out-educate and compete with the rest of the world in a 21st century skills-based economy. mr. president, the idea that the next generation will be able to go further and do better than the last is at the heart of the american dream. and the solutions that we are offering today deserve a vote in this congress. i.tit's my hope our colleagues n the other side of the aisle will join us in confronting the student debt crisis and supporting these commonsense reforms that not only makes higher education affordable but can help give more americans a fair shot at pursuing their dreams. i thank the president, and i yield back my time. the presiding officer: senator

from ohio. mr. brown: thank you, mr. president. i thank senator baldwin, especially for her work on higher education. she knows the value to the citizens about that. i ask unanimous consent after my remarks that the next speaker be senator reed of rhode island. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. brown: thank you, mr. president. tomorrow is earned-income tax credit day, a day -- as we approach the tax season, a word dedicated to get the word out about this tax credit. the eitc provides an incentive to work. it puts thousands of dollars -- thousands of dollars back into the pockets of low-wage and moderate-wage workers every year. president reagan called it the best antipoverty measure to come out of congress. the work that senator reed and others and i did on the earned-income tax credit this year to permanently expand it, that work was called by some

organizations the most important antipoverty initiative except for the affordable care act in the last 20 years that congress did. last year, 27 million american households, 950,000 households just in my state alone, in ohio, claimed the eitc and received an average refund of $2,400. so that -- for somebody making $15,000 or $20,000, or $30 a year, when they file their -- or $30,000 a year, when they file their taxes in march, they can get a check from the federal government -- on the average, i am not promising anybody specific amount amounts -- on te average they will get a check for $2,400. one of the best things this body did last year was permanently extend the earned-income tax credit. but there is still more we need to dovment therto do. under current law -- back up.

the earned-income tax credit was aimed primarily at childre famih children. but not entirely. under current law workers without children, swurch making $15,000 a year, someone making $11 an hour, but having no children, no spouse, no children, those workers making minimum wage barely receive any earned-income tax credit. childless workers under 25 don't qualify for these credits at all. that means that a young worker, somebody making $9 or $10 an hour, without children, can actually be taxed deeper into poverty. why is that? well, if a worker is making $9 an hour, working full-time, doing their best, not getting paid much, they're paying the payroll tax. they pay the social security tax. the taxes they pay actually push them down below the poverty line. and why would we possibly in this country -- and we say in this body we value work. we say we care about people that

are working hard and playing by the rules. we want them to get ahead. and then we fail to give them that -- or provide that earned-income tax credit, and we tax them back below the poverty line. why would we possibly do that? well, part of the reason is last year when we were successful in expanding the earned-income tax credit permanently, there was resistance from some sort of ultraconservatives in this body, some tea party republicans, there was resistance to expanding it to these workers who are working hard but don't have children. and how are they going to plan families? how are they going to plan for the future if they're always struggling paycheck to paycheck and get no help? we need to do more to ensure that families who are currently eligible know about the eitc. right now, even with the discussion -- i appreciate the presiding officer from louisiana and his interest in this, and i know that people in louisiana, like people in ohio, not everybody knows about it. one-fifth of families in this country who are eligible who can claim the earned-income tax

credit when they file their taxes, 20% of them don't know and don't file for it. that means that those 20% are leaving about $2,000 on the table that they could use to fix their car, that they could use to pay off a payday loan that they could use to buy their kids shoes, that they can use to maybe occasionally go tout a restaurant and get a nice dinner. with tax season opening last week, we need to ensure that every american gets as much of her hard-earned money back into her pocket as possible. that every american gets as much of his hard-erned money back in his pocket as possible. we need to get the word out about tax credits working families can claim and the services available to help them get their maim maximum refund. filing taxes is complicated t can be particularly challenging for families claiming the earned-income tax credit. but getting help doesn't need to be expensive. here's how. one tool that's available is the i.r.s. free-file program of

going to the irs.gov program. if you live in ohio, go on brown.senate.gov web site. type in your zip code. software is offered to families of $62,000 or less. families can visit what's called a voluntary income tax assistance -- vita site. the vita volunteer income tax assistance site, go into brown.senate.gov. if you live in ohio. go into irs.gov. type in your zip code. you can see what vita sites are available. someone just told me yesterday, they went to one. they entered their zip code. they found the volunteer income tax assistance site was walking distance from her home. ohioans can go to my web site browning.senate.gov, type in her

zip code and they will find a map with their nearest vita site. they're more reliable. the majority of eitc result from returns from prepared taxpayers. all are trained by an organization partnering with the i.r.s. if you make less than $60,000 a year, you can go to one of these vita sites and you will find out -- they will do your taxes with you for free, and they will find out if you're eligible for the earned-income tax credit. and, if you're eligible for the earned-income tax credit this year and you didn't file, it's possible you can claim your tax credit from calendar year, tax year 2014 also. you may get a $2,000 credit this year. you may get a $2,000 for last. you did your best.

you maybe only made d 25,000 a year. but you're eligible for this tax credit. millionaires and billionaires and mels of congress, people doing pretty well financially in life, most people have an army of lawyers and accountants a understand people who do their taxes for them. they claim every possible tax credit, every possible tax deduction, every possible tax advantage they can get. people that fill out their earned-income tax credit, their own taxes if they're making $20,000 or $30,000 a year, don't have the sophistication to hire those lawyers and accountants. so oftentimes they're not getting every tax credit or tax deduction they can get. that's why it's so important for people to visit these vita sites, and it's why it's so important that people have this opportunity. we need to ensure that working families know about the resources available to help them claim the refunds, including the earned-income tax credit and the child tax credit, refunds that, i repeat, that they have earned.

