Steve Daines

Mr. DAINES

Mr. DAINES. Mr. President, this week, I have the distinct honor of recognizing Bob Burnison of Richland County for many years of volunteer service and leadership in his local community. Bob has a long history of supporting charitable activities in northeastern Montana. His efforts have inspired others to volunteer their time and strengthened the spirit of giving. When folks like Bob come together to help others, it brightens the holiday season for everyone. This Christmas is the 39th year that Bob has been involved with collecting donations for the Salvation Army. Over the years, Bob has organized scores of volunteers to help make each giving season a success. This commitment to helping others is commendable considering Bob's professional obligations as the undersheriff of Richland County. He has given over four decades of service in law enforcement. The vast majority of the donations Bob has helped generate have remained in the local community to help offset essential living costs for those in need. Neighbors helping neighbors is a cornerstone for sustaining healthy communities, and local leaders like Bob are often a catalyst for this type of activity. With nearly four decades of volunteer service and over four decades of public service, Bob has done a good job leading by example. Organizations across Richland County have pitched in to make sure the spirit of giving remains strong, and the next generation of volunteers are finding the joy that comes with helping others. Merry Christmas, Bob, and thank you for preserving the charitable traditions in your community.

Mr. DAINES

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

Mr. DAINES

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

Mr. DAINES

Mr. DAINES. Mr. President, as a fifth generation Montanan and an avid outdoorsman, I know how important access to our public lands are. Having hiked, camped, biked, and snowmobiled countless miles in the wilderness, forests, and other public lands of Montana, I share with other Montanans the desire to explore the beauty of our state. That is why today I am introducing the Protect Public Use of Public Lands Act. This bill follows calls from countless Montanans and the U.S. Forest Service recommendations to open up Wilderness Study Areas (WSAs) that the Forest Service recommended to manage as non-wilderness after the congressionally mandated study in the 1970s. The bill would allow new uses to be considered in the public planning process. For too long these lands have remained in limbo and many forms of recreation have been significantly reduced. For this reason, the Montana Legislature passed a measure calling on Congress to take action on these Wilderness Study Areas, and I have continued to hear from County Commissioners, local Montanans, farmers, ranchers, and recreation groups since I have been in Congress of their support for action. Hearing this call I today introduce the Protect Public Use of Public Lands Act and ask my colleagues to join me in supporting this important measure. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. DAINES

Mr. DAINES. Mr. President, as a fifth generation Montanan and an avid outdoorsman, I know how important access to our public lands are. Having hiked, camped, biked, and snowmobiled countless miles in the wilderness, forests, and other public lands of Montana, I share with other Montanans the desire to explore the beauty of our state. That is why today I am introducing the Protect Public Use of Public Lands Act. This bill follows calls from countless Montanans and the U.S. Forest Service recommendations to open up Wilderness Study Areas (WSAs) that the Forest Service recommended to manage as non-wilderness after the congressionally mandated study in the 1970s. The bill would allow new uses to be considered in the public planning process. For too long these lands have remained in limbo and many forms of recreation have been significantly reduced. For this reason, the Montana Legislature passed a measure calling on Congress to take action on these Wilderness Study Areas, and I have continued to hear from County Commissioners, local Montanans, farmers, ranchers, and recreation groups since I have been in Congress of their support for action. Hearing this call I today introduce the Protect Public Use of Public Lands Act and ask my colleagues to join me in supporting this important measure. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. DAINES

Mr. DAINES. Mr. President, this week, I have the distinct honor of recognizing June Rychalski for her service with the Montana Department of Military Affairs. She has served Montana with grace, diligence, a positive attitude, and genuine care for the people of the Treasure State. During her 35 years of service, June has been secretary to the senior Army adviser, administrative assistant to the adjutant general and next month will complete her career with the Montana Veterans Affairs Division. June demonstrated compassion and professionalism on a daily basis. Her ability to help a grieving family member navigate the challenges of veteran burial honors or steer a distressed veteran in the right direction to attain benefits is highly commendable. Her presence in the in the Montana Department of Military Affairs will be missed, but the mentorship she provided agency personnel over the years will ensure that her legacy endures. To her coworkers, June was regarded as their greatest advocate. When June retires, she plans to do what she has always done, continue to take good care of others. At age 83, June's example is inspiring. Her work ethic, compassion, and commitment to excellence represent the best of Montana values. Thank you, June, for your service. I wish you the best in retirement and appreciate all you have done for our State.

