legislation which not only reformed medicare in terms of the s.g.r. but also featured cost-saving measures within the underlying program. these included a limitation on so-called medigap first-dollar coverage, more robust means testing for medicare parts b and d and program integrity provisions that have strengthened medicare's ability to fight fraud. while we're on the subject of medicare reform, i'll mention that the finance committee also reported the audit and the repeal, fairness reforms. this is designed to address the already massive backlog of medicare audit appeals while also allowing for increased efforts to improve program integrity and reduce improper payments out of the medicare trust fund. it will make life easier for both medicare beneficiaries and

their doctors who under the status quo wait on average a year and a half after an appeal is processed, and they are able to know for sure whether their claims will be covered or if they'll be paid for the services they performed. in addition to these steps on medicare, congress as passed legislation to reform the social security disability insurance or ssdi program and to prevent benefit cuts looming in the not-too-distant future. congress knew for years that the ssdi trust fund would be exhausted in 2016 and did little to address it. despite my pleas and those of a handful of others, they did little to address it. and i might add, for the obama white house on our friends on the other side of the aisle to

engage on this issue, it took some time. facing the prospect of across-the-board benefit cuts for all ssdi beneficiaries, the life of the trust fund was extended and needed reforms were put in place to the ssdi program itself. most of these programs were included in the final legislation. while admittedly these reforms are not the fundamental changes both the ssdi program and social security, more broadly, need to be sustainable for future generations, they represented a very real first step toward that long-term goal and are the most significant changes to any social security program enacted in the past three decades. clearly, mr. president, much more work needs to be done to put both medicare and social security on firm fiscal footing. the same is true of medicaid and other entitlement reforms. still, the steps congress took

this year towards fixing those problems were the biggest we've seen in a long, long time. and i'm pleased to acknowledge that the efforts that led to those steps began in the senate finance committee. highways and infrastructure -- one of the biggest and greatest successes we've had in the senate this year was the passage and enactment of a long-term extension of the highway trust fund. the final highway bill, which we passed just a few weeks ago, provides five years of continuous highway funding, the longest extension of transportation funding since 1998 and the longest real lit since the reagan years -- really since the reagan years. the typical cycle for funding highways went something like this: step one, leaders recognize a near exhaust of funding. those leaders work with the relevant committee chairman to

cobble enough off sets to pay for a short-term extension, usually somewhere between six and 18 months. step three, congress passes a short-term extension with little fan fair and absolutely no -- fan fards and absolutely no celebration. step four, every member of congress spends the next six to 18 months complaining about this process. step five, start again at step one. thankfully, mr. president, we broke that cycle this year. we began with a goal to provide the longest extension possible. i was determined to do all i could to find a way out of this rut, which is why i believe we had to think a little outside the proverbial box and look everywhere for potential offsets. generally speaking, the finance committee is responsible for the financing title of any highway bill that goes through the senate. usually we focus on areas within our jurisdiction as we search for offsets, but over the years those resources became harder

and harder to come by, requiring us to look elsewhere. the committee spent weeks examining numerous options and alternatives. many thought we could not come up with much more than just one or two years. eventually we were able to present our distinguished majority leader with a list of potential offsets that could provide funding for a long-term highway bill without raising taxes or increasing the deficit. that list we came up with on the finance committee, in large part, formed the basis of the long-term highway bill we passed earlier this month, which has provided much-needed certainty for our states as they plan and complete highway projects, preserving jobs and stimulating growth in our economy. that long-term transportation bill was, after all, a win for good government and for bipartisanship in congress. to a letters but not insignificant extent, it was

also a win for the senate finance committee. tax -- the committee also took important steps towards fixing our nation's tax code in 2015. from the beginning of the year, the finance committee began considering and reporting bipartisan tax legislation aimed at specific needs for our country. for example, in january we reported the hire more heroes act, which relieved small businesses of burdensome obamacare subsidies and derks us could moo, obamacare mandates, that made it harder for them to hire veterans. this legislation was signed into law in july. and in february we held a markup to consider 17 accep separate tx bills, all of them bipartisan, all of which passed without objection through the committee. today, two of those have become

law and hopefully before we adjourn this week we'll pass legislation that incorporates at least 11 more. adding those 11 bills to the finance committee total, 27 of the 30 bills we reported will have been signed into law. that's a pretty good batting averages mr. president. when you include the bills we discharge from the committee, the grand total comes to 23 separate bills out of our committee signed or incorporated into law. not bad for a year's work. in addition, at the beginning of the year, we launched five separate tax reform working groups in an effort to advance the larger tax reform conversation. these working groups, each of them cochaired by a republican and a democrat, spent months examining various areas of the tax code, listening to stakeholders, and learning the various pressure points and trade-offs that come with any significant changes to our tax laws.

and this past surges each of ths past summer, each of the five groups released reports acknowledging areas of disagreement. i am not naive. i know that tax reform will be a long, difficult process. however, i believe the effort our committee members put in with these working groups will make a difference on how that process pays beneficiary -- plays out and how the tax reform debate unfolds in the future. while these are important steps for tax policy and tax reform, i'm hoping that we can take an even larger step before woe adjourn for the -- before we adjourn for the year. earlier this week, tax writers in both the house and senate reached an agreement that would provide significant tax relief for millions of families and job creators around the country. we would do so mostly by unwinding the near annual

tradition of extending expired tax provisions, like the s.g.r. and highway funding, the periodic tax extenders exercise has been a constant source of consternation around here with a new cliff or crisis developing with any hint that expiring provisions would not be extended, and sometimes we haven't extended them. but of course the whole ordeal has been further evidence that congress is incapable of making tough choices in order to govern more effectively -- at least in the minds of some. the bill we unveiled in week, which the house passed earlier today with an overwhelming bipartisan vote, would change that dynamic by making many of the most important consequential tax provisions permanent, significantly relieving the ongoing extenders pressure and allowing for a more sensible approach to tax policy. i spoke about this legislation

at length here on the floor just yesterday. permanent tax policy, like the kind we would achieve in our bill, means more certainty for taxpayers, individuals, families, and businesses. it means an improved revenue baseline for future tax reform efforts. and more than anything, it means tax relief for hardworking taxpayers to the tune of about $680 billion over ten years. we move this efforts forward on the finance committee in july when we marked up the so-called extenders package, taking note of senators' priorities and desires for long-term solutions and setting the stage for a real discussion about permanence. we took that momentum into the bicameral, bipartisan negotiations and ultimately the bill reflects many of the preferences expressed in the committee. our bipartisan tax bill also

contains a two-year moratorium rt oon the medical device tax ur obamacare, something that's been really harmful to our medical device industry, and we'll look at that in two more years. for years now we've seen support grow on both sides of the aisle for repealing this horrendously misguided tax that is the medical device tax. it has been a top priority of mine since the day obamacare signed into law -- the obamacare was signed into law. other members of the finance committee have led on this issue as well. in one way or another, we're going to get it done. for now we have a good first step, a bill crafted by both parties to suspend the tax for two years. two similar suspensions of obamacare taxes are included in the omnibus appropriations bill, including a two-year delay of the so-called cadillac tax, which is just a massive middle-class tax hike disguised as a tax hit on the rich and a

one-year moratorium on the health insurance tax. in other words, on top of permanence in the tax code and relief for taxpayers across the country, we have bipartisan agreement to delay or suspend some of the more harmful elements of the affordable care act. not a bad way to end the year, if you ask me. of course, now, mr. president, we have to pass these bills. in a day or so, i think we will. health care and human services -- let me move on to another important area of our committee's jurisdiction, health care and human services. we've been very active in the finance committee in this space as well. most recently we worked with our colleagues on the budget and help committees to put together the reconciliation legislation repealing obamacare, which after it passed in the senate paved the way toward finally putting a repeal bill on the president's desk. this was a key promise for congressional republicans, one

that we delivered on just a few short weeks ago. in june the finance committee held a markup where we considered and reported 12 separate health care bills representing a number of priorities for our committee members on both sides of the dais. and keeping in trend for 2015, all of these bills had over-wellcomeinhadover-wellcomen support. so far three of these bills have been signed into law enforcement the finance committee has spent 2015 engaged in some very important ongoing efforts and we believe we yield results in the near future. one of those efforts is to improve medicare services for patients living with chronic illnesses. we have two hearings this year -- we held two hearings this year to examine this issue and we received advice from various stoic holders and have released those to the public. the committee's efforts on chronic care reflect a bipartisan desire to

significantly improve the quality of care for medicare patients at greater value and lower cost without adding to the deficit. this work will go on into next year as we continue to review and analyze proposals with an aim toward developing bipartisan legislation. another one of our ongoing efforts has been to improve our nation's foster care system of this year we held two hearings related to this topic, one on group homes and another on prevention. last month utilizing what we learned in these hearings and with input from numerous stakeholders, ranking member wyden and i reached an agreement on legislation we've called "the family first act," which will increase the availability of prevention services to allow children at risk of going to foster care to remain safely at home and reduce the reliance of group homes for children in the foster system.

