Senate Proceeding on Mar 12th, 2009 :: 7:10:45 to 7:41:35
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7:10:41 to 7:11:01( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: at the appropriate place as if read. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. whitehouse: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the appointments at the desk appear separately in the record as if made by the chair. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. whitehouse: mr. president, i note the

7:10:45 to 7:41:35( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: George Voinovich

Voinovich uses some great visual aids to compare budget policy to both Frogger & Pacman.

7:11:02 to 7:11:23( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: will the senator mr. whitehouse: the senator will withhold. a senator: thank you v the presiding officer: the senator from ohio. mr. voinovich: i ask unanimous consent that i be allowed to speak for up to 30 minutes. the presiding officer: without

7:11:24 to 7:11:45( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: objection, so ordered. mr. voinovich: thank you, mr. president. i rise today to call attention to what i -- what i refer to as the irresponsible and reckless fiscal path we find ourselves on as a nation and to urge my colleagues to act now to take the first step toward

7:11:46 to 7:12:08( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: meaningful, comprehensive tax and entitlement reform. mr. president, you know tuesday night we gathered here on the senate floor to cast our votes on the omnibus appropriations act of 2009. i could not vote for this bill because it ignores the fiscal realities we find ourselves in today.

7:12:09 to 7:12:31( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: this omnibus bill which includes includes $408 billion in nonemergency spending is 8% larger than it should be. some agencies in the bill are set to get a 40% increase in funding. and from my experience as the former governor of ohio and the mayor of the city of cleveland, i don't believehat those agencies have the capacity to

7:12:32 to 7:12:52( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: spend that kind of money. this adds to the $787 billion stimulus bill that was passed last month. it increases the already staggering $10.9 trillion national debt an continues to expand the size of the government at what has become an alarming rate.

7:12:53 to 7:13:14( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: as you can see from chart one federal spending as a percent of g.d.p. averaged just under 20% under president bush. this year under president obama it will reach almost 28%. and his administration projects that it will average out to over 23% across two terms. in other words, i came to the

7:13:15 to 7:13:35( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: senate in 1999, and this is what we were spending totally on -- on medicare, m other appropriations. and then, as you see, it started to go up, and we have to be honest, that that's when we started to borrow money because

7:13:36 to 7:14:00( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: we weren't taking in enough money to pay for it, so we started to have deficits, and then under bush it started to go up some more. here we are in 2009, and you can see that the size of the government is up to 27.7%. that's what we're everything.

7:14:01 to 7:14:21( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: we've gone from 18% to 27.7% and then it is going to start to slide down and in 2012 the president says to us: don't worry. we're going to reduce the spding by 50% of the national -- the deficit spending by 50%. and look at this. it continues to spend out at

7:14:22 to 7:14:43( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: this point and by 2016 -- i haven't shown it on a chart, but it just keeps going. we can't keep going that way. it is over $500 billion a year we're borrowing to run the government. to complete the -- what i call triple whammy to our national debt, the administration adds to the stimulus omnibus a new

7:14:44 to 7:15:04( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: 10-year budget where the lowest deficit for a single year is larger than any annual deficit from the end of world war ii. in fact, president obama's smallest deficit is larger than president bush's largest deficit and that is true despite proposing the largest tax

7:15:05 to 7:15:28( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: increase in american history, including a new energy tax that will expose the false claim that we will not raise taxes on the middle class. this $646 billion tax increase will affect rich, poor, and middle class alike, and yet future generations will still be burdened with higher debt.

7:15:29 to 7:15:50( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: so we have gone from what i'm not proud of, some republican years, what we did is -- i used to say spend, republicans spent and borrowed. now we've gone to spend, borrow, and tax. and in spite of all of that, we're going to have these gigantic deficits as far as we

7:15:51 to 7:16:11( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: can see in this country. simply put, our spending is out of control. we are spending and funding more money at a time when we should be finding ways to work harder and smarter and do more with less. and i know a little bit about this because i took over cleveland, the first city to go into default in the depression in 1979.

7:16:12 to 7:16:32( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: we were in deep trouble. i took over the state of ohio. we were a billion and a half dollars in debt at that time. we had to cut the budget four times and ultimately had to increase taxes at the margin. i know -- i know what this is about. but nobody's talking about working harder and smarter or doing more with less. and if you look at the stimulus,

7:16:33 to 7:16:53( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: we spent $787 billion and now some congressional leaders are talking about putting together a second package. i -- i can't believe it. we cannot continue down this path. it's our responsibility to make budgeting decisions based on our nation's fiscal situation and to take into consideration the impact it's having on us but,

7:16:54 to 7:17:17( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: more important, on our children and grandchildren. over the past year, we have been hit by an economic avalanche that started in housing, quickly spread to the financial credit markets and then continued onward to every corner of the economy and across the world. we have taken steps over the past months to dig out of the avalanche, mr. president, but we

7:17:18 to 7:17:40( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: have not reinforced our tax and entitlement systems' crumbling foundation. in other words, this problem was here. i've been talking about this for eight years, that we need to have tax reform and entitlement reform. now all this other stuff has hit it -- hit us, but the fact of the matter is, that's still there. we need t reform. we need entitlement reform.

