John Barrasso

Mr. BARRASSO

Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, for families, for healthcare workers, for small businesses, and for people who are waking up today all across the country who are asking ``What is next?'' I believe that today we can report there is good news. The resolve and determination of this Senate, working in a bipartisan way and working with the White House, has delivered a rescue plan--a rescue plan for the American people and for American healthcare workers. We are going to pass new authorities, new resources, and new programs today to deal with two crises that we as a nation are facing. One is the medical crisis, the coronavirus, and the other is the economic crisis that is as a direct result of the medical crisis we are facing. This Senate is providing an overwhelming and massive healthcare and economic response package. We are doing both. We have to do both at the same time, as it is a rescue operation for the resources that our healthcare providers need and the resources that our economy needs. The healthcare resources are going to be surging for communities all around the country--every one of the 50 States is affected--with there being over $100 billion for our hospitals and the heroes who are taking care of coronavirus patients. As the Presiding Officer knows, I am a physician and have practiced medicine for a long time in Wyoming. People go into medicine so they can do a number of things, but when people go into medicine, what we expect of our healthcare providers is for them to save lives, to cure the sick, and to prevent disease. For all of those men and women who are working in this profession, I will tell you that this will be their finest hour. We are hearing about heroes all over the country, and that is going to continue as long as this crisis is in effect because that is what we are asking them to do every day--to save lives, heal the sick, and prevent disease. We see that with our public health officers who are out there, trying to prevent disease. We see it in communities. Day and night, we see people trying to heal the sick and to save lives in the hospitals. What they are asking from us are for resources, and that is now going to be provided in the bill that we are going to pass today that will hopefully soon be on the President's desk. We are also surging dollars to individuals, to families, to businesses, and to distressed parts of our economy--direct money: $1,200 per individual, $500 per child--take a look at that--and $350 billion in bridge loans and grants to small and medium-sized businesses. We are providing unemployment insurance to workers--people who were working and were ready to go to work the next day but were not able to because of the medical crisis affecting us. So this will be to make sure that workers who are not able to work right now are made whole. We held the line against so many of the ideological issues that the Democrats and specifically the Speaker of the House tried to put into this legislation. We made it clear that lives were at stake. Those are debates for another day. The crisis is upon us, and the rescue work needs to be done. I believe time was wasted. We should have passed this last Sunday. Time was wasted, and it was time the American people didn't have, but we are working on this action plan today. Pass the Senate bill today to stabilize American jobs and to surge healthcare resources to the frontlines. The House cannot delay. The House needs to get this passed today and sent to the President of the United States for his signature today. America should not wake up tomorrow and have to watch and wait and worry to see if the House is going to pass this bill. The House needs to act today. The American people need that reassurance today. Everyone--families, young people--has committed to slowing the spread for the remainder of the 15-day window. There is about a week longer to go. And people are doing it all around the country. People are going to continue to ramp up the manufacturing of medical equipment--masks, ventilators, respirators, tests--to save lives. People are going to keep cutting redtape and pressing on scientific and medical breakthroughs for treatments and vaccines. Going forward--and I see the minority leader on the floor--we need to take a long, hard look at our supply chain. China has been exposed. We cannot allow ourselves ever again to be in any way dependent on China for medicines, for materials, or for minerals. My focus, along with what I know to be the President's focus, is to bring America back stronger than ever before. We are a strong and resilient nation. We will get through this. Our country's healthcare infrastructure and our economic resolve are today being tested. We will defeat the virus, and we will be back stronger than ever. I yield the floor.

