Floor Statements

Mr. President, I would like to take time today to acknowledge that November is National Hospice and Palliative Care Month and to honor Capital Caring, a nonprofit hospice, on its 40th anniversary. In the 12 counties of the Mountain State, the organization is known as West Virginia Caring.

Capital Caring, with its headquarters in Falls Church, VA, provides daily in-patient and home care to thousands of patients and families across the mid-Atlantic region--West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia. Malene Davis, MBA, MSN, RN, CHPN, is president and CEO of Capital Caring. In 2016, she and her team offered hospice care to 6,980 patients and palliative care to an additional 1,892 individuals. In addition, 1,000 people are employed by Capital Caring and West Virginia Caring.

This is a year of milestones for Malene. She is currently serving as

chair of the West Virginia University Alumni Association's national board of directors. As chair, she has proven successful in encouraging her fellow alumni to follow her lead and expand their businesses in the Mountain State.

I thank Malene and her team for all they do to make life more meaningful for people when they are most vulnerable. As National Hospice and Palliative Care Month comes to a close, I would like to honor all of the physicians, nurses, caregivers, and volunteers who provide this valuable patient service under the Medicare Hospice Benefit. As someone who has cared for aging parents, I understand how important the work they do is and how much support and comfort it provides to patients and their families.

Thank you very much.

Mr. President, I wish to thank the Senator from Colorado for his leadership in bringing us, the class of 2014, to the floor to talk about the commonsense tax reform measure that we have, the opportunity of decades to make a difference--a big difference--in many of the lives of the people we represent. I would even say most lives.

This is about the sixth time I have been to the floor to talk about what I think is the best tax reform package I have seen in my time here and also the different aspects of tax reform that I think are great for the country and great for my State. I represent a small State, the small State of West Virginia.

I have talked about small businesses and families and what it means for them--simplification and creating a competitive environment. But there is nothing like going home and talking to people, whether we are at the grocery store or, as in this past week, when we were all in Veterans Day parades. People are generally so respectful and very happy at a Veterans Day parade. I can't say the same for every parade, but I will say that for the Veterans Day parade, they are generally pretty happy. I was really surprised because I had several constituents--not just one or two but several--say to me: Pass this bill; we want tax relief.

It was totally unsolicited. So West Virginians are paying attention to what we are doing in the Senate.

Right now, our colleagues on the Finance Committee are working to advance this bill as early as tomorrow. We are very hopeful that we will be able to consider this bill on the floor of the Senate the week we get back from Thanksgiving, as our colleagues in the House are passing their bill this week. Do you know what? It has been disappointing to me and really to everybody, I think, involved in this, as tax reform has become a partisan issue, an exercise. We have shared goals. We all want to go to the same place in this country--a prosperous place where everybody can thrive and succeed--but to turn your back on what I think is a well-thought-out, much studied plan on tax relief, I think, is to turn a blind eye to every working American, every American business, and every American family, and, personally, I don't think it is fair.

Our goals are shared by many Americans, regardless of their party, because we want to grow small businesses. I am in a State where 95 percent of our businesses are small businesses. We want to allow those small businesses to make the decisions to grow employment opportunities or raise wages. We want to make our bigger companies competitive globally.

People say: You know, what is a big company really going to do for me, working and living here in West Virginia?

I think if we looked at the major companies that are invested in our State, we know that making those companies more competitive will result in those companies creating more jobs, investing more capital, buying more products, and raising wages for workers. So making our companies competitive globally is exceedingly important.

I have heard many of my colleagues say that statistics show that many American families can't even come up with $400 for an emergency expenditure in their family. That is almost a flat tire and the towing expense to get your car fixed so you can go to work or take your kids to school or get to your job and get to your church. I think the tax reform bill in the Senate meets many of these objectives.

The nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation has found that the bill would provide tax relief to Americans in every single income category, with the largest percent--and this was after working the bill over several months--going where it should go, which is to the middle-income earner.

The Tax Foundation has also found that with the Senate bill, as many as 925,000 new jobs can be created. That is significant. That is significant because, I believe, some of those jobs--and I would hope a great deal of them--would land in the great State of West Virginia.

In West Virginia, the studies showed that the average middle-income family would gain $1,952 in after-tax income, and the job creation for the State of West Virginia would be 4,784 jobs in our State. For some people, that might not sound like very much, but in our State, that is significant. It is almost 5,000 more jobs. I will take them. We will take them, and we will provide good workers for them, too. And $1,900 more from your taxes is a major infusion of cash into a family, to make the decisions they want, which they make around their kitchen tables, not the decisions that we are making here on the floor.

Yesterday I heard from members of the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce. Steve Roberts, who is the president of that group, said that the current system is full of ``negative consequences'' and reduces a business's ability to hire new workers, invest in inventory and equipment, and boost employee pay.

These are the hallmarks. What he is saying here is that the ``negative consequences'' are the hallmarks of what we are fixing and what we are reforming in this bill. He noted:

Employers are eager to grow, reinvest and reward employees

with better wages. We hope Congress will act quickly to

reduce and simplify taxes ensuring a stronger [and] more

economically vigorous nation.

This is something I don't think we talk about, either. If we had economic security in our families and economic security in this country, we would be stronger in a lot of ways that go beyond being stronger economically. In your family, if you have a decision that you have to make and you have to come up with some emergency funds, if you have to borrow or try to figure out a way to make ends meet, it makes you feel weaker. If you can do it yourself, you are stronger. That is what we are doing in this bill.

