Floor Statements

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 President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Madam President, in a few moments, I will put forward a request to the Senate to take up and approve the nomination of an Oregonian, my friend Chuck Sams, President Biden's choice to lead the National Park Service.

I am just going to take a few minutes to talk about Chuck Sams and why he is the right person for this critical job.

Colleagues, we all know that the Park Service is often called America's best idea, and together those parks form a network of treasures that no other country can match.

The fact is, the National Park Service is not only about the views and the photo-ops. It is all about our country. It is what makes our country so special for so many.

The Director of the National Park Service is in charge of an organization of over 22,000 employees and almost a quarter million volunteers. The National Park System generates tens of millions of dollars of economic activity. The people of my State know particularly how important those critical outdoor treasures are for rural economies and rural jobs.

The fact also is that there are park units in every State in the country--urban parts, rural parts, historic American buildings, ancient archeological sites--and personnel at the Park Service do it all, from education to preservation, to maintenance, and even resilience against wildfire.

Chuck Sams has been a longtime Umatilla Tribal leader, and there he has served in a variety of roles. He is a member of the Northwest Power and Conservation Council, working with officials from across the Pacific Northwest. He is a veteran of the U.S. Navy. He is a role model--a role model--in so many respects, and particularly in the stewardship of America's lands, waters, wildlife, and history. And the Congress and the parkgoers are going to rely on him in the months and years ahead because we all know the Park Service faces big challenges.

I am going to wrap up and make my unanimous consent request, but, first, I want to commend my colleague from Alaska. My colleague and I have been working pretty much through the day.

I will be brief. I just want to thank the Senator from Alaska. We have been working throughout the day to resolve the whole issue of the Sams nomination.

This is a wonderful person who is going to give public service a really good name when he is confirmed.

My colleague from Alaska has raised a number of issues that he considers very important to his State. He and I have worked together on a variety of these issues, both from the standpoint of the Energy Committee and most recently as chairman of the Finance Committee, when we have worked on some tax issues. So I want to thank him for his cooperation that is going to make it possible for us to advance this nomination tonight.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to executive session to consider Executive Calendar No. 508, Charles F. Sams III, of Oregon, to be Director of the National Park Service, and that the Senate vote on the nomination without intervening action or debate.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, all without intervening action or debate; that no further motions be made in order to the nomination; that any statements related to the nomination be printed in the Record; that the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action, and the Senate resume legislative session.

Reserving the right to object. Mr. President and colleagues, sadly, this is the third time I have had to come to the Senate floor to object to Republican proposals dealing with far-fetched claims about vaccines.

And today I am struck by one issue in particular because my background is working with senior citizens. I was the director of the Gray Panthers at home for almost 7 years. I ran the legal aid office for the elderly. I went into public service because of my passion for the cause of the elderly and trying to protect their well-being and keeping them safe.

It is almost as if this unanimous consent request ignores the extraordinary human toll COVID-19 took on senior citizens in nursing homes across the country: nearly 200,000 dead in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities since the beginning of the pandemic-- mothers and fathers, grandmothers and grandfathers. That is roughly 1 in 10 residents in those nursing facilities, according to an analysis of State and Federal data by the COVID tracking project.

How many of those senior citizens died alone, without being able to spend their final hours or days with their loved ones? How many others of those fortunate enough to survive the pandemic were still separated from their family members for months and months and months in 2020?

We also know that the risks to nurses and doctor and EMTs were massive as well. One major investigation found that more than 3,600 healthcare workers died of COVID in the first year of the pandemic--the worst pandemic in a

century that our country is still wrestling with as we speak. Nobody in this Chamber should forget that just over the last week, there have been more than 1,000 COVID deaths per day.

And in my view, it doesn't do any good to unnecessarily suppress access to highly effective vaccines while there is a deadly virus circulating and mutating around the country and around the world.

