Floor Statements

Mr. President, it was just 1 year ago that President Trump was sworn into office, promising the American people he would break through the gridlock to get results for workers and families; that he would work with Democrats and Republicans; that he would be this great dealmaker--``the best,'' he said.

This past year has proven quite the opposite, and nothing has made that clearer than what we have seen these past few days. This has been a year of chaos and dysfunction, of bullying and attacks, of hatred and division and controversy and crises. That is just what we have been seeing on the President's Twitter feed before breakfast.

On the heels of so much utter dysfunction and disarray coming from this Republican government, it is fitting, even while deeply disappointing, that President Trump's first year has ended with him pushing our country into a completely unnecessary government shutdown. There is no reason--absolutely no reason at all--why we should be in this position. Democrats have spent months--months--trying to get the President and Republican leaders to work with us. We have spent months pushing Republicans to work with us to pass a long-term extension of the Children's Health Insurance Program that gives millions of kids access to care. We have spent months pushing Republicans to work with us to pass funding for community health center programs so many of our patients and families depend on. We have spent months pushing Republicans to work with us to pass disaster relief for our families and communities who have been hit so hard. We have spent months pushing

Republicans to work with us to support our veterans and to combat opioid and substance abuse. We have spent months pushing Republicans to work with us to increase investments in education and healthcare and other domestic and defense priorities.

We have spent months, and really years, pushing Republicans to work with us to protect the hundreds of thousands of Dreamers across our country--young men and women who have known no home but America, who have spent their entire lives reciting our Pledge of Allegiance, who think of our great country as their great country, who now, through no fault of their own, are facing a prospect of being torn from their homes, from their families and their friends, and deported to a country many of them can't even remember.

Months and months have been spent trying to get Republicans to work with us. Months and months we have been urging Republicans to join us at the table. Months and months we have been trying to solve problems with solutions that had bipartisan support. Democrats and Republicans were on the same page on all of these issues. For months and months, President Trump and the Republican leaders have refused. They have sat in their partisan corner. They have ignored the Democrats and Republicans who wanted results. They have pushed us to the precipice and then right into this completely unnecessary shutdown.

I know this has been discussed on the Senate floor at length today, but it bears repeating. This shutdown is a choice made by Republicans-- the party that controls the Senate, the House, and the White House. It is a choice made through their inaction, months and months of refusing to work with us, and it is a choice made through their actions trying to jam through a partisan bill at the last minute they knew couldn't pass, blocking our last-minute efforts to keep the government open for a few days while we negotiate an actual deal, moving the goalpost in the last-minute negotiations between President Trump and the Democratic leader from New York, and now spending their time trying to point fingers and place blame instead of facing up to their responsibilities as the governing party.

I know President Trump said this year that our country ``needs a good shutdown.'' I hope he remembers what he said in 2013 because back then President Trump said:

Problems start from the top and they have to get solved

from the top--and the President's the leader. And he's got to

get everybody in a room and he's got to lead.

He went on to say:

When they talk about the government shutdown, they're going

to be talking about the President of the United States, who

the President was at that time.

And that in a government shutdown, ``I really think the pressure is on the President.''

I don't say this often, but President Trump was absolutely right in 2013 about the Trump shutdown of 2018. President Trump is not the only one in the White House, but it is Republicans who run the Senate and they run the House, all of them. The onus is on them to get this done, and they have a Democratic Party that is ready to work with them to get this done right.

Before I close, I do want to make one final point, very much connected. This weekend is not just 1 year since President Trump's inauguration; it is also the anniversary of the women's march, when millions and millions of people across the country stood up to make it clear, wearing those bright pink hats, that they weren't going to just sit by and watch. I was at that incredible women's march in DC a year ago, and I remember thinking to myself, this is what a democracy looks like--people getting involved, getting engaged, speaking up, speaking out, fighting back, and standing strong. For those women and men at the marches this weekend and for the millions and millions more who are looking at what is happening in our country and feel so strongly that this just isn't right, Democrats agree, and we have your back.

I am going to keep fighting as hard as I can. I am going to keep making it clear, I stand ready to work with anyone from any party who is willing to stand with me to restore respect and get results. I believe there are enough Members on both sides of the aisle who are more focused on reaching out hands than pointing fingers, and we can get this done. We can reopen our government. We can address the many challenges facing the people we represent, and we can get back to doing the work the people we represent sent us here to do.

Before I close, I do want to mention one thing. A number of my colleagues have been working hard to make sure our military and their families are protected no matter what. We have a bill--the Pay Our Military Act--that would do exactly that. My friend, the Senator from Missouri, has been working so hard to get this done. I know my friend the junior Senator from Illinois has as well. So many of us believe this is the right thing to do right now, at a time when there is uncertainty. Unfortunately, the Republican leader has blocked our efforts so far. I just want to say I am really hopeful he reverses course and allows us to get this done. It is the right thing to do, and it is the least we can do for the men and women who sign up to serve our country and protect all of us.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak as in morning business.

