powerful. >> american history tv. all weekend, every weekend, only on c-span3. >> earlier today minority leader chuck schumer and majority whip john cornyn came to the floor to speak about the republican tax reform bill that passed by the chamber last. they were followed by remarks i from john thune of south dakota and bernie sanders of vermont.c. this is aboutut an hour.mitteehe >> mr. president, even as my republican friends moved toir reconcile their to tax bills in a conference committee, theirxia problems are far from over. at the heart of their bill is ag toxic lee unpopular idea. giant tax breaks on big corporations and the very wealthy paid for by cutting cars and raising taxes on millions of middle-class families. the new republican party is the

like tax heights on the middle class and subsidize corporate welfare. that menacing idea at the core of their bill is a problem that like a hydra spouts many heads. slashing the state and localistc deduction remains a massive problem for house republicans from suburban districts in virginia, new york, illinois, washington and of course, california. multiple analyses have shownhe t that despite theed so-called sub compromise that allows family to deduct $10000 in property tax m the pain inflicted on familieseu will be mitigated. state likes california and newsh york will experience an accidenr of taxpayers. it will drain local resourcesus and impact services. for those house republicansnd voting for a conference report is a poisonous vote substantively and politically. and not to mention that home

values will fall in those votin districts of those house republicans. if they are voting to decrease n home values by ten or 8% for every homeowner in their district that is political suicide.t why would they do it? but that is what will happen ant that right away. another problem the last minute inclusion of corporate a.m. t ae republicans incorporate figure t leadership scrambling to i figud ti unintended consequence ofican functionally eliminating thetose patr remember, the corporate amt was. added at the last minute because republicans needed more revenue to offset a generous rate on pastors.th that is what republicans were working on in the waning hours s last week, not trying to peer out how we can help middle-clas

families with a kid in college and with a kid who had serious medical expenses and not have on our deficit, no, no. you were busy figuring out how to make tax cuts for the wealthy even more generous. 70% of our pass-through income already flows through the top 1%, not the top 20%, not the top 10% but the top 1%. g 70% of pass-through income goes to the top 1% of earners. the republican tax bill alreadyr slashed the rate on tax bruise but several senators held their vote until it was white intow further. they want to help smallerhemalls businesses but takese the time d figure out how to help the smalw businesses without helping the. hedge funds. if corporate law firms in the big lobbying firms and other wealthy individuals, take thehe time to figure it out but know that in the rush to get a crime

to small business owners they b are giving a whole big niceer chocolate layer cake to the wealthy. wrong. very wrong.. the inclusion of the corporatevy a.m. t is another reminder that republicans can't have it both alth ways. you can't cut every conceivable tax on big corporations in the deficit. if republicans are forced to go back and look at the corporate amt they will have to find revenue elsewhere. will they slyly ltoessen anothey corporate tax break? or will they ask workingous americans to be more which they've done in previous the iterations on this bill. yesterday we learned about the ci leadership circuited talking t points that question the tax legitimacy of the joint committee on tax andeepers nonpartisan, independent scorekeepers of tax legislationa rather than confront the awful

truth that their bill won't pay for itself but instead cost about a trillion dollars even with dynamic growth estimatesme. the republican leadership asked their members to shoot theespee, accepted jc t wiley respected and alwaysl accepted why both parties all of a sudden is a pariah in republican circles because it told the truth that this bill would not cause the growth theyr projected and that this bill will increase the deficit far to more than republicans had hopedt republican leadership tried to a discredit the nonpartisan fire they had long praised and made s up appointed. that happen it brings up that what has of happened in the last week or two has been one of the most disgraceful episodes in theed whole history of the senate. ng doors rush through and then,

