Daniel Coats

Mr. COATS

Mr. COATS. I thank my colleague.

Mr. COATS. Mr. President, if I could respond to my colleague, many of us have been on the list also, and we also have been waiting hours and hours and hours--patiently waiting. Again, working down through the list was not followed by the opposition. I am simply saying that what was asked just a few moments ago was not objected to. When Members on the other side of the aisle had their opportunity to speak, we were patiently waiting. They have left the floor. There is no one on their side who has not spoken. I don't see what the problem is. The Senator from Oregon wants to file a list, but no one on the list on the other side is here. We are going to speak for a limited amount of time, and we have been waiting 3 hours to do so. So I am hoping my colleague would allow us to do that.

Mr. COATS. Mr. President, a number of us have been waiting for several hours to speak. We understand the concerns of our colleagues across the aisle. We have been patiently waiting. I believe they have finished their remarks. I would say that there were a lot of remarks directed across the aisle. There are several of us over here who are in support and voted for the issue of the day here. If only our Republican friends could join us, they said, we wouldn't be in this situation. Several of us have supported this. Given the circumstances here at the end of the year with making sure we keep funding for government functions and not have it shut down, the agreement that has now been reached is a reasonable agreement that obviously will be taken up again in the next Congress. I won't be here. I supported it this year. I know a number of my colleagues have supported it. Many of us are from coal country and understand the concerns. But the larger issue for us is not to go into another shutdown. I have served in the Senate for many years, and there has been nothing more disruptive that produces more uncertainty among businesses and individuals and employees throughout this country than the Congress not doing its job and providing funding for them and shutting down the government. Having said that, I ask unanimous consent that following what we have just heard, Senator Gardner have the opportunity to speak, I think for a relatively limited time, that I follow him, and I believe Senator Sullivan also wishes to come to the floor and speak.

Mr. COATS. Mr. President, as my time in the Senate winds down, I find myself reflecting on many of the reasons I decided to return to the U.S. Senate. Without a doubt, one of the main factors for my return was the skyrocketing Federal debt and the harm Washington's excessive spending will have on future generations, including my children and 10 grandchildren. The day President Obama took office, the national debt was $10.6 trillion. We are now closing in on $20 trillion. Clearly, this cannot be sustainable without extraordinarily negative consequences for the future. That debt clock continues to tick along, and we continue to roll into more and more debt as we spend more and more on government programs than the revenue coming in to pay for them. So when I returned to the Senate in 2011, I sought out opportunities to address this ticking timebomb. I worked with my colleagues, both Republicans and across the aisle with Democrats, on efforts to restrain Federal spending and stabilize our Nation's finances. There were a number of efforts made. We are all familiar with Simpson-Bowles, a bipartisan effort that tragically did not succeed and was not accepted by the President. The Committee of 6--the Gang of 6, the so-called Gang of 6, three Democrats, three Republicans, seriously, fastidiously worked to try to put together a formula to put us on a path to fiscal responsibility. Then there was the supercommittee, and there were outside groups led by both Republicans and Democrats. Ultimately, we hoped we were finalizing the efforts when the President, through his own initiative across the aisle, brought several of us into his venue and talked about how we could work together. I was part of that effort. Ultimately, eight of us, spending a considerable amount of time with the President's top people and the President himself, tried to find a solution or at least a step forward in the right direction. I am sorry to say that also did not succeed in the end, when even some of the President's own budget initiatives he had proposed were rejected by him later as part of a package. When it became clear to me that major reform efforts could not be enacted while the administration occupied the White House, I launched a new initiative which I called the ``Waste of the Week.'' I decided that each week when the Senate was in session, I would speak about documented and certified examples by nonpartisan agencies--those we turn to, to give us the numbers, those inspectors general who have investigated the situation and made recommendations, the Government Accountability Office--and all the material that is provided to us, not on a partisan basis but simply the numbers, just the facts in terms of how taxpayers' money is being spent. Today marks the 55th and final ``Waste of the Week'' speech. It may be fittingly so on what looks to be the last day of this session and my last day serving in the United States Senate. It is a little bit of walking down memory lane in terms of talking about the ``Waste of the Week'' and the various items we have proposed. It has been everything from the serious to the ridiculous, which grabs people's attention: Look, I can understand maybe this particular situation where we overspent, but, come on, clearly, surely, we weren't using taxpayer dollars for something as ridiculous or embarrassing as that. I will mention a few of my favorite examples here that we have talked about. Fraudulent double-dipping in Social Security disability insurance and unemployment insurance benefits to the tune of $5.7 billion that was spent through basic fraud by those who were submitting applications for and receiving payments for both. Look, if you can work but are thrown out of work, unemployment insurance is available to you. If you are disabled and can't work, Social Security Disability payments are made to you, but you can't collect both, and people were collecting both, to the tune of $5.7 billion. Fraud in the Food Stamp Program. People were fraudulently receiving up to a total of 3 billion documented dollars in that program. Department of Agriculture payments to dead people resulted in over $27 million of payments. These are the things that were presented. We were talking about several hundreds of millions of dollars and even billions of dollars. Something that grabbed the most attention was a study by a National Institutes of Health which was issued in which 18 New Zealand white rabbits received four 30-minute massages a day. The study was conducted at Ohio State University and designed to figure out whether massages can help recovery times after strenuous exercise. I raised the question: Did we need to bring over 18 white New Zealand rabbits? I don't know what the cost was, but I think we probably could have found some rabbits in the United States at much less cost. Nevertheless, the study went forward, and, guess what. The results were that after four massages a day after strenuous exercise, they felt better than if they didn't get the massages. I wanted to apply for that process there, but I learned they euthanized the rabbits after the study was done. So I thought, well, it is a good thing I didn't join that effort. Nevertheless, I was thinking, couldn't they just ask the Ohio State football team after a practice: Hey, guys, we are going to divide you in two categories. This category over here is not going to get massages after our strenuous practice sessions and this half is going to get the massages and we will see if the guys who get the massages feel better than the guys who didn't. I think they would have saved the taxpayers a considerable amount of money. I don't see why the National Institutes of Health can come to the conclusion that a grant request for massaging rabbits is a good use of taxpayer money. That is just 4 out of the 54 I have talked about. That is my walk down memory lane, but the total amount of the waste identified through these 54 examples adds up to more than $350 billion. We are down here arguing now about payments on a program, and we are talking about--well, we can't fund this, we can't fund that, that is an essential program, the Defense Department needs more money, the National Institutes of Health needs more money for cancer research, but we don't have any more money to give them. Why not take actions to stop this waste, fraud, and abuse or, better yet, why not, not ask the taxpayer for this money in the first place? Why should the taxpayer be sending money to Washington to see that the accomplishment is waste, fraud, or abuse? I am pleased to note we have actually had some success in addressing some of this wasteful spending highlighted in these speeches. Last year, the Congress approved legislation that will finally--finally-- phase out the so-called temporary tax credit for wind energy--a credit that was supposed to expire over 20 years ago. We were promised that this is a study to get it started and see if it works to get enough wind energy at a cost that the public could afford and see this as a way of providing alternative energy, but, boy, once something is on the books, it gets reauthorized and reauthorized over and over. And for 20 years it is: Oh, we just need it 1 more year. We just need it one more time. On and on it goes. Finally--finally--we have seen action taken by the Congress to complete this phaseout program, which will essentially save taxpayers billions of dollars and reduce the government's involvement in picking winners and losers through tax policy. Congress also approved a measure I introduced to improve compliance in higher education tax benefits. By simply adding language to require proof of eligibility for certain tuition tax credits, we saved taxpayers over half a billion dollars in improper payments. Recent Defense authorization bills have included provisions to reform the defense contracting process, which will help cut down on billions of waste. Of course, more work is still needed in this area, as a recent report identified as much as $125 billion in wasteful spending at the Department of Defense. I am a strong proponent of a strong national defense, but when we find that well over $100 billion has been misspent, we are compromising our national security, and we are not giving our soldiers, sailors, marines, Coast Guard, and others all the resources they need to provide for our national security the way it needs to be provided for. Today I am here for my 55th and final ``Waste of the Week.'' I want to talk about relatively modest--it is amazing you can say this. Only here in this Chamber, only in Washington is $48 million called ``modest'' because we talk in billions and trillions. Anyway, $48 million in Medicaid funding for drugs to treat hair loss--not hair loss for therapeutic reasons, not hair loss as a result of cancer treatments, but for cosmetic purposes. Medicaid is paying out $48 million to provide for measures that will help reduce hair loss. I want to stress that Medicaid is part of our Nation's safety net, to help those in need. That is all the more reason we have to ensure that Medicaid is run effectively and efficiently to have the financial resources to help low-income families gain access to medical care. This also means we have to protect Medicaid by ensuring that its finances are not used for medically unnecessary services. There are certain medical services that all State Medicaid plans are mandated to provide, and then there are a number of additional services that are optional for States to cover. One of these services includes drugs to treat cosmetic hair loss. This is not hair loss due to an underlying medical issue, as I mentioned; this is hair loss that just happens, often as we age. The treatments paid by Medicaid are for cosmetic purposes only. I think all of us would love to have a full head of hair, and I speak as one who falls in that category. As I look around the Senate Chamber, I see others who have joined me in watching the hair fall off their head and looking in the mirror and saying: How many hairs did I lose last night, and when is this going to end? Losing your hair is not always fun, but I promise you, as someone who has been through all of this--and you are not alone--soon enough you will simply accept the fact that while you won't make the finals in the 50 Most Beautiful People in America, life will go on. According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, the Federal Government could save $48 million over 10 years by not paying for this cosmetic hair loss treatment. While this may seem like a small amount of money compared to our nearly $20 trillion national debt, it is yet another example of unnecessary use of hard-earned taxpayer dollars. Fortunately, the Senate recently passed legislation that included a provision to end the Federal reimbursement for cosmetic hair loss, and that bill, fortunately, is on the way to the President for signature into law. By bringing attention to some of these issues, we have been able to take legislative action to try to address and keep unnecessary spending off the charts. To conclude, while today marks the end of the ``Waste of the Week,'' I want to implore my colleagues in the House and Senate to keep going, to keep fighting to stop wasteful spending. I also want to acknowledge that my staff over the period of time, at different times, as they were working on this project, provided to me the examples, and they dug in and did their research so that I could come to the floor to make these points and hopefully, hopefully save the taxpayer hard-earned dollars that shouldn't have been sent to Washington in the first place but were not used wisely and efficiently when they came here. I particularly want to thank the following members of my staff: Paige Hanson, Ansley Rhyne, Aaron Smith, Amy Timmerman, Kristine Michalson, Matt Lahr, and Viraj Mirani. Our former Governor, my friend Mitch Daniels--former Governor of Indiana and the current president of Purdue University--famously said: ``You'd be amazed at how much government you'll never miss.'' Indiana has set the example with significant cuts and reforms in spending to take our State from a deficit to a $2.4 billion surplus. There were significant cuts in many agencies through the growing of bureaucracy that took place, and we have yet to find what parts of government we miss. There are so many programs and so many ridiculous things that the government funds--like rabbit massages and cosmetic hair loss treatment--that most Americans don't even know about and have never heard of, and while I no longer will be here, I am hopeful that the next President and the next Congress will work in tandem to achieve these goals. They could use my 55 ``Waste of the Week'' examples as a starting point, and they can continue because we have just scratched the surface. Today, I would like to add $48 million to our total. And just in this cycle of the Senate alone, we have come up with a grand total of $351,635,239,536--money that can be used for a better purpose. With that, my final words addressed to my colleagues in this extraordinary experience I have been privileged to enjoy, I, for the last time, yield the floor.

