Floor Statements

Mr. President, I previously filed budgetary aggregates and committee allocations for budget years 2014 and 2015 pursuant to section 116 of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013. Today, I am adjusting those levels.

Section 251 of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 establishes statutory limits on discretionary spending and allows for various adjustments to those limits, while sections 302 and 314(a) of the Congressional Budget Act allows the Chairman of the Budget Committee to establish and make revisions to allocations, aggregates, and levels consistent with those adjustments. On August 1, 2014, the Senate passed one bill that is eligible for an adjustment under the Congressional Budget Act: H.J. Res 76, Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Resolution, 2014, which includes $225 million in budget authority and $150 million in outlays in 2014 and $75 million in outlays in 2015 that is designated as emergency funding pursuant to section 251(b)(2)(A)(i) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985.

Consequently, I am revising the budgetary aggregates for 2014 by a total of $225 million in budget authority and $150 million in outlays. For 2015 I am revising the budgetary aggregates by $75 million in outlays. I am also revising the budget authority and outlay

allocations to the Appropriations Committee by $225 million in revised security budget authority and $150 million in outlays in 2014 and by $75 million in outlays in 2015.

I ask unanimous consent that the following tables detailing the changes to the allocation to the Committee on Appropriations and the budgetary aggregates be printed in the Record.

Madam President, I previously filed budgetary aggregates

and committee allocations for budget years 2014 and 2015 pursuant to section 116 of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013. Today, I am adjusting those levels.

Section 251 of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 establishes statutory limits on discretionary spending and allows for various adjustments to those limits, while sections 302 and 314(a) of the Congressional Budget Act allow the Chairman of the Budget Committee to establish and make revisions to allocations, aggregates, and levels consistent with those adjustments. The Senate will be considering legislation that is eligible for adjustments under the Congressional Budget Act: S. 2648, the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2014, which includes $3.571 billion in budget authority and $2.913 billion in outlays that is designated as emergency funding pursuant to section 251(b)(2)(A)(i) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985.

Consequently, I am revising the budgetary aggregates for 2014 by a total of $3.571 billion in budget authority and $25 million in outlays. I am also revising the budgetary aggregates for 2015 by a total of $2.888 billion in outlays. In addition, I am revising the budget authority and outlay allocations to the Appropriations Committee for 2014 by $3.346 billion in nonsecurity budget authority, $225 million in security budget authority, and $25 million in total outlays. I am revising the outlay allocations to the appropriations committee for 2015 by $2.888 billion.

I ask unanimous consent that the following tables detailing the changes to the allocation to the Committee on Appropriations and the budgetary aggregates be printed in the Record.

Madam President, I previously filed budgetary aggregates and committee allocations for budget years 2014 and 2015 pursuant to section 116 of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013. In addition, earlier today, I filed revisions to those levels for S. 2648, the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2014. Those adjustments were made as a result of funding designated as emergency requirements in S. 2648 pursuant to section

251(b)(2)(A)(i) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985. Because the Senate did not pass S. 2648, I am now reversing the adjustments I filed earlier today.

Consequently, I am revising the budgetary aggregates for 2014 by a total of -$3.571 billion in budget authority and -$25 million in outlays. I am also revising the budgetary aggregates for 2015 by a total of -$2.888 billion in outlays. In addition, I am revising the budget authority and outlay allocations to the Appropriations Committee for 2014 by -$3.346 billion in nonsecurity budget authority, -$225 million in security budget authority and -$25 million in total outlays. I am revising the outlay allocations to the appropriations committee for 2015 by -$2.888 billion.

I ask unanimous consent that the following tables detailing the changes to the allocation to the Committee on Appropriations and the budgetary aggregates be printed in the Record.

Madam President, before I begin I do want to take a moment to commend the chairmen of the Veterans' Affairs Committees in both the House and the Senate for their commitment to reaching a deal that puts our veterans first and gives the VA the tools they need to address immediate challenges.

More importantly, I really applaud their work to build and strengthen the VA system in order to continue to deliver the best care for our Nation's heroes over the long term.

The deal they announced yesterday is a very important step toward addressing a lot of issues that we know exist within the VA system, but it cannot be the final step. As transparency and accountability increase at the VA, so will the investigations and reports of additional concerns, requiring even more action from the VA, from the administration, and from this Congress.

However, as Chairman Miller said yesterday, we cannot legislate good character here in Congress. It is going to be up to the leadership at the Department of Veterans Affairs to truly enact those reforms.

So I have come to the floor today in support of the nomination of Robert McDonald, someone I believe has the skills necessary to make these necessary changes as the next VA Secretary.

As I told Mr. McDonald last week, he is faced with a truly monumental task. Even as we pass comprehensive legislation to bring significant reforms at the VA to reduce wait times, to improve accountability, there are still many serious challenges the VA must address.