adding insult to injury, they ri truth tellers, the independent appointed by republican monitorr are discredited because ourepub republican colleagues didn't like hearing the answer. do this awful bill. if my republican friends vote no on the conference bill we can de a bipartisan tax form bill. wou we can pursue a much better process, much better product anf go so far as to heal the senate, that has been wounded by partisanship and strife. recently aggravated, greatly aggravated, by the majorityear. actions on this tax bill. tgh now, and of the year. instead of brushing for a bad tax bill the senate should focus on the bevy of year-end issues concerning us. first and foremost, we must reach a spending deal that would have us meet our commitments to support the military and also od urge the priorities here atuprtn

home. like combating the opioid crisis in china pension plans and supporting veterans health care, relieving a student loan debt and building rural democr infrastructure. in previous budget agreementsand home it investments in defense and jobs in economic development here at home. it's a continually sticking for go through these negotiations. they want to increase spending for defense for military but shortchanged important domestici programs like infrastructure, tc education,re scientific researce things that create jobs, things that help middle-class. w we, democrats, support increase from our military and we want to w make sure that other crucialth programs don't get left behind. we will fight just as hard in this budget agreement which ensure that for each dollar we add for defense, a dollar is added for domestic economic

development. fe fifty/50. worki we care about our soldiers, they are the greatest and the risk their lives for us but we also his whole life working in the steel mills and working in driving a truck and workingg building buildings and they put money religiously away everye. month so they have something when they retire and it is not there, they are important too.ds general mattis came to see me and told me how badly our him t defense department needs help.sd i agree. but i told him to go back to th white house and tell the white house that the domestic side of the ledger needs help, as well. we spending on the defensive sideri of the ledger is lower than it was in 2010 despite increased cost. we also need to provide funding, for community health centers ans children's's health insurance, really for millions of americana still recovering from natural disasters and we must come

together in a bipartisan deal to pass the dream act along with's proper support security measures. it's a lengthy and will requirei hard work, study cooperation ant compromise on both sides.n the last night, however, there was u concerning spectacle on house for, the freedom caucus held up wi bill and configure? they were unsatisfied with thept republican leadership plan tot keep the government open. y going to solve all the problems that confront us the end of the, year, house leaders cannot let freedom caucus, a small band of hard right, reactionary conservatives run the show. meth they can accomplish something. ctate, to just let the freedom caucus dictate, a recipe for chaos. once again, negotiations broke . off because we were at ano

impasse on the 5050 on parity'v for defense and nondefense. that has been important to democrats for years and we have settled our budget agreements,h or spending policy, omnibus agreement and always with 5050or we believe it's still important today. parity. parity. parity. as we continue to negotiate with our republican counterparts we r hope republican leadership willn avert this unnecessary last hostagetaking like we saw in thc house for last night.mpede this will only impede the ongoing negotiations. i yield the floor.

>> warning businesses close on order the senatend will proceed to executive andrgb resume consideration of the nielsen nomination.iden as >> mr. president, we know last friday night in the wee hours of the morning this body did somet something remarkable. something that people say it aca never happens and we had some pe important work done in past a le very important legislation.st the first overall of ourion' nation's tax code in 30 years. people said it cannot be done and it's too hard and with o

democrats opposing us in every step in the committee and on thd ou many obstacles in our way andop it's impossible to accomplish. abel said there were too manyubk special-interest down on k a street will make it impossibleon for us to figure out this t rubik's cube of tax code and tou many moving pieces in this giant tomah park text. people warned us that if you do this you will take politicales. black from all sides. doubt well, to the cynics and skeptics and the doubters i say you were wrong. we did get it done. family and job creators woke ups the next day after the final fut vote feeling more confident about our nation's fiscal future.e, the now that there bill is passed te senate they will be less way down by the oak government. they can breathe a little sigh

of relief knowing that we areaid doing our job were doing what we said we would do when they gave us control of the government. it took no time for a major victory to be mocked, denigrated or simply misrepresented.s sometimes the false rumor spreading was done deliberately by our friends on the other side of the aisle. which is ironic because democrats use to support many , aspects of this plan likeust lowering taxes for the middlee class and eliminating incentives for corporations to ship jobs overseas. i guess you must conclude that n they were happy with the status quo and with the slow growingus economy, stagnant wages, jobs being shipped overseas becauseoh of our self-destructive tax codg and i guess you would have to t

