Floor Statements

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 President, I ask that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, earlier this week, the Senate debated a disaster relief funding bill that would have provided $13\1/2\ billion in assistance to States and territories that have been touched by recent hurricanes, wildfires, and other natural disasters. I share my colleagues' commitment to provide necessary assistance to get affected Americans back on their feet.

As chairman of the Budget Committee, I believe we should always consider the budgetary effects of any legislation pending before this body. Supplemental appropriations bills highlight a real challenge in controlling Federal spending. How should we budget for inevitable natural disasters and emergencies?

Answering this question is important because the Federal Government continues to spend more money than it takes in and will soon confront annual deficits exceeding $1 trillion a year. These surging deficits add to our rising debt, which stands today at $22 trillion, or more than $65,000 per person. That is regardless of age--the baby who was born this morning owes $65,000. By 2029, if nothing is done, the national debt will grow to more than $33 trillion, or more than $94,000 per person.

Adding urgency to this situation is the surge in autopilot spending, which now represents more than two-thirds of what the Federal Government spends each year. Two-thirds of what we spend is not actually voted on; it happens automatically.

As our population ages, rising healthcare and interest costs will compound our fiscal problems. In 10 years, nearly 80 cents of every dollar the government spends will be on mandatory programs and interest on the debt. We need to do everything we can to improve our fiscal situation, and that includes improving the way we provide disaster relief.

Some of my colleagues may not realize that since the passage of the Budget Control Act in 2011, Congress has spent $250 billion outside of the discretionary caps responding to natural disasters and other emergencies.

This spending has received special designations under the law that exempt it from discretionary spending limits, but such spending still has the very real effect of further increasing the Federal budget deficit--and the Federal debt. One designation that is often used is the ``emergency'' designation, which implies it is for something Congress did not anticipate. But as we all know, natural disasters happen on an annual basis, and in recent years we have had multiple natural disasters in a fiscal year.

I want to applaud my friend from Utah, Senator Romney, for offering an amendment that recognizes the challenge of budgeting for disasters and emergencies. Disaster relief funding must be built into our base budgets, which is why I have incorporated these costs in recent budget resolutions, including the one that passed through our Budget Committee last week.

While there is no silver bullet to this problem, I am willing and eager to work with any of my colleagues who believe there is a better way to anticipate these costs.

The Senate Budget Committee recently held a hearing that partially touched on ideas to better budget for disaster funding. One option is to offset emergency spending increases with spending reductions in other areas. Another option could require a dedicated fund for emergencies, similar to how some States budget for these events. I have also considered whether a new actuarially sound insurance program could appropriately assess the risk for such disasters while maintaining affordable premiums. Budgeting for emergencies and disasters is not a precise science, but I believe Congress can do a lot better than just calling an emergency and adding to the debt.

While we work to more honestly budget for these annual costs, there are

other ways we can lower the costs of natural disasters. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has found that every $1 spent mitigating against natural disasters saves an average of $6. Last year, Congress passed the Disaster Recovery Reform Act, which I was proud to support. This bill included programs that encouraged mitigation activities. Congress should be open to any idea that could help our country better plan for annual costs of these natural disasters. This would allow us to respond to natural disasters more efficiently, while also reducing the burden on American taxpayers.

With our country more than $22 trillion in debt and quickly approaching $1 trillion annual deficits, we must do everything in our power to put our country on a more fiscally sustainable path. Better budgeting for natural disasters will not fix all of our financial problems, but it is a good place to start.

Before I conclude, I want to touch on another area of concern, and that is the growing prevalence of directed scorekeeping. That is a way of saying: We are not going to count that, even though we are going to spend it, and we can spend it more than once.

Congressional budget statutes have established scoring rules that are intended to provide standardized accounting to ensure that lawmakers have the best possible information upon which to base fiscal decisions. In recent years, however, we have seen more and more attempts to undermine that process and instead direct the scoring outcomes.

Last week, the Senate Budget Committee, which I chair, approved a fiscal year 2020 budget resolution that aims to crack down on this process by allowing a surgical point of order to be raised against any such provision. What that means is that the offending provision can be stricken from the underlying measure unless 60 Senators vote to retain it.

Unfortunately, the disaster bill which was brought to the floor this week included a provision that would essentially direct the appropriations from the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund, up to a limit, to be scored as costing zero dollars. The effect of this change would allow Congress to spend an additional $2 billion above the statutory spending caps each year, while obscuring the real budgetary impacts from the American people. I filed an amendment that would solve that.

