Multiple sclerosis, a walk, she said things are so different this year, senator, than they were last year. I asked her, how so . She said a rear ago if our a year ago when our loved one was diagnosed with m. S. And had insurance they would have an annual or lifetime cap and run out of coverage. That is a terrible situation to be in because m. S. Is a mysterious and expensive disease. She said, if the individual didnt have insurance, they now have a preexisting condition and they wouldnt be able to get insurance. She said, now we have the peace of mind that if our loved one gets an m. S. Diagnosis, that individual will able to get the care they need. Isnt that just the summary of what swhied be seeking in our that the summary of what we should be seeking in the Health Care System, the peace of mind if our child or loved one becomes ill or injured he or she will get the care they need. Shouldnt that be what were fighting for . But instead we had the opposite. We had the Trumpcare Bill designed to rip peace of mind away, destroy peace of mind, trample all over peace of mind so the wealthy could have more giveaways from the federal treasury. We had t we had the house bill and an estimated 20 Million People would Lose Health Care over ten years, and that our hospitals and our clinics would have a lot less funding to be able to provide care to everyone. And yet it passed the house. And then President Trump got briefed on what was in the bill after he held the Champagne Party at the white house to celebrate its passage. He said oh, wait, this bill is mean and heartless. So then over here in the senate, the senate secret 13 went to work to try to produce a bill with no public hearings and no discussion with stakeholders, secret, in a way. In a room where no one could offer any insights. Didnt hold any town halls back home, no meetings here. The public totally blocked out. And the secret 13 amazingly came up with almost an identical bill to the house bill. Oh, the estimate was maybe instead of 23 Million People losing insurance, 22 Million People would lose insurance. Well, fortunately the secret 13 bill was defeated, but just barely here in this chamber. And then came another version of this called the fake insurance bill. This fake insurance version said that, hey, lets let the Insurance Companies put out policies that are really, really cheap but wont actually cover anything. Wont that make us feel good that everyone in america can afford a policy that will only cost 40, 50 a month. Of course, fake insurance is fake. That is, when you go to the emergency room, it doesnt cover the visit. When you get a blood test, it doesnt cover the blood test. When you need an xray or mir, it doesnt pay for t. Dont think about covering hospitalization or any other normal medical service because its fake insurance. Well, the fake insurance bill failed by a few votes here on the senate floor. Then we had repeal without replacement. And that failed. Then we had the skinny bill and that failed by a single vote. How is it possible that we came that close to passing a bill thats completely the opposite of the vision of our constitution to legislate for the foundation, for the American People, not the american privilege, not the american powerful but for the American People . And yet came within a vote of passing. And then this week. We have the block grant version. The block grant version that proceeds to destroy the exchanges immediately, the health care marketplaces. The great irony here is that was the republican idea. Lets create a marketplace where people can compare individual policies, pick the one best for their family and get tax credits to be able to buy them. So the republicans came out against their own plan. Well, in addition, it wiped out Medicaid Expansion. My home state of oregon, the exchanges responsible for roughly another hundred thousand people gaining access to insurance, the marketplace. And 400,000 people gaining access flew Medicaid Expansion through Medicaid Expansion. So theres half a million americans. In just my state, my humble state of oregon. And yet here is a bill saying we dont care. Were going to wipe out health care for half a million oregonians, and untold millions across the country, 20 million to 30 million across the country. Well, we owe a big thank you to grassroots america. We owe a big thank you to ordinary citizens who believe in the vision of this country. And they proceeded to connect with capitol hill, to fill the streets and to flood the phones and to overflow our in boxes saying what are you doing, please stop. Please stop trying to destroy peace of mind for americans. They said make Health Care Work better, not worse. Is that really too much for us to ask . And as we ponder how to make Health Care Work better, grassroots america has expressed a lot of ideas. They said, you know, we have a really complicated system that creates all kinds of obstacles for ordinary families, for working families. For example, consider whether you have a job that provides you with insurance and your family with insurance, but then the Company Changes the policy that only covers you. How are you going to get your children covered . Are you going to be able to get them signed up right away for the Childrens Health Insurance Program . How do you go about doing that . Then your employer says, by the way, you have to start paying us to get health care. You go, wow, thats a huge chunk out of my check. Can i still afford that and still pay my rent. Am i going to have to choose between health care and homelessness . Not a choice families should have to make. And then perhaps someones working several part time jobs. The employer has no Health Care Program at all. And they signed up the Oregon Health plan or the equivalent medicaid plan across the country. Well, they may like that but its complicated to apply and they have to reapply periodically. But then what happens if their income goes up just a little and now they are over the line for eligibility . And as a result of being over the line, they now have to go back into the individual market and how do you do that in the middle of the year when its not an open Enrollment Period . Such complexity, such difficulty. Thats why its so appealing to think about the vision of a seamless, simple Health Care Program that you have that will provide health care, Quality Health care when you need it, Affordable Health care, just by vier you it of being just by virtue of being an american. Thats a beautiful vision and its not out of reach. Every other developed country has found some version of that and made it a reality. And we need to ponder how to have that seamless, simple system down the road. But right now we have a more immediate task. And that immediate task is to stop the sabotage of the Health Care System we have. President trump has engaged in many maneuvers to try to force the collapse of the Insurance Markets. One is to withhold the