Mike Braun

Mr. BRAUN

Mr. BRAUN. Mr. President, although I had prepared my remarks to address what many of my colleagues have just covered--and that would be the preposterous proposal of the Green New Deal--I want to take a little different angle. I think there is a point where so often those of us on the conservative side of the ledger, I think, get overwhelmed by the conversation being dominated by the other side. It is a fertile ground to want to try to use a better environment to parlay that incremental way into more government. I think what we have here is just like addressing healthcare costs. We had ObamaCare--the Affordable Care Act--which turned out to be the ``Uncomfortable Care Act,'' but there were issues that were valid. In my own company years ago, I was worried about it. I drafted a plan that was proactive, addressed high healthcare costs, and made the pledge that you should never go broke because you get sick or have a bad accident. I crafted a plan through the real world that cut costs, and my employees have not paid a premium increase in 9 years. I want to talk about the Green New Deal. I am a conservationist, and I am a member of the Nature Conservancy, as a business and an individual. We cannot let the other side co-opt the issue and preempt it because they think the argument is on their side. I am not going to belabor the point that I think it is preposterous. I want to make the point that if you think any of that can be done--whether it is $50 trillion or $93 trillion--keep in mind that we are running nearly trillion-dollar deficits. We are $22 trillion in debt. Does that sound like anything that the Federal Government could actually solve in a sustainable way when we are in a pickle like we are currently in? Until we change the dynamic here and get individuals who know how to do things where it works, in States like Indiana and in many States, and maybe let States have a bigger hand in the equation, where their budgets are balanced, where they have cash balances, and where it is not a false hope. Let's look at the particulars of what the Green New Deal is supposed to do in addition to cleaning up our environment, which we have made great strides with. It is being spun as an economic argument. It is the exact opposite of that. I want to challenge folks on our side of the ledger, from the practical side, to where we generally lose out on the general argument, and, incrementally, things change against us over time. We just had legislation pass in 2017. I want to tell this little story of what we did in our own special way. I am going to challenge enterprisers and I am going to challenge businesses across the country to think about this as a way to avoid that. In 2017 we had, in my opinion--for enterprisers, small businesses, and farmers; and I have been involved in both--the biggest opportunity that has come along in years. We are keeping more of our own resources and not sending it here to a broken institution that has given us all of these deficits and debt, but we have to do something with it. Back in January of 2018, my son, who is one of my three kids now in my business, said: Dad, let's take tax reform and share the benefits with employees. That is a great idea. I didn't think it would have a bigger political meaning until he said: Hey, let's put it in the company memo that it is due to tax reform. We have taken, in my mind, the biggest thing we could do--whether you want to return the dividends into the environment, into higher wages, or into whatever you want to do--and we have had less than a year to run with it. All I know is that like many companies in Indiana, we lowered healthcare costs and flattened them for 9 years. We raised 401(k) benefits. We started quarterly bonuses instead of just annual ones. We are doing what I think this country needs to do--quit looking to the Federal Government to solve all of our problems, even when they have an argument like that we need to further improve our environment, that we need to avoid what could possibly be a catastrophe down the road, where we do stick our head in the sand. Don't look to this institution to do it because I don't think you can credibly say that you can do anything in the context of the product that has been delivered over the last decade or two. States, individuals, businesses, organizations--but especially businesses, because we have reaped the benefits, in my opinion, of the biggest legislation that has occurred in decades--must put our money where our mouth is, where my company's is. Invest in your employees and change the system from the bottom up, not from the top down.