It is long past time for an honest conversation about the fiscal challenges facing our country. In the Budget Committee, we tried to advance that conversation with the budget that was approved last week. Unfortunately, the directed scorekeeping provision in the disaster bill considered earlier this week would set that effort back. I hope that when Congress returns to consideration of disaster legislation, it abandons that multiple-spending effort.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, the Committee on the Budget has adopted rules governing its procedures for the 116th Congress. Pursuant to rule XXVI, paragraph 2, of the Standing Rules of the Senate, on behalf of myself and Senator Sanders, I ask unanimous consent that a copy of the Committee rules be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I wish to submit to the Senate the budget scorekeeping report for February 2019. The report compares current-law levels of spending and revenues with the amounts the Senate agreed to in the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018, BBA18. This information is necessary for the Senate Budget Committee to determine whether budgetary points of order lie against pending legislation. The Republican staff of the Budget Committee and the Congressional Budget Office, CBO, prepared this report pursuant to section 308(b) of the Congressional Budget Act, CBA.

This is my second scorekeeping report this year. My last filing can be found in the Congressional Record for January 10, 2019. The information included in this report is current through February 25, 2019.

Since my last filing, two bills with significant budgetary effects cleared Congress, the Medicaid Extenders Act of 2019, P.L. 116-3, and the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2019, P.L. 116-6.

Budget Committee Republican staff prepared Tables 1-3.

Table 1 gives the amount by which each Senate authorizing committee exceeds or is below its allocation for budget authority and outlays under the most recently adopted budget resolution and the fiscal year 2019 enforceable levels filing. This information is used for enforcing committee allocations pursuant to section 302 of the CBA. Over the current 10-year enforceable window, authorizing committees have increased outlays by a combined $3.4 billion. For this reporting period, as in my last report, 8 of the 16 authorizing committees are not in compliance with their allocations. Two of these committees, Finance and Judiciary, further exacerbated their violations during this work period with the passage of Medicaid Extenders and the authorizing division, Division H, of the final 2019 appropriations bill, respectively. For the Finance Committee, P.L. 116-3 was estimated to increase budget authority over each enforceable period for its allocation, with the largest violation, $120 million, occurring in 2019. For the Judiciary Committee, Division H of P.L. 116-6, which included various immigration extenders, was estimated to increase budget authority and outlays by $30 million over the next 10 years.

Table 2 provides the amount by which the Senate Committee on Appropriations is below or exceeds the statutory spending limits. This information is used to determine points of order related to the spending caps found in sections 312 and 314 of the CBA. Appropriations for fiscal year 2019, displayed in this table, show that the Appropriations Committee is compliant with spending limits for fiscal year 2019. Those limits for regular discretionary spending are $647 billion for accounts in the defense category and $597 billion for accounts in the nondefense category of spending.

The fiscal year 2018 budget resolution contained points of order limiting the use of changes in mandatory programs in appropriations bills, CHIMPs. Table 3, which tracks the CHIMP limit of $15 billion for fiscal year 2019, shows the Appropriations Committee has enacted $15 billion worth of full-year CHIMPs for fiscal year 2019. The fiscal year 2019 CHIMPs were contained in the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies division of P.L. 115-245 and the Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies division of P.L. 116- 6. This information is used for determining the point of order under section 4102, overall limit, of H. Con. Res. 71, 115th Congress.

In addition to the tables provided by Budget Committee Republican staff, I am submitting CBO tables, which I will use to enforce budget totals approved by Congress.

For fiscal year 2019, CBO estimates that current-law levels are $2.8 billion above and $3.3 billion below enforceable levels for budget authority and outlays, respectively. Revenues are $426 million below the level assumed in the budget resolution. Further, Social Security revenues are at the levels assumed for fiscal year 2019, while Social Security outlays are $4 million above assumed levels for the budget year.

CBO's report also provides information needed to enforce the Senate pay-as-you-go, PAYGO, rule. The PAYGO scorecard shows deficit increases in fiscal year 2019 of $1,930 million--$427 million revenue loss, $1,503 million outlay increase--over the fiscal year 2018-2023 period of $3,337 million--$894 million revenue loss, $2,443 million outlay increase--and over the fiscal year 2018-2028 period of $425 million-- $634 million revenue loss, $209 million outlay decrease. During this work period, one bill, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2019, included a statutory exemption for the budgetary effects of its Division H from the Senate's PAYGO scorecard. The Senate's PAYGO rule is enforced by section 4106 of H. Con. Res. 71, 115th Congress.

This submission also includes a table tracking the Senate's budget enforcement activity on the floor since the enforcement filing on May 7, 2018. Since my last report, no new budgetary points of order were raised.

All years in the accompanying tables are fiscal years.

I ask unanimous consent that the accompanying tables be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I rise to support William Barr's nomination to be Attorney General of the United States. After meeting with Mr. Barr, I am convinced he is a qualified candidate and is committed to upholding our constitutional liberties.

Mr. Barr's record of achievement and civil service to our country stretches back over 30 years. Early in his career, he served as an intelligence analyst at the CIA and an assistant attorney general in the Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel. He was later appointed Deputy Attorney General in the George H.W. Bush administration before becoming our 77th United States Attorney General. Mr. Barr's suitability for the role of attorney general has been tested before; in fact, he has excelled in that capacity.

