Floor Statements

I am glad my friend the majority leader has dropped his earlier opposition and now wants to make an effort to set up these votes on this important issue. On Monday, the President said that if the Senate passes his tax hike on small businesses he would sign it right away. So I am glad the Senate will have a chance to beat that bad idea that will raise taxes on nearly 1 million small businesses.

I will be happy to take a look at what my good friend the majority leader is offering, but I cannot at this time agree to lock in a vote at an indeterminate time on a proposal that has not yet been written. My good friend has had all day to come up with a written proposal, but I gather that so far they have been unable to do so or, if they have, we certainly have not seen it. Our proposal is drafted and filed and has been available for all to see.

My goal here--and it is one that I laid out several weeks ago--is that we act now to ensure that no one's income taxes go up January of next year. The mere threat of this tax increase is already a drag on our economy and I do not plan on standing by and letting that tax increase go into effect.

So we would be happy to set up a vote on this issue as soon as the majority leader produces a bill to show us what tax increases they have in mind. I want to make sure that everyone understands the differences in our positions. My goal--and I hope it is one that is shared by a majority of Senators--will be to enact a bill that protects small businesses by extending current income tax rates for 1 year to ensure that no one in America sees an income tax hike in January, and tasking the Finance Committee to produce a bill that would enact fundamental progrowth tax reform. Their goal will be the President's proposal to raise taxes on nearly 1 million business owners in the middle of the worst economic recovery in modern times.

The Senate ought to make absolutely clear which policy it supports. I look forward to having the chance to do that, but until that time, until we actually have a product we can take a look at, I cannot agree to this request, and therefore I object.

Mr. President, one other brief observation. I have already objected, but one other brief observation. The consent that I objected to also chose for us the amendment we would get to have, and of course that is not an agreement the Republican side would feel we would want to be a part of.

Mr. President, today I wish to recognize Mr. John Bowling of Laurel County, KY. ``Big John Bowling,'' as he is affectionately called by friends and family, not only served Laurel County as jailer during the 1970s, but has also lived a life of kindness and integrity. His legacy to Kentucky exceeds his public service because not only was he a compassionate jailer, he also built a loving home for his family that welcomed all members of the Laurel County community.

John Bowling met his wife, Imogene, at a church dinner. After commenting on the quality of a macaroni salad at the dinner, his pastor introduced him to Imogene. At that time Imogene was married, but later, in 1964, her husband was tragically killed in a car crash and Imogene was left with three children aged 7, 4, and 2 years old. Imogene began working at Hoskins Grocery where, 5 years later, she and Mr. Bowling became reacquainted.

The couple began dating and they brought Imogene's children along on every date. After 6 years, the couple married. In their first year of marriage, Imogene had another daughter, Tammy Jo. The four children loved their parents and considered John to be an excellent father. Mr. Bowling truly cared for the children, which he showed by ensuring chaperones came along on all of their dates which were only at church.

The family continued to grow when Imogene was approached to take in Toni, a 21-year-old who did not have a palette in her mouth, had limited hearing in one ear, and no hearing canal in the other ear. Though Toni could only communicate through sign language, she quickly became part of the Bowling family.

Crediting faith in God for their success in blending a harmonious family, John Bowling created a home atmosphere that was accepting of anyone who crossed his home's threshold. From adopting his wife's children, to taking in Toni, to allowing relatives and family friends to stay with the family, Big John made his home one of love.

It is an honor today to pay tribute to my fellow Kentuckian, John Bowling. Mr. Bowling not only made a family and lovingly raised his children, but also opened up his home for those in need of a place of refuge and comfort. He is an example of what it means to live by the Golden Rule. The Laurel County community is better off today because of the impact ``Big John Bowling'' has made and the compassionate way in which he treated others.

At this time I ask my Senate colleagues to join me in recognizing Mr. John Bowling for his service to Laurel County, KY. An article from the Sentinel Echo: Silver Edition magazine, published in Laurel County, recently highlighted this humble man's invaluable contributions to his family and community. I ask unanimous consent that said article be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, today I wish to honor Mrs. Alice Helton of Laurel County, KY. Though she may have never held public office, Mrs. Helton invaluably served her community through kindness, hospitality, and an unselfish desire to help those around her. On April 26, 2012, she died at age 94. Her legacy of faith, generosity, and love will survive her in the memories of her family, friends, and the citizens of London, KY.

Mrs. Alice Helton, then-Miss Alice Hill, the last of eight children, was born on May 2, 1917, in Keavy, KY, to farmers Mr. John and Mrs. Sallie Hill. She was raised in the country and lived a simple life. The family would work together in the fields during the day and on Sundays be visited by neighbors while the children played marbles. Alice, in her interview with the Sentinel-Echo for the London Living Treasures special series, recalled plucking duck feathers with her mother as a child and walking for hours to find ducks to make feather beds and pillows.