conclude they thought that was d good thing. well they know it is not a goodb thing but they just couldn't stand the possibility that theyo thought we could make this wast on behalf of the american people because they were so mired down but in the politics of the day the law site of the forest throughie the trees. c we know it is easier to criticize the interview. when others on the outside feigned outrage over small handwritten tweaks that needed to be made to the bill. well, it is interesting. back in 2010 there was an amendment called the durbin amendment number 3989 where was during the course of the debateg it was necessary to make changes in the bill by handwriting thost changes in the bill text.

no one thought that that was ane outrage and everyone understood that this is sometimes what happens when you are making drai last-minute changes to been legislation. yet, our democratic colleagues acted like this is the first time this has ever been done. ds forty-six summit and senate democrats voted for senator durbin's amendment which included these handwritten changes in the text. don't forget the tax bill washr passed last week through regular order. aro regular order is paruntd of the jargon we used around here but it means the normal legislativet process and unlike thery affordable care act that was brough written in majority leader harry reid's office and brought to tht senate floor without goinglihat through the senate finance, committee. unlike that process this taxomme bill originated in the senate finance committee, was the product of multi- year studies,e

working groups, white papers, a lot of proposals like the campat draft, for example, that helped, informed our debate. we also knew for example the bill have been introduced by tha ranking member senator wydeno along with senator coates we elem were able to glean some of thef. best elements of all of those prior efforts.tt, and using regular order, which d is to give democrats and the republicans a chance to g an and the finance committee, which of we did, thenfe here on the senas floor to give democrats andment. republicans a chance to offerean amendments and to get votes on orde mean by regular order. that is what our friends from cl arizona, the senior senator from arizona senator mccain, rightly called for earlier this fall. they were hearings after

hearings and democrats had the opportunity to offer amendmentat during the committee markup and offer amendments on the floor. you simply can't say honestly, truthfully, as many democrats have, that the bill was dk negotiated in dark behind their. back without their participation. it is simply false claim. and it is not true. tha the facts show that.em it is not just our colleagues w that have fueled misperceptions about the tax bill that weurda passed late last friday night s early saturday morning. there was a big stir raised with the scoring done by the joint te committee on taxation. join bill have latched onto the joine committee report and find thats

fo t economy by .8% over ten years.do not enough for the cuts to pay w for themselves thus adding to the national deficit. i that was the claim. i'd take concern for fiscal ecoi responsibility very seriouscly d but we've got to acknowledge tori that economic modeling is notoriously difficult and can be done in a number of ways. each of these models has its strengths and weaknesses and each provides a significant range of estimates and not is perfect. gift of perfect knowledge of tho future. in the case of the joint committee on taxation the estimate was that the tax bill would generate enough growth to offset its price tag from 1.4 trillion to about $1 trillion. a net 400 billion feedback effect. this was pretty interestingoss t listening to our colleagues across the aisle and they make

the audacious claim that tax cuts generate no economic growth. none.he so, when the original budgetnadt committee came out giving the sg tax writers one and half trillion dollars of deficit spending on a static basis they claim that that would result in a one and half trillion dollar deficit. well, the joint committee on taxation concluded that was nota true and in fact tax cuts canhe have a stimulative effect on the economy. incentives can change human behaviors but it is reportedlyoe difficult to estimate with any precision. system any giant complex system like the a american economy effectivt changes is not easy to predict a but even smaller changes can produce large far-reaching

benefits and in our case, that e means changes in our tax code can fuel major economic growth e which ought to be our collectivc goal. growt why should we have to settle fo? anemic economic growth and why should we have to settle foro flat wages? price we have to settle for jobs being created overseas because our tax code incentivizes that an investment and job creation in the united states. the fact of the matter is weave. don't have to settle for that.ep and we haven't. this tax bill represents our best effort to try to make sure that our economy does growth and that we just do grow go up and that jobs do come home to the united states because businesses are incentivized to bring that money back home and invested inh jobs and wages here.he i am optimistic that withld reforms we have been acting in the economy could grow by ashe much as the president for the