7:17:41 to 7:18:01( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: and that is why despite the enormity of the legislation passed over the past month, there's still a sense of great anxiety on main streetnd my street. mr. president, i still live in a house that janet and i bought in 1972. i'm with real people every day. they are very, very concerned

7:18:02 to 7:18:22( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: about the future 789 they get it. the stimulus and omnibus has caused everyone who paid attention to say, my god, we have to do something to get book a firm fiscal footing. they know that unless we fix or tax and entitlement system, we might as well be flying a kamikaze plane.

7:18:23 to 7:18:43( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: when i arrived in the senate in 1999, gross federal debt stood at $5.6 trillion, or 61% of the g.d.p. the obama administration recently projected the national dote more than double to $12.7 trillion by the end of fiscal year 2009. that would amount to a 126%

7:18:23 to 7:20:35( Edit History Discussion )

Pac-man ecoNOMNOMNOMics.

7:18:44 to 7:19:07( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: increase compared with only a 56% increase in the gross domestic product during the same ten-year period. from 2008-2009 alone, the federal debt would increase 27%, boosting the country's debt-to-income ratio orational debt as a percentage of gross domestic product from 70%

7:19:08 to 7:19:28( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: last year to 89% this year. and this is what i -- this is the pacman. here it was in 1999. the federal debt. then it's up to 70%. we're now up to 89%. i think there's still some people that understand pacman. when i was governor of ohio, i used to say that medicaid -- and i'm sure the -- mr. president,

7:19:29 to 7:19:53( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: you under is the pacman that kept eating up the budgets in your state. under the obama budget, though, in 2017, for the first time since down our world war ii debt, the national debt will be larger than the size of the entire

7:19:54 to 7:20:14( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: american economy. at that point, we'll be too fat and out of shape to escape from our creditors around the world. and that's what it's going to look like. 2017, it's -- it -- it's more than 100% of our gross domesti product. think of that. today, if we're candid with the

7:20:15 to 7:20:35( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: american people, consider the tarp, stimulus package, and the money we continuously borrow from social security trust funds, we are facing a projected budget deficit of is more than four times the reported 2008 deficitf $455 billion.

7:20:36 to 7:20:56( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: as a share of the economy, the 2009 deficit will become the largest recorded deficit since world war ii, when we were up to our eyeballs in the second world war. last june when i spoke here on the floor to call attention to this fiscal crisis, i pointed

7:20:57 to 7:21:18( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: out that our national debt was $9.4 trillion and the per capita debt of each american's share of the national debt was $31,000. up from $20,000 in 199. 9. this year, that figure will reach let's naught into perspective.

7:21:19 to 7:21:39( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: in 2009, according to the bureau of labor stat stirks the median income for a ohio name 2007 for one earner was $40,000. that means each person's share of the national debt is more than many hard-working ohioans make in an entire year. and alarmingly, these figures don't even count our accumulated

7:21:40 to 7:22:03( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: long-term financial obligations of medicaid, medicare, social security, which grew $2.5 trillion -- $2.5 trillion last year as a result of the increases in the cost of medicare and social security benefits. the baby boomers are here, they're coming on. if we include those numbers,

7:22:04 to 7:22:24( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: taxpayers are on the hook for a record $57 trillion in federal liabilities to cover the lifetime benefits of everyone eligible for medicare, social security, and other government programs. that's nearly $500,000 per household. now, it doesn't take an economist to realize our course is on -- we just can't keep going.

7:22:25 to 7:22:46( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: as our former comptroller general and head of the government accountability office said, we are facing a fiscal time bomb. we must come to terms with the ct that the u.s. government is the worst credit card abuser in the world and it's time that w come to terms with the fiscal realities of 2009. we cannot continue to heap debt

7:22:47 to 7:23:07( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: on the back of our children and grandchildren without a second thought. and lip service from congress and the administration isn't going to get the job done. recently, the office of budget and management direcr peter orszag spoke to a group of bipartisan senators who have breakfast regularly to talk

7:23:08 to 7:23:28( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: about some of the problems. he pointed out that as we are confronted with the economic the senatotsunami hitting our country, we are lucky -- we are lucky -- our interest rates are very low because many investors in america and around the world are parking their money in treasury bills. mr. orszag continued on to say we cannot expect that rate of

7:23:29 to 7:23:50( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: borrowg to last and said it's imperative we take advantage of this phenomenon now before foreign markets and our people demand more interest for their investment in the u.s. debt. i could not agree month, . president. we cannot rely on luck and foreign investors.

