Michael Enzi

Mr. ENZI

Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, we would be willing to accept this on a voice vote, and we yield back all time.

Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, there is a difference between how it got voted through last year, which was actually an appropriation rather than a budget. This does raise taxes in order to overcome the sequestration. So I am urging a ``no'' vote. We have agreed to have a voice vote on this one. We yield back all time.

Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, on this motion, I think we are willing to yield back all time and accept it on a voice vote.

Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, I thank the ranking member for his cooperation to date and look forward to working with him on the conference committee, along with the Members of the House, both the Republicans and the Democrats. The purpose of that is to make this is a better budget bill. I will reiterate that I had about 4 weeks to put it together and 4 months to get it done. We have not done one in 8 years, so it was quite a challenge. We are getting closer now, and today we will have an opportunity to voice some concerns. I am glad we are at this point. I look forward to working with the conferees. I yield back any time. Brown Motion to Instruct

Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, I am going to urge my colleagues to reject this motion to instruct. I credit Senator Stabenow's instincts to approach the question of Medicare seriously. I am sure she knows we all take Medicare's future seriously. There are some problems with Medicare that need to be solved. The budget shows Medicare's rate of growth for an average annual rate of 6.4 to 5.5 percent over the next 10 years. Why does the budget resolution adopt these numbers? Because Republicans and the President agree we must act on policies which extend the life of the Medicare trust fund. The budget does this by adopting the President's goal of extending the life of Medicare's hospital insurance trust fund by at least 5 years. According to the Medicare trustees themselves, the hospital insurance fund could be insolvent as early as 2021, just 6 years from now. Independent actuaries at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid report that over the next 75 years, the Federal Government has promised more than $35 trillion in Medicare benefits. So Republicans joined with the President in looking to extend the life of the hospital insurance trust fund and make the Medicare program sustainable. So I ask that you reject this motion to instruct.

Mr. ENZI

Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on April 15, 2015, at 10 a.m., in room SD-106 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on April 15, 2015, at 10 a.m., to conduct a hearing entitled ``IRS Challenges in Implementing the Affordable Care Act.''

Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on April 15, 2015, at 10 a.m., in room SD-226 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building, to conduct a hearing entitled ``The Need to Reform Asset Forfeiture.''

Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Select Committee on Intelligence be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on April 15, 2015, at 2:45 p.m.

Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Special Committee on Aging be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on April 15, 2015, at 1:30 p.m., in room SD-562 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building, to conduct a hearing entitled ``Catch Me If You Can: The IRS Impersonation Scam and the Government's Response.''

Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Subcommittee on Seapower of the Committee on Armed Services be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on April 15, 2015, at 9:30 a.m.

Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Subcommittee on Strategic Forces of the Committee on Armed Services be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on April 15, 2015, at 2:30 p.m.

Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Environment and Public Works be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on April 15, 2015, at 10 a.m., in room SD-406 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building, to conduct a hearing entitled ``Oversight Hearing: The President's FY 2016 Budget Request for Nuclear Regulatory Commission.''

Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Foreign Relations be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on April 15, 2015, at 9:30 a.m., to conduct a hearing entitled ``American Food Aid: Why Reform Matters.''

Mr. ENZI

Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to executive session at 2 p.m., on Thursday, April 16, to consider the following nominations: Calendar No. 1 and Calendar No. 51; that the Senate then vote without intervening action or debate on the nominations, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table; that no further motions be in order; that any statements related to the nominations be printed in the Record; that the President be immediately notified of the Senate's actions, and the Senate then resume legislative session.

Mr. ENZI

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

Mr. ENZI

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

Mr. ENZI

Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, I ask the Chair to lay before the Senate the message from the House requesting a conference on S. Con. Res. 11, the budget resolution. The Presiding Officer laid before the Senate the following message from the House of Representatives: Resolved, That the House insist upon its amendment to the resolution (S. Con. Res. 11) entitled ``Concurrent resolution setting forth the congressional budget for the United States Government for fiscal year 2016 and setting forth the appropriate budgetary levels for fiscal years 2017 through 2025.'', and ask a conference with the Senate on the disagreeing votes of the two Houses thereon. Ordered, That Mr. Tom Price of Georgia, Mr. Rokita, Mr. Diaz-Balart, Mrs. Black, Mr. Moolenaar, Mr. Van Hollen, Mr. Yarmuth, and Ms. Moore be the managers of the conference on the part of the House.

Mr. ENZI. I move to disagree in the House amendment, agree to the request by the House for a conference, and authorize the Presiding Officer to appoint conferees.

Mr. ENZI

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

Mr. ENZI

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

Mr. ENZI

Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Veterans' Affairs be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate, on March 26, 2015, at 10 a.m., in room SR-418 of the Russell Senate Office Building.

Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Select Committee on Intelligence be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate, on Thursday, March 26, 2015, at 3 p.m.

Mr. ENZI

Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, Teddy Roosevelt once noted that one of his life's great prizes was to work hard at work worth doing. Well, I believe the work we have done this week to boost our Nation's economy, support our national defense, and expand opportunity for hard-working families is work truly worth doing. The budget we have been debating in the Senate this week will boost the Nation's economic growth by more than $500 billion over the next 10 years, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. It also will balance the budget in 10 years, with no tax hikes, protect the Nation's most vulnerable citizens, strengthen America's national defense, and improve economic growth and opportunity for hard-working families. This budget's economic growth dividend means that more jobs will be created across the country in all 50 States. In fact, the Senate Budget Committee estimates that nationwide there will be more than 1.3 million additional jobs in 2025. And this is only the spending reductions included in this budget. If the Senate takes the additional step and adds the recommended tax and regulatory reforms to these spending reductions, the economic and job benefits will be even bigger. This balanced budget is an important first step to help Washington live within its means, just as hard-working families have to do every day. A balanced budget means real accountability in Washington and ensures that programs actually accomplish what they set out to deliver. I wish to thank my colleagues for their consideration, cooperation, and patience to bring us to this point. I wish to particularly thank Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for allowing the Senate and Senators to actually do our job, both in committee and on the floor of the Senate. Under Majority Leader McConnell, we have received support and backing from the Senate Republican leadership, and it has been a great leadership team. It is because of this leadership that we have come to this result--the first Senate Republican resolution since 2006. This commitment to an open, honest, and transparent legislative process is crucial to helping Congress restore the trust of the American people. I also owe thanks to the outstanding Republican members of the Senate Budget Committee, who worked long and fought so hard and tenaciously to outline a plan that can balance the budget over the next 10 fiscal years. Thanks also are due to the many Members on this side who came and spoke on the budget's behalf, offered amendments to make it better--well, almost always to make it better--and worked with us and each other to move through the resolution's debate and voting process together. I have enjoyed my partnership with Senator Sanders since we both took on our new roles just a few months ago at the beginning of the 114th Congress. We have known each other a long time, served on some of the same Senate committees, and to have him across the aisle managing this bill with me has been an enjoyable part of acting on my first budget resolution. I also appreciate his staff who worked with him so diligently. I also wish to focus for a moment on some of the staff who helped lead us here. I thank the Republican staff of the Senate Budget Committee, including the director, Eric Ueland; my deputy staff director Dan Kowalski; parliamentarian Tori Gorman; chief economist Bill Beach; director of budget review Matt Giroux; senior budget analysts Peter Warren and Steve Robinson; budget analysts Greg D'Angelo, Chris Cook, John Selden, and Andrew Herther; junior budget analyst Kaitlin Vogt; chief counsel Greg Dean and assistant counsel Clint Brown; editor Elizabeth Keys; Susan Eckerly; communications director Joe Brenckle; executive assistant Kim Proctor, and staff assistant Katie Wachob. Without all their work, which began last year, we would not be here this evening standing on the verge of passing the Senate's fiscal year 2016 budget resolution. I have to mention that they didn't even change offices when we got the majority so that they could be working on this budget, knowing that since it is always our first opportunity in the majority, we had a lot of work to do. In addition, thanks are owed to the chief clerk of the committee, Adam Kamp, and his dedicated staff, who worked tirelessly supporting us in our efforts. As well, thanks to my personal staff, including my legislative director Tara Shaw, and the personal office legislative team of Travis Jordan, Becky Cole, Clint Lohse, Renee Bender, Bart Massey, Kristin Chapman, and Elizabeth Schwartz. I particularly have to mention my chief of staff, Flip McConnaughey. We have been supported by the great work of our floor and cloakroom staff, led by Laura Dove and Robert Duncan; the Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough and her team, along with our bill and amendment clerks who keep us on the straight and narrow. Key staff from Senator McConnell's office have been very helpful, including his chief of staff Sharon Soderstrom, his policy director Hazel Marshall, and his budget and appropriations policy adviser John Burks. Also, I wish to thank Russ Sullivan, Monica Popp, and Johnny Slemrod from Senator Cornyn's Whip Office. After 5 days of consideration and 50 hours of debate on our budget resolution, truly everything that can be said has probably been said by everybody who can say it. But I don't think anyone said this yet: I want to thank the people who voted for the final passage of S. Con. Res. 11, the fiscal year 2016 Senate budget resolution. We now move on to conferencing. I yield the floor.

Mr. ENZI. Thank you.