inventory, and the suppliers of the materials needed to brew additional beer. mr. president, we're all too familiar with the litany of polls showing how little faith the american people have in their elected leaders and how much they want us to work together to solve our nation's problems. i've been privileged to work with senator casey to do exactly that. the legislation that we have introduced is neither a republican nor a democratic proposal. it is instead a bipartisan plan to help spur america's economy to assist our small employers and, most of all, to create good-paying jobs. i urge my colleagues to support

our bipartisan bill, and i would ask our leadership to bring this legislation to restore economic growth and job opportunity to the senate bill -- to the senate floor for action as soon as possible. thank you, mr. president. i would yield to my colleague from pennsylvania for his remarks. mr. casey: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from pennsylvania. mr. casey: mr. president, thank you very much. i first want to commend and salute the work that's been done already on this legislation by the senior senator from maine and for her leadership. senator collins appropriately focused on the issue of jobs and job creation. i know in our state we've got, at present -- we are finally below the half million unemployed number. we went many, many months when the unemployment rates went as high as -- gosh, it must have

been as high as 550,000. it went down, but it hovered around a half a million people for far too much months. we're below that now. we're at about 443,000, still a big number, below 7%, but just by a little bit. so job creation has to be job one for me, for i think most of us in the senate, if not all of us, and if that is the reality that your number-one obligation is job creation, you ought to be able to show the people you represent that you're doing something about it. and you can't do much of anything unless you can get bipartisan cooperation. that's why i'm so grateful that senator collins has been willing to work with me on this legislation and to move it afford and to come together as a team to say to both of our leaders that we want to have legislative action on this bill this year. and the reasons are pretty

fundamental. if you've run a small business, you know what we're talking about. l but evebut even if you haven't experience, you've encountered the challenges that small business owners face. in iin some cases it's a real ay and uncertainty. there's aing site about anxiety about what happens and doesn't happen in washington. but there's also uncertainty when they don't see action here to bring that together. one part of smal small business' struggles is even if they can identify the problem and maybe

even the solution to rectify that problem, they can't hire a team of accountants or lawyers or tax professionals or tax consultants to help them. they often have to do things on their own. giving them some measure of certainty as it relates to tax policy wro would help enormousl. that's why we came together on this bill. senator collins outlined some of the provisions. let me go through a couple of them by way of either reiteration or reemphasis. one of them that she mentioned, the 15-year depreciation, which is sometimes referred to as 15-year straight-line depreciation schedule for restaurants. why would we go back to the old policy, which is you would to get your increment or piece -- or benefit i'd call it of depreciation in little slices

over 39 years? why not keep it at 15 years so that that business owner knows that in each of those 15 years they're going to have a measure of depreciation? it's a more realistic reflection of the useful economic life of these qualifying assets, and it makes all the sense in the world to have that in place. senator collins also mentioned faster cost recovery. that's reflected directly in a company's bottom line & it frees up cash that can be used to expand business operations and hire new workers. these tax provisions can actual a how folks to have the capacity to hire new workers. this is especially important in the restaurant industry, which supports -- get this number -- 535,000 jobs just in pennsylvania alone, and that number is 13.5 million jobs nationwide in the restaurant industry. a study by the national

restaurant association found that uncertainty about depreciation -- the very thing we're talking about -- and other tax provisions forced restaurants to forego improvement projects that would produced around 200,000 jobs nationwide. so just one provision about one type of uncertainty could unleash substantial job creation. secondly, the maximum allowable deduction -- so-called 179 expensing ... again, why should a business that is already under tremendous pressure to meet a bottom line, to be able to deliver a product or a service and has all those pressures, why should that business not have the certainty to know that this year and next year and for as long as they are in business they can depend upon, rely upon a deduction level that's set at $250,000

instead of fluctuating as that number has fluctuated? so making that deduction permanent is critically important. this section -- this so-called section 179 -- allows taxpayers to fully deduct certain capital asset purchases in the year that they make the purchase. this type of expensing provides an important incentive for businesses to make capital investments. we want them to make those investments, but we can't just say, go ahead and make that investment and we hope we can help you in some uncertain way. we need to tell them and let them know the rules of the road on this are going to be much more certain. for this provision, this is the one provision that we believe should be made permanent. the deduction under this 179 section has changed three times in the past six years. this unpredictability makes it

difficult for businesses to plan, for obvious reasons, and neutralizes much of the impact. it is not worth much if you are not sure it will be in place next year. so by making it permanent and indexing it to inflation is very, very important. by indexing it, the bill provides the kind of certainty that businesses need to take full advantage so that they can hire more workers, just what we're hoping they will do and just what we hope we can help them do. a so-called bonus depreciation would help small businesses also. the bonus depreciation allows companies to expense half the cost -- imagine that, half the cost -- of callifying asset calg assets that they buy and put into service in the same year. it provides an added incentive -- that word is important because we try to put tax code provisions in place that

incentivize the kind of actions that lead to job growth. here's -- just two studies i'll cite. in a 2013 report by the u.s. treasury office of tax analysis concluded that this particular provision, the 50% bonus depreciation policy, increased small business investment by 31.2% between 2008 and 2009. whether you count that as two years or three years, it is a rather short time period. that provision alone, that bonus depreciation provision alone, increased small business investment by more than 31%. a separate report, same department, treasury department, a separate report, sthai says ts lowers the cost of the capital. so no matter how you measure it, this bonus depreciation policy works, it creates jobs and will

keep working if we put it in place and provide that incentive. two more provisions on the start-up deduction -- deduction for start-up expenses. in the accounting rules, we've heard this for years where just by doubling that threshold level for one particular type of accounting in allowing firms to have more leeway with those accounting rules, they'll have much more certainty and a much better policy. in 2010 another study by the kaufman foundation found that start-ups and young firms are responsible for most of the job growth in our economy, creating 3 million jobs per year, on average. so when you add all of this up, it's really about common sense, and i don't say that in a theoretical way. we know these provisions work. we are certain of that. there's no dispute that each