costsharing payments from insurers so that the funds that they were promised they no longer have, a than uncertainty has caused Many Companies to say, dont count on us to be in that market in the future if we cant count on you, the federal government, to honor your obligations. Why isnt this body, the senate body, demanding that the president honor the obligations with those costsharing payments . And in addition, we have the president shutting down advertising during the open period so that people wont know that they can sign up. In addition, we have President Trump cutting the Enrollment Period in half. We have a plan now from the administration to cut the funds for Consumer Outreach and enrollment assistance that enables folks who need to get health care, to find out how do they actually get through the complicated application process. And most recently, the Administration Announces theyre actually going to shut down the website perioded onically during periodically during the open Enrollment Period on weekends when people have the ability to apply, theyre going to shut down the website so people wont be able to apply during portions of the weekend. All of us should unite, 100 senators should unite and tell President Trump enough of this sabotage. You want to drive up insurance policies by 20 over any other increase they might otherwise have, you want to be responsible for millions of people not gaining access because of your irresponsibility . Then were going to hold you accountable for you. Everybody in america, grassroots america is going to hold you accountable for it. Fortunately, we have a bipartisan process that was under way to take and Work Together to remedy these conditions. And i profoundly thank lamar alexander, chair of the hill t Health Committee and patty murray, the ranking democrat on the committee, saying lets have the normal, rational process that we go through to help us understand who you we can improve the Health Care System. So they held a series of hearings. They brought in the experts. They brought in the stakeholders. They did it in front of the public so the public could weigh in. They consulted constituents and encouraged all of us to consult our constituents and be part of that conversation. Pragmatic, experienced legislators gaining expertise from those on the front line so they can make a system work better. Isnt that the way the senate is supposed to work . Their work shows a lot of promise. There are some very straightforward things that they have heard from those experts. Theyve heard that we need to lock down the costsharing payments. No Insurance Company is going to be in the Insurance Market if they dont know theyre going to get paid what has been promised. Or theyre going to raise their premiums incredibly high to cover the risk that they wont get paid and then, of course, people wont be able to afford that insurance. They heard from the experts that you have to have reinsurance. If you want to have this private marketplace where people can compare policies and use tax credits to buy the policies, an Insurance Company wont enter that market unless they have their own insurance policy against getting a disproportionate share of the really sick people. So reinsurance they heard. And they heard that we need to not suppress outreach to those who need insurance but increase outreach, outreach to younger, healthier people to make sure theyre part of the exchange. Outreach to those who are often working several part time jobs and have little time to focus on this question unless someone reaches out and says heres your opportunity. Were now in the open period. Heres how you sign up and we can make sure take you get that done. You know, that set of hearings, we heard other things. We heard we need to do more to take on mental illness. They heard we need to do more to take on the drug addiction, Opioid Epidemic in america. So there it is, a list of a modest number of things that we could do together to make our Health Care Work better. Wouldnt that be a beautiful closing chapter to the nightmare, the repeated Horror Stories that weve been playing here in the senate threatening to Rip Health Care from millions of people. Well awaken over that war of health care and Work Together to address these fundamental questions. We actually had public hearings in the help committee which we didnt have before. We actually listened to the experts which we didnt do before. We actually encouraged people to consult with their constituents rather than hiding from their constituents. And the result would be a significant strengthening of what we have. Lower premiums as a result, more competition in the exchanges, more awareness of how to sign up, more healthier, young people getting involved in the exchanges which means that the premiums come down. I think as we ponder the goal of our Health Care System, the question of peace of mind, that that is our best immediate step forward to provide peace of mind, to end the sabotage of the system we have, and address the shortcomings that the Health Care Experts and the people of america have pointed out. Let us be that Mission Statement then under this vision of we the people government that we pursue health care designed for the people of america, to create peace of mind, that when their loved one becomes ill, that when their loved one becomes injured, theyll get the care they need and they wont end up bankrupt. We should be able to make that happen. Thank you, madam president. Madam president , i note the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call quorum call quorum call quorum call quorum call mr. Barrasso madam president. The presiding officer the senator from wyoming. Mr. Barrasso i ask unanimous consent the quorum call be vitiated. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Barrasso are we in morning business, madam president . The presiding officer were on the motion to proceed to s. 1519. Mr. Barrasso last week, the Senate Passed the bipartisan Defense Authorization act. The world is a very dangerous place. This legislation i believe is very important to keeping our country safe. Another thing we need to do to keep america safe is to get the economy going and growing. We need a strong and healthy economy in this country, and we need it now. A Strong Economy means a strong country with enough money to pay for the defense needs that we have at this time. Over the eight years of the obama administration, washington doubled its debt. Why . Because our economy grew so slowly and the Administration Spent too much money. If this sort of thing continues, its going to leave america in a much more vulnerable position. America needs a stronger economy that grows faster. To get the kind of growth that we need, were going to have to provide real tax relief for america, for hardworking families, for the economy. That means cutting tax rates. That means simplifying taxes for everyone. If we get this right, were going to be able to produce more jobs, americans will have higher wages, more takehome pay, and we will have a stronger economy. Now, according to the Internal Revenue service, americans spend about six billion hours a year, six billion hours a year just trying to prepare their taxes. Between businesses and individual families, we spend an average of 18 hours for every man, woman, and child in america, just trying to comply with washingtons complicated tax code. The National Taxpayers union says that the total cost of all of this is 263 billion a year. It works out to about 800 for every person in america. Madam president , this is not spending that does anything productive. Its just figuring out how much tax money and how to work away to send it back to washington so that the i. R. S. Wont come knocking at your door, to get your numbers right. The instructions for last years standard 1040 tax form were 106 pages long. These were the instructions. 