Paul Wellstone

Mr. WELLSTONE

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 President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. WELLSTONE

Mr. WELLSTONE. Madam President, how much time do I have remaining?

Mr. WELLSTONE. Madam President, I will take 1 minute, and there will be 1 minute for Senator Mikulski and 1 minute for Senator Rockefeller.

Mr. WELLSTONE. Madam President, how much time is there on our side?

Mr. WELLSTONE. I suggest the absence of a quorum, and I ask unanimous consent the quorum call be charged to the opponents of this amendment. I want some debate out here.

Mr. WELLSTONE. Madam President, I am pleased to yield. I say again to the opponents, after the Senator has completed his remarks, I will ask unanimous consent, again, that we have a quorum call and it be charged to the opponents. We want people out here to be held accountable for their position.

Mr. WELLSTONE. The majority leader is speaking under leader time; is that correct? I thank him. If I may have one second, I certainly want to have a chance to speak and join my colleagues, Senator Rockefeller, Senator Mikulski, and Senator Specter. Since I think there is a lot at stake with this amendment, sometimes we forget about what this means. Personally, I am extremely disappointed that the opposition has not come forth. After the majority leader speaks, I will suggest the absence of a quorum and will ask that all time be charged to the opponents because people need to be held accountable for their positions on such an important question which is crucial to environmental quality or lack of quality of life for the people we represent. I thank the majority leader for being present.

Mr. WELLSTONE. Believe me, I so much want to speak and respond. But, again, just listening, first, to my colleague from West Virginia, and then my colleague from Maryland, and then the majority leader, and the way in which this affects people's lives, and how can people vote against helping people, what is the other position? I want some debate. I want to respond. I don't want us to use all our time and then have opponents come out here and speak and speak and speak, without being held accountable for their comments in debate. So, again, I suggest the absence of a quorum. I ask unanimous consent that the time be charged to the opposition, which has been unwilling to even speak on this amendment.

Mr. WELLSTONE. Will the Senator yield for a second, a split second?

Mr. WELLSTONE. Just for the record----

Mr. WELLSTONE. Madam President, how much time do the opponents have?

Mr. WELLSTONE. We have less time. I would be pleased to defer to the opponents if they want to speak.

Mr. WELLSTONE. Madam President, let me, first of all, thank my colleagues for being here. I especially thank Senators Rockefeller and Mikulski. I also thank Senator Daschle for his remarks. They were powerful and they were personal and they were on point. My colleague from Alaska spoke, and I will echo what my colleague from West Virginia had to say in response. The only other thing I want to say is my colleague from Alaska said the proponents know this amendment will not pass, and it is really not enough. Frankly, we don't know it won't pass, and it will pass if the votes are there. Every steelworker and every worker and every family and every citizen in our country believes this is a matter of elementary justice--that is to say, in the trade adjustment assistance package of this legislation. Let's also provide some help to retired steelworkers who worked hard all their lives, be it in Maryland or the iron workers or the taconite workers on the range in Minnesota. They have worked for companies that have declared bankruptcy, and they thought they had retiree health care benefits. It is very important to them and their spouses. Health care costs are a huge issue to the elderly population, and now the companies declare bankruptcy, walk away from it, and they are terrified and they don't know what they are going to do. They have worked hard all their lives for an industry that has been absolutely critical to our national defense. You could not find people more patriotic or more hard-working--people who are, frankly, asking for less. All we are asking for in this amendment is a 1-year bridge so that we can put together legislation for the future that will not only deal with these retirees and help them but also help the steel industry get back on its feet. This is the extension of trade adjustment assistance, and 70 percent of the COBRA costs would apply to these retirees. It would be a huge help. Now, my colleagues come out here on the floor and speak against it--some do--and they act as if we are presenting something that is egregious, almost sinful, when we are talking about helping people. This is one of these sort of ``buddy, you are on your own'' philosophies. If you have been working hard all your life for a company, you are working in an industry for 30 years, the Government did nothing to deal with unfair trade practices, now the company declares bankruptcy and you have no help and you are terrified they say, buddy, you are on your own. That is basically what we are hearing. Some colleagues come out here and say we should have done it on ANWR, although the House Republican leadership would not sign off on it, the White House would not sign off on it, and it didn't look like it was going to happen or like it was a very serious proposal. Now there is this effort to bring people together. Republicans support this. Senators Specter and Voinovich came out here and spoke as well. Senator DeWine supports this. I think this is a matter of elementary decency, elementary justice. We are trying to provide some help to people. That is what this is about. I, frankly, am amazed that we are now going through this. I think my colleague from Maryland said this, but I want everybody to know this is a filibuster. One Senator said they don't have the support. I think we have a majority of support. We are going to have majority support and we should have more than the majority support. We should not be in this situation where we come to the floor to advocate for people we represent for a minor expenditure of resources, to provide some help to people who worked hard all their lives, as a part of trade adjustment assistance, only for 1 year, an interim measure, and this is being filibustered, being blocked. I cannot think of any reason to block this except for just absolute ideological opposition that, my God, when it comes to helping people who are really struggling, through no fault of their own, there is not anything the Government can or should do. How much time is left?