as we all know, entering the foster care system can be typically traumatic and we've seen ample evidence suggesting that placement in group homes increases children's risk and potential for victimization. our bill would give states greater flexibility of the goal with keeping children with family members and ending the overreliance on group homes. the family first act is supported by advocates and stakeholders across the country. we hope to mark up and report this bipartisan legislation early in the new year. oversight. i also need to acknowledge our committee's oversight efforts. we have been anxiously engaged in numerous efforts on the finance committee to shine a light on government failures and overreach as well as some potentially corrupt practices in the private sector. most notably this summer we concluded our investigation into the i.r.s.'s targeting of

conservative groups. this is the only bipartisan investigation into this scandal. in our report which was roughly 5,000 pages long, provided the most detail yet about what went on at the i.r.s. and the extent of incompetence and bad decision making that led to those unfortunate events. in addition, the report provided numerous recommendations for improvement at the i.r.s. and in a number of ways set the stage for consideration of legislation to reform bad agency's operations. in addition to the i.r.s. report, the committee has provided the most rigorous and extensive oversight of the implementation of the so-called affordable care act, revealing many of its fundamental flaws and uncovering a number of failures and missteps on the part of this administration. this is included, for example, in exhaustive look at the obamacare co-ops which in recent months had been failing at an a large rate at the cost of

billions of dollars in taxpayer funds. needless to say, we haven't taken our eyes off of obamacare. the committee has been conducting ongoing investigations in oversight into the questionable contract and practices within the department of treasury. we've taken a good hard look at the tax return preparation industry and prakdz that -- pras that have led to refrund fraud. our investigation has led to new practices at the i.r.s. and within the industry aimed at reducing instances of this terrible crime. this is just a small snippet of our oversight efforts over the past year, mr. president. i notice others are here to speak. the finance committee given its massive jurisdiction, has always had a reputation for aggressive oversight, and we've continued that tradition and then some in 2015. finally, mr. president, i just want to remark on one more of

our ongoing efforts. i suppose you could put this one in the miscellaneous or multidiscipline file with regard to the looming debt crisis in puerto rico. we've taken a close look at this issue on the committee. we even have held a hearing on it. along with the leaders on the judiciary and energy and natural resources committee, we've introduced legislation that using the limited information we currently have about puerto rico's fiscal predicament would improve the island's finances and economy by providing responsible tax relief and transitional assistance to the territory's government. we initially worked to get an appropriations in the omnibus bill that authorizes the treasury department to provide puerto rico with technical assistance including help with budgeting, forecasting, cash management, fiscal planning, improving tax collections and the like. this is something we're going to have to continue to work on,

mr. president, and in the coming weeks and months the finance committee will continue to consider various proposals including the bill we introduced last week aimed at helping the people of puerto rico. and, by the way, we've challenged puerto rico to give us audited financials so that we can really work on this in the best of possible terms. i intend to see that we help puerto rico, and hopefully we can do that. we now have provided means where they ought to be able to carry on through next february and during that time hopefully we'll come up with some solutions that make sense not only to puerto rico but to our taxpayers and others. as you can see, we've been very busy and very effective in our corner of the senate, thanks to the diligent efforts of all of our finance committee members. i've had the extraordinary privilege of serving as chairman of this committee during such a productive time and with so many committed and honorable members

of the senate on both sides of the aisle. i of course have to thank ranking member wyden for his work on the committee. he's really been a very valuable partner, and at every step of the way he has worked hard to ensure that all of the committees' efforts were bipartisan. heed played a huge leadership -- he's played a huge leadership role in almost all the successes i mentioned today. i also want to thank the other members of our committee. if you look down the finance committee roster you'll see from top to bottom every member has a reputation for working hard and achieving results. on the republican side we have senators grassley, crapo, roberts, enzi, cornyn, thune, burr, isakson, portman, toomey, coats, heller, and scott. at really great lineup of good people working in the best interest of this country. for the democrats we have senators schumer, stabenow,

cantwell, nelson, menendez, harper, cardin, brown, bennet, casey and warner. of course we have senator wyden and you also have me. every one of these members has played a key role in our success on the finance committee. and i am once again very grateful to have the opportunity to work with them all. now, mr. president, i don't want this to sound like a farewell speech. i don't want anybody to think with all this gushing and all these thank yous we're nearing the end of anything. last time i checked i'm still going to be chairman of the finance committee in 2016 and we're still going to have this great group of senators serving on the committee. most significantly, our nation will still be facing a number of important challenges in the coming year. we can't and we won't be sitting on our laurels in 2016. so while i'm pleased to have this opportunity today to take a short trip down memory lane, everyone both on and off the

finance committee should be prepared. we're just getting started. mr. president, i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from indiana. mr. donnelly: it is an honor to follow my good friend, senator hatch from utah, who has done such an extraordinary job representing his state and our country for so many years. mr. president, in just the past ten weeks iran has conducted two ballistic missile tests. these tests are direct violation of united nations security council resolution 1929. despite this flagrant violation, the u.n. has not yet taken collective action to enforce resolution 1929 with increased sanctions against iran. applying sanctions against iran in response to ballistic missile

testing would not violate the iran nuclear agreement negotiated earlier this year. new sanctions for this type of behavior are not only allowed under the terms of that agreement, in fact it is critical to the agreement's success that the u.s. be willing to respond to iran's bad behavior. in the face of inaction by the international community, it is critical that the united states take the lead in sending a message to iran that their inflammatory actions have consequences whether under the nuclear deal, u.n. security council resolution 1929 or other u.s. sanctions regimes. as ranking member of the senate armed services strategic forces subcommittee, i worked year round with my colleague, senator jeff sessions, to oversee the u.s. nuclear arsenal. our nonproliferation programs

and also our missile defense posture. i have long been an advocate for robust, effective missile defense programs against both global and regional threats. while i firmly believe those systems are an absolute necessity, in the face of evolving threats from places like north korea and iran, i also believe they are our last line of defense. not our first. today thankfully some of those on the front lines of the fight against iran's ballistic missile program are also in the state department, in the treasury department. i speak today to call on the administration if the international community will not act together to take unilateral action readily available to them under current law to respond decisively to iran's ballistic missile tests. the administration's made clear that the u.s. reserves the right

under the joint comprehensive plan of action to take action through our sanctions tools in response to iran's support for terrorism, its human rights abuses, its illegal arms trafficking and its ballistic missile program. it is time to back those words up with decisive and specific action. in addition, i can't speak today without also raising my deep concerns and increasing disappointment that the senate continues to senselessly delay the confirmation of adam szubin as treasury's under secretary for terrorism and financial crimes. mr. szubin has an impeccable record across both republican and democratic administrations of combatting terrorist financing and overseeing our sanctions against foreign

adversaries. he is one of the best tools in our toolbox against the likes of iran, isis, and al qaeda. and yet, despite glowing praise from both sides of the aisle, week after week, month after month mr. szubin's confirmation remains in limbo. this sunday will mark the seven-month anniversary of mr. szubin's nomination. in those seven months we have watched isis spread across iraq, syria, and beyond. we've seen iranian funds and weapons continue to flow to terrorists across the middle east. and we have witnessed the tragic attacks in paris, san bernardino, and elsewhere. in an acting capacity, without having received the full support of the united states senate, mr. szubin's status and stature is undermined when he travels ab

abroad to persuade allies to cooperate with us in the fight against terrorism, and especially in efforts to go at one of the terroristsa achilles' heels, their funding sources. seven months is too long. both of mr. szubin's recent predecessors were approved within much shorter periods. one in just three weeks. so with the same urgency that i would ask the international community to act collectively, and failing that the administration to unilaterally sanction iran for its flagrant violation of resolution 1929, i also urge the senate to take immediate action to confirm mr. szubin for a post vital to our national security and one for which he is emintently qualified -- eminently qualified.