these policies are directly responsible for substantial job growth. so that's the first thing we know. the second thing we know is they are supported across the board by both parties. every member of the senate, even the newest members, at some time or another has either voted for one of these provisions or supported them. so it makes sense in terms of the dynamic of how to get bipartisan legislation done here. so we should put ourselves as best we can so-called standing in the shoes of others. we should try and stand in the shoes of small business owners. try to understand what they're up against. try to understand some of the pressures they face. one of the most difficult problems they face is something as simple as uncertainty. putting these provisions in place would remove a substantial degree of uncertainty. if we can do that, we can unleash job creation, the likes of which we probably haven't

seen in the last couple of years. and i'm grateful that senator collins is going to work with me on this and to move afford this bipartisan legislation, which will be an effective and a proven creator of jobs. i would yield the floor. ms. collins: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from maine. ms. collins: madam president, i just want to commend the senator from pennsylvania for his remarks. i think it's obvious that both of us have reached out to employers in our state and asked them, what would make a difference? what would allow you to create new jobs, preserve the ones that you have, pay your workers more? and to a person, they identified provisions in the tax code, the uncertainty that occurs when they expire, the difficulty to plan, to hire new workers when

you don't know what the tax code is going to be. and that formed the basis for our bipartisan bill. we listened to what employers were telling us, and i hope more of our colleagues will help us bring this bill to the senate floor. every day that i am talking to an employer in maine, i'm asked, are these provisions that expired at the end of last year going to be renewed? will they be retroactive? can we count on them? and they've put their hiring plans on hold until we give them the certainty that they deserve. so, again, it's been a great honor to work with my colleague, and i do urge our leaders to bring this important bill to the senate floor. thank you, madam president.

madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from maine. ms. collins: madam president, i do have another statement that i would like to give, seeing no one seeking the senate floor. and i would ask that i be permitted to proceed for up to 10 minutes, as if in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. collins: thank you, madam president. madam president, the world's best athletes have come together in sochi, russia, for the 22nd winter olympic games. among them is russell courier from the small northern maine town of stock hol of stockholm,. it is very near caribou, where i grew up. i rise today to celebrate the determination, hard work, and community spirit that enabled

russell courier to represent our great country in the olympic games. russell competes in the biathlon, the demanding and increasingly popular sport that combines cross-country skiing with sharp shooting. he secured his place on america's team by winning three out of four qualifying races in january at the u.s. biathlon olympic trials. but russell's snow-covered trail to russia began long before that. 14 years ago, as a seventh grader, he joined the local nordic skiing program. a former coach described him as a quiet youngster with no particular interest in the sport. that quickly changed.

the next year russell won a county-wide middle school championship. the year after he won third place at the junior nationals. caring coaches and encouraging teammates lit a fire in him that burns so brightly today. onerous sell's personal -- on russell's personal profile on the u.s. olympic team web site, he wrote that his favorite quote is "less talking, more doing." he has embraced that motto with all of his strength, and his perseverance has turned his olympic dream into a goal that he has achieved. i have a particular rooting interest in russell's success. he and his parents, debbie and

chris, are graduates of caribou high school, as am i. debbie and i grew up spending summers at mattawaska lake at camps that were very near each other and we spent endless summers playing together. i have known this wonderful family for many years, and i am just thrilled for them. while the world watches the winter olympics, the entire population of arrest -- arrostook county will be watching. as the name suggests, the town of stockholm, maine was settled by swedish immigrants. when the first 21 families came to aroostook came, they brought

with them a strong worth ethic, a strong sense of community and a love of skiing. in fact, the entire ski industry in maine, both nordic and alpine, can be traced to these hardy, outdoors loving newcomers. nearly a century and a half later, the worth ethic and the love of skiing remains strong, and the sense of community is more powerful than ever when russell wofpb his place on the u.s. team, friends and family held a fund-raiser, a spaghetti dinner selling more than 300 dinners so that russell's parents could make the long and expensive trip to russia to cheer on their lincoln.

the local newspaper -- cheer on their son. the local newspaper published an excellent story on the community's support behind the currier family, and i'm pleased to insert that story in the record with unanimous consent to do so. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. collins: russell's dedication and his community spirit have a strong ally in this remarkable story. the maine winter sports center. the center was founded in 1999 with the purpose of rekindling aroostook county's skiing heritage, spurring economic development in that region, bringing families together in wholesome recreation and countering the sedentary lifestyle that leads to so many health problems among our greater population.

the center's world-class facilities in fort kent and presskow, maine hosted national and international cross-country and biathlon competitions. for the 2006 and 2010 olympics, 13 members of the u.s. biathlon team trained at the maine winter sports center. but russell is the first homegrown olympian to come up entirely through the center's program. madam president, russell currier demonstrates that growing up in a community that works hard and works together can be such a great advantage when combined with individual desire,

determination and skill. the success that russell has achieved in realizing his olympic dream and the support along the way that he has received are truly inspiring. i am so proud of russell and all who helped him achieve his dream. i wish him and his teammates all the best. thank you, madam president. madam president, seeing no one seeking recognition, i would suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

the presiding officer: the senator from mississippi. a senator: i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. wicker: and i ask unanimous consent to speak as if in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. wicker: and before i begin discussing the subject matter, madam president, i ask unanimous consent that two legislative

fellows on my staff, erol robinson and brandon elsner, be granted privileges of the floor during the remainder of this congress. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. wicker: thank you. madam president, i rise today to commemorate a special occasion for the tennessee valley authority and the city of tupelo, mississippi. 18 years ago, on february 7, 1934, tupelo, mississippi, became the first city to receive electricity from the tennessee valley authority. if you visit today, you will see the sign at the intersection of gloucester and main streets, proclaiming tupelo as the first t.v.a. city. tupelo's connection to t.v.a. power has had a tremendous impact improving the quality of life and economic well-being for residents of tupelo, the state of mississippi and across the south.

the success helped northeast mississippi become a pioneer of rural electrification. as a resident of tupelo myself, i'm proud of the partnership that mississippi has built with t.v.a. over the past eight decades. anyone who has experienced a power outage can attest to our reliance on electricity today. it touches almost every aspect of our lives. but imagine a time when access to electricity was confined to major cities and densely populated areas. luxuries such as the radio, the washing machine and the refrigerator were known only to those who lived in cities because it was not profitable for energy companies to provide electricity to rural areas. in those days, the difference between life with electricity and life without it was so great that a large migration was taking place from rural to urban areas.