Mr. COATS. Mr. President, under the unanimous consent, Senator Sullivan was up. I notice the leader is on the floor, and I am sure he would yield to the leader for his leadership purposes.

Mr. COATS

Mr. COATS. Mr. President, I am pleased to speak with Senator Donnelly about a momentous occasion for our beloved home State of Indiana--a celebration of our bicentennial. On December 11, 1816, President James Madison signed the Indiana Enabling Act, which allowed Indiana to be the 19th State to join the Union and require that Indiana's leaders draft the State constitution. In the two centuries since Indiana's admission to the Union, Indiana residents--we call ourselves Hoosiers--have accomplished extraordinary things. In 1840, William Henry Harrison became the first Hoosier to be elected President. In 1888, Benjamin Harrison, his grandson and fellow Hoosier, followed in his footsteps to the Presidency. Five Hoosiers have served our Nation as Vice President: Schuyler Colfax, Thomas Hendricks, Charles Fairbanks, Thomas Marshall, and Dan Quayle. Just a few short weeks ago, Americans elected Gov. Mike Pence to serve as our next Vice President. He will become the sixth Hoosier to serve in this role. We have a well-deserved reputation as the mother of Vice Presidents. As many of you know, when Dan Quayle was elected, George Herbert Walker Bush's Vice President, I was appointed to fill his vacant Senate seat. Vice President Quayle has been a close friend and source of advice to me throughout the years. When President Trump named Mike Pence to be his running mate, I knew Hoosiers would continue to have a strong impact on our country, providing guidance and leadership in one of the top elected offices in our land. I am honored to call both Dan Quayle and Mike Pence close friends and commemorate the great work they have done for the State of Indiana and have and will do for our Nation. We have had excellent Governors, Representatives, Senators, and others who have contributed significantly to this body, the Congress, and the Nation, and we are proud of that as Hoosiers. I keep using the name Hoosiers because we were misnamed Indianians, which is hard to pronounce and awful hard to spell. We are Hoosiers. I could go into a long discourse on what Hoosiers means, but I will not take the Senate time to do that right now. Please contact my office and we will send you a full description of what a Hoosier is, but you will see two of them on the floor here today. Loyal public servants is not the only contribution our great State has made to the Nation. During the Civil War, over 200,000 Hoosiers answered the call to serve; although only one Civil War battle was fought in Indiana, more than 41,000 Hoosiers lost their lives and an estimated 50,000 were wounded. During World War II, nearly 10 percent of Indiana's population joined our Nation's Armed Forces. Those who stayed behind contributed greatly to the manufacturing boom required for the war effort, manufacturing nearly 5 percent of all weapons and equipment required for the war. Our State has continued that call to service to the military. We have for years and decades been one of the leading States providing per capita support to our Armed Forces. In addition to these accomplished Hoosiers whom I have named, the places and events that make Indiana unique are numerous. I just want to mention a few, and I apologize to those that we don't have to time to put in place here. But as Senator Donnelly and I know, a few months ago we commemorated the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500 on this Senate floor. Known as the ``World's Greatest Spectacle in Racing,'' the Indianapolis 500 is a great source of pride to Hoosiers throughout the State and throughout the country. Every year our race is an epic event as drivers jockey for position at speeds regularly surpassing 200 miles per hour. In addition to the ``Indy 500,'' the automotive industry has deep ties to Indiana. In 1896, the Haynes-Apperson Company opened its doors in Kokomo, IN, producing one of the very first automobile manufacturing sites in the entire United States. It operated until 1905. Its 1904 model seated two passengers and sold for $1,550 at the time. Now, you don't have to go too much farther than Kokomo, IN, to arrive in the city of Auburn, where the Cord Dusenberg and other popular cars were manufactured. Every year, the Cord Dusenberg festival, parade, and museum are open to people from around the world to see a magnificent parade of cars in that era in absolutely perfect shape. If you find yourself in Southern Indiana, take a minute to stop by the Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial in Spencer County. Abraham Lincoln may have been born in Kentucky, and he may have ended up in Illinois, but he was raised and shaped in Indiana. In addition to our landmarks, some of America's most famous buildings have been constructed using Indiana limestone. The Pentagon, the National Cathedral, the Lincoln Memorial, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, the Empire State Building in New York, and many more, all feature Indiana limestone quarried in south-central Indiana. Our State has been blessed with a climate of soil fit for all kinds of agricultural activities. God has blessed us with a climate and a soil fit for all kinds of agriculture activities. While corn and soybeans are our top commodities by value, Indiana produced $11.2 billion worth of agricultural products in 2012. This includes 41.5 million broiler chickens, 10.5 million hogs and pigs, numerous dairy products, and 37,000 acres of vegetables harvested for sale. The next time you head to the movie theatre, think of Indiana. Indiana produces more than 20 percent of the United States' popcorn supply, and a great deal is exported around the world. We are also a world leader in pharmaceuticals, biologics, and medical devices. Our medical device industry is the fifth largest in the United States, generating more than $10 billion in annual economic output. Hoosiers are truly working hard to provide healthier, longer, and more rewarding lives for all Americans. Not only does Indiana seek to enrich the quality of life of Hoosiers through its contributions to the medical manufacturing field, we also do this through our institutions of higher education. Hoosiers don't need to travel far to receive a high-quality education. We boast a rich variety of world-class colleges and universities, such as Indiana University, Perdue University, Butler University, Notre Dame University, Indiana State, Rose-Hulman, Trine, Grace, Manchester, Earlham, Evansville, Indiana Wesleyan, Valparaiso, and on and on we could go. I would be remiss if I were to neglect mentioning my own graduate school, the Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law. This quality of education bleeds into the quality of coaching found in Hoosier schools. There is nothing quite like being in the stands during a Hoosier high school basketball game. The coaching quality that we have has produced all-stars in every facet of basketball, whether it be professional, college, high school, or elementary. There is nothing quite like being in the stands during Taylor University's Silent Night, where the fans pack the basketball stadium and stay completely silent until the home team scores their tenth point. Then the noise really starts and the game finishes with the fans signing singing ``Silent Night.'' Through the years, so many Hoosier teams have proved to be formidable foes on the court and the field. We are the home of the Colts, the Pacers, the birthplace of Larry Bird, James Dean, and David Letterman. On and on I could go with that. But in addition to recognizing all that Indiana has contributed to our Nation over the past 200 years, I would like to add that one of our greatest contributions has been and will be always Hoosier hospitality. While at times our country is a more divided and complicated place, Hoosiers continue to demonstrate that kindness and a good meal can make the world a little better. It is an honor for me to commemorate this bicentennial for this great State of Indiana. I am honored to be able to do this with my fellow Senator Joe Donnelly from Indiana. I yield the floor.

