John Cornyn

Mr. CORNYN

Mr. CORNYN. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator from South Carolina (Mr. Graham).

Mr. CORNYN

Mr. CORNYN. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator from South Carolina (Mr. Graham).

Mr. CORNYN

Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. CORNYN

Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. CORNYN

Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I yield the floor.

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

Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I am glad to see my friend from Connecticut, Senator Blumenthal, on the floor because last week the Senate Judiciary Committee reported the PROTECT Our Children Act, which helps protect children across the country from exploitation over the internet. This is a bipartisan bill, not surprisingly so because last time this legislation passed, originally back in 2008, it had 60 cosponsors, including 41 Democrats and 18 Republicans. But I have introduced this reauthorization with Senator Heller from Nevada and Senator Blumenthal from Connecticut. It is something we call the National Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Program. It reauthorizes those. I have had the sad experience of seeing how dangerous the internet can be for our vulnerable children. When I was attorney general of Texas, I launched something we quaintly called at the time the Texas Internet Bureau. That was a long time ago, about 2000. Today, they call it the cyber crime unit, and they do a lot of even more sophisticated things. But the idea back then and the idea still today is to fight internet crimes and to work with law enforcement agencies around the State, including a Dallas-based task force. Now, 17 years later, these task forces are a national network of 61 coordinated units dedicated to protecting children from internet predators and investigating perpetrators who engage in these horrific crimes. These task forces are on the frontline every day, protecting our children online and rescuing victims of exploitation and abuse. They also work with local agencies to create victim support programs and encourage proactive community education; for example, educating parents and adults of the sorts of things their children might be exposed to online that they might not know about. So we need to educate families and children about the risks the internet can hold, together with the wonderful opportunities it also presents. This is really the dark underbelly of the internet. It requires a depth of resources to fight child predators online. My experience as attorney general was that local law enforcement agencies didn't have the tax base. They didn't have the expertise. They didn't have the computers and the other sophistication they needed in order to combat this in their local communities. Over the past few years we have been able to save many lives from crime online, and it would be a mistake now to change course. We cannot lose this critical tool. Just for the information of colleagues, we put this on the hotline which, for those who don't work in the Senate, means we asked all Members of the Senate to comment on this and to let us know if they had any objection to its passage. Hearing none, Mr. President, as in legislative session, I now ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 122, S. 782.

