Shelley Capito

Mrs. CAPITO

Mrs. CAPITO. Mr. President, I want to thank my colleague Senator Tim Scott from South Carolina. I am going to talk a little bit about our visit later, but our visit was really tremendous in West Virginia.

Mrs. CAPITO

Mrs. CAPITO. Mr. President, I am here to join my colleagues today to speak about what I believe is one of the most significant parts of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that we passed a little over a year ago, and that is the opportunity zones. Senator Scott is the author and the brains behind this concept that he has been working on for years, and I was really proud to be a cosponsor of that bill and am excited to see what is going to happen. Ever since that historic legislation that we passed and became law in 2017, I have heard from many individuals, families, and small businesses back in West Virginia about all the ways that they have benefited from this. I have met with families who have been able to save for their children, whether it is to increase their children's education or to actually get some things done around the house that they hadn't been able to afford before. I have spoken with small businesses that have been able to expand their operations and create new jobs. I have heard from individuals who have been able to give back to their churches and to their communities. I have seen--which, I think, may even be the most significant--a renewed sense of optimism and hope about where our economy is going, not just in our State but across the country. Many critics of the tax cut legislation said folks like those living in West Virginia wouldn't feel the positive effects, but I can tell you that we have experienced that in West Virginia. Those same critics then said that the benefits would only be temporary. I heard Senator Scott talk about the growth figures over the last quarter. It is phenomenal. I have seen figures in West Virginia of how wage growth is increasing and how our annual salaries are increasing. Our unemployment still remains a little bit high, but it is still moving down over the last month. As recently as last week, I met a small business owner in South Charleston who is currently creating new jobs because of that tax reform. But thanks to a specific provision in the tax reform bill--a provision, as I said, that Senator Scott sponsored and that several of our colleagues joined in--I am positive that the new tax law will continue to drive economic growth and optimism through opportunity zones. Now there is no State better made for an opportunity zone investment than our State. I am going to sell it right here. As my colleagues before me have explained, the idea is quite simple. It is to incentivize private investment in communities that need it the most--communities that, for one reason or another, have struggled more than others economically and that have been hit hard and are in need of not just a little but a major jump start. They are communities full of great people--people with great ideas and strong ambition--but they are in need of the capital to get those ideas off the ground, to start and expand their businesses, and to drive that growth and development. That is something that is really not easy to do in a small State, particularly a small rural State. It is very difficult. The New York Times actually reported recently that the rural areas around our country accounted for just 3 percent of America's job growth between the years of 2010 and 2014. But with the creation of the opportunity zones, enthusiasm is growing across the Mountain State when it comes to our economic potential. Senator Scott talked about his visit to Huntington, and he did remark on the enthusiasm that he saw firsthand when he visited with me and we toured 3 of our State's 55 opportunity zones. During that visit, we met with a lot of businesses. We met with local and government leaders, and we met with education officials and city officials about how opportunity zones can shape growth in that community, as well as in others across our State. I think Senator Scott would agree that the optimism was there and the excitement was palpable. The mayor of Huntington, Mayor Steve Williams, actually put it best when he characterized the trip as an opportunity to show not only what the community has been able to do to attract investment but, better yet, what the community aspires to do and become in the next generations or the next decades. That is really what opportunity zones are all about--not only driving investments today but building those foundations of growth and development for the future. I think we can all think of an area we either live near or we have driven through in our respective States that maybe used to be vibrant communities, whether in, say, Wheeling, where they had a big steel industry at some point, or in Weston, where there was a glass industry at some point. The downtowns have begun to shrink, but they are almost like sleeping bears. They are ready to wake up, and that is what I think opportunity zones are going to do. Today, a little less than a year ago, the Governor made the appointments of 55 areas in our State. Law firms, accounting firms, investors, and several others are working in our State to use this new tax provision to bring jobs and growth to parts of our country that need it the most. Communities are developing pitch books--I have seen a couple on the internet--to market their projects and proposals. Our city of Parkersburg is a great example of that. A nonprofit put together a pitch book that shows where the investments can occur in and around those opportunity zones surrounding Parkersburg. We have also seen the establishment of our first opportunity fund, called the Savage Grant. So we have some great momentum. We are working to build on it. My staff has just done an outreach in almost every single county, and we just finished a 3-day educational tour in partnership with West Virginia Forward, the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, the West Virginia Department of Commerce, and the Benedum Foundation to spread the word. Also, nonprofits are really interested in seeing this work. It takes some of the pressure off of them. If the private investor can come in, then the nonprofits can come in and provide some of the alternative services and additional services that would be needed. So we are going to keep at it, and with Treasury's release of the most recent opportunity zone regulations, the program will be a viable tool that will be more viable than ever for investments in our operating businesses. I am confident that West Virginians and others will make the most of it, and we should make the most of it because this is a great idea and a great opportunity. It is a way to transform our communities and to improve our communities and to lift up individuals and businesses that contribute, and to build that bigger and greater foundation for a brighter future. So these are the kinds of opportunities that, as Republicans, when we voted for this bill, we knew that this was a core part of our mission in terms of being able to deliver that firm foundation, and we are going to continue to deliver for West Virginians and for all Americans. I wish to thank the Senator from Iowa as well. I yield the floor.

Mrs. CAPITO

Mrs. CAPITO. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that all postcloture time on the Brasher nomination expire at 3 p.m. today and that, if confirmed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table and the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action. I further ask that following disposition of the Brasher nomination, the Senate vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the Ruiz II, Arias- Marxuach, and Wolson nominations in the order listed, and that if cloture is invoked on the nominations, the postcloture time on the nominations expire at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, May 2, and the Senate vote on confirmation of the nominations in the order in which cloture was invoked; and finally, if confirmed, that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table and the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action.

Mrs. CAPITO

Mrs. CAPITO. Mr. President, I rise today to honor Sergeant Russell Herman Sines of Goshen, WV. Sergeant Sines bravely served in the 80th Division, 317th Infantry of the United States Army from 1942 to 1945, during the height of American intervention in World War II. Known as the Blue Ridge Division, Sergeant Sines and his comrades from Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and our home State of West Virginia were ordered into action on July 15, 1942, and eventually set sail for Europe on Independence Day of 1944. The 80th Division fought valiantly on the Allied front, first landing on Utah Beach in Normandy and then quickly moving to Saint-Jores, France. Later that fall, the 317th Infantry was forced to cross the Moselle River to Pont-a-Mousson in the face of heavy Axis opposition. During the ensuing battle at Mousson, Sergeant Sines was wounded by shrapnel in his calf and ankle and taken to receive treatment at a Paris hospital. Sergeant Sines would later receive a Purple Heart for his wounds received during combat. However, this injury would not stop Sergeant Sines from serving his country. By the time the Axis forces began their Ardennes Offensive, Sergeant Sines was already back with the 317th Infantry. His regiment continued to move toward the southeast lines of Bastonge, where fighting would continue for several months. While on the streets of Bastonge, Sergeant Sines happened to run into his brother, Junior Sines, proving how small the world is that we West Virginians enjoy. Sergeant Sines and the 80th Division, 317th Infantry would go on to capture the cities of Kassel, Erfurt, Wierman, Jena, and Gera. It was during the fighting between Kassel and Erfurt that Sergeant Sines would receive a bronze medal for his heroic and meritorious service on the battlefield. By the end of the war, the Blue Ridge Division captured over 200,000 enemy soldiers and endured 289 days of combat, fighting courageously in places such as Ardennes, Luxembourg, and Argentan to name a few. I hold stories like that of Sergeant Russell Herman Sines close to my heart, as my father, Governor Arch Moore, also fought in World War II. As Americans, we have a duty to honor and remember the collective sacrifice of all the men and women of the Greatest Generation. Because of their service, America has continued to prosper and flourish, serving as a pillar of hope and freedom for people across the world. West Virginians understand the importance of community, patriotism, and liberty. These values are alive in the Appalachian foothills due to the service of brave men and woman like Sergeant Russell Herman Sines. Again, I thank Sergeant Sines for his duty to his country, and it is an honor to call him a fellow West Virginian.

Mrs. CAPITO

Mrs. CAPITO. Mr. President, I wish to recognize a friend and colleague, Mary Skeens, who has been a tireless advocate for affordable housing for West Virginians. Mary is retiring as the executive director of Community Works where she has spent the last 12 of her 40-year housing career. A native of Kentucky, Mary realized at an early age that not every family in a warm, secure home. Her pressing concern for the living conditions of her classmates and peers led her into a career in housing. In 1990, her husband, Jim, had a desire to return to his family farm in Roane County, WV. This allowed Jim to return to his Mountaineer roots, and Mary embraced her new adopted home State and entered the housing profession. Mary started her housing career as manager at a senior living high- rise apartment complex in Dunbar. She was later offered a position at the West Virginia Housing Development Fund as the head of the community development office overseeing the newly-created HOME Program during President Clinton's Administration. Mary worked with nonprofit housing agencies all over West Virginia in an effort to qualify as them as community Housing Development Organizations, also known as a CHDOs. Over the next 10 years, Mary worked with numerous housing providers to develop many worthwhile projects that serve West Virginians to this day, creating domestic violence shelters, affordable multifamily rental complexes, and affordable housing subdivisions in underserved areas of our State. Mary is well known throughout West Virginia for her housing finance skills and her ability to provide much-needed technical assistance. In 2007, Mary became executive director of Community Works in West Virginia. This agency was newly created and in its early years of operation. Community Works is a licensed mortgage lender providing home ownership loans, owner occupied rehabilitation loans, and a commercial loan program to its nonprofit housing member organizations. Mary stepped in and grew the agency by expanding its reach. This agency's work can be seen in most every housing development in the State through its loan programs and outreach. In addition to providing affordable financing opportunities, Mary has overseen many initiatives to improve housing policy and awareness that will affect this industry for years to come. She has also dedicated much time serving on many housing related boards of directors, and, as a result of her work, was inducted into the West Virginia Affordable Housing Hall of Fame in 2012. Mary has accomplished so much in her years of service to West Virginia's housing community. I would like to thank Mary for aiding our State and its residents by providing safe, decent, and affordable housing to so many citizens who could not have afforded it otherwise. Thank you for working with me and my staff over the years to serve as a resource on housing policy. I wish you well in your retirement. It is truly an honor to call you a friend and fellow West Virginian.

