Floor Statements

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Energy and Natural Resources Committee be discharged from further consideration of and the Senate now proceed to the consideration of S.J. Res. 1.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the joint resolution be read a third time and passed, the preamble be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S. Res. 84, submitted earlier today.

I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 10 a.m., Thursday, March 9; 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 that morning business be closed; finally, that 30 minutes of the majority time on H.J. Res. 57 be under the control of Senator Blunt or his designee.

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 Senators Lankford and Warren.

Mr. President, last night, the committees of jurisdiction in the House released a proposal to repeal ObamaCare and begin the process of replacing it with commonsense reforms to preserve access and lower costs. The plan builds upon the 2015 repeal bill, which was vetoed by President Obama. I am happy to hear the committees will begin consideration this week. I encourage every Member to review it because I hope to call it up when we receive it from the House.

It is clear to just about everyone that ObamaCare is failing. Costs are soaring. Choices are diminishing. Insurance markets are teetering.

It would be easy to sit back and watch this partisan law collapse under its own weight. Pass the buck to the next guy. That seems to be the Democrats' strategy.

Republicans think the middle class actually deserves better. In election after election, Americans have called for relief. In election after election, Americans have called for an end to this partisan law. We promised to do both things. We are.

The legislation the House introduced last night represents the next step along that path. It is the result of a long conversation with many voices, and it is supported by the one person who can actually sign a bill into law--the President of the United States.

I want to recognize everyone for their contributions and hard work. Given last night's announcement, I especially want to commend our colleagues in the House. The policy conversation that led to what we saw last night continues. The policy process moves forward today.

We have come a long way. We have a lot further to go, but we are making significant progress. Working arm in arm with the House and the new administration, we are going to keep our promise to the American people because ObamaCare is a direct attack on the middle class. We all know it. We all get letters and phone calls. We hear the heartbreak and the frustration nearly every day.

Consider this letter from one of my constituents in Goshen, who wrote about the ObamaCare plan available to his family:

I am extremely displeased with the limited choices

available. While 16 plans are listed for me at the

Healthcare.gov website, they are all inferior to my 2016

plan. Neither our primary care physician nor my

rheumatologist is in network of any offered 2017 plan.

The cost is another problem. The 2017 plan that I will

probably choose will have a 20% higher premium than my 2016

plan with a lower level of benefits.

Pay more; pay more for less. That is ObamaCare for you right there. Look, in so many different ways, we have seen the evidence for years that ObamaCare simply isn't working. This isn't a law that can be fixed. This isn't a law that can be saved. It has to be repealed and replaced. We promised the American people we would do that. We are going to keep our promise.

Mr. President, on another matter, for the past 8 years, Americans felt left behind by an economy that failed to live up to its potential, a job market that left too many behind, and a future that didn't seem to be as bright as it once had.

For too long, the previous administration pursued an agenda that put Washington's interests above the peoples' interests and regulations that too often followed ideology rather than facts. In fact, as we recently saw cited in a national paper, one study ``estimates that the costs of complying with federal rules and regulations totaled nearly $1.9 trillion in 2015.''

Let me say that again. The costs of complying with regulations in America totaled nearly $1.9 trillion in 2015, equal to about half the Federal budget.

Yet another study ``estimates that regulation has shaved 0.8 percent off the U.S. annual growth rate''--a growth rate that was already too low to begin with.

You can see the effect that heavy-handed regulations can have on our Nation's economy. There is no question that some regulations are necessary and even beneficial to our country, but Washington should assess the real impact regulations will have before implementing them.

Undoing the damage of the past several years is going to take some time, but fortunately there are meaningful steps we have already begun taking to bring relief. Just last night we took another step by blocking a sweeping labor regulation that would have threatened American businesses, workers, and taxpayers at large.

Today we will keep working to dial back even more harmful regulations, like the one before us now--the so-called BLM planning 2.0 rule. Don't let the name fool you. This regulation has little to do with improving current policy. Instead, it really represents another power grab pushed through by the Obama administration on its way out the door.

Like several other regulations we are working to address, this one adopts a top-down, one-size-fits-all approach. It shifts power away from State and local governments toward Washington bureaucrats, and it targets Western States specifically, jeopardizing their ability to manage the lands and resources that their local economies count on.

As Senator Murkowski, chair of the Energy Committee, has pointed out, this regulation could negatively impact a range of activities like grazing, timber, energy, and mineral development and other important uses of public land that States like hers rely on. And, perhaps even more troubling, it would also limit input from local stakeholders who are the most familiar with these issues. That is why Senator Murkowski has been fighting the BLM 2.0 regulation from the start and has introduced legislation under the Congressional Review Act to overturn it.

Later today, we will have the opportunity to vote on a similar resolution, which has already passed the House. It is another important step in our efforts to return power to the States and knock down barriers that keep our economy from growing.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I move to proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 18, Seema Verma, to be Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Mr. President, I send a cloture motion to the desk.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum call with respect to the nomination be waived.

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

Mr. President, I move to proceed to H.J. Res. 58.

Mr. President, regulations aren't issued in a vacuum. They have real economic consequences that can harm the middle class. They can kill jobs, raise prices, depress wages, and lower opportunities. Yet the Obama administration went on a regulatory rampage at a time when we should have been looking to do just the opposite.

On its way out the door, the previous administration continued to push through more of these job-killing, partisan regulations against the advice of Congress, State and local officials, and policy experts. Fortunately, we now have the opportunity to provide relief from some of these costly, duplicative rules using the tools provided by the Congressional Review Act, or CRA.