At age 7, Alice began attending Keavy School. One of her fondest memories of grade school was spending time at recess with her friends throwing horseshoes and watching boys play basketball. After elementary school, she attended a boarding school called London School. Upon finishing the eighth grade, she returned home, lived with her parents, and looked after her siblings' children while they were at work.

Alice met William Raymond Helton, a truckdriver from Corbin, KY, when she was 22. Though her family didn't support the relationship, the two eloped and were married. Mrs. Helton, during the first 17 years of her marriage, had seven children. The family lived in a small house, near her parents, which soon became the place where the entire family would meet and spend time together.

Her children have many colorful memories of growing up with Mrs. Helton. They never questioned her love or willingness to protect the family because during the week, when her husband was away driving a truck, she would ward off thieves trying to steal the family chickens by shooting her rifle toward a row of trees behind the coop. In order to avoid becoming a victim of her unique security system, all family members would call out to her any time they passed the yard.

Mrs. Helton was described as a ``magnet'' that drew all of the family together. She would take on the role of mother to her nieces and nephews as her siblings passed away and loved them as if they were her own children. Her love also was shown by entertaining them at game nights, where

card games and Yahtzee were the main attraction.

Mrs. Helton was more than a wife, mother, grandmother, aunt, and member of the Laurel County community. She was the matriarch of the Helton family and the glue that held it together. From talking on the phone for hours on end with her children and grandchildren to taking in family and friends in need, Mrs. Helton lived a life of compassion and kindness. After her death, a neighbor said that she tried to live the way Jesus lived, but if she only lived half as well as Mrs. Helton, she would be satisfied.

It is a privilege to honor the legacy of Mrs. Alice Helton. A true pillar of the Laurel County community, she was an example for all Kentuckians of a woman who lived her life with integrity and love. I ask my fellow colleagues in the Senate to join me in remembering this remarkable woman from Laurel County, KY.

A recent article published by a Laurel County publication, the Sentinel-Echo, recognized Mrs. Helton's lifetime of contributions to her family and community. I ask unanimous consent that said article be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, last Friday morning the American people woke up to the news that the economy is on life support. The first response of the President of the United States was that we are headed in the right direction.

Let's just think about that for a second. The President's first reaction to the news that more Americans signed up for disability last month than got jobs was to flash a thumbs up and head back to the campaign trail, just like his first reaction to a question about the economy at a recent White House press conference was to say that the private sector is doing just fine.

Well, obviously, answers like that just aren't going to cut it. The President's advisers must be telling him that much. So yesterday the President--the man at the wheel--changed his tune by doing his Washington best to change the subject.

For 3\1/2\ years, this White House has shown an utter lack of imagination when it comes to jobs and the economy. If the solution doesn't involve more government, they are not interested. That is all they have. So yesterday the President went back to the same well one more time. After 3\1/2\ years of more government, more debt, more spending, more taxes, and more regulations, he demanded even more.

Yesterday the President issued an ultimatum: Raise taxes on about 1 million business owners to fund more government, and I will not raise taxes on the rest of you. That was his considered response to this crisis.

Let's leave aside for a second the complete and total absurdity of raising taxes on job creators in the middle of what some are calling the slowest recovery ever. Leave that aside and ask yourself a more fundamental question: Whose money is it in the first place?

Why should small businesses be put on the defensive about keeping money they have worked for and earned? It seems as though every day for the past 3\1/2\ years we have woken up to stories about waste and abuse in government--whether it was a bankrupt solar company or the $800,000 party some government agency threw for itself or this week's report that we overspent on unemployment benefits by about $14 billion.

As far as I am concerned, there should not even be a debate. The government doesn't need any more money. It is the government that should be answering to us for the tax dollars it has wasted and misdirected. It is the President who should be on the defensive. He is the one who pledged he would cut the deficit in half by the end of his first term but doubled it instead. He is the one who spent the first 3\1/2\ years of his administration shattering spending records.

Now he wants us to believe he will direct new tax revenue toward tackling the deficit? Look, yesterday's announcement was many things, but let's be honest. It wasn't a plan for deficit reduction, and it sure wasn't a plan for job creation. First and foremost, it was a distraction. By any standard the President has a nightmarish economic record. By demanding higher taxes on the few, he is trying to direct attention from it.

Second, it is deeply ideological. The President has already admitted that the last thing we need to do in the middle of a recession is raise taxes. He knows that yesterday's proposal would only make the economy worse. He knows that. His goal isn't jobs, it is income redistribution. It is his idea of fairness, which means you earn and he takes. His definition of fairness means you earn and he takes.

Third, it is purely political. The President's top priority for the last year hasn't been creating jobs; it has been saving his own. Let me say that again. The top priority of the President hasn't been creating jobs for anybody else; it has been saving his own job. His advisers seem to think if they create enough scapegoats that he will slip by in November.