Mr. CORNYN

Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, let me join my friend, the senior Senator from Utah and President pro tempore of the Senate, in his remarks about the U.S. Capitol Police. All of us who work on Capitol Hill, all of our visitors who come here--our constituents from around the country--are in their debt because they literally do keep us safe and secure here on Capitol Hill. I do think the events this morning give rise to some additional concerns of what happens off the Hill, when ordinarily there might not be the sort of security measures in place that are necessary. I think this is another wake-up call to all of us to be vigilant, to be aware of our situations, and to exercise concern for our own safety. Of course, we do need to continue to look at what the needs are of the Capitol Police, in terms of training and equipment and staffing, to make sure they can continue to do the outstanding job they have done here, yet again, this morning. It is safe to say that without the Capitol Police being present, as a result of Congressman Scalise's location there at the Congressional Baseball Game practice, the results of this might have been much more serious--much more tragic--than they already were. Of course, we are continuing to keep Congressman Scalise in our prayers. I was looking at the TV screen on the way out. It looks like he is out of surgery but is still in critical condition. Of course, we continue to think about him and his family and offer them our support and our prayers. While there is a lot we do not know about this morning's incident, it is clear that this is a new environment we are living in, and we need to do everything we can to keep our constituents safe when they visit us on Capitol Hill as well as to keep safe all of the staff and everybody involved. Mr. President, at a time when people do not believe anything bipartisan happens here in Washington, DC, I know we have seen a remarkable vote on these Iran-Russia sanctions with the vote of 97 to 2. Virtually every Republican Senator and virtually every Democratic Senator voted in favor of these sanctions which target two of the most aggressive regimes in the world. The first is the Iranian regime, the No. 1 state sponsor of international terrorism. The second is the Russian regime, which, as we all know now, was so aggressively involved in trying to sow discord and chaos in the days leading up to the 2016 election. It is staggering, really, to see the extent to which Russia has raised its game when it comes to disrupting core, democratic undertakings like elections. We know they are doing that in the United States, and we know they have attempted to do that in France. This is the way they operate. This is part of their tradecraft. Through a combination of cyber espionage, propaganda, the use of social media, and then unfortunately sometimes too gullible a mainstream media, we know false stories have somehow been elevated to a level at which people actually begin to believe them and cause them to distrust their own government. This is a real threat to the United States and to our democratic institutions. The talk of the Russian collusion that led up to the election is fading because, as so many people have said, including distinguished Democratic leaders like Senator Feinstein, who served with distinction as chair of the Intelligence Committee and who serves on the Judiciary Committee and Intelligence Committee now, there is no evidence of there having been collusion in the election. What we need to turn to now is how we can countermeasure what Russia tried to do when it came to the so-called active measures, which was a combination of cyber espionage, the use of social media, and propaganda right here in our homeland. We are a country that believes in freedom of speech and the First Amendment, and sometimes that makes us more vulnerable than perhaps others who have state-owned media because we let anybody who has a point of view express it freely. That is part of our DNA. It also means that aggressive, hostile regimes like Russia can take advantage of our open society and our freedoms to try to sow discord and distrust in our own country. I hope, now that the allegations about collusion are fading, we will take a serious look at how to respond appropriately with countermeasures to this sort of aggressive action on the part of Russia. I am really pleased that with a vote of 97 to 2, we have voted to impose sanctions on the rogue nation of Iran and the rogue nation of Russia. PROTECT Our Children Act Mr. President, in turning to another topic, earlier this year, with the Senator from Connecticut and the Senator from Nevada--Senator Blumenthal and Senator Heller--I introduced a bill that was called the PROTECT Our Children Act. I am proud to see it is moving through the Senate this week. This is an important piece of legislation that most people will not hear or read much about because it is not particularly controversial, but that does not mean it is not important, which is why I want to talk about it briefly. This bill helps to stop the exploitation of children across the country and over the internet by reauthorizing the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Program. Years ago, when I was attorney general of Texas--from 1999 until the time I came to the Senate--we created in the Texas attorney general's office something we called, quaintly, the Texas Internet Bureau, which was cutting edge for the time. Now it is more of a cyber crimes unit that deals with, frankly, a lot of the same subject matter--child exploitation, child pornography, and other crimes--which are committed using the medium of the internet. I had a chance to see, sadly, how vulnerable children can quickly become victimized at the hands of some truly despicable individuals as well as the resources it takes to stop and to prosecute these predators. One of the things we did at the Texas Internet Bureau back in the 1999 to 2000 timeframe was to link up, of course, with local law enforcement officials, but what we learned is that every municipal police department or county sheriff's department has the kind of expertise and has the sort of equipment they need in order to combat this new type of crime. Through a national network of 61 coordinated task forces that represent 3,500 Federal, State, and local law enforcement agencies, we have now been able to comprehensively investigate and prosecute child predators. These task forces develop victim support programs, and they provide training and technical assistance and advanced forensic methods, which are very important when trying to track the online fingerprints or footsteps of these predators who operate online. Through this legislation, these task forces will also help continue to facilitate community education, for example, by helping to inform parents and legal guardians what they can do to help protect their own children or the people for whom they are responsible. Tragically, in this day and age, the internet's vast scope provides a dark, deep harbor for predators. Without the proper training and equipment, it can be difficult for our law enforcement officials to track down these child predators. This legislation ensures that they will have the resources they need to fight cyber crime and keep our communities safe by reauthorizing these important programs until the year 2022. Last week's passage through the Judiciary Committee was the first key step. I am thankful for the work of my colleague from Connecticut, Senator Blumenthal, and one of our principal cosponsors, Senator Heller from Nevada. I am hopeful we can keep moving forward with this legislation so we can get these essential programs reauthorized by passing this in the Senate and then moving it on through the House and swiftly to the President's desk for signature and enactment. Mr. President, I yield the floor.

