Floor Statements

Mr. President, I am rising today at a very important time for our country because who sits on the Supreme Court matters. It really matters. From healthcare to civil rights, to the safety of the air we breathe and the water we drink, to the ability to raise our families and pursue the

American dream, to the very health of our democracy, decisions made by the Supreme Court affect us every single day.

As my colleagues know, I was born in Michigan. I have lived in Michigan my whole life. My whole family is still in Michigan. I am so grateful for that. Every decision I make in the U.S. Senate puts the people of Michigan first. My decision to oppose Judge Brett Kavanaugh is no exception.

The allegations that have been made against Judge Kavanaugh deserve to be taken extremely seriously. Even before the allegations came to light, Judge Kavanaugh's record and his writings too often have gone against what is best for Michigan families.

When confronted with cases that have special interests on one side and people on the other side, he has consistently sided with the special interests. That is certainly true when it comes to healthcare. Healthcare isn't political; it is personal for every single one of us. Michigan families know what they need: quality, affordable healthcare, including prescription drugs, and Michigan women deserve to make their own reproductive health decisions.

Right now, a court case is pending in which the Trump administration is refusing to defend the law that protects people with preexisting conditions--people like Amy, a small business owner with chronic leukemia, and Louisa, a beautiful little girl born with half a heart. Half of Michigan families include someone with a preexisting condition, like high blood pressure, heart disease, asthma, diabetes, cancer. They deserve to know that healthcare will be there when they need it.

Yet, if this case were to come before the U.S. Supreme Court and if Judge Kavanaugh were a member, I believe many families in Michigan would find themselves with no coverage and no care. We need judges who will make decisions based on what is best for people--not drug companies, not insurance companies, but for people.

A second issue on the minds of our families is our water and the Great Lakes, just like the people of Flint who still struggle with lead in their water. Ask the people in at least 15 Michigan communities whose water is contaminated with what we now call PFAS chemicals. That is an industrial chemical that has been linked to cancer and other diseases. Again and again, Judge Kavanaugh has ruled on behalf of polluters, not people.

In one case, he argued that the Environmental Protection Agency exceeded its authority by trying to address pollution from one State that drifted into another State--as if somehow the air was going to stop at the border. Thankfully, the Supreme Court voted 6 to 2 to overturn his decision. What would happen to our air and water if he is one of the people who is deciding this, particularly if he were to be the tie vote?

Third, I am deeply concerned by his belief in essentially unlimited Presidential power. In 2016, when asked what single case he would like to see overturned, Judge Kavanaugh said he would like to ``put the final nail'' in a three-decades-old Supreme Court decision that said independent counsels investigating the President are constitutional.

Judge Kavanaugh has also written that if a President doesn't like the law, he can simply decide it is unconstitutional. He can simply refuse to enforce it. That might be how things work in Russia, in North Korea, and in Syria. It is not how things are supposed to work in America under our democracy.

We have three separate branches of government. We need judges who will ensure that no one--no one, not even the President of the United States--is above the law.

Also, Judge Kavanaugh's views on what we now call dark money in our elections also concerns me greatly. In one 2011 case, Judge Kavanaugh ruled that foreign nationals could not campaign for or contribute money to candidates. That sounds good. Unfortunately, he then went on to say that foreign nationals can take part in issue advocacy--giving money for issue advocacy in American elections. In other words, Russians can contribute as much as they want to an issue group, which can then spend on behalf of candidates.

In this way, Judge Kavanaugh opened the door for unlimited dark money from foreign nationals--foreign entities in our American elections. Do we imagine he will rule differently from a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court?

Finally, there are the very serious allegations made against Judge Kavanaugh and serious questions about how he has responded to them.

In this country, we have due process. We want accusers to be heard and the accused to be able to defend themselves. That is why it is so important that we heard from both Judge Kavanaugh and Dr. Christine Ford.

I found Dr. Ford to be highly credible. Her testimony was heart- wrenching. I believe Dr. Ford. Her story resonated with so many women because many of us have felt that same fear and heard the same laughter that she described. It takes an incredible amount of courage to speak up, and I know women across the country are grateful to Dr. Ford for doing so. I am grateful for the countless women who have called or written me with their stories of what has happened to them, oftentimes decades ago. I hope we are going to come to a point when all of this is over and use this as an opportunity to make sure that when something happens, women feel they can report it immediately and will be taken seriously, and we will have a due process system that works immediately to address these issues.

I reviewed the FBI background file on Judge Kavanaugh. Unfortunately, I was very disappointed in the very limited scope. It did nothing to alleviate my concerns about the allegations, his truthfulness before the Senate Judiciary Committee, or his suitability to sit on the Supreme Court.

Judge Kavanaugh's demeanor during the hearing was a shocking display of entitlement. No one is promised a Supreme Court seat or entitled to a job interview. There are many people qualified to hold that kind of a position. But his sense of entitlement and condescension toward members of the Senate committee who were simply doing their jobs was shocking to me.

Again, no one is owed a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court. We are talking about a lifetime appointment and an immense amount of power over people's lives.

Someone once said this: ``The Supreme Court must never be viewed as a partisan institution. The Justices on the Supreme Court do not sit on opposite sides of an aisle. They do not caucus in separate rooms.''

