Jobs bill for teachers and first responders blocked by GOP
Republican-led filibusters in the
U.S. Senate have blocked two bills that
would have put hundreds of thousands
of people back to work.
On Oct. 11, the GOP filibustered
President Obama’s $447 billion Amer-
ican Jobs Act, which independent
economists calculated would save or
create more than a million jobs. The
legislation would have been paid for by
raising income tax rates by 5.6 percent
on people making more than $1 million
a year.
The bill actually had majority sup-
port (51 senators), but it fell short of the
60 votes needed to end a filibuster. All
47 Republicans in the Senate, and two
Democrats, voted to block the bill.
Forty-nine Democrats and the two in-
dependent senators voted for cloture
and to bring debate to an end.
One week later, on Oct. 20, Repub-
lican senators blocked a scaled back
version of the American Jobs Act.
Entitled the Teachers and First Re-
sponders Back to Work Act (S. 1723),
the bill would have channeled $35 bil-
lion to state and local governments to
put back to work or keep on the job an
estimated 300,000 teachers, 15,000
firefighters, and thousands of public
safety officers.
The bill would have been paid for
by a one half of 1 percent tax on those
making more than $1 million a year.
Senate Democrats voted 47-2 to
bring up the bill and stop the GOP fili-
buster. The GOP opposed it 47-0, and
the independent senators split 1-1.
“For the second time in two weeks,
every single Republican in the United
States Senate has chosen to obstruct a
bill that would create jobs and get our
economy going again,” President
Obama said in a statement.
Vice President Joe Biden, speaking
at rally Oct. 19 hosted by the Interna-
tional Association of Fire Fighters, told
the crowd that when he and other
Obama Administration officials sat
down to design to the jobs bill, “We
said we should do things that would
create jobs and that Republicans sup-
port. This wasn’t designed to put Re-
publicans on the spot. It was designed
to do something to help this country.
“The things we picked are things
that every Republican I’ve served with
have supported — infrastructure, tax
cuts for small businesses, for middle-
class people, the ability to provide for
the safety and security of our commu-
nities, and continue teaching our kids.
“But these guys wouldn’t even al-
low us to vote on it. Now we’re going
to vote piece by piece and they can ex-
plain to the American people why they
are against the people who save our
lives and give our children a chance to
have good lives.”
International Association of Fire
Fighters President Harold Schaitberger
said that Republicans can’t use the ex-
cuse that the bill adds to the deficit as a
reason to oppose it because “It is all
paid for with a one half of 1 percent tax
Republicans derail ‘Buy America’ plan offered by Merkley
Even though a majority
of senators supported the
amendment to H.R.
2112, the threat of a
filibuster kills it
WASHINGTON, D.C. (PAI) — A
threatened Republican filibuster in the
U.S. Senate derailed a proposal by Sen.
Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), that would have
required federal freight rail projects
paid for with taxpayer dollars to use
“steel, iron and manufactured products”
made by American workers.
Senators voted 55-44 for the
amendment to H.R. 2112, the Agricul-
ture, CJS, and Transportation/HUD Ap-
propriations bill. But Merkley needed
60 votes to stop a threatened Republi-
can filibuster.
Democrats backed the amendment
49-1, Republicans voted 5-42 against it,
and the two independent senators split.
There was no debate on the amend-
ment. Merkley spoke for it. Nobody
spoke against it.
“It is important to boosting Ameri-
can jobs and manufacturing and ensur-
ing more of our American dollars are
spent here at home,” Merkley ex-
plained. “When the government spends
tax dollars, it should be looking to
American companies to provide goods
and services. Recently, an issue came to
light that gave me substantial concern.
“A few months ago, a bid was
awarded to a Chinese company to pro-
vide steel for a freight rail bridge in
Alaska — the Tanana Bridge. There
was strong American competition.
However, the award went to the Chi-
nese company.
“If there were a level playing field,
that would be one thing. But, in fact,
China is employing a three-tiered strat-
egy that provides enormous subsidies to
its own manufacturing, tilting the play-
ing field considerably.
“At a time when Americans every-
where are searching for jobs, we should
be supporting American companies that
employ and hire Americans, especially
to make sure American companies are
not disadvantaged by Chinese strategy
that tilts the playing field against our
companies and thereby destroys jobs in
America,” he said.
The Department of Transportation
operates under Buy America rules for
its grant programs administered by the
Federal Transit Administration and the
Federal Highway Administration.
However, the Federal Railroad Admin-
istration only has Buy America rules for
its passenger rail programs, not its
freight rail programs.
on those making more than a $1 mil-
lion a year. I think they can afford that.”
The day before the Oct. 20 Senate
vote, members of the American Feder-
ation of Teachers (AFT) in Oregon,
representatives from North Clackamas
School Disrict, and students and per-
sonnel from the Sabin-Shellenberg
Professional Technical Center in Mil-
wuakie, Oregon, gave Congressman
Kurt Schrader (D-5th Dist.) a tour of
empty classrooms to illustrate the im-
pact funding cuts and job losses have
had on career and technical training
programs at the school.
“The training I am receiving here at
Sabin-Shellenberg is the same as I
would receive in a college program, so
not only am I getting a head start, but
I’ll also save money on my college ed-
ucation,” said student Alex Vdovich.
Had S. 1723 not been filibustered,
some $300 million in aid would have
been available to put teachers back in
the classroom, said Belinda Reagan, an
AFT-Oregon executive vice-president
and president of Portland Federation of
School Professionals Local 111.
“The empty classrooms illustrate
the urgency behind passing job creation
legislation in Washington,” Schrader
said. “Career training programs were
designed to prepare students like Alex
Vdovich with the skills they need to
succeed in the global economy.”
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