Robert P. Casey Jr.

Madam President, I rise today for the final time as a U.S. Senator with a heart full of gratitude. When I was growing up in Scranton, PA, my mother Ellen Harding Casey would often say to my brothers and sisters and me:

Count your blessings. Count your blessings.

She would say that over and over again. So, today, I seek to do so here on the floor of the U.S. Senate. I begin with an expression of deep, abiding gratitude to the people of Pennsylvania who conferred upon me the honor of serving them in three statewide public offices for 28 consecutive years; first as auditor general, then as State treasurer, and for the last 18 years, as U.S. Senator. It has been a privilege to have served our Commonwealth, to have served the people of our Commonwealth.

Now, for 39\1/2\ years, I have been blessed by the unconditional love and unfailing support of my wife Terese, the oldest daughter of John and Nancy Foppiano.

I am proud of the work we have done together, on behalf of the people of Pennsylvania, to fight for our children, our seniors, people with disabilities, our veterans, and our workers.

In my 18 years in the Senate, I have worked to pass many laws focused on improving the lives of everyday Americans. Allow me to give you some examples. One of my proudest accomplishments is the Stephen Beck, Jr., Achieving a Better Life Experience Act, the so-called ABLE Act, which turned 10 years old this month.

Before ABLE, people with disabilities could not save more than $2,000 without risking access to their Federal benefits, forcing many people with disabilities into a permanent state of poverty.

I worked with Senator Richard Burr to pass the ABLE Act in 2014 so that people with disabilities can save for their futures. There are almost 190,000 ABLE accountholders across the Nation who have already saved over $2 billion. Brenda Dare is one of those, an ABLE accountholder from Allegheny County, PA. She says that ABLE ``gives us a way to be fully functional citizens who are able to save and prepare for their futures.'' Her ABLE account allows Brenda to own her own home and raise her niece full time.

In building on the success of the program, starting in 2026, people who acquired their disability before the age of 46 will be able to open ABLE accounts, expanding eligibility to 6 million more Americans, including more than a million veterans.

In 2013, I passed the Campus SaVE Act to put greater responsibility on colleges and universities to prevent sexual assaults on college campuses. This was important legislation to make sure students understood their rights and protections on campus. It has made college campuses safer in the decade since its passage.

The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act passed 2 years ago this month. It provides pregnant women with ``reasonable accommodations'' to work and to maintain a healthy pregnancy as they continue to do their work. Senator Bill Cassidy worked with me to pass this bill, and I am grateful for his help.

Modeled after the Americans with Disabilities Act, this legislation ensures that pregnant women can go to their employer and ask for reasonable accommodations, simple things like a stool to sit on or a water bottle or bathroom break and other accommodations, just as people with disabilities have been able to ask for accommodations of other kinds for the past three decades in their workplaces.

A number of years ago, as a Member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, I was proud to author a law that has dramatically improved our schools and our children's nutrition. That provision, modeled after a Philadelphia pilot program, allowed high poverty schools to offer school lunch and breakfast free of charge.

Nearly 68 percent of American school districts now offer free meals under this option, and 20 million children attend schools offering universal free meals. That is 10 times the number of children as in 2010.

Captain Victor Saracini was a Bucks County resident and a United Airlines pilot killed in the terrorist attacks of 9/11. His wife Ellen Saracini turned her

unimaginable grief into action, and she fought to pass legislation to make airline cockpits safer.

I was honored to work alongside Ellen to pass two laws to make sure that new airplanes are built with a secondary barrier to the cockpit and to retrofit older planes. These laws would help prevent future terrorist attacks.

We all know the global food insecurity around the world not only leaves millions of children starving and malnourished, but it also creates political instability. I worked with my Republican colleagues to authorize and then to reauthorize--more than once--the Global Food Security Act to combat food insecurity, create economic opportunity, and promote international stability.

I also fought to keep our servicemembers safe in Afghanistan by working to reduce the number of IEDs--those awful explosive devices. In the 2000s, IEDs were killing and wounding U.S. troops in Afghanistan at an alarming rate. Through legislation to stop the flow of ammonium nitrate used in IEDs as well as pushing the Pentagon, by 2012, deaths by IEDs had dropped significantly.

But passing legislation isn't the only measure of success in the Senate. I am an extraordinarily proud Senator of the work that was done by my constituent services team, currently led by Lindsay Martin, all of whom have some of the hardest jobs here in government anywhere in the Capitol--in our States, as well.