Mr. CORNYN

Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I thank the senior Senator from Vermont for his kind words. We do agree, occasionally, about a few things. We are, in some ways I think, the odd couple when it comes to things like open government and freedom of information. We agree on those things, somebody, I would say, from the left end of the political spectrum and somebody like me from the right end of the political spectrum, which I find particularly gratifying, but there are a lot of other things we have different views on. That is not unusual or to be unexpected, but I enjoy working with him when we can find those areas of common ground to work on. Iran Sanctions Bill Mr. President, last night, the Senate voted to move forward with tough, new sanctions to hold Iran accountable for its continued support of terrorism. The unanimous vote we had is a strong message to the world that the United States will not tolerate Iran's complicity on terror and a clear indicator of just how important this legislation is. Just last month, Secretary of State Tillerson noted that ``Iran remains a leading state sponsor of terror.'' I would amend that slightly and say it is ``the'' leading state sponsor of terror. The Secretary said he would be undertaking a review of the success or failure of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action--what we know as the lopsided nuclear deal President Obama inked with Iran--because, unfortunately, as we have seen, the Obama administration's deal, relative to Iran's nuclear aspirations, did zero--zero--to stop Iran's investment in terrorism around the world. As a matter of fact, it generated quite a bit of new cash which Iran could use to pay for acts of terrorism around the world. So the JCPOA, the Iran nuclear deal, all but cemented the status of the state sponsor of terrorism as a future nuclear power. I remember being in the House Chamber when Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel talked about this paving the way to Iran achieving a nuclear weapon, albeit some 10 years hence, which may seem like a long time to us, but if you are the nation of Israel, 10 years is right around the corner if you are living in that neighborhood and going to be in its crosshairs. Part of the JCPOA, the Iran nuclear deal, released billions of dollars to the Iranian regime and empowered our adversary--our avowed enemy--to engage in even more terrorist activities abroad. Instead of weakening Iran, it actually bolstered Tehran's hostile capabilities. On top of that, President Obama pushed aside our strongest ally in the region--I mentioned Israel--in order to lay a gift at the feet of one of greatest antagonists of the United States, with little or no benefit to our Nation. That is why it is no surprise Iran continues to violate international restrictions against ballistic missile testing and illicit arms transfers, flying in the face of any promises that were made in the agreement. Last year, then-Director of National Intelligence James Clapper testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee, confirming what we had all feared: ``Iran's ballistic missiles are inherently capable of delivering [weapons of mass destruction], and Tehran already has the largest inventory of ballistic missiles in the Middle East.'' Under President Obama's nuclear deal, their conventional inventory and capability are essentially free to grow, and grow they have. So what kind of deal was the JCPOA, the Iran nuclear deal? It was a lopsided deal. More importantly, it was a dangerous deal as well. Of course, Iran's reach goes far beyond their own border. They support the Assad regime in Syria and the Houthi rebellion in Yemen, two groups which have continually encouraged violence against Americans and even murder of their own citizens. Last month, on his way to Saudi Arabia, Secretary of Defense James Mattis confirmed that Iranian-supplied missiles were being fired by the Houthis into Saudi Arabia. So not only is Iran breaking the nuclear deal but also U.N. Security Council resolutions as well. In Syria, Iran continues to prop up and shield the Butcher of Damascus, Bashar al-Assad, even after he has brutally used chemical weapons against his own people. Some 400,000 Syrians, at last count, have lost their lives in the Syrian civil war, supported by Iran, supported by Russia, propping up this butcher who is head of the regime. So last night's show of bipartisan support is more than just a message of unity against terrorism; it is a sign the Senate will fight to stop Iran from tightening its grip on power. The legislation we will pass this week introduces new sanctions and embargoes on Iran. First, it imposes new restrictions on persons who transact with and support Iran's ballistic missile programs, giving our President authority to impose sanctions on their weapons providers. The legislation also makes clear that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps bears responsibility for destabilizing activities and terrorism in the region by extending new sanctions to them as well. This bill also addresses Iran's human rights abuses by directing the Secretary of State to submit a list of people who are guilty of human rights violations so we can take further action against them. Lastly, it reaffirms the arms embargo by allowing the President to block the property of any person or entity involved in the supply, sale, or transfer of prohibited arms and related materiel to and from Iran. I also submitted yesterday an amendment to this Iranian sanctions legislation that targets Mahan Air, which is Iran's largest commercial airline. As a transporter of terrorists and weapons, Mahan Air is nothing more than a commercial coverup for terrorist activities, and, with routes in and out of Europe, it is essential for us to stop their continued expansion and to understand how their activities bear on the safety of American lives. I am thankful for Chairman Corker's leadership on the Iran and now Russia sanctions bill, and the expediency in which we are moving forward. While we can't, in this bill, undo all of the harm caused by the foreign policy of the Obama administration, we can work to correct course, and I am glad we are doing so in a bipartisan way. Last night's vote was a sign of unity, and I am looking forward to getting this legislation through the Senate and onto the President's desk. Mr. President, I wish to take a moment and talk about the Saudi arms sale, which we will be voting on this afternoon at about 2:30 or in that timeframe. We know Saudi Arabia remains under threat from the violent ambitions of Iran, which I just got through speaking about, but that is not just a threat to us, it is a threat in the region, particularly to Sunni allies like Saudi Arabia. A stronger Saudi Arabia will provide a powerful deterrent to Iranian aggression. This particular sale of weapons, announced by the President when he was in Saudi Arabia a couple weeks ago, will help provide greater regional stability to pushing back the advancing tide of Iranian-backed terrorism. It will help against Iranian-backed Houthis' weak government control, which allows terrorism to flourish in the region. Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula has been described by U.S. officials as the most active and dangerous affiliate of al-Qaida today, with several thousands of adherents and fighters inside of Yemen supported by the Iranian regime. AQAP, al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, has continued to take advantage of the political and security vacuum. This arms sale will also bolster the kingdom's ability to provide for its own security and continue contributing to counterterrorism operations across the region, thereby reducing the burden on the United States and our own military forces by equipping them to do their own security and not depend on us. The sale will also help deter regional threats and enhance the kingdom's ability to protect its borders, contribute to coalition counterterrorism operations, and target bad actors more precisely. Finally, it will improve the kingdom's defensive military capabilities. Since 2015, Saudi Arabia has intercepted more than 40 missiles fired at the kingdom by Iranian-backed Houthi militias. Nine of these missiles have struck Saudi territory itself. I look forward to voting in the 2:30 timeframe this afternoon against the resolution of disapproval filed by our colleague. I think it is important for us to help our allies defend themselves, to fill a power vacuum left that would otherwise be filled by U.S. forces and military effort. I think it sends a strong message to Iran and their affiliates in the Middle East that we will not stand quietly or stand silently in the face of the continued growth of their terrorist activities and support for terrorist activities around the world. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. CORNYN

Mr. CORNYN. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from North Carolina (Mr. Burr), the Senator from Georgia (Mr. Perdue), and the Senator from Idaho (Mr. Risch).

