Floor Statements

Mr. President, in an effort to make the internet healthy, happy, and peaceful, the Chinese Government recently clamped down on what it deems as online bad behavior.

Beijing knows all about bad behavior. In fact, if behaving badly were an Olympic sport, China would take the gold, silver, and bronze.

Speaking of the Olympics, last week the Olympic cauldron was lit in the Chinese capital by a Uighur torchbearer. It was a spectacular opening ceremony, with thousands of participants filling the Bird's Nest. Its choreography was innovative, its artistry unprecedented as China sought to portray itself to the world not as it is but as they want to be seen.

There was an LED floor below, brilliant fireworks overhead. Children danced, sang, and raised glowing doves. The theme was socially conscious and environmentally aware.

The Chinese flag was passed through the hands of people representing the diversity within China, and it was raised where it billowed proudly, even though there wasn't a breeze.

And not a single American Government official was present--not a single government official. You see, we sent our regrets to the Chinese Communist Party, refused to join in the Xi Jinping games. We let a few of the reasons why we didn't appear be submitted candidly to the world.

A million Uighurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz are locked away in gulags--raped, tortured with electric batons, sterilized, forced into abortions--all in an effort to eradicate these religious and ethnic minorities not just from Xinjiang but from the face of the Earth.

Taiwan's sovereignty is continually threatened with the Chinese flying aircraft, streaking across Taiwan's skies. Hong Kong's democracy is strangled.

There and across the CCP's domain, dissidents, whistleblowers, and protesters are apprehended, imprisoned, persecuted, and reeducated-- free speech and expression stifled and censored, religious freedom denied.

A virus was recklessly unleashed on the world, upturning our lives, killing our most vulnerable, closing our businesses, damaging our economy, and dividing our people.

A nation is hosting a storied athletic competition, but that nation erases its own athletes for telling embarrassing truths about its government.

The history, distant and recent, of the communist Chinese Government is one of inhumanity, ruthless violation of the most basic human rights, and aggression toward America and its allies.

The Olympic Games in Beijing, spit and polished, even carbon-neutral, may present the face of a humane and caring world power, but we are not fooled.

We see through the charade--a slave state hosting the Olympics; its participants wearing uniforms made by Uighurs tortured and toiling in labor camps.

We see the authoritarian regime behind what the dissident artist Ai Weiwei calls China's fake smile. And we are leading by example. The CCP has the world stage, but we are not in the audience.

Our athletes are in Beijing, though. They are on the ice, in the snow, on the slopes, and in the arena, and they should be. They have worked their entire lives for this moment. They are seizing it, while we root them on. And I want America's Olympians to bring back every single gold medal.

But I also want our athletes to know what the Chinese Government might have in store for them. So here are a few hopefully helpful words for our American Olympians.

Keep an eye on your bank account. That is right. When you buy a meal or a souvenir in Beijing, you will be forced to pay for it with the CCP's digital yuan. The Chinese Government claims the system creates more efficient payments across its economy, but it is also a way of keeping tabs on your transactions and watching what you buy. Be aware. Think twice about what you buy in Beijing. You see, the International Olympic Committee made no effort to stop the sale of apparel made with forced labor.

Not only will China's Olympic team be wearing uniforms likely produced by slave labor, but official Olympic garments could be coming from the same oppressed source.

And don't be fooled by uncensoring. The CCP erases any unflattering but accurate portrayals of itself on the internet. With the world watching, it is now promising to lower the great firewall, allowing athletes and the press open access to the internet through SIM cards. China's own citizens are afforded no such privilege. Hopefully, you brought a burner phone and left your personal devices at home.

Keep an eye out for your fellow athletes. Now, this is important. Tennis star Peng Shuai disappeared in November after accusing a Chinese official of sexual assault. Her peers and the Women's Tennis Association called for action--an extraordinary showing of solidarity. But after Peng was seen in a video, the world moved on, much to China's delight.

We may never know how many Chinese athletes live under fear from their oppressive government.

Journalists, by the way, you should be on guard too. You see, there is no freedom of the press in China. Reporters are regularly harassed, censored, and surveilled. In fact, in 2021, China jailed 50 journalists--more than any other nation.

During the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing, there were at least 30 cases of CCP officials interfering with reporting and assaulting journalists. And that

was when China was truly concerned about making a positive impression across the world.

Lastly, and most importantly, to all America's athletes, don't forget this: Your country is behind you. By boycotting the Olympics, our government is shining a light on the CCP's abuse of its citizens and its disregard for the rest of the world, but by competing in the Olympics, our athletes are showing what a free people from an open society are capable of. Now, remember, the Olympics have long been a forum for American victory at the expense of authoritarians' pride. They were an early front in the war against fascism.

Jesse Owens won four gold medals in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, while Hitler looked on, humiliated, his delusion of Aryan superiority burst. When Owens stood on the podium after winning the long jump, he was surrounded by Sieg Heils, but he stood taller and he stood higher than all of them, saluting Old Glory.

But it was Cornelius ``Corny'' Johnson who was the first Black American to earn gold in Berlin, winning the high jump. The silver went to Dave Albritton, another American, who was also Black. Delos Thurbur, yet another American, won the bronze. Hitler refused to meet with them or to congratulate any of them.

When they took the podium, all three offered their own protest to the dictator--the Bellamy salute; the palm-out salute of the American flag named for Francis Bellamy, the author of the Pledge of Allegiance.

The Olympics were a battleground in the Cold War as well.

In 1980, the unheralded and ragtag American hockey team upset the four-time gold medal-winning Soviets. Two days later, they defeated Finland and won the gold.

Russia had just invaded Afghanistan. America's economy was in recession. The victory not only shocked the world, it lifted our Nation and sunk the Soviet's spirits. The Russian hockey players didn't even bother to have their silver medals engraved; they were so angry about losing to America.