mr. president, i yield back. the clerk should call the roll. the presiding officer: the clerk should call the roll. quorum call:

mr. nelson: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from florida. mr. nelson: i ask consent that the quorum call be lifted. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. nelson: mr. president, a number of my colleagues will be coming to the floor in just awhile to talk about the crisis that is going on in the island territory of puerto rico remember, puerto rico is a territory. its citizens are u.s. citizens, and we often forget that, particularly as they are now facing economic challenges that are growing worse by the day. and although we just had an opportunity in the omnibus appropriations bill to address puerto rico's fiscal crisis, it appears that congress is going to go home without having done

the bare minimum for puerto rico. in the meantime, puerto rico is going to start the new year on the verge of default, as the governor faces the troubling choice of whether paying for essential public services, that he does that or that he makes a billion-dollar debt payment to wall street creditors. public services -- health, fire, police, water, et cetera -- versus paying the bonds that are coming due. now, many of us have been urging our colleagues for months -- senator durbin, senator cantwell -- we've been at this -- senator schumer -- urging our colleagues to meaningfully address this

fiscal crisis by providing puerto rico with the same debt restructuring authority that is available to any other state under chapter 9 of the bankruptcy code. this is the authority that puerto rico had until it was taken away by congress without any explanation 30 years ago. and so that's i have joined senator cantwell, who is here, schumer, blumenthal in introducing legislation that would allow puerto rico's municipalities and public corporations to restructure its debt under the watchful eye of a federal bankruptcy judge. now, this is not a bailout. providing puerto rico with an opportunity to orderly manage its debt costs the federal government nothing, and to

orderly manage its debt as we do for every state under chapter 9 of the bankruptcy laws. and it also, if we would do that, prevents having a drawn-out battle with bondholders following a potential default. yet nowhere in the omnibus bill that we put a lot of other stuff, nowhere in the omnibus appropriations bill is there anything to give puerto rico the legitimate, orderly process of chapter 9 of bankruptcy. now, there are a few provisions to help puerto rico's hospitals, but even they don't go far enough. it deeply druble troubles me the will celebrate the holidays

knowing full well that there's so much more that the congress could have done. and i'd like to put this in perspective. just a few weeks ago, we met with a group of floridians who were here for the national day of action for puerto rico. what they described and what this senator has seen in a visit with puerto rico and the governor in san juan a month ago, what they described is a humanitarian crisis due to the crushing government debt, a failing economy, and a growing poverty. and you know what's the result? thousands of puerto ricans, u.s. citizens, are coming to my state. they are certainly welcome, but these are often the very

talented, educated people that are so desperately needed for the well-being of the population on the island. some that come are fortunate to move in with relatives. others are living in motels. others are even living out of their cars. a lot of them come to central florida to the metro orlando area where there is a huge puerto rican population. and what we see in the discrepancy and economic despair is absolutely heartbreaking. what is happening on the island -- how in the world can we fail our fellow americans like this? notice who have been the most courageous in the military.

often the soldiers that are puerto rican. so these americans have contributed to the diverse fabric of our country and they've proudly served in so many federal responsibilities, including our military. we should be doing all that we can to provide them with the tools it needs, the financial tools it needs to merge from its current economic challenges and debt restructuring authority is one of the things. and i want to urge my colleagues, because we didn't get it into the o omnibus, in te spirit of our patriotic unity to help each other and that unity that binds all americans to come together and help puerto rico at this difficult time.

i see my colleague from the state of washington here. i appreciate the leadership that she has taken. my state is one of the ones that's most affected, and her state is not as affected, and yet the senator from washington has stepped up and done this because she knows it's the right thing to do. mr. president, i yield the floor and look forward to hearing from the senator. ms. cantwell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from washington. can't captain mr. presidentms. i thank the senator for coming to the floor and speaking so articulately about the need to help puerto rico. his state is the most impacted state in the united states of america when it comes to our policy as it relates to puerto rico. he's right. there's not many puerto ricans in the state of washington, but as the ranking member of the senate energy and interior committee, i can tell you that interior oversight is about giving people who are u.s. citizens fair access to the law. if we're not going to help

people who are u.s. citizens have fair access to the law, i'm not sure why we continue to say that they are a territory of the united states of america. so what we're talking about here -- and the senator from florida understands this greatly -- is that when you don't give them fair treatment of the law and -- just as we do with individual citizens who need to reorganize their debt, businesses who need it reorganize their debt, municipalities who need to reorganize their debt, or even the united states of america and the big bank bailout basically reorganize a lot of people's debt, and yet we won't let puerto rico and its people come to a resolution about their debt in bankruptcy. so it's a hypocrisy that is unexplainable at the moment, and we should get to the bottom of it because we want to give this fair treatment to them so that they can solve their own problems. what my colleague mentioned is that a restructuring authority for puerto rico costs u.s.

taxpayers zero -- zero dollars. that is to say, we're not proposing -- at least on our side of the aisle -- that we give them immediate funds to restructure. we're simply saying, give them the tools of bankruptcy so they can restructure. my colleagues think that this is important because we know that the mass exodus from puerto rico, which has been about 300,000 people in the last several years, will continue if we don't give them the tools to reorganize their debt. what that will mean, as the senator from florida mentioned, is that people will come in droves to florida and continue to impact that economy by asking for the social services that are now capped in puerto rico. they'll come to florida and ask for those services so the united states, by denying puerto rico the bankruptcy tools, actually will be impacted economically. some people have estimated that as much as $10 billion to $20 billion over a ten-year period of time. so i say we have a lot of skin

in the game, a lot of skin in the game to get people to reorganize this debt. and we've been joined by many newspapers across the united states who also believe that we should give puerto rico these tools to reorganize. in an doar editorial recently ie new york times," "crucially, it asks congress to change the law so that puerto rico's territorial government and municipalities can seek bankruptcy protection." they understood this issue, as did "the washington post" when they wrote, "letting an impartial bankruptcy judge sort out the competing claims hon a failed public entity is the fairest, most efficient approach. without that option, puerto rico has no leverage in debt negotiations and litigation could ensue." so there are newspapers all throughout the united states of america who are looking at this issue and saying, give them the ability to reorganize their debt.

now, why is this so important? because the pran puerto rican government may default on its debt as early as january 1, when $1 billion in payments are due. so many of us here wanted to see a resolution of this issue now, giving them the tools to avoid that, because once they default, the economic impact to the rest us and the u.s. taxpayers will be far greater. why do i say that? because if you look at the inaction that takes place, u.s. taxpayers contribute $6.4 billion to puerto rico's annual budget. fundings these various programs. if you default, that means we will be spending more than $6.4 billion. so i know some of my colleagues want to protect the hedge funds from being part of a bankruptcy reorganization, but when you're protecting the hedge funds from not being part of the bankruptcy reorganization, you are adding costs to the u.s. taxpayers. that is something wreck not afford.

-- that is something we cannot afford. puerto rico, if they were allowed to restructure their debt, they could make these decisions and save us money as u.s. taxpayers. and in the long run, as i said, it would prevent the mass exodus from the islands. yet some in congress are more comfortable with inaction, which basically is bad public policy. why is this? well, because 20% to 50% of the island's debt is owned by hedge funds. these hedge funds swoop in to buy cheap puerto rican debt and are using their influence here in washington, d.c., to block puerto rico from getting access to bankruptcy protection that is allowed in other places. it's no secret that the solution will require sacrifice by everyone, and that's what we want to see. if congress continues to protect these hedge funds and fails to act, it will be at both the expense of the brai the puerto n

people and to the american taxpayer. so sitting by idly is not a solution. and so we should remind our colleagues that they had preexisting bankruptcy authority, which was taken away in 1964, mysteriously, no one knows why or how or any justification for it. they just know that it disappeared. so congress should rein-state that act that was taken away and, as the governor of puerto rico said before the energy committee, doing a quoaft another leader, said -- quote -- "give us the tools and we will finish the job." end quote. so now is the time to act before we see a more mass exodus of people. this chart shows you the migration between puerto rico and the united states. and you see that it continues to grow. it has grown 500% in the last

ten years. so the issue is that now government workers are being cut to three days a week, patients are waiting for months without basic medical care, hospitals are going bankrupt, the health industry is about to collapse. some on the other side of the aisle talk about the humanitarian crisis that might occur next year and how they might want to respond to it. but they zo don't want to standp and say to the hedge funds that they also have to take some responsibility in this issue. 45% of the population in puerto rico is now living in poverty, including 58% of which are children. the unemployment rate is in double digits, and it is -- if you put in all our states, it is very high in the rankin ranking. people are leaving each year as part of a mass migration. so what is the solution? well, as we said, restructure their debt.

