more of the tricks and the traps in the mortgage market and elsewhere that led to the near collapse of our economy. We need to bring new accountability to Wall Street that protects the pensions of our retirees, the home values of our families, and the jobs of our workers. Those opposing financial reform--those who oppose Wall Street reform--as they did with health care reform, are protecting special interests. The Presiding Officer, the senior Senator from Colorado, and myself were on the floor many times during the health care debate, and over and over we pointed out how the opponents of the health care reform--similar to the opponents of Wall Street reform--were, in too many cases, simply representing the interest groups that were opposed to this. The Republicans' most important benefactor during health care reform was the insurance companies, and those insurance companies were major supporters of Republicans for decades. Well, we are seeing the same thing with Wall Street. The most important benefactor to Republicans and Wall Street reform are the big banks and the big Wall Street operators. Again, they are doing the bidding of banks and they are doing the bidding of the Wall Street operators. They make other arguments. They never say: The reason I am opposed to this is because Wall Street and the big banks want me to. No, they come up with something else. There is an old saying from a Mississippi civil rights leader who said: Don't tell me what you believe. Show me what you do, and I will tell you what you believe. Well, watch what my friends on the other side of the aisle are doing; listen to what Republicans are saying. In the end, they know this choice is between Wall Street and Main Street. Behind closed doors they, of course, want to make the decision for Wall Street, but when they come out here, while they are protecting Wall Street, they want to make it sound as though they are protecting Main Street. Americans are too smart to be fooled. Wall Street lobbyists have enlisted Republicans to kill a bill. They have had meeting after meeting behind closed doors with Wall Street lobbyists, bank lobbyists talking about how to kill this bill. You know that the Republican leader and those who follow him are saying directly to Wall Street lobbyists that if they want their help, then elect more Republicans in the Senate. That would help immensely. Of course it would, because if there are more Republicans in the Senate, there will be more people to block Wall Street reform. So while cutting backroom deals to prevent reform, they are hoping the American people forget that it was Wall Street greed and excess; that it was deregulation of Wall Street--so they had no real rules to live under over the last 10 years--that put our economy on the brink of collapse. Well, the American people, this time, will not forget. No more meltdowns, no more bailouts. We need rules that ensure Wall Street investors can't bet the farm in Chillicothe, can't bet the home in Cleveland Heights, can't bet the job in Wilmington on a financial bubble that is bound to burst. We need rules that support the entrepreneurs and small business owners on Main Street across the Nation, not rules that protect Wall Street in New York. That is what reform will do. It is about protecting small business owners such as Teresa from Powell, OH, in central Ohio, who writes: My husband and I are small business owners in Ohio. Our business is successful and we want to grow and hire more employees. But the banks still aren't lending. We have a new product we would like to launch, but we need a loan. We have put everything in the business to make it a success. How is a business to grow when it cannot get financing even if it has a proven track record of success? It is about JoAnn from Cincinnati, who writes: I am one of those small business owners who can't get money from the banks. If the situation continues, I and my family and my employees and their families will be out of luck and out of an income, and [into] unemployment. The banks are sitting on cash, cleaning up their balance sheets and killing us with fees. Some Republicans claim banks are more important than protecting the American public. It is a false choice. The real choice comes this week and next week when this Wall Street reform comes to the Senate floor. The real choice is: Are you going to side with Wall Street or are you going to side with Main Street? That is the choice. If we in this body follow the Republican leader and side with Wall Street, we will be in another financial collapse sometime in the next decade or so. If we, however, in this body follow the Presiding Officer and me and others who think that Main Street is what represents the real values of this country, then we will see a financial system that will serve the American people and doesn't just serve the interests of Wall Street.

Mr. BROWN of Ohio

Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. President, today, Senator Reid filed cloture on several executive nominations. At 5:30 Monday, the Senate will proceed to a cloture vote on the Brainard nomination.

Mr. BROWN of Ohio

Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the majority leader be authorized to sign any duly enrolled bills or joint resolutions today, April 15, or tomorrow, April 16, 2010.

Mr. BROWN of Ohio

Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolutions be agreed to, the preambles be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table en bloc.

Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now proceed to the en bloc consideration of the following Senate resolutions: S. Res. 484, S. Res. 485, S. Res. 486, and S. Res. 487.

