distinguished fellow lee edwards chronicles his six year involvement in the conservative movement. >> i met joe mccarthy to my father who a something of a confidant to him, and he was well met. he liked to party. elected drink or two. and as long as you didn't talk about communism you couldn't ask for a more fun guy to be with. but he was very soon about that and is also someone who did not take advice very well. and he consequently said things and even dead things that hurt the cause of anti-communism for some time. >> q&a sunday night on c-span. >> senator susan collins came to the senate floor monday to weigh in on the republican tax reform bill. we'll also hear from florida democrat senator bill nelson. the senate could work on the measure later today.

>> madam president, i rise to express my support for the conference agreement on the tax cuts and jobs act. the first major overhaul of our tax code since 1986. this legislation will provide tax relief toki working familie, encourage the creation of jobs right here in america, and spur economic growth that will benefit all americans. madam president, let me start by discussing the effects of this bill on individuals and families. throughout this debate i have emphasized that reforms to our outdated tax code must help working families. i, therefore, authored three key amendments that were retained in

the final package. my amendments allow families to deduct up to $10,000 in state and local taxes, increase the deduction for medical expenses, and protect tax-free contributions for retirement savings. the original senate bill would have eliminated the deduction known as salt that allowed taxpayers to avoid paying a federal tax on state and local taxes that may have already paid. this provision has been in the tax code since 1913 when the income tax was first established. it is intended to prevent double taxation. my amendment which was adopted by the senate restored the

deduction for property taxes up to $10,000. iha am pleased that the final bl goes a step further by allowing the deductionrt of property and income or sales taxes up to this level which will assist even more americans. my work tos restore this deduction is especially important to families living in high tax states, like maine, which is one o of our nation's highest tax burdens. yet maine's per capita income rate is only 31st, which is nearly $5200 below the u.s. average. maintaining this deduction, therefore, provides important tax relief for those who itemize. madam president, my second and then included in the conference agreement is a very important

one. it is saying that helping americans struggling with high, unreimbursed health care costs, including seniors paying for long-term care for a loved one, and those with extensive, chronic healthcare condition, my amendment lowers the threshold for claiming this deduction for these unreimbursed expenses from 10% to 7.5% of income for 2017 and 2018. dew, the house bill would have eliminated this long-standing deduction used by approximately 8.8 million americans annually. nearly half of whom make less than $50,000 per year. retaining this deduction and lowering the threshold will provide relief for those experiencing particularly high health care costs.

that is why aarp and 44 other consumer groups strongly endorse my amendment stating, quote, it provides important tax relief which helps offset the cost of acute and chronic medical conditions for older americans, children, pregnant women, disabled individuals, and other adults as well as the costs associated with long-term care and assisted living, end quote. at a time when we need to be encouraging americans to save more for their retirement, i've encouraged that the final agreement preserves the pretax contribution limits for sretirement savings plan. madam president, we are in the midst of a a silent but looming

retirement security crisis in this country. according to the nonpartisan center for retirement research, there is $7.7 trillion gap between the savings that american households need to maintain their standard ofin living in retirement, and what they actually have. saved. we should b be doing everythinge can to encourage more savings, not less. for this reason i am pleased that the final bill includes my third amendment which struck the original senate language eliminating the ability of public employees, like firefighters, school teachers and police officers, as well as clergy and those employed by charities and nonprofit

organizations to make what are called catch-up contributions to their retirement accounts. these employees are generally paid less than their counterparts employed by for-profit companies, and thus, are less able to save for their retirement. my provision will allow them to continue to making these important extra investments toward a secured retirement. the conference agreement that hits low and middle income taxpayers significantly while simplifying the tax that no one relishes of completing our tax return. significantly, this bill nearly doubles the standard deduction to $12,000 for single filers,

and $24,000 for thoseg filing jointly. the child tax credit will also be doubled from $1000, to $2000. thanks to senator rubio is efforts which i strongly supported, up to $1400 of that tax credit will be refundable in order to benefit low income families. but, madam president, let's be more concrete. what do these reforms mean to families across our country? the 72% of mainers who already use the standard deduction will have their taxes reduced. a family with $24,000 in income will pay no federal income tax. a single mom earning $35,000 a

year with one child will see her taxes drop by nearly 4000%. instead of paying money back to washington, she will be getting back nearly $1100 to help her make ends meet. a couple with no children earning $60,000 will see their taxes fall by more than $900. and a couple with two children earning $60,000 will get aax tax cut of about $1700. that is the reduction of more than 100%. the bottom line, madam president, is that most maine households will see their taxes go down. madam president, i was very concerned about a number of important deductions for d

individuals that would've been eliminated under the house bill. having worked at hudson university in banquet before my election to the senate, i am well aware of how critical education deductions and credits are to our students and their families. therefore, i had several fruitful discussions with a key conferees, senator rob portman, preserving those deductions that help students afford higher education. and i appreciate his strong provisionsr these that i carear so much about. as a result of my direct experience working with college students. in fact, madam president, one of the very first bills that are introduced in the senate as the

new senator in 1997 was to provide a deduction for interest paid on student loans. the conference agreement maintains that deductibility of interest on student loans, as well as the tax exemption for them for provided provision of assistance, and for graduate students tuition waivers. all of those important deductions are maintained in this bill. and will help americans improve

their earnings because of the increased education that they will have. the bill also maintains a $250 deduction, a provision i authored some 15 years ago, that allows teachers to deduct the cost of classroom supplies that they purchase with their own money. and having visited more than 200 schools in the state of maine, i know firsthand how dedicated teachers dig deep into their own pockets ton buy supplies to enhance the education of their students. in addition, this bill would modernize the april accounts which are tax-deferrednt savings accounts essential for providing long-term support for individuals with disabilities, and their families. the a bill also continues the tx credit to encourage adoption. the final agreement also preserves a number of deductions and credits that are so important to our communities. i worked hard to preserve the historic tax credit so that

businesses rehabilitating older buildings, and communities like lewiston, maine, will continue to do so. i'mai also pleased that private activity bonds which are vital to many hospitals and institutions and higher education are continued, as are the affordable housing and new market tax credits. madam president, we have found proven ways to encourage public-private partnerships, and we ought to continue to incentivize these important partnerships. madam president, how this treats employers has also been the subject of much debate. but the reality is that the united states cannot continue to

have the highest corporate tax rate in the developed world at 35%. we are losing jobs that business of making thela calculation to invest overseas. the executiveso of general dynamics which owns half ironworks in maine and employees more than 5000 mainers, to united technologies which employs more than 1900 people in north berwick at its pratt & whitney plant. to general electric which has a major plant in bangor. to procter & gamble which employs 400 workers in auburn. andde i decks which is such an important high-tech employer in westbrook, about a positive difference this legislation will make and their inability to

create jobs in america. new balance, which has about 900 workers in maine, manufacturing footwear, describes the tax reforms as follows. new balance would be more competitive and manufacture more footwear in maine that we can export across the globe. this significant main employer went on to say companies like new balance is already have a strong domestic manufacturing presence will be able to increase investments in their facilities and be more globally competitive while remaining a u.s. company hiring u.s. workers. these words are echoed by the manager of the pratt & whitney plant who wrote to me, these reforms will allow companies

like ours to bring home earnings from abroad to invest in research and development, advanced manufacturing, energy efficiency, and workforce initiatives. pratt & whitney plans to hire thousands of people over the next h several years across our u.s. operations, and this tax reform will further support our effort. madam president, isn't that what we see? isn't that what tax reform shouldbo bring about? more jobs right here in america. the bill also includes changes important for our small businesses which employee nearly half of all workers and generate two out of three net new jobs in our country. they are the true engine of our

economy, especially in thef gret state of maine. the bill will provide tax relief that enables them to create more jobs, increase paychecks, and grow our economy. as the president of the retail association commented about this tax reform bill, for maine and it's nearly 9000 retail establishments and the moreli tn 80,000 retail jobs, this is welcome relief for small businesses. according to the national federation of independent business, maine ranks fifth in the nation for the share of workers employed by pass the businesseses as most small employers are structured. the nfip, our nation's largest small-business advocacy group has strongly endorsed this final bill. businesses make an outside

contribution to our o nation's economy, and yet they face the tax burden that can reach nearly 40% at the federal level and can be significantly higher than the corporate tax rate paid by larger firms. small businesses have more resources for tax payments and fewer resources to creating good jobs and investing in their communities. this bill provides important tax relief to small businesses that are the backbone of our economy. let'sma listen to the words of some of the small businesses web written or talked to me from maine. the owner of wyndham millwork, and architectural woodworking company, described the relief for small businesses and it would help, and how it will help

manufacturing workers and families this way. most importantly, it means wyndham mill works will have more money to spend on what matters, , our workers and community. with the money we will say we can create new jobs or offer better pay to our workforce. and that helps everyone in our community and contributes to the growing maine economy. the innkeeper of the resort in kennebunkport noticed, this tax reform bill helps level playing field for small businesses, not only in the hotel industry, but across the economy. with a lower tax burden, small businesses in all industries can continue to grow, creating more jobs.

moreover, a family-owned business in southern maine described to me how the bill would benefit maine companies and the people who work at them. when companies become more profitable they reinvest faster, grow faster, and increase profit sharing. employees benefits when companies grow, there are more jobs, more opportunities, more security, more mobility, more innovation. tax reform should spur this kind of economic growth. the weak growth and stagnant wages that we have seen in recent years cannot be accepted as the new normal for our country. it is clear with the current path would lead if we do not act. cbo projects that could slow growth of just 1.9% per year

will continue throughout the next decade, far below the historic average of 3%. this would result in our public debt exceeding nearly 90% of gdp by 2027, just as our obligation to the baby boom generation begin to craft. surely, surely, madam president, we can do better. tax relief and reform will lift our economy leading to higher wages for workers and more revenue for government. extrapolating a cbo estimate, aj increase of just four tenths of 1% economic growth could produce revenues that are in excess of

$1 trillion over the next ten years. if we remain on our present trajectory, however, growth would remain stagnant. continued s slow growth would crowd out meanie funding partners, playan significant strain on federal programs, and impose a burden on our children and our grandchildren. we must act now to reignite the engine of growth to provide for the next generation the same promise of a brighter future we received from those who came before us. finally, madam president, let me discuss the critical issue of healthcare. it has been deeply disturbing to

see seniors frightened about the possibility that this tax bill could trigger an automatic 4% cut in the vital medicare program. although i knew that the law that could cause of this reduction has been waived 16 times, i felt that it was essential that our leaders publicly commit that medicare reductions would not be triggered by this legislation. i don't know of any senator on either side of the aisle that is seeking to have automatic 4% cut in medicare go into affect. and i would ask unanimous consent that my exchange of correspondence with the senate majority leader be entered into the record at the conclusion of

my statement. >> without objection. >> this pledgeob is ironclad, ad i hope, reassuring to our seniors. madam president, i'm also concerned about the inclusion of the repeal of the individual mandate of the affordable care act as part of this tax bill. i don't think that the two issues should have been combined. but let me be very clear. i have never supported the individual mandate. there is a big difference between finding people who choose to go without health insurance versus the bills considered last summer and fall that would've taken away

insurance coverage from people who have it and want it. it would also, those bills also would've made sweeping cuts in the medicaid program. madam president, the financial penalty under the individual mandate for failing to comply with it falls disproportionately on lower income americans. 80% of those who pay this fine makes under $50,000 a year. for many of these individuals cost of insurance under the aca is simply unaffordable. individuals making 250% of the federal poverty level, that's just over $30,000, are not eligible for the subsidies to

reduce deductibles and other out-of-pocket costs that are known as thet- cost-sharing reduction. so essentially the insurance that they are being fined if they don't buy is virtually useless to them because they deductiblesan and co-pays are so high, and if they make under 250% of the poverty level, under $30,000 a year, they cannot, they cannot afford it. madam president, i want to make an important point that has been overlooked ind this debate. any senator, democratic or republican, could have offered an amendment onti the senate flr to strike the repeal of the individual mandate.

none, not one chose to do so. that is telling you and reflects both how unpopular the mandate is and how burden some its impact is. nevertheless, madam president, repealing the individual mandate without other healthcare reforms will almost certainly lead to further increases in the cost of health insurance. premiums that are already too expensive under the aca. for these reasons i've made it a priority to secure passage of two bipartisan bills that will help make health insurance more affordable. shouldn't that be a goal that all of us can embrace, madam president? both of these bills have the support of the president, the

vice president, and the senate republican leaders. in fact, majority leader mcconnell and i engaged in a colloquy affirming that commitment. s the first bill, the bipartisan health care stabilization act, sponsored by senators alexander anne-marie, will provide vital funding to upload income families pay their out-of-pocket costs, including deduction and co-pays associated with certain aca health insurance. and i'm proud toto be one of the 22 cosponsors of the bipartisan alexander-murray bill. the second is a bipartisan bill that introduced with my friend andle colleague, senator bill nelson. it would protect people with pre-existing conditions while lowering the cost of health insurance through the use of

high-risk pool. this plan will provide $5 billion annually for two years in seed money for states to establish invisible high risk pools, or traditional reinsurance programs. and, madam president, we don't have to guess about the impact. i'm going to quote some actuarial studies shortly, but the fact is we know from experience in states like maine and alaska at high risk pools can help to lower premiums substantially by an average of 20%. analyses show that enactment of these two bills together will reduce the cost of health insurance, thus making it more affordable. according to analysis by experts at oliver wyman, the passage of

these bills will more than offset the premium increases caused by the repeal of the individual mandate. in fact, oliver wyman suggests in its estimate that the $5 billion in funding would be sufficient to allow states to leverage more than $15 billion in reinsurance coverage, and that it would result in premiums that were more than 20% lower than if the individual mandate were repealed and a package of provisions were not implemented. furthermore, analysis by experts at adelaide or project that, coal, in combination, csr funding.r and $5 billion in annl reinsurance could lower 2019 premiums by 18%, and increased

enrollment by 1.3 million people. the national association of insurance commissioners wrote that these two bills would significantly reduce health insurance premiums and help promote more stability in insurance markets. the naic said the following, providing reliable federal funding to reimburse health insurance carriers for the cost-sharing reduction program assistance that they give low income consumers and grants for states to establish invisible high risk pools or reinsurance would reduce premiums increases as much as 20%, and could encourage some carriers to stay in the market. madam president, in evaluating

this bill, the question we should ask is not, does this tax cut make washington better off? the right question to ask is, does this tax cut make the american people better off? and the answer to the question is yes. the bill puts money back into the pockets of the american taxpayer with tax cuts beginning january 1. as soon as the irs updates withholding tables this winter, taxpayers will see the benefit of this bill in their paycheck. over time, americans also see more benefits from this legislation in the form of higher wages. businesses, small and large, will make investments that will

create more jobs. >> your time as expired. >> thank you, madam president. i will cast my vote in support of the conference agreement on the tax cuts and jobs act. while it is by no means perfect, on balance this reform bill will provide much-needed tax relief. it will benefit lower middle income families while spurring the creation of good jobs and greater economic growth. thank you, madam president. >> madam president? >> the senator from florida. >> madam president, does the senator from maine need some more time? >> thank you very much, senator nelson. i would say to the chair that is very gracious of you and i have completed my statement. thank you. >> madam president, while speed- >> excuse me. the senator from florida. >> madam president, while the senator from maine is still here let me just say what a great

senator that she is and what a pleasure it is to do business in a bipartisan way, as the two of us have done for now several years here in the senate, including the legislation that the senator from maine just talked j about. i just want to say to the senator from maine that it is my hope that the statements that have been made to you, the statements that these two pieces of legislation that you referenced will be passed. i do believe that the majority leader, senator mcconnell, will honor that with regard to the senate. it is this senators concern that down at the other end of the hall in the house of representatives that they may not honor that.

and i certainly hope that the senator feels like that she has the statements of commitment by the leadership in the house of representatives that they will do as senator mcconnell has indicated. madam president, i want to talk about the tax bill, and needless to say, you're going to hear a different version from me than my good friend and the very distinguished senator from maine. because last night we got the conference agreement on the tax bill, and you can actually, i said last night. i met last friday night. and you can wonder why it was held until friday night, late when nobody was paying

attention, what all was in the details of the bill, and what's is becoming increasingly clear is that this tax bill is not for ordinary folks. it's going to give a few nuggets to the middle class, but that's to mask the true intent. the real purpose of the bill is to give huge tax cuts to multiply national corporations, and to make it easier for them to ship jobs overseas. that's the bottom line. right now under current law, corporations that send jobs overseas have to pay taxes on the money that they bring back into the u.s. but now what this new gop tax bill says is corporations that send jobs overseas can bring the

money back u.s. tax-free. the bill passes, companies will come under increasing pressure to take advantage of the tax savings in the bill by sending their jobs overseas to low-wage countries, particularly those jobs that can't already be automated. this is the exact opposite of what we should be doing. instead, this version of the tax bill that will inevitably send americans jobs overseas, we should be working on a bill that cuts taxes permanently for hard-working middle-class families.

supporters of the bill will argue and lower corporate rate will encourage companies to keep jobs here. they will argue that rather than going in the country with a higher corporate rate, america's corporate rate will be lower. but that's ignoring the attraction that companies have to send jobs overseas, egos of cheaper jobs and lower environmental standards. so you take china. china has a corporate rate of 25%, except they make exceptions for certain companies at 15%. so even though in this tax bill 21% for corporations on income earned in the u.s., it may still be higher than what they are charging in china.

and the corporations pressure is to take it to a country that has lower environmental standards and lower wages. so i think our friends on the other side of the aisle, this is a head fake. we are not fooled by this. we know what you're trying to do with this bill, and more people learn about it, the worse it looks. and that's why you waited until friday night to be able to let the spotlight shine on it so over the weekend people were not paying a lot of attention. there's a reason why my friends on the other side of the aisle are in such a rush to get this passed. it's because they want to get it enacted before all of the new

loopholes, the sweetheart deals for the special interests, and what is the bottom line of encouraging jobs to go overseas, until that's discovered. andoi it's going to be starting right now to be discovered. it would be nice if our colleagues showed as much urgency for someng of the other things that we should be doing in the senate, such as providing millions of kids with health insurance through the chip program, or helping folks recover from the massive hurricanes this year, including millions of people in puerto rico who are still without reliable electricity or drinking water, or what about hundreds of thousands of kids in the u.s. that are here in a deportable

status because they are the dreamers? that's what we ought to be worrying about. you look at puerto rico, it's been over three months, going on for months, since hurricane irma anne-marie devastated the island. it's been months since harvey, irma devastated farmers in texas and florida. and while the congress has passed to disaster supplemental funding packages, neither of them have included any relief for florida's agricultural community. they are hanging on by a thread. they can hardly make payroll. they're having to lay off people, and they desperately need our help, which i hope

we're going to address in this nextun disaster aid funding package. so instead of focusing all of our energy on cutting corporate taxes and making itt easier to send jobs, american jobs, overseas, we should be focused on reauthorizing the children's health insurance plan, chip, so that 9 million children across the country, including nearly 400,000n in florida can continue to have access to the health coverage that they desperately need. or we should be negotiating permanent protections for the dreamers before they are kicked out of the only country that they have ever known.

unfortunately, the only thing the republican-led senate seems to care about is helping out large multinationalns corporations. the truth is these multinational corporations are doing just fine. we shouldn't be moving heaven and earth, or adding 1.5 million, troy endorsed to the national debt,t or appending our nation's healthcare system just to make it easier for them to send american jobs overseas. that's not right. that's not fair. the american people deserve better. mr. president, i yield the floor. >> house and senate conferees reconcile the differences between the two gop tax bills last week that the house begins for debate on the tax reform package this morning vote

expected later today. the senate could begin its ten hours of debate on the bill. watch lighthouse coverage on c-span. senate coverage on c-span2. >> the house administration committee is working on a bill that would require members and employees of the house to complete the workplace training program each session of congress. the committee is working to make changes to the congressional reporting and settlement process in harassment cases. live coverage at 12:15 p.m. eastern on c-span3. later the house rules committee meets to consider legislation to fund the federal government passed this weeks deadline. live coverage beginning at 3 p.m. eastern on c-span3. you can also follow both of these hearings live on c-span.org or with the c-span radio app. >> next, look at the relationship between muslims and