Concerns have been raised regarding Mr. Barr's position with respect to the Second Amendment. Wyoming is a State of gunowners, and I am a strong defender of our Second Amendment rights, so naturally I probed these concerns. I had the opportunity to personally meet with Mr. Barr and directly ask him about his stance on the Second Amendment. He gave me direct answers and made it clear that he does not support limiting our Second Amendment rights.

Ultimately, the Constitution solely grants Congress power of law- making. I am prepared to work with my Senate colleagues to protect against any efforts that would undermine our constitutional rights, and I will continue to conduct congressional oversight on the executive branch, a duty I take very seriously.

Madam President, section 251 of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985, BBEDCA, establishes statutory limits on discretionary spending and allows for various adjustments to those limits. In addition, sections 302 and 314(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 allow the chairman of the Budget Committee to establish and make revisions to allocations, aggregates, and levels consistent with those adjustments.

The Senate will soon consider the conference report for H.J. Res. 31, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2019 This measure provides full- year appropriations for Federal Government agencies and contains spending that qualifies for cap adjustments under current statute.

This measure includes $8,165 million in budget authority that is designated as being for Overseas Contingency Operations/Global War on Terrorism pursuant to section 251(b)(2)(A)(ii) of BBEDCA. Of that amount, $165 million is for spending in the security category and $8,000 million is for nonsecurity spending. CBO estimates that this budget authority will result in $2,980 million in outlays in Fiscal Year 2019.

This measure also includes $12,000 million in nonsecurity discretionary budget authority designated for disaster relief pursuant to section 251(b)(2)(D) of BBEDCA. This designation makes the spending associated with this provision and its associated outlays of $600 million eligible for an adjustment.

This legislation repurposes nonsecurity discretionary budget authority for emergency efforts. This funding is designated pursuant to section 251(b)(2)(A)(i) of BBEDCA. CBO estimates that this repurposing of funds will result in $10 million in outlays this fiscal year.

As a result of the aforementioned designations, I am revising the budget authority and outlay allocations to the Committee on Appropriations by increasing revised security budget authority by $165 million, revised nonsecurity budget authority by $20,000 million, and outlays by $3,590 million in Fiscal Year 2019. Further, I am increasing the budgetary aggregate for Fiscal Year 2019 by $20,165 million in budget authority and $3,590 million in outlays.

I ask unanimous consent that the accompanying tables, which provide details about the adjustment, be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I wish to submit to the Senate the budget scorekeeping report for January 2019. The report compares current-law levels of spending and revenues with the amounts the Senate agreed to in the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018, BBA18. This information is necessary for the Senate Budget Committee to determine whether budgetary points of order lie against pending legislation. The Republican staff of the Budget Committee and the Congressional Budget Office, CBO prepared this report pursuant to section 308(b) of the Congressional Budget Act, CBA.

This is my first scorekeeping report this year. My last filing can be found in the Congressional Record for November 15, 2018. That report included final budgetary levels for fiscal year 2018. The information included in this report is current through January 7, 2019.

Several bills have cleared Congress since my last filing. The three with the largest direct spending and revenue effects were the Frank LoBiondo Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2018, P.L. 115-282; the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, P.L. 115-334; and the First Step Act, P.L. 115-391.

Budget Committee Republican staff prepared Tables 1-3.

Table 1 gives the amount by which each Senate authorizing committee exceeds or is below its allocation for budget authority and outlays under the most recently adopted budget resolution and the fiscal year 2019 enforceable levels filing. This information is used for enforcing committee allocations pursuant to section 302 of the CBA. For this reporting period, 8 of the 16 authorizing committees are not in compliance with their allocations. Over the current 10-year enforceable window, authorizing committees have increased outlays by a combined $3.4 billion.

Tables 2 provides the amount by which the Senate Committee on Appropriations is below or exceeds the statutory spending limits. This information is used to determine points of order related to the spending caps found in sections 312 and 314 of the CBA. Appropriations for fiscal year 2019, displayed in this table, show that the Appropriations Committee is currently compliant with spending limits for fiscal year

2019. As of this filing, 7 of the 12 annual appropriations bills have not been enacted with full-year spending.

The fiscal year 2018 budget resolution contained points of order limiting the use of changes in mandatory programs in appropriations bills, CHIMPS. Table 3, which tracks the CHIMP limit of $15 billion for fiscal year 2019, shows the Appropriations Committee has enacted $7.7 billion worth of full-year CHIMPs for fiscal year 2019. The fiscal year 2019 CHIMPs were contained in the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies division of P.L. 115-245. This information is used for determining the point of order under section 4102, overall limit, of H. Con. Res. 71, 115th Congress.

In addition to the tables provided by Budget Committee Republican staff, I am submitting CBO tables, which I will use to enforce budget totals approved by Congress.