Seniors who live in nursing homes and long-term care facilities are safer when the people around them get vaccinated. And I just hope that our colleagues will recognize the importance of that basic proposition. When Americans are vaccinated, they and the people around them, based overwhelmingly on the factual evidence, are less likely to die of COVID-19. And everybody ought to be interested in stopping this virus with these overwhelmingly effective vaccines. It shouldn't take a requirement to get healthcare workers to protect themselves and their patients.

As I close, I think--and, again, I am sad to have to come to the floor and get into this issue, but because of my background working with senior citizens, I think it is bad for senior citizens, bad for the elderly to continue these frightening remarks about vaccines and vaccine policies. They prolonged the pandemic. They led to more infections and deaths.

With respect to the proposal that is before the Senate, I simply don't believe Senators should oppose policies that would keep America's elderly citizens safer after the pandemic has cost so many lives of America's senior citizens. Therefore, I object.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to print the following letter in the Congressional Record.

Mr. President, Social Security provides vital benefits millions of Americans who work and pay into the system with each paycheck. Because Social Security is fundamental to workers' retirement security, the law protected benefits from creditors. The only exceptions were unpaid Federal taxes, child support or alimony payments, and court-ordered victim restitution. These protections ensured that the social safety net programs would be there for basic needs. That protection was weakened over 20 years ago when the law was changed. Now, more and more seniors face cuts in their Social Security benefits because of student loan debts. While Congress and the Biden- Harris Administration took significant steps to protect Americans from facing crushing debt during a global pandemic, exempting the economic impact payments from garnishment and extending the freeze on student loan payments through January 2022, seniors will still be on the hook for cosigning their child or grandchild's student loan debt when those payments resume. We need to take action today to restore the strong protections to Social Security and other benefit programs.

We now realize what a profound effect the loss of these protections has had on retirees and individuals with disabilities, who often live on fixed incomes. More and more seniors and people with disabilities are having their Social Security and other lifeline benefits taken away to pay Federal debts. For example, according to recent data from the U.S. Bureau of Fiscal Service, over 167,000 Americans had their benefits garnished for student loan debt. While 167,000 seems small compared to a nation of over 320 million, those 167,000 had nearly $200 million garnished from their earned benefits. This is just the tip of the iceberg as more Americans start receiving benefits. Between 2008 and 2018, the number of individuals whose Social Security benefits were offset to pay student loans debt increased by 133 percent, from about 72,000 to 169,000. Over that same period, the amount collected from Social Security benefits ballooned from almost $63 million to nearly $200 million, a 217-percent increase.

Social Security plays a critical role in keeping seniors and people with disabilities out of poverty. In Oregon alone, Social Security cuts the poverty rate of the elderly from about 35 percent to 5 percent. However, despite Social Security's critical role in the safety net, close to 1 out of every 10 seniors over age 65 and 1 in 5 disabled workers still live in poverty and that is simply unacceptable.

I, along with Senators Brown, Whitehouse, Leahy, Warren, Hirono. Sanders, Padilla, Van Hollen, and Murray am reintroducing the Protection of Social Security Benefits Restoration Act. The bill would restore the strong protections in the law that prevented the government from taking away earned benefits to pay Federal debts, and guarantee beneficiaries will be able to maintain a basic standard of living by receiving the benefits they have earned. The bill is supported by the Strengthen Social Security Coalition, Social Security Works, National Association of Disability Representatives, AFL-CIO, the American Federation of Government Employees, National Organization of Social Security Claimants' Representatives, Justice in Aging, American Federation of Teachers, Alliance for Retired Americans, and the National Committee to Preserve Social Security & Medicare.

I ask unanimous consent that the bill be printed in the Record following this statement.

