Manchin Offers Commonsense Amendment to Save Jobs and Stop Creating More Debt
Washington, D.C. – In a floor speech tonight, U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) offered a better way to keep teachers and first responders’ jobs and stop the federal government from digging the country even deeper into debt.
With the Senate poised to vote on a $35 billion measure to give states money for teachers and first responders, Senator Manchin described his amendment to provide the funding as loans instead of grants.
“In my state of West Virginia, we didn’t have major layoffs of teachers or first responders during this brutal recession. As difficult as it was, we balanced our budget based on our values and our priorities. We made difficult decisions, but we kept our teachers in the classroom and our firefighters protecting our citizens,” Senator Manchin said. “But now, because of the impact of this recession and the fact that other states did not make difficult decisions years ago, the taxpayers of West Virginia are being expected to foot the bill for other states. I believe there is a better way. I believe there is a better way where we can balance the fiscal constraints that states face with the need to protect these vital jobs. I believe there is a better way where we can balance the need to keep teachers and firefighters working, while not asking West Virginia taxpayers – or any taxpayer – to pay for more than is necessary.”
The loan program Senator Manchin proposed would allow any state to borrow the money they need at very low – or no – interest. It would help ensure that states are making decisions based on how much money they actually need, not the federal government’s willingness to continue handing out money with no strings attached.
Senator Manchin urged his colleagues to support his commonsense amendment and help him improve the legislation by voting to bring it to the floor – rather than filibustering the measure – so that Senators can offer their own ideas to improve the bill. He asked his colleagues to put politics aside and work to restore the faith of the American people in leaders they have elected by coming together to produce real solutions.
“To my Republican and Democratic friends who may not support this bill as it stands, I would respectfully ask you to seize this opportunity to work together to make this bill better. Trust me, I share many of your concerns,” Senator Manchin said. “And to be clear, if we cannot and do not adopt this commonsense approach that stops throwing money at the problem we have in this country, I will join you and vote against it.”
Senator Manchin also criticized the dysfunctional legislative process that is causing the public to lose confidence in Congress.
“It’s a fact some folks in this town are so busy trying to make the other side look bad that they don’t realize how bad we all look in the process. I don’t believe for one minute that anyone in this chamber – Democrat or Republican – is rooting for our economy to fail or jobs to be lost. We just all have different ideas,” Senator Manchin said. “While we should question each other’s ideas and policies, we should never question each other’s convictions. And shame on us, if the blame game is the best we can do.
“We are better than this. I came here to fix things, not play politics. It is time for us to stop with the bickering, and remember one thing – we may be members of different political parties, but we are all party to this great nation. As difficult as it may seem, America and the future of the American people are more important than politics or an election,” the Senator said. “So I ask again – let’s work together on commonsense, bipartisan ideas to get this country on a responsible financial path that will strengthen the economy and create jobs.”
Full text of Senator Manchin’s remarks as prepared for delivery is below.
M. President, I rise to speak about the Teachers and First Responders Back to Work Act that we will vote on shortly.
It is clear that our nation is facing two grave economic threats: a jobs crisis and a death spiral of debt.
As much as some people may wish, we simply can’t ignore one threat over the other.
For the sake of our nation’s economic future, we must work together – Democrats and Republicans – and try and find a commonsense solution that protects and creates jobs, but does so without adding to our growing deficits and debt.
In a more sensible legislative process, we would be able to sit down and work out a compromise that makes sense.
It's what legislators throughout our nation's history have done.
Unfortunately, looking at where things stand now, it’s clear that the legislative process in Washington has gotten so dysfunctional that it doesn't make much sense at all.
M. President, I came here to try and fix things – not make excuses, and I sure didn’t come here to play the blame game.
I’ve never fixed a thing by blaming someone else.
As I have said many times before, it is time for us – all of us who have been given the great privilege to serve – to focus on what right’s for the next generation, not worry about the next election.
It is why – as frustrating as this legislative process can be – I will not lose hope that we can make this legislation better.
With respect to the current Teachers and First Responders Back to Work Act, there is no doubt about the fact that our teachers and first responders have a critical role in our nation.
From the classroom where teachers educate our children to the streets where first responders put their lives on the line to keep our communities and nation safe, these great Americans are just so important to the future of this nation.
