Bob Kerrey: “I also rise in opposition to cloture. If you look out across America today and look at the growth in the economy and the…”

“I also rise in opposition to cloture. If you look out across America today and look at the growth in the economy and the economic success and the various reasons why we have that economic success, it is clear that one of the things we need to do is invest in our infrastructure. We just passed an ISTEA bill, $200 billion or so in investments in roads, bridges, in our transportation system to make it more productive. Our people are part of our infrastructure. What we are saying on this side is that, if you want to provide a tax break, we ought to also be doing something about our schools that are crumbling, about our class sizes that have grown too large. There is a lot more we can do than just this piece of legislation. That is all we are asking for. There is an opportunity to offer some constructive amendments that would substantially improve this piece of legislation. Otherwise, as many others have commented, the distributional analysis is lousy and it does precious little to help those who are in the greatest need. Mr. President, there is another reason that has not been mentioned on the floor that I want to talk about a bit. Our American taxpayers have a deadline called April 15 which is less than four weeks away. That is their deadline, their schedule. Under law they have to have their taxes paid.”