For fiscal year 2019, CBO annualizes the effects of the last continuing resolution, P.L. 115245, which provided funding through December 21, 2018. For the enforcement of budgetary aggregates, the Budget Committee historically excludes temporary funding. As such, the current-law levels are $305.5 billion and $196.7 billion below enforceable levels for budget authority and outlays, respectively. Revenues are $302 million below the level assumed in the budget resolution. Further, Social Security revenues are at the levels assumed for fiscal year 2019, while Social Security outlays are $4 million above assumed levels for the budget year.

CBO's report also provides information needed to enforce the Senate pay-as-you-go, PAYGO, rule. The PAYGO scorecard shows deficit increases in FY 2019 of $1,797 million--$302 million revenue loss, $1,495 million outlay increase--over the fiscal year 2018-2023 period of $3,045 million--$665 million revenue loss, $2,380 million outlay increase--and over the fiscal year 2018-2028 period of $416 million--$625 million revenue loss, $209 million outlay decrease. The Senate's PAYGO rule is enforced by section 4106 of H. Con. Res. 71, 115th Congress.

This submission also includes a table tracking the Senate's budget enforcement activity on the floor since the May 7, 2018, enforcement filing. Since my last report, no new budgetary points of order were raised.

All years in the accompanying tables are fiscal years.

I ask unanimous consent that the accompanying tables be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, earlier this month, Congress sent the President another continuing resolution to allow more time to resolve the partisan impasse that has us on the brink of a government shutdown once again. A continuing resolution just allows agencies to continue to spend money without knowing how much they actually get to spend.

The current episode is yet another example of the breakdown of what should be the basic nuts and bolts of government--keeping the government open and funded. In other words, they have been spending money since last October without knowing how much money they get to spend. So I come to the floor today to talk about the need to reform our broken budget and appropriations process and to lay out a few ideas I have for how to do that.

As chairman of the Budget Committee, I have worked on budget appropriations and process reform for several years and always believed that changes need to be guided by two core principles. The first principle is that reforms should end brinksmanship and the threat of government shutdowns; and No. 2, reforms should guide us to create enforceable plans to stop the outrageous growth of our Federal debt, which is approaching $22 trillion.

According to the Congressional Budget Office, Federal debt held by the public, as a percentage of our economy, is at the highest level since shortly after World War II. That debt is expected to rise sharply over the next 30 years if current laws generally remain unchanged. Quite simply, our budget problems are too severe to be put off any longer. Yet our dysfunctional budget and appropriations process is making it harder for Congress to tackle our pressing fiscal challenges.

To start, one easy thing we could do to improve the process is to change the names of the Budget and Appropriations Committees to better reflect each committee's function.

The Budget Committee, which is tasked with crafting an annual fiscal framework to guide Congress, really should be called the Debt Control Committee. The Appropriations Committee, which is responsible for making the actual decisions about how money is spent each year, should be renamed the Budget and Appropriations Committee.

Too often, when we come up against appropriations deadlines, as we are now, press reports declare that Congress has to pass the budget to avoid a shutdown. Not true. The budget passed a long time ago. In reality, the budget reflects the start of the process, and appropriations reflects the end. Changing these committees' names would more clearly delineate their actual responsibilities and thereby make it easier for them to be carried out and understood by the public.

A second important change would be to finally admit that Congress is not capable of sending 12 appropriations bills to the President before the September 30 end of the fiscal year each year. The current process leaves Congress in a nearly perpetual quest to develop and pass 12 funding bills for the next fiscal year to avoid a funding lapse. Yet the sheer size and complexity of the Federal budget and appropriations process virtually guarantee that Congress will not consider all the appropriations bills individually each year. In the last 40 years, we have succeeded only four times in passing all of the appropriations bills on time. Let me repeat that. In the last 40 years, we have succeeded only four times in passing all of the appropriations bills on time.

Our inability to pass appropriations bills on the current schedule has made reliance on continuing resolutions a routine part of the process, and it comes with a cost. The Department of Defense has operated under a continuing resolution for an average of 81 days per year; that is almost 3 months per year since 2001, with a particularly bad spate since 2009, in which we averaged 134 days per year. That is almost 4\1/2\ months of not knowing how much they are going to get to spend, let alone planning for the future.

Earlier this year, the Secretary of the Navy, Richard Spencer, identified $4 billion in waste owing to the lack of financial stability resulting from these continuing resolutions--this lack of knowing how much to spend. He said:

Since 2001, we have put $4 billion in the trash can, poured

lighter fluid on top of it, and burned it. . . . It's enough

money that it can buy us the additional capacity and

capability that we need. Instead, the $4 billion of taxpayer

money has been lost because of inefficiencies [caused by]

continuing resolutions.

While it is true that this year we were able to pass and get signed five appropriation bills prior to September 30--remarkably, an improvement from recent years--that still leaves seven bills yet to be enacted.