we reward work, we give people a little help when they're working hard at low wages. we should raise the minimum wage. we should do some other things, push the department of labor to move a little faster on their overtime rule so people working more than 40 hours are getting time and a half. i want to see people that are working hard be able to get ahead and get every advantage they possibly can. this body took a strong stand in december in support of an expa expanded permanent earned-income tax credit and a permanent child tax credit. i hope on eitc aawareness day we'll recommit ourselves toss doing the same thing this year. the presiding officer: the senator from rhode island. mr. reed: thank you very much. first met me commend senator brown on his very thoughtful comments on the earned-income tax credit. i also ask unanimous consent

that molly byer, a fellow in my office, be granted privileges of the floor for the reasonablyder of the congress -- for the remainder of the congress. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reed: i am very glad that the senate is taking up the issue of energy this week. the bill we are debating takes positive steps forward to encourage energy efficiency in federal and commercial buildings, modernize the electric grid, and boost renewable sources of energy. i'm particularly pleased that provisions i worked with on a bipartisan basis with senators coons and collins to enhance the weatherization assistance program and the state energy program are included. these provisions improve these programs that help low hmmm income americans -- low-income americans reduce their energy bills and many of these individuals are senior citizens who are day by day struggling on fixed incomes to pay their bills. i've long championed these cost-effective programs that are

helping families across my state and across the nation to provide a warm and safe home while also increasing energy efficiencicy. weatherization is one of the most sensible steps. it is the low-hanging fruit. if welcome reduce demand, we can go a long way not only in terms of our energy situation but also our environmental situation. we are here today because of the great work of the chairwoman, senator murkowski, and the ranking member, senator cantwell. they've done an extraordinary job. not surprisingly, they are extraordinary members of this body. i want to compliment them on what they've done not just on this but other efforts. i have joined senator cantwell as a cosponsor of her bill that goes much further than the current bill on the senate floor to modernize electrical infrastructure and promote renewable energy.

to both senators, let me extend my thanks and commendation. one area that needs further focus as we move forward is the issue of energy storage. i am glad to be working with my colleague from colorado, senator heller, on amendments that support morning business efficient use of energy storage research at the department of energy and encourage energy storage usage at public utilities. advances in energy storage, advances in batteries and sometimes it is the same thing, can help improving the reliability, resiliency and flexibility of the grid as well as reduce the potential for future rate increases, saving us all money on our utility bills. and we have, senator heller and i, introduced two amendments that we hope will spur action in this eample area. the one amendment would give the secretary of energy the ability to coordinate energy storage research and development projects among the existing programs at d.o.e. to maximize

the amount of funding that goes towards research and minimize administrative costs. it does not, we feel, have that flexibility at the moment. i also join senator heller in offering another amendment in which he is the lead sponsor that amends the public utility regulatory policies act so the industry and state regulators must consider energy storage when making their energy efficiency plans. i also, noition these proposals, believe that we use this opportunity to encourage greater attention to the financial impacts of climate change caused bier energy consumption. -- caused by energy consumption. it is clear that the sacramento. disclosure industry should be updated to reflect the growing risk of climate change to these companies, to their shareholders. that is why i'm offering an additional amendment that directs the s.e.c. to update their industry guides as well as

to consider and incooperate appropriate suggestions from the fluvment u.n. environment program of finance initiatives report which was published in 2025. these disclosures are important to institutional investors such as alliance global investors, which are a diversified, active investment manager with $477 billion under management. they have called for achieving better disclosure of the effects of carbon costs on the costs of oil and gas companies. what we are trying to do is respond to the growing demands odemandsof investors and shareho they can make better judgments. it is also important to continue to invest in our energy infrastructure, support cutting hfecutting-edge technology

advancements. and one way of doing this is once again to have and ensure that inkvestors have the knowledge they need to make wise judgments. all told, mr. president, this is very responsible and very appropriate legislation. we can make improvements, and i hope that the amendments that i propose along with senator heller and my own amendment can get favorable consideration as we move forward. but once again, let me thank senator murkowski and senator cantwell for extraordinary leadership. and with that, mr. president, i would yield the floor and i would note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk shall call the roll. quorum call:

ms. klobuchar: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from minnesota. ms. klobuchar: mr. president, i ask that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. ms. klobuchar: mr. president, i came to the senate floor earlier this month to talk about the

importance of moving forward the nominations of the ambassadors to two important allies, the united states of america and that is norway and sweden. these are countries that have been our true friends through many wars, they have been our true friends economically. some of the top investors in america, and they have been countries that are good examples of democracies, good examples of countries that believe in human rights. yet, we have not been able to confirm an ambassador to either country, and i do want to first of all say that in the case of sweden it has been 462 days since the president nominated azita raji to be ambassador, and in the case of norway it has been 853 days since that country

has had a united states ambassador. i'll get to those details, and in this case the nominee is named sam heins from the state of minnesota. whereby the way we have over a million people of scandinavian descent. 1.5 million people who do not understand why every major nation in europe has an ambassador and not the two scandinavian countries. and i first want to thank senator mcconnell, the majority leader, as well as senator reid for their work on trying to advance these nominees to the floor. they have negotiated. they have tried to get this done. and also senator corker and senator cardin both supportive of these nominees. and i think it's important to note, mr. president, this is not your typical story of delay. these nominees went through the committee without any objection. they were not controversial, nor are they controversial today.

it is the fact that senator cruz has some issues that are completely unrelated to these nominees, but also completely unrelated to norway and sweden. and the issue is that while senators do from time to time put temporary holds on nominees, this has gone on too long. and i am hopeful in an article today in the minneapolis star tribune about irked scandinavians in our state. senator cruz's staff has said that they are engaged in good-faith discussions with other senators and have made clear there were no issues raised with these particular nominees. in this story, and so i think that's very important, and we hope that we are going to move forward. but to just give you a sense from this article, mr. president, i ask that i put this article from today's minneapolis paper, "the star

tribune" paper on the record. just a few quotes from people that are not in politics at all. there's a crisis in a relationship between our two countries, said bruce car stadium, president and c.e.o. of the minneapolis-based american-swedish institute. i don't quite understand that any statement is being made other than we're ignoring you. let me give you another example of what someone says here. leif trana, a counselor at the embassy in washington, pointed out that his country, the country of norway, just submitted to 52 fighter jets, that's a total over time. 52 fighter jets. i believe each one is $100 million to $200 million. where norway is purchasing these jets from?