Mr. BARRASSO

Mr. BARRASSO. Madam President, I would like to associate myself with the remarks of the Republican whip. The time for political games is over. It is time to get this piece of legislation passed and signed into law. The American people need it. They want it, and they are watching. Yesterday, the U.S. Surgeon General warned us. He said: ``This week, it's going to get bad.'' He was talking about the healthcare aspects of it. I was on the phone last night, along with my colleague, Senator Enzi, in a telephone townhall meeting, talking to people all around Wyoming. It is not just the healthcare side of it that is going to get bad. The economic side of it is going to get bad, as people who every day want to get up and go to work are now, for the first time in a long, long time, told they can't do so, not by their employer but by the government. I have been visiting with doctors. Our healthcare providers are expecting more patients today and tomorrow and through the week. Some healthcare systems are being overrun. We need to get this done today. Americans are doing their part in preventing community spread of the virus, but the men and women on the frontline taking care of those patients need resources that would be included in this bill, and we need to get this passed today. The private sector mobilized to provide more tests, more masks, more respirators, and more ventilators. They are doing their job. This Senate needs to do its job today. The administration has green-lighted scientific breakthroughs and flexibility for our healthcare system. The Senate has had a bipartisan process throughout this entire process, as the Senator from South Dakota has just outlined. Working groups have been coming up with bipartisan solutions. Together we have put together the largest economic and healthcare rescue package in the history of this country. It is time to pass it today. Today--at least at the end of last night--we were still at a standstill, being blocked and delayed by, basically, the Speaker of the House. We are blocked from providing relief for the American people by the Speaker of the House and the Democrats who are doing her bidding. They continue to play politics with the lives and livelihoods of the American people. It is distressing because, just within the last hour, the Speaker of the House was on national television. She is talking about what her options are--her political options--with no sense of urgency at all. I did not hear a sense of urgency in her voice. I didn't get the sense that she understood the gravity of the situation when I listened to her voice talking about this. She talked about a number of things on her wish list and talked about leveraging opportunities. This isn't about political leverage. This is about the American people and the needs of our Nation at this time of healthcare crisis and economic crisis. She talked about calling the House back in session as one of her options and then having a House-passed bill and then going to a conference. We need action in this body today, and we need this bill on the President's desk tonight. Today, in this country, we have over 46,000 people who have had the test for coronavirus and have tested positive. There is a lack of testing. So even though 46,000 people tested positive, the total numbers may be beyond that. We have nearly 600 deaths in the United States from this virus that is raging around the world. In New York, where the minority leader is from, they are turning the Javits Center into a field hospital. Men and women in the military know what a field hospital is all about. Physicians, who have gone through medical school, understand the history of field hospitals. According to some estimates, the New York healthcare system could be overrun in a week. This bill needs to pass today. When you will look back on this in a day, in a week, in a month, you will just ask: How many deaths could have been prevented if this bill had been passed yesterday instead of today? If one thinks that delaying this even beyond today is an option, it is not. The bipartisan bill that the Senators have worked on needs to pass today, be accepted, and moved from the House to the White House. It is hard to defend the indefensible, but that is where we find ourselves with so many Democrats coming to vote against even the motion to proceed to debate on the bill--an unnecessary delay that blocks the surge in supplies that our hospitals need; that blocks the access to healthcare; that blocks the medical innovation; that blocks the support for our healthcare workers. Every one of those ``no'' votes was a block to assistance for communities all around the country. The votes to block the move to the motion to proceed delayed over $240 billion in emergency funding. That vote to block the motion to proceed blocked $100 billion for hospitals, $20 billion for veterans' healthcare, $11 billion for vaccines and therapeutics. The list goes on and on. Why? It seems to me the Speaker of the House has come back here with her own bill that we had on the floor yesterday, having just been made aware of what was in it. We looked at this wish list while the American people waited and watched and worried. It was a liberal wish list of things that had nothing to do with the disease or the treatment or the recovery of the economy. In their liberal wish list, they block the list of things that would help to save people's lives--resources that, as a doctor, I know are needed in a healthcare crisis. Why are they holding this up? We had a productive, bipartisan process in putting a bill together that seemed, on Saturday night, to be right on its way to being a successful, bipartisan effort. Yet, at the direction of the Speaker of the House, they all voted no. She said she wanted more in it and came out with her own bill. I will get to that wish list in a moment. We told the American public and Governors and mayors and hospitals that we were doing everything we could, and over the weekend, I believed that as this bipartisan group worked together. Yet to have seen all of the Democrats come to the floor and vote no has made me rethink that. We have an opportunity to do something the American public needs. We could have done it and should have done it yesterday. The demands we are looking at really have nothing to do with saving lives and nothing to do with combating the coronavirus. The list that I have seen in the House bill has everything to do with capitulating to the extremes of Nancy Pelosi's party--the far left of her party--and in making good on the deal that she cut so that she could remain as the Speaker of the House. Yesterday, she seemed to be more interested--and was more interested in terms of the press reports--in reliving the passage of ObamaCare 10 years ago than in the crisis that we are facing today. She seemed to be more interested in reliving a law of 10 years ago instead of in what law needs to be passed today and should have been passed yesterday. It is ironic that one of the architects of ObamaCare, Ezekiel Emanuel--one who celebrated it--wrote a book when ObamaCare was passed. He wrote in the book that we have too many hospitals in the United States. He actually wrote that we have 1,000 too many hospitals in the United States. Since ObamaCare has passed, 120 hospitals have closed, and many of those have been rural hospitals. ObamaCare has also blocked the expansion of physician-owned hospitals. Yet I hear from the same folks that, today, we need to expand our healthcare capacity--that we don't have the hospital beds and the facilities to provide for the care that may be necessary in what the Surgeon General has said will be a week during which things are going to likely get much worse. I don't understand why the Senate Democrats have chosen to align themselves with Speaker Pelosi on this leftist list of all of their wants that override the needs of the American people. The House bill that Nancy Pelosi just put out--1,100 pages--is one special interest giveaway after another. This came up last night during the telephone townhall meeting that Senator Enzi and I had with the folks in Wyoming. I said: Really? There are tax breaks for solar panels? for wind turbines? They are holding up voting for this emergency bill that will help the American people in terms of the economy and in terms of our healthcare over solar panels, wind turbines, and a Green New Deal about airline emissions? In this bill, this emergency rescue package for the American people, there is a student loan giveaway, a bailout for the U.S. Postal Service, new same-day voter registration, and early voting requirements. Those have no place in an emergency rescue package for the American people. That is why we were astonished on this side of the aisle when the Democrats--one after another, after another--came to the floor and voted no for even a motion to proceed to this rescue legislation. The American public needs relief--healthcare relief. The American public needs to know that there is treatment on the way; that there is research being done for vaccines; and that the things they need for testing are on the way. That is what the American people need to know. If they can't get paychecks at work because their workplaces have been shut down and they can't go to their jobs--whether they are at restaurants or stores or whatever has been shut down--they need to know they can pay for food to put food on the tables for their families. Instead, what the Speaker is asking for in her bill is to increase collective bargaining for Big Labor; requirements for racial and gender diversity for corporate boards; an automatic extension of nonimmigrant visas; money for Planned Parenthood; and money to maintain the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts--the Kennedy Center? These are all worthy topics for discussion but not on this bill, which is a rescue bill for the American public. Let me be clear. This list that came to us from the House is a special interest wish list. It is not a list for people who are suffering from the coronavirus. This is why we have 150 million American workers who are watching and waiting and worrying. If those on the other side of the aisle thought they could just slip some of these items that the Speaker of the House wants into this Senate bill in an emergency, they are wrong. The President said last night that he will not approve such a list. So they are delaying, and they seem to be blocking the bill for something that will never become law. We know what is going on here. The media even understands well what is going on here because one major outlet, CNN, said the Democrats are engaging in political gamesmanship. This is about the future of our country, the future of the people of our country. Yet we are seeing political gamesmanship being played by the other side of the aisle. The American people get it as well. They see through it. They know that valuable days are being lost here. We need to pass this today with no more delays. The bill has been written in a bipartisan way in the Senate, and it should pass with overwhelming numbers. I see no reason we can't vote today. I see no reason to delay. This is the time to get healthcare capacity online to deal with this healthcare crisis during a week that, as the Surgeon General said, is going to get much worse. We need today to prepare our hospitals and our healthcare systems for the surge of patients that is coming. They need to be ready. The men and women who are working in those hospitals are ready. They are in the fight of their lives. They are the heroes in hometowns all across America because the coronavirus is in every State and in many, many communities. So those men and women are there, and they need to hear that the Senate and the House and the President and this Nation-- the government--are standing behind them and not standing at a distance. They need to know the government is right there in the fight with them by providing what they need--the testing, supplies, the equipment--one thing after another--so they can do what they are trained to do, which is to save lives, to heal the sick, and to prevent disease. That is why people go into medicine. That is why they go into the profession. Doctors and nurses and therapists and all of those people who work there go to school to learn to save lives. They learn to treat disease, to heal the sick, and to prevent disease. That is what this coronavirus has put them all in a position to do--to do their best work. We have to make sure they have everything they need. For that reason, we need to pass this bill today. There is no reason to delay, no reason to wait another day. The bill provides them with what they need, and it provides the economy the sort of certainty and security that the entire country needs. I appreciate the opportunity to share these thoughts. My final message is, this bill needs to be passed today. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. BARRASSO

Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I just heard my friend and colleague from West Virginia say there is no reason to vote today. There are a lot of reasons to vote today. There is a country affected by disease. People are waking up anxious, scared, afraid of the disease and the economic consequences that are there. There are a lot of reasons to vote today. Every Member of this Senate needs to stand up and be counted, and for the Senator from West Virginia to say: I wouldn't be for this, and I don't know where that is coming from--well, just read the papers that are coming out of the Democratic House. Just read the papers of the demands by the Democrats to muck up the bill that is designed as a rescue operation for the American people. That is where the problem is. We need to vote today, again and again and again, until we provide the relief, the rescue that the American people need. That is why we have a dozen Republicans on this side ready to speak, standing at podiums ready to speak, and there hasn't been a single Democrat on the floor to defend their position because it is indefensible. That is where we are. We have Nancy Pelosi flying back from California because she sent the House home a week ago--they are not here--to defeat the work that we have done in a bipartisan way, and to say: Well, all of you have done nice work. Now look at our laundry list of things we are demanding: tax credits for solar panels, wind turbines, a bailout of the Postal Service. And when you go through this list, there are portions of the Green New Deal. I am a doctor. I have been on the phone with doctors around the country, with my colleagues at the Wyoming Medical Center. They are working double time, through the weekend, day and night--the nurses, the doctors, the healthcare providers--and they need help. They are looking to us for help. They need tests, they need masks, they need respirators, and they need hope--hope that there will be a vaccine, hope that there will be a treatment. Those are the things that are in this bill that the Democrats voted to block last night and the Democrats voted to block again today, and that is only the healthcare component of it. Our economy cannot be unleashed again until after we get the healthcare component behind us. But our colleagues, our friends, our neighbors, people we know in our home States woke up today not being able to go to work, not being able to know if they are going to have a paycheck, not being able to pay their bills, not being able to know if they are going to feed their families, not being able to know that they are going to get food, if it is available, if they could have the money to pay for it. Yet we are not ready to provide relief. They need it immediately. They don't need it after the Democrats block it again and again and again. The Senator from West Virginia said: I don't know why we voted today. That is why we voted today, and that is why we need to keep voting, because the American people need relief and they need it now. This is our duty station, and I am prepared to stay here until we get this done--but to go through this. I talked to a small business owner who has a restaurant and has been there for 37 years. She doesn't know how she is going to make payroll. She never closed the doors except for snowstorms in Wyoming. It is a successful restaurant. She doesn't know how she is going to pay for the food that was delivered last week. She doesn't know how she is going to pay for healthcare. This bill takes care of so much of that. It was blocked by the Democrats today. We have a good program for small businesses. It is really good. It was worked on in a bipartisan way, but yet it is being blocked by the Democrats. They blocked even the motion to proceed to the bill. Businesses all across the country employ people, regardless of the size. It is the people who need the jobs, the people. A job is part of somebody's identity. It is who they are. The people who work realize how important it is to who they are. They feel a sense of productivity. People I know aren't looking for a check. They just want a job. They want to work. They are ready to produce, and they can't. Why? Because a disease has struck America, and the government--not the economy--the government has said ``We are going to shut down this economy,'' and the government has the responsibility to provide relief--to rescue those people and to provide immediate relief. Every Democrat came to the floor and voted against doing that last night and again this morning. We need to continue to vote. This bill is about our healthcare system. It is about our economy. It is about money in the pockets of people who, through no fault of their own, are finding themselves in a position they have never been in before--ever--where they can't go out and knock on the door and say: Will you hire me? I am ready to go to work. Whether it is a farmer or a rancher--anyone--they can't do that today because the government says: You may not. You stay home. You might have had a good job, a job you love, and you can't go to it today. Monday-- we want everyone to work on a Monday but not in America on this Monday. So there is a role and responsibility for us to step in and do what the role of government ought to be in this case of crisis, a crisis caused by both a disease and the economy, the government's action to shut down the economy. Yet Democrats, one after another, continue to block it. They are not blocking it for things that have to do with actually helping the American people. It is a wish list--a liberal wish list. It is astonishing that they are delaying direct assistance so they can play to their liberal left--the extremists, the environmental extremists, the labor special interests. We are here trying to fight for the men and women in the street and our hometowns, yet they are fighting for the Green New Deal. Bernie Sanders may have lost to Joe Biden, but the Green New Deal of Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren and that entire crew is alive and well in the Democratic cloakroom and is controlling the actions today on the floor of the U.S. Senate. They want to put up an entire cap-and-trade system for the airline industry. That is a worthy debate to have, but not on this bill. They want to expand tax credits for wind and for solar power. That is a debate that is worthy of being held, but not on this bill today. That is not going to help one person who is having problems breathing to get a respirator that they need. That is what is holding this up. We know Nancy Pelosi has been pushing this extreme environmental agenda from the moment she cut the deal to remain as Speaker and said to the liberals: I will do what you want if you just allow me to be Speaker again. And, now, through a letter that she has written to the Democrats, she is bragging that she is carrying the flag for the Democratic agenda. The Speaker is pushing for diversity on corporate boards, for collective bargaining, and for election reform. There are proposals here in her proposal--she said: I am going to go write the bill requiring early voting and requiring same-day voter registration. Where does that fit into a bill to rescue the American people who, right now, find themselves in the throes of a disease that may kill them and in an economy that has been shut down? That is why the Democrats aren't on this floor, because what they are doing cannot be defended. So, I would just say and I would appeal to my colleagues: Let us do the work of the Senate. It is time for everyone to stand up and be responsible. Let us get this done. Let us get this passed. The days for political games are now behind us. Everyone who is watching should understand the House of Representatives is not in town. They have been gone for a week. Only Nancy Pelosi just flew back from California to throw a monkey wrench into the works, and we need to get this done. We failed the cloture vote last night, blocked by the Democrats, and at that time, we found that one of our colleagues had tested positive for coronavirus. We failed a cloture vote today, blocked by the Democrats again, when we learned that the spouse of one of our colleagues is hospitalized, on oxygen, with this same disease that is hitting the entire country. We can litigate the Green New Deal another day. Americans' lives and livelihoods are at stake. That is the situation we are in today for the Nation. We can litigate election reform another day. We can debate diversity on corporate boards and airline fuel standards; we can do all of that another day. We can talk about cap and trade another day. America needs now to know how we, as a nation, will survive from the standpoint of our health and our economy. We need immediate relief. The bill on the floor accomplishes that. We need to make sure that, when Americans wake up tomorrow, they don't have that same fear and trepidation about the disease, as well as their families' well-being. We need to take that decisive action today. The time for politics is beyond us. We need to vote today, and we need to pass this today. I know my colleagues are on the floor. I know Senator Portman is here after me and Senator Cotton after him. We have a dozen who are ready to speak, but I thank you for your indulgence. I yield the floor.

Mr. BARRASSO

Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I come to the floor today to provide an update on the bold, bipartisan action Congress is taking to respond to the pandemic we have with the coronavirus. First, we are all deeply saddened by the loss of life due to the outbreak in this country and globally. I know, Mr. President, it has affected your State in terms of disease as well as death; in my State, disease, not yet death, and we are hoping to prevent that. All of us remain very concerned about the great loss of life and the suffering that is happening as a result of this. These are extraordinary times. We are fighting a world war to defeat a virus. We want to do it to save lives but also to keep people safe. This war has two fronts. Mr. President, I know you discussed these on television the other evening. I listened carefully about the impact on your State. As you said, we are fighting on the front of public health as well as the health of our economy. The coronavirus right now is controlling our economy. It has taken a dominant role. To stop this disease, the Nation has largely shut down. These temporary restrictions on our daily activities are necessary in an effort to limit new cases and the spread of the disease. Yet the economic fallout is devastating millions of hard-working American families. Once we defeat the virus, we will rebuild. Our economy will bounce back. We are a strong and resilient Nation, and we always bounce back, and we will again. First, we need to make it through this medical crisis. This is going to require big and bold and bipartisan action. The American people need help. I would reassure the American people that Congress is responding. This is a national rescue operation, as I see it, and help is on the way. President Trump and Congress are coming together in a bipartisan way to ease the pain of the American people. It is going to take time. It is going to happen. We are sending immediate relief, and we have done that. We are sending financial support--plus medical support--to people all across America. The bill being considered on the floor right now is called the CARES Act. It stands for Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act. It will bolster our economy, and it will help working families. This bill allows us to deliver direct cash payments to most Americans to see people through this economic downturn. People who work in small businesses and people who own small businesses will receive federally guaranteed loans to help them stay viable and keep their businesses viable so that they can keep their employees on the payroll until we get to a point where they are--from a disease standpoint--able to reopen the businesses. We want them to be viable when the day comes that businesses can reopen all across America. The CARES Act is major legislation that will stabilize our economy and protect American jobs. It also includes critical new support for our healthcare workers and for patients. I have introduced bipartisan CARES Act language, along with Senator Michael Bennet of Colorado, with regard to healthcare. The goal is to provide immediate relief for rural hospitals, for small community hospitals, and for small physician practices. During this crisis, rural hospitals and small healthcare providers are on the frontlines, providing urgent care. They continue to work around-the-clock, keeping communities in Wyoming and across the country safe. These providers are stretched like never before. I have talked with several of them in Wyoming over the past 24 hours. I talked to one this morning whose coronavirus test has come back. It is negative, and he is back in the fight today in the hospital. Our bill provides rural hospitals with aid in the form of Federal grants based on insurance payments. This will help make up for lost revenue due to the forced cancellation of elective surgeries. Of course, these are surgeries that have already been scheduled and planned for patients needing surgeries. Yet, in terms of providing and making sure we have the resources needed at those hospitals--the beds available and personal protective equipment--elective surgeries have been canceled. Small physician practices, hospitals, and rural communities aren't able to tolerate that sort of loss of flow, just as any business is not able to tolerate that sort of cashflow loss. Small physician practices will receive low-interest loans based on the payroll of that practice in terms of what we are doing with this bill that Michael Bennet and I--in a bipartisan way--have introduced. Rural healthcare workers need immediate, short-term financial relief to help them through this crisis time. The CARES Act also includes a number of important public health provisions. Our bill eases the shortage of drugs and critical equipment, including ventilators and medical masks. It expands testing and ensures testing is free for patients, and it speeds the development of new coronavirus vaccines and treatments since none have existed before the disease was made known worldwide as a new virus, which it is. The CARES Act that we are at looking today on the floor of the Senate also protects patients through the expanded use of health savings accounts for telehealth. It expands telehealth access for Medicare patients. It increases Medicare payments to hospitals treating coronavirus patients. The CARES Act will help employers and workers weather the storm that we are facing because of coronavirus. Once the storm passes, you know, as do I, that the American economy will continue to recover. The CARES Act is the third coronavirus emergency bill considered in the Senate. The first two have already been passed into law, signed by the President. Earlier this month, Congress passed two major relief packages: the first, an $8 billion emergency funding bill for our healthcare system; the second, a $100 billion bill to provide additional relief to affected families, to small businesses, and to workers. These three relief measures are only the beginning. More legislation will be coming to address this unprecedented economic and public healthcare crisis. Once we defeat the virus, the economy will recover; America will be back. The American people are strong. We are resilient. We are determined to get through this, and we will. We are all Americans. We are all in it together. Be assured that Congress will stop at nothing to ensure that America and Americans survive and revive and thrive. This storm will pass. The people of this great Nation will emerge stronger than ever. Americans will defeat the coronavirus together. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. BARRASSO

Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I rise today in celebration of 100 years of Scouting in Wyoming. On Saturday, March 21, 2020, the Boy Scouts of America Greater Wyoming Council will host their annual Silver Beaver and Eagle Scout Recognition Luncheon in Casper. This year holds a special significance as they will celebrate their 100th anniversary at this event. The Boy Scouts of America incorporated on February 8, 1910. Scouting came to Casper with the creation of the Casper Council in 1917. The council continued to expand, changing its name to the Casper Area Council in 1925, Central Wyoming Council in 1931, and finally the Greater Wyoming Council in 2016. The Boy Scouts of America's mission is ``to prepare young people to make ethical and moral choices over their lifetimes by instilling in them the values of the Scout Oath and Law.'' The council remains true to this mission and to their purpose to educate youth, age 5 to 21, to build character, develop personal fitness, and to train in the responsibilities of participating citizenship. In Wyoming, the Greater Wyoming Council upholds the mission and purpose of the Boy Scouts through service to 11 counties and 3,000 youth across our State. The organization enjoys tremendous community support with 1,400 volunteers and 150 community partners. This consistent and broad involvement demonstrates what a valuable benefit the council provides to the youth and people of Wyoming. The council provides a variety of events and opportunities for Scouts, families, and communities in Wyoming. These events include their annual Strength of America Banquet, the annual Camp Buffalo Bill Summer Camp in Cody, fishing tournaments, and family camping trips. They work hard to provide many opportunities for Scouts to participate in fellowships, trainings, basecamps, and much more, to help members be, as the Scouts say, ``Prepared for life.'' Brad Bodoh, the Scout executive for the council, has a strong background in serving the Scouts of America. We are fortunate to have his leadership. Before Brad made Wyoming home, he worked for the Boy Scouts of America in Iowa and Ohio. The knowledge and experience Brad brings to the Greater Wyoming Council allow the Scouts to flourish and expand their skills. Senior district executives Frank Solla and Andrew Allgeier, in addition to the council office staff, are instrumental in growing and supporting the organization's participation throughout the state. In Wyoming, we live by the Code of the West. One of the principles of the Code is ``to take pride in your work.'' The council's volunteers and families embody this principle. They make it possible for Scouts to advance through the program all the way through the rank of Eagle Scout. They see their work rewarded every time a Cub Scout earns a new badge and an Eagle Scout completes their project. The support for this organization is truly exceptional, and Wyoming is better for it. Mr. President, it is my pleasure to honor this historic milestone for the Greater Wyoming Council. Their centennial celebration is a recognition of all the hard work and preparation the council has done in the past 100 years and will continue to do for the next 100 years. Bobbi and I are proud of the Greater Wyoming Council and the community support behind it. We celebrate the century of Scouting in Wyoming and extend our congratulations.

Mr. BARRASSO

Mr. BARRASSO. Madam President, the fact is that America's firefighters put their lives on the line every day to keep people safe. They do it here at home, and they do it when they go abroad. This resolution applauds the brave men and women who responded to the Australian people in their hour of need. It also promotes the sharing of critical resources, research, and best practices. This will help us prevent and suppress future fires. Be assured that the American-Australian firefighting alliance will continue to protect us in the time of crisis. Our bipartisan resolution celebrates this enduring partnership. Thank you. I yield the floor.

Mr. BARRASSO. Madam President, I come to the floor today to honor the alliance we have between America and Australia. Specifically, I want to pay tribute to the partnership we have with regard to firefighting. America's century-old friendship with Australia has safeguarded two great nations. July of 2018 marked the 100th anniversary of our historic victory in the pivotal Battle of Hamel during World War I. The Australia, New Zealand, United States Security Treaty came together to cement this military alliance. Since that treaty was signed in 1951, we have always supported each other in times of crisis. It is this enduring spirit of mutual concern and cooperation and commitment that we celebrate today. Senator Ben Cardin of Maryland and I have put together a bipartisan resolution paying tribute to our firefighting alliance. In recent years, the United States and Australia have suffered some of the hottest, driest weather on record. As a result, we have seen longer, fiercer wildfire seasons. For over 15 years, the two nations have come together to battle some of the most damaging and deadly fires. In 2018, more than 100 Australians helped the United States combat wildfires ravaging the West Coast. For our part, U.S. agencies have been sending American firefighters to help the people of Australia. These agencies include the Bureau of Land Management, the Forest Service, the National Park Service, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the Fish and Wildlife Service. Most recently, 362 firefighters helped battle this season's brutal Australian brush fires. These brush fires burned over 30 million acres before the last fires were put out just this month. Tragically, three former American servicemembers died in a plane crash fighting the wildfires in Australia. One of these heroes, Ian McBeth of Montana, was actually a member of the Wyoming National Guard. Also killed were firefighters Paul Hudson of Arizona and Rick DeMorgan of Florida. This resolution honors their ultimate sacrifice. It also recognizes the sacrifices of all of the courageous American and Australian firefighters. I especially want to thank the 15 firefighters from my home State of Wyoming who assisted Australia: Travis Braten, Anna Cressler, Peter Freire, Kyle Miller, Chris Rankin, Eldred Slagowski, Traci Weaver, Timothy Haas, Richard Howe, Frank Keeler, Robert McConchie, Shane McCormick, Heath Morgan, Rance Neighbors, and Jonathan Ziegler. I ask unanimous consent that the complete list of all of the names of those U.S.-Australia brush fire firefighters be printed in the Record.