give them the tools to restructure their debt. it costs nothing to the u.s. taxpayers, saves us money in the long run, prevents a mass exodus from the island, and prevents spending db more spending on federal benefits to people who might migrate to the united states. so we think this the ought to be a lot of motivation to sit down and resolve this issue today. in fact, now we're hearing from different businesses -- and i'll submit one from the record -- of various businesses from the united states who do business in puerto rico and also don't want to leave their investment because they are so concerned about the level of collapse that could happen in puerto rico and their loss of infrastructure and infrastructure investment. so why do we need to continue to move forward? well, inaction basically is to say that the hedge funds have won in this game. 20% to 50% of the island's debt

is owned by the hedge funds, and hedge funds are using their influence here to block a puerto rico bill from coming to the floor. failure to act would be at the expense, as i said, of taxpayers and individuals. and just yesterday a leader who has been supportive of reorganization of a task force in new york that was under budget crisis said the hedge funds got their way in congress, and that is referring to the fact that we were not able to get, as my colleague from florida said, this legislation as part of any of the budget omnibus bills or other bills moving through the process. so now is the time to act to get puerto rico the tools. now is the time for all of those who have made investments to say we all have to come to the table and resolve this issue. the longer we wait, the greater the risk for the united states of america. to say nothing of the issue of a territory that we lay claim to, giving them the ability to solve

their problems. so i ask my colleagues to come to commonsense resolution on this issue. stop protecting these hedge funds and start working for people that are called u.s. citizens. i thank my colleague, and i yield the floor to any of my other colleagues who have come down to join us. but i see the senator from new jersey here, who probably has, if not the most, the second most number of puerto ricans in his state as well. mr. menendez: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from new jersey. mr. menendez: mr. president, first of all, i want to thank the distinguished senator democrat on the energy and natural resources committee which has jurisdiction over the territories, including pp, for her -- including puerto rico, for her advocacy, her strengths and passion in this effort and her work. as well as my colleague from florida who has always joined me on issues on puerto rico and has always been a strong voice for

the island. i would hope to prick the conscience of the senate about the 3.5 million united states citizens who just happen to live in the island of puerto rico. you know, and to do something before this crisis transforms into a full-blown human catastrophe. now, these 3.5 million americans who call puerto rico home have a long history with the united states. over 200,000 of them have served in every conflict since world war 1 and worn the uniform of the united states. over 20,000 of them currently wear the uniform of the united states and put their lives at risk for the safety and security

of all of us here at home. they are stationed across the globe. if you went with me -- and i'd invite any colleague who wants to go to the vietnam memorial and see a disproportionate number of puerto ricans who served in the vietnam war and gave their lives on behalf of the country. so puerto rico is an integral part of america, and its people are as americans, you and me. they have full citizenship rights. the status of where they live does not alter their rights under the constitution. and the fiscal time bomb that is waiting to explode in puerto rico is an american problem. you know, i could never believe in my time in the house of representatives i would have colleagues who ask me, members

of the house of representatives would ask me do they need a passport to go visit puerto rico. i thought they were joking, but they were serious. this is an american problem. now, we not only have an opportunity, but more importantly, i think we have a responsibility to take immediate action to stabilize the island and give our fellow citizens the opportunity to fix the current crisis. but instead of deescalating the crisis, we are demagoguing those who are facing it. instead of providing the tools puerto rico needs to get on the path to solvency, we're tying their hands and turning our back. so, mr. president, let me say this plain and simple, puerto rico is getting a raw deal. while we dither here, the island is economically in flames. we're about to spend over $600

billion in tax breaks but denied earned-income tax credit and child tax credit equity for americans living in puerto rico. we're about to pass a $1.1 trillion budget, but ignore pleas on the island to receive the same, the same chapter 9 treatment in bankruptcy to reorganize, restructure their debt than any state has, and that they had at one time, and that they had at one time and was surreptitiously taken out. that right that they had was taken out. as has been said by the distinguished ranking member, giving puerto rico back the right that they had will not cost the american taxpayer one single dime. now those bottom feeders who ultimately went and tried to buy bonds dirt cheap and now wanted

to get paid at maximum amount, that should not be where the focus of the united states senate is when it comes to these 3.5 million american citizens. i'm wondering if it was some other group of people, whether we would feel the same way. i have to really wonder. we're about to increase big oil's profits by $170 billion over the next decade, but we can't do anything for the 3.5 million people who call puerto rico home and who are u.s. citizens and who wear the uniform of the united states. so i'm pleased to see that the legislation will include a little piece of my high-tech legislation to help with hospitals in puerto rico, but that's not going to do anything as it relates to the crisis that we are facing. this crisis didn't develop overnight. it's over several administrations. nor will it be fixed in a day when the governor and the

government of puerto rico have done anything they can to right the ship and restore it back to solvency. they've closed schools and hospitals. they've laid off police and firefighters. they've raised taxes on businesses and individuals. they've gone beyond what any sovereign nation would consider doing to right the economic status. but they are out of options. they are out of options. but all the cuts and tax hikes won't make a dent in this crisis without the breathing room that restructuring authority provides. restructuring authority, that's all we're asking for. not a single cost to the american taxpayer. this problem isn't going away. it's not going away. and mark my words now, if we don't act now, this crisis will explode into a full-blown humanitarian catastrophe that isn't going to take a year or

months. it's going to be right around the corner. right around the corner. so it's pretty amazing that instead of dealing with this issue in a way in which we can solve it, we're basically, you know, it's the equivalent of waiting for a mall lig nannette tumor to -- a malignant tumor to metastasize before we acts on it. the sooner you act, the higher your chances of success are, and that's no different here in the case of puerto rico. they're not asking us to pull them out of this hole. they're saying give us the tools so we can do it on our own. give us the tools so we can do it on our own. it is the same can-do spirit that the soldiers who served our country during the war and all infantry amongst the most highly decorated in u.s. history. they said just give us the tools and we'll fight for our nation.

or nasa engineer and exceptional achievement medal winner dr. carlos or the robot -- roberto clemente and i could go on and on. just give them the tools. but instead this congress is going to go home and say you get coal in your stocking instead of giving them the tools to help them be able to face a better day. and at the end of the day, believe me, if we do not act they will begin, more of them will come to senator nelson's state of florida. more of them will come to new jersey. more of them will come to new york. more of them will come to ohio. more of them will come to pennsylvania, which are some of the largest concentrations in

the nation because they're u.s. citizens. and when they come, they will have the right to everything that any other citizen has. that's the reality. and i cannot imagine why our friends on the republican side cannot get to the point of understanding that these 3.5 million residents of puerto rico are united states citizens. fought for the country, died for the country, shed blood for the country, had been maimed for the country. and yet we just can't give them the tools to get themselves into fiscal order again. pretty amazing. pretty amazing that we will leave for the hoomedz -- holidays and actually have, for some i guess, not for those of us on the floor, but for some no regret that we're leaving those 3.5 million united states citizens without any options. i don't believe in leaving any

american behind. that's why i had voted on this floor for flood damage in the mississippi. that's why i voted for wildfires in the west to help them be dealt with. that's why i voted for crop damage. i mean, i've been there because i believe there is a reason we call this the united, united states of america. and puerto rico in terms of its citizenship, those people are u.s. citizens. they deserve the same rights as anyone else. and with that, i see my distinguished friend and colleague from connecticut, who i know feels very much passionately the way i do about this issue. and i yield the floor. mr. blumenthal: thank you. mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from connecticut. mr. blumenthal: thank you, mr. president. i'm inspired by the very eloquent words of my colleague from new jersey and others from senator nelson of florida and

particularly from senator cantwell, and thank them for their championing this cause. and i'm inspired by those words to begin with a story of my visit to puerto rico to the association headquarters of the puerto rico-aneers who visited the white house to receive the congressional medal that we in this body voted to award them because of their service to our nation. it was awarded when they visited the white house by the president of the united states. and i visited them in puerto rico to say thank you and to recognize their service. and i can tell you at the white house and in puerto rico, what i

saw on their faces and heard in their voices was a patriotism every bit as deep and passionate as any i've heard anywhere in this country. puerto ricans are not only american, they are proud to be american. and we should be proud that they are american, because they're hardworking and dedicated and they believe in giving back to america. my friend from new jersey has said that puerto rico is receiving a raw deal, and he's right. it's a raw deal and an unfair deal, because the people of puerto rico find themselves in an untenable financial situation in large part due to circumstances beyond their

control. in fact, in some instances, actions of this very body in tax policies and health care program decisions that put them at a disadvantage. and contributed to the fiscal situation that has put them and their economy in free fall today. 2.5% of puerto rico's population fled the island in just the last year. if puerto rico defaults and that default is permitted to continue, the ramifications of additional people fleeing the island and the financial markets feeling the effects of that default will be horrendous. the day of reckoning for puerto rico is inescapable.