Mr. BROWN of Ohio

Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. President, the middle class is the backbone of our Nation. Middle-class families sustain our neighborhoods and our economy and support our public services such as our schools and police and fire departments and libraries. Over the last 2 weeks--last week and the week before--I traveled extensively across Ohio and met with Ohioans who define the character of the American middle class. College students at the University of Toledo described their hopes and aspirations to become our next educators and entrepreneurs, community and business leaders, and civic activists. Workers at the 60-year-old General Motors plant in Defiance, near the Indiana border, described how they are ready to build the next generation car engines and rebuild the middle-class communities in which they work and live. In Cincinnati, workers at GE's historic Evendale plant--a Cincinnati suburb--represent the classic American success story: people working hard, getting ahead, getting paid an honest day's wage for an honest day's work. I met with veterans. Chairman Akaka allowed me to set up, in Cambridge, OH--in eastern rural Appalachian Ohio--a Veterans' Committee hearing. I met with other veterans in the Chillicothe VA Center and the Cincinnati VA Center--two terrific VA facilities--to meet with and talk to and understand better the services for veterans who return from war and who represent those values of hard work and fair play. Too many middle-class families in the Presiding Officer's State-- whether it is Joliet, IL--or Mansfield, OH, too many middle-class families are still fighting to have something to show for it. They are fighting for a secure job with decent wages, a home with an affordable mortgage, and the belief that their children will have a future full of opportunity and stay close by and raise their children so they can know their grandparents. Tax day is today, April 15, and many middle-class Americans are just trying to get by while our economy begins to recover. That is why when President Obama and this Congress--the Senate and the House--enacted the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act last year, we made sure that one-third of those several hundred billion dollars--one-third of those dollars went to tax relief for 95 percent of working families in America. We hear my colleagues on the other side of the aisle talk about tax cuts as if they invented them, but we don't hear them tell the truth about tax cuts because their idea of tax cuts is overwhelming tax benefits to the wealthiest people in our society--not doing what President Obama and the House and Senate did last year and this year: providing those tax breaks and tax cuts and tax relief directly to the large middle-class and working class in this country. Middle-class taxpayers, as a result, can collect on more than a dozen Recovery Act tax benefits this season. While the Recovery Act is putting Americans back to work rebuilding America, it is also honoring the dignity of work through the Making Work Pay tax credit. On average, Ohioans received $496 through the Making Work Pay tax credit, $496 in people's pockets. Middle-class tax relief helps make college more affordable through the American Opportunity Credit, tax savings for up to $2,500 to pay college expenses. More homes can be energy efficient and less costly through energy efficiency and renewable energy incentives. Energy-efficient windows and doors and heating and cooling systems reduce utility bills, while increasing the value of the most important asset for many Americans--their home. The first-time home buyer tax credit has made the dream of home ownership a reality, helped create jobs, stabilized home prices, and rebuilt communities across the Nation. These are tax breaks that have been enacted that Americans are already taking advantage of and, in many cases, celebrating on this day that people aren't particularly glad to see: April 15. It means this April 15 is a whole lot better for American taxpayers than 2 years ago, when April 15 was for people who didn't have the tax relief the Obama administration has brought them. The Cash for Clunkers Program provided American consumers and Ohio consumers with vouchers to purchase new fuel-efficient vehicles. It was a resounding success. More Americans bought more American cars. That program stabilized the auto sector. It saved and created thousands of jobs across Ohio and the Nation. I saw these jobs being created in Defiance, OH, as I mentioned, where some 80 workers will be called back to help build the engine for the new Chevy Cruze made in Youngstown. I know those workers at GM in Parma, a Cleveland suburb, will be helping with some of the stamping and the fabrication of the Chevy Cruze, and I know that 1,100 workers are in the process of being put back to work, to work a third shift at the Lordstown GM plant to build the most energy-efficient car in the GM fleet. Existing tax credits, such as the earned income tax credit which rewards work for people making $20,000 to $40,000 a year--this is not welfare; it rewards people who are working hard, playing by the rules, not making a lot of money--or the child tax credit, these existing tax credits were expanded to ensure more eligible Americans received the tax credits they earned. Nationwide, the average tax refund is up 10 percent--$266 for a record average. The average tax refund is $3,036 so far. Those numbers will slightly change as people file today, before midnight. The IRS says this increase is largely due to the Recovery Act. Ninety-nine percent of working families and individuals in Ohio benefited from at least one of the tax cuts signed into law by President Obama. Working Ohioans received $1,046 on average as a result of these critical middle-class tax relief programs. That means because of what this Congress did, the Senate and the House, what President Obama did, middle-class Ohio families save over $1,000. That is $1,000 in their pockets that wouldn't have been there 2 years ago, before President Obama took office, would not have been available under the Bush tax policies because those tax policies benefited the richest people but didn't benefit the middle class. So under the Bush tax policies, wealthier people were particularly happy, but the middle class was left out. Under Obama tax policies, wealthier people might not be quite so happy, but the broad middle class will have more than $1,000 extra in their pockets as a result of this middle-class tax relief. It is a critical part of the economic recovery. That is why the President and the Congress passed just last month the largest health-related, middle-class tax cut in the last two decades when it passed the historic health care reform, insurance reform legislation. We know there is much work ahead. I would add the first thing that came out of that legislation on health care was already in place and is now already in place; that is, significant tax incentives for small businesses, for employers to provide health insurance for their employees. When they couldn't afford it in the past, with these tax incentives, many employers will be able to afford providing health insurance for their employees. We know there is much work ahead to ensure the interests of the middle class are protected in our Tax Code over the corporate special interests. I know many Republicans, including those running for office in my State--for Governor and Senate and attorney general--many Republicans want to repeal the health care bill. But understand when they repeal the health care bill, they are doing what they have done in the past. They are taking from the middle class and giving to the wealthy. That is the class warfare I have heard on this floor for the last 3 years. It is the class warfare I heard in the House of Representatives when Republicans continued to do more and more for the richest people in this country and less and less for the middle class and less and less for low-income people. That is the kind of class warfare they have waged for years. I hope they aren't successful in doing that on the health care bill. I don't think they will be, but it is important to guard against that. Senate Democrats are not just looking back with what we were able to do, we are looking forward to what we are going to do to make taxes work better for America. Senate Democrats are working on further tax relief to help middle-class families whose daycare costs for a young child or an elderly parent undercut their pay and their savings. We will continue to fight for middle-class tax relief that will rebuild our economy in Dayton and Springfield and Zanesville and Mansfield and Ravenna and Girard and Lima and restore prosperity for all Ohioans. We will continue to fight for college students in Toledo, the GM workers in Defiance, the GM workers in Evendale, and veterans and all middle- class families across the Ohio and the country. America's middle class, as a result, will pay less and save more because this President and this Congress are actually doing something about it. I yield the floor.