Mr. CORNYN

Mr. CORNYN. Madam President, I would say to my friend from New York that he is omniscient if he claims to know the content of a bill that has not yet been voted on or agreed upon by Republicans in the Senate. I would just put that in the same category as his other advice to folks on this side of the aisle and again challenge his memory to how we got here in the first place. I was here on Christmas Eve when we voted. I ended up voting against, but Democrats voted to jam ObamaCare through this body and on a strictly party-line vote. The fact is, ObamaCare is failing millions of people because if they have access to coverage at all, many of them have seen their premiums go up an average of 105 percent since 2013. That is the average in the 30-plus States that carry ObamaCare insurance on the healthcare exchanges--a 105-percent increase. Many of them have also seen their deductibles get so big that they cannot even really use the insurance they have because basically they are effectively self-insured. So I take with a grain of salt the comments from my friend from New York that somehow we are doing something that is so horrible when we are trying to rescue the American people and clean up the mess our Democratic friends created when they jammed ObamaCare through on a party-line vote. If they were serious about it, what they would do is accept our invitation to work with us to improve healthcare for all Americans. It would be much better if we could do this on a bipartisan basis. It would certainly be more durable and be sustained for much longer than things done strictly on party-line votes. Yet, in the absence of any real help from our Democratic friends, who just seem to be standing idly by and not lifting a finger to help the people being hurt by ObamaCare today, we are going to have to do the best we can with the hand we have been dealt on behalf of the people whom we represent. Madam President, on another matter, as a global leader of state- sponsored terrorism, Iran continues to threaten the very existence of the nation of Israel and destabilize the Middle East by creating a breeding ground for violence and hatred. For the past several years, the United States and our allies have attempted to contain Iran, often to no avail. For one, President Obama's lopsided nuclear deal left a zero imprint on Iran's terrorist activities. So last week the senior Senator from Tennessee, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, introduced legislation to apply impactful and powerful sanctions on the nation of Iran. This bill will give the President the ability to block any trade that could benefit Iran's ballistic missile programs or support its military buildup. I plan to introduce a bipartisan amendment to this bill that would target Mahan Air. This is Iran's largest commercial airline that doubles as the preferred mode of transportation for terrorists and their weapons. That is right. It is a civilian airline, but it is actually used to facilitate terrorism and to transport weapons. Mahan Air not only supports the efforts of the Quds Force, which is a special unit of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, but it supports Hezbollah as well. This terrorist airline is a conduit for personnel, weapons, and a violent ideology throughout the region. Unfortunately, despite its proven transgressions, Mahan Air continues to expand international operations by adding more international airports to its flight patterns, including several in Europe. This is an obvious threat to the safety and security of the people where these planes are allowed to land. Not only are the goods they transport a cause for concern, but their very presence is a security risk to Americans who fly in and out of airports at which a Mahan aircraft may land. Through all of this, of course, Iran continues to support their terrorist activities, indeed carrying on under the guise of commercial civilian aircraft flights. My amendment would require the Department of Homeland Security to compile and make public a list of airports at which Mahan Air has recently landed and then require the Department of Homeland Security to assess what security measures should be added. We have a duty to protect American citizens, and I am thankful that Chairman Corker will bring this legislation to the floor. The fight against terrorism is multifaceted, and it is not easy, but we can start by targeting state sponsors of terrorism like Iran with economic sanctions while we strengthen our military and continue the great tradition of American leadership around the world. Healthcare Legislation Finally, Madam President, let me return to where I began--to the issue of ObamaCare. There is a lot of work to be done here at home as well. I know it is easy for us to get mired in the ``how,'' but it is also important for us to remember why we are repealing ObamaCare and why we are replacing it with something far better for American families. I want to continue to highlight one of the many stories I am hearing from my constituents. I wonder whether the Senator from New York is hearing some of these same stories from his constituents. This gentleman is a small business owner in the Fort Worth area who told me that since ObamaCare was implemented, this small business owner has been forced to change his insurance every year. Can you imagine going through that headache and hassle when President Obama said: If you like your health coverage, you can keep it. He was also the one who said: If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor. He also promised that premiums would go down an average of $2,500 for a family of four--none of which has proved to be true. In this particular gentleman's case, as is the case for many Americans, his rates have gone through the roof, rising from roughly $350 a month to $800 a month. Despite the higher cost, he now receives less coverage because his out-of-pocket maximum has risen from $3,500 to $14,000. That is simply outrageous. Throughout the entire process, he has been fighting a losing battle. As is the case with many States, including Iowa, provider after provider has pulled out of my State as well, as they are unable to afford ObamaCare at all. This small business owner is not only forced to literally find new insurance every year, but he has to change providers each year and has fewer options available. Along the way--this is the other promise President Obama made that has been broken--this gentleman has lost access to his doctor of 20 years. He refers to the hope he had when President Obama looked into the camera and said: Now listen to me. You can keep your insurance, and you can keep your doctor, and you will pay less. That is what President Obama said when he was selling ObamaCare. Instead, this gentleman, this small business owner from Fort Worth, did not get to keep his insurance. He lost his doctor of 20 years, and he now pays nearly three times more for less coverage and higher deductibles. He closed his letter to me with a question. He asked: Can I count on you? I look around the Chamber, and I ask all of us: Can the American people count on us? I know they can because it is our responsibility to provide something far better than what they have had under ObamaCare. They can count on us if we work together to find solutions that actually provide the high-quality healthcare American families deserve at prices they can afford. In many instances, this means getting government out of the way and allowing the marketplace to lower costs and increase quality, which is what markets do much better than government regulation. Right now, every Senator on this side of the aisle is discussing with our colleagues how best to accomplish that, and we are also discussing this with the people whom we represent--the physicians, the healthcare providers, and others--to try to determine the best way forward. I hope our Democratic colleagues will join us rather than give us lectures from the Senate floor about the way we are conducting our business, particularly when their hands are unclean, to say the least, when it comes to the way they jammed ObamaCare down the throats of the American people to such bad effect. I would encourage them, rather than to just obstruct, to actually work with us in a bipartisan fashion. We would come up with a better product, a more durable product, if our Democratic friends would work with us rather than just sit on their hands or actively obstruct our efforts to get the job done. I urge our colleagues from both sides to work together to find a solution that repeals what is broken in ObamaCare and replace it with patient-centered, accessible, and affordable healthcare. I hope that eventually others will come around to join us if for no other reason than their constituents are hurting from the status quo. Madam President, I yield the floor.