15 different worksheets for people to fill out just to try to fill out the forms. The people who can deal with this level of complexity are the ones who can basically afford to hire expensive accountants and lawyers, who then take full advantage of a very complicated tax code. It penalizes hardworking americans who cant afford the highpriced help that helps them fill out and take full advantage of a complicated tax code. We hear a lot about people talk about how millionaires and billionaires are gaming the system so they can pay less in taxes. Well, if thats their concern, then maybe we should try to make this system simple enough that there is no system to game and everyone can understand it. So just think about how much we could save this country if we just simplify things even a little bit. All the time we save, all the extra money in the pockets of hardworking american families. That would really help to grow the economy and do it quickly. It would also make life a lot simpler for most americans. If we also at the same time are simplifying the tax code, lower the tax rates, that keeps even more money in peoples pockets. It keeps more money, gives them more money to decide what to save, what to spend, what to invest. Money they can spend going out to dinner if they choose. They can invest it if they want, save for the future. If they actually choose to spend the money by going out to dinner, that helps the economy around the community they live. People at the restaurant will have to hire additional servers and they will have money to pay their own bills. And thats how an economy grows. Thats how providing people with more money in their pockets helps an economy become stronger, healthier. There is another important part of prf that we need to remember. We need to be sure that we solve a big problem with the taxes that not just individuals pay but that businesses pay. And the reason that we need to do that is because many people think of businesses as being faceless companies, but the simple fact is that these businesses actually dont pay the tax personally. They have their people that have to pay the taxes. Thats because businesses pay taxes with money that they get from their customers. So if government says were going to put a big tax on some company, then that basically gets passed on to the workers there and also to the people that buy that product. Now, the congressional budget looked into this. Their office looked into it, and they found that more than 70 of the cost of Corporate Taxes actually comes from the people who work for these businesses. Nearly three out of every four dollars they spend in taxes would have ended up going back to the workers to have that money. Workers who are either buying product, workers who are working within the company. Maybe it would have been higher wages, better benefits, or some other way that people would have gotten a benefit from the money that otherwise just gets collected and sent to the government. Now, obviously, a big chunk of the money is from the workers. Another big chunk is from the consumers. So if a family buys something, part of that price that theyre paying is to cover the taxes that that business has to pay. Higher taxes means higher prices for people who go to buy something. The third way that people pay these business taxes is when it gets paid by the people who own a paid by the people who own a share of the business. If you take a look, there are a lot of people on the other side of the aisle who like to talk about taxing the rich who own stock in companies that are all across our country. The only problem is that most of the people who actually own shares in these companies are far from rich. More than half of the americans actually own stocks in corporations that are paying these high taxes. And maybe they have an i. R. A. , retirement plan, 401k through their work, whatever it is, americans that are investing for their future are also being taxed. You know, some of the biggest owners of the corporations and the taxes are actually Pension Funds and public employees. That includes teachers, it includes firefighters, it includes people in every Community Around america. The taxes take away money that could make these pensions worth more. The government takes taxes away, less money in the Pension Plans for our teachers, for our trierts, for our first responders. So its a real problem that the Corporate Tax rates are so high because high taxes hold back the entire economy and hold back the entire country. You know, if you looked at the most developed countries around the world, the United States has the highest Corporate Tax rate of all of them. The average tax rate of all of these major countries around the world across the globe, 24 . The United States is 39 . Were 15 higher as a tax rate than the average of the major countries around the world. So thats the top federal rate. Plus you have to put in additional the federal rate, plus when you include the average for state and local taxes, it gets you to 39 . 