Over the course of my three terms in the Senate, they have closed almost 200,000 constituent cases. Let me give you just four examples: First, the number represents Pennsylvanians we helped get the Social Security benefits that they were due but were not receiving; second, the 94-year-old World War II veteran from Philadelphia for whom we secured updated discharge papers and backpay reflecting a promotion he had been denied because he was a Black soldier; the first responder from Erie we helped receive money that she was owed from the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund; and, finally, the mother whose son was denied care by their insurance company for 2 months until our office reached out on their behalf--and so many more constituents across the State.

Finally, I fought to deliver Federal funding for Pennsylvania families and communities in all 67 counties. I worked to provide investments to lift up families during the pandemic; support public safety by delivering funding for police and fire departments; improve water and sewer systems, roads, and bridges in small rural areas; and support local nonprofits that protect the most vulnerable among us.

In Southwestern Pennsylvania, that economy of that corner of the State relies upon our waterways system. The Port of Pittsburgh and the region's locks and dams could move essential commodities. Those waterways create jobs, and they promote economic development.

Without our waterways, the region's entire economy would come to a standstill, threatening some 200,000 jobs.

Thanks to the Infrastructure Law and persistent work over many years to highlight just how vital these waterways are, I was able to secure nearly a billion dollars to replace the Montgomery Locks and Dam in Beaver County, PA, and invest in the broader waterway system.

In 2016, during a phone call with county commissioners in Southwestern Pennsylvania, one of the commissioners just started to scream into the phone. He said: ``Senator, kids can't do their homework.'' And he made a point to me that I will never forget.

So I went to work, as we all did, on high-speed internet. I was able to deliver significant investments to expand high-speed internet to rural communities across our Commonwealth. Without high-speed internet, not only are schoolchildren adversely impacted, small businesses can't connect with their customers; farmers can't fix their equipment when it breaks down in the field. But that is changing.

Just last week, I was in Washington County, in the southwestern corner of our State, to highlight the expansion of high-speed internet for 9,000 residents and small businesses in rural communities, made possible by a public-private partnership that folks at the local level started. But it included $25 million from the American Rescue Plan legislation.

Washington County is not alone. High-speed internet is being deployed all across the Commonwealth.

As many of you know, Pennsylvania has a rich history of energy production. Our coal miners risked their health and their safety and many lost their lives over generations to power the Nation.

Pennsylvania's energy workers, I would argue, are the best in the world. And they are also well-equipped to lead us into the energy economy of the future.

As the Senate worked to pass the Inflation Reduction Act--as many know, a bill to spur a new energy manufacturing renaissance--I made sure that Pennsylvania energy communities were first in line.

In the bill, I secured an energy communities tax credit for investments in clean energy facilities and communities whose economies have relied upon coal, oil, or natural gas.

These incentives are spurring investments all across Pennsylvania-- from the Mineral Basin solar plant on abandoned mine lands in Clearfield County to the expanded demand for Voith Hydro's production in York County.

I want to wrap up with just some thoughts about what is ahead for the next Congress--and the next number of Congresses probably--with some of these challenges. I want to highlight some of the challenges that lie ahead for our Nation.

There are so many priorities we could talk about today, like combating climate change and gun violence and the opioid crisis, lowering costs for families, providing home and community-based services for seniors and people with disabilities. And there are so many more that I didn't mention.

As many of you know--and you see it in your own communities, your own families, your own States--it is much more difficult to raise a family and provide long-term stability than it used to be. Pennsylvanians used to be able to work one job, often without a college degree, and provide for their families for decades.

There is a big moment in 2025: a tax bill. I won't be here for it. But that tax debate will be a critical moment for American families. Congress will decide whether to help middle-class and low-income families--people striving to get to the middle class--or to continue what I would argue is a 40-year trend to provide substantial tax benefits to the largest corporations on the planet Earth and the wealthiest Americans. I hope that the Senate will act to help the middle class and those striving to get to the middle class.

I urge, as well, the Senate to make the Child Tax Credit--something that Senator Brown and Senator Bennet long ago introduced legislation on--to make that Child Tax Credit--two words--``fully refundable'' rather than provide more corporate and high-income tax breaks.

When that tax credit was made fully refundable in 2021, that one action changed the lives of so many children. It reduced childhood poverty by 40--40--percent.