Mr. CORNYN. Madam President, before he leaves the floor, I want to say to my friend, the Democratic leader, among his other attributes, he now claims omniscience. He knows everything--even about things that haven't even been written yet, and I, for one, appreciate as a Republican his concern about the Republican Party. I would challenge his memory because I was here in 2010, when 60 Democrats in the Senate jammed through ObamaCare, a bill that we frankly need to save the American people from as it begins to melt down. As the distinguished Presiding Officer from Iowa knows, there is not a single carrier in Iowa that is willing to sell ObamaCare insurance on the exchanges because they are simply bleeding money.

Mr. CORNYN. I will yield for a question.

Mr. CORNYN

Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. CORNYN

Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. CORNYN

Mr. CORNYN. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator from Tennessee (Mr. Alexander). Further, if present and voting, the Senator from Tennessee (Mr. Alexander) would have voted ``yea.''

Mr. CORNYN

Mr. CORNYN. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator from Texas (Mr. Cruz).

Mr. CORNYN

Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. CORNYN

Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. CORNYN

Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I came to the floor to talk about other matters, and I will get to those in a moment. I can't help but be struck by the Democratic leader's sudden interest in addressing healthcare reform. It is a fact that even if Hillary Clinton were elected President of the United States, we would be revisiting the failed promises of the Affordable Care Act. For example, premiums, since 2013, have gone up 105 percent in the individual market. Those are people who don't have employer-provided coverage or aren't on Medicare or Medicaid. Small businesses and individuals who have to go out and purchase their healthcare have seen premiums go up 105 percent. We hear stories every day--and I will recount some of those from Texas--where people say they have zero choices. For example, in Iowa, we learned there are no insurance companies that are willing to sell health insurance on the individual market. That isn't because of anything that President Trump or the Republican majority have done. These are the failures of ObamaCare. President Obama made extravagant promises about ObamaCare, none of which has really proven to be true. He said he would bring down premiums $2,500 for a family of four. Well, these folks in the individual market have seen their premiums go up 105 percent since 2013. He said that if you like your policy, you could keep your policy. That proved not to be true because unless you bought the government- approved healthcare policy, insurance companies couldn't sell it on the exchanges. He said: If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor. But as people found out when their policies changed, frequently the doctors in the network they could see changed. People saw premiums go up. They lost coverage they liked, and they lost the doctor they had confidence in. So the suggestion of the Democratic leader that somehow this current situation is a result of President Trump or congressional action is ludicrous. I think people understand that, but I just couldn't resist responding a little bit to what he had to say, because sometimes when people don't respond they assume there isn't a response, and clearly there is.

Mr. CORNYN

Mr. CORNYN. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from Arizona (Mr. Flake), the Senator from Alaska (Ms. Murkowski), the Senator from Alaska (Mr. Sullivan), the Senator from North Carolina (Mr. Tillis), and the Senator from Pennsylvania (Mr. Toomey).

