Floor Statements

Madam President, I rise to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Elizabethtown Community and Technical College, ECTC, a comprehensive community and technical college that has been serving the central Kentucky region since 1964. ECTC provides education and training to all types of Kentuckians to prepare them to succeed in a constantly changing world.

ECTC is a member of the Kentucky Community and Technical College System. It provides accessible and affordable education and training through academic and technical associate degrees; diploma and certificate programs in occupational fields; pre-baccalaureate education; adult, continuing and developmental education; customized training for business and industry; and distance learning.

ECTC has its roots in the founding of the Elizabethtown Community College, which first opened its doors in 1964 to 355 students from 11 counties. Meanwhile, Elizabethtown Technical College was founded in 1965 through a bond issue by the Elizabethtown Independent School Board. ECTC was formed by the consolidation of the two schools in 2004, following historic legislation in 1997 that established the Kentucky Community and Technical College System.

For five decades, ECTC has enriched the lives of citizens by providing access to quality, affordable academic, technical and community education programs, and by partnering with communities to enhance the economic vitality of the region. A comprehensive college with regional reach, ECTC now offers certificates, diplomas and associate degrees through 34 academic and technical programs on the Elizabethtown, Springfield, Leitchfield and Fort Knox campuses, and at extended campus sites throughout its 12-county service area.

Enrollment has grown steadily from 355 students in 1964 to 7,000 today, and thousands of alumni have distinguished themselves through service to their professions and communities.

During the 2014-2015 academic year, the college will celebrate 50 years of educational excellence and service to Kentuckians. I want to be among the many who congratulate ECTC for 50 years of outstanding service in education to the central Kentucky region. I want to commend the school for 50 years of educating Kentuckians, and thank its president/CEO, Dr. Thelma J. White, for her extraordinary leadership of the institution.

My friend from Kentucky has been actively engaged on the issue of the highway funding mechanism for some time now, and I appreciate his work on this. This is one of the hardest issues that we face in Congress, and it has been helpful to have my colleague Senator Paul working so hard on resolving it. He wanted an amendment on a repatriation proposal on the highway bill that we will soon be debating, and I want to thank him for setting it aside for the time being. We will, however, be addressing highway funding again later, and I promise to protect his right to offer his amendment and secure a vote on its adoption.

There is a lot we can get done in Washington when Democrats are willing to put the politics aside and work together for bipartisan results.

We saw an example of that yesterday when the President signed a bipartisan workforce training bill into law, legislation I and others proudly supported. Unfortunately, though, we have rarely seen such bipartisanship from Washington Democrats these days. Working toward bipartisan solutions and helping the middle class, it always seems like such a chore for them. Just look at what President Obama and the majority leader have planned for the coming days.

The President is off campaigning for a workforce training bill he already signed. It makes no sense, but this is a man who just can't stop campaigning. And apparently the majority leader is suffering from a similar condition. He is busy turning the Senate into a campaign studio. He wants to spend more of the Senate's time on a designed-to- fail campaign bill that he loves to trot out before every national election. We have seen this proposal a couple of years ago before the election. Then, of course, for political purposes they pray that it will fail.

Look, this is time that would be a lot better spent helping the middle-class families who are struggling in our country. Instead of worrying about design-to-fail legislation, we could be addressing things like the highway bill, which already passed the Republican-led House with massive bipartisan support, or addressing the humanitarian crisis on the southern border. That is where our focus should be. That is what the American people expect.

The Border Patrol estimates that as many as 90,000 unaccompanied children will have crossed our border by fall. It is a dangerous journey to the border, and many have suffered heartbreaking treatment and abuse. That is why anyone who wants to help these children should be working overtime to spare them from this journey.

A few weeks ago the President made some modest policy recommendations that should be a part of any legislation that deals with this crisis. Unfortunately, the far left objected and the President has since wobbled.

That has led to top Democrats in Congress balking at even the most modest of reforms. They all seem to prefer a blank check that would preserve the status quo instead, and the President will barely lift a finger to encourage his own party to support these simple reforms.

Remember, now, this is the same President who keeps telling us about this mythical phone he plans to use. So what we are saying is use it. Call the Members of your own party who object to what you said you wanted and what we all know is needed.

Call the leadership of your party in the Senate who, despite the footage on the evening news, pronounced our southern border to be secure. Get them to support the policies that you told us would address this crisis. Frankly, it would be a much better use of your time than campaigning for a workforce bill you have already signed. Sending these children all over the country for indeterminate periods of time just isn't an answer.

We need to humanely return them to their homes as soon as possible, and President Obama needs to show some leadership to help us get a long-term credible plan in place to do just that. He owes the country at least that much.