To address this problem, I have proposed moving to a biennial system and halving the number of appropriations

bills considered each year so that six would be considered in the first session of Congress and six would be considered in the second--each of them, of course, for 2 years to allow for more planning. By providing a more realistic and attainable schedule, we could allow for a more thoughtful process for considering individual bills. We would free up more time for oversight of Federal spending. We would actually get to look at some of the details of the dollars we are spending, and we would reduce the likelihood of continuing resolutions and large, year- end spending bills--with everything attached to it--that are inefficient and too often loaded with waste. We could also give agencies the certainty they need to plan and make wise decisions regarding how to implement funding.

But successful and timely enactment of the appropriations bills is only part of the solution. We also need to look at the mandatory side of the ledger and programs that don't have adequate revenue to maintain obligations--the ones we don't ever get to make a decision on. Any new mandatory programs should be self-financing or offset by the elimination of existing programs that we would continue to fund. In other words, nothing should be mandatory if it doesn't have a stream of money big enough to pay for it.

We also need to look at ending the spending bias that begins with a current baseline--current amount of spending--and automatically adjusts for inflation.

To address the long-term structural deficit problems, we need to create enforceable spending targets that are monitored and enforced annually to make sure lawmakers stay focused on deficit reduction and achieving a suitable Federal budget. The newly revamped Debt Control Committee should be empowered to establish its targets and enforce spending constraints. For example, if we followed my penny plan and cut spending by 1 cent out of every dollar each year for the next 5 years, we could balance the budget.

Once enforceable targets are agreed upon, we should conform the debt limit to them. I know that dealing with the debt limit in a responsible manner is a priority for many of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle. I am ready to work with them on it.

We are not talking about sequester here; I am suggesting precision cuts on the low priorities. First of all, sequester happened late in the year, so there wasn't much money left to take the money out of, which made it a much larger reduction from those spending bills. They also picked the projects they thought would be most noticeable and cut those, realizing that the American public would rise up in arms and make sure that it was reinstated, and that happened. They always picked the most visible and the most painful.

What we have to do is get to precision cuts in the things we haven't even looked at. I have a list of how many things we haven't looked at. Some programs haven't been looked at since 1983, but they continue to get an annual inflation increase anyway--sometimes greater than the annual increase.

Each of the above suggestions would improve our process, help us control spending, and meet our constitutional obligations. I plan to pursue them in the next Congress and look forward to working with my colleagues on these and other ideas.

However, while reforms are needed, the reality is there will never be a perfect process, and no reform by itself could force the hard decisions that are needed. What we need is leadership and a commitment from both sides to work together to do what we know needs to be done to confront these challenges.

I look forward to working with my colleagues on these critical challenges in the next Congress.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, at the end of each session of the Congress, we, the Senate, take a moment to express our appreciation and acknowledge the efforts of those Members who will be retiring in just a few weeks. This year, one of our colleagues who will be leaving is Senator Jeff Flake.

Jeff will be leaving us after a career of nearly 20 years in Congress. He has impressed many of us with whom he has worked with the strength of his views and determination to fight for those things in which he truly believes, both as a Senator and a proud husband to his wife Cheryl and father to his five children. He has been a reliable advocate for what he sees as the best interests of Arizona and the future of the Nation. He leaves behind a legacy of which he should be very proud.

Jeff was born in Snowflake, AZ. His family name was well known to the people in his neighborhood in part because it was named for his great- great-grandfather, William J. Flake, an early pioneer. His family played an important role in the founding and day-to-day life of their town, and Jeff always embodied the pioneering spirit through his work in Congress.

After graduating from Brigham Young University with a bachelors of arts in international relations and a master of arts in political science, he took a 2-year leave of absence to serve as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in South Africa.

Jeff's early career work as the executive director of the Foundation for Democracy in Namibia and executive director of the Goldwater Institute helped prepare him for the House of Representatives. He became a strong voice for the political views of the people from back home.

Several years later Arizona's Senate seat was open and Jeff took up the challenge. The people of Arizona and our Nation were fortunate to have him to rely on for so many issues. He has been a steady and dependable force for tackling difficult, complex, and occasionally unpopular issues in the Senate while remaining respectful of his fellow colleagues and loyal to Arizona.

As a Senator, Jeff worked tirelessly to reduce the deficit and control government spending. As chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, I sincerely appreciate his efforts and share the same goal of reducing waste and ensuring the government operates efficiently. His keen insight and attention to these critical issues will surely be missed in Congress.

While serving with him in the Senate, I also learned that Jeff is an avid survivalist. It was a pleasure to read about his excursions to small, distant islands with only a few key survivalist tools in tow. As an Eagle Scout, I understand how important these skills are to have, and it is always fun to hear about others putting these critical skills to use and what they learn along the way. If he would like to continue participating in survivalist adventures after leaving Congress, I would be happy to recommend some places in Wyoming that he might enjoy camping in for an extended period of time.

