Johnny Isakson

Mr. ISAKSON

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 President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. ISAKSON. Mr. President, on the 23rd day of March, 2018, just a little over 2 weeks ago, Zell Bryan Miller of the State of Georgia-- former Member of this body, former Governor of the State of Georgia, former State senator in the State of Georgia, former chairman of the Democratic Party in the State of Georgia--who contributed immensely to his State, passed away at his beloved home in Young Harris, GA, in Towns County. I am here to pay tribute to Zell and his life and his contributions to our country, both for a purposeful reason, as far as a fellow Member, but also for a very personal reason for me, because he is an individual I met through politics, became one of my best friends through politics, and probably had more influence personally on my life than anybody else I know in public service. As I said, Zell died in Young Harris, GA, the home of Young Harris College. Zell Miller was, first of all, a teacher and a writer. He wrote over 10 books. He taught. He was educated at the University of Georgia. He taught at Young Harris College. He always taught throughout his career. Even as Governor and Lieutenant Governor, he was an instructor and a teacher. He was professorial, but he was tough as nails. There was only one way to do it and that was the Zell way, he used to say, and he knew how to get it done. He was for four terms the Lieutenant Governor of Georgia. He then ran for Governor in 1990. I happened to be his opponent in 1990, and I will get to that in just a minute. He won that election. It was pretty close. It has gotten a lot closer since then. Pretty soon, when I have grandchildren, I am going to tell them all I won. So far, that is not the case. But he won, and he was elected twice to be Governor of Georgia. As Governor of Georgia, he embraced education as a major issue. As I said, he was a teacher and was all about teaching. He did something that nobody had ever done and in numbers that were very impressive. He created what is known as the HOPE Scholarship, funded by the Georgia Lottery. A lot of lotteries have been passed and a lot of liquor referendums have been passed by promising people that the money was going to go to education, but it never really did. In Georgia, the way it was done is that it came out of the debates that he and I had in our race for Governor. We finally passed a constitutional amendment to allow legal gambling in Georgia and then passed the HOPE Scholarship, which was where the money went. We tied up all the money made from the lottery separately for three things: college scholarships for eligible Georgia students, 4-year-old voluntary prekindergarten for Georgia pre- Ks to the age of 4, and technology and innovation and wiring and infrastructure in our public schools. The election was in 1990. He was elected in 1990 as the Governor of Georgia. He served two terms, but by the end of the decade, the lottery had passed. Since its passage, 1.8 million Georgia children have gotten their college education--1.8 million--and 1.6 million Georgia 4-year- olds have gone to prekindergarten voluntarily. Georgia's public schools are wired. They are on the internet. We deliver content through distance learning. It is at the leading edge of technology in public education of any State in the country. Now, politicians can take credit for a lot of things, but I don't know of anybody who can take credit for 1.8 million college degrees, 1.4 million prekindergarten programs, wiring schools for the information technology of the 21st century, and doing it all based on a personal effort and commitment to see to it that the more we are educated, the better the State will be. I said that Zell was an author. He was an author and a marine. He served in the Marine Corps from 1953 to 1956. He wrote a number of books about the Marine Corps. He wrote a number of articles about the Marine Corps. He wrote one book called ``Corps Values.'' The values he learned in the Marine Corps he used throughout his life in education, as Governor, as a father, and as a family man. Zell's wife is Shirley Miller. Shirley is a wonderful lady, and I got to be with her a little bit 2 weeks ago during the services. Zell and Shirley are Georgia's forever first family, not just because they were Governor and first lady together and Lieutenant Governor and first lady together but also because Shirley was a partner with Zell. She wasn't just his wife. Shirley worked tirelessly for Zell and for the State of Georgia, and to this day, she works tirelessly for our State. During Zell's more difficult years--over the last few years having the difficulties he had healthwise--Shirley was there to be with Zell every single day. Zell Miller came to the Congress of the United States in a very unique way. Paul Coverdell, who had the seat that I hold today, died. Paul was a Republican. He was in his second term as a Republican. Roy Barnes was the Governor of Georgia, a Democrat, and when Paul Coverdell died, Roy Barnes called Zell up, who was then the immediate past Governor, and said: Zell, I need you to go to Washington and serve for me because the body is getting pretty close politically up there. We need to make sure a Democrat is in that place to replace Paul. I wasn't involved in the conversation because I was hoping they were going to call me up, which I will get to in a minute. They didn't, but they did later. But they hadn't done it at that time. Roy said to Paul: You just have to do it for me, Governor Miller. You have to make sure that Georgia stays Democratic. Zell went on public television and said: I want to accept this appointment to the U.S. Senate to fill this seat, but I am going to vote like Paul Coverdell. He knew how important Paul's service had been in the State. He knew the conservative movement had taken the State and was moving in that direction. Zell was a man of conscience and principle who recognized the importance of the U.S. Senate seat, but, more importantly, he recognized the wishes of the voters. He told Roy Barnes, he told me, and he told everybody in the State: I am going to take it, but I will vote like Paul Coverdell. When that 4 years was up of finishing that term of Paul Coverdell, Zell Miller decided not to run again. I was in the U.S. House at that time, and he ran a press conference here in Washington to say: I will not seek reelection. That was in 2003. I got on the phone, called my wife, and said: I am going to go see Zell. If he is not going to run, I am going to run for that seat. That would be a good way to end my career and make a contribution to my State. I called Zell, and I said: Governor, can I come to see you this weekend in Young Harris. He said: Yes, come on. So I got in my pickup truck, which is a good way to drive in North Georgia, where a pickup truck is a standard operating vehicle. It was kind of a snowflake morning in North Georgia and the North Georgia mountains in Young Harris. I sat down with Zell at the fireplace, with Woodrow and Gus, the two dogs, talking about politics. Finally, I got around to the subject of saying: Well, Zell, the reason I am here is that you announced that you are not going to run for reelection. I want to know if you have any issue with my running to replace you. He said: Put your shoes on, son. You can win that seat. Let me know what I can do to help you. I have never forgotten the encouragement, never forgotten what he said, and never forgotten the challenge I felt I had to thank the guy who had beaten me for Governor in 1990--to make a statement like that when I was going to seek to replace him in the U.S. Senate 24 years later. It made a lot of difference to me in my life. Zell was a unique individual, and there has never been one like him. He was a Democrat the day he was born, and he was a Democrat the day he died. A lot of people remember he wrote a book, ``A National Party No More,'' which made a lot of Democrats mad. He spoke at the Democratic National Convention and made a lot of Republicans mad, and then he spoke at the Republican National Convention--the only elected person in history to deliver the keynote address at both national conventions, Republican and Democratic--not in the same year but in the same decade. Zell said what he thought, he thought what he said was right, and he delivered on everything he ever said, and if he ever was wrong, he apologized. In his latter years, he appointed many of his former opponents to offices of importance in our State. For me, this is the first time I can publicly say thank you to Zell Miller. I know he is looking down, and I hope he is listening to what I am about to say. When he beat me in 1990 and when I ran to replace Sam Nunn when Sam stepped down in 1996 and lost that seat as well, I thought I was through with public service. I had made my best effort and done as well as I could serving in the legislature but couldn't make it to that higher place. After I had run for Sam Nunn's seat, about 2 months after the race was over, Zell called me up, in August 1996, and said: Johnny, I have a problem. I have a Republican State school superintendent and a Democratic legislature, and they are fighting like hell, and I can't solve the problem. But if I name you as school board chairman, then you can come over here and balance this out, get the politics out of it, and help to solve the problem. Governor, I appreciate that, but I know what happens on a school board: You have 11 members on the board. I am chairman, and there are 10 other people who vote. You can't change 10 people's minds unless you know who those 10 people are. He said: You tell me who else to appoint. I will fire the others and appoint the new people. Come over to the mansion. So I went over to the mansion, and we sat there with his operator at the telephone desk and for 2 hours called people I knew I could trust and believed in to help me with public education. I asked them to serve with me on the State board of education, take it over, clean up the mess which had taken place and which Zell acknowledged thoroughly. I accepted, he made the appointment, and over 2 years, we had a remarkable time period. In large measure because I thought my political career was over, I didn't think about what I was doing as much politically as I thought practically for kids. Zell wanted very much to see public education as the apex of his career, and so he wanted to make sure in that second term, it was. I accepted. He worked hard. We joined together, and we--to this day--had a great period of time for public education in our State in terms of improvement, cashing in on the HOPE scholarship, and doing all the things that we did later on. I could go on and on, but I will just say this: I have worked with a lot of people, and I have known a lot of people. I have never known a better one than Zell Miller. I have never known anyone more true to their word, more solid to be counted on, who accepted their oath of office and every responsibility that went with it, who would say they were sorry when they needed to say they were sorry and would fight like hell when they needed to fight like hell and would never take no for an answer if they wanted you to do the right thing for the State of Georgia. For me on this night in Washington, DC, having gone to the funeral of my dear friend Zell Miller, having shared with his family and many others who loved him as I have over the years during those 2 days in Atlanta, let me close by saying that one of Georgia's greatest citizens and probably our greatest Governor, Georgia's first family in perpetuity, Zell and Shirley Miller, will be missed greatly by our State and will be missed greatly by me. I thank God I had the opportunity to know Zell Bryan Miller and learn from him in the best way you can, and that is by working for him. God bless you, Zell. Thank you for what you did on behalf of the people of Georgia. God bless you and the United States of America. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. ISAKSON

