Transcripts For CSPAN2 U.S. Senate U.S. Senate 20180110

A senator mr. President. The presiding officer the senator from washington. Mrs. Murray i ask unanimous consent the quorum call be lifted. The presiding officer without objection. Mrs. Murray i ask unanimous consent to speak as if in morning business. The presiding officer without objection. Mrs. Murray thank you, mr. President. Mr. President , i come to the floor today to talk about an issue that is critical to patients and families in my home state of washington and across the country. Today parents are wondering if they will be able to get the health care that their kids need, and communities are wondering if theyll be able to provide it. Thats unacceptable. Congress has to swiftly and fully restore the Childrens Health insurance program, or chip, and funding for other Services Families need, Like Community Health Centers, which have been waiting now more than 100 days for a longterm solution. And they should do so without making deep cuts to successful prevention programs in the centers for Disease Control that tackle avoidable conditions like Heart Disease and diabetes. Democrats have wanted to get this done for months, but by focusing on pushing through partisan tax reform at the end of the year, republicans instead put massive corporations and the wealthiest ahead of making sure our children and their families have the health care they need. I really hope that now they are ready to give these issues their full and immediate attention. And in case they arent, i want to make sure they know what exactly this is about. It is about children like stella. Stella lives in Washington State. She is five years old. She has two brothers, a love of the outdoors. She likes swimming and kayaking, and she has a typical kindergartners Boundless Energy and excitement. But stella was born with spine in a benefit did a, an spina bifida, an issue with how her spinal cord was formed. In just the past year of dealing with that condition, stellas family went through five catheters a day, almost 2,000 in total. They went on ten different occasions to have m. R. I. Scans. They went to get her new leg braces. And given the cost of all that, they went through their 5,000 deductible in the first five weeks of the year. Thats right. It just took five weeks. Additionally this year, stella is also scheduled now to have a bladder and kidney surgery. So as you can imagine, the expense on this are adding up. Even with both of her parents working covering stellas Health Care Needs would be an unimaginable task. Fortunately stella does qualify for insurance through chip. Chip has helped her family afford the treatment she needs including physical therapy. Stellas story is just one of many, many examples of families who rely on this program. There are 60,000 children in Washington State who are now insured through chip. Nine million families nationwide rely on it to help address the Health Care Needs of their children. Yet, congress has taken over 102 days and counting to restore it. There is no excuse for this inaction. And families who rely on the chip program are not alone in needing our immediate attention. Thanks to chip and medicaid, the uninsured rate among children is now at an alltime low. Jeopardizing that accomplishment by letting chip twist in the wind is simply unacceptable. This Republicancontrolled Congress has also failed to renew other investments that our families rely on for the care they need. Programs Like Community Health Centers which serve 25 million patients particularly in our rural and poor communities. The National Health Service Corps which brings doctors and other Health Care Providers to underserved areas through scholarships and loan repayment. And the National Teaching Health Center graduate medical education program, which brings primary care and dental residencies to communities in need. Leaving these programs without longterm extensions a minute longer is utterly irresponsible because this lack of certainty for them is bringing a negative impact on our communities. For example, the northeast Washington Health program serves some of the most rural areas in my state including ferry county, which has fewer than four people per square mile. They are struggling now to hire needed medical staff and managers because of this uncertainty thats now there. Ferry county cannot wait. The Community Health association in spokane runs 12 Health Center sites and sees more than 70,000 patients a year. They recently began offering a very much needed opioid addiction treatment. If congress does not reauthorize the Community Health center funding, those efforts will be jeopardized and expansions will be halted. So spokane cannot wait. Yakima Neighborhood Health services saw 22,000 patients in 2016. Almost all of those patients were below the federal poverty line. If congress does not act soon, three different clinics, including a clinic in one of the poorest cities in washington will be at risk. So yakima cannot wait. Ive heard additional stories of similar hardships from across my state. North Olympic Health care network has had to put expansions for Behavioral Health care on hold. Another Health Center in washington may have to reconsider building a new childrens dental residency program. A center serving waukum county may have to cancel a program for mental and behavioral facilities as well. Across the country there are a lot of examples for Community Health care centers like the ones i mentioned of Health Care People of all ages and background rely on are being put in jeopardy all because republicans prioritize tax cuts for the top before the Health Care Needs of millions of people at the end of last year. So it is far past time now to show these families we are willing to work. We are willing to get this done. And we need to give them the peace of mind that they can get the health care they need. They do deserve that. Thank you, mr. President. I yield the floor. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call quorum call quorum call mr. Nelson mr. President. The presiding officer the senator from florida. Mr. Nelson i ask consent that the quorum call be lifted. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Nelson mr. President , i must say ive seen political games being played with trying to drill off of the coast of florida. Not only am i appalled, i have recoiled at this political game, but unfortunately im not surprised because what weve seen happen in the last 15 hours, it all started late last week when the department of interior released a new of fiveyear Drilling Plan and it virtually had all of the coastal waters, the outer Continental Shelf of the entire United States included in this plan, including that area of florida that is off limits to drilling, in law, a law republican senator mel martinez and i passed back in 2006 that keeps drilling off of the gulf coast of florida until the year 2022. This new proposal would open up nearly all of the federal waters to drilling, including all of the coastal waters of florida both west coast, gulf coast, and east coast the atlantic. But also the straits of florida. Those waters that come around the florida keys, which is the gulf stream, that comes then right up the southeast coast of florida. The gulf stream then going out across the atlantic, past bermuda, ends up in northern europe. Well, our colleagues have heard this senator many times come and talk about how keeping oil rigs away from floridas coast is an issue that is important to our state because of our tourism economy, but also because of the military missions on both the west coast, the gulf, as well as the atlantic. And as a floridian, this senator has been fighting this fight ever since the mid1980s when a secretary of the interior, james watt, intended to drill off the east coast of florida where we were launching our space shuttle, dropping the solid rocket boosters and where we were launching our military rockets taking our clandestine satellites in orbit, dropping the first stages. Thats how i beat it back in the 1980s. But lo and behold, here we are again, and the same place. We know you cant allow drilling in the straits of florida right off the florida keys because an oil spill there would be in the gulf stream, and that gulf stream hugs the coast of southeast florida. Can you imagine what it would do to the beaches of the florida keys, the beach of miami beach, and all up the gold coast of florida all the way to palm beach, all the way north to fort pierce, where then the gulf stream heads farther in a northeasterly direction out into the atlantic. Well, let me show you whats happening over in the gulf coast. Mr. President , all of this in yellow is what is off limits in the gulf of mexico in law as a result of the 2006 law. Theres an obvious reason for all of this, because this line is known as the military mission line. Everything east of here is the largest testing and Training Area for the United States military in the world. Thats why we put this off limits to oil activity. And, oh, by the way, the testing and Training Mission for the entire department of defense is located right here at Eglin Air Force base which, by the way, is why they brought all the Pilot Training for many nations for the f35 new super stealthy jet fighter. And guess whats going on down here in panama city at Tyndall Air Force base . Thats where we have all the Pilot Training for our f22, another one of our stealthy fighters. But down here in key west, we have the Key West Naval air station. So they bring in the squadrons of f18s for the navy at boca chica, which is where the air base is. And within two minutes of lifting off the runway, within two minutes theyre over restricted airspace for doing their testing and training. And, oh, by the way, what about the rest of the navy . They bring their ships in here, amphibious ships going on to the beaches up there by Eglin Air Force base, and all of the activity is not just on the surface. The testing and Training Mission is also subsurface because thats part of the navys mission as well. And so theres ample opportunity to test because from here to here is 300 miles. From here to here is about 300 miles. So that theres plenty of room to do this test. The largest testing and Training Area in the world. But painfully over time, we have found another reason, and that was over here off of louisiana, back a little over a decade ago there was an oil spill. It wasnt any little oil spill. It was the deep water horizon, the b. P. Well that spewed at the surface at the bottom of the ocean which was a mile down below the surface. It spewed out five Million Barrels of oil before they ever got it stopped. And that was a, a rig that did not work. It was supposed to be whats called the blowout preventer that was to go in and clamp off the well when there was a blowout. It was defective. It didnt close off that well at the well head 5,000 feet below the surface of the gulf. And as a result, five Million Barrels of oil spilled. And so what happened to floridas economy . Not even to speak of, all the fishing over in louisiana and alabama and mississippi. Ill tell you what happened to floridas economy. Oil came as far east as pensacola beach. The photographs of oil completely covering the sugary white sands of pensacola beach, those photographs went around the