Mr. DAINES

Mr. DAINES. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that there now be 30 minutes, equally divided, for debate only, with no amendments or motions in order, and that the majority leader be recognized at the conclusion of that time.

Mr. DAINES. Thank you, Mr. President. I am thankful for my colleague from Pennsylvania, Senator Toomey, for his remarks and for his leadership in getting us to this point tonight for this most historic moment in the U.S. Senate. I spent 28 years in the private sector before I came back to Washington, DC. In fact, the last election I won before I won election to serve in Congress was student body president in my high school. I spent many years working in businesses, growing businesses, creating jobs, sending a lot of money to Washington, DC, in taxes. You are not going to find a single Republican here who says taxes are bad. What we are saying here is that we are an overtaxed Nation. In fact, if I were to ask you where are the most affluent counties in the United States, where are they, you might guess, well, Beverly Hills, perhaps Silicon Valley, New York City. The answer is, the most affluent counties in America are suburbs of Washington, DC. The American people have watched this city increase in power, increase in wealth, and I think this city has forgotten something; that the dollars that are sent here by hard-working Americans do not belong to the government, they belong to the American people. It is their money. I will tell you what. I don't think we realize how much taxes we pay. We are focused right now on Federal income taxes, Federal corporate taxes. However, imagine you wake up in the morning--if you are like me, my cell phone is now my alarm clock--and you grab your cell phone. You reach for it. The first thing you do is maybe look at what inbound emails you have, maybe you look at the Twitter feed, but you realize, as you are grabbing the cell phone, on average, a U.S. wireless consumer pays about 17 percent--of that bill you pay for your cell phone, there are Federal, State, and local taxes for that cell phone. That is how the day starts. So then I go, and I get dressed. I think about how much sales tax was paid, which most States have, for the clothes that you are wearing. Well, then you might leave your home, walk across your driveway to get in an automobile, perhaps, and you realize you are paying significant property tax on that property you own--if you are a homeowner--and you get in your automobile. Oh, by the way, you have paid a significant tax on that car too. You have paid a sales tax, most likely. You may be paying hundreds of dollars a year to put license plates on it. Then you want to drive on to work, and you might want to stop at that coffee shop. You might want to get that nice cup of coffee there to get you going for the day. What do you do? Well, you pay a sales tax, most likely, as you get your cup of coffee. Perhaps on the way to work, you need to fill up your gas tank. Now, in Montana, we drive pickups. I could tell you, when you fill up your pickup, it costs you a chunk of change. You are paying 18.4 cents per gallon just in federal taxes, and then you pay your State taxes on top of that. That ranges from 12 cents a gallon in Alaska to 58 cents a gallon in Pennsylvania, and then you go to work. I was just speaking with one of my young staffers here tonight. She told me, when she got that first paycheck--I guess her first job out of college--she called her dad, and she said: They have made a mistake. They have screwed up my paycheck. And she talked him through the difference between the gross pay and what you really put in the bank, the dollars of your Federal, State, local taxes, Social Security, Medicare. Your day is finished. Perhaps you want to go home and grab something to drink, whether it is a glass of wine, perhaps a beer, perhaps a soda. Well, the government is there too. You have paid an excise tax somewhere on those beverages. All I am saying here is it is time to give some of that back. It is time to give some of that back to the single mom in Kalispell, to give it back to that small business owner in Helena, to give it back to the families, the businesses, working- class Montanans. You know what, they need a pay raise. So how do we start that? How about right here with this bill tonight. Let's lower tax rates on middle income Americans. Let's allow them to keep more of their hard-earned dollars. How about we increase the standard deduction? Let's take it from $12,000 to $24,000. How about we eliminate the poverty tax? That is eliminating ObamaCare's poverty tax. As Justice Roberts said, it is a tax. It has cost the American people so far over $5 billion, 42 percent of those making less than $25,000 a year, 82 percent make less than $50,000 a year. That is a poverty tax. We are going to repeal that as part of this bill that we are going to pass tonight. Families need a break. How about we double the child tax credit? We are parents of four. How about that single mom with two children? I think she needs a break. Let's give working moms, working dads with a couple of kids an extra couple thousand dollars to help make ends meet and reduce the tax burden on small businesses--not corporations. We will talk about that in a minute. That is important to do, but these small businesses that are not corporations are paying as much as 40 percent of their income in Federal income taxes. We are going to take that down to less than 30 percent. What does that do? It creates jobs. It puts pressure on wages, higher wages, because we need to direct these tax cuts to those who provide jobs. By the way, those smaller businesses, 55 percent of the private sector jobs in this country are from smaller businesses. Two-thirds of the new jobs created since the recession of 2007, 2008 are from these smaller businesses. We are targeting significant tax relief for those small businesses. Who are these? These are farmers. These are ranchers. These are locally owned Montana businesses. It could be our community bankers. It could be a baking company. It could be a construction company. I grew up in a construction company. My mom and dad were the CEO and the COO of the family business. In Montana, that is 68 percent of the jobs in my State. They are getting significant tax relief. Working with my colleagues, we have had some great conversations, and we have provided some additional tax relief for those smaller businesses. We have a historic, once-in-a-generation opportunity today. This only comes every 20 or 30 years. It goes back to 1986, 31 years ago--the same year my wife and I were married. We need to put more money back into the hands of American workers. Let's cut their taxes. Let's open the doors for the creation of more high-paying jobs. We start that by transferring the wealth of this city back to the families and businesses that sent us here in the first place and that keep our country moving forward. We have been hearing a lot of things about this bill. The Washington Post even claimed four Pinocchios on some of these claims that somehow this plan will raise taxes for most working-class families. Look at the facts. That is not true. Let me conclude by saying this, quoting a President: It is a paradoxical truth that tax rates are too high today and tax revenues are too low and the soundest way to raise revenues in the long term is to cut the rates now. The experience of a number of European countries and Japan have borne this out. The purpose of cutting taxes now is not to incur a budget deficit, but to achieve a more prosperous, expanding economy which can bring a budget surplus. That was John F. Kennedy in December of 1962. Let's not miss this opportunity that we have now.