Mr. BROWN of Ohio

Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 2 p.m. Monday, April 19; that following the prayer and the pledge, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed to have expired, and the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and the Senate proceed to a period of morning business until 3 p.m., with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each; that following morning business, the Senate proceed to executive session to debate the nomination of Lael Brainard to be an Under Secretary of the Treasury.

Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. BROWN of Ohio

Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that it adjourn under the previous order, following the remarks of the junior Senator from Alabama, Senator Sessions.

Mr. BROWN of Ohio

Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. BROWN of Ohio

Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak as in morning business for no more than 5 minutes.

Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. BROWN of Ohio

Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. President, I rise as a result of the resolution offered earlier today commemorating the tragic deaths of so many Polish leaders, especially the death of Tomasz Merta, who is the Minister of Culture in Poland. I worked with Tomasz Merta a couple times over the last 25 years. In the early 1990s, he was a very young man, was still in his twenties, and he worked with Ohio State's Mershon Center, where I worked, helping his country's government transition from communism to democracy. We worked on everything from curricula writing to training teachers. I worked with him again when I was a Member of Congress. This time I went to Ukraine, and he helped us train Ukrainian teachers, helped write curriculum, and help those Ukrainian teachers teach government courses on civic education in Kiev. So Tomasz Merta, born in 1965, graduate of Warsaw University, got a Ph.D. His whole career was all about love of country, all about democracy, all about doing the right thing. He, in the nineties and since, was a prolific writer. He wrote articles about democracy, articles about teaching democracy, articles about building democracy. He was so important to this country. He was one of the youngest leaders who was killed on this terrible, tragic flight. He had a terrific future. He was the Secretary of State and the Minister of Culture and National Heritage. We will all miss him. Tomasz, as his nickname was--Tomek is his real name. Tomasz is like Thomas and Tommy. Tomasz was a devoted husband, the father of three daughters. I last saw him several years ago in Kiev. I so appreciate what he did. As I will say now in Polish: I offer my deep condolences to the people of Poland for this tragic loss. Tomasz and some of his friends taught me some Polish. I must admit I read it, but the pronunciation he helped me with--he and Alicija and others in Poland. I am so sad about his loss. I am so sad for his country. I am so sad for his wife and his three beautiful daughters. I know that country will mourn his loss as it mourns the loss of so many other Polish patriots. I yield the floor and I suggest the absence of a quorum.