Mr. WELLSTONE. I reserve the last 2\1/2\ minutes to respond to my friend from Oklahoma.

Mr. WELLSTONE. Madam President, I do not know how to do this in a minute, but I have listened to my colleague from Oklahoma. I think his problem is he just does not like trade adjustment assistance. His problem is he just does not think, when it comes to some of the most pressing issues of people's lives--in this particular case retired steelworkers and taconite workers--there is not anything the Government can and should do. That is his position.

Mr. WELLSTONE. I will be willing to yield on my colleagues' time.

Mr. WELLSTONE. I thank my colleague. Actually, I was not talking about personal motives. I said I think my colleague does not like the trade adjustment assistance as part of this legislation because I think that is what he said.

Mr. WELLSTONE. Madam President, I think this is the right thing to do, and I hope colleagues will support it.

Mr. WELLSTONE

Mr. WELLSTONE. Mr. President, I thank my colleagues, Senator Rockefeller, Senator Mikulski, and other Senators who have joined in this amendment. I thank Senator Mikulski for her remarks and for reminding Members we are not talking about statistics, we are talking about men and women whom we know and love and in whom we believe. I thank Senator Rockefeller for his painstaking work putting this amendment together. I am not the insider politician, but I want steelworkers--and not just steelworkers; I want people in the heartland of America, in industrial America--to know exactly what the situation is. It is 5:10 on Thursday night in the Senate Chamber. Here is what is going on. We had an amendment originally as part of the trade adjustment assistance. It was an amendment that said part of trade adjustment assistance ought to be to build a 1-year bridge where we can at least make sure the steelworker retirees--in the case of Minnesota, taconite workers on the Iron Range--who worked hard all their life, and now over 30 companies have declared bankruptcy, including LTV company, a classic example, receive retiree health care benefits. People are terrified. We said, let's have a 1-year bridge. This was in the original amendment. Senator Rockefeller worked very hard on it. Jay took the lead. Senator Daschle deserves a lot of credit. He is the leader of our party. We have this as part of trade adjustment assistance. The administration came out Wednesday of last week with a letter. They said the cost would be about $800 million in 1 year. They were downright untruthful with the figures. Actually, we were talking about $180 million over 10 years, not $800 million over 1 year. The administration said it was adamantly opposed. It was crystal clear there was no way to move this package forward, and therefore this provision was removed. I was presiding in the chair when Senator Daschle said: I make it crystal clear that all amendments to try to modify this trade adjustment assistance package, I will oppose--but not the amendment that will deal with steelworkers, trying to give them help; I will support that. Now we bring the amendment to the floor. What does the amendment say? It says as part of this trade adjustment assistance package, $180 million over 10 years, can't we build this 1-year bridge to provide the help to the people who have worked so hard, now terrified they will lose their health care benefits? It is cost effective. It helps people. It is compassionate liberalism, compassionate conservatism, compassionate Democrats, and compassionate Republicans. We ought to do this. It is the right thing to do. I want steelworkers and their families to know, this is now being filibustered. There are Senators who I assume will be debating this--I hope; certainly not the majority. The good news, Senator Rockefeller: Clearly, we have the majority of the votes. What we have now is no agreement on time, no agreement for an up-or-down vote. This bill is being filibustered. That is where we are. We are in a filibuster situation. One would think it was a cardinal sin and the most terrible thing in the world to try to provide some help to people--which is what this is about. Therefore, this is being filibustered. Therefore, we are going to continue with this debate. There won't even be a vote until next week. That is what is happening right now. I am pleased we have a majority of the votes. That is obvious, since the opponents do not want an up-or-down vote. We have a lot of support for this amendment. The question is whether we can overcome the filibuster, whether we can overcome the efforts to block this amendment. I remember Jerry Fallos, president of Local 4108 on the Iron Range of Minnesota, came here within the last month and testified. I cannot say it as well as he can say it. It is amazing. He has seen 1,300 people out of work. People are out of work, and these are good-paying jobs. And now you wonder how you will support your family, and 6 months or a year later you do not have health coverage, and you worry about that. For a lot of the taconite workers, it is their parents about whom they worry. That is what we focus on, people who are vested, worked a lot of years for companies, and now they are terrified their health care benefits are going to be canceled. Jerry said the people from the Iron Range are used to hard times: We are survivors, though. We work hard. We have always responded to our country in times of need. This steel industry has always been there for our country in times of war. But now we are asking for some help. I say to the 100 Senators, as you decide how to vote on this filibuster, this is $180 million over 10 years. That is all it is. If you made the estate tax permanent, which mainly goes to millionaires, plus, you would be talking about $8 billion over 