Twenty-two veterans still take their own lives each day. Thousands of veterans are alone, coping with sexual assaults. And while the Department has made commendable progress, it will be an uphill battle as we work to eliminate veterans homelessness and the claims backlog. Mr. McDonald will have to grapple with these and many more issues--all on day one.

When I met with Mr. McDonald in my office a few weeks ago, he told me he was one of the veterans who was lost in the system during his transition from military life to civilian life. So I trust--I trust--he understands what a critical moment this is for the VA and why we must finally fix many of these systemic and cultural challenges.

We have all made a promise to those who have signed up to serve. So I encourage my colleagues to support this nomination. I am hopeful the steps we are taking here this week on behalf of our Nation's heroes will finally ignite the much-delayed reforms our veterans have been demanding and they deserve.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I previously filed budgetary aggregates and committee allocations for budget year 2015 pursuant to section 116 of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013. Today I am adjusting those levels to account for three reported bills from the Appropriations Committee.

Section 251 of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 establishes statutory limits on discretionary spending and allows for various adjustments to those limits, while sections 302 and 314(a) of the Congressional Budget Act allows the chairman of the Budget Committee to establish and make revisions to allocations, aggregates, and levels consistent with those adjustments. The Committee on Appropriations reported three bills that are eligible for an adjustment under the Congressional Budget Act:

1) The State, Foreign Operations, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, which includes $8.625 billion in budget authority and $2.5 billion in outlays that is designated as Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) funding.

2) The Homeland Security Appropriations Act, which includes $213 million

in budget authority and $170 million in outlays that is designated as OCO funding and $6.438 billion in budget authority and $322 million in outlays that is designated as disaster funding.

3) The Defense Appropriations Act, which includes $59.719 billion in budget authority and $28.368 billion in outlays that is designated as OCO funding.

Consequently, I am revising the budgetary aggregates for 2015 by a total of $74.995 billion in budget authority and $31.360 billion in outlays. I am also revising the budget authority and outlay allocations to the appropriations committee for 2015 by $16.416 billion in revised nonsecurity budget authority, $58.579 billion in revised security budget authority, and $31.360 billion in total outlays.

I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record the following tables detailing the changes to the allocation to the Committee on Appropriations and the budgetary aggregates.

Madam President, I come to the floor today to speak for a few minutes about the absolutely devastating wildfires currently burning through the farms, communities, and public lands of our home State of Washington.

As a lifelong resident of Washington State and the Pacific Northwest, I have always been aware of the annual risks and dangers that wildfires pose to our region. Every summer, a combination of rising temperatures, months of dry weather, and our State's obvious abundance of forest and fields have resulted in wildfires capable of threatening homes and businesses across our State. Each summer we have worked to become better and better prepared to help protect our communities.

But one wildfire burning this year is the single largest we have seen in Washington State. Since last Tuesday, massive wildfires covering hundreds of thousands of acres have ravaged our farm lands, our agricultural areas, our cherished public lands, and, most importantly, communities throughout Chelan County, Okanogan County, and others across eastern Washington.

I am talking about a massive wave of flames that has burned an area now four times the size of Seattle, which is our State's largest city. Even for those of us who have lived our entire lives with the reality of wildfires, this is unprecedented. So while I am here in what we call ``the other Washington,'' today, my heart, my thoughts, and my prayers are in Central and Eastern Washington. Even here on the Senate floor, I can't help but think of the firefighters and first responders and everyone who is neglecting sleep and rest to protect their communities. Most of all, I can't stop thinking about the families who lost their homes and all they own to this horrific disaster.

If there is one thing I know about our State, it is that we don't turn away from hard times or hard work. Over the last several weeks I have talked with a number of the local leaders in the communities that are facing these fires, including Sheriff Frank Rogers in Okanogan County, Sheriff Brian Burnett in Chelan County, and Mayor Libby Harrison in the small town of Pateros, where dozens of homes, including hers, have been lost to this fire. Every one of them told me that while their community is facing hard times, nobody is giving up. They have been doing everything they can to protect each and every person in their rural communities, and so far they have been able to do that.

I wish to share one story that speaks to what is happening in my home State right now. As I mentioned, this small town of Pateros has been hit very hard. They haven't lost any lives, but they have lost more than 100 homes and buildings throughout their community. But one building they did not lose was their school, which has always been to them the central place of their community, and it is now the central staging area as these fires rage on. As in many other small communities, the school in Pateros serves kids in grades K through 12, and last week that fire came within just a few feet of that school.

Firefighters and responders were working elsewhere. So the school could easily have burned down, until a local man by the name of Augustine Morales decided to do something about it. He and a friend used hoses on the backs of their own trucks to fight back that fire and save their kids' school.