I have long warned as a United States Senator that China is not just a competitor, it is an economic adversary, and that we must continue to confront China head-on. I have often said that when China cheats, Pennsylvania loses jobs.

I have worked for years to crack down on China's trade cheating and to limit the risks of sending our national security technology and know-how to China.

Senator Cornyn and I have been working for years to pass legislation to crack down on U.S. investments in China that would undermine our national security. And later this week, Congress will pass a version of that legislation in the continuing resolution to fund the government.

We all know that a key to global competitiveness lies here at home. In order to compete globally, we must invest in our children.

Inspired by Franklin Roosevelt's Four Freedoms, I introduced, in early 2020, a set of ideas where I proposed Five--Five--Freedoms for America's Children: the freedom to be healthy, the freedom to learn, the freedom to have economic security, the freedom to be safe from harm, and the freedom from hunger.

If every American child--every American child--was able to benefit

from these five freedoms, they would have the opportunity to succeed in life. There are so many benefits to our Nation as well: a higher skilled workforce, if we invest in our kids; a greater GDP; a stronger national security; a healthier society, if--if--we invest in our children.

Finally, the Senate--and the American people--have to make a choice in the years ahead between dictators and democracy. We must continue to support--not just in the Senate and the House but as Americans, we must continue to support the people of Ukraine in their consequential war with a murderous dictator, Vladimir Putin.

Our Nation has generously supported the Ukrainian military. We cannot stop. Abandoning them now undermines freedom-loving people all over the world.

You and others have been a patient audience. But I would like to conclude with some final thoughts. I want to go back to my mother. Inspired by my mother, I have been granted today the privilege of counting my blessings on the floor of the U.S. Senate.

One of the greatest blessings in my life--and I know for so many people here--has been the blessing of public service. As the scriptures tell us:

It is in giving that we receive.

Dr. Martin Luther King said it another way. He said:

Everyone can be great, because everyone can serve.

King taught us in that simple statement that the word ``great'' in this context isn't about fame or a claim or notoriety or riches. ``Great'' is about something much more valuable, much more valuable: the opportunity to help others.

I will continue to do my part to serve as a citizen and as a Pennsylvanian. And serving in the U.S. Senate has been an honor of a lifetime. Thank you. And God bless you.

I yield the floor.

(Applause, Senators rising.)

Are you really telling this?

A true story.

A true story.

A bar.

Mr. President, I know we have a number of colleagues who want to speak. I will be very brief.

I just want to start by saying how grateful we are for the service of Sherrod Brown in the U.S. Senate and the great work that he has done. He reminded us to make sure that we wore the canary pin. And for me, it has a special significance, even though I haven't been wearing it all these years, but I wanted to wear it today. But it is especially significant because I have ancestors who worked, of course, in the anthracite coal mines. But I think, in so many ways, it is emblematic of his service, that he never forgot where he came from, never forgot who sent him here, and you heard that throughout his remarks today about the work he has done on behalf of American working men and women and their families.

When the history of the labor movement of the United States--if it were ever written, of course, it wouldn't be one book. It would be a multivolume work by some scholar, maybe sometime in the future. But whenever that complete and comprehensive history is written, there will be a significant portion of that history written about the work of Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio because no one that I am aware of that has served in this body has done more for workers in the time he has been in the Senate.

The last thing I want to say is what he did--and there are too many to mention here today--but I want to thank him for what he did leading the effort, which culminated in 2021, March of 2021, at 5:34 a.m. in the morning, when the first vote was taken on the American Rescue Plan. Among many things that bill did was allowed us to take the child tax credit--an existing tax credit--and turbocharge it for America's children. As he said, 60 million American children--2 million in Ohio, a little more than 2 million in my home State of Pennsylvania. It would not have happened without his leadership.

So with that, I will yield the floor and thank Senator Brown again for his service.

Madam President, I rise today to recognize the 51st anniversary of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the importance of the law to equal access for people with disabilities, including equal access to Federal technology.

When it was signed into law on September 26, 1973, the Rehabilitation Act prohibited discrimination on the basis of disability by the Federal Government, in federally funded programs, and by Federal contractors. Passage of the Rehabilitation Act committed the Federal Government to ensuring that every person, including people with disabilities, have access to government programs and services. As with any legislation, enforcement is key. In the years following passage, people with disabilities needed to advocate that the Federal Government issue regulations and implement the law in order to ensure Federal services and products are accessible. Four years after passage, no regulations had been issued. At the beginning of April 1977, disability advocates started a month-long national protest, pressuring President Carter and his Cabinet. The protests lasted 26 days and resulted in implementation of the first Rehabilitation Act regulations. The Rehabilitation Act and the resulting regulations laid the groundwork for the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990.