Also, I want to talk about the transparency here. We are hearing criticisms that this is coming in the dead of night, that nobody has ever heard of it. Nothing could be further from the truth. The Finance Committee alone has held 70 hearings on this since the year 2011. Senators from both parties have had the opportunity to weigh in, experts from both inside the Capitol and outside the Capitol. Right now, it is undergoing a full markup in committee, and the House has gone through the same procedure. This has been done in the total light of day. This is how legislation is made. So I am very pleased that these tax reform principles in this bill are moving through our Senate.

We know that the President is very enthusiastic about this. He will sign a bill that will grow our economy and benefit whom he wants it to benefit and whom we all want it to--middle-income families.

Each Senator has a choice here. We all have our choices. My friends from South Dakota and Oklahoma and Louisiana and Colorado, who are on the floor with me, as well as the Presiding Officer, who is from Arkansas, have choices every day. You can either cling to the status quo and say that, yes, everything is working well or you could really grab this and say that this is good--this is good policy; this is good politics; it will make our country stronger and our families stronger. This will help our small businesses thrive, create more jobs, and raise wages. Above all else, this will benefit our families. I think that it allows for more growth and more opportunity.

The people whom I represent want this. They want to have more of their money at the end of the day to be able to make their own decisions. They want their good, hard work rewarded. They want to see a country that grows and is optimistic and is strong and powerful. Economic strength can give us that.

I just heard from a 70-year-old postal worker from Wheeling, WV. He wrote to me: ``The Senate needs to get these tax cuts and tax reform done.'' That is the simple way that most people communicate in this country. I understand that. I hope our friends on the other side of the aisle understand that.

It would be great to have us join together as a Senate, as a country, to do something we know is going to have the right consequences and the right results of growing this country and providing the relief that people want with a well-studied process, with well-researched data, and with the power of the American people behind us.

Thank you.

I now yield to my colleague from Colorado and thank him again for leading this.

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

Mr. President, I would like to talk about an issue in my State of West Virginia--really my region--that is becoming very important, I think, to this country's energy security and prosperity.

As we know, West Virginia has extensive natural gas liquid resources. Nearly a century ago, when these resources were discovered, the rapid growth that followed turned Central West Virginia into a national hub for the petrochemical industry. You know what, we have never looked back.

Today, chemistry remains our State's second largest industry and directly impacts other major sectors like energy, biomedical engineering, and manufacturing. West Virginia is home to 140 different chemical companies that employ nearly 13,000 workers. West Virginia's share of GDP from the chemical industry is the sixth largest in the country, and these products are about one-quarter of our State's major international exports. We still have one of the highest concentrations of chemical, polymer, and resin manufacturers in the world.

The sector is sort of a microcosm of the challenges and opportunities facing this important American industry during a time of fierce international competition. Estimates show, more than 100,000 workers in West Virginia already have the industrial skills to fill jobs in this sector, and there are thousands more who could easily be retrained to fill these jobs in this important industry. With our region's abundance of natural gas from Marcellus

and Utica shale, West Virginia is perfectly positioned for a massive increase of economic growth and new jobs.

Natural gas liquids provide the building blocks for many of the products used by our consumers every single day--products ranging from the dashboard in your car or the water bottle that many of us use. Right now, we don't have the right infrastructure in place to store and distribute the building blocks that make up these products. As a result, these valuable resources are being used to generate heat and electricity, instead of being made into consumer products. As Energy Secretary Perry put it, that's like cooking your breakfast over a fire of hundred dollar bills. This represents a huge opportunity to act on this administration's ``America First'' energy policy. It is an opportunity to grow an industry here at home with an American workforce and America's natural resources.

To elevate these issues in Congress, I am proud to serve as the cochair of the bipartisan Senate Chemistry Caucus. We host briefings about the importance of this industry to America's economy and national security. States that may not have robust petrochemical sectors, nonetheless, rely on its products for manufacturing, agriculture, and several other key industries.

For months--I would say more than months, years--I have been advancing the development of an Appalachian natural gas liquids market to improve our storage and distribution capabilities. New drilling technologies have unlocked access to trillions upon trillions of cubic feet of natural gas and their associated liquids in West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Kentucky. Some of our most downtrodden economic areas have this valuable asset right there.

Unpredicted just a decade ago, this asset can create a renaissance in the region's petrochemical industry, but this can only happen if policymakers and the private sector seize this once-in-a-generation opportunity. To do that, we need to create a natural gas liquid storage hub in Central Appalachia. The concept of this new hub is simple. Right now, because we don't have a way to store these liquids, we are unable to fully maximize this resource. That hurts producers, refiners, and our manufacturers in the State of West Virginia, and Ohio, and beyond.

A storage hub and the necessary pipeline infrastructure would create a robust Appalachian market for natural gas liquids. This would have major national benefits, and here is why. Let's think about the hurricane that just occurred and devastated our friends in Texas. The gulf--and particularly Houston and the storage hub at Mont Belvieu, TX--dominate the domestic market there. Hurricane Harvey knocked out as much as 60 percent of that supply. It knocked it offline, and it took a month to get the hub back up and running. By establishing an Appalachian storage hub away from Hurricane Alley, we would add redundancy that protects our economy and our national security. Having all this storage capacity in only one region of the country only drives up production costs for American manufacturers. I would also add that this resource is in Appalachia. Appalachia should have this storage hub to be able to capitalize and create the jobs right in our own neighborhood.

As Appalachia has become a robust producer of natural gas liquids, pipelines that used to flow from the gulf to the Northeast have been reversed. They are now sent to the gulf for storage and refining. It is sent back as ethylene to the interior of the country--often Appalachia itself--and to the Midwest for manufacturing. This back-and-forth obviously drives up prices for the goods you buy every day, from furniture to toys, to cars.

To be clear, development of an Appalachian hub would not come at the expense of the gulf's market. It is a comparative advantage. The Appalachian hub can more efficiently serve many of the domestic manufacturers, while the gulf can expand its export capacity. Besides making the national market more efficient and resilient, an Appalachian market will drive significant development in a region that desperately needs a boost.