the only question is whether it occurs in the courts with endless, costly litigation that enriches lawyers. let's face it, the lawyers will be better off if there is no orderly and structured process, or when that day of reckoning occurs in the bankruptcy courts where it can be orderly and structured and less costly. this body, the united states senate, has a responsibility to extend to puerto rico the same treatment under chapter nine that any municipality and utility has around the country. nothing more, nothing less. the people of puerto rico are already suffering because of the uncertainty of their financial situation, and that uncertainty

in turn is costing them already because the borrowing costs are rising as a disorderly default faces them. to provide simply more money is not the answer. there has to be a structure or orderly plan payment of debts that are due. right now, puerto rico is insolvent, can't pay its debts on time. that's the definition of default. bankruptcy is not a safety net. it is not a bailout. it is in fact a reckoning. there has been some talk here about who's responsible. and there is no question that some stand to profit if there is chaos. not just the lawyers but some of the financial interests who are

holding certain of the financial instruments. we don't need to name names or blame them. what we need to do here is to solve the problem and make sure that puerto rico is treated fairly, that it's spared this raw deal, that we'll have -- that will have ramifications for the entire united states of america, for our financial markets, for our communities and for the people of puerto rico who have families here and who will come here themselves. i hope that we will do the right thing, even in the hours -- and there are just hours left before the end of this year. there is too much at stake here for either partisan differences or special interests to dictate

the result. the day of reckoning is here. it's just a question of where it occurs -- in a bankruptcy court or endless litigation that is costly to puerto rico and puerto ricans and all americans. i yield the floor. thank you, mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: mr. president, i am happy to join my colleagues in this statement on the floor relative to the situation in puerto rico. i commend senator cantwell as well as senator blumenthal, who is the lead sponsor of the bill that i am cosponsoring, as well as senator nelson of florida who has a special interest with so many puerto ricans in his state and of course senator menendez of new jersey with the same interests. i share it. it's a feeling that is based on some friendships with members of congress of puerto rican descent, particularly my friend and colleague from illinois, luis gutierrez, but many -- and

nadia velazquez as well, and jose serrano. i understand the deep personal feelings they have about the situation. the financial crisis facing them and puerto rico and the 3.5 million residents who are u.s. citizens really demands that we not walk away but address this in a unanimous way. congress is working to complete its legislative business and it is deeply troubling that at this point we are preparing 0 to leave town without resolving puerto rico's urgent situation. the challenges facing puerto rico are very serious. the island has been mired in economic recession for more than a decade. the unemployment rate is near 12%. poverty rate almost 45%. tens of thousands of puerto ricans are leaving the island each year, as senator blumenthal said. 2.5% of the population left just this last year. that is the reality of this economic challenge. if we don't help puerto rico get back on its feet, stabilize and

grow its own economy, the alternative sadly will be many more people coming to the united states. if they wish to come, that is certainly their right, but we don't want to force them to come to this country because of dire economic circumstances in puerto rico that can be avoided. the island has over $70 billion in outstanding debt. according to moody's, this debt load is approximately 100% of the puerto rican island's gross national product. moody's also found that in fiscal year 2015, the debt service of the trert and its agencies -- of the territory and its agencies amounted to almost 40% of the revenues available to the government. compared to an average in most states of 5%. i noted an article in "the wall street journal" not that long ago that really quarreled with this 40% figure. they said it was less than half that amount. therefore, it wasn't a dire situation. yet, we had a hearing before the judiciary committee with the experts present, and it was very clear that 40% is a valid

figure. not arrived at by political figures but by moody's, a firm that is supposed to be expert in reaching that conclusion. the puerto rican government was able to make large debt payments on december 1 only through some very contorted fiscal determinations, but another debt payment of $332 million looms on january 1 and a default is a real possibility. we had this hearing before the senate judiciary committee. it was an eye opener. one of the witnesses that i remember especially was richard cayone, the executive chairman of puerto rico's largest bank. he testified that as a banker, it was truly painful for him to ever talk about bankruptcy and not paying your debts. but mr. cayone went on to say there needs to be some kind of bankruptcy or restructuring regime made available for puerto rico because the money just isn't there. if puerto rico goes into default, the ramifications are

frightening. not only would it threaten the island's fiscal stability but it would cause a humanitarian crisis where we have such a high rate of poverty. it would threaten access to essential services like education and even basic utilities. now it is true that there were a lot of factors that contributed to this financial situation, and there is no silver bullet to fix all these problems, but one step that would certainly help is to allow puerto rico to use chapter nine of the bankruptcy code, and that is what senator blumenthal's legislation proposes. about $20 billion of puerto rico's $70 billion debt is debt issued by municipalities and public corporations. chapter nine creates a mechanism for a state to allow a municipality of a public corporation to restructure its debts in bankruptcy. this authority has been used over and over again. congress passed an unusual law in 1984 which no one has been able to explain. it contained a provision which

excluded puerto rico specifically from chapter nine. no other state or territory was excluded except puerto rico. there is no legislative history to explain why puerto rico was singled out. it appears that the ban on puerto rico using chapter nine bankruptcy was either an error or it was an intentional discrimination against this territory and its three and a half million american citizens. either way, it's time to correct this inequity. if not for the simple fairness of the argument, the point being made by senator blumenthal earlier, they have given their lives in defense of the united states. there is absolutely no excuse for discriminating against these people. i have cosponsored senator blumenthal's bill that would allow puerto rico to use chapter nine. it creates a back stop to use a significant portion of puerto rico's debt. the bankruptcy process was also created for senators, bondholders and others to

negotiate voluntary restructuring. the option of bankruptcy helps bring all the parties to the negotiating table. it is a dose of reality. i regret that not a single republican has been willing to cosponsor this bill, and i don't get it. i just don't understand it. i regret that the republican majority has been unwilling to bring the issue of the puerto rican bankruptcy to the senate floor. it should have been brought to the floor. it is timely and it's important. nobody wants to encourage bankruptcy, but the founding rears recognize the importance of this legal option in giving individuals and institutions the ability to dig out of debt in an orderly fashion. that's why congress is part of enact bankruptcy laws was actually written into the constitution. furthermore, the bankruptcy process is well known and understood. it's not a federal bailout because it won't cost the taxpayers a dime if puerto rico chooses bankruptcy. in contrast, if puerto rico defaults, we'll face a new uncertain future which may well

require federal corrective action, and it may cost money. these steps likely would be far more upsetting to creditors and taxpayers in the united states than any bankruptcy process. we know that bankruptcy reform is not the silver bullet solution. there are other steps that should be taken when it comes to tax laws, health care reform, fiscal oversight that can help puerto rico. but it's clear that congress has to act. i want to commend my colleagues again for joining me in this moment on the floor to raise this important issue to the nation. we cannot ignore this crisis. puerto ricans are american citizens. puerto rico's challenges are america's challenges. and the clock is literally ticking. i urge my republican colleagues to support senator blumenthal. this modest bankruptcy reform bill will help us step forward to solve this problem. we need to work with the administration and with both political parties to chart a fair, responsible path forward

for puerto rico. mr. president, i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from utah. mr. lee: well, mr. president, here we are again. another year of legislative dysfunction capped by an undemocratic, unrepublican process that uses the threat of another manufactured crisis to impose on an unwilling country the same broken government policies that have repeatedly failed the people they are supposed to serve. the bill moving through congress today and tomorrow, made up of the omnibus spending bill and the tax extenders package and the process that produced it are an affront to the constitution, to the very idea of

constitutionalism, and an insult to the american people. we were elected to represent. i'm not even talking about the substance of the bill, which is bad enough and which i'll get to in just a moment. i'm talking about the way it was produced. a small handful of leaders from the two parties got together behind closed doors to decide what the nation's taxing and spending policies would be for the next year. and then after several weeks, the negotiators emerged. grand bargain in hand, confident that the people they deliberately excluded from the policy-making process would now support all 2,242 pages of the legislative leviathan that they cooked up. this is not how a self-governing or a self-respecting institution operates, and everyone here knows it.

the leaders who presided over these negotiations were elected just like the rest of us to represent the people residing in their state or congressional district, and not the population of the entire country. yet they just excluded 99% of the country from this process, as if their representatives are just partisan seals trained to bark and clap on cue for their leaders. that anyone is celebrating this bill as some kind of achievement is just further evidence of how out of touch washington has truly become. indeed, the very premise of this process that the established leaders of the two parties can accurately and fairly represent 320 million americans is itself absurd. this isn't just my opinion. it's the opinion of the vast and

bipartisan majority of our constituents. 70% of the american people think the country is on the wrong track. and congress, for its part, is the least trusted institution in this country. and a dwindling minority of americans trust the government to do what's right for the country. the country doesn't trust us or respect us, mr. president. and if we pass this bill, and an assent to the secretive democratic process behind it we will be telling the country loud and clear that the feeling is mutual. and all this, mr. president, is before we even get into the substance of this bill. we're being told that the omnibus and tax extenders grand bargain is a legislative accomplishment of the highest order. some kind of shining example of what can happen when the two

parties in washington come together to, quote unquote, get things done. and in a sense i don't disagree. this bill is the textbook example of how washington actually works. and that, mr. president, is precisely the problem. because all too often when washington works, it does so not for american families, workers or future generations, but for political elites and the sprawling ecosystem of lobbyists and special interests that subsist on the federal government's largess. this bill is a case study of washington's bipartisan bargaining turning into special interest bonanzas, like so many policies that come out of congress today, the omnibus and tax extenders have something for everyone. maybe you're a puerto ricoan rum distributor or exporter.

