Capitol Words a project of the Sunlight Foundation

Sen. Harry Reid

Mr. President, in 1946 President Harry Truman delivered his first State of the Union Message. This was the first State of the Union Message since the end of World War II. The trials of war were behind us but new challenges laid ahead. Truman laid out a vision for not only how America could survive those challenges but thrive in the modern world. He described the path forward in simple words. He said:

Our basic objective--toward which all others lead--is to improve the welfare of the American people.

That meant economic prosperity. It meant Social Security and unemployment insurance. It meant an opportunity for higher education, access to medical care, and the dream of home ownership.

The goal, he wrote, was ``that we become a well-housed people, a well-nourished people, an educated people, a people socially and economically secure, an alert and responsible people.'' And in the three decades that followed that vision, that was reality. The middle class was never larger, never stronger, and it had never been easier to become a part of that middle class. That is the way it was. Through hard work and ingenuity, Americans prospered together.

For three decades after World War II, the rungs on the ladder to success grew closer together, but in the three decades that followed, something changed. The goal was the same--to be a well-housed, well-educated nation of responsible and economically secure people--but for many, reaching that goal became very difficult--certainly more difficult. Incomes skyrocketed for the richest few, but they stalled for the rest, and the middle class lost more and more ground.

Today, the richest 1 percent holds nearly half of all the wealth in this country. Today, the richest 1 percent takes home a quarter of all wages. Income, personal income--1 percent takes 25 percent of that. I repeat, the richest 1 percent holds nearly half of all the wealth in this country.

Americans are working just as hard as they worked 60 years ago, but that hard work is paying off for fewer and fewer people. What does that mean? For the last three decades, the rungs on the ladder to success have grown farther apart instead of closer together, and the farther apart those rungs grow, the fewer Americans climb that ladder. The farther apart those rungs are, the fewer Americans make it into a disappearing middle class.

We just weathered the worst recession since the Great Depression, but the financial collapse of 2008 was not the cause of the problem, it was a symptom of the problem. It was a symptom of a system that is rigged to pay off for a few but leave many behind, and it is time to even the playing field.

As we rebuild our economy, let's rebuild it to last. Let's rebuild it to work for every American, regardless of the size of their bank account. This week, President Obama laid out a vision to do just that.

The President's plan will spur manufacturing. It is time to reward companies that ``make it in America'' and end giveaways to companies that ship jobs overseas. It will reduce our reliance on expensive foreign oil. It is time to rely on plentiful, homegrown, renewable energy sources, in spite of the fact that President Obama said that just less than 10 years ago we were importing 60 percent of the oil and now it is less than 50 percent. We are producing more oil than we have in about a decade, and that is good, but we need to make sure the future is one of renewable energy. The plan will ensure that today's students have the skills to become tomorrow's workers. That is the only way to keep pace in a competitive world economy. And it will return this country to the core value that has always made it a great country--a country of fairness. Everyone must share the prosperity as well as the responsibility, and every person and every corporation must play by the same rules. That value encouraged three decades of growth after World War II, and it can make America grow again.

I look forward to working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to make this vision of fairness a reality.

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.