That person was Brett Kavanaugh. He clearly has failed to meet his own standard. I know he has failed to meet mine.

The people of Michigan deserve better. The people of America deserve better. They deserve someone on the Supreme Court who understands their lives and will stand up for them, not special interests.

They deserve someone on the Supreme Court who understands that nobody--not even the President of the United States--is above the law.

They deserve someone on the Supreme Court who will work to keep dark money from foreign entities out of our elections.

And they deserve someone on the Supreme Court who has consistently lived up to the high standards we ought to demand of our Nation's leaders.

In Michigan, we teach our children that character matters. Now it is time to show that we mean it.

I urge my colleagues to vote no on Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Mr. President, I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Madam President, I rise to pay tribute to a woman whose voice and whose soul truly was larger than life.

Aretha Franklin was known, first and foremost, as a singer, and what a singer she was. For so many of us, her voice provided a soundtrack to the highs and lows of our lives.

A couple of things happened on April 29, 1967. For one, it was my 17th birthday. For another, that was the day Aretha Franklin released ``Respect.'' Let me tell you, that song felt like a gift that day, and it has felt like a gift every time I have heard it ever since. Her voice really was a gift, not just to me but to the whole world. She won 18 Grammys, the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, was the 1994 Kennedy Center Honors awardee, and was the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. She was the recipient of the highest civilian honor in the United States, the Presidential Medal of Freedom. A panel of music experts convened by Rolling Stone magazine in 2008 named her the greatest singer of all time--not bad for a preacher's daughter from Detroit.

All those awards are important; however, they don't begin to measure how she made us feel. I will never forget the 2015 Kennedy Center Honors, which saluted my friend and singer-songwriter Carole King. Aretha strolled onstage in her jewels and her furs, and she was pure magic. Her soulful rendition of ``Natural Woman'' made Carole King dance in her seat, and she made President Obama tear up. Those final, magnificent notes--when she tossed her coat on the stage and raised her arms in triumph--brought every single person in that audience to their feet, including me.

Her voice was remarkable--so remarkable, in fact, that in 1986 the Michigan Legislature declared it to be a precious natural resource. That remarkable voice of hers wasn't limited to songs, however. Aretha also used her voice--sometimes loudly, sometimes quietly--to speak up for justice and to make a difference in Detroit and across the country. That is probably no surprise, given her roots.

Aretha was the daughter of Pastor C.L. Franklin of New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit, and she first found her soulful voice singing and playing the piano in church and in other places in Detroit. The Reverend Franklin was active in the civil rights movement, alongside leaders including Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Aretha was there to fund the work. Her longtime friend, the Reverend Jesse Jackson, shared his memory with the Detroit Free Press last week:

When Dr. King was alive, several times she helped us make

payroll. On one occasion, we took an 11-city tour with her as

Aretha Franklin and Harry Belafonte . . . and they put gas in

the vans. She did 11 concerts for free.

He added:

Aretha has always been a very socially conscious artist, an

inspiration, not just an entertainer.

We certainly know this in Michigan, where she was named the Michiganian of the Year in 2003 and was awarded the Detroit News's Lifetime Achievement Award in June. According to Pastor Robert Smith, Jr., of New Bethel Baptist, a few times a year, Aretha would send the church checks--big ones, not small ones. That was in addition to her annual free concerts featuring famous gospel singers and free holiday meals.

Speaking of food, Aretha's generous support of food banks in Metro Detroit was one reason she was named the 2008 MusiCares Person of the Year. Her generosity literally fed Detroit families, and her music fed the world's souls.

I was personally honored to have the opportunity to be with Aretha on many occasions. I was particularly honored to have the opportunity to introduce her a year ago, in June 2017, when she gave her last concert in Detroit, MI, at the Detroit music festival. I know I am not the only person who can say that no matter the song, no matter the temperature, when I hear Aretha sing, I get chills.

The world has lost a legend; however, the world can take comfort in the fact that Aretha will always be with us. In her voice, Aretha was given an amazing gift. Her gift to us was sharing it, and we are very grateful.

Mr. President, I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I want to thank our ranking member on the Finance Committee and all of my colleagues who are here to talk about and celebrate two programs that for 53 years have changed the lives of Michigan families and the families of our country for the better.

The words of President Lyndon B. Johnson, who signed the programs into law, are a great reminder of what life was like before Medicare and Medicaid. He said:

No longer will older Americans be denied the healing

miracle of modern medicine. No longer will illness crush and

destroy the savings that they have so carefully put away over

a lifetime so that they might enjoy dignity in their later

years. No longer will young families see their own incomes

and their own hopes eaten away simply because they are

carrying out their deep moral obligations to their parents,

and to their uncles, and to their aunts. And no longer will

this Nation refuse the hand of justice to those who have

given a lifetime of service and wisdom and labor to the

progress of this progressive country.

Thanks to these two programs, we have come a long way toward building that just Nation President Johnson envisioned.

Before Medicare, only about half of Americans age 65 and older had health insurance. Today, more than 98 percent of Americans age 65 and older have health insurance.