Now, in 2022, another act in a global power competition will take place at the Olympics. We have seen it unfold in recent days. America and the free West against the communist Chinese Government. It is part of the contest that will define this century--show the CCP that the future belongs to the free; that authoritarian governments always fail the people trapped under them.

Win. Make Xi Jinping and the Chinese authorities hear the ``Star- Spangled Banner'' and see the Stars and Stripes again and again and again.

We are cheering you on and will be waiting for you when you come home decorated in gold. Good luck to Team USA, and God bless America.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, in a letter written in 1789, Thomas Jefferson declared that the ``earth belongs to the living, not the dead.'' Relationships between generations, he explained, are but that of a distant set of independent nations.

Mr. President, I don't know how many of my Democratic colleagues still admire Mr. Jefferson, but they are certainly taking his words to heart. There is little concern on one side of this Chamber about the impact of our actions beyond our own time here. There is a belief that the importance of this hour's partisan ambitions outweighs the value of centuries-old institutions.

Abandoning the 60-vote threshold in order to seize control of America's elections isn't simply shortsighted, it is clueless. It is the exact opposite of what the people who sent us here want.

Back home in Indiana, I hear from anxious Hoosiers because these are anxious times. I know what is on their minds--rising inflation, the cost of putting food on their table and gas in their tanks. I hear from them about paying to heat their homes. Many are struggling to pay next month's rent.

They are tired of and still worried about a pandemic that President Biden promised to shut down, and they are angry. Many are angry about a southern border that this President has left wide open.

In the middle of all this--an affordability crisis, an ongoing pandemic, a broken border--changing the Senate rules to nationalize Indiana's elections, to repeal popular voter ID laws, to use tax dollars to fund political campaigns are not high among Hoosier priorities or the priorities of the American people.

Do you know what is, though? Congress coming together, finding compromise, actually addressing, in a collective way, our shared national challenges. It is one of the most widely ignored messages of the last election. Every one of my colleagues should take note. If America wanted a radical, extreme, partisan set of changes put forward, they wouldn't have evenly divided the U.S. Senate. Believe it or not, they want us to collaborate, and we have shown them we are capable of doing that.

Let me remind my colleagues, we formed a united front against China when it comes to competitiveness and trade policy. We helped American workers and small businesses hurt by the pandemic. We gave our troops a pay raise. Now, these and so many other achievements are really important. They are achievements that will benefit Americans now and in the years to come. We need to do more working together.

Now, look, I have been around here long enough. I understand that my Democratic colleagues are frustrated. I say to my colleagues, you have had less success with your reckless multitrillion-dollar social spending bill than you would like. I understand that. Your proposal to federalize and politicize American elections has been a tough sell. I understand that.

As a result, America's democracy, we are told, is in peril, and the only way to save it is to kill the 60-vote threshold. But the 60-vote threshold is not the source of our Nation's dysfunction. I say to my colleagues, your Democratic radical agenda is driving much of the angst, the anxiety, and the frustration among the American people. The so-called legislative filibuster is not a threat to our democracy; ending it is.

My advice is to rethink your priorities. If you want to end gridlock, do the difficult work of actually building coalitions of support: introduce bills to be referred to the committees of jurisdiction that Republicans can actually vote for, allow for an open amendment process as we did with the China bill.

Now, this is the entire point of the 60-vote threshold. It is a forcing mechanism, during fraught times like these, that gives the minority a say in the process. It forces majorities to find ways to compromise. It incentivizes bipartisan collaboration among Senators representing diverse parts of our Nation with differing values, differing priorities. Americans want us to go through this hard work of finding common ground, of reconciling our differences. That is our job. And, yes, it is an obstacle to simple majority rule. It is an obstacle to one party--either party--razing our institutions by the slimmest of margins. But need I remind my colleagues, this is not a direct democracy, this is a republican--small ``r''--form of government.

Frustrating as it may be, the filibuster, in its way, is a source of and sometimes the source of order and even unity in Congress.

Now, if you think our current political division is troubling, colleagues, torch the filibuster, foist your unpopular partisan priorities on all Americans, and then check the health of our democracy. Pour gasoline on this raging fire. Don't be shocked by its sorry state after you do so.

I will close with a familiar caveat. Majorities, no matter their size, never endure. Looked at in the light of human history, all of us, even the most long-tenured, are here for a little more than a hiccup in time. Yes, what one party sows today, the other will of course reap tomorrow. Clearing the path for every grandly ambitious Democratic priority aimed at reshaping our country would only clear the way for a future Republican effort to repeal and replace it with one of our own, with even greater scale.

Beyond this, though, as much as I admire Thomas Jefferson, I do not believe that the Earth belongs only to the living. No. Citizens place both their trust and their destiny in a set of shared institutions. In America, this forms a compact that stretches across centuries and generations. It includes those in the grave and those yet unborn. And for the moment, we--Republicans, Democrats, Independents--we are its custodians.

If we give in to temporary passions, if we tear our institutions to shreds rather than work through them to serve the people, rewriting the rules when we don't win the game, we are failing in our jobs. We are breaking that compact.

So, as I said in my first speech on this floor, standing right over there--and I will repeat it until my last speech--we are, above all else, the custodians of the common good--the common good. Remember that, colleagues, before you take a hammer to one of the Senate's signature means of advancing it.

I yield the floor.

Madam President, in case anyone was wondering, there are 16 days left before Christmas--16 shopping days.

Now, I know I still have some shopping to do, and I look forward to that, but it seems as though some of my colleagues have a jump on me. Seems as though President Biden has a jump on me, and that is good thinking because this year you can't start too early, with the supply chain as bad as it is and the price of presents rising.