Mrs. CAPITO

Mrs. CAPITO. Mr. President, it is my honor to be here with my fellow woman Senator from the State of Iowa. I enjoy learning more about Iowa and about the strength of Iowan women and in our Nation. I join my colleague to highlight and celebrate not only the women leaders in the Senate but the millions of women throughout history and across the country who have made and continue to make a difference in their homes, in their communities, and in society in general. I am very proud to represent the State of West Virginia--a State with a long and rich history of female trailblazers. It is a State that respects and celebrates those women. Maybe you have heard that phrase ``mountain mamas.'' Well, Mother's Day was actually originated in West Virginia by Grafton resident Anna Jarvis in 1908. President Woodrow Wilson made it an official national holiday in the year 1914, and it is an annual reminder today to cherish and thank one of the, if not the, most influential women in many people's lives--their mothers. I miss my mother every day. I know my mother, who was the First Lady of West Virginia, was an incredible role model for me and an inspiration. Seeing all she did for our State and for our fellow West Virginians through her public service was a driving force throughout my life. Not only that, she was a great and loving mother, and as I said, I still miss her every day. Another West Virginia woman who has been an incredible inspiration is Katherine Johnson. Katherine was born in White Sulpher Springs, WV, in 1918. In her being brilliant with numbers, she attended West Virginia State College and was later one of the first Black students to integrate West Virginia University's graduate school in 1939. That is pretty notable in and of itself, but Katherine didn't stop there. In 1953, she took a job at NASA and began working as a human computer. She literally calculated how to get men into space. Remember, with the launch of the Soviets' satellite Sputnik in 1957, the space race was on. America needed a win, and Katherine Johnson played a major role in facilitating that win. Her work put John Glenn into space and into history. The success of that mission marked a turning point in the space race altogether, and it made a significant impact in the future of space travel and exploration. Some may better recognize Katherine's name from the movie ``Hidden Figures.'' I am proud to say that in tribute to Katherine and her incredible legacy at NASA, I introduced legislation to rename West Virginia's only NASA facility after her. President Trump signed that bill into law last year, and Fairmont, WV, is now the home of the Katherine Johnson Independent Verification & Validation Facility. At 100 years young, Katherine still serves as a tremendous role model to me and to women everywhere. Of course, all of our States are home to brilliant women. My home of West Virginia is home to numerous amazing women who have made significant contributions, and we are proud to claim them all. I don't know if one remembers America's sweetheart of 1984, Olympic gold medalist Mary Lou Retton, who is a native of West Virginia; Mother Jones, who is a champion of the working class and a labor organizer who campaigned for the United Mine Workers; Pulitzer Prize-winning author Pearl S. Buck; the host of the ``TODAY'' show, Hoda Kotb; actress and advocate Jennifer Garner; and Saira Blair. Many of you have never heard of Saira Blair. Several years ago, at the age of 18, she became the youngest person ever--male or female--to get elected to a State or Federal office. She served in the West Virginia House of Delegates. These incredible women and so many others have helped to shape history and society, and they have paved the way for the next generation of leaders--girls and young women who might not yet have realized or achieved their full potential. In 2015, I was sworn in as West Virginia's first female Senator. This distinction is a privilege for me, and it is an honor. It is certainly nothing I take lightly. I may well be the very first female Senator from West Virginia, but I am very confident that I will not be the last--certainly, not if I can help it. So, shortly after I came to the Senate, I started an initiative called West Virginia Girls Rise Up because I want to inspire the next generation of leaders. Through that program, I visit fifth grade girls across the State. We talk about their dreams, what they can be when they grow up, and how they can be the best versions of themselves. As a matter of fact, the Senator from Iowa mentioned the astronaut, Peggy Whitson. She was with me when I did two Girls Rise Up in West Virginia, and we talked about three different accomplishments that girls can do to reach their full potential--education, physical fitness, and self-confidence. I believe these are the building blocks for a successful future for whatever you want to do. Then we set goals. Maybe it is reading more. Maybe it is eating healthier. Maybe it is raising your hand more in class. Most importantly, I challenged these girls to achieve these goals. What I hope the girls get out of this is that you can reach a goal you set for yourself now--or at least really work hard to--and you can reach your next goal when you get older. Then you can reach your next goal and your next goal and your next goal, until you find yourself doing groundbreaking research in a lab, being a CEO of a Fortune 500 company, designing a skyscraper at an architectural firm, or working to make our country a better place from the floor of the U.S. Senate or, I will add, as President of the United States. The possibilities are endless, but the common thread is this: Think about what it is you want, work hard to make your dreams a reality, and have confidence to never back down. As I travel across West Virginia with my West Virginia Girls Rise Up Program, I am constantly amazed at the potential of the young women I see. I know the same is true in States across this country. I hope those girls are watching us here in this Chamber today. I hope they are hearing the stories of the incredible women and trailblazers who have come before us. I hope they are thinking to themselves: That could be me one day. I am incredibly proud to be a part of what female leaders are doing right now, but I am more incredibly optimistic to see what our future female leaders will do in the years ahead. I yield the floor.

Mrs. CAPITO

Mrs. CAPITO. Madam President, I wish to recognize a dedicated public servant and proud West Virginian, Tony Bazzie, on the occasion of his retirement from the Raleigh County Housing Authority. Innumerable West Virginians have benefited from his tireless efforts to improve access to affordable housing in our great State and his advocacy for increased Housing and Urban Development funding. Tony has been a vocal champion for encouraging investment in section 8 housing and an advocate for a regulatory framework that balances the interests of tenants and property owners. Tony started with the housing authority at its inception in 1979 and since then has worked hard to dispel the negative stereotypes regarding housing assistance. Currently, his office assists over 1,200 families in Raleigh County, as well as Braxton, Summers, Nicholas, Fayette, and Webster Counties. In fact, demand has been so high that the housing authority has had to implement a waiting list to serve additional West Virginians. Beyond the critical assistance that the housing authority provides to West Virginians in need, it also has a positive effect on the economy. Through section 8 subsidies, Tony and his staff have contributed over $4.5 million in rental payments to local property owners. Supporting local economies is something I have worked for in the Senate and knowing that I have allies such as Tony in the State has made this journey all the more successful. Tony has come before Congress to testify about the importance of housing authorities across West Virginia, and his insight informed the discourse regarding the Section Eight Housing Choice Voucher Reform Act, SEVRA. In his testimony, Tony highlighted the need for providing decent, safe, and sanitary housing to low-income families. His passion for and knowledge of housing policy were of great help to my colleagues, and I thank him for his service. I would like to thank Tony for all his insight and advice over the years. His yearly visits to my DC office were always a highlight, and his input was invaluable when discussing housing issues, particularly in West Virginia. On a personal level, he was kind and helpful not only to me, but to my staff as well. They spoke highly of how attentive, patient, and nice he was to everyone he worked with. I am honored to call Tony my friend and fellow West Virginian, and I wish him well in this new phase of life. I wish him the very best during his well- deserved retirement, and I hope he can enjoy more time with loved ones. West Virginia owes Tony our gratitude, and I thank him for all his excellent work for so many years.