Mr. COATS

Mr. COATS. Madam President, today I rise for the second time on the Senate floor to deliver a farewell speech. It doesn't seem like that long ago, back in 1998, that I delivered my first Senate farewell speech. I spoke then about making the transition from Senator to citizen, and I reflected on the end of 24 years of public service. Standing here today in 2016, 24 years has now become 34 years, as the call for additional public service has brought me back to the U.S. Senate. Now, as I begin today, I want to assure my family, some of whom are in the Gallery; my colleagues, some of whom I am pleased to see have come to hear me speak; my campaign contributors, and even the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee that I will not be back for a third farewell address. Through it all--the ups and the downs, the highs and the lows, the successes and the failures--I have felt nothing but gratitude for the incredible privilege of serving. Serving in the military, working as a congressional staffer to then-Congressman Dan Quayle, serving in the House of Representatives, representing my home State, and as a U.S. Senator, and representing our country overseas as U.S. Ambassador to Germany--all of this together has been the adventure of a lifetime, and I am so very grateful for the opportunities I have been afforded. Participating in the process of governing, being in the arena fighting for the principles and values in which I believe--these experiences have all been a privilege almost beyond description. It is time to express a few thanks. My good friend and fellow Senator from Tennessee, Lamar Alexander, who is sitting here today, who has a good habit of speaking words of wisdom, has said: When you are driving down a country road and see a turtle on the top of a fence post, chances are that turtle didn't get there on its own. I didn't get here on my own. Throughout my career, I have been blessed to have the support of so many talented and wonderful people who provided invaluable help along the way. First and foremost, though, I want to thank God for His providence, guiding my steps along the way. I want to thank my family, including my wife Marsha for her unwavering support and wise counsel, our three wonderful children, and our 10 grandchildren, for their love, their support, and their patience that allowed me to engage in the consuming job of an elected official. I thank my former Senator and Vice President Dan Quayle, a mentor, friend, and the person who first encouraged me to consider public service. I want to express gratitude to former Indiana Governor Robert Orr, who chose me to fill the Senate seat vacated by then-Vice President Quayle. I thank President George W. Bush, who gave me the opportunity to serve as our Nation's Ambassador to Germany, and Colin Powell, who led the Department of State during my time as Ambassador. I thank the exceptional staff I have been blessed to have support me over the years--some who are here today and many who have served through the years and gone on to achieve great success in their own careers. I specifically want to thank the five chiefs of staff I have had as a Senator who have put the team together to support me in such exceptional ways: David Hoppe; Dave Gribbin, now deceased; Sharon Soderstrom; Dean Hingson; and Viraj Mirani. All have led our team with exceptional leadership. I thank my colleagues for their friendship and encouragement over the past 6 years. This is a demanding job, and we all work hard, but it is also a job that allows each of us the opportunity to spend a lot of time interacting together. The friendships I have had and now have with the talented men and women who serve in this distinguished body is what I will miss most in leaving the Senate. Last, but certainly not least, I thank the citizens of Indiana. Hoosiers have given me the honor of representing them in the world's greatest deliberative body. Hoosiers, thank you from the bottom of my heart. Now, I am not here today to offer deep reflections about the health of this institution or to advise my fellow Senators on how to govern in the years ahead. It is clear that at this time in our history, in our great Nation, we are a divided country with two very different visions for America's future. The Senate is not immune to those divisions, but I firmly believe that all of us, Republicans and Democrats, are trying to do what we think is in the best interests of our country and its posterity. We are all united in the common cause of making our country a better place, a safer place, and a more prosperous place, even if our means of getting there differ. With that spirit in mind, I know there are many topics of significant importance that the Senate will consider when I am gone, but I want to briefly discuss two transcendent issues that I believe jeopardize America's continued existence as the world's leading Nation. These are issues I have repeatedly expressed deep concern about on this Senate floor. From a practical standpoint, our country simply cannot keep borrowing money we don't have. Today our national debt exceeds $19.5 trillion and continues to grow by the second. Meanwhile, programs that millions of Americans depend on--Social Security and Medicare are two--are creeping ever closer to insolvency. America's looming fiscal storm is bearing down upon us, and the alarms are sounding louder each day. One day, if not addressed, this debt bomb will explode and have a devastating effect on our country's economy and on our children's future. My second great concern is what I call the terrorist bomb--the threat posed by terrorists or rogue state actors who can successfully conduct an attack with weapons of mass destruction. We must ensure that the world's most dangerous weapons stay out of the hands of its most dangerous people, and we must also adapt to the new threats we face, such as a cyber attack, that could shut down our financial systems or electric grid. These challenges require all those who have governed to rise above the political consequences that may occur in making the hard decisions needed to make our country stronger and more secure for future generations. In conclusion, I would like to say this. My congressional career began during the Reagan administration. I would like to conclude my comments with a reflection on remarks President Ronald Reagan made during a memorial service in 1987 for the fallen sailors of the USS Stark. Allow me to quote a few of the words President Reagan shared that day: Yes, they were ordinary men who did extraordinary things. Yes, they were heroes. And because they were heroes, let us not forget this: That for all the lovely spring and summer days we will never share with them again, for every Thanksgiving and Christmas that will seem empty without them, there will be moments when we see the light of discovery in young eyes, eyes that see for the first time the world around them and wonder, ``Why is there such a place as America, and how is it that such a precious gift is mine?'' As citizens of this great country, we have been given a precious gift--the gift of freedom. America has been a beacon of freedom that has burned bright before a world that cries out for liberty, but we should never forget that we have been able to preserve this precious gift throughout our history because men and women have heard the call and then said: ``I will stand in defense of freedom and I will sacrifice for future generations.'' In looking back on my life of public service, I have experienced moments when I also have seen that light of discovery of this precious gift of America and asked myself: How is it this precious gift is mine? I have seen the light of discovery at Veterans Day ceremonies as we remind ourselves that this gift has been earned and preserved by those who have fought in defense of our freedoms and especially those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice. I have seen it in the eyes of wives and young children who rush into the arms of dads arriving home from the frontlines of battle. I have seen it in the tears of joy as our Olympic athletes stand while the ``Star-Spangled Banner'' is played before the eyes and ears of the world. I have seen it in the naturalization ceremonies, where immigrants like my mom expressed pure joy in becoming an American citizen. Do we not then--those of us who have been given this privilege and the challenge of serving in this body as U.S. Senators--do we not then have an obligation and a solemn duty to carry on the task of ensuring that the young eyes of future generations can see this light of discovery and continue to wonder how it is that such a precious gift is theirs? So, my colleagues and friends, with gratitude to the Almighty, love in my heart for each of you, and bright hopes for the future of our beloved country, I bid farewell. I yield the floor.