So why don't we gather around the Christmas tree to see what gifts national Democrats are prepared to pass out on Christmas morning, thanks to their reckless tax-and-spending spree.

To the leftwing labor unions, what do they offer? Democrats are gifting billions of dollars in handouts to strengthen this core constituency of

theirs. While they are letting charitable deductions expire in Build Back Better, they have gift wrapped an above-the-line tax deduction for union dues.

Let's see what we have here.

Well, that is a car. That is a car. And this is the labor union present. Hmm. As a special Christmas surprise, it seems that the Democrats have put under the tree a shiny new tax credit for electric vehicles but only if those vehicles are made in a union shop--only a union shop.

You see, if you are naughty, and you buy an electric vehicle from a nonunion shop, like those that are made in my State of Indiana, you will miss out on the Democrats' $4,500 holiday giveaway in this bill. Apparently, during the Christmas season, the impact of electric vehicles on climate change only matters if the workers' contracts are collectively bargained.

Which brings us to another gift we have, and that is China. China has a gift under the tree. Why don't we just open this China gift. Well, that is a lot of money. The tax hikes on businesses large and small in this bill will give China an unfair competitive advantage. Increasing taxes on American employers by more than $800 billion, when they are already struggling with supply chain issues and worker shortages--this is going to do very little to bring jobs back home, jobs of the future here in the United States of America, which is exactly why the Chinese Communist Party and all of its leaders will love this very expensive gift.

And the largest gift under the Washington Democrats' tree goes to--is that--could that be? It says ``the rich.''

I am going to see what is in there.

Well, this must mean--it says SALT. By dramatically increasing the cap on the State and local tax deduction, or what is known around here as SALT for short, the once-proud party of the working class is giving a tax cut to two-thirds of people earning more than $1 million a year. Now, the average size of that tax cut is almost $17,000 a year for millionaires. This is the new Democratic Party.

Merry Christmas. This is the single most expensive tax expenditure in the Build Back Better Act, and it is the second biggest component of the entire bill.

So, evidently, the national Democrats believe it is better to give than to receive from millionaires so they proposed a tax cut for the wealthiest Americans from the wealthiest cities in the wealthiest States, gift wrapped from the Democratic Party.

So after the handouts and giveaways and entitlements and earmarks, what is left for regular, middle-class working stiffs?

Well, we know that really big gifts come in smaller packages. So I see this stocking here that says ``taxpayers'' on it. Let me see what is in here.

Oh, my word. That looks like coal--a lump of coal. That lump of coal must represent the massive $367 billion that will be added to the debt by the Democrats' reckless tax-and-spending bill, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, not to mention the 10 years of tax increases included in the bill to pay for only a few years of policy changes.

Of course, we all know that figure is going to be much higher in reality. If all the temporary provisions in this bill are made permanent, it will increase our budget deficit by nearly $3 trillion in this decade. It seems the Democrats want our children and grandchildren to pay for this bundle of goodies through the layaway plan.

GDP is expected to fall because of Build Back Better. The cost of living is expected to rise even more because of Build Back Better. And despite the promises of President Biden and my Senate Democratic colleagues, despite their votes right here on this floor, if Build Back Better were to become law, taxes would be raised on lower and middle- class Americans who are just trying to get by this Christmas season.

Ho, Ho, Ho. Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, this Christmas season Democrats are not offering holiday jobs or good cheer. Instead, this feels more like the nightmare before Christmas.

Colleagues, the best present that all of us can give the American people is to do whatever is in our power to stop the Build Back Better Act.

Madam President, I rise today in tribute to Rev. Melvin Girton, the dean of pastors, a servant of God, and a great Hoosier. His death on October 29 has left a terrible absence, one that cannot be filled. For over half a century, from 1964 to 2015, Dr. Girton was pastor at the Christ Missionary Baptist Church--the same Indianapolis church home where he was baptized as a young boy.

The number of years Dr. Girton shepherded his flock is astonishing. The number of lives he touched and bettered among and beyond is incalculable. He made his church a family. He walked with his congregants through their lives, their challenges, and in difficult times, he reminded them to look up because brighter days were ahead. When one of his congregants needed surgery, she arrived at the hospital to find Dr. Girton waiting there to reassure her everything would be all right. And it was. He was a member of their families. He blessed their marriages, welcomed their children, and even taught them to buy cars and homes. And he prepared and opened the doors for countless other pastors to follow him.

Dr. Girton was also a great lover of history, which is fitting since he made a great deal of it himself. During the civil rights struggle, he led from the pulpit, on the picket lines, during the marches to the Governor's mansion, and he worked with Hoosiers from all walks of life. His work made great strides for equality and pushed Americans to realize our founding promise.

There was a time when Indianapolis's restaurants and theaters were segregated, its neighborhoods closed to Black citizens. If rising generations of Hoosiers have no memory of this shame, it is because men like Dr. Girton ended it. He fought to open up the city's businesses, to make access to housing equal.

On April 4, 1968, Dr. Girton sat all night with Robert F. Kennedy in his Indianapolis hotel room after the Senator told a heartbroken crowd of Martin Luther King, Jr's, murder. The next day, he organized a memorial to Dr. King at the Soldiers and Sailors Monument at the city's center. Indianapolis is one of the few metropolitan areas in America that did not erupt in violence after Dr. King's death. Senator Kennedy's beautiful and conciliatory speech is often credited for this, but the work of Dr. Girton and other city leaders played just as important a part.

Long after the civil rights movement, he preached kindness and love and labored to advance opportunity. He served as vice president for the Indianapolis branch of the NAACP. He was twice the vice president of the Billy Graham Crusade and regularly hosted the Emancipation Proclamation service, an annual celebration of that document of freedom.