7:23:51 to 7:24:11( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: when i met with larry summers, martin feldstein and larry lindsey, they say our current fiscal path is only sustainabl sustainable -- listen to this -- as long as the japanese, the chinese, and the opec and others have confidence that we're going to pay back our debt. and, boy, are they watching whether we're going to do

7:24:12 to 7:24:32( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: anything about tax reform and entitlement reform. now, this has serious implications. foreign creditors provided more than 70% of the funds that the u.s. has borrowed since 2001. 70%. today, 50% -- 51% of the privately owned national debt is held by foreigners.

7:24:33 to 7:24:54( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: and that's up from 37% just six years ago. now, if these foreign investors lose confidence and pull out u.s. treasuries, kady bar the door. borrowing hundreds of billions of dollars from china and opec nations puts not only economy but our national security at risk. we have got to make sure that

7:24:55 to 7:25:16( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: other countries do not control our debt. and one of the things i pointed out about -- mr. president, you'd understand this -- is that we have got to become more -- more oil we have a situation today right now where somebody else controls the supply, they control the cost, and they're buying our debt.

7:25:17 to 7:25:37( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: and i've got to tell you, if i control the supply and the cost and then i'm paying for your debt, i put you out of business. that's just a fact of life. we have got to wake up to the fact that we cannot rely on these other countries to -- to take care of this debt. we cannot continue to live in

7:25:38 to 7:25:59( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: the united states of denial. back in 2006, i sent a letter to president bush urging him to take on a comprehensive tax and entitlement reform, and i'd like to submit my letter to president bush for the record. t sadly, no action was taken. we missed a gigantic opportunity opportunity, mr. president, to make meaningful reform while

7:26:00 to 7:26:21( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: times were relatively good. we are more or less lucking out now but we cannot count on that luck to last forever. we have to tackle tax and entitlement reform to maintain our credibility, turn around our economy and regain our global respectability. not a year from now, not two years from now but now, now, now

7:26:22 to 7:26:42( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: now. our tax code, for example, is imploding from the hundred dollars of economic and social policies congress pursues through the tax incentives and from the dozens of temporary tax provisions. it's a nightmare. just ask the millions of americans right now that are filing their tax returns.

7:26:43 to 7:27:04( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: i've said this on the floor of the senate before. when we got our tax return back last year, i looked at it, my wife looked at it. she said, i don't understand it. do you? i said, no, i don't understand it. she said -- i said, well, why don't we call our accountant and maybe said, don't you dare, because he'll charge us

7:27:05 to 7:27:26( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: i mean, the thing is, it - of control. anybody that underan what's going on, it's a nightmare. and tinkering with the tax code won't work. the argument i made to president bush several times was, look, we know tha the marginal rates are going t evaporate, a reduction, we know capital gains reduction

7:27:27 to 7:27:47( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: is going to evaporate in 2010, we know that are going to evaporate in 2010. why don't we take this opportunity to look at the tax reform and look at those things that really are going to encourage people to save and to keep the economy going? frankly, those three things might be wonderful in that regard.

7:27:48 to 7:28:08( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: but you can't have it unless you make up it with some other taxes that are at leas least hurtful to our expaifgz to ousavings and to our economy. since the last major tax reform in 1986, we've add over 15,000 -- think about this -- 15,000 new provisions in the internal revenue code, and last year alone -- you know, we pass

7:28:09 to 7:28:29( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: all these bills around here -- 500 changes. 500 changes in the tax code. it's no wonder why only 13% of americans file their taxes without the help of either a tax preparer or computer software. clearly, we've waited too long to act, and this is not just a matter of saving taxpayers time and effor

7:28:30 to 7:28:51( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: it's also about saving real money. theax foundation calculates conservatively that we all spend about $265 billion a year to keep track of our records and pay people to paip our taxes. think about it. $265 billion. if we could supreme line and make it simple --

7:28:52 to 7:29:12( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: if we could streamline and make it simple and understandable, if we just cut that in half, that would be a gigantic tax reduction for the american people and not cost us one dime. woe must enact fundamental tax reform to help make the tax code simpler, fair, transparents, and economically -- transparent, and

7:29:13 to 7:29:37( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: economically efficient. thankfully there have been some encouraging signs of new developments. earlier this month, i attended a bipartisan press conference along with senator conrad, representatives cooper and wolfe and former u.s. comptroller general walker, who now heads up the peter g. peterson foundation foundation.