Mr. President, I come to the floor today to talk about an issue that is critical to patients and families in my home State of Washington and across the country. Today, parents are wondering if they will be able to get the healthcare their kids need, and communities are wondering if they will be able to provide it.

That is unacceptable.

Congress has to swiftly and fully restore the Children's Health Insurance Program, or CHIP, and funding for other services families need, like community health centers, which have been waiting more than 100 days for a long-term solution. They should do so without making deep cuts to successful prevention programs in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that tackle avoidable conditions like heart disease and diabetes.

Democrats have wanted to get this done for months. By focusing on pushing through partisan tax reform at the end of the year, Republicans instead put massive corporations and the wealthiest ahead of making sure our children and their families have the healthcare they need. I hope they are now ready to give these issues their full and immediate attention. In case they aren't, I want to make sure they know exactly what this is about.

It is about children like Stella. Stella lives in Washington State. She is 5 years old. She has two brothers. She has a love of the outdoors, especially swimming and kayaking. She has a typical kindergartner's boundless energy and excitement. But Stella was born with spina bifida, an issue with how her spinal cord was formed. In the past year of dealing with that condition, Stella's family went through 5 catheters a day, almost 2,000 in total. They went on 10 different occasions to have MRI scans. They went to get her new leg braces. Given the cost of all that, they went through their $5,000 deductible in the first 5 weeks of the year. That is right. It took just 5 weeks. Additionally, this year Stella is also scheduled to have bladder and kidney surgery.

As one can imagine, the expenses are really adding up. Even with both parents working, covering Stella's healthcare needs would be an unimaginable task. Fortunately, Stella does qualify for health insurance through CHIP. CHIP has helped her family afford the treatment she needs, including physical therapy.

Stella's story is just one of many examples of families who rely on this program. There are 60,000 children in Washington State who are now insured through CHIP. Nine million families nationwide rely on it to help address the healthcare needs of their children. Yet Congress has taken over 102 days and counting to restore it. There is no excuse for this inaction.

Families who rely on the CHIP Program are not alone in needing our immediate attention. Thanks to CHIP and Medicaid, the uninsured rate among children is now at an all-time low. Jeopardizing this accomplishment by letting CHIP twist in the wind is simply unacceptable. This Republican-controlled Congress has also failed to renew other investments that our families rely on for the care they need--programs such as community health centers, which serve 25 million patients, particularly in our rural and poorer communities; the National Health Service Corps, which brings doctors and other healthcare providers to underserved areas through scholarships and loan repayment; and the Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education Program, which brings primary care and dental residencies to communities in need. Leaving these programs without long-term extensions a minute longer is utterly irresponsible because this lack of certainty for them is already bringing a negative impact on our communities.

For example, the Northeast Washington Health Programs serve some of most the rural areas in my State, including Ferry County, which has fewer than four people per square mile. They are struggling to hire needed medical staff and managers because of this uncertainty that is now there. Ferry County cannot wait.

The Community Health Association of Spokane runs 12 health center sites and sees more than 70,000 patients a year. They recently began offering very much needed opioid addiction treatment. If Congress does not reauthorize the community health center funding, those efforts will be jeopardized and expansions will be halted. Spokane cannot wait.

Yakima Neighborhood Health Services served over 22,000 patients in 2016. Almost all of those patients were below 200 percent of the Federal poverty line.

If Congress does not act soon, three different clinics, including a clinic in one of the poorest cities in Washington, will be at risk. Yakima cannot wait.

I have heard additional stories of similar hardships from across my State. North Olympic Healthcare Network has had to put expansions on behavioral healthcare on hold. Another health center in Washington may have to reconsider building a new children's dental residency program. A center serving Whatcom County may have to cancel a project for medical, dental, and behavioral healthcare facilities as well.

Across the country there are a lot of examples for community health centers just like the ones I mentioned. Healthcare that people of all ages and backgrounds rely on is being put in jeopardy, all because Republicans prioritized tax cuts for those at the top before the health needs of millions of people at the end of last year.

It is far past time to show these families that we are willing to work to get this done. We need to give them the peace of mind that they can get the healthcare they need. They deserve that.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, over the years there has been a lot of debate on the Senate floor, from healthcare to tax reform. There is no doubt that some days it feels impossible to get the majority of Republicans onboard with policies that truly help the families we represent. But there is one thing that unites not only a large bipartisan contingent in Congress but also the vast majority of American people, and that is finding a path forward for the estimated 800,000 young men and women whose lives are right now in limbo--800,000 people, including 17,000 men, women, boys, and girls from my home State of Washington who shared their information, paid a large fee, and upheld their end of the bargain, only to have President Trump rip the rug out from under them 3 months ago when he and Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the end of the DACA Program.