Mr. BARRASSO

Mr. BARRASSO. Madam President, I come to the floor today to address America's aging roads and bridges. Our highways are in need of repair all across the country. In some places, we actually need to rebuild new roads. That is why I, along with Senators Carper, Capito, and Cardin, have introduced America's Infrastructure Act. This bipartisan legislation is going to make a significant investment in our roads, in our bridges, and in our tunnels. It will fund our highways at historic levels. These investments are critical, but just as critical is speeding up government's approvals for important road projects. Last Congress, the Environment and Public Works Committee, which I chair, heard testimony about a highway project in my home State of Wyoming. The project took a decade--a full 10 years--to get the required permits--one after another after another--but then it only took a couple of months to get the project done. It is a project that is going to make our roads safer and more efficient, which was the whole desired effect of this project. It was held up because of 10 years of waiting for Washington permits. A decade to permit, months to build--any American with common sense knows that is absurd. America's Transportation Infrastructure Act cuts through Washington redtape so projects can get done faster, better, cheaper, and smarter. That is key. We used President Trump's One Federal Decision policy as a model. It is a great plan, a great policy put forward by the President. Under the policy, the President has set a goal for his administration of completing environmental reviews within 2 years. It is a goal I absolutely applaud. Our legislation will codify key elements of that policy into law. The bill will streamline duplicative requirements by many different Federal agencies on the same project. The permitting process will be simplified and will occur faster. Our bill also gives States increased flexibility--something States want. So Federal approvals can get moving and the project construction can get started sooner. It reduces the amount of paperwork needed from States to complete the projects. It is unacceptable that the Federal Government would hold up State projects and put drivers at risk. Washington should never prioritize paperwork, which is what Washington tends to do--prioritize paperwork over people's safety. America's Transportation Infrastructure Act cuts redtape. It makes safety a top priority. Our legislation is bipartisan, passing the Environment and Public Works Committee unanimously, 21 to 0. President Trump called on Congress to pass the bill. He did it during his State of the Union Address last month. This legislation is a win for the entire country. The time is now to pass America's Transportation Infrastructure Act so we can reduce the punishing and costly regulations and then do the important work of improving highway projects so that they can get built. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. BARRASSO. Madam President, I come to the floor tonight to briefly discuss a message from the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Chief Justice John Roberts. As you know, Chief Justice Roberts recently sat in the very chair, Madam President, in which you are sitting right now as he ably oversaw the impeachment trial. In a very rare admonition, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court this afternoon released a statement in response to statements made by the minority leader of the U.S. Senate, Chuck Schumer. The Senator, speaking outside the Court, across the street from this building, was at a protest while arguments were being heard inside the Court, and the comments made by Senator Schumer certainly appeared to threaten members of the Supreme Court. The video clip shows Senator Schumer saying this. He said: I want to tell you, Gorsuch. I want to tell you, Kavanaugh. These are members of the Supreme Court, confirmed by the Senate. He said: I want to tell you. . . . You have released the whirlwind, and you will pay the price. ``You will pay the price.'' Well, it can't be a political price because Justices serve for life. Either they die in office or they can resign, step down. There is no political price to be paid. To me, this sounds like he is talking about a physical price, violence. Now, Schumer told abortion rights advocates who were outside the Court these very things: I [will] tell you, Gorsuch. I [will] tell you, Kavanaugh. You have released a whirlwind, and you will pay the price. He goes on to say: You won't know what hit you. . . . You, members of the Supreme Court. He, the minority leader of the U.S. Senate, saying: You won't know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions. I believe these statements are outrageous; they are uncalled for; they are out of bounds; and on their face, they appear to invite violence against members of the U.S. Supreme Court. Let me just read to you what the Chief Justice said today in his release. Chief Justice Roberts responded: This morning, Sen. Schumer spoke at a rally in front of the Supreme Court while a case was being argued inside. He goes on to say: Sen. Schumer referred to two Members of the Court by name and said he wanted to tell them that ``you have released the whirlwind! And you will pay the price! You won't know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions.'' The Chief Justice continued: Justices know that criticism comes with the territory, but threatening statements of this sort from the highest levels of government are not only inappropriate, they are dangerous. He concludes by saying: All Members of the Court will continue to do their job, without fear or favor, from whatever quarter. That is the statement of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court referring to the actions by the minority leader, the Senator from New York, Chuck Schumer. We cannot tolerate political violence or threats of harassment. We as a body, as a community, as a country should be looking to elevate our debates rather than lower them, which is what, in my opinion, the minority leader did today. I hope the minority leader will think twice about comments like these in the future. I yield the floor.

Mr. BARRASSO

Mr. BARRASSO. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. BARRASSO. Madam President, I come to the floor today as a Senator as well as a physician. I want to do this to reassure the American people that we are doing everything possible to combat and contain the coronavirus. According to Johns Hopkins University, a well-known medical institution, we here in the United States are the most prepared Nation on the face of the Earth to protect ourselves in terms of preparation for an infectious disease like the coronavirus. Nevertheless, this virus is a global concern and is a problem with pandemic potential. We know the outbreak started in China. It goes without saying that we are deeply saddened by the loss of life there, as well as here and around the world. We are concerned about those currently suffering from the virus. Our focus continues to be on protecting the health and the well-being and the safety of the American people. That is where we need to focus. Notably, President Trump's early travel restrictions on China have actually helped slow the spread of the virus. He has since expanded these restrictions. The President, I believe, has acted swiftly, boldly, and decisively to contain the virus and to keep Americans safe. Still, this country is not a hermetically sealed bubble. It will never be--can't be. We are likely to see more cases here in the days and weeks ahead. We all must be prepared, and we must stay vigilant. Be assured, the Trump administration is fully engaged in responding to this virus. The United States has the best public health system in the world, and we have a plan in place to combat the coronavirus. Our public health experts are working to identify and isolate the virus, as well as to produce a vaccine. The fastest you can ever produce a vaccine is several years. We seem to be moving faster than that with regard to coronavirus. We have seen development, but even though it is moving faster than ever, it will still take a minimum of a year and 6 months to have a vaccine available and produced at a level that could actually impact the population of the country. Since it is a new virus, a new vaccine needs to be developed. The Vice President said over the weekend that we expect to have a vaccine available sometime next year, and I agree. Meanwhile, our strategy for testing, for isolation, and for quarantines right now is helping to lower the risks. Years ago, we created an infectious disease rapid response team. The goal was to make sure that we were ready if the time would come, and the time has now come. Test kits are becoming more widely available for States and communities. We heard today over the noon hour that they are expecting to have enough test kits available around the country so that, over the next week, we can test a million people. We are going to continue to use every available tool we can in this fight. The White House has created a Coronavirus Task Force led by Vice President Pence. The effort is headed by top officials at the Centers for Disease Control and the National Institutes of Health. I had a chance to visit with a number of them today, specifically the infectious disease group through the NIH. We have had a number of briefings through the Centers for Disease Control. We recently had a briefing by Dr. Anne Schuchat, the head of the Centers for Disease Control in the area helping with our efforts on coronavirus. As she has said, ``Our aggressive containment strategy here in the United States has been working and is responsible for the low level of cases that we have so far.'' Officials at the CDC and the National Institutes of Health are coordinating with other Federal officials, and they tend to be working around the clock. The administration is making sure that State and local officials have all of the resources they need to respond. Dr. Schuchat said that our healthcare system, our businesses, our communities, and our schools all have action plans. Senators have had a number of briefings from officials at the Centers for Disease Control and the National Institutes of Health. They are working on ways to identify the virus and test for the virus and ways to treat people who are infected by the virus. They are working on quarantines and on a vaccine. That is what they should be doing. This is a massive, nationwide undertaking. At every meeting--and I have been going to meetings on this since it was first noted around the beginning of the year. We know about the issue in China. People now know about the doctor who tried to get the word out to the world--who was the first to notice this specific new virus, the coronavirus. He was reprimanded by the Chinese for trying to do what he learned to do as a doctor, which was to share medical knowledge and information to try to get ahead of a disease that is progressing. He was reprimanded by the Chinese Government, and he has subsequently died of the disease. There are a number of us--and it is bipartisan--who would go as Senators to briefings. We have been going to briefings since the time of the impeachment. We would have impeachment in the afternoon and discussions about coronavirus in the morning. There has been a focus on this probably longer than most members around the country had been focused on it. At every meeting, we would ask the members of the Centers for Disease Control and National Institutes of Health: Do you have the funds you need for the things you need to do right now? At all of those meetings, they said: Yes, we have all we need. Now things have changed. They say they need additional funds, and they are right. We agree they need more funds for testing, treatment, and vaccine development. It is appropriate that Congress appropriate that money. Congress must act quickly and decisively in passing a bipartisan emergency funding bill. Both parties agree this effort has to be fully funded. We know the initial numbers discussed were only a starting point. We don't know what the total number is going to be, but the team is going to continue to have all the funds they need to deal with this disease. I find it very disturbing to see Democrats, especially those running for President, politicizing the issue. This is a headline in yesterday's New York Times: ``Democrats Hit Trump On Virus.'' They are talking about the Presidential candidates running for President, attacking President Trump on the virus. The coronavirus is a deadly disease. It is not a political tool to try to tar and feather President Trump. We need to be working on this together. This should not be about Democratic candidates trying to defeat President Trump but about defeating the coronavirus. That is what we ought to be focusing on. As a doctor, my focus is on the health of the American people. My advice for those who may be watching is the same commonsense advice you would take if you were saying ``I want to avoid getting the flu during flu season,'' and it is flu season as well. Cover your mouth when you cough. Wash your hands frequently. If you are sick, stay home. Those are the kinds of commonsense things people can do at home, not just to prevent the flu but also to protect themselves against the coronavirus. There is no reason for lots of anxiety or for panic. As a nation, we are in the right position to deal with the challenge we face. This administration will continue to do everything in its power to keep America and Americans safe. Now it is time for Congress to do its part--to pass the emergency legislation and get it to the President's desk. Thankfully, we are the most prepared Nation to face this challenge. We have harnessed all of the American energy and ingenuity and expertise we need for this fight. The key is for all of us to remain engaged and to remain vigilant. As a doctor, I am confident that we will be able to succeed together. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. BARRASSO

