Mike Braun

Mr. BRAUN

Mr. BRAUN. Madam President, this past year has been hard on Hoosiers and Americans across the country. When the economy was shut down, Congress got to work. Given my background as a business owner, I was involved in negotiating the Paycheck Protection Program, known as PPP, as part of the CARES Act, one of five bills that passed in 2020 with overwhelming support, I think 90-plus votes. We worked it out, Democrats and Republicans, together. Those COVID-related packages totaled $4 trillion, and we didn't have a penny saved up ahead of time to prepare for it. That is part of a deeper problem with this institution, is that we borrow anything that we spend money on, even 23 percent of our annual operating budget. To put that in perspective, imagine if you had a business doing $100,000 in revenue, and you are losing $23,000, and then you go to your banker and expect them to bail you out. It wouldn't make sense. We came into 2021 with over $1 trillion from those packages unspent, unobligated. Instead of working with us like before, Democrats did shut us out of the process. In fact, the Senate as a whole did not work the bill through committees. It was laid to us, on the Senate, by the House, all $1.9 trillion of it. Before this, some Republicans went to the White House to talk with the President about a bipartisan plan, knowing all the money would be borrowed again, but nothing came to fruition. Instead, we stayed up all night; finished the bill at noon the next day, Saturday; spent 29 hours on the floor, and not a single Republican amendment was adopted in this massive spending bill. Instead of focusing on the virus and getting our economy back on track, this became an exercise in ramming something through that was a liberal wish list. Only 1 percent of the bill--1 percent of the bill-- went toward the vaccine. Less than 9 percent goes toward COVID-19 public health issues generally. While the Congressional Budget Office projects the economy to return to prepandemic levels by midyear, only 5 percent of the $130 billion for K-12 schools gets spent this year, and none of it is tied to reopening our schools, which many States had shut down early and opened up late. Included in this package is a whopping $350 billion for State and local governments. I had a conversation with our own Governor 2, 3 weeks ago. A place like Indiana, and I believe West Virginia as well, probably runs balanced budgets. We do it with the guardrail of a constitutional amendment. Many other States, if they don't have a constitutional amendment, they have a statute. In other words, you do what households do. You do what all businesses do. You live within your means. And here, when you run your State governments in a way that in good times, you can't make ends meet, and you look to the Federal Government to bail out your bad governance, it is a whole nother issue. Even left-leaning economists and think tanks are worried about what this is going to do down the road because most of the time, you don't feel the repercussions until later. And, of course, that could show up in inflation. It could show up in a way similar to what we dealt with in the late seventies and the early eighties. Forty-four States had surpluses last year, when you look at COVID funding. Many places, like California, had surpluses. Then they reconfigured how this was done not based on pro rata population but rewarded the States with the highest unemployment levels. It sounds bizarro to me. Governor Holcomb in Indiana has done a great job balancing the economy with public safety, and that is why our unemployment rate is now close to a full employment rate. It was the lowest in the Midwest going into it because we have a good business climate, and we have a low cost of living. Things work there. Sadly, the Democrats' bill punishes States like Indiana for safely reopening. The higher a State's unemployment rate, again, the more bailout money you get proportionately. But it goes one step further, and this is the part that caught my attention. I am interested in hearing the explanation for it. I think it was a sneaky maneuver when you put it in such a large bill that had other doozies like stimulus checks for undocumented immigrants, for felons, all kinds of stuff that I think, when you look at it, shouldn't have been in there. But when it is that massive--it takes 10, 11 hours to read out loud--you are going to get some of that. What this does is say that if a State takes Federal money, they cannot lower their State taxes in any way through 2024. First of all, I believe this is unconstitutional and coercive. Second, we should never punish States for putting taxpayers first. We serve the public and should be good stewards of their money, and especially a place like this that runs the way it does day in and day out should not be telling States that run their operations responsibly that they cannot do what they want with spending or taxation. My bill strikes the provision that prohibits States' ability to change revenues as they see fit for their State's unique needs. Second, my bill strips out the reporting requirement where States have to tell the Federal Government about every revenue source and amount of money they take in. This place ought to be doing that routinely to all the people who send it revenue. This bill has the support of over 25 groups, including the American Legislative Exchange Council, Americans for Prosperity, Americans for Tax Reform, Citizens Against Government Waste, Club for Growth, FreedomWorks, Heritage Action for America, Independent Women's Forum, and the National Taxpayers Union, among others. We expect many more to join in coming days. I am sure many stakeholders in Indiana and in West Virginia not mentioned will throw in support as well. Lastly, I would like to thank the Finance Committee ranking member, Senator Crapo, for cosponsoring this legislation--and others, including Senators Blackburn, Capito, Inhofe, Marshall, Rubio, Rick Scott, Tillis, and Senator Young from my home State. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Finance be discharged from further consideration of S. 730 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration. I further ask that the bill be considered read a third time and passed and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. BRAUN. My friend from West Virginia explained why this won't impact Governors and legislatures in terms of what they can do with their own fiscal policy. I would say my friend the Senator from West Virginia probably ought to check with Governor Justice and his legislature to see if they are on the same wavelength there. When we got input in bringing this up as an issue and when you are talking about the American Legislative Exchange Council, Americans for Tax Reform, Citizens Against Government Waste--I won't repeat the rest of the list--I think it would get down to semantics in this sense: What do you do if you want to cut tax rates? Then, just like pre-COVID, we cut taxes, and revenues went up for 3 to 4 years. How do you measure that complicated equation? In many cases, when you cut rates, you find a new sweet spot where you generate more tax revenue. How would you sort all of that out? Then, if it were not based upon penalizing States that are most apt to lower their tax rates because of how good their economies were pre-COVID, it would be a different issue as well. So I am willing to listen in terms of how that does play out, but for now, I am going to view it as something, I think, that is not going to sit well with many States, their Governors, or their legislatures and that has a possibility of being taken to court as being something that might be unconstitutional. If I am off base, I am willing to listen, but I will probably have to bring some other parties in to make sure that this isn't a case of semantics and is real according to the way you explain it.