Mrs. CAPITO

Mrs. CAPITO. Mr. President, last week, I joined several of my colleagues to highlight the unrealistic and unreasonable and impractical ideas of the Green New Deal--the staggering cost, which is more than the Federal Government has spent in our history; the misguided assumptions about what it would take to decarbonize the U.S. economy on such an aggressive timeline; and the sorts of social programs that fundamentally change the United States, and, I would add, not in a good way, in my opinion. But the worst part that has been talked about is a point I made last week. This resolution, this green deal resolution, dismisses or ignores the realistic and pragmatic environmental solutions that this Congress and past Congresses have already been working on. I serve on the Environment and Public Works Committee with Chairman Barrasso, who just spoke, and we have been working together in many different areas to get the same sorts of ends. The supporters of the Green New Deal actually claim Congress has done nothing. Unfortunately, some in the media and some others seem to be reiterating that same message. As in so many policy arenas, the latest shiny object distracts from the great bipartisan work that is being done in these Halls--work that sometimes just doesn't get noticed--and that is exactly what is happening here. Well, today I would like to highlight some of the practical, realistic, bipartisan efforts that will put us on the right path without killing jobs or overburdening Americans with government spending and higher costs. Just yesterday, President Trump signed into law the bipartisan lands package we passed in the Senate last month, and it was an overwhelming vote. As part of that legislation, we permanently reauthorized the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which is a critical resource for protecting and preserving some of our country's most beautiful public lands, including those in my State of West Virginia. Another example of the legislative solutions that we have advanced is the FUTURE Act, which I led with my Democratic colleagues, former Senator Heidi Heitkamp from North Dakota and Senator Whitehouse from Rhode Island, along with Chairman Barrasso. That legislation had a bipartisan group of 25 cosponsors and the support of an incredibly diverse and broad coalition of supporters: environmental groups, oil and gas companies, Governors from around the country, and labor unions. What cause could bring these diverse stakeholders together? Carbon capture utilization and storage--CCUS. The FUTURE Act reauthorized and improved the section 45Q tax credit for CCUS, and it requires the certainty that the carbon stays captured for good and is used in real products for market potential. It is not about research and development. There are other Federal programs that are reserved for that important endeavor. It is about establishing real incentives for the commercial deployment of CCUS technologies and establishing a national market for carbon. Only a market-based solution like the FUTURE Act can lead to broad adoption of CCUS. And CCUS is something that the International Panel on Climate Change at the U.N. and several other climate and scientific organizations say must be a part of the international solution to this global challenge. The FUTURE Act also includes support for direct-air capture projects, and that means not just from a power source or some other manufacturing source. It is actually capturing it in the free air in the environment, which can literally pull CO2 out of the atmosphere for storage or use in marketable products. That can work to make new industries carbon-negative and carbon-neutral. The United States can be a leader in this space because the environment is a global concern, and we can't control other countries' industrial and environmental policies, nor do we want them controlling ours. With CCUS and direct-air capture, not only can we cut our emissions while maintaining high-paying coal, gas, oil, and manufacturing jobs, but we can also capture emissions emitted abroad and use them in value- added products. The FUTURE Act was passed as part of the bipartisan Budget Act last Congress, and we are already seeing new projects being proposed to benefit from this policy. Even more will be coming forward as we build on this success, and that is where the USE IT Act comes in. We introduced that legislation with the same group of cosponsors with Environment and Public Works Committee Ranking Member Carper stepping in for Senator Heitkamp. We have a similar coalition of supporters across industry, environmental groups, State governments, and labor. The USE IT Act will direct an interagency council to review the guidelines and create a playbook for permitting CCUS projects and associated carbon dioxide pipelines. This certainty from Federal Agencies is essential so that those seeking to utilize the 45Q tax credit that I talked about previously in the FUTURE Act can do so before it expires. I look forward to advancing this legislation in Congress. We have already had a hearing on it--a very great bipartisan hearing on this-- and I look forward to furthering our achievements in the CCUS space. The FUTURE Act also includes seed money for breakthrough innovations in carbon capture. This expands on the good work that is already being done in CCUS research and development, primarily through the funding of the Fossil Energy Research and Development Office. Congress has invested more than $4 billion in CCUS through that program alone, in addition to several other programs to make more efficient and environmentally sound use of our fossil resources. Some of these breakthroughs are being developed at the National Energy Technology Lab in Morgantown, WV, in conjunction with outside partners like West Virginia University. I will continue to advocate for this kind of robust funding for these sorts of innovative energy programs, and I will support improving energy efficiency and ensuring that the United States remains a leader in carbon-free nuclear energy. Doing the hard-nosed legislating and coalition building to achieve these goals is tough enough without all of the noise around a Green New Deal. Despite this distraction, I am confident we can continue to notch wins in this arena. We have to because there is simply too much riding on it for our economy and for our environment. I yield the floor.

Mrs. CAPITO

Mrs. CAPITO. Madam President, I rise today in support of Dr. John Fleming's nomination to be the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development, otherwise known as the Administrator of the Economic Development Administration, or EDA. I view this as an opportunity not only to speak about the qualifications of a former colleague of mine--we served in the House together--but also to highlight the EDA's work in my home State of West Virginia. The EDA did not always play an active role in West Virginia, which is really odd when you consider that we have no shortage of economic development and infrastructure needs and challenges in our State. Yet, at my insistence and through the collaboration of my staff, we have turned a corner. Today, we are beginning to see real investments that will make a lasting difference in West Virginia. To highlight the insignificant amount West Virginia received before I became a Senator, in the 2 years prior to my swearing in--2013 and 2014--the State received a total of $200,000 from EDA outside of normal planning grants. These were mostly for technical assistance. When I came to the Senate and realized this, I made it a top priority of mine to ensure that West Virginia secured more Federal dollars to develop our economy and create new opportunities. I made it clear to EDA at the time that the status quo was absolutely unacceptable. I am glad to say we are now achieving results, as evidenced by the close to $30 million that EDA has invested in West Virginia since 2015. By bringing everyone to the table and working with State and local economic development officials, we were able to foster a renewed focus on West Virginia needs to the benefit of these local projects. In addition to EDA's bringing on a State representative, which was crucial--a State representative to focus just on our State, to directly interface with our communities--we are ensuring dollars will go toward projects that will contribute to the future of West Virginia. At a time when my State and other parts of the country are seeking to reorient their economies toward industries of the future--like technology and advanced manufacturing--these are the kinds of projects that the Federal Government should be prioritizing. Let me give you a few examples. Just last month, I joined local officials in Greenbrier County to announce $1.5 million in EDA funding to bring potable water to 50 homes and a new business that will employ over 200 people. Keep in mind, these are projects that are collaborative projects. It is not just solely Federal dollars that go into it. There are city, county, and private dollars as well. In November of last year, EDA announced that it would invest $1 million in the city of Bluefield for the Exit 1 project, a 15-acre development that will serve as a catalyst for business growth and create almost 250 jobs. And 1 year ago in March, the EDA invested close to $5 million in just 1 day to make infrastructure improvements at three separate sites across the State. This funding will promote job growth and retention of jobs in these three counties through added efficiencies in essential infrastructure. One of these projects I will talk about is in northern West Virginia, where I am originally from, and it will be to rehabilitate the Wheeling Corrugating steel plant complex in Brooke County, all the way near the top of the northern panhandle. This project will, at a minimum, create 95 new jobs, retain 45 jobs, and attract private capital beyond an initial investment of more than $1 million. This isn't funding for a conference of stakeholders or another study just to sit on a shelf and collect dust. These are real dollars going toward real projects. Our local leaders know what they need, and many of the local economic development officials tell me they have been ``studied to death.'' I am happy to say that through our efforts, local and State officials are getting the help they have been asking for. Dr. Fleming and I spoke at length about these efforts when he visited my office and during his nomination hearing before the EPW Committee. He assured me of his commitment to follow Congress's intent to continue the programs under EDA, as evidenced by the increased in funding EDA received through the appropriations process. As a successful businessman and former Member of Congress from Louisiana--and as he has made clear in his conversations with me and through his testimony--I trust that Dr. Fleming understands the needs of communities like those in West Virginia. I look forward to working with him after he is confirmed, and I invite him, as I have before, to come to my home State to see the great work that is being done with the investments that the EDA has chosen to make in West Virginia. When the Federal Government serves as a willing partner for all parts of the country, regardless of whether they are urban or rural, we can promote economic growth and opportunities for all Americans. As chair of the EPW Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee and as a member of the Appropriations and Commerce Committees, I will continue to advocate for programs that contribute not just to a brighter future for my State of West Virginia but also for the entire country. I yield the floor.

Mrs. CAPITO

Mrs. CAPITO. Mr. President, I would like to thank my colleague from Iowa for organizing this discussion on the Green New Deal resolution. The public doesn't usually pay a whole lot of attention to nonbinding resolutions here in the Congress, but that is not the case with this one. The sponsors of the Green New Deal in the House and the Senate certainly deserve recognition for the profile they managed to create so quickly. Of course, that is a double-edged sword because now people are beginning to pay attention to what is actually in the Green New Deal. Leader McConnell has proposed bringing the resolution to the floor, which has created, in my view, sort of a baffling response. The planned sponsors are claiming that a vote is ``cynical'' and meant to ``disrupt'' their ``movement.'' You and I both know that every Member of this body would clamor to have their bills brought up for floor consideration. Most of us here live in the land of realistic and practical solutions. The Green New Deal is very vague, but it does include enough detail to know that it proposes radical solutions that, in my view, are neither practical nor realistic. It is a wish list dressed up as environmental policy. We knew it was going to be expensive. We knew the goal was to eliminate coal and gas industries, along with a lot of other good- paying jobs that they support in energy States like mine. This isn't the first salvo in the war on coal, for sure. We knew all the economic harm they would be proposing, but this is a massive shift to the left that goes far beyond anything the Democrats have proposed before. This plan doesn't stop at eliminating the use of coal and natural gas for electricity. The plan also ends nuclear electricity and severely curtails the commercial air industry. The environmental and energy components of this proposal are estimated to cost $8.3 to $12.3 trillion over the next decade, which averages out to about $52,000 to $71,000 for every American household. We will be left with possibly an energy grid that lacks affordability and reliability to make the American manufacturers competitive around the globe and meet the basic needs of our families. Right now, coal, natural gas, and nuclear energy account for 83 percent of all the electricity produced in the United States. It is neither practical nor realistic to believe that we could phase all of that capacity out without some catastrophic consequences. Unbelievably, this is just one piece of the Green New Deal. The sticker shock continues with tens of trillions of dollars to fund guaranteed jobs for people unwilling to work, eliminate private healthcare for 170 Americans in favor of a government-run system, replace or retrofit all housing stock for environmental compliance, and guaranteeing it to every American and putting food on everyone's table. Altogether, it could cost possibly $93 trillion over a 10-year period of time. We could liquidate all the wealth in the entire country and maybe just cover that tab, but we wouldn't have anything left. The Green New Deal sponsors claim the government will be making investments. They claim that the returns will pay for everything and make a profit for the people. Is this realistic or practical? I think not. And if it fails, then what do we do? Some say the Green New Deal, even if it is a disaster of a policy that would destroy our economy, at least has Congress finally talking about climate change. This is what we heard from my colleague. We serve on the EPW Committee together. It is a huge disservice, I think, to us. We have been working in a bipartisan fashion to deliver real solutions since before anyone had ever heard of the Green New Deal. In the EPW Committee, Senators from coal States, such as Senator Barrasso from Wyoming, who is here, and Senator Whitehouse from Rhode Island, and Senator Carper, and myself have been working for market- driven solutions to the challenge of atmospheric CO2. Members of both parties have worked and will continue to work on these important policies to meaningfully address carbon challenges while also protecting and creating jobs. We do not need a $93 trillion turn that fundamentally alters the foundations of this country. We are capable of making investments in technology and infrastructure to address our Nation's challenges in a commonsense and bipartisan way. The Green New Deal is not practical. It is not realistic, and it is a bit scary that so many Democrats are embracing it. The American people deserve to know where each of us stands on this policy. That is why we are going to have a vote. I am glad that we will have the opportunity to take a vote on this resolution in the coming months, and I hope that all of my colleagues will join me in opposing this utterly unfathomable and unworkable resolution. I yield the floor.