if you are, well, this bill's got you covered. it renews an underhanded tax scheme whereby the united states imposes artificially high income taxes on rum from puerto rico and then sends the proceeds back to the island's government. perhaps you own a stable of multimillion-dollar racehorses or maybe a nascar speedway. in either case, you're in luck too because this bill maintains the profitable accelerated depreciation schedules carved out in the tax code just for you. or maybe you run a salmon fishery and you're concerned about genetically engineered salmon cutting into your market share. don't worry, there's something in this bill for you too. a provision that empowers the food and drug administration to use its regulatory powers to block genetically engineered salmon from hitting the grocery store shelves. puerto rican rum exporters, racehorse owners and breeders,

speedway owners, salmon fishermen, this bill has something for everyone except for one group: the hardworking individuals and families living in one of america's forgotten communities, left behind by washington, d.c.'s broken status quo. i'll be the first to admit that there are some laudable provisions in both the spending and the tax bill that makes some important policy reforms. there's the two-year moratorium of obamacare's ill-conceived medical device tax and the defunding of obama's risk corridor program. there's the lifting of the government's foolish ban on crude oil exports and the extension of several sound tax provisions that never should have been temporary in the first place. but the process has been rigged so that we can't vote on these commendable policy reforms by themselves. in fact, we can't vote for any

one of these sensible, positive reforms without also voting for, irresponsible and unsustainable policy found in the 2,000-page bill, a bill which, by the way, we received only about 36 hours ago. nor it appears will we have the opportunity to amend a single provision found within this massive legislation. this is a take-it-or-leave-it proposition. that means no up-or-down votes on controversial provisions that members of the house and senate as of 36 hours ago had no idea were going to be in this bill. no up-or-down vote on the president's controversial green climate fund, the unpopular and unwise cybersecurity measure, the divisive rules promoted by the department of housing and urban development, and the

backdoor tweaks to the h-2b immigration visa program all hidden within the pages of this bill. none of which saw the light of day, none of which saw committee action, none of which had the opportunity to be debated and discussed and changed, improved, amended until 36 hours ago, and still will have no opportunity to be changed, improved or amended even after they hit the floor. nor will we have a chance to add priorities into the priorities of the bill of the more than 500 members of congress who were not in the negotiating room. so for all members who work there, they're left out, left out of the process altogether. for instance, members of congress from western states, including my home state of utah, have been working tirelessly for months about a provision to prohibit the bureau of land management from using government funds to implement the bureau's

land use plans and the nearly 67 million acres of sagebrush habitat situated on western federal lands. amendments to strike or to add those provisions might have succeeded or they might have failed. but either way, the american people at least would have known where their representatives stood on these issues. now with that transparency comes accountability, credibility and ultimately trust. if the house and senate it tiewtly voted for these measures as -- actually voted for these measures as amendments to the spending bill, i might not like it but it would at least put the question back into the hands of the american people and their elected representatives instead of deliberately taking it from them. our credibility, mr. president, is on the line here. and there's still time to get it

back. we can still fix this. we can hit the reset button here. we can pass a short-term stopgap spending bill and then come back to this in the new year and give it the time it deserves, approach this with the kind of process for which this body has always, up until now, been known. give the american people back their voice, mr. president. let's keep the government funded. but buy ourselves more time so that they can be debated, discussed, improved, changed and where appropriate amended. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor. mr. wyden: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from oregon.

mr. wyden: i'd like to take a few minutes to talk about the tax provisions in the agreement before us, and i want to start by making sure that people understand what this is really all about. mr. president, this is the biggest bipartisan package that provides real tax relief for working families in literally decades, and it is the biggest antipoverty program that congress has moved forward in decades. so to be able to do all of this for working families and helping millions of americans find their way out of poverty is, in my view, something particularly important. the largest bipartisan tax agreement in 15 years. and i want to spend just a few

minutes describing how this came together, why it's such an important piece of legislation, and what it means for the cause of tax reform. hundreds of thousands of oregonians and millions of families across the land count on the child tax credit and the earned-income tax credit to make ends meet. and more than 100,000 oregon students and millions of students nationwide count on the american opportunity tax credit to help them pay for college. these are concerns senator merkley and i heard directly from students at the round tables that we held recently at the university of oregon and at southern oregon university. and in my view, they are bedrock, bedrock priorities for working families when it comes to taxes.

starting more than a year ago all of my democratic colleagues on the finance committee came together around the principle that when the congress took up the temporary tax cuts known as extenders, the vital individual tax incentives for working families would be our special priority. if our colleagues on the other side insisted on making certain business-related tax breaks permanent, we were going to make clear at every single opportunity that the tax cuts for working families and students would have to be made permanent as well. now back in 2009, when these working family tax cuts were actually expanded, there were some members here in the senate who said they would never allow

them to become permanent. in effect, what they said, mr. president, is that working families would get a little bit of relief back then in 2009, but that would be it. that would be it for those working families. and we said that's not good enough. we said that without the certainty of permanent extensions, too many families across this country would be thrown into the dark as the provisions expired over and over again. 130 groups, advocates for those who walk an economic tightrope balancing their food against their fuel and their fuel against their medical care, over 130 groups who advocate for those working families wrote a letter urging lawmakers to make the working family credits permanent. they said don't keep those

families guessing about their taxes. give them certainty and assistance on a permanent basis. that's what this package does, mr. president. there's a new measure of certainty and predictability when it comes to taxes. the last tax bill in america passed just over a year ago. it had the shelf life shorter than a carton of eggs. what we're doing with this bill is providing an alternative, an alternative with real certainty and predictability on a permanent basis. i see my colleague here, senator brown, who has done yeomen work, yeomen work advocating for working families and their kids. i so appreciate his leadership and suffice it to say what we

just heard from the center for budget and policy priorities is that 16 million americans, including eight million children, will be lifted from the depths of poverty or out of poverty altogether in 2018 and beyond because of this legislation. mr. brown: would the senator yield for one moment? mr. wyden: i would be happy to yield. mr. brown: i thank the ranking member of the finance committee, former chairman of the finance committee. about a year ago when it wasn't so clear that, it wasn't so clear at all that the earned-income tax credit which has been the most effective, according to president reagan and most presidents of both parties since has been the most effective tool to fight poverty in recent memory -- i would also say social security and medicare of course, but the earned-income tax credit coupled with the child tax credit has done is reward work, help people making $9, $10, $12 an hour sometimes

working two jobs, help lift them out of poverty because they simply don't make enough money to be able to make a decent standard of living if they're making $9 an hour. and what senator wyden has done working with a number of us is when it wasn't at all clear the earned-income tax credit wouldn't expire in the next couple of years is negotiate and basically say, sure, we want to do these business tax credits or business tax deductions because we think this will help our country grow. but we shouldn't give tax breaks though large businesses and leave behind workers. and that's really what this coalition did, was pretty much say to people here that haven't always thought much about low-income people -- frankly, we work around here. if you don't go out of your way to meet low-income people and you don't talk to them about your lives, in the cafeteria, those people are making way too little money. people here don't know their names, all of that. but when you really think about this, it makes a huge difference in people's lives.