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

Mr. ISAKSON

Mr. ISAKSON. Mr. President, it is an honor for me to come to the floor of the Senate and talk for a minute about my friend Thad Cochran. I know everybody has probably said everything that needs to be said; just everybody hasn't said it yet. Kind of in the vein of what Senator Blunt said, everybody says the same thing about Senator Cochran: He is gracious, smart, gentle, effective, and a great colleague. I want to tell my colleagues about Thad Cochran. When I came to the Senate 14 years ago, I had served in every legislative body I could be elected to where I live. I served in the Georgia House, the Georgia Senate, the U.S. House, the U.S. Senate--all representative legislative bodies. In each one of them, I got some advice. My first year in the Georgia House, 41 years ago, I got some very good advice. A good friend of mine said: Johnny, I will tell you what you do. The first year you are here, don't say a word. Just watch everybody talk. Watch what everybody else does. Look at people you would like to be like, and for the remainder of your career, be like that person, because in the end, this business is about relationships and effectiveness, not about bluster and bragging. I did pick out a guy; his name was Carl Harrison. Carl Harrison has since passed away, but he was one of the best friends I have ever had in life. I watched him in the Georgia Legislature, and I patterned myself after Carl Harrison, and the success I had was because I followed a great leader like him. When I got to the U.S. Senate, I knew I needed leadership. I knew I needed to find a book or something to tell me how to be a good Senator. I remembered Carl. I said: You know, I am going to sit in this body. I have 6 years in this term. Surely I can take a few months for the first year and kind of figure things out. So I started watching. I could see the characteristics and the quality of each and every individual in the Senate, and everybody offers unique gifts that they have given to this body. I kept watching Thad Cochran. He was respected. He always had time for you. He never let you know he had been here a lot longer than you ever thought about being here, maybe even longer than you had been born. He listened to you, and if you asked him a question, he gave you an answer. So I called my wife and I said: Sweetheart, when we come back to Washington next week, I want to take Thad Cochran to dinner because I have decided he is the guy I would like to be most like. I am not making this up; this is exactly what happened. So we went to Ocean Air. Thad, I don't know if you remember that night. It was pretty crowded. Thad is not a loud guy, but when Thad walks in a room, it gets a little bit quieter because everybody knows wisdom has arrived. My wife and I enjoyed that dinner that night, and we became great friends. We had a number of issues on which we engaged each other over the course of the years, and on all of them, I think we were on the same side--except catfish. I think I got it wrong on catfish, and I apologize for that, but I tried to redeem myself. The highest compliment I can pay is to say that I wanted to be just like Thad Cochran. So in the 13 years since that dinner at Ocean Air and in everything I have done and tried to do in the Senate, I have tried to be like Thad Cochran. Mark Twain once wrote: When confronted with a difficult decision, do what is right. You will surprise a few, but you will amaze the rest. When we have tough decisions to make, when somebody has to cut to the chase and point you in the right direction to get the job done, it is Thad Cochran whom you want in your foxhole. He is the perfect example for me of a noble life and a noble leader. I have a favorite poem. It is in a book called ``Leaves of Gold'' from the Methodist Church. I think that poem applies to Thad Cochran better than any words I can say. The poem goes like this: I'd rather see a good person Than hear about one any day. I'd rather have a good person walk with me Than merely show the way. For my eyes are better pupils And more willing than my ear. And fine counsel is confusing But example is always clear. And the best of all the people Are the ones that live their creeds. For to see the good in action Is what everybody needs. While I'll be very glad to do it If you'll let me see it done; But I can watch your hands in action, But your tongue too fast may run. But the lectures you deliver May be very wise and very true; But I'd rather get my lecture By observing what you do. For I may misunderstand you And the high advice you give; But there's no misunderstanding The way you act and the way you live. Thad, you have blessed us all by the way you act, the way you live, and by the example you set. May God bless you and your family. I wish you the best. And may you always come back, because if you ever need me, I will be right here for you because you have always been there for me. God bless you. I yield the floor.