Mrs. CAPITO

Mrs. CAPITO. Mr. President, before I begin with my remarks, I would like to take a moment, as I think everybody here in the country should, to remember and honor all the lives lost 1 year ago today during the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL. It was a horrible act, as the Presiding Officer of the Senate is well aware, and its reverberations are still felt deeply today, especially among those who lost friends and loved ones, many of whom work day in and day out to keep their memory alive. We have before us on the floor today a bipartisan government funding measure, and as the chairman of the Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, I rise in support of the conference agreement to secure our border and fund our government and end any possibility of a shutdown at the same time. This agreement is a compromise between Republicans and Democrats, between the House and the Senate, and because it is a compromise, none of us really got everything we wanted. When you are working to reach an agreement, whether you are in government or in a family, it is important to understand the difference between compromising on details and compromising on your principles. While this agreement may compromise on some of the specifics, it does not compromise on our commitment to our Nation and to secure our Nation. That commitment is also shared by our President, who has been unwavering in his promise to strengthen our border. It is a goal we must achieve in a smart and informed way to address the real and ever- changing challenges we face as a nation. On the border itself, I have been very clear that our agreement had to include three critical elements, three legs of the stool: physical barriers, technology, and personnel. There were a few sticking points with our Democratic colleagues. We did hear from the Speaker of the House that there would be no wall or there would not be $1 for the wall. Instead, this agreement provides almost triple the money for new wall construction that we appropriated last year. In fact, we will pay for 55 new miles of wall in the Rio Grande Valley where Customs and Border Protection has told us it is desperately needed. This agreement will build twice as many miles of new wall as last year's appropriations, despite the fact that we were negotiating with those who didn't want to have any wall. Would I have preferred more money for the wall? Of course. But this bill provides the most money ever in a single appropriations bill for a barrier. I drafted legislation--passed by the Senate Appropriations Committee last June--that would have fully funded the President's budget request for the wall. I would have voted for higher amounts--and did, actually, in committee--of funding for the wall. That is because I believe strongly that physical barriers are a vital part of securing our border. I saw it myself when I toured the borders in California and Texas. I saw the need. I saw how the walls work. And I will stand side by side with the President as he works to secure additional money to construct a border wall in the future. We got $1.375 billion, and that is a long way from $1. It is a critical downpayment on the President's ultimate border security goal. The best path forward to secure our border today is to pass this agreement. The bill also stands with the men and women of ICE, Immigration and Customs Enforcement. A statutory cap on the number of ICE detention beds would have required dangerous criminals to be released from ICE custody. It would have posed a threat to families and communities across the country, and it would have compromised an important principle. This agreement rejects that anti-ICE proposal. I have said many times that I support the men and women of ICE and their important work to secure our Nation, and that is why the agreement before us gives ICE the operational flexibility it needs to accomplish its goals. Taking advantage of the flexibility this bill provides, ICE can utilize 18 percent more detention beds than they are currently using. That means ICE can continue interior enforcement efforts and be ready to respond to any surges on the border, so it gives ICE the flexibility they need. I say to my friends who, like me, want more money for the wall: This agreement is better for the wall and better for ICE than any other alternative. Rejecting this agreement will cost dozens of miles of new wall and jeopardize ICE's ability to detain dangerous criminals. Another government shutdown cannot and should not be allowed to happen. We need to provide certainty to our Federal workers and the American people whom we serve. I also think we need to restore trust in our ability to work across the aisle, to work across party lines to reach settlement, negotiated settlement that moves us forward, because if we are in a stalemate, we are standing still. In my opinion, if you are standing still, you are actually going backward, and we don't want to do that as a nation. The work done by the men and women in our Federal workforce during the shutdown should continue to be applauded. Without pay and in a period of great uncertainty, thousands of men and women did their jobs at the highest level. We should be thankful for their service, and we are. One of the things I am proud of in this bill is a 1.9-percent pay increase for the men and women of the Department of Homeland Security. This is ICE. This is Border Patrol. To the Coast Guard, Secret Service, FEMA, we salute you. Under this agreement, we will also hire 200 new Border Patrol agents over the fiscal year 2018 funded level to defend and police our border, and we will add $600 million for nonintrusive inspection technology. As I have said before, border wall, personnel, and technology are all vital parts of securing our border. They are very critical in addressing the drug epidemic that has plagued my State of West Virginia and many other parts of this country. This bill includes the highest level of funding ever in a homeland security appropriations bill to combat the opioid epidemic--more than $700 million--and it has funds for investigations when it comes to human trafficking, looking into the dark web, and other crimes. The homeland security portion of this agreement also takes a major step forward in advancing our Nation's Coast Guard by building a new polar security cutter to help address operational needs in the Arctic. This is critical to our homeland security. We also address the needs of the TSA, the Secret Service, and FEMA--to name just a few of the other entities within this title. This bill is not the bill I would have written alone. I don't get to do that. It is the product of give-and-take that is necessary to forge a bipartisan consensus. It is a strong compromise that will help secure our border and make America safer. Senator Jon Tester, the ranking member of our subcommittee and the Senator from Montana, has been an excellent partner as we have worked to deliver a bill worthy of the men and women of the Department of Homeland Security. So I thank him for his efforts throughout this process. We have worked very well together. I also want to thank Chairman Shelby and Vice Chairman Leahy for their work in guiding the Appropriations Committee to a deal. These are seasoned appropriators who know how to get the job done. Their leadership has demonstrated that the Appropriations Committee can come together and forge bipartisan consensus in the national interest. The leaders of the House Appropriations Committee, Chairman Nita Lowey, whom I know very well; and Ranking Member Kay Granger, who is a good friend of mine from my service in the House; as well as my counterpart in the House and chairman of Homeland Security, Lucille Roybal-Allard; and Ranking Member Chuck Fleischmann, of the Homeland Security Subcommittee. They deserve our gratitude for forging ahead with a willingness to negotiate. I also appreciate the contributions of all the members of our conference committee, and I would like to thank a group of individuals who have dedicated a lot of nights, weekends, and family time to this effort. Their knowledge of the facts and their commitment to the cause never waned, even though their time to sleep did wane. Shannon Hines, who is Chairman Shelby's right-hand woman on the committee, was fantastic. Thank you to Adam Telle, Peter Babb, Christian Lee, Chris Cook, and Thompson Moore of the Homeland Security Subcommittee staff, which I chair, as well as to my own appropriations staffer, J.T. Jezierski. I say thank you--a big thank you. I have spent the majority of my time today and the last several weeks on my bill--our bill. My thanks and congratulations also go to my fellow chairmen who have titles in this package. They have produced legislation that will help West Virginia expand access to broadband, combat the opioid epidemic, enhance our transportation, foster economic development, and advance scientific research and discovery. They, too, faced similar challenges to draft bipartisan legislation, and they too got it done. In closing, although conferees compromised on details, we did not compromise our principles. Passing this conference agreement is in our national security interest. It will provide the resources, the direction, and the support that the President has said many times he needs to protect our Nation. I am very proud to have been a part of this process, and I encourage my colleagues to join me in a bipartisan fashion in passing this bill later this afternoon. Thank you. I yield the floor.

Mrs. CAPITO

Mrs. CAPITO. Madam President, I am really pleased to be here to join in the colloquy with my fellow Senators, Mr. Manchin, Senator Brown from Ohio, and Senator Warner from Virginia. This is important. This is really important. I could say I look around the room, and it is important to us, but it is important even more granularly to some other folks who are right here watching what we are doing. Many of us have worked together previously in order to save retiree health benefits for 22,000 retired miners in 2017, following the bankruptcies of Patriot, Alpha, and Walter Resources. Today we are back together to advocate for another over 1,000 retirees and beneficiaries whose healthcare is impacted by the Westmoreland Coal bankruptcy, as Senator Manchin described. It is also critical that we redouble our efforts to find a solution to the 1974 UMWA Pension Fund. If we do nothing--if we do nothing, which I don't believe is an option--this pension fund, which provides 83,000 current beneficiaries with their pensions, will be insolvent by 2022. That is getting close, and insolvency can come even sooner, depending on market conditions. So combined with the 20,000 people who have a vested right to future benefits, more than 100,000 people are covered by this pension plan. As Senator Manchin said, these are hard-working people who were promised and who, in the course of their working lives, gave up something so they could have a better peace of mind later on. They worked hard day in and day out. They powered our communities and industries and helped our country achieve greatness, even in the toughest times, and they did that with the promise of healthcare and a pension that would allow them to live with dignity in retirement. We are not talking about lavish pensions. I think this is an important point. The average benefit paid by this fund is $560 per month. These retirees are not getting rich on their pension plans, and they are not taking lavish expenditures, but without this monthly benefit, many of them would be living on the edge of poverty, if they are not already. One miner from Logan, WV, who worked in the mines for 36 years wrote: Please keep fighting for our pension. I receive $303.34 monthly. We need this badly to help pay for food, medicine, and other bills. Another retired miner from Richwood, WV, who worked in the mines for 17 years, wrote that his monthly check of $192 ``is not a lot of money, but it means a lot,'' and on top of that, he earned it. It helps him make his ends meet. Another miner from Kistler, WV, who mined for over 35 years, expressed concern that he might not be able to pay his expenses or help his daughter in college without that monthly pension check. Failing to fix the pension fund would have a terrible impact on communities where many of these miners live. More than 25,000 pension fund beneficiaries live in the State of West Virginia, and they received $200 million in benefits last year. If they didn't spend that money in their community supporting businesses and other jobs in our coalfield communities--if you subtract those funds out of the community, you would have a significant economic blow. We have a solution that will prevent the insolvency of the pension fund and protect our retired miners, their families, and their communities. We should pass legislation that expands the use of the same transfer of payments used to support retiree healthcare to make the pension fund solvent. I have supported various forms of that kind of legislation over the years, but as we come closer to the time-- 2022--when the pension fund will become insolvent, we must redouble our efforts. That is why I appreciate Senator Manchin's advocacy. I appreciate his sense of urgency, and I share that. At the same time, our West Virginia representatives, along with representatives from the States--David McKinley, Alex Mooney, and Carol Miller--are leading a bipartisan effort in the House to fix this problem as well. I will keep fighting alongside all of you and all of them and others I see until we enact a solution that keeps the promise of our hard- working coal miners. Thank you. I yield back.