5 years. If we can help out the wealthiest people, if we can have all kinds of tax breaks to multinationals, one would think $180 million over 10 years to provide help to retirees, a 1-year bridge before we finally put together a package that will help these people, would not be filibustered. I cannot even believe we are now out here fighting a filibuster, but that is the situation. I ask the question, Where are our values? Where is our collective humanity? Are we going to step up to the plate and help people? This is a very modest amendment. We have passion about this because it is people we know and we love and in whom we believe. I told Senator Rockefeller about one discussion I had with one steelworker. He said to me: Now we are counting on you all. A lot of our lives are at stake. People's lives are at stake. That is not being melodramatic. Senator Mikulski used the example of prescription drugs. Elderly people are terrified. They do not know how they will afford the costs. They worked hard. They did everything for our country. Companies now declare bankruptcy and walk away, and they don't know what they will do. We say can't we, over 1 year, provide help while we work together and come up with a package to help the retirees and help the steel industry get back on its feet? That is no small issue to the economy of the United States of America. I want to talk a little bit about the position the administration has taken. I will try to be well behaved. I do want to say on section 201 that the administration has already entertained all sorts of exemptions. There are now a thousand exemptions to the President's section 201 decision and Secretary O'Neill is reported as saying that a significant portion of them will be favorably decided. So it may not provide us with the trade relief we were hoping for, though as Senator Mikulski said, it is surely a step forward. On the Iron Range it was not. On the Iron Range you have tariff rate quotas, so basically until you have 7 million tons of slab steel, that can come into the country without any help whatsoever. That is what we have right now. That is what has put our taconite workers out of work. So it simply does not help at all. Then you have 32 U.S. steel companies in the last 2 years that have filed for bankruptcy. That is just unbelievable. That is 30 percent of the domestic steelmaking capacity. When they file for bankruptcy, this is terror that people then have to deal with because then they can walk away, and they do walk away from retiree health benefits. That is what we are speaking to. Let me just be really clear. There is a bipartisan group of Senators who have been working on the Steel Industry Retirees Benefits Protection Act, Democrats and Republicans. We all know there is a lot of work to do. The question is whether or not we can have this 1-year bridge. We can do something for people who, right now, are flat on their backs, who are terrified, who are worried. We can get some help to them because they are in this position through no fault of their own. Nobody can say that retired taconite workers and steelworkers are in the position they are in right now, worried about how they are going to afford health care costs, because they are slackers or because they are cheaters or because they don't work hard or because they are not loyal or because they are not patriotic or because they don't love America or because they have not done everything to serve our country. They have done all of that and more. The only thing we are asking is whether or not the Senate and this administration will help these families. I do not have the years or the savvy of either of my colleagues out here, but I have been here now 11\1/2\ years. I can figure out what is going on. This is an amendment that is tough to be against. This is a high moral ground amendment. There is a lot of passion behind this amendment. There is a lot of decency behind this amendment. Frankly, it is all about helping people--people who richly deserve and need the help. I think we have a majority vote, but the opponents will not give us that vote. They will not agree to a time limit. So we will be at this for the next several days. We will be at this over the weekend. I hope steelworker families and other families all across the heartland of America are in touch with all Senators because we are going to do everything we can to overcome this obstacle, this filibuster. A good, strong vote is important, and I am delighted because we have that; otherwise, there would not be a filibuster. Now we have to deal with the filibuster. I hope Senators will be there to support these steelworker retirees. I do not know about my colleagues, but for me, I have been waiting ever since this debate started on fast track for this amendment because here is where I think Tip O'Neill's adage about ``all politics is local'' is absolutely true. I would not make any apology to anybody about this. Senator Rockefeller and Senator Mikulski, there is nothing I want more in the world than to pass this amendment. We passed it already. We have over 50 votes. That is why it is being filibustered. There is nothing I want more in the world than to make sure we are able to come through for people. That is why this amendment is important: Not because of some strategy, not because of some tactic, but because it is on the floor of the Senate, it is 5:30 Thursday night but, darn it, this amendment is directly connected to the concerns and circumstances of the lives of people we represent. This is the right amendment. There is no other reason to be in the Senate than to try to pass this kind of legislation to help people--no other reason. Nothing can be more important, and I hope we will have the support of our colleagues. I yield the floor.