already impoverished regions of the country were at risk of lagging even further behind. like much of the rural south, mississippi struggled with restricted access to electricity and the economic limitations it perpetuated. it became clear that improving rural life depended on access to electricity. by 1930, nearly 85% of homes in large urban areas had tariq -- elect cal service, but barely 10% of rural homes had the same access. in mississippi, only 1.5% of farm homes had electricity, the lowest in the country. the creation of t.v.a. was a game changer. as america spiraled into a devastating depression, mississippi congressman john rankin worked with nebraska senator george william norris to improve and expand

electrification. the result of their effort was the t.v.a. act passed by congress on may 8, 1933, and t.v.a. began serving mississippians in 1933 and powering tupelo in 1934. the goal was simple -- to improve the living and economic conditions of seven southeastern states by providing affordable electricity to rural communities, t.v.a. was an important economic boost, delivering a needed commodity to one of the country's poorest regions. tupelo's proximity to the wilson dam on the tennessee river enabled it to become the first t.v.a. city. in 1934, allowing its residents to purchase electricity at some of the most affordable rates in the country. this completely revolutionized life for the citizens of tupelo and even more mississippians as t.v.a. expanded. about 50 miles north of tupelo, the town of corinth,

mississippi, was also at the forefront of rural electrification, providing -- proving that an electric power cooperative could work. in mcpeters furniture store, the current experiment led to the creation of the alcorn county electric power association, the first electric power cooperative in the united states. in november of 1934, madam president, president franklin delano roosevelt came to northeast mississippi, stopping in corinth and tupelo. we still talk about that visit today. the effort and dedication of the communities in northeast mississippi paid off. from 1930-1940, the number of farm homes in the state with electricity skyrocketed from 3,792 to 27,670. today, t.v.a. provides reliable,

clean, low-cost energy to more than 332,000 households in mississippi. the t.v.a. of 1934 is much different from the tennessee valley authority of 2014. 80 years ago, hydroelectric dams provided t.v.a.'s power. since then, t.v.a. has developed coal, nuclear, natural gas and renewable energy. all of the above serving approximately nine million customers in seven states. i look forward to t.v.a.'s continued success, and i congratulate the many mississippians who have contributed to the legacy of t.v.a. over the past 80 years. and, madam president, i yield the floor and note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll.

quorum call:

mr. franken: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from minnesota. mr. franken: thank you, madam president. i would ask that any quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. franken: thank you, madam president. i rise today to speak in morning

business. the presiding officer: without objection. please proceed. mr. franken: i rise today to join my colleagues in calling on the senate to pass an extension of the emergency unemployment insurance. i am deeply disappointed and frustrated that millions of hardworking americans are now wondering how they will put food on their family's table and a roof over their heads because washington has been unable to extend critical unemployment insurance. a few weeks ago, we had a bipartisan vote to move forward with debate on the extension of what is called the emergency unemployment compensation. i hope we can build on that vote and move forward as -- as quickly as possible to restore this vital lifeline before more americans who have worked hard and followed the rules their entire lives, before they slip

from the middle class into -- into poverty. the expiration of emergency unemployment insurance is an urgent problem for tens of thousands of minnesotans and for millions of americans. at the end of this past year, unemployment insurance expired for 1.3 million americans, including 8,500 minnesotans. if we don't renew that unemployment insurance over the next year, this lifeline will run out for another 3.6 million americans, including 65,500 minnesotans. these are -- these are real people. these are fathers and mothers. they are people whose families and local communities are struggling.

as i have traveled around minnesota, i have had a chance to speak with many of the minnesotans who are affected by the expiration of unemployment insurance. it's not the fault of these people, of these workers that they lost their jobs. very often, these workers were just unlucky enough to be working in the wrong sector of the economy, at the wrong time. sometimes they're from communities that lost a large employer. a few weeks ago i held a round table with unemployed workers who had been helped by unemployment insurance, and these are long-term unemployed folks, and there were also some workforce professionals who were helping these folks and other people find a job in today's recovering economy. the unemployed women i spoke with -- ann, amy, and robin --

had been working for decades and paying taxes for unemployment insurance for decades. one of them is in her 40's, a single mom with two kids, one a 3-year-old. the other two women are older workers, one was in her 50's, the other in her early 60's. the one in her 50's was a meeting planner. when the recession hit, businesses cut costs by holding fewer meetings, and she had a very hard time -- well, she couldn't find a job in her field but is trying to find a job in any field. and these women, all of them, were working constantly trying to find a job, and some of them had -- actually, they had all been skilling up, finding skills

that they could -- to try to get an office job and be more conversant in excel or some computer program. these women and all the minnesotans i have spoken with have been working hard to find a job, but they face just a tough situation in our economy. in november, the labor department reported that for every job opening, there are almost three people seeking jobs. now, that doesn't mean that you'll go to a job if you apply for -- that you'll get a job if you amy fo apply for three jobs. there are often hundreds of applicants for hundred for everb posting. i'm glad that these businesses are hiring from within or promoting from within, but it's

stories like these that highlight why we need emergency unemployment to help those workers who are unfortunate enough to be working in -- were working in a sector, that has experienced a major downturn, or live in a community where it's particularly hard to find a job, and particularly at their age. one of the women i met at the round table, ann from eden prairie, had also written me. what she told me really illustrates the situation that so many minnesotans are facing. ann wrote this: "i've been extremely active in my job search but have regrettably not found new employment. my minnesota unemployment insurance ran out last week, and i applied for federal emergency unemployment compensation just this past week.

i ask you to please ask yourself what you would do to provide for your family. i have a 9-year-old daughter and a 3-year-old son. i have the sole provider for my family. i am not looking for a handout, nor do i believe that staying on unemployment insurance is in my best interest. but the $483 a week it provides will at least allo allow me to e my mortgage payment. close quote. ann was a remarkably articulate -- she volunteers at her son's school. she volunteers at her son's school partly she wants to be involved in her son's life but

also to network. one of the counselors there said the hardest job there is is looking for a job. minnesotans like ann and the millions of americans around the country in the same situation, many of them have worked for decades. every one of these ways and -- e of these women had worked for decades and had paid into unemployment insurance for decades. they don't deserve to be punished or lose their homes because they're unable to fands a job within -- to find a job within 26 weeks. and often they need this -- they need their unemployment so that they can have gas in the car to look for a job, so they can keep their phone. the economy is recovering.