Mr. ISAKSON

Mr. ISAKSON. Mr. President, it is an honor and a privilege today to pay tribute to a great Georgian who has dedicated a lifetime of service to our State ahead of his 90th birthday on April 11, 2018. Mr. Emory Schwall is an outstanding Georgia attorney who has practiced law in our State for 68 years. In 1950, at the age of 21, he was admitted to the Georgia Bar after attending the Emory School of Law and graduating from the Woodrow Wilson Law School in Atlanta. Emory Schwall has served as special assistant attorney general for the State of Georgia representing the insurance commissioner. He is a certified estate planner and mediator, a member of Atlanta Estate Planning Council, the Atlanta Bar Association, the Georgia Bar Association, and the American Bar Association. He also is a member of the Emory Law School Council. As impressive as Emory Schwall's professional legal career has been, his impact on one of Georgia's finest not-for-profit hospitals is probably one of the areas of work of which he is most proud. The Shepherd Center in Atlanta specializes in medical treatment, research, and rehabilitation for people with spinal cord injury, brain injury, multiple sclerosis, spine and chronic pain, and other neuromuscular conditions. Founded in 1975, the Shepherd Center is ranked by U.S. News & World Report as among the top 10 rehabilitation hospitals in the Nation, and it has grown from a six-bed rehabilitation unit to a world- renowned, 152-bed hospital that treats more than 8,500 patients each year. Emory Schwall has been active with the Shepherd Center since its inception, helping it obtain grants and bequests, and he has led capital campaigns and other initiatives that have helped its growth. He served on the original board of directors for the Shepherd Center Foundation. He has also served as vice president and as a director of Shepherd Center, Inc., from 1987 until 2017. Emory Schwall has also served his church Trinity Presbyterian Church since 1956, not only as a parishioner, but also as a deacon, an elder, and as chair of its finance committee. An appreciation for the preservation of history led him, as president of the Atlanta Medical Heritage, to donate the Academy of Medicine building, a designated historical landmark in Atlanta, to the Georgia Tech Foundation to ensure funds for the restoration and preservation of the building. Further, Atlanta's Piedmont Hospital has benefitted from Emory Schwall's generosity and service, including serving as an active member of the Friends of Piedmont Hospital charitable arm. Emory Schwall also is active with national charitable and civic organizations such as the American Heart Association and the Arthritis Foundation. His dedication to service earned him the ``Greater Good Award'' from the Georgia Planned Giving Council in 2009. This annual award is presented to an individual whose career is currently focused on advising individuals, attorneys, financial planners, insurance counselors, trust officers, accountants, and other financial advisers for obtaining charitable contributions, and a ``Greater Good Award'' recipient must have served to increase the quantity and quality of planned gifts to charities in Georgia. Emory Schwall is truly a great Georgian, and I am fortunate to call him my friend. He, along with his wife, the late Peggy McCready Schwall, shared a love of service to others. Their three sons and four grandsons are proud to have such wonderful examples to follow, and as we celebrate his 90th birthday, I hope Emory enjoys many more years in our State and with his family.

Mr. ISAKSON

Mr. ISAKSON. Mr. President, I rise out of a great sense of pride to exercise one of my responsibilities in the U.S. Senate to speak on behalf of Tripp Self, a judge from the Georgia courts, who has been nominated to become a judge for the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia. The vote will take place not too long from now, and I encourage every Senator to cast his vote for Judge Self. He is the whole package. He has a wonderful wife and family and four great children. He worked in the private sector for years and accomplished many things in the private sector. He went to the University of Georgia School of Law and graduated cum laude and summa cum laude from The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, and went on to have a distinguished private career. He then served as a superior court judge on the Macon Judicial Circuit for the State of Georgia. In that job with the superior court, he did something that I am very close to. He is an entrepreneur because he started the Veterans Treatment Court for the Middle District of Georgia and for that judicial circuit. The Veterans Treatment Court, as all of you know, is a court that is formed to help veterans who stray from the law or who have difficulties when they come home either because of PTSD or TBI. It helps them with the struggles of battle that they have had and with whatever problems they may have had from representing us on the battlefield. They trip and they fall, and they need somebody to help get them up. We want to make them do the right thing but also help them get themselves brushed off, look forward to careers, and help them get that step forward. We do that with teenagers with what are called CASAs, Court Appointed Special Advocates. We turn people around who otherwise might go to jail--young kids. The Veterans Treatment Court takes those who have risked paying the ultimate sacrifice--that of their lives for you and for me and for everybody else--who might have fallen off just a little bit. When we get them back into the judicial system, we get them straightened out, and we move them forward so they have better lives and rewarding careers of their own--thanking them for all of the things they have done for us as veterans. As the chairman of the Veterans' Affairs Committee of the U.S. Senate and as one who recognizes the value of the court system for all of the things it does to administer justice, I am particularly proud to have a judge who has used his entrepreneurial skills to deal with a problem our society has in the legal sense and in the court sense and to see to it that our veterans are getting the help they need and that our communities are getting the representation they need. I am also a football fan. I know calling football games is tough, just as making judicial decisions is tough. Tripp Self officiates NCAA football in the Southern Conference. Two years ago, he was selected to do the 2017 FCS national championship game, which is a testament to his ability to call balls and strikes on the field. He is a pretty good shot too. He is a turkey hunter and likes to turkey hunt and likes the outdoors. Most importantly, he loves the United States of America. He respects and loves the law for what it does. We are a nation of laws and not of men. He does everything in his capacity as an individual and as one on the bench to see to it that our country is a better country and our State is a better State--the State I represent, Georgia. When each Senator turns to vote in a few minutes on the confirmations of the three judges that will come before us today, when it comes to Judge Tripp Self, of Georgia, may each cast a vote proudly for someone who is a legal entrepreneur for veterans, one who has served with distinction in the State as a private sector practicing attorney and on the bench already, and one who will serve the United States of America very well in the years to come. I commend him and his family for being willing to take on this responsibility, and I thank the President of the United States for the wisdom to make this appointment. I yield the floor.

Mr. ISAKSON

Mr. ISAKSON. Mr. President, as the senior Senator from Georgia, it is my honor to pay tribute to South Georgia on its selection as a ``2018 Great American Defense Community'' by the Association of Defense Communities. Since 1941, this region of my State has been the proud home of Moody Air Force Base and some of the best airmen in the world. I congratulate the outstanding South Georgia Military Affairs Council, which is led by local chambers of commerce in Berrien, Cook, Lanier, and Lowndes Counties, and the many community members who work to support Moody Air Force Base. They take great pride in this installation, and they understand how important the brave men and women who are based there are to our national security and to America. The Great American Defense Communities Program honoring these special volunteers recognizes the overall support that communities and regions in the U.S. provide to service members and military families to help ensure the highest quality of life possible. Selection for this honor is based on community building and integration, support and collaboration, educational and employment opportunities, and veteran and family support. I have seen firsthand how strongly the airmen and families associated with Moody Air Force Base are supported and appreciated by the South Georgia community. It is much more than simply a place to live. For our military members serving at Moody, their community is a place to call home. It is family. Moody Air Force Base is the home to the 23rd Wing ``Flying Tigers,'' which consists of the 23rd Fighter Group, the Air Force's largest A-10 fighter group, the 347th Rescue Group, and the Avon Park Air Force Range, among others. From close air support to combat search and rescue, the dedicated airmen of Moody Air Force Base play a critical role in our national defense and our ability to project power around the globe. Throughout Georgia, we are fortunate to be home to welcoming communities for the servicemembers who are stationed at military bases across our State. South Georgia is a wonderful example of this spirit of service and patriotism. I congratulate this region and Moody Air Force Base on this distinct honor.