Mrs. CAPITO

Mrs. CAPITO. Mr. President, I was just listening and paying close attention to my colleague from Alaska describing the uselessness and the misery march of a government shutdown, particularly one that has lasted longer than any one that has occurred over the history of this country. I couldn't agree more, and I associate myself with her comments, having had many conversations, as many of us have, with our TSA agents and with our Coast Guard--yes, West Virginia has a Coast Guard presence; I would like to emphasize that--with our prison guards and others who have had just foisted upon them, through no fault of their own, some very difficult decisions and sleepless nights, I am sure. So while we want to celebrate, there is really little cause to celebrate. I think it is more of a breath of fresh air or a deep sigh of relief. Probably, in the minds of the veterans whom I was with at the Martinsburg Medical Center this morning, it is a deep breath and: Well, no kidding. Let's get back to the business of governing and making decisions and making good decisions for the country. I chair the Subcommittee on Homeland Security in the Senate as part of the Appropriations Committee. I am very pleased that the President has made this announcement that our leaders, both Senator McConnell and Senator Schumer, have come together with a commonsense, breathable solution to give us some space to work through what we call here regular order. For people listening who don't understand what that is, it is what we should be doing every day, where I sit down as the chair of the committee, with Senator Tester from Montana, who is the ranking member on the committee, and other members of the committee, and we work things out. I want this, and he wants this. Well, maybe pick in the middle, or maybe I will give you this if you give me that. So I look forward, with the bold leadership of Senator Shelby and Senator Leahy, as chair and ranking member of the full committee, and the leadership, certainly, of our leaders, with the President, to working out a good solution here. I firmly believe that border security is important. That is reflected in the bill we passed out of our subcommittee that the Chair and the Senator from Tennessee both voted on in the full committee. We had 10 Democrats who voted for that bill, which had border security, a pedestrian fence, wall, technology, and the polar security cutter for our Coast Guard, which is something very important to Alaska and the Arctic and to us as Americans for our safety, and a lot of very reflective priorities in there for the rest of the country. We can't lose sight that homeland security is more than about one structure or the one placement of a structure. It is about a full-out array of ways of looking at protecting our country internally, in our transportation sector, in our energy sectors, and in others. While it sounds like a steep mountain, I embrace this. I embrace the ability to play a role and to find a reasonable solution, and we have been granted until February 15 to work this out. With that, I have rolled up my sleeves. I am getting ready to go to work with many, many others here in this body and across the way and at the White House. To the American people, I agree that shutdowns are useless. They are painful. Nobody wins. The big discussion is, Who is winning here? It is pretty clear the American people aren't winning, and in the end, I don't think anybody is winning. With that, I yield my time, and look forward to getting to work and to finding the right solution.

Mrs. CAPITO

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

Mrs. CAPITO. Mr. President, I come to the floor today as the chairman of the Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee to express my strong support for the End the Government Shutdown and Secure Our Borders Act. This legislation includes many important priorities, and they are important priorities that we need to address now. In the past several days and weeks, there has been a lot of talk about who has more leverage, who is winning, and what the political stakes are. You hear a lot of different answers to those questions, depending on whom you ask, quite frankly, but I will tell you one thing: Those are not the questions on the minds of our Federal workers. Just this morning, at about 4 o'clock, I had a conversation with several TSA agents at Yeager Airport, where I fly out of to come to Washington. In talking about the situation, what I got in response from them was a lot of headshaking and a lot of questions. Their questions had to do with this: How are they going to pay their bills and when is this going to end? I understand their frustration. I am frustrated. That is exactly why I have always said that a shutdown is no way to govern. It is not in anyone's best interest. It is a disservice to our Federal works. It is a show of our inability to do our jobs in conjunction with those on the other side of the aisle, and it is a signal to the American people that we think this confusing and ineffective way to govern is OK, when it is not. It is not OK. We are here in this body to work together, to get over the rifts that we may have, and to move forward to do the people's work. We have to fix this situation, and we have to fix it now. We have an opportunity today to do that, and I plan to do that by voting for the President's proposed compromise. This proposal does two things that we should all want. It reopens the government, and it helps to secure our southern borders. If we pass this amendment--and I hope we do--we will bring our furloughed workers back to work, and they will get paid. We will pay the dedicated men and women of our Coast Guard, our Federal prison guards, our TSA and Border Patrol personnel, and many others--many of whom I have talked with--and we will take a major step forward in securing our Nation. I believe the resources in this bill are necessary because I believe we do face a crisis on our southern border. Last year, in the last 3 months of 2018, over 153,000 people were apprehended illegally crossing the southern border. And that number does not include the people who crossed illegally, but were not apprehended. The number of illegal border crossings was up more than 80 percent in the last 3 months of 2018, as compared to the last 3 months of 2017. The composition of those being detained for crossing the border is changing. In 2000, 98 percent of those detained for illegally crossing the border were Mexican nationals, and most were single adults. They could be repatriated to Mexico very quickly, within hours. But, in 2018, more than 56 percent of individuals detained were from places other than Mexico. A large portion were from Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador. Increasingly, individuals are showing up at our borders from all over the world. Forty percent were either unaccompanied minors or arrived as part of a family unit. That number is way up. That number is way up. That means longer detention proceedings that have placed a burden on our immigration court system, and it means an increased need for facilities to safely and responsibly house these people for a longer period of time. I have visited the detention centers in Texas. I believe the facts make it very clear that there is a crisis. The amendment that we will vote on today offers a solution. We also know that physical barriers work. In the San Diego, Tucson, El Centro, and El Paso regions, where there are constructed physical barriers, the illegal border crossings have gone down by more than 90 percent. That is undeniable. Right now, we have 654 miles of physical barrier in place. I have heard folks say that we don't have any walls or that we don't have any barriers. Yes, we do. Yes, we do. If we pass this amendment, we can build 234 miles in areas like the Rio Grande Valley, where career Border Patrol personnel tell us it is most needed. There has been a lot of talk that the professionals should be in charge here in terms of telling us how and what the best methods of protecting our borders are. Well, they are in charge. As subcommittee chair, I have had several meetings with them for them to tell me what their border security plan is, and the CBP has that. This amendment would fund the bulk of the top 10 requests. They have a 33-point plan. This would get us through the top 10. The funding in this bill provides for a border wall system--a system--which is much more than just a physical barrier. It provides lighting, sensors, cameras, and access roads to help our Border Patrol agents gain and maintain operational control of the border. These are the things that the Border Patrol has asked for. A wall is not the only solution, but it is a critical part of the solution. The resources included in the amendment for the southern border are important to the security of our Nation, and they are especially important to address our drug crisis. Fentanyl seizures by the Border Patrol away from ports of entry are up 122 percent over last year. Remember, fentanyl is a killer. Over half of the deaths by overdose in our State in some bit or in some part involved fentanyl. Methamphetamine seizures by the Border Patrol away from ports of entry are up 75 percent in the last three years. The border wall system will reduce the flow of these illegal drugs between our points of entry. We know that much of the heroin, fentanyl, and methamphetamine that are hurting so many Americans cross our border at the ports of entry. This amendment addresses that issue as well. It provides $805 million for technology, canines, and personnel to stop the flow of illegal drugs into our country. That is what West Virginians are interested in. This drug crisis is really impacting us. This would be an unprecedented investment in these types of detection capabilities--a complete game changer. The amendment would allow us to hire more people, which is another thing the CPB says that they need--750 new border agents and 375 new Customs officers to complement these investments. The combination of technology and personnel, both at our ports of entry and along the border, with the border wall system, would enhance our security. It will choke off a major source of the heroin and fentanyl that has devastated my State, and I am sure the Presiding Officer's State, as well, and across our country. Resources are also included in the amendment to detain those who are apprehended for illegally crossing our border. I support the important work of the men and women of ICE, and I want them to be able to maintain custody of offenders, rather than being forced to release those who have entered our country illegally due to a lack of space. In my view, that is not only more safe and secure for us, but it is actually more safe and secure for anybody who is involved in the immigration system. They and many more of the brave men and women of the Department of Homeland Security continue to perform these difficult tasks without getting paid during this shutdown. Chairman Shelby's amendment is not a short-term patch. We are kind of past the time where we need a short-term patch. We need to move forward. It is not a continuing resolution that runs our government on autopilot for a little while and denies the Senate the ability to make smart choices in exercising the power of the purse. Instead, it includes seven full appropriations bills that received significant bipartisan support in the Appropriations Committee, one of which is my bill at the Homeland Security Subcommittee, which was passed in a bipartisan way. Four of these bills passed the Senate floor with overwhelming support. I am very proud that the bill that I put forward in committee, along with some additions, are a part of this package. There is $11.9 billion provided for our Coast Guard--this was in my bill--including to begin construction of something that I think is critical to our national security, which is the polar security cutters. More than $4.8 billion is provided for the TSA to improve transportation security, and $19.8 billion is appropriated for FEMA to make sure we have the necessary resources to respond to past and future natural disasters. There are important priorities within these bills from other subcommittees as well. A couple I would like to highlight are these. The Agriculture title has $550 million for a rural broadband pilot project that I strongly support as part my Capito Connect plan in the State of West Virginia. The FSGG title has resources for the Drug-Free Communities and High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas Program, which is critical for stopping the drug epidemic that I have spoken about. The CJS title has $468 million to combat the opioid epidemic and another $30 million for economic development assistance to coalfield communities. These are just a few examples of what the Shelby amendment has. The amendment that the Democratic leader has proposed reopens the government through February 8. It provides no new resources to address the security and humanitarian crisis on our southern border. Let me repeat that. It provides no new resources to address the security and humanitarian crisis on our southern border. Passing the Schumer plan would put us in the same position on February 8 that exists today. We don't need to pause the shutdown for 15 days and ignore border security. Article I of the Constitution gives us, as the Congress, the power of the purse, and we should exercise it by making smart choices based on the situation that is in front of us today. Continuing resolutions only cut and paste the choices that we made last year. Instead, we should pass the seven appropriations bills before us to fund the government for the rest of the year in a thoughtful way, in a bipartisan way, while also providing the necessary resources to protect our Nation. President Trump has made a significant concession by asking that we include a provision giving 3 years of certainty to those covered by the DACA Executive order, as well as those who have been on temporary protected status. That provision is included in this amendment. This is the type of reasonable compromise that is necessary to pass major legislation during a period of divided government. No one--not the President, not any Senator, not any Representative--gets everything they want in this bill or any bill, really. The bill includes items that many of us individually might have left out if we wrote the bill ourselves, but that is the nature of compromise. The seven appropriations bills that make up the Shelby amendment are the product of significant bipartisan compromise on behalf of the Nation. I believe we should embrace the spirit of compromise to end this shutdown and secure our border. What can't be compromised is our Nation's security. We just celebrated Martin Luther King, Jr., Day last Monday. As was I reading a lot of his famous quotes, I thought about this one because of the situation that we find ourselves in right now: If you can't fly then run, if you can't run then walk, if you can't walk then crawl, but whatever you do, you have to keep moving forward. Let's start moving forward together. I hope that all of my colleagues will embrace this sentiment, and I hope that as I vote for the Shelby amendment, we will get enough to push it over the Senate floor and over to the House. Thank you. I yield the floor.