24 versus 39 . Thats how far out of ordinary the american taxes have gotten. Its a huge disadvantage for American Companies that are trying to compete on the world stage. The reason were at such a disadvantage, frankly, is because other countries have been cutting their tax rates over the years. There was actually a time when the u. S. Tax rates were fairly low and other countries continued to cut theirs below ours and below ours and below ours. So now were at a point the average developed countries around the world, 4 . The United States 39 . Places like germany, japan, canada, have all cut their rates going back over the last 60, 70 years. We havent done it here at all. Now its time to do it. Thats one of the reasons our economy has been stuck with the slow growth rate that we have had during the obama administration. Its what we have seen over the last eight years, a very sluggish economy with very little growth. So if p we can cut Corporate Tax rates, personal rates, that is going to really help stimulate the economy. People pay taxes. Its individuals who pay the taxes that run in many ways the government. Many people that i talk to in wyoming feel rightly so. The problem is that they are taxed too little, the government too little. We need to get the economy going. We can do that by simplifying and lowering the tax rates. Its true that its taxes people actually struggle with trying to figure out at the kitchen table. And i have talked to those folks at home. It is continually a problem. Simplification as well as how much money the government takes from them. Taxes raise prices. Taxes chip away at Retirement Savings that people have. Tax relief and simplifying taxes makes sense for american families. It means more jobs, it means higher wages, it means a safer america and a stronger america. Its good for our economy, and its good for all Hardworking Taxpayers and families, those taxpayers. Thank you, madam president. I yield the floor. A senator madam president. The presiding officer the senator from delaware. Mr. Coons are we in a quorum call . The presiding officer we are not in a quorum call. Mr. Coons madam president , yesterday, we learned that once again, my republican colleagues do not have the votes to pass their latest effort to repeal the Affordable Care act, even though the budget reconciliation process were currently under only requires 50 votes, there are not 50 votes. And many of my colleagues have spoken on this floor about the challenges, the problems, or the issues with the latest iteration of the grahamcassidy bill. And weve also heard as a body from Many Organizations all over the country that represent americans in health care. The American Medical Association which speaks for americas doctors. The American Hospital association which speaks for our hospitals. Americas Health Insurance plans. The american cancer society, and many other Patient Advocacy groups, and the aarp which advocates for seniors. All have weighed in about the challenges with this legislation. But rather than continuing to bear down on that point, id like to just quote a colleague and hero of mine. Senator john mccain said on this floor we should not be content to Pass Health Care legislation on a partyline basis. The issue is too important. Too many lives are at risk for us to leave the American People guessing from one election to the next whether and how they will acquire Health Insurance. A bill of this impact requires a bipartisan approach. Senator mccain also said i hope that in the months ahead, we can join with colleagues on both sides of the aisle to arrive at a compromise solution, acceptable to most of us, and that serves the interests of americans as best we can, end quote. Madam president , senator mccain is right. Fixing and improving our Health Care System cannot be done on a partisan basis, and when big bills have been attempted to turn into law on a narrow partyline basis, the results are often not sustainable. Thats why we have work to do together, because this issue of providing for Americas Health care is too complex, too big, and too important for us to do with only one wing or one party. I was encouraged, as were many colleagues, republican and democrat, when senators alexander and murray, the republican and Democratic Leaders of the Senate Health and education committee, held bipartisan hearings. They brought in governors, insurance commissioners, Health Care Experts, physicians, Hospital Leaders from across the country to talk about what we need to do shortterm and longterm to stabilize Health Care Markets and to lay the foundation for improvements to our Health Care System. So lets listen to senator mccain. Lets give that bipartisan effort another chance. Lets Work Together and do this the right way. Madam president , i ride the train back and forth almost every day from wilmington to washington. The delawareans i hear from on that train or at home at the Grocery Store or around my state are simply tired of congress fighting endless partisan battles with their health care. And its not just frustrating to hear about on television. We know for a fact that uncertainty in the Health Care Markets is causing premiums to go up for americans all over the country. The c. E. O. Of himark, which is the sole provider of individual Health Insurance market to the individual Health Insurance market in delaware conveyed to me that half of the rate increases for this coming year was due to uncertainty whether the Trump Administration would continue to enforce the individual mandate, to make the c. R. S. Payments and other things that are part of the a. C. A. So today recognizing that the only way this gets fixed in such a closely divided and partisan senate is if we Work Together. Id like to commit again to my constituents and colleagues that im willing to work to find Bipartisan Solutions to our health care problems. Lets sit down together and lets bring in organizations like the a. M. A. , the aarp, the american cancer society, the American Hospital association and lets listen. Lets listen to them, to health care leaders, to patient advocates, and frankly i think we should listen to thousands of faith leaders from across the country as well. Weve received letters all of us as a body from leaders of the christian, jewish, muslim, sikh, and buddhist communities across our country. They jointly wrote thrower congress urging us to reject the grahamcassidy bill and to immediately address urgent matters in front of us. The next one is chip reauthorization. Chip, the Childrens Health Insurance Program, serves nearly 9 million program, 17,000 in delaware alone. And it is going to expire. There are lots of federal Health Programs that expire at the end of this week. The Childrens Health Insurance Program, the Community Health center fund, which provides access to costeffective primary and Preventive Care for 26 million patients throughout the country, the Teaching Health centers funding, the special diabetes program. There is a whole list of health carerelated programs that expire at the end of this week. And so i think we need a sense of urgency. We need a sense of urgency of finding ways to Work Together in the short term to stabilize the market, to extend thats programs like chip that have long enjoyed bipartisan support and to begin the steps needed to show flexibility and compromise by both parties. First, as i said, we have to stabilize the individual a. C. A. Marketplace. Fortunately, we know how to do that. As i mentioned, there have already been hearings where testimony was received from governors, insurance commissioners, Health Care Experts, and they said the number one priority was funding the a. C. A. s costsharing reduction subsidies, or c. Why payments. Thats c. S. R. Payments. That is something the Trump Administration can do today. The administration can simply announce that they will continue to make those payments. At least