Capitol Words a project of the Sunlight Foundation

Sen. Harry Reid

Mr. President, for generations this was the American promise: If you worked hard and played by the rules, success would be within your reach. We call that success the American dream--to earn a decent wage, buy a home, put your children through school, and retire comfortably. For many people in this country, that dream has drifted further and further from reality. The recession cost many Americans their jobs, homes, savings, and basic economic security. Many are still struggling. Although the economy has made slow progress toward recovery, there is still much more work to be done before every American who wants to work can find a job.

But the terrible recession is only part of the problem. The same Wall Street greed that caused the financial collapse is fueling the greatest income disparity since the Great Depression. In the last few decades, the average CEO's income has multiplied 250 times. Meanwhile, CEO's employees have watched their incomes creep up barely at all.

So America is at a crossroads. As President Lyndon Johnson said in 1965--and it is time to ask that now--and I quote:

. . . not only how to create wealth but how to use it; not only how fast we are going, but where we are headed.

That is what he said. And the path we choose will determine what kind of a country we will be. We can choose to be the kind of nation where the hard work of many pays off only for the richest few or we can be the kind of nation where every man and woman shoulders a fair share of the burden and reaps a fair share of the reward. We can be the kind of country where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer or we can be the kind of country where middle-class families share in the opportunity and the prosperity.

President Obama has called this choice a ``make or break moment'' for the middle class, and tonight he will lay out a roadmap that sets us on the path to fairness instead of inequality. I look forward to hearing President Obama's vision this evening. It begins with an economy that works for every American--regardless of the size of his or her checkbook. I expect the President to lay out commonsense ideas to spur American manufacturing, create jobs, and help small businesses compete and grow. His vision is fueled by homegrown, renewable energy. It is time to stop spending American dollars on foreign oil. It is time to hire American workers to build wind turbines and next-generation vehicles. The President will propose a new plan to make sure that today's students are ready for tomorrow's jobs and that today's workers remain competitive in our global economy.

I expect the President to include ideas from Democrats and from Republicans. For 3 years, the President has reached out to Republicans. Now is the time to work with him on common ideas to produce legislation, not stalemate. I ask my Republican colleagues to give his bipartisan vision the consideration it deserves.

In 1947, President Truman delivered the first televised State of the Union Message. Truman was the 20th President to govern alongside a Congress controlled by the opposing party. The first was George Washington. He said Democrats in the executive branch and Republicans in the legislative branch could and should work hand in hand to shape the Nation. This is what he said:

There are ways of disagreeing; men who differ can still work together sincerely for the common good.

I hope Republicans in Congress will keep those words in mind tonight. Despite all our differences, together we can build an economy that works for the common good of all Americans.

Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Sen. Mitch McConnell

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.