Mrs. CAPITO

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

Mrs. CAPITO

Mrs. CAPITO. Madam President, we are faced today with an escalating crisis on our southwest border. We all know it. We see news of it every day, and it is very real. As the chairman of the Appropriations Committee's Subcommittee on Homeland Security, I would like to present some facts to the Senate that make the case for increased investment in our border security. In the fiscal year 2018, Border Patrol apprehensions at the southwest border were up more than 30 percent compared with fiscal year 2017. In real numbers, over 396,000 people were apprehended. It is getting worse because, if you look at October of 2018 compared to October of 2017, apprehensions were up 88 percent. The numbers are going up. The facts I have laid out don't tell the entire story. Border Patrol estimates that it could be catching as little as half of the traffic that is illegally crossing our southwest border between the ports of entry, so we really don't know who we are catching, and we don't know what they are carrying. Border Patrol apprehensions of gang members is up 50 percent from fiscal year 2017 to fiscal year 2018. Mexico is a primary source for narcotics entering the United States. This is extremely important to me as a representative from the State of West Virginia. Fentanyl seizures by Border Patrol were up 115 percent over the past year, from 2017 to 2018. We know that a significant portion of opioids enter our country through ports of entry, but we cannot ignore the fact that we are seeing opioid smuggling between the ports of entry increase at alarming rates as well. Similarly, methamphetamine seizures by Border Patrol have increased 75 percent since the year 2015. In more populated areas along the border, aliens and smugglers are crossing the border unimpeded and quickly vanishing into our neighborhoods, into our commercial areas, and onto highways, headed to places like Mississippi and West Virginia. A single load of fentanyl, walked across our land border in an unassuming backpack, could threaten the lives of several thousand Americans. Failure to better secure our border will have consequences for all American communities. I am very sad to say that my home State is an acutely affected area. In the year 2017, drug overdoses were responsible for more deaths per capita in West Virginia than in any other State. Listen to this. This is so sad. Overdoses tragically took the life of 1 out of every 1,700 West Virginians and 1 out of 46 Americans in this country. We saw a 500-percent increase in meth overdoses in West Virginia from the years 2013 to 2017. What I have learned about this is that we have gone from prescription drugs to heroin, to heroin laced with fentanyl, and now it is synthetic methamphetamines that are the threat. This is occurring while we are seeing an uptick in meth that is mass produced in places like Mexico, trafficked across our border, and then distributed across the United States. Even more troubling, these types of meth are also being laced with the synthetic and dangerous opioid, fentanyl. In this current debate, it is easy to forget that just over a decade ago, on a bipartisan basis, Congress--and I was over in the House of Representatives at the time--was making significant investments in our border security infrastructure. What we have seen from these past investments is that physical barriers actually work at the border. The statistics show that. In the 1990s and 2000s, we built physical barriers in four sectors: the San Diego sector, the El Paso sector, the Tucson sector, and the Yuma sector. In each of these places, the number of apprehensions dropped by more than 90 percent after the infrastructure was installed. In these areas, investment in border security has enhanced the safety and the security on both sides of the border. Neighborhoods that were once overrun with illegal activity are vibrant. Commercial areas that were once considered dangerous and unprofitable are now flourishing with economic development. Nature preserves that were once trashed and trampled are again full of our native plants and animals. The cartels on the other side of the border profit in places where we haven't invested. Criminals aren't going to stop smuggling humans and narcotics into the United States because we have invested in certain key places; they have simply changed their routes and shifted their tactics to areas where we haven't yet built infrastructure. If we fail to better secure our border, we are inviting vulnerable migrant populations, many of whom may be fleeing danger in their own home communities, to subject themselves to dangerous journeys through rugged terrain. They are often doing so under the thumb of cartels who profit from the illegal human trafficking, just as they profit from drug trafficking. We need to secure our borders and encourage these migrants to instead seek entry legally at the designated ports of entry. This past summer, I traveled for several days to the southwest border, both in California and in Texas. I witnessed the needs that we have there firsthand. I saw the open pathways across the border and into our communities. I saw the gaps in our border security. I also saw communities that have become safer because we have provided border security. I didn't just see those things; I heard from the men and women who patrol our border each and every day. It is a tough job. It is a tough job. They expressed the need for and the value of the investments I am talking about here today. While the need for additional investment in border infrastructure may be obvious to some, Congress has recognized that we need to be strategic in these investments. It was said on the Senate floor last week that there is no plan for these investments. I am here to tell you that is not the actual, true story. In fact, the bipartisan fiscal year 2017 appropriations bill required Customs and Border Protection to provide us with a comprehensive border security plan, an improvement plan, to ensure that we get it right. This plan was developed sector by sector by agents in the field, and it was weighted by illegal activities that are occurring in those sectors. It was written from the bottom up by career law enforcement professionals who walk the line every day, sometimes on boats on the Rio Grande--we did that too--and know where new infrastructure is needed most. The plan was delivered in January of 2018 and provided us with a 10- year roadmap for border security investment based on operational requirements. Here is what we learned from this plan. As traffic slowed in San Diego, in Arizona, and in El Paso, we have seen it shift to South Texas, to the Rio Grande Valley sector. This sector covers just 17 percent of the mileage of the entire border, but it now sees 40 percent of the illegal border traffic. This sector also accounts for an outsized number of narcotic seizures and a significant portion of the assaults on our Border Patrol agents. Through the fiscal year 2018 appropriations bill enacted in March, Congress provided a downpayment of nearly $1.4 billion toward this plan, this improvement plan. Despite claims on the Senate floor last week to the contrary, Customs and Border Protection is executing this funding at an astounding rate. About one-third of it is already under contract. Another third will be under contract in the next several weeks, and the entirety of this funding will be under contract within a year of enactment of this legislation. They are spending it where it is needed most and as fast as we can get it to them. In June, the Appropriations Committee, led by my subcommittee, produced a bill that recommended border security funding in line with this plan. Specifically, the bill recommended significant funding for new physical barriers along the southwest border. This is a very good bill, but over the summer and over the fall, this crisis on the southwest border has escalated. I believe we in Congress must demonstrate that we are flexible enough to respond when the situation calls for it. The statistics I cited certainly make a compelling case. Providing additional resources in fiscal year 2019 and fiscal year 2020 for border security infrastructure would be consistent with the border security improvement plan when viewed through the lens of an escalating crisis. This funding would go straight to the places in South Texas where we are seeing the most illegal traffic. It is important to note that providing an appropriate level of funding is possible without exceeding any of our budget caps and without shortchanging any of our other very important programs, as long as we get serious about finding a bipartisan way forward. I will take a time out here to recognize that Senator Schumer and rising Speaker Pelosi are going to be meeting with the President on this very issue today, so I urge them to reach a bipartisan way forward. I urge my colleagues here in the Senate to take a long, hard look at the undisputable facts, which demonstrate that the crisis on the border is escalating. Our law enforcement personnel have provided us with a plan to work toward improving and solving that problem, so let's work together and get this done. I yield back my time.