Mr. CORNYN

Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I want to spend a little bit of time today talking about how badly ObamaCare is failing the American people and how my Republican colleagues and I are working to repeal and replace it with healthcare that works. I wish I could say that Democrats and Republicans were working together to replace it with healthcare that works. Unfortunately, our Democratic colleagues have taken a walk on this particular topic and, apparently, are not interested in participating. Even though 30 million Americans remain uninsured under ObamaCare, the individual market--where people buy their health insurance if they do not have employer-provided coverage or government-provided coverage--is in a death spiral. This was confirmed by a study by the Department of Health and Human Services. It was also the subject of a Wall Street Journal article today that makes the point that average premiums in the individual market have increased 105 percent since 2013 in the 39 States in which the ObamaCare exchanges are federally run. This translates into $3,000 more out-of-pocket for middle-class, hard-working families--a 105-percent increase in premiums since 2013. I dare anybody to say ObamaCare is working as it was intended. All one has to do is look back to President Obama's very words, when he said: If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor; if you like your health insurance policy, you can keep that. He also said: Oh, by the way, we are going to save you money too. A family of four will save $2,500 a year. Contrast that to the $3,000-a-year increase since 2013 in the individual market--a 105-percent increase. As I said earlier, this week the Department of Health and Human Services released a report that underscores the negative impact ObamaCare is having on families across the country. The report highlights the incredible increase in annual premium prices since ObamaCare took effect, and I mention that in the aggregate. Let's look at places like Texas. In Texas, the average monthly premium jumped from $222 in 2013 to $404--about an 82-percent increase. If you are a young person buying health insurance, a young family or anybody, for that matter, spending $222 a month and it jumps 82 percent, to $404, that is a big bite out of your disposable income. That is pretty bad, there is no question about it, but Texas wasn't close to being the hardest hit. For example, in Wisconsin, premiums have almost doubled. In Montana, they have gone up 133 percent. In some States, the premiums have actually tripled. As I said, the average individual premium has more than doubled in the 39 States using healthcare.gov--an increase of 105 percent since 2013. That is not the only problem with ObamaCare. This year, one in three counties across the United States have just one insurer on the ObamaCare exchange. In other words, ObamaCare has gotten it so wrong that the risk pools are mainly people who are older and who need healthcare more, and many younger people--young, healthy people who are important in the risk pool to help bring premiums down for everybody-- are simply taking a walk. This isn't the mark of a healthcare law that is working for the American people or helping our country grow healthier. It is the mark of a law that is actually hurting families by giving them fewer options at a higher cost and failing to deliver on any promises. We wonder why people are cynical about their own government. Well, it is because of promises made and promises not kept, and ObamaCare--I have said it before and I will say it again--is one of the biggest examples of consumer fraud I have ever seen in my lifetime. We are talking about real-world consequences here. My colleagues on the other side of the aisle like to talk about how many people would be potentially hurt by repealing and replacing ObamaCare. Of course, that is purely speculative. They are making it harder because they refuse to participate in this process, but we are determined to make sure we bring premiums down and make health insurance more affordable for those who want to buy it. Let me talk about concrete examples of people terribly affected by the ObamaCare healthcare law. One of my constituents wrote me a few weeks ago and said she and her husband got their insurance from her husband's job, but since ObamaCare came into effect, their premiums have tripled, and she estimates their deductibles have doubled. What is also frightening is that her prescriptions have skyrocketed too. As an example, an inhaler that previously cost her $35 now costs almost 10 times that amount--well over $300. Given the outrageous costs, this Texan decided to see if she could get a better deal on the exchange since her insurance costs kept going up and up and up. She said the deductible she would have gotten was $6,000 a year. Add that to higher premiums, and she said ObamaCare was too high to even think about changing to. ObamaCare has had so many negative ripple effects throughout our entire economy. It restricted the number of hours people can work because of the employer mandate. It raised taxes, depressing economic activity and growth--things like the medical device tax. The medical device industry is one of the most innovative, lifesaving industries in our country and literally in the world. Yet ObamaCare imposed a medical device tax and chased those jobs and the innovation that goes along with them offshore. I remember one of my constituents from Dallas, TX, said they had a location in Costa Rica, and as long as the medical device tax applied to things they did in Texas and in the United States, they were going to take their business and build it in Costa Rica for one reason and one reason alone; that is, to avoid this crushing tax. The result has not been good for the economy, and it has not been good for healthcare. Many folks can't find any reasonable insurance that will actually pay for what they want. They can't afford what insurance they do have, and they feel hopeless and helpless as the rates keep climbing. Because I know these stories apply not only in