A recent study found that the Appalachian States of West Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Kentucky would see as much as $35.8 million in new capital investment, creating more than 100,000 jobs by 2025 with this new hub.

When Secretary Perry accepted my invitation and visited West Virginia in July, the development of an Appalachian natural gas liquid storage hub and market was a great topic of emphasis. The Secretary met with several business leaders as part of a roundtable discussion to discuss paths forward in developing a regional ethane market. Needless to say, the Secretary saw the obvious benefits of such a project and that the hub could play a key role in the administration's related goals of rejuvenating the Appalachian economy and achieving an ``America First'' energy policy.

The Secretary and I have discussed how best to bring this public- private partnership to life since his visit to West Virginia. I think all of my colleagues--particularly those representing Appalachia-- should be as excited about this concept as the Secretary and I are. Several private entities are undertaking that initial development work right now, with interest coming from both domestic and foreign investors.

I have been engaging frequently with Secretary Perry and with Commerce Secretary Ross about making this storage hub a reality. The Trump administration understands the importance of this project to the economies of West Virginia and the region. I appreciate their efforts to help move our State forward beyond the economic disasters we have had over the last several years. I will continue my advocacy for this enormous economic development opportunity and encourage my colleagues-- not just from the States I mentioned but all around the country--to join as partners in this effort.

Thank you.

I yield the floor.

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

Mr. President, I rise to give my fifth in a series of speeches addressing what I think will be a monumental achievement of this Senate and House when we pass our tax reform bill.

I have spoken previously about how I believe tax reform will be good in a lot of different ways. First of all, I talked about how this tax reform bill will spur economic growth in our country. Second, I talked about how it would grow jobs in small businesses. Third, I talked about the benefits working-class families will have through policies such as the child tax credit.

So today I rise to talk about the importance of tax simplification. According to a publisher who analyzed the issue, since 1913, the Federal Tax Code is 187 times longer than it was a century ago. On top of the Tax Code itself that spans thousands of pages, there are additional IRS regulations that are complicated, and you need somebody not just to figure them out for you and interpret them for you but to figure out how that translates to your own tax return. Of course, taxpayers have to comply with all of these.

Beyond the code and the regulations, there are countless IRS procedures, technical memorandums, and more, and all of this adds to the length and complexity of our tax system. You can see it when you turn toward the April 15 date, the stress level in this country really rises, and a lot of it has to do with the complications of our tax system.

The point is this, when it comes to figuring out your taxes, it is just far too complex. That is why businesses and individuals spend 6 billion hours a year complying with the Tax Code. That is more than 18 hours for every man, woman, and child in this country. That is equivalent to 3 million people working full time--3 million people working full time to comply with the Tax Code and fill out your tax forms or, another way of looking at it, that is $195 billion in lost productivity.

Again, our Tax Code is just too complicated, and that is also what tax reform is about, simplifying and making it easier for Americans to comply.

According to the Brookings Institution, ``The notion that taxes should be simpler is one of the very few propositions in tax policy that generates almost universal agreement.''

Despite years of bipartisan talks, we are now on the verge of major tax reform for the first time in 30 years. Making our Tax Code simpler will benefit every single working family in this country. By roughly doubling the standard deduction, filing your taxes will be easier and more understandable. The higher standard deduction will let more middle-class Americans benefit from not just lower taxes but also without the hassle of itemizing your tax return. Lower rates and fewer deductions will help all Americans spend less time and energy and worry on tax compliance.

Our goal is for the overwhelming number of Americans to be able to submit their tax forms on a single sheet of paper without all those extra forms, and for many families in West Virginia and around the country who already use the standard deduction, increasing it will reduce their taxes. Now, 83 percent of West Virginians last year--or maybe it was the year before, 2015, 2016--83 percent filed a simple form.

Simplicity in our Tax Code and relief for middle-class families, those are the reasons I offered a straightforward amendment to the Senate's budget resolution. My amendment said Congress should focus on eliminating deductions that primarily benefit wealthier individuals in favor of tax policy that benefits the middle class. Let me say that again. Congress should focus on eliminating deductions that primarily benefit wealthier individuals in favor of tax policy that benefits the middle class. That means a tax code that is simpler with fewer deductions and lower rates.

It will not just be individuals and families who benefit from a less complicated tax code. Tax simplification will help our small businesses start, grow, and succeed. Ninety-five percent of the businesses in my State of West Virginia are small businesses, and they employ over half of West Virginia's private sector workforce. So in addition to their high marginal tax rate, the complexity and compliance cost of their taxes impedes their economic growth, impedes their ability to grow their job, raise their wages, spur growth. A CNBC survey found that 22 percent of small business owners aren't sure what their effective tax rate really is. If Congress can simplify the code just to cut compliance costs in half, that would free up significant resources that could be used to grow the economy. Given that 50 percent of U.S. job growth has occurred in just 2 percent of our country's counties, we need that growth. Think about that. Over the last several years, 50 percent of the U.S. job growth has only occurred in 2 percent of our country's counties. We need the rest of the country to be able to enjoy that growth. To do that, we need to help the small businesses that are the major economic drivers in our economy.

Simplifying the Tax Code will benefit so many across this country through GDP growth and higher wages. I look forward to working with my colleagues to make tax reform and tax simplification a reality.

Thank you.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, thank you.

As we heard my colleague from Missouri saying, we have a great opportunity this week to confirm four outstanding individuals to the Federal circuit courts. These nominees are well-qualified individuals who have demonstrated a strong understanding of the proper role that a judge plays in our constitutional system.