Remember, news reports suggest the President could have intervened long ago to address this problem before it turned into a full-blown humanitarian crisis. But according to the Washington Post, he prioritized politics over helping these children.

The paper cited a Congresswoman who admitted that her fellow Democrats recognized the urgency of this crisis, but they kept mostly silent because they didn't want to cause problems for the administration's political priorities in Congress.

Democrats didn't want others to be able to point out that the President's policies had failed. It is really quite shameful. The Post also cited one source who said the administration staff was concerned about the growing number of children, but that they too were effectively overruled by White House political concerns.

Here is what the source said:

Was the White House told there were huge flows of Central

Americans coming? Of course they were told. A lot of times. .

. . Was there a general lack of interest and focus on the

legislation? Yes, that's where the focus was.

In short, it appears the Obama administration knew about this problem a long time ago, did almost nothing, and the country is now faced with this crisis.

So the President needs to get serious about this--not some other time--now.

What we are saying is cut out the campaigning, tell your party's leadership in the Senate to get serious and work with Members of both parties to get this addressed.

Mr. President, I rise today to pay tribute to an upstanding citizen from my home State, the Commonwealth of Kentucky. The Reverend Gregg W. Anderson is an accomplished news reporter and dedicated prison chaplain, ministering to inmates in the Commonwealth.

Though he has traveled the world, and worked as a reporter at radio and television stations across the Midwest, Reverend Anderson is honored to call Bardstown in Nelson County, KY, his home, where he hosts ``Talk of the Town'' Monday through Friday evenings on WBRT, Bardstown's hometown radio station on 97.1 FM and 1320 AM. This year, WBRT celebrates its 60th anniversary informing and cultivating a special relationship with the Bardstown community.

During his nearly four decades as a news reporter, Reverend Anderson has enjoyed a varied and successful career covering everything from Super Bowls to bank robberies. However, he has found no assignment more rewarding than that of ``a good news reporter,'' bringing the good news of Christ to others.

His conversion experience began after he covered the horrific 1988 Carrollton school bus crash. Killing 27 people, including 24 children, the Carrollton crash remains the worst drunk-driving accident in our Nation's history.

The gruesomeness and heartache Reverend Anderson witnessed following that crash inspired him to begin bringing the light of Christ to others. On May 15, 1988, the day after the accident, Reverend Anderson felt called by God to be a ``good news reporter.'' One year later he founded 70x7 Evangelistic Ministry. Continuing as a news reporter by day, Reverend Anderson began his ministry career by preaching at church services and revivals at night.

His ministry eventually brought him to the prisons of Kentucky and Ohio, where he became a devoted and beloved prison chaplain. Reverend Anderson worked with the prisoners, bringing many hardened criminals the message of Christ. Reverend Anderson eventually took his prison chaplaincy overseas, ministering to inmates in Estonia and Latvia, before returning to the United States.

The Reverend Gregg W. Anderson's dedication seems to know no bounds. His devotion and commitment to his work, whether in news reporting or in his Christian ministry, is an inspiration for us all, and I ask that my Senate colleagues join me in honoring him today.

Mr. President, I rise today to pay tribute to a veteran from my home State, the Commonwealth of Kentucky. As a member of the Army National Guard, Gregory Scott Salyer served his country with honor on a tour of duty in Afghanistan.

Service to this country is something that runs deep in Salyer's family. His father, uncle, and grandfather are all military veterans, and Salyer followed suit when he enlisted in 2006.

In Afghanistan, Salyer and his team performed the treacherous, yet indispensable, task of tracking, unearthing, and disposing of improvised explosive devices, IEDs. IEDs were, and still remain, one of the most serious and unnerving threats to our troops abroad. Salyer's work in diffusing that threat undoubtedly increased the safety of our servicemen and women.

Returning to Kentucky following his service in the Guard, Salyer brought with him the National Defense Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Medal, the Armed Forces Reserve Medal, the Afghanistan Campaign Medal, and the ARCOM Medal of Valor.

For his honorable service to this country, Salyer is deserving of our praise here in the Senate.

Therefore, I ask that my Senate colleagues join me in honoring Gregory Scott Salyer.

The Salyersville Independent recently published an article detailing Salyer's service in Afghanistan. I ask unanimous consent that the full article be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I rise today to pay tribute to one of Kentucky's proud military veterans--Barry E. Owens. Owens hails from Magoffin County, and served his country with honor in the Vietnam war.

Although millions of young Americans were drafted into service during this time, Barry decided to leave nothing to chance and volunteer. He served in the U.S. Army from 1968 until 1970, achieving the rank of specialist 4.