Mr. DAINES

Mr. DAINES. Mr. President, this week, I have the distinct honor of recognizing Ted Koenig of Kalispell for lending a hand with the humanitarian relief efforts in the U.S. Virgin Islands. A few months ago, after the devastation of hurricanes Irma and Maria, Ted left his home in northwestern Montana and traveled to the Caribbean to take part in the recovery. When Ted arrived on the island of St. Thomas in late September, he arrived to immense destruction. His initial mission on the island was to serve as a planner, helping to assess needs and coordinate resources for the recovery, a job Ted is familiar with as he serves in a similar position as the northwestern Montana disaster program manager for the Red Cross. However, Ted spent the first few days hand-delivering essential supplies to areas outside the reach of emergency distribution centers. After helping deliver the basic necessities, Ted spent the final 2 weeks consolidating damage assessments to inform decisionmakers about the requirements for longer term recovery. Helping others in need is common in Big Sky Country, and Ted's journey to St. Thomas is another example of this ethic in action. This ethic runs deep from Kalispell to Broadus, from the Flathead River to the Powder River, and is revealed in Montana having one of the highest per capita Peace Corps volunteer rates in the Nation. It comes as no surprise that Ted served 3 years in the Peace Corps and was stationed in Madagascar. Thank you, Ted, for using your steady determination to help others overcome difficult circumstances.

Mr. DAINES

Mr. DAINES. In order to place the bill on the calendar under the provisions of rule XIV, I object to further proceeding.

Mr. DAINES. Mr. President, I understand there is a bill at the desk that is due for a second reading.

Mr. DAINES

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

Mr. DAINES. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 343, submitted earlier today.

