On the recordMarch 25, 2010
The emergency that is in front of us is, we are a boat upside down fiscally, and there has to be a set of competing priorities for how we right that boat. But the No. 1 way we do not right the boat is to continue to add to the debt when we have programs that are not working and are wasting money, that are consuming precious resources we need to spend in other areas. I am particularly interested in the very fast revisionist history that has been presented by the Senator from Michigan. Let me tell you what happened here today. What happened here today was that a bill was offered and a motion to proceed on a bill that would accomplish this was totally paid for. That motion was tabled, with all of the Republican Senators voting against that, and some Democrats. We worked, through the next couple of hours, negotiating with the majority leader, with great help from Senator Durbin, the senior Senator from Michigan, and a compromise was reached that we would, in fact, make sure no interruption would happen over the next 2 weeks to those who are dependent on unemployment insurance. That was communicated to the House of Representatives and the majority there, and it was rejected.
