November 6, 2001
| The Honorable Tom Daschle Majority Leader United States Senate S-221, U.S. Capitol Washington, D.C. 20510 |
The Honorable Trent Lott Minority Leader United States Senate S-230, U.S. Capitol Washington, D.C. 20510 |
| The Honorable Max Baucus Chairman, Committee on Finance United States Senate 219 Dirksen Office Building Washington, D.C. 20510 |
The Honorable James M. Jeffords United States Senate 728 Hart Office Building Washington, D.C. 20510 |
| The Honorable John B. Breaux United States Senate 503 Hart Office Building Washington, D.C. 20510 |
The Honorable Olympia J. Snowe United States Senate 250 Russell Office Building Washington, D.C. 20510 |
Dear Tom, Trent, Max, Jim, Olympia, and John:
As ranking member of the Senate Committee on Finance, I've had the privilege of working with the chairman, Senator Max Baucus, over the last six weeks on an economic stimulus package. We share the same goal: we both want a bipartisan proposal to stimulate the economy and also address the unemployment benefits and health care needs of dislocated workers.
Unfortunately, the Democratic leadership has indicated we're not going to get a bipartisan Finance Committee product. If the committee acts, it appears the chairman's mark will pass with a partisan vote.Of course, the majority party has a right to act and pass legislation with one-vote margins. But I'm disappointed by this kind of likely outcome. It seems to me there's a lot of common ground, but little will, to meet the other side halfway. That unwillingness doesn't make sense given a Finance Committee divided 11 to 10, a Senate divided 51 to 49, and an expressed desire on the part of the leadership to set partisan politics aside and work to find common ground on critical issues following the terrorist attacks of September 11.
I'm left asking why we're stuck in this partisan ditch with a contentious floor fight on the horizon. We have common ground on the investment side, on the consumer spending side, and with the goals for dislocated workers. Some say that Senate Democrats need to pay back the House Republicans for a partisan process in the other chamber. But understandable frustration with that development doesn't justify repeating it on the Senate side. There's a cost to legislating this way.
The American people expect us to work together. So I'm asking you to help make that happen. In the Senate, each of you represent either your party leadership or the Centrist Coalition. I propose that the seven of us agree to sit down together as a task force to see if we can find a way out of the rut we're in and determine if bipartisan agreement can be reached on an economic stimulus package. Given the difficulties in the process to date, I see this as a necessary step to meet the obligations we each have as public officers and to reflect the closely divided Senate in which we serve.
Sincerely,
Chuck Grassley
Ranking Member, Committee on Finance
United States Senate