I am especially pleased that we are considering three exceptionally talented women for the Federal bench. Federal circuit court nominations are extremely important. Circuit courts sit directly below the Supreme Court in our judicial system. Because the Supreme Court reviews relatively few or a smaller number of cases, many times the circuit courts have the last word in the majority of those cases, so it is essential that we have judges on the circuit court who will treat all litigants fairly.

When I think about what I want in a judge, I think fairness is the first thing that comes to mind. We want someone who treats litigants fairly, who shows respect for our Constitution, our statutes, and the controlling precedents.

We need somebody knowledgeable in the law. That sort of goes without saying but certainly is a top attribute of a judge. Every party before our Federal courts has the right to expect evenhanded, fair judges and fair justice from those judges who are handling their case.

Each of the four nominees being confirmed this week have a strong record and impeccable qualifications. They respect the rule of law. All were given a high rating by the nonpartisan American Bar Association.

Yesterday I was very pleased to support Amy Barrett's confirmation to the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Despite obstruction by my colleagues on the other side, I am pleased that yesterday we confirmed Ms. Barrett, but I still have deep concerns about some of the debate and some of the questions that were raised about her religious beliefs throughout the confirmation process.

The Constitution clearly states that there can be no religious test for any Federal office. The Senate has a responsibility to consider qualifications and fitness for office of individuals nominated by the President, but that does not include an evaluation of a nominee's religious beliefs. Our Constitution fundamentally protects religious liberty for all Americans. That principle is deeply rooted in our Nation's history and allows individuals of all faiths the freedom to exercise their religious beliefs.

Ms. Barrett's credentials clearly demonstrate her ability to serve on the Federal bench, which she will be doing, and I hope future nominees are questioned by this body on their record, their qualifications, and their jurisprudence, not on their faith.

Today we confirmed the nomination of Michigan Supreme Court Justice Joan Larsen for the Sixth Circuit, a supremely qualified individual. A former clerk for Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, she served as a Deputy Assistant Attorney General and as a law professor at the University of Michigan before joining her State's highest court, the supreme court.

We are now considering the nomination of Colorado Supreme Court Justice Allison Eid for the Tenth Circuit. Justice Eid served as Colorado's solicitor general and is a law professor at the University of Colorado. She clerked for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and was appointed by Chief Justice John Roberts to serve as a member of the advisory committee on Federal appellate rules.

Finally, we will consider the nomination of Stephanos Bibas to the Third Circuit. Mr. Bibas is a law professor at the University of Pennsylvania and clerked for Justice Anthony Kennedy after earning degrees from Columbia, Oxford, and Yale.

This is a supremely qualified slate of nominees, as their impressive credentials make clear. My colleagues who are familiar with these nominees have given praise to these nominees in earnest and honest discussion, which very much lends itself to my support. Without question, their fitness for the Federal bench is evident.

The fact that Democrats have been holding up these qualified individuals is totally misguided. We heard from Senator Blunt in his remarks about the numbers. There are currently 21 circuit court vacancies and 120 district court vacancies in the Federal judiciary. While the Senate has an important role in examining nominees to fill these vacancies, Democrats have required virtually every potential judge to go through a time-consuming floor process that is simply not sustainable, even when there are no objections raised against the individuals. In fact, Democrats have used political tactics to delay virtually every one of President Trump's judicial nominees, controversial or not.

Every Senator has the right to vote against a judicial nominee if they believe that person to be unfit or unqualified--we all have that right--but engaging in a de facto filibuster against virtually every judicial nominee is an abuse of the rules, I believe, especially when the nominee has overwhelming bipartisan support.

The American people expect the Senate to confirm well-qualified nominees. They also expect us to advance a legislative agenda that will improve our economy and our security. By filibustering against qualified nominees, Democrats are keeping the Senate from tackling our important legislative work.

Starting with Justice Neil Gorsuch to the nominees being considered this week, President Trump has nominated mainstream judges who will serve our country for years in the judiciary. I commend the President, the chairman, Senator Grassley, and the members of the Judiciary Committee for their work in advancing these talented individuals. We should confirm these judges and act promptly to fill other judicial vacancies.

I thank the Presiding Officer.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I rise to again highlight the importance of enacting tax reform. I listened to the Democratic leader's speech. I have heard that speech a thousand times--a thousand times how only wealthy Americans are going to benefit from anything the Republicans can come up with. Well, do you know what? Americans are smarter than that. Americans are smarter than that.

I represent a State, West Virginians who have struggling economic situations. If I were to go out on the street in West Virginia, and as I talked to individuals there, and asked them: Would you like more of your hard-earned money at the end of the day and have a tax cut and tax relief, I can guarantee you 100 percent would say: Heck, yeah. I can spend my money better at home with my priorities than what you are doing in Washington, DC. So let's not let that argument rule the day. As I said, we are smarter than that.

Let's talk about what this bill does. This is now my fourth, actually, in a series of something I believe in, which is tax reform for everybody in this country.

My first speech described the benefits we will have in economic growth. Something that was not mentioned by the previous speaker is how we have been stagnated for so long. The economic growth will rise all boats. Every middle-class worker will benefit from this, and every small business will benefit from this. My second speech was about small businesses. Ninety-five percent of my State is small business. Last week, I highlighted the importance of passing the budget resolution to allow Congress to move forward, and we did that.

Today, I want to talk about the importance of tax reform for middle- class families and the impacts this bill will have on them, the very real impact. You know what, raising a family is very expensive today. A recent study from the Department of Agriculture found that middle- income households will spend over $230,000 raising a child. It is staggering--staggering.

The Federal Reserve found that almost half of American families are struggling right now to come up with $400 if they have an emergency expense. In West Virginia, where the median income is $41,000--hardly the wealthy--families are forced to make hard tradeoffs as they balance their checkbooks each month.