Mr. ISAKSON

Mr. ISAKSON. Mr. President, today America and the world have lost a great man in Billy Graham. As Senator Thune said in his own remarks quoting Billy Graham, don't grieve for Billy Graham--he has not gone anywhere except to be at the right hand of his Father Almighty at home in Heaven. He has left us, but he is in Heaven. For his entire life, 99 years, he witnessed on behalf of that place called Heaven and his Father to try to take his message around the world and to people around the world. I spend a lot of time working with young people, and when I do, many times I work with them in my church. I taught Sunday school for 30 years. That is a hard challenge sometimes, trying to figure out what it is you are going to do to get through to people, especially young people, but I learned from Billy Graham that the best way to teach people about God is to witness for God. Billy Graham was the preeminent witness for faith, if there ever were one. We all could turn on the TV tonight and find a televangelist who, for a $25 donation, will send you a Bible and a cross and tell you that you are saved. That is not true. You may be saved from him, but you haven't been saved with Jesus. Billy Graham lived the kind of life that teaches all of us that we should respect and understand and honor what Jesus Christ stands for and what Christianity means, and we should live our lives as an example to others of what it is like to be a Christian. In the sadness of the loss of Billy Graham, I am reminded of the Book of Thessalonians and Paul's letter to the Thessalonians, where in two of the shortest verses in the Bible, he says: Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In terms of Billy Graham's life, I think we are in that period of time right now. We should rejoice for the great service that he gave to all of us, the great messages he brought in his crusades around the world, and we should pray without ceasing that the world will continue to be blessed by God and by great people like Billy Graham and those who would follow him and, in our small way, if we will do the witnessing we need to do to see to it that we are disciples of that faith and for Jesus Christ. For me, coming to the floor today, I have an important task, because witnessing and evangelism is about other people taking the message for other folks.

Mr. ISAKSON

Mr. ISAKSON. Mr. President, back in my home State of Georgia, in my neighborhood in east Cobb County, there is a man by the name of Henry Holley. In my few minutes left, I want to honor Henry Holley because he is an interesting individual. Although there is no such thing as a former marine, he was a U.S. marine for 22 years. He met Dr. Graham at a crusade. He volunteered to help him in his off-duty time and so impressed Dr. Graham that Billy Graham asked him to join his crusades. He said: I can't do it right now. I have 2 more years in my commitment. Billy Graham said: If you come to me at the end of those 2 years, I will put you on my team. Forty-eight years ago, Henry Holley joined the team of Billy Graham. He became his Asian representative. In fact, today Henry Holley is the last of the original Billy Graham team who is left alive on this Earth. Henry is 90 years old, living in east Cobb County, and witnessing every single day all that he learned from Billy Graham and what Billy Graham's crusades meant to him. They set up crusades in Rio de Janeiro, Seoul, South Korea, and all over the world. Henry Holley has been in and out of North Korea more than anybody in this country. He goes there with Samaritan's Purse to help people who are oppressed, taking to them the message of Jesus Christ, working and doing everything he can to improve the plight of those people who are oppressed and depressed by a rogue regime. Henry Holley is one of the finest people I have ever known. I know when Dr. Graham passed away, Henry was not sad but happy because he has always talked about knowing that ultimately Billy Graham's place in Heaven would be his just reward. Henry could not wait until he could join Billy Graham there so they could be together at the end. So I know Henry is probably watching, or if he isn't watching, somebody will tell him about my mentioning his name. I am doing it to honor Henry but also to honor Billy Graham, because the one-on-one passing of the Word from me to someone else, from Henry Holley to someone else, from Dr. Graham to someone else, is the way Christianity was built over the decades and over the years and will continue to be preserved in the years to come. So as we honor in the U.S. Senate and in the United States of America a great man, a great leader, a man of God, and a servant of God, I am just so thankful I had the opportunity to be in this Chamber on the day we honored Billy Graham and his life. I am so happy I had the ability and the opportunity to know his servant, Henry Holley, and be one of those along the way whom Henry helped to live a more responsible and loving life. I yield the floor.

Mr. ISAKSON

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

Mr. ISAKSON. Mr. President, I yield back all time on our side and ask unanimous consent that the cloture motion be voted on.

Mr. ISAKSON. I thank the Senator from Florida. Mr. President, I rise today with a great sense of pride and honor to commend to my fellow Senators Elizabeth ``Lisa'' Branch, who has been nominated to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit of the United States of America by President Trump. There are significant reasons why I am so excited to do this. I am going to save the most significant for last. One of the things I am so proud of in our constitutional responsibility of advice and consent for the appointments of the administration is that, every time, we appoint someone who is the right person at the right time and the right place, and Lisa is certainly that for the court of appeals and for the bench of the United States of America and the Eleventh Circuit. Lisa was a partner in the commercial litigation practice of Smith, Gambrell & Russell, a limited liability partnership in Atlanta, where she began her legal career in 1996. She moved on to work in the George W. Bush administration from 2004 to 2008 as the Counselor to the Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs at the U.S. Office of Management and Budget and, for 1 year, as the Associate General Counsel for Rules and Legislation at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. She served for 2 years as a law clerk to Judge J. Owen Forrester of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. She received her BA degree from Davidson College in North Carolina--an outstanding institution--and her law degree from Emory University, which is one of the most renowned law schools in the United States of America. She is a great lady and a great lawyer. She was named to the Court of Appeals in Georgia by Gov. Nathan Deal, the current Governor of the State, and will serve us in the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals with honor and privilege in the United States of America. Most importantly, on a personal note, as I make these remarks, I am sure my father, Ed Isakson, and his best friend, Harold Russell, who is the Russell of Smith, Gambrell & Russell, are looking down from Heaven on this occasion today and recognizing it for the following reason: When Lisa went with Smith, Gambrell & Russell, she went to work with a firm that represented my father and his company--a firm that represented me. She is not unknown to me as a person, as a lawyer, as a litigator. She is a great individual in our State and has provided a great service to our State. She will be a great judge for the United States of America. She also worked with Harold Russell, who was my dad's best friend, and Harold represented my father for years in business. I know today, in Heaven, they are looking down during this special occasion of an outstanding Georgia jurist who is renowned in our State and is about to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate to be on the Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. I commend to my colleagues in the Senate Elizabeth ``Lisa'' Branch to be confirmed, and I urge their favorable votes to see to it that takes place. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. ISAKSON. Mr. President, I wish to ask that before the remarks that I plan to make now are made and memorialized by the reporter, I be able to say to my friend from Florida, on behalf of the people of Georgia, who stopped me in the halls and corridors, at the grocery stores, the churches--everywhere we went--what happened in Florida was an attack everywhere in America, not just in Florida. The tragedy of school shootings has magnified itself, so much so that every one of us feels it more than anybody realizes. I want to share with you the prayers, the hopes, and concern of the people of Georgia. It is a pleasure to work together with you and the other Members of the Senate so that we can find common ground as we move forward to address this situation. Having just been home, and being with the citizens I represent, I can say that the first and foremost item on the minds of every citizen of Georgia is the tragedy that took place in Florida. Our hearts and prayers go out to you and all the families and all those who survived the terrible tragedy.