tax foundation has said in the g presidents council of economic u etvisers and influentialtr economists agree but i am aware of the old saying that if youl stretch all the economists in the world and to end you will ra never reach a conclusion they call it the dismal science for a reason. it is not rocket science butriyd it's modeling that tries to pice the future which is notoriouslye difficult to do. in fact, you can't do it. but we try to come up with the i think it is wrong to look at t the tax code when you are looking at our economic futureie coupled with the regulatory relief we have seen under the new administration along withepa the congressional review act where we repeal back some of the onerous overregulation of the economy with consumer confidenci in a 16 year high, i think we

all have the sense that american is coming back as an economic engine and as a leading economic engine in the world and we needt to do that because we need to e. lead the way for the worldg economy. a we need tome make sure that the standard of living continues toa be something that we can achieve, better standard ofacy e living for our children and grandchildren, that we ourselves have enjoyed. that is the legacy we've par inherited from our parents and grandparents and yes, in aas t dangerous world where the former y intelligence said in his 50 dars of the intelligence committee had never seen a more. diverse array of threats that he mean did today. we can't ignore that. which means we have to use some of that prosperity for our

common defense.hi that is another important thing we will have to do for the endnu of this year and agree on the top line is spending number for national defense spending the because we were trying to cashde the peace dividend again when there is no peace or at least peace is president in placesn around the world whether it'sia the five china sea, syria or north korea or in europe pertaining nato in our european allies. we need a strong economy can wages increase so we can do thei things we need to know to do as our country. g i realize these positive analyses done by the heritage of

foundation and the presidentirey economic advisers don't pacify and i count myself among them. r we worry about whether text formal add to her that cuts andd decreased revenue. b but even based on conservative estimates this tax reform coulde result in $130 billion in new hs revenue, revenue we would not p otherwise have. here isro the problem here is te elephant in the room. people simply choose to ignore or have given up on revenuege it's our spending addiction. it's the 70% of federal spending that is on autopilot going up on a year. we tried to do what we could do the budget control act of 2011 the cap on discretionaryelativ

spending including defenselativ spending and that is been relatively flat since 2011. enti but all the while entitlement spending has gone up because we don't have the political courage to deal with it and the deficiti can't be eliminated with taxax increases and we can't taxme's america's producers enough to fill the whole and we've got toe address mandatory spending whicr keeps growing year after yearhe after year.adminis it nearly doubled during the o obama administration, during which time our friends across the aisle never really said much about deficits and debt. but it is real but we ought tot go through cause of it and not claim that it is making tax cuts to help make our economy moreel vibrant and improve the quality of life for more americans.ow

putting aside the macro economic concerns of the tax bill for a moment is easy to see how on a more personal level families and workers will benefit from sometimes overtax for the more human focus is simply lucked out and that is a mistake. for example, in our bill rates are reduced for everybody. every tax bracket these are rat reductiosees a reduction in their tax rate. for families it is double. if you are a married coupleirst filing a joint return the first $24000 you earn there is a zero tax, zero. then we have doubled the childhi tax credit. to i think that is something weha should do because we need to t help those families that have children make sure their family prospers and the child tax credit is one way we can do

that. the obamacare mandate to buynd which is just a tax on low and middle come in tax is repealedel and that's another form of tax relief. 6.7 million americans had to pay a penalty to their own t government because they cannot afford to buy the government mandated insurance because of the way that program was structured.o well, we eliminate that tha entirely. hopefully, those families can re then use their own resources to buy insurance policies that meet their needs rather than what the th government mandates. we also soften the blow of thepl death tax. mply something i will continue to work to completely eliminatehen because i think it is simply a w moral issue and why should we tax income when earned and thens when families want to pass it oo to their children, whether the