and i just want to thank senator wyden for his role in helping put that coalition together. mr. wyden: reclaiming my time, mr. president, before he leaves the floor, i want to thank my colleague from ohio whose advocacy, his constant tenacity coming back again and again and again to talk about what this means for those families walking on what i call an economic tightrope, we wouldn't be here without that advocacy. i just learned from some of the experts in the field that all together, 15 million americans are going to again from the earned income tax credit and the child tax credit being made permanent. that is real relief, mr. president, on a permanent basis. and on a permanent basis, students would be able to count on the american opportunity tax credit to cover up the $10,000 of a four-year college education. that's an awful lot of money

they are not going to have to borrow. now, there are other important highlights in the package. permanent health for the commuter, permanent assistance for low-income housing, permanent tax breaks to encourage charitable giving. that's a huge lifeline for places like the oregon food bank. that's a place where i was just a few days ago, mr. president. i saw all those young people, all those volunteers last saturday morning. they were all pitching in, packing the fruit for the families that would enjoy those fruit baskets, so they do incredible work to combat hunger. i saw it just a few days ago. and there would be five years of assistance for job seekers, including veterans, long-term unemployed and people with disabilities. five years of aid to hard-hit communities with the new market tax credit. five years of certainty for

solar and wind energy. this is especially important. we have seen the extraordinary interest in climate change. you can debate whether or not you think that there is a serious problem. i certainly do, based on what the numbers from the scientists at noaa, the national oceanic and atmospheric administration tell us. it's a serious, serious problem. and now we've got permanent -- excuse me, five years of certainty for solar and wind energy, which i think is going to make an extraordinary difference in renewable energy. now, here's what the mass of this package looks like. 40% of the tax breaks go to families and individuals. that is a huge improvement over the typical math with these tax breaks. when congress just passes the same old, same old set of tax

extenders as it's done for years, only 20% goes to families and individuals. so this package doubles, doubles the percentage of families that would benefit as it relates to this particular package. now, there are clearly a number of business-related tax cuts, and by the way, i think many of those make a great deal of sense as well. the permanent tax break for research and development, and because of the good work of our colleague from delaware, senator coons, for the first time it's going to be available on a widespread basis to small business and start-ups, it's in there, and i would say the president of the senate, because i have been to his state, this is going to be a real booster shot for america's innovative economy. permanent small business expensing is going to help a lot

of employers invest, grow and create new high-wage, high-skilled jobs for american workers. when i drive, for example, through rural oregon, i have town meetings in every county every year, and i drive through rural oregon, you go out and you see all those little businesses that in effect sell farm implements, you know, equipment. last year, they were trying to figure out what was going to happen with respect to the expensing rule, and then they saw it only lasted a few weeks. now we have got permanent small business expensing. that's going to help small employers in rural areas, research and development credits that are permanent will help small employers in urban and rural areas, and a lot of times they will help employers pay wages for employees at the new innovation related programs, and i think that those tax breaks that i have just mentioned like

expensing for small business and permanent research and development breaks ought to be the kind of thing that both democrats and republicans would approve of. now, i want to take just a few minutes, mr. president, and talk about the impact of this legislation on tax reform. and i will tell you that my wife always said don't describe the federal tax code in your typical way because you just frighten the children, but the reality is the american tax code overall is just a rotting economic carcass. it's infected with loopholes and inefficiencies. now we've got this version virus mutating and growing. this is really a mess of a system. what this legislation does, particularly by making permanent

the breaks for working families and the smart policies that encourage businesses and innovation and economic growth in our communities research and development and realistic write-offs. what this is going to do is in effect clear the deck for tax reform. this lays the opportunity out by giving breathing room to the cause of bipartisan tax reform, something i'm particularly interested in, because our colleague from indiana, senator coats and i, have written a bipartisan tax reform bill, a bipartisan comprehensive tax reform bill. what this legislation does in terms of creating breathing room for tax reform is it breaks the chain of just extending these tax extenders every two years, and what it means is that we

have predictability and certainty and some breathing room in order to lay out a bipartisan comprehensive tax reform effort. and by the way, mr. president, beyond the fact that this inversion virus is something that can't be ignored any longer, that alone is an indication that the congress cannot duck the need to reform the tax code comprehensively. look at those in key positions here in the congress who have made it clear that they want bipartisan tax reform. democrats and republicans. chairman brady, for example, chairman hatch, myself. a number of colleagues on both sides of the aisle have said they want to do comprehensive tax reform, and want to, as i

have described it, break the chain of every year or every two years just once again passing these extenders. we're not the extenders congress. i don't want to have us back every two years just doing the same old, same old. we can do a lot better, and this time we have at least laid the foundation for real tax reform. i want to thank a number of my colleagues, in particular chairman hatch, our committee members on both sides of the aisle, the two leaders, leader reid and leader mcconnell for their efforts. we had an awful lot of dedicated staff people working on this issue. our diligent tax counsel is here, todd metcalf, i want to

thank him for his great work, our terrific staff director, josh schenkman, our chief counsel, mike evans, the tax team, ryan abraham, bobby ambras, adam carasso, karen debt, rob jones, tiffany smith and todd wooten. all of them have worked long, long hours to get us up to this point. and i also want to commend liz duranko and juan machado of our health staff because they joined a very good leadership team as well in these efforts, and chairman hatch and his staff led by chris campbell, an oregonian, mark prader and brendan dunn, george hallas and chairman brady's staff, all of them came together to help us put together this effort. and i believe now,

mr. president, that there is really an opportunity to use this bill as a springboard to real tax reform. i've written two bipartisan tax reform bills over the years, first with my former colleague from new hampshire, judd gregg. the second with our current colleague, senator coats, the distinguished senator from indiana, and i know my wife would always say i keep hearing about these tax reform bills, dear. write me when something actually happens. well, i tell you i think now the combination of this inversion virus, which really, if it keeps growing, is going to hollow out america's tax system, plus the fact that we have brought some certainty and predictability to the tax code, added some very sensible provisions in a permanent way. this really gives us an

opportunity now. the table is set for real tax reform, and that is not something we have had before, and i just want to close by way of saying that i am so honored to represent oregon in the united states senate. director of the senior citizens, the gray panthers for about seven years before i came to the congress, so i have had a lot of exciting moments in my time in public service. but to be part of this bipartisan legislative effort that provides the biggest tax cut for working families and the biggest antipoverty plan congress has moved forward in decades is particularly thrilling. i thank all of my colleagues and the staff who have done so much to make this possible. mr. president, with that, i yield the floor.

a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from kansas. mr. moran: mr. president, thank you very much. i'd like to address my colleagues on a piece of legislation called the national labor relations act. it was enacted in 1935, and that legislation exempted federal, state, local governments but did not explicitly mention native american governments from the provisions of the act. as a matter of sovereignty, indian tribes, tribes across the country, should be excluded from the provisions of the nrlb. and for 70 years, the nrlb honored the sovereign status, and it accorded them the rights they are entitled to under the constitution of the united states. beginning in 2004, however, the nlrb reversed its treatment of tribes and legally challenged those tribes in regard to the nlrb.

the tribal labor sovereignty act, which i introduced and passed the senate committee on indian affairs in a bipartisan way, is simple. the national labor relations act is amended to provide that any enterprise or institution owned and operated by an indian tribe and located on tribal lands is not subject to nlra. this is not a labor issue. this is a sovereignty issue. the narrow legislation protects tribal sovereignty and gives tribal governments the ability to make the best decisions possible for their people. this legislation seeks to treat tribal governments no differently than other units of local government, counties and cities. so, mr. president, as i say, this legislation passed not only the senate committee but similar legislation passed the house of representatives in a bipartisan vote. and the late senator inouye of

hawaii wrote in 2009, and i quote, "congress should affirm the original construction of nlra by expressly including indian tribes in the definition of an employer." this bill presents congress with an opportunity to reaffirm the constitutional status, the sovereignty that tribes are entitled to under the supreme law of our land, and therefore, mr. president, i move -- i'm sorry. i request unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of calendar number 220, s. 248, and that the bill be read a third time and passed and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: is there objection? mr. brown: mr. president, i reserve the right to object. the presiding officer: the senator from ohio. mr. brown: thank you. i will briefly explain the reasons that i am reserving the right to object. i, first of all, thank you, senator moran. i want to say as a fellow member of the banking committee, while

i disagree with him on this issue, i have -- we have found many things to work with together on, and i'm very appreciative of that. as senator moran, i strongly support tribal sovereignty as i know probably virtually everybody in this body does, but this bill frankly isn't about tribal sovereignty. it's about undermining labor law that protects the rights of workers to organize and collectively bargain. we have a middle class in this country in large part because since the 1930's since hugo black sat at this desk and senator wagner sat at another desk in this chamber and wrote collective bargaining laws we know what that's done to raise wealth mott just -- not just for union wealth but others also. this bill seeks to overturn the decision. the board methodically evaluated when they do and don't have jurisdiction on tribal lands by using a very carefully crafted

test to ensure that the board's jurisdiction would not violate tribal rights and would not interfere an exclusive right to self-governance. we support that. in the june 2015 decision, the nlrb employed the test. they did not assert jurisdiction in a labor dispute on tribal lands. instead this bill is part of an agenda to undermine the rights of american workers, including 600,000 -- 600,000 employees of tribal casinos, 75% of those employees are nonindians. courts have upheld the application of the tribes of federal employment laws including the fair labor standards act, the occupational safety and health act, the employment retirement act and income security act, that's osha and erisa and title 3 of the americans with disabilities act, all very important to protect people, protect workers and citizens.