But, M. President, they – and the American people – deserve better than a temporary, one-year legislative proposal that does nothing to fix the long-term fiscal problems that led so many states to lay off thousands of teachers and first responders in the first place.
What will we do next year when states come back again, asking for more federal money? Will we give out more money? Will we go further into debt? Will we borrow more money? What will we do?
As it stands, without any changes, this bill will not solve the fiscal problem that will come once this aid ends.
But this bill is not hopeless – it can be made better.
I know it.
In my state of West Virginia, we didn’t have major layoffs of teachers or first responders during this brutal recession.
As difficult as it was, we balanced our budget based on our values and our priorities.
We made difficult decisions, but we kept our teachers in the classroom and our firefighters protecting our citizens.
Make no mistake, we cut back our spending, but we did so responsibly. We spent where it was needed – on our priorities.
That's the commonsense approach that works in West Virginia because that’s how people run their lives, how they operate their small businesses and how we should run this country.
You make budget choices based on what is important to your state, to your family, to your business – and to your country.
In West Virginia, this simple commonsense approach paid off.
Every year that I was governor, we ended the fiscal year with a surplus. And every year for the past three years, West Virginia has seen its credit rating upgraded.
But now, because of the impact of this recession and the fact that other states did not make difficult decisions years ago, the taxpayers of West Virginia are being expected to foot the bill for other states.
I believe there is a better way.
I believe there is a better way where we can balance the fiscal constraints that states face with the need to protect these vital jobs.
I believe there is a better way where we can balance the need to keep teachers and firefighters working, while not asking West Virginia taxpayers – or any taxpayer in any state – to pay for more than is necessary.
That is why I am offering a commonsense amendment that would transform this 35 billion dollars in funding to keep teachers and first responders working into a loan program instead of a grant.
This loan program would allow any state to borrow, at very low – or no – interest, the money they need to keep teachers and firefighters employed and pay it back over time.
I don’t know of any state that wouldn’t put their teachers and firefighters as one of their highest priorities – and budget that first.
So this loan program would ensure that states are making the decisions on how much money they actually need, and not the federal government’s willingness to put us further in debt by giving more money away.
And it would ensure that states make smarter and more responsible decisions about what they can and cannot afford to do.
Such a loan program would help protect these jobs and would protect the fiscal future of states when they get in trouble.
In short, it just makes commonsense.
I would encourage my Republican and Democratic colleagues to embrace this commonsense amendment and I encourage them to help me make it even better.
I would hope that they would support this cloture motion, not because they support the bill as it stands, but because they believe in what this legislation could be if we all put politics aside and worked to make it better.
If we could get past a filibuster, I would hope that the amendment process would be a testament to the great legislative moments that this body has seen in the past.
As I’ve been assured by my leadership, this bill, if it gets to the floor, will have an open amendment process that will give all of us the opportunity to make this legislation better, and it is the reason why I will vote for this motion to move on with debate.
To my Republican and Democratic friends who may not support this bill as it stands, I would respectfully ask you to seize this opportunity to work together to make this bill better.
Trust me, I share many of your concerns. And to be clear, if we cannot and do not adopt this commonsense approach that stops throwing money at the problem we have in this country, I will join you and vote against it.
M. President, this country is looking to us to do what is right.
It’s not about this vote or this bill.
It’s about the fact that so many Americans have lost confidence in this great body.
They have lost confidence in a process that they see as broken and incapable of working.
They have lost confidence in a legislative process that has become so political that it doesn’t matter what we do – it just seems all we care about is scoring political points to be used on the next election.
It’s a fact some folks in this town are so busy trying to make the other side look bad that they don’t even realize they’re making us all look bad.
M. President, I don’t believe for one minute that anyone in this chamber – Democrat or Republican – is rooting for our economy to fail or jobs to be lost. We just all have different ideas. While we should question each other’s ideas and policies, we should never question each other’s convictions.
And shame on us, if the blame game is the best we can do.
M. President, we are better than this.
I came here to fix things, not play politics.
It is time for us to stop with the bickering, and remember one thing – we may be members of different political parties, but we are all party to this great nation. We are all Americans.
As difficult as it may seem, America and the future of the American people are more important than politics or an election.
So I ask again – let’s work together on commonsense, bipartisan ideas to get this country on a responsible financial path that will strengthen the economy and create jobs.
Let’s work together on making America’s future brighter – not for us – but for the next generation.
Thank you, M. President, and I yield the floor.
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