FACT SHEET | July 31, 2008

Senate Democrats Work to Make the American Dream More Affordable Despite Efforts of the 'Grand Obstructionist Party'

The strategy of being obstructionist can work or fail...and so far it's working for us."

-- Former Republican Whip, Senator Trent Lott (Roll Call, 4/18/07)

Since January 2007, the Democratic-led, 110^thCongress has made a significant down-payment on our promise to take the country in a new direction after nearly a decade of Republican control. Under Democratic leadership, Congress has enacted bills to provide economic stimulus, extend unemployment benefits, provide a 21^st Century GI bill, promote energy independence, invest in food and nutrition programs, increase the minimum wage, prevent foreclosures, provide a pay increase for our troops, provide middle class tax relief, strengthen homeland security, fund and improve critical domestic programs, and reform the ethics and lobbying system. And in the last week, Congress enacted major legislation, the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, to address the nation's housing crisis. Despite these important accomplishments, we know that more needs to be done. 

Since President Bush took office, the American standard of living has plummeted and the cost of living has skyrocketed. Median household income has declined by nearly $1,000 and more than one million more Americans are unemployed; at the same time, gas prices are up 173 percent, health care premiums have increased 78 percent, college costs have risen by over 60 percent, and more than two million Americans are facing foreclosure. 

As Democrats have worked to advance the priorities of the American people, Bush- McCain Republicans have set new records for obstructionism in the 110^th Congress. Senate Republicans have engaged in nearly 90 filibusters, blocked committee hearings, and placed countless numbers of "holds" on bipartisan legislation that would normally pass the Senate expeditiously by unanimous consent. While these partisan, parliamentary hijinks may be "working" for Republicans, they are failing the American people. 

As we move forward, Senate Democrats once again urge Senate Republicans to defy their reputation as the "Grand Obstructionist Party" and join us in our effort advance the priorities of working- and middle-class Americans, starting with making the American dream more affordable and jumpstarting the economy.

 

Bush-McCain Republicans have engaged in unprecedented obstructionism. Senate Republicans have delayed nearly every piece of major legislation in the 110^th Congress. By repeatedly threatening to filibuster, the GOP has forced more than 90 cloture votes in the Senate, thereby requiring Democrats to move or pass legislation, not by a simple majority, but by a super-majority of 60 votes. And we have nearly five months to go in the Congress! In the full two-year term of the 109^thCongress -- when Democrats were in the minority -- the Senate had only 52 cloture votes on minority filibusters. Prior to the 110^th Congress, the all-time high for cloture votes in a two-year term was 57. Republicans have shattered this record. (U.S. Senate, Legislation and Records, Votes, Roll Call Tables, available here.) 

Senate Republicans have refused to even debate legislation. Bush-McCain Republicans have not only used cloture motions to require a super-majority to pass legislation, they have used cloture motions on motions to proceed to force a super-majority to even consider legislation. Already, in the one and a half years of the two-year, 110^th Congress, Republicans have forced nearly 40 cloture votes on motions to proceed - wasting weeks, spanning into months, of the Senate's time. As a comparison, in the 109^th Congress there were only 12 of these votes, and in the 108^th Congress there were only nine. (U.S. Senate, Legislation and Records, Votes, Roll Call Tables, available here.) 

Bush-McCain Republicans have stood in the way of bills that address the most critical issues facing our nation. Many of the bills Senate Republicans have blocked or delayed are popular, bipartisan, and/or non-controversial. Currently, one Republican Senator, with the help of his Republican colleagues, is obstructing the passage of nearly 80 bills, many of which are House-passed measures that would normally be passed in the Senate by the expedited process of unanimous consent. Before leaving for the August recess, Senate Democrats gave Senate Republicans an opportunity to end these delays by voting to proceed to S. 3297, the Advancing America's Priorities Act of 2008, which included more than thirty of the bills being blocked by this Senator -- bills that should have already been enacted into law and working for the American people. The package included legislation to promote important medical research, authorize new programs to protect children from exploitation, and advance U.S. foreign policy goals. 