Mr. BRAUN. Yes, I will yield.

Mr. BRAUN. Will the Senator yield?

Mr. BRAUN

Mr. BRAUN. Madam President, I have come to the floor several times in the little over 2 years I have been here, and a common theme--and I think we all know it as Senators--is that our healthcare system is broken. It is driven by misaligned industry incentives that promote opaque, behind-the-scenes pricing maneuvers at the expense of patients and healthcare consumers. Increased transparency is the key to fixing our broken healthcare system. It will allow Americans to have skin in the game and deal directly with their healthcare providers to make informed decisions. They cannot do that very well currently. Pulling the curtain back on a healthcare system to restore market forces, which aren't really there now, to increase innovation and competition, particularly in regard to price, quality, and service--you do that with anything else. A consumer is engaged, they are informed, and you have many competitors competing for their business. In order for Americans to regain their sovereignty in a healthcare system, you need the ability to be able to navigate accordingly. Congress must act to provide Americans with these tools before we try to throw more government at a broken healthcare system. Government pays for a portion of healthcare; more is paid through the private sector. If we reform it, it makes it less expensive for both payers. To give you an example, sometimes what you hear here sounds like it is theoretical, hypothetical. I took on the cause roughly 12, 13 years ago in my Main Street enterprise that was just starting to grow, doing the things it was supposed to do, and that is transportation distribution. Then all of a sudden, healthcare becomes a subset of your business, and about the only solution you would get each year is, well, you are lucky it is not going up more than 5 or 10 percent. I heard that too many years in a row. I was sick and tired of that being what I would have to live with as a CEO who had a healthy, successful business other than the healthcare component. What did I do? Healthcare plans are basically made up of three or four features. You have your deductible. Ours had risen more than I was willing to take it up any higher. The only way you could buy premiums down would be to do that or change underwriters every 2 or 3 years. That gets to be a hassle as you become a larger company, and the profits were so great then for people who did it, you could end up bringing your cost down. Well, then you were right back in the old groove of, you are lucky it is only going up 5 to 10 percent the next year on renewal. You also have coinsurance. Most people don't worry about that until they get significantly ill or have a bad accident. That is the percentage you have to pay once you exceed your deductible. When you have those variables, you have one other item that almost everyone loves in their plan, and that is a low copayment. Those copayments are paid for in the high premiums, but it is because they constitute nearly 25 percent of most healthcare plans, and that is to keep skin out of the game for the people who use the system. Well, I was going to do something different and decided to limit that expense when you really get sick or have a bad accident, covered coinsurance through the company, and asked my employees to engage from dollar one in shopping around and see if that would work. Lo and behold, it has now been 13 years, and we have been able to keep a good plan in place, lower family healthcare premium contributions, and have not had a premium increase. What is it based upon? It is finding the meager transparency that was out there 12, 13 years ago and enhancing it over time. To give an example, if you pick up the phone, you get on the web, you will find anywhere from 30, 50, 60, 70 percent savings. Procedures like MRIs, CAT scans, colonoscopies can run anywhere from 700 to 3,000 bucks. Your insurance companies seem to always shove you to the most expensive one. They give you these huge discounts, take their margin out of it, and it still costs you a bundle. When the consumer gets engaged, you will see prices start to come down. LASIK surgery is the best example, where you have no insurance involved. Ten, fifteen years ago, that could be up to $2,000 an eye. Now, it is advertised heavily, providers go after their customers, and you can probably get it done for as little as $250 to $500 an eye, with better quality. That sounds like a lot of other areas of our economy that actually work. Last Congress, I put healthcare transparency at the forefront of my agenda and have definitely been the most outspoken Senator that we have a broken system; put almost all the blame on the industry itself because it does not give us transparency. It does not want to compete. The healthcare customer is somewhat to blame because they don't want to pay for anything. And I don't think the answer is bringing more government into it until you reform the system. We need to shine light on the dark corners and the misaligned incentives embedded in the current system. Among the bills I will reintroduce this Congress is the Healthcare PRICE Transparency Act. Every Senator should want to be on that bill to hold the industry accountable. This will empower patients through transparency. It will drive competition among hospitals and insurers by requiring them to publicly disclose their prices so patients can compare between providers and insurers. Last Congress, a number of my colleagues joined in my effort to bring more transparency and affordability to healthcare consumers. I am excited to reintroduce the Healthcare PRICE Transparency Act soon and hope all of my colleagues will join in so that we can collectively lower healthcare costs before we try to get more government involved I yield the floor.