in my state that will reduce the rate of increase of individual insurance premiums by a significant percentage. We can also Work Together to establish a reInsurance Program, to support enrollment outreach activities, to enforce the individual mandate. All of this would translate to lower premiums. As i said, the president has already authorized under the a. C. A. To take a few of these steps and stabilize the marketplace. But from there were going to have to find bipartisan ways that we can make this a more workable system. Ive introduced legislation in the past to make the a. C. A. Small business tax credit more appropriately sized for the Small Businesses ive heard from in delaware, many of whom cant afford the increased costs of the Affordable Care act. Theres ways we can Work Together to reduce the reporting requirements, so theyre less burdensome to employers. I introduced a bill on that in the last congress and would welcome a chance to work with a republican colleague to introduce and pass that legislation now. We could also look at ways to make the tax credits or the way that subsidies are provided through the a. C. A. Both more affordable and more sustainable, so that families who qualify arent caught in a situation where they qualify for tax credits but they are a nowhere but theyre nowhere near enough to afford comprehensive Health Insurance. We have to take a lock at what is driving we have to take a look at what is driving up Health Care Costs across this country. We also have to find a bipartisan path towards addressing Health Care Costs. The bottom line to all of this is we must Work Together, to return to regular order, and to give these programs the stability and certainty they need to serve patients across the country and our constituents at home. In my view, the Affordable Care act has helped millions of americans live healthier, safer, more secure lives. Repealing it and replacing it with one of the proposals weve seen in the last few months would have been very harmful. But that doesnt mean the alaska s. Perfect. There is hardwork to do. Compromise is needed on both sides. And i think the call that senator mccain has issued to this chamber is one we should heed. Lets Work Together. Lets listen to our constituents. Let listen to faith leaders. Lets listen to doctors and Health Care Experts. Lets do the hard work and together improve, not tear down, our Health Care System. Thank you. With that, i yield the floor. And i suggest the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call quorum call a senator mr. President . The presiding officer the senator from rhode island white i ask unanimous consent that any pending quorum call be lifted. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Whitehouse i ask unanimous consent that caroline normile, a aaa s fellow in my office be granted floor privileges for the remainder of this congress. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Whitehouse and may i bid a public farewell to emily who is here with me and has served as the lead on my very active and busy environment unit for quite some time now. She is going on to another role here in washington, will continue to serve our cause, but she has done an amazing job. I just want to be sure to say that on what will be her last appearance on the floor with me for one of our time to wake up speeches. Mr. President , ive spoken before, as you know, about the fossil fuel industrys persistent effort to undermine public understanding of Climate Change and to confuse people about the actual effects of Carbon Pollution ole our atmosphere and oceans. Ive mentioned Drexel University robert brules follow the money analysis which includes the complex network of organizations and funding, what we have called the web of denial that is designed to ob sur the fossil fuel industrys fingerprints and perpetuate the fossil fuel industrys climate denial. He calls this a deliberate and organized effort to misdirect the public discussion and distorlt the public distort the publics understanding of climate. Thats what this industry is up to. One front group is called the Heartland Institute. Its a nice name but theyre not very nice people. For decades the Heartland Institute has played a prominent role disseminating alternative facts and fake science at the behest of its industry funders. Theyve got a long history of doing the bidding of industry funders in the 1990s it was teamed up with Philip Morris to challenge the facts about the health risks of tobacco. Now using the same tactics along with funding from the koch foundation, exxonmobil and other fossil fuel interests, its out to undermine Public Confidence in the establishment of Scientific Consensus about Climate Change. Its quite shameless in its methods once sponsoring a billboard comparing those who accept the science of Global Warming to the unabomber. For my 180th time to wakeup speech, id like to explore the Heartland Institutes latest gambit which is to air drop climate denial propaganda directly into childrens classrooms. This spring heartland delivered packages to hundreds of thousands of k12 and collegelevel science teachers across the country. These materials were designed to have a veneer of credibility. Each one was stamped with the headline study, science teachers giving unbalance education on Climate Change. This intriguing story was attributed to something called environment and climate news. Inside the package the teacher found a report titled why scientists disagree about Global Warming. That was issued by something called the Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change. As a bonus, each teacher also received a dvd copy of the history of Climate Change in greenland produced by something that was called idea channel. A cover letter from heartlands center for transforming education, transforming education into propaganda i assume is how that sentence gets finished, asked teachers to, quote, consider the possibility the science of Climate Change isnt settled. So thats the package that they got. Lets look behind that veneer. When you do, the smell gets pretty rotten. It turns out that the environment and climate news is not actually news. Its not a news outlet. Its the monthly newsletter of guess who the Heartland Institute. They are citing themselves masquerading their newsletter as a news outlet. But the foolishness goes on. Their featured article that i mentioned, study, science teachers giving unbalanced education on Climate Change, well, that was written by a person named bonner cohen who is a featured expert guess where with the Heartland Institute, who previously held senior positions in, believe it or not, Philip Morris front groups. Their Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change sounds like a well known actual authority, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The actual Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is a United Nations sanctioned