world. So what did people do . For an entire tourist season, they didnt come to any of the beaches of the gulf coast because they thought there was oil on the beach. Painfully, because of that experience, not even to speak of what has been done to our environment and how much oil is still sloshing around down there on the bottom of the gulf, painfully that experience got in the minds of the businesses all up and down the gulf coast of florida. And, by the way, over on the east coast, because had that oil ever gotten in a current called the loop current that comes down and becomes the gulf stream, that oil would have ruined the Tourism Industry all along floridas southeast coast, what i mentioned from the keys to miami beach and all the way up to fort pierce, florida. So floridians feel fairly strongly about this, madam president , and thats why we were fortunate over a decade ago in a bipartisan way to pass a law to keep all of that area that i just showed you off limits in law. We knew what would happen to our tourism, that people subsequently found out with the Deepwater Horizon Oil spill, and we knew what would happen to threaten our National Security by hampering our ability to do our training and testing. And so voila, all of a sudden the Trump Administration announces last week that its going to drill off of all of florida. Madam president , i have sponsored legislation in the past. I have filed bills to expand the moratorium on the gulf coast. Ive sponsored other legislation to protect florida. And today i am filing another bill that would be a permanent ban of drilling off of floridas coast for exactly the reasons that i have just said. And when last week the secretary of the interior, secretary zinke, announced that they were opening up nearly all federal waters, including all of those around florida, we of course went in to fighting mode again again and we will fight this and it will be defeated. But now it turns out, madam president , that that was just a political stunt because late yesterday, one day after officially publishing the plan in the federal register, secretary zinke flew to florida, met with the governor of florida for 20 minutes at the tallahasee airport, and suddenly announced that he had now decided to, quote, take florida off the table. End of quote. It sounds like a political stunt. While many in florida have seen right through this shameless political stunt, it has opened a long list of other questions that i have now asked secretary zinke to answer in a letter that i have sent today. Well, what exactly does off the table mean . The whole eastern gulf, half of it . 125 miles off the coast . Does it mean both coasts of florida . Does it mean just one . What about the straits of florida . Okay, secretary zinke, what about the seismic surveys . You all have said youre proceeding with that. Are those off the table too . If youre going to take, quote, off the table florida waters in this little political stunt that was done one day after the federal register having published the proposed rule, does that mean youre going to eliminate the seismic surveys . Theres no reason to expose marine life and endangered species to the harmful impacts of seismic surveys if there arent any actual plans to drill in the area. So, mr. President , are you taking that off the table . What about your statement that it also included another caveat, mr. Secretary . You said, quote, you were, quote, removing florida from consideration for any new oil and gas platforms. End of quote. Well, all of us know that platforms are different from wellheads. So tell me, does that, mr. Secretary, mean that there still will be drilling off the coast of florida but the platforms themselves might be located just to the west of the military mission line but the wellhead is going to be down underneath and far from that prohibited line . And, mr. Secretary, does your change of heart mean the administration now supports the bipartisan efforts of the florida delegation to extend the moratorium on drilling in the eastern gulf . And that is the bill that i have just filed today, and it has been filed by congressman rooney in the house of representatives. For every day that goes by without answers to these essential questions, the secretary needs to add that much more time to the Public Comment period. Right now the secretarys promise last night at the tallahassee airport, one day after publishing in the federal register that florida is off limits, right now his promise is just empty words because the only real thing out there that is existing is the law that prevents drilling off of the coast of the gulf of florida for the next five years. So the secretary has proposed a fiveyear plan to drill the rest of florida and to start drilling in 2023 off the gulf coast of florida. So theres also a law called the outer Continental Shelf lands act which spells out a very specific process for developing lease sales in federal waters. And with all this rush and now saying that, quote, florida is off the table, i fear this announcement of secretary zinkes is going to discourage floridians from commenting on the proposal that was published just this monday, the one that opened up floridas entire coastline to drilling because theyd been given false our floridians have been given false assurances that we all are in the clear. And that brings us back to its such a political stunt desig. Design a plan for the entire u. S. , publish it on monday, and take it back on tuesday for florida for political reasons. So floridians should beware and they should make their objections known, because if we dont then the administration will try to say that they never heard objections