Senate Proceeding on Jun 4th, 2009 :: 4:29:40 to 4:41:05
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4:29:37 to 4:29:58( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: quorum call: the presiding officer: the senator from florida. ask unanimous consent the call of the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. nelson: mr. president, i ask consent that i speak as if in morning business and that it

4:29:40 to 4:41:05( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Bill Nelson

4:29:59 to 4:30:20( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: be extended until 2:15 p.m. with senators permitted to speak for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. question that has been postured before the senate is, what has

4:30:21 to 4:30:45( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: the it's got some fancy name, the recovery known as the stimulus it was an expensive bill, and with the country in the economic doldrums that we've hoped that it was going to get

4:30:46 to 4:31:07( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: money out there int therapy of economy to get moving again, turning the economy and, therefore, as those dollars in the stimulus bill got injected into turned over, it was going to create jobs.

4:31:08 to 4:31:29( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: and, indeed, in the number of jobs that it was expected -- something like 2.5 million jobs that tbas going t it was going to create. and so the question is, is it stimulating the economy?

4:31:30 to 4:31:51( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: well, just a few m the c.e.o. of the shands health care center at the university of florida was in my office, and he told me the story about how the shands hospital in jacksonville -- there are a number of these shands hospitals.

4:31:52 to 4:32:17( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: it is a true medical center complex over several cities. but the one in jacksonville said was he didn't know what he was going to do and how that was going to affect even possibly the shutdown of major portions of

4:32:19 to 4:32:41( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: that hospital. but you rember one part of the stimulus bill is we were putting out money to help the states. states who had not been doing their part on medicare, medicaid, which is a operation, generally with a funding formula of about 55%

4:32:42 to 4:33:03( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: federal, 45% state, and a lot of states hadn't been putting their share in, or they had been constricting the eligibility for the poor and the disadvantaged to have access to health care for well, in the beneficence of the

4:33:04 to 4:33:28( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: stimulus bill, we put a lot of money back into the states. in florida's case, it was $4.5 milon, just for medicaid. it went from a funding formula in florida's case of 55%-45% for the two-year period of the stimulus to a funding formula of

4:33:29 to 4:33:52( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: 67% federal, 33% state, and that has allowed him to stop the major, abrupt halt of that hospital in jacksonville, florida. give you another example: the big county hospital in

4:33:53 to 4:34:13( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: miami, jackson memo hospital, a similar case of about a $45 million whack that was going t the state of florida constricting its medicaid funding. the stimulus bill for florida

4:34:14 to 4:34:36( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: allowed that additional money to flow and, therefore, that hospital not to have its services terminated for a good part of the medically needy as well as the disabled. give you another example:

4:34:37 to 4:34:59( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: in my state, the u.s. army corps of enginee $100 million in to jump-start crucial everglades restoration projects such as the

4:35:00 to 4:35:22( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: picayune strand and the site 1 reservoir construction. and when you combine that with an additional money for the water improvement projects down in the florida keys, then the spending in

4:35:23 to 4:35:43( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: florida is going to create about about, just for that project, about 2,000 direct jobs and 5,000 indirect the stimulus bill is create over 200,000 jobs in the state of florida.

4:35:44 to 4:36:05( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: give you another example: seem million to county school district -- seem million to county is just to the north of orlando. it is a major bedroom community for the metro well, they had a plan to eliminate 139 teachers and

4:36:06 to 4:36:28( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: because of the stimulus bill, they reversed that plan. clay county -- just to the south of jacksonville in northeast florida, another bedroom community for the metro jackso cksonville area -- it was going to eliminate 26 elementary

4:36:29 to 4:36:52( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: school teachers they've reversed that. give you another example: and i'm just taking a few examples. miami-dade county. it has one of the largest highway improvement projects in our state, the palmetto expressway. it's bee under construction

4:36:53 to 4:37:14( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: continue usually since 1994 -- continuallcontinuously since 1994 because of the mass of people that use that arterial roadway. now they're going to be able to complete that and put hundreds of people to work. give you another example: northeast florida, the military

4:37:15 to 4:37:35( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: complex in jacksonville naval hospital kings bay and mayport naval station -- $40 million of the stimulus is going to be spent over the next several years for improvements for those hospitals

4:37:36 to 4:37:56( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: and at the air station and at the king's bay submarine base. architecture, construction, engineer jobs on top of the hoital facilities and energy-efficient upgrades. another example: st. johns county, st.

4:37:57 to 4:38:20( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: florida, the oldest continuous settlement in the united state, 1565. we're going to celebrate the 450 years. we got 42 years on the english settlement in jamestown, virginia, not 1607 -- jame jamestown

4:38:21 to 4:38:41( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: -- 1565, st. augustine. well, their school system, they were going to be laying off teachers and staff, and now they're going to get an infusion of an additional 9 million this year and another 9 million next year staff won't have to be laid off.

4:38:42 to 4:39:03( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: go over to the west coast of florida, tampa. the tampa it's going to create 250 new jobs using the $8 million from the stimulus bill to go out there and to improve a taxiway

4:39:04 to 4:39:27( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: on one of the major runways. a done had it not been for this bill. and i'll give just one final example: go back to north florida. we have a huge for in florida, but, as we have seen, mother nature has not been

4:39:28 to 4:39:50( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: kind in bringing us droughts, and when a drought occurs, the forest becomes a tinder box, and when a match is struck or a lightning bolt strikes, the

4:39:51 to 4:40:12( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: forest erupts into an fire that becomes a contagion that can rage out of control and impinge on urbanized areas. well, the florida department of forestry is putting contractors

4:40:13 to 4:40:35( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: to work on fire projects in high-risk urbanized and suburban communities using a $900,000 stimulus grant. mr. president, it's helping in

4:40:36 to 4:41:01( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: it's helping in all the other 49 states that are represented here on the floor of the united states senate. mr. president, i yield the floo of a quorum. clerk will call the roll.