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CNN Saturday Morning News

Byron Dorgan Delivers Democrat's Radio Address

Aired January 05, 2002 - 11:05   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: Last hour you heard the President talking about the economy. Now the democrats will be doing the same. The North Dakota Senator Byron Dorgan speaks out for the Democrats in their party's weekly radio address.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

SEN. BYRON DORGAN, (D) NORTH DAKOTA: Hello, I'm Senator Byron Dorgan from North Dakota.

The past several months have been tough ones for America. We grieve for those killed by the terrorist attacks on September 11, and we are determined to pursue the terrorists who are responsible and to bring them to justice.

I think President Bush and his administration are doing an excellent job in the war on terrorism. We stand with him and support his policies to rid the world of this evil. And we salute the men and women in the military who risk their lives for our country. The world must know: America is united in this mission.

Today we also face serious economic challenges here at home. Our economy is in a recession, and millions of Americans have lost their jobs. You know, just a year ago we were enjoying strong economic growth, the longest economic expansion in history.

That economic growth happened because, back in 1993, Democrats put a new economic plan in place. Oh, it was controversial, but it worked. Under that plan, we eliminated the record budget deficits we faced in 1993, we began paying down the federal debt, produced record budget surpluses and saw 22 million new jobs created in just eight years.

About a year ago, President Bush took office. Last spring he and congressional Republicans began pushing for a $1.4 trillion tax cut. Most of the benefit went to the wealthiest Americans -- far more than the percentage of taxes they pay. The Republicans said their plan would still produce record budget surpluses for the next 10 years.

Democrats offered a different economic plan, one based on our earlier experience. It's cornerposts were fiscal responsibility, investments in people and businesses to spur economic growth, and tax cuts aimed at working families. But the Republican plan was enacted. And now, just a few short months later, our economy is in trouble. Budget surpluses have turned to budget deficits once again.

Some Republicans in Congress say, "Well, the September 11 attacks have caused this economic downturn." No question, that hurt our economy. But the fact is, our economy was headed for trouble before September 11.

What America needs now is a responsible economic recovery plan. Yet the Republicans still insist that we order from the same old menu. They propose more tax cuts, mostly for the affluent and big corporations. They will end up paying for them by taking money from the Social Security trust funds and by increasing the federal debt. And that doesn't make much sense to me. We've tried that before, and it doesn't work.

We have a better plan. Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle and Democrats in Congress are working for targeted tax cuts for working families to stimulate consumer demand; investments in people to spur economic growth and new jobs and opportunities; and budgets that are fiscally responsible and still protect Social Security and Medicare.

Our plan also helps those who have lost their jobs during this economic downturn. That's not only the right thing to do, economists say it will help our economy recover. But the Republicans are resisting that too.

You know, back during the Great Depression, Will Rogers said something that pretty well describes that Republican approach. He said, quote, "The unemployed here ain't eating regular, but we'll get around to them as soon as everybody else gets fixed up OK," unquote. I think our country can do better than that.

Here in farm states, especially, we understand the need for economic recovery. And we know that giving family farmers a chance to survive by writing a new farm program that really works for them is also an important part of what's needed for a better economy. Yet, Republicans in the Senate have even stopped the new farm bill with a filibuster. But we're not going to give up in our fight to help America's farm families survive.

Now, I'm not trying to tell you that we're all right and they're all wrong. That's not the case. But we're all Americans, and we need some cooperation here in Congress to do the right thing for our country's future.

I began by telling you how strongly we support the president as he prosecutes this war against terrorists. We're going to continue that strong support because it's the right thing to do.

But in these tough times, the American people need some support, too. We want the Republicans to help us enact an economic recovery package that gives the American economy a boost and gives the American working people a fair shake. That's the right thing to do, as well.

This is Senator Byron Dorgan of North Dakota. Thanks for listening.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: And you've just been listening to the democratic radio address. Essentially what the Senator was doing was saying that he was praising President Bush for his campaign in the war against Afghanistan, but was harshly critical of his economic policies.

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