Always searching for ways to help his neighbors, in the late 1990s, Dr. Girton transformed a boarded-up Indianapolis strip mall into a community center, providing job training, employment opportunities, a laundromat, a senior center, and even an ice cream shop.

When he reached the half-century mark at Christ Missionary, he called it a ``short 50 years.'' No wonder--five incredible decades in a life of great purpose.

He wasn't entirely comfortable with the term ``legend,'' but that is what he was. His passing deprives not just his community but his country of a pillar.

Despite the grief, it is hard not to be encouraged by such a wonderful life full of years of lasting achievements, courageous stands, admiring friends, and many loving children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Dr. Girton would often say: ``God is with me, God is in me, God works through me.'' He was and he did.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, today I wish to thank Andrew Klein for his remarkable tenure as dean of the Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law. Of the 21 years Mr. Klein has served the law school, he spent seven serving as its dean.

Under Mr. Klein's leadership, IU McKinney acquired national recognition as one of the best value law schools. Additionally, the school's legal writing and health law programs have often been ranked among the top in the country by U.S. News & World Report.

Over the course of his years as dean of IU McKinney, Mr. Klein frequently called the position the greatest honor of his professional life. Those who worked with Mr. Klein in this capacity admired him for his people-focused and institutionally minded leadership style. Back home in Indiana, Mr. Klein's service to the legal profession has not gone unrecognized. In 2019, he was presented with the Indianapolis Bar Association President's Award for service to the legal profession and the Indiana University Bicentennial Medal for service in support of the university's mission.

Upon announcing his retirement as dean, Mr. Klein made clear that his work at IU McKinney is not yet finished. In addition to his strong leadership capabilities, Mr. Klein has a natural ability to teach and will continue to serve as a professor at the School of Law. His outstanding efforts as an instructor have earned him several prestigious awards, including the Indiana University Trustees Teaching Award.

Mr. Klein's commendable service to the Indianapolis community extends beyond his role at IU McKinney. He serves on the board of directors for the Indianapolis Legal Aid Society, an organization committed to providing legal advice to vulnerable populations. Additionally, Mr. Klein serves on the board of directors for Play Ball Indiana, an organization that fosters opportunities for inner-city youth to play baseball and grow as individuals.

Mr. Klein's retirement as dean of IU McKinney marks the end of a laudable chapter for the school, and I look forward to seeing him continue to impact lives there while serving as a professor. I congratulate him on all his tremendous achievements throughout his career and look forward to his further contributions to the greater Indianapolis community and the State of Indiana as a whole.

Mr. President, Hoosiers have heard me talk about the size of the Democrats' reckless tax-and-spend bill--$3.5 trillion, and possibly growing in the House of Representatives. They have heard me talk about how this reckless proposal will raise tax on the American people.

When I am talking about this legislation back home, I don't have to go much past the $3.5-trillion figure. People are against it. All told, Democrats have proposed $7 trillion in spending this year alone--$7 trillion.

Let me try to put that in perspective. Seven trillion dollars is roughly the mathematical equivalent of putting $1 million of credit card debt on every man, woman, and child in the State of Indiana.

Now, Hoosiers know this is something we simply cannot afford. Beyond the massive multitrillion-dollar pricetag, we should examine exactly what the Democrats are proposing, because this bill isn't just a number on one side of a ledger sheet. This spending package--the largest in American history--represents a massive leftward shift in the way our country operates. And Hoosiers and, I think, all Americans need to know what is in it.

Well, thankfully, I sit on the Senate Finance Committee, and in the Senate Finance Committee we are charged with overseeing matters related to taxation and entitlement programs. So if anyone has insight into the particulars of this legislation, it would be a member of the Senate Committee on Finance.

If any legislation this large and this consequential were to pass, it would surely go through the Senate Finance Committee. But the full Finance Committee hasn't held a policy hearing in months.

Tomorrow, we will hold our first full committee hearing since July. That hearing will be on a topic only remotely connected to the Democrats' reckless tax-and-spend proposal. And to my knowledge, no Senate committee has held any hearing whatsoever on this bill at all.

You see, this reckless tax-and-spend bill has all been done, largely, in secret, behind closed doors. I read about it in the newspapers. I will hear rumors about it from my colleagues.

So it is worth asking: What is the other side trying to hide? What have Democrats put in this mother of all bills?

Well, let's start with what the Wall Street Journal recently called ``Entitlements for the Affluent.'' This is the Wall Street Journal's way of saying ``handouts for the rich,'' which is accurate because so few of the new and expanding government giveaways in this bill are targeted in ways that I might support to actually help Americans of modest needs.

Now, for reference, the U.S. median income for a family of four in this country is about $90,000. But, under this bill, a family can make $400,000 a year and get an $8,000 child tax credit from Washington.

How about ObamaCare subsidies?

The original eligibility limit for ObamaCare subsidies is 400 percent of the Federal poverty level--or about $106,000 for a household of four. Their bill completely removes the eligibility limit. This means much wealthier Americans would be eligible for taxpayer-subsidized health insurance.

If Speaker Nancy Pelosi gets her way, wealthy elites on the coast will get a massive tax write-off for their mansions in high tax cities, like San Francisco; or high tax States, like New York.

Now, what else is in the bill? How about $80 billion more for the

Madam President, I rise today in honor of one of the most beloved women in Indiana. An attorney, a First Lady, a wife, and a mother, Susan Bayh will always be remembered throughout Indiana for her grace and strength.

Susan Breshears was born in Los Angeles, CA, in 1959. She received a bachelor's degree from the University of California, Berkeley and a juris doctorate from the University of Southern California. In 1978, she was named Miss Southern California. While working on Capitol Hill in the early 1980s, she met Evan Bayh. The two married in 1985. She became Indiana's First Lady in 1989, when Evan was elected Governor. In 1995, she gave birth to twins Birch Evans Bayh IV and Nicholas Bayh, becoming the first First Lady to have children while in office.