This Congress may not be able to change the Trump administration's hateful rhetoric or shortsighted policies overnight, but we can and we should pass the Dream Act as soon as possible. That is why we need more Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle ready to roll up their sleeves and get this done. Because every single day that Republican leaders refuse to bring the Dream Act to the floor to a vote, another 122 young people lose their DACA status, they lose their ability to work legally, and they lose their protection from deportation. That means that every day, 122 of our neighbors, students, coworkers, and friends could be forced from the only country they know, despite the promise the Federal Government made to them when they signed up for DACA and despite their immensurable contributions to our schools, our hospitals, our universities, our stores, our farms, our churches, our offices, and so much more. That means small and large businesses are forced to lay off DACA recipients each day--vital employees in whom businesses have invested money to train and support, employees who help our economy and the small businesses in my State grow.

My friends on the other side of the aisle are constantly claiming they want to help our small businesses grow. I listened to weeks of their speeches on this as they tried to justify the tax bill. But instead of a giveaway to the wealthiest 1 percent, one way my friends across the aisle could actually help small businesses is to bring the Dream Act up for a vote.

This morning, I had the great honor of sitting down with Dreamers who traveled all the way here from my State across the Nation to fight for action, young people who had no control over how they came to this country but who have made conscious choices to improve their own lives and make life better for their own community. They are passionate, they are frustrated, and their stories need to be heard.

Here is just one of them. Paul was brought here to this country at the age of 7 to be reunited with his father. Paul excelled in schools in Pasco, WA, not far from where my own dad grew up. Paul and his parents worried that despite Paul's success in K-12, going to college and starting a career might be impossible. But DACA provided him and his family with stability. Paul went to Gonzaga University in Spokane, WA, as a double major in political science and economics, and he now works in our State legislature.

Now, with DACA in question, it is not just Paul who isn't sure what comes next for him but also his younger brother, Jose. Jose, who was only 2 years old when he came here, grew up seeing what Paul, his older brother, was able to achieve. He saw that DACA allowed Paul to live without that constant fear. Jose was ready to follow in Paul's footsteps and enroll in the DACA Program so he could pursue his dream of an engineering degree at the University of Washington. Now, if Congress doesn't act, we will have one less engineer in this country.

Paul and Jose are great examples of Dreamers who have worked hard. They have aimed high, and they participate in our community and our economy, making our country a better place. This country should be rolling out the welcome mat to our Dreamers, not slamming the door shut on them. And that is why I am here today with my colleagues to echo their fear and frustration on the floor of the Senate and to call on Republican leaders to work with us. Stop letting so many promising young men and women fall off the rolls of this program each and every day. Stop kicking this can down the road. Come together to do what is right for these young people.

Ending the DACA Program is not what our country is all about. It doesn't do anything to fix our immigration system, prepare for our future, or grow our economy. Ending DACA won't heal the divisions we have seen in our communities or make them any easier to fix. And ending the DACA

Program certainly doesn't reflect a country of opportunity or promise-- something the United States has always aspired to be.

I urge my colleagues here in the Senate and over in the House to think about the communities you represent. Think about the young men and women who are currently studying for finals or caring for our sick or teaching our children or responding to natural disasters or opening businesses in the communities you travel to and live in. Think about the young men and women who hope to serve in our military and defend your freedom some day. Think of the Dreamers who have grown up in our country and whose children are the future of our Nation. Think about how much good we could do for these young men and women if my Republican friends brought the same commitment and zeal to this task as they did to their tax bill. Finally, work with Democrats to find a real solution to end this unnecessary uncertainty.

I want to thank Paul and all the other advocates from my State whom I met with in my office this morning and the many thousands of others who are showing up in every way they can to make their voices heard and to call on us here in Congress to act. Dr. Martin Luther King once said that justice too long delayed is justice denied, and Dreamers are not asking for anything other than what we have promised to them.

This is an incredibly difficult and uncertain time for so many people, but Dreamers need to know that many of us in Congress and so many across the country have their backs. We will get this done. We have to get this done.

Thank you, Mr. President.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, as a U.S. Senator, one of the most important and consequential choices I make is whether or not to support a judicial nominee.

The men and women of the bench are often the final gatekeepers of our Nation's justice system--and the right kind of judge shows up to work every day to make the system work for every citizen, free from prejudice or bias.

With that principle in mind, I strongly oppose the three nominees for the circuit court whose nominations are before the U.S. Senate.

While President Trump has the right to make nominations, Members of this Senate also have the right to reject those nominations.

It is clear, based on the records of the three nominees before us, that is exactly what Members of this Senate ought to do.

Vote no.

Don't be a rubberstamp for this President's hateful agenda or his obvious disdain for the rule of law.

The first nominee this Senate should reject is Leonard Grasz, whom President Trump picked to serve on the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Mr. Grasz is a notable nominee but for all the wrong reasons.

He is notable because his peers at the American Bar Association unanimously found Mr. Grasz ``not qualified''--just the third nominee in nearly 30 years to receive this distinction.

The ABA report shows his peers questioned whether Mr. Grasz could look past his ``deeply-held social agenda and political loyalty to be able to judge objectively, with compassion and without bias.