Mr. BARRASSO. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from Texas. (Mr. Cornyn), the Senator from South Carolina (Mr. Graham), the Senator from Oklahoma (Mr. Inhofe), the Senator from Arizona (Ms. McSally), the Senator from South Dakota (Mr. Rounds), the Senator from South Dakota (Mr. Thune), the Senator from North Carolina (Mr. Tillis), and the Senator from Pennsylvania (Mr. Toomey).

Mr. BARRASSO

Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. BARRASSO

Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I come to the floor today as the Democrats continue to scare the American public when it comes to their healthcare. This week's Democratic Presidential debate the other night in South Carolina was a free-for-all. Their frontrunner, a man I believe to be a dangerous democratic Socialist, Bernie Sanders, is in the spotlight, and he seems to be in the lead. Socialist tax-and-spend policies remain on full display. The top policy priority of the Democrats would destroy healthcare freedom in America. They are proposing a complete government takeover of our Nation's healthcare system--a complete government takeover. They call it Medicare for All, but let's take a look at what that actually means. It means that 180 million Americans who get their health insurance through work would lose that insurance. They would lose that health insurance. Washington bureaucrats would be in control of healthcare. The Sanders proposal has a price tag of $34 trillion--$34 trillion with a ``t.'' It would bankrupt the country and everyone in it. The only way to even try to pay for it is with massive, across-the-board tax hikes, and Bernie Sanders said he is willing to do it. Do not be deceived when they first talk about targeting the rich because the tax increases would hit working families and even people making $29,000 a year. That is according to Bernie Sanders' own math. And taxes are likely to double. Medicare for All would deliver a crushing blow not only to family budgets but I believe to the entire economy. It would end America's success story. Thanks to Republican tax and regulatory relief, we have a record- setting economy, record low unemployment, record job growth--7 million new jobs. Wages are rising. Middle-class wages and blue-collar wages are going up. It is a worker windfall, a blue-collar boom. A record 61 percent of Americans say they are better off financially than when President Trump took office. People are confident about the future, and the President's job approval is at an alltime high. Still, the 2020 Democrats don't seem to get it. You don't hear a positive word about the economy. Instead, Democrats seem to attack one another and try to move further and further to the Left. During the debate last week, the crowd actually booed a defense of free markets. Some Democratic candidates are proposing a scaled-back version of Medicare for All that they call a ``public option,'' but this proposal would create a government health plan to compete with work-sponsored health insurance. Don't be fooled--that public option would hurt patients across the country, especially people living in rural areas. It would disrupt insurance coverage, slash funding for doctors and hospitals, and would force local hospitals and clinics to close. Simply put, a public option is a pit stop on the road to 100 percent government-run healthcare in America. Clearly, Democrats are ignoring their own voters. Union workers across the country are telling Democrats: Don't touch our hard-earned healthcare benefits. People don't want radical healthcare schemes, which is what the Democrats are proposing. People care more about their pocketbooks. They want their own healthcare, but they want it at a lower cost. That is what I hear every weekend at home in Wyoming. Americans are struggling to pay for insurance premiums for doctors, for hospitals, and for prescription drugs. According to a new POLITICO- Harvard poll, 8 in 10 Americans--89 percent of Democrats and 76 percent of Republicans--want us to lower their healthcare costs. Seventy-five percent say we must lower the costs of prescription drugs. I agree. The Kaiser Family Foundation reports that nearly one in four people is having trouble paying for their prescriptions. But Socialist policies are the wrong medicine. They will only worsen the problems. Republicans are listening to people's concerns. We have commonsense solutions to lower out-of-pocket costs without lowering standards. I am a doctor, the husband of a breast cancer survivor, and the son of a 97- year-old mother. Let me assure you, Republicans will always protect vulnerable Americans, especially people with preexisting conditions. The Republican healthcare agenda is about giving patients more choices and better healthcare. It is about improving healthcare access and affordability. Working with President Trump, we are already providing much needed relief from costly ObamaCare taxes. These unfair taxes hurt working families, they hurt small businesses, they hurt seniors, and we have ended them. Now we are working to drive down drug costs. As part of this effort, in December, I joined six Republican Senators to introduce the Lower Costs, More Cures Act. This legislation would limit out-of-pocket drug costs for people with Medicare Part D plans. We also ended the drug price gag rule to help patients find more affordable drugs. We are working to end surprise medical billings. These unexpected, unreasonable, and unaffordable bills undermine families' finances. It is an intolerable practice, and it must stop. Republicans are delivering better healthcare. Still, to make more progress, we need Democrats to work with us. It is time to come together. It is time to cooperate. It is time to find common ground. I will tell you, taking away health insurance from 180 million Americans who get it through work is not common ground. There is no common ground. That is the direction of the Democratic Party. We need to find common ground. Taking insurance away from 180 million Americans who get it from work and then giving free health insurance to illegal immigrants and raising taxes from Americans to pay for it is not common ground. Let's work together to give patients the high-quality care they need from a doctor they choose at lower costs. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. BARRASSO

Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, Scott Sims and his family are ranchers at McFadden, in southeastern Wyoming. Scott also serves as president of the Wyoming Stock Growers Association. The Sims family are practitioners of holistic management and low-cost production. They believe they have a responsibility ``to take care of the land, with its weather, beauty, isolation and recreation. We strive to live independently and to follow our passion: with power of choice, faith in States rights, and freedom from excessive regulation.'' The values the Sims family follows in their work and lives are simple: honesty, respect, integrity, trust, fairness, tolerance, work ethic, self-work, and appreciation of each other and individual faiths. The Wyoming Stock Growers Association is making plans to celebrate their 150th anniversary in 2022. They are laying the groundwork for the association to begin its next 150 years of service to Wyoming's livestock businesses and families with a strong commitment to Wyoming's resources, the industry and their communities. In the Winter 2020 edition of Cow Country, the official magazine of the Wyoming Stock Growers Association, Scott authored an article titled ``Defining the Path Forward.'' I believe his words apply just as much to life in America today as they do to the association's planning for the next 150 years. I wish the Stock Growers all the best as they complete their first 150 years in Wyoming, and begin their next century of work on behalf of Wyoming's livestock producers. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that an article written by Scott Sims be printed in the Record.

Mr. BARRASSO

Mr. BARRASSO. Madam President, I come to the floor to support the two pro-life bills being considered this week and to stand with my friend and colleague from Nebraska in his efforts to promote the legislation that is before us, for both of these bills promote respect for innocent human life. Senator Lindsey Graham's Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act would ban nearly all abortions at 20 weeks of pregnancy. As a doctor, I know that it is medically proven that babies do feel pain at 20 weeks. Americans overwhelmingly oppose these third-trimester abortions. Yet the United States remains one of only seven countries in the world to allow abortions after 5 months. This group includes China, and it includes North Korea. We need to do much better. The Graham bill puts us on higher ground with the rest of the world. It says, at 5 months, which is 20 weeks, abortion on demand must stop. It includes exceptions for rape, for incest, and for the life of the mother. I strongly support this effort by Senator Graham, and I applaud him for his tremendous work on this issue. I also stand here on the floor to say I strongly support what Senator Sasse has been saying about his specific bill, the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act. Senator Sasse is another champion on life issues. The Sasse bill affirms that infanticide is illegal. It upholds the right of all U.S.-born babies to full medical care. Every baby born in this country deserves every chance to live. All doctors must do everything in their power to save babies who survive abortions. Both the Graham and the Sasse bills fully protect mothers from either prosecution or penalty. Both measures demonstrate character, and they demonstrate courage. These are bills that care for our children, and they do what is medically right. Thanks to all of those who work to protect innocent human life, we are here on the floor, debating, promoting, and asking for a vote to pass this legislation. I urge all Senators to support these life- affirming bills. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. BARRASSO

Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, during the State of the Union, President Trump called on Congress to rebuild America's infrastructure. He specifically asked Congress to pass America's Transportation Infrastructure Act ``to invest in new roads, bridges, and tunnels all across our land.'' The Senate is ready to answer President Trump's call. America's roads and bridges are important to every State, every community, and every Tribe in the Nation. The quality of our roads affects everyone. Our economy is built on a well-functioning road system that allows products from rural areas--like Utah, like Wyoming-- to get to our population centers. Interstates like I-80, in my home State of Wyoming, are critical arteries of commerce. America's roads create American jobs, move American products, and they fuel America's economy. In 2015, the U.S. transportation system moved a daily average of roughly 49 million tons of freight. That is an average of $53 billion worth of freight every single day. The quality of our roads has to keep pace. We must maintain and upgrade and, where necessary, build America's highway infrastructure. Last July, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, which I chair, unanimously passed America's Transportation Infrastructure Act. The vote was 21 to 0. I introduced this bipartisan bill with fellow leaders on the committee--Ranking Member Carper, Senator Capito, and Senator Cardin. This legislation will make a historic investment in our roads. America's Transportation Infrastructure Act authorizes $287 billion over 5 years from the highway trust fund. That is the largest investment in America's roads included in any highway bill ever passed by Congress. Our bill is going to help the entire country. Senators on our committee represent rural areas like Wyoming, Iowa, and Alaska and urban areas like New York, Chicago, and Baltimore. America's Transportation Infrastructure Act is a win for them all. Over 90 percent of the money in our legislation will go to States through highway formula funding. Formula funding gives each State the flexibility to address its specific surface transportation needs. The formula-based approach has been very successful in the past. It effectively and efficiently delivers infrastructure money to States, and they can make decisions as to which projects to pursue. America's Transportation Infrastructure Act maintains this important approach so States get the funds they need. America's Transportation Infrastructure Act also expands successful Federal loan leveraging programs. A single taxpayer dollar in one of these Federal loan programs can leverage 40 times that much in actual infrastructure spending. Between new authorizations, leveraging programs, State-match requirements, and input from other communities, our bill's total impact on infrastructure will be nearly half a trillion dollars. America's Transportation Infrastructure Act is momentous, and it must be responsibly paid for. When our committee passed the legislation, it included a commitment that the bill should be paid for. The Environment and Public Works Committee doesn't have jurisdiction over revenues for the highway bill. That is why I am working closely with Senate Finance Committee chairman Chuck Grassley to make sure this legislation is paid for. It is no silver bullet. We all need to find multiple sources of revenue. One thing the Democrats and Republicans agree on is that the people who use the roads should contribute to maintaining them. This must include drivers of electric vehicles. Right now, the drivers of electric vehicles contribute nothing to the highway trust fund. If these electric vehicles were contributing at a rate comparable to drivers in my home State of Wyoming, it would generate billions of dollars for road maintenance over the next decade. Electric vehicle fees alone won't pay for this legislation, but it is an important start. I am going to continue to work with Chairman Grassley to find responsible ways to fund the legislation. It is time to make a historic investment in America's roads and bridges. America's Transportation Infrastructure Act will grow our economy, improve the safety of our roads, and enhance the quality of life for the American people. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. BARRASSO

Mr. BARRASSO. Madam President, I come to the floor as the Democrats seem to be in complete disarray with the voting right now that is underway in New Hampshire. For all of their anger and for all of their outrage, they have failed to tap into all of the great things that I and the people of Wyoming see happening all across America. The Democratic primary voters in New Hampshire seem to be on the verge of nominating a Socialist for President of the United States. Any way you look at it, we have a strong, healthy, and growing economy, and a Socialist is now the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination for President. Socialist policies would bankrupt our country. What is the Democrats' top priority? It seems to be a complete government takeover of healthcare in America. That means, for the 180 million Americans who get their health insurance through their jobs, each and every one of them would lose it. Also, to pay for it, taxes would go up. They would go up significantly. This would be a crushing blow to the economy. The Democratic Party's sharp left turn has President Clinton's long- term strategist James Carville ``scared to death.'' On Friday, James Carville said: ``We have candidates . . . talking about open borders.'' He said: ``They're talking about doing away with nuclear energy and fracking.'' Then he added: ``You've got Bernie Sanders talking about letting criminals and terrorists vote from jail cells.'' During Friday's debate in New Hampshire--the one that was nationally broadcast--there was hardly a positive word from the Democrats about our country. Our booming economy continues to create jobs at a record pace--millions of jobs. In the last month alone, there were 225,000 new jobs. We have a 50-year low in unemployment in our country right now. It is a historical number. We have created opportunity for all Americans. Everyone is better off. Middle-class wages and blue-collar wages are way up. We have a middle-class and a blue-collar boom in this country. Americans realize it, and they have high hopes for the future. Still, the 2020 Democrats seem to have nothing positive to say about our economy and our country--no positive ideas, no positive vision, no positive agenda for the American people. Clearly, when I listen to them, it is all about grandstanding, not about governing. The Republicans, however, have a results-driven agenda. The economic renaissance that we are seeing is a direct result of Republican pro- growth policies. Tax and regulatory relief is what has mattered to this economy. Energy independence is what has mattered to this economy. Pro- worker and pro-farmer trade deals are what have made a difference for this economy. We remain focused on priority issues, like lowering the cost of healthcare, lowering the cost of prescription drugs, securing our border, and building and rebuilding our aging roads and bridges. As the President said just last Tuesday night during the State of the Union Address, ``The best is yet to come.'' I yield the floor.