In 1969, he was deployed to Vietnam with the 2nd and 35th Regiments of the 4th Infantry Division. In a time when the war became increasingly unpopular, Owens always retained his sense of duty. ``I served my country with pride and honor,'' he said.

Owens is a member of Veterans of Foreign Wars and the Salyersville chapter of the Disabled American Veterans. His commitment to this country is worthy of praise from this body. Therefore, I ask that my Senate colleagues join me in honoring Barry Owens.

The Salyersville Independent recently published an article detailing Specialist Owens's service in Vietnam. I ask unanimous consent that the full article be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, later today the President will sign a bipartisan workforce training bill into law. It is commonsense legislation that will help my constituents gain new skills to become more competitive. I was proud to support it. I am glad to see that the President is going to sign it.

Unfortunately, though, bipartisan accomplishments such as this one have become increasingly rare in the Democratic-controlled Senate.

Last week President Obama took to the campaign trail to urge Congress to pass a new highway bill. He really did not need to, though; the Republican-controlled House of Representatives had already passed the highway bill earlier in the week. In fact, it sailed through on an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote, 367 to 55. The President said he would sign it if Congress sent it to his desk. I expect the Senate will do just that in fairly short order but only if the Democrats who run the Senate can put their never-ending political campaign on hold for just a minute because rather than focus on passing bipartisan legislation, not to mention the dozens of job-creation bills the House has already sent over to us, the Democratic majority seems to spend all of its time on bills designed primarily to create jobs for campaign consultants.

We got an especially vivid glimpse of this earlier this year when Senate Democrats admitted they were working with their campaign committee to craft a so-called agenda that was more about saving their own seats than anything else. Ever since, they have pretty much abandoned governing to use the Senate floor as a campaign studio. We saw the latest example last night when the majority brought up another recycled, designed-to-fail bill that has already been rejected by the Senate. It is a bill that is designed for campaign rhetoric and failure, not to create jobs here in the United States. That is not what it is about. But that is not stopping our friends on the other side from bringing it up yet again, just as they did right before the last election.

So, look. We have seen this movie before. Everyone knows the Democrats are simply not serious here. They specifically want the bill to fail.

What I am saying is let's just skip the campaigning and get something done for the middle class instead. Let's focus on bipartisan bills that can help families and create jobs here at home. Let's focus on things such as repealing the job-killing medical device tax and helping create energy jobs and reducing the tax burden on small businesses and restoring the 40-hour workweek and providing relief to Kentucky's coal families.

If we are going to have a debate about creating jobs here at home, then let's really have a debate about creating jobs here at home. This is not it. Senate Democrats, of course, know that. They also know all of their campaigning is getting in the way of focusing on passing bipartisan legislation--bipartisan legislation such as the highway bill.

Of course, we know the current highway bill is not perfect. Over the long term, Republicans have a lot of good ideas for reforming the highway trust fund in a more permanent way so it can be made sustainable for years to come, but for now we have to at least keep road and bridge projects moving forward in the meantime. The extension of the highway trust fund could be used to fund projects such as the resurfacing of several parkways that many Kentuckians use to commute to work, and it could be used to fund the widening of I-656 between Bowling Green and Elizabethtown. The judge executive of Hart County Terry Martin knows this transportation safety project is important for the Commonwealth, and he notes that the expansion to six lanes would allow for a smoother and safer flow of traffic for Kentuckians.

So let's focus on scoring bipartisan wins and jobs for our constituents instead of scoring political points. If Democrats can do that, then I am confident we will get this done because the American people didn't send us to Congress to campaign 24/7. When Senate Democrats do choose to work with us, there is a lot we can get done for the people of our country.

Remembering Jeremiah Denton

I wish to say a brief word about our former colleague Jeremiah Denton, who will be laid to rest today at Arlington National Cemetery.

Admiral Denton is best known for the extraordinary bravery he showed in 1966, when instead of playing along in a propaganda film for his captors in Vietnam, he blinked the word ``torture'' in Morse code to U.S. military leaders.

All told, Admiral Denton would spend 7\1/2\ years in the infamous Hanoi Hilton and other camps, enduring terrible torture and barbaric conditions throughout. Later, after earning the deep admiration of Ronald Reagan, he would enlist the future President's help as a first- time political candidate, becoming the first-elected Republican Senator from Alabama since Reconstruction.

A staunch conservative throughout his time in the Senate, Admiral Denton was a man of deep and abiding faith who had an equally deep and abiding love for his country. This was never more clear than on the day he stepped off a plane to freedom at Clark Air Base in the Philippines. Walking up to the microphone, the newly released POW said simply:

We are honored to have had the opportunity to serve our

country under difficult circumstances. We are proudly

grateful to our commander-in-chief and to our nation for this

day. God bless America.

