On the recordJune 16, 2011
I want to thank the Senator from Nevada, my friend, the majority leader, Senator Reid, for his remarks, And I want to thank him for filing cloture on the EDA bill. He said the Economic Development Administration was started by Richard Nixon. Actually it was continued by Richard Nixon. It was started by Lyndon Johnson in 1965 and supported by Presidents whether they were Republican, Democrat, liberal, moderate, or conservative. Congress has supported this legislation. The last time the EDA was authorized, it was authorized by a voice vote in the Senate when George W. Bush was President and he signed it into law. So one has to ask one's self: Why do we find ourselves in the middle of a filibuster? Why do we find ourselves with 91 amendments filed to this little bill that takes a $500 million authorization and, because of the effect it has on the private sector, draws in private sector matching funds 7 to 1 and means it is a $3 billion a year, basically, jobs bill? This is a jobs bill. Every Republican and every Democrat I know around here says: jobs, jobs, jobs. But they are killing another jobs bill. I think the American people have to understand, this list of amendments that has been filed--Senator Reid went through a few of them. There is even one that relates to the prairie chicken. With all due respect, there may be a lot of issues surrounding the prairie chicken, but it has nothing to do with an Economic Development Act bill. It goes on and on.…