In Michigan, more than 675,000 people have gained health coverage through Healthy Michigan, our Medicaid expansion, and 97 percent of Michigan children can see a doctor when they get sick or hurt. The number of people treated without insurance has dropped 50 percent. In Michigan, we ended 2017 with $413 million more than it invested in the program, which is a savings for taxpayers in Michigan because fewer people were walking into the emergency room who didn't have insurance and couldn't pay the bill.

It is good for State budgets, and it is good for family budgets too. In fact, a recent study found that the finances of low-income residents improved in States like Michigan that chose to expand Medicaid.

I know what a difference these programs make for Michigan families because they share their stories with me.

Ann was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis when she was 40 years old. She has very limited use of her arms and legs. Yet she feels so strongly about Medicare and Medicaid that she traveled to Washington, DC, at my invitation, to speak at a healthcare hearing last year.

Medicare and secondary insurance cover most of the costs of Ann's medication, which costs an astounding $75,000 a year. That is nearly her entire

household income, including Social Security benefits.

Ann had been caring for her aging mom, but when her mom's dementia worsened, Ann didn't know where she would find $6,000 a month for nursing home care. Fortunately, Ann's mom qualified for Medicaid. Here is what Ann said:

It was only because of Medicaid that she was able to get

the help that she needed at the end of her life. . . . I

don't know how I could have cared for my mother on top of

managing my own care. My family would have lost our home and

all our savings trying to keep up with their bills.

In Felicia's case, she may have lost her life. In 2011, she was an AmeriCorps member with no health insurance. When she started feeling tired all the time and losing weight, she went to the Center for Family Health in Jackson, MI. Felicia was diagnosed with stage 4 Hodgkin's lymphoma. The Center for Family Health helped her get Medicaid and care at the University of Michigan, including a stem cell transplant.

Felicia wrote:

Now I am feeling awesome, I am cancer-free, and I am

working part time while I am finishing up college. I feel

that I owe my life to the Center for Family Health.

Fifty-three years after they were created, Medicare and Medicaid are more than just programs, and that is really why we are here on the floor this evening. They are powerful tools to promote health, to prevent poverty, and to protect families and give them the dignity of knowing that they have healthcare when they need it for themselves, their children, their moms and dads.

LBJ said 53 years ago:

There are men and women in pain who will now find ease. . .

. There are those fearing the terrible darkness of despairing

poverty . . . who will now look up to see the light of hope

and realization.

There just can be no satisfaction, nor any act of

leadership, that gives greater satisfaction than this.

I think we share those sentiments, which is why we are not only here celebrating 53 years of Medicare and Medicaid but indicating in the strongest possible terms our commitment to keep Medicare and Medicaid strong for current families and for future generations.

I yield the floor.

Absolutely.

Mr. President, due to travel issues, I was unable to attend today's rollcall vote on the nomination of Scott Stump to be Assistant Secretary for Career, Technical, and Adult Education at the Department of Education.

Had I been able to attend, I would have supported his nomination.

Madam President, I am here to join Chairman Roberts with his sense of urgency and his comments this morning.

We have worked very hard, and the distinguished Presiding Officer, who is part of the committee, knows that we have produced a bill that is a strong bipartisan bill. It has gone on to address many other interests and needs that Members have brought forward in the substitute, and we are now working with Members as well. But there is a sense of urgency in the country. There are so many things right now that are up in the air for farmers and ranchers. It is a very difficult time.

This bill, really, is a bill that provides a safety net for farmers and a safety net for families. As for families, because the economy is getting better, we are actually saving money. Over $80 billion is going to be saved in taxpayer dollars not used over the next 10 years because the economy is getting better. People don't need temporary help.

But for our farmers, because of prices that have dropped significantly, because of questions about trade and markets, because of questions about labor and so many other things, they are under tremendous stress.

Then, you add the weather. I was just in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan on Sunday night and Monday, where rain came crashing down in just a few hours and created flooding and mudslides and wiped out homes and key operations and other things that are going to take

weeks and months for folks to recover from. The riskiest business in the world is farming. Nobody else is getting up in the morning and looking at the weather report and determining whether they are even going to have a business.

By the way, we want them to have a business. We have the safest, most affordable food supply in the world because of the folks who are willing to get up every day and do this and take this risk for us and, frankly, for the world. So we have a responsibility to them.

It just breaks my heart when I see headlines in the paper now about the suicide rate going up for farmers. It is higher than for any other group of people. Our strong dairy farmers are people who put everything on the line, family operations, and because of the stress coming at them from every way now, they are in a terrible situation. They are counting on us to do what we can to provide certainty and stability for them, and the No. 1 way we can do that is to get this bill passed. I can't think of a better way to say ``Happy Fourth of July'' than to say that the U.S. Senate, on a bipartisan basis, has overwhelmingly passed a bill to support them.

We know there are other issues on both sides of the aisle. We know in conference committee there is going to be a wild and woolly debate as we go forward on a number of things. We understand there are other issues we can revisit at that time. We both have been through conference committees. We know what that is all about.

Here is what we know right now: We have a strong, bipartisan bill that helps every single region of this country. We have a big, diverse country, and we help all of our farmers and ranchers. We address conservation in every part of our country. We address food access and create integrity in programs that are very important to have, and we do all of that in a bill we can be proud to pass on a bipartisan basis. So now is the time to do that. Then we will continue working.

