Tom Harkin: “Again I join Senator Dorgan and my colleagues on the other side in saying how pleased we are to be here this evening to…”

“Again I join Senator Dorgan and my colleagues on the other side in saying how pleased we are to be here this evening to continue this process of having legitimate debates on the Senate floor regarding topics of importance to the American people. Tonight we will be talking about jobs and the economy. In my 5-minute opening statement, I am prepared to show that Democratic economic policies are superior to Republican economic policies as it benefits the American public. How are Democratic policies better? Simply because we create more and better jobs. We create a better standard of living and quality of life for the majority of Americans who are working. We do this through worker and consumer protections, equal opportunity for women and minorities with basic measures such as the Family and Medical Leave Act, all historic steps led by Democrats, with Republicans either trailing or opposing outright. Now, another example: The last Democratic administration and our economic plan, embodied in the 1993 budget, set us on a course of adding 6.4 million jobs in just 2 years.”