Instead of joining Senate Democrats to pass this critical legislation, Republicans chose obstructionism over progress, with 40 Republican Senators voting to block even the consideration of this package. This latest example only underscores "how even bipartisan bills have fallen victim to gridlock in the closely divided Senate and how much a single senator can stand in the way." (U.S. Senate, Legislation and Records, Votes, Roll Call 189, Motion to Invoke Cloture on the Motion to Proceed to S. 3297 Rejected 52-40 (60 votes required for acceptance), available here; Congressional Quarterly, "Energy Dispute Blocks Housing Bill," June 25, 2008, available here.)

 

In just the last few days, Senate Republicans have summarily blocked or delayed the passage of measures to address the nation's most critical economic problems. In a classic display of unyielding partisanship, Republicans have repeatedly turned their backs on: 

•Lowering gas prices. Republicans blocked legislation to reduce the amount of excessive speculation in the oil markets and punish price manipulation, both of which experts agree have contributed to skyrocketing gas prices. (S. 3268, theStop Excessive Energy Speculation Act of 2008, summary available here.)

•Safeguarding the American dream of homeownership. Republicans delayed legislation to address the nation's home mortgage crisis, a crisis that has led to millions of foreclosures, billions lost in home equity and home values, and a near economic meltdown. (H.R. 3221, the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, summary available here.)

•Job creation. Republicans blocked legislation invest in the Highway Trust Fund and extend business tax credits to help companies innovate, both of which would create hundreds of thousands of good-paying jobs in the Untied States. (S.3335, the Jobs, Energy, Families, and Disaster Relief Act of 2008, summary available here.)

•Tax relief. Republicans blocked legislation to protect millions of Americans from the Alternative Minimum Tax, increase the eligibility for the refundable child tax credit, and extend tax relief for education expenses. (S.3335, the Jobs, Energy, Families, and Disaster Relief Act of 2008, summary available here.)

•Advancing renewable energy and energy efficiency. Republicans blocked legislation to provide brand-new tax incentives for investments in renewable energy related to energy production, transportation and domestic fuel security, and energy conservation and efficiency. (S.3335, the Jobs, Energy, Families, and Disaster Relief Act of 2008, summary available here.)

•Lowering home energy costs. Republicans blocked legislation to assist low-income and elderly Americans with skyrocketing home heating and air-conditioning costs, the lack of which results in thousands of deaths each year. (S.3186, the Warm in Winter and Cool in Summer Act, summary available here.)

 

Senate Republicans have offered excuses for their unwillingness to help the American people. When criticized for their relentless blocking of vital bills, Senate Republicans have offered nothing but "process" complaints. One Senate Republican suggested that Americans at risk of illness or death due to excessive heat and cold would be "better served in the long run by a Senate where Senators can offer amendments ...." Considering that according the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) more than 1,000 Americans died from hypothermia in their own homes from 1999 to 2002 and the annual mortality rate from extreme heat in the U.S. has exceeded the death tolls from floods, tornadoes, and hurricanes combined since 1998, this statement demonstrates the degree to which Republicans are out of touch with the American people. (Congressional Record, Floor statement of Senator Specter, July 28, 2008, page S7560.)