We both have a strong western heartbeat that we express every day in everything we do. Diana joins in sending our best wishes to Jeff and his family and we thank him for his hard work and dedication to the State of Arizona and this country. I appreciate his willingness to serve and work so hard for what he believes in. He has helped encourage and inspire another generation of leaders. In that way and so many others he has made a positive difference.

Mr. President, as this session of Congress draws to a close, it provides us with an opportunity to acknowledge and express our appreciation to those Members of the Senate who will be retiring in just a few weeks. One of those Senators who is retiring and whose leadership and institutional knowledge will be missed is my friend Orrin Hatch of Utah.

I have known Orrin since my first days 22 years ago in the Senate, and I much appreciated working with him over the years. His mentoring, his guidance, his love, and his sharing of his faith have made a tremendous difference to me.

He comes from a State that borders my own. We are neighbors. As a western Senator, he has an understanding of what is truly important to the people in our neck of the woods and has fought to make this country better during his time in the Senate.

Before I talk about his many accomplishments in public service, I want to acknowledge some of the other things about him that have also been mentioned, his life and role beyond the Senate.

So often it is easy to gloss over things that are important to Senators personally. Sometimes it is easy to forget the men and women we know have their lives that stretch beyond these Halls. Orrin has been married to his wife Elaine for more than 60 years. He is a father of 6, grandfather of 23, and currently has 24 great-grandchildren. He is an author and a man of many talents. It has been mentioned that he is a talented composer and musician and has both a gold and platinum record from the Recording Industry Association of America. He has been instrumental in the musical world and has been awarded an honorary Grammy. He has been the main protector of copyrights.

Orrin has dedicated his life to serving the people of Utah. He has always worked for the best interests of Utah, and that includes Americans nationwide.

He has served in the Senate since 1977 and since 2015 has been the President

pro tempore, where he can be seen presiding during the opening of the Senate for daily business probably more than any other President pro tempore of the Senate.

The numbers are in, and they are impressive. He has served under seven Presidents, been a part of both the minority and majority, and has served the people of Utah and the U.S. Senate for over 40 years. Orrin has served in a variety of leadership roles and has helped America every step of the way. He has had the opportunity to serve as the chairman of three major Senate committees--the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee; the Judiciary Committee; and most recently, the Finance Committee while doing the tax bill. He has run for President. He has been considered as a potential nominee for the Supreme Court. He has played a role in confirming every Supreme Court Justice currently sitting on the bench. Orrin is eminently qualified for so many positions, and America has been lucky to have his leadership through the years. The people of Utah, our Nation, and people of all faiths were fortunate to have him to rely on. Orrin is a man of faith, one who defends others' right to worship in peace.

He has consistently fought to rein in the Federal Government. He has been a champion of responsible government spending and a leader of States' rights. He authored a constitutional amendment to balance the Federal budget that received 66 votes, just one short of what was needed to amend the Constitution. One of those votes was somebody who had just run for election and said that was the most important thing and no matter how many times it came up, he would be voting for it. He voted against it, and that was the one vote that was needed. Just by virtue of his legislative triumphs, he has helped to author some of the most consequential pieces of legislation in our time. Many have been mentioned.

He paved the way for the sale of generic drugs and helped advance innovation for patients with rare diseases. He has contributed to the protection of children's health and well-being as well as the rights of Americans with disabilities. I know one of his proudest accomplishments is passing the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which protects individual Americans' right to exercise their religion. Most recently, he had the honor of having the Orrin G. Hatch-Bob Goodlatte Music Modernization Act named after him, which overhauled musical copyright law.

We both have a strong touch of the West in our hearts, which we express every day in what we do. That is why I wasn't surprised last year when Orrin announced he would not be running for another term in the Senate. He said:

I've always been a fighter. I was an amateur boxer in my

youth . . . but every good fighter knows when to hang up the

gloves. . . . I look forward to spending more time with

family, especially my sweet wife Elaine, whose unwavering

love and support made all of this possible.

Orrin has been a great source of strength and a great support for our party, and he will be missed. My wife Diana joins me in sending our best wishes and appreciation to Orrin and Elaine. We wish them all the best as they have time to spend with their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. Together, they have been great examples of the importance of public service, and we wish them the best in whatever adventure they choose to pursue next.

Orrin, it will be said that it was well done, good and faithful servant. Happy trails.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, reserving the right to object, I appreciate my colleagues' work on this legislation. I am pretty sure I have never opposed a bill that Senator Isakson was involved in. If you are looking for thoroughness in legislation, he is the epitome of it, but on this bill, many of us have been recently made aware of the potential cost growth and budget-sharing and operational pressures that would happen at the VA. They are having a lot of problems anyway, but the VA's analysis shows that the cost could be nearly five times what Congress assumed it was when the House of Representatives passed it--and they did pass it by those strong numbers.

A recent letter from the Congressional Budget Office estimated an increased cost from their first estimate of about $1.3 billion. So there is clearly more work to do just on figuring out the spending and the administration of this and the deficit impact this bill will have, while we still want to make sure the veterans who are having the problems get the solutions they need.