Mr. ISAKSON

Mr. ISAKSON. Mr. President, today I am proud to honor in the Record a dedicated Georgian who has devoted his life's work to our State. Mr. Kelly McCutchen has spent the last 25 years of his career guiding the direction of one of Georgia's respected think tanks, the Georgia Public Policy Foundation. Most recently, Kelly served as CEO of the organization. Prior to taking the helm in 2010, he was the organization's vice president, and he remains as a member of its board of trustees. At the Georgia Public Policy Foundation, Kelly helped create the Civic Renewal Project that highlights the work of outstanding community-based organizations, the No Excuses program to recognize and study high-achieving, high-poverty public schools, and the foundation's award-winning statewide report cards on education, crime, and taxes. In January 2018, the foundation was named one of the best independent think tanks in the 2017 Global Go To Think Tank Index Report. During his tenure, the foundation was also named No. 1 for ``highest integrity'' and No. 3 for ``most knowledgeable among business organizations or State associations in Georgia'' by James magazine in 2004. A proud third-generation high honors graduate of the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, Kelly has also served on the Georgia Tech Alumni Association. He is a founder and served as governing board chair of Tech High, a math, science, and technology focused public charter school in Atlanta. At the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, Kelly served on the education policy committee and the healthcare policy committee. He chaired the board of the Healthcare Institute for Neuro-Recovery and Innovation Foundation and has also served on the Georgia Science and Technology Executive Committee and on the public policy committee for Metro Atlanta United Way. In addition, he is a policy adviser for the Technology Association of Georgia. His service to our State has also been seen on the boards of Leadership Georgia and the Conservative Policy Leadership Institute. Of particular significance to me as chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs, Kelly cofounded the Georgia Warrior Alliance, a nonprofit with the mission to make Georgia the national leader in programs supporting military veterans and their families. Kelly's wife, Mary Kay Davis McCutchen, has been a dedicated companion and chief supporter of his work and civic engagement. Their son Kelly and daughter Caroline are college students who have wonderful role models to follow in their very special parents. Kelly McCutchen is a Georgian whom I am proud to know and to call a friend. I applaud his service and wish him the very best as he continues his service to our State in his new role as executive director of the High Impact Network of Responsible Innovators.

Mr. ISAKSON

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

Mr. ISAKSON

Mr. ISAKSON. Mr. President, I am honored and privileged to come to the floor of the Senate today to talk about Michael Brown, appointed by President Donald Trump to be a district judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. Mr. Brown is an outstanding citizen of our State. He is married to a wonderful lady and has three wonderful children. He is a graduate of Marist School, a graduate of Georgetown University, and a graduate of the University of Georgia Law School, magna cum laude, in 1994. He has a record of practicing law in the private sector that is unparalleled, having worked for both King & Spalding and also Alston & Bird. King & Spalding produced many of the judges on the bench of the United States of America with distinguished records, not the least of which is the Attorney General under President Jimmy Carter, Griffin Bell, an outstanding Attorney General from our State. They also produced Sam Nunn, an outstanding Member of the Senate. They produced many judges in our State. Many were also produced from the firm where he practices now, which is Alston & Bird. It is a privilege for me to talk about Michael for many reasons. Most importantly, he comes with a background of experience in the private sector. He has been recommended by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce as one of the great lawyers in the United States of America in business matters. One of the things our courts need is a tempered balance of business and consumers. There is no question that someone who is not a voice for business as a judge but has experience in business as a judge will make a tremendous difference. I know he will in the Northern District of Georgia. I thank the President for nominating Michael and making this appointment. To the Members of the Senate, I urge you to join me in voting for Michael Brown for the Northern District of Georgia to be our next judge there. He will be a great judge on the bench. It will be a great decision for us, and it will continue the growth and improvement of outstanding jurists confirmed by this Senate in this year 2018. I yield back. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. ISAKSON

Mr. ISAKSON. Mr. President, I rise to talk about the tradition of New Year's Day, the beginning of a new year, our great country, and many of its great traditions. I am sorry the minority leader left so quickly because I wanted to brag about how great the New York City Police and law enforcement were on New Year's Eve. Millions of Americans gathered to watch the ball drop in New York City and the new year to start. We all enjoy doing that in the warmth of our homes, particularly on days like today, but there is also the warmth of America. There is a second great tradition that takes place on New Year's Day as well. It is called the college football season, which is capped off by the Rose Bowl, which is played in Pasadena, CA. This year, the Rose Bowl was played between the University of Georgia, my home State, and the University of Oklahoma. It was one of the greatest football games, I think anybody would admit, that has ever been played in that game before, and I am proud of both universities. I am equally proud of the University of Alabama and Clemson University--the other two teams that played for the right to play in Atlanta, GA, on Monday night of next week, on January 8, to decide the collegiate national championship. My Bulldogs of Georgia will be one of those two teams. They defeated Oklahoma 54 to 48 in a great football game in California. Alabama made a decisive victory over Clemson in New Orleans, LA, in the Sugar Bowl. The two will meet this coming Monday night in the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, GA. I don't know which is going to win. I know which one I am pulling for. I know which one I am on the floor bragging about tonight, but I am equally bragging about all of our collegiate athletics in this country and the great men and women who make it work--the coaches, athletic directors, and people who make it go. In particular, with Georgia's victory, it prompts me to come to the floor and talk about Kirby Smart. Kirby is the head coach of the University of Georgia. For 9 years preceding his coming to Georgia, he was assistant to Nick Saban, coach for the University of Alabama. They will play against each another on Monday night for this year's national championship. It is ironic that the coach and his pupil will be the two coaches in that great game. Kirby is a University of Georgia graduate. He was a great University of Georgia football player in his own right. He came to the University of Georgia with high hopes as an alumnus, hoping that he could be the person to take Georgia to new heights. It took him only a year. The first season was 8 and 5. The second season was this year, 12 and 1--now 13 and 1--winning the Rose Bowl and playing for the national championship on Monday night. Kirby Smart is not just smart because he knows football; he is smart because he knows how to be a leader. You saw an example of a man in the Rose Bowl who never took credit himself. He always gave it to his other coaches and to his other players. He never tried to be the winner. He always tried to be in the background. He put others ahead of himself, but deep down inside--and behind the great victory that was won that night--it was his spirit, his encouragement, his living the dream that all the Georgia players followed. I want to talk about a couple of them. Sony Michel was the offensive player of the game, one of the greatest running backs ever to come out of the University of Georgia, and we had some good ones--Frankie Sinkwich, Charlie Trippy, and Herschel Walker. On defense, Roquan Smith, the Dick Butkus Award winner, played a great defensive game. Then, with the combination of leadership they brought to the team on the field and the quiet leadership and confidence Kirby Smart brought to the team as its coach, they won that game 54 to 48 in a double- overtime elimination of the University of Oklahoma. My congratulations go to Oklahoma and their quarterback Baker Mayfield, who was the Heisman Trophy winner, on playing a great game. I wish Alabama a lot of luck on Monday night, but not enough to beat my Bulldogs. This is going to be our chance to win a national championship for the first time in 38 years of football. We are going to be in my home State of Georgia in our newest athletic facility, the Mercedes-Benz Stadium. I think it is an appropriate place for us to win, so I am going to say ``Go Dawgs'' from the floor of the Senate. On Monday night, I hope Kirby Smart remembers the reason I am bragging about him today on the floor is that he is going to be our leader Monday night. He is going to carry us to victory one more time. I am counting on him, just like all the Georgia graduates all over the country who watched with joy on January 1, and we will be looking on Monday night with anticipation and, hopefully, satisfaction. I yield back the remainder of my time.