Augustine was interviewed by a local TV station and here is what he said:

Everything was going through my mind because I have my kids

and I have to take care of my kids, and I [was] just thinking

. . . if you die, I don't know what's going to happen.

So that is what so many people just like Augustine are facing right now in Central and Eastern Washington, and I know they will not be giving up.

In addition to our thoughts and our prayers, we have to make sure we are working to have all of the Federal resources they need available. I am thrilled the Senate supplemental funding bill that was released yesterday actually includes $615 million for firefighting efforts in Western States--money I requested along with my colleague Senator Cantwell and 10 other colleagues. But we know there is a lot more work to be done. We have to get that funding passed through the Senate and the House and to the President's desk right away.

I am really very pleased that early yesterday morning the President, in fact, made an emergency declaration that is going to help those communities fight these wildfires.

I know that I and Senator Cantwell and all of us are going to be working with our local officials and Federal officials all the way up to the President to make sure those communities get what they need.

Thank you, Madam President. I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.

Madam President, I wish to recognize the 40th anniversary of the Legal Services Corporation, LSC, which falls on Friday, July 25.

Established with bipartisan support in 1974, LSC is a private, nonprofit corporation funded by Congress that aims to provide access to civil legal assistance to Americans who would otherwise be unable to afford it. LSC is a major source of funding for civil legal aid in this country and distributes over 90 percent of its annual Federal appropriation to over 130 local legal aid programs and close to 800 offices across every congressional district and territory.

Millions of Americans rely upon LSC-funded programs each year for help with their most basic civil legal needs. Every day, LSC-funded programs help low-income individuals and families fight illegal evictions, safeguard their financial health, and secure their veterans benefits. In my home State of Washington, LSC-backed programs have been helping survivors of the Oso mudslide get back up on their feet and rebuild their lives.

LSC-funded services are especially important for women across the country. Over 70 percent of legal aid clients are women and one-third of LSC-eligible cases involve family law issues such as domestic abuse, child support, and child custody.

Today, the need for LSC-supported programs and attorneys has never been greater. According to the Census Bureau, nearly one in five Americans qualifies for LSC-funded services. Yet recent studies show that due to financial constraints legal aid offices are forced to turn away more than half of the eligible individuals coming to them for help. As we mark this anniversary, I applaud the efforts of LSC, the programs and services funded by the corporation, and ask that we commit ourselves to ensuring that Americans of all backgrounds have access to adequate legal services. LSC is essential to protecting the lives and liberty of the most vulnerable Americans. We are a better nation for its 40 years of service and advocacy on their behalf.

Mr. President, I come to the floor today to talk about the Bring Jobs Home Act, which is the bill that would stop big corporations from getting a tax break for sending jobs overseas while rewarding businesses that invest in bringing jobs here, back home.

I thank my colleagues Senator Walsh and Senator Stabenow for leading the way on this important legislation, and I am glad we now have the opportunity to debate it. I hope our Republican colleagues will take a serious look at the Bring Jobs Home Act and work with us in the coming weeks and months on other efforts to create jobs and long-term economic growth.

Our economy has changed a lot over the last few decades. Prices have risen for everything from college tuition to health care, and the shifting realities of the global economy have really made it harder to find the kinds of jobs on which workers used to raise their families.

As we all remember, for far too many families the financial crisis and the recession that began in December of 2007 was the last straw. It pulled the rug out from under workers and small businesses across the country. We have come a long way since then, but it is clear there is much more we need to do to create jobs and broad-based economic growth so that hard-working families in our country get a fair shot.

At a time when too many families are still struggling to make ends meet, there is absolutely no reason taxpayer dollars should go toward helping big corporations send jobs overseas. That is why I was very proud today to vote in support of the Bring Jobs Home Act.

I think most Americans would agree they don't want their taxpayer dollars spent on helping corporations outsource jobs. It really should be a no-brainer.

Unfortunately, over the last few years we have spent far too much time avoiding crises rather than legislation like the Bring Jobs Home Act that would help our workers and businesses. Government shutdowns, default threats, and last-minute deals took up a lot of oxygen here in Washington, DC, and made workers and families really question whether their government could get anything done.

So when Chairman Ryan and I were able to reach a 2-year bipartisan budget agreement, I was hopeful we would be able to move beyond the cycle of governing by crisis, and I hoped we could build on that bipartisan foundation established in that 2-year budget deal and work across the aisle to create jobs and grow our economy. The Bring Jobs Home Act is exactly the kind of legislation I wanted to see us debate and work together on.

While we all know Republicans and Democrats have very different views on the best ways to encourage economic growth, we have taken some bipartisan steps that show we should be able to work together on this and other job-creating legislation. The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, which Senator Isakson from Georgia and I were able to work together to finish, is a great example. That bipartisan legislation shows what is possible when Members from different parties and different States and different Chambers come together to get things done for the American economy. I have heard from countless businesses and families in my home State of Washington who have told me how much they rely on effective workforce programs. So I was really thrilled yesterday to stand next to President Obama as he signed more than a decade of hard work and negotiation into law when he signed that legislation.

