Joe Manchin

Mr. MANCHIN

Mr. MANCHIN. Mr. President, I respectfully disagree with my friend from Wyoming. First of all, the reason I asked for a live unanimous consent request on my resolution was to protect the 800,000 West Virginians with preexisting conditions, along with millions and millions of Americans. We have tried. We have come to an agreement on how to fix the high cost of third-party and individual payer. It has been lying on the majority leader's desk for a year with no movement or action. People say that we all have sympathy and empathy for people with preexisting conditions. If you want to protect that, then remove your lawsuit or at least allow us to move forward on a unanimous consent request so that we can fight and have a fighting chance, as this will be appealed to the higher courts. It is absolutely wrong that people who have insurance for the first time, now have the threat of having it taken away from them. As a former Governor, let me tell you how this system works. If you think people are not deserving of insurance or should not be able to have affordable access to insurance, then you are paying anyway, because the people who don't have that or didn't have it before go to the emergency room at the highest cost. They go right to the emergency room. They don't pay. That cost is then distributed on to the Governor, and the Governor of each State has to come up with supplemental payments to keep hospitals and rural clinics open. That is the way the system works. If you work for a company and couldn't afford the copayment, if you work for a company that didn't offer insurance--a small company that didn't have insurance at all--what you would do if you got hurt at home or got sick, you would hobble into work and make a workers' comp claim. That is the only access to insurance. If you want to go back to those draconian days, that is where we are headed if this lawsuit succeeds. What we have asked for is simply the ability to fix what we have in front of us. I haven't supported the single-payer system; we are not talking about a single-payer system. We are not talking about anything but fixing the existing Affordable Care Act. The President of the United States, Donald Trump, could do this very easily, taking this up. I will be happy to call it Trump RepairCare. I think it would be a fitting name because he can fix it. He can bring us together so that we can basically look at a bipartisan solution to bring down the high cost of premiums. We can also look at a bipartisan solution to fix the runaway costs, teaching people how to take care of themselves, keep themselves healthier and be preventive in the care they receive. This resolution allows the Senate and legal counsel to intervene and defend West Virginians and Americans with preexisting conditions from this inhumane lawsuit. If you believe in that, there should be no consideration for objections. We should be able to sit down and let the legal staff that we have here in the Senate intervene on our behalf and the people we represent. That is all we have asked for. Millions of Americans with preexisting conditions have been trusting us to defend their rights. Now they are hearing the political rhetoric. They hear it every day when anybody goes on the campaign trail. The last thing I heard from my colleagues on the Republican side--and these are my friends--they said: Oh, yes, Joe, we want to make sure that people with preexisting conditions have access; they cannot be denied. But guess what the proposal is that they were going to come forward with. It would say simply this: We will make sure insurance companies offer you affordable insurance, but, basically, they will not have to protect you or insure you for an existing condition you have had. So we will basically insure your entire body, except for the cancer or the heart condition that you might have had prior to that. That made no sense whatsoever. So they are really not sincere about coming up with allowing people with preexisting conditions to have access to affordable care. That is all we are doing today. Right here and right now we have the opportunity, and we have heard the objection, and I am so sorry for that. We could have done the right thing and directly been involved in defending the lives of Americans. I believe that the Texas judge was wrong in his ruling because we never removed--even those who voted for the tax cuts, and I think a lot of people begrudgingly did that, looking back on that--but, with that, it said they removed the mandate. The mandate did not remove the language of the code of the law. It removed the money from it, but it didn't take the language away. So I think anybody with any type of background in the legal process understands that will not hold up in court. All we have asked for is the right to defend the people we represent. So I am very sorry for the decision to object. I really thought that we could get a unanimous consent agreement and move forward, and then, really, you could go out and talk to your constituents and say: I truly am fighting to make sure that any of you all who have preexisting conditions--800,000 West Virginians who have a preexisting condition-- will have affordable access and cannot be denied and cannot be overcharged. That is all. Give them a chance. I don't know where you come from, but where I come from, before we had any access to healthcare, before there was a law that forbade insurance companies to charge outrageous prices or cut people off to say that, basically, you have hit your cap and you are no longer able to be insured--you are too sick for us to invest any more into you-- they would say: I don't want to be a burden to my family. What a person is telling you, if they have a preexisting condition is this: I don't want to be a burden to my family because I don't want to put them in a position that would be absolutely ruinous for them, put them in bankruptcy; one of my illnesses could put my family in bankruptcy because I cannot buy nor will the insurance company sell me insurance, nor can I afford what they want for it. That is what we did away with, and that is where we are going back. We want to intervene so we do not go back to those dark ages. With that, I hope my friends on the Republican side will reconsider this, and, as a body, let this move forward to protect the people of America. With that, I yield the floor.

Mr. MANCHIN

Mr. MANCHIN. Mr. President, I first want to thank the good Senator from Tennessee, Lamar Alexander, for basically shepherding this through and working in a bipartisan way. It is a most important piece of legislation. Also, to all of our colleagues, this is the way legislation should work. It is something we have worked on for a long time--well thought-out. Senator Blumenthal from Connecticut and everyone worked so hard on it. The American people are drowning under the weight of the prescription drug epidemic. My State of West Virginia has been hit the hardest. More than 1,000 West Virginians died of drug overdoses in 2017; 870 of those deaths involved an opiate. This is a record number of opiate-related deaths, up from 759 opiate-related deaths in 2016, which was a record that year as well. Let's put this in perspective. For those of us who are old enough to remember watching the Vietnam war on television and the outrage-- rightfully so--that came with that and the protests and how we were able to bring that to an end, during that entire Vietnam war period of close to 10 years, 58,200 young Americans' lives were taken. Just last year alone, in 1 year, we lost more than 72,000 people to a drug overdose--72,000 in 1 year. Forty-nine thousand people were killed by opiates, heroin, and fentanyl in 2017. That is an average of 134 people dying of an opiate overdose every day. It is a silent killer. If we had these types of numbers and were losing them and they were on television--they are in every neighborhood; they are almost in every family's home, one way or another, that is affected--the country would rise up in outrage, as they did with the Vietnam war, watching the carnage. That is why I am glad to support this bill today, because it will take a number of critical steps to help us stop that devastating epidemic, many of which I have pushed for. It will reauthorize critical State grant funding to address the crisis and ensure this funding is going to the hardest hit States, such as my State of West Virginia. It will put Jessie's Law in statute, requiring HHS to develop hospital standards to flag a patient's opiate addiction. It is so simple. You will go into a hospital to be admitted, and they are going to ask you if you are allergic and what you are allergic to, such as penicillin, and they mark it all the way through. Jessie's Law is such a commonsense piece of legislation that it could have saved this beautiful young lady, and, hopefully, it will save thousands of others. While this language was included in the fiscal year 2018 appropriations bill, HHS has not yet acted. This bill will force them to do so. It will also strengthen the response by our Federal agencies. The FDA and NIH will be pushed to encourage the development of nonopiate pain treatments. The FDA will also be given the authority to do more work with the CBP to stop the flow of illicit opiates like fentanyl, which has driven up opiate overdose deaths substantially. The DEA will be required to consider diversion abuse and overdose deaths when determining their opiate quotas, something that I have been pushing for years. It also would allow States to use Federal funding for programs like the Handle With Care program in West Virginia, which helps to connect traumatized children with the resources they need. It would make it easier for Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries to access the treatment they need. These are critical steps. So much more has to be done. It must be done. I am particularly disappointed that the package does not include the Protecting Jessie Grubb's Legacy Act, which makes commonsense changes to the regulations for substance use disorder and treatment, known as part 2. We lost Jessie more than 2 years ago for one simple reason. One of her physicians did not know she was in recovery from an opiate addiction and sent her home from the hospital with 50 oxycodone. This could have been prevented very easily. I am very pleased that the bill includes Jessie's Law, which was also included in the fiscal year 2018 appropriations bill and would help hospitals develop systems to flag patients with opiate addiction, but it does not include the legacy act, which would solve the larger, more systematic problem that is keeping those in recovery from getting the coordinated care they need. The legacy act is needed because the part 2 regulations are simply not compatible with the way we want healthcare to be delivered--in a coordinated manner that takes into account the whole patient and all of their medical needs. Access to a patient's entire medical record, including addiction records, ensures that providers and organizations have all the information necessary for safe, effective, high-quality treatment and care coordination that addresses all of patient's health needs. It also helps to prevent devastating situations like the one that took Jessie Grubb's life by helping to ensure that healthcare providers can offer medically appropriate care for those in recovery. We need to protect people's privacy. The regulations were put into place in the 1970s, at a time when we did not adequately protect people's medical records. They were necessary then. In the 1990s we passed HIPAA. While it isn't perfect, it successfully protects the privacy of millions of Americans' medical records every day. We simply should not treat substance use disorder treatment records differently than every other single type of medical record. It doesn't make any sense, and it harms patients. The House passed their companion to the legacy act with a strong bipartisan vote of 357 to 57 because they recognized that this is critical--very critical--for stopping the opiate epidemic. The legacy act makes commonsense changes that will save lives and will have strong bipartisan support. I urge my colleagues to join me in fighting to include these changes in any final opioid package. I thank the good Senator from Tennessee. We have to stop this epidemic in Tennessee and in West Virginia. People in our States are dying. Families and communities are being torn apart. I look forward to supporting this bill today, but I will never stop fighting for the people of my great State of West Virginia.