Alaska or in Texas, they apply all across the country, one would think we would have Senators on both sides of the aisle clamoring and working together to try to come up with some solutions, but, once again, it is stony silence from our colleagues across the aisle. As my constituent rightly pointed out, so much of their income is now going toward premiums and other healthcare costs, she said she and her husband feel like they are actually being robbed. That is why we believe, on this side of the aisle--I wish I could say on both sides of the aisle but certainly on this side of the aisle--that we need to find a solution that works for our country. So here is an open invitation to any of our colleagues in either House of Congress: Please come work with us, not for our benefit, not for any political gain or advantage but because it is the right thing to do. That is why we get elected. That is why we serve, not to engage in petty politics but to actually do things that help our constituents. This isn't just a red-State problem. I pointed that out earlier when I referenced Wisconsin and Montana. This is a problem that confronts our entire country. So we are going to continue to keep working on a bill that repeals this ObamaCare disaster and replaces it with patient-centered, accessible healthcare that make sense for the American people. I hope our colleagues on the other side of the aisle come around to join us because we do intend to get this done. I just want to read a couple of other excerpts from this Wall Street Journal editorial today. They talk a little bit about how to read the CBO report. The Congressional Budget Office, as the Presiding Officer knows, really has the final word on interpreting, from an official standpoint, what the impact of proposed legislation would be, but I have to say this is far from the holy writ. Here is a good example. In this article, they point out ObamaCare coverage estimates--CBO estimates for ObamaCare coverage by year in millions of enrollees. For example, in 2013, they projected that 7 million enrollees would enroll in ObamaCare, and it was 6 million. That is not too far off, but let's look at 2015. In 2015, they said 13 million would enroll, and 11 million enrolled. Again, that is ballpark, but then we go to 2016. They predicted that 21 million people would enroll in ObamaCare. Do you know how many enrolled? Twelve million. They missed it by almost 50 percent. That is not close. Then, in 2017, they projected it would be 15 million, and it was 10 million. I say that not to disparage the Congressional Budget Office because I know they are doing the best they can, but it is hard to predict the future, and it is also hard to predict how markets will work and how people will respond to the incentive of more choices and lower costs. This is not a red-State or a blue-State issue because, as I mentioned, in Missouri alone HHS has said that premiums have increased 145 percent. So wouldn't we think we would have both Senators from Missouri on the floor working with us to try to solve the problem? I know Senator Blunt is working with us to try to solve the problem, but we would benefit from having a bipartisan effort to address the problem. They also point out that there are other things the CBO report talks about which is significant, particularly in terms of getting our economy growing again. They said, for example, that the House bill cut taxes by $992 billion, spending by $1.1 trillion, and reduced the deficit by $119 billion. Now, I know that is not the primary effort here when it comes to healthcare, but if we want to get our economy growing again, if we want to make it possible for more people to buy healthcare coverage at a price they can afford, it helps if they have a job, and it helps if the economy is growing. Here is the thing that, to me, is perhaps the most cynical argument by the critics of what we are trying to do in repealing and replacing ObamaCare. Despite the fact that there are 30 million people uninsured now--hardly a success, hardly the gold standard for providing access to healthcare coverage--the Congressional Budget Office points out what I think is pretty obvious. If you take the gun away from people's heads and you don't force them to buy a product they really don't want, fewer people are actually going to buy it because it doesn't suit their needs, and it is not available at a price they can afford. As the Wall Street Journal points out, without the threat of government to buy insurance or else pay a penalty, some people will conclude that ObamaCare coverage isn't worth the price, even with the subsidies. Sometimes I wish we would have honest and open debates about the problems that confront our country, and certainly healthcare is something near and dear to all of our hearts. Too often I feel as though we are ships passing in the night or reverting to our talking points rather than having an open and honest discussion. This is an area where we can benefit from an open and honest discussion and an acknowledgment that the status quo is unsustainable. If Hillary Clinton were President of the United States today, we would be revisiting ObamaCare because the individual market is, as I described earlier, failing. It is failing. I am confident our colleagues across the aisle would be eager to try to step forward to address that, but because the candidate they did not choose won the Presidency, then they are in full-blown resistance, not offering to lift even a finger to try to help us solve this problem, and it is a shame, but it is not too late. We invite them again to join us as we repeal and replace ObamaCare, providing people with more choices at a price they can afford, not because we are going to hold a gun to their head and say you are going to have to buy a product you don't want, at a price you can't afford, we are going to give people the freedom to choose. That is not a bad thing. That is a good thing. That is what America is all about--not having government force you to make decisions that you don't view are in your own economic self-interests. I yield the floor.

