Joe Manchin III

Mr. President, West by God Virginia.

Mr. President, in a moment, I am going to be asking for unanimous consent to pass the EXPLORE Act, a package of outdoor recreation legislation.

Let me just say this to you. This is something that we all agree on, both sides of this wonderful institution of Congress, because the House and the Senate are in agreement, there were changes that need to be made. We all agreed to get that done, but the bill we have before us is the House's version without--without--the changes that we have agreed to. And the reason for that, the House has already passed theirs.

And I understand my dear friend is going to be speaking on this, too, in the objection part of it. But I just would like for everyone to understand we have a chance, truly a chance. And I have, as chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee--we have made a focus of supporting our public lands and the outdoor recreation economy, which is the fastest growing element of our economy in every State.

We all have beautiful venues in our States. We have all been able to take advantage of that, starting with the John Dingell Act and working all the way up to the Outdoor Recreation Act, and now the EXPLORE Act. It gives a chance for the vendors in those parks to be able to offer a true experience, and that is really what it is all about. I have no objections around all 50 States.

One of the first things we did was pass, as I said, the Dingell Act. We did the Land and Water Conservation Fund. Just a year later, we passed the Great American Outdoors Act, which permanently funded the Land and Water Conservation Fund and provided nearly $2 billion per year for 5 years to address the deferred maintenance backlog on our Federal recreational lands--most of our parks, our wonderful, beautiful parks.

The same year we passed the Great American Outdoors Act, Senator Capito and I passed legislation designating New River Gorge National Park and Preserve in our home State, which, on the east coast, is now one of the most visited parks that we have. It is close to most of the population in the country. Since the designation 4 years ago, visitation has jumped more than 40 percent. People want to get out and enjoy this beautiful country that we all own.

A year later, in 2021, Senator Barrasso and I introduced the America's Outdoor Recreation Act, which is the basis of the EXPLORE Act. It basically gives you the ability now to really do it. We reported that bill out of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee on a bipartisan basis. We tried very hard to pass that bill by the end of 2022, but ultimately we had some disagreements with the House. However, Senator Barrasso and I were not ready to give up. We reintroduced the bill and were again able to report it out with a bipartisan voice vote.

Congressman Westerman, who is with us today in the Chamber--and we appreciate having him over here--to his credit, introduced the EXPLORE Act last year, which includes nearly every provision of my bill and Senator Barrasso's bill, along with some additional House priorities.

My and Senator Barrasso's staff immediately got to work with the House to iron out the differences between the two bills, and we have had bipartisan, bicameral agreement on the negotiated text for more than 6 months. We have tried for months to get that passed, but it has been blocked along the way. This late in December, we are simply out of runway. Time is running out on us.

I am willing to pass the House version without those negotiated changes so it can be sent straight to the President's desk because we are accepting what has already been passed in the House, with the agreement with the House that every one of those changes will be done-- every one of them. It is the only path we have available to us. This is our last shot to get this important legislation.

So, Mr. President, notwithstanding rule XXII, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of H.R. 6492, which was received from the House and is at the desk; that the bill be considered read a third time and passed; and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Thereupon, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill (H.R. 6492) to improve

recreation opportunities on, and facilitate greater access to, Federal public land, and for other purposes.

Mr. President, these are the relationships that we all should have. This is the good will, knowing that we want the TAKE IT DOWN Act. We have Senator Barrasso here, who has worked so hard on this--his staff, my staff, your staff.

I can assure you, we are behind you a thousand percent. We going to get that done. I just pray to God that the House will accommodate what you are asking for because that bill is so important, the TAKE IT DOWN Act.

You and I cosponsored a bill yesterday that is very important and are working on that. But your graciousness on this, knowing how important it is--you have your vendors in your State--this allows us to finally get into our parks and maintain them, maintain our outdoor activity. It gives the vendors the ability now to get things permitted so they can offer the services people have been clamoring for, and we saw the demand that was coming during the pandemic.

This is really, really good news for our country.

I just want to thank you, my dear friend Senator Cruz from Texas. God bless.