I am glad we were able to go beyond governing by crisis and reach a bipartisan agreement to thoroughly and responsibly improve our workforce development system. We need to do the same thing--go beyond simply avoiding crises when it comes to commonsense steps such as the Bring Jobs Home Act.

I would also note that this is true for the highway trust fund. I hope we will be able to not only avoid a construction shutdown short- term but that we will work together to strengthen our transportation infrastructure in a comprehensive way.

Construction workers and businesses absolutely deserve the certainty of knowing we are going to avoid the shortfall in the highway trust fund and keep our critical transportation projects moving forward. But they actually deserve more than that. They, along with every other American family and business that uses our roads and bridges, deserve a long-term solution--one that not only shores up the highway trust fund but also provides a plan for smart investments throughout our entire transportation system.

My colleagues Senator Wyden and Senator Boxer have been leading the way on avoiding this unnecessary crisis and addressing our transportation infrastructure challenges not just for next year but for years to come, and I thank both of them for their efforts.

I know conventional wisdom is that Congress will not be able to get anything done from now until November, but I don't see any reason at all why that ought to be the case. Families and communities rightly want us to solve problems. Just avoiding crises isn't enough.

I am very hopeful that in the coming weeks and months we can not only avoid a construction shutdown but also lay the groundwork for smart investments in our country's roads and bridges and waterways.

I am glad my Republican colleagues are making it clear that they don't want another fight over keeping the government open. I think we should build on that by working together to replace more of the harmful sequestration cuts we are going to face in 2016.

Instead of simply avoiding self-inflicted wounds to jobs and the economy, we should be taking important steps, such as the Bring Jobs Home Act, that encourage our companies to invest and hire right here at home.

Of course, there is much more to do as well, and I never meant to suggest that any of this would be easy. As we all know, compromise is not easy. But legislation such as the bipartisan Budget Act and the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act show us that when both sides are ready to come to the table and make tough choices, we can make real progress.

We have a lot of work to do over the next weeks and into the fall, and I hope we will take the bipartisan path that leads us to real solutions and goes beyond just simply avoiding the next crisis. That is what our constituents rightly expect, it is what they deserve, and it is what I hope we can all work together on to deliver.

Mr. President, I yield the floor, and I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I came to the Senate floor in April to warn my colleagues of a looming crisis in the highway trust fund. I told them if Congress didn't act and the fund reached critically low levels, it would cause construction shutdowns in communities across the country. It would cost jobs and threaten our fragile economic recovery. It would hurt families who depend on safe and efficient roads and bridges.

I had hoped that we could address this issue sooner. I had hoped those of us in Congress who understand the importance of strong infrastructure investments could have come together, not just to avoid a crisis but for a long-term solution. We weren't able to do that.

But today, after 4 months of warning of this looming crisis, I am pleased to come to the floor as we work to do what should be easy but too often isn't in the Senate--to avoid a completely unnecessary and completely damaging crisis. This is a step in the right direction. As many of us here know very well, it is a step that Congress has not taken each time a crisis approached.

For far too many years, Congress has been lurching from crisis to crisis, from debt limit scares to fiscal cliffs. That dysfunction hit a peak last October with a government shutdown over a misguided attempt to block the Affordable Care Act from covering millions of families and with another Federal default scare. The lurching from crisis to crisis with constant dysfunction and uncertainty hurt workers and our families, and it shook the confidence of people across the country who expect their elected officials to work together to get things done.

But when the government shutdown finally ended last year, I sat down with House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan in a budget conference. We worked together, we compromised, and we reached a 2-year budget deal that prevented another government shutdown and rolled back devastating cuts from sequestration.

That bipartisan budget deal moved us away from these constant crises and showed the American people that we can do our jobs when we are willing to work together. I believe it showed my Republican colleagues that putting the American people through these constant artificial crises is not only bad for the country overall, it is not good for Republicans either.

Since that bipartisan budget deal, we have been able to build on that bipartisan momentum in some very important ways. I was proud to work with the junior Senator from Georgia and a number of Democrats and Republicans on a bipartisan bill to invest in workforce training.

Our legislation passed both the House and the Senate with overwhelming bipartisan support, and this week it will officially become law. That kind of bipartisan work to help our workers and the economy wouldn't be possible if we were still in a constant crisis mode.

That is why I have been so hopeful we could avoid lurching toward yet another needless crisis--this time in our highway trust fund. The consequences of Congress failing to shore up the highway trust fund are clear. In fact, many of our States have already been bracing for a worst-case scenario. Arkansas, for example, has already put the brakes on 15 highway projects that would have widened their highways and repaired their bridges.