Mr. CORNYN

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

Mr. CORNYN

Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I am happy to announce that soon I will be introducing legislation that reauthorizes several critical provisions to help fight human trafficking and bring us one step closer to ridding our country of this heinous crime. The Abolish Human Trafficking Act is chiefly a bill about getting human trafficking victims the help they need by focusing on ways to support them as they rebuild their lives. To me, one of the most shocking things about this terrible crime that victims of human trafficking need most is a safe place to live because without that, they will not be able to escape the people who have enslaved them, nor will they be able to begin the steps of the long road to recovery. This legislation reauthorizes the Justice Department's Domestic Trafficking Victims' Fund, which we established when we passed the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act, a bill I authored that was signed into law last Congress. This fund--like a crime victims compensation fund--provides critical resources to help victims get the services they need to recover. Part of the fund is financed through fines collected on convicted traffickers. It is a clear way we can use these fines to do some good. Last year, the fund provided almost $5 million in victims services. By reauthorizing it, it can continue to serve more victims. The bill also empowers victims by permanently reauthorizing the Human Trafficking Advisory Council--a group of survivors who annually advise the government on ways to combat this crime and lend a hand. This bill goes a long way to help victims who should be at the forefront of any of our conversations about human trafficking. There is also no question that our Nation's law enforcement officials need more support to track down the perpetrators of this crime and bring them to justice. Certainly, law enforcement needs more training to better equip them to serve victims too. This bill also does that. It requires the Department of Homeland Security to implement screening protocols across law enforcement anti-trafficking task forces. One of the hardest things about human trafficking may be, in fact, being able to identify that it is occurring when it occurs right in front of your eyes. This training will impact the work of law enforcement at the Federal, State, and local levels. That way, law enforcement at every level of government can learn how to better spot trafficking victims and will have the adequate training to connect victims to the services they need in order to recover. The legislation will also direct the Department of Health and Human Services to continue a pilot program to train healthcare providers about human trafficking. Healthcare providers, after all, are likely to come in contact with human trafficking victims as well, and they need to know the telltale signs that will alert them so they can report this to the appropriate authorities. I have noted before that so much of the battle is about educating professionals but not just professionals. I would say all of us as ordinary citizens need to be on the lookout for signs of human trafficking. Sadly, I learned a few years ago, when the Super Bowl was held in Texas, that one of the premier trafficking events in the Nation each year is the Super Bowl, sad and as tragic as that sounds. There is a role for all of us to play as regular citizens in identifying the telltale signs of human trafficking, and then when we see something wrong, to say something about it so hopefully they can be investigated. Through pilot programs like this one, my hope is that more people will better understand it. The more people who understand trafficking and its warning signs, the more we can do to help those trapped in this modern-day slavery. The legislation will also give law enforcement more resources to target criminal street gangs who profit from human trafficking. They view human beings as just another commodity that they can make money from, and going after criminal street gangs who profit from human trafficking is really important. We would also enhance the penalties for several human trafficking-related offenses as well. Finally, the Abolish Human Trafficking Act will improve and update the national strategy to fight human trafficking across the country by requiring the Department of Justice to add a demand reduction component. This will build on legislation passed in the last Senate by a vote of 99 to 0, the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act. I know by reading the newspaper and watching TV, people think nothing happens in Washington that is truly nonpartisan or bipartisan in nature. This is an example of why that is wrong. Certainly, this is a cause that every Member of the Senate can get behind, and there is no reason we shouldn't be able to pass this legislation soon with similar strong bipartisan, literally overwhelming bipartisan support. I am grateful to our friend and the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Chairman Grassley, for his focus on doing all we can for victims of human trafficking. In addition to his support for the Abolish Human Trafficking Act, I know he also plans to introduce complementary anti-trafficking legislation, the Trafficking Victims Protection Act. I am hopeful both bills will be considered soon so we can prove the Senate is united in our opposition to human trafficking and so we can lend more support to the victims who so desperately need it. Mr. President, I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. CORNYN

Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, it was quite edifying to be sitting here listening to the Democratic leader speak this morning during the morning remarks, expressing his concern for healthcare, rural hospitals, and talking about his concerns about delivering healthcare to the poor. It is indeed ironic because at a time when ObamaCare, the Affordable Care Act, is literally in meltdown with unaffordable premiums and deductibles, we are not seeing any help whatsoever from our Democratic colleagues. I would suggest, rather than rail against the President's budget, they ought to be engaged in a more constructive process of working with us to make sure we can deliver on the promise of affordable healthcare to all Americans. Of course, there is the matter of the President's budget itself. I remember that President Obama's last budget got voted on here in the U.S. Senate. It got one vote--one vote. A President's budget is not binding on the Congress. The Congress passes a budget resolution, both houses, and we anticipate doing that again. The President's budget is really a statement of the President's priorities. Frankly, there are some things in the President's proposed budget that I think are worthwhile--things like securing our border. At the end of the day, it is the job of Congress, though, to pass a budget that reflects the priorities of our country. I think it is worth pointing out that several aspects of the President's budget are encouraging and a welcome change from the previous administration. For one, it balances in 10 years. I would love to have our Democratic colleagues express some concern for the fact that we continue to spend money we don't have and impose the burden of repaying that money someday on future generations. To me, that is one of the most immoral things we do in this country; we spend the money today, and we leave the debt to our children and grandchildren to pay that back, which they must at some point. So when the President proposes a budget that actually balances in 10 years, I think that is a good thing. What a welcome relief from a White House budget anchored around overspending and growing the size of government, which we have seen for the last 8 years. The other thing the President's budget does is reverse the defense sequester. This is the artificial cap we put on defense spending. Of all the things the Federal Government does, national security is the No. 1 job. You can't outsource that to anyone. It is our No. 1 responsibility to keep the country safe and to keep America strong. Under the Obama administration, there was a cap put in place that prevented increased military spending, and indeed we saw cuts to the military of about 20 percent during the Obama years. One thing that President Trump has done, which I find a welcome sign, is to properly resource our military so we can better defend against increasing threats around the world. It is simply irresponsible for us to allow our men and women in the military to operate on slashed budgets and outdated equipment. They can't even train and be ready for the next fight. The best deterrent to war and the best assurance of peace is a strong America. The President's budget reflects a better understanding of the threat environment ahead, and for that I am grateful. So rather than railing against the President's budget, which he knows will not be passed into law--because no President's budget ever becomes law; it is a proposal of the President's priorities. As I said, there is much to like among the President's priorities--balancing the budget, emphasizing national security spending, and the like. Ultimately, we will have to come up with a budget ourselves. So I find the Democratic leader's railing against the President's budget, which he knows will not become law as written, somewhat ironic.