Floor Statements

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 3 p.m., Monday, May 22; further, that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and morning business be closed; further, that following leader remarks, the Senate proceed to executive session and resume consideration of the Branstad nomination; further, that the time until 5:30 p.m. be equally divided in the usual form; finally, that notwithstanding the provisions of rule XXII, the postcloture time on the Branstad nomination expire at 5:30 p.m. Monday.

Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that it stand adjourned under the previous order.

Mr. President, yesterday the Senate voted to confirm Jeffrey Rosen as the Deputy Secretary of Transportation. In a couple of hours, we will take a cloture vote to advance another well-qualified nominee, Rachel Brand, to serve as the Associate Attorney General.

Rachel Brand's impressive background includes experience clerking for Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, and she has already been confirmed by the Senate twice before. She is ``extraordinarily talented,'' as Chairman Grassley noted at her hearing, and ``dedicated to the full and even-handed enforcement of our laws.''

Ms. Brand also has the support of a bipartisan group of former senior officials at the Justice Department, including Jamie Gorelick and Seth Waxman, who, in a recent letter on her behalf, cited her ``stellar reputation for . . . integrity, legal skills, and respect for the law.''

As they pointed out, Ms. Brand's extensive private and public sector experience would serve her well as the Associate Attorney General. They also noted she would be a ``trusted leader in the Department.'' I look forward to advancing her nomination later this morning.

Mr. President, on another matter, as I outlined last week, during the Obama years, the American people struggled with an economy that failed to meet its potential. It had the slowest recovery since World War II, the middle class losing its historic status as the majority in our country, too many out of a job and looking for work, too many giving up after years of fruitless searching, too many fortunate just to have a paycheck but not one large enough to keep pace with ever-rising health costs and energy bills. This is the Obama legacy on the economy.

Over 8 long years of failed leftwing policies on everything from regulations to taxes, a Democratic administration put on a virtual clinic in how not to get an economy moving again. No wonder the American people opted for a pro-growth direction in November.

Ever since, this Republican Congress has been working to get our economy moving again and spur job creation. Rather than bury our economy in an avalanche of redtape, like the last administration, it is time for a new direction on regulations--smarter and pro-growth. Already, we have taken action to kick-start those efforts, like passing important legislation to provide relief from Obama-era midnight regulations.

Rather than make our Tax Code more complex like the last administration, we think it is time for a new direction on taxes-- simpler and pro-jobs. Passing tax reform legislation would mark a major achievement in bringing us closer to that goal. This Republican Congress and this administration made it a priority from the very start. Over the years, many of our Democratic friends have also expressed the view that we need tax reform.

For years, it has been clear that we should help American workers by reforming our outdated and convoluted tax system, which currently discourages investment here in America and deters companies from growing, creating jobs, and increasing wages.

For years, it has been clear that we should remove a huge drag on job creation by reforming our overly complex and punitive tax system, which currently undercuts employers that want to expand with new investments, jobs, wages, and employee benefits.

For years, it has been clear we should make taxes simpler and lower for both businesses and individuals; that we should strive for a tax code that works for American families and for American businesses, rather than working against them. This year, we finally have the perfect opportunity to achieve that goal. Rather than engage in blind opposition for its own sake on yet another issue, I hope Democrats will instead take the kind of constructive approach we saw the last time our country enacted comprehensive tax reform. Back then, both parties recognized the

need to address the burden and growing complexity of our Tax Code, and they came together to actually do something about it. Republicans and Democrats worked side by side and across the aisle to move that tax legislation. It was a big win for both parties, for Ronald Reagan and the Republicans, for Tip O'Neill and the Democrats.

Now it is once again time we do something about the issue, and I would hope our Democratic colleagues will once again work on a bipartisan basis toward that end. This has been a growing problem for a number of years now. The American people deserve a tax system that allows them to keep more of their hard-earned money, that empowers them to invest in their futures, and actually makes it easier to succeed rather than harder.

We have to get this accomplished because Americans have waited long enough for an economy that finally lives up to its potential and finally allows them to realize theirs as well.