Nobel Prize Winning scientific body that reports the findings of thousands of climate scientists from hundreds of countries. The heartland group, this socalled Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change, is a misleading decoy designed to mimic the real entity. The three experts who wrote the Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change report, heartland pushed out, do not have degrees in Climate Change modeling, do not have degrees in Climate Science. All are paid by heartland. All their claims have been repeatedly debunked by real science. Now, theres one faint hint of accuracy in this propaganda publication heartland put out. There actually is a p. P. S. Serry pbs series called idea channel. However, the idea channel d. V. D. In the heartland package has nothing to do with that series. It was actually produced by something called the free to choose network whose funding like heartlands is linked to the fossil fuel industry. Its another masquerade designed to mislead. One of the tricks of heartlands little scheme was to dupe legitimate scientists into participating. One of the experts interviewed, the curator at greenlands narsac museum was told she was participating in a video on the history for the discovery channel. When she found out what shed been duped into, she said, i am somewhat horrified. Other participants were frequent flyers in the climate denial circus, like willy soon who received over a Million Dollars in funding since 2001 from the koch brothers, the American Petroleum institute, exxonmobil, and other fossil fuel interests. The year the video was released, willy soon received nearly 20,000 from freedom to choose. The heartland cover letter asked teachers to consider the possibility the science of Climate Change isnt settled. Even thats not new. This echoes the infamous big tobacco declaration doubt is our product. The heart of the fossil fuel industry scheme is to undermine legitimate science with false doubts. Because of the financial stakes behind industry since denial and because of the Communications Advantage propaganda has over real science, you dont need to waste a lot of time in pier re in peer review, for instance, you go straight to the network, this scheme is a real problem for institutions like our schools that cherish and support real science. All this masquerade and subterfuge by Heartland Institute looked a lot like fraud. So senators schatz, warren, markey and i wrote to secretary of education and ask whether devos and her staff helped or coordinated with the Heartland Institute on this scheme to pollute our classrooms with phony science. Well, that simple request drew quite the response from our friends at the Heartland Institute. Your letter is a monumental misuse of your office and a betrayal of the trust of your constituents, wrote heartlands c. E. O. Joseph bast. He called our letter defamatory and despicable. Shame, shame, shame he proclaimed in bold font. This unironically from that same classy group that put up the billboard comparing anyone who accepts Climate Science to the unabomber, just to give you an idea of their level of shame. But even that little outburst is considerably nicer than back in 200015 2015 when he called some of us fascist and ethically challenged mental midgits. Why is the Heartland Institute so touchy . We obviously hit a nerve. The lesson is poke an imposter and the imposter gets very agitated. Well, teachers are smart people. Imposters like heartland who pretend their stuff is coming through an idea channel who isnt, who mimic the name of real organizations to try to fool people, who pretend their newsletter is real news and package the whole thing up as if its intended to be helpful to teachers, well, they face an uphill battle against informed educators. Just one example, nebraska recently approved new state standards requiring requiring Climate Change to be taught in schools. According to the omaha world herald, nebraskas new standards, and i quote, challenge kids to think and act like scientists, which is exactly what our science classrooms ought to do. One omaha respect dentsz encouraged the resident encouraged the school board to do the ethical thing and tell the next generation whats going on with climate. And a science professor at the university of nebraska lincoln said that the standards represented good solid science, good solid science education. So this is what we need in science education, real life scientists from real institutions of Higher Learning engaging in helping our children learn. What we dont need is fossil fuel front groups pumping out morphoney science more phony science to pollute Public Education just like they pollute our oceans and atmosphere. I have been actually pretty heartened to hear about this from teachers working in classrooms in my home state of rhode island. Holly emmery teaches science to seventh and eighth graders at exeter West Greenwich junior high school. Her students focus on solutions to Climate Change, something we could use a bit more of around here. They examine germanys plan to significantly reduce its carbon emissions. Students were so motivated by what they heard, they requested to share their projects with other grades in the school. One of the students said, this is important and the other kids need to know. Students in janes eighth grade science class at Gallagher Middle School in smithfield learn about climates around the world. They read, research, and make slides about the human contributions to Climate Change, including the carbon cycle, burning fossil fuels and the greenhouse effect, deforest taition, livestock practices, and the production of methane. They discuss the effects of warmer oceans, expansion of water, melting ice, and rising sea water levels. These are important issues for rhode island, the ocean state. Science students from brenda dilmas class from South Kingston high school planted grass on the narrow river saltmarsh as part of a major unit on climate. During the lessons the students learned about the role that salt marshes play as carbon sinks, absorbing carbon from the atmosphere. And they planted some 35,000 seedlings of three different types of salt marsh grass. More than 500 students since 2007 have become experts at the fourth grade class at james h. He would eldridge elementary school. They have developed a curriculum that integrates Climate Change across all subject areas. It begins with a visit to a local assisted living facility where students pair up with a senior buddy. The students interview their senior buddy asking how the Climate Changed over time and looking for lessons that can be applied today. In their math class, students learn how to read charts and graphs. In social studies the students learn about the regions of the United States, about their differing climates, and about how each is affected by Climate Change. In science the students learn about erosion and weather patterns and the