Mr. COATS

Mr. COATS. Madam President, today marks the 54th version of ``Waste of the Week''--54 times I have been down here in the Senate to highlight documented examples of waste, fraud, and abuse. When I first started this endeavor, I told my staff: I hope we can reach $100 billion or so--some target. Do you think there is that much waste, fraud, and abuse floating around through the Federal Government? Well, we hit that $100 billion a long time ago--I think about the 20th week--and we now have moved to a pretty staggering number, which is more than one-third of a trillion dollars of waste that has been documented by independent agencies of the government that are supporting us with information as to why this money should not have been spent or how it was wasted or lost through fraud or abuse. I have had a number of serious issues here that run into the billions of dollars that could easily be fixed. Some of them we started by pointing this out with legislation to try to fix these things, but it just keeps piling on here. So every once in a while, I throw in something so ridiculous, people will understand the fact that there may have been some benefit to that program--we don't understand what the benefit was--but surely these ridiculous examples of money spent, hard- earned tax money spent, are not used for this purpose. Tell me it is not true. Unfortunately, it is true. So today I am adding two more examples of something where people say: How can this be possible? The total ends up at about another $1.5 million. One of the studies funded by grants from the National Science Foundation totaled $1.3 million. The researcher's application stated they would use the grant funds to examine a variety of factors, one of which was, how does humidity affect the heat that we feel? So, you know, if you go to Florida and it is 90 degrees, you have to shower three times a day. You are sweating, and it feels like it is 110, but the temperature says 90. If you go to Arizona and it is 90 degrees, you don't have to take a shower at all because you can go out and take a run, and it is so dry, you don't feel that heat you would feel in Florida. I have the same situation in Indiana. Northern Indiana is up near the Great Lakes. It is much cooler and has lower humidity than Southern Indiana, which lies down along the Ohio River. So it can be the same temperature down in southern Indiana as northern Indiana, but people really feel that it is different. I think we all know this. We have all experienced this through summers, through dry days and through humid days. But, no, the National Science Foundation said: We need a study. Let's give a grant for someone who has made an application--$1.3 million--to see if we can prove that humidity makes it feel as though it is a lot hotter. So that is what they did. Folks, I can't make this up. This is true. In their initial study, they took beer cans and koozies. Do you know what koozies are? Koozies are those things that you wrap around a cold bottle of Coca Cola or a cold bottle of beer or a can of this or that in order to keep it cold. They put these beer cans in koozies to see if that would be successful in moderating the humidity or what it would do to it. The researcher's initial round of testing was done in a basement bathroom, where researchers adjusted the temperature and humidity by turning on a hot-water shower and a space heater. Now, you think, OK, NSF gave us $1.3 million to try to put a study together. You would think they would go to some kind of lab and get sophisticated equipment and so forth. Instead, they went down into the basement bathroom, shut the door, and turned on the shower, hot water. That wasn't enough, so they put a space heater in there to heat it up. Guess what. The koozies worked. Well, when you go buy a product this winter at Christmastime, everybody is going to go out and buy stuff. Companies will test something that they want to sell, that they think is going to be bought by the American people. They are successful. Do we have to provide a government grant to help determine whether this works? Can't we just go to the company and say: Hey, you developed this. What were your studies? What did you learn? Anyway, that was $1.3 million. I think we have a photo. Here it is. Here, essentially, is what $1.3 million bought. They got a little something to measure with, and they put a can over this--- looks like Gatorade or some kind of Powerade or whatever. I suppose the money went to buy some of this equipment here to test that. But does the taxpayer have to do this? Is $1.38 million of money taken from taxpayers' paychecks--is that what it is used for? Well, I guess this is great news for beverage drinkers, but it is mind-boggling that we spend that kind of money. The second thing I would highlight here is another study, this one by DARPA. DARPA is the Federal Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. For over 50 years--and I admire this Agency--it has done a lot of good things. This little-known Agency states that it is held to a singular and enduring mission that is on their literature: to make pivotal investments in breakthrough technologies for national security purposes. That is a needed, essential use of Federal dollars, to make sure that our warfighters have the kind of equipment and have the kind of research backing up what they are doing. So that is a legitimate expenditure. But why did DARPA decide that understanding why coffee sometimes spills when you are walking is a matter of national security? Now, maybe if the coffee is hot and it gets on the soldier's hands or whatever--the Presiding Officer has had military experience. I am not sure that, as someone in command, you would authorize a study to see that if you were moving when you had a cup of coffee in your hand, you were more likely to spill the coffee than if you were standing still. Trust me, folks--that is what this study was all about. Here was the conclusion of the study: To prevent a spill, you need to pay attention to your coffee while you are walking because the movement might result in a spill. Now, a confession here. On my way to work--I drive in from Virginia. I have to go by a bakery shop on Lee Highway. I slip in there every morning--it has now become a habit; I have gotten to know the people-- for a donut and a cup of coffee. But I don't want to waste time trying to get to work, so I jump into the car and eat the donut and drink the coffee while I am trying to deal with traffic in Washington and get over the bridges and get to work. I have noticed over time that if I have to put the brakes on a little hard or start a little fast or make a quick turn, my coffee spills out of the cup. So all they would have had to do was to buy my coffee, and I could have proved to them that movement would require liquid to move also, and if they are worried about coffee spilling out of the cup, I could have proved that, and all they had to do was buy me a donut and a cup of coffee. Where does all of this come down? Where this all comes down is the fact that we are nearly $20 trillion in debt. We cannot balance our budget. We spend more every year than we take in. We have to go out and borrow that money, on which we then have to pay interest. By the way, interest rates are going up. When we are in this kind of a fiscal situation, can we not at least, as a body, stop this waste, fraud, and abuse and these stupid expenditures and ridiculous expenditures of taxpayer money? This here is just a drop in the bucket. We have much bigger things to do to save taxpayers' dollars. But at the very least, could we not address the waste, abuse, and fraud that is taking place? I have offered legislation on a number of ways to do that. I know the majority leader is moving to the floor here and I need to wrap up, so I will. At the end of 54 times down here on the Senate floor, we have a total of $351,587,239,536 of documented, certified waste, fraud, and abuse. We wonder why the American people are fed up with the status quo of what is happening here in Washington. I yield the floor.