That is why he has spent the past year trying to convince the public that somehow his predecessor is more responsible for the economic failures of the past 3\1/2\ years than he is; that all the bailouts and the trillions in borrowed money and the government takeover of health care and the onslaught of bureaucratic redtape and regulations are somehow irrelevant to the fact that we are mired in the slowest economic recovery in modern times; that we are just one more stimulus away from an economic boom; that the fact that we have had unemployment above 8 percent for 41 straight months has nothing to do with the policies he put in place in his first 2 years in office; that all these massive pieces of legislation he touted were somehow hugely historic yet, at the same time, completely unrelated to the joblessness, uncertainty, and decline we have seen almost every day since.

It is this kind of economic thinking that leads to the kind of proposal the President announced yesterday, which says a tax hike is harmful to middle-income earners but somehow meaningless for the 940,000 business owners who will get slammed by this tax hike, as well as all the other tax hikes the President has in store for them at the end of this year.

The sad truth is the President isn't just ignoring the economic problems we face; he is exacerbating them. He is running us headlong to the cliff that is fast approaching in January. Frankly, it is hard to imagine a President deliberately doing all these things he knows will only make things worse, but that is where we are. Now it is incumbent upon the rest of us to outline a better path. And that is what we support--commonsense progrowth policies that liberate the private sector. It starts by repealing a health care law that is stifling businesses, by ending the senseless regulations that are crushing businesses, by ending the threats of tax hikes on businesses that can't afford them, and by putting our faith in free enterprise over the dictates of a centralized government. In the Obama economy, we need policies that are designed to create jobs, not destroy them.

No one should see an income tax hike next year--no one--not families, not small businesses, no one. We should extend all income tax rates while we make progress on fundamental tax reform.

It is time to put the failed policies of the past 3\1/2\ years aside and try something else. Washington has done enough damage to the economy already. Let's focus on the kinds of progrowth jobs proposals the Republican-led House has already passed. And above all, let's do no harm. It is time to give the private sector and the innovators and the workers who drive it a fighting chance.

Mr. President, I yield the floor.

Reservation of Leader Time

Mr. President, I rise today in recognition of Mrs. Toni Ryser of Laurel County, KY, a businesswoman who is a pillar of her town, East Bernstadt. Mrs. Ryser's entrepreneurial spirit caused her to open a furniture store in East Bernstadt, KY, in 1969 that continues to thrive and service the people of Kentucky and other States in the region. She is a shining example of a Kentuckian who has established a successful business while maintaining an important role in her community.

The daughter of Chester and Carrie Bales, Mrs. Ryser grew up in East Bernstadt. Despite hard financial times during the Great Depression, she grew up as a happy child. Her father was a truck driver and delivered groceries around Laurel County for Laurel Grocery, and her mother worked in the home. Her mother used to joke with family members that of the four children, Mrs. Ryser was the most difficult child because she always did what she wanted and had a mind of her own.

Mrs. Ryser graduated high school at age 16 and worked for Aetna Oil Company. In a bold move encouraged by her then-boss, Mrs. Ryser asked her would-be husband, R.D. Ryser, out to the movies for their first date. The couple married in June of 1947 and at age 20, Toni had their first child, Kandy. The Rysers had two more children, Bo and Kim, over the course of the next 5 years.

Though Mrs. Ryser always wanted to be a mother, she decided she wanted to do more than keep the house during the day. Remembering the skill her mother taught her as a child, she began sewing and selling drapes. Soon Mrs. Ryser's drapery business grew and she could not complete orders as quickly as they arrived. As business increased, she decided to expand and not only sell draperies but also upscale furniture.

In 1969, Mrs. Ryser approached a furniture retailer that was hesitant to do business with her because of the rural nature of East Bernstadt. However, despite the concerns of the retailer, Mrs. Ryser decided she was going to sell furniture and was not dissuaded by the larger company's misgivings. She never doubted her ability to sell the furniture and make a profit. So in September of 1969, when Toni was 39,

Ryser's Inc. was officially open for business.

Despite the continued success of the drapery business, Ryser's Inc. furniture sales did not really take off until 1972, when the Kentucky coal industry experienced a boom. The extra cash flow in the area caused the furniture business to flourish in East Bernstadt and the surrounding region. Before long, the entire family worked for the company: taking orders, making deliveries, and even offering advice on interior design.

Ryser's Inc. quickly became a premier name in furniture in Kentucky, Tennessee, and Florida. The store in East Bernstadt evolved into a warehouse, and Mrs. Ryser spent her time in the Laurel County area and the greater region bringing upscale furniture to the people. The reputation of the family business continued to grow over the years throughout the region and State and caused Mrs. Ryser to be named a Kentucky retailer of the year in the 1990s.

A long standing member of East Bernstadt Baptist Church, a dedicated wife and mother, and a successful business woman, Mrs. Toni Ryser is most deserving of recognition for her contributions to the greater Laurel County community and economy. Mrs. Ryser never hesitated in her journey to establish a fine furnishings store in a rural area some 40 years ago. It was her belief in herself, her family, and most importantly her fellow Kentuckians that allowed her dream to become an enduring reality.