Admiral Denton was predeceased by his beloved wife of 61 years Kathryn Jane, and survived by their seven children: Madeleine, and Mary Beth, Jeremiah, William, Donald, James, Michael; and by his second wife Mary Belle. We send Mary Belle and the entire Denton family our sincere condolences today as Jeremiah Denton is laid to rest, and we honor the memory of this great man and distinguished former Member of this body.

Reservation of Leader Time

Mr. President, I would like to take a minute to recognize CPT Steve Rairdon of Leslie County, KY. Captain Rairdon is a member of the 173rd Airborne Brigade and participated in commemorating the 70th anniversary of the D-day invasion in Normandy, France, last month.

As an airborne soldier, Captain Rairdon understands the indispensable role his predecessors--the first soldiers of their kind--played in the D-day invasion. In the earliest hours of June 6, 1944, Allied paratroopers dropped behind enemy lines in advance of the amphibious invasion to disrupt German lines of communication and to secure key roads and bridges. The success of their mission proved vital to the success of the invasion as a whole.

By participating in the 70th anniversary ceremonies, which included a jump into Normandy, Captain Rairdon and all those who joined him paid a wonderful tribute to our veterans who fought 70 years ago. It is these acts of remembrance that continue to illuminate the unimaginable sacrifices made by the members of the ``greatest generation''. Therefore, I ask that my Senate colleagues join me in honoring Captain Steve Rairdon.

The Leslie County News recently published an article detailing Captain Rairdon's time spent in Normandy. I ask unanimous consent that the full article be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I am saddened to report to my Senate colleagues the passing of a fellow Kentuckian, Mr. Charley Greene Dixon, Jr., who lost his battle with cancer on June 23 of this year. Charley was a consummate public servant who spent his life working to better his community. Knox County, and the entirety of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is poorer for his loss.

The overriding ambition in Charley's life was to help others. His wife Marcia Dixon said, ``He believed that if he could make one life better he was a success.'' This is a bar for success that Charley cleared time and time again.

Born in Barbourville on November 19, 1964, Charley lived in Kentucky his whole life, mostly in his hometown in Knox County. He attended Union College in Barbourville and earned his juris doctorate from Northern Kentucky's Salmon P. Chase College of Law.

Charley started his career working as the Barbourville city attorney, later becoming the Knox County school board and Barbourville city school board attorney.

His most recent position was of Knox County attorney, one that he had held since 2003. In that capacity he played a leading role in creating juvenile, family and adult drug courts in Knox County. Through these courts, Charley helped countless individuals reclaim their lives from the clutches of drug addiction.

Outside of his official duties, Charley continued to work tirelessly to better Knox County. He chaired the Knox County UNITE Coalition an organization that combated illicit drug use through education, law enforcement, and rehabilitation. As chairman he spearheaded events, such as ``Hooked on Fishing Not on Drugs,'' where kids and their families could enjoy themselves in a drug-free environment.

For his selfless work in the community, Charley was named the 2013 Man of the Year by the Knox County Chamber of Commerce a fitting award for a man who helped so many.

Charley is survived by his wife Marcia, his daughter Callie Ann, and his son Charleston Arthur. Knox County was undoubtedly bettered by his life's work, and he will be sorely missed by all who loved and knew him.

I ask that my U.S. Senate colleagues join me in honoring the life of Charley Greene Dixon, Jr.

The Mountain Advocate recently published an article chronicling Dixon's life. I ask unanimous consent that the full article be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I rise to honor the long and distinguished career of Jim Sharpe. Now retired, Mr. Sharpe opened his first business in Somerset, KY, in 1947. Since that time he has opened several more, pioneered the houseboat business, and has become an irreplaceable fixture in his community.

Lake Cumberland is known by many as the ``houseboat capital of the world''--a designation that is owed in no small part to Jim Sharpe. Jim was one of the first to pioneer the industry--building his first houseboat in 1953. Much has changed since he sold that first 10-by-24- foot steel boat, and Jim has been there for it all, often leading the way. Houseboats are now much bigger--up to 20 by 100 feet--and are made of aluminum and have onboard heating and cooling systems. One thing that never changed, though, is Jim's passion for building his customer's dream boat.

Despite being one of the founding fathers of the industry, houseboats do not constitute the totality of his life's work. Jim has owned and operated several other businesses in Somerset in addition to Sumerset Marine. In 1966, he developed Food Fair groceries, which he grew into a chain of 13 stores. Two year later, he opened up Somerset's first fried chicken restaurant, Kettle Fried Chicken, and in 1974 he bought a car dealership, Pulaski Motor Company.

