Senate Proceeding 03-09-11 on Mar 9th, 2011 :: 2:50:00 to 2:58:50
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2:49:56 to 2:50:17( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: american people know that we are serious about getting our fiscal house in i yield the floor. mr. alexander: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from tennessee. mr. remaing. the presiding officer: 11 minutes and 25 seconds. mr. alexander: mr. president, would you please let me know when two minutes is remaining. the presiding officer: the senator will be so notified. mr. alexander: mr. president, i thank the senator from south

2:50:00 to 2:58:50( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Lamar Alexander

2:50:18 to 2:50:38( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: dakota for his eloquent remarks. he phrased the question exactly. the question before this body upon which we're going to be casting two votes within a few minutes is this: will we or will we not stop spending money that we don't have? may i repeat, the question is,

2:50:39 to 2:51:02( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: will we or will we not stop spending money that we don't have? do we have the courage and the common sense and the sense of responsibility to make difficult decisions for the future of our country when it comes to spending and debt? let's look at the facts. the federal government this year

2:51:03 to 2:51:23( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: is collecting $2.2 trillion -- that's what's coming in -- and spending $3.7 trillion. we're collecting $2.2 trillion in revenue and spending $3.7 trillion in revenue. that's a fact. here's another fact. 40 cents of every dollar that the federal government spends is

2:51:24 to 2:51:44( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: borrowed. much of it from china. here's another fact, we're piling up new debt at the rate of $4 billion a day. $4 billion a day of new debt. here's another fact. this is the shortest month --

2:51:45 to 2:52:08( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: last month was the shortest month of the year, february. the deficit, that's this year's deficit in just that month, was the larg history, $223 billion. and our friends on the other side are suggesting that we solve a problem of this

2:52:09 to 2:52:30( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: dimension by reducing spending by 4.7 -- $4.7 billion. as senator thune said, by tomorrow at about this time, we'll vl piled up -- we'll have piled up as much more debt as they propose to save. that's not urgent. that's not responsible. that's not dealing with difficult decisions in the way -- and the way people expect

2:52:31 to 2:52:51( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: us to do with it. now, the republicans in the house of representatives have stepped up and have made difficult decisions. we might not agree with every single detail of the decision and the senate will have its own priorities when we pass a bill. but i, for one, and i think many others on this side of the aisle

2:52:52 to 2:53:13( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: are going to vote for the h.r. 1, the house passed $57 billion cut because it is a sure step toward reducing spending and stopping our country for paying from spending money that we don't have. the senate democrats say, sorry,

2:53:14 to 2:53:34( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: we can only find $4.7 billion to save. the purpose of the vote i'll cast today is to say we have an urgent need that needs to be addressed. we have a sense of responsibility toward that decision. we can't solve much of it today, but we can solve some of it

2:53:35 to 2:53:55( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: today and the time to start addressing this urgent need is now. when i became governor of tennessee about 30 years ago, a friend gave me a book written by george reedy, lyndon johnson's press secretary, it was called "the twilight of the president." and in that book i found a definition that i used as

2:53:56 to 2:54:18( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: governor because it was such a good definition of what an executive in public life is to do, he said that the job of the president is number one, to see an urgent need. number two, to develop a strategy to meet the need. and, number three, to persuade at least half the people that he's right. see an urgent need, develop a

2:54:19 to 2:54:41( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: strategy to meet the need and persuade half the people to prove that he's right. 40 cents out of every dollar that we spend is borrowed. $2.2 trillion comin in $3.7 trillion coming out. 40 top economists saying it is the most urgent need facing our country. the chairman of the joint chiefs

2:54:42 to 2:55:04( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: of staff saying it's our biggest national security threat, the debt. as senator thune said, debt costs job. the economists tell us that debt at this level costs us about a million jobs a year. let me read what the president's own debt commission had to say about this. a debt commission that had six members of the united states senate as members, three republicans, three democrats,

2:55:05 to 2:55:25( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: five of the six voted for this debt commission. and they said, as members of this commission, we spent the past eight months studying the same hard, cold facts, not opinions, facts. together we have reached these unavoidable conclusions. the problem is reap. the solution will be -- is real.

2:55:26 to 2:55:46( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: the solution will be painful. there's no easy way out. everything must be on the table and washington must lead. that is president obama's debt commission. after all of the talk about debt and deficits, they say, it is long past time for america leaders to put up or shut up. the era of debt denial is over.

2:55:47 to 2:56:07( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: there can be no turning back. we signed our names to this plan because we love our children, our grandchildren and our country too much not to act while we still have a chance to secure a better future for all of our citizens. that report included five members of this body, two democrats, three republicans. that was what the debt

2:56:08 to 2:56:29( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: commission had to say here's what the president has had to say. in 2009 he said what we've done is kicked this can down the road, we're now at the end of the road, we're not in a position to kick it any further. we can find only $4 billion to save? president obama said in -- last year, i hope some of the folks

2:56:30 to 2:56:51( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: hollering about deficits and debt step up because i'm calling their bluff. and we can only save $4 billion? my administration is going to seek with congress to execute serious entitlement reform. and then as senator the president said, increasing america's debt weakens us domestically, weakens us internationally, leadership

2:56:52 to 2:57:13( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: means the buck stops here. instead washington is shifting the burden of bad choices on to the backs of our children and grandchildren. i ask, mr. president, where is the president of the united states in this debate? where is the president of the united states? his debt commission came out months ago recommended $4 trillion in savings. no support from the president.

2:57:14 to 2:57:34( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: the president made an eloquent state of the union address. i sat in the front row, applauded many times, no sense of urgency about the federal debt. the president offered his budget a few weeks ago, no plan for reducing the federal debt. and now we're taking step number one, which is to work on the discretionary part of the budget. only about 12% of the budget.

2:57:35 to 2:57:56( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: the house is willing to take difficult steps. the democratic majority says we can only find an amount that equals the debt we're piling up in one 24-hour period and the president is missing in action. mr. president, i respectfully say that is not leadership. we need the president of the united states to join us in an

2:57:57 to 2:58:19( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: effort to stop our country from spending money that we don't have and making difficult decisions about spending so we can assure the strength and future of our country. the question before us, we or will we not stop spending money we don't have?

2:58:20 to 2:58:40( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: will we or will we not make the difficult decisions that it takes to reduce spending so that our country will be strong for the future? the other side says they can find $4.7 billion to save. we say we can start with $57 billion.

2:58:41 to 2:58:50( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: i will vote for the $57 billion and against the $4.7 billion because that is a surer step toward a bright path for