Mr. COATS

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

Mr. COATS

Mr. COATS. Mr. President, after a long district work period and a national election, I am returning to the Senate floor to resume my weekly ``Waste of the Week'' speeches. The Presiding Officer and my colleagues have watched me come to the floor 53 times in the 114th Congress to talk about documented waste, fraud, and abuse, and the expenditure of funds--of taxpayer dollars--on things that produce no positive effect. Regardless of which party is controlling any branch of government-- and we have had a significant change here in just the last couple of weeks--it is imperative that our focus remains on governing for the benefit of the American people, and this includes, from my perspective, rooting out any kind of waste, fraud, and abuse found within the Federal Government. Taxpayers should demand an effective and efficient government that spends their money on the behalf and the future of this country and on behalf of the future of our constituents. When they read about waste, fraud, and abuse, it is perfectly natural that they would call on us to address the problem, which has been paying a dime more than is necessary to run the Federal Government, and to pull us out of this ever-spiraling deficit spending and deep entrance into debt which may not be able to be repaid. That is why I am taking a look at yet another waste of the week, and this one is called identity theft tax refund fraud which, over the past 2 years, has accounted for $23 billion in stolen taxpayer money; that is right, $23 billion of stolen taxpayer money. How does this happen? Well, the theft occurs when criminals gain access to someone else's personal information, like their name and Social Security number, in order to essentially steal the tax refund that might be owed to them for the tax returns that have been interrupted and sent before the victim's tax return has actually been filed. Often criminals file someone else's tax return before the victim does so the IRS ends up sending tax refund money to criminals instead of the workers who earned the money. When such abuses happen, not only is the IRS unknowingly paying criminals, but the real tax refunds are denied or seriously delayed to the millions of hard-working Americans who are counting on those refunds. So for families who struggle to make ends meet, annual tax refunds are often seen as a lifeline, but when those families have their tax returns stolen, it can take up to a year or more to rectify this mess. Sadly, many of these criminals prey on senior citizens and low-income individuals because they know they are more likely to receive a tax refund and less likely to pursue the lengthy and often complicated process of getting the tax return that is due them. Some hacks have even targeted children under the age of 14, often because parents don't think it is necessary to monitor their children's credit. Unfortunately, this makes children easy targets. Within the past decade, identity theft-related tax fraud has exploded. In fact, from 2011 to 2014, the Government Accountability Office and the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, TIGTA, estimates that the IRS paid out $23 billion in tax refunds to identity thieves instead of the taxpayer who was due the money. Let that sink in--$23 billion paid out by the Federal Government to criminals in just a 4-year period of time, and that is just the fraud the IRS has discovered. We don't know the number of returns that have not been identified or discovered over that period of time. This is the year 2016, and this is an ever-increasing amount of money in fraud that is occurring. The continued success of those who are able to hack in and get Social Security numbers of individuals and use that to steal their tax returns is drawing ever more criminal activity. These criminals are getting more sophisticated, making it much harder for the IRS to track down and next to impossible for the government to recover those funds. There is no silver bullet for addressing identity tax fraud. The IRS has detected and prevented numerous attempts of ID theft-related tax fraud. However, there is more that can and should be done. First, the IRS data security system needs to be updated to comply with the Federal Government's own security standards. According to TIGTA, three different Federal agencies have data security requirements for the Federal Government, and the IRS data system doesn't fully comply with any of them. This could be fixed. It should be fixed immediately. Coordinating between agencies is something I have been talking about over and over again. The left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing. Social Security disability doesn't know about Social Security retirement payments and the unemployment insurance disability being paid. There is a lack of communication between agencies within the Federal Government. The Government Accountability Office, GAO, testified at the Senate Finance Committee in April that there are nearly 100 recommendations that the GAO has made to the IRS to improve their data security. So the government agency charged with looking at how efficient or inefficient an agency is has the opportunity to make recommendations to that agency, and hopefully they will be complied with, but because of our lack of oversight in the U.S. Congress, we are not following up with enough pressure on those agencies to actually employ those recommendations. As a consequence, we are standing down here on the floor talking about this waste that goes on and on. Yet we don't go after the agencies to get those recommendations in place. We learned that GAO's 100 recommendations have not been fully implemented, and worse, more than half of these recommendations are over 1 year old. Imagine how the American people would react if a private company had so many persistent holes in its data system that it wrongfully paid criminals $23 billion of their money. Another way to prevent fraud suggested by the IRS watchdogs is to first receive the W-2 forms before issuing refunds. Here is what happens: employers issue the W-2s showing how much you earn and we attach those to our tax returns. The problem is, the tax returns that go to the government and the returns that come in from the taxpayer are not coordinated, and so there is a gap that potentially exists. The 2017 tax-filing season will be the first year this accelerated system is implemented to address this particular issue because the legislation that was passed in 2015, which I supported, has accelerated the issuance of W-2s from the IRS so the IRS can verify the validity of the return. In the meantime, I will continue to work with my colleagues in the Senate as long as I am here to keep the pressure on the IRS to ensure it meets Federal data security requirements and fulfills the other unimplemented security recommendations. So adding to our chart, which we thought when we started we might be able to reach $100 billion--we weren't sure--but it just keeps coming in. It just keeps pouring in, record after record, examination after examination, by certified nonpartisan government organizations. We added $23 billion more to the waste of the week thermometer, reaching now well over $350 billion of waste, fraud, and abuse. To those who say there are no more cuts we can make in spending to reduce the deficit and the ever-increasing Federal debt or to those who say we need to find ways to address critical needs such as funds to address the spread of the Zika virus or money for cancer research or money to help strengthen our military during this time of conflict and threat to our homeland, I say to them: Let's at least start with what we know are tax dollars that are lost to waste, fraud, and abuse. We owe that to the taxpayers and to future generations. We owe that to our children and grandchildren who will be saddled with this debt. We owe that to our Nation to run an effective, efficient government to retain the trust of the American people that the tax dollars they sent to Washington are wisely spent for necessary purposes that only the Federal Government can accomplish. We have a duty. We have a duty that rises above politics. We have a duty to make every effort we can to make government efficient and effective on behalf of the taxpayer. So I am calling on my colleagues to say, yes, we need to look at the long-term impact in our midst. It is critical. It can have negative implications for the future of America. Until we get to that point--and we have made several attempts to do that under this administration, and each one was shut down before it hit the White House or was rejected by the White House--can't we at least look at the $350 billion of waste, fraud, and abuse that is documented? Can't we at least start there? That is what I am calling on my colleagues to do. We don't have many weeks left in this session, but you can count on me being here each week that we have left, talking yet again about yet another instance of waste, fraud, and abuse. With that, Mr. President, I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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