lockheed martin, a u.s. company, and they are going to be made at a lockheed plant in the state of texas. can you imagine how many jobs this is, mr. president, that we would consider not sending an ambassador to a country that not only sees us as an ally and is an ally, by the way, in our issues that we have in our conflict with russia. the man goes on to say, the minister of council at the norwegian embassy in this article, norwegians have long had a great affinity for the united states. after the e.u., this is our place where most norwegians travel and study. and the last quote i'll give you from this article today. john peterson, board chairman of the minneapolis-based norway house, said it's shameful to play politics with the ambassador post. this position is important, he said. left unfilled like this is a

slap in the face to norway. okay. so let's go through what's been going on 853 days in the case of norway. now, the first nominee that was nominated, as explained in this article, did not go well. there were issues on both sides of the aisle. that person withdrew his name. so that's part of the delay, and we will acknowledge that. but a big chunk of the recent delay is because there has been a hold, not on the committee level. that went through quite quickly. with senator corker's guidance, senator guidance in fact on the floor. in the case of sweden again, 462 days for a noncontroversial nominee. at the same time, in the last few months, ambassadors have been confirmed for 38 countries. 38 countries. two of those have actually been political appointees, so they weren't just career, as the rumor is. they were considered -- two were

considered political appointees. so you have barbados, ecuador, poland, thailand. they all have ambassadors as an ambassador from the u.s. in france, of course. there is an ambassador in england, of course. there is an ambassador in italy. there is an ambassador in germany. there is an ambassador in bulgaria. but not in sweden and norway. we in fact have an ambassador in nearly every european nation but not these two scandinavian countries. all right. as i said, there have been no questions about the qualifications of these two nominees, and i will put those qualifications on the record, mr. president. but i wanted to focus more on the actual countries, norway and sweden. they're incredibly important allies and trading partners. they deserve to be treated like other european nations. they deserve to have an ambassador from the united states of america, and it's time to get this done.

diplomatic relations between the u.s., norway and sweden are almost 200 years old. for 200 years, we've had ambassadors in these countries. holding a vote to confirm front line ambassadors hostage is not in the best interests of our country. so norway, let's start with norway. norway was a founding member of the nato alliance and its military has participated in operations with the united states, in the balkans and in afghanistan. norwegians work alongside americans in standing up to russia's provocations in ukraine encountering isis and the spread of violent extremism and islamic extremism and in strengthening regional cooperation in the arctic. norway has been especially strong on working to check russian aggression against ukraine. norway is also playing an important role in addressing the

syrian refugee crisis. norway has a proud history of providing support to those fleeing conflict. it expects to take in as many as 25,000 refugees this year. it has already provided more than $6 million to greece to help respond to the influx of refugees seeking to enter europe. all of us on both sides of the aisle have talked about the importance of a strong europe during these trying times, yet right now we have no ambassadors in two of the countries that are on the front lines of combating extremism and addressing the refugee crisis. sweden, like norway, plays an important role in our national security and on the international stage. sweden is a strong partner and close friend of the united states, helping in our fight against isis, promoting democracy and human rights and cooperating on global initiatives related to energy and the environment. sweden is a partner in nato and is an active global leader from

its long-term investment in afghanistan to its role as an international peacemaker. sweden has supported ukraine against russian aggression, has made significant contributions in afghanistan and has aided in the fight against terrorism in syria, iraq, kosovo and the current fight against isis. sweden is a member of the counterisil coalition and is on the front lines of the syrian refugee crisis. more than 1,200 refugees seek asylum in sweden every day, and sweden accepts more refugees per capita than any other country in the e.u. that is what's happening right now. they are accepting more refugees per capita than any other country in the e.u., yet we don't have an flafer to that country. we have an ambassador to germany. we certainly know that they are playing a parole in this refugee crisis. we have an ambassador of course to greece, but we don't have an ambassador to this country. the united states has

collaborated with sweden to strengthen human rights, democracy and freedom in countries emerging from oppressive and autocratic regimes. sweden's commitment to promoting global democracy, human rights, gender equality and international development make it a respected leader in international affairs. now let's look at the economic partnerships. and i do hope that my colleagues on the other side of the aisle who have all been very supportive of this will talk to senator cruz the next time they see him. i plan on asking for unanimous consent to get these nominees through repeatedly in the next month, and i'm hoping that he will be here to explain this and i'm hoping we can find some agreement on this, because again this is not your typical case where these nominees have been criticized or questioned including by him or his office. this is a case of simply some other issues that are unrelated to not even the nominees but also the countries, and these

countries should not be held hostage. norway, norway is an important economic partner. according to the american chamber of commerce in norway, norway represented the fifth fastest growing source of foreign direct investment in the united states between 2009 and 2013. of course, i've seen myself visiting senator hoeven and senator heitkamp's state in north dakota, the investment that we see in oil and in drilling in north dakota from the scandinavian countries because of their history in that industry. norway is the 12th largest source of foreign direct investment in the united states overall. think about that. the 12th biggest source in the country of norway. there are over 300 american companies with a presence in norway thriewg 3-m of minnesota, eli lilly, general electric, i.b.m., mcdonald's and so many others. by not having an ambassador to

norway, we are sending a message to some of the top investors in our own country. the ambassadors in these countries as we know and our trading partners help businesses in america do business in that country. while there is national security issues, there is also an economic purpose of having an ambassador. in october, norway reiterated its commitment, as i mentioned, from the article to invest in american businesses by purchasing an additional 22 -- that brings the total up to 52 -- 22 f-35's from lockheed martin. that makes a total of 52 fighter jets norway is committing to buy from lockheed martin, the first f-35 in norway will arrive in 2018. this is the biggest investment norway has ever made. in the country's history, and they're investing in a company in our country in the state of texas. these are warplanes that would be built at lockheed's facility in fort worth. i have called attention to this

fact. i know it is a cost of almost $200 million per plane this country is investing in american jobs. are $200 million per plain and they're buying 22 more. lockheed martin and other american companies that do business with norway would like to see an ambassador there to help facilitate relations. now let's get to sweden. sweden, like norway, is also one of the biggest investors in the united states. sweden is actually the 11th largest direct investor in the united states while norway is 12th. i would think some people might be surprised by that fact that these two scandinavia countries are that high up in the list when you look in the world, but in fact it is true, the 11th and 12th investors in the u.s. sweden foreign vect investment in the u.s. amounts to roughly $56 billion and creates nearly