from floridians. And it goes on and on, more political games. Floridians arent the only ones who need to know what this means. What about all the other states that have been affected . Did you hear that there is an uproar among the governors of other states, coastal states that are in this Drilling Plan of the administration . They said why one day later would you go to florida and say, were eliminating it but, mr. Secretary zinke, you didnt exempt my state all the way from maine in the north, all the way to florida on the atlantic coast, all the other gulf states, and then go to the west coast of the United States, california all the way up to the state of washington. So its more games. So people in maryland, people in massachusetts, people in the carolinas are really upset. Why dont you eliminate the drilling that youre proposing off my state. What about outing california and oregon and the state of washington . The administration and secretary zinke shouldnt be playing politics with an issue that is so important to all of our futures, but especially so to floridas future. Madam president , i yield the floor. A senator madam president . The presiding officer the senator from new mexico. A senator i would ask unanimous consent to speak as if in morning business. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Heinrich madam president , i rise today to stand up for the hundreds of thousands of young immigrants known as dreamers whose lives President Trump has thrown into terrifying uncertainty. Immigrant communities have long helped write the economic and social, the cultural story of my home state of new mexico. And for that matter, of the entire nation. That is certainly true for dreamers. Until documented immigrants who arrived in the United States as children and are vital members of communities across new mexi mexico. Over the years ive had the privilege of meeting many of new mexicos estimated 7,000 dreamers. Ive met with students who grew up here and are now striving to become doctors and scientists, teachers, even serve in our military. These young people are our childrens classmates. They are our nextdoor neighbors. They are our colleagues. They are family members. And many are truly rising stars. In fact, i would argue that these dreamers are the future of a great america. Every day these young people add to the strength of our economy, to the vitality of our country. More than 97 of Daca Recipients are in school or in the workforce. The daca program allowed them to work legally, to get drivers licenses, to go to college, to serve in our military and give back to their communities. Daca helped almost 70 of recipients secure a job with better pay and better pay leads to Real Investments in our communities and our economy. After their daca applications were approved, nearly twothirds of recipients reported buying their first car, and almost one in six reported buying a new home. Daca recipients also paid billions of dollars in federal, state, and local taxes. Why on earth would we kick out these contributors to our economy and our country . The Economic Impact of removing nearly 700,000 workers from the u. S. Workforce would be stagge staggering. It would cost our economy nearly half a trillion dollars in g. D. P. Loss over the next decade. But passing the dream act would add an estimated 281 billion to the u. S. Economy over the next ten years. That sounds to me like putting america first. I stand with these dreamers and i always have. One of my first actions when i was in the house of representatives was to sign on as an original cosponsor of the dream act, which would create a pathway to legal status and citizenship for dreamers who pursue Higher Education or serve in uniform. This commonsense, compassionate, and responsible policy is long overdue for a generation of Young Americans. Since President Trump made the heartless decision to end daca, i have held his Administration Accountable for their mishandling of renewell applications for Daca Recipients. My office has assisted dreamers in new mexico through the daca renewal process and is actively participating in meetings with communities and local advocacy groups throughout the state. I introduced legislation to safeguard dreamers private information, such as addresses and telephone numbers so that the Trump Administration cant use those to target them or their families for deportation. And when my office learned that the department of Homeland Security had arbitrarily rejected hundreds of renewal applications that arrived late because they were drayed by the delayed by the Postal Service, i pressed the administration to take immediate action to reverse its decision. Im pleased to say that dreamers whose applications were rejected due to Postal Service delays were allowed to resubmit their renewals for daca. In fact, just last week, the first two Daca Recipients in new mexico who brought this to my attention with the help of Catholic Charities were told that they could move forward with their daca renewal applications. But President Trumps decision means that until congress, until we pass the dream act, these young members of our communities still face deep uncertainty about whether they will be able to stay in school, keep working, and contributing to our economy and remain in the nation that they call home. Congress must pass the dream act now. Threatening to deport these young people who grew up in america and want to contribute to their nation will not fix our broken immigration system. Making the American People foot the bill to build an unnecessary and wasteful border wall that families in new mexicos border communities have told me that they do not