Although he's now retired, Jim still has plenty to keep him busy. Jim has four children and nine grandchildren, and he has also found time to pick up golf and travel the country. Jim's family is all the stronger for the influence of Jim's dear departed wife, Mary Jo, who left us in 2008. Married in 1950, they were one of the most thriving and generous entrepreneurial couples that Kentucky has ever seen, with distinguished careers in the grocery and food retail business, automobile dealerships, marinas, restaurants, and most notably the houseboat industry which I have already mentioned.

Jim Sharpe's drive and determination in his business, his commitment to his community, and his love of his family can serve as an example to us all. Jim is also a proud veteran of the U.S. Navy, and we are grateful for his service. I ask that my U.S. Senate colleagues join me in honoring this upstanding and patriotic Kentucky citizen and veteran.

Mr. President, yesterday the American people actually scored a victory in the ongoing battle against government overreach. They literally rose, spoke out, and they forced the Obama administration to withdraw the latest gem from the ``department of terrible ideas'' over at the Environmental Protection Agency.

They showed two things in the process; first, the need for constant vigilance when it comes to protecting our liberties, especially with the current crowd down at the White House; and, second, the impact ordinary citizens can actually have.

The proposal in question was a uniquely awful idea. The goal was for the EPA to grant itself the authority to garnish the wages of private citizens without even giving them a day in court. Imagine. You received a letter from the government accusing you of violating some obscure regulation, a regulation most likely you never heard of and did not even know you were violating. The government then hits you with massive fines, sometimes on the order of tens of thousands of dollars a day, as you weigh your legal options and whether to fight it in court.

If you cannot or will not pay these fines in the meantime, too bad. Bureaucrats in Washington will take them out of your paycheck anyway-- out of our paycheck anyway--without even the option of contesting the government's actions in court for it. This is certainly government overreach at its very worst. That is why I joined Senators Thune, Vitter, and Barrasso in speaking out against it. That is why we developed a resolution of disapproval to block it.

But the real key to our success was the action of the American people themselves. They got our help, but they did not sit back and wait. They let their outrage be known. They fought back against this brazen power grab. Thanks to all of those efforts, the administration finally literally threw in the towel yesterday. Certainly we were glad to see it.

But look, the fact that the Obama administration's EPA even introduced this rule in the first place should concern all of us. It was truly outrageous, but it is also not surprising because this is the same administration that just proposed a so-called waters of the U.S. regulation that would expand the government's authority so broadly that the Agency could regulate and fine almost every pothole and ditch in our backyards.

This is the same administration that has been waging a costly war on coal jobs in my State through similarly onerous and arbitrary regulations aimed at pleasing hard-core activists in Washington without any regard for real-world consequences.

It is as though these distant elites in Washington view their mission as ideological warfare. They do not seem the least bit concerned about the casualties they leave behind in the process. I have tried to get some of these bureaucratic foot soldiers down to Kentucky to see the impact of their efforts firsthand, but of course they are not interested. They are not interested in people such as the 32-year-old unemployed miner who walked into a Pikeville pregnancy center to ask for baby clothes. An employee at the center wrote to tell me what this miner had to say.

Here is what he said:

I don't come from a family that has ever had to ask for

help. I feel humiliated, but my baby is suffering.

That pregnancy center employee wrote that the look on his face broke her heart. She wrote: ``[But] this is the plight of many of our families in Eastern Kentucky, their livelihood is being taken away by the War on Coal.''

These are the people whom distant bureaucrats in Washington should be forced to meet before they draft their rules. This guy just wants to put food on the table, to keep the lights on, and to give his kids a better life. But the war on coal jobs is taking away more than just his livelihood and that of so many others. It is taking away his dignity as well. Maybe that is why the administration doesn't want to meet Kentuckians like him. Maybe that is why they don't want to look my constituents in the eye. It is a big problem, and that is why I am so proud of the people who stood up to this latest ominous regulation.

Yesterday the EPA confirmed that it won't hold a single hearing within hours of my State as it works to finalize national energy tax regulations that could devastate the lives of tens of thousands of Kentuckians. They don't care, and they are not listening.

Well, I care. I see these folks when I go home. I hear their stories. My heart breaks for them. I am going to keep fighting. I am going to keep fighting against the Obama administration's various power grabs and its regulatory overreach. I am going to keep fighting against the national energy tax. I am going to keep fighting for practical ideas that aim to help struggling families for once--a marked departure from the administration's constant attacks against them--ideas such as the Coal Country Protection Act and the Saving Coal Jobs Act.