We know there is more we need to do to work with the House in coming to a broader consensus. We know there are other issues our colleagues will want to bring forward in that process, but today--today--we can say to farmers and ranchers, large and small: We hear you. We understand what is going on, and we are going to do what we can today to provide the certainty and predictability they need and a sense of confidence that there are people who are fighting for them and who are going to continue to fight for them until we can get them the certainty and predictability they need. I hope we are on path to doing that today.

It has been my great pleasure to work with the chairman of the committee. I am very grateful for our friendship and a great working relationship. We are going to do everything we can today, working with our colleagues, to get that done.

Madam President, if I might just take one more moment, I just want to underscore what Chairman Roberts had said earlier. We have 500 different organizations in support of this, from every piece of the 12 titles, every part of the country, every agricultural group, every conservation--we have hunting and fishing groups. We have folks who care about international trade, folks who care about trading at home with their neighbors, and people who care about food access. There are 500 organizations that have come together around this bill with a sense of urgency to get it done, so I am very hopeful we can do that today.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, before the Senator from Minnesota leaves, I want to thank her for her amazing leadership as one of the senior members of the Agriculture Committee. She has not only made a significant difference as it relates to energy--and she talked about bioenergy and the biobased economy, which is so important for us, for jobs and energy independence. She has been a real leader there, as well as in conservation, commodities titles, local foods, and all of the ways in which this bill has come together. So I thank the Senator from Minnesota.

Mr. President, I rise in opposition to the amendment.

I want to step back and look at the reality of SNAP and the food assistance program today.

The farm bill has two kinds of safety nets. It is a safety net for farmers and a safety net for families.

The good news is, because the economy is doing better, we are going to save over $80 billion in the next 10 years on the food and family side because the economy is getting better and people don't need temporary help and they are going back to work. The challenge for us is that in this bill, we have a lot of farmers who need a safety net because we have seen prices drop by 50 percent and weather disasters and other things that have been very challenging for them.

So, No. 1, I think this is an amendment in search of a problem. No. 2, we already have work requirements--let's make that very, very clear. Despite things that have been said before, we already have work requirements in the SNAP program.

Now, 75 percent of those who get food help are senior citizens, people with disabilities, and children and their parents--75 percent. Of the 25 percent--they are required to work at least 20 hours a week, and if they do not, then the most they can receive is up to 3 months' worth of food help in a 3-year period.

The amendment essentially would limit and change that for people. For instance, it would subject parents of children as young as 1 years old to new work requirements, but there is no funding for training or support for childcare or anything to help that mom be successful.

In the underlying bill, we have funded 10 States to help those who have extra challenges get into full-time employment, and we add 8 more States to that. That is the positive way to do it, not just saying that moms of children as young as 1 years old have to meet a work requirement in order to feed their children. This also eliminates waivers that States use in high-unemployment areas, like Tribal areas.

Basically, what is being said here is that we shouldn't trust States. I think about all the times we hear from my colleagues on the other side of the aisle about State block grants and about supporting States. This goes in the exact opposite direction--taking away the opportunity for States to be able to ask for waivers in high-unemployment areas.

It also slashes work exemptions that States use to cover special populations, such as veterans. It would incentivize States to cut people off of SNAP by forcing States to meet unrealistic workforce targets or face stiff penalties, and it would cut the amount of time that someone--again, I mentioned that you have to work 20 hours a week; otherwise, you can receive no more than 3 months' worth of food help in a 3-year period. This would say ``No, no, no; 3 months is too much out of 3 years'' and it would take it down to 1 month.

Finally, there is the Kennedy provision specifically requiring household members to show picture IDs to purchase food. Colleagues should know that this is strongly opposed by the Food Marketing Institute and the National Grocers Association and the manufacturers. It would impose new liabilities on more than 200,000 stores, including small businesses that participate in SNAP, which would then be liable and responsible for what happens under this provision.

It would create barriers for seniors, people with disabilities who rely on caregivers to purchase their groceries, and others who depend on someone else to get them their food assistance, and homeless individuals, including veterans, without IDs might be denied food as a result of this provision.

I join with the distinguished chairman who will be making a motion to table this amendment. We will have the opportunity to thoughtfully address these issues in a conference committee.

This amendment, in my judgment, would undermine what has been a very positive bipartisan effort to get a farm bill done and, in fact, would stop us from being able to complete this bill.

Mr. President, I will join with Chairman Roberts. We are close to the final UC and to the final vote. We will ask folks to stay close, and we hope to begin that process shortly, with everyone's support and indulgence. Thank you.

Mr. President, I join with the chairman in asking members to vote no on this amendment. Thank you.

Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.

I thank the Senator.

Mr. President, I thank my partner and friend. This has been a tremendous team effort, and it is a great pleasure to work with the chairman.

Today the Senate has proven that bipartisanship is the way we can get things done, and we all know that is the case. It is not always the easiest path to take. However, when we put our differences aside and focus on the needs of the communities and people we serve, that is how we deliver a good bill. In this case, it is a bill that serves our farmers, our families, and rural America. Over 500 food, agriculture, and conservation leaders agree that this bill will provide certainty to communities and to our farmers across the country.