I am honored to recognize Mrs. Toni Ryser's admirable commitment to building a successful family business in East Bernstadt, KY. I ask my colleagues in the U.S. Senate to join with me in celebrating Mrs. Ryser's entrepreneurial spirit and tenacity and her important contributions to the greater Laurel County community. A recent article published in the Sentinel-Echo, a Laurel County publication, highlighted Mrs. Ryser's accomplishments. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that said article appear in the Record.

Mr. President, I will address two issues. I commend, in particular, the senior Senator from Oklahoma for the extraordinary work he has done to produce a transportation bill that has significant reforms in it. He has been tenacious and effective. He has tugged on our sleeves and pointed out to us repeatedly the importance of getting this job done. I congratulate him for an extraordinary accomplishment.

With regard to the bill, the highway conference report contains significant reforms to the surface transportation program. Projects will now be completed in a more timely manner because, for the first time, there are hard deadlines on agencies to complete environmental reviews.

Also, States are given maximum flexibility to use their transportation dollars the way they choose, rather than how Washington dictates. This bill is fully paid for with a package of offsets mostly included in the Senate-passed highway bill.

The conference report also contains important legislation to reform the National Flood Insurance Program and prevent the interest on college student loans from doubling.

The flood insurance bill is a model of reform: It moves this long- failing program closer to where it should be--the private sector. These reforms actually cut subsidies, save the taxpayers money, and greatly improve the program's financial position. It was negotiated and reported out of committee on a bipartisan basis.

On the student loan issue, Republicans and Democrats worked hard to find common ground. The agreement we have reached will ensure that college students who are already facing enormous challenges in the Obama economy will not be paying higher interest rates next month.

Students can't wait for the President to get off the campaign trail and actually work with Congress to prevent student loan interest rates from rising this year. So while the President continues to ignore the bipartisan proposals sent more than 3 weeks ago, Senate Democrats dropped their demand for job-killing tax hikes and worked with Republicans to find solutions.

It is nice to finally see the Senate actually work as the Senate used to. It proves that if this body ignores the campaign attacks from the President and if our Democratic friends stop pushing job-killing tax hikes, we can actually get a lot done around here. I, once again, thank my colleagues for all their hard work on these important measures.

Health Care Decision

Mr. President, the most important issue brought to the front page in the last 2 days is the state of the new ObamaCare law.

Two and a half years ago, President Obama teamed up with Democrats right here in Congress to pass a health care bill they knew most Americans didn't want. Americans have been very clear about what they thought of this bill. So Democrats settled on a deeply dishonest sales pitch aimed at convincing them otherwise.

Nearly every day since then, the promises that formed the very heart of that sales pitch have been exposed for the false promises they were.

Americans were promised lower health care costs. But, of course, they are going up. Americans were promised lower premiums, and they are going up. Seniors were promised Medicare would be protected; it was raided to pay for a new entitlement instead. We were promised it would create jobs; CBO predicts it will lead to 800,000 fewer jobs because of ObamaCare. People were promised they could keep the plans they liked; millions have now learned they cannot.

For 2 years, the list of broken promises has grown longer and longer and longer.

But yesterday morning, we got powerful confirmation of what may have been the biggest deception of all. For years, the President and his Democratic allies in Congress have sworn up and down--sworn up and down--that failing to comply with the individual mandate did not result in a tax on individuals or families. ``It is not a tax,'' they said.

The reason was obvious. If Americans knew that failure to comply resulted in a tax hike, of course, the bill would never have passed. If our friends on the other side had conceded the obvious--that it was, in fact, a tax hike--we all know it never would have passed. The President would not be able to claim his health care bill didn't raise taxes on the middle class, as he did again and again and again.

Yesterday, the Court blew the President's cover. In a narrowly upheld case on one basis only--that the penalty associated with the individual mandate is a tax--the Court spoke. It said Congress doesn't have the constitutional authority to mandate insurance coverage under the commerce clause. Congress doesn't have the authority to mandate individual insurance coverage under the commerce clause, but it obviously does have the power to tax. So they upheld the central provision of the bill on the fact that the penalty for failing to comply with it was a tax.

In the eyes of the Court, that is all the penalty tied to the individual mandate ever was: a tax imposed by a Democratic Congress-- without a single Republican vote--primarily, interestingly enough, on the middle class. It is a tax on the middle class. Let's be very clear about that. The tax connected to the individual mandate is not primarily a tax on the rich but on the middle-class Americans who will bear the brunt of it.

Listen to this, colleagues. According to the CBO, at least 77 percent of the people paying this tax will meet the President's own definition of the middle class; 77 percent of the people paying this tax will meet the President's own definition of the middle class.

Those who have to pay the tax will pay an average tax of $1,200. Even if they pay it every year, they still will not have insurance.

