Durbin: President Biden's Build Back Better Agenda Is The Blueprint For America To Win The 21st Century
WASHINGTON – In a speech on the Senate floor, U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today spoke in support of President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better agenda. During his speech, Durbin argued that the cost of inaction far outweighs that of action. Durbin also argued that Congress must address climate change in the Build Back Better agenda, and that doing so has the potential to be the biggest job creator in a generation.
“President Biden’s Build Back Better agenda is an investment in our future. If you’re worried about a worker shortage… the Build Back Better plan will enable parents, especially mothers, to return to work by making safe and affordable child care resources and senior care available for every family in this country. And it’s a blueprint for America to win the 21st century and boost every family’s economic security by investing in schools, education, and first-class job training,” Durbin said. “Continuing to do nothing while China and our other competitors pass us by is a strategy for finishing in second place, which appears to be the Republican strategy. Our Republican colleagues say we just can’t afford to invest in America’s workers, families, and economic potential. Boy, are they wrong. What we can’t afford is to do nothing.”
Durbin continued, “Climate change is the gravest threat to our economy, bar none. Not to mention our children and grandchildren’s future. We’ve waited too long. Climate change must be addressed today. Tomorrow is too late. Delay and denial will not make it disappear… and there’s something our Republican colleagues either don’t get or won’t admit: dealing with climate change has the potential to be the biggest job creator in generations. We have an opportunity to put millions of Americans to work building a sustainable, resilient future for our country.”
Durbin also called on Senate Republicans—led by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY)—to join Senate Democrats in dealing with the debt ceiling before the December 3 deadline. Durbin noted that raising or suspending the debt limit has nothing to do with approving new spending—it’s about paying off the spending the government has already incurred. Much of the debt that Republicans are threatening not to pay was approved by Senate Republicans under former President Donald Trump.
“Senate Republicans were ready to let go of the steering wheel and swerve into oncoming traffic with the debt limit. Right up until the 11th hour, they wanted to use a filibuster to block Democrats from addressing the debt limit. Do you know when that debt was incurred? It was incurred during the Trump Administration with many of these same Republicans voting for the spending that stands behind it. Now the Minority Leader, Senator McConnell, has once again pledged that Republicans refuse to lift a finger to deal with the debt limit when it expires in the first week of December,” Durbin said. “If our Republican colleagues are truly concerned about the economic well-being of America, work with us to put together a sensible response to the debt limit.”
Video of Durbin’s floor speech is available here.
Audio of Durbin’s floor speech is available here.
Footage of Durbin’s floor speech is available here for TV Stations.
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