Mr. MANCHIN

Mr. MANCHIN. Mr. President, today I rise with immense pride in recognizing 85 heroic military veterans who will travel to Washington from West Virginia on the Honor Flight Huntington this week. During their time in our Nation's Capital, they will visit the monuments built in their honor. This truly moving event serves as a unique opportunity for us to honor and share our deepest gratitude for these individuals who have sacrificed so much in the service of our great Nation. With one of our country's highest per capita rates of military servicemembers and veterans, West Virginia is undoubtedly one of our Nation's most patriotic States. Throughout the history of the Mountain State, our citizens have demonstrated the bravery and selflessness time and again in making tremendous sacrifices to keep our homeland safe and free. According to the Department of Defense, West Virginia had the highest casualty rate in the Nation during the Vietnam war, and I am so proud that the Honor Flight Huntington will allow these West Virginia veterans to tour the monuments that have been constructed in their honor. I want to express my utmost gratitude to these special men and women for their noble sacrifice and extraordinary bravery and patriotism to keep our country free and safe. The 85 veterans participating in this week's Honor Flight Huntington truly embody the Mountain State's history and contributions to the safeguard of our American freedoms. Of the patriots attending, Billie Barton served in World War II, Robert Duvall, Francis Figler, Okey Gallien, Walter Kulczycki, Rodney Murphy, Robert Sullivan, and Freddie Wells served in the Korean war, Robert Montgomery served in both the Korean war and the Vietnam war, and 73 served in the Vietnam war. These men represent our Nation's best, and their sacrifices and valor embody American patriotism. They engaged in combat all over the world and fought in pivotal wars in a critical time for our Nation. Unfortunately, as the years go by, we are losing so many of our veterans, so we must show them our utmost gratitude each and every day. Showing our appreciation to those who have served is something that we should do each and every day, but today is a special day to pay tribute and thank those who have volunteered to put their lives on the line for our freedoms. The memorials our Honor Flight participants will visit today serve as an important reminder to us all that our freedoms and liberties come at a steep cost. However, I know our veterans will find special meaning and potentially long-lost emotions when they tour such touching sites. Our nation would not enjoy the freedom and liberty we do today without the commitment and sacrifice of the veterans who have served throughout our history. Their bravery and sacrifice know no bounds, and for this, we are forever grateful. With this week's Honor Flight Huntington, we celebrate and give thanks for these veterans and all they have done for our country. God bless all our servicemembers and veterans, God bless the great State of West Virginia, and God bless the United States of America.

Mr. MANCHIN

Mr. MANCHIN. Mr. President, Today I wish to honor a White Sulphur Springs native who not only completed groundbreaking work at NASA during the space race, but who also broke the barriers of race and gender during a critical time in our Nation. Katherine Coleman Goble Johnson was blessed with a natural talent for mathematics which far exceeded that of her peers. By the age of 13, Katherine was already attending high school on West Virginia State College's campus where, in 1937, she received a B.S. in both mathematics and French. In 1939, when West Virginia began to integrate its graduate schools, West Virginia State's president, Dr. John Davis, personally selected Katherine and two male students as the first African-American students to attend West Virginia University. After starting a family, Katherine found work at the West Area Computing section of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics' Langley laboratory, headed by fellow West Virginian Dorothy Vaughan. The 1957 launch of the Soviet satellite, Sputnik, changed history--and Katherine's life. Her work on the equations to describe an orbital spaceflight in which the landing position of the a spacecraft is specified led to Katherine being the first woman recognized as an author of a report from the flight research division. As NASA prepared for the orbital mission with John Glenn in 1962, Katherine was famously asked to run the orbital equations controlling the Friendship 7 trajectory by hand in case of a mechanical computing error. Katherine has recalled John Glenn saying that, if she said the numbers were good, then he was good to go. The mission was a success and marked a tremendous turning point in the competition between the United States and the Soviet Union in space. Katherine's story inspired the book, ``Hidden Figures,'' by Margot Lee Shetterly and also the Oscar-nominated film of the same name. Recently, 46 of my colleagues and I introduced the Hidden Figures Congressional Gold Medal Act, which would award Congressional Gold Medals to Katherine, Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, and Dr. Christine Darden in recognition for their contributions to NASA's success during the space race. In 2015, President Obama awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America's highest civilian honor. A bronze statue in Katherine's honor now stands on the campus of West Virginia State University. It is my hope that the students who pass it every day will be reminded of Katherine's legacy and will be inspired to keep their passion for knowledge alive. Every one of our female leaders in West Virginia are the epitome of strength, leadership, and advancement in their fields. They serve as inspiring role models for the next generation, and that is due in great part to the women who broke ground in generations past. Because of the accomplishments of intellectual leaders such as Katherine, more young women have and will blaze their own trails in the fields of science, math, engineering, and technology and will continue to make our State and entire Nation proud. It is an honor to recognize Katherine's legacy and to wish her the very best as we celebrate her 100th birthday.

Mr. MANCHIN

Mr. MANCHIN. Madam President, let me just say that I hear my good friend from Oklahoma. I understand where he is coming from. I would only say that if that were the intent--and they keep saying Affordable Care Act, ObamaCare, TrumpCare, no matter what you want to call it, politicizing it--we can fix it. We have a fix. We have had a bipartisan fix lying on the majority leader's desk for over a year now--12 Democrats and 12 Republicans, working together to fix the things we talked about. One thing we all agreed on is people with preexisting conditions should not be left in an inhumane situation where they have nothing to count on--no insurance whatsoever. We have been down that road before. This is a correction. We have had this. Basically, it is against the law for an insurance company to say: Listen, you are too sick. You have had high blood pressure. You were born with a heart defect. You had cancer when you were 40 years of age, and now you are 70; it might return. We don't want to go down that road again. That is all we have asked for, and even our Republican colleagues agreed with us too. If that were the intent, to rule this unconstitutional, then that would have been in the tax cut bill. The tax cut bill was the mandate. It had nothing to do with the preexisting condition. That is still the law. That is still the law of the land. All we are asking is for them to withdraw their lawsuit. They withdraw the lawsuit, and it is still against the law for any insurance company--if they pass this lawsuit, then they are going to be at the hands and the mercy of the insurance companies to pick and choose life and death for so many thousands of people--millions of people, 800,000 West Virginians. That is all. I understand this is a hot topic, but I can tell you one thing, healthcare in West Virginia is something that is needed. It is something we now have a chance to fix that we haven't. We have opioid addiction, and we are able to treat that. Mental illness, we are able to treat that. Senior citizens, we are able to help them close the doughnut hole. These are a lot of good things we have all agreed on. The things we want to fix is what they are harping on, and, basically, that can be taken care of and keep the Affordable Care Act where it should be, in the hands of the people who need it. Right now, we are in jeopardy so I am asking for the consideration. I understand the objection, and I understand the process here, but basically what we are asking for is for human decency, and it is basically the concern of millions of people in America. Thank you.