Expenses are going up. Yet most Americans haven't received a raise in years. So we need to help working families, especially those living paycheck to paycheck, and this is one of the primary goals of our tax reform. We want middle-class, middle-earned-income

folks, hard-working folks to get more in their pocket to decide what they want to do with their money. I raised three children. I know just putting shoes on your children is an expensive proposition. Maybe you want to plan for a trip or save for college. Well, to pay for childcare and to save for college at the same time is almost impossible for our young families today.

The framework we have set forward, I think, will help our families in many ways. First, it calls for a significant increase in the child tax credit. Yesterday, a number of my colleagues from the House and the Senate, joined with Ivanka Trump to highlight what an improved child tax credit would mean for working families. The tax reform proposal would allow families to take a higher per child credit, saving money on their taxes--money they have earned, money the families deserve to spend on their own, and money that could have significant impact to our families.

We will also create a $500 tax credit for families who are caring for a nonchild dependent. Many Americans find themselves in the sandwich generation, where they are not only caring for their children, they are caring for their parents at the same time. This will help those families.

Second, the proposal nearly doubles the standard deduction or the zero tax bracket. It raises it up to $24,000 for married taxpayers and up to $12,000 for single taxpayers.

What kind of impact would this have on a State like mine? Well, 83 percent of the taxpayers in West Virginia take the standard deduction. They are going to get a doubling in their standard deduction. That is more money for them to take home, to put the value of where they want to spend it with their own families. So four out of five West Virginia working families will benefit from that. That is an enormous savings, and even more taxpayers are likely to benefit, as the larger standard deduction means fewer people will itemize. We expect that figure to go up--from 83 percent up. It makes filing taxes simpler, and it makes it so our taxpayers can file on a single form without all of the extra forms, time, and money it takes.

Finally, and most importantly, families will benefit from the economic growth that tax reform will bring to our country. This is probably the biggest impact that tax reform will have for working families. We will lower the corporate rate, yes, for companies, but we have to make our companies competitive across the globe. We are not. We are not competing. What kind of effect does that have? Fewer jobs and lower wages. Companies know that if they invest in their workforce, if they invest in the wages of their workforce, they are going to have a more productive workforce to produce products, to sell products, to enhance the quality of life of their communities.

Many of these large corporations that are scattered around our country really do a lot of work in the community service parts of our country, whether it is helping with schools or whether it is helping with the baseball teams or sponsoring a robotics team. Why does that matter to working families? More than $2 trillion in profits earned by American companies is kept offshore because of the flaws in our current tax system--$2 trillion--and I think some of those estimates might be low. Shifting to a more fair and competitive system will bring those dollars back to the United States. Those companies want to invest in our country because they know we have the safest investments, we have the most technologically advanced and we have the best workforce, and this is great news for American families.

The White House Council of Economic Advisers estimates that lowering that tax rate--that corporate tax rate--from 35 to 20 could increase the pay for the average American by about $4,000. At my small business roundtable, when I asked, what would you do with tax relief, the first thing she said was ``raise the wages of my seven employees.''

So I think that this would be good news for working families, certainly good news for 50 percent of the West Virginia workers who work in small business. We need to make sure we work together, that we target our tax relief to middle-class families.

I say to the Acting President pro tempore, you and I were at lunch the other day with the President. Priority No. 1, the President said that this tax cut must be targeted to the middle class, the working families in this country. That is what this bill has put forward: larger tax credit, larger standard deduction, unlocking the wages by lowering the competitive tax rate. Despite our hard work, too many middle-class families are falling behind, and we want to make sure that trend stops.

So all of us, I think, can join together. This is going to go through committee. Both parties will have lots of opportunity to weigh in, and I look forward to looking into the eyes of the working men and women in my State and saying: Not only is help on the way, but help is here.

Thank you so much.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I wish to recognize a friend and colleague, Floyd McKinley Sayre, Jr., who recently departed this life. I came to know Floyd many years ago and interacted with him while serving in the West Virginia House of Delegates, U.S. House of Representatives, and the U.S. Senate. Recent testimonies to his life state that he was ``a good man by all accounts and lived his life in a pursuit of endeavors he felt were right, good and virtuous.'' Throughout my friendship with Floyd, I found this to be true.

Floyd was born in Beckley, WV, on July 17, 1930. He graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School before going on to West Virginia University, where he was an active member in the Sigma Nu fraternity. After college, he had a successful military career where he served in the Berlin Brigade in Germany, guarding West Berlin during the Cold War. Upon his return, Floyd started a professional career with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that eventually brought him home to West Virginia.

Floyd owned and managed Floyd Sayre's Management Consultants and was the first certified professional executive in West Virginia. He worked hard to bring a certification program to the State and mentored many future executives. As a student of West Virginia politics, he understood how to navigate the halls of the State legislature, where he is remembered as a gentleman and forceful advocate for a better West Virginia.

In 1960, Floyd married his wife, Ruth Ellen Thomas, who was his staunch supporter and companion for his entire

career, and together they had three sons, Floyd, Richard, and David. Floyd loved spending time with his family and friends, gardening, bird watching, and rooting for his beloved West Virginia Mountaineers. Floyd was a Rotarian, as well as a Paul Harris Fellow and past president of the Southern Pines, NC, Rotary Club. Floyd was also a member of the church I attend, another community in which he will be sorely missed.

I am honored to have known Floyd and his wife, Ruth, and my thoughts and prayers are with his family. West Virginia owes him a debt of gratitude for his service to the State. I am proud to have called him a friend and fellow Mountaineer.

Madam President, I call up amendment No. 1393.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

Thank you, Madam President.

