On the recordJune 29, 2011
I will just take about 3 more minutes. Many Republicans are demanding that we permanently hobble the Federal Government, just as our predecessors did not want to build the roads and the highways and the canals in the past. My friend from Utah had a chart that said ``broke or balanced.'' They claim our Nation is poor and broke. That is not true. That is not true. That negative, defeatist viewpoint is dead wrong. We remain the wealthiest Nation on Earth, with the highest per capita income of any major country on the face of the globe. But we have to act decisively, with the power of the Federal Government to boost the economy, foster innovation, and create good middle-class jobs. That is the most important thing. Lastly, balanced budget? Let's just do what we did under the Clinton years, in which we had 4 years of balanced budgets and left the biggest surplus in our Nation's history. But the Republicans will not do that because they have a defeatist attitude. We need a more bold vision than what the Republicans bring forward to the American people. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Rhode Island.