Susan was a talented attorney. She made a name for herself at some of the country's top law firms before joining Eli Lilly and Company to manage regulatory affairs. Later, she taught at Butler University and Indiana University. She passed away in February 2021 after a battle with brain cancer.

In Indiana, the Bayh name is famous, but as President Biden said, ``Susan stood out as a single treasure.'' As Susan's loved ones and friends gather to remember her life at Washington National Cathedral this week, Hoosiers are grateful for the life she lived, the family she raised, and the legacy she has left behind.

Madam President, when I served in the House of Representatives, I walked into a lot of meetings back in Indiana full of angry conservatives.

Do you know what they were angry about?

They were angry about the debt limit in 2011, 2013, 2014, and more.

And in each of those meetings, I made the argument that raising the debt limit was a necessary thing to do, a responsible thing to do, a conservative thing to do. I still believe that.

Defaulting on our Nation's debt will start a dangerous spiral of economic turmoil that will rebound to the disadvantage of the least among us. Interest rates would rise, the value of the dollar would fall, essential government workers might not get paid, and so on and so forth.

Now, back in those days, as a Republican in the House majority, we never failed to raise the debt limit--not once. And we also never failed to have a say in the spending that necessitated raising the debt limit. In 2019, we again raised the debt limit, this time through July 13 of this year.

Now it is Democrats. It is my Democrat friends who control the majority in both Chambers of Congress. And with that control, the hard- left has embarked on an unprecedented, reckless spending spree designed to remake America in their image in fairly short order--before year's end--$1.9 trillion in March; a $4.2 trillion budget authored by Senator Bernie Sanders; and now $3.5 trillion on a partisan, human infrastructure grab bag, the largest spending bill in American history.

And so I say to my Democratic friends: You have decided to do all of that on your own, and now you want our help. It is unclear to me why you need it. You have done so much on your own. You have a number of options at your disposal to raise the debt limit all by yourself, just as you have gone it alone on this spending spree.

A farmer back home, over the August recess, came up to me as I was traveling the highways and byways of the Hoosier State. And I would like to think that the people I represent are blessed with a whole lot of common sense, which, for whatever reason, oftentimes doesn't permeate this town. And the farmer told me that it seems like in this instance the butcher wants to build a new slaughterhouse, and he is asking the cows to co-sign on the construction loan.

It is a pretty good metaphor for what the Democrats are asking of the Republican Members.

If Democrats had treated Republicans as a governing partner in an equally divided U.S. Senate these past 9 months, I might feel differently about this debt limit vote. Instead, they have treated us as an annoyance, an obstacle--adverse to every common interest we might have.

Now, I know we can count on my Democratic friends to ensure that America never defaults on its debt. I know we can count on every single Democratic U.S. Senator to vote to raise that debt ceiling, to own all of this spending they--and they alone--are responsible for.

I sure hope we can count on them to vote on a specific dollar figure in conjunction with the reconciliation bill. I know there has been apprehension made public by the budget chairman over in the House of Representatives. I suspect that is shared by many of my colleagues. But show some courage. Do what Republicans have done. Do what I have done. Walk the plank. Own this spending that you are responsible for.

I will let you know, a vote by Republicans to raise the debt limit at this point in time is a vote to co-sign the Democrats' partisan, irresponsible, and unprecedented spending spree, and we are going to have none of it.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, in 2017, my colleague Senator Sanders said:

The function of reconciliation is to adjust federal

spending and revenue, not to enact major changes in social

policy.

Now, fast forward to 2021, and Senator Sanders and many of my Democratic colleagues have changed their tune. You see, Democrats in Congress are doubling down on their efforts to steer America toward the Democratic socialist policies laid out in Senator Sanders' budget with a $3.5 trillion spending plan that would be the most significant expansion of our social safety net programs since the 1960s.

Democrats are seeking to enact these sweeping changes through reconciliation--a partisan process, which Senator Sanders himself said is not meant to be a vehicle for major policy changes. From job-killing corporate tax hikes to small business money grabs and hidden tax increases on the middle class, the Democrats' plan will punish job creators and workers and make us less competitive on the global stage.

Now, perhaps that is part of their plan--to remake the United States of America in the image of Western Europe. It is as if they want to punish businesses while rewarding unemployment and dependence on the Federal Government.

Republicans want to empower Americans to be self-sufficient, to unleash their God-given potential. That, after all, is the promise at the heart of the Declaration of Independence. It is that promise that has led generation after generation of people to our shores so that they, too, can realize the individual liberty, the promise at the heart of America's Declaration of Independence.

Republicans want to provide employment opportunities and a strong economy. We don't want to make people beholden to the government for their livelihood. It is not healthy. That is not freedom. It is not American.

As a young man, I visited the Soviet Union as part of a junior high school soccer exchange trip. I still remember what I saw there. Food was scarce. The water was, too. There were public water stations, where Russians drank from a communal cup. They were desperate for everyday items Americans take for granted: blue jeans, for example; and chewing gum, too. For decades, Russians were denied this because it was a symbol of American culture.

Now, think about that. A government that gives you everything can also take anything away, even chewing gum. Profligate collectivism--you might call it socialism--creates an environment where citizens progressively give up the right to decide how they spend their earnings, how they educate their children, how they get better when they are sick; a system where citizens are frozen on the lower rungs of the ladder of life's opportunity, where upward mobility is unknown.

That is why the Democrats' reckless tax-and-spend proposal goes against everything we believe in this Nation. Among its many defects, their proposal picks winners and losers. It increases our dependence on foreign oil and allows blatant double dipping.

All of this is, of course, incredibly misguided and simply makes no sense when gas prices have jumped 40 percent since January, directly harming middle-income Americans who can't afford a cent more.