effect of human activity on rock, soil, and sediment. Students make observations about Climate Change around them and delve into societys responses to the harms of Climate Change. This past spring norman bird saar hosted seventh graders for a beach ecology lesson. Rachel holbert let a discussion about the Greenhouse Gas effect associated with burning fossil fuels. They explained how the excess heat trapped in the atmosphere put stress on the ocean undermining the oceans ability to stabilize the Global Climate and, of course, leading, as we have seen, to a higher frequency and strength to stronger hurricanes. The kids lesson ended with a focus on solutions. If the oceans are the heart and lungs of the climate, what can prevent future damage . Mr. President , teachers like these play such an important and formative role in helping the next generation understand the world we live in. They teach our children to make observations, collect information, and use evidence to formulate conclusions. They are honest and they are decent. The fossil fuel industry, on the other hand, is neither honest nor decent. The filthy hand of the fossil fuel industry has a regrettably firm grip on this congress. There is a reason we never do anything about Climate Change and it does not involve the merits of the issue. It involves the politics of the industry. We have perhaps not yet plumed the bottom of how low they are willing to go, but surely is this a new low, to reach their game of phony science, masquerade and subterfuge into our childrens classrooms, like those of ms. Emery, mast ramo miss ramos and miss hatfield. These decent, honorable teachers, help their students gain a factbased understanding of the changing world around them and the issues facing our society. Unfortunately, these Heartland Institute materials may require those teachers to teach about politics and propaganda as well. Mr. President , i yield the floor. And i note the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call the presiding officer the senator from missouri. Mr. Blunt i move the quorum call be suspended. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Blunt mr. President , were looking at an outline for tax reform that helps working families in ways that those families havent seen for almost a decade now, a decade of buying power that didnt go up, and obligations that did, a decade with more government requirements and less takehome pay. Were going to be here for the next few weeks talking about what to do to reverse that situation so that the opportunities for those families is reversed and that eventually weve also reversed our competitiveness so that were creating better jobs. There are two ways to get more takehome pay, and one is the government to take less out of it. Im for that. The other one is to do things in the tax code to make us more competitive so there are better jobs with better pay to start with. If you combine those two things better jobs and better pay and the government taking less out of that higher paycheck thats really where families would like to be, and were going to be here talking about this in a way that drives toward a result. The senator from West Virginia is here, and shes going to basically start that effort today as we really now have enough specifics of what both the finance committee is looking at in the senate, the ways and Means Committee in the house, and the white house is looking at that we can begin to explain to american working families why this is the right course for them and for our country. Im pleased to be joined here by senator capito. Mrs. Capito thank you, mr. President. The presiding officer the senator from West Virginia. Mrs. Capito thank you, mr. President. Thank you, senator blunt, for your leadership. Im excited about what were talking about today. Im excited for my state of West Virginia. The one thing, the main thing, the main thing people in West Virginia want is a good job. A good job with more pay, more takehome pay, and a higher wage is exceedingly important to the families that i represent. In my view, tax reform, as any other policy that congress could put forward, will enhance growth and provide more Job Opportunities throughout this country. Let me focus a little bit on my state of West Virginia. According to the economic innovation group, more than 34 of West Virginians are living in distressed communities. Unfortunately that number was the third highest of any state in this country. At the same time only 3. 4 of West Virginians are living in prosperous communities. There are pockets of this country that have prospered and done very well, but the vast majority of our states have really struggled. Only two in of five distressed communities have seen any job growth during the past five years during our socalled recovery. Thats not the definition of a recovery if you ask me. Since 2010, fully 50 of u. S. Growth has occurred in just 2 of our countrys counties. If you think about it, just Economic Growth has only occurred in 29 of the counties in 2 of the counties across this great country. The truth is most of our country has been mired in economic stagnation. Weve just been standing still. I saw lou holtz give a speech one time and he said if youre standing still youre going backwards. If youre not moving forward, youre moving backwards. Eutsz its been a slow recovery but the truth is for many West Virginians there is no ro eufr recovery at all. It isnt all doom and gloom in our state because we have the opportunity for change, the change we need, that helps our struggling working class families that changes and revitalizes our distressed communities, change that creates Economic Growth and opportunity for generations. In West Virginia the First Quarter we grew about 2 . One quarter is not a trend and it does demonstrate the poepbgs poepbgs the poepbgs we potenl if we do it right here, the potential we have for growth is there. One of the biggest drags on our economy in recent years has been the excessive regulations which weve addressed quite a bit here in the first nine months of President Trumps turn. Of we worked hard to bring in reason but also our burdensome tax code. What can we do . We can reduce taxes that impede our growth. So lets think about our Small Businesses. They are the majority, in many of our states the Major Economic driver to our economy. My state of West Virginia, 95. 6 of the businesses in my state are Small Businesses. And they employ nearly half of the West Virginia privatesector employment workforce. So nearly half of West Virginians working in whats defined as a small business. And yet they can face a tax rate as high as 39. 