These are serious red flags--and it is unconscionable for any of my colleagues to turn a blind eye to relevant information regarding Mr. Grasz's ability to do his job fairly.

I am also disturbed by the willingness of several of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to slander the nonpartisan ABA as some sort of liberal front group instead of evaluating its factual assessment.

The ABA has done this body a great service of neutral and fair evaluation over many decades, for which Members of the Senate should be grateful.

I also have grave concerns regarding Don Willett, one of two nominees for the Fifth Circuit.

Mr. Willett has been unabashed in his criticism of equal rights for women--expressing caustic views on pay equity, justice for sexual assault survivors, and age discrimination.

He has resisted equality for LGBTQ Americans and defied the key same- sex marriage ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court.

No judge who thumbs their nose at the Supreme Court is fit for a lifetime appointment.

No person who compares the right of one person to marry the person they love to a ``right to marry bacon'' is fit to administer justice in this country.

President Trump's other nominee for the Fifth Circuit, James Ho, has a similarly disturbing track record on LGBTQ rights.

He has also called for eliminating all restrictions on campaign finance and is

an ardent defender of giving the executive branch even more power.

I can see why President Trump would want Mr. Ho on the court, but Mr. Ho's pattern of giving more leeway to the executive branch should be deeply concerning to everyone else.

In sum, the three nominees President Trump sent to this Senate for review fall far short of the standards this Senate should demand or that this country deserves.

I want to make clear that these nominees have a completely backward and harmful record on women's constitutionally protected reproductive rights--and would seek to undermine Roe v. Wade.

Stacking our courtrooms with judges who will bend to the will of one President's hateful, divisive agenda is wrong--and will not be forgotten.

I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to take a stand. Reject President Trump's politically driven attacks on women's health and rights. Reject efforts to chip away at fundamental rights and respect for the LGBTQ community, and reject his judicial nominees who will serve only to give him the green light to expand his own power.

Vote no on circuit court nominees Leonard Grasz, Don Willett, and James Ho.

Mr. President, I come to the floor today as a voice for 800,000 young men and women who are counting on all of us to pass the Dream Act. We can't wait because they can't wait. Every day that passes is another day they are forced to keep their lives on hold. Right now, hundreds of thousands of young people in this country are deferring their dreams of finishing a college degree, of becoming a doctor, buying a home, raising a family, starting a small business, or serving in our military--all because President Trump pulled the plug on the DACA Program 3 months ago.

Imagine that feeling of waking up day after day without any certainty about what comes next. Imagine that the country you love--the country where you grew up, where you are part of the community, where you pay your taxes, where you spend your time, your energy, and your money-- will not commit to uphold this promise to you. That is just wrong.

Dreamers were brought to this country as children--some of them so young, they don't even remember it--and holding up their futures or sending them to a country they have never known makes no sense for them or for our country. It doesn't do anything to solve our broken immigration system, and it certainly doesn't reflect a country of opportunity or promise--something the United States has always aspired to.

My colleagues have been sharing stories from their States. Here are a few from my home State of Washington--just a few. I have heard so many in recent months.

Not long ago, I was in Tacoma, and I visited a community organization that has actually helped hundreds of men and women get enrolled in the DACA Program, including a woman named Adriana. She has always been a strong student. As early as middle school, she was representing her school district in statewide math and science competitions. Now, after becoming a certified nursing assistant, she is a program manager supervising others. Letting the DACA Program collapse would be a huge setback for Adriana and would end her authorization and her ability to work as a nursing assistant.

I heard from a sophomore at my alma mater, Washington State University, who was brought here to this country at the age of 9. Thanks to the DACA Program, she was able to get a job helping adults with disabilities, which has allowed her to pay for college tuition and support herself. She is a full-time student with a part-time job and still finds time to volunteer in her community. She is on track to graduate in 2019. She dreams of owning her own company someday.

I heard from another DACA recipient who owns a business in Washington State. He said that his college degree from the University of Washington--which he completed without any Federal funding, by the way, no help at all--symbolized one of his great life challenges. And, as he noted, he is now using his education, his skills, his earnings, and his taxes to contribute to the U.S. economy. He wrote: ``This country is my home.''

The thought that this country would slam the door shut on him or any other Dreamer after all they have put in their communities and our country is so backward. That is why we Senators who are elected to work for the people and address the big issues facing the country need to act.

I urge my Republican colleagues to consider the stories you heard from your own States. Think about the communities you represent and the young men and women who are studying and working and starting businesses in the communities you travel to and live in. Show them that President Trump's reckless, divisive agenda does not represent you, your party, or your own State. Work with Democrats to stand for the Dreamers in your district, who are unsure if they can keep their job at a hospital or as a firefighter or serve in our military to fight for our freedoms, who are unsure if they can stay in the only country they have known as home and remain with loved ones.

We need the help of every Member to push back against the policies and the rhetoric that hurt our friends and our neighbors, our coworkers, our students, and our loved ones, because, to paraphrase Dr. King, we know that only our light can drive out the dark forces of bigotry and division in this country.