7:29:38 to 7:29:58( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: and david walker and the rest of us urged congress to take action to restore fiscal discipline. in other words, we all said this has got to be done. we agreed that it's time to begin to enact the first pillar of meaningful comprehensive tax and entitlement reform.? and that's why, mr. president, i'm disappointed that president

7:29:59 to 7:30:20( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: obama did not mention a vehicle to enact tax and entitlement reform in his address to congress. just as i was very disappointed that the bush ainistration never once mentioned reducing our national debt after 2001. think about that. i'm a republican. he's aepublican president. our president never ever

7:30:21 to 7:30:41( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: mentioned t the time he was president. it was like it didn't exist. and yet, it kept going up, up, up, up. i've been calling for the creation of commission to facilitate tax and entitlement reform for some time now.

7:30:42 to 7:31:02( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: in fact, in 2006 i introduced the securing america's future economy, or safe commission act which i introduced in the senate in the 109th, 110th. congressman jim cooper of tennessee, congressman frank wolf of virginia introduced a version in the house where they enlisted 93 cosponsors.

7:31:03 to 7:31:23( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: this group had support from corporate executives, religious leaders, think tanks across the political spectrum. think of this, the conservative heritage foundation and the liberal brookings institution. all of these people realized where we are. in building on the safe commission, two of my colleagues, senator conrad and the ranking member from new

7:31:24 to 7:31:46( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: hampshire, senator gregg, introduced a bipartisan bill that would create a tax and entitlement reform task force very similar to the safe coission called the bipartisan task force for responsible fiscal action. and i've signed on as one of the 19 cospo we will never ever take the necessary steps toward fiscal responsibility unless we create

7:31:47 to 7:32:07( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: this brac-like bipartisan commission. the commission would take on the tough issues of social security, health care, tax reform, create recommendations that would be fast tracked through process and brought to the floor of both chambers for a vote. in other words, to do it the traditional way that we do things around here, they'll never ever get done.

7:32:08 to 7:32:28( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: if you think we would have been able to close air bes and other bases around this country by doing it through legislation without the brac process, you're just not inhe real world. if you really want to tackle this stuff, we've got to get the group together, they've got to work on it, come up with a compromise. if three-quarters of them agree

7:32:29 to 7:32:49( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: it is the thing to do, we put them through expedited procedure. the senate gets it, the house gets it, and they have to vote up or down. and it's really important that that because it will have legislators on it. and i know, mr. president, if somebody asked you to spend a year and a half of your life putting something together and then you said, well, once it's done, it's going to go through

7:32:50 to 7:33:10( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: the regular procedure, you'd say goodbye, i don't h that. i don't have time for that. but if you knew thatou put the time in and you knew that if you have three-quarters of you that agree on it and that going here and get some action, then you'd have some incentive to say i'm going to stay at the table, we're going to work on this thing, we're going to get the job done.

7:33:11 to 7:33:33( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: the workload would be heavy. the commission would benefit by taking a look at previous work that's been done to study these issues by foundations and others. it also could start by considering some of the previous proposals that have been introduced by some of our former colleagues: senator mack and breaux, who are cochairs of the commission created by the bush administration to reform our tax code. i worked like the dickens to say

7:33:34 to 7:33:55( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: let's have this commission to study the tax code. i'll never forget talking to karl rove and he i want it to be legislators, that's the way we had it in our appropriations bill. no, we'll do something we'll put in charge -- i think he said at the time he was afraid pelosi and steny hoyer might kill it in the beginning.

7:33:56 to 7:34:16( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: i said if they're going to kill it in the beginning, let's find out. no, we went the other direction. connie mack, john breaux worked their tails off for over a year. they came back with a very good report. it wasn't perfect. it wasn't perfect, but i expected president bush to take

7:34:17 to 7:34:41( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: that and tweak it and send it over here. i'll never forget the story that john breaux told me. he went to visit president bush. he walked in t oval office and started looking around. and the president said to him, john what are you doing? and he said, mr. president, i'm

7:34:42 to 7:35:02( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: looking for the report that we did. on the shelf gathering dust. and that's why i'm pleased to hear president obama mention the nation debt in his address to congress. but i was disappointed that when he mentioned -- quote -- "the crushing cost we face in the reform wean no longer afford to put on hold," he only talked about health care.