want nor do they need will not fix our broken immigration system. President trump and Congressional Republicans wasted an entire year trying to take away Americans Health care, then rushing through tax breaks for the super wealthy in the final weeks of the year. And by squandering an entire year, they pushed dreamers aside and put their lives in jeopardy. I voted to fund the government through the holidays in hopes that congress could finally reach an agreement to pass the dream act. We also urgently need to reauthorize the Childrens Health insurance program, fix wildfire disaster funding, provide Disaster Relief for puerto rico which is still recovering from hurricane maria. Taking care of these long neglected and bipartisan priorities is the bare minimum of governance. And Republican Leaders in Congress Need to take this opportunity seriously, especially if they expect our support. I will be fighting every step of the way to pass the dream act, and i encourage all of my colleagues to do the same. Since President Trump shamefully pulled the rug out from under dreamers when he hastily ended the daca program, ive spent time meeting with dreamers in new mexico as well as here in washington. You cannot hear their stories without realizing how morley bankrupt the administrations current policy is. Its impossible for me to convey that the desperation, the fear that they are feeling every day that passes without us passing the dream act. Now is the time to give these Young Americans a permanent place in this great nation. Enough is enough. Their patience has worn thin with the president and Congressional Republicans using them as political bargaining chips. It is immoral to play politics with the lives of these Young Americans. I will say it again. Congress absolutely must pass the dream act, and we have an opportunity to do it now. We should not stop once we pass the dream act. Leaders in congress have waited far too long to finally address our nations overall broken immigration system. I still continue to believe that our nation urgently Needs Congress to pass comprehensive Immigration Reform that includes a visa program that meets the needs of our economy, a tough but fair path to earn citizenship for the estimated 11 Million People in our country who are undocumented and a plan that ensures Community Safety and security at our borders. When i think about immigration, madam president , i always wondered how different my own life would be if america had turned my father away when he immigrated here as a young boy. Our nations enduring spirit has been built by the hard work and the dreams of so many striving young immigrants. Like my father in the 1930s and like so many dreamers today, no member of congress, madam president , should be able to rest until dreamers are able to rest easy knowing that they will be able to stay and to contribute to literally the only nation they have ever called home. Thank you, madam president. I suggest the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the dlerk will call the roll. Quorum call mr. Leahy madam president. The. The presiding officer the senator from vermont. Mr. Leahy madam president , i ask consent that the call of the quorum be dispensed with. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Leahy madam president , just last week we began the second session of the 115th congress. Well, its now safely into 2018, we should be talking about what we can accomplish for the American People in the new year. Instead we face a long list of Unfinished Business from 2017, last year. Unfortunately we have a very short window in which to get it done. We are four months into fiscal year 2018, and we still dont have a budget deal. Im vice chairman of the Appropriations Committee and we should have had this long before now. Our agencies are operating under last years funding levels. They have little flexibility to handle the problems they face today, not the problems they faced at the time of the old budget. We still havent reauthorized the Childrens Health insurance program, we call chip. That puts the health care of nine million children at risk. These are american children. Nine million of them are at risk. And nearly 800,000 dreamers lived under a cloud of uncertainty and fear of deportation living in the country theyve known most of their life. I dont know how anybody, republican or democrat, could call this acceptable. Now, i know the republicans control the house, they control the senate, and they control the white house. They are in charge. Theyve got to show the responsibility, show leadership, on these issues, but instead of addressing these issues last year, the Republican Leadership spent time rolling back sensible regulations designed to protect the american consumer, designed to protect our environment, designed to protect people from harassment in the workplace. They rolled those all back and then they passed a massive tax cut for big corporations and the wealthiest of americans. Now, we democrats have been calling for bipartisan budget talks since june, seven months ago. We passed three continuing resolutions since september of last year to give us more time to strike a deal on the budget and dream, and chip, and disaster funding. These are just to name a few, but for those who live in the disaster areas or have children who have health care or are dreamers, but yet on the 12nd 102n dday of the fiscal year, we dont have a deal. President trump said a month ago that the country could use a Good Government shut down. I dont agree with it, but i believe that is exactly what his party is aiming for, a manufactured crisis to distract from the fact that they are not doing their job. The