Kay Bailey Hutchison: “I was listening to the debate, and I heard the Democratic leader call this a ``do-nothing Congress.'' He said that…”

“I was listening to the debate, and I heard the Democratic leader call this a ``do-nothing Congress.'' He said that several times. I have heard it before. Yet here we have a bill that will go directly to the President. This is a bill that brings together pieces of legislation that have been worked on for years in this body, a chance to score a huge victory for all sides, that gives a minimum wage increase of over $2 that we have been trying to do, along with tax cuts for small businesses so that it is a balance for years in this Congress. We have been trying to permanently ease the burden of the death tax ever since I got to this Senate. It is the small businesses; it is not Bill Gates, it is not Warren Buffett who is worried about the death tax. It is the farmer who is going to have to sell his farm when he dies or his children who will because his children can't pay the taxes because the farm is more valuable than they can earn and produce to pay the taxes. It is the small business that has been built by a family. It is the restaurant owner that is going to have to sell the business that we are fixing tonight. This is a bill that would take away the ability to call this a ``do- nothing Congress.'' Why is it that almost every Republican is going to vote for it and almost every Democrat is going to vote against it?…”