Mr. MANCHIN. Madam President, today I call for a live unanimous consent request on my resolution to protect nearly 800,000 West Virginians and millions of Americans from losing their health insurance because of their preexisting conditions. This is an immediate danger. It is life and death for over 800,000 West Virginians and millions of Americans. Today oral arguments began in the Texas v. United States lawsuit being waged by 20 U.S. attorneys general, including West Virginia's attorney general, that will, once again, allow insurance companies to have total control to be able to deny health insurance to people with preexisting conditions. Now that the Department of Justice has recklessly refused to defend the existing law, people with cancer, heart disease, asthma, diabetes, or pregnant women are at risk of financial and physical duress. Today, we have a chance to help right this wrong. My resolution, S. Res. 581, will allow the Senate legal counsel to intervene and defend West Virginians and Americans with preexisting conditions from this inhumane lawsuit. Even my Republican colleagues have admitted that millions of Americans will lose their health insurance if Republican attorneys general succeed. Now, that is something when my own colleagues, over nine of my Republican friends in the Senate, have introduced a piece of legislation that also acknowledges how destructive this will be. In a press release, my good friend from North Carolina, Senator Tillis, and nine other Republicans who introduced the bill wrote that oral arguments in Texas v. United States will begin today, on September 5, and if the judge rules in favor of the plaintiffs, protections for patients with preexisting conditions could be eliminated. What it basically says is, insurance companies will be allowed to determine if you are too sick and too costly for them and they can't make enough profit or see that there is no end in sight, they will just deny you. Four hundred thousand West Virginians will be denied. They couldn't even buy insurance if they could afford it. The other 400,000 in West Virginia are going to basically have their rates raised or capped. That means they are one illness away--one illness away--from financial disaster. Senator Tillis said this legislation is a commonsense solution. This is a commonsense solution. We want to fix it together. We are just asking people, who basically believe the same as we all have agreed on both sides of the aisle, to ask our attorneys general to stop this senseless lawsuit and withdraw it. That would cure the problem overnight, but without it, we need to intervene, and we are asking for this to happen. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Rules and Administration be discharged from further consideration of S. Res. 581; that the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration; and 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. MANCHIN. Madam President, if I could please respond?

Mr. MANCHIN

Mr. MANCHIN. Madam President, this body is about to vote on my resolution to protect nearly 800,000 West Virginians and millions of Americans from the dangerous lawsuit that 20 U.S. attorneys general, including my own attorney general from West Virginia, are leading to once again allow insurance companies to deny coverage to those with preexisting conditions. This resolution will authorize the Senate legal counsel to intervene in this cruel lawsuit on behalf of the U.S. Senate to defend these men and women and children and fight for the right to affordable healthcare insurance. The Department of Justice has recklessly refused to defend the law, and as a result, the nearly 800,000 West Virginians--91,000 of those being children--with cancer, heart disease, asthma, diabetes, or women who dare to have a baby are at risk of financial jeopardy if they get sick. We have an opportunity today to stand up for the millions of Americans with preexisting conditions who are trusting us to protect their healthcare access. It is just common sense, and I encourage all of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle--because every one of us has someone in our family with a preexisting condition. I will continue to look for ways to work across the aisle to ensure that every West Virginian and every American has access to affordable healthcare, no matter what their health condition may be. This is the right thing, this is the moral thing, for all of us to do. I encourage each and every one of my colleagues to please vote for this amendment coming up. I yield the floor.

Mr. MANCHIN. Mr. President, I can't believe that we are getting into this tit-for-tat in politics and that politics always rules the day here. Do you know what? Whether or not you agree on the amendment that is up, we thought we had an agreement that both amendments would be voted on. My amendment is simply using the Senate's legal staff to intervene on preexisting conditions. This affects every one of us. This affects 1.8 million Kentuckians. This affects 800,000 West Virginians. Every State has people who have some form of preexisting condition, and every family has someone with one. What we are asking for is to be able to fight the good fight. The suit that we are dealing with right now is that of Texas v. United States, wherein 20 attorneys general are bringing suit to basically take preexisting conditions away and allow insurance companies to decide as to whether they are going to sell you insurance or not or how much they are going to charge you for the insurance or whether they are going to put caps back on and say you are just too sick for them to spend more money on or for them to invest any more money in you. All we are asking for is to give us a vote on it. Let's see if the Senate wants to intervene, and let's see if we can fight to save some of the people's healthcare around the country. There are 800,000 West Virginians who are depending on this. That is all we ask for. Senator Paul has asked for a vote on his amendment, and I think that should be granted. I think it is equally right that ours should be granted. We thought there was an agreement earlier. I don't know why I would believe that politics would not be involved, but I don't know why it got involved at this level of giving us a vote. Again, all I am asking for is for common sense and cooler heads to prevail here and to move on. We can get this accomplished. We thought we had it worked out. We were talking about cancer, heart disease, diabetes, arthritis, asthma, and other types of illnesses that can be determined to be preexisting conditions. We have 400,000 West Virginians who have severe preexisting conditions who will not even be able to buy insurance because the insurance companies will not sell it to them as it will just be too costly and there will not be enough profit in it. They will be too sick, so they will be out. Another 400,000 will have the rates raised to the point at which they probably won't be able to afford it. I just don't know why we are going down this path again. I don't think there is a Democrat or Republican--this is not a political issue. This is not a life-or-death issue. All I am asking my colleagues on the Republican side to do is to please consider this. Let us vote on it. You can vote the way you want to and go home and explain your vote. I am OK with that. If you want us to vote on Planned Parenthood, whether people think that they should or should not, that is OK. You can go home and explain it. But to not let us vote and to not even talk about it because--I look here at Kentucky. There are 1.8 million people in Kentucky who have been diagnosed with preexisting conditions. I am sure they would like to be able to buy insurance. I am sure they would like to have protection and not have the insurance companies say: I am sorry, not for you today. I hope you all consider this. Let's put it up for a vote and see where it goes, and let's go after them in court. This happens September 5th. I think Senator Cornyn said it is not germane, and he is using different terminology or different reasoning for that. But since they moved this court date from the 14th to the 5th, it is of urgent necessity for us to get in and intervene to see whether we can protect the people of America. I need to fight to protect the people of West Virginia, and I will continue to do that. Thank you. I yield the floor.