things are still tough for many people. now -- now is just not the time to cut off unemployment insurance. not only is unemployment still aboveage of, buabove average, bm unemployed make up 37% of today's unemployed. congress has never -- never -- never allowed extended unemployment insurance to expire when the long-term unemployment rate is as high as it is today. today the 2.5% long-term unemployment rate is nearly double the level when previous emergency benefits were allowed to expire. and the current unemployment rate of 6.7% is 1.1% higher than

when president george w. bush signed the current round of emergency unemployment compensation into law. so we know that the unemployment crisis is not over. it remains a significant issue for workers, especially older workers who experience longe longelongerterms, longer periodf unemployment when they lose their job. extending unemployment insurance also makes economic sense. in 2011 the congressional budget office stated that aid to the unemployed is among the policies with -- quote -- "the largest effects on output in employment per budgetary costs." c.b.o. estimates that extending benefits through 2014 would help expand the economy and contribute to the creation of an additional 200,000 jobs much the

council of economic advisors estimates that without a full-year extension, the economy will generate 240,000 fewer jobs by the end of 2014. unemployment insurance has been shown to help people stay in the workforce, allowing them to contribute to our economic recovery rather than letting people slip into poverty. the census bureau estimates that unemployment benefits kept 2.5 million people who are trying to stay in the workforce out of poverty in 2012 alone and have kept 11 million unemployed workers out of poverty since 2008. extending unemployment insurance for those who need it is far from the only thing we should be doing to help people get back to work. i've spoken many times about one of my highest priorities in this

area -- addressing the skills gap by supporting workforce training partnerships between businesses and community and technical colleges. and there are other things we should be doing, like rebuilding our infrastructure. but it would be a tremendous mistake to fail to renew the unemployment insurance that has lapsed. when people like ann and robin and all those i meet around the state of minnesota and the millions of others around the country, when they're looking for really -- when they're looking really hard for work -- and i'm talking about, these people are working hours and hours a day looking for work, and it's almost 24 hours a day because they keep their phone on

and they are thinking about it constantly -- let's not pull the rug from under them now. they are trying to catch up in an economy that is recovering but still has a long way to go. we shouldn't be jeopardizing their family's economic security and we shouldn't be jeopardizing our nation's economic recovery with shortsighted decisions like letting this critical safety net expire. thank you, madam president. i would suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: mr. schumer: madam president, i ask unanimous consent that the quorum be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: madam president,

i rise to speak of my colleague, our friend, senator baucus, who hopefully will be confirmed by the senate to his new post in a few hours. i've known senator baucus, of course, since i've gotten to the senate. but even before that one of my first impressions of him was his picture of senator baucus in higgs whithiswhite cowboy hat on montana. he sort of liked like a marlboro man, there was horses and mountains in the background of the and so i said, wow! when i met senator baucus, i found his heart and his brain and his soul were every bit as good as the outside. he was a great leader of the finance committee. first, he had great intellect. max baucus would see an issue, understand the issue, get to the heart of the issue quicker than

almost anybody else. he understood the vagaries of legislation, and he knew how to try and get things done. he always worked in a bipartisan way. he reached out to republicans. many criticized him sometimes for doing it. but given the gridlock in this body, i think, in retrospect, everybody would think, wow, that was what we should be doing. and he tried and tried and tried. of course, his crowning achievement legislatively was health care, and i know that there are some particularly on the other side of the aisle who will criticize it, but i have no doubt that max baucus will be regarded as a giant in what he did in coming up with a health care reform bill. i have no doubt that, as the bill rolls out, at the kinks are worked out, and as the bill moves afford, it will be regarded as landmark legislation, one of the pieces

of landmark legislation of this decade and century. the and iand it wouldn't have hd without max baucus. there are 37 million americans who now have access to health insurance, a whole generation of young adults who are insured through the age of 26 and protection of americans with preexisting conditions because of the diligence, the never-give-up attitude that senator baucus had and so many other things in the bill: getting after the private insurance companies, community centers are providing health care to the poorest among us in a better way. and this is one of many, many issues that max baucus took the lead on. he washings as was, as i say, e legislator, work out long and hard, trying to get colleagues from the other side of the aisle as well as on our side of the aisle to support it and then getting it done.

the list of his accomplishments are long. he took the bull by the horns, never, never backing off. and so, madam president, i know that senator baucus will be an outstanding ambassador to china. it's one of the most important foreign policy positions that our country has to offer, and having someone with max baucus' acute mind, great persistence, and his good heart, his good soul, will mean a lot. one final point: not only are we going to miss max, we're going to very much miss his wife mel. she is terrific. they met not too long ago, and i know how happy they make each other. and i think that makes all of us feel happy as well. so, max, you're truly the best

of the last best place, and we will all miss you. i yield the floor and note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: quorum call:

a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from missouri. mr. blunt: madam president, need to suspend the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. blunt: i want to talk about the workplace some and the impact of the affordable care act on the workplace. we saw the story come out yesterday that had tripled the number of working hours, the number of jobs that in 2009 the same group, the congressional budget office, thought would be the victims of moving this way on health care. in fairness to everybody, it was at the time said that if we did this, it would cost us 800,000

jobs. yesterday said 2.3 million jobs. so it's, i guess not like anybody who voted for this voted for it without at least somebody saying it was, that was supposed to be an impartial observer, that there would be substantial workplace cost. but now that same group looking at what's happened, looking at the application, looking at the way the law is going to affect says it's probably going to be three times as many jobs lost because of this. people not adding jobs, people moving from part-time -- full-time work to part-time work. just another strong indication that the affordable health care act has not been a good thing for the workplace and i think we're seeing the affordable health care act is not a good thing for health care for most people. i'm sure out there somewhere just the law of averages, there are people who benefit. i think there are other ways we