 There is no limit to the number American priorities Senate Republicans are willing to thwart. With five months to go in the 110^thCongress, Bush-McCain Republicans have already said "no" to numerous measures overwhelmingly supported by the American people. Even when they have merely delayed legislation that eventually passed, their obstructionist tactics have wasted valuable floor time that could have been used to advance more of the people's priorities. The ever-growing list of hindered efforts includes legislation to:

•change course in Iraq;

•restore ethics and accountability in Washington;

•raise the minimum wage;

•fund the intelligence community, and require that all government agencies abide by the Army Field Manual;

•lower drug prices for American Seniors;

•improve food and drug safety;

•improve water resources;

•provide comprehensive immigration reform;

•fund and expand renewable energy sources;

•protect the rights of employees to organize;

•provide dwell time for our troops;

•ensure the availability of children's health care;

•reauthorize the Farm Bill;

•increase fuel-efficiency standards;

•fund the federal government;

•stimulate the struggling economy;

•address the housing crisis;

•improve consumer product safety;

•improve veterans' benefits;

•better protect employees from employment discrimination;

•address climate change;

•invest in infrastructure to create jobs and increase safety;

•improve Medicare for Seniors;

•extend unemployment insurance;

•provide tax relief for America's businesses and families

•combat the spread of global AIDS;

•assist Americans with home energy costs; and

•stop excessive energy speculation to lower gas prices.

 

Unsatisfied with 90 filibusters, Republicans have begun blocking committee hearings. On June 10, 2008, as Senators, staff, and the American people prepared to hear timely testimony on the use of coercive interrogation techniques in the Senate Judiciary Committee, Minority Leader McConnell via Senator Cochran took the unusual step of objecting to a daily routine request to allow the hearing to take place during the first two hours after the Senate convenes. 

Mr. REID: Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate Committee on the Judiciary be authorized to meet during this session of the Senate. 

Mr. COCHRAN: Mr. President, on behalf of the Republican leader, I object. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER: Objection is heard. 

Mr. REID: Mr. President, ... [t]he hearing we were going to conduct was a hearing entitled ``Coercive Interrogation Techniques: Do They Work, Are They Reliable, and What Did the FBI Know About Them?'' ... The hearing featured a report by the Department of Justice inspector general on tactics at Guantanamo that amounted to torture...The Republicans may not want these abuses to come to light, but I think the American people have a right to know. This is part of a pattern of obstructionism by my friends on the Republican side. (Congressional Record, 06/10/08,available at link; See alsoSenate Committee on the Judiciary, Hearings, available at link.)

 

Unwilling to allow this important hearing to be stopped, Senate Majority Leader Reid recessed the Senate so that the hearing could continue for the benefit of the American people. 

Senate Republicans have also blocked a hearing on the Supreme Court's treatment of laws that protect the health, safety, jobs, and retirement of the American people and, ironically, given the alleged reason for their obstructionism: judicial nominations, a hearing on the need for federal judgeships, a hearing that Republicans on the committee wanted. (SeeSenate Committee on the Judiciary, Hearings, available at link.) 

Mr. REID. I ask unanimous consent that the Senate Committee on the Judiciary be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate in order to conduct a hearing entitled ``Responding to the Growing Need for Federal Judgeships : The Federal Judgeship Act of 2008.'' ... 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection? 

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I object...

... 

Mr. LEAHY. ... [D]id the majority leader not hear the distinguished Republican leader say they don't want to give consent to these hearings that the majority may want? ... I ask the distinguished leader, was he aware of the fact that this hearing was being held after four senior members of the Republican caucus asked me to have the hearing? Emphasis added. (Congressional Record, 06/17/08, available at link.)

 

Senate Republicans have also resorted to even more ridiculous, time-wasting measures in order to obstruct good legislation. In July, Senate Republicans refused to consent to a standard request to waive the mandatory quorum call by unanimous consent, forcing the Senate to engage in an unusual live quorum call. In June, Minority Leader McConnell forced Senate clerks to spend several hours reading aloud the landmark Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act of 2008, a 344 page bill to address climate change, which only served to tie-up Senate business late into the night. While Senate Democrats are more than willing to adhere to the Senate rules without compliant, the American people should know that these parliamentary tactics represent little more than partisan game-playing. [CQ, "Protests by the GOP continue in the Senate," 06/05/08.] 

