On the recordMay 19, 2015
we have heard so much about how great the Republicans are doing here, about how well things are working now. We are doing no nominations--none. We are 5 months into this Congress, and we basically approved virtually no one. It is interesting to say there are not many names on the calendar to bring up. Why? Because they are not even holding hearings on all the nominations. We always hear about the need for jobs--but not from my Republican colleagues. We hear from us. One of the prime examples of that is the highway bill. It is about to expire. What are we going to do? Nothing. There is no program to extend this bill. It has already been extended short term 33 times. Think about that. We used to do bills here for 5 years, 6 years so that the directors of transportation and all of these States around the country could plan ahead. We are being penny-wise and pound-foolish. We are having these short- term extensions, which are very expensive, creating no jobs. For every $1 billion we spend on these highway programs, we create 47,500 jobs. My Republican colleagues are ignoring this. What is the business of the day, Mr. President? ____________________