The Rehabilitation Act helped make the Federal Government more accessible for people with disabilities, but with time, new accessibility barriers emerged. Those accessibility barriers were related to America's information revolution, which has changed society at a rapid pace. In response to the emerging digital revolution, Senator Orrin Hatch led efforts in 1986 to establish guidelines on electronic accessibility, resulting in a new section of the Rehabilitation Act: section 508. In 1998, Senator Chris Dodd and Representative Anna Eshoo led efforts to further strengthen section 508's accessibility requirements for digital information, services, and tools offered by Federal Agencies. The Rehabilitation Act amendments in 1998 were the last significant congressional changes to Section 508.

Section 508 requires technology at Federal Departments and Agencies to be accessible for, and usable by, people with disabilities, including Federal employees who have disabilities. Section 508 requires the United States Access Board to develop the specific standards that Department and Agency technology must meet to be accessible for people with disabilities. Technology covered by section 508 includes websites, apps, and electronic documents, as well as physical technology such as kiosks, computers, and telecommunications equipment. Examples of accessible technology include websites, apps, or PDFs that can work with a screen reader or other assistive technology. They include video communications systems that are capable of incorporating sign language. They include kiosks that are properly positioned for a wheelchair user and provide an option for speech output.

Accessible Federal technology is important to ensure all Americans can benefit from government resources, and demographic changes mean more Americans will be disadvantaged if Federal technology is not accessible. Our Nation is rapidly aging, and older adults are more likely to have a disability. That means a larger population will be relying on accessible Federal technology for access to Federal employment, information, and services in the coming decades. Accessible Federal technology also benefits people without disabilities. For example, an accessible Federal website also benefits someone browsing on a small screen, someone browsing with a broken arm, or someone in a noisy environment who cannot hear an online video.

Despite the importance of accessible technology, the Federal Government has a poor record of meeting its obligations under section 508. In 2018, I was approached by blinded veterans who informed me that they could not access Department of Veterans Affairs' websites using their screen readers. In

response, I introduced bipartisan legislation, the Department of Veterans Affairs Website Accessibility Act. When it was signed into law in 2020, the VA Website Accessibility Act required the VA to report on the accessibility of the VA's websites and intake kiosks. The resulting report, released in 2021, had stark findings--fewer than 10 percent of the VA's websites were fully accessible for people with disabilities. The report also included a wholly inadequate plan for bringing the VA's websites into section 508 compliance.

The VA's web accessibility report was a wakeup call; the Federal Government must do better. To start, I used my position as chairman of the Senate Special Committee on Aging to push the VA to improve. I am pleased that my efforts had bipartisan support from the ranking member of the Aging Committee and from the bipartisan leadership of the House and Senate Committees on Veterans Affairs. In response to a letter signed by the bipartisan leadership of three committees and two subcommittees, the VA released a revised website accessibility report, with an updated plan for making VA websites accessible. I also requested that the VA conduct regular section 508 compliance updates for bipartisan House and Senate staff, which the VA has done since March 2022. The VA's recurring progress reports for congressional staff help ensure that the VA's efforts to improve stay on track.

Unfortunately, the shortfalls at the VA are not unique. In recent years, a long list of agencies has settled lawsuits alleging that their websites and technology are not accessible. Further, since 1998, the Federal Government's reporting and oversight for section 508 has ranged from lackluster to nonexistent. The Department of Justice is required by law to report every 2 years on the Federal Government's section 508 compliance but, prior to my oversight, had not done so since 2012. The General Services Administration routinely collected data on Federal website accessibility but did not make that information available to the public or Congress. The Office of Management and Budget maintained a strategic plan for Federal section 508 compliance, but that strategic plan had not been updated since 2013, despite Federal accessibility shortfalls and rapid technological change.