Mr. BARRASSO

Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I come to the floor today following Senate acquittal in the impeachment trial of President Trump. After a 2-week trial, the U.S. Senate has delivered impartial justice. Make no mistake: Senate acquittal is the final judgment, forever clearing President Trump. The House clearly made serious mistakes. Never before has a President been impeached with no underlying crime, no defense counsel, and not a single Republican vote. It was purely partisan and totally political. The House overstepped its authority. The Senate, however, according to the Constitution, has the final word. The Senate followed the law. The Senate held a fair trial. We used the bipartisan Clinton trial format. These rules ensured both sides full and equal time. Let's not forget: In the House, the President's rights were ignored. He had no voice, no due process, no defense. The Senate allowed the President to defend himself, and his defense team presented a fact- based case. White House lawyers detailed the President's legitimate, long-held concerns over Ukraine corruption. The President's legal team made a strong case against the House impeachment articles. House managers, meanwhile, failed to prove their case. Rather than focus on facts, they appeared to be playing to the cameras. Incredibly, House managers attacked the Senate jury, accusing Republicans of ``corruption'' and ``cover-up.'' House managers played for time, repeating speeches, demanding more witnesses we didn't need. In reality, it was a weak case. There were no offenses that rose to the Constitution's requirement of ``Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.'' The House process was one-sided from the start. For political purposes, Speaker Pelosi rushed the impeachment vote by Christmas, claiming urgency. Then her sense of urgency disappeared. She proceeded to delay the Senate trial for 4 weeks. The Speaker waited 33 days to send us the Articles of Impeachment. This begs the question: Why delay the removal of a President the Democrats in the House claim is ``dangerous''? Still, the Speaker insisted this spectacle was ``solemn,'' even prayerful. Then came her strangely irreverent signing ceremony. Nothing says solemn like souvenir signing pens. The bottom line is: Partisan impeachment is poison--poison--for our democracy. Senate acquittal is the antidote. Impeachment has hurt and divided this country. It has also delayed important work on behalf of the American people. Congress needs to now come together and move forward. Look at the incredible results we are already seeing under this President. Thanks to tax and regulatory relief, our economy is booming. American workers are winning. We are seeing record job growth: 7 million new jobs, 500,000 new manufacturing jobs, and 50-year-low unemployment. Middle-class and blue-collar wages are rising. Household wealth is soaring. Consumer confidence is at record highs. Add to that the President's America- first trade deals. The U.S.-Mexico-Canada deal, deals with China, Japan, they are a boon for our farmers and for our workers. What is more, we have unleashed American energy. The U.S. is now No. 1 in oil and in natural gas. We no longer need Middle East oil. We have also confirmed 187 highly qualified Federal judges. Above all, we are keeping the country safe and secure. President Trump has completely rebuilt our military. Yet partisan impeachment has blocked progress. Congress has learned its lesson: Impeachment, if it is to ever happen again, must be bipartisan, fair, and rare. Senate acquittal is the final judgment. Now, we are back to work for the American people. We are looking forward to the important work ahead, to continuing our progress on priorities like lowering prescription drug costs, securing our border, and fixing our aging roads and bridges. The 2020 Presidential election is fast approaching. In fact, voting has already occurred in Iowa. It is time for the American people to decide who serves as President. It is time for Congress to get back to work. Thank you.

Mr. BARRASSO

Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I would like to take the opportunity to express my appreciation to Ryan for his hard work as an intern in the Senate Republican Conference. I recognize his efforts and contributions to my office, as well as to the State of Wyoming. Ryan is a native of New York. He is a graduate of the University of Buffalo, where he studied political science and business administration: human resources. He has demonstrated a strong work ethic, which has made him an invaluable asset to our office. The quality of his work is reflected in his great efforts over the last several months. I want to thank Ryan for the dedication he has shown while working for me and my staff. It is a pleasure to have him as part of our team. I know he will have continued success with all of his future endeavors. I wish him all my best on his journey.

Mr. BARRASSO

Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. Chief Justice, I send a question to the desk on behalf of myself and Senators Risch, Young, Fischer, Blunt, and Capito.

Mr. BARRASSO

Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. Chief Justice, I send a question to the desk on behalf of myself and Senators Risch, Hawley, and Moran.

Mr. BARRASSO

Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I rise today to honor the outstanding career of Dr. James J. Naramore. For over 40 years, Jim Naramore dedicated his life to caring for the people of Campbell County. Born and raised in Gillette, he is a graduate of Campbell County High School. He earned an undergraduate degree from John Brown University and earned his medical degree from the University of Utah. He completed his training in family medicine at the University of Nebraska. Gillette was fortunate when Dr. Naramore came home in 1978 for a temporary position in the emergency department at Campbell County Memorial Hospital. He returned permanently in 1980 and spent the rest of his career practicing at Family Health in Gillette, while also serving on the medical staff of the hospital. In addition, Dr. Naramore understood the importance of helping others enter the medical profession. Throughout his career, he taught and mentored the next generation of Wyoming physicians. He served as an instructor for the Department of Human Medicine at the University of Wyoming Family Practice residency, a preceptor for the Creighton University School of Medicine, and a preceptor for the physician assistant training program for both Creighton University and the University of Washington. He has also been active in teaching emergency medical technician classes. Finally, Dr. Naramore also has served as president of the Campbell County Medical Society, as well as serving on the Physician Advisory Council to the Wyoming Board of Medicine. For Dr. Naramore, practicing family medicine in Gillette was more than a profession. As a Gillette native, he understood the importance of giving back to his community. Throughout his career, he dedicated countless hours to making a real difference in his hometown. Dr. Naramore participated in the Gillette Area Leadership Institute, served on the board of directors of the Campbell County Chamber of Commerce, and was president of the Razor City Toast Masters. Finally, Dr. Naramore has served as president of Campbell County Medical Society, as well as serving on the Physician Advisory Council to the Wyoming Board of Medicine. In addition, he held numinous positions at Campbell County Memorial Hospital, including chairman of the Bylaws Committee, chief of the Family Practice Department, chief of the Department of Medicine, a member of the Credentials Committee, the Critical Care Committee. Most importantly he served as the hospital's chief of staff. In 2019, Campbell County Healthcare Foundation recognized Jim's contributions with their Outstanding Healthcare Award. Certainly, Jim's years of service to the health of Gillette and Campbell County made him an outstanding choice for this honor. With that being said, Jim Naramore is most proud of his outstanding family. His wife Karen has been at his side for over 47 years. Together they raised four children: Lindsay, Marissa, Jessica, and Marcus. Now they are enjoying their six grandchildren. Mr. President, it is my honor to recognize the outstanding career of Dr. James Naramore. Wyoming is fortunate to have physicians like Jim who go above and beyond to improve the health of their community.