I would like to speak, for my 1 minute, about this amendment, which prioritizes tax relief for the middle class over the State and local tax deduction, which disproportionately benefits the wealthy and high earners.

Only 1 percent of the State and local deduction benefits go to taxpayers who earn less than $50,000 annually. Tax reform means higher wages, lower taxes for middle-class workers. To unlock these benefits, we must reduce expensive deductions that do little to benefit everyday Americans. Keeping the State and local tax deduction without modification would cost more than $1 trillion over 10 years. That money would be better spent on relief for the middle class.

Middle-class workers will benefit from the enhanced 0-percent bracket, enhanced child tax credit, and lower rates that will be part of this reform. We cannot let an unwillingness to reduce deductions for the wealthy stand in the way of relief for the middle-class working folks of this great country.

I hope my colleagues will join me in prioritizing middle-class families by supporting this amendment.

Mr. President, today I wish to celebrate the christening of the United States Navy's T-ESB 4 Expeditionary Sea Base, USNS Hershel ``Woody'' Williams taking place on October 21, 2017. This vessel is named after the proud West Virginian and last surviving Medal of Honor recipient from the Pacific theater during World War II. This ship will serve as a flexible platform to support Special Forces helicopters and aircraft, as well as counterpiracy and mine countermeasures.

This ship could not have a better namesake than Woody Williams. Woody's life is the embodiment of what it means to serve this country, both in his military service during World War II, and his service to veterans and Gold Star families in his civilian life. Corporal Williams' actions on Iwo Jima are the definition of heroism. He went forward alone, facing deadly machinegun fire from entrenched Japanese positions and fought bravely for 4 hours, taking out enemy positions one by one. His actions were crucial to his regiment's success on Iwo Jima, wiping out a heavily defended Japanese position.

In addition to Woody's wartime heroism, for which he received the Congressional Medal of Honor, he also has devoted his life to servicemembers, veterans, and their families. Through the Hershel Woody Williams Medal of Honor Foundation, he honors Gold Star families who have lost loved ones that bravely sacrificed their lives in defense of our freedom by seeking to establish Gold Star Families Memorial Monuments in all 50 States. His foundation also offers scholarships to Gold Star children and sponsors outreach programs that educate communities about Gold Star families and the sacrifice that they have made. To date, the foundation has established 26 Gold Star Families Memorial Monuments across the country, with 50 other monuments underway in 38 States. Woody also served our Nation's veterans for 33 years as a veterans service representative in the Department of Veterans Affairs.

At 94 years old, Woody continues to be an energetic, unyielding force for good. I have had the privilege of knowing Woody Williams for many years, and the christening of this mobile sea base vessel is a testament to Woody's

bravery, his dedication to our Nation's servicemembers, and his unwavering commitment to serving others. I am proud to rise today to recognize Mr. Williams and congratulate him on the christening of the USNS Hershel ``Woody'' Williams.

Mr. President, I am very pleased to be here on the floor of the U.S. Senate with my colleague, the Senator from North Dakota, who just talked a lot about some of the details but also some of the results of the tax reform that we are talking about. Also, I was very inspired to hear Senator Scott from South Carolina talk about how he believes--and I believe--that tax reform for someone like his mother, who was a nursing assistant raising two boys as a single mom, will have great impact on her. We all have a story to tell, and that is why I think this tax reform bill that we are talking about will be, can be, and should be very impactful for everyone across this great land.

My colleagues and I have talked a lot about this over the last several weeks because it really presents an incredible opportunity for us to make a difference for every American family, every American business, and individuals from all walks of life.

Just last week, when I was home in West Virginia, I had a small business roundtable. I hosted about seven or eight owners of small businesses, and we sat down to talk about tax reform and what kinds of impacts this would have on them, their businesses, and the people they employ. It didn't take long

because the first question I asked, right off the bat, was: What does tax reform mean to you? Well, they didn't say ``Tax breaks for the wealthy'' because that is not what they believe and that is not what I believe.

We had a woman who has a family-owned business. She employs six people as a highly technical, small manufacturer. She said that what tax relief means to her and her small business is that after she trains people--it takes a year and a half to train--a lot of them will leave and go to a bigger company because they are searching for a higher wage. She said: What I am going to be able to do is reward the good workers in my business and raise their wages so they will stay.

I almost closed my book and left. I said: Well, do I need to hear anything more? These are the impacts, I think, tax reform will have on small businesses.

I had another person there who employs 36 people in a communications company. What does tax reform mean to you? She said: Well, I have two locations. I have 36 people evenly split between the two locations. But in communications you really have to modernize your IT for graphics and be able to do the best communications and advertising you can do. That is expensive. It is really expensive. She said: What tax reform means to me is, I am going to be able to modernize my infrastructure, my IT, my software, and still keep the 36 people who work for me. And she said: I am looking next year to hire another six, and this gives me the certainty to be able to do that.

Well, I almost closed my book up and left then. What does that mean? That means more investments. Somebody is selling that software. Somebody is creating that software--hopefully, in this country--and somebody is going to be the beneficiary of that increased investment in a small business.

I heard about raising wages. I heard about what economic growth will do to a small business in a small State. I heard Senator Hoeven say 96 percent of business in North Dakota is small business, and 95 percent of business in West Virginia is small business.

So these efforts will be about transforming our economy. For too long, we have been living with a stagnant economy, with too few opportunities, and with people feeling like they just can't get ahead. Rural America has really felt this, and many of the communities in my State and around the country have felt these effects of this stagnation, this lack of confidence, this feeling that you can't get ahead. You are not ready to spend the money.