Yesterday's decision turns the President's campaign rhetoric on its head. Those who will end up paying the heaviest burden for not buying government-mandated insurance are not going to be the wealthiest Americans--oh, no--but the very middle-class families the President claims to defend.

That is the truth the Court unmasked yesterday.

Most Americans thought the process Democrats used to pass the health care bill was unseemly, secretive, partisan, even antidemocratic. They also thought it was unconstitutional for the government to create commerce in order to regulate it--for the government to create commerce in order to regulate it.

All of that is still true. But what many Americans may not have appreciated when this bill passed was how empty all of the promises were--how completely empty all the promises were. And at the center of them all was the claim that failing to buy health insurance did not result in a tax. That was the central claim: Failing to buy health insurance did not result in a tax.

But the Court has now spoken: It is a tax--largely on the middle class. This is just one more reason this law needs to be repealed in its entirety. With every passing day we learn something new about this terrible law. Not only does it make the problems in our

health care system worse, it leads to a tax on middle-class families who are either unable or unwilling to purchase health insurance. What a terrible idea.

So it is time for Democrats to stop trying to defend the indefensible and join Republicans in wiping this colossal legislative mistake clear off the books. Yesterday's decision gives us the clearest proof yet this bill has to go. It needs to be repealed to clear the way for commonsense, step-by-step reforms that protect Americans' access to the care they need from the doctor they choose at a lower cost. That is precisely what Republicans intend to do.

Mr. President, I yield the floor.

Reservation of Leader Time

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

Mr. President, on behalf of Senator Paul, I raise a point of order that the conference report on H.R. 4348 has not been publicly available for 48 hours as required by rule XXVIII, paragraph 9.

I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, 2\1/2\ years ago a Democratic President teamed up with a Democratically led Congress to force a piece of legislation on the American people they never asked for and that has turned out to be just as disastrous as many of us predicted. Amid economic recession, a spiraling Federal debt, and accelerated increases in government health spending, they proposed a bill that made all those problems worse.

Americans were promised lower health care costs, and they are going up. Americans were promised lower premiums, and they are going up. Most Americans were promised their taxes wouldn't change, and they are going up. Seniors were promised Medicare would be protected. It was raided to pay for a new entitlement instead. Americans were promised it would create jobs. The CBO predicts it will lead to nearly 1 million fewer jobs. Americans were promised they could keep their health plans if they liked it. Yet millions have learned they can't.

The President of the United States promised up and down that this bill was not a tax. This was one of the Democrats' top selling points because they knew it would never have passed if they said it was a tax. The Supreme Court has spoken. This law is a tax. The bill was sold to the American people on a deception. It is not just that the promises about this law weren't kept; it is that it made the problems it was meant to solve even worse. The supposed cure has proven to be worse than the disease.

So the pundits will talk a lot about what they think today's ruling means and what it doesn't mean, but I can assure you this: Republicans will not let up whatsoever in our determination to repeal this terrible law and replace it with the kind of reforms that will truly address the problems it was meant to solve.

Look, we have passed plenty of terrible laws around here that the Court finds constitutional. Constitutionality was never an argument to keep this law in place, and it is certainly not one we will hear from Republicans in Congress. There is only one way to truly fix ObamaCare-- and only one way--and that is a full repeal that clears the way for commonsense, step-by-step reforms that protect Americans' access to the care they need from the doctor they choose at a lower cost. That is precisely what Republicans are committed to doing.

The American people weren't waiting on the Supreme Court to tell them whether they supported this law. That question was settled 2\1/2\ years ago. The more the American people have learned about this law, the less they have liked it.

Now that the Court has ruled, it is time to move beyond the constitutional debate and focus on the primary reason this law should be fully repealed and replaced--because of the colossal damage it has already done to our health care system, to the economy, and to the job market.

The Democrat's health care law has made things worse. Americans wanted repeal, and that is precisely what we intend to do. Americans want us to start over, and today's decision does nothing to change that. The Court's ruling doesn't mark the end of the debate. It marks a fresh start on the road to repeal. That has been our goal from the start. That is our goal now, and we plan to achieve it. The President has done nothing to address the problems of cost, care, and access. We will.

I yield the floor. I suggest the absence a quorum.

Madam President, Senator DeMint has some concerns about this nomination. Therefore, at his request, I object.

Mr. President, before the majority leader leaves the floor, let me just say I agree entirely that the Senate, it seems to me, is sort of getting back to operating the way the Senate traditionally has. I think the way Senator Roberts and Senator Stabenow have handled the farm bill has been exemplary. Members on both sides have gotten opportunities to offer amendments. We have had a lot of votes, but it is an important bill.

So I commend all of those who have been involved in beginning to work us back in the direction that I think most of the Senate would be comfortable with.

I also want to thank my friend, the majority leader. He has a tough job setting the agenda and deciding how to go about moving legislation. I think the way we have handled the farm bill and other measures to which he has referred in recent months has been a very important step in the right direction.