Mr. ISAKSON

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

Mr. ISAKSON

Mr. ISAKSON. Mr. President, I am glad to join my colleague Senator Tester from Montana on the floor for a discussion of our Veterans' Affairs, our accomplishments over the last 3 years and our challenges for the future. I want to start out my part of the conversation by saying this. Three years ago, the Veterans' Administration was making big headlines. Those headlines were that they weren't working well, our veterans were waiting too long for care, there were failures in our system throughout, and people were looking for an alternative to the VA system because it was in such a quagmire. Thanks to the work of our committee, which the Presiding Officer today is one of those members, we set out to fix a lot of the problems. No. 1 was the hospital in Denver, which is 40 percent finished. It was 3 years behind, and we closed in. That hospital is open today and operating because the Veterans' Affairs Committee of the Senate buckled its shoes, got to work, got the VA fixed, and got the hospital finished. The most challenging thing we faced were long wait times for appointments for our veterans and veterans' services for healthcare. It was longer than 30 days just for a routine appointment, sometimes being as long as 6 months to wait, and sometimes they were dying before they got called up from the waiting list, which happened in the Arizona case in Phoenix. We had some tragic stories that came through. Our committee came together and said: We are going to fix this. We are going to put our shoulders to the grindstone, we are going to work out hard, and we are going to make it happen. Like always, fixing anything requires one element, and that is hard work. This Committee has worked hard--Democrats and Republicans alike. They have been willing to get the new Secretary, Secretary Shulkin, confirmed. To all of his aides--Tom Bowman, who has been a great aide to our committee for a long time, and now is a direct aide to the Secretary. The committee has asked: What is it we need to do to get it fixed? We started out this year with 11 bills introduced for the Veterans' Administration improvements in terms of healthcare. Ten of those eleven have passed. There is one left. We are going to have a perfect 11-for- 11 year, if we get the votes before the end of this year, we get the CARE bill passed for our veterans, but even if that doesn't make it, we have dealt with long waiting lines for determination of benefits for the VA. Those long waiting lines are beginning to dissipate. We don't have hospitals being shut down because they can't be finished. We have CBOCs being opened because they are being finished. We don't have near as many cases of horror stories in a VA health facility because the facilities are being run better. Do we have problems? Sure, we have problems. Anytime you have the second largest agency of the Federal Government--which the VA health system is--you are going to have problems, but we are meeting them head-on. We are not running away from them. We have a Secretary who is really willing to work to make it happen. I cannot say enough about Secretary Shulkin. He has been fantastic. He has been a great worker. He has given President Trump the message, in terms of what our veterans need, the challenge that we need from the White House to join us, and the White House has substantially done so, to help make a lot of improvements. Working with our ranking member, we decided we would do a number of things: We would end the long wait times for determination of disability, and we have done that. That is in process. We wanted to see to it that the modern access to healthcare was available to all of our veterans, one way or another. We wanted to make sure we came up with creative ideas by using telemedicine and other techniques to deliver healthcare to our veterans. Most importantly, we knew the Choice Act we passed 3 years ago, led by Senator McCain--who is in our prayers and thoughts every day. I might add from the floor of the Senate today, we wish him the very best if he is listening. Senator McCain went to work and came up with the first aspect of Choice, which passed 3 years ago. I was on the conference committee. We had this crazy idea that we were going to let veterans choose where they want to go for their healthcare. We set up the system to do that. The system worked pretty well in some cases. Senator Tester will say in rural America it didn't work all that well, in some cases, but it was a good effort of ours to take the private sector in America and make it a force multiplier for the healthcare services delivered to our veterans and expand the access of healthcare to our vets. Well, now we have before the Senate what we call the Care Act. It is the finishing touches of what was originally in the Choice Act. We are taking the things we learned and repealing what was wrong. We are taking things we learned are right, and we are enhancing them. I hope every Member of the Senate who can hear my voice today will join me sometime in the next few weeks ahead to finish the job and pass the Care Act. Our committee passed it out 14 to 1, with Democrats and Republicans alike, shoulder to shoulder, voting for it. It is the right thing to do for our vets. We are hopefully going to do the same thing on the floor. The Care Act does a lot of amazing things, but it takes what we have learned in 3 years and applies it to the real world for our veterans. It says a veteran has a choice for his healthcare, public or private, VA or private sector. The veteran and his or her doctor may determine where they want to go. The physician providing the services who is outside the system will cooperate with the VA, so we have good medical records for that veteran, and they will work together to choose doctors who have the quality, the reputation, and the ability to deliver the service, whether they are in the VA or outside the VA. The veteran comes first in Veterans Choice. In the Caring for Our Veterans Act, the veteran comes first, not Members of the Senate, not employees of the VA. The veteran comes first, which is what we need to do. I hope everyone will join Senator Tester and me in seeing to it, when we get this to the floor--and we are trying every day--that they join us in helping pass the Care Act. One last thing I want to mention about the Care Act is it also contains the funding necessary to complete the year for the Veterans' Administration in terms of health services. More importantly, it consolidates the stovepipes of funding in the VA so we no longer have this Mickey Mouse game, which we have all experienced for the last 5 or 6 years, where the VA is always running out of money. The Congress has never cut off the VA. When we had the biggest shutdown 5 or 6 years ago--or potential shutdown for the government that we had, we passed bills that exempted the VA to demonstrate long and hard that we would never leave our veterans in need of healthcare coverage waiting because we couldn't act in the Congress, and that would happen today if that was threatening us. I want to underline, this is not a matter of anybody threatening anybody. This is a matter of finishing the job for our veterans and seeing to it that the Veterans' Administration has the resources necessary to deliver the services to our veterans. For those who can hear this plea--and it is a plea--understand I am coming before us today to say three things: One is thank you. Thank you to every Member of the Senate who voted with us to get us where we are today. We have passed 10 of the 11 bills we brought in this year for veterans' healthcare services. Thank you very much. I say to Senator Tester, as the ranking member, thank you for your cooperation. We have worked together to find a solution to every impasse we confronted throughout the year. To the Senator from Alaska, who is presiding today and is a member of the committee, thank you for what you did for those veterans in need in our States that have limited access to healthcare, like Alaska. We need to make sure the Alaskan veteran has the same access and the same benefits they signed up for as one does in Georgia or in any other State. Senator Tester from Montana has worked so hard to see to it that rural America has the same type of access. There may not be as many doctors, there may not be as many VA facilities, but we can design a system that gives them the very best access and the very best care for that region where they choose to live. That is our challenge. Our challenge in the VA is not to say: Well, you should have lived somewhere else. Our challenge is to say we should have concentrated more in the VA to see to it that where you live is the right place to be in terms of veterans' services, and we are going to do that. Lastly, I thank Secretary Shulkin. He was approved 100 to nothing by the Senate. I believe I am right that he is the only Cabinet member who was confirmed by the Senate 100 to nothing. As everybody knows from watching us the last 8 or 9 months, we haven't agreed on much of anything. We haven't had any unanimous consent votes on hardly anything. We did with David Shulkin, and he has delivered, in response to that 100-to-nothing vote, time and time again, working for our veterans, helping to direct problems, helping to work with us together. I look forward to next year, as we bring a close to the Care Act and pass it, moving forward with those new things we need to pay attention to. I look forward to working with Senator Tester from Montana and the members of the Democratic Party and the Republican Party in our committee. Remember, we are veterans first. We are Americans first. God bless our veterans. May God bless the United States of America. I yield to Senator Tester.