From the start, we have had a collaborative process. We have built this bill on feedback. We heard from farmers and local leaders at field hearings and in our committee room. We added ideas proposed by Members on both sides of the aisle, both on and off the committee. From our committee markup to today, we have incorporated a total of 171 either bipartisan bills introduced by Members or bipartisan amendments--171.

We were able to get a bill done because we never lost sight of the importance of our agricultural economy and the 16 million jobs it supports. I am proud that we voted in a bipartisan way to move this bill forward. That is the good news for rural America and the men and women who work hard every day to give us the safest, most affordable food supply in the world.

Let me now give some thank-yous. As the chairman indicated, there are many.

I appreciate very much the work of our Democratic leader and his staff for their leadership and support through the process. I thank the majority leader, who knows how important agriculture is to Kentucky. I think we have some things in this bill that are going to make for an even stronger agricultural economy in Kentucky, as well as around the country. I appreciate that he moved this bill quickly on the Senate floor.

Of course, I have to thank my friend and partner Senator Roberts, who is chairman of the committee. He has stayed true to our commitment to deliver a bipartisan bill and has worked extremely hard to get us here today. I say: Congratulations, Mr. Chairman, and to all of our Senate colleagues who supported this important bill.

I thank my incredible staff, as well as Senator Roberts' incredible staff, for working together very hard, very consistently, putting together a bipartisan bill--really, a historic farm bill--and ultimately working as a team to get us over the goal line.

Of course, Joe Shultz and Jacqlyn Schneider, my staff director and deputy staff director and policy director for the committee--true leaders from start to finish. They have both been with me on the committee staff since the very beginning, in 2011, when I chaired the committee.

Joe has led our amazing team and has been living and breathing the farm bill for the past year. You can sleep tonight, Joe.

Jacqlyn has done so as well. Jacqlyn is the heart and soul of our Ag Committee, whose tremendous work over the past two farm bills has made sure that we were protecting our families and supporting our specialty crop producers. She led our efforts to develop groundbreaking new initiatives on food access, like Double Up Food Bucks.

Mary Beth Schultz, our chief counsel, had no idea what she was getting herself into when she came to the Ag Committee this last year. In no time, she

became a farm bill expert who kept track of every page and every amendment to make sure this process was successful.

Mike Schmidt and Kyle Varner, our amazing commodities and livestock team, understand the ins and outs of farm policy like nobody else. They have done so much to improve our dairy programs, expand risk management tools to specialty crops, and support new and beginning farmers.

Ashley McKeon led our work on the conservation title to expand our partnership programs. She brings her warmth, personality, and expertise to the job every day.

Sean Babington, our forestry and environmental expert, has impeccable judgment and negotiating skills that we rely on daily, and he helped get us to this point of there being a final farm bill as well.

Thanks to both Ashley and Sean, our country will have healthy forests, more wildlife habitat, and clean waters for generations to come.

Katie Naessens' hard work led to the major advances in this bill for urban agriculture, organics, beginning farmers, and veterans who want to go into agriculture. I am so proud of the Farmer Veterans Programs in Michigan.

Kevin Bailey led our efforts on expanding high-speed internet for rural communities and on the rural development and energy titles so we can continue to grow the bio-based economy in rural America.

Katie Bergh led our work on international trade and fought to preserve markets for Michigan producers from cherries to dairy, and she helped improve our food aid policies in the United States and abroad.

Rosalyn Brummette is the glue that keeps our team together. She kept the trains running on time and made sure we were all prepared to do what needed to be done. I thank her so much.

We also had fantastic help from farm bill veteran Susan Keith, who provided invaluable wisdom and counsel to our commodity and livestock team.

Ward Griffin, our CFTC detail to the committee, is not only an expert on financial issues, but he has become a full-fledged member of the team, jumping in to help wherever needed. We are grateful.

Jason Sherman, a lawyer and fellow from the Department of Energy, has a keen eye and legal mind. Both were invaluable on environmental and conservation issues.

Now to my personal Senate staff, who were a very important part of the team as well: I thank Matt VanKuiken, my chief of staff, who leads my personal office team, and my legislative director, Emily Carwell, who followed the floor procedure, was involved in negotiations, and made sure everything was happening the way it should have been. I thank them and all of our team in the personal office for being a part of this effort.

Of course, I thank Krystal Lattany, who always makes sure that I am getting where I need to be, so I am in the right place for negotiations.

I thank Anne Stanski, my deputy chief of staff, Matt Williams, my communications director, and Jess McCarron, our ag press secretary, who made sure we were telling the story of the farmers and families who are affected by the farm bill.

We couldn't have done it without the help of the rest of our communications team: Miranda Margowsky, Nirmeen Fahmy, and Amy Phillips Bursch. I also thank my State team, which is led by Teresa Plachetka, and Kali Fox, who leads our agriculture work in Michigan.

I also thank Senator Roberts' team. It was truly wonderful working with James Glueck and DaNita Murray, who are true pros. I thank them for their hard work, creativity, and tenacity in helping to get us to this point. Our team spent many long hours together, and I am grateful that even our staffs worked together in a wonderful, bipartisan way just as the chairman and I did.