These proposals are common sense. If the majority leader would stop blocking them, we could deliver some relief to middle-class families for once. So he should know I am not going to let up and neither are the American people who won this important victory yesterday on another subject over the EPA's latest power grab because, as we also saw with the administration's recent withdrawal of an IRS regulation aimed at restricting free speech, the people can still win with enough determination. Civic involvement works--and given the pattern of abuse we keep seeing with this administration, it is absolutely critical.

Reservation of Leader Time

Mr. President, Members of Congress do not always see eye-to-eye on everything. It is fairly obvious. There are often strong and principled disagreements about taxes, the size and scope of government, ObamaCare, foreign policy--you name it. But let's be clear: When it comes to decisions about contraception, both parties believe a woman should be able to make her own decisions.

Now, some on the other side would like to pretend otherwise. They think they can score political points and create divisions where there are not any by distorting the facts. And that is why their increasingly outlandish claims--claims one nonpartisan fact-checker described as ``simply wrong''--just keep getting debunked. Even worse, our friends on the other side are now on record as saying we should protect the freedoms of some while stripping away the freedoms of others.

Republicans continue to insist that we can and should be in the business of protecting everyone's rights. We think that, instead of restricting Americans' religious freedoms, Congress should instead work to preserve a woman's ability to make contraception decisions for herself. And the legislation Senator Ayotte, Fischer, and I filed yesterday would do just that.

The Preserving Religious Freedom and a Woman's Access to Contraception Act would clarify that an employer cannot block an employee from legal access to her FDA-approved contraceptives. It is a commonsense proposal. It reaffirms that we can both preserve America's long tradition of tolerance and respect for people of faith while at the same time preserving a woman's ability to make her own decisions about contraception.

Our bill would also ask the FDA to study whether contraceptives could be made available to adults safely without a prescription. And it would allow women to set aside more money in their flexible spending accounts so they can cover out-of-pocket medical expenses, many of which are skyrocketing under ObamaCare.

So if Democrats are serious about doing right by women--if they are not just interested in stoking divisions in an election year--then they should get on board with our legislation. That is a start. And then they can work with us to undo the damage their policies--like ObamaCare--have already caused to millions--millions--of middle-class women.

Research shows that American women make about 80 percent of the health care decisions for their families. Yet, thanks to ObamaCare, millions of women lost the health insurance plans they had and they liked--causing enormous disruptions in their lives and in the lives of their families.

When women first spoke out about the betrayal they felt when they lost their plans, Washington Democrats said their plans were ``junk'' or worse, that they were lying, because Democratic politicians thought they knew better than all of these people we were hearing from. It was insulting to many, including one constituent who wrote to me from Woodford County. She described herself as a ``lifelong self-employed professional'' who ``shopped hard'' for a policy that she liked and wanted to keep. Here is what she said after Washington Democratic policies overruled her own personal choice of a plan:

The President has referred to my type of policy as

``substandard.'' In fact, it is a good product for people in

my situation. It appears that the President does not

understand personal finance, and does not trust Americans

to choose products that are good for them. He also does

not appreciate people like me who are willing to accept

personal responsibility for a large part of my own routine

medical expenses.

She is not the only one who feels this way, and she is not the only one who has been hurt by ObamaCare.

As a result of ObamaCare, too many women now have fewer choices of doctors and hospitals.

As a result of ObamaCare, millions of Americans--nearly two-thirds of them women--are now at risk of having their hours and their wages reduced.

As a result of ObamaCare, married women can face penalty taxes just for working.

As a result of ObamaCare and other changes by the Obama administration, a woman on Medicare Advantage could see her average benefits reduced by more than $1,500 a year.

And thanks to ObamaCare, millions of women have had their flexible spending accounts limited and can no longer use tax-preferred medical savings to purchase all the medications they use--a wrongheaded policy that the bill we introduced yesterday seeks to address.

But that is just a start. Washington Democrats need to work with us to pass real health reform--actual, patient-centered reform that will not hurt women the way ObamaCare does. Because we have seen the letters from our constituents--letters such as the one I received from a woman in Mount Sterling who says ObamaCare did more than just cause her premiums to nearly double--it might make her medications unaffordable as well: ``I am on three medications, [and] two years ago the copay was $60 for each one,'' she said. ``Now, my medications are costing me a little over $700 a month.''

That is not fair. It is not right. And this is just the kind of challenge both parties should be working together to address.

So let's do away with the false choices. Let's focus on actually helping women instead. Let's work together to boost jobs, wages, and opportunity at a time when women are experiencing so much hardship as a result of this administration's policies.

Republicans have been asking Washington Democrats to do all of this for years now. It is about time they started showing they really care.