Punishing oil and natural gas producers while propping up renewables--many of which have materials directly sourced from communist China--will have disastrous, wide-reaching effects. A 100- percent renewable energy-supported grid will result in blackouts and will make power delivery less reliable for millions of families, not to mention the job losses for the 10 million Americans employed by these industries.

Democrats are also proposing sweeping changes to Medicare. This is a program that is incredibly popular among our senior citizens, and it is already on shaky financial ground. It is projected to reach insolvency within the next 4 years, prior to any changes by the Democrats that will undermine it. But Democrats are determined to add benefits that private plans already cover more efficiently. Adding hearing, vision, and dental under traditional Medicare is duplicative of the coverage provided through Medicare Advantage.

Seniors enjoy their high-performing Medicare plans, which come at little to no additional cost. Expanding Medicare is unnecessary, duplicative, and will come with higher costs, less access, and harm the quality of care providers are able to provide.

These are just a couple of examples, but the Democrats' reckless tax- and-

spend proposal would have harmful consequences across the board for our country and the freedoms we enjoy.

Americans should be outraged--I know Hoosiers are--not only by this radical expansion of government but by the process Democrats are using to ram through their liberal agenda, possibly ramming it through a 50- 50 Republican-Democrat equally divided U.S. Senate.

Now, Republicans have stood up to socialism again and again. And we must continue to do so by opposing this reckless tax-and-spending boondoggle. We must protect the American promise and ensure that this remains the land of the free.

Madam President, now more than ever, we must find bipartisan solutions wherever possible to stimulate our economy, get Americans back to work, and ensure we maintain our position on the world stage as the leader in scientific and technological innovation.

This amendment would preserve funding related to U.S. competitiveness and innovation by retaining the full expensing for research and development and expanding tax incentives for small businesses. Immediate R&D expensing incentivizes long-term investments in innovation and technological breakthroughs.

By passing this amendment, we can make sure that the United States continues to be the world leader in this space.

I understand we are prepared to pass this by voice vote.

Madam President, I call up Young amendment No. 3444 and ask that it be reported by number.

Madam President, over 60 times during their campaign and since taking office, President Biden and Vice President Harris have pledged not to raise one single penny in taxes--not one single penny-- on anyone making less than $400,000 a year.

Today, my Democratic colleagues are using this budget to try to pull a fast one on the American taxpayers by giving lip service to this pledge while proposing tax hikes that will largely be borne by middle- and working-class Americans. For example, it is well-understood that a significant portion of corporate tax hikes are borne by American workers in the form of fewer job opportunities and reduced wage growth.

Now, while my colleagues included a nominal mention of the tax pledge in the underlying budget, importantly, the budget's reserve fund for the upcoming $3\1/2\ trillion reckless tax-and-spend bill is not conditioned on that pledge. So this amendment will prevent Congress from breaking the Biden-Harris tax promise to pay for reconciliation.

As President Biden said:

Not one penny. It's a guarantee.

I urge my colleagues to support this amendment.

Madam President, I ask for the yeas and nays.

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

Mr. President, when I first ran for Congress in 2010, then-Vice President Biden was on a ``recovery summer'' tour. You see, on the heels of a trillion-dollar stimulus package, he argued millions of jobs would magically appear.

Happy days are here again.

When that summer ended, the unemployment rate was 9.4 percent, and 280,000 jobs vanished. If ever there was a show that did not deserve a sequel, this was it. But that is exactly what the American people are living through right now.

When they passed their $1.9 trillion ``son of stimulus'' package earlier this year, the President and his friends in Congress promised millions of jobs and another summer of recovery. Like the original, this sequel is a flop. That is because, once again, our friends across the aisle are confusing taxpayer priorities with a liberal wish list.

I see at home the cost of living is rising for Hoosier families and job creators. You take a trip to my hometown grocery in Greenwood, IN, the cost of steak and chicken and bread have all increased. Across the board, the cost of putting food on the table has gone up over 5 percent since last year.

It is not just groceries. The cost of gas and energy and housing and household goods are at historic highs, all while America endures a nationwide crime wave and our borders are overrun.

Now, I know my Democratic colleagues don't want to use the I-word, but let's call it what it is: Inflation. Taxation without legislation. And inflation is at its highest level since 2008.

We know they want to raise taxes on Americans, including those in the middle class, but this is probably not what Democrats had in mind.

But the President, evidently, he is not worried. He says the rising cost of living is only temporary. It is transitory.

Look, this is easy for him to say. His pocketbook isn't impacted by inflation. He isn't buying groceries at the local grocery store or a new fridge for the White House. He is not gassing up the Presidential limousine. Maybe that explains why he is urging Congress to spend another $3.5 trillion taxpayer dollars--$10 billion here for environmental justice, $174 billion there for electric cars, a massive expansion of Medicare and Medicaid, and trillions more in taxes on American families as we emerge from a global pandemic.

Trust me, I can tell you, Hoosiers don't want any of that, nor do the majority of the American people: no more trillion-dollar tax-and-spend rescue plans. They aren't rescuing Americans; they are raising their cost of living.

Don't take it from me. Take it from Larry Summers, President Obama's economic adviser. He is warning President Biden about inflation--has been for a number of months. In fact, he described recent fiscal macroeconomic policy, including the last round of nearly $2 trillion in stimulus as ``the least responsible fiscal macroeconomic policy we've had in the last 40 years.'' With friends like these--but, you know, he speaks the truth.

I wish the President would listen to Secretary Summers. He certainly won't listen to us. We are not arguing for inaction, though. In fact, we are willing to collaborate. We know there is need for targeted and responsible government spending tied to actual results on core infrastructure, on workforce training, on cutting-edge technology.