330,700 u.s. jobs. u.s. companies are the most represented foreign companies in sweden. swedish americans have contributed to the fabric of our great nation and built successful companies likewal green's. economically it has one of the most international integrated economies in the world. the united states is sweden's fourth largest export market with swedish exports valued at an estimated $10.2 billion. does this sound like a country where we just decide we're not going to have an ambassador? yet we give ambassadors to all these other nations all across the world. that just doesn't seem right. sweden is a significant export market for my state of minnesota with 131.5 million in sales through november of last year. sweden, like norway, deserves to have an ambassador. now just speaking of the minnesota ties here, the

economic and cultural influence of norway and sweden is strongly felt throughout the united states. i will say minnesota has a special one. in fact one of the most notable attractions in madison, minnesota, is a giant 25-foot long fiber glass cod, mr. president, named mr. lou t. fisc, a scandinavia joke. anyone from norway or sweden knows that ludafisc is a tradition in -- nordish food. the largest fiber glass cod in the world is still displayed in our state. so we have about 100,000 people of norwegian heritage in minnesota, second only to norway

itself. we have 500,000 swedish minnesotans. think of how many, that is a good chunk of our population. so we're very proud of our nordic heritage. but that's my state, and i think you can go around to any state in the united states and you would find proud norwegians and swedes. and they may not always be the loudest voices, and maybe that's part of the problem. maybe they have been too nice. but i can tell you these two countries, the 11th and 12th biggest investors in the united states of america, one of whom has been willing to buy 52 fighter planes valued at nearly $200 million each from our nation, certainly deserve an ambassador. and they have been very clear to me, the representatives of these countries, that they'd like to see an ambassador. at some point this looks like a dis from our nation that we're dissing them because we allow every other nation to have an ambassador. so we look forward to working

with senator cruz. and again, i thank senator mcconnell and senator corker for their support. we haven't seen any other, any other concerns that people have, have been taken care of. so i'm hoping we can get sam heinz and azita raji immediately confirmed. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor and i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk should call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

ms. murkowski: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from alaska. ms. murkowski: mr. president, i request that proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. murkowski: mr. president, we are now ready to process a handful of amendments with a series of voice votes. i would ask unanimous consent that the following amendments be called up and reported by number: about a regarbarrasso 308, wyde, capito number 3063, daines number 3020, and hirono 3067. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection, so ordered. the clerk will report the amendments by number. the clerk: the senator alaska, ms. murkowski for others

proposes amendments in my judgment 302 -9d, 2984, 3001, 3063, 3020, and 3067. ms. murkowski: i ask unanimous consent that the senate now vote on these amendments en bloc. the presiding officer: is there objection? ms. cantwell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from washington. ms. cantwell: mr. president, reserving the right to object, i won't object. i just want to thank my colleague from alaska for her hard work in working on both sides of the aisle today on these amendments, the barrasso amendment about energy, the indian energy bill that was reported out of the indian affairs committee, the baldwin amendment about water treatment, wyden amendment on u.s. geothermal and capito on ethane storage facilities, daines on hydrolicense issue and hirono on removing offensive language in the d.o.e. organization act.

members have worked very hard throughout the day on these issues, and i just want to make this point as my colleague and i try to finish working through the rest of this week and into next week to wrap up this bill, and to thank all our colleagues for helping us on this, but i will not object. i am glad we have gotten to this point. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. ms. murkowski: mr. president, i know of no further debate on these amendments. the presiding officer: if there is no further debate, the question is on the amendment en bloc. all those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the amendments are agreed to en bloc. ms. murkowski: mr. president, i would now ask unanimous consent the senate be in a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. murkowski: mr. president, i want to follow on the comments

of the senator from washington and thank her for her willingness as we have worked through several of these matters throughout the morning into the afternoon and now here at the 5:00 hour. you don't get to a place where you can voice vote six amendments without a level of cooperation, and i thank her for that. i thank our members. but i also want to do a specific shoutout to our staffs who have been working through some of th, some of the issues and coming together to provide us with a path forward. i think we are optimistic that given the pace and the trajectory that we're on, we'll be able to come in on monday and hopefully be able to alert members to a longer queue of

votes that we will have identified so they can come prepared when we take up votes on tuesday. we will again be asking members to spend good, constructive time if you want to speak to your amendments, we will be in session on monday for at least a few hours, and that would not be a bad time to come and speak to any of the issues that are of importance to you. but we really do hope to put in place a more defined schedule for next week so that colleagues know the -- again, the trajectory that we're on. i think it's the intention of both senator cantwell and myself that we move aggressively so that we can complete this very important bill by the end of next week. i know that we have members that are scheduled to come to the floor and speak to the energy policy modernization act, and

with that, i would yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk shall call the roll. quorum call: ms. murkowski: mr. president, i want to just take a -- excuse me. mr. president, i request the proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. murkowski: mr. president, as i was turning to go into the cloakroom, i saw the pages here in the corner. i have had an opportunity to visit with several of them just an hour or so ago. tomorrow is the last day of the session for these young pages that have come to us from all around the country to be with us for a five-month period.

that's a long time to be away from your home, your family, your school, your community, to be here in a strange place with other strange people, to be living in a dormitory situation, to have a very aggressive academic schedule and, by the way, at 16 years old, you're working. and you're told what you can wear. you're told that you can't have your cell phone. there is a lot of rules. being a page is not an easy thing. i think we have some of the brightest young men and young women that come to us through the united states page program. and i just want each of you to know how proud we are of the job that you do. you do it with a smile. you do it with an enthusiasm that i think helps us. i think it helps remind us that this place is a special place,

that it is a privilege to be serving in the united states senate, whether it is as an elected member or whether it is as a page or any of us, those that are -- that are doing the tription of our comments -- transdescription of our commentr comments, the fact that the men and women who come here and help with the efficient operation of the day to day needs to be recognized. and our page class of 2015-2016 certainly deserves that shoutout. so i just want to thank you for your work that you have given us, making us look a little more efficient and a little better at our jobs. so thank you for what you do, and best wishes to you all. and with that, mr. president, i yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk shall call the roll. quorum call:

a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from georgia. mr. perdue: i ask that the quorum call be rescinded. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. perdue: mr. president, washington received a loud wake-up call this week. on monday, the congressional budget office, the c.b.o., released its by annual budget

and economic outlook report and the projections for the next decade are very sobering. the nonpartisan study found that over the next decade, our country will grow to nearly $30 trillion in debt. folks, that's $30 trillion. this is unbelievable, it's unmanageable. a number this large is nearly impossible to comprehend. and maybe that's why this seems to have gone unnoticed, buried under headlines about presidential politics, super bowl, snowzilla and apples latest earnings statement. but what we can comprehend is who is responsible for paying off this debt eventually. we are. the american people. the world is not going to give us a free ride on this. we have to face up to this and do it right now. with nearly $19 trillion in debt today and over $100 trillion in future unfunded liabilities,

we're well past the tipping point. this means each american family is responsible today for nearly $1 million of this debt. in addition, the social security and medicare trust funds are expected to go to zero in roughly 15 short years. according to an a.e.i. analysis of this c.b.o. report, spending on social security, medicare and other health care programs will grow at an average annual rate of 5.5% from 2016 to 2026, pushing spending on social security and health care alone to upwards of $4.1 trillion in 2026, just ten short years from now. mr. president, this is more than we spent last year on the entire federal government. this is not 20 years from now. this is in the immediate future. we will be spending more on these items than we did last year on the entire government. my colleagues on the other side

of the aisle recognize that we have got a crisis, we all agree. however, their solution is to simply tax working people of america more. well, mr. president, that's exactly what we have been doing, and it's not working. in the last 15 years, our federal government spending has grown from $2.4 trillion in the year 2000 to $3.7 trillion in constant $2,015 last year. because of that, over this same period from 2000-2015, our federal debt has imroan from $16 trillion in 2000 to $19 trillion today. it's unbelievable. however, last year the federal government collected $3.2 trillion in taxes. this is the largest amount ever in our history. we have a spending problem, mr. president, not a revenue problem. furthermore, our country's debt is not interest free, and taxpayers are already paying

immensely for washington's fiscal malfeasance. last month, interest rates increased a quarter of a point, only a quarter of a point, but this equates to almost $50 billion in new interest expense every single year. our country must borrow even more money to pay this additional interest expense. that, mr. president, is a true measure of total insolvency. and this interest rate increase is widely suspected to be followed by another increase later this year. imagine if interest rates go up to just their 30-year average -- or i'm sorry, 50-year average of 5.5%, taxpayers would be paying almost a trillion dollars in interest. this is more than twice what we spend on our military, it's more than twice what we spend on our discretionary nonmilitary spending. it's unmanageable, and we've got to deal with it right now. having been in the business world for over 40 years, there are four words that i used to

hear often, and we use them frequently. we cannot afford it. i personally have not heard these words once in washington over this past year, my first year in the senate. we simply cannot afford all we are spending today, and the c.b.o. says it will only get much worse. just look at washington's grand bargain this past year. i voted against this bad policy because it significantly added to the national debt and eradicate eradicated the conservative budget we put in place last year which cut $7 trillion out of the president's budget request of last year. additionally, president obama's economic failures and disastrous health care law have dangerously set our debt up to soar even higher after he leaves office. c.b.o. projects obamacare will enroll 40% less participants, fewer participants than expected in 2016. this will result in the federal government spending more money to support the failed

marketplace exchange so it does not collapse. the hill reports spending on the marketplace is expected to rise to $56 billion next year, up from $38 billion just one year earlier. within a decade this total is expected to double to more than $109 billion alone. plus spending on health care programs has already jumped from $671 billion in 2008 to over $1.1 trillion this year. and c.b.o. projects health care spending will nearly double in the next ten years, reaching $2 trillion in 2026. this is a train wreck and it's here. clearly washington cannot continue spending like this, and we've got to make the changes necessary today. we've already reached the point where our federal debt has become the greatest threat to our national and global security. at this point we cannot pay for the tools needed to defend our country. last year we spent nearly3.2% of

g.d.p. on defense, less than the 30 year average of 4.2% of g.d.p. this is the lowest level in over a decade and $200 billion short of our 30-year average. we've been at war for more than a decade, and in the process we have totally worn out our military equipment and desperately need to recapitalize and update it. more concerning, we're wearing out our people and we cannot fully support our women and men fighting on the front lines. mr. president, this crisis is here right now. it's real. it's dangerous and threatens our very way of life. these are economic realities we must come to grips with to quickly in order to return things -- to turn things around and change the direction of our country. we can solve our national debt crisis, but washington's business as usual approach must change and lawmakers must start saying we cannot afford it. solving the debt crisis starts with totally reinventing the

failed budget process which has only worked four times in the past 40 years. we have to also reduce the size of our federal bureaucracy and start with redundant agencies. washington already has 256 government programs running on auto pilot, costing taxpayers $310 billion a year. and there are hundreds of billions of dollars in duplicate programs and more opportunities to reduce waste. it goes without saying we need to get our economy growing again, and we can do this by changing our archaic tax laws and by eliminating unnecessary regulations stifling our free enterprise system and by finally unleashing the full potential of our energy resources here in america responsibly. but, mr. president, we will not solve this debt crisis until we save social security and medicare and address our spiraling health care costs. the solution to these will take decades, but we've got to start

now. the c.b.o. report reveals a stark reality. we are simply out of time. this debt crisis can no longer be ignored and say that it's only going to affect our children and their children. it's here now. washington must face up to that stark reality. we simply must start making the tough decisions required to put a plan in place to reduce this outrageous debt. we must do this right now for our future, for our children, and for our children's children. mr. president, i yield my time.

