Billion. Proposals like medicare for all 30 add over trillion. This is crazy. One of the things we have to do, we have met with folks this week and last week talking about better ways of valuing the Public Benefit of different federal investments. Everyone knows you can look back at the percentage of the budget attributable to mandatory spending programs, programs not subject to annual congressional that hastions, exceeded a far in excess of 70 of the overall budget. Up from percentages as low in the upper teens, even the low 20 percentile range decades ago. We have to attack the mandatory spending side and make sure we apply criteria that looks at the value generated from these investments, just like any private company would fo, just like a family home would fo. We should actually impose penalties on members of congress. It is our job to negotiate these bills and set the budget for the federal government. That, we unable to do should not be paid. It is our job. People in the private
I think if they take a little bit of a deep breath and what the rule says and what it does, they will see that we follow their call to reduce the uncertainty that was in the system by providing the rule itself. Not just for help that the economy economy and the businesses and manufacturing and agriculture to do Service Tourism and recreation to depend on the clean water to do their job. These are all streamline opportunities. All of the certainty that this will provide a. They have a better direction for they dont have to talk to the federal government if they are not polluting or contaminating the stream or the wetland that is important to protect. The Clean Power Plant is an opportunity for the United States to show significant leadership. I begin talking about the repurposes Global Action is not only necessary to protect Public Health and the economy and national safety. But to get the benefit and the opportunity to move forward on climate. Its proposed by the clean power will cut C
Awareness of the border in the next 18 months. Its take a look at the problems and the conflicts. Lets look at the convoluted process. Lets try to fully coordinate this. Lets start taking the incremental improvements. I come from the manufacturing of the Continuous Improvement root cause analysis. Lets look at these individual problems and working with you with your help with your expertise again i appreciate your service and understand thats what we have to deal with but the only thing that we could become bush in the next 18 months is lets not use piecemeal because i might have the wrong connotation. How about a stepbystep Continuous Improvement process. I think we had that attitude. If the members are willing to work with me. Lets pray our ties those problems so that we can address and start fixing this on a stepbystep basis. Lets thank you mr. Chairman and senator harper. The border search last year was unprecedented. I started doing this job for a long time and ive never seen the
The presiding officer the senator from rhode island. Mr. Whitehouse mr. President , i ask unanimous consent that any pending quorum call be vitiated. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Whitehouse thank you, mr. President. Its nice to see the distinguished senator in the chair presiding. Im not sure in my 183 time to wake up speeches ive had yet had the pleasure of speaking while the presiding officer was presiding. I am here to wake up to the corporate capture of congress and this administration, the capture of governance by the fossil fuel industry that keeps us from honestly addressing Climate Change. There is a saying that personnel is policy personnel is policies. Well, well, the trump personnel for positions at the Environmental Protection agency reflect a policy to undo the Public Welfare mission of the agency and align it with the special interests of the fossil fuel industry. There is a word for that. It is called corruption, at least as the Founding Fathers knew the
A little earlier, martin heinrich, talked about todays vote on methane regulations. Heres a look. Mr. President , i am proud that the senate voted to reject an effort to overturn common sense protection to reduce methane waste. It was three years ago that satellite images from nasa revealed that there was a giant cloud of methane. About the size of the state of delaware sitting over the four Corners Region in Northwestern New Mexico and southwestern colorado. Although evidence had shown that there was methane air pollution in the four corners, as early as 2003, the image of the nasa data is truly striking. This is a warning of a potential major threat to Public Health for communities in the region. The San Juan Basin and the four Corners Region has long been a leading producer of oil and natural gas. With the natural gas boom in the mid 2000, production in the basin grew by leaps and bounds. That created hundreds of new highpaying jobs and a major new domestic source of an Important En