May 2, 2019 - Issue: Vol. 165, No. 72 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 1st Session

[Pages S2596-S2597]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                              Nominations

  Mr. BROWN. Mr. President, I will be brief. I see my colleague from 
Tennessee is here.
  Earlier this afternoon, the President's designee, Stephen Moore--not 
quite yet his nominee, but the President put his name out there to be a 
Governor of the Federal Reserve--withdrew his name from consideration, 
in large part because so many Republicans in this body were unhappy 
with his selection.
  This is the second Trump failure for the Federal Reserve just in the 
last month. He was about to nominate Herman Cain. There was a lot of 
outcry about his lack of qualifications. I am not sure why the 
President came up with him. Then he withdrew, and Stephen Moore's name 
had been put out there, too, and there were the same kinds of 
complaints about Moore--not just about what he wrote and said over the 
years, but really about his reputation as a thinker, as an economist, 
and as a strategist on economic issues.
  The President has tried twice. I don't know when we have ever seen 
this before, where the President hasn't been able to find somebody who 
understands the independence of the Fed and is qualified to take on 
that awesome responsibility to be on the Federal Reserve. It is as 
influential as any economic position in this government, I think.
  Now the President has two new chances again. I am hopeful that he 
will think about not appointing somebody whose whole mantra is trickle-
down economics--to give tax cuts to the richest people in the country 
and

[[Page S2597]]

hope it trickles down and we get a better economy. That never works.
  I am hopeful that the President better understands that you focus on 
the middle--my earned income tax credit bill, for instance--and you 
focus on tax breaks for the people making $20,000, $30,000, $50,000, 
and up to $100,000 a year. They will spend those dollars they get in 
tax breaks and build the economy, whether in Terre Haute, in Nashville, 
or in Cleveland. We know how important that is.
  I hope the President will look at the next Governor of the Federal 
Reserve--these two appointments--and think about the dignity of work 
and think about someone who respects and honors work.
  You may remember that Stephen Moore made some really caustic and 
nasty comments about two great cities in my State--Cleveland and 
Cincinnati. As much as that was offensive, what is really offensive is 
how he just doesn't seem to respect the dignity of work and respect 
these workers. Whether they are physical therapists at hospitals, 
whether they clean bathrooms at hotels, whether they are construction 
workers, whether they are midlevel managers, or whether they are 
salespeople on the road, it is important that we honor and respect work 
and understand the dignity of work. I am hopeful the President will see 
that the next two nominees for the Federal Reserve will think about the 
American workforce.
  One of my most fun moments and most productive moments and days in my 
time in the Senate was when I asked Janet Yellen, the Chair of the 
Federal Reserve, to come out and visit a major aluminum stamping plant 
for helicopter blades in Cleveland, which is not far from where I live. 
It gave her a perspective of seeing what Americans do for a living 
sometimes in manufacturing, sometimes in sales, sometimes in service--
whatever it is.
  I am hopeful that this is who the President will look at--somebody 
who will respect the dignity of work, someone who will want to go out, 
as Abraham Lincoln said, and get ``my public opinion baths'' and get 
outside the hallowed halls of the Federal Reserve, see America, and 
translate that into a policy that really does help working families.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Tennessee.
  Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, I just have to say a couple of words 
about the economy. Since my colleague from Ohio was speaking of the 
economy, I will say this: Showing respect for workers and for work 
means that you show respect by realizing that the best way to stimulate 
the economy is with a job. That is something we have seen this 
administration and, I will say, a Republican-led Senate, and, 
previously, a Republican-led House do--generate tax reform, which is 
giving us economic growth that we have not seen in years. Economic 
growth of 3.2 percent is what our GDP numbers were last Friday--3.2 
percent. We haven't had that in a decade.
  How do you respect people? You create opportunity. How do you show 
respect for workers? You open doors. That is what you realize. It is 
not the government that creates jobs. It is the men and women who build 
businesses, who grow businesses--the men and women who say: I have an 
American dream, and I want the opportunity to make that dream come 
true.
  That is an element of respect, and this President and Republican 
leadership have delivered on that with every single opportunity we have 
had.
  I disagree with the philosophical approach that my colleague from 
Ohio has expressed, and I would encourage all Senators to look at what 
is happening in their communities and look at the jobs growth. 
Tennesseans are so excited that there is a growing economy and that 
they have more money in their paychecks at the end of the month.