No. 1, you don't have it because you are paying too high taxes. No. 2, you don't want to spend it because you don't have the confidence that the economy is going to move. That is what this is about today. We have a chance to transform this and create opportunities, reform our Tax Code, and deliver pro-growth legislative solutions. We haven't done this for decades. It is way past time to make a real difference and make a system that is more transparent, a system that is simple.

Something I don't think we talk about enough is tax simplification. How welcome that would be to probably everybody seated in the Gallery here today, and millions across the country, when they look at the time and effort and money they spend to prepare a complicated tax return, when tax simplification would free them from a lot of that burden.

Most of all, we want a system that is fair and the kind of system that rewards hard-working families and puts more money in the pockets of those who earn it. You think, what would you do with it. I think everybody could come up with something they could do. They might want to save for retirement. They might want to go on vacation. They might need to do repairs for their home. They might want to buy a new pair of shoes for their child or a new car. There are all kinds of ways that people are holding back because they don't have the confidence. If they have that money in their pocket, then the confidence will be there in the future, and they are going to invest. They will invest in their lives, their families, their homes, their businesses.

Before we can move forward, we must pass this budget. This budget resolution before us today reins in Federal spending and provides new prospects for our businesses and our families. It paves the way for a tax code overhaul and creates a pathway to greater prosperity. I heard the Senator from Texas saying we would love to have a bipartisan tax reform measure in front of us. When we all see what the results of this are going to be, we should be able to join together, but we need this budget resolution to make sure that what we have talked about for more than several months and a year is going to come to fruition.

A vote for this budget is a vote to provide tax relief for hard- working, middle-income Americans. It is a vote to lower taxes on families with children. It is a vote to incentivize companies to invest domestically and create jobs in this country. That is what they tell us they want to do. I believe they know an investment in this country with their capital and their people is a much more solid investment for their company's future than any investment outside of this country.

It is very hard to think that any of my Senate colleagues, Republican or Democratic, would not want to support these goals. So passing this resolution creates a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reform our Tax Code in a way that will move our economy forward. Our country will move forward.

I urge my colleagues to vote for the budget and to begin the process of delivering tax reform that will help so many people in my State of West Virginia and across this country. We cannot let this opportunity slip by. I am going to do my best to make sure it doesn't. Thank you.

I yield back.

Madam President, last week, I rose to talk about the importance of tax reform. I believe this is a policy issue we cannot talk about enough and that we cannot emphasize enough. So, today, I rise to talk about how important the reform is to our small businesses, and in the coming weeks, I will be up here to talk about other important aspects of tax reform.

We are all from different States and other parts of the country, but we all know small businesses are a major economic driver in our country, as 95 percent of businesses in the United States are small businesses, and that number is even higher in my State of West Virginia. Small businesses employ more than half of West Virginia's workforce. Yet our small businesses face a marginal tax rate as high as 39.6 percent. At the same time, their effective tax rate can vary widely. In fact, a CNBC survey showed that 22 percent of small businesses cannot really say what their effective tax rate really is.

Think about that.

If you are a small business that is a partnership or an LLC, then your profits are going to pass through to you and be taxed at the individual rate. There are currently seven individual tax brackets. Then you have credits and deductions. There is also a self-employment tax, and the list goes on. On top of that, small businesses can have Social Security and Medicare taxes, a Federal unemployment tax, and employment taxes. That is not even taking into account taxes like a State-level income tax or property tax and more. That is why businesses and individuals spend billions of dollars a year to comply with the Tax Code. That is more than 18 hours for every man and woman and child in the United States of America. If I could give a visual here, that is basically 3 million people working full time on taxes for small businesses at a cost of $195 billion.

The point is, it is complicated. Our Tax Code is too complicated, and that is part of what tax reform is about--simplifying the Tax Code. If Congress can simplify the Tax Code just to cut compliance costs in half, think of how many significant resources that would free up that would be better used to grow the economy, create jobs, raise wages, and expand businesses.

The National Federation of Independent Business, which represents 325,000 small businesses across this country, called this tax reform framework a good start, and it has urged us to take swift action. According to a survey by Paychex, 41 percent of small business owners want tax reform to be the very top priority.

Whom will these reforms really help? We are going to have a long discussion on this. This is just part of whom they will help. They will help the small businesses that employ so many people in my home State of West Virginia. They will help people like Eric Hott, of EH Chocolates & More, from Hampshire County. Eric has a great story. Eric grew up on a farm in Kirby, WV. His mother was from Hornberg, Germany. While growing up, his grandmother was always cooking something. After graduating from high school, Eric moved to Germany to begin a culinary apprenticeship. By 2006, he had a chef apprenticeship at a five-star hotel in Germany. He went on to serve at events like the G8 Summit and for guests that included the German Chancellor and his First Lady. After running a patisserie in Germany, he moved to Switzerland, where he refined and perfected the art of chocolate-making. That sounds good to me. Then what did he do? He wanted to come home. He returned home to West Virginia. He went back to Kirby, WV, and started his own small businesses--first EH Chocolates & More and, later, Farm Fresh Produce. Both are growing and delicious businesses.

Small businesses employ middle-class Americans who power this and other small businesses across the country. We need more folks like Eric--lots more--who are willing to take the risk, who have a good idea, and who want to stay and work in their own homes in rural America and certainly in our State of West Virginia, which has had a major economic downturn. We need more Eric Hotts. We need to simplify the Tax Code for small businesses and let them focus on what they do best, which is refining their products, providing their services, and providing jobs for people in their various areas.

As much as any other policy that Congress can advance, tax reform will promote growth and provide job opportunities across this great country. Across the entire country, only two in five distressed communities have seen any job growth during the past 5 years. Fully 50 percent of U.S. job growth has occurred in just 2 percent of our country's counties.