I thank the countless DACA recipients who have bravely shared their stories in letters, in person, and at rallies across our country. I know it cannot be easy to speak up in these uncertain times, but I want Dreamers to know that there are a lot of us here in Congress and across the country who are inspired by your courage and resilience. We stand with you, and we will not stop until we get this across the finish line.

Thank you, Mr. President.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I come to the floor this afternoon to speak on behalf of myself, along with Senator Wyden, about the incredible healthcare impacts that this tax bill will have on families.

It is astonishing just how far my Republican colleagues are willing to run from the truth in order to jam this terrible tax bill through Congress.

They said it was going to lower taxes for the middle class. Well, it will not.

They claim it is going to create jobs. Experts tell us the exact opposite.

They are once again telling families to place their faith on tired trickle-down economic theories, and we have seen how that works. It doesn't.

Unfortunately, I could go on, but I did come to the floor this afternoon to clear up any remaining confusion about one particular claim that Senate Republicans are making in order to justify handing more tax breaks to massive corporations and the wealthy.

The Senate Republican tax bill includes a truly devastating healthcare change that is going to raise families' premiums, cause millions of people to lose their coverage, and create even more chaos and instability in our healthcare markets. People have rejected every single Republican attempt this year to undermine their healthcare, so it is worth asking, why are they doing it again? Why are Republicans doing it in this bill? The answer is simple. Republicans wanted to spend the savings from taking away millions of people's healthcare on tax cuts for those at the top.

Taking healthcare away from families to pay for big corporations' tax breaks is bad enough; what makes it even worse is how they are trying to deny what they are doing.

Senate Republicans are claiming that if they pass the bipartisan bill that Chairman Alexander and I agreed on, all the damage from the healthcare sabotage in their tax bill will somehow go away. They couldn't be more wrong. Our bill, the Alexander-Murray bill, was designed to shore up the existing healthcare system and deal with the problems that President Trump and Republicans already created, not to solve the new problems in this awful Republican tax bill. And just yesterday, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office confirmed that. Here is what they said will happen regardless of whether Alexander- Murray becomes law as well: Premiums will go up 10 percent each year, 13 million people will lose coverage, and markets will be even more unstable, which experts have said will cause some of our communities to lose their coverage options.

There has been some discussion on whether passing something called reinsurance, which is a program designed to help with the cost of enrolling the sickest patients, might mitigate the serious damage this Republican tax bill would do. The answer is no there as well. This policy is good policy on its own, but it will not stop the premium increases, and it will not stop the coverage losses and the chaos this Republican tax bill will cause.

The Republicans are doing everything they can to avoid the facts, but that doesn't make them go away. While hiding behind these bipartisan

bills might seem like a good talking point in Washington, DC, political cover doesn't pay families' medical bills or give them their coverage back. It does not help people with preexisting conditions who may get priced out of the market. It doesn't help people in communities where markets are already unstable thanks to President Trump's year of sabotage, meaning insurers are ready to exit if things get worse.

One more point. Over the last year of roller coasters on healthcare, there is one thing we could count on; that is, President Trump and the Republican leaders making empty promises. Republicans who are comfortable voting for this awful tax bill because of promises they got from President Trump--who called his own TrumpCare bill ``mean'' when it suited him--and Republican leaders who have written check after check they couldn't cash on healthcare are placing a bet that is more than risky. In fact, this bet is so risky, it requires House Republicans voting in favor of supporting ObamaCare changes they have already said they oppose. If you have spent 5 minutes in this Congress, you should know that getting House Republicans to support ObamaCare is as tough a sell as it gets.

The truth is, if Republicans are serious about not undermining families' healthcare, there is a very easy way for them to actually do that. They can step back from the brink right now and work with Democrats on healthcare and taxes in ways that actually help, not hurt, the people we are supposed to be here to serve. They are far down the road, I understand, but it is not too late. They can turn around. It is not too late to do the right thing. That is what we are asking.

Mr. President, I yield the floor.

Will the Senator from Oregon yield?

Madam President, the American people have gotten a lot of lip service over the past 10 months. Remember draining the swamp and fighting for the forgotten families? The President apparently forgot them when he filled the Cabinet with a who's who of Wall Street. How about every single American having better, cheaper healthcare? That was, of course, before Republicans tried to kick millions of people off of their coverage, increase costs for millions more, and gut protections for people with preexisting conditions.