Merry Christmas to all.

Madam President, I rise to congratulate all of my colleagues for passing a piece of legislation that is going to make the whole country happy and a beautiful place.

The Senate passed a bill that I sponsored with my friend Senator Capito to name a 2,700-acre parcel of land in the Monongahela National Forest after Mrs. Patsye Crites.

I want to thank my colleagues here in the Senate for agreeing to this bill, as well as express my support for the completing of a land sale to put this land in the hands of the Forest Service and preserve it for the public in perpetuity.

Earlier this year, the Forest Service reached an agreement with John Crites and his family to purchase this spectacular land along the Blackwater River, which we call the Blackwater Canyon.

This is what we call Lindy Point, and it is unbelievable. And the foliage just bursts alive, like a kaleidoscope of colors. It is just gorgeous.

It is one of the most beautiful pieces of property, I think, anywhere in the country. Of course, I am a little personal on that. You can see, just one glimpse behind me, within an already popular area, hikers and outdoorsmen from across the country. And down in the valley, there is Blackwater River, which has great fishing, as far as trout fishing. We enjoy that very much.

The purchase agreement for this property will be a huge win for the Mountain State and the Nation by ensuring that people are able to enjoy more of wild and wonderful West Virginia, as well as support our booming tourism economy.

Let me take a moment to describe how this agreement and the naming came together.

This land was privately owned by John Crites and his family and his wonderful wife of 54 years, Patsye. The entire Crites family have been incredible stewards of this land, and I can think of no better way to honor their work than to name the track after Patsye, who truly loved the outdoors and this remarkable canyon, in particular.

Unfortunately, Patsye passed away in 2018. But she was an incredible--an incredible--West Virginian and represents some of the best qualities in our Mountain State of the great people we have and what they have to offer.

Patsye and John were leaders in responsible forestry and hardwood production in our State for more than 50 years--unbelievable contributions to the State of West Virginia. Her business acumen, however, never came along with a hard heart. Everyone who ever met Patsye or knew Patsye knew her as gentle, warm, and an extraordinary loving person.

Senator Capito and I, the Forest Service, and the local community all agree that this parcel should be named the Patsye Crites Forest.

I cannot think of a more fitting tribute to this exemplary West Virginian.

Once again, I want to thank my colleagues for agreeing to pass this bill, and I urge the House to follow our lead.

I want to especially thank the Crites family--John and his children and his grandchildren--for making sure that generations to come will be able to visit the Patsye Crites Forest and enjoy it just as she did.

I yield the floor.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent to enter into a colloquy with my friend, Senator Cruz from Texas.

Mr. President, I rise today on behalf of the 476,000 West Virginians who rely on Social Security benefits. Majorities of our seniors in every State rely on Social Security benefits, and we know that we are in trouble.

The Senate is considering the Social Security Fairness Act, which would repeal the windfall elimination provision and government pension offset from the Social Security benefit calculation, providing relief for many public employees who have been adversely impacted.

Now, make no mistake: We have a problem. We all agree. The status quo is unfair, and it penalizes millions of hard-working Americans--whether it is teachers, firefighters, police officers, among others. But we also have an obligation to honor our promises to ensure that Social Security is going to be there for the people who have paid into it and have earned it and also for those generations who come afterward.

We can fix this problem without blowing a hole in the Social Security trust fund. This is a $200 billion pricetag, and we can fix that without having any--any--effect on our budget; but it is just unbelievable that no one seems really concerned about what we have in the debt we are facing.

One of my first meetings here and hearings I had gone to--and this was in early 2011--was for the Armed Services Committee.

I asked Admiral Mike Mullen--I said: Chairman Mullen--the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff--what is the greatest threat facing America?

And I am thinking I am going to hear about the military powers from around the world. He never hesitated one second.

He said: The debt of the Nation will bring us down first.

The debt of our nations has brought down every--every--major society in history, and that is exactly what we are on track to do.