We just believe that every taxpayer dollar is a sacred trust, and we should treat it accordingly. If we are going to invest it, the American people better see returns. What they are seeing in the Democrats' $3.5 trillion budget proposal is a rerun of a failed trillion-dollar tax- and-spend spectacle from just a decade ago.

Now, the final act of that show, by the way, was not recovery. It was the American people handing control of the House of Representatives over to the Republican Party. The President

should keep that in mind. The President should keep that in mind.

I yield the floor

Mr. President, today I wish to recognize and celebrate the centennial of Indianapolis' Frederick Douglass Park.

In the early 20th century, recreational opportunities for Black Americans in Indianapolis were separate and unequal. There were no public swings or slides for children to play on, no designated green spaces for communities to gather in. When the city's government took notice of the polluted and dangerous swimming holes and streams in which citizens cooled off, it constructed sanitary swimming pools, in White neighborhoods only.

There were, thankfully, Hoosiers who recognized these injustices and resolved to right them: the physician and city council member Sumner Furniss and journalist Marcus Stewart, who both lobbied for the creation of a park to accommodate the city's growing Black population. And the family of local entrepreneur Edward Claypool, who donated the land on which to build it.

Because of their efforts, in the summer of 1921, a new park opened on the northeast side of Indianapolis where African Americans were welcome. It was fittingly named for the great champion of freedom, Frederick Douglass.

A year later, a large swimming pool filled with clean water opened. There were slides, swings, and merry-go-rounds too. Next came the adjoining Douglass Park Golf Course. Originally six tomato cans in a cow pasture, it later grew to nine holes and par 34 and is one of the only golf courses in the Nation named after an African American. Tennis courts, basketball hoops, and baseball diamonds were added as well.

When the doors to other communal gathering places across Indianapolis were closed and locked, Frederick Douglass Park didn't just provide an alternative, it created a beloved institution that brought people together.

Thousands of Hoosiers spent their weekends and holidays here. It was the site of civic gatherings, political rallies, family reunions, basketball tournaments, little league championships, and jazz concerts. Across the park on a typical summer night the thump of basketballs on pavement competed with the echoes of brass instruments. It was not uncommon to see the likes of champion boxer Joe Louis playing a round of golf or future basketball legends Mel Daniels or George McGinnis working on their game.

One hundred years later, Frederick Douglass Park continues to play an important role in the civic life of our capital city and bring joy to those who call it home. It is exactly the type of public place where Americans have always engaged, interacted, and found common ground.

I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing this milestone.

I thank my colleague very much for his reflections on what is really at stake here, Mr. President.

Last month, the Biden administration's Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services notified the State of Indiana that it was withdrawing approval of the State's Gateway to Work Program. So what does this actually mean to rank-and-file Hoosiers? Well, it means that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has decided to revoke Indiana's ability to determine appropriate work requirements and appropriate community engagement expectations for Medicaid recipients in our State. It means that this administration regards work as some form of punishment, and efforts to transition to a position of self- reliance are somehow inappropriate.

Now, we Republicans believe in people. We believe in people. We believe in self-reliance. We believe that the vast majority of Americans, Americans of modest means, don't want to be trapped in Government programs.

Medicaid should ideally be a service which is a temporary support for people who really need it. The goal should be to prepare individuals for a life of dignity, and that includes securing a vocation, finding a measure of self-reliance in life.

Now, Indiana wasn't the only State to receive this bad news. Arizona officials also received word that their Medicaid work expectations were being revoked. Just a few months ago, this administration likewise pulled all work expectations from the States of Arkansas, New Hampshire, Michigan, and Wisconsin.

Indiana's Gateway to Work Program, again revoked by CMS, would have merely asked Medicaid recipients to report 20 hours of work or volunteer or school or other activities every month. This is really important. These community engagement activities are designed to improve quality of life, to improve the quality of the recipient's life over the long-term and to help Hoosiers transition from Medicaid to full employment. This is what people want.

When we think of the American dream, we think of the ability to go out and start a family and be part of a larger community and to be able to meaningfully participate in a nation's civic life and to secure a vocation.

Most would regard the goals of Indiana's Gateway to Work program as commendable. However, according to CMS, this program would result in significant coverage losses and harm to beneficiaries--harm to beneficiaries--a misleading statement that ignores the extensive list of individuals exempt from this requirement: students, pregnant women, the medically frail or the incapacitated, those with disabilities, and a bunch of others.

Now, luckily for Hoosiers, the State of Indiana had not yet implemented the Gateway to Work program at the time of CMS's notice because of the unique challenges presented by the pandemic; meaning that Medicaid recipients would not face immediate disruption of their benefits.

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for other Americans across the country. And we are here to fight for them. This includes Texas, where the administration's decision to revoke that State's waiver put in jeopardy healthcare for 4 million Americans. That doesn't sound very compassionate to me.

Up to this point, Medicaid waivers have allowed the States the ability, the freedom--the freedom under our federalist system--to test new policy approaches within the Medicaid Program, allowing them to design and improve their programs in ways that best fit their own populations and maybe serve as models for other States where successes are elicited and proven.

But with the Biden administration's recent actions, with their one- size-fits-all mandates and mindset, States will now need to be on guard. CMS may decide to revoke its waiver authority at any given time. This means any attempt by a State to improve its Medicaid Program carries a serious risk of disrupting healthcare for the program's beneficiaries if that innovation could ultimately be revoked. God forbid we try and improve a government program. But I guess Medicaid is perfect, and we can't find room for improvement. Certainly, we can't rely on the States to come up with improvements. Any improvements that might be made would have to come from Washington, DC. This is the sort of mindset we seem to be dealing with.

But for a nation that has always valued quality and innovation in healthcare, for Americans who believe we should empower all of our citizens, and for leaders who believe we have a responsibility to provide the least among us the necessary tools to stand on their own two feet, this is an unsustainable situation.