Mr. COATS

Mr. COATS. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. COATS

Mr. COATS. Mr. President, as we are temporarily winding down here, I am told we will be back in November, passing a short-term continuing resolution or funding for the government until we do return. Then, after the election, we will deal with the longer term. I wish to take advantage of this remaining time to once again, for the 52nd time in this last 2 years, come to the Senate floor to talk about the waste, fraud, and abuse that exists within the Federal Government and what its impact is on taxpayers' hard-earned tax dollars. I have talked about everything from the very serious ways in which Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security have been violated and spent, wasting billions of dollars through checks going to people who are dead, people who don't qualify, and on and on. We have talked about some ridiculous examples of expenditure of Federal dollars. Today, I was thinking: Well, this is kind of a small amount. We are only talking about $1 million here, and we have been talking about billions. All of a sudden it hit me that $1 million is not a small thing. I think we have lost perspective here in terms of these numbers. What do they mean to us? People say: Do you want to be a millionaire? Well, that would be unbelievable if I could be a millionaire. I mean, of course I would want to be a millionaire. If you are a millionaire, you are living in high cotton. But we dismiss $1 million as change, just a few pennies here and there when it is compared to billions of dollars, hundreds of billions of dollars, and even trillions of dollars. In just the last 8 years under the Obama administration, we have taken our national debt--that is money we borrow to pay for things we have expensed. We don't have the revenue to cover it, so we have to borrow that money. As my colleague from Arizona was just discussing, interest has to be paid. When we arrived at the beginning of this administration, it was about $10 trillion, and it has literally doubled--almost doubled. In just 8 years of time, 230-some years since the beginning of this country, we have doubled the debt from $10 trillion to nearly $20 trillion. It is hard to grasp what a million is, let alone a billion, let alone a trillion. So, yes, this is just ``a million dollars,'' but every penny that is wasted is taken from taxpayers or is money not applied to essential functions of the Federal government, such as our national defense, health care, or whatever. This is one of these ridiculous wastes of a million dollars. The Department of Education has paid money for the creation of a video game called ECO. The Department of Education is trying to have classrooms use this game for students, literally for ideological purposes. Obviously, what they were basing ECO on is what happens in Washington, DC. They were creating a virtual government through a video game. The students could vote by a majority vote as to whether to add something to this government in terms of what their policies were or take it away, but the game rules also ruled that the group's operator could act as a king, issuing all rules by himself or herself. If the king didn't like what the students did by majority vote, the king would simply say: Fine, that means nothing. I am going to implement it anyway. It sounds an awful lot like what we have been through under this administration. The vote of the peoples' representatives in the House of Representatives and the Senate essentially has been bypassed in many instances by the President of the United States. Once again, through an ideological decision made by members of the administration, we now are teaching students that this is really how it works. If you want to make a difference, we need to give that king all kinds of authority. I define this as a waste. I define this as a waste of taxpayers' money. The function of government is not to brainwash students, through video games, into a form of government that violates our Constitution, violates all precedents in terms of how we operate around here. Yet time and again I have stood on this floor, Members have stood on this floor, and simply said: This is the function of the people's representatives. This is a function of how they vote, yea or nay. This is a function of how it works through the process of defining a law, ultimately landing on the President's desk. Yet we have a President who simply says: The heck with all that stuff. I am just going to implement whatever I want to do, and, by the way, let's spend taxpayer dollars to teach children that this is how government should work. I think it is not just a shame, I think it is ridiculous. It is way over the top. We are adding not a huge amount to the number, but through these 52 weeks we have accumulated $328 billion of waste, fraud, and abuse. It just keeps on going. I could come to the floor every day. I could come here every hour of every day to try to describe the volume of certified waste, fraud, and abuse we have collected in our office. As long I have the opportunity to be able to do that, I am going to keep doing it, pointing out how government is mishandling the money that the taxpayers are sending to Washington. The Economy Mr. President, in the time remaining that I have, let me simply say that while the White House spin that the economic recovery from the Great Recession is a huge success, to use their words, poll after poll--from The Economist to YouGov, to Reuters, to Ipsos, to Rasmussen--shows that nearly two-thirds of Americans think our economy is on the wrong track. The White House spin is one thing, but the facts clearly define the Obama administration's record of low economic growth numbers. So we hear the rhetoric coming out of the President's spokesman and the President himself and some Members of the Senate that things are working very well. Well, let's look at the facts. The truth lies in the facts, not on what somebody wants to tell you the truth is. Fact: Under the Obama administration, real growth continues to average only half the growth of an average recession recovery over the last half century. We have had many recessions, but the surge of economic activity post those recessions has been twice as much as what has happened over this recession, which took place in late 2008 and early 2009. It has been nearly 8 years, and we have had half of the average growth of all other recessions over the past half century. Fact: Productivity growth has slumped under President Obama. Fact: Business dynamism has slowed down significantly. Fact: Today, a smaller number of Americans are working than before the recovery began. Fact: For those Americans who have been able to get jobs, a larger number are working part time. While President Obama is touting recent gains in household income, the facts show that the median American household is still bringing home less money than it was before the recession began almost 9 years ago. Based on these facts, it is clear that the economic policies employed by the Obama administration have not worked. It is one thing to come down here and listen to the President or Members say: Look, these policies have worked, and it is a great success; it is another thing to look at the reality of what has happened and say: No, it is not a success. Too many Americans feel there is no end to this current cycling of mediocrity. It has almost become the new normal that we are going to grow at 1, 1.5, or 2 percent a year instead of normal post-recession growth of 3.5 or 4 percent or even more. There is a reason why these policies, in my opinion, have not worked. I think it is also a major reason why the American people simply say: Look, you had your shot. You said you knew how to run government. You said you knew how to grow the economy. You put these policies in place. Well, it hasn't worked. When something doesn't work, you don't just keep perpetuating it-- which is what I think the election is all about, frankly--you turn to other policies that worked successfully before. I want to name three things that I think should substantially improve the growth of the economy in the United States. Clearly, taxes are too complex, regulations are tying the hands of job creators, and the ever-growing Federal debt is crowding out private sector investment. All these are facts. So it is time to change this truth, take a long-term look at why the Obama administration policies have failed, and employ new policies. Let me outline three new policies. First, our broken Tax Code is punishing job creators. We have the highest combined corporate tax rate in the developed world--all of our competitors have a much lower corporate tax rate than we do--and that puts us at a disadvantage. Of course that is why we have an imbalance in our trade accounts. Small business owners face mind-numbing complexity in rates as high as 44.3 percent due to Obama tax increases. Reducing business tax rates, both large and small, and simplifying the 74,000 pages in the Internal Revenue Code--the Tax law--will help American companies retain their competitive edge in the face of globalization so that we can expand and create new jobs. We have been talking about this for years. It hasn't happened. Tax reform is absolutely necessary to get our economy growing again. Secondly, policymakers in the administration need to streamline and reduce burdensome regulations that are holding our economy down. The Obama administration continues to issue regulations at a record- setting pace. This flood of redtape wastes time and resources, stifles jobs and new business startups, and dampens economic growth. The businesses I visit in Indiana have story after story saying: We are swamped with regulations. Instead of producing or selling our product, we are filling out paperwork and sending it to Washington, going through months and months of waiting for approval of this, that, or whatever. Regulatory reform is absolutely essential if we are going to get our economy to grow. Third and last of the three major issues: Growing Federal debt is crowding out the private sector. Over the years, as I have said, President Obama has nearly doubled our national debt, racking up more debt in the 8 years of this administration than in all previous years of every President who preceded this 44th President. Think about that. The amount of debt we have incurred under this President exceeds all of the other debt since the beginning of this country under 43 previous Presidents. When we put these three together, I believe that is the direction in which we need to go. Hopefully, as we are closing out this administration, that is the direction we will be able to take to get our people back to work, get our economy growing again, and make America great again. Mr. President, I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. COATS. I thank the Senator from Wisconsin, a great friend and someone whose passion has been brought to the U.S. Senate. Based on issues where people are hurting, I just can't thank him enough for bringing to this body the kind of energy and the kind of passion that is directly related to the pain people are suffering with in his State--whether it is loss of a job, the death of a child or something related to education or whether it is something related to just every day, Senator Ron Johnson has been on top of it. This is a perfect example of the kind of passion he brings. He refuses to say: I can't go any further. He refuses to take and accept the minority leader's objection to this--along with my colleague from Wyoming and others--to this bipartisan supported measure. How can the minority leader come down and give an example of why every parent deserves the right to try, to try to save their children, to take advantage of medicines and procedures that might be that miracle cure, and then say: No, we are not going to take it up. We are not going to give that to you because we know you are in a tight race. Essentially, that is what he is saying. We know you are in a tight race so we are not going to do anything. Put yourself in the shoes of a parent who is trying to save the precious life of a child. How can you put an election in a State that is up for grabs--how can that trump the kind of sorrow and clinging to the last hope parents are making? I commend the Senator. I have had the great privilege of serving together with him since 2010, and we have become friends. His passion, whether it is the national debt or whether it is any number of issues, but particularly on this, that goes right to the heart and soul of every parent in this country who is doing everything they possibly can to save their child, and to be denied that opportunity because of a political situation just astounds me. I commend Senator Johnson. I know he will not give up. I know he will fight this to the end. We stand with him. There is nothing partisan about this issue, and there is no reason we can't come down as a body and endorse and pass by unanimous consent what Senator Johnson is asking. There is no reason whatsoever. I am with him to the end. We are all with you to the end. I think we ought to just keep asking because I don't believe a Senator here can understand why politics should trump something like what you are trying to do.