Mr. DAINES. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. DAINES

Mr. DAINES. Mr. President, I would like to recognize and congratulate the Montana Wheat and Barley Committee on their 50th anniversary. Agriculture is Montana's No. 1 economic driver, and wheat and barley are the principal grain crops produced in Montana. Established in 1967, the committee works to promote Montana wheat and barley producers, help identify and open markets both at home and abroad, and advance research that helps with crop quality and production. The severe drought and low commodity prices that Montana farmers have faced over the course of the past year have highlighted the importance of these efforts, and I thank all the directors, members, and staff for their years of dedication.

Mr. DAINES

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

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

Mr. DAINES

Mr. DAINES. Mr. President, this week I have the distinct honor of recognizing Garfield County's fire warden, Ray Hageman, for his actions to organize and coordinate the local response to the Lodgepole Complex fire. Ray and his team worked to preserve the lives and livelihoods that were threatened by this devastating fire. Their actions exemplify the resolute character of the Treasure State. The Lodgepole Complex fire was one of the largest fires of the 2017 wildfire season. When first responders finally defeated the flames, well over a quarter million acres of land had burned. Ray was on the frontlines of this rural fire, orchestrating the distribution of local equipment, coordinating effective initial response techniques, and helping to integrate the efforts of partner firefighting organizations from outside the county. Effective local leaders like Ray are supported by the committed team members they lead, team members like Garfield County's Anne Miller, who was the public information officer for the Lodgepole Complex fire. Anne worked around-the-clock at the beginning of the fire to build a common understanding of a changing fire environment. By enabling open and clear lines of communication, she strengthened the team's fire response efforts and saved many Montanans from potential loss of property and life. Ray and his team weathered one of the largest wildfires in the Nation. Their courage in the face of adversity serves as an inspiration to all Montanans. Thank you, Ray, for leading under such difficult circumstances and working hard to protect Montanans from wildfires.

Mr. DAINES

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

Mr. DAINES

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

Mr. DAINES

Mr. DAINES. Mr. President, as we cut taxes, there is one goal that is the most important: We need more good-paying jobs, and we need bigger paychecks for hard-working Montanans. It was just announced that the Senate's draft tax bill will repeal a tax that fundamentally targets those of low to middle income in my State and across the Nation. In fact, in Montana alone, 75 percent of the people who pay this tax make less than $50,000 a year. In fact, in Montana, 32.5 percent make less than $25,000 a year. This is not just anecdotal. In 2015, if you looked across the Nation, 79 percent of those who paid this tax made less than $50,000 a year. In fact, a little over 37 percent made less than $25,000 a year. The IRS pickpocketed over $3 billion from approximately 6.5 million Americans in 2015 alone, a majority of whom made less than $50,000 per year. This is a tax that is targeted at those who are in poverty. What is this tax, you might ask? Where in the world did it come from? I will tell you where it came from. It came from ObamaCare. It is the ObamaCare poverty tax. Otherwise known as the individual mandate, which forces people to purchase health insurance or pay a fine, the poverty tax systematically taxes those who make less than $50,000 a year. If it were not enough that ObamaCare plans were already too expensive for some of these folks, the IRS adds insult to injury by fining them, taxing them, for not being able to afford it. Some say that ObamaCare steals from the rich to give to the poor, but, honestly, ObamaCare's individual mandate is really Robin Hood in reverse. ObamaCare's poverty tax is like Robin Hood stealing from the poor to pay King John. It is unthinkable that we would leave such a provision in the law when we have the opportunity to repeal it. By repealing it, we would save $338 billion over 10 years. That is over $300 billion that we could put toward additional tax relief for small businesses and families. Alternatively, if we do nothing, the CBO projects that we will increase taxes by $43 billion because of this poverty tax and that those taxes will be paid primarily by America's low- and middle-income families--$43 billion in taxes on those who can afford it the least. ObamaCare's poverty tax must go, and there is no better time to get rid of it than right now. I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join me in fighting on behalf of the low and middle classes of our Nation. Benjamin Franklin is credited with this phrase: Just two things in life are certain--death and taxes. That may be so, but we do not need to make them both quite so painful. That is why I am glad to see that a repeal of the ObamaCare poverty tax has been included in the current Senate draft tax legislation. I urge my colleagues in the House of Representatives to do the same. Thank you.

Mr. DAINES

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

Mr. DAINES

Mr. DAINES. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 256, S. 1015.

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

Mr. DAINES

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