7:35:03 to 7:35:23( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: although health care costs a big part of our entitlement problem, addressing health-care reform won't get the job done alone. it's not the time for dodging and ducking. this is the time for cold hard truth. everyone knows that we need tax and entitlement reform. i know it, the obama administration knows it and the

7:35:24 to 7:35:44( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: american people know it, mr. president. and i know for sure peter orszag does because a couple of years ago he was as enthusiastic about dealing with this problem as anybody in this country. the american people elected president obama to make the tough decisions to country back on the right track. as president obama said himself

7:35:45 to 7:36:05( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: so eloquently, we must take responsibility for our future and for posterity. i love that. i love that part of his speech. i just thought it was just great. he car about me, he cares about my children, he cares about my grandchildren. we must take responsibility for our future and for posterity. sadly so far he's missing in

7:36:06 to 7:36:26( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: action on tax and entitlement reform. tphafbgt -- in fact, in a february 27 column in "e washington post" michael gearson called the president's stance on tax and entitlement reform as timid and hardly courageous. mr. president, in fairness to our president, he and his administration have been busy putting out fires.

7:36:27 to 7:36:48( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: this president has got more on his plate than maybe any president we ever had, maybe since franklin delano roosevelt. but if he ignores comprehensive tax and entitlement reform, we could see an economic holocaust. that's why i would suggest to my fellow colleagues who have

7:36:49 to 7:37:09( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: voiced similar calls for reform, mr. president, that we should gather our staffs on a bipartisan and bicameral basis to agree on the language of a vehicle commission that could get the job done. in other words, getting republicans, democrats, house, senate and get the language of what this commission shoul look like. we'll work on that.

7:37:10 to 7:37:30( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: and if the administration doesn't like our proposals, then they'd be free to weigh in their own ideas. but doing nothing is simply not an option. i've talked to senator gregg about this, senator conrad. you know, i said it's our duty to position this nation so that we have the greatest opportunity for success for the

7:37:31 to 7:37:51( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: and i'm saying if the president doesn't want to do this, let's us get together and help him. okay? let's get together, let's help him. and say, here, mr. president, here's something we agreed to on a bipartisan basis. we'd like to go with it. if you've got a better idea on how to get it done, amen and hallelujah, but we've got to get going.

7:37:52 to 7:38:12( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: each and every wufs should be able to -- every one of us should be able to look into the eyes of our children and grandchildren and know in our hearts that we have done all that we can to make sure that at least they have the same opportunity that we have had for our standard of living and quality of life.

7:38:13 to 7:38:33( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: if i had to name one of the primary contributing factors to our worsening economic situation, it would be that we've lost faith. we seem to have experienced in ourselves. in many ways today america is mired in a crisis of confidence.

7:38:34 to 7:38:54( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: i do not share the despair that many experts hold concerning the future of our country. when i first became mayor of cleveland in 1979, the city was in default on its bonds. unemployment for the first couple of years continued to grow to more than 18%. think of that -- 18%.

7:38:55 to 7:39:15( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: cynics at the time joked, saying will the last person leaving cleveland turn out the lights. we decided that no one was going to come to cleveland and solve our problems for us. we had the courage to be more self-reliant and make tough decisions. and through the public-private partnerships we created, we were able to unite everyone behind common goals.

7:39:16 to 7:39:37( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: we empowered the it worked. in fact, at that time cleveland was known as the come-back city. and i know, mr. president, you could identify this. cleveland was named an all-america city three times in a five-year period. never happened before, and i suspect it will never happen again. and it was that public-private partnership. everybody coming together.

7:39:38 to 7:39:58( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: our motto was together we can do it. when i became governor of ohio in 1991, we faced a $1.5 billion budget shortfall. we were a no-growth state. we made tough decisions. i had to cut the budget four times and raise taxes. but as a result, we we able to turn the tide, create 540,000

7:39:59 to 7:40:19( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: new jobs. in fact, manufacturing grew for the first time in 25 years. the state's rainy day fund grew from 14 cents to over $1 billion. we put take care of any medicaid problem.

7:40:20 to 7:40:41( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: i know we can turn things around but we need to stop the spending spree and make tough decisions. why don't we work together to get america back on track. let's work together to systemically deal with each of the problems, challenges, and opportunities that we have in america, so that we are filled with the same hope and optimism of ronald reagan. i got to know ronald reagan.

7:40:42 to 7:41:02( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: he was quite a guy, quite a president. always had a positive attitude. and he said, i know that for america, there will always be a bright dawn ahead. mr. president, the glass is not half empty. mr. president, the glass is half full.

7:41:03 to 7:41:12( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: and if all of us work together, we can turn this thing around.

7:41:33 to 7:41:35( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: i yield the mr. president, i suggest the absence of a