Mr. ISAKSON

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

Mr. ISAKSON

Mr. ISAKSON. Mr. President, it is a historic day for our country, for the Senate, and for the Congress. As we speak, the President of the United States is about to sign the bill that we passed on the floor of the Senate last night, which was the agreement on the conference report--the largest tax reform in the history of our country or, certainly, the largest since 1986. It is historic in many other ways because we are fighting wars overseas, we are dealing with terrorism, and we are looking at the economic climate for the future and trying to inspire our country to be better and be everything that it can be. We are talking about all of those types of things, and we are getting ready for Christmas.

Mr. ISAKSON

Mr. ISAKSON. Mr. President, we are busy about lots of things, but there is one thing that you should never be too busy to do, and that is to pause and stop and say thank you--thank you to someone or some entity or some institution that has made a difference in your life or in the life of your country. I don't often come down here on points of personal privilege. I do it, but I don't often do it. When I do do it, it is special for me, and I hope it is special for the people I am talking about. A good friend of mine is retiring from the Southern Company in the next few months. His name is Jim McCool. Now, most of you probably don't know Jim McCool. Jim is one of those people who some people refer to as a lobbyist and others refer to as a professional advocate. I refer to him as my good friend. I met him in the 1980s. He had started his own formal wear business. He then sold that business and went to work for Mississippi Power. It was later one of the Southern Company's companies. He then worked as a liaison to Washington for the Southern Company, for Georgia Power, for Mississippi Power, and for Alabama Power. I got to know Jim in lots of ways. First of all, it was when I was in the Georgia State Senate and the Georgia State House. On the industry committee, we worked on issues that dealt with electric utilities. I didn't know anything about those, as I was a real estate broker. My knowledge of electricity was that when I threw that switch, I wanted it to come on. Once it got beyond that, I didn't have knowledge of it. Jim was one of those people who didn't just come and say: This is my company's position. We want you to do it. He asked: What is it about my company's position that I can help explain for you to make a decision? He never, ever asked me to do anything for him or anyone. He always offered to give me the information that I needed to make the decision myself. That is not a rarity in that profession, but it is certainly something that the average person doesn't think of when you hear of a lobbyist or a professional advocate. Jim McCool is, has been, and, for me, always will be very special. He takes his job seriously, his company seriously, and his country seriously. Jim and his wife, Kathy, raised three great sons. They are proud of their dad, and he is proud of them. I have seen him in enough situations with his family to know that his family comes first for Jim McCool. Golf, unlike what most people think, is not first. It is only second. The Southern Company is third. I have played a lot of golf with Jim McCool, and that is why I put that in there. Over the years, I have worked with Jim on many, many projects. Right now, we are working on a nuclear production tax credit, in addition to the tax extenders bill, which, hopefully, will pass the Congress within the next 2 weeks, after January 1, to continue the construction and the completion of units 3 and 4 at Plant Vogtle in Georgia. For me, ironically, this was such a special moment because I had worked on Vogtle units 1 and 2 when they were built in the early 1980s and when Jim was an advocate, at that time, for Mississippi Power. He later joined the Southern Company team. Jim and I have watched Plant Vogtle go from a dream and an aspiration for the Southern Company to a reality in terms of units 1 and 2. If we get our work done here soon, units 3 and 4 will be online. For a long time after Jim McCool is gone and I am gone and all of you are gone, Georgia will have reliable, safe energy from a renewable source called nuclear, and we will continue to be a pioneer and a leader in the southern United States. When I heard that Jim was retiring, obviously, I knew it was a special moment for him and his family. I wish him all the best, and I know that he is going to do great. I started thinking back over all of those times that we had worked on all of those issues that had such an impact on his job and his employer and, for me, on my State and his State. Jim never wavered in his commitment to doing the best job he could possibly do in always representing the best interests of his company while never losing the best interests of those who were served by his company--the customers. On this day today, when the President of the United States signs major, sweeping tax reform and as we approach Christmas--a special holiday for all families--I rise on the floor of the Senate to take note of Jim McCool from the State of Mississippi, employee of the Southern Company, professional advocate, father of three, and husband to a great lady. Jim McCool has gone the long way down the long road, and he has done it with style, with class, and he has delivered every single time. Washington doesn't have a better advocate working in this town than Jim McCool. We are going to miss him, but I am going to get to play a lot more golf with him in the years ahead because he is going to have more free time than he has right now. So I wish Jim and his family the best. I thank him for all he has done for us as Georgians. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. ISAKSON

Mr. ISAKSON. Mr. President, am I next? I see the distinguished Senator from Washington on the floor. I ask unanimous consent that after I speak, she be recognized to speak.