We only have a short window of opportunity to use these CRA tools, however, which is why we have been working quickly to provide relief. The Senate has already advanced several proposals that repeal harmful regulations. Together with the new administration, we have embarked on what one national paper most recently called ``the most ambitious rollback since Reagan.''

Three CRA resolutions have already become law, and we look forward to passing even more this week. In fact, we will have an opportunity to send the President another resolution as soon as this evening.

The proposal before us would block another duplicative, unnecessary eleventh hour regulation that hurts American businesses. This one is called the ``blacklisting rule.'' Apparently, the last administration thought it would be a good idea to prevent American businesses from earning government contracts based on allegations, not facts. Unsurprisingly, Federal courts have blocked the rule because of its questionable legality. Now we have the opportunity to provide permanent relief.

Of course, we all agree that companies should be held accountable and that workers' rights should be protected. Current law already provides the tools to do just that. But the blacklisting rule isn't really about helping employers or workers. It is about empowering the powerful--like union bosses and entrenched bureaucrats--and it would actually make a system designed to protect workers even less efficient. More important for the American people, it would cost taxpayers hundreds of millions, generate millions of hours of paperwork, and, of course, threaten jobs. So, of course, it is time to move past this regulation.

I want to thank my colleague Senator Johnson, chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, for working with the House to advance this resolution and protect the American people. I look forward to its final passage tonight.

After we take that vote, the Senate will continue working to advance even more regulatory relief measures to help get our country back on track.

Mr. President, another important area where Congress is working to provide relief is ObamaCare.

In election after election, the American people have called for an end to ObamaCare. In the last election, they made their voices clear one more time. They elected a President and a Congress dedicated to bringing relief from this partisan law, and we are determined to do right by our constituents by doing just that.

Nearly 7 years after being signed into law, I continue to hear from Kentuckians who aren't sure how they can continue to manage under ObamaCare's broken promises. Take this Kentuckian from Morehead who wrote to my office earlier this year:

Prior to Obamacare, I had a manageable monthly healthcare

premium that had enough coverage for myself with a reasonable

deductible. Since Obamacare has been enforced, or should I

say forced upon the American people, my premiums have

increased each year significantly.

Now, under ObamaCare, this Kentuckian says keeping his same coverage for 2017 means facing a 300-percent increase in his premiums as compared to the plan he had before the broken law was implemented. ``The general cost of healthcare has skyrocketed,'' he writes, and as a result ``small business owners and [the] working middle class are suffering.''

Unfortunately, his story is like so many others all across the country. Americans were promised that costs would go down. Americans were promised that choice would go up. Americans were promised that they could keep their healthcare plan. None of that was true--not a single one of those things.

Americans need relief. They deserve a new direction. That is why we are taking action to repeal and replace ObamaCare with healthcare solutions that can actually work for the American people.

As our efforts to move beyond ObamaCare continue, Senators came together last week for another important conversation on the way forward when it comes to our Nation's healthcare policies. I also had the opportunity to visit the White House and discuss the ways in which the administration and Congress can continue working together to bring relief from ObamaCare.

The House will keep working this week, as well, to move forward with legislation--under a new President who will actually sign it--that can finally help us pursue smarter healthcare solutions in place of this failed partisan experiment. We know the task before us is daunting, but, of course, it is just as necessary.

So I thank the Speaker for his continued leadership on this issue, along with each of our colleagues who have been working literally around the clock on repeal and replace efforts. Let's keep working this week so that we can bring Americans much needed relief from ObamaCare as soon as possible.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I move to proceed to H.J. Res. 44.

Mr. President, I wish to start by taking a moment to recognize our distinguished colleague who just marked an impressive milestone in the history of the Senate. Last week, the senior Senator from Mississippi became the 10th longest serving Senator in U.S. history. With over 38 years of service in this body, Senator Thad Cochran has proved himself to be a leader and a statesman.

When the Magnolia State sent Senator Cochran to the Senate, it was the first time a Republican had won a statewide election in Mississippi in over a century. When he decided to run, Senator Cochran didn't falter in the face of long odds. He campaigned hard, and he won. Because of his passionate and dedicated service, the people of Mississippi have sent him back time and again.

Senator Cochran has come a long way from his first job as a carhop at Gunn's Dairy Barn near Jackson, MS. Now, he proudly serves the people of his State and helps craft legislation for the entire Nation.

Here in the Senate, we have all had the opportunity to work with Senator Cochran. Whether on agricultural issues, responding to national disasters, or negotiating appropriations bills, Senator Cochran has played a crucial role on many pieces of legislation. As the chairman of the Appropriations Committee, he has done important work as well.

I know that colleagues on both sides can agree that working with him is always an enjoyable experience. Senator Cochran has accomplished a great deal during his years in the Senate. With a conservative philosophy and an affable personality that endears him to both sides of the aisle, Senator Cochran has made an important impact.

A few years ago, Senator Cochran reached another important milestone when he cast vote No. 12,000 here in the Senate. At that time, I mentioned that Time Magazine included him on the list of America's ``Top 10 Senators.'' They named him ``The Quiet Persuader.'' We all know that Washington is filled with loud voices, but Senator Cochran's manner has served our friend and this institution very, very well.

I ask my colleagues to join me in congratulating Senator Cochran, his wife Kay, and his entire family on this notable occasion.