In Colorado, State officials are planning a project to ease congestion to give some much-needed relief to drivers between Denver and Fort Collins, but a lapse in our Federal funding could have put that project on hold.

Those are not isolated cases. Across the country more than 100,000 projects would have been at risk next year and 700,000 jobs would have been on the line if Congress failed to replenish the highway trust fund according to the Department of Transportation.

I am pleased Congress is finally coming together and working to avoid a construction shutdown this summer. Republicans in the House have pushed aside the tea party branch and passed a bill to avoid a construction shutdown this summer, with no ransom demands, no programmatic spending cuts, and no tea party policy riders.

I do support the bipartisan Senate proposal from the Finance Committee, which includes provisions to improve compliance with tax laws.

My colleague, the junior Senator from California, is right. We need pressure on Republicans to come back before the end of this Congress to work with us toward a long-term solution, but I am very pleased we are working together to get this done and avoid this unnecessary crisis that would have put jobs and our economy at risk.

This bill will be a step in the right direction, but then we need to take the next step. We need to keep this bipartisanship going, and we need to work together to find a long-term solution to the highway trust fund's revenue shortfall. That is the only way we can truly put an end to constant crises and short-term patches, and it is the only way we can give our States and businesses the certainty they need and deserve to plan projects and invest in their economies.

Once again, I am pleased we are moving toward avoiding a completely unnecessary construction shutdown, and I am pleased that the House Republicans seem to understand that it is better for them and our country to push the tea party aside and work with us--not to push us into another crisis.

I am hopeful we can build on this bipartisan effort and keep working together to create jobs, economic growth, and a fair shot and true opportunity for families across our country.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to reserve the last 3 minutes of debate for my time, and I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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

Madam President, in a few minutes we are going to vote to proceed to debate on the Protect Women's Health from Corporate Interference Act--or, as we call it, the Not My Boss's Business Act-- straightforward, simple legislation that would ensure that no CEO or corporation can come between you and your guaranteed access to health care, period.

Women across the country are watching. Affordability of care equals access to care, and we know that millions of Americans lacked health insurance prior to the Affordable Care Act because they couldn't afford it, not because it wasn't available to them to purchase. Contraceptives should be a part of the options in women's health care because it is an essential part. We don't single out other benefits for employees. Why should we single out benefits that are so important to women in this country?

Now is the time for our colleagues to answer a few basic questions. Who should be in charge of a woman's health care decision? Should it be the woman making those decisions with her partner and her doctor and her faith or should it be her boss making those decisions for her based on his own religious beliefs? To me and to the vast majority of people across the country, the answer to that question is obvious: Women should call the shots when it comes to their health care decisions, not their boss, not the government, not anyone else, period.

But we are here today because five men on the Supreme Court disagreed. Five men on the Supreme Court rolled back the clock on women across America. We are here today because we simply cannot allow that to stand.

In the aftermath of that decision, women across America turned up here in Congress and demanded we fix it. That is why I worked with my partner, the senior Senator from Colorado, to introduce this bill, and we have 46 cosponsors in the Senate and over 120 organizations that have voiced their support now. So I sincerely hope our Republican colleagues will join us in allowing us to proceed to debate on this important bill.

I wish to remind them that women across the country are watching. In fact, we have a number of them here in the Nation's Capitol today, and I believe they will be very interested in seeing who is on their side.

Thank you, Madam President. I yield the floor, and I ask unanimous consent to yield back all remaining time.

Mr. President, sections 114(d) and 116(c) of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013, allow the chairman of the Senate Budget Committee to revise the allocations, aggregates, and levels for a number of deficit-neutral reserve funds. These reserve funds were incorporated into the Bipartisan Budget Act by reference to S. Con. Res. 8, the Senate-passed budget resolution for 2014. Among these sections is a reference to section 319 of S. Con. Res. 8, which establishes a deficit-neutral reserve fund for terrorism risk insurance. The authority to adjust enforceable levels in the Senate for terrorism risk insurance is contingent on that legislation not increasing the deficit over either the period of the total of fiscal years 2014 through 2019 or the period of the total of fiscal years 2014 through 2024.

I find that S. 2244, the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2014, as reported on June 23, 2014, fulfills the conditions of the deficit-neutral reserve fund for terrorism risk insurance. Therefore, pursuant to sections 114(d) and 116(c) of H. J. Res. 59, I am adjusting the budgetary aggregates, as well as the allocation to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.

I ask unanimous consent that the following tables detailing the revisions be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I come to the floor to join with the senior Senator from Colorado, and I thank him for his excellent statement and leadership on this issue as we kick off this important debate on our bill, the Protect Women's Health From Corporate Interference Act, or, as we just heard, the ``Not My Boss's Business Act.''