I appreciate the House under Speaker Ryan's leadership for the role it is playing in these efforts. That work continues now with a Ways and Means Committee hearing dedicated to tax reform tomorrow and more to follow in coming days.

I also appreciate the good work of Members in both the House and the Senate, particularly the Senate Finance Committee under Chairman Hatch, who has been leading our discussions. For years, the chairman has been hard at work with fellow Finance Committee members on both sides of the aisle on options for tax reform, and I am confident Senator Hatch will continue to lead the way on these efforts in the days and months ahead.

The task before us is certainly a significant one, but I am confident we are up to the challenge because we know how important it is for us to get this done, and we know how long overdue this is as well.

Mr. President, today I wish to remember a noble Kentuckian and a decorated World War II veteran, Wilburn K. Ross, who passed away on May 9, 2017, just days before his 95th birthday. A native of Strunk, KY, Ross was awarded the highest decoration in the U.S. military, the Medal of Honor.

As a private, Ross gained national acclaim for his service in St. Jacques, France, on October 30, 1944. His company lost 55 of its 88 members fighting a group of German mountain troops. Ross' light machine gun was about 10 yards ahead of his supporting riflemen. As intense enemy fire fell around him, Ross repelled the enemy through seven German attacks. When the next attack came, many of his supporting rifleman had run out of ammunition. As his Medal of Honor citation read, ``Pvt. Ross fought on virtually without assistance and, despite the fact that enemy grenadiers crawled to within 4 yards of his position in an effort to kill him with handgrenades, he again directed accurate and deadly fire on the

hostile force and hurled it back.'' During the 5 hours of fighting, Ross killed or wounded at least 58 Germans and saved his brothers in arms.

Ross reenlisted in the Army to see action in Korea, serving another two decades. He retired from Active Duty in 1964 at the rank of master sergeant. He was awarded the Medal of Honor, ``[f]or conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at risk of life above and beyond the call of duty.''

Although he moved to DuPont, WA, after his retirement from the U.S. Army, Ross made a trip back to his hometown in Kentucky nearly every year on his birthday. In his own words, he enjoyed coming back to the Commonwealth because, ``[e]verybody here treats me well.''

He turned down offers to make his life into a Hollywood film, but Ross has been memorialized on a U.S. Postal Service stamp and by a section of Kentucky Route 92 in his home county. In 2014, Ross was a member of the inaugural class admitted to the Kentucky Veterans Hall of Fame.

Like so many other members of the Greatest Generation, Wilburn Ross answered the call to defend our Nation. Through his bravery and sacrifice, he helped secure freedom across the globe. The story of his courageous actions and selfless service will continue to be told, both in McCreary County and across the Commonwealth. Elaine and I send our condolences to his family and friends.

Mr. President, as ObamaCare continues to collapse, a new Gallup poll out last week showed ``Healthcare Surges as Top Problem in US.''

It is not hard to see why so many Americans feel this way. They turn on the TV and hear there will be even fewer options on the ObamaCare marketplaces in State after State. They pick up the newspaper and see that even more double-digit premium increases are being proposed for too many of the ObamaCare plan options that still remain. They know what these stories mean for their families: They will be left to pick up the pieces as ObamaCare continues to crumble all across the country. Unless we act, ObamaCare premiums will keep skyrocketing across the Nation, pushing the financial burden of this broken law onto the backs of more hard-working Americans.

We have seen the result of this already with last year's rate filings, which left many States with double-digit premium increases as even more insurance options left the market. Premium price hikes for some ObamaCare plans reached startling levels, averaging 53 percent in Pennsylvania, 63 percent in Tennessee, and a shocking 116 percent in Arizona, just to name a few.

Families are again awaiting projections for this year's filings and once again bracing for the very worst. In the coming weeks and months, proposed rate increases under ObamaCare will roll in across the Nation, and already ObamaCare customers in a handful of States have learned just how high their premiums could rise in 2018.