family farm or ranch or small business, we tax them again and make that sometimes impossible to do. usually you want to do somethin, you tax it. that doesn't apply to the deathl tax because death will come to matter what. but it is immoral, i believe.xai double taxation. but that is no reason foror t r from passing on the fruits of their labor to their loved ones. well, the likely result of all as0 wages will increase by as mucha as $4000 for the average family and that the estimate of thenk council of economic advisers. gt think abouthe that. we can keep the economy growing s, growth of the obama years, just think about that, the economyt has grown on average ofet

three-point to percent since s world warettle ii yet we are bes asked to settle for the new g normal of the obama years when the economy grew at 2% or less.e if we can get the economy s growing faster we will see wagey improve, we will see family incomes improve, and if can cute their tax burden and relieve oba them of onerous things like thel property tax known as the obama individual mandate tax familiesf will be better off. a family of four will see their like tax burden cut by $2200. for when we talk about millions and billions and trillions of t dollars $2200 doesn't seem like a lot of money but for many ca their obligations paycheck aftef paycheck, $2200 can make a big difference. it can help them pay off their r mortgage or pay college tuitionr for their children or replace a

water heater or get the car fixed. or finally taking a family vacation, long-delayed. th the last heedless claim i've heard about our tax bill is that it mainly benefits corporationsh at the expense of normal i hard-working men and women. of once again, this is a false claim. borne by labor, by americn workers, in other words. our friends across the aisle and the critics sometimes claim that if you do something for a business, whether it's a pass-through business or a corporation, it has no effect on the people that work for it. well, that's just demonstrably wrong, because the better off those businesses are, the more those businesses are, the more >> the better off the businesses are, the better the wages are they can pay, and those help

hard-working american families. so, higher business taxes mean fewer jobs in smaller paychecks. the means were less competitive in the global economy. that's i businesses are moving headquarters overseas. the situation will change under our new bill. in a recent survey o of corporae chief executive officers, 82% would increase capital spending if the bill passed. 76% said they would increase hiring. yes, it's true the business will benefit, but we want them to because the end result will be less tax dodging more tax coming back home. as i mentioned earlier come apart from businesses, families and individuals benefit too.

what is so bizarre about the debate is this is a concept that former president of on obama champions from the former democrat schumer has champion. lower corporate taxes because they know it is a self-inflicted wound because it forces businesses overseas and prevents them from bringing their come back into the united states in investing in jobs. my question is, have you forgotten? i don't think they have forgotten. mr. president, throughout the tax reform process members of

the republican conference on the side of the aisle work together, i am grateful for the contribution that each and every one of them made. we knew with strong headwinds from our opponents on the other side of the aisle who wanted failure come up presumably because they like the status quo rather than success, we knew this would be difficult and it was. but, we got it done, but we are not finished yet. as we head into a conference with house of representatives the focus has to be on how we can maintain support in the senate. i have friends across the capital understand that the senate bill was a very fragile compromise and to our senators would not support that bill could jeopardize the house-senate conference. we have to be very careful and communicate and work together with each other. we cannot undermined our own victory. it's not just our victory, it's

a victory for american families, for country, for the standing in the world. when we began conversations with the house, let's take care to work closely together and continue to communicate. let's prove that passing tax reform wasn't just a dream or admiration. it was real. now, with the ball at the 5-yard line we have to punch this into the end zone. i yield the floor and note the absence of a quorum. >> the senator from south dakota's reckless. >> really for american families is on the way. last week, the senate passed our version of the tax cuts and jobs act. the tax reform bill to provide immediate direct relief to hard-working americans.

the legislation doubles a standard reduction, doubles the child tax credit, and lowers rates. under billy a family for making $73000 per year will see a $2200 tax cut, or reduction in taxes of about 60% over what they're paying under current law. a single parent with one child making $41000 will see taxes drop around $1865 today, to just $488 under our bill. i reduction of nearly 75%. that is just the beginning. the tax bill before us today will provide immediate relief to hard-working families. it will lower their tax bills, it will mean more money in their pockets. but it's about much more.

it's not just about helping americans today, although it will do that. the bill is about helping americans for the long-term. about giving americans access to wages, jobs, and opportunities to set them up for secure prosperous future. we do that by improving the playing field for american businesses. in order for businesses to thrive economically we need businesses to thrive. thriving businesses create jobs. they provide opportunities in the increased wages and invest in their workers. our current tax code has not been helping businesses thrive. for years the laws have left businesses of all sizes struggling of high tax rates and outdated tech system that has left them at a disadvantage in the global economy. small businesses employ nearly half of the workers and create jobs in the country.

right now the businesses pay high tax rates that can make it difficult to survive much less thrive and expand. our bill will fix this. to start, our bill implements a new deduction for pass-through businesses like partnerships, llcs, and s corporations. it will allow them to keep more their money which will allow them to reinvest and hire new workers. there's also provisions that leave businesses with very little cash on hand. small businesses can recover the capital and things like inventory machinery more quickly. in certain cases, immediately.

this will free up capital they can use to expand and create jobs. it also includes provisions to simplify accounting rules for small businesses. it will help reduce the tax burden leaving more earnings to reinvest. in addition to providing relief to small businesses, another thing it will do is boost american wages and lower the massive corporate tax rate. the corporate tax rate today is currently the highest in the industrialized world. that was united states at a major disadvantage next to our competitors. reducing the corporate tax rate will enable them to compete on a level playing field. it will free up money businesses can use to create jobs and increase wages. white house council of economic advisors estimates reducing the tax rate to 20% will increase

wages for u.s. households by $4000, annually. as many families can use to save for retirement, pay for a child's education, replacing aging vehicle, or invest in a new home. it will also boost wages by updated the tax framework the striving companies to keep jobs and profits overseas. we currently operate under worldwide tax system. companies pay taxes on the prophet they make at home as well as on part of the prophet they make a broad. the problem is american companies are already paying taxes to foreign governments on money they make a broad. when they bring the money home they could pay taxes again a part of the profits with the

highest tax rate in the industrialized world. no surprise this discourages people to come back to the united states. our bill replaces our outdated worldwide tech system for the territorial tax system. american companies will no longer face the double taxation that is encourage them to send their investments and operations overseas. instead, companies will have a strong incentive to invest profits at home and american jobs and workers. the tax foundation estimates in addition to increasing wages the bill will create new then a chain nearly 1 million jobs and boost the economy by 3.7%. american families have had a tough time in recent years. our economy as a whole has stagnated with weak, economic

growth. almost nonexistent wage growth. this tax bill marks the beginning of the end of the obama era economy. the tax bill will usher in a new era of dynamism. americans can keep more earnings and it will improve the economic situation for the long-term. will send a message that america's serious about competing, succeeding, and winning in the 21st century economy. american companies will compete in the american people thrive. i look forward to going to congress with the house of representatives and getting a

final comprehensive reform bill. we have a once in a generation chance to make a difference in the lives of literally millions of americans. it's time to get the bill across the finish line. i yield the floor. >> the senator from vermont is recognized. >> mr. president, president trump and the republican leadership has a just heard are talking every day on television, news conferences, telling the american people of this tax bill

that was passed at 2:00 a.m. on friday night without any hearings, with no serious debate, how this tax bill is designed to help the middle class and how it was written for the middle class. unfortunately, i suspect i will not shock to many americans by suggesting that were present trump has been saying is not truthful. this legislation according to numerous independent studies will provide 62% of the benefits to the top 1%. 62% of the benefits will go to the top 1% while increasing taxes on 83 million middle-class

households by the end of the decade. why? the reason is because the tax cuts for middle-class families expire by the end of 2025 all the tax breaks for large corporations are made permanent. mr. president, were living in a moment in american history where we have an unprecedented level of income and wealth inequality. for the top one tenth of 1% now own almost as much wealth as the bottom 90%. with the top 1% owns almost twice as much wealth as the bottom 90%. if you can believe it, where three of the wealthiest people, mr. gates mr. buffett and mr. --

own more wealth than the bottom half of the population. yet, in the midst of this incredible level of income and wealth inequality, my republican colleagues believe this is a moment when 62% of the benefits of so-called tax reform should go to the top 1% and 42% of the benefits should go to the top one tenth of 1%, while at the same time tens of millions of middle-class families will end up paying more in taxes. how crazy is that? so, we have a situation in which the wealthy who needs tax breaks the lease will benefit the most.

the working class and the class of this country, which need the most help will benefit the least. the president of the united states and my republican colleagues tell the american people trickle-down economics giving huge tax breaks will expand they will create new jobs will bring us so much revenue that it will pay for the deficit it creates. mr. president, every independent expert who has taken a look at this tax bill has said it will substantially increase the deficit even after accounting for the economic growth.

they told us this bill will increase the deficit by $1.4 trillion over the next decade. why is that important? first of all, it shows the hypocrisy of our republican colleagues who year after year on this floor lectured us about the dangers of a 20 trillion-dollar national debt and growing deficit. we heard it time and time again. but somehow, when it comes to the need to provide tax breaks to billionaires, the concern about the deficit seems to have disappeared. secondly, and more immediately, there is no doubt in my mind

that if the republicans are able to pass this bill, which will soon go to conference committee, the bill package huge tax breaks to the top 1% and raises the deficit by 1.4 trillion, there's no doubt in my mind they will suddenly rediscover their great concern about deficits in the debt, and move directly to begin the process of cutting programs desperately needed by the working families of this count country, the elderly, the children, the sick, and the poor. this is not just bernie sanders speculating. this is what the new york times said in a front-page article a few days ago. and i quote if the tax cut

legislation passed by the senate early saturday hurdles to approval, republicans are preparing to use the deficit made worse by the passage as a rationale to pursue the long-held vision undoing the entitlements of the new deal and great society. leaving government and the safety net skimpier for millions of americans. speaking of paul ryan and other republicans are beginning to express their big dreams publicly. find that next year they will move on to changes in medicare and social security. president trump told the missouri rally last week that we're going to go to welfare reform.

mr. president, let me take the opportunity to translate into english when phrases like entitlement reform, or welfare reform remains. what they mean in reality are massive cuts to social security medicare, medicaid, education affordable housing and other programs desperately needed by declining middle-class. it means that after they pass the so-called tax reform bill which are provided $200,000 tax break to ceos who make over 60 million a year, they'll come back to the floor and fight for cuts to social security for senior citizens trying to

survive on 12 or $13000 per year. massive cuts for millionaires and billionaires and their taxes on the same time they want to cut social security, medicare, medicaid for struggling seniors. mr. president, entitlement reform means the millions of seniors that are splitting their bills and half because they can't afford the high cost of drugs they want high cuts. it means that when two out of three nursing homes rely on medicaid to pay for their long-term care republican want to make massive cuts to medicaid.

we do not know exactly what form these cuts will take. that's not clear. there has been discussion among republicans about raising the retirement age to social security for 70, forcing older workers to work years more before they can get their earned retirement benefits. maybe they'll cut back on cost-of-living increases through chain cpi's. that's a new formulations which means more benefits for seniors and millions of disabled veterans. they apparently believe that what you have been getting in recent years is too high.

0% increase is too high, they're going to change the formula benefit increases. or maybe, though go back to their long-term dream of privatizing medicare, converting it into a voucher program which will say to the elderly in this country, here's a check for $8000, and you go out and find private insurance on your own. and i would say, good luck to any elderly person in this country who is struggling with heart disease or cancer you see what kind of insurance program you're going to get with a check of $8000. mr. president, i remind my colleagues that many of these

proposals included in the budget resolution the republicans voted for on the floor of the senate. this is not speculation, this is issues and items that have already voted for. they already voted for a chilling dollar cut to medicaid which would throw 15 million americans off of health insurance. they have already voted in the budget to cut medicare by 473 billion. in my view the last thing we should be doing is giving tax breaks for billionaires while cutting programs for the most vulnerable people in our country. during the campaign donald trump is a candidate promised he would

not cut social security, medicare and medicaid. he made the promise over and over again and let me just quote here in some of these charts and tweets exactly what he said on the campaign trail. this is what he said quote, i was the first and only potential gop candidate to stay there be no cuts to social security, medicare, medicaid. on another occasion he said quote i am not the cutter, i'll probably be the only republican who doesn't want to cut social security. quotes, donald trump, it's my

absolute intention, not being very vague about this to leave social security the way it is, not increase the age and leave it as it is. donald trump on march 10, 2016. here's another quote from donald trump. cloak, you know, paul ryan wants to knock out social security. knock it down, way down. he wants to not medicare way down. and, frankly, two things. number one, you're going to lose the election if you're going to do that. now, i want to get rid of waste, fraud, and abuse. i want to do a lot of things to it that are going to make it much better, actually. but i'm not going to cut it, and i'm not going to raise ages, and i'm not going to do other things that they want to do. but they want to really cut it

and they want to cut it very substantially, the republicans, and i'm not going to do it. before i get on i want to tell donald trump, he was exactly right. this is set on march the ninth, 2016. he said republicans wanted to cut social security, well, you're exactly right because that's what we will see in a few weeks or few months. another quote from donald trump as a candidate. social security faces the problem 77 million baby boomers said to retire. i know some republicans will be fine to allow these two wither

and die. the way we see it social security and medicare wasteful entitlement programs for people who think this we need to rethink. it's not unreasonable for people who paid into a system for decades to accept to get their money's worth. this led retirement, that's honoring the deal. there it is. candidate donald trump said over and over again that he would not cut social security, he would not cut medicare, and in fact, he predicted the republicans would try to do exactly that.

now, i like to talk directly to the president of the united states. i would say, mr. president, on the campaign trail you said over and over again you are not cut social security medicare, medicaid. today, i am asking you nothing more than to keep your word. don't live to the american people. millions of people voted for you because you said you would not cut social security, medicare and medicaid. keep your word. tell senate leader mcconnell and house speaker paul ryan that you will veto any legislation that cuts these programs. with that, i yield the floor. >> tomorrow, hearing of firearm

regulations of background checks. hear from officials and those who work for the u.s. air force. the hearing is held by the just dish your committee will start wednesday at 10:00 a.m. eastern on c-span three. on thursday, testimony from christopher ray on oversight issues. he'll speak in front of house judiciary committee that will be on c-span three. >> sunday night on afterwards, goldstar father recalls his immigration from pakistan to the united states in his book, an american family. a memoir of hope and sacrifice. his interview by jimmy panetta. >> this is a common trait. the audience can draw the conclusion. what is they don't like free press because free press

criticizes them. second thing is rule of law. they do not like judges in rule of law. thing given such a perspective of not having similar liberties to having all of these liberties. as we speak tell you what role was to take the citizenship. it means so very much and speaks the hopefulness the dignities enshrined in the constitution and bill of rights. >> the second video documentary competition is underway. students account across the country are busy sharing their experiences through twitter.

>> create a video illustrating why it's important too. the competition is open to all middle school and high school students. grade six through 12. $100,000 in cash prizes will be awarded. the grand prize of $5000 will go to the student with the best overall entry. go to our website for more information. >> present trump signed executive orders yesterday stealing back the size of protected national monuments in southern utah. there were designated national

monuments by president obama and clinton. here's more. this is half an hour. geneticist noel straw, she serves as the natural resources editor, good morning. >> to show your picture from yesterday. monument men, tell us what took place. >> president trump flew to salt lake city to reduce the size of two national monuments that are in southern utah. it took 2 million acres out of them. it is the biggest reduction of national monument protections in history. it's a big deal. >> what was the justification for doing this? >> he said that previous administrations had overreached, as federal bureaucrats in washington,