I start off by asking our colleagues a few basic questions: First of all, who should be in charge of a woman's health care decisions? Should it be the woman making those decisions with her partner, her doctor, and her faith or should it be her boss making those decisions for her based on his own religious beliefs?

To me and to the vast majority of the people across the country, the answer to that question is obvious: Women should call the shots when it comes to their health care decisions--not their boss, not the government, not anyone else, period. But we are here because five men on the Supreme Court disagreed.

Five men on the Supreme Court decided there should be a group of women across America who are required to ask their boss for permission to access basic health care. Five men on the Supreme Court decided a corporation should have more rights than the women it employs. Five men on the Supreme Court rolled back the clock on women across America, and we are here today because we cannot allow that to stand. People across the country think the Supreme Court was dead wrong on this decision, and we are here to be their voice.

When we passed health care reform, we made sure every woman has access to basic health care, including contraception, which is used or will be used by 99 percent of the women in this country. When 58 percent of women use birth control for purposes other than pregnancy prevention--including managing endometriosis, ovarian cysts, and other medical conditions--we know this provision could have a sweeping impact on women across our country. In fact, according to the Department of Health and Human Services, 30 million women nationally are already eligible for this benefit, and when the law is fully implemented, 47 million women nationally will have access to no-pay birth control, thanks to the Affordable Care Act. By the way, thanks to this benefit, women have already saved $483 million, and that is just in the last year alone.

Contraception was included as a required preventive service in the Affordable Care Act on the recommendation of the independent nonprofit Institute of Medicine and other medical experts because it is essential to the health of women and families. After many years of research, we know ensuring access to effective birth control has a direct impact on improving the lives of women and their families in America. It is directly linked to declines in maternal and infant mortality, to reduced risk of ovarian cancer, to better health outcomes for women and, by the way, far fewer unintended pregnancies and abortions, which is a goal we all should share.

We should all know improving access to birth control is a good health care policy and it is good economic policy. We know it will mean healthier women, healthier children, and healthier families, and we know it will save money for businesses and consumers. But with their ruling, setting a potential dangerous precedent, the Supreme Court has not only inserted a woman's boss into her health care decisions, in many cases they have given him the final word.

In the aftermath of this decision, women across America are turning to

Congress and demanding we fix this. And by the way it is not just women who want Congress to act. People across the country understand, if bosses can deny birth control, then they can deny vaccines or HIV treatment or other basic health care services for employees and for their dependents. I think what men across America understand is it is not just the female employees who are impacted, it is their wives and their daughters who are on their health care plan as well.

As the ink was still drying on Justice Alito's misguided opinion in this case, I made an unwavering commitment to do everything I could to protect women's access to health care since the five male Justices of the Supreme Court decided they would not. That is why I have been working with my partner, the senior Senator from Colorado, to introduce this bill, and I am proud that in the many days since then we have received such strong support from people across the country.

Our straightforward and simple legislation will ensure that no CEO or corporation can come between people and their guaranteed access to health care, period.

This shouldn't be a controversial issue. The only controversy about birth control is the fact that it is 2014 and women across America are still fighting for this basic health care.

The data is clear. Ensuring access to contraceptive coverage isn't just the right thing to do, it is a critical part of making sure women and their families have a fair shot. In the 21st century, women and their families shouldn't be held back by outdated policies and unfair practices.

Again, it is not just about access to contraception. This includes pay equity, access to childcare, higher minimum wage, and it absolutely includes the right to make their own medical and religious decisions without being dictated to or limited by their employer.

The bottom line is this: Women use birth control for a host of reasons, none of which should require a permission slip from their boss.

I thank Leader Reid for moving this bill to the floor so quickly and for his commitment to getting this done because women across the country are expecting action. They do not want to wait. As we move forward on this bill this week, I hope enough Republicans can put proven science over their partisan politics and join us and revoke this Court-issued license to discriminate and return the right of Americans to make their own decisions about their own health care and their own bodies.

I thank Senator Udall once again for his work with me on this commonsense and bicameral legislation. I also thank the Members of the House Pro-Choice Caucus who introduced their companion legislation in the House, and I sincerely hope our Republican colleagues on both sides of the Capitol will join us. For those who don't, for those Republicans who have already said they oppose our legislation, I am interested in hearing their answer to the question I posed a few minutes ago: Do they think bosses should be in charge of a woman's health care decision? Do they think women should have to ask their boss permission for health care used by 99 percent of the women? Do they think we as a country should start down the path where CEOs and corporations can start making decisions for all kinds of health care for their employees?

Women across the country will be watching this debate, and I think they will be very interested in seeing who is on their side.