Washington Post seemed to confirm this last december when it reported that the president privately told people that a government shut down would be good for him politically. In all of my years in the senate , among republican and democrat president , i never heard such rhetoric from the president of the United States. Nobody wants a government shut down, nobody. It is devastating to people not only throughout the government but throughout the whole country. That seems to be what they are vying for. For months ive been calling for a bipartisan budget deal thats based on parity, equal increases for defense and nondefense programs that would provide relief for sequestration. I agree that with the republicans and democrats who say that the military readiness has suffered unsequestration, but has our nations economy, so has our education system, so has our infrastructure, so has our care for our veterans. And if he want to combat the problems caused by sequestration, we are have we have to raise caps on both sides of the ledger. Fixing one side of the equation will not address the needs of our nation. Even worse, it will shortchange our military. If we dont invest in our economy, if we dont educate our youth, the military wont have the expert qualified soldiers. If we dont invest in our diplomacy, our nation and the world becomes less safe. If we dont improve our Cyber Security and infrastructure, we become soft targets to those who would do us harm, both in this country and outside this country. And if we dont care for our veterans, were not going to have young men and women who are willing to serve. Now, this week the majority leader came to the floor making the case for increased defense spending. He asked us to listen to our nonpartisan military leaders. Asked us what we think is needed to keep our country safe. I couldnt agree more. To that end i have two letters signed by a combined 560 retired admirals and generals and other former military members, and id ask consent that at the end of my statement, theyd be submitted for the record. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Leahy these admirals, generals, i have no idea what their Political Parties are, but they make the case we have to increase our investment in domestic priorities, including education, child care, as well as diplomacy, if were going to keep our country safe and support our military. Secretary mattis, the secretary of defense, said even more bluntly, he said if we do not fully fund the state department, we should be prepared to buy more ammunition for our milita military. And the wisdom of our military leaders notwithstanding, republicans appear to be dug in. They claim equal increases to defense and nondense programs would add too much to our deficit, burden our children. Its one over the other. Its hard to have somebody say that with a straight face in the wake of the president signing a tax bill to add 1. 5 trillion to our nations debt and benefit primarily that benefit primarily large corporations and the wealthiest americans. You cant make the argument that we cant afford to take care of our domestic needs. Its simply not credible. Now, the budget negotiations are not the only place where republicans havent engaged in a productive way. President trumps decision to end the daca program has put nearly 800,000 dreamers in this country in an untenable positi position. The decision was as cruel as it was senseless. It may make a tweet that people will look at, but if youre one of those dreamers and youre on your way to school and youre expecting a scholarship to college and you dont know if youre going to be in this country tomorrow, thats not a tweet. The president should have worked with congress. Shy have found a permanent he should have found a permanent legislative solution while keeping daca protections in place. I believe he terminated the program under false pretenses. Last night a federal judge issued an order to suggest that. Terminating daca was not required into law, far from it but a court order only teferl rairl halt temporarily halts and provides little comfort to dreamers. They live each and every day uncertain of the future and in fear of deportation. I heard members of the senate trying to say what time will we finish voting for the week, will we make our flight home. They have to worry that their flight is going to be out of this country, back to a country they dont even know and have to live there and leave the country they know and love. Dreamers are americans in every way except on paper. They were brought here as children through no fault of their own. Theyre lawabiding members of our community. They attend school. They serve as doctors and teachers. They defend our homeland as brave men and women in uniform. This is a crisis of the president s own making. Now Congress Needs to pick up the pieces. I hope after the meeting yesterday well be allowed to pick up the pieces. We have spent months trying to find a path forward. But you cant find one if the administration keeps moving the goal post. We need to address the fate of dreamers now. You take a poll in this country. We want the the American People want us to. Also, you look at the broad bipartisan support on display yesterday at the white house, republicans and democrats, wanting to fix the mess the president created. A solution should be within our grasp. Now, the white house i has unreasonable demands such as 18 billion of american tax dollars to build a wall on the southern border in exchange for a dream. 