Mr. President, Social Security provides vital benefits millions of Americans who work and pay into the system with each paycheck. Because Social Security is fundamental to workers' retirement security, the law protected benefits from creditors. The only exceptions were unpaid Federal taxes, child support or alimony payments, and court-ordered victim restitution. These protections ensured that the social safety net programs would be there for basic needs. That protection was weakened over 20 years ago when the law was changed. Now, more and more seniors face cuts in their Social Security benefits because of student loan debts. While Congress and the Biden- Harris Administration took significant steps to protect Americans from facing crushing debt during a global pandemic, exempting the economic impact payments from garnishment and extending the freeze on student loan payments through January 2022, seniors will still be on the hook for cosigning their child or grandchild's student loan debt when those payments resume. We need to take action today to restore the strong protections to Social Security and other benefit programs.

We now realize what a profound effect the loss of these protections has had on retirees and individuals with disabilities, who often live on fixed incomes. More and more seniors and people with disabilities are having their Social Security and other lifeline benefits taken away to pay Federal debts. For example, according to recent data from the U.S. Bureau of Fiscal Service, over 167,000 Americans had their benefits garnished for student loan debt. While 167,000 seems small compared to a nation of over 320 million, those 167,000 had nearly $200 million garnished from their earned benefits. This is just the tip of the iceberg as more Americans start receiving benefits. Between 2008 and 2018, the number of individuals whose Social Security benefits were offset to pay student loans debt increased by 133 percent, from about 72,000 to 169,000. Over that same period, the amount collected from Social Security benefits ballooned from almost $63 million to nearly $200 million, a 217-percent increase.

Social Security plays a critical role in keeping seniors and people with disabilities out of poverty. In Oregon alone, Social Security cuts the poverty rate of the elderly from about 35 percent to 5 percent. However, despite Social Security's critical role in the safety net, close to 1 out of every 10 seniors over age 65 and 1 in 5 disabled workers still live in poverty and that is simply unacceptable.

I, along with Senators Brown, Whitehouse, Leahy, Warren, Hirono. Sanders, Padilla, Van Hollen, and Murray am reintroducing the Protection of Social Security Benefits Restoration Act. The bill would restore the strong protections in the law that prevented the government from taking away earned benefits to pay Federal debts, and guarantee beneficiaries will be able to maintain a basic standard of living by receiving the benefits they have earned. The bill is supported by the Strengthen Social Security Coalition, Social Security Works, National Association of Disability Representatives, AFL-CIO, the American Federation of Government Employees, National Organization of Social Security Claimants' Representatives, Justice in Aging, American Federation of Teachers, Alliance for Retired Americans, and the National Committee to Preserve Social Security & Medicare.

I ask unanimous consent that the bill be printed in the Record following this statement.

Madam President, reserving the right to object.

Parliamentary inquiry, Madam President. I am trying to juggle two things at once.

We are talking about the Social Security UC; is that correct?

Madam President, I reserve my right to object.

As chairman of the Senate Finance Committee and as a former director of the Oregon Gray Panthers, I take a backseat to no one when it comes to protecting Americans' earned Social Security benefits.

Now, we know Halloween is right around the corner and families are getting ready for festivities--decorating their houses, picking out costumes, and watching scary movies. My colleague from Florida seems to be getting into the spirit of all this by telling the American people scary stories about vaccines threatening their Social Security benefits. I don't believe the American people are so easily tricked. This idea is as fantastical and ridiculous as a vampire living under your bed.

The fact that Republicans are trying to scare folks for political gain I think is just very, very disappointing. These bills that are rooted in political messaging aren't going to help to end this pandemic or take concrete steps to address actual challenges facing many of our constituents.

With that, I object.

Mr. President, reserving the right to object, again, this deals with an area that is in the province of the Senate Finance Committee. There, I made a special priority of ensuring that Americans who count on Federal healthcare programs can actually get the care they need. The notion that Medicare, Medicaid, and CHIP coverage could be subject to vaccination status is just nonsense.

Contrary to Republican views that Federal coverage should be contingent on filing extensive paperwork, as conservative Governors have pushed in States from sea to shining sea, Democrats believe healthcare is a basic human right and should be available to all.