Reservation Of Leader Time

Mr. President, we hear the President is planning to spend the week calling for Congress to pass highway funding legislation that Congress is already planning to pass. It seems odd for the President to be focusing so intently on something that is inevitable while ignoring other issues that really should be addressed--issues such as ObamaCare.

So many middle-class families in my State and across the country continue to suffer from the impact of this law. One thing that becomes increasingly clear with each passing day is the extent--the extent--to which ObamaCare is particularly hard on women.

Research shows that women make about 80 percent of the health care decisions for their families in our country. Yet ObamaCare has caused countless women to lose the health care plans they had and liked. When these women first spoke out about the betrayal they felt when they lost their plans, many of the law's supporters simply waved their concerns away or said they were making it up. They said they were lying or that their plans were ``junk''--because, of course, the critics knew better. It is a pattern that seems to have continued ever since.

American women also now have fewer choices of doctors and hospitals under ObamaCare. The bill's supporters have continually waived those concerns aside too.

Millions of Americans use flexible spending accounts to pay for out- of-pocket health care expenses. But ObamaCare imposes arbitrary limits on how much of a family's own hard-earned money can be set aside, and the law also prevents people who have come to depend on FSAs from using them to pay for common expenses such as allergy medicine or cold medication.

ObamaCare's cuts to Medicare Advantage and other regulatory actions could reduce the average benefit for women and men who rely on this program by more than $1,500 a year. Concerns such as these are all simply brushed aside by ObamaCare's supporters.

Washington should also be looking for ways to grow economic opportunities for women, but ObamaCare, of course, does just the opposite. I have heard from businesses large and small in Kentucky that fear they will not be able to cope with the higher costs of coverage under ObamaCare. They do not want to cut hours for their staffs or eliminate jobs, but many may no longer really have a choice.

Many of them are worried about new mandates that place millions of Americans--nearly two-thirds of them women--at risk of having their hours and wages reduced. One of my constituents from Somerset recently wrote to tell me what this new ObamaCare mandate has meant for her.

I'm employed at a major chain putting these rules into

effect now. This is causing us to lose up to eleven hours per

week averaging $440.00 . . . [less] per month less in wages.

Obamacare [is] causing us to lose hours [and] lose wages, yet

expecting us to spend more.

Let me repeat that. She says ObamaCare is causing her to lose hundreds of dollars a month in lost wages and at the same time causing health

care costs to skyrocket. This is simply not right.

Yet despite these terrible stories that keep pouring into our offices, the people who supported this law when it passed continue to defend it now. We kept warning them that ObamaCare would hurt jobs and increase costs. They had to know ObamaCare was going to reduce choices for women and limit their access to certain doctors and hospitals. But Washington Democrats voted for ObamaCare anyway. They created these problems. That is why they should be working with Republicans now to start over with real, patient-centered reform that lowers costs and that women and men in this country actually want, but of course they refuse. They are just doubling down on ObamaCare.

Now they are trying to convince people of another untruth--that somehow it is not possible to preserve our Nation's long tradition of tolerance and respect for people of faith while at the same time preserving a woman's ability to make her own decisions about contraception. Washington Democrats are doing this based on a claim that, in the words of the Washington Post's nonpartisan Fact Checker, is ``simply wrong''

I realize Democrats may think the best way to keep people from focusing on the impact of ObamaCare on middle-class families is to just make things up and to attempt to divide us. Well, I think that is a shame. It takes a pretty dim view of what we are capable of as a country. The goal here should not be to protect the freedoms of some while denying the freedoms of others; the goal here and always should be to preserve everybody's freedoms. We can do both. That is just what a number of us on this side are proposing to do this week. Instead of restricting Americans' religious freedoms, we should preserve a woman's ability to make contraceptive decisions for herself. That is why we plan to introduce legislation this week that says no employer can block any employee from legal access to her FDA-approved contraceptives. There is no disagreement on that fundamental point. The American people know that. They know Democrats are just attempting to offer another false choice. What we are saying is that of course you can support both religious freedom and access to contraception.

Look, if Washington Democrats really wanted to help women, they would work with us to do so. We have been imploring them to work with us to deliver relief to middle-class women for years now, to work with us on a new approach to the health care law that is hurting millions of American women. It is not too late. Work with us to increase jobs, wages, and opportunity at a time when American women are experiencing so much hardship as a result of this administration's policies-- especially ObamaCare.

Bay Nomination

I would like to voice my opposition to the nomination of Norman Bay to be a Commissioner of and eventually lead the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or FERC. I fail to see what qualifies Mr. Bay to be Chairman of the Commission, especially when the Acting Chair of FERC, whom he would displace, is much more qualified to hold the position. Unlike most FERC Commissioners in the last decade, he has never served as a State utility regulator, he has never served on the Commission and does not possess the background in policy areas that FERC is charged with overseeing.