Mr. BRAUN

Mr. BRAUN. Mr. President, today I rise to ask that the Senate grant unanimous consent to pass a bill that restores parents' rights to be part of medical decisions for their children. More than 70 percent of Americans agree that parents should have the legal right to stop an abortion from being performed on their minor child. Consequently, more than half of the States have laws on the books that require some form of parental notification. Unfortunately, the State laws cannot be fully enforced when children travel over State lines or abortion providers assist minors in circumventing State laws. More troubling, evidence has surfaced in recent years that abortion clinic staff deliberately fail to report suspected cases of statutory rape as required by Federal law. In some cases, staff even help to hide these crimes from parents and law enforcement An undercover operation revealed that a disturbing 91 percent of Planned Parenthood employees agreed to help conceal an instance of statuary rape when a caller posing as a 13-year-old girl indicated she wanted to conceal a relationship with a 22-year-old boyfriend by getting an abortion. This too often means that children seeking abortions are left alone and vulnerable when making a very difficult decision. My bill, the Parental Notification and Intervention Act, would combat the troubling trend that cuts parents out of medical decisionmaking. The bill prohibits an abortion provider from performing an abortion on an unemancipated child without written notification to parents. This creates legal protections for parents and ensures that children are not left alone or unsupported when making difficult medical decisions with long-lasting consequences. Mr. President, as if in legislative session, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be discharged from further consideration of S. 294 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration. Further, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read a third time and passed and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. BRAUN

Mr. BRAUN. Mr. President, I call up my amendment No. 833 and ask that it be reported by number.

Mr. BRAUN. Mr. President, my amendment helps ensure that the EPA cannot, through regulation or otherwise, ban fracking in the United States. This is an issue of energy independence, locking in our CO2 emissions reduction provided by clean natural gas, and it gives us time to find the cleanest, least expensive options down the road. Due to our American renaissance, the United States passed Russia as a leading energy supplier in 2011 and passed Saudi Arabia in 2018. But fracking has been a boon to the economy as well. According to the Global Energy Institute, if fracking were banned in 2021, the U.S. economy would lose 19 million jobs in 4 years, local and State tax revenues would plummet, and gas prices would double. This is why President Biden promised: We will not ban fracking; we will protect and grow jobs. Yet many in this body have called to ban fracking. The American people deserve to know who stands with energy security and American workers. I ask my colleagues to support this amendment.

Mr. BRAUN

Mr. BRAUN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to legislative session and be in a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.

Mr. BRAUN

Mr. BRAUN. I ask unanimous consent that the Wicker substitute amendment at the desk be agreed to and that the bill, as amended, be considered read a third time.

Mr. BRAUN

Mr. BRAUN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 524, S. 481.

Mr. BRAUN

Mr. BRAUN. I ask unanimous consent that the committee-reported amendments be withdrawn; that the Moran substitute amendment at the desk be agreed to; that the bill, as amended, be considered read a third time and passed; and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. BRAUN

Mr. BRAUN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions be discharged from further consideration of H.R. 2468 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

Mr. BRAUN. I ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read a third time.

Mr. BRAUN. I know of no further debate on the bill.

Mr. BRAUN. I ask unanimous consent that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. BRAUN

Mr. BRAUN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions be discharged from further consideration of S. 1681 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

Mr. BRAUN. I ask unanimous consent that the Alexander substitute amendment at the desk be agreed to that the bill, as amended, be considered read a third time and passed; and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. BRAUN

Mr. BRAUN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation be discharged from further consideration of H.R. 6435 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

Mr. BRAUN. I ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read a third time and passed and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. BRAUN

Mr. BRAUN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs be discharged from further consideration of H.R. 6192 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

Mr. BRAUN. I ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read a third time and passed and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. BRAUN

Mr. BRAUN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs be discharged from further consideration of H.R. 1923 and that the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

Mr. BRAUN. I ask unanimous consent that the Cortez Masto amendment, which is at the desk, be considered and agreed to; that the bill, as amended, be considered read a third time and passed; and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. BRAUN

Mr. BRAUN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the applicable committees be discharged and the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of the following bills en bloc: H.R. 3976, H.R. 5597, H.R. 7810, H.R. 5972, H.R. 4988, H.R. 5123, H.R. 5451, H.R. 5983, H.R. 6418, H.R. 7088, H.R. 7502, H.R. 8611, H.R. 6161, S. 4971, and S. 4857.