could have reached out to those same people and included them. i just brought with me to the floor today some of the letters and e-mails and other postings that have come in. weaver tpaoeud all -- we verified all these with the people involved, one, to make sure we didn't care if we used even their first name to talk about this. and, two, to make sure these stories, some of which are almost beyond belief, that we have a program that i believe the people before were well intentioned that have produced these results. one letter from john in farmington, missouri, who says he's one of the founding shareholders of his company and has been since 1975, they provided insurance since that time, but this year their insurance person came to them and said that there will be a 50% increase when they renew later this year. they're currently paying in this

small company $18,000 a month is what they'll pay instead of the $12,000 they were paying. and john's letter, he says we're a profitable business but we're not so profitable that $6,000 a month doesn't make a big difference to us when our insurance premiums go up 50%. lisa in baldwin, missouri, says she is an insurance broker and she contacted us to talk about the examples many of her clients have had in the way they were affected by the health care bill. one is, "i have a family of five people: a husband, a wife and three children, who were paying $437 a month for their health savings account plan. their rate for a comparable plan under the affordable care act was $805 a month. so that $437 that that family was paying, if they replace that

out of everything else they're doing in a given month, it's no longer $437 of the budget that goes for health care. it is $805. she says i've quoted plans for numerous people over the last few months. all have less benefits than what they currently have and are far more expensive. it doesn't say some. it doesn't say most. this is from a person who does this for a living. she says every case that she has quoted has been higher cost, less benefit. william from dulo tkpw*e, -- duloge said his wife had a pacemaker three years ago. she called the hospital that the pacemaker was set up with and was told due to budget con straints, they no longer provide

these services. now, according to william instead of driving ten miles for these services, they have to drive 60 miles one way, to get to one of the places they used to go to in st. louis, they used to go ten miles. and the reason the hospital gave is that the affordable care act has created that. another letter from a broker, "i have a client in her late 50's who makes around $20,000 and qualifies for the subsidy. even with the subsidy, her premium was around -- that she pays was around $300 a month for the lowest possible level of plan." i think that's called the bronze plan. for the lowest plan, her subsidy $300 a month, and that was about 50% more than she had been paying for comparable coverage. someone else, mark and janet in platt city, missouri, were

informed in september of 2013 that as of january 1, their premium would double. our company -- what they say in their letter -- "while we do not think" -- their phrase -- "obamacare as it stands now is good for the nation, at least it is an attempt to do something." this is people that were hopeful about this, still not critical about those who were trying to do something. says "at least it was an attempt to do something about out-of-control medical costs. it needs serious revisions, and part of it should be repealed. people in their 60's don't need maternity coverage and mental health and substance abuse coverage should not be mandatory either." that is the view of mark and janet in platt city, missouri, and my view as well. mary anne in scott city, missouri, says that she's had continuous health care coverage

for 36 years without ever having a day without health insurance coverage. after being diagnosed with cancer, her insurance was canceled, and she was forced to get insurance somewhere else. now why was her insurance canceled? she had been on the high-risk pool that the state runs. there were ways, madam president, that i proposed in 2009, and we could all look at another way to do this, to have expanded those high-risk pools. i think by the time the high-risk pool in missouri went out of existence on december 31, there were slightly more than 4,000 people still on it. based on my letters, i think eventually we're going to get 4,000 letters. because what were they paying? paying 135% of what would have been the premium that everybody else was paying. but they had a high risk already, and they were generally able to go to the doctors they

wanted. generally, in the letters we get, no longer able to go to the doctor you want. your doctor is more important but your doctor is more important to you if you've been sick. if you've been sick, if that doctor has been your doctor through this process, it is something mary anne and others would like to have finished. let me read one other thing to be sure i fully understand it. as of december 23, i was finally able to enroll. it costs me more and i'm getting less. unbelievably healthcare.gov wouldn't allow me to enroll my healthy 18-year-old son. i thought he was a healthy young person they needed in order to make this program work. and she goes on. that may have just been a web site problem. the web site will be solved. the president said recently that the web site was working exactly the way it was supposed to already, so maybe it has been solved. though i don't think the appeals process is working yet. i'm told there are lots of

people appealing information that somehow wrongly got into the web site. they can't get that solved. mary anne continues to say the a.c.a. has been a disaster for me and my family. shame on us for letting this happen. i want my old insurance coverage back. i don't appreciate being mandated at the last minute to buy something that has inferior health coverage. it's administratively inept and costs more. please resolve this disaster before it gets worse. myron in hannibal, missouri, "my company told me in last november to go to my wife's group health insurance plan because they didn't know how the government plan was going to work out. on advice of my insurance broker, my company got me off their group policy. as a result, my health insurance premium went from $198 a month to $549 a month." national tally -- natalie from

meadeville says my health insurance doubled and my benefits decreased. my deductible has gone from $3,500 to $10,000. i raised my deductible to try to lower my insurance premiums. at the end of 2014 when we are forced to sign up, we'll probably cancel our insurance if we think it is just cheaper to pay the penalty. how many letters we have that say my premium has gone up and my benefits have gone down would be a huge number of people that have contacted us. pat from kansas city says that -- she's worried about her kids. her oldest daughter and her family, her premium went from $5,000 to $10,000 a year. scott from lee summit, he says

his premium went up 27% for himself and his son, and he was told it would have gone up 7% anyway. but the 20% of that 27%, or actually more than 20% -- the 20% of the increase was because of the change in health care policies. i think the more we know, the more we know the kinds of things we can do to make the health care system work better. i'd like to see us get back to doing that. and until we do, these letters are going to continue to come in and we're going to continue to try to help these people find a better answer. but the government involvement here may mean that there's not a better answer until the government figures out how to create a bigger marketplace and more choices and let people have the health care they think meets

their family's needs. and i would yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from california. mrs. boxer: madam president, what is the order of business right now? the presiding officer: the senate is considering the unemployment compensation bill. mrs. boxer: well, madam president, i rise to talk about the absolute necessity to pass this unemployment compensation bill. and we should do it because it's the morally right thing to do. it's the economically right thing to do. and we have listened to our republican friends, and even though they always said in the past, don't worry about paying for it -- they passed it almost five times under george bush without paying for it -- now all of a sudden they said, pay for it. and we do pay for it in this bill. so i don't know what it is they

exactly want. they claim they were empathetic to people unemployed, the long-term unemployed. we know that rate is very, very high, the long-term unemployment, even though we know we have seen in the last i guess how many months 8 million jobs since about six -- six months. but not everybody is -- is fortunate to get those jobs, clearly. we came out of the worst recession since great depression brought about by wall street, happened under george w. bush. we were bleeding jobs, bleeding jobs, 700,000, 800,000 jobs a month. it was frightening. the g.d.p. was contracting. president obama turned it arou around. i predict he'll go down in history as one of the great presidents because we were almost flat on our backs and yet he acted.