There will be a report out in June that is going to maybe narrow down the risks. I am not that excited about any studies, but another concern I have heard from veterans is the pay-for. There will be an increase in the interest rate for housing for some veterans who are trying to buy a house. That isn't enough money to cover the renewed estimates of how much this is.

I think the bill can be made more specific--which is really tough for Johnny because he has been working on it, and it will be specific--but we need to get some way to justify the numbers that range between 63,000 people and 440,000 people. That is a pretty big gap on whom we let in. If they have a problem, and we need to take care of it, I think we need to spend a little bit more time doing it. I know that is difficult at the end of a session, but as a result I am going to object.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the November 29, 2018, letter from the Congressional Budget Office regarding H.R. 299, the Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act of 2017, be printed in the Congressional Record.

Mr. President, this past weekend the news that George H.W. Bush, our 41st President had died, quickly made its way across the country and around the world.

Today, I would like to honor the late President George Herbert Walker Bush. I appreciate having this opportunity to celebrate the life and accomplishments of President Bush and to mourn him. His loss will be deeply felt by all of us here in Congress, throughout the Nation, and around the world. He is survived by his five children, including former President George W. Bush, former Governor Jeb Bush, Neil, Marvin, and Dorothy Bush, his 17 grandchildren, and 8 great-grandchildren.

Great thinkers, writers, and other speakers will take up their pens and try to determine President Bush's place in history, and they will debate his significance to the United States of America and his effect on the world. For those of us who lived through his Presidency, who experienced his time as our leader, those questions and debates are unnecessary. His place in history has been determined not by what we say now, but by his actions as President, his dignity as a person, and his compassion for others. His dedication to service and humility remained at the forefront, even as he filled the role as leader of the free world.

I was serving in the Wyoming Legislature and did not work alongside President Bush in Washington, but while I did not have the pleasure of working with him personally, his career and his life speak to what a remarkable man he was. He was a dedicated husband, father, and public servant. He lived his life with honor and distinction, from enlisting in the Navy at the age of 18 during World War II to serving in Congress. He continued his tradition of public service in the executive branch as an ambassador, Vice President, and finally as President. His dedication to serving his country was exemplary.

As an ambassador and negotiator, he was a talented diplomat and powerful champion for America's interests. As President, he worked toward education reform and signed the Americans with Disabilities Act into law, helping to ensure disabled Americans have opportunities others take for granted.

He was a practical man who preferred prudence and what is real to the abstract and ephemeral. It was this belief in practicality and prudence that allowed him to handle some of the most challenging events in our history with calm tenacity. His pragmatic nature allowed President Bush to collaborate and befriend President Bill Clinton, once his political adversary, to help lead the relief efforts to raise funds for the victims of the Indian Ocean tsunami.

During his Presidency, the Cold War finally ended, the Iron Curtain came down, and the people of Eastern Europe chose freedom. These events left a singular super power amid a world free of major conflict, and he aimed to lead the world into an era where the world would recognize its ``shared responsibility for freedom and justice, a world where the strong respect the rights of the weak.''

President Bush once listed the qualities he most cherished and among them were: ``family, . . . love, decency, honor, pride, tolerance, hope, kindness, loyalty, freedom, . . . faith, service to country, [and] fair play . . .'' He and Barbara passed those values on to their children and lived them in front of the country. In many different ways, they nurtured the next generation of leaders whose contributions have continued to enrich this Nation.

President Bush's faith helped him through many of the more trying times in his life, through his daughter's death, through his time in war, he was a man who had not one moment but many that helped him turn to God on

his spiritual journey. He once said, ``I am guided by certain traditions, one is that there's a God, and He is good and His love, while free has a self-imposed cost: We must be good to one another.'' This sentiment is emblematic of his life. He served as many things: father, husband, President, humanitarian, and fighter. His life is a study of strong choices and bold strokes across the history of the United States, all of them guided by the strongest fundamentals of right and wrong. I am sure that he is joyous to be reunited with his closest companion, Barbara, and their daughter Robin, in heaven.

While America is remembering a combat veteran, a President, and an ambassador, his family will be remembering a husband and a father. My wife Diana and I send our thoughts and deepest condolences to the entire Bush family as we mourn the passing of a President. The passing of a loved one, especially someone who has meant so much to so many, has never and will never be an easy burden to bear.

How can I adequately speak about the life of a man who has had such a long and distinguished career? By praising the accomplishments of a man who never stopped working to make the world a better place, the man who reached across the political aisle to foster friendships, and by saying thank you.

Thank you for your service. Thank you for your leadership.

God bless you, and may you and your family find peace.