Of course, I thank Jessie Williams, Amanda Kelly, Bobby Mehta, and everyone who works behind the scenes on the Ag Committee.

Nothing would get done around here without the excellent floor staff, led by Gary Myrick and his team, including Tricia Engle and Ryan McConaghy.

The insights of Sean Byrne, with Senator Schumer's staff, and Reema Dodin, with Senator Durbin, have been incredibly helpful.

I should really thank the folks at the CBO, who had late nights at the Senate Office of the Legislative Counsel. They worked on weekends and had late nights to make sure we had what we needed to get the bill done.

Finally, of course, I thank all of the members of the Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee and their staffs. We have so much talent and experience. It is a real privilege to serve as its ranking member.

This farm bill is the product of a year and a half of hard work by a long list of very talented people. I cannot thank every single one of them individually, but we wouldn't be here today without their help.

We passed a farm bill today that supports the 16 million jobs in America that depend on agriculture. We passed a bill that helps our farmers stay resilient, that protects our land and water, that helps families keep food on their tables, that invests in our small towns all across America, that recognizes the diversity of American agriculture, and that strengthens local food economies.

We should all be very proud of the work we have done today, and I thank my colleagues for joining us in such a strong ``yes'' vote in passing this bill.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that Megan McFarlane and Lauren Odum, interns with the minority staff on the Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee, be granted floor privileges for the duration of the debate on H.R. 2.

Mr. President, I want to concur with the comments of our chairman, Senator Roberts. All together, I believe we have 91 amendments between the work of the committee on a bipartisan basis and the work we have put into the substitute. We have listened and worked together with colleagues on both sides of the aisle and put forward a package of bipartisan amendments that will allow us to move forward in a way that will provide certainty for our farmers and ranchers, as well as our families.

Now we will take the next step, and we look forward to working with colleagues to move this forward to get to a final vote this week.

Mr. President, I want to indicate I certainly understand the concerns of the Senator from Florida, and we have been looking for the last 2 days to find a resolution. There are multiple interests on various sides of this issue on Cuba that we are trying to work through so that we can move forward on this as well as other amendments.

As the chairman has indicated, there are two amendments we are trying to get pending so that we can move forward and take the next steps to be able to come to a resolution and get to a final vote on the farm bill, which our farmers, ranchers, and families in rural communities are very anxious to have us do.

We will continue to work, as we have all day and as we did yesterday, looking for ways to resolve this and to be able to move forward. Hopefully, we can do that because there are a lot of folks really counting on us to come together and get this done.

Madam President, I thank the majority and minority leaders for bringing this bill to the floor for consideration as quickly as they have done. I appreciate all the Agriculture Committee members on both sides of the aisle for working together to write this important legislation. Most importantly, many thanks to my friend and my partner, Chairman Pat Roberts, for his work and his leadership and his commitment to our farmers and growers throughout this process. It is a great pleasure to work with him.

From the very beginning of this process, Chairman Roberts and I made a commitment that we would deliver a strong bipartisan farm bill. Despite the long road we faced, we stayed true to our word. I am proud to say that we wrote a bill that will provide certainty, as the chairman talked about, to our farmers, our families, and rural communities.

We stayed focused on strengthening our Nation's diverse agricultural economy and the 16 million jobs it supports. This is a jobs bill for America. A lot of those jobs are in my home State of Michigan, where our food and agricultural economy supports one out of four jobs in Michigan.

People look at us as an auto State, which we proudly are, an auto manufacturing State. We make things, but we make things and we grow things. I don't think you can have an economy or a middle class unless somebody makes things and grows things. That is what we do. This bill is critical to both of those things. The farm bill helps us make things and grow things, and it is critical to our Michigan economy and to the economy of the country.

Even though agriculture supports the livelihood of so many families, the rest of us may take for granted the work they do and how much we depend on them to be successful. After all, we all have to eat, and the food on our plates comes from a farm or a ranch. Farms like Everbest Organics in Munger, MI, grow the black beans you may find in your burrito. Dietrich Orchards in Conklin produces the apple slices your kids might eat as a snack.

The men and women who own and operate so many farms in Michigan and across this country are the reason our grocery shelves are stocked with the safest, most affordable food in the world. The food we eat depends on the hard work they put in day in and day out. They do this work knowing the great risks they face. For a farmer, a year of work can be lost in a single day. I saw an example of that in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan just yesterday, where severe flooding and mudslides have caused unimaginable losses in Houghton, MI, and Hancock and the surrounding small towns. A number of farms in Menominee County experienced heavy damage. The loss of hay alone will hurt dairy and cattle operations for weeks and months to come.

On top of the uncertainty farmers face from Mother Nature, they also contend with unpredictable markets and certainly unpredictable situations today in terms of Federal policy. The farm economy is struggling right now with low prices. Many farm families are struggling to make ends meet. Uncertainty about international trade is definitely not helping.

When times are tough, the farm bill provides a strong safety net to protect our farmers and ranchers. We took

steps to strengthen the risk-management tools and crop insurance to help producers of all types protect their businesses from unexpected losses. We create that risk-management safety net for all types of farms, large and small.