You would think it would be tough to top all of that, but here we are watching as Republicans, led by President Trump, twist themselves into knots trying to convince hard-working families that the GOP tax plan is anything but a high-priced giveaway to millionaires, billionaires, and the biggest corporations. It is a high-priced giveaway paid for by--you guessed it--the middle class and those who can least afford it. This is so wrong, and I am glad, finally, the phones across the Capitol are today lighting up with constituents demanding to know how anyone promising to represent them could possibly put their name on this terrible, partisan, fast-tracked bill because they see the same nonpartisan reports we all do. They know expert after expert has confirmed what we all know: The Republican tax plan will hurt millions of everyday Americans, including those who are already falling behind in an economy that tilts further and further in favor of the wealthiest few. They know the Republican tax plan takes money out of their pockets. They know it guts their healthcare by spiking premiums and leaving millions and millions of

Americans without the coverage they need. They know it papers over our Nation's paid family leave problem, instead giving corporations a massive giveaway and leaving families who need to care for loved ones in the lurch. They know it adds trillions of dollars to the national debt, setting up, once again, the perfect foil for Republicans to then come after Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and other middle-class priorities when the bill comes due.

In case that wasn't enough, the Senate Republican tax bill adds a backdoor attempt to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling for oil, just for good measure. Republicans are even trying to pay for tax cuts for those at the top by sabotaging families' healthcare in this bill in a way that would spike premiums, cause 13 million people to lose their coverage, and creates more chaos in the healthcare system.

I know they are claiming the bipartisan bill I reached with Chairman Alexander can somehow fix this if it is signed into law and that other bipartisan legislation to help States cover the costs of enrolling very sick patients might help, too, but let me make very clear, that is very wrong. This is the classic example of trying to fit a square peg into a round hole and would be cold comfort to the people across the country who will struggle even more to get the care they need while at the same time watching massive corporations get more tax breaks they don't need.

If anyone was still under any illusion that Republicans were concerned about the middle class or fiscal responsibility or even regular order, that ends here and now. This is shameful and wrong. I have to say, it is not too late. I say this to my Republican colleagues, let's move right now to the bipartisan work we know our constituents actually want and expect. Let's return to a process that allows a true debate about our values and priorities as a nation. Let's talk about ways to help our workers and grow the economy from the middle out, such as access to high-quality childcare and pre-K for all of our working families; providing meaningful paid family and medical leave for every American; making college more affordable; investing in retirement security for our workers; supporting our veterans; and making healthcare higher quality, more affordable, and more accessible. Those are the kinds of conversations we should be having. Those are the people we should be investing in. We will not stop reminding you of that every day until you give up this cruel tax plan.

I yield the floor.

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

Mr. President, I wish to make a statement about the second vote we are going to have, and I urge my colleagues to vote against the nomination of David Zatezalo as the Mine Safety and Health Administrator.

MSHA is responsible for protecting the safety and health of miners in this country and for holding companies that put their workers' lives at risk accountable. So it really is disappointing to me that President Trump nominated one of the industry's worst health and safety offenders to lead this critically important agency.

This is, unfortunately, just another in a long list of decisions by President Trump that jeopardizes workers' health, safety, and financial security in order to prioritize corporations and special interests.

I really hope our colleagues will join me in rejecting President Trump's extreme agenda and this nominee.

Thank you.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I come to the floor today to highlight yet another dangerous nominee who has been put forth by this administration.

During the campaign, President Trump made promise after promise to workers. He said he would put them first. He said he would bring back good-paying jobs to our struggling communities. While he made this promise to all workers, he specifically called out miners on more than one occasion, so it would stand to reason that President Trump would prioritize the Mine Safety and Health Administration and nominate a leader who is committed to the agency's core mission.

MSHA is critically important to ensuring that mining jobs are safe and that mining companies aren't unnecessarily endangering their workers' lives and safety. MSHA is responsible for inspecting mines and holding companies accountable when they violate safety and health standards. MSHA's top priorities are to eliminate fatal mining accidents, reduce the frequency and severity of accidents, and minimize health hazards for workers through inspection enforcement.

Unfortunately, we are already seeing MSHA safety standards lapse under the Trump administration. Earlier this year, MSHA was set to implement a rule that would require safety exams of mines prior to the start of a miner's shift. Ensuring mines are safe before miners are put at risk should not be controversial. Yet the Trump administration has delayed implementation of that rule and proposed changes to actually weaken it.

Given this concerning record so far, it is so critical--absolutely critical--that the MSHA Administrator is committed to standing up for our miners. But instead of nominating an advocate for workers' health and safety, President Trump nominated one of the industry's worst offenders.

David Zatezalo is a mining industry executive who has made it clear that he cares more about corporate profits than workers. When he was the CEO of Rhino Resources, one of the mines under Mr. Zatezalo's control received unprecedented safety penalties. A Rhino mine was the first in history to be cited twice for a pattern of violations, an action that is only taken when there is a clear and demonstrated disregard for workers' health and safety.

When the Obama administration issued commonsense rules to improve the pattern of violations process, the Ohio Coal Association, where Mr. Zatezalo sat on the board of directors, sued to block the rule.

Under Mr. Zatezalo's leadership, two separate mines owned by Rhino Resources had injury rates that far exceeded the national average.

As a mining executive, Mr. Zatezalo refused to play by the rules. His company violated the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act by giving advance notice of an MSHA inspection, meaning employees had the opportunity to cover up potential health and safety violations.