In contrast to Mr. Bay, the current Acting Chair of FERC, Cheryl LaFleur, is much more qualified to hold the Chair position. Ms. LaFleur came to FERC with more than two decades of experience in the electric and natural gas industries, including roles as chief operating officer, general counsel, and acting CEO of National Grid USA and its predecessor. I find it shameful that this administration would seek to displace a well-qualified woman in favor of a male nominee with less experience.

More importantly and of utmost concern to my home State, there are factors that lead us to believe Mr. Bay would reliably serve as a rubberstamp for this administration's extreme anticoal agenda. This agenda harms the people of Kentucky and is one I most strenuously oppose.

As the current head of FERC's enforcement office, he has shown a history of targeting carbon-intensive businesses. Who is to say that if installed as the next head of FERC, he will not come after Kentucky businesses relying on the coal industry for electricity, which is 90 percent of my State.

Moreover, during his testimony before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee this past May, Bay cited his home State of New Mexico as an example of a real-life ``all of the above'' approach to energy. He mentioned his State's reliance on solar, wind, oil, and gas for its energy mix. Notably left out of this supposed ``all of the above'' approach, however, was any mention of coal--which, by the way, provides 70 percent of the electricity in New Mexico.

For all of these reasons--because he is not qualified, because he holds an anticoal agenda, and because he will be only too willing to implement this administration's anticoal policy--I will be opposing Norman Bay's nomination to FERC. I urge my colleagues to do the same.

Mr. President, I rise today to honor Dress for Success Lexington and its Kentucky co-founders, Analisa Wagoner and Jennifer Monarch. It was my distinct pleasure to help these women secure 501(c)(3) nonprofit status from the IRS for their business, and I am honored to know that I have played a role, albeit a minor one, in all the good that will continue to come of Wagoner and Monarch's venture.

Dress for Success was founded in New York City in 1997. Since then the organization had expanded into 128 cities around the world, including locations in Louisville and Lexington, KY.

As its name suggests, Dress for Success provides gently used, professional clothes to disadvantaged women. This is not, however, the totality of the organization's services. Looking the part is indeed a piece of the equation, but to ensure success they also provide counseling and training as their clients navigate the jobs market and begin work.

Jennifer and Analisa opened the doors to Dress for Success Lexington over a year ago. In the intervening time, they were inundated with enough clothing donations to render their initial location inoperable. Theirs is a business model that does not work unless people are willing to give. Fortunately, helping others in need is second nature for the people of Lexington, KY.

Last September, Dress for Success Lexington moved into a newer, much larger location in the Eastland Shopping Center. And with its newly acquired non-profit status, which makes the organization eligible for certain grants, donations, and a tax-exempt status, the future looks decidedly bright for Dress for Success Lexington.

Dress for Success Lexington is a model for serving the community. They are not just helping people--more importantly they are providing the tools and training for women to help themselves, and in turn do the same for others.

Therefore, I ask that my Senate colleagues join me in paying tribute to these exemplary citizens and Dress for Success Lexington.

Mr. President, the Lexington Herald-Leader recently published an article profiling Analisa Wagoner and Jennifer Monarch, and their work with Dress for Success Lexington. I ask unanimous consent that the full article be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, it is with a heavy heart that I rise today to report some sad news to my Senate colleagues. On June 29, 2014, Mr. George Carnes Jr. of Walker, KY, passed away at the age of 87.

George was born on November 3, 1926, to George and Mossie Bargo Carnes. In the aftermath of the Second World War, he served his country as a part of the U.S. Army's German occupation force.

Upon returning from Germany, George married Lena Shelton on a summer day in 1953. Family was paramount in George's life, and the two were happily married for 52 years until Lena's passing. Together they had, and are survived by, three children Alene Foley, Sandra Howard, and George Carnes III.

I am fortunate to know well one of his four grandchildren, Andrew Howard, who is on my staff, and to see firsthand the product of George's influence. George loved most of all spending time with his family, whether it was discussing the latest Kentucky basketball and Cincinnati Reds news, passing down his farming techniques, or simply playing with his two great-grandchildren.

George was also a man of great faith. As an ordained Baptist minister, he was a member of the Salt Gum Baptist Church and former pastor of the Moore's Creek Baptist Church.

George was an exemplary citizen who served his country honorably, was devoted to his church and community, and loved his family. I ask that my Senate colleagues join me in paying tribute to George Carnes Jr.

Mr. President, Hopper Funeral Home, Inc. recently published in area newspapers an obituary for Mr. Carnes. I ask unanimous consent that it be printed in the Record.