For example, consumers in Vermont just learned that premiums on the exchanges could increase by double digits next year. In Connecticut, requested premium rate increases are as high as 52 percent on the exchanges. In Maryland, one major insurer is asking for an average rate increase of nearly 60 percent. ObamaCare's marketplaces, that insurer warned, are in the ``early stages of a death spiral.''

Are our Democratic friends who promised to lower costs under ObamaCare OK with what looks to be yet another year of massive ObamaCare premium increases? This news is alarming not only for the families on the exchanges in the States I just named but for the thousands more across the Nation who may be hit with similar reports in coming weeks.

As one recent AP story, titled ``More price hikes likely for government insurance markets,'' observed: ``Early moves by insurers suggest that another round of price hikes and limited choices will greet insurance shoppers around the country when they start searching for next year's coverage on the public markets established by the Affordable Care Act.''

Moreover, as the story went on to say, over 40 percent of counties could have just a single insurer to choose from on the exchanges next year. It is troubling news, especially given that so many States, like mine, have already experienced insurers fleeing the ObamaCare marketplace leaving families with limited options.

Let's just look at the chart behind me. In Kentucky, under ObamaCare, 49

percent of counties have only one insurer this year in 2017. Forty-nine percent of our counties, nearly half the counties in Kentucky, have only one insurer to choose from, and of course having one option is really no choice at all. It is a harsh reality facing more and more Americans, and these ObamaCare failures have real consequences for the men and women whom we all represent.

As one of our Democratic friends commented just last week on news that his State will be left with only a single insurer next year under ObamaCare, ``This will mean that more than 12,000 Delawareans will have to find a new insurance plan and [that] our hardworking families will have fewer options and harder choices to make about their health insurance coverage.''

Can our Democratic colleagues who promised more choice under ObamaCare really be OK with the continuing failures of ObamaCare?

The status quo under ObamaCare is simply unsustainable and unacceptable. That is why the entire Senate Republican conference is working together on the best way forward to bring much needed relief to the families who have been left behind by ObamaCare's continuing failures.

I hope our Democratic colleagues will join us in working on this. They just sent me a letter last week where they acknowledged that ObamaCare hasn't lived up to its promises and where they effectively conceded that the status quo is unsustainable. I hope it means they are finally ready to join us in moving away from ObamaCare and supporting smarter healthcare policies. After years of defending a system that isn't working for far too many Americans, it is time that Senate Democrats finally face the reality of this flawed ObamaCare law.

The failures of ObamaCare aren't just isolated to one region of the country either. They are affecting people from the east coast to the west coast, from the North to the South, and things are likely to get even worse, unless we work to finally move beyond the failures of this law.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the time from 2:15 p.m. until 5:15 p.m. today be equally divided in the usual form; and that at 5:15 p.m., all postcloture time be expired and the Senate vote on the Rosen nomination; that if the nomination is confirmed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, and the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action, and the Senate resume consideration of the Brand nomination; further, that notwithstanding rule XXII, the cloture vote on the Brand nomination occur at 12 noon on Wednesday, May 17; and that if cloture is invoked, the time count as if it were invoked at 1 a.m. on Wednesday; finally, that if cloture is invoked on the Brand nomination, the cloture vote on the Branstad nomination occur following disposition of the Brand nomination; and that if cloture is not invoked on the Brand nomination, the cloture vote on the Branstad nomination occur immediately following the failed cloture vote.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate be in a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.

Mr. President, I have 5 requests for committees to meet during today's session of the Senate. They have the approval of the Majority and Minority leaders.

Pursuant to Rule XXVI, paragraph 5(a), of the Standing Rules of the Senate, the following committees are authorized to meet during today's session of the Senate:

banking, housing, and urban affairs

The Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Tuesday, May 16, 2017 at 10 a.m. to conduct a hearing to consider the following nominations: Ms. Sigal Mandelker, to be Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Crimes, U.S. Department of Treasury; Ms. Mira Radielovic Ricardel, to be Under Secretary for Export Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce; Mr. Marshall Billingslea, to be Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing, U.S. Department of Treasury; and Mr. Heath P. Tarbert to be Assistant Secretary, U.S. Department of Treasury.