Millions of Americans have received the COVID-19 vaccine through the Medicare and Medicaid Programs. That ought to be celebrated as a success rather than scaring people about their earned benefits being taken away.

These bills--now two of them--are thoroughly about political messaging and aren't going to help to end this pandemic or do anything to address challenges facing so many of our constituents.

With that, again, I object.

Reserving the right to object.

Mr. President and colleagues, the Senator's proposal in effect would be a game-winning touchdown for wealthy tax cheats.

IRS Commissioner Rettig, a Republican appointee, came before the Finance Committee earlier this year and said the total amount of taxes evaded each year could be as high as $1 trillion. Cheating by those at the very top is one of the major causes of that huge tax gap. A big reason why is that the automatic reporting and strict rules that apply to the typical, hard-working taxpayer--nurses and firefighters, for example--they don't always apply to those at the top. That means the tax cheats are able to hide their cheating in the shadows.

The Senator's proposal would help them keep it that way. This proposal would make it extraordinarily difficult to collect the information necessary to crack down on the high-flying tax cheats.

The argument against information reporting is always the same, and it has been consistently wrong. Despite what opponents say, what President Biden and Democrats have proposed is focused on rooting out tax cheating at the top. It wouldn't apply to accounts with deposits and withdrawals under $10,000. And for most people, that is $10,000 on top of your paycheck. It is not about anybody's transactions. They wouldn't be reported, colleagues. It wouldn't create any new surveillance of digital currency. This information-reporting proposal is about reporting only two numbers: the total amount going into an account and the total amount going out of it. Social Security income does not count either.

So this idea--and I have listened to my friends--that somehow this is going to end Western civilization just doesn't hold up.

In fact, Commissioner Rettig, a Republican appointee, pointed out recently that this plan could actually reduce the odds of an audit for middle-class taxpayers, those folks that I was talking about, the nurses and the firefighters.

I am going to close with just a couple of other points. Most of my colleagues know that I am about as strong a privacy hawk as there is in the Senate. And I don't take a backseat to anybody when it comes to fighting for Americans' privacy, whether it is taxpayer data, communications, web traffic--you name it. And, colleagues, all of that work, all of that private work, is on the public record. It is a matter of public record. It isn't an atomic secret.

In those debates about privacy, it is also striking that it is most often Members of the other side attempting to stop reforms, for example, to government surveillance of phone records and emails and web browsing--web browsing. But when Democrats are working to crack down on ultrawealthy tax cheats, that is when, suddenly, we have got Republicans saying: Oh, my goodness; who is going to be sensitive to privacy?

I want to repeat, as I have on this floor again and again, I will talk to anybody on either side of the aisle with any philosophy about protecting taxpayer data. As the chairman of the

Senate Finance Committee, which handles privacy policy, I want it understood that our committee--and I, particularly, given my record on privacy issues--we take privacy very seriously.

That is not what is on offer by the other side today. The bottom line is wealthy tax cheats are ripping off the American people to the tune of billions and billions of dollars per year. Tax cheats thrive when the reporting rules that apply to them are loose and murky. Democrats want to fix this broken approach and crack down on cheating at the top. The Senator's proposal would make that impossible, and it would hand-- colleagues, it would hand, the Senator's proposal--a big fourth-quarter victory to the tax cheats.

For that reason, I object.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to legislative session and be in a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of H.R. 5434, which is at the desk.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read a third time and passed, and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 3 p.m., Monday, October 4; that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and morning business be closed; that upon the conclusion of morning business, the Senate resume consideration of the House message that accompanies S. 1301.

If there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that it stand adjourned under the previous order.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate consider the following nominations: Calendar Nos. 376, 386, 387, and 391; that the nominations be confirmed en bloc, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate; that no further motions be in order to any of the nominations; that the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to legislative session and be in a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of H.R. 2278, which is at the desk.

I ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read a third time and passed and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.