18 billion wall is last centurys solution. It does nothing for this century. And if they really believe that mexico is going to pay for it, i have a solution. Open a bank account and as mexico sends us the money, then use it to build the wall. Dont ask that american taxpayers who are strapped at home, dont ask the american taxpayer to pay for something the president says the mexicans will pay for. Open an account, find out if theyre telling the truth. Let the money come into the account and then build it. But worse, dont use this, dont use the dreamers as negotiable commodities. They are not commodities. Theyre human beings. They are people who deserve to have their dreams. Lets pass a bill. We could do it this week. Pass a bill protecting dreamers now. Republicans control the house, the senate, and the white house. This is their government. We have a week and a half before the next continuing resolution expires. We have a lot to do. Lets get serious. Lets get to work. Im willing to work here every day, every night, straight through the weekend. Lets get it done. Were not doing it for us. Were doing it for all the American People. Lets do it for all the American People, not for special interests, not for one party. Lets do it for all the American People. It could be done if we wanted to. Madam president , i yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call mr. Leahy madam president . The presiding officer the senator from vermont. Mr. Leahy madam president , i ask that the quorum call be suspended. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Leahy madam president , my colleague from vermont, senator bernie sanders, wrote a what i feel is a terrific oped about why we should not why we do not need to close down the government, why we can do our work and why we should and the people rely on us to. Id ask unanimous consent that that oped piece be placed in the record at this point. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Leahy madam president , i suggest the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call quorum call the presiding officer the senator from wyoming. Mr. Barrasso thank you, madam president. I ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be vitiated. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Barrasso thank you, madam president. I have two requests for committees to meet during todays session of the senate. They have been approved by the majority and the minority leaders. The presiding officer duly noted. Mr. Barrasso thank you, madam president. Madam president , when we were debating the tax relief law at the end of last year, it was a very familiar debate in many ways. Republicans came to the floor, and with facts and figures about how much extra money people were going to be seeing in their pockets and in their paychecks. Democrats came to the floor with that same old, tired line that they always, we always hear them talk about the millionaires and the billionaires. Well, madam president , republicans pointed out economic studies that show that workers right now pay more than 70 of the cost of corporate taxes. We talked about a study from the Tax Foundation that predicted that if we pass the tax relief bill that the average feel would actually average family would see a gain of about 2,600 a year in their aftertax income. It was partly because of getting the tax cut and partly because the employer would pass on much of the tax cut in higher wages. Democrats didnt believe it. They said only rich people would benefit and that business would never share their tax savings with the workers. The democratic leader actually said that, quote, tax cuts like these benefit the wealthy, he said, and the powerful, he said, to the exclusion of the middle class. So here we are, its the month after we passed the tax relief bill, the tax reduction bill, and the tax simplification bill, and the question is who was right. Well, the very day, the very day that the tax bill passed in congress, at t came out and said they were giving their workers a bonus. It said that 200,000 hardworking employees were going to get an extra 1,000 each directly because of the new tax relief, tax reduction, tax cut bill. The Tax Foundation predicted that they would eventually get an extra 2,600 and these people were already getting 1,000 each on day number one. That has opened the floodgates to other companies doing the exact same thing, and employees around the country experiencing the exact same thing. Businesses started sharing the tax savings with rank and file middleclass workers, and it started on day one. Not just the wealthy and the powerful, as senator schumer has predicted. Over 120 companies have said that theyre going to give raising to give raises, raising wages, giving out bonuses, investing in their workers because of the tax law. It adds up to over 980 million. 980 million in the pockets of hardworking men and women around the country. So how many people are seeing that . By last count, almost a million hardworking americans, over 970,000 hardworking americans have already gotten the good news, and there is more good news coming every day with more announcements today. Its exactly what republicans said would happen. Its happening for people who work at banks, who work at insurance companies, who work at airlines. Its happening for people who work at Big Companies like at t and visa and comcast and happening for people who work at smaller Companies Like a winery in california and an Aviation Company in texas. These are businesses and people in communities who are important parts of their community doing important jobs. The employees work hard, and now theyre getting a share of the relief that the republicans had predicted they would get all along. Theyre not just getting cash bonuses. Theres a bank in massachusetts called the Berkshire Hills