6. So think about that. If you own a bakery or accounting firm, in a fiveday workweek, you have to work monday and tuesday just to pay the government. So its no wonder that Small Businesses have found it difficult to open, let alone succeed in many parts of our country. The United States also has the highest Corporate Tax rate in the developed world. A lot of people are going how does that really influence me . Its influencing me, the working american, because the working american is bearing the brunt of that. Because of our outdated tax code, real wages for most workers have barely increased over the years. West virginians understand that as hard as they work, the governments taking more money from them. It costs them more money every time they go to the Grocery Store, every time they buy clothing for their children, every time they try to buy a new car. Its just more expensive with no growth in their wages to be able to bear that expense. So it just feels impossible to get ahead. Impossible. I think you see that all around our states and our local, localities. We see people thinking i cant get ahead. I havent been able to over the last five to ten years. Im starting to think it might be impossible. But you know what . We can fix this because its not impossible. We can create an opportunity where more opportunities are available, higher wages are there by modernizing our tax code. We can have a simpler system, lower rates. It is good for businesses and for workers. And families deserve the relief from the complexity of our tax code. Ive seen it stacked up before. If you havent seen it, im 53. I think its taller than i am if you stack it up page to page. Along with the complexities people need to keep more of their hardearned money. It will help our countries grow, and when our companies grow, what happens . You have more jobs. You have fairer taxes. And best of all, besides more jobs, bigger paychecks. So with the earnings and companies can hire new workers, increase wages and invest in new developments. These are the changes that hardworking West Virginians i think are hungering for. I think the time is now. The stagnation that we felt over the last decade has worn us down, has made us lose our optimism about being able to have a better life than our parents had or our children thinking they can have a better life than what they have. You know the American Dream is sort of fading for a lot of people. Comprehensive tax reform can provide that relief, and im excited that we can create that environment of optimism, that environment of confidence in not just our companies and our abilities to create more jobs and raise our paychecks, but to have confidence that we need as a country, yes, we can live in our communities in Rural America like West Virginia or North Carolina or missouri, that we can live in those communities, have a great chance to move ahead, have a good retirement when we are deciding that were at the end of the line tphefrpls tphefrpls in terms of our working careers and also pass on to the next generation a competitive environment that can beat anywhere in the world financially because we know we compete anywhere in the world in a lot of different areas. Were on an uneven Playing Field right now and thats going to when we change this, when we fix this because we can fix this that will change the Playing Field for every single american who gets up in the morning or goes to work in the evening to have the confidence that things are going to be better for them. So i want to thank the senator from missouri. I look forward to talking about this over the next several weeks. Thank you. Pwhrupb mr. Blunt mr. President , when the senator from West Virginia talked about the 40 that can come out of your hard work, the two days of week of a regular fiveday workweek and many families wishing they could get back to a fiveday workweek because they have really been stagnant in the opportunities for their family for a long time. I think its a good way to think about how hard families work just so the government can get more of their money. And this is a discussion about how the government can take less of your money. And for everybody listening who wonders, well, if the government is going to take less of the money, i thought the government already had a deficit. We need to work on that. But one way to work on that and the best way to work on that is more taxpayers. Not higher tax rates, but more taxpayers. And i think were looking at some tax changes here that would allow more tax payers to be sharing the burden, hopefully paying taxes, as i said earlier this afternoon, hopefully paying taxes on a bigger, a bigger paycheck to start with. And you can take less money from the tax code out of that paycheck, and the government gets more money because youve got more people paying those taxes. More growth. Weve had, i think the 70year average on growth since world war ii was 3. 4 on average every year the economy was that much bigger than the year before. And so it ought to be achievable if for 70 years we achieved that we should be able to get back to that again if we do the right things. But for the last eight years, eurpbg even the last i think the last nine years that growth will be less than 2 . A lot of those problems will be solved, jobs that arent growing as they should in terms of what they pay and the government not having the money it needs to defend the country and do other things. A lot of that can be solved by an economy thats thriving again. More takehome pay for hardworking families, ten years of not seeing that happen, if you combine good tax policy with good regulatory policy, which means the regulatory excesses of the last few years are clearly being brought back under control, clearly the federal government is beginning to look at regulation and being sure its commonsense regulation again. Consumer confidence is growing. He every single month we look at those numbers, and they have generally been better every month than the month before. They have certainly been better the last seven months than they were in any previous sevenmonth period of time for some time now. Then you have good tax policy and good competitive policy. And before you know it, things begin to happen. That stagnant income, and you can see a study here that well maybe the income hasnt gone up because things are a little less expensive and inflation has been so low and so many of the things that families need are less expensive. Really they got more money than they used to have. Try to explain that to a mom and dad who are trying to buy five pairs of tennis shoes for five kids or doing the things that you need to do as a parent. youre just trying to be sure that you can do something for your family every week or so that was a little bit extraordinary. If you dont have extra money, you cant do any of that. Over 75 of the fulltime workers in america say, when asked if theyre living from paycheck to paycheck. 20e6r of americans over 20 of americans say they have zero savings. And a much higher number says they have less than 400 or 500 in savings. These are people whose parents and grandparents had worked hard to save whatever they couldnd
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