Mr. President, I would like to take this opportunity to recognize a member of the Senate who will be retiring at this end of this Congress, my colleague and friend, Senator Bob Corker. I have had the pleasure of serving in the Senate alongside Bob for close to 11 years, and it has been a privilege to work and join with him on a number of legislative efforts. Particularly, I am grateful for his diligent fiscal conservatism on the Budget Committee. I will miss working with him to address our Nation's fiscal issues.

Bob's path to the U.S. Senate began at the young age of 25, when he founded his own construction company, which would eventually expand operations in over 18 States. He continued to polish his business acumen thereafter, acquiring two of the largest real estate companies in Chattanooga in 1999. As a testament to his success in business, he would later be inducted into the Entrepreneurship Hall of Fame at the University of Tennessee Chattanooga. Bob carried his business-oriented results-driven attitude with him when he ran for mayor in the scenic city of Chattanooga, TN, at the turn of the millennium. As mayor, Bob excelled, delivering to Chattanooga denizens a lean and balanced city budget while also lowering the tax rate, among other noteworthy accomplishments. Bob's path to Washington is one that we shared. I, too, was a businessowner and a mayor before serving in the U.S. Senate.

Bob's commitment to public service didn't end in Chattanooga--far from it. His career was just beginning to take off. In 2006, he won one of the most competitive U.S. Senate races of the year. Incidentally, that was the year I met Bob. My initial impressions of him still hold true today: industrious and principled. Later, I would realize our shared experiences as businessowners and as mayors uniquely shaped our understanding of the proper role and scope of the Federal Government. Bob quickly ascended in Washington, becoming chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee and making a name for himself on the Banking Committee. His reputation soon preceded him on a host of issue areas, including housing finance reform and strategic diplomacy abroad. He made his disagreements respectfully clear and stood up for what he believed was right. Evidently, the people of Tennessee liked what they saw and handily elected him to a second term.

Bob should be incredibly proud of his work and tenure as chairman of Foreign Relations Committee. His breadth of experience on the committee and visits to over 70 countries have provided his colleagues with invaluable institutional insight on the impact American leadership and diplomacy abroad continues to have on our economy and national security. The Electrify Africa Act is a significant achievement of the committee I would like to pay special homage to. The bill states it is the policy of the United States to promote first-time power services for at least 50 million people in sub-Saharan Africa by 2020. Having traveled to Africa myself and witnessed firsthand the severe shortage of electricity-generating infrastructure, I know that Bob's bill was a noble one. He worked tirelessly on it before it was signed into law in 2015.

It is with these memories of his service that I watch him depart the Senate. His bold presence and tested leadership will be profoundly missed. The mark he has left on the institution will not be forgotten. My wife Diana joins me in sending our very best wishes and gratitude to Bob for his public service. We wish him all the best in his future endeavors, and we are happy he will be able to spend more time with his wife Elizabeth and his three children.

Bob, from one Sigma Chi alum to another, ``In Hoc Signo Vinces''. May you continue to pursue a life of high ideals, noble purposes, and strong character.

Happy trails.

Mr. President, as a Congress ends, it is a tradition for the Senate to pause for a moment to acknowledge and express our appreciation for the service of Senators who will not be returning for the next Congress. Today, I would like to pause in appreciation of the service of my friend and colleague Senator Dean Heller.

Dean will be leaving the Senate after 30 years of dedicated public service at both the State and Federal level. During his time in Congress, he always demonstrated a willingness to consider all viewpoints, while remaining true to the principles that guided his career in public service. It is safe to say that Dean's commitment to Nevada is as strong as ever, and his unique perspective in areas critical to his State will surely be missed in the next Congress.

Growing up in Carson City, NV, Dean earned a bachelor of business administration from the University of Southern California in 1985. After working as a stockbroker in California, Dean moved back to Nevada and brought the skills he gained in the business realm to the public sector when he became the deputy State treasurer for Nevada.

Learning about Dean's time as a Nevada assemblyman was something I appreciated because of my time in the Wyoming Legislature. Dean's hard work led him to become Nevada's secretary of State for 11 years, then to the House of Representatives in 2006, and finally he joined the Senate in 2012.

His background in both the financial sector and public service was invaluable as a colleague on the Senate Finance Committee. As a former small business owner, I appreciated his expertise and business acumen as the committee considered complex and important issues like tax reform. Dean's insightful perspectives and willingness to work with people on different sides on key issues will surely be missed by the committee moving forward.

It was a pleasure to work with a Senator representing a State that shares so much with Wyoming. From the prominence of public lands, to welcoming visitors year-round to world class destinations, Nevada and Wyoming's similarities afforded us the opportunity to collaborate on key issues important to the people of both States.

Dean's dedication to Nevada ensured he was a strong voice for the people who lived there. I am sure he will continue to use that voice to help others.

Diana joins in sending our best wishes and appreciation to Dean, his wife Lynne, and his four children for his dedication to this country and the State of Nevada. His effect on the Senate was profound, and he certainly made a difference. We will always appreciate his service to the Senate and wish him the very best in whatever the future holds.