Since 2022, I have authored multiple letters to Federal departments and Agencies urging them to improve section 508 compliance, oversight, and transparency. Many letters were bipartisan, demonstrating the continued, broad interest in accessible Federal technology. I also led two Aging Committee hearings on accessible government technology that included people with disabilities as witnesses. Their testimony helped the committee understand the real-world impact when Federal technology does not allow for equal access. In December 2022, I released Unlocking the Virtual Front Door, an Aging Committee majority staff report that lays out many of the Federal accessibility failures that I have outlined today. Unlocking the Virtual Front Door includes a set of recommendations for the Federal Government and for Congress for making Federal technology accessible.

I am pleased that improvements have been made in response to my oversight of section 508 compliance. The VA reorganized its technology access office, expanded its outreach to people with disabilities, and bolstered its efforts to make its technology accessible. The VA also reevaluated over 300 exceptions that it had granted to allow the use of inaccessible technology and revoked all but 18. The Department of Justice, meanwhile, released its first report on the Federal Government's section 508 compliance since 2012, and the General Services Administration committed to new section 508 oversight and transparency efforts. The Office of Management and Budget has released updated guidance for Departments and Agencies on meeting section 508 standards, replacing its outdated 2013 strategic plan. Department and Agency inspectors general have also taken an interest in accessible technology, which resulted in a January 2024 inspector general report on technology at the VA.

While there has been progress toward making the Federal Government's technology accessible for people with disabilities, significant shortfalls remain. The Justice Department's latest section 508 report, released in January 2023, found that 1 in 10 public-facing websites at major Departments and Agencies are not fully accessible for people with disabilities. A December 2023 General Services Administration assessment likewise noted that the Federal Government's section 508 compliance is ``well below expectations.'' There are also continued, troubling reports of specific electronic accessibility failures within the Federal Government. For example, there are allegations that the new electronic health record system at the VA is not accessible for people with disabilities. The VA has come a long way since I began my oversight of section 508. The VA must continue to show that it is serious about section 508 by prioritizing accessibility for all new information and communications technology, including its EHR system.

The reports and data that have been released in response to my oversight of section 508 highlight a need to do more. One recommendation in Unlocking the Virtual Front Door was for Congress to significantly update section 508 for the first time since 1998. That is why I have introduced S. 4766, the Section 508 Refresh Act of 2024. My legislation would make changes to ensure that newly purchased or developed Federal technology is accessible before it is deployed. It would also reform the Federal Government's section 508 complaint process by giving the experts with the Access Board a prominent role. The Section 508 Refresh Act would require regular testing to ensure that Federal technology already in use remains fully accessible over time, and it would require Departments and Agencies to appoint qualified, dedicated section 508 officers. Critically, my legislation would also require the involvement of people with disabilities in the acquisition and accessibility testing of Federal technology. People with disabilities who work for the Federal Government or use Federal resources are the ones who are harmed when Federal technology is not accessible. It is essential for them to have a seat at the table when Federal technology is being acquired, designed, implemented, and tested.

The need to reform section 508 is real. My own constituents have testified to the Aging Committee about the impact when Federal technology does not allow equal access for all Americans. Ms. Jule Ann Lieberman of Devon, PA, is an expert on assistive technology. Yet, during the COVID-19 pandemic, she could not access local prevalence data on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website because it was inaccessible for her screen reader. Although Ms. Lieberman was able to ask a family member for help, she explained to the committee that ``repeated requests for help become burdensome for those who support me, potentially leaving me with either no access or not timely information.'' Sadly, Ms. Lieberman ran into yet another accessibility barrier later in the pandemic, when she could not use her screen reader to access COVID-19 vaccination resources on the CDC website.

Mr. Ron Biglin is a blind Air Force veteran from Clarks Summit, PA. Mr. Biglin can fish, kayak, and do online banking. However, Mr. Biglin could not use the internet to access his VA health benefits. When Mr. Biglin tried to do so, the VA's online portal, My HealtheVet, would not work with his screen reader. Mr. Biglin told the Aging Committee that, ``when you are visually impaired you want to be as independent as possible and having problems getting on VA websites takes away this independency.'' In response to my oversight, the VA worked to resolve the issues that Mr. Biglin was having with My HealtheVet. However, to safeguard equal access, we must ensure that all Federal Departments and Agencies build accessibility into their technology from the start.

I remain committed to ensuring that Federal technology is accessible for people with disabilities and that all Americans have equal access to Federal jobs, information, and benefits. I look forward to working with my colleagues in Congress on continued section 508 oversight and to advance the Section 508 Refresh Act.