We also made a number of important changes for our dairy farmers. The dairy support in the last farm bill, unfortunately, did not work as expected, leaving many family dairy farms without a reliable safety net. In addition to the $1.1 billion we secured in the Bipartisan Budget Act, we replaced the Margin Protection Program with new, affordable coverage for dairy farmers when the market dips.

Thanks to the support and the leadership of Senator Gillibrand, Senator Baldwin, and Senator Klobuchar, we also refund premiums for dairy farmers who did not see returns under the old safety net.

From commodities and dairy to specialty crops and urban farming, the strength of American agriculture is rooted in the diversity of what we grow and how we grow it. This is certainly true in Michigan, where we grow more crops than every other State but one--that little State called California. We are working on that one.

Our farm bill continues to support the wide variety of farms all across America, big and small, urban and rural. We invest in the bright future of agriculture by helping new and beginning farmers, including young people and returning veterans. We expand agricultural market opportunities so our farmers can make a living. Historic investments in organic farming help producers tap into one of the fastest growing sectors of agriculture.

New and permanent investments in international trade promotion will help our farmers sell their production abroad. Streamlined, permanent support for farmers markets, food hubs, and local food processing will help our farmers sell to their neighbors.

Just as the farm bill provides a safety net for farmers, it also provides a safety net for our families. We know nutrition assistance provides a critical lifeline for families who are struggling to make ends meet. The good news is, according to the Congressional Budget Office, nutrition programs are saving over $80 billion more than expected because the economy is getting better and fewer people need temporary help. So we focused on strengthening nutrition assistance the right way--by working on a bipartisan basis.

We improved the integrity of SNAP and created new job-training opportunities and public-private partnerships, while preserving critical food access for American families. We also worked to improve access to healthy foods through SNAP by bolstering fruit and vegetable incentives--what we call in Michigan Double Up Bucks--and reducing paperwork for senior citizens on fixed incomes.

The farm bill also plays an important role in improving the quality of life in every single small town and rural community, like where I grew up in Clare and where I was this weekend up in the Upper Peninsula.

Access to high-speed internet is one of the top concerns we hear about in rural America. In 2018, having internet access is not a luxury, it is a necessity. High school students need to do their homework and be able to apply for college. Hospitals and health centers need it to connect patients with specialists and use telemedicine and reach those in their homes. Farmers and small business owners count on it to steer their tractors and sell their products and communicate with customers. The farm bill includes new opportunities that will connect communities that need it most.

We are also continuing to create jobs. The strong investments in rural small businesses promote entrepreneurship. Support for renewable energy helps farmers and businesses be more efficient, while also adding installation jobs in rural communities.

Biobased manufacturing creates rural and urban jobs--taking crops like corn and soybeans and turning them into products we use every day, from laundry detergent, to seats in automobiles--yes, you may be sitting on soybeans in your car--to biofuels.

All of these things create opportunities for young people to stay in their hometowns and raise their families. We want children to feel they can stay at home in their small town and have the quality of life they want for themselves and their families and have the opportunity to raise their children there.

Despite facing a tough budget, the farm bill continues to be one of the largest investments in the conservation of our land, water, and Great Lakes, which is so important to us in Michigan. Contrary to the House bill, we made no cuts to the conservation title, which helps our farmers be more productive and more profitable. In fact, by focusing on successful conservation partnerships, we will actually grow funding by leveraging an additional $1 billion in private investments.

Clean water and healthy wildlife habitat are not only good for our farmers and our environment, they also support hunting, fishing, and outdoor recreation. Again, that is where I grew up. We were outdoors all the time hunting, fishing, enjoying the outdoors. The great news is that this accounts for over 7 million jobs.

There is no doubt that this farm bill is a jobs bill, and, as the chairman said, it is a national security bill. It is a conservation bill. It is a food security bill. It is also a bipartisan bill, with the strong support of the members of the Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee.

I am proud to be here with my friend and colleague, the leader of our committee, Chairman Roberts, and I urge our colleagues to join us in swiftly passing this bill.

Thank you.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I just want to take a moment to thank my friend from North Dakota for his leadership and the valuable input and hard work that he provides to the Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee. We have worked together now on two farm bills and now have worked on the ARC Program and on conservation, trade, and research, but also on the important Tribal provisions that I think are going to have a very positive impact. So I just want to thank Senator Hoeven for all of his hard work.

I am happy to.

Mr. President, I just want to take a moment before the senior Senator from South Dakota leaves the floor to thank him for his leadership on so many provisions of this bill. I think the soil health provisions are really important, the changes in ARC, and I am really glad we were able to work together to address many of the issues the Senator from South Dakota raised on the Conservation Reserve Program. I very much appreciate all of his hard work in getting us to a place where we have a good bill.

I know the Senator from South Dakota has other thoughts as well. We will continue to work together to continue to improve it, but I very much appreciate all of the Senator's hard work.