Mr. COATS

Mr. COATS. Mr. President, I further ask that the Hirono amendment be agreed to; the bill, as amended, be read a third time and passed; and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. COATS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Commerce Committee be discharged from further consideration of S. 2683 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

Mr. COATS

Mr. COATS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 3 p.m., Monday, September 26; that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, and the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day; further, that following leader remarks, the Senate resume consideration of H.R. 5325; finally, that the filing deadline for the cloture motions filed today be at 4 p.m., Monday, September 26 for first-degree amendments and for second-degree amendments at 12 p.m., Tuesday, September 27.

Mr. COATS

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

Mr. COATS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 415, S. 1878.

Mr. COATS

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

Mr. COATS

Mr. COATS. Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that it stand adjourned under the previous order.

Mr. COATS

Mr. COATS. Mr. President, I have put this poster up for Waste of the Week to address waste, fraud or abuse of taxpayers' hard-earned dollars, and this is week 51. Today I am here to draw attention to the $2.3 billion owed to the United States from uncollected anti-dumping and countervailing duties. These are nations that have violated our trade laws, that signed up through trade laws or trade agreements, and then violated those--or companies from those countries that have violated those. There are laws that prohibit that and enforce that, and this is what it ought to be. Let me say at the outset here that I do support international trade. It bolsters our economy; the statistics show that. It creates new opportunities for American businesses overseas, and it enhances America's security and global roles. Trade raises economic prosperity; it has been a proven fact. Just take my State of Indiana. In recent years, Indiana has exported over $34 billion in goods and services. Hoosier manufacturers export automobiles, auto parts, industrial machinery, medical devices, and much more. Indiana is a national leader in pharmaceutical and agricultural exports. In 2014, our State had the highest share of manufacturing employment per capita and the highest manufacturing income share relevant to the total income of any State in our country. According to statistics, more than one in four--actually one in five--jobs in Indiana are due to our ability to export overseas. That has a significant impact on our economy here in Indiana. It is vital for our State to have strong trade laws that prevent other countries from engaging in unfair trade so that Hoosier companies can compete with them on a level playing field. Having said that, I support international trade for all of the benefits to my State and to our country. I also strongly support the use of our trade laws to protect American companies against dumped or subsidized imports from foreign countries, China in particular. Under Federal law, anti-dumping duties are special fees that are placed on products shipped to the United States at unfairly low prices. Sometimes this occurs when a foreign manufacturer sells a product in the United States for less than it cost to even make that profit. They are not even trying to regain their costs. They want our market share, so they dump products into the United States that undercut our American-made goods. I will not stand for that. I will not support that. Some who support trade laws say that we shouldn't be enforcing these, that it will ultimately work itself out. I don't believe that. The law is the law. The agreements are the agreements. They need to be enforced. Countervailing duties are fees placed on products imported into the United States that are made in countries where the foreign government unfairly subsidizes the product to lower their sale price. We are a free enterprise system here in America. Yes, there have been some subsidies, and we should not be a violator of that in terms of unfairly breaking the laws, and we generally are not in that situation. But many countries, we have found and proven through a process, a judicial process, have unfairly subsidized their products, and we need to impose the fees and penalties against these countries and these companies. Both anti-dumping and countervailing duties are how we fight the predatory practices of foreign nations that unfairly hurt American manufacturers by making American-made products more expensive than a foreign competitor's product. In order to level the playing field for American companies and their workers, the U.S. Department of Commerce calculates the duties that should be placed on the imported product to make up for these predatory trade practices. Once Congress calculates the money owed to the United States, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency--CBP, which oversees all imports into the United States--is responsible for collecting these fees that are imposed. Even though CBP is legally directed to collect all of these fees, recently the Government Accountability Office discovered that from the years 2001 to 2014, the CBP failed to collect about $2.3 billion in anti-dumping and countervailing duties. There are a number of reasons CBP has trouble collecting these fees, but one key reason the Government Accountability Office highlighted is that CBP simply does not assess the fees once the item is initially imported or once Commerce determines how much is owed. Basically, they are just behind the curve. So the agency that is responsible for collecting these fees simply is not doing its job successfully enough. CBP is supposed to collect the fees within the first 6 months of entry of the product or assessment, but in its accountability process, the GAO found that of the 41,000 uncollected bills--41,000 uncollected bills--the median age of the bills was 4.5 years, and they were supposed to do it in the first 6 months. Clearly, we have some dysfunction here. Clearly, we have some waste that needs to be corrected so that we can enforce these trade laws. Otherwise, we are sending a signal: Go ahead and do it. Chances are we will get away with it. Their assessment system is not functional. We have a good chance of avoiding the fee altogether. That is the signal which is being sent out to countries and manufacturers all around the world that are dumping or unfairly subsidizing their products and making our products--our competition less competitive. As I said, GAO has found that out of the 41,000 uncollected bills, the median age is 4.5 years. We need to get them back to the 6-month standard. Additionally, we have learned that nearly 1,000 of those uncollected bills were between 10 years and 13 years old. That is simply not acceptable. It is a dysfunction of government. It is a dysfunction of the bureaucratic processes we have to deal with in Washington. If it were somebody else's money, maybe we could make an excuse for this dysfunction, but this is taxpayer money. This money is from the hard- earned money each family takes home at the end of the week to pay the bills, to pay the mortgage, to save money for college. It is unacceptable to have this happening in Washington, DC, where this waste, fraud, and abuse continue to ramp up on our calculator. American manufacturers work tirelessly to compete on a global market and sometimes against those who don't even play by the rules. Those who don't play by the rules have to have the rules enforced. So enforcement of our trade laws through the assessment of anti-dumping and countervailing duties is essential to ensure a level playing field for American workers and to show that predatory practices will not be tolerated. That is one reason I supported bipartisan legislation that was enacted earlier this year that would give the Customs and Border Patrol people the tools necessary to better enforce our trade laws, such as requiring CBP to better track which foreign companies may be less likely to pay fees owed to the United States. Fortunately, CBP has agreed with the GAO's recommendations. Now that Congress has also provided the Customs and Border Patrol people with the tools to implement and enforce these recommendations, I am hopeful--but also watchful--that CBP will improve its track record in the near future. We have a responsibility not only to sort out waste of taxpayers' dollars or misuse of taxpayers' dollars, we have a responsibility to try to correct the errors, to give the tools to the agencies to do their job as we have ordered them to do and then to oversee and make sure. It is one thing that the job is done. It is one thing to come to the floor and identify a problem. It is another thing to come down here with my colleagues and offer a solution. It is another thing to follow up and oversee that solution and see what we can do to make sure this doesn't happen again. We are far too short on oversight and far too long on rhetoric. With that, I am adding $2.3 billion for uncollected anti-dumping and countervailing duties, bringing our taxpayer price tag to over $328- plus billion of waste, fraud, and abuse. Think what we could do with that $328 billion--help our defense, help the National Institutes of Health produce lifesaving new medical techniques or therapies, pave some roads, pay for essential functions of the Federal Government, or even better, not have to take this money from the taxpayers and simply throw it away. Mr. President, with that, I yield the floor.

Mr. COATS

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

Mr. COATS

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

Mr. COATS. Mr. President, I am returning to the floor--and I can hardly believe this number--for my 50th edition of ``Waste of the Week.'' I started this thinking that because we have not been able to secure any kind of long-term reform to our broken financial system, the least we can do is identify those documented wastes, frauds, and abuses that inspectors general, the Congressional Budget Office, and the Government Accountability Office have studied, examined, determined, and reported to us. The least we can do to control out-of-control spending by this Federal Government is to stop this waste, fraud, and abuse to the best extent we can--the least we can do. When I started this, I thought that, well, I am going to come to the Senate floor once a week and we will see what we can determine. I wasn't sure we would have enough information available to us so that I could come down each week during this cycle. We have been overwhelmed. I could come to the floor every day. We have been overwhelmed by what we have learned and found. It is shocking. It ought to be shocking to the taxpayer when they learn about how we waste their tax dollars. These are people struggling to get the mortgage paid at the end of the month, struggling to get the kids' education paid for, struggling to just keep their heads above water. They are dutifully paying taxes, which are withheld from their paychecks, sending it to Washington, DC. Then they learn it is wasted, that the abuse that goes on has not been corrected, that the efforts to run an efficient, effective government have simply not been implemented, that we have a government out of control in Washington, and that the right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing. So these wastes of the week have been pouring in, and this is No. 50. We thought the goal we wanted to reach would realistically be about $100 billion. We are way above that, and I will be talking about that in just a moment. Yet here we are again, and this is a big one, Medicaid: the waste of dollars that have been improperly sent to the wrong people in payments for Medicaid--to the wrong people, to people abusing the system or just simply errors. They were not corrected in the systems that account for whom we are paying, what we are paying them, and when they are getting the money. I first wish to say I acknowledge that Medicaid is a vital safety net program, depended on by many low-income families and children who have no other health care options. Medicaid recipients rely on HHS to effectively supervise the Medicaid Program and so do the American taxpayers who are footing the bill with their hard-earned taxpayer dollars. This is in no way a criticism to take down a program that is necessary to provide needed medical help to low-income people who simply cannot find it any other way. If we want to maintain the program's integrity, we have to root out the bad actors. We have to root out the abuse and waste of taxpayer dollars or at some point there simply will be a rebellion back that will undermine the necessity of this program. Most importantly, the Health & Human Services' Cabinet must address the high rate of improper payments that have plagued this program from its very beginning and wasted billions of taxpayer dollars. It seems the problem is getting worse, even though Medicaid has routinely been identified as a high risk for potential waste. Being identified as a high risk, you would think alarm bells would sound and structures would be put in place so we can solve some of these issues and not waste these taxpayers' dollars, give them to the wrong people, or deny others who are qualified and not receiving these payments. In 2015, Medicaid had the second highest improper payment rate across the entire Federal Government. Over the past 3 years, Medicaid's improper payment rate averaged almost 10 percent each year. Earlier this month, the Department of Health & Human Services put out an alert that Medicaid's improper payment rate for 2016 is expected to increase to 11.5 percent. That is nearly double the rate of improper payments since 2013. So in just 3 years, the rate of improper payments has doubled. Instead of correcting the program, instead of moving it in the right direction toward solvency and toward proper administration, it is going in the other direction. That means more and more taxpayer dollars are being simply burned, thrown to the wind. Put it in a fireplace. It is gone. It has gone to the wrong people, they are improper payments, and it is a staggering, staggering number. To put a dollar figure on this, nearly 10 percent of everything that goes out in Medicaid payments--we are talking about $85.5 billion which will be improperly put out through Medicaid in just 3 years. That is an astonishing amount. Let me repeat that: Having acknowledged there is a serious problem with Medicaid payments and misuse of taxpayer dollars, instead of that being addressed successfully, it has put us in a situation where it is increasing dramatically. Now, in a 3-year period of time, $85.5 billion has been wasted. While these $85.5 billion in improper payments were made, Medicaid enrollment continued to expand as a result of ObamaCare, which means more and more Americans are relying on an increasingly fraudulent system. So we have to ask the question: Why do these improper payments continue to take place? Why is it accelerating? What is happening? Well, we dug into this. One reason was that a persistent problem lies within the HHS--Health & Human Services--data system for identifying and validating Medicaid and Medicare providers, which HHS directs States to use to help ensure those medical providers receiving payments are actually eligible. The system itself reminds me a lot of ObamaCare. Remember when they rolled out that system? I can't remember the number of billions and hundreds of billions of dollars that had to be spent to fix it when we were assured this was ready to go, all plugged in, and the system collapsed. The taxpayer then had to come in and rescue it with even more hundreds of millions of dollars. So one problem here lies with the agency itself in terms of implementing the right systems. Bureaucratic mismanagement, which is so prevalent throughout the Federal Government, has enabled providers to obtain Medicaid payments when they aren't even medically licensed in a State or when they do not even practice in the United States. Payments are going to bogus people. Payments are going to people who don't even practice in the United States and qualify for this. The Government Accountability Office recently examined the addresses listed in HHS's database by some of these providers as their primary place of practice, and it turns out a lot of them are simply fake addresses. Let me put up this first chart that identifies the address of where Medicaid payments were going. This is a picture of an empty lot. There is no building. There is no place, unless someone has a little tent here or something like that saying: This is my place of practice. Payments are going to this address, and there is nothing there. Everything has been bulldozed. There is nothing there. That was determined by the government, and this is just one example among thousands in terms of how these Medicaid payments are being wasted. Another listed the address, as we determined, of a fast-food restaurant. I am not going to mention which one it is, but a fast-food restaurant is receiving Medicaid payments. Maybe their food is bad. Maybe someone practices there on a 24-hour basis, sleeps on the floor, and I guess can get a burger for breakfast, a burger for lunch, and a burger for dinner, but it is yet another example. This fake address was determined by the Government Accountability Office, not by any one of the thousands, tens of thousands of people-- maybe hundreds of thousands of people--who work for HHS. One would think they would have something going on within that bureaucracy that would track all this information. Why does this have to go through an inspector general or go through the Government Accountability Office-- some agency outside of these agencies such as HHS--to determine this kind of thing? Can't somebody figure that out? We wonder why the public is frustrated with Washington. We wonder why the public thinks their taxpayer dollars are being misused, and obviously they are. We wonder why we are getting this backlash here in this political year. People are fed up with how the government is so dysfunctional and operates in such a dysfunctional way. They want change, and it looks as though it is going to happen. Another problem is that criminals understand that poor oversight among the agencies gives them access to Medicaid, which harms patients, such as the case of a pediatric dental company that performed medically unnecessary procedures on children covered by Medicaid. It is bad enough that somebody puts a false address in and receives Medicaid payments in a fraudulent way, but it is outrageous--it is outrageous-- that professional people, many of them with doctors' degrees, are using this as a basis to receive Medicaid payments by subjecting children to procedures that are not necessary. This case was a dental company that performed medically unnecessary procedures on children covered by Medicaid. These children went through significant physical pain, such as having a baby root canal. And there is no telling how many other patients have been harmed by providers who should have been prohibited from participating in Medicaid. Yes, the $85.5 billion in improper payments is a big deal, but it is also a big deal that Federal agencies are not doing their jobs and allowing billions of dollars to be squandered. HHS has the tools already at its disposal to prevent these improper payments, such as verifying the locations of physicians' offices and making sure providers are licensed. My colleagues and I also must remain vigilant and ensure that HHS is fully utilizing its resources to crack down on improper payments and bad actors within Medicaid. We are elected. It is our responsibility to come here and make sure we are doing everything we possibly can to make these agencies cost effective and efficient, so we do not have to come down here every week to talk about some bureaucratic nightmare where taxpayer dollars have been wasted. Initially, I said our goal was $100 billion. We are way past that now. We are at $200-some billion. And with this, we add another $85.5 billion. Our chart can't accommodate it. We thought we would end up here; then we went to $200 billion. This is just within this one cycle of Congress, and now we have to add to our chart. We are going to have to get a new chart because we are way up here now. We went way over our chart. The grand total of wasted taxpayer dollars is $326 billion. That is not small change, Mr. President. That is hard-earned tax dollars. Think what we could do to lower our debt. Think what we could do to provide for better education, better health care research, dealing with Zika with the CDC, paving roads, providing services, protecting our national security, helping our veterans. Think what we could do with $326 billion of wasted money. And this is just a fraction. The public understands. We expose this information to them. Do we then blame the public for being furious with the dysfunction that exists in Washington, DC? I think they are going to go to the polls in November and express how they feel. Mr. President, with that, I yield the floor.