So I urge my colleagues to act now and stand up for their State's ability to set their own Medicaid requirements that meet the needs of their own citizens.

And with that, I yield to my esteemed colleague from Indiana, who has been working very hard on this issue, Senator Braun.

Mr. President, Hoosiers have one less hero. On July 7, Detective Greg Ferency died in the line of duty in Terre Haute, IN. This is a tragic loss for his community and our State. Greg's life was dedicated to protecting people, pursuing justice, and preventing violence.

For 30 years, he served Terre Haute, the town where he was born and raised, as a police officer; during 10 of those, he doubled as a member of a Federal Bureau of Investigation task force.

Greg broke drug rings, battled the evil of human trafficking, and helped defend places of worship from terrorism. He was constantly on the frontlines in the fight against crime, leading and securing over 550 methamphetamine lab investigations. He was a teacher, too, training teammates, leading community forums, and authoring a book on drug enforcement.

A father of two, Greg was admired by his police peers and valued by the Federal agents he worked with. ``You'll never meet a finer person,'' remembered a colleague. The hundreds of friends and fellow officers who paid tribute during his funeral bears witness to this.

We mourn his loss, we celebrate his life, and we keep his loved ones in our hearts and prayers. And we remember this: What we call bravery, the men and women who wear the badge simply call duty. They willingly stand in the way of threats to decency and order. They face grave dangers so other Americans do not have to.

Greg Ferency was one of these guardians. There are no words to adequately express our gratitude to him. I ask my colleagues, though, to join me in extending our sympathies to his family and pledging to never forget his sacrifice.

Madam President, today we are discussing S. 1, the so- called For the People Act.

Now, this legislation takes a system that is actually working quite well and applies drastic, draconian, and desperate election reforms meant to keep Democrats in power.

Now, why do I say the current system is working well? Well, let me tell you just how easy it is back home in my home county of Johnson County, IN, to cast one's vote.

You see, beginning 4 weeks before the election, you can vote early in person, with no excuses, Monday through Friday, for at least 8 hours per day. The two Saturdays before the election, early voting was open for 7 hours each day. Monday, the day before the election, early voting was open for 3\1/2\ additional hours. And then on election day, polls were open for 12 hours. In total, that is 201\1/2\ hours of voting across 23 days, over a period of 4 weeks.

In total, you see, we afford Hoosiers plenty of opportunity to vote.

And lest you think that my suburban county is somehow unique in the State of Indiana, let me disabuse you of that notion. In neighboring Indianapolis, they had 221 hours of early voting over that same period.

Additionally, Hoosiers have the ability to vote absentee. Now, you can vote absentee in the State of Indiana by mail for 11 separate reasons, including being sick or caring for someone who is sick or working on election day.

Now, colleagues, in the history of our country, voting has never been easier than it is right now. That is right. You may not see this in the media, but this is indeed true.

You see, the truth bears it out right in the numbers. Last year, a larger percentage of the population voted than they had in any election since 18-year-olds were given the right to vote 50 years ago. A larger proportion of the population voted than it had since over the last 50 years.

Why aren't we hearing this?

According to the Census Bureau, voter turnout for African Americans and Hispanic Americans were up 3 and 6 percent, respectively, not down. Asian Americans saw a huge 10-percent increase. This is fantastic.

Yet my colleagues on the left would have the American people believe that we are living in an era of extreme suppression or, as President Biden demagogically, dishonestly, and divisively called it, ``Jim Crow on steroids.''

So what exactly is the national Democratic response to this record turnout?

Well, they would like to strip election powers away from the States, States like Indiana, and give those powers to Democratic overlords here in Washington, DC. That is how we ended up with S. 1, the For the People Act.

So for the folks back home, what is this For the People Act really all about? Why are we having this debate? Why are we going to have this vote? It is really about four things--four things.

One, national Democrats want to fund their campaigns with your taxpayer dollars. That is right. Under the For the People Act, a $100 campaign donation to Nancy Pelosi could be matched by $600 from taxpayers.

I don't know about, you know, my colleagues who are listening, but my neighbors work very hard for their wages and salaries, and I expect that is the case for them as well. They don't want $600 to match $100 given to Nancy Pelosi.

Two, national Democrats want to gut popular voter ID laws, like those in the State of Indiana. I know what Hoosiers believe. Hoosiers believe you should have to prove who you are in order to vote. Our voter ID law, incidentally, passed in 2005. It was challenged in the courts, and it was upheld in the Supreme Court of the United States by a vote of 6 to 3.

But this bill, this For the People Act, says you don't have to prove who you are. You don't have to prove you are who you say you are in order to cast your vote. We will just take you at your word. That seems to me to be ripe for abuse.

No. 3, the third thing this is all about is that national Democrats want to allow ballot harvesting. It is an awful word, and it is an awful thing--the harvesting of ballots. In Indiana, a member of your household can already turn in your absentee ballot. You can do it. But under this law, anybody can turn in your ballot--or not turn it in--and there is no limit as to how many ballots a single person can turn in-- hundreds of ballots, thousands of ballots. It is ripe for abuse.

The final thing this is about is that national Democrats want to take control of the Federal Election Commission. They want to turn it into a partisan committee.

Now, everyone in this body believes that the right to vote is sacred. It is a sacred right that all of us have, and we ought to be able to exercise it unhindered and with fidelity. We are in this Chamber because each one of our respective constituents exercised their right to vote. That is how we earned our election certificates, and we all agree that our constituents need to be able to trust the systems in place that allowed them to cast their vote.

So we can't take that sacred right and turn it into a partisan exercise, as S. 1 proposes we do. That, my friends, is why this Senator will be voting no on S. 1, the so-called For the People Act.