the presiding officer: the senator from delaware. mr. carper: mr. president, i've come to the floor this afternoon to talk a bit about developments that involve our nation, iran, and the other five nations that join us in negotiating the agreement which we are encouraged is reducing substantially the likelihood that iran will build a nuclear weapon in the near future or even a good deal beyond that. beyond that. that's why i came to the floor to talk about that topic. after hearing the previous speaker, i feel compelled to say just a few things. i'm a governor, recovering governor, eight years governing a state where we balanced our budget eight years in a row, cut

taxes, i'm told more jobs were created in those eight years in delaware than any years in delaware history. i chaired the senate committee on homeland security governmental affairs. we work closely with g.a.o. i worked closely with the simpson-bowles folks five or six years ago when they came up with really three ideas for deficit reduction for the long haul. the simpson-bowles commission was formed at a time when our budget was $1.4 trillion. $1 # #.4 trillion, and for those who are following it, the deficit is still too high but it's been reduced to close to three quarters and that's good news. there's three things we need to do for further deficit reduction. one is to really consider what we do with our entitlement programs. our bowles-simpson suggestion is

that we make changes and make them in ways that do not harm or savage older people, in ways that help our children and grandchildren. i think that's real important. two, we need additional revenues. we actually had four balanced budgets in a row in the last four years of the clinton administration. if you look at revenue as a percentage of g.d.p. in those four years, it was 20%. revenue as a percentage of g.d.p. for four years we had balanced budget was 20%. when you look at spending as a percentage of g.d.p. for the last four years of the clinton administration, 20%. in that situation we had a balanced budget. we had a little surplus. that all got away from us in the eight years that followed. when we had a change in administrations, the deficit spiraled by $1.4 trillion. we're ratcheting down. we've come from the worst recession since the great depression. can we do better than that? sure we can do better than that. in terms of deficit reduction,

entitlement reform saves these money, saves these programs for our kids and grandchildren and doesn't savage old people and poor people. two, we need tax reform that generates revenues and hopefully reduces rates especially on the corporate side where we're out of step with the rest of the world. the third thing we need to do is look at everything we do, everything we do, in order to find ways to save money. i always remember a woman who came to one of my town hall meetings earlier in my time as a congressman years ago. her message to me, and i've never forgotten it, was congressman carper, i don't mind paying additional in taxes. i just don't want you to waste my money. that's what she said. i don't mind paying extra taxes. i just don't want you to waste my money. i think most people in this country feel that way. as it turns out the g.a.o., government accountability office, one of their jobs as a watchdog in spending for us, is every two years they provide for the congress a high-risk list,

high-risk ways of wasting money. when tom coburn and i led the homeland security gochtal affairs committee -- governmental affairs committee that was kind of our shopping list. we used to offer changes, changes in spending, changes in revenues, especially revenue collection that would actually further reduce the deficit. we've taken action on a bunch of ideas from g.a.o., and we need to find additional steps to take. they provide part of the blueprint. every major agency has inspector generals and a lot of give recommendations on how to save money. those reports should not go on a shelf but should be an action plan for us. health care cost as a percentage of g.d.p., in my time as governor, actually after i stepped down as governor in 2001, revenue -- health care costs as a percentage of g.d.p. was pretty flat during the mid, late 1990's, started to rise again and continued to rise

until about, i want to say right around 2011, 2010-2011. health care costs as a percentage of g.d.p. in this country had risen to 18%. 18%. i have a friend of mine who says, when you ask him howe he's doing -- how he's doing, he says compared to what? compared to how about japan. in japan health care costs as a percentage of g.d.p., about 8%. we were at 18%. they're at 8%. they getter better results, locker life expect an -- longer life expectancies. they cover everybody. four or five years ago we had 45 million people going to bed at night without health care at all. we didn't get better results. we're spending 18% of g.d.p. the good news, not everybody likes the affordable care act. i love parts of it. i'm proud of the parts i worked on and on balance for the rest of it, there are things we need to change. my hope is someday we get to the point in time where democrats

and republicans instead of trying to kill it, get rid of it say there's actually some good in this legislation. one of the good things that's coming is health care costs as a percentage of g.d.p. aren't 18% anymore. they're coming down. they are coming down. and they actually impact on deficit reduction, the impact on deficit reduction is quite positive because of the legislation. those are things i didn't plan to say but i feel compelled to say as a warmup to what i really want to say and that is to talk about the agreement we struck with iran and some of the things that are happening since then. we, the united states and five other nations. mr. president, over the past couple of weeks the obama administration's decision to engage with iran along with these other five nations through diplomacy instead of military action has faced key tests. the results are in, and the agreement that we struck -- us,

the brits, the germans, the french, chinese, the russians, the iranians and us, the agreement we struck appears to be working thus far and god willing, we may be on a way to being safe as a result. this test began on the high seas two weeks ago when the u.s. and iran faced a crisis that could have ended tragically. two navy vessels, u.s. naval vessels carrying a total of ten crew members, strayed into iran's territorial waters. they were detained by iran. and as many of us know, they appeared on iranian television. the american vessels were somewhere they should not have been. it was a mistake. as a former naval flight officer who served five years in a war in southeast asia and another 18 years right up until the end of the cold war as an ap aircraft mission commander, i know this is a mistake we never want to make. never want to make. defense secretary ash carter

acknowledged the error had been made. the sailors were released unharmed within 24 hours of being detained. flashbacks much past hostage crisis and destabilizing tensions were on all of our minds as we watched the story unfold. thanks to a more cooperative and productive diplomatic relationship with iran, the sailors were released within 24 hours. as the week came to a close, though, we saw additional encouraging validations that the administration's iran strategy is beginning to bear fruit. following much of the most intrusive nuclear inspections in history, international weapons inspectors concluded that iran had indeed followed through on its pledge in the nuclear deal to dismantle the parts of its nuclear program that were clearly not intended for peaceful purposes. the international atomic agency certified iran reduced its stockpile of enriched uranium by 98% and that the rage uranium

was -- remaining uranium was consistent with peaceful energy. nearly 15,000 centrifuges for enrimpg uranium have been -- enriching uranium have been dismantled. that leaves iran with its least sophisticated centrifuges which can be used solely for peaceful purposes. the inspectors revealed that a special reactor for producing the kind of plutonium needed for a nuclear bomb in iran will produce no more. it's been filled with concrete instead. finally, the nuclear watchdog certified that the inspections and monitoring systems of iran's nuclear facilities and nuclear supply chain have been stood up so as to ensure iran's continued compliance with the nuclear deal. all of this happened much faster than most of us would have expected. it certainly happened faster than i expected it would. in fact, some critics of the neerk deal said that -- of the nuclear deal said that iran