Mr. WELLSTONE. It is 70 percent of the COBRA cost. That is what this amendment is about. It is the same. COBRA costs on average about $700 a month. This picks up 70 percent. That is what we do for other employees. That is the cost.

Mr. WELLSTONE. That is an average.

Mr. WELLSTONE. I know other Senators have amendments. I gather there will be some opportunity for discussion in the morning on this amendment, and there will be other amendments. On Monday, is it the whip's intention we will be in session Monday evening as well for time to discuss this amendment?

Mr. WELLSTONE. Mr. President, can I say one thing? I am not taking the floor. I know the Senator from Oklahoma wants to speak, and I will have a chance to respond. I thank him for his questions. It is important to get all of this information out. It is important for people to understand the human crisis. I say to my colleague, there are a lot of people who are really hurting out there, as my colleague from West Virginia has said; people who have been on the short end of the stick for over three decades of negligent policy. I thank my colleague very much for his questions.

Mr. WELLSTONE

Mr. WELLSTONE. Mr. President, I thank the Senator from Maryland and tell her there is nothing I am more proud of than to be on the floor doing this amendment with the Senator from Maryland and Senator Rockefeller and Senator Stabenow and the Presiding Officer, Senator Dayton, Senator Specter, and others.

Mr. WELLSTONE

Mr. WELLSTONE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that during consideration of H.R. 3167, privileges of the floor be granted to Lauren Marcott, a State Department fellow on the staff of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.