We need to change that. We need to help small businesses that are major economic drivers in every part of our country. It is no wonder that small businesses have found it difficult to open, let alone succeed in many parts of our country. Because of our outdated Tax Code, real wages for most workers have barely increased for decades. By modernizing our Tax Code, we can create more opportunity and higher wages for Americans. We can achieve a simpler system with lower rates that is good for business and workers and, from the description I just put forward, would be a good time saver and resource saver.

The best thing about this in terms of small business is that it would lead to more jobs. Let's create an environment that leads to more investment in our States and continues to grow and build jobs. These are the changes hardworking West Virginians and Americans are hungering for. In order to make West Virginia the best place to live and work, now is the time for tax reform.

I look forward to working with my colleagues to make this a reality. Doing it will benefit so many--everyone in this country.

I thank the Presiding Officer and yield the floor.

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

Madam President, I come here today to talk about the nomination of FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, but before I begin, I think all of us have incredibly heavy hearts in our homes, in our States, in the country, and in the world, as the horrifying events of Las Vegas really begin to sink in.

I just saw an article come across the news line in my home State of West Virginia with one of the first identifications of the victims. Her name was Denise Burditus. She is from Martinsburg, WV. She and her husband Tony were at the concert together. They have been married 32 years. They were high school sweethearts and were there vacationing and at the concert. Tony wrote on his Facebook page that his wife died in his arms. So we have lost a mother of two, and soon to be a grandmother of five, to this horrible tragedy. My heart sinks for them and for everyone. I really don't have the words to say to comfort or explain or understand, except that I feel deeply sad and sorry, and I pray for them and their families.

Today, Madam President, I want to talk about the nomination and reappointment of Ajit Pai as the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. Chairman Pai has been an important partner in my quest to bring rural America and much of my State online. I was very lucky to meet Chairman Pai several years ago. Without question, he has been a champion.

Without question, high-speed internet access has allowed us to connect with one another on a scale we never could have imagined a decade ago. No other technology has become so critical to our daily lives. It is the backbone for our innovation, competition, and economic growth. From starting a business to digital learning and telemedicine, broadband access is critical to the strength of our economy and our communities. Unfortunately, for all the potential opportunities that broadband can offer, not having access to this important service can create insurmountable barriers.

Better connecting States like mine--West Virginia--through improved broadband has become one of my top priorities. Without this, our rural areas risk being left behind. The digital divide exists in this country, and rural Americans are the ones who are on the wrong side of the divide. Small communities and businesses across West Virginia and elsewhere in rural America lack this fundamental infrastructure.

No one understands these issues more than Ajit Pai. Chairman Pai grew up in rural Kansas. He told me that sometimes when he goes home to visit his parents, he cannot get connected in his own hometown. He knows the challenges facing rural communities.

I have had the pleasure of hosting Chairman Pai and his staff multiple times in West Virginia. Most recently, Chairman Pai came to Wardensville in Hardy County, WV, where we have good connectivity and where we have actually been able to create new businesses and opportunities for a small town such as Wardensville. Following our visit, we traveled just 20, 30 miles over to Hampshire County, where getting high-speed internet has been far more challenging. There, Chairman Pai met Eric Hott of Kirby, WV, who has a small chocolate business. Eric is having trouble following up with orders and attracting new customers because he can't get consistent broadband access.

Last August, I held a roundtable discussion with Chairman Pai in Fayette County, WV, focusing on the digital divide and the impacts on tourism. We visited Adventures on the Gorge. I even convinced him to join me on a bridge walk across the beautiful New River Gorge. This outdoor recreation destination is one of West Virginia's most beautiful and premier tourist destinations, but the small businesses there are hampered by the lack of connectivity.

We heard firsthand from business owners who can't grow their business because of poor internet connectivity. It is hard to attract a talented workforce to live and visit in these more rural parts of our States. A local restaurant owner shared their difficulty in notifying customers of available tables through their online system. They lost business because of this.

During each of the Chairman's visits, we discussed possible solutions to promote greater access and competition. Chairman Pai is a great listener. He listens to what the issues are, and those include reducing barriers to investment, streamlining the regulatory environment, encouraging public-private partnerships, and ensuring accountability on behalf of the taxpayer.

Following his tour across the country, during which he stopped in West Virginia, Chairman Pai proposed a digital empowerment agenda right down the alley of the issues we just talked about--to grant Americans living in communities of all sizes, from urban cores to smaller, rural towns, with these online opportunities. Chairman Pai's agenda highlighted a variety of specific measures the FCC, Congress, and State and local governments could make to simplify broadband deployment.

Broadband access will be the result of partnerships between private, local, State, and Federal agencies and organizations. We need to have this collaboration to eliminate duplicative and outdated programs so that States like mine can efficiently deliver broadband to our rural communities efficiently and cost-effectively.

By listening to communities like ours--and remember, I said Chairman Pai is a great listener--the Chairman has built a plan for achieving widespread broadband access that meets the unique demands of our rural communities.

The FCC plays an imperative role in addressing these issues in large and small States, particularly rural States like mine.

In the 21st-century economy, robust telecommunication networks are increasingly important for today's users and the foundation of future innovations.

Under his leadership at the FCC, he has already taken steps toward modernizing the Commission's role and promoting digital empowerment. Since the beginning of his tenure, the Commission has hit the ground running, enacting a broad strategic vision to close the digital divide, to modernize the Commission's rules, promote innovation, protect consumer and public safety, and improve the Commission's daily operations.

Under Chairman Pai's leadership, the Commission has made significant investments to deliver broadband service to underserved and unserved areas of the country. I am confident that rural America will see more progress with his continued leadership, and today I am very proud to support his renomination to the FCC as he ascends and retakes the chairmanship of a very important part of our communications and telecommunications network.

With that, I yield back.

Madam President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.