would never live up to the promises it had made. never. despite that skepticism today we see an iran that has taken irreversible steps to dismantle its nuclear weapon program in order to make good on its pledges. amid the nuclñ -- amid the nuclear doolittleess implementation, the u.s. achieved another breakthrough with iran, one that i and a number of my colleagues had a hand in. the iranians released five individuals, all dual u.s.-iranian citizens. citizens they have been detaining for some years. their release was the result of intense diplomatic negotiations. secretary kerry and his team of negotiators worked overtime to secure their freedom. they deserve our appreciation and our thanks. i had never forgotten about these americans and neither had my colleagues. whenever we spoke or met with senior iranian officials in recent years, we consistently called on them to release our

unjustly detained citizens. the end result is that these americans are free to rejoin their families in america instead of rotting in an iranian prison. the events and achievements that occurred during these six days were a remarkable validation of the obama administration and those of us in the congress who voted to support the nuclear deal and that we had made the right choice. but our challenge with -- our challenges with iran have not vanished, b. no not by a long l. iran continues to support terrorist organizations like hezbollah, props up the regime in syria, iran tests ballistic missiles in defiance of u.n. security resolutions. the iranian governments needs to do all it can do to help robert

levinson. if he is no longer alive, at least find out what happened to this american. iran refuses to recognize israel's right to exist. addressing these problems with iran will not be easy. they will require the same kind of intense negotiation, pressure that helped to bring about an end to iran's nuclear weapons program and the release of the detained americans. that means that our relationship with iran won't always be compocomposed of carrots. there are times that sticks may be needed to change the nation's relationship with us. perhaps no better action illustrates this dynamic thank the united states' recent move to increase captions on iran for its illegal testing of ballistic missiles, something that is in clear violation of u.n. sanctions. at the same time that the u.s. was lifting nuclear sanctions on

iran as part of the nuclear deal, the obama administration was leveling sanctions against 11 entities for their role in supporting iran's ballistic missile program. addressing our challenges with iran over the long term will also require this administration along with future administrations and congresses to adopt a forward-thinking forward policy that looks beyond the rhetoric of iran's current regime. i have a chart here that i wanted to share with everyone tonight. it is really a collage of photographs. these photographs were taken, i believe, in the aftermath of the decision to approve the agreement, the decision reached by the u.s., our five negotiating partners, and the government of iran. and this is a collage of photographs that indicates the measure of really joy that the iranian people reacted to this

successful negotiation with. i just want to say, iran is little understood by most americans. iran is a country, they've got about 78 million people there today. the average age of those people is i think, under the age of 25, a lot like the young people we see in these photographs. for the most part they're well-educated. they're -- the lion's share of them don't remember the iranian revolution of 19 -79d, or the cruel shah who we supported until his ouster. this is a population reflected in these photographs -- this is a population that appears more focused on rebuilding iran's troubled economy than pursuing, antagonizing military activities favored by the supreme leader, that nation's supreme leader and by many in the revolutionary guard. in the weeks ahead, this new generation of young iranians

will head to the polls, sometime in the month of february in order to choose the country's next parliament and anti-ty called the council of experts which i believe is the body that will help -- or help to choose the next supreme leader of iran. at stake for these iranians is a choice between the policies of engagement and economic revival being vigorously pursued by president rouhani and their supporters as opposed to the politics of antagonism and destabilization that appear to be favored by the supreme leader and many in the revolutionary guard. we've seen photographs this week of president rouhani, the iranian president, meeting with not just pope francis -- the first meeting between the leader of iran and the pope in close to 20 years -- but also his meetings throughout europe, calling on countries, calling on

businesses in order to try to solicit and pave the way for investments, not in weaponry, not in, you know, aid to hezbollah, but investments in their roads, highways, and bridges, things that we need. they need them a whole lot worse. their roads, highways, bridges, their airports, trains make ours look like 21st century. they need to invest in those things. they have a lot of oil in the ground. they have the ability to pump a lot more. i think they are pumping right now about 300,000 barrels a day. they have the ability to by the end of this year pump as much as 1 million barrels of oil a day, and they're not going to do that without enormous investments in their oil infrastructure. and they have a great need do that, and these young people know that. that's where they would like to spend that money. we should make the upcoming -- or help make the upcoming parliamentary elections in february for these voters and

others an easy choice, an easy choice. we should continue to show the people of iran that their cooperation and their commitment to peace will be rewarded. how? with economic opportunity and the shedding of iran's status as a pariah in the international community. we got to listen to these people. we art t got to listen to these people. they're not much older than the pages their sitting here in front of me thi this evening. they are interested in their country changing for the better. they're interested in reform. a lot of them have relatives in this country. a lot of iranians live in this country. they're very valued citizens and people we can be proud to call americans. but we need to listen to these young people calling for reform who want to reconnect iran to the international community. frankly, it would be wise of us

to do so, for the sake of our security and for the sake of our allies' security and for stability in the middle east. mr. president, i see no one waiting to be recognized at this time, and i'd like to ask unanimous consent that we enter into a quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. carper: thank you. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from alaska. mr. sullivan: i ask to vitiate the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. sullivan: i ask consent to speak for as much time as i may consume to finish my remarks. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. sullivan: mr. president, i rise today in support of an amendment that i am hoping will be part of the energy bill currently being debated on the floor and being shepherded through the senate by my colleague from the great state of alaska, senator murkowski. i want to commend senator murkowski, the chair of the energy committee, energy and natural resources committee for the bill that she has worked on for months. incredible hard work. it's great to have her not only as the chair of this committee, important certainly for alaska but for the entire country, states like yours, president, and others that --

mr. president, and others that recognize how important american energy is for all our citizens. and one of the many positive aspects of the bill that we have been debating is that it's focused on cleaning up old regulations, cleaning up outdated programs, getting rid of some of the things that we don't need. and, mr. president, the amendment that i would like to introduce as part of the energy bill is based on a bill that i have recently introduced called the red tape act of 2015. the red tape act, r-e-d. it stands for regulations endangered democracy act. and i believe, mr. president, that that's the case, that the onslaught of regulations are not only threatening our economy but are actually threatening our form of government. so that's why i'm proposing a