and luckily we had a few republicans that helped us pass that stimulus which in my state made a huge difference and all over the country. got us on our feet. we've marrie made renoorms are y important. and i also have -- reforms that are very important. and i also have to say, the bad news is on the other side. other side. every day, negative stories, negative stories, negative stories about the obamacare. and i have to say there are millions and millions and millions of americans who for the first time are able to get health insurance. it's a private-run health care system, dpoarpt th except for te part. the exchanges are private insurance. they're able to afford it because the way we wrote the bill, there are subsidies for the middle class on those exchanges, which is making

affordable for people. you should see the letters that i get. i've read many of them and put them in the record, people who had a preexisting condition, who never could get health care before, they write me, they're thanking god -- thanking god -- that we pass that bill. there are kids who are going to be thrown off their health care are now on that health insurance until they're 26 years old. being a woman is no longer an excuse to have your rates doubled and tripled. it's not a preexisting condition to be a woman anymore. if you have diabetes or you've got cancer, you -- you still get your insurance. the insurance company can't walk out on you just when you need it the most. come on. i say to my republican friends, step up to the plated. the -- step up to the plate. yes, we know kinks in the

system. we knew that when you said you love your insurance, you can keep it. i admit, i should have said, if it means the basic standards. because we don't want people having junk policies. but we fixed that. the president has stepped up to the plate and fixed that. so all they do is focus on the negative while people are on their knees thanking god they have health care. many for the first time. i am kind of stunned at it, really. i really am. and we are ready, willing and able to fix whatever glitches there are, and the president's been totally honest about the disastrous rollout. we understand that. despite that, we've got millions and millions of people with new, affordable health care for the first time. and now we look at extending emergency federal unemployment insurance for the long-term unemployed. we did not act in december. that was a moral outrage.

we didn't have the votes. the republicans are filibustering. we need to get 60. so 1.7 million americans have lost their extended benefits since the end of december. in my home state, 276,000 people have lost their extended unemployment benefits. think about it. 276,000 californians. some of our states have populations of 600,000, 700,000. 265,000 people just in california. what does that mean? it means they're suffering. it means their families are sufferingmensuffering. it means they're faced with disaster. and it also means they can't go down to the corner store, they can't go fill up their car with gas. they've got all these problems, and it trickles down through the community and community is hurting. that's why we know our bill is so important, because it not

only helps the individual, it helps the communities. we know. we know that g.d.p. is, in fact, affected if we don't act. last month my colleagues from the other side blocked a one-year extension of unemployment benefits even after we offered to pay for it and we gave them votes on the amendments of their choice. we gave them everything they asked for. it's never enough. we had one republican senator -- and i thank senator heller -- who voted for cloture last month. and i just hope my colleagues will listen to the people and support this extension. i would like to for my remaining time read to you, madam president, some of the letters that i'm getting and e-mails i'm getting from real people, real people.

quote -- this is kristin from chatsworth -- "i am writing to you to please continue to help get an extension on unemployment. after working over 10 years in the clerical field, i was let go, i was on unemployment. i have been constantly searching for jobs, and after rejection after rejection, i have not given up. it's scary to hear my claim will be up after 26 weeks of unemployment. i don't know how i'll make ends meet if they don't extend unemployment. i know i'm not alone on this subject and millions are as scared as i am. i have never been on welfare or any assistance, even being a teenage mother." now, my friends on the other side are always talking about how if a teenager gets pregnant, she should have the child. here's someone who did that.

i mean, we should help this woman. we should them woman. -- we should help this woman. here's another one. jay from albany. "please, keep pushing for the unemployment extension. i am one of those who was cut off in december. i'm 61, have three college degrees and i'm a vietnam-era veteran." this is a man who's a vietnam-era veteran. he has three college degrees and this is what he says. "i am not a number or lazy or a stupid individual, as some weapons would like you to believe. those checks are our only lifeline. with several layoffs in the last 12 years," he writes, the dot-com crash and the worst economy of my life, i have sadly

had to run through my life savings and 401(k)s. think about it. having to run through your life savings and your 401(k). think about it. a veteran who put his life on the line for his country and he's insulted that the republicans are intimating that he's lazy or stupid, his words. this is what this man writes, and then i'm going to yield my time so my friend from montana can add his eloquence to this. this is what he writes. "i have worked since i was 15 and i fear i may be homeless soon if i don't get those federal unemployment checks." listen to what he says, "i eat one meal a day and i'm starting to feel quite desperate. please, convince your colleagues that this is something we all paid in to and desperately need

now and not in a month or two. we're not receiving welfare checks but checks we worked for and earned. i know you've always stood up for your constituents and those in times of need. i pray," he writes, "i pray you're successful, along with your fellow senators and representatives." this is jay in albany. jay, there are a lot of us here who are not giving up on this. you -- your voice is heard. i have to close with this one thing because it's so important. sylvia from pasadena. this is somehow she talks about this. "i want to be a normal person again and talk with my friends and family about my day at work and what i achieved for my company and the recognition i received from my boss. i'm not a lazy woman. i want and need to be a normal woman with a fair chance at finding a job. i want my government to be patient and show some compassi compassion. instead i get members of congress calling me names,

making me feel ashamed for losing my job, through no fault of my own, making me feel desperate because i don't know how i'll be paying my bills." and sylvia twriets me, "please don't give up on me, mrs. boxer. i ask you to continue to fight as i can still provide value to this great country. i believe i'm worthy of a little compassion and not name-calling." madam president, these letters move me to tears and i am not afraid to say it. i am not afraid to say it. our friends wanted a short-term bill. that's what they have before them. our friends wanted a pay-for. this is a pay-for they've agreed with. if they don't help us today, "and i say "help us" i mean help those who have written to all of us with their stories. they are turning their backs on the backbone of this nation. i yield the floor. a senator: madam president?