Mr. President, I am pleased that we are moving forward and looking forward to the first amendment we will be voting on, Senator Thune's amendment, of which I am very supportive. I am looking forward to working with my colleagues as we move through the bill. Hopefully, we are on the road to getting this done this week.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that Ward Griffin and Jason Sherman, a detailee and fellow with the minority staff on the Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee, be granted floor privileges throughout the duration of this Congress.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, I rise today to pay tribute to someone who has been fighting for working men and women his entire career.

Just for a moment, let's think back to 1977. The top movie that year was ``Star Wars''--the original one--and the average movie ticket cost $2.23. The Apple II computer went on sale. It cost $1,298, not including the television you needed to use for a monitor. The space shuttle Enterprise took its first test flight, perched on top of a Boeing 747. And a young Marine Corps veteran and salvage welder at J.I. Case first joined UAW Local 806 in Rock Island, IL. He began fighting at that point for workers' rights.

A few things have changed since then. ``Star Wars'' and Apple have evolved, and the space shuttle has retired. Yet one thing hasn't changed: Dennis Williams is just as dedicated to the working men and women of the UAW today as he was four decades ago. Over the years, he has served them in a number of ways, including negotiating the first contract at Mitsubishi Motors North America in Bloomington, IL; organizing Indiana State employees; helping Local 844 in Vermont, IL, obtain their first contract; and serving locals throughout the nine States of Region 4.

In 2010, he was elected UAW's secretary-treasurer. In 2014, he was elected United Auto Workers' president, a position he has held with distinction since then. It hasn't been an easy time to lead the UAW. The great recession hit the American automobile industry very hard. Some folks thought we should just let the auto industry go bankrupt. Instead, the United Auto Workers made sacrifices, stood strong, stood together, and weathered the storm. Under Dennis Williams' leadership, the UAW ended 2017 with a fiscal surplus for the third straight year and with more than 430,000 members--up 60,000 members since 2011. It is no surprise. Anyone who has worked with Dennis knows just how dedicated he is to his members and to the communities where they live and where they work.

Just ask the people of Flint. During the water crisis--which, by the way, continues on--UAW members from all over the country were some of the first ones there to help. They collected bottled water and distributed it in their own vehicles, going door to door to help, even traveling to Washington, DC, to demand action from Congress. We are so pleased that they helped us get action to help the families in Flint.

That tells us a little something about the character of the members of the UAW. Yet, it also tells us a little bit about their leader--a man who long ago signed up to serve his country and has simply never stopped. I think that Dennis would say it is about solidarity. He wrote in an editorial in the Detroit News last month:

We believe that no matter where you come from, who you are,

what language you speak, or what religion you practice--being

in a union is about working men and women standing up for

each other. That's how it was in 1935 when the UAW was

formed, and that's how it is now.

To Dennis Williams, thank you for your service, your hard work, and your dedication to making life better for working men and women so that we can actually have and sustain and grow an American middle class. I know that the members of the UAW join me in wishing you the very best in your well-earned retirement.

I know that my partner and colleague from Michigan will be coming to the floor in just a bit.

Mr. President, I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, today I wish to pay special tribute to the American Legion Department of Michigan, which this year is celebrating its 100th convention.

When the American Legion was chartered by Congress 1919, its members were veterans of what was termed the War to End All Wars: World War I. They served alongside people like John F. Roehl, a former major in the Air Service and chief inspector for the Detroit Department of Health, first commander of American Legion Post 1 in Warren; Captain James Wilson, who was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross and received a citation for bravery in action from General John Pershing, first commander of Post 36 in Kalamazoo; and Lilly Larson of Ishpeming, who served in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps and today is the namesake of American Legion Post 114 in Greenwood.

Today's American Legion members have served on many fronts and in many capacities. However, they share a few key attributes with the American Legion's very first members. They all have a deep and profound love for this country. They all have served in uniform with honor, and they all are dedicated to continuing to serve their communities, their country, and their fellow veterans.

They do this in as many ways as there are American Legion posts in big cities, small towns, and rural areas across Michigan and across this country.

Post 44 in Marquette sponsors a youth hockey team, which gives area young people a chance to stay active and involved during those months when the snow is a bit too deep in the Upper Peninsula to play American Legion baseball.

Post 459 in Grand Rapids teams up with organizations including the Children's Advocacy Center of Kent County to raise funds to support children who are victims of abuse and to build communities where all young people are respected and safe.

Post 202 in Detroit has a strong focus on connecting young people in southeast Michigan with educational and service opportunities, including Boys State, Student Trooper, JROTC, and college scholarships.

Post 68 in Paw Paw hosts an ``All Gave Some . . . Some Gave All'' golf outing to raise money for items like Trackchairs, so that wounded Michigan warriors can continue to enjoy the active, offroad life so many people in our State enjoy.

Whether they are finding housing for homeless veterans, connecting separating servicemembers with employment opportunities, supporting military families, or inspiring the next generation of patriots, every day, American Legion members are doing all they can to build stronger communities and a stronger country.

Their hard work and dedication is a testament to their organization and to the values that have been the foundation of the American Legion from the beginning: love of country, respect for continued service, promotion of a strong national defense, and devotion to their fellow servicemembers and veterans.

For a century, the American Legion has made sure that the voices of our veterans are heard and their service and sacrifice have not been forgotten. On its 100th anniversary, it is my honor to do the same for them.

Thank you.