Student Loan Rates

Mr. President, 3 weeks ago today, Republican leaders in the Senate joined Republican leaders in the House in calling on the President to resolve a pending increase in student loan rates.

Drawing on some of the President's own ideas, we proposed multiple good-faith solutions to this problem before it is too late. We have been waiting ever since for the President's response. He has actually been missing in action. He has yet to offer a concrete solution. So you can understand our surprise upon learning this morning that the President plans to call on Congress later today to do something about student loan rates.

Mr. President, the Republican-led House of Representatives already passed a bill that would solve the problem. As I said, Republican leaders in the Senate have been on record supporting multiple-- multiple--good-faith solutions to this problem for literally weeks. It is actually the Democratic-led Senate that has failed to act, and the President who has failed to contribute to a solution. The reason is pretty obvious.

It was reported yesterday that the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is launching a Web site with a student loan countdown clock aimed at raising money off this issue. The implication is that Republicans are the ones dragging their feet.

As for the President? Well, this is just another sad example of the election-year strategy of deflection and distraction--deflection and distraction.

College graduates are struggling to find work and pay their bills in the Obama economy. He would like them to believe it is somebody else's fault.

Latinos are struggling with high unemployment. He would like them to believe the Republicans are the problem.

Middle-class moms are struggling to make ends meet. He wants them to think we are engaged in some phony war on women.

The President does not have a positive message to send to any of these folks, so he is cooking up false controversies to distract them from his own failure to turn the economy around.

Well, on the student loan issue, we could solve this problem in a sitting. Republicans have acted quickly, and on a bipartisan basis, to help prevent these rates from going up. We have passed a bill out of the House. We have reached out to the President. We have proposed multiple--multiple--solutions.

The only reason this issue is not already resolved--the only reason-- is that the President wants to keep it alive a little while longer. He thinks it benefits him politically for college students to believe somehow we are the problem.

It is time to stop playing games. It is time for the President to act.

Mr. President, I yield the floor.

Reservation of Leader Time

Let me echo the remarks of my good friend. This bill has been handled in a way entirely consistent with the norms and traditions of the Senate. Members have had an opportunity to express themselves in a whole variety of ways, both relevant to the amendments and a few not relevant to the amendments. Senator Stabenow and Senator Roberts have worked together very skillfully. This is one of the finest moments in the Senate in recent times in terms of how you pass a bill.

I think we are all feeling good about the way this has been handled. I think we are moving back in the direction of operating the Senate in a way that we sort of traditionally understood we were going to operate the Senate.

I also thank my good friend, the majority leader. I think this has been a good cooperative effort, to have a process that respects the traditions of the Senate. This is a very fine day in the recent history of the Senate. Again, my congratulations to the chairman of the committee and the ranking member. They did a fabulous job.

I yield the floor.

Madam President, I now move to proceed to S.J. Res. 37.

Madam President, it has become pretty clear over the past few months that President Obama now views his job as the deflector-in-chief. No longer content to lay all the Nation's problems at the feet of his predecessor, he has taken to creating controversies out of whole cloth. Whether it is a manufactured fight over student loan rates or the so-called war on women, the goal is as clear as you can imagine: get reporters to focus on these things, and maybe the rest of the country will as well; get them to focus on anything other than the President's own failure to turn the economy around, and maybe he can squeak by without folks noticing it. That is the plan at least and, frankly, it could not reflect a more misguided view of the American people. They know who has been in charge the past 3\1/2\ years, and the fact that the President has had a tough job to do does not mean he gets a pass on how he has handled it or on the solutions he has proposed.

Most Americans do not like either one of the President's two signature pieces of legislation--ObamaCare or the stimulus. They are not particularly thrilled about seeing America's credit rating downgraded for the first time ever. They are scared to death about a $16 trillion debt, trillion-dollar deficits, and chronic joblessness. And many, including myself, are deeply concerned about this administration's thuggish attempts to shut its critics right out of the political process. These are the kinds of things Americans have been telling us for 3 years that they are worried about, and we are not about to be drawn into some rabbit hole so the President does not have to talk about them. We are going to stay focused on all of these things--not because of some political advantage but because the American people demand it. So the President can come up with the excuse de jour, but we are going to talk about jobs, we are going to talk about the deficits and debt, and we will talk about the Constitution.

When it comes to jobs, let's be clear. This administration has been engaged in a war on the private sector, and in many cases it has used Federal agencies and a heavyhanded regulatory process to wage it largely out of view. We got a vivid confirmation of this when an EPA official was caught comparing the EPA's enforcement approach to the Roman use of crucifixion. Brutalize a few offenders, he said, and the rest will be scared into submission.

Call me naive, but I think most Americans think the government should be working for them, not against them. I think most Americans think the Federal Government should be working to create the conditions for Americans to prosper, not looking for any opportunities to undercut free enterprise. Yet that is what we see--an administration that always seems to assume the worst of the private sector and whose policies are aimed at undermining it. And nowhere is it more clear than at EPA.