We have a fiscal crisis in this country right now, and no one is talking about it. On either side of the aisle, we are not talking about it. In fiscal year 2013, our Federal spending was less than $3.5 trillion. In fiscal year 2023--10 years later--it is $6.1 trillion. That is a 75-percent increase. No one can withstand that. Last year's total revenues were $4.4 trillion, which left us with a deficit of $1.7 trillion--the largest deficit in U.S. history since the pandemic.

We have been spending more than we bring in every year for the last 22 years, and the debt that has resulted from it is absolutely crippling. Most Americans couldn't even last 22 paychecks, let alone 22 years of spending more than they have brought in. Years of fiscal irresponsibility have brought us to the crisis we are in today, which is more than $36 trillion of national debt. That breaks down to $104,000 for every man, woman, and child in this great country of ours--a $104,000 liability on every human citizen in the United States of America.

It is terrifying to think that at the end of the fiscal year, we are going to spend more on paying just the interest--just the interest--on our debt than we do to defend our country. This is the crisis we are facing, and we are going into this blindly.

It passed overwhelmingly, with cloture, 72 votes. It is unbelievable that no one is even thinking about what we can do and how we can do it better. There is a problem, and we can fix the problem.

The government makes tough choices. I don't need to tell you all that. But, however, as matters stand, we are now choosing to ignore the fiscal crisis again. If this thing hits the wall, that means it increases 6 months. It advances the insolvency of Social Security 6 more months.

We are trying to figure out how we can save Social Security, and we are not doing a thing for the people and fixing the problem we have that is within our means to do so.

Our amendment would replace the WEP-GPO with a proportional benefit formula, ensuring the public workers receive their appropriate benefits, which we recognize has been denied. We recognize that.

The Social Security trust fund is currently projected to become insolvent in 2033--2033, less than 10 years. We lead the country with the highest percentage of our population receiving Social Security benefits. There are a tremendous amount of people in Texas depending on it the same as my State of West Virginia. We need to make sure retirees are receiving their fair share, and we cannot do it at the expense of all beneficiaries and future generations.

I urge my colleagues to listen to my colleague here, my friend, the Senator from Texas, and how he has come

about putting this together, working together, knowing that it is something that can be done. It is a heck of a fix. We would hope that you would all support this amendment and be able to basically make a responsible--fiscally responsible--fix to a very serious problem that we have: keeping the solvency of Social Security for generations to come and taking care of the generation that now is basically depending upon it.

With that, I yield the floor to my friend.

Would the Senator yield?

Let me just say that I think what happened is we have a bill that is hard to vote against. It really is. And I understand why there were 73 Senators who voted for it.

Senator Cruz has had this and worked diligently for many years on this, to fix the WEP. The bottom line is, it never came to committee here. It came out of the House and came right to the floor.

Now, whether they thought it was a feel-good vote or whatever, the only thing I am saying is, it is not a responsible position for us to take with the debt that we are carrying now and complicating it by adding more and more on.

We all talk about the fiscal responsibilities. Every one of us have fiscal responsibilities in our home--every one of our family members, every one of our constituents. We seem to have no constraint here whatsoever. And we saw that $200 billion pricetag on this.

Is there a better way? You can be against something if you don't have a better way of fixing it. We basically have posed this piece of legislation because we can fix the inequities done.

That can be done and taking care of the people who got left behind and got shortchanged. We identify it. The bottom line is, we have a fix for it. Let us fix it.

If you wanted to fix it and have a good bill, you should have put it in committee. If it is not, it is going to be done next year with a commitment from the majority party. Let it be fixed, but don't throw another $180 billion on top of it as debt--it is just irresponsible-- and then tell your grandparents or your aunts and uncles who are depending on that Social Security check, like almost 500,000 West Virginians, that, you know, sorry, in 2032 now--maybe almost 6 months to a year earlier--you are going to have a 20-percent cut in your Social Security payment.

So if they are getting a thousand dollars a month, they are going to get $800 in the next check. Why did it happen? How come? How can you let this happen?

We can fix that. We really can. All we are asking for is a consideration of this body to fix it and fix it right, take care of the inequities, take care of the people who have been shortchanged, but also take care of the people who are depending on this Social Security to be solvent.