the presiding officer: the senator from montana. mr. tester: mr. president, we've come through the worst depression since the great recession of the 1930's. unemployment is still at 7%. we need to get it lower. bottom line is there's still some folks out there that need some help and as the economy continues to improve, we're not where we need to be yet, but we ought to give those folks the help they need to get back on their feet. to give them the hope that they need to become -- to reenter the work force and become valuable parts of our economy again. madam president, there's a beautiful small town in the farthest corner of northwest montana. the town is called libby and it sets in the heart of the koutney valley, surrounded by a majestic snow-capped mountains, it's a beautiful place. but despite libby's postcard

worthy views, the town has a troubled history. starting in 1919, mining companies began pulling vermiculite from the mountains outside of town. vermiculite was used to bake, to build soil in gardens, insulate buildings. and it wasn't long before the families of libby began to pay the price for keeping their fellow americans warm. mining vermiculite exposed libby's miners and residents to asbestos does. that asbestos got into their homes, their schools and event ually their lungs -- eventually their lungs. over the decades, hundreds of folks in libby decide from asbestos exposure and thousands more continue to suffer today. when the w.r. grace company bought the mines in 1963, the company denied that asbestos caused the illnesses plaguing the town's residents. instead of sounding the alarm, they kept quiet while building corporate profits on the backs of libby's suffering families and workers.

word about libby's fate finally made it to national news in 1999. plight of libby's families caught the attention of one man in particular, montana's senior senator, u.s. senator max baucusment. max soon began his crusade to get the e.p.a. and the department of health and human services to take action. despite max bringing countless government officials to the northwest montana to see what asbestos had done to the men, women and children of libby, it took 10 years for the government to declare this region a public health emergency, the first of its kind. thanks to max , libby is home to a state-of-the-art clinic that screens patients for intoasosis, extended medical coverage to everyone in the emergency zone and thanks to max, funds are flowing into plib little libby to remove asbs from homes, schools and

playgrounds. the town is slowly putting the sordid legacy of w.r. grace knits rear view mirror. max's hard work for the people of libby is the max baucus montanans have come to know but max's work for the people of montana started many years before he led the fight to help the folks in libby. the early 1970's when max started in public service, he traveled to butte to meet a fellow named harp cody. he knew the lay of the land in butte but he didn't know max and max didn't know harp. harp was impressed with max's fire in the belly. max asked harp to introduce him to voters and unlike other candidates max didn't want harp to lobby on his behalf, instead max went door to door himself to win their support. that kind of work ethic where

you put your own shoe leather into the fight is the reason max's many achievements in congress. achievements that include saving social security from privatization, leading the charge to modernize the clean air act, passing six farm bills and three highway bills to strengthen montana's and america's economy. now, folks in washington don't always recognize max's hard work and in a town where too many people raise rays for the nearest tv camera, max's preference for hard work doesn't always do him any favors. and that's practically a mortal sin around here but not for max. max has represented montana in congress since 1975. his long record of service proves that montanans don't want a showman. they don't want someone who yells across the aisle. they want someone who will reach across that aisle and find a way to say yes even when saying no is the easier thing to do. it's like the folks in libby,

montanans want someone who will work hard for them, get results and fight to improve our quality of life. montanans found a soulmate in max baucus. i first met max in 1998 at an economic development meeting in haver, montana. max is famous for his economic well. summits so it was no surprise we first crossed paths when max was working to improve montana's economy. at that point in his career his record was already impressive. in 1972, as director of montana's constitutional convention, max helped pass one of the most progressive state constitutions to date. enshrining protections for cleern killeen air, for clean water and the right to a quality education into law. he then walked the entire length of our state to introduce himself to montanans and win a seat in congress, meeting more

men and women along the way like harp cody. as max gained experience in the senate he became chairman of the environment and public works committee, soon thereafter, well into his 50's, max hiked 820 miles from one corner of our state to the other to earn the support of montanans during his 1996 reelection. now, max in your new role as ambassador, take my advice, don't try walking from one end of china to the other. max next rose to become chairman of the senate finance committee. as chairman, max didn't have the luxury of not getting the job done. now, the finance committee has been home to some of our nation's hardest working senators and greatest examples of bipartisanship because failing to support critical programs like social security and medicare is simply not an option. on the finance committee you can't sit back and throw stones. have you to role up your sleeves

and find common ground and get the job done. that's what max did. he passed legislation to reduce americans' tax burdens, improve children's health and most recently, to reform our nation's broken health care system. max's penchant for hard work and thoughtful, independent-minded leadership stems from another great montanan aand i both admire, former senate majority leader mike mansfield. max melt mike as a teenager and for many montanans of today, myself included, max connects us to mike's legacy as a champion for the greater good, as a champion for putting service and sacrifice well before self, and as a champion for montana. montana's leaders always put montana first and max is no exception. just like montana has shaped max, max has shaped montana. max's dedication to our public

lands is legendary. montana's known as the treasure state because of our incredible natural resources and unroistled public space -- unrivaled public spaces. from yellowstone to glacier montana is like no other, and max has set out to preserve our treasured lands for future generations to enjoy. in 2008, the same year he won reelection and became the first win to win all 56 counties in montana, max helped set aside 320,000 acres of prime hunting and fishing lands across our state. this land which will forever be open to the public is part of max's brainchild called the montana legacy project. max's love of our outdoors extends stendz to those who share his love and in march of 2000 he came to the floor to remember a young montanan, sean michael miles, who had

tragically died in a car accident just over a year before. and he dedicated a scholarship in sean's name and max repeated sean's words. i know this land may pay a price for being beautiful as change advances, carrying with it the prospect of loss. it is a land i desperately love. it is a part of me. it hurts so much to care so much. yet as a westerner, i am invited to breathe it all in deeply each day. max, sean would be proud of your hard work to preserved our treasured places and i pledge to carry on your efforts so montana yants can continue to cherish our special places and pass our transitions down to our kids and grandkids. but it's not a stretch to say i wouldn't be here if it wasn't for max baucus. max has brought world leaders to butte for his economic summit, he brought camera criewls and small businesses as part of his montana work days.