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

Mr. President, last month we saw five male Justices give their blessing to CEOs and corporations across America to go ahead and deny legally required health care coverage for their employees. When that news broke, I was outraged, and I know I was one of millions of people across the country who were shocked and angry.

These women are looking to us. They are demanding a change. Today, as women across America took to social media for a Digital Day of Action, their message was delivered loudly and clearly when they echoed: ``My personal health care choices are not my boss's business--period.''

It wasn't just women who were speaking out on social media today. In fact, we heard from several men who understood that if bosses can deny birth control, they can deny vaccines or HIV treatments or any other basic health care service for their employees or their dependents.

I heard from Konrad in my home State of Washington on Twitter today who said he doesn't want his boss knowing what medications he is on, such as diabetes or heart medications. Konrad said, ``It is simply not my boss's business.''

I also heard from my constituents when I was home this weekend. Friday I spoke directly with business owners and others who are hearing the same thing. Women are tired of being targeted and are looking to Congress to right this wrong by the Supreme Court.

One such woman is a woman named Morgan Beach. Morgan joined me Friday at Oddfellows Cafe, which is a small Seattle business whose owners stood up and spoke out about their disgust as employers about this ruling. Morgan is one of the 58 percent of women who use contraception for reasons other than to prevent pregnancy. As she spoke about how the Supreme Court decision would impact women such as her, Morgan said: ``The terrifying power this ruling gives to a small minority to make sweeping personal decisions . . . is frightening. The simple fact is, birth control is not my boss's business!''

Morgan is right. It is not her boss's business.

We are going to be talking about this urgent issue at more length tomorrow morning, but I wanted to come to the floor this evening and share what I heard from back home this weekend and throughout today. We have legislation that is now slated for a vote later this week, and we are going to be talking about this today and tomorrow. I hope all of our colleagues are listening, because it is time for Congress to get to work. Women and men are watching.

I am delighted to be joined today by my colleague from Colorado, Senator Udall, who is my partner in presenting this legislation.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Madam President, I come to the floor for the last minute of this debate to support Sean Donovan's nomination to be Director of the Office of Management and Budget.

I have worked very closely with Secretary Donovan over the last 5 years, and I know he has the skills and experience to work with Congress on creating jobs and tackling our long-term budget challenges fairly and responsibly.

In his role as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Secretary Donovan has proven time and again that he is focused first and foremost on strengthening our middle class by expanding opportunities for families and communities.

From his work on stabilizing the housing market following the financial crisis, to reinforcing the agency's role in providing access to affordable housing and building strong, sustainable neighborhoods, to ensuring communities hit hard by natural disasters have the resources they need to get back on their feet, Secretary Donovan has been a highly effective and responsive leader and a great partner to us in Congress, Democrats and Republicans alike.

Secretary Donovan's nomination passed through the Budget Committee with bipartisan support. I am confident he will bring these strengths and many more to the OMB. His leadership will be critical, because while we have made progress on our budget challenges, there is a lot of work yet to be done.

I look forward to working with Secretary Donovan to strengthen our fiscal outlook over the long term and ensure we can make critical investments in jobs and opportunities to support our families, workers, and the economy. I know Secretary Donovan will be a great partner in addressing these challenges, and I urge my colleagues to support his nomination.

I yield the floor.

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

I ask unanimous consent to speak as in morning business.

I yield the floor.

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

Mr. President, I believe when it comes to caring for our Nation's heroes, we can't accept anything less than excellence.

As have many of my colleagues, I have been very troubled by the most recent allegations of the VA failing to provide veterans timely health care. The VA generally offers very high-quality health care and does many things as well or better than the private sector. But when you are caring for our Nation's heroes and you have the backing of the full resources of the Federal Government, ``just as good'' is not enough. We expect more. So I am very frustrated to be here again talking about these deeply disturbing issues and the Department's repeated failures to change.

GAO and the inspector general have reported on these problems many times over the years. Last Congress we did a great deal of work around wait times, particularly for mental health care. I think the VA is starting to see that business as usual is not acceptable.

The administration has taken steps to begin addressing some of the major systemwide problems, but much more needs to be done. Tomorrow, when I meet with the President's nominee for the VA Secretary, I am going to ask him how he plans to make these changes. That is why I am very glad to be serving on the veterans conference committee, because Congress needs to act as well.

The most important thing we can do right now is to pass responsible and effective legislation to bring much-needed reforms to the VA, and we need to do it soon.

There have been major bipartisan efforts in both the House and in the Senate to move legislation addressing these problems. Many Members have been part of those efforts, and I commend them all for their commitment to bipartisanship and for putting the needs of our veterans first. It is vital that we continue to build on this bipartisan momentum and to continue making progress if we are going to address some of the immediate accountability and transparency concerns that are plaguing the VA and to fix its deep-seated structural and cultural challenges.