in addition to harming the thousands of organized workers in commercial casinos, this bill would establish a dangerous precedent to weaken standards on tribal lands. for these reasons, mr. president, i object. the presiding officer: objection is heard. mr. moran: mr. president, i'm disappointed the senator from ohio has objected, and i will continue our efforts both in the committee and on the senate floor to see that this legislation or legislation similar to it is advanced for the purposes of reaffirming the constitutional grant of sovereignty, the sovereignty of those who preceded us here in this country. mr. president, on a different topic just for a moment i'd like to indicate that it's time unfortunately for me to say goodbye to one of my long-term employees, brian perkins of wichita, kansas, a kansan through and through, is departing our staff at the end of the year. brian came to our office when i was a house member in 2009 and followed me here to the united states senate. and among the issues that i

consider most important as we try to care and work on behalf of kansans and americans here are issues related to health care and issues related to education. and brian has been front and center in our office day in and day out on these issues. and i have many wonderful and qualified staff members, but brian is the role model i think for all of them, and including for me. we have seen brian time and time again step up and act above and beyond the norm, and in every setting he is genuine, he is sincere. he demonstrates his care for kansans in each and every circumstance. he's intelligent and knows the details of health care and education law. but the compelling factor about brian is that he cares so much about getting it right, doing things for the right reasons. i understand that sometimes there is a lack of appreciation

by americans across the country for the people who work here, and i would exclude me or other members of congress from this statement. but sild think that -- i would think that almost without exception all of our staffs are worthy, those who work here in the senate, those who work in our offices, those who work in the committee are worthy of the esteem and respect. these are people who work hard every day for a good and worthy cause. most of them had an interest in a policy issue or interest in politics and decided that washington, d.c., the nation's capital, was a place in which they could do something for the good of their country. brian exemplifies that. it's not easy to say goodbye to brian. we spent a lot of time as senators with our staff, but i want to express my gratitude to him on behalf of me and my family. i wish him and his family beth and their children all the best as they move closer to family. it's another attribute of brian. i think he has the sense that he hates to leave, but he knows he has a responsibility to his

family, and that's something that kansans also admire and respect. so to brian, thank you very much for all the hours, days, weeks, months and years of which you've advanced the cause of good government for the people of our state and the people of the country. mr. president, i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president is? the presiding officer: the senator from nebraska. mr. sasse: thank you, mr. president. mr. inhofe: i ask unanimous consent that at the conclusion of the remarks by the senator from nebraska and the senator from georgia that i be recognized along with the senator from new mexico. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. sasse: mr. president, today i'd like to propose a thought experiment. imagine president trump has been propelled into the whitehouse with 300 electoral votes -- ints

personality and his promise to get things done by acting unilaterally. the first 100 days are huge. he signs an order that turns the peace corps into stonemasons to build the southern wall. he shutters the department of education, and by executive order he turns the department of interior into the classiest oil company the world has ever known. what happens next? would those who have stayed silent about executive overreach over the last seven years suddenly find religion after years of legislative atrophy would congress spring into action and remember its supposed power of the purse? and what about republicans? after having raged against the supposedly lawless president, would many suddenly find that they're actually okay with a strongman president so long as he's wearing the same colored jersey they are? he may be a lawless son of a

gun, some of them would say, but he's our lawless son of a gun. would the ends justify the means? the way that congress thinks and talks about executive power over the last few years has been almost this sophomoric. it has been based overwhelmingly on the party tag of whoever happens to sit in the oval office at any given moment. republicans, democrats, us versus them, these are the political trenches and the no man's land lies somewhere between this chamber and 1600 pennsylvania avenue, northwest. when your highest objective is advancing partisan lines on a map, it's easy to forgive a president who oversteps his authority so long as he's your guy and the one with authority is in your party. mr. president, i would suggest that this is the entirely wrong way to think about this issue. the problem of a weak congress, which we are, and the growth of the unchecked executive should be bad news to all of us.

but more importantly than us, this should be bad news for every constituent who casts their votes for us under the impression that the congress actually makes decisions, doesn't just offer whiney suggestions. the shrinking of the legislature in the age of obama should be bad news for all of us for three reasons. first, we've taken an oath to defend the constitution and the constitution invests the legislature with the legislative powers. second, the founders' design of checks and balances actually was and is a good idea. they were struggling to preserve the freedom of the individual and especially of the vulnerable against the powerful, against those who could afford to higher the well-connected lobbyists. the founders were equally afraid of the unchecked consolidation of power in a king or in the passions of a mob. they understood that human nature means that those in power

will almost always try to gra more power and that base reality hasn't changed over the last 230 years. third, under the system that is now emerging, the public is growing more and more frustrated. they think that most of us will be reelected no matter what and they think that the executive agencies that daily substitute rule making for legislating will promulgate whatever rules they want no matter what. and the people have no control. people grow more cynical in a world where the legislators who can be fired -- that's what elections are for -- have little actual power and in a world where the bureaucrats who have most of the actual power cannot be fired. it is basically impossible for the people who are supposed to be in charge in our system to figure out how they would throw the bums out. they ask where is the accountability in the present arrangement? let me be clear about two things up front. first, i think that the weakness

of the congress is not just undesirable. i think it's actually dangerous for america and her future. and second, i think this not because i am a republican and we have a democrat in the white house. rather, i think this because i've taken an oath of office to a constitutional system and i will continue to hold this view and have taken this oath the next time that a republican president tries to reach beyond his or her constitutional powers. despite these two strongly held views, though, in this series of addresses on the growth of the administrative state and more broadly, on the unbalanced nature of executive legislative branch relations in our time, my goal will not be primarily to advocate. my first goal is just to do some history together. my goal is primarily to describe how the executive branch has grown and how presidents of both parties are guilty of it. but it isn't just that republicans and democrats are guilty of trying to consolidate more power when they have the

presidency, although that is true -- it is a one-way ratchet. it is also the case that republicans and democrats are to blame in this congress for not wanting to lead on hard issues and take hard votes, but rather to sit back and let successive presidents gobble up more authorities. my goal is to give all of us who are called to serve in this body a shared sense of some historical moments about how we got to this place where so much of the legislative function now happens inside the executive branch and to convince my colleagues of both parties that we have to take this power back regardless of who serves in the white house and what party they are from. so how did we get to the place where so many giant legislative decisions are now made inside 1600 pennsylvania avenue and in the dozens of alphabet soup agencies? to understand that, we have to look briefly at the founders and what they were trying to accomplish. these were educated men who had

studied all forms of government throughout recorded human history. they had a worked out theory of human nature. they knew that we are created with inherent dignity that is worthy of respect, that our rights come to us from god via nature and that government doesn't give us rights. government is just our shared tool to secure those natural rights. at the same time they knew that we also have a disposition to self-interest and a capacity for evil. they observed that throughout all of human history rulers tried to consolidate more power for their own ends, and this is obviously dangerous. one of the lessons they drew from their hitch historical understanding -- rich historical understanding was the importance of keeping the three main functions of government separate. as montesquieu wrote -- quote -- "all would be lost if the same man or the same body of principled men either of the nobles or of the masses exercise these three powers: that of making the laws, that of executing them, and that of

judging the crimes and the disputes among individuals." the separation of powers could not of course be absolute for the branches had to work together, each power had to counterpose one another. the key was to divide the power among different institutions while ensuring that those institutions could act together as a coherent whole on the basis of what they call mixed government. the constitution that emerged from the founders' debates and deliberations intentionally enshrined the separation of the powers, and this was a direct result of the founders' study of human nature and their conclusion that that nature was relatively constant. men everywhere tend to ago grandize power and use it for selfish ends. when power checks power in the government the people are better protected. as tocqueville said when he studied america their more constrained government leaves them more room for civil society. we have a limited government because we mean to enable nearly

limitless -- that is more free -- families, more free inventors, more free churches and synagogues, more free not for profits, more free local governments and so on. if you have to describe the essence of the american government in one sentence, lincoln, to paraphrase him, said it is of the people, by the people and for the people. americans believe that we are free, endowed by our creator with unalienable, unchangeable and untouchable rights, and that is the opposite of pretty much everythinged world had ever held in government until 1776. this is what american exceptionalism means. not that there's something unique about americans, distinct from people much any other place, but that the american idea is premised on rejecting the idea that the king is the one who is free. the king, after all, had an army and you didn't, and he could use his power however he wished. and his subjects -- remember they were not called citizens. they were subjects -- were

dependent. if they wanted to open a business, to start a church, to publish a book, then they needed to ask the king for permission. all that was not mandatory was forbidden unless the king gave you an exception, unless the king gave you a carveout, unless the king gave you a waiver. in america the opposite was to be true. you were born free regardless of where you're from or who your parents are, regardless of your bank balance or the color of your skin. in america, if you want to preach a sermon or write a piece of investigative journalism, if you want to say your elected leaders are losers, if you want to invest in a new app or launch a nonprofit, in america you don't need the king's permission for you are free. about 100 years ago this idea, our system of separation of powers, came under attack. there are three or four reasons why the urban of industrialization and then progressivism called our constitutional system of