That is why I support Senator Inhofe's ongoing efforts, including a vote today, to push back on the EPA, which has become one of the lead culprits in this administration's war on American jobs. Senator Inhofe is focusing on just one regulation out of the many that are crushing businesses across the country--the so-called Utility MACT, which would cost American companies billions in upgrades, but for their competitors overseas, of course, it would cost them nothing. This regulation would expand the already massive powers given to the EPA by increasing redtape and costing the taxpayer over $10 billion each year. In my State of Kentucky, it threatens the jobs of over 1,400 people working in aluminum smelter plants, as well as approximately 18,000 coal miners, not to mention those engaged in industries that support these jobs.

Kentucky Power, operator of the only coal-burning powerplant in my State, recently conceded defeat in this fight after the EPA demanded upgrades to its plants at a cost of nearly $1 billion, raising the typical residential customer's monthly electric bill by a whopping 30 percent. At that price, it is no wonder the plant found the new regulations completely unworkable. The EPA may have won this battle, but the real losers are more than 170,000 homes and businesses spread out amongst 20 eastern Kentucky counties that depend on the Kentucky Power plant for their energy.

The proponents of the Utility MACT say it is needed to improve air quality. What they cannot tell you is what these benefits would be or the effect of leaving the plants in their current condition. Look, we all support clean air, but if we waved through every regulation that promised to improve air quality without regard for its actual impact, we would not be able to produce anything in this country.

What we do know is that a substantial amount of the electricity we produce in this country comes from coal, and this new regulation would devastate the jobs that depend on this cheap, abundant resource. This is just one battle in the administration's war on jobs, but it has a devastating consequence for real people and real families in my State and in many others. The administration's nonchalant attitude about these people is appalling, but this is precisely the danger of having unelected bureaucrats in Washington playing with the livelihoods of Americans as if they are nothing more than just pieces on a chessboard.

The media may continue to chase whatever issue the President and his campaign decide to fabricate from day to day, but these are the facts behind this President's devastating economic policies, and that is why it is a story the President would rather the media ignored. Well, Republicans are not going to ignore it. We are going to keep talking about the President's policies. So I commend Senator Inhofe for keeping us focused on this particular policy that is devastating to so many Americans.

Madam President, I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I rise to pay tribute to a group of Kentucky's brightest students who, by winning a number of prestigious awards for studying history, have proven themselves to be the leaders of the future. I am referring to the Kentucky winners of the National History Day 2012 contest, which was recently held at nearby College Park, MD, June 10 to 14.

The contingent of students from Kentucky that made the trip was selected by the Kentucky Junior Historical Society, which held a statewide history contest in Frankfort, the State capital, last April. At that event, 68 Kentucky students qualified for the national finals.

In all, 62 Kentucky students from the 6th through 12th grades made the trip to our Nation's capital region, accompanied by about 40 family members and teachers. I was very pleased to have a chance to visit with them during their trip.

The group faced stiff competition. At National History Day 2012, there were 2,800 students competing, representing all 50 States and four international schools. Six Kentucky students stood out from their peers and garnered nationwide recognition for their history projects. Those students are:

Joanna Slusarewicz, of Winburn Middle School and Fayette County, winner of the Salute to Freedom Award and third place, individual documentary, junior division. Her entry was titled ``Respectfully Submitted, Dorothea Dix.''

Neha Kadambi and Jamie Smith, of Winburn Middle School and Fayette County, winners of the Leadership in History Award for group exhibit, junior division. Their entry was titled ``The Fight Without a War: India's Revolutionary Road to Independence.''

Meenakshi Singhal and Daryn Smith, of Winburn Middle School and Fayette County, winners of Best of State: Junior Division. Their entry was titled ``Charles Darwin: What Do You Mean Survival of the Fittest?''

Emma Roach-Barrette, of Menifee County High School and Menifee County, winner of Best of State: Senior Division and individual documentary, senior division finalist. Her entry was titled ``Dead Men Do Tell Tales.''

Every student from Kentucky who made this trip can be immensely proud of his or her accomplishments, and I hope they will continue to engage in the study of history for the remainder of their time in school and beyond. History plays such a large role in the events of today. We continue to be influenced by historic decisions made in this very Chamber.

I also appreciate these students' teachers for helping to foster their love of history, specifically, Theresa Buczek and Michelle Cason of Winburn Middle School and Debra Craver of Menifee County High School. And I want to thank the Kentucky Junior Historical Society and its parent body, the Kentucky Historical Society, for sponsoring this competition and making the trip possible for these students. Established in 1836, the Kentucky Historical Society is committed to helping Kentuckians understand, cherish, and share history.

I know my U.S. Senate colleagues join me in recognizing the accomplishments of Kentucky's winners of the National History Day 2012 contest and of every Kentucky student who competed.