Mr. ISAKSON. Mr. President, I would like to take a moment to commend Senator Orrin Hatch. I listened to the debate over this bill not just today but for the better part of 3 years I have been a member of the Finance Committee. I have never heard a more dignified, deliberate, intelligent delivery on any subject than we all just heard from Orrin Hatch on the tax bill. Regardless of your politics, regardless of where you are from, it is good to know that America has dignified statesmen like Orrin Hatch to take the tougher issues, simplify them, get people to join hands, work together, and pass what is right for the American people. I am glad the American people are going to get to see that over the next couple of days. I publicly want to thank Senator Hatch for all he has done and all I know he has done in Washington during the last 3 years. In the 3 years on this committee, I have seen us--Republican and Democratic committee and subcommittee alike--work on every facet of the Tax Code to try to simplify changes down to doable amounts and doable jobs. I have seen everybody have input. I have seen everybody work together. Sure, we have had differences. Senator Hatch has always kept the mainstream there, kept his hand on the tiller, and saw to it that we never lost sight of doing what we need to do, which is to reform our Tax Code. I want to commend Senator Hatch and Senator Enzi, as well, for the work they have done on the Budget Committee to get us to this point and the unsung heroes that all of us know about, our staffs, whom we cannot do without. Jay Khosla and Mark Prater on the Finance Committee have been outstanding and have made this thing work, and I commend them for their work. On my staff, I could not have done what I have done without Amanda Maddox, Trey Kilpatrick, Monica McGuire, and Jay Sulzmann, who have all worked hard to see to it that we made the right decisions for the right reasons for the people of Georgia. I am very proud to be a part of this Senate today and of what is going to prove to be a historic day in the future. There are a lot of naysayers saying that this is not going to work. There are a lot of people who have come up to me today and have asked questions that have bad connotations to them. Yet I want, for just a minute, to talk about what I think this tax bill really means for the American people--for the folks who voted for me to represent them--and for what is going to happen in the years ahead. I had a reporter stop me today while I was coming up to the floor. He asked: Senator Isakson, where are you going to find the $1.478 trillion that you all are costing us by passing this tax cut? I said: First of all, we have not lost the money. Second of all, that is a static score. Third of all, I will be willing to bet you that we will take in a lot more money because of our having a dynamic economy than we will ever lose with a single tax cut. There are some people whose thought process is one of tunnel vision. They can't see outside the blinders. They don't understand that tax policy drives economic decisions. There are companies that in the last few years had been thinking about leaving America because of our tax rate that are now deciding to stay because of the new change. Don't underestimate the power of the territorial tax change that this makes for American business. A lot of CEOs who go to their annual stockholder meetings for C corporations in America have to go with a game plan to raise the return on their stocks in order to have people invest in their companies. Unfortunately, the easiest way to raise the return on their stock today would be for a domestic American company to move their headquarters out of the United States to Ireland or to some other place that had a lower tax rate. If you put more money on the table for the stockholders, it will be bad for the country, bad for your company, and bad for the American people as jobs leave America. Now that we have a territorial system that we are going to, there is an incentive to stay in America if you are located there and to come to America if you are not. We are not going to have any more fast food companies that are buying doughnut makers in Canada and then moving their headquarters to Canada to get a lower tax rate. We are going to have a lot of new companies that will think about becoming doughnut makers and will do it right here in the United States because the new tax system we will have will be fair and equitable for economic development and building growth. On the personal side, you really cannot argue with doubling the standard deduction. You can't argue with doubling of the child tax credit. You can't argue with simplifying the tax process itself and the filing of taxes. You can't argue with lowering rates--having seven different rate categories that are all lowered. You can't really argue with all of that because you know that is better for the American people and their pocketbooks in the short run, but in the long run, it will be better for them and their children and their grandchildren in terms of employment. I have eight grandchildren. My oldest just graduated from college, and the youngest is 9. In the years ahead--and I hope that I will get to see a lot of them--they are going to get jobs, and they are going to work. They are going to raise their families. What we have done today is going to make it easier for them to find employment for their kids, opportunity to develop businesses, and peace of mind because they will live in a country that will be vibrant and true. For those who want to ask what we are going to do about the money that we are giving up, I don't deal with static scoring; I deal with dynamic scoring. When I ran a company for 25 years, I made investments where I knew I had a place to grow. I made business decisions where there was positive growth ahead if I made the right decision. This Tax Code--this change in the Tax Code, this opportunity that we have--does all of those things. Do I know exactly what is going to happen? No, but I am willing to bet--and I have bet my vote already in committee and will later on tonight on the floor of the Senate--on the American people and the American worker and the American entrepreneur. I will bet on their taking advantage of a tax code that is fair to them and that gives them a chance to expand their personal opportunities. I will bet on them that they are willing to move forward with a better tax code for all of the country. I will make my bet on them that they will want to see to it that their children and their grandchildren will have the opportunities that they have had as well. I thank Chairman Hatch for what he has done in the last 3 years to make this opportunity come about. I thank the distinguished Senator from Washington and the Senator from Alabama, whom, unfortunately, we are losing in the next few weeks, for what they have put in this legislation. I thank them for what they have done in their looking out for their people. Did we make any mistakes? Maybe, but you never make mistakes when you are trying to do the right thing. You never make mistakes when you are trying to do a good thing. You never make mistakes when you take a risk because when you take a risk, at the end of that rainbow is a reward. When you take a risk in lowering taxes, the greater reward is more jobs, more opportunity, and a better America for our children and our grandchildren. I thank Senator Hatch for his work and for all that he has done to make America a better country and, in particular, for giving us the chance today to make our tax system fairer for all of the American people. May God bless him. I yield the floor.

Mr. ISAKSON

Mr. ISAKSON. Mr. President, today I submit for the Record a poem written by one of my Georgia interns, Mr. Dalton Kane of Suwanee, GA, a student at the University of Georgia. ``Memoirs of a Senate Intern'' by Dalton Kane, a.k.a. ``Dolvin'': The sound of footsteps echoes throughout the halls of the Russell Building as senators hurry to and fro before a salient vote. Chiefs of staff fervently address the concerns of elite constituents while legislative staff assistants frantically seek out last-minute details of the bill. Meanwhile, back home in the district, case workers tirelessly assist constituents with their government agency-based woes and field reps travel all across the state to ensure every voice is heard. Behind the scenes, an IT guy (who's probably a die-hard liberal) labors ceaselessly to make it all happen. This is democracy in action- the realization of a three- hundred-year-old experiment that connects the government to its people. Yet, there is one important link to this Constitutional dream that has been forgotten. That link is the Senate intern. Located at the lowest echelon of power, the senate intern watches his phone light up like a Christmas tree as the constituency descends upon the office. He answers call after call with the simple reassurance that it will be passed on. Yet, as the mountain of the constituency begins to overwhelm him, he may slowly start to lose hope. However, as he glances at the Reagan portrait hanging before him, he knows that he is the gate between the senator and his constituency, and he must carry on. And I Dalton, aka Dolvin, have come to find myself in this valued position fall semester of 2017.