committee on finance

The Committee on Finance is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Tuesday, May 16, 2017, at 10 a.m., in 215 Dirksen Senate Office Building.

committee on foreign relations

The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence is authorized to meet during the session of the 115th Congress of the U.S. Senate on Tuesday, May 16, 2017 from 2:15 p.m., in room SH-219 of the Senate Hart Office Building.

committee on environment and public works

subcommittee on transportation and infrastructure

The Subcommittee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the Committee on Environment and Public Works is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Tuesday, May 16, 2017, at 3:15 p.m., in room 406 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building, to conduct a hearing entitled, ``Leveraging Federal Funding; Innovative Solutions for Infrastructure.''

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now proceed to the en bloc consideration of the following Senate resolutions, which were submitted earlier today: S. Res. 163, S. Res. 164, S. Res. 165, and S. Res. 166.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolutions be agreed to, the preambles be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, all en bloc.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, May 17; further, that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and morning business be closed; further, that following leader remarks, the Senate proceed to executive session and resume consideration of the Brand nomination; finally, that the time until 12 noon be equally divided in the usual form.

Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that it stand adjourned under the previous order, following the remarks of Senator Whitehouse.

Mr. President, this week marks National Police Week, an annual celebration in honor of the men and women who serve in local, State, and Federal law enforcement all across our country. We are all safer because of their efforts, and this week is an important reminder of their continuing service and sacrifice on our behalf--each and every day.

Traveling across the country, thousands of law enforcement officers gather in our Nation's Capital each year to mark this occasion. They come here to recommit themselves to the peace and safety of our communities and to show respect for their fallen brothers and sisters in uniform who have made the ultimate sacrifice. We are honored to have them in Washington and to join them in recognizing these officers.

I wish to pay a special tribute to the brave men and women who protect and serve my home State of Kentucky. These officers put themselves in harm's way to defend our communities every day, and we owe them a tremendous debt of gratitude.

Today, we also remember those officers from the Bluegrass State who tragically fell in the line of duty.

First, I want to pay tribute to Officer Nick Rodman of the Louisville Metro Police Department. Officer Rodman unfortunately passed away after a car crash in Louisville while responding to calls of shots fired. He was 30 years old and had served in the department for 3 years.

The Rodman family maintains a strong tradition in law enforcement, and he proudly continued that legacy. The many individuals Officer Rodman touched over the course of his life will remember his compassion, patience, and dedication to family.

I wish to also pay tribute to Officer Charles Howley of the Oldham County Police Department. The day before his death, Officer Howley responded to a call reporting smoke in a daycare center. While ensuring all of the children and employees had evacuated, Officer Howley was exposed to a refrigerant. The next day, he suffered a fatal heart attack. Officer Howley was 51 years old and dedicated 20 years of service to his department and his community.

Officers Nick Rodman and Charles Howley displayed courage and heroism, and their service will not soon be forgotten.

I wish to also take a moment to thank the men and women of the U.S. Capitol Police, who stand guard at the heart of our democracy. They protect the Nation's legislature, the people who work here, and the millions of visitors who travel here to see our government in action. We are grateful for their diligence and for their service.

I ask my colleagues to join me in expressing the Senate family's gratitude to law enforcement officers all across our country as we welcome so many of them to the Capital this week. I wish to reiterate our admiration for their honorable and dangerous work. We live in a safer society because of their brave efforts, and I am glad that we are able to take this opportunity today to thank them for their service.

Mr. President, later today, the Senate will vote to advance another well-qualified nominee,

Jeffrey Rosen, to be Deputy Secretary of the Department of Transportation. Mr. Rosen has extensive experience serving at both the Office of Management and Budget and at the Department of Transportation. When he last came before the Senate to be the Chief Legal Officer of the Department of Transportation, he was confirmed by voice vote. It is disappointing that we had to file cloture on this bipartisan choice this time around.

Mr. Rosen's work in both the private and public sectors has given him a unique insight into the budgetary and regulatory challenges that infrastructure projects face. I look forward to the Senate advancing his nomination later this afternoon.

Mr. President, I move to proceed to legislative session.