I know Members have a wide range of concerns with the bill, and I believe we can address those concerns responsibly and in a way that puts our veterans first and gives the VA the tools it needs to address the challenges it faces. That means building and strengthening the VA system so it delivers the best care for the long term. But it is important for us to act quickly to start making these changes. We cannot allow this process to break down. Veterans are still waiting to get the care they need.

Many of us were rightly outraged the VA did not act to help veterans because the Department ignored all the information and did nothing. This Congress must not do the same and fail veterans by not acting.

I urge all of our colleagues to work as hard and as quickly as possible to finalize an agreement and get it to the President. More problems will be uncovered and the investigations will proceed, and we will need more action from the VA, the administration, and Congress, because our Nation made a promise to the men and women who answer the call of duty, and one of the most important ways we uphold that is by making sure our veterans can get access to the health care they need and they deserve, no matter what it takes.

Highway Trust Fund

I also wish to speak about another important issue Congress needs to act on, and that is the looming crisis with the highway trust fund.

As is the case with other States around the country, my home State of Washington relies on the highway trust fund to pay for construction projects. These are projects that ease traffic on our highways, repair bridges, and make safety improvements. This year, for example, officials in Washington State plan to use money from the highway trust fund to improve safety at railroad crossings in Centralia. They plan to replace anchor cables on bridges in Seattle, and they plan to repave roads across the State to fix potholes and to make roads smoother for our drivers. But here in DC, the Department of Transportation and many of us in Congress have been warning for months that the highway trust fund needs more revenue to pay for these critical projects in my home State and across the country. Without that revenue, the trust fund is going to reach critically low levels next month.

This is coming now just a few months after Republicans pushed us into a government shutdown. If Congress fails to act soon, families and businesses and States would see another shutdown, this time with highway projects around the country.

I had hoped we would be able to get this done by now. The last thing, I can tell my colleagues, the American people want to see right now is another countdown clock on the evening news. But we still have a chance to get this done before it is too late. Instead of lurching to yet another crisis and putting our construction projects at risk, let's work together and do the right thing for our families and our workers and the economy.

The clock is ticking for Congress to find the much-needed revenue. Starting August 1, the Department of Transportation said it will start delaying payments to our States for projects that ease traffic on clogged highways and make important repairs to our bridges. On average, States will lose 28 percent of their Federal funding. Without that money, many States are going to have to delay or stop work on their construction sites. Officials in my home State have said up to 43 highway projects could be threatened, and across the country more than 1,000 construction projects could be at risk, according to the Department of Transportation.

If there is one thing Democrats and Republicans should be able to agree on, and usually do, is that we should be investing in and improving our transportation infrastructure, not letting it crumble. A construction shutdown would threaten jobs and businesses. If States have to scale back their plans, companies are going to hire fewer workers to repair and improve roads and bridges across the country. Without a fix, nearly 700,000 jobs will be at risk next year, according to the Department of Transportation. And let's remember, the construction industry was one of the hardest hit sectors after the economic downturn and has not yet fully bounced back. In fact, weakness in the U.S. labor market is actually due to the lack of growth in the construction sector, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Allowing our highway trust fund to dip to critically low levels would deliver another blow to the construction sector as it is struggling to recover.

Last fall, families and communities across our country were forced to endure a completely unnecessary government shutdown. That shutdown, we all know, hurt our people and threatened a very fragile economic recovery and shook the confidence of the American people who expect their elected officials to come together and avoid such an unnecessary crisis. I was proud to work with Democrats and Republicans at the end of last year to pass a bipartisan budget deal that prevented another government shutdown. It restored critical investments in families and the economy and it put a halt to the constant budget crises.

I was proud to build on that bipartisan momentum and work with my friend Senator Isakson and others on a

workforce investment deal that passed the Senate with strong bipartisan support. We hope, by the way, that will pass the House tomorrow and get signed into law.

We know bipartisanship work is possible. We know the country is better for it when it happens. We know it is what families we represent expect from all of us. So today I am calling on Republicans to work with us in good faith to do the right thing and help us avoid this construction shutdown. I know Republican leaders once again are worried about their tea party fringe pushing them into another unnecessary crisis, but I hope they are able to push them aside and work with us to get this done. Republicans saw how devastating it was for them--and their constituents--when they hurt the country with the government shutdown. I am hopeful that gives them any additional incentive they may need to work with us this time.

State and local governments, workers, businesses, and drivers are looking to us to resolve this crisis and avoid another shutdown. States cannot afford important highway construction projects without this important highway trust fund. Families cannot afford to have a few Members of Congress putting jobs at risk again. With the clock winding down fast, we cannot afford to put this off any longer. So let's resolve this looming crisis. Let's work together and prevent a construction shutdown this summer for our economy, for our businesses, and for our families across the country.

Thank you.

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