Senate Republicans are not alone in their effort to block change; far from being a "uniter," President Bush has become the Obstructionist-in-Chief. After having refused to veto a single piece of legislation during the first five years of his Presidency

-- when the Republican's controlled Congress -- and promising to foster the spirit of bipartisanship in the 110^thCongress, President Bush has opposed, threatened to veto, or vetoed, dozens and dozens of bills in Democrat-led, 110^th Congress. 

•In March 2007, the President vetoed a bill to provide emergency funding to our troops and would have changed course in Iraq. 

•In June 2007, the President vetoed bipartisan-supported legislation that would have given hope to more than 100 million Americans who suffer from diseases or conditions that could one day be treated with therapies derived from stem cell research by lifting restrictions on federally-funded stem cell research. 

•In October 2007, the President vetoed CHIP, the children's health care legislation, which was supported by a bipartisan majority of Congress overwhelmingly approved. 

•In November 2007, the President vetoed the bipartisan-supportedWater Resources Development Act (WRDA), which authorizes investments in environmental restoration and storm protection along the Gulf Coast, supports the restoration of wetlands and their accompanying ecosystems, increases environmental protection along America's waterways, and improves the safety of levees across the country. On November 8, in what was a strong rebuke by the House and Senate, Congress overwhelmingly overrode the President's veto of WRDA allowing the bill to become law. 

•In December 2007, the President vetoed CHIP for a second time. 

•In March 2008, the President vetoed the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008, which would have authorized funding for intelligence and intelligence-related activities of the United States government, including the nation's 16 intelligence agencies and the Director of National Intelligence. The bill would have also required all federal agencies -- not just the Pentagon -- to abide by the Army Field Manual, which bans the use of "enhanced" interrogation techniques, including waterboarding and other cruel and inhumane treatment. 

•In June 2008, the President vetoed the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 ("the Farm Bill"), whichinvests billions in food and nutrition programs, billions in conservation programs, and millions in programs that stimulate regional and local food economies. The bill also provides a tax credit so that rural America can produce cleaner, renewable energy. In yet another stinging rebuke, on June 18, Congress overwhelmingly overrode the President's veto allowing the bill to become law. 

•In July 2008, the President vetoed the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008, whichwould improve the Medicare program for the 44.1 million seniors who are enrolled, provide additional help for low-income seniors, enhance rural and other hospital care, ensure proper pay for Medicare providers, improve outpatient services, enact modest reforms to some private Medicare plans, and improve the Medicare Drug Benefit program. On July 15, Congress once again overwhelmingly overrode the President's veto allowing the bill to become law.

 

Americans elected Democrats to move the country in a new direction, and we are delivering on that promise, in spite of unprecedented opposition by Bush Republicans. The "block and blame" strategy of Congressional Republicans simply will not work. After more than a decade of Republican control, Congressional Democrats are pursuing the priorities and passing the legislation that is important to the American people. In addition to other measures, Democrats have enacted into law: 

•A bill to comprehensively address the home mortgage crisis, including stabilizing the government sponsored enterprises and aiding in foreclosure prevention; 

•An economic stimulus package; 

•A bill to increase the federal minimum wage; 

•An energy bill that increased fuel-efficiency standards for the first time since 1975; 

•A bill to upgrade military health care and provide a pay raise for our troops; 

•A supplemental appropriations bill that included an additional $1.8 billion for veterans' health care; 

•A bill to implement the 9/11 Commission recommendations; 

•An emergency spending bill that included billions for hurricane relief; 

•A bill to ensure borrowers are not penalized for mortgage modification; 

•An ethics and lobbying reform bill; 

•A bill to cut subsidies to student lenders and provide $17 billion in grants and other student aid; 

•A bill to improve Medicare; 

•A bill to promote American competitiveness; 

•A bill to improve water quality across the country and protect the Gulf Coast from dangerous storms like Hurricane Katrina; 

•A farm bill; and 

•An appropriations bill to fund the federal government, including domestic programs that had been under funded during the Bush Administration 

DPC