he operated fork liches in warehouses, made bread and dug ditches. all to get a better feel for what hard working montanans do each and every day. and he fought for montana farmers and ranchers who feed our nation but he brought a dry land farmer from montana to the united states senate. max, i cannot tell you how much you've meant to me as a present frend, a mentor. i've lost track of how many meetings and rallies we've attended together across our state but i know you've had my back. when i arrived in the senate in 2007 it was because of you that a guy with seven fingers and a flattop haircut quickly figured out how to get from his office to the senate floor. because of you i had a model for would go across the aisle for this governmentful legislation and i know i have a friend to turn to when i need advice. along with your tremendous tre

staff, you've always put montana first and built the montana democratic party into a beacon of common sense, freedom and opportunity in the west. our party is stronger because of you and your dedication to our state. after retiring from the senate in 1976, mike mansfield became the ambassador to japan. and now you are poised to continue following in senator mansfield's footsteps as ambassador to china. i know you will continue to serve montana even as you serve our nation's interests overseas. i wish you the best and while you're gone, i'll keep up your fight for montanans, particularly the montanans who need someone to fight for them. montanans like les gramstead. he was a longtime libby resident, saw politicians come to libby with a promise to help. but that help never arrived. when max came to libby, les

told him he'd be watching. les passed away in 2007 but max keeps les' photo close because in montana, a promise to help is a promise to keep. that's the montana way, and that's the max baucus way. max, it's been an honor to serve with you, an honor to call you my friend and the senate will be a lesser body without you. i relinquish wish you god indeed-speed and good luck. -- godspeed and good luck. it's an incredibly important job and you're more than up to the task. thank you for the senate and montana and this country. with that i'll yield the floor.

i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

the presiding officer: the senator from buildin new jersey. mr. menendez: i ask the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. menendez: madam president, i know we're shortly going to be voting on other issues, the nomination of max baucus to be united states ambassador to china. and i would expect that he would have a unanimous -- if not near unanimous vote -- of the senate. as i said in the foreign relations committee this week,

clearly one of the biggest challenges and the biggest opportunities before u.s. foreign policy today is getting the relationship between the united states and china in the context of our rebalance to the asia-pacific right. and i can think of few more able or more qualified at this important moment in history than our friend and colleague, the senator from montana, to help provide advice and guidance to the president and to congress about how to get that relationship right. he's an expert on trade issues. he understands what we face in the come years as china's economy continues to grow. he's fully aware of the facts that we have had u.s. exports to china that have increased by almost $40 billion in the past four years alone, creating and sustaining millions of u.s. jobs in sectors across the board -- automobile, power generation, machinery, aircraft, other vital industrial sectors. his trade missions to china since he's been the chairman of the finance committee have given the perspective he needs to deal with the realities of our policy

options. and i think from the hearing, he clearly understands through the rest of the 21st century and beyond much of the strategic, political and economic future of the world is likely to be shaped by the decisions made in washington and beijing and the capitals of asia over the next four to five years. and how we get that rebalance right is incredibly important. and who the ambassador to china is, is incredibly important in that regard. finally, trade is not the only issue as it relates to china. our collective security having china pursue a rules-based system, incredibly important, what happens in the south china sea. all those issues senator baucus addressed in his nomination hearing with i think great ability and insight and a willingness to take them to. -- to take them on. the very final thing is human rights is an incredibly important issue as it relates to china and i just want to read briefly from the transcript

where he was asked about the question of human rights. and he described a moment as a senator in which he raised with then-president ching si ming and raised with him the question of a dissident in tibet. and he said that the president of china said, "i don't know what you're talking about." but then senator bal baucus weno tibet and raised the same issue there. and sure enough, within two or three weeks, that dissident was released. protection of human rights, he said, is the bedrock, the underpinning of american society. people look to america to lead on so many issues, including the protection of human rights, religious freedoms, freedom of the press, all the rights that are enumerated in the universal declaration. it's what most progress springs from. and the answer is yes, to senator cardin, who asked the question, you have my commitment on human rights. i think that the totality of trade, currency manipulation, security and human rights, the answers that he gave in his

hearing clearly showman festally that he is very capable to be the next ambassador. and i urge his unanimous vote from the senate. and i yield the floor. a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from rhode island. mr. reed: first let me add my accolades to those of the chairman of the foreign relations committee with respect to senator baucus. he is superbly prepared to be our next ambassador to china. he is a friend, a colleague. the president has chose wisely and i anticipate his confirmation. but in a few minutes, madam president, we will have the opportunity to provide relief to 1.74 million job seekers to help local businesses, to get people back to work and to do so in a fiscally responsible manner. and some of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have thoughtfully engaged with us to find a path forward. many of their ideas are incorporated into this principled compromise. it's been 40 days since these americans have had their unemployment insurance cut. now is the time to act and help our economy grow.

i urge my colleagues to vote in favor of providing aid to 1.7 million americans, growing each week by 60,000. this is the right thing to do. at this moment, this is the right way to do it. and the only question before this senate is, will we do the right thing for the american people. with that, madam president, i would yield the floor. a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from rhode island. mr. reed reed: madam president,i would ask unanimous consent to yield back all remaining time. the presiding officer: without objection. the clerk will report the motion

to invoke cloture. the clerk: cloture motion. we, the undersigned senators in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, hereby move to bring to a close the debate on the reed of rhode island amendment number 2714 to s. 1845, a bill to provide for the extension of certain unemployment benefits and for other purposes. signed by 17 senators. the presiding officer: which unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum call has been waived. the question is, is it the sense of the senate that debate on amendment number 2714 to s. 1845, a bill to provide for the extension of certain unemployment benefits and for other purposes, shall be brought to a close? the yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. the clerk will call the roll. vote: