>> the president of the united states. [applause] >> tonight, president donald trump gives his first state of the union address to congress and nation, join us on c-span for a preview of the evening starting at 8 p.m. eastern. then the state of the union speech, live at 9 p.m. following this speech, the democratic response from congressman joe kennedy. we'll also hear your reaction and comments from members of congress. president trump's state of the union address tonight, live on c-span. listen live on the free c-span radio app and available live or on demand on your desk top, phone or tablet at c-span.org. >> and here on c-span2 the senate about to gavel in. working on the nomination to the 8th circuit court. a confirmation vote scheduled tore 2:15 eastern time after party lunches. tonight, senators will gather

in the senate chamber at about 8:30 p.m. and walk over to the house for president trump's first state of the union address. tomorrow, republican senators join their house colleagues for a three-day policy retreat.

the president pro tempore: the senate will come to order. the chaplain, dr. barry black, will lead the senate in prayer. the chaplain: let us pray. almighty god, the earth belongs to you and everything in it. and even when wrong seems overwhelming, you continue to rule. create in our lawmakers a hunger and thirst for integrity and honesty. give them pure hearts and truthful lips, accompanied by a passion to glorify you. provide them the wisdom to live

for the honor of your name, as they remember they are your ambassadors. may they look to you for help, knowing that you surround them with the shield of your favor. we pray in your holy name. amen. the president pro tempore: please join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance to our flag. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

mr. mcconnell: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: this evening president trump will deliver his

first state of the union address as tens of millions of americans tune in, he will continue a time-honored tradition by taking stock of the past year and laying out his vision for the future. and for anyone who has been reading the headline over the last year and paying attention to the issues that impact middle-class families, the state of the union will not come as a surprise. unemployment is low, consumer confidence is high, the news is packed with all the pay raises, special bonuses, expanded benefits and new investments that are flowing into american households and communities because of theland marc -- landmark tax reform law that the president passed -- and congress signed. the tax code is allowing companies to ramp up the amount they can invest in their own american workers.

this includes some of our country's largest employers. wal-mart is increasing its starting wage for all hourly associates, expanding mairnty and parental leave, and giving its own $100,000 bonus to employees. disney, at&t, and bank of america are giving tax reform bonuses to more than 100,000 workers each. the list goes on. and it's not just the big guys who are benefiting. yesterday afternoon here on the floor i talked about verse logistics which paid its employees bonuses as a result of tax reform. i talked to a woman who worked for the company and explained what this bonus would do for her family. money was tight around the holidays. they were table to give gifts to

their children over christmas, but mom had to go without. but because of this tax reform, she got her own tax reform bonus. with that extra money, she and her husband were able to buy each other christmas presents after all and enjoy a nice dinner out. i could share these stories all day. i'm so proud congress and the president teamed up to take money out of washington's pocket and put it back in the pockets of hardworking americans who earned. but some of our democratic colleagues don't seem to feel that way. they all voted against a law that will raise take-home pay for american families who spent a decade spending not just to get ahead but to stay afloat. some scoffed at these bonuses pay raises and new benefits. my friends, the democratic leaders in the senate and house

have used the word crumbs. one chairman said that she doesn't think a $1,000 bonus doesn't go very far for almost anyone. $1,000 doesn't go far for almost anyone. that might be true in new york or san francisco. it sure isn't true in kentucky. and i think taking that argument to most kitchen tables would get you laughed out of the room. of course immediate raises, bonuses, and worker benefits are far from the whole story. tax reform will also deliver direct relief to middle-class families across america by cutting their tax rates and doubling the standard deduction. a typical family of four earning a median income will get to keep more than $2,000 of their own money that they would have otherwise sent to the i.r.s.

next year. further, the law repeals obamacare's punitive individual mandate tax and soon many americans are likely to see lower utility rates as utility companies pass along their savings to consumers. just yesterday, two major kentucky utilities asked the kentucky service commission to pass $180 million tax reform savings on to their customers, which could lower their bills this year. and that's particularly important to low-income families because pay pg their utility -- paying their utility bill is a big percentage of many of their take-home pay. we're already seeing early signs that tax reform will create an environment where wages will be higher and opportunity will be more abundant for years, even decades, to come. president trump and republicans in congress understand when you make america a more attractive

place to invest an create jobs, you're helping american families and communities. we understand that the myth of an us versus them economy where employers must lose for workers to win is nothing more than a divisive political talking point. that's why we seized this general rational opportunity to provide a 21st century tax code that will give our workers a better result. tample is far from the only way this president and this congress have gone to bat for the future of our country. we've taken a machete to the forest of red tape that the obama administration left behind. to name three examples, congress and the white house have teamed up to roll back regulations that have threatened hundreds of thousands of coal jobs, required states to have give grants to

planned parenthood and blocked oil exploration in a small portion of federal land in alaska. after the senate confirmed president trump's cabinet from secretary mattis at the pentagon to administrator pruitt at e.p.a., they have notched achievement after achievement for the american people, laying the groundwork for a stronger and safer nation. we have made major progress for veterans like corporal bradley, a true american hero who will attend tonight as a guest of the first lady. veterans will be able to access the health care options they need and the employment training programs they deserve. we have much more to do or our heroes, but these first steps are, indeed, promising. we've taken big steps in the war against addiction and scourge of opioids, an issue that is deeply

personal for far too many american families. in just his first year in office, the president has begun to transform the federal judiciary. president trump had more new circuit court judges confirmed in his first year than any prior president, a testimony to the fine quality of the nominees he sends here to the senate. we'll vote to confirm another excellent judge later today and the president rose to the occasion of a supreme court vacancy by filling it with an experienced jurist in justice gorsuch. on all of these fronts from america's pocketbooks to the ongoing fight begins isil there is more good news than i can begin to recite. i look forward to the state of the union tonight and hearing from our president. on behalf of all the americans we represent, men and women from coast to coast, who are seeing

the economy turn around and their country grow stronger before their eyes, i'm glad there will be so much to applaud. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the leadership time is reserve. morning business is close dz. the senate will -- closed. the senate will proceed to executive session to consider the following nominees. the clerk: nomination, the judiciary, david ryan stras of minnesota minnesota to be -- of minnesota to be judge for the eighth circuit. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll.

quorum call:

quorum call:

quorum call: mr. flake: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from arizona. mr. flake: mr. president, i

rise today -- the presiding officer: the senate in a quorum call. mr. flake: i ask permission to -- or unanimous consent to vacate the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. flake: mr. president, i rise today to honor the life of my friend, levon g. keep, the leader in the church of jesus christ of latter day saints. his passing on friday was a sudden and unexpected and i wish to extend my condolences to his family during this difficult time. elder keep served in the public affairs department. he helped to shape community and public relations for the church and is a recognized expert in constitutional law. his career was devoted to defending religious liberty for all religious institutions. his insight was particularly salient during this ever-changing world. as his daughter stephanie said,

he wanted to defend and support all churches and all religious beliefs and all people's right to believe and act in a way that they feel is right. that was a big part of his work. mr. president, i consider it a privilege to have worked along side elder keech over the past several years. i was able to witness firsthand the love he had for his wife, the pride he had in his children, and the devotion he had for the gospel of jesus christ. mr. president, i'm grateful for his guidance, for his and his friendship -- for his counsel and his friendship, his humble expertise and kind demeanor will be sorely missed by all who know him. his legacy will bless his family for generations to come. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor.

the presiding officer: the senator from arizona. mr. flake: i rise with great sadness to remember edward lerenzen who perished this weekend in a house fire. ed was invaluable to my staff during last year's tax reform debate. "the washington post" honored his contributions to congress saying, quote, quietly and intelligently mr. lerenzen provided reliable fiscal information especially when facts and figures were the last thing wishful thinkers in washington or the government wanted to face. the committee for a responsible federal budget where ed served as senior advisor said, quote, he was a brilliant budget mind. his guidance and expertise is a

void that cannot be filled, unquote. the committee also remembered his deep love for his children saying, quote, we worked every day with a kind, loving man who cherished his three kids, bringing them to the office on occasion and lighting up in their presence at the sound of their names, unquote. mr. president, i cannot imagine the grief that ed and michael's family and loved ones face. i would like to extend my deepest sympathies to them during this difficult time. may we all hold our families a little closer today. i yield the floor.

mr. schumer: mr. president, are we in a quorum call? the presiding officer: we are not. mr. schumer: mr. president? the presiding officer: the democratic leader. mr. schumer: mr. president, tonight the president will address a joint session of congress in his first official state of the union. i want to talk about p what i expect the president to say, and

i also what i suspect he won't. the president will be eager to defend the accomplishments of his nascent administration and take credit for a healthy american economy, pointing to low employment, job growth, and a soaring stock market. but the truth is these trends were present before donald trump took office. president trump was handed an already healthy economy by his predecessor. like many things in his life, he inherited the healthy economy. here are two words we won't hear president trump say tonight about the economy -- thanks, obama -- because much of the growth in 2017 was created by president obama's policies and by many measures the growth under president obama was better than under president trump. under president obama, employment was driven from over 10% down into the fours.

the tightening of the labor market began to -- the stock market that president trump often touts on twitter, it was booming under president obama as well. in president trump's first year, the economy created 2.06 million jobs. that's less than the 2.24 million jobs created in 2016, the last year of obama's term. again, president trump -- president obama created more jobs in his last year. sorry. president trump, president obama created more jobs in the last year of his term than you created in the first year of yours. so if you're going to pat yourself on the back, give a shout out to barack obama because he did even better than you in job creation. in 2017, under president trump, the average monthly job growth

was lower than in 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, and 2011 -- all under president obama. again, president trump, job growth in your first year of your term was less than in each of the last six years of president obama's term. how about the stock market? in the first six months of 2017, the percentage growth of the s&p 500 was lower than during the first six months of president obama's term. in the first year of the trump presidency, the percentage growth of the dow was lower than during the first year of president obama. so again, here are two words we'd like president trump to say tonight about the economy -- thanks, obama. we may never hear president trump say those words, but he ought to.

i also expect the president to speak about bipartisanship. president trump understands there's a very low bar when this comes to the topic. his first year in office has been so divisive, even a mere appeal to bipartisanship sounds like progress. but the proof will be in the pudding. will president trump pursue real bipartisanship through his actions or will he fall back on empty rhetoric? when it comes to bipartisanship, president trump has to walk the walk, not just talk the talk intermittently. mr. president, when it comes to bipartisanship, actions speak a whole lot louder than words. and i'd remind president trump that this has been one of the most partisan administration's many of us have ever worked with. i've worked under president reagan, president h.w. bush, and president w. bush -- all republicans. all of them were legion more

bipartisan than president trump's first year. what have we seen? an assembly line of partisan c.r.a.'s designed not to need a single democratic vote. a supreme court justice picked by the hard right, heritage foundation and federalist society. no consultation, not a consensus nominee. a partisan health care bill that failed under reconciliation specifically designed not to include democrats. a partisan tax bill that ultimately passed -- also under reconciliation, no consultation with democrats, not a single democratic vote. the reason that these don't get democratic votes is president trump and his administration don't talk to us. they don't ask us what we might suggest. they don't try to create a bipartisan meld which great presidents have done from the

time of george washington. they just act in a narrow partisan way and the american people know it. there's hardly been a shred of bipartisanship in the trump era. despite our many appeals for it. the president and congressional republicans seem to think that bipartisanship happens when one side puts together a bill, pounds the table, and demands the other side support the bill. -- with no negotiation, no compromise. they're missing the step where they consult with the other side, work with the other side to earn their support. that's the hard work of legislating in our democracy. but this administration eschews hard work. the republican majority in the white house have been content to craft legislation on their own, demand democrats support it, and then label us obstructionists when without consultation, without compromise we don't.

that dynamic is the root of the ineffectiveness and gridlock here in congress. now, i sincerely hope it changes, mr. president. if the president calls for bipartisanship tonight, i welcome it. but we eagerly await action, not just a sound bite in a speech. we await honest debate, good-faith give and take, an eventual compromise that are the actual hallmarks of bipartisanship. if those things arise, even though they haven't in the first year, democrats will gladly work with our republican colleagues and the white house to get things done for the middle class. but we need to see it to believe it. mere words in a speech tonight do not create bipartisanship. action do. finally, mr. president, here's something that president trump should discuss tonight, russia sanctions. he ought to impose the sanctions

as congress voted for in an overwhelming bipartisan fashion or at least explain what he hasn't done yet. we call on president trump in the state of the union to tell americans that he will support the sanctions 90% of america supports or tell us why he won't. over a year ago the u.s. intelligence committee concluded that the russian president putin ordered an influence in the campaign aimed at the presidential election. that is a shocking fact. a hostile foreign power interfered with an american election and likely influenced it in measurable ways. the founders of our country feared this very possibility. they knew for a democracy to work, the election of the people's representatives must be free, fair, and legitimate. and that foreign powers, even

back then, would try to corrupt the process. they wrote in safeguards to protect it. last year the american people were victim of such an attack by an antagonistic foreign power, russia. so i call on president trump tonight to use his state of the union to tell americans what he plans to do about russian attacks on our democracy. implement sanctions, president trump, or at the very least tell us why you haven't because today is the day that the president is supposed to obey the sanctions issue congress voted on overwhelmingly a while back. there is no subject more worthy of a thorough and bias investigation than the russian interference in our elections. yet the president and his allies have waged a campaign to

discredit it in any way possible by assassinating the character of career civil servants, assailing the credibility of the media, attacking our own law enforcement agencies and officers, even denigrating the institutions of american government. the white house and congressional republicans attacks on mueller and his investigation make you believe it was taking place in a banana repolitic, put irn's -- putin's russia, not in the united states of america. what has been done by house republicans and gone along with by just about the whole republican establishment is not worthy of this democracy. it makes us look like a banana

republic, and it is shameful. a different kind of president would be encouraging special counsel mueller's investigation, shouting down force it's that tried to interfere it. a different kind of president would want to know how precisely russia meddled in our election and want to severely punish putin to discourage him from trying it again. but here we are, 180 days since the president signed the historic russia bill passed by this party and he hasn't even implemented those sanctions. he's supposed to do it today, the day of the state of the union. again, mr. president, implement the sanctions tonight or at least tell the american people why you're not and letting russia -- and opening an invitation to russia to do it again. why won't donald trump use the power given to him the near

unanimous vote of congress. there last night the administration released a mandated report of russian ol garts that matched a list put together by "forbes" magazine. this is a reflection of the seriousness they took up this task. when it comes to sanctions, the white house is engaged in ha theater that tries to show strength when there is fun. these -- there is none. these actions are not good enough. they are for show. why is the president so afraid to sanction putin, his associates or other corrupt superficials? -- officials? why is president trump giving putin a pass when he attacked our democracy? what is he so afraid of? the american people are asking

that question. only a year after a hostile power shook the bedrock of our democracy, any other president would spend his first state of the union talking about efforts that were under way to punish the abuser and prevent such an attack from occurring. why not this president? if president trump wishes to save his presidency from the shame of having failed to address some of the gravest threats threatening our country, he would announce this evening in no uncertain terms that he was sanctioning president putin. any other president would have taken decisive action in their first year, but this president is paralyzed when it comes to putin and his cronies in russia. here are two words the president will not say tonight -- here are two words the president may not say tonight, russia sanctions,

but he ought to. i yield the floor.

mr. gardner: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from colorado. mr. gardner: mr. president, i rise today to speak about a horrible tragedy that occurred in adams county, colorado, on january 24, just last week. sheriff's deputy heath gump was

pursuing a suspect when he was shot and killed in the line of duty. heath was 31 years old and was survived by his wife and other loving family members. he had served at the adams county sheriff's office since 2012, which was not a surprise to those who knew him because of his upbringing. he grew up in a family of first responders. his father is a retired west metro fire protection engineer. his teachers and classmates that knew heath as a student in denver at high school were not shocked to learn he had decided to become a law enforcement officer. as reported by "the denver post," heath's ninth grade english teacher said by all accounts, he lived his life as a grown man as he did as a kid. he was a good guy. that didn't change. that only got more accent waited as he grew -- accentuated as he grew up. he lifted his friends. he made his friends the best version of themselves, and he did that to them as well. and heath's cousin remembered him as the kind of man you wanted out there protecting our

streets. he was kind, fair, funny, and friendly to everyone. keith went on to remember heath as someone who gravitated towards and he was someone who people gravitated towards and he was someone who people could count on. it's these qualities that made heath such an incredible sheriff's deputy. at a press conference last thursday, adams county sheriff michael mcintosh read parts of a letter he had received from a stranded motorist heath had recently helped while out on patrol. the resident wrote heath made the interaction enjoyable and easy to get through instead of acting like i was trouble or a nuisance. heath showed what it means to be a law enforcement officer who selflessly serves and protects the community. he went to work each and every day ready to walk that thin blue line. when we lose an officer in colorado, i come to this chamber to honor their sacrifice and recite the words of lieutenant colonel dave grossman who wrote that american law enforcement is the loyal sheep and -- is the loyal and brave sheep dog, always standing watch for the

wolf that lurks in the dark. unfortunately, many in this chamber have heard me come to the floor far too often in the last weeks to read that quote. i have repeated them too many times in this chamber. we owe so much to heath and law enforcement officers across colorado and this country for their service. instead of fleeing to safety, they run toward danger to save lives. they provide hope and safety to our families in the worst of times. thank you, heath, for answering the call. you protected your community, and i along with coloradans across the state are forever grateful. we will never forget your sacrifice, and we'll always honor your memory. we also lost a sheriff's deputy on new year's eve in colorado just a few weeks before. and in a tribute to him, i read something that former state representative joe rice had written during his service in the army.

i think it's appropriate to share now because i know the thoughts of many in law enforcement. each and every day, they wake up are reflected in the words of representative joe rice. in a few hours, it will be christmas in afghanistan. i spent three christmas days in iraq. only on one of them did i have to go out on christmas day itself. i found myself praying that i didn't want to die this day and ruin every future christmas for my family. i realized that most of the other soldiers i was with were quietly or openly saying the same thing. so for all those around the world in harm's way, we pray with you, please, god, just not today. to our men and women in law enforcement, please know that i pray with you each and every day, please, god, just not this day. mr. president, i kneeled the -- i yield the floor.

mr. nelson: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from florida. mr. nelson: mr. president, i am absolutely shocked that fema has announced that on wednesday, it will stop distributing food and water to puerto rico. cutting this aid to the people of puerto rico, almost a third of them who still do not have electricity, it's unconscionable, and it's a travesty. i urge the administration to

reverse this disastrous decision immediately and to continue providing the people of puerto rico with the help that they need as they are trying to recover from two disastrous hurricanes. this senator has been on the floor over and over again, saying the needs, the desperate needs, but here i am again to remind our colleagues puerto ricans are american citizens. they are just like the people of any state, including the states of kentucky and of texas and of wyoming and so many of the other states where it might be

forgotten. they are our fellow countrymen, and they deserve the same care and protection that we would provide any other citizens in time of need. they have supplied some of the greatest warriors of our united states military in world war i, world war ii, korea, and on up to the present. if the people of any other state were being neglected like the people of puerto rico have been in the wake of this storm, there would be an absolute outrage in this senate. the people of puerto rico need help, but they're not the only ones. millions of people were affected by the storms that hit last year. my state of florida, texas, of

course the virgin islands, the u.s. virgin islands, and puerto rico, and now the wildfires in california. and right now, many of them are desperately waiting to act on a disaster supplemental package to help them recover. we are trying to pass that, and it keeps getting shuffled off to the future. we're trying to add to that supplemental the necessary disaster aid that is needed in agriculture and particularly the citrus industry in florida. we're trying to add to that the additional financial assistance that is needed in puerto rico. so i hope our colleagues in the senate will understand the urgency of this matter. we can't keep pushing this off down into the future.

the need to act is now. mr. president, i just want to say in addition, in florida, people are struggling. we should not negligent what is happening on the mainland. it's true in texas. it's true in california. it's true in florida. it's true in the islands. the storms destroyed homes and damaged apartments all around florida, but we haven't seen any real attempt to address the housing needs of hurricane victims in the state. and by the way, including those coming to florida from puerto rico. florida got about $600 million

out of the $7.4 billion that was made available in the cdbg-dr in the september supplemental. what percentage is that of $7.4 billion? it's well less than 10%. it defies comprehension. florida was one of the places hardest hit last year. the hurricane, irma, it virtually covered up the entire peninsula of florida. it wreaked havoc all across the state. and add to that the aftereffects of hurricane maria with thousands fleeing puerto rico to florida, and we have got a real situation, a housing crisis on our hands. $600 million to help those left

bare by two of the most devastating storms to hit the country in decades. that's a drop in the bucket. we should be able to get people the help they need in the time they need it, and now is required. not a year later. not six months later. now. schools in florida have been stretched thin. now having enrolled nearly 12,000 students who evacuated puerto rico in the u.s. virgin islands. every child has a right to a quality education, but the school systems can't do it on their own, not after a natural disaster, dealing with such a large influx of students in a short period requires extra resources. now, the house has passed a package that includes

$2.9 billion for education funding. we desperately need it. but schools and students need this aid now. we can't keep kicking the can down the road. their education can't wait. you can't keep relying on teachers to go out and get the extra supplies for them. and i mentioned our citrus growers. you know, the industry is already devastated with a bacteria called greening that when it gets into the sap of the tree, it kills the tree in five years. we're not going to have a citrus industry if we can't find the cure for that. but then on top of that, with additional extra care of the groves, they were able to nurture back a crop, and here's all this crop of oranges and grapefruit on the trees, and

along comes irma, and in some groves, not only was 100% of the crop blown off the trees, but trees were uprooted. that's why we desperately need the money to clean up and replant. farmers in florida suffered at least $2.5 billion in losses when hurricane irma tore through the state, and that includes a lot of our citrus. citrus alone experienced $760 million in losses. that's on top of the difficulties that they are having already with the bacteria. the usda is only estimating florida growers will harvest 46 million boxes this season -- get this, 46 million this

season. ten years ago, it was 203 million boxes harvested of citrus. a decade before that, it was 244 million boxes of oranges. for months, our farmers have been told to wait their turn. some of them are going bankrupt. they have waited long enough. they need the help now. we just have to act on this disaster bill. and additionally, while it's been over 100 days since hurricane maria hit puerto rico, over 30% of the island remains without power. parts of the island still lack running water. some people have running water still, but they can't drink it. they have to boil it. when i was there in the loyal

mountain town of utuano, the source of water about two weeks after the hurricane, with the roads cut off, the only source of outside help was by helicopter. the running water that they had was from a pipe that was coming out of the mountain of the mountain water draining down. i don't want to mince words here. we have a full-blown humanitarian crisis in puerto rico right now. my colleague, marco rubio, from florida has been there also and he's here to testify to the same thing. as a result, recent estimates suggest over 300,000 puerto ricans may have moved to florida. some are fortunate enough to move in with relatives, but others are living in motels that line the i-4 corridor. some are living out of their

cars. this is absolutely heartbreaking. how can we fail fellow american citizens like this and yet, given the current situation, the administration thinks now today that it's the appropriate time to cut off food and water for the people of puerto rico? there's no commonsense here -- there's no common sense here. fema needs to continue to provide food and water to the island until at least all of the island has access to potable water and electricity. they are suffering, and while the administration is trying to abandon the responsibility of the u.s. to puerto rico, the house aid package short-changes recovery efforts on the island.

we must enhance it in the senate package. for instance, it fails to address the current medicaid crisis just a month away. if nothing is done, puerto rico's medicaid program is going to run out of money. congress must act. otherwise over a million u.s. citizens will be denied health care coverage when they need it the most. it's been over a month since the house passed the disaster bill. we haven't seen any action. the longer we wait, the more people suffer. it's clear the government is not working the way it should. we need to turn a corner, and it needs to start with this had disaster bill -- with this disaster bill being butched up in the senate -- being bumped up in the senate and then quickly

passed. i beg our colleagues, senator marco rubio joins me. let's take up this bill. let's fix the deficiencies, and let's pass it it immediately. mr. president, i yield the floor. mr. rubio: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from florida. mr. rubio: i want to begin by thanking senator nelson for once again raising this on the floor and i'm glad to be able to follow him. just to be able to make many of the same points about the importance of acting on this. long after the cameras leave and long after the stories aren't being written, real people and real lives are disrupted, sometimes permanently. and certainly in ways that we don't come to think about. we come to think about hurricane damage as roofs being ripped off of buildings and trees in the roads. l but once that's picked up,

everything is back to normal. what we don't recognize is that underneath all of that is the long-term damage done a small business that went two weeks without any sort of income and so they closed. it is the impact we see in the florida keys where we have a lot of people that used their retirement savings to buy a small property they rent out in the florida keys -- very common; you buy a small townhouse, you rent it out in the winter to people that stay there and then you use it in the summer for your family. guess what? this winter you're probably get ting a lot of -- you're probably not getting a lot of visitors. there's all the debris from the canal that's sitting there. the canal, the waterway that takes them out has a refrigerator floating in it, has all kinds of debris. there's all kinds of debris from previous storms. that means that the owner of that unit, that rent that they were using to pay the mortgage

because he might be a teacher and she might be a firefighter and now they don't have enough money, they're not getting that income they're counting on and they fall behind and could lose this rental tort that -- this rental property that they depending on. that's not measured anywhere. but that's real harassment the small businesses -- the florida keys in particular is a place that has a lot of small businesses that have been there for a long time. some of these places have gone months without clients. if that person doesn't come and rent out that unit, that person isn't using fuel from the gas station there that person isn't eating at the local restaurant, that person isn't contributing to the local economy. and to top it all of course, it is so expensive. and the further south you go in the keys, the more expensive is gets. imagine if you are a worker at one of these businesses making $15 an house of representatives they already have a housing problem and this has only made

it worse. it would be a mistake to say that murk damage is over, the effort to address it ends the minute the trees are removed from the roads and the roofs are tarped and repaired. it goes on for a while. and in the case of this particular storm, florida was also impacted by the impact that it had -- that maria had on puerto rico. as senator nelson just outlined, upwards of 300,000 american citizens -- i say that because there's still a lot of people that wonder why are we giving foreign aid to puerto rico and you have to remind them puerto rico is a u.s. territory and its residents are u.s. citizens -- 300,000 u.s. citizens from puerto rico have moved to florida and they enrich our state, but our schools weren't counting on the kids. so they've got to scramble to deal with that. and our housing stock -- you still have people living in hotels that have been there for three or four months. even if they wanted to find an

apartment, there is nothing available. we've heard stories about you have to pay a $75 application fee for each one of these housing units you apply for even if they turn down. if you apply -- you can figure that out. if you apply for three or four of them, that's lot of money out of pocket for someone who's already lost everything in the storm. florida is facing that as well. and so i am disappointed. if you had told me we would have gotten to the last week of january and still hadn't taken up disaster relief, i would have been surprised. and because i -- we had a chance to actually address this at the end of last year. the house sent over a bill that didn't go far enough. the senate had ideas about how to make it better and then for reasons involving leverage and using it as a tool to get people to vote for c.r.'s and short-term spending at the end, it's kind of been held up and it's unfortunate because these problems are only getting worse, not better, as time goes on. senator nelson talked about florida agriculture.

florida's citrus injury, our signature crop, was already being challenged by citrus greening, which is a terrible disease. senator nelson and i went to some of these groves to. you have these growers that basically were already hurting. they lost everything for this year. no money coming in. the fruit is gone. once that fruit touches the ground and that ground is wet, you can't sell it. the trees are damaged. and it's not like you can just go and buy a new tree at walmart and in a year it's producing. these things -- you got to put it in the ground. it takes five years before they start to produce. so they're already hurting and they're wondering, should i replant? is this a good line of business for me to be in? some of these families have been in citrus for three or four or five generations. this could be the end for them and for florida citrus. we help them in the tax bill with the ability to expense replanting, but that won't be enough. that's why this package has to include usda resources to help

replace these lost trees and to rehab face these groves that were -- and to rehabilitate these groves. the army corpsplace plays a huge role inful it. the herbert hoover dike on lake okeechobee that prevents a catastrophic flooding event, you have people flooding just south of it. it happened almost a century ago. people died because of flooding. this dike was built t has been found to be rated among the most vulnerable water infrastructure projects in the nation. we are lucky that it wasn't breached in the storm. but it could have been had the rainfall been located at the right place at the right triumphant it's been priority of our delegation for a long time to expedite the construction of rehabilitation, to strengthen that dike. that is good opportunity to do that. because there will be other storms because the project was delayed when the storm hit. this is a chance to finish that

role. other parts that are critical to florida's economy, bee tree nourishment, intercoastal habilitation projects. these are important. it is the reason people visit. some of these beaches were severely eroded particularly in southeast florida. the water is coming up to the edge of property lines. if there is no beach, the condominiums, there's no visitors. people aren't going there unless there is sand on the beach. the erosion that happens in a storm like this needs to happen. we've all been engaged and i hope all are committed to our everglades restoration projects, one of the most unique environments on the planet. it happens to be in the united states. it happens be in our home state. these everglades restoration projects, we want to continue to make progress towards our goals of saving them. by the way, the everglades are a source of water for over 8 million floridians. so i hope the disaster funding

also has to address all the work that was destroyed and the damage that happened to a lot of restoration projects that were in place. i won't go deep into education because senator nelson has already addressed that. but suffice it to say we have thousands of students that were displaced. then you add to that thousands more from puerto rico, that the school districts welcome but weren't counting on. in many cases these children, although everybody in puerto rico learns english and spanish, their primary language was spanish. that means we've got to get instructors that bring them to proficiency in english. all of that is falling on the state of florida as well. and while florida welcomes our fellow americans from puerto rico that are seeking refuge, the cost needs to be accounted for. we had hospitals that were damage add from the storms and the repairs to some of these continue to rise. in some cases, these hospital repairs will result in the closure of a hospital for more than a year.

there was a hospital in the keys that's going to have to be completely rebuilt. if you've ever been to the florida keys, the distances are vast. there is a hospital that's going to have to be completely rebuilt. in addition to all of that, we have our health care providers in florida that provide charitable care, not just to floridians after the storm but to displaced americans from puerto rico, from the u.s. virgin islands. they need to be reimbursed for doing that. they didn't sit back and say, we're not going to do it until you send us a check. they did it. but there was real expense. they also got hit by the storm. then they were dealing with those new expenses. by the way, one of the things i hope we'll do is expedite hiring authority for medical pennell at h.h.s. because for years we have failed to maintain adequate levels of personnel willing to give a couple of weeks of aid in a sometime of as does templet our medical teams are depleted. noaa, another federal agency, the disaster funding bill needs to fund continued removal of

things i've already discussed -- marine depletion, lost lobster traps, capsized vessels from around the florida keys. there is an environmental component and an economic component. if you've ever been to the florida keys, if your canal is full of refrigerators, debris, things that immediate to be removed, you can't navigate in that water. you have wiped out the value of all that property and the desire of people to come visit. beyond increasing -- or as we call it around here, plussing-up critical disaster accounts, we should also provide language to protect counties and cities and towns and individual homeowners who receive fema disaster assistance from the uncertainty about when the federal government may come back and in a few years and claw back that support. come back in three years, say we gave you too much money, give it back to us. if someone did something wrongs i'm not talking about that. i'm talking about a good-faith estimate that both sides agreed on. they delivered the money.

then four years later they showed up and said, in hindsight, we gave you $1,000 more in the case of an individual, and now they got to scramble to be able to pay this back. so i am going to continue to work to i can ma sure that fema has the resoars it needs -- resources it needs to assistance recovery victims for both short-term and long-term recovery but without this threat of clawback. there are ways to do that that allow us to be fiscally responsible. i already talked about the housing issue in monroe county in southwest, florida. that's why it's critical that fema has the resources to utilize programs such as direct lease assistance which enables the federal government to lease a property that would not generally be available to the public, such as corporate lodging, to house survivors, as opposed to giving them a voucher and say, go find a hoe tex you get a hotel in homestead and the big race comes in february and

everyone gets kicked out because they were book add year ago. if you were able to lease out an entire long-term corporate housing facility, these people have some certainty to go about their lives while their homes are rebuilt. programs like direct lease provide the types of flexibility that florida and quite frankly the country needs. we're going to continue to provide, advocate for the program so we can provide roofs over the heads of displaced floridians and puerto ricans. infrastructure damage throughout florida also substantial. i was able to go down to the everglades, to flamingo, one of the places we leave from to go fishing with my children. the facilities there were already in bad shape, to be frank. looked like something out of one of those 1960's black and white movies they show in schools. but this place was badly hurt. again that's federal property. that is the national park that belongs to the american people under the custody of the federal government and it was wiped out

and hurt and destroyed. we need to help rebuild those. that includes airports and nasa, the kennedy space center that suffered damages. a couple more points and i'll close. housing and urban development. on the 14th of december i introduced the disaster assistance simplification act. what that does is it prohibits h.u.d. from penalizing victims of natural disasters who apply but then turned down a disaster loan. so you apply for an spa disaster loan and then you're prohibited -- h.u.d. will come back and take away your assistance or render you ineligible for h.u.d. assistance not because you received the h.u.d. loan. because you applied for it. that should be taken out. i worked with colleagues to ensure that this language is included in the upcoming supplemental because i just don't understand how we can allow unsynchronized and burdensome disaster assistance program to make it more

difficult for someone who's been impacted by a storm. you just went through a storm. your business was destroyed. your home was destroyed. your family had to move to another county, another city, and then on top of that you have to agonize over what the federal government may or may not give you. if they gave it you to, you have to ag nietz over when -- agonize over when they may come back and take it away. we can't further victimize victims. by penalizing victims who do not take assistance, our laws are discouraging people from applying for s.b.a. disaster loans because again, on that particular point, i'm not talking about people that are double dipping. i'm talking about people who applied for h.u.d. and applied for s.b.a. they didn't even take the s.b.a. just the act of applying for that loan means you can't get the h.u.d. assistance. that's ridiculous. i'll close on puerto rico because it doesn't get enough attention in my mind. the situation we read about every day. now it's almost like the articles are like, can you believe that they still don't have electricity in puerto rico?

there are a lot of problems that need to be addressed. puerto rico had a lot of problems before the storm. but at the end of the day, here's the bottom line. puerto rico is ouster toar -- is a u.s. territory. it is the responsibility of the united states. these are american citizens. their children, their residents wear the uniform of this country. if you go to arlington cemetery not far from here, you will see their names after paying the ultimate sacrifice. they contribute in every area of our lives, whether they choose to live on the mainland or on the island. and perhaps because it isn't always in the headlines, a lot of people just don't understand its status, its importance, and our relationship and obligatio obligations. we've been involved from the very beginning not just because of the impact it's had on florida but because at a personal level, i have so many friends and people i care about who live there. and if you live in florida, you know people who have people they

love who live there. right after the storm, i sent three members of my staff spent over a week at their emergency operations center just trying to act as a conduit to facilitate between federal efforts and the efforts of puerto rico's government. but their work remains extraordinary. i talked about the people that are still displaced. we've seen the stories of people losing their housing vouchers and having the hotel people come in and say, well, we just heard from the government in puerto rico that your home is inhabitable so you're done. check out tomorrow at noon. they have nowhere to go. if they have family, maybe. but if they don't, where do they -- where did they go that night? it's a problem. we've seen that happen in connecticut and we fear it could happen in other places. on the disaster relief, we think that recovering is not just about putting up light posts. we think it's about helping the economy grow, about attracting business and investment back and about helping people who want to stay to be able to stay. so we have a number of

provisions that we hope will be included. one is a temporary payroll tax reduction so that whatever it is you get paid, you get to keep more of it. temporary for a year but at least it's a way of giving people a raise without being a burden on businesses. we also would like to see a temporary expansion of the child tax credit because of a quirk in the law, people who file taxes from puerto rico are not eligible for it at its full value the way someone on the mainland would be. again, all they have to do is move to florida and they can do it. but these are u.s. citizens. if they can fight in our armed forces, if they pledge allegiance to our flag, if they are citizens of our nation, why should they not be entitled to the same tax provisions there that they would be if they were living on the mainland? we also need to deal with -- senator nelson talked about it -- the medicaid cliff. that is, because of the health care law that passed a number of years ago, the funding mechanism that was created places them in a position where soon they'll run out of money in their

medicaid program. and ultimately what will happen is people who need these services will move to florida or some other state and then they'll sign up for medicaid in the state. they'll get what they couldn't get in puerto rico and it will actually cost more. so if money is what you're worried about, it will cost us more in the long run to do it than not to do it. we also need to increase funding for the technical assistance. we are getting these reports that they are being forced to rebuild using the exact same equipment that was there before the storm. some of this equipment is so old, it isn't even manufactured anymore. they don't make it anymore. they've actually had to go out and retro fit and make stuff up. if we're going to rebuild or help rebuild the grid in puerto rico, shouldn't they be able to put the stuff in that's modern as opposed to rebuild the old stuff? that makes no sense. it will actually make the system more resilient. a lot of these proposals might meet with resistance but i'm telling you, they all make sense. we can justify every single one of them and i hope we'll pursue

them. i worked very closer with the resident commissioner jennifer gonzalez on this effort. i'm grateful for her strong advocacy and the support of so many of my colleagues on behalf of our fellow americans in puerto rico. so i close by just asking our colleagues, i know we've got the policy stuff this week, the democrats and republicans are doing their thing. i no we've got a funding issue a week from this friday we've got to address. i know immigration is an important issue that we need to confront, but do not forget about disaster relief. we have to get it done for the people out west and california, for the people of texas, for the people of florida, and the people of puerto rico. for our fellow americans that were hurt by the hurricane season and the fires of 2017. mr. president, i yield the floor. mr. flake: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from arizona. mr. flake: mr. president, as we continue the debate on the issue of immigration as it relates to providing a permanent solution

to those young immigrants who benefited from the deferred action for childhood arrivals or daca, the scope of this debate has expanded to influence other issues. now, some of these issues are directly related to the daca issue, including persistent concerns on our southern border, like improving barriers and border access roads, providing hiring and retention incentives focus toms and border protection personnel, to ensure that all locations of the border remain secure. now, other things being debated like changes to legal immigration levels truly need their own debate. now, some appear to have seized on this as an opportunity to push forward an agenda aimed at limiting the future flow of legal immigration. before this idea gains any steam, we have to fully discuss and debate its potentially enormous impact on our economy. it's easy for some to see

unemployed americans and point to immigrants as a scapegoat, to suggest that every immigrant who passes through our borders represents a job being pried from the hands of an american, an american citizen is far-fetched at best. but after taking the time to actually examine the facts, the shortsightedness of this thinking is exposed. for example, claim be the number of new legal immigrants by almost 50% which is what the white house proposal appears to envision over time, would initially reduce the overall rate of economic growth in the united states by an estimated 12.5% when compared to currently projected levels through 2045. this is because labor force growth is one of the most important factors tied to economic growth and more troubling these changes in legal immigration would come just as

the aging u.s. population increases our dependence on a growing workforce. now, some have suggested that legalism grants represent some sort of drag on government resources. in fact, the national academy of sciences estimates that the average immigrant contributes in net present value terms $92,000 more in taxes than they receive in benefits over their lifetime. now, we can only expect these numbers to increase as we move to a kind of merit or employment-based system. now, i should note in the bipartisan approach in 2015, we did restrict the number of family-based. i think it was a total of 75% of legal immigration. we moved it down to 50% for family-based visas. but at that same time, what we did was reallocate these visas to merit based or

employment-based visas, so we wouldn't have an overall drop in legal immigration. to look into the future of what happens when the philosophy of limited -- limiting legal immigration takes hold, we need to look no further than the current economic struggles that japan is having. in a timely piece by fred hyatt in "the washington post" this last sunday, he points out that japan's population of 127 million is forecast to shrink by one-third over the next half century. again, japan's population of 127 million will shrink by one-third over the next half century. now, the increase in life spans coupled with the decrease in fertility is projected to lead to near stagnant economic growth, reduced innovation, labor shortages, and huge pressure on entitlement and pensions in japan. now, these disastrous realities

facing japan are a direct result of the -- that nation's historically low level of immigrants. as hyatt astutely points out, you can be pro-growth, you can be antiimmigration, but honestly, you can't be both. now, legal immigration is complicated but it is important and it's worth debating this reform on its own. there may be a strong appetite for merit-based immigration but rather than drastically cutting legal and necessary immigration flows, we need to work together to provide a way for the best and brightest to make it to the united states both for their benefit and ours. let's not be lured into thinking that legal immigration is some kind of simplistic zero sum gain that could be easily reformed without consequence. now, during the last administration, many of us

rejected the new normal of low economic growth driven by overregulation and erratic -- i'm sorry, irrational tax policy. it would be the supreme irony if we were to fix those antigrowth fiscal and regulatory policies only to counteract them with immigration restrictions that affect our workforce. let's give this important and complex issue the time for discussion, analysis, and debate it deserves. and not shoehorn it into a daca fix. with that i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. leahy: i thank the presiding officer. mr. president, i could not help but note that the fiscal year began in october 1 last year. four months have passed, 122

days since the start of the fiscal year. 122 days and we still don't have a budget deal that would allow us to finish the fiscal year 2018 appropriations bills. 122 days the congress has not done their job. now, recently, president trump has taken to twitter. he's accused democrats of holding up funding for our troops. well, the idea that democrats are holding up defense spending doesn't pass the laugh test. the republicans are in charge of getting appropriations bills at levels -- last july, that was seven months ago, i called for bipartisan budget negotiations like we've always done in the past. and as the vice chairman of

appropriations, i put forward a proposal that would increase defense spending by $54 billion and would increase nondefense spending by an equal amount, $54 billion. basically what we did when senator murray and then congressman ryan worked out the budget agreement, we did that years ago. it made some parity. the proposal was responsible. it was reasonable. but it's based on parity, something we've done for years. it would have fully funded president trump's budget request for our military. it would also have provided much-needed relief from the damaging effects of sequestration that we've seen on both sides of the ledger, defense and nondefense.

but instead of trying to reach a bipartisan budget deal to allow us to finish our spending bills on time, the republican leadership, which controls the agenda, had other priorities. they spent the last seven months trying to repeal health care for millions of americans. they spent the time going back and forth to consumer protections. they cut environmental and workplace protections, and workplace protections for women in the workplace. and they passed budget-busting tax cuts that primarily benefit big corporations and the wealthiest americans. but as a result of doing that, the funding for our troops as well as for key domestic priorities has been left to limp along under four continuing resolutions. yesterday the trump administration -- and i wonder if they've actually looked at

the president's budget -- they accused democrats of holding defense spending hostage over arbitrary demands for lower priority domestic programs. i'm curious, which are the domestic programs the trump administration considers a lower priority? do they consider the services for our veterans that are lacking around this country? do they say helping our veterans is a lower priority? or what about the funding to combat the opioid epidemic? every single state represented by every single senator here, republican and democratic alike, every corner of our country has been hurt by the opioid epidemic. is the trump administration

saying that's a lower priority? how about investments in education for our nation's children, is that a lower priority? or disaster relief for our communities that have been devastated by hurricanes. there are so many of them. is that a lower priority? what about replacing our crumbling bridges all in this country before people start dying in record numbers, is that a lower priority? the president puts before us a false choice. it makes me wonder if he's actually seeing the budget his administration proposes. there's no reason we can't fight for and fund both our military and other domestic programs. it's not an either/or choice. it has never been an either/or choice, whether we've had a

democrat or republican administration. but one thing we do know, if you operate under four continuing resolutions, that is not a way to govern. so i think it's time to get serious about reaching a deal. later today the house is going to pass another defense appropriations bill that will exceed the budget caps by $73 billion. and they don't even know where it would all be spent. but if you don't have a budget deal to raise the caps, this is a false promise to our military, because that funding level would trigger sequester. it would force a 13% across-the-board cut on defense programs. it's not a serious bill. it's a messaging bill. but those are going to tout it on the floor of the house and say look what we're going to raise, will they at least take a

moment to say it actually cuts our defense programs 13% across the board? i asked the secretary of defense what he thinks about that. he says it will be a disaster. so what we're doing is we've been substituting sound bites for substance. i think we're past the time for those kind of messages. the budget and the appropriations process are where we set our priorities as a nation. and where we put those priorities into action, that's been our policy here in the senate under democratic and under republican leadership for decades. but instead of doing its basic job, congress and the president put the federal budget on perpetual auto pilot, so it never gets done. it comes up, we talk about it,

and it doesn't get done. it comes up again, we talk about it, it doesn't get done. the can has been kicked down the road over and over again. you know, it makes me think of groundhog day, and we're coming up on groundhog day. well, it's groundhog day, plus the sequel, plus another sequel, plus another sequel, and yet another sequel. that made a funny movie, but this is the real life of over 300 million americans, and 100 americans are entrusted to make their lives better. kicking the can down the road, playing groundhog day is corrosive and damaging to our nation and to the american people in countless ways. certainly my experience with a

republican administration, a democratic administration, many times in the majority in this body, many times in the minority in this body, one thing i've learned, and many of my republican colleagues tell me the same thing, you can't govern by continuing resolution. it's easy. it means you don't have to do your work. but neither the military nor our country can properly function under sequestration. they can't function if we don't do our jobs. i know we're taking another recess this week after this afternoon. i wish we'd just stay here to get these bills passed. i'm willing to. vermont's a very nice place to be this time of year. great skiing, lovely place,

kids, grandkids there. i'll stay here if it meant we can get the appropriations bills done, get us off this corrosive, wasteful continuation of continuing resolution and sequestration. now the next continuing resolution expires on february 8. that's nine days from today. it's up to the republican leadership in both chambers to get serious about striking a bipartisan budget deal. i believe there are some that we can do, in talking with both republican and democratic senators. i think we could have such a budget deal. it would get 60 votes in this senate. we could raise the caps. we could take care of defense but also take care of a lot of

priorities, a lot of priorities you hear about when you walk down main street in the towns and cities we represent. these aren't people who have a partisan attitude. they just want to see the government work. they want to see their states that they've suffered from hurricanes and flooding, they want to see us help as a nation. these communities are devastated by opioids. they want to see us doing something about it. they would like to see the federal government do something about stopping the millions of opioids flooding into this country illegally from china. not across the wall. they're coming from china through the mails, through the post offices that we all have in our communities.

look at the real threats for america. you don't do it bill sound bitey sound bites. you do it by substance and hard work. there are many senators on both sides of the aisle willing to do that hard work. we have unbelievably talented staff, both republicans and democrats, who have been working very hard to get us there. let's start doing that. let's stop looking for the sound bite. let's start looking for the substance. i'm ready to. i've talked with key members of both parties about this. it can be done. i felt honored the other day. senator robert dole, one of the titans of this body, a republican, conservative

republican, asked me to be one of the two senators to speak when he received the congressional gold medal. and we had a chance to chat first about how we used to do it. without sounding like the old timers talking about the good old days, what we would do is republicans and democrats, key members of both parties, would sit down, we'd work something out because we could take each other's word for it. and we set aside political posturing. we do what's best for the country. senator dole joined with senator moynihan, a conservative republican, liberal democrat; they saved social security. senator dole joined with senator george mcgovern, again conservative republican, liberal democrat. as a result, millions of children were fed. others were fed. hungry people were fed in this country and then again in other

countries in great humanitarian gestures. both senator dole and senator mcgovern fought in world war ii. both had a distinguished military career. senator dole severely injured. senator mcgovern volunteering to fly many, many missions beyond the number he was required to, even though so many planes in those missions were being shot down. they came back and said, okay, we did that and now we're going to be doing for the people we fought to save. we should listen to people like that. we should listen to them. it would be a better senate. it would be a better country if we did. mr. president, i yield the floor. i suggest the absence of a

quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: quorum call:

quorum call:

a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from montana. a senator: are we in a quorum call? the presiding officer: the senator is in a quorum call. mr. tester: i would ask unanimous consent the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. tester: i would like to speak for five minutes. the presiding officer: the senator is recognized. mr. tester: thank you, mr. president. i rise today on this 30th day

of january to call out this body, the body of the united states senate, for its dereliction of duty. enough is enough. we need a long-term budget bill for all of america, for my home state of montana, because that is what they expect because it is our job. it has been 122 days since congress has failed to pass a budget. what makes this even more egregious is the fact that we haven't done anything but continuing resolution after continuing resolution after continuing resolution. there is no certainty in that. and even if we pass a long-term budget deal, it isn't even that

long term to the end of this fiscal year which is when it needs to be done by. so for the last 122 days, congress has left community health centers, small business owners, america's families, montana's families without the certainty of a long-term budget. during that time, congress has instead settled for four short-term crisis funding bills that don't do what's necessary and provides more uncertainty and more chaos. now, i've heard a lot of folks say that government needs to be run like a business. there is no business that would put off what's doing just because it's convenient. in my real life i'm a farmer. i know that you have to plan.

i know that you can't go from month to month with uncertainty ahead of you because if you do, it will end up in a situation where it will put you out of business. you have to be able to plan, whether it's for the seed you buy whether it's for the equipment maintenance, or whether it's anything else in agriculture. and it's the same thing in any business. and by the way, it's the same thing in government. unfortunately, the norm has been a month of continuing resolution funding or three weeks instead of coming to a point where we can fund things til the end of the fiscal year -- until the end of the fiscal year that will give folks certainty, whether it's military, southern border, or community health centers. why do i bring this up?

it's because fully 10% of the citizens of montana depend on community health centers for access to their health care. it is in some cases the only source of health care for these folks. i've had listening tours and roundtables and over a dozen different public meetings on health care over the last year. and i can tell you these facilities are critically important. so who cares? why should we worry about that because we have a continuing resolution? why? because these folks right now if you go talk to them in the state of montana and i think in any other state in the union, they will tell you they are not sure whether they can keep their doors open. that does not provide the kind of certainty they need to provide the kind of health care and access to health care that folks across this country needs and montana is no exception. we cannot continue governing from crisis to crisis. montana deserves better.

america deserves better. we need a budget that goes to the end of the fiscal year that provides the kind of certainty and security that the american people elected us to do. congress simply needs to do its job. i yield the floor, mr. president. mr. toomey: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from pennsylvania. mr. toomey: mr. president, i rise this morning to speak about two separate matters. the first is a very painful and difficult topic. but i feel it's important to address and it is to recognize, acknowledge, and honor the

heroic life and legacy and sacrifice of one of pennsylvania's finest deputy u.s. marshal christopher hill. on january 18 of this year, deputy hill was shot and killed while he was apprehending a fugitive in harrisburg, pennsylvania. christopher hill lived in york, pennsylvania. he was only 45 years old. he was a husband. he had two young children. and he had dedicated his life to serving and protecting first his country and later his community. he was an 11-year veteran of the u.s. marshal marshal service. he was a former u.s. army ranger who had been deployed to somal somalia. and in 2014 deputy hill was one

of the deputy marshals who helped to capture a notorious cop killer in pennsylvania, eric trein -- frein who was the subject of one of the largest and longest manhunts in recent history throughout rural pennsylvania. but the fact about christopher hill is day in and day out for a very, very long period of time, he put his life on the line for the rest of us. he did it as an army ranger in sosomalia. he did it as a deputy u.s. marshal. and i had the privilege of attending the memorial service for him recently. and it was really extraordinary to hear one after another of the people that he had served with in various capacities speak about a truly extraordinary individual, a guy who was by all accounts humble and modest but

absolutely dedicated with a passion to his family, to his community, and to his country. sometimes it's easy for us to forget the risks and sacrifices that are being taken by the men and women who wear various uniforms that represent the various organizations that defend and protect us, but i want to say to the people of pennsylvania, to the family of christopher hill that we're never going to forget the bravery and the sacrifice and the service that he provided for all of us. mr. president, the other topic i wanted to touch on this morning is a much happier topic. it is the extraordinary consequences we are already seeing of the tax reform that we passed just about a month ago.

yesterday for me, i had a chance to tour a small to medium size company in the eastern part of pennsylvania, easton, pennsylvania is where they're located, sussex wires is the name of the company. and they have a very sophisticated technology whereby they take wire and without heating it and without grinding it, they use a process that turns it into the shape and form that their customers require. it's a very sophisticated process. they can crank out tremendous volumes. and this relatively small business, they have i think 55 employees. they're doing really well. it's manufacturing in pennsylvania, in america. as a direct result of the tax reform that we passed, their tax burden has been diminished and that has in turn allowed them to speed up the hiring of five or six new workers. five or six people that didn't have a job -- don't have a job

today but they're going to have a job soon because sussex wire is hiring and they're right now out looking for the folks that are going to expand their workforce, expand the ability of this terrific company to do even more. the tax reform is also accelerating their ability to purchase new equipment. the new equipment that they buy allows them to do more work, more productively. it allows their workers to produce more of the little tools and devices that they produce. and when workers produce more, when they're more product ever, then -- productive, then they can earn more income and that's exactly what's happening at sussex wire. and this is before we've had the opportunity to have all of these investments actually take place. so i am thrilled how quickly we are seeing tangible benefits for the people that i represent as a result of this tax reform. of course it's not just sussex wire. it's happening all across

america. it's happening certainly all across papartment i hope we'll hear -- across pennsylvania. i hope we'll hear examples tonight when the president gives his state of the union address. at latest count, there are over three million american workers who have already gotten an increase in their compensation. their employers have provided them either a pay raise or a bonus or a contribution to their pension plan or some combination of those things precisely because these businesses have more free cash flow as a result of lower taxes. three million workers from almost 300 businesses and since the last time i came down to the floor and spoke about this phenomenon, there have been many, many more pennsylvanians benefiting from this. the employees of the home depot. there are 70 locations across pennsylvania. and those employees, the thousands i suppose all

together, they're receiving $1,000 each. fedex which has a huge presence in pennsylvania has announced $200 million in raises, $1.5 billion in new investment, in distribution hubs. another $1.5 billion that they're contributing for their employees' pensions. p.p.g. in pittsburgh, pennsylvania, $50 million in new capital projects in part because the tax code treats that investment better than our tax code used to. so it's encouraging more of this investment, h.&k equipment in western pennsylvania increasing their investments by 50% this year. again, in response to this tax reform. "the wall street journal" reported over the weekend, manufacturing investment is already going up. it's already increasing. and this is going to be very, very beneficial. first of all, it helps all the workers who produce the

equipment that companies are investing in. secondly, someone needs to operate this equipment. so when a company goes out and buys a new piece of equipment, new machinery, there is the job security or the new job being created for the person who operates it. thirdly, there is the enhancement and productivity which allows for higher concentration. this is happening at a time when our unemployment rate is relatively low. it's at an all-time record low for african americans. it's low generally by recent decade standards. and what that means is this demand for more workers is going to translate into upward pressure on wages. i think we're already seeing it. it's very, very encouraging. and it's just a tremendous success for our workers. so, mr. president, i was very confident that this would be among the consequences, the

constructivive consequences of our tax reform, but i must confess i didn't realize it would happen so quickly. this is great news for pennsylvanians and it's great news for americans. with that, i yield the floor. i request -- a request i've been asked to make. i have 11 requests for committees to meet during today's session of the senate. est -- they have the -p approval of the majority and minority leader. the presiding officer: duly noted. mr. shelby: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from alabama. mr. shelby: i rise to pay tribute to a former staff member of mine, william d. duncan iii who dedicated over 20 years of his life's work to the united states senate. prior to his time on capitol hill he served as a naval officer and the commission on the assignment of women in the armed forces. bill received his juris doctorate from catholic university and a bachelor of