Rhino Resources was sued by the EEOC for creating an unlawful, hostile work environment by allowing an employee to be targeted based on his national origin. The EEOC said Zatezalo's company allowed discrimination to ``continue unchecked in the workplace'' and cited Rhino for retaliating against the employee instead of reprimanding those who were doing the harassing.

It is clear to me that Mr. Zatezalo is wholly unqualified to serve as the Mine Safety and Health Administrator, and I believe that if he is confirmed, he will put thousands of miners' lives and safety at risk.

I am very disappointed that President Trump and congressional Republicans are once again breaking promises to workers. I urge my colleagues to join me in standing up for our miners across the country and vote against Mr. Zatezalo's nomination.

Once again, the contrast with Democrats' vision couldn't be starker. Under the leadership of Senator Casey, Democrats are advocating for stronger enforcement abilities for MSHA so we can hold operators who show a repeated disregard for miner safety accountable.

I really want my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to join us and pass these commonsense reforms that will help prevent further mining accidents and deaths. We will strengthen our economy if we start prioritizing workers' health, safety, and well-being over corporate profits. I believe that must begin with rejecting President Trump's extreme agenda and these nominees who appear all too willing to implement it without concern for the workers and families they are supposed to serve.

Mr. President, I yield the floor.

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

Mr. President, I come to the floor to do what the Trump administration has failed to do; that is, to stand up for working families and fight for an economy that actually works for all, not just for the richest among us.

On the campaign trail, President Trump made promise after promise to workers. He promised to put them first and bring back good-paying jobs to their communities. Yet, since day one of his Presidency, we have seen him do just the opposite. His administration has rolled back protections for workers and families and prioritized corporate profits over working families' financial security.

He has put forth nominee after nominee who puts industry interests above the needs of families, like William Wehrum, President Trump's nominee to lead the EPA's Office of Air and Radiation. Mr. Wehrum is someone who

has worked to undermine the core mission of the office he would oversee. He is a nominee who has demonstrated a willingness to side with protecting Big Business instead of protecting our Nation's most valuable resources and whose independence is truly in question.

Unfortunately, when looking at President Trump's record as a businessman, these decisions do not come as a surprise. President Trump spent decades as a real estate developer, cheating workers and contractors out of their hard-earned pay, and he refused to allow his own hotel workers to join together and advocate for safer working conditions and better wages.

President Trump's vision of our economy is one in which workers bear the burden, and the people who live in gilded towers get the benefit. The contrast with Democrats could not be clearer. Last week, Democrats rolled out an ambitious agenda to reform our labor laws to, once again, empower workers to join together, make their voices heard, and fight for better wages and benefits.

Currently, it is extremely difficult for workers to seek justice when corporations violate their rights, and if we want to rebuild the middle class, we have to change that because workers having the right to organize and join unions helped to build the middle class we have today. For many workers in the 20th century, good union jobs helped them to support their families and climb the economic ladder, but over the past few decades, our economy has worked in favor of corporations and those at the top. As corporate management and special interests have undermined workers in their right to collectively bargain, we have seen, of course, a decline in unions and union membership across the country. This has allowed President Trump and billionaires like him to take advantage of their workers, and it has given workers little recourse in standing up and fighting for better working conditions.

The preamble of the National Labor Relations Act clearly states that it is the policy of the United States to encourage collective bargaining to give workers a voice, allowing them to speak up for fair wages and safe working conditions, and it is the responsibility of the NLRB to ensure that workers' rights are protected so they are not taken advantage of. The NLRB gives workers the opportunity to file charges against corporations when they are illegally fired or retaliated against for exercising their rights, and because President Trump's own businesses have had complaints filed against them numerous times, it is so critical now that the Board is independent and committed to that core mission.

Unfortunately, I have serious concerns about Mr. Robb's commitment to that core mission and to supporting workers' rights so more families, not fewer, have financial security. Mr. Robb has spent most of his career as a corporate lawyer, representing Big Business and seeking to limit the rights that workers are guaranteed under the National Labor Relations Act--the very law he is now asking to be in charge of and enforce. He has defended companies against unfair labor allegations, age and discrimination charges, and unfair wage and hour claims. If he is confirmed, Mr. Robb will have the sole decision-making power as to which cases will be brought before the NLRB.

Given his long history of defending corporations, I don't believe workers can trust him to act with their best interests at heart or to stand up to President Trump and his vision of an economy that works for those at the top but that undercuts workers' wages, safety, and rights.

I will be voting no on Mr. Robb's nomination, and I urge my colleagues to do the same. I know every single one of my colleagues has spoken to working families in his State who feel left behind today-- families who work full time and who are saving what they can. They are struggling to make ends meet. It is time that we stop prioritizing corporate profits and start focusing on those workers and our middle class. We can only strengthen our economy if we give workers a voice in it.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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

I ask unanimous consent that I be allowed to speak as in morning business.

