Date: 1982-11-30
Speaker: ROBERT C. BYRD (democrat)
Chamber: S

Mr. President. as we reconvene for the final weeks of the 97th Congress. the tragic recession that has been with us for 17 months lingers on. Unemployment has darkened the lives of 11.5 million people. and nearly 20 million willing and able Americans remain underemployed. Industrial production continues to plummet. and we learned today that last weeks steel production set new record lows as only 31 percent of its capacity was in use. The spotty and anemic signals of recovery during the last few months have been wiped out by renewed losses the month after they were cheered by administration economists. Retailers are now concerned that the Christmas sales surge will fade as did the previously predicted recoveries from spring buying. summer tax cuts and fall backtoschool sales. The road and bridge repair bill and the jobs programs being considered by the Senate and House are important stopgaps. and together will help nearly 600.000 Americ.tns find work they desperately need. But for. the other 19.400.000 Americans who are underemployed. only a strong and sustained recovery will put them back to work. Mr. President. since last spring. we Democrats have maintained that only a sharp drop in interest rates will get this economy moving again. With lower. affordable rates. companies can buy again. companies can invest again. and builders can build again. In July. Democrats in both Houses introduced legislation entitled the Balanced Monetary Policy Act of 1982. designed to force the Federal Reserve Board to look at real interest rates as well as money supply when setting policy. This legislation was designed to force interest rates down closer to historic real levels. Events of August and October. as the Fed moved decisively away from monetarism and toward a more balanced approach. showed that the Fed could bring interest rates down dramatically. Late in the summer. we welcomed the support of our Republican friends on the House side who introduced legislation substantially similar to ours and brought a welcome bipartisan spirit to our proposals. Together. we sent a shot across the Feds bow this summer. and the results speak for themselves. However. in the last few weeks the actions of the Federal Reserve have raised questions as to their willingness to continue on a path to lower interest rates. Interest rates have remained largely stagnant. and in fact some shortterm rates turned up slightly yesterday. The stock market and financial markets have been looking for a strong signal from the Fed that it will continue to support the necessary monetary easing and lower interest rates needed to promote a healthy recovery. But the Federal Reserve has not taken that lead. and uncertainty has returned once more to the market. Our Nations industrial capacity is underused by more than 30 percentwhich is a postwar record. Our Nations human capacity is underemployed by 20 million citizenswhich is another postwar record. In such dire straits we need not worry that inflation is just around the corner. As interest rates linger above affordable levels for most Americans. the economy continues to sink lower and lower into this recession. Recently. many of our Republican colleagues. including the distinguished majority leader and the chairman of the Senate Budget Committee. have expressed their exasperation with continued high levels of interest rates. I hope these public expressions represent a chance for swift bipartisan action to convince the Federal Reserve Board that lower interest rates must come if the economy is to recover. By nearly all estimates. there is substantial room for lower interest rates and higher money growth before any inflationary pressures would begin to appear. In the hope that bipartisanship can prevail in these terrible times. I am today introducing a concurrent resolution that I believe all of my colleagues can support. I believe the Federal Reserve Board needs a strong signal from Congress that it has the full faith and support of both Houses in continuing to press rates down and promote economic recovery. The Boards reaction to our bills of last summer was positive. and took us part way toward affordable rates. By supporting and passing a sense of Congress resolution at this time. I believe we can stiffen the Feds resolve to bring rates down while avoiding the need for permanent legislation. The sense of Congress resolution I propose is not designed to give the Board of Governors explicit instruetions about how to bring rates down. they have shown that they know how to bring rates down when they so choose. It is not desTgned to compromise the integrity of the Federal Reserve Board. but it is designed to show that Congress remains committed to lower interest rates. and that the Feds course of late summer and early fall should be renewed and maintained to produce a strong and sustained recovery. I hope all of my colleagues can cosponsor and support this resolution. So I have offered this resolution this afternoon in that spirit. I hope for bipartisan support. 1 ask unanimous consent. if the maJority leader will not object. that the concurrent resolution lay at the desk throughout the remainder of this day. before it is referred. for cosponsors. Of course. if it Is referred. they can obtain permission to cosponsor it after today without objection. If the majority leader has no objection. I make that request for today only.