arts degree from his home state, the university of wisconsin. in 1995, bill dunkey joined my staff to handle defense, foreign relations and judiciary policy. he quickly revealed his high work ethic and innate ability to thrive when tasked with the most challenging of assignments. after swiftly climbing the ladder in my office, bill became my staff director and general counsel when i chaired the senate intelligence committee. and later the senate banking committee, where he was a general counsel and staff director. he also served as my staff director when i was ranking member of the senate appropriations committee when the democrats were in control. as a former flight, naval flight officer, bill always brought a high level of respect and discipline to the workplace. without hesitation, he was able

to spearhead tasks and get things done. not only was he a trusted advisor, but he was an esteemed manager across capitol hill where he was duly respected. bill is exceptionally smart and is, was always well versed on the issues at hand. i would be hard pressed to recall a time when he was unprepared. i can't think of one. i'm certain that bill will continue to operate in this manner in his new role as the chairman of the public company accounting oversight board. i've relied on bill dunkey's professional advice and leadership for 20 years and i know he will be an asset to the board as it works to improve audit quality and promote public trust in our securities area. the s.e.c. chairman jay clayton recently has made an excellent

voice, i believe -- excellent choice in selecting bill dunkey to chair the pcaob. mr. president, i have no doubt that bill has stepped into his new leadership position with ease. his intellect and experience ensure his future success in this role and i'm confident that bill will remain an outstanding leader as he continues on this new path in his career. it's my honor to offer my deep appreciation and gratitude to bill dunkey for his decades of hard work and dedication to the entire country. i'm privileged to have had him on my staff all those years. mr. president, i yield the floor. i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from south dakota. mr. thune: mr. president, is the senate in a quorum call? the presiding officer: the senate is in a quorum call. mr. thune: i ask unanimous consent that it be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. thune: mr. president, the good news about tax reform

continues to roll in. wage increases, better benefits, increased investment, employee bonuses. so far more than 250 companies have announced good news for their employees. pay hikes, increased retirement contributions or bonuses, and the list continues to grow. last week j.p. morgan chase, disney, starbucks and fedex all announced increased investment in american workers. j.p. morgan chase announced that it will raise wages for 22,000 workers, add thousands of new jobs, and open 400 new branches in the united states. it also plans to increase its lending to small businesses. disney will invest in employees' education and provide employee bonuses. starbucks is raising wages, increasing benefits, and rewarding employees with company stock. and fedex announced plans to

expedite raises and invest $1.5 billion to expand its fedex express hub in indianapolis. it's also making a $1.5 billion contribution to its pension plan. and to top it off, yesterday exxonmobil announced that thanks in part to tax reform, it will invest an additional $35 billion into the u.s. economy over the next five years. that means a lot of new jobs and opportunities for american workers. mr. president, stories like this are why we made business tax reform a key part of the tax cuts and jobs act. obviously a huge priority was immediately lowering americans' tax bills, which is why we lowered rates across the board, nearly doubled the standard deduction, and doubled the child tax credit. but our other priority was creating the kind of economy in which americans can thrive for the long term, an economy that would create good jobs, higher

wages, and more opportunities. so how do we go about doing that? well, the only way for individual americans to thrive is for american businesses and the american economy to thrive. and so we took action to improve the situation for american businesses. prior to the tax cuts and jobs act, american businesses large and small were weighed down by high tax rates and growth-killing tax provisions. plus our outdated international tax rules left america's global businesses at a competitive disadvantage in the global economy. the tax cuts and jobs act changed all that. we lowered tax rates across the board for owners of small and medium-sized businesses, farms and ranches. we is expanded business owners' ability to recover investments they make in their businesses, which will free up cash that they can reinvest in their operations and their workers.

we lowered our nation's massive corporate tax rate which up until january 1 was the highest corporate tax rate in the developed world. and we brought the u.s. international tax system into the 21st century by replacing our outdated worldwide system with a modernized territorial tax system, so american businesses are not operating at a disadvantage next to their foreign ko*eupbt parts. and -- next to their foreign counterparts. just a month into the new tax law we're seeing results. thanks to the new tax law, businesses are seeing a future in growth, and based on those forecasts they're making plans to invest in their workers, raise wages, create new jobs, and invest in the american economy. at&t, boeing, fiat chrysler,

bank of america, home depot, great western bank -- my state of south dakota -- first hawaiian bank, sun trust banks, comcast, american airlines, southwest airlines, humana, visa, nationwide insurance, jet blue airlines. mr. president, the list of companies announcing good news for american workers thanks to tax reform goes on and on and on. tech giant apple announced that as a result of tax reform, it will bring home almost $250 billion in cash it's been keeping overseas and invest it mere in the united states. that's good news for the american economy. and it's a direct result of the tax cuts and jobs act. before the tax cuts and jobs

act, our tax code encouraged american businesses to keep cash overseas. the tax cuts and the jobs act ended that. now that we've altered the tax code to remove the penalty for bringing profits home to the united states, we can expect to see more companies bringing profits home and investing in the u.s. economy the way that apple is. mr. president, we've seen a tremendous amount of good news this month, but it really is only the beginning. as the benefits of tax reform continue to sink in, we expect to see more growth, more jobs, and more opportunities for american workers. and we expect to see the kind of economy that will provide security and prosperity for americans for the long term. mr. president, i yield the floor. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the senate

the previous order, the senate eight at about 8:30 eastern members will gather in the chamber and walk up to the house the president's state of the union address. tomorrow friday republican senator will join their house counterparts for a three-day policy retreat in west virginia. head of the state of the union address white house press secretary sarah sanders listed as a guest as president invited to attend. >> i do want to make an announcement about one of the most important traditions, the guest will be sitting in the first lady box. i will name a few of those individuals in about them. first, corey adams, corey is a skilled welder and manufacturing

solutions in dayton, ohio. last year corey and his wife were able to become first-time homeowners and they were invested extra money from the top tax cut into their two daughters education savings. elizabeth, robert, evelyn rodriguez and freddie, these two couples are the parents of two beautiful young girls who were beautifully murdered by ms 13 gang members. corporate matthew bradford in 2007 corporate bradford stepped on an ied while deployed in iraq. he was blinded by the blast and lost both of his legs. after multiple surgeries in therapy in first blind, wbt, to reenlist in the marines. john bridgers, he founded the cajun navy from 2016 a nonprofit rescue and recovery organization that responded in 2016 to flooding in south louisiana and in 2017 to hurricane harvey in texas. he and his team have helped

thousands of people across. david, fire technician saved 62 children and staff members from a reading wildfire that encircle their camp in southern california. officer ryan. ryan served as a police officer in albuquerque, new mexico. in his six years on the force he's been shot twice and experienced several near-death encounters. officer and his wife adopted a baby from parents who suffer from opioid addiction breaking down walls between drug addicts and police officers to help stabilize. ashley lubbers, she rescued dozens of americans during the last year's devastating hurricane season. agent cj martinez. agent martinez is a special agent for isis homeland security and investigation unit. his investigations led to more than 100 arrests of ms 13 gang

members were prosecuted for crimes including homicide, salt and narcotics and weapons trafficking. staff sergeant justin peck. last year's death sergeant was part of the team clearing ied's from territory previously controlled by isis. when one of his compatriots was struck by a blast he rushed to their side saving their lives while risking his own. preston sharp. mr. sharp is organized the placement of more than 40000 american flags and red carnations on soldiers graves as part of his goal to honor veterans in all 50 states and to challenge others to join the flag in flour challenge. steve and cindy. these sibling started the manufacturing solutions 20 years ago. thanks to the trump bump in the economy they were able to grow to new heights in 2017 and thanks to the trump text that they were able to give all their employees larger christmas bonuses. some of these individuals stories are heroic and some are patriotic and others are tragic.

all of them represent the unbreakable americans. and will inspire our nation to continue growing stronger, powder and more prosperous. >> the president of the united states. [cheering and applause] >> tonight, present donald trump gives his first date of the union address to congress and the nation. join us on c-span for a preview of the evening starting at 8:00 p.m. eastern. then the state of the union speech come alive at 9:00 p.m. following the speech democratic response from congressman joe kennedy. we will also hear your reaction and comments from members of congress. president trumps state of the union address tonight, light on c-span. listen live on the free c-span radio app and available live or on-demand on your desktop, phone or tablet at c-span .org. >> next a preview of the prid