We wish them well in their future studies and are proud they represent the Bluegrass State.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Madam President, tomorrow, the President plans to deliver a speech to once again tout his favorite approach to the economy. I say that because aides to the President say we should not expect much new in the speech. We can expect more of the same: More government, more debt, and higher taxes to pay for it all.

According to news reports, some Democrats are starting to get a little wary of this approach. A number of folks who worked in the Clinton administration have suggested something more positive. But others are pleading with the President to double down on the message that government is the answer.

So far it appears as though the hard-left wing of the party has the upper hand. As liberal columnist E.J. Dionne suggested recently in the Washington Post:

Let's turn [Reagan's] declaration on its head. Opposition

to government isn't the solution.

Opposition to government was and remains the problem, and that is precisely what the President appears to be doing--doubling down on the same government-driven solutions that have kept the private sector mired in what some are calling the worst recovery ever.

These folks have so much faith in government that they seem blind to any failure or excess. They make no distinction between the things government has done well in the past and the things it does not do well now.

They have no limiting principle whatsoever. This is their logic: If you like the Hoover Dam, you should support bureaucrats making higher salaries and better benefits than the taxpayers who are paying for them. If you like the Transcontinental Railroad, you should support a $1 trillion stimulus bill that has been more effective at creating punch lines for late night comedians than it has at creating jobs. If you like the GI bill, they believe you must also embrace a debt-to-GDP ratio that makes us look like Greece.

These folks seem to have no limiting principle whatsoever when it comes to the growth of government. They have blind faith in it. It is the only thing they ever seem to want, and they are completely out of touch.

The President wants you to believe the reason we are in this economic slump is because States and local governments have been laying off government workers. But what he does not tell you, and what the American people will not hear him say tomorrow, is that since the recession began, for every government worker who has lost a job 11 private sector jobs have been lost--for every government worker who has lost a job 11 private sector jobs have been lost.

Another thing you will not hear the President say is that public sector unemployment is just over 4 percent--unemployment among public workers, just over 4 percent--while all other private sector industries are at least twice that. So government employment is not the problem. It is the private sector that is suffering, and it is the private sector where we need to focus our policies.

So the battle lines are clear: After 3\1/2\ years of failure, Democrats in Washington have one suggestion: more of the same. The President can repackage it however he wants tomorrow, but that is what it amounts to: more government, more debt, and fewer jobs--and that is not what Americans want.

Republicans have refused to go along with this approach, and we will continue to oppose it until the Democrats recognize what most Americans already seem to know: government is not the answer to what ails us; government is not the answer to what ails us. It does not mean government does not do some things well. It means government has its limits, and we have reached them.

I saw a story line this week about a high school in Utah. It said the school has been fined $15,000 for selling carbonated drinks. The school has been fined $15,000 for selling carbonated drinks. Why? Because Federal nutrition guidelines say the school cannot sell sugary drinks during lunch hour. Students could buy them before lunch and drink them during lunch, but they cannot buy them during lunch and drink them during lunch. The government will not allow it.

Madam President, we are not talking about the Transcontinental Railroad. We are talking about a government that has no sense of its own limits under the constitution and a President who does not seem to be willing to embrace anything that does not start and end with a government bureaucrat calling the shots.

It is time for a change, and here is what I would suggest: One, the Democrat-led Senate should pass a budget. It has not done so in 3 years. Two, the Senate should take up the 28 job-related bills the House Republicans passed that are collecting dust on the majority leader's desk. Three, we should pass comprehensive tax reform; and, four, entitlement reform. This Nation will not be able to get out from under the mountain of debt we have without addressing the out-of- control spending related to these programs. They are simply unsustainable.

As I said yesterday, without Presidential leadership, it simply cannot happen. The same failed policies are not going to cut it. The only question is whether Democrats in Washington are capable of seeing that.

Madam President, I yield the floor.

Madam President, we are going to divide time; are we not?

Madam President, I suggest the Senator from California use Democratic time, and the time on this side be reserved.

Mr. President, I rise today to pay tribute to a very special part of my home State, the Commonwealth of Kentucky. I am speaking of McCreary County, in the southeastern region of the State. This year, McCreary County celebrates its centennial; according to the McCreary County Museum located in the heart of historic downtown Stearns, KY, the county's birthday was on March 12, 2012. One hundred years ago, Kentucky Governor James B. McCreary signed the legislation creating the county, named after himself, as the 120th and last county of the Bluegrass State, formed out of portions of Wayne, Pulaski and Whitley counties.

The people of McCreary County today have upheld the rich traditions and legacy of the hardy Kentuckians who were there for that county's founding 100 years ago. They have exemplified the very best of what southeastern Kentucky has to offer, they have kept Kentucky's history alive, and they represent the future of Kentucky and our Nation. I ask my Senate colleagues to join me in wishing the people of McCreary County the very best as they celebrate their centennial.

An article published in the McCreary County Record recently described the events of McCreary County's centennial celebration. I ask unanimous consent that said article appear in the Record.

I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.