simple one in, one out bill that will cap federal regulations, a simple commonsense approach to federal regulations that will begin to address what i think the vast majority of americans recognize is a monumental problem. what is that problem? economists around the country, many members of this body believe that the overregulation of the american economy is why we can't grow this economy. and, mr. president, i think this is often looked at as a partisan issue. it is not a partisan issue. to the contrary, it is a consensus issue about the impacts, the regulations on the american economy. let me give you a couple examples. here's how the economists put it in a 2012 cover story titled

overregulated america. red tape right here. here's what this lead article in "the economist" said a couple years ago -- quote -- " america needs a smarter approach to regulations that will mitigate a real danger, that regulations may crush the life out of america's economy. a real danger, "the economist," that regulations will crush the life out of the american economy. mr. president, i think that's already happened. and again, like i said, this is not a partisan issue. many democrats in this body have called for a smarter approach to federal regulations. governors, particularly

democratic governors across the country have also decried the overregulation of our economy. for example, two-term massachusetts governor due value patrick -- deval patrick made regulatory reform a hallmark of his administration's approach to growing their economy, and it's not just democratic governors. it's actually democratic presidents. in 2011, "newsweek" featured a cover story with president clinton's face on the cover story of "newsweek" about his ideas, his 14 ideas to grow the economy and create jobs. in the article, president clinton lamented the long wait time for permanent -- permit approvals for infrastructure projects throughout the country due to overregulation. and one of president clinton's

top recommendations to put hardworking americans back to work was to speed up the regulatory approval process, grant states waivers on burdensome federal environmental rules, to hasten a time that construction projects can begin and real hardworking americans can work. and even president obama in his recent state of the union address focused on regulations. the president of the united states said, and i quote, i think there are outdated regulations that need to be changed. there is red tape that needs to be cut, unquote. president obama stated this just a few weeks ago. as a matter of fact, it was the biggest applause line of the entire evening. democrats and republicans roared

at this. the president recognized what red tape is doing to this great economy. so i took the liberty to write the president after his state of the union address, commended him for his focus on regulations and asked him to get his administration to back my red tape act. and to follow through on his promise to reach across the aisle for good ideas to grow the economy. and this is one that would strengthen our economy, create jobs for hardworking middle-class americans, union workers, and pave the path for what we haven't seen in over seven years. no, over a decade, mr. president , a private sector that's thriving, that's the heart of the american dream. before i get into the details, let me spend a few minutes on

the economy and why i believe we must pass this amendment. our debt is approaching $20 trillion. the national debt of the united states has increased more under president obama's term -- two terms than it has under all previous administrations in u.s. history. and one of the reasons is, of course, we're spending too much but, mr. president, i believe the biggest reason is we cannot grow this economy. the u.s. average economic growth rate for almost our entire history as a country from 1790-2014 has averaged about 3.7% g.d.p. growth. that's real american growth. 200-plus years. ups and downs, but that's been the average. about 4% g.d.p. growth.

this is what's made us great as a nation. the obama administration's average g.d.p. growth has been 1.5%. dramatically less than the traditional levels of american growth that we need. as a matter of fact, officially this recovery has been the weakest in over 70 years. and while the american people might not have all these specific numbers at hand, they know that something's wrong. they know they're not finding the good jobs, that they're not getting the raises at the jobs they have. they know that their families' budgets aren't stretching as far as they used to stretch. this should not be the case. we live in one of the -- we live certainly in the greatest nation in the world. we have so many advantages over other countries.

a still thriving high-tech sector that's the most innovative in the world. an efficient agriculture sector that feeds the world. universities, the best universities in the world by far. a renaissance in energy production, renewables, oil and gas that have once again made us a superpower of the world. one of the best-managed, highly productive fisheries in the world from my state in alaska. certainly the most professional lethal military in the world. we have so many advantages over every other country in the world, so why aren't we growing our economy? why can't our economy expand at traditional levels of american growth? look at this chart behind me. this clearly to me and to many others is one of the reasons. new regulation on top of old regulation on top of old

regulation, a study increase year after year, starting here 1976 with no end in sight. an explosion that's going to keep going until we do something about it. through these regulations, the federal government is looking to regulate every aspect of the american economy, and that's one of the main reasons why we can't grow. when it was first published in 1936, the federal register, which contains a daily digest of proposed regulations from agencies and final rules and notices, was about 2,500 pages. at the end of 2014, the federal register had ballooned to close to 78,000 pages.

this is what you're seeing, an explosion of regs. this chart directly relates to why i believe we can't grow our economy. remember, mr. president, regulations right here, these are taxes. they cost american families. they cost american consumers. they cost american small businesses. and there are huge costs to this explosion, particularly when they accumulate like this. president obama's own small business administration puts the number at the annual costs of regulations that impact the u.s. economy at about $1.8 trillion per year. $1.8 trillion. that's a number that would make it one of the largest economies in the world. that's about $15,000 per american household. it's about 29% of the average

american family budget. that's what we're doing to our families and our economy. so, mr. president, i believe a huge part of the problem of what's holding our economy back, opportunities for middle-class families is right here, right here in this town. the federal government with agencies in the alphabet soup, enumeration, the i.r.s., the b.l.m., the e.p.a., are constantly promulgating new regulations. and here's what they don't do. they never remove old regulations. so from across the country, whether it's alaska, whether it's maine, our businesses, our citizens, celtic the most vulnerable, our families are being impacted by the explosion

of regulations from the federal government right here in washington, d.c. let me just give you a few examples, mr. president. on the north slope of alaska, they can't get small portable incinerators that comply with upcoming e.p.a. regulations. so the trash in these amazing communities in my state piles up until it's actually taken out by airplane. now this is polar bear country. this is dangerous. trash everywhere, it's certainly harmful to the environment because regulars don't allow inis en ray tors -- incinerators. because of the rule in southeast alaska we can't build alternative energy plants for the citizens of my state who desperately need energy because we pay some of the highest costs of any state in the country with regard to energy. and nationally, bridges