bank corps. They announced last week the people working there will be getting a 1,000 bonus and see the minimum wage raised to 15 an hour. More is being invested in Employee Development and training programs. So when you invest more in Employee Development and in training programs, that means people are going to have additional skills that make them even more productive, better at their jobs and qualify for even higher wages. This bank in massachusetts is also contributing an extra 2 million to its charitable efforts, including scholarships. That helps improve the communities where the workers live, where they raise their families. Democrats said its not going to happen. Well, its happening. Its happening every day. They said that businesses would just keep the money for themselves. Thats not what were seeing all across the country, mr. President. Senator warren, the senior senator from massachusetts, went on pbs. This is what she said. This is the senior senator from massachusetts said that the idea that tax relief would lead to higher wages was, in her words, quote, the big lie, she said, that republicans have been selling, close quote, she went on, for decades. She said that tax relief was, its amazing, the senior senator from massachusetts said tax relief, she said, was an insult to working families across america. Mr. President , i would like to point out to senator warren that many of the people who work at this bank are in her home state of massachusetts. People have gotten wages, people have gotten additional money spent on training so they can become more valuable, make even more money, people who have seen the minimum wage in that business going up. The workers getting these bonuses and raises in their pay are her constituents. Does she think that she is people are feeling insulted . Does she believe they have been insulted by getting a 1,000 raise and getting an increase in their salaries and having investments in terms of additional training . Is that an insult to those people . I dont think so. I bet theyre feeling pretty glad to be supported and valued by their employer. Theres another business in nevada, south point casino. Workers there are receiving 1 million total in bonuses. Previously this business had actually planned to increase the cost for their employers because Health Insurance costs have gone up. Health insurance prices have skyrocketed ever since obamacare has been passed. Companies have strug p geld with how to deal struggled with how to deal with these rising costs. Many have tried to pass these on to employees. Now this company in nevada has said that because of the republican tax relief law, theyre canceling their plans to raise insurance costs. Canceling their plans to raise the costs. Thats more money in employees pockets. The owner of the business said we want to be sure that our extended family is taken care of. Thats what these people think of the employees that work of them. Thats why employers how employers are responding to tax relief around the country. We also predicted one way businesses might deal with lower taxes would be to cut prices for consumers, let people who use their services or buy their products keep more of their hardearned money. Well, americans are starting to see that prediction come true in the form of lower utility bills. Gas and electric and Water Utilities across the country are getting ready to cut their rates because the taxes are going down under the law. Customers of the Power Company in baltimore are going to receive millions of dollars in the form of lower rates. Its been a cold winter, mr. President , on the east coast, and a Lower Electric bill is going to be good news for a lot of people in that community. Customers are also likely to see the same thing in missouri, in south carolina, louisiana. These are the kind of effects, mr. President , that were seeing all across the country in various ways, but all good news for consumers, all good news for people at home as a result of the tax reduction, tax relief, tax cuts passed by republicans and signed by President Trump. Americans are getting the benefits of tax relief. Theyre getting the benefit of regulatory relief and the progrowth policies republicans in congress and the Trump Administration. Mr. President , people are seeing it in their daily lives. The Polling Company gallup said as soon as donald trump was elected president , Economic Confidence in this country soared. Thats what the polls found. It has stayed positive almost without interruption ever since. Its the exact opposite of what polls were showing during the previous eight years and the previous administration. That was during the socalled economic recovery. Well, why are people so optimistic now . Its because, mr. President , you cant open a newspaper or turn on a Television Without seeing more good news about the economy. New employment numbers came out last friday. Cnn cnn had a headline, u. S. Economy added two million jobs in 2017. Two million jobs in 2017. The Washington Post headline was trumps first year jobs numbers are very, very good. Bloomberg reported that the Christmas Shopping season was probably the best one in a decade. Mr. President , people are feeling confident. Theyre seeing higher wages. Theyre seeing cash bonuses. Soon theyll start seeing the tax cut in their paychecks. The American People know that republicans have kept our promise. Were cutting regulations, cutting taxes, putting more money back in their pockets, and thats what hardworking americans have asked us to do and that what were going to continue to do. Thank you, mr. President. I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call quorum call quorum call