Mr. President, I appreciate all of my colleagues from both sides of the aisle who will be joining us here this afternoon and thank them for their leadership on our legislation and for taking the time to speak today.

We are now exactly 1 week into open enrollment, and it has been 3 weeks since Chairman Alexander and I put forward a bipartisan bill to stabilize our healthcare markets and lower patients' healthcare costs. So I wanted to come this afternoon to talk for a few minutes about what it means that so many people nationwide are signing up for coverage and why there is no good reason for Republican leadership to wait another minute before bringing up our bill for a vote.

It is still early, but what we are seeing so far is that millions of people across our country are going to healthcare.gov to shop for coverage. Some 200,000 signed up on the first day. That is more than double the amount from last year. The vast majority will get tax credits to help cover their costs. In fact, some who are struggling the most will find they can save even more this year because of how our current healthcare system absorbs cost increases.

But there is no question that premiums are going up in many places and that fewer coverage options are available and not every consumer is protected. One woman--Melissa--told the Washington Post this week that she is ``joining the ranks of the uninsured'' for the first time in her life as a 51-year-old. She said that she doesn't qualify for subsidies and that given how much her premiums would increase, her insurance costs would have been more than her mortgage payments each month. Melissa is one of the people paying the price for President Trump's healthcare sabotage and the Republican leadership's--so far-- willingness to cheer him along.

It is unacceptable that patients and families are having to take on this burden. Let's remember that when someone goes to sign up for healthcare coverage, they are not doing it as a Republican or a Democrat, they are doing it as a parent or a caregiver or a business owner who wants to stay healthy and financially secure.

Here in Washington, DC, healthcare has become bogged down in politics, but in cities and towns across the country, it is about taking care of yourselves and your loved ones. That is why so many people are going online to shop for coverage despite the President's insistence that healthcare in the United States was going to ``implode,'' regardless of the fact that to make implosion a reality, President Trump--among his many other efforts at sabotage--shortened the enrollment period this year and gutted investments in outreach and advertising and caused premiums for those people to increase by double digits on the average. Patients and families deserve so much better.

I have said it before: The frustrating thing is that all this could have been avoided. Way back in September, Chairman Alexander and I were on the verge of an agreement to stabilize healthcare markets and lower premiums for the coming year and for 2019. Our agreement would have provided multiyear certainty on the out-of-pocket cost reduction subsidies that President Trump decided to stop paying even though the law says he is required to do so. Had we been able to move faster, our legislation would have resulted in lower premiums right away for 2018. But Republican leaders pressed the ``pause'' button on bipartisan negotiations so they could try one more time to jam partisan repeal through the Senate, and we lost a lot of precious time.

Our bill, the Lamar Alexander-Patty Murray Senate bill, would do a lot of good right now and over the next years. If Republican leadership takes up our legislation now and passes it, families would see rebates this year and lower healthcare costs next year because our bill is designed to ensure that the benefit of greater certainty is passed on to patients and taxpayers, not hoarded by insurance companies.

Our deal would also invest in open enrollment and outreach for 2019, so more people would be covered. It would allow States more flexibility to innovate as the Affordable Care Act always intended. It would mark a critical step away from this harmful partisanship on healthcare and toward working under regular order on solutions that make healthcare work better for the people we serve.

Finally, this legislation would send a critical message to patients and families that when Congress sets aside partisan difference and focuses on what is best for our country, we can deliver a result, as Chairman Alexander often says.

More than 200 groups representing doctors, hospitals, State officials, Governors, and patients have endorsed our bill. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office says it would do exactly what it was intended to do--stabilize markets and bring down healthcare costs--while returning $3.8 billion to taxpayers.

Twelve Senate Democrats and 12 Senate Republicans cosponsored it. We are continuing to build support, and there is no question that it would pass here with a filibuster-proof majority if it were brought to the floor. And while the Senate shouldn't need President Trump's signoff to take a position on ways to fix the Nation's healthcare system, the President has supported this process moving forward.

So here we are, and right now it is up to Republican leaders. They can choose to stay in a partisan corner and reject an opportunity to lower patients' healthcare costs in a bipartisan way, or they can do what people across the country want them to do and put patients over politics.

I do want to note that if Republican leaders hadn't gotten the message, voters made it pretty clear last night that they reject the deeply harmful partisanship we have seen on healthcare.

It is well past time for Republican leaders to give up the ghost on TrumpCare, declare it dead, and work with Democrats to get real solutions. That starts with our bipartisan bill to lower healthcare costs and stabilize the markets, because if they don't, they can be sure they will be held accountable.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, as President Trump continues to undermine worker protections and prioritize corporate profits, it is very critical that the NLRB is independent and is committed to promoting collective bargaining.

When corporations try to take advantage of their employees, workers should be able to turn to the NLRB to intervene. Unfortunately, Mr. Robb's career as a corporate lawyer fighting against workers gives me great concern he will not have workers' best interest at heart in this role. So I will be voting no on this nomination, and I urge my colleagues to stand up for workers and do the same.

I yield back our time.