Harry Reid

The Senator from Maryland is absolutely correct. This matter could be resolved, as I indicated a few minutes ago, in 10 minutes. The only thing we want is the same rule that applied when the Senate was 51-49 Democrats.

We had a lot of negotiations because it was a very unique situation. We had 50-50, of which the only time that happened previously, that I am aware of, was in 1880.

To Michael Eisner, who does not want a tax cut--he has not told me that, but he does not need it. That money is going to Michael Eisner, and children in America are going to school 4 days a week. Not fair.

I would just briefly say to the leader--I appreciate his courtesy in allowing me to speak--we waited 6 weeks last time. I was part of the wait. I understand how long it took. It may have been over blue slips or something else, but still…

In the Senator's last statement, he said it was one of the largest surpluses in the history of this country. It was the largest surplus in the history of this country.

It is remarkable. We were paying down the surplus. They have wasted the largest surplus that we were able to acquire. It is a terrible shame. I hope we don't have some cockamamie compromise where people walk out here and say: Well, it is…

I will say this last thing. I hope that we, the Democrats, and those courageous Republicans who oppose this don't fall for some compromise. I hope they don't come back and say: Well, we will not do away with all of that, but we will do…

The junior Senator from Rhode Island I think set a mark for people on the other side of the aisle when he was the first to come out against this proposal. I want to express my appreciation for the courage of the Senator from Rhode Island…

Almost literally nothing. We are only bringing out facts and talking about the reality of this tax plan. We are not trying to create class warfare. That is why the Wall Street Journal writes about this: Slump in Job Market Is Longest in…

Don't we have this backwards? Wouldn't it be better if we were creating jobs rather than cutting taxes for the wealthy?

I think we had a good discussion on this conservative radio program. I hope I educated them and their listeners because I said, among other things, that for every $1 billion we spend, we create 42,000 or 44,000 jobs. Think about that…

I was on a talk radio program this morning in Las Vegas--conservative. One of the things I have advocated is that the Federal Government should spend money creating jobs, infrastructure. I know in Iowa there are water systems that need to…

It is no Government giveaway. These are projects that need to be done, roads that need to be built, dams that need to be repaired.

I heard the Senator speaking and wanted to congratulate the Senator. I listened also to Kevin Phillips' presentation. By the way, Kevin Phillips is a Republican, not a Democrat. But he was fair in his analysis. Quite clearly, all…

This article points out, among other things, last month this economy lost over 101,000 jobs. I know this because I was on a television program with Tim Russert. He had a chart demonstrating all the Presidents of the United States going…

And school repairs. This is a conservative program. They brought it up. They said: I understand you want to have jobs and spend taxpayers' money on creating jobs. I said: Yes, I do. They said: Wouldn't the private sector be better off…

The Senator is right. The Senator is absolutely right. Also, this article in the Wall Street Journal has a number of graphs and charts, but one of the things that just jumped out at me is the levels of unemployment of certain segments of…

I wish to recognize my friend from North Dakota who after I offered that amendment was on the forefront of the next Congress making sure that we continued our efforts to beat down that mischievous constitutional amendment to balance the…

You remember at that time I agreed to sponsor an amendment to have a constitutional amendment to balance the budget but not using Social Security surpluses? That worked out well enough that we were able to stop that very mischievous…

I can remember the Democratic leader today and myself going into a meeting with Senator Mitchell. The problem there is the Republicans were having a mad rush to have a constitutional amendment to balance the budget, but they were going to…

The leader has made it very clear, but I want to make sure again that everyone hears the fact the Democrats simply want to have the same exact program for committees that was here last year. The only thing is the Democrats are now in the…

If there is a problem here and the organizational efforts are not going forward, it would not be anything the Democratic leader has done? You want exactly the same situation as last year, is that right?

The Senator has outlined what we have required States to do as a result of Federal legislation. What if school districts decide not to do this?

We had a very productive meeting with the President yesterday. We left there with the feeling of bipartisanship that we should have with us today. We would hope, with the chairman of the very important Appropriations Committee, the…

I congratulate my friend on the passage of this legislation. I appreciate the Senator's persistence. It is very important legislation. There are a lot of happy old people today who have been waiting for a continuation of these benefits for…