Mr. BRAUN

Mr. BRAUN. Mr. President, I rise today in one of the hottest economic environments our Nation has ever seen. The last time American unemployment was this low, the Beatles were at the top of the charts and I was a starting forward on the JV basketball team back in Jasper, IN. The last time U.S. stocks had a January as good as this last month, the Hoosiers were on their way to a national championship under Coach Bobby Knight. Last night, President Trump outlined the incredible economic success and progress our country has made in the last 2 years, and it is times like these that drive home the point that we all already know: Business is the engine that drives the American economy, not government. Entrepreneurs--from titans of large industry to mostly Main Street entrepreneurs--are the force that generates prosperity, not politicians. America's true power is held in our local chambers of commerce, not in the Chambers of Congress. Our best wisdom comes from the factory floor, not the Senate floor. Businesspeople understand what makes the economy tick, and with someone like President Trump at the helm, the true potential of the American economy is being unleashed. GDP and job growth numbers have never been like this. During the Obama administration, these numbers were scoffed at as not being attainable. Now it is happening. We have to keep that in mind. President Obama offered us 8 years of stagnation and cynicism. President Trump has offered optimism, bold leadership, and the deep understanding of what makes a business boom that could only come from the experience of somebody from the real world, an entrepreneur. Like the President, I built my life in business over many years. I started back in 1981 with just a few employees. Our original office was in a mobile home on a rock lot--a very hardscrabble existence. I think of all the time invested. For 17 years, we hovered as a small business. Patience and persistence underlie everything that really works in this economy and in this world. We lived within our means, and we reinvested in our own success in good times and bad. And this story is being played out across the country. President Trump's Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is the most significant pro- growth legislation that has come out of Washington since I have been paying attention. As I said, that has been 37 years. For my company, the Trump tax cuts were the biggest capital infusion we had ever seen. Like the President, I have been blessed in that three of my four kids work in my business. When tax reform was signed into law, I believe back in December of 2017, one of my sons came to me and said: Dad, we need to take these savings--we are sending less to DC. Let's do something with them. I said: What did you have in mind? He said: I would like to share these benefits with our employees. I said: Well, particularly, what did you have in mind? He said: I would like to raise 401(k) benefits. I would like to start quarterly bonuses. We always did an end-of-the-year bonus. He said: I would like to cut family healthcare costs by $1,400 per family. We had held them flat for 9 years. I said: Wow, I wish that had been my idea. I like it. He said: The other thing is, I would like to put in the company memo that this is due to tax reform. I entered politics long ago--I was on a school board for 10 years, 3 years as a state legislator--and I knew you had to be careful when you mixed business with a political statement. I asked him to talk it over with his brother, who I thought might want to just give the benefits and not make a political point out of it. He said: Dad, you are the CEO. What do you think? I said: Put in the company memo that this is due to tax reform. As conservatives, we need to be proud of it. That is exactly what we did. Regulatory cuts and tax reform are never going to make headlines, but Americans are seeing the results in real dollars and cents in their paychecks and their 401(k)s. It is clear that when government gets out of the way of enterprisers, the rising tide of prosperity lifts all ships. If my fellow Republicans and conservatives ever want to win again, it is incumbent upon us to make the case that this economy is due to the fact that the administration and the Republican Congress created the stage for this economic boom that we are within. It is also incumbent upon employers across the country to make sure you share these benefits with your employees. If that is not done, we are going to waste an opportunity. The reason this is so critical is that there are a lot of folks who have a different point of view. The Democrats have a proposal that basically is this: more taxes, more debt, probably more regulations, and taking steps down the pathway, I think, to a socialist catastrophe like the daily horrors we see in Venezuela, embracing a failed ideology that has not worked anywhere else. Promising free college, free insurance, and never being able to pay for it may be a good way to win votes in 2020, but it is no way to run a country. Sooner or later, somebody gets stuck with the bill. If we fail to confront this creeping threat to our free market principles now, our children and grandchildren will pay dearly. Again, it is so incumbent upon us to take this opportunity and run with it as business owners so we can put it into practice where everybody is feeling the benefits beyond what they have so far. If we want to keep President Trump's economic rally going, create more opportunity for Americans to live their America dream, and make the clear choice between pro-growth policy and a dissent toward socialist calamity, more business people, as well, need to step out of their comfort zone and run. Try to become a State legislator. Get involved. Run for Congress. Run for the Senate. I did it out of nowhere, when nobody thought it could be done. If we want our system to work the way it should when it works best for all, we need to make sure that message is getting heard. Let's keep it booming. Let's keep this thing going. Participate. Get involved. I yield back my time.

Mr. BRAUN

Mr. BRAUN. Mr. President, I came here mostly to support my colleagues and to actually listen for an objection to a bill like this. For the short time I have been here, what a rude awakening as to what can happen. Everything I have heard here makes sense, and I would just ask for the citizens across this country and for Hoosiers to weigh in. Let your Senators know that this is a step too far when something like this occurs in this Chamber, when it is crystallized so simply. You are either for or against infanticide, and I never imagined I would be seeing this so early in my tenure here. I ask for the folks across this country to make their voices heard because this is a tragedy that has happened. I yield the floor.