March 5, 2019 - Issue: Vol. 165, No. 39 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 1st Session

[Pages S1638-S1639]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                              The Economy

  Mr. THUNE. Madam President, last week, we learned that the economy 
grew at a rate of 3.1 percent from the fourth quarter of 2017 to the 
fourth quarter of 2018. That is the strongest economic growth in over 
10 years. Economic growth for the fourth quarter of 2018 smashed market 
expectations.
  In January, the economy created more than 300,000 jobs. More than 5.3 
million jobs have been created since President Trump was elected. Job 
openings hit a record high of 7.3 million in December, substantially 
exceeding the number of those looking for work. The Department of Labor 
reports that the number of job openings has exceeded the number of job 
seekers for 10 straight months. Unemployment is low. January marked the 
11th straight month that unemployment has been at or below 4 percent. 
That is the longest streak in nearly five decades.
  Wage growth has accelerated. Wages have now been growing at a rate of 
3 percent or greater for 6 straight months. The last time wage growth 
reached this level was in 2009. Median household income is at an 
alltime high.
  U.S. manufacturing has rebounded. The Wall Street Journal reported on 
Friday:


[[Page S1639]]


  

       America's factories are hiring again.
       After years of job losses, U.S. manufacturing employment 
     has risen for 18 straight months among those holding 
     production or nonsupervisory jobs, the longest stretch of 
     gains since the mid-1990s.

  That is from the Wall Street Journal.
  The list goes on.
  The economic growth we are experiencing is the direct result of 
Republican policies. Economic growth has accelerated over the past 2 
years, thanks to the lifting of the burdensome regulations and a 
historic reform of our Tax Code.
  Before we passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, our Tax Code was acting 
as a drag on economic growth. Small businesses faced heavy tax burdens 
that frequently made it difficult for them to expand and create jobs or 
even to get their businesses off the ground in the first place. 
America's global businesses faced the highest corporate tax rate in the 
developed world, which put them at a competitive disadvantage on the 
international stage.
  Of course, all of that had real consequences for American workers. A 
small business owner facing a huge tax bill was highly unlikely to be 
able to expand her business or to hire a new employee. A larger 
business was going to find it hard to create jobs or improve benefits 
for employees while struggling to stay competitive against foreign 
businesses paying much less in taxes. So we reformed our Tax Code to 
make it easier for businesses to grow, create jobs, and expand 
opportunities for American workers. Now we are seeing the results--
economic growth, low unemployment, higher wages, a record-high number 
of job openings, and more.
  Importantly, the benefits of this growth are being experienced 
widely. The Wall Street Journal reports:

       Racial minorities, those with less education and people 
     working in the lowest-paying jobs are getting bigger pay 
     raises and, in many cases, experiencing the lowest 
     unemployment rate ever recorded for their groups. They are 
     joining manufacturing workers, women in their prime working 
     years, Americans with disabilities and those with criminal 
     records, among others, in finding improved job prospects 
     after years of disappointment.

  Again, that is from the Wall Street Journal.
  The Obama administration was characterized by a weak recovery and 
years of economic stagnation. There were predictions that 2 percent 
growth would be the new normal. But Republican economic policies have 
turned the economy around. Now we need to focus on ways to extend the 
benefits of tax reform even further and to secure the gains we have 
made for the long term.
  Unfortunately, our colleagues across the aisle are more focused on 
dismantling the policies that created the growth we are experiencing 
today. Apparently, it doesn't matter to them that workers are doing 
better after years of economic stagnation or that jobs and 
opportunities are increasing. They are set on dismantling tax reform 
and raising rates to fund their socialist fantasies. They want to spend 
$93 trillion--more money than the GDP of the entire world--to put the 
government in charge of Americans' healthcare, energy usage, and more.
  I wish I were joking, but Democrats' turn toward socialist insanity 
is all too real. The kinds of tax hikes that would be required to pay 
for Democrats' proposals would cripple our economy and severely 
downgrade America's standard of living--not to mention robbing 
Americans of their freedom to make their own decisions about all the 
various aspects of their lives.
  It is mind-boggling that more and more Democrats are embracing 
socialism and the less free and less prosperous future it would bring. 
Let's hope their socialist fantasies stay just that--fantasies--because 
our economy might never recover from the reality of Democrats' 
proposals.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The assistant Democratic leader.
  Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, when I hear my friend from South Dakota 
describe the state of the economy, it is amazing how political amnesia 
can take over on the floor of the Senate Chamber.
  Do you remember the election of 2008 when Barack Obama was elected 
President of the United States? Was there anything going on with the 
economy when he took office? Oh, something that the Senator failed to 
mention--our country was facing the one of the worst recessions in the 
history of the United States.
  You had to go back to the Great Depression to see the impact of this 
recession on the American economy, and it happened under a Republican 
President--George W. Bush. President Obama inherited that, and most 
people will never forget it because in 2008 and 2009, many people saw 
their savings devastated by the drop in value in the stock market. They 
saw this economy teetering on the edge and financial institutions 
failing. This all happened on President George W. Bush's watch. 
President Obama inherited it and had to turn it around--without the 
cooperation of the Republican Party, I might add. A handful of them 
stepped up to join him in a bipartisan effort, but most of them opposed 
him. He did everything he needed to do to save this economy and then 
started turning it around with job creation--unprecedented job 
creation--throughout the 8 years of his term.
  Now, of course, along comes a new President who wants to take credit 
for all of it and, as the Senator from South Dakota suggested, blame 
President Obama for the state of the economy he inherited. History 
tells us a different story.
  After this tax cut that the Senate Republicans are so proud of, I 
think you ought to ask the American families paying their taxes now to 
take a look at their taxes and tell you how the Trump tax cut helped 
them as working families. For some, there is some value to it, but for 
most, there is none. You see, over a long period of time, the vast 
majority of the benefits of this Republican tax cut go to people in the 
highest income categories. If there were ever a group who didn't need a 
break, it is people who are already making millions of dollars each 
year. Yet this Republican tax cut gave them the break. It added 
trillions of dollars to our deficit, it helped the richest people in 
America, and it forgot working families and left them behind. Yet 
Republican Senators still come to the floor and boast about it with 
regularity.
  There is a better way to approach this. Yes, I want to give tax 
incentives and tax relief to working families because we know they are 
not getting the paychecks they need to meet their obligations, to save 
for the future, and to make sure their kids have a better life. We 
should be focused on them, not the wealthiest among us--they are doing 
quite well, thank you. Let's focus on working families instead. The 
Trump tax cut forgot that.
  (Mr. SCOTT of Florida assumed the Chair.)