Mr. MANCHIN

Mr. MANCHIN. Madam President, I rise again to read letters from West Virginians about the concerns and fears they have over the ongoing lawsuit being led by 20 U.S. attorneys general, including West Virginia's own attorney general, that threatens to once again allow insurance companies to deny coverage to West Virginians with preexisting conditions. In my State, 800,000 West Virginians, including 90,600 children, have a preexisting condition. Let me go over some of the things that qualify as a preexisting condition and insurance companies can rate you on: organ transplant, anxiety, cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer's disease, Crohn's disease, Parkinson's disease, cystic fibrosis, pneumonia, epilepsy, anemia, depression, lupus, obsessive compulsive disorder, pregnancy, anorexia, diabetes, kidney disease, sleep apnea, obesity, bipolar disease, multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy, stroke, bulimia, asthma, and tuberculosis. I have always said that our Nation's current healthcare system is in need of repair, but every West Virginian deserves access to quality, affordable healthcare, and I am very concerned that our country is at risk of moving backward instead of forward. When people ask why I voted against repealing the healthcare law, I always say that it is because we need to make sure that those with preexisting conditions don't go bankrupt paying for basic healthcare. What is happening today is an unfortunate political move. The only reason this lawsuit is moving forward is because they have failed to repeal the law through this process here in the Senate. Congress has voted more than 50 times to repeal, and it has not passed. So what you are telling us loud and clear is to fix it, repair it. It can be fixed and made better for everybody. What makes this worse is that we do have this bipartisan compromise led by Senator Lamar Alexander, a Republican from Tennessee, and Senator Patty Murray, a Democrat from the State of Washington, with 12 Republicans and 12 Democrats. I am proud to say that I am one them. This bill includes important steps that will help to reduce healthcare costs for West Virginia families, and this agreement shows what is possible when we put people before politics. Shame on us for not voting on that. This is impacting real people. Last week I asked West Virginians to share their stories with me, and my office has been flooded with stories. I am going to share just a few of these stories with you today. This is Whitney from Morgantown, WV: Dear Senator Manchin, Please protect our pre-existing conditions. In August 2016, my then 15 year old child suffered a stroke as a result of a brain AVM. He had to have emergency brain surgery which left him in a medically induced coma for several months. When he woke up, he was unable to walk or talk. He had to have continuous medical care including expensive MRI's and angiograms. This doesn't include his multiple therapies. If we did not have insurance coverage I do not know what we would do. I cannot afford all these medical bills without the help of insurance. Due to the extensive medical needs I know if his pre-existing condition is not protected he will eventually lose benefits. I beg you to stand up for my child and all those who deserve a right to ongoing medical care. Please feel free to contact [me] with any questions or follow up [concerning our needs]. This is William from Martinsburg, WV: Dear Senator Manchin, It was imperative that insurance companies are not allowed to screen members for pre-existing conditions. I am a 20+year Type 2 Diabetic. I am currently taking five medications for my diabetes. If I did not have coverage I would be paying over $1000 a month, OUT OF POCKET, for just my diabetes meds. If insurance companies are allowed to start screening for and disallowing pre-existing conditions I would not be able to afford my medications and my diabetes would not be controlled which could possibly lead to loss of limbs, loss of vision and I could die. How much would I cost the government if I was disabled? How much would I cost an insurance company then if I had to have feet, arms, and legs amputated because of my condition? Bottom line, I cost my insurance company a lot less money when they help me to keep my diabetes under control. Thank you for taking a stand for those of us with pre- existing conditions. The final letter is from Kevin from Hinton: Dear Senator Manchin, I have lived with Crohn's Disease, a severe chronic illness of the immune system that attacks the digestive system. The condition is painful and treatments are expensive. Like many West Virginians, I have dealt with insurance gaps and few jobs with good pay and benefits. Though many Americans struggle with the expenses of healthcare, we remember the unfair practices before ACA [the Affordable Care Act] was passed and improved the healthcare system by ridding us of pre-existing conditions clauses, which allowed insurance companies to overcharge sick people for care or block them completely from getting coverage. Please work for us to make sure that the steps taken in the ACA are improved upon instead of allowing such beneficial measures to be cut. Those are just a few of the letters I have received, and I know we all have these preexisting conditions with people that are scared to death all over our country. I hope that we can come together for the sake of America and maybe get off of this political roller coaster where we are blaming everybody and trying to find out who we can blame, especially when we can fix it. What I am asking for is for all of us to work together as Americans, to forget whether you are a Democrat or a Republican, and to just help the people you represent. These diseases don't have a home. They are not just because of a Democrat or a Republican. That is who they attack. They attack all of us. So this needs, basically, the help and the cure from all of us also. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. MANCHIN

Mr. MANCHIN. I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. MANCHIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak for up to 2 minutes.

Mr. MANCHIN. Mr. President, I rise today to offer an amendment that would appropriate funding for the Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence at the Department of Treasury to investigate the illicit trade of synthetic opiates originating from the People's Republic of China. In 2016, synthetic opiates killed 19,413 Americans. That is more than heroin, which killed 15,469, and prescription pain pills, which killed 14,487. Between 2013 and 2016, deaths involving synthetic opioids increased 625 percent. Most illicit synthetic opioids found in street drugs originate in China, with some shipped through Mexico, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration and United Nations narcotics monitors. China produces over 90 percent of the world's fentanyl and exports a range of fentanyl products to the United States, including raw fentanyl, fentanyl precursors, fentanyl analogues, and fentanyl-laced counterfeit prescription drugs, like oxycodone and pill pressers. Unlike previous epidemics where there are a few underground sources, many manufacturers of fentanyl and fentanyl precursors in China are legitimate companies legally producing and exporting legitimate drugs and chemicals to the United States. According to the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, ``the primary obstacles to controlling fentanyl and NPS flows lie in China''--China itself. Unfortunately, China has yet to meaningfully crack down on the illicit production and export of these drugs and their derivatives, despite the urgings of the President of the United States and all of our officials. Just 2 milligrams of fentanyl will kill most people. This amendment is simple. It dedicates $1 million for the Office of Terrorism Financial Intelligence within the Department of Treasury to study the illicit trade of synthetic opioids coming into our country from China. This is consistent with the office's dual mission safeguarding the financial system against illicit use and combating rogue nations, terrorist facilitators, weapons of mass destruction, money launderers, drug kingpins, and other national security threats. I urge the adoption of this much needed amendment. Thank you.

Mr. MANCHIN

Mr. MANCHIN. Mr. President, today I wish to honor a Mountain State coaching legend from Raleigh County, Tex Williams. He is as legendary and as influential in West Virginia as two of his best friends, Jerry West and Logan High School Coaching legend Willie Akers. Good coaches are able to show you what it takes to succeed in the game. Special coaches are able to put that human touch to it and go a step beyond to have a positive impact on your life. Tex was able to capture both. He was the longtime coach at St. Albans and also served as coach at Vinson High School, Nitro High School, the University of Charleston, Alderson-Broaddus, and the Charleston Gunners of the CBA. He was a star athlete in all sports, and has coached on every level-- high school, college, and pro basketball--and won more than 500 games in his career. In 2014, I had the privilege of congratulating Tex upon the opening of the Tex Williams Museum in Artie, WV. There, the Marshall Athletic Hall of Fame member for both baseball and basketball and acclaimed coach's legacy is on display, housing 40,000 photos he collected throughout his long career. Making it even more special, the Tex Williams Museum is housed in the old post office building his father helped build and where his mother worked for 43 years. Tex learned early on that sports can make you into so much more than a successful athlete if you have the right attitude. There is no greater achievement than to be in a position to give back to the community that helped shape who you are, and that is what we are celebrating today by honoring Tex. He started the Hoops Classic high school basketball tournament, which is played every year at the Charleston Civic Center. So many student-athletes have been inspired by Tex and have gone forward to build successful careers for themselves in our home State. Tex started the West Virginia Legends Sports Banquet 9 years ago, which reunites former players and coaches who once starred in West Virginia high school and college athletics. Tex has not only influenced and inspired student athletes for decades, but he has passed his knowledge and tradition of coaching excellence to his son, Adam, who also holds a strong legacy as a player and coach. Tex is a perfect example of what makes West Virginia so very unique and special. Our people have this can-do spirit, a neighborly love that is unrelenting, and we are all grounded by the same core principle: to help others be the best they can be and to never forget where you came from. As I always say, if you can count your blessings, you can share your blessings, and Tex has embodied that sentiment beautifully. Again, it is an honor to recognize the outstanding achievements of Tex Williams and all he has done for countless student athletes across our home State.

Mr. MANCHIN

Mr. MANCHIN. Mr. President, today I wish to honor the life and legacy of Clifford Carwood Lipton, a West Virginian and a national hero who fought on D-Day and at the Battle of the Bulge, a story made famous on the HBO series Band of Brothers. In the years since his passing, his heroism as one of the greatest Easy Company soldiers has remained a treasure to the Huntington community. Carwood was born and raised in Huntington. He attended a year at Marshall University before joining the war effort as a paratrooper in 1942, and he quickly worked his way up the ranks. He was the jumpmaster of one of the C-47 Skytrains used to jump into Normandy. Eventually, Carwood received his battlefield commission as a second lieutenant. He and the rest of the Easy Company later liberated one of the Nazi camps at Landsberg. Carwood remained with the Easy Company for the rest of the war and remained in the Reserves through the Korean war. Among the many recognitions he has received for his service are the Purple Heart, Bronze Star, World War II Victory Medal, Presidential Unit Citation, and the Orange Lanyard of the Royal Netherlands army. After the war he was able to return to Marshall University and complete a degree in engineering. Carwood got a job with Owens Illinois, Inc., a glass and plastic production facility, where, staying true to his character, he quickly worked his way through the ranks until he became chief operator in 1952. He moved to New Jersey to work in a similar factory and then to London with his wife, where he was the director of manufacturing for eight different glass companies in England and Scotland for many years. In the early eighties, he moved to Toledo, OH, and retired as director of international development. When visitors come to West Virginia, I jump at the chance to tell them we have more veterans per capita than most any State in the Nation. We have fought in more wars, shed more blood, and lost more lives for the cause of freedom than most any State. We have always done the heavy lifting and never complained. We have mined the coal and forged the steel that built the guns, ships, and factories that have protected and continue to protect our country to this day. I am so deeply proud of what West Virginians have accomplished and what they will continue to accomplish to preserve the freedoms we hold dear-- life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. I am honored to recognize Carwood's memory, as well as the unwavering love he had for our home State and our great Nation.

Mr. MANCHIN

Mr. MANCHIN. Mr. President, I rise today to honor Dr. Edwin Welch upon his retirement as president of the University of Charleston after a 29-year legacy of innovation that has advanced the university into a world-class institution. As a former White House employee during the Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon administrations, an ordained minister, a college professor, provost, and president, Dr. Welch brought a wealth of experience and drive to the Mountain State. Since his first days at U.C. in 1989, Dr. Welch had a clear vision for the university, keeping in mind the needs of the Charleston community and of West Virginia. Our State is so unique to the rest of the Nation. We are home to the most hard-working, creative, hospitable people in the country--very much self-made people. Dr. Welch knows what a college education means to them and to their families, and so he has spent his career developing new opportunities for them to use to their advantage. Together, with faculty, staff, and the community, Dr. Welch sought to forecast challenges and opportunities and to create the best possible strategies for maintaining a strong institution. His collaborative vision brought the university back from the brink of financial peril and allowed it to grow and thrive. Under his leadership, more than 20 construction projects have reinvigorated U.C., which has also seen a dramatic increase in enrollment throughout the years. In 1994, he secured one of the largest gifts in the university's history, which led to the construction of the Clay Tower Building. More recently, he oversaw the $20 million Russell and Martha Wehrle Innovation Center project, which serves to create a strong campus base for innovation that will extend into Charleston and the Greater Kanawha region. Additionally, Dr. Welch's wife, Dr. Janet Welch, has made exceptional contributions to education and the arts at U.C. and throughout the community. She received national recognition for the creation of the Erma Byrd Galley for West Virginia Women Artists, among her many accomplishments. For his efforts, Dr. Welch has earned numerous recognitions, such as the YMCA's Spirit of the Valley Award for his community service efforts, and he was also the first recipient of the Charles L. Foreman Award for Innovation in Private Higher Education by the Foundation for Independent Higher Education. In fact, he's so beloved by the community that there is even a towboat named after him, which you can occasionally see floating down the Kanawha River. Furthermore, one of the most respected aspects of Dr. Welch's tenure is his relationship with students, faculty, and staff. He once said that the life and work of the university is not what goes on in his office. It is what goes on in the interactions students have with faculty members, staff, and administrators. He frequently walked the campus or sat down for lunch in the cafeteria to hear students' concerns, problems, accomplishments, and their dreams. He kept all of this in the back of his mind when making any significant decision for the university. Dr. Welch sees education for the ever-changing environment that it is. He has truly laid the groundwork for all who will follow in his footsteps, who will constantly strive to bring the very best opportunities to U.C. students and to strengthen the Kanawha Valley region. The effects of this close-knit city-university relationship are profound and serve as an outstanding model for all educational establishments. While he is retiring and everyone is certain to miss his strong leadership, Dr. Welch's dedication and commitment to excellence will leave a lasting legacy with the countless lives he has touched. Again, I congratulate and thank Dr. Welch for his remarkable years of service. I am honored to wish good health and much happiness to him and Dr. Janet Welch in the days and years ahead.

Mr. MANCHIN

Mr. MANCHIN. Mr. President, I rise today to honor Anthony ``Tony'' Paesano, an accomplished educator, Korean war veteran, a beloved public servant, and my dear friend, who left a significant imprint on my home State of West Virginia. Born in Follansbee, in the scenic northern panhandle, Tony has always had a passion for the noble profession of education. He was a walk-on for the Duquesne University football team in 1948 where he earned a bachelor of arts degree in education. Following his discharge from the U.S. Army, Tony began his nearly 40-year career as an educator, serving as principal of Brooke High School for 16 years. There is much to be said about someone who gives so much to our Nation, then comes home to give even more to their home State and community. Prior to the start of his teaching career, Tony put his Duquesne ROTC training to use in the Army serving as a second lieutenant in Korea from 1952 to 1954. In fact, in 2017, I was honored to recognize Tony when he was selected as Veteran of the Year by the Brooke County Veteran Memorial Park Foundation. He is well known for his work honoring his fellow veterans. He has also served as master of ceremonies at Memorial Day and Veterans Day services in Follansbee and led the efforts to establish the Veterans Memorial Fountain at Follansbee Park and to bring the Moving Wall to the city for the annual Community Days festival. Following his retirement from education, Tony served on the Brooke County School Board for 10 years, then stepped down to serve as mayor of Follansbee for another 10 years. He is the founder and former president of the Brooke County Schools Education Foundation, which has provided countless scholarships for Brooke County High School Seniors. It would be difficult to find anyone as knowledgeable or dedicated to our home State as Tony. He has always given each project or challenge his all because it is for the good of his community: his hometown. He is an active member of the St. Anthony Catholic Church and the Follansbee Knights of Columbus and served 25 years as president of the Follansbee Chamber of Commerce. Throughout the years, we bonded over our passion for public service, for inspiring the next generation of leaders, and we share the common goal of helping the rest of the country discover all that West Virginia has to offer. Tony has worn many hats, and I know he will carry the same passion for Brooke County and for West Virginia that he always has and will continue to make a difference in his community. It is my greatest honor to extend him, his lovely wife, Lorraine, their children, Toni, Frank, and John, and their families my very best wishes in the days and years ahead.

Mr. MANCHIN

Mr. MANCHIN. Mr. President, I have always said our Nation's current healthcare system is in need of repair. That is why we keep coming back to try to fix it and make it better. Every West Virginian deserves access to quality, affordable healthcare, and I am very concerned our country is at risk of moving backward instead of forward. When people ask why I voted against repealing the healthcare law, I always say it is because we need to make sure those with preexisting conditions don't go bankrupt paying for basic healthcare. Most people today, if they don't have insurance, and especially those who have had preexisting insurance, are one healthcare crisis away from bankruptcy. What is happening today is an unfortunate political move. The only reason this lawsuit is moving forward is because my friends on the other side have failed more than 50 times trying to repeal it. On top of that, the tax cut bill that just went through had this in it, repealing basically the mandate on healthcare, which throws it into turmoil and is why we are in a lawsuit right now. Right now, 20 State attorneys general, including the attorney general of West Virginia, are suing to allow insurance companies to once again deny coverage to West Virginians with preexisting conditions. Every single time they voted for repeal, this is exactly what they were trying to achieve. What makes this worse is we have a bipartisan compromise, led by Senator Alexander and Senator Murray, with 12 Republicans and 12 Democrats. This bill includes important steps that will help reduce healthcare costs for West Virginia families, and this agreement shows what is possible when we put people before politics. What we did is, after the last repeal on the floor failed, we got together and put a fix in. We have a reinsurance program. We have a way to maintain and try to educate people on how they would use their healthcare, their newfound wealth in healthcare, in a more effective and efficient way. This is what we should be doing, but, no, there is a political promise to repeal so we keep fighting every angle there is that is being thrown at us. Now there is this last one going through the court system--and having also the judicial system being involved to stop this horrible scourge on the people of my State and all across the country. Let me tell you how many West Virginians are impacted. In a State with a little over 1,800,000, this one move right here affects 800,000 West Virginians. We are talking with people who have all types of things that could exist. They could have a child with a heart defect, asthma, you name it. They are going to be able to say: I am sorry, preexisting. We are not going to insure you or the cost will be so high you can't afford it. We are impacting too many West Virginians. On Monday, I asked them to share their stories with me and my office--people, real people with whom you can put a face, a name, a story, and also have some empathy for. I am going to read a few letters, if I may. I have one from Kim Kramer from Parkersburg. She said: Dear Senator Manchin, Again, I find myself writing to plea for a sane policy related to healthcare for my family, my friends, my community, my country and myself. When healthcare policy is centered around quick profits at the cost of the long term health of citizens, a medical tsunami is sure to follow. I live with my adult son who was born with Down Syndrome. He is 33 and I am 60. He is healthy for now but does have a couple of pre-existing conditions and risk factors which could very possibly need attention as he grows older. The mere thought that I would have to pay out of pocket for his healthcare due to policy changes in the years to come is mind boggling. Perhaps today his care is not directly on the table, but it has been this past year and will most likely be again. I am at pre-retirement age. I work full time and am in good health. But I take medication to maintain a healthy blood pressure. That is already a pre-existing condition. Medicare is still down the road for me. As a nurse, I know the importance of screening for certain conditions. But removing coverage of pre-existing conditions puts me in a very real catch 22 situation. If I go for recommended health screenings and a condition is found, I would be covered by my current insurance. If my employment situation should change, as is possible for any of us, then I would have a pre-existing condition that would either not be covered or would make my premium so high that I would have to wonder if I will be able to provide for other basic needs like appropriate housing. Many in my family, my circle of friends, my community and state would be in this terrible predicament. Any diagnosis would be a barrier to treatment in essence. No insurance company apparently wants to cover sick people! Makes me wonder why we would call it insurance at all! Perhaps in Washington, too many of you have lost touch with the very real stress and anxiety that is created when healthcare accessibility is unobtainable. Do any of you understand what is it is like to live wondering when the medical tsunami will come? Because not having healthcare coverage is like that. You hope that the wave won't strike but it's just beyond the horizon and you have no idea if or when it is coming, or how to survive it. The current mandate for coverage of pre-existing conditions assures better health and prevention treatments; better outcomes and decreased expenses. It gives us all some peace of mind if we become ill and allows us to focus on getting healthy. Please care about our people. Please keep mandated coverage of pre-existing conditions. Thank you. I have Katelyn from Elkview. Dear Senator Manchin, I am a 22 year old West Virginian who grew up in northern Kanawha County near Clendenin. I was diagnosed with anorexia when I was 13, and have struggled with it for years. I am thankful that the ACA created provisions that will allow me to remain on my parents' health insurance until I am 26, but worry that my pre-existing condition could prevent me from getting insured in the future. Losing health insurance would mean me losing access to my mental health medication as well as making it really difficult to access further treatment should I have a relapse. I also worry about how lack of coverage for my preexisting condition could prevent me from affording care in the future. I hope to devote my life to public service, which is very fulfilling but does not pay well enough for me to afford to pay high medical bills. This is something that particularly worries me as I get older and am thinking about whether I will be able to afford to start a family. I hope that you will continue to defend the Affordable Care Act, particularly its provisions that protect people with preexisting conditions and women's health generally. Larry from Lewisburg writes: Shortly after being diagnosed with cancer in my mid- forties, the health insurance company I paid for coverage went bankrupt. Faced with a preexisting condition, I was uninsured until I began receiving Medicare, about 20 years later, even though I had been therapeutically treated and had no symptoms or return of tumors for most of that time. An adult stepdaughter has MS, epilepsy, and multiple other health challenges. She works full time, and the end of preexisting condition insurance protection would be life- threatening. My final letter is from Marie-Claire from Bruceton Mills, who writes: Dear Senator Manchin, my daughter was diagnosed with lupus shortly after ObamaCare became reality. I was able to secure affordable health insurance for her from that day forward [because of the Affordable Care Act]. Lupus is an autoimmune disease that can--and eventually will--affect any part of the body at any time. An insurance company faced with underwriting my daughter simply will not insure her--ever--unless mandated by our government to cover preexisting conditions. Simple as that. She has had multiple late night trips to the emergency room that would have bankrupted her had she not been covered. Please do not forget her when you tell stories on the Senate floor. This is not about Democrats or Republicans; this is about all of us. We all face this in our States, that of moving down this pathway because of not enforcing this part of the Affordable Care Act, when we have a fix--truly, a Democratic-Republican fix, bipartisan--led by Lamar Alexander, our Senator from Tennessee, and Patty Murray, our Senator from the State of Washington. This is a shame. This is a tough place, especially when you have solutions to fix the problems that challenge all of us. That is all we are asking for. Please be considerate of these people. Please do not throw caution to the wind or throw the baby out with the bath water and 800,000 West Virginians who would lose their insurance. I thank the Presiding Officer. I yield the floor.

Mr. MANCHIN

Mr. MANCHIN. Mr. President, I rise today to honor the life and legacy of Tracy Warren Hylton, a proud West Virginian, World War II Veteran, a legendary businessman, a fierce advocate for our proud coal heritage, and one of the dearest friends I have ever known. I have known Tracy my whole adult life. Tracy was doing business with my father-in-law, Carl Conelly, when I met him in 1966. Ever since then, I have always considered Tracy to be a very dear friend. He had a different sense humor that kept us all laughing, which will be sorely missed. Throughout his long life, he did a great deal for Raleigh County and Beckley, was a good legislator, and was always extremely kind. Our little State has mined the coal that forged the steel that built the tanks and ships that keep our country the strongest in the world. Coal miners themselves are some the bravest and most patriotic men and women I have ever met, and it is an honor to fight for our coal heritage and our way of life that sinks deep into the roots of West Virginia's rich culture. I am so deeply proud of what our citizens have accomplished and what they will continue to accomplish. So it is with a heavy, but grateful heart that I join my fellow West Virginians in honoring Tracy, a ``king'' of coal in southern West Virginia. There is no better position to find yourself in than being able to give back to the community you love. I can attest that my small hometown of Farmington helped make me who I am, and it brings so much joy to my life to be able to give back to the place that shaped me. Tracy and I shared that mentality. Born on the Fourth of July in Crab Orchard and having grown up in the coalfields, Tracy was a true patriot and was passionate about our State and its heritage. His father, Arthur, was a coal miner and a carpenter, and his mother, Grace, ran a boarding house at Stotesbury. They were hard-working people, and they passed their knowledge and work ethic to each of their six children. Tracy attended Mark Twain High School with our dear Senator Robert C. Byrd before attending Concord College and West Virginia University. He enlisted in the Army in 1943 and served in the Pacific Theatre in the 267th Anti-Aircraft Ordnance Company during World War II. When he came home, he met the love of his life, Betty Jo Foster. They had three sons: Tracy ``Warren'' Hylton II, Robert ``Bobby'' Hylton, and Harry ``Mac'' Hylton. It was a troubling time for the coal market and for business in general during that time. He started a few different businesses, and though he had some failures, he never gave up hope. At one point, he was running a conveyor mining business out of the front seat of his pickup truck. He did what he had to do to succeed, and eventually, he founded Perry and Hylton, Inc., which expanded to become one of the largest mine companies in West Virginia. Tracy was well known as a pioneer of modern surface mining techniques. His reclamation sites had a profound impact on the local communities, as they became home to high schools, housing developments, farms, and greenhouses. He was an extraordinary leader. No detail could be slipped passed him, and he wasn't one to mince words. He was a man of his word, and as an employer, he was beloved. This carried over into his role as a State senator for the ninth district for Raleigh and Wyoming Counties from 1964 to 1972 and when he was reelected to serve an additional term from 1987 to 1990. Tracy and my uncle, A. James Manchin, would have the most interesting and entertaining debates. When they weren't debating though, they were good friends. That relationship taught me a lot about working with someone with an opposing viewpoint. He was truly one of the most humble, generous, and hard-working people I know. His generous spirit and compassion extended throughout the State, touching the lives of countless West Virginians with his anonymous donations to various charities. What is most important is that Tracy lived a full life, surrounded by his wife, Betty; his sons Warren, Bobby, and Mac; and his beloved grandchildren Traci Jo Hylton, Kirsten S. Hylton, Morgan Tate Hylton, and Lance M. Hylton. He was a true West Virginian, always willing to help a neighbor in need. I am honored to recognize his memory, as well as the unwavering love he had for his family, friends, our home State, and our great Nation.

Mr. MANCHIN

Mr. MANCHIN. Mr. President, today I wish to celebrate the 100th birthday of Charles T. Jones, or better known to the people who love him as Captain Charlie, a proud West Virginian, military veteran, legendary businessman, servant of the community, and a dear friend. Throughout his century of life, Charlie has often been referred to as a coal miner, farmer, riverboat captain, and a Renaissance man. While he grew up on the banks of the Kanawha River in West Virginia, Charlie attended school in New Jersey, where he spent many afternoons rowing on Lake Carnegie. This is where he met Albert Einstein, who would observe his rowing each afternoon. He would later earn a degree in business from Babson Institute in Massachusetts. Charlie served his country in the U.S. Navy during World War II with the Navy Seabees in Guadalcanal and on a mine sweeper as an engineering officer off the coasts of Japan and the Philippines. The sense of service and duty he demonstrated while in the military is still something he carries with him to this day. After the war's end, Charlie went to work for his family's coking coal business, Star Coal and Coke Company, which later became Amherst Coal Company, in 1946. The company was started by his grandfather in 1893. Due to the downturn in production and demand of coking coal, out of necessity, the company ventured into river transportation. In 1951, the family bought the Hatfield-Campbell Creek Coal Company, a business that operated steamboats, barges, and river terminals along the Kanawha and Ohio Rivers. He took over the river operations of the company and renamed them ``Amherst Barge Co.'' Along the way, the company became Madison Coal and Supply Co. and is now known as Amherst Madison and still specializes in marine services, like towing, construction, shipping, and equipment repairs. Amherst and its affiliated companies have proudly employed thousands of West Virginians over the past 70 years. Charlie is one of the most hard-working, humble, and giving people West Virginia has ever known. He is a longtime supporter of many business and charitable and community organizations throughout the Kanawha Valley. Over the years, he has served or currently serves on numerous boards and committees including Yeager Airport Authority Board, board of trustees for the University of Charleston, chairman emeritus of the Inland Waterways User Board, trustee emeritus of the WV Chapter of the Nature Conservancy, director emeritus of the Mariner's Museum, past chairman of the WV Mining and Reclamation Association, former director of the Charleston Area Medical Center Foundation, One Valley Bancorp, and the Western Pocahontas Corporation, Ohio Valley Improvement Association or DINAMO, and so many more. His lifelong contributions have not been overlooked. Just last year, Charlie was honored as a Distinguished West Virginian by the Governor, entered into the Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels by the people of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, and inducted into West Virginia University College of Business and Economics' Business Hall of Fame, and recognized as a West Virginia ``Who's Who'' by the State Journal. Additionally, he has received previous honors such as the Charleston YMCA's Spirit of the Valley Award, induction into the Coal Mining Hall of Fame, Charleston Gazette-Mail's West Virginian of the Year, Seamen's Church Institute Lifetime Achievement Award, and the National Rivers Hall of Fame Achievement Award, to name only a few. He credits his longevity to good genes, good luck, and a great wife and very supportive family, associates, and friends. Charlie and his wife, Mary Ellen, have been married for more than 45 years. He has four children: Laura Jones Pray, C. Tandy Jones, Jennifer Jones, and the late O. Nelson Jones. He is a member of the Oak Hill Baptist Church and the St. Matthew's Episcopal Church in Charleston. I know I speak for all West Virginians when I wish Charles T. ``Captain Charlie'' Jones a Happy 100th birthday and wish for many more.

Mr. MANCHIN

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

Mr. MANCHIN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding rule XXII, the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S. 2906, which is at the desk; that the bill be read a third time and passed, and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. MANCHIN. Madam President, I would like the right to proceed. I thank my good friend from North Carolina, Senator Tillis. He is always willing to work in a bipartisan way. I thank him very much. We have concerns about the VA and all of our veterans. He is in a State that has a tremendous population, and I am in a State with a tremendous population of veterans. I am disappointed there is an objection to my bill. I rise to speak to my frustration that the Asset and Infrastructure Review, or the so-called AIR Act, provision is being included in what is otherwise a very good package. I thank Chairman Isakson, Ranking Member Tester, and Senator Tillis for all their hard work on the overall MISSION Act. The MISSION Act is going to do so many good things. It is going to streamline how we provide non-VA care. It is finally expanding caregivers for veterans of all eras, and it will make it easier for the VA to hire high-quality providers. I am against adding the AIR, which is the Asset and Infrastructure Review Act, or I like to call it the VA BRAC. This bill could be detrimental to rural veterans. The AIR Act provision was supposedly added by House Republicans to the MISSION Act because the Senate insisted the caregivers bill be included. I am a proud cosponsor of the caregivers bill because it does not make sense to give a benefit to one era of veterans and not give it to them all. I thank my colleague Senator Murray for the year she has dedicated to the caregivers issue. The AIR Act was never voted on or discussed in the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee. The House Caregivers companion bill is bipartisan and has 90 cosponsors. We could pass this bill without the AIR Act in a heartbeat. While I am generally supportive of efforts to cut waste, the AIR Act will not come close to paying for this bill. Instead, it puts rural hospitals and facilities like those in West Virginia in the crosshairs of the VA bureaucrats and technocrats who do not know my veterans and what they need. The last time there was an asset review--the CARES Commission--was in the early 2000s. It recommended closing the acute inpatient hospital beds and contracting for acute care in the community for the Beckley VA Medical Center. Only after stakeholders yelled and screamed did the Secretary not follow their recommendations. Today, those 25 acute care beds and 5 ICU beds are vitally important, not just to our Southern West Virginia veteran community but the entire community. Administrators at the surrounding hospitals have told me they could not absorb the Beckley VA patient load. We were lucky then to have vocal stakeholders holler and scream and a Secretary who listened, but will we be so lucky in the future? Furthermore, should veterans have to endure the uncertainty their VA hospital or CBOC may not always be there for them? My veteran population is nearly 40 percent Vietnam veterans. In the last 10 years, there was a nearly 20-percent decrease in my veteran population because our World War II and Korean veterans are dying, and our Vietnam veterans are not getting any younger. If we send this Commission in and they do the analysis, my fear is, resources and funding will be realigned away from our patriotic West Virginia veterans--Phoenix gets picked over Clarksburg; Los Angeles over Beckley; Washington, DC, over Martinsburg; and Orlando over Huntington. I feel sure the VA will follow the law, hold their public hearings, and read statements put in the Federal Register, but they will still have the power to close or downsize West Virginia facilities. Just because you are a veteran living in a rural area does not mean you don't deserve the same quality and access of care that you would receive in an urban area. Is this truly about taking evaluation of waste or is this the slow filing away of the VA infrastructure as we know it? I am aware the MISSION Act just passed out of the House 347 to 70. I have a lot of good friends on both sides of the aisle who want the overall bill. It has the support of the national veterans service organizations, and the effects of this bill will not likely come into being until 2025. I will not be serving in the Senate then. Yet, for the sake of the veteran population in West Virginia, I have to say something publicly. The AIR Act could have detrimental second and third order effects in our communities. If this bill passes with the AIR Act in it, the powers that wish to downsize the level of care we give to veterans will see it as a victory, but they should be prepared for robust and exhaustive oversight by me and my colleagues on the committee. If we don't have the market assessments, access to other population data, and if the central office doesn't start filling some of the healthcare provider vacancies in West Virginia VA medical centers, I will reluctantly put a hold on some nominees for this Commission. I am going to encourage my colleagues from rural States who represent rural areas to do the same. Thank you.

Mr. MANCHIN. I agree with my colleague from North Carolina. We don't want to continue if there are areas and assets that can be done away with for efficiencies. I understand that can be done without this. I don't know the underlying reasons for it. The AIR Act was never even discussed in our committee. We never had the bill in front of us at all. That is all I was saying. How did this all of a sudden get thrown in? I understand--because of what we put in, the expansion of how we were going to take care of caregivers to all populations of veterans--they were upset on the House side. This was put in retribution to that. I objected to how it was put in being what the intent was. I believe the VA can dispose of excess properties that have been closed, vacant, and not in utilization. I am concerned they are going to come back and say: In the rural areas, we are going to close this CBOC and consolidate. We have more need right now and a greater need with some of our population base, especially with the conflicts we have around the world now. I never talked to a veteran who did not want veterans care if there was any way they could get to a veterans hospital or clinic. They were the people who knew them best and knew how to take care of their concerns. That is all I am trying to preserve. I don't know what the intentions are of this. That is why I wanted to have that removed, and maybe we can discuss it in our Senate VA Committee and have a better way of reviewing the excess properties and properties not being utilized. Thank you. I yield the floor.

Mr. MANCHIN

Mr. MANCHIN. Mr. President, today I am incredibly honored to rise and recognize a group of 23 heroic military veterans who will travel from West Virginia this week to visit our Nation's Capital as part of the ninth Always Free Honor Flight. On the occasion of their visit, in which they will see for the first time the monuments built in their honor, I want to express my utmost gratitude to these special men and women for their extraordinary bravery and patriotism and for their noble sacrifice to help keep our country free. I have said this time and time again: West Virginia is one of the most patriotic States in this great Nation. With one of our country's highest per capita rates of military servicemembers and veterans, West Virginia is undoubtedly one of our Nation's most patriotic States. According to the Department of Defense, West Virginia had the highest casualty rate in the nation during the Vietnam war, and I am so proud that the Honor Flight will allow these West Virginia veterans to pay homage to their brethren at the Vietnam Wall. The 23 veterans participating in this week's Always Free Honor Flight truly embody the Mountain State's history and contributions to the safeguard of our American freedoms. Our special West Virginians visiting this week represent warriors from 50 to 94 years old and have traveled from all parts of our great State, from Buckhannon to Bluefield, Princeton to Beckley, and many places in between. In addition to our Mountain State veterans, one veteran from North Carolina and two veterans from Virginia will be accompanying their West Virginia neighbors on the daylong adventure. Of the patriots attending, four served in World War II, two served in both the Korean war and the Vietnam war, 17 served in the Vietnam war, two served in the Cold War, one served in the Gulf War, and two served stateside. I would especially like to recognize our World War II Veterans who will be on this Honor Flight. Ninety-four-year-old Sergeant Wetzel Ray Sanders from Midkiff joined the Army in Princeton in 1941. He was a gunner and rifleman stationed in Hawaii and is a Pearl Harbor survivor. Former Seaman Samuel Helmandollar will also be coming to Washington, DC. The Princeton native and 91-year-old joined the Navy in 1944 in Huntington and was a gunner. We will also be joined by 93-year-old Sergeant Rudolph Dillon Jennings from Bluefield. He joined the Army Air Corps in 1943 in Princeton and was stationed in England and served in the European Theater. John Howard Winfrey, a 93-year-old from Lindside joined the Navy and Air Force in 1942. He served aboard ships in the Atlantic and Pacific as a torpedoman 2nd class during World War II. These men represent our Nation's Greatest Generation, and their sacrifices and valor embody American patriotism. They fought in such a pivotal war, in an era that threatened our existence as a nation. Unfortunately, as the years go by, we are losing so many of our World War II veterans, and we must show them our utmost gratitude each and every day. As I mentioned, we will also be joined by veterans of the Korean, Vietnam, Cold, and Gulf wars. They engaged in combat all over the world. They were pilots, helicopter gunners, and radio operators. One of these veterans, Curtis Ray Vest of Bluefield, joined the Marine Corps in 1952 in Freeman and served in both Korea and Vietnam. In Korea, he served as a Field Observer for Field Artillery and was stationed in Incheon and Puson. In Vietnam, he was part of the American rescue mission of the French from Vietnam to safety in Japan. Another of these Veterans is Sergeant Marshall Glenn Mann who joined Air Force in 1968 in Falls Church. On March 4, 1971 during combat at Khe Sanh, the Republic of Vietnam air lift urgently needed to get ammunition to Khe Sanh in to support operation Lam Son719. The objective of this mission was to destroy supply dumps and sever the Ho Chi Minh Trail, which was the corridor running through eastern Laos from North Vietnam to Cambodia and into South Vietnam. Because of the Cooper-Church Amendment passed by Congress in late 1970s, US ground troops and advisers were prohibited from entering Laos. However, U.S. helicopters supported the operation and U.S. fighter bombers, and B-52 bombers provided air cover. Sergeant Mann received the Distinguished Flying Cross for extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flight for this operation. Another Vietnam Veteran joining us is Staff Sergeant Danny Lewis Meadows, who joined the Air Force in 1966 in Beckley. Staff Sergeant Meadows was a mechanic on KC-135 Air Refueling Tanker for two years and refueled B-52 bombers and F-4 fighters in Southeast Asia. During his last two years of service, Staff Sergeant Meadows was a crew chief on a C-130 cargo aircraft in the Philippines and Vietnam. He flew to Saigon and Cam Ranh Bay Vietnam for fifteen to twenty-one days each month. He flew from several bases in Vietnam into the jungle to perform assault landings. He was working on his aircraft and was attacked with rockets and fell off the wing, broke his hip and wrist and with four months remaining on his enlistment and was shipped back to the U.S. to recover. We will also have two Veterans that served in the Cold War One of them, Jackson P. Thompson served as a Recon Specialist from 1971-76. He was stationed at Fulda Gap in Germany, which was near the area between the Inner German Border of East and West Germany that contained two corridors of lowlands subjected to a potential invasion by Warsaw Pact forces. Showing our appreciation to those who have served is something that we should do each and every day, but today is a special day to pay tribute and thank those who have volunteered to put their lives on the line for our freedoms. The memorials our Honor Flight participants will visit today serve as an important reminder to us all that our freedoms and liberties come at a steep cost. However, I know our veterans will find special meaning and potentially long-lost emotions when they tour such touching sites. The brave West Virginia heroes today have all served this country in a variety of ways, working both at home and abroad. They have engaged in combat on