Mrs. CAPITO

Mrs. CAPITO. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mrs. CAPITO

Mrs. CAPITO. Mr. President, I wish to recognize Timothy J. Goode on the occasion of his retirement as Chief Deputy U.S. Marshal for the Southern District of West Virginia. Chief Deputy Goode is stepping down after a long career of accomplishment and service to his country and to West Virginia. Since he came to West Virginia, my staff and I have had the pleasure of working with Chief Deputy Goode and his colleagues in the Southern District office. He has been a consistent advocate for the U.S. Marshals Service and served as a valuable liaison between the Service and my office. Before he came to West Virginia, he had already accrued a number of accomplishments in a storied career. Chief Deputy Goode received his bachelor's degree from Indiana State University in 1983, entering the U.S. Marshals Service as a deputy in 1986. Over the next three decades, he served as a mentor to numerous deputies, coordinated and led operations that resulted in the arrest of dangerous criminals, and served in various administrative and informational capacities, including two stints as Acting U.S. Marshal. Among his many approbations was a special recognition by the Indiana General Assembly in 1990 for his role in the arrest and extradition of General Manuel Noriega. In addition to his long record of service, Chief Deputy Goode serves as a Sunday school teacher and holds a master's degree in Christian Ministry. An outdoorsman, he is also an avid hunter and fisher. Finally, and most importantly, he is a devoted husband to his wife, Kyle. Exemplary public service should be praised, and we all owe a debt of gratitude to Chief Deputy Goode for his service. I wish him well in retirement and in his future endeavors. It is an honor to call him a friend and fellow West Virginian.

Mrs. CAPITO

Mrs. CAPITO. I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mrs. CAPITO

Mrs. CAPITO. I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mrs. CAPITO. Mr. President, today I rise to strongly support the passage of the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act, the SUPPORT Act. Actually, I think that is a great title, the SUPPORT Act. The SUPPORT Act combines the work of the House of Representatives with the Senate's Opioid Crisis Response Act, which we recently passed with overwhelming bipartisan support. As we anticipate voting on this groundbreaking legislation soon and sending it to the President's desk, I wanted to highlight some of the provisions I think are most critical, many of which I worked on with my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to move forward. The SUPPORT Act successfully builds on the work Congress began with the passage of the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act back in July of 2016, and it is a critical next step in our fight against an epidemic that continues to devastate families and communities across this country, especially in my home State of West Virginia. This legislation reflects what we have learned in the past few years since we passed CARA. West Virginia has been struggling so much with the opioid crisis; we have been struggling longer and harder than many of our other States. This is not something we are particularly proud of, but it is a reality with which we live, and we really face the challenge. This crisis has shaped our ongoing response to the epidemic, as well as my contributions to the bill. In West Virginia, we understand better, I think, some of the causes of the crisis and how we can deal with them. We have discovered what is working in our State, and we have learned that the ripple effects go far beyond those struggling with addiction. It affects families and children and communities. When thinking about next steps for fighting the opioid epidemic, one of the first things I realized was that the formula for State funding was not providing adequate resources to the hardest hit States--States like West Virginia. I joined with my colleague Senator Shaheen from New Hampshire--her State also has been devastated by this epidemic--to help change that formula. I am pleased that this bill reauthorizes the State grants in a way that ensures that States like ours--small States with very large problems--will begin to receive more resources and those resources that we desperately need. Something else we quickly realized in West Virginia was that we didn't have the treatment facilities or the trained workforce to adequately support individuals seeking treatment. To address these needs, I worked with my colleague Senator Hassan from New Hampshire to create a grant program establishing comprehensive opioid recovery centers, or CORKs, in the most affected areas, and I worked on provisions that will help increase and better prepare our healthcare workers. We also realized, sadly, that there will always be bad actors who attempt to take advantage of those in crisis. I have talked to friends of mine whose young adult children are in the throes of addiction and will literally pay anything--anything--to get the help they feel their loved one deserves, making them particularly vulnerable, I think, to bad actors and to folks who might take advantage of that. So we introduced the Opioid Addiction Recovery Fraud Prevention Act with Senator Cortez Masto from Nevada. This measure will hold fraudulent substance abuse treatment programs and recovery centers accountable by empowering the FTC to bring enforcement actions against them. Another issue I hear about often is the need among employers for potential employees who are able to pass a drug test. Our economy is booming, our workforce is expanding, but we are having difficulty in some areas finding enough employees who can actually pass a drug test. It is not unusual; I will hear that 10 people get tested, and only 2 will pass. We also have the need for recovering addicts to be able to find that pathway back to employment. To address both of these needs, this legislation authorizes grants that will align job training and treatment services, including several provisions from the CARA Act that I sponsored with Senator Brown from Ohio. As to the causes of the crisis, there are many, but there are two areas that come up again and again. First is the need to reduce the number of prescriptions for opioids. To get at the root of the problem, Senator Feinstein and I introduced the Using Data to Prevent Opioid Diversion Act. Our bill, which is now a part of the SUPPORT Act, provides drug manufacturers and distributors with data to identify pharmacies that are suspiciously ordering prescription opioids, and it grants law enforcement the authority to hold them accountable, as they should be, if they fail to use this data to identify, report, and stop suspicious orders. Had something like this been on the books before, we may have been able to stop--and I want you to hear this statistic--the 780 million oxycodone and hydrocodone pills that were distributed to pharmacies in my State alone--my 1.8 million population State, between the years of 2007 and 2012, 780 million pills, including the nearly 9 million pills that were distributed between 2007 and 2008 to a single pharmacy in Kermit, WV, where the population is 392. The second issue that comes up often is the need to reduce the amount of synthetic opioids like fentanyl, which is killing--killing--people. It is 100 times more potent than heroin. The STOP Act will help prevent the shipment of synthetic opioids into the United States through the international mail system, where the vast amount of these originate. This measure, which Senator Portman led and I joined with him to introduce, imposes tough new requirements for our U.S. Postal Service and Customs and Border Protection. By better targeting illegal packages, we can keep those dangerous drugs from ending up on our streets and in our local communities. West Virginia has a more mature opioid epidemic, which has helped us to learn what is working and what is not working. One great example of something that is working is our Quick Response Teams, or QRTs, which has been piloted in Huntington, WV. Based on similar programs around the country, a QRT is a three-pronged effort by medical professionals, mental health agencies, and law enforcement. These teams contact individuals who overdose within 72 hours of their overdose to help get them into treatment programs. In other words, let's not have them just go to the emergency room, stop the overdose, and have them walk back out with no followup. Given the success of the QRTs in our State, I worked with Senator Murphy to include a grant program in the SUPPORT Act that will allow communities across the country to implement similar programs. When it comes to what is not working, over the last year or so, I began to hear from hospice staff who, due to a DEA rule--I seriously didn't understand this rule--were not allowed to destroy unused medication unless authorized by State law. A lot of times in hospice, particularly elderly people in hospice--or anybody who is in a great deal of pain--have medications on the shelf, and if they are left to the disposal of a family member, you could see how they are ripe for falling into the wrong hands of a grieving family member or possibly somebody in and out of the home who has an addiction issue. I worked with Senator Collins to ensure that the SUPPORT Act includes language that would allow hospice employees to dispose of those controlled substances. Another example of a policy that is not working is a 40-year-old regulation related to substance use disorder privacy records. This came to my attention following a terrible tragedy for my fellow West Virginian, Jessie Grubb, which was caused by confusion and misinformation. Jessie was a daughter, a great sister, an athlete, and someone who was recovering from addiction. Following surgery from a running injury, despite her family's and her own best efforts to make clear that she was not to be prescribed opioids, she was discharged from the hospital with a prescription for 50 oxycodone pills. Jessie overdosed on those pills. She was 30 years old. Following her tragic death, Senator Manchin and I introduced Jessie's Law. Jessie's Law makes it easier for doctors to know if a patient has a history of opioid abuse. It requires HHS to develop best practices for prominently displaying this information in electronic health records when requested by the patient so that they can see them right there as they are discharging the patient. Although Jessie's Law passed the Senate in August, it had not passed the House, and I am glad to see it in the SUPPORT Act. Still, while this may help avert future tragedies, many in the addiction community have encouraged further action to assure that providers can safely and effectively coordinate high-quality treatments for patients with substance abuse disorder. To meet those needs, Senator Manchin and I introduced the Protecting Jessie Grubb's Legacy Act. Part 2 is not in the SUPPORT Act, and we will continue to work on this Legacy Act to make sure that this important policy change happens. Something we have seen in West Virginia are the ripple effects of the opioid epidemic. These are the children, the families. An unbelievably increasing number of children are being raised by their grandparents, raised by their great-grandparents, or are in foster care. It is putting a major strain on our social services but also on the individual child who, through no fault of their own, has ping-ponged from house to house in very emotional kinds of ways. There are more babies receiving neonatal care, and I have worked with my colleagues to make sure the CRIB Act, which I worked on with Senator Brown as well--this measure clarifies a State's ability, under Medicaid, to provide care for infants with neonatal abstinence syndrome in residential pediatric recovery centers like Lily's Place, which we have in Huntington, WV. The First Lady actually visited Lily's Place, and we would welcome her to come back. We also reauthorized the Residential Treatment for Pregnant and Postpartum Women, a grant program I worked with my former colleague Senator Ayotte to include in CARA. This provides new resources to identify, prevent, and mitigate the effects of trauma related to the opioid epidemic on infants, children, and their families. If nothing is done for this generation and the ripple effect on children, I fear we are at real risk of losing not just one generation to opioids but the next generation as well. Fortunately, there are lots of things that are being done. I will mention one: the Martinsburg Initiative in West Virginia, which is a combination among Shepherd University, the Martinsburg Police Department, and Berkeley County Schools, as well as the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Eastern Panhandle working together, based on a CDC study which shows that when children have adverse childhood experiences, such as exposure to drugs and alcohol, it can have a major impact on their physical and mental development. When we started CARA 2 years ago, it was a good start, and the SUPPORT Act is a great next step. A lot of this has to do with funding. The Defense-Labor conference report that the President signed into law last week includes $3.8 billion for the opioid epidemic--an increase of $250 million. With this year's funding, funding for related programs has increased by more than $3.5 billion over 4 years. Clearly, we have a commitment to this as a body, as all of us working together. I would like to applaud the efforts of all the committees involved and especially the dedication of the HELP Committee--Chairman Alexander and his staff and those who have worked together. I look forward to continuing to work with my colleagues on ongoing and emerging problems in this space. Methamphetamine is something that is way on the rise and taking over, unfortunately, from heroin, which is just a terrific tragedy. There is no one silver bullet when it comes to the opioid epidemic, but one thing is certain: I and we will keep fighting against those who are bringing deadly drugs into our communities. We will fight for those struggling with addiction and seeking treatment. We will fight for the children who are caught in the middle, and we will fight for every other person who is affected by this crisis. I am going to keep fighting for States like mine. Even in the darkest hours in West Virginia with this crisis, we have continued to move forward to a better place. Overdoses are down in Huntington, WV, by 41 percent because of our community efforts toward a brighter, drug-free future. That is what we are all fighting for. I yield the floor.

Mrs. CAPITO

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

Mrs. CAPITO. Mr. President, I am on the floor to thank the ranking member of the full committee for his good, hard work on this bill and certainly Senator Shelby and the subcommittee chairs. We are here to talk about some of the important issues in this bill and how consequential this bill will be and has the potential to be. We are encompassing both Defense and Labor-HHS, both of which passed out of our committee a few weeks ago with bipartisan support and a lot of input from Members in the process. Bills of this magnitude deserve to be debated on the Senate floor, as we are doing today. I will first address the defense part of this measure because I think it impacts not only our standing here and our military here but also has a global impact. President Trump has made rebuilding and strengthening our military one of his administration's primary objectives, and this bill helps him do exactly that. This legislation invests in programs, projects, technologies, and capabilities that will strengthen our Nation's military. More importantly, it invests in the people behind all of these efforts by including a 2.6-percent raise for all of our military. That includes our National Guard. Our National Guard's presence in West Virginia is essential not only to our Nation's security but to all the core values and the core strengths the National Guard brings to the State of West Virginia. All of these men and women deserve our support and our commitment to provide them with what they need to defend freedom both here and abroad. Of course, the legislation under consideration doesn't just focus on the military; it also focuses on another war being waged right here in our country, and that is the fight against the opioid epidemic. Under the leadership of Chairman Blunt--and he has been fantastic in the committee--the Labor-HHS Subcommittee has made this issue a top priority, and I could not be more grateful, more proud, and, even more importantly, more hopeful. We saw the statistics come out last week that there have been over 70,000 deaths across the country. It is deeply troubling as to how to get the best handle on this very difficult problem. Over the past 4 years, we have increased funding for this effort of fighting the opioid crisis by more than 1,275 percent, but we haven't done this blindly. We are just not throwing money at the problem. I think we have been very thoughtful, as have our partners in the State and local areas. We have focused on treatment through our community health centers. We have focused on prevention, working with the CDC. We have focused on recovery through our workforce initiatives. We have focused on research at NIH, where, hopefully, NIH can develop a nonaddicitive opioid treatment, which I think will be a major breakthrough for this problem, and we have focused on directing funding to the States to meet the local challenges through their State opioid response grants. We have also focused on the ripple effects of this epidemic, including the impact on families and children in foster care. These are all important resources and much needed. I want to call special attention to our work, something that is extremely important to my home State of West Virginia. In the previous funding legislation, when we were dealing with this problem, I authored language with Senator Shaheen. We had language directing funds in the State opioid response grants to those States with the greatest needs. The unfortunate metric in my State, and certainly in the Presiding Officer's State as well, is that we have States with smaller populations, but we have some of the biggest impacts, the highest addiction, the highest overdose, and the highest death rates across the country. This has enabled us to focus more funding on those States that are more deeply affected but don't have the population to have enough formula funding in those States to meet our needs. Just a few weeks ago, our State Department of Health and Human Resources released the preliminary numbers. So far in West Virginia, we have had almost 500 opioid-related deaths. While this is the most devastating statistic, when it comes to West Virginia and the opioid epidemic, it is not the only one. It is not the only one we need to look at. We are seeing an increasing number of children in foster care. This has impacted the entire family. There are more grandparents and great- grandparents who are raising their grandchildren and their great- grandchildren. Our State has an increased need for treatment facilities. We have more babies who are requiring neonatal care, as well as the services as they grow. This has impacted our entire State very deeply. I have seen these needs firsthand through visits to the facilities, conversations with families, counselors, recovering addicts, healthcare professionals, and first responders. I can say that living in a smaller area, more rural area of our country, I know families personally who have been impacted by this. It is heartbreaking how many people need help, and I think this bill takes major steps to help in delivering that. While the opioid epidemic is a very significant focus of Labor-HHS, I wish to highlight some of the other valuable investments. One that is a personal priority of mine, and I know of Chairman Blunt's, and many of us, as well as Senator Collins, who is here today, is the funding we provide for Alzheimer's research. In the last 4 years, both of my parents have died with severe dementia and Alzheimer's. It is probably the saddest and hardest thing we, as a family, have ever had to face. I understand the emotional, physical, and financial toll it takes on patients, their caregivers, and families, because a lot of the caregivers are family members. It is a devastating disease, which is why I have been such a supporter of a wide range of Alzheimer's-related legislation. With this bill we have surpassed, with the help of Chairman Blunt and his leadership, a $2 billion milestone when it comes to Alzheimer's research. That isn't just for research. It is also to figure out the best way to help our caregivers. Also in this bill, we have directed help to other priorities to a lot of rural States like mine for community health centers, which are critical. As for apprenticeship grants, I was just with the plumbers and pipefitters. Apprenticeships are absolutely critical to the workforce that we need. There is the IDeA Program at NIH, which drives research dollars out to universities, away from the main campus of NIH. Certainly, our colleges and universities are taking advantage of this, in particular West Virginia University. We also fully fund--and I am very excited about this--with the help of Senator Reed, our bill on childhood cancer. It is called the STAR Act. We introduced it, and we passed it. This legislation will expand opportunities for childhood cancer research, improve efforts to identify and track childhood cancer incidences, and enhance the quality of life for our childhood cancer survivors. Many of them have cancer and have treatments in their younger years, but what happens to them as they enter their teenage years, their young adult years, or if they move into family life? There are impacts that impact our childhood cancer survivors all throughout their life. So I am really pleased with the efforts we have made there. In short, this legislation aims to improve the health and well-being of every single American. When it comes to the Department of Labor, very briefly, this is important for us in West Virginia. There is a training program there for displaced coal workers and coal miners. We have re-funded that. We have pushed more funding to that, I should say. ``Re-fund'' sounds a little confusing, I think. We have also increased the maximum amount for Pell grants. These are just a few highlights of this piece of legislation with a few critical resources that will make a big difference. I know this bill will benefit my State of West Virginia because it recognizes the needs and opportunities facing our State and Nation and it provides the resources we need to seize those opportunities. It also demonstrates, for the first time in a long time, that we have worked together and we have worked across the aisle. We have been able to have our say as Members--every single one of us--as to where and how we want to see both Defense and Labor-HHS, these enormously impactful agencies, and how they impact our lives. For me, that is a major victory, being a member of the Appropriations Committee. So I want to extend again my gratitude to the subcommittee chair, Senator Blunt, and the ranking member, Senator Murray, and then to our two major chairs, Senator Leahy and Senator Shelby. It is a good day here on the floor of the Senate. Thank you. I yield the floor to Senator Moran.

Mrs. CAPITO

Mrs. CAPITO. Mr. President, I wish to acknowledge the loss of a public servant, veteran, and good man, Paul Joseph Gilmer, Jr., and recognize his years of service to the people of West Virginia. Paul's life serves as an example to those who strive to be the change they want to see in their communities. He was an active member and leader of several community organizations and a mentor to innumerable Charleston youth. Furthermore, he was a family man whose memory and legacy will live on through his wife, children, grandchildren, and all those who knew and loved him. A lifelong resident of Charleston, Paul went to Dunbar High School before serving in the U.S. Army. He returned to the Kanawha Valley to continue his education, graduating from West Virginia State University with a bachelor's degree, and went on to work for IBM for 25 years. Following his career with IBM, Paul entered public service and worked for the city of Charleston in the city manager and mayor's offices before being elected as a city councilman. He was the executive director of the Community Council of Kanawha Valley, Inc., and senior vice president of the United Way of Kanawha Valley. An entrepreneur, Paul was also the owner of Business, Tax and Accounting Services, as well as PJ Gilmer, Inc. Beyond his career, Paul devoted his time to various community organizations, serving in leadership capacities at the Kanawha Valley Collective, the National Association of Planning and Research Councils, the West Virginia Center for Civic Life, and the Schoenbaum Family Enrichment Center, among many others. He also served as a volunteer manager of several youth sports programs, impacting the lives of the next generation by his example and his message of working tirelessly to effect positive change. Above all, however, Paul was a family man. He leaves behind his wife of 45 years, Linda, as well as his children Batese, Melissa, Ryan, Charles, Shawn, and Anthony, and their children. He is also survived by his mother and four siblings. Paul told the young men and women he mentored ``not to achieve, but overachieve,'' in order to do something positive with their lives. Paul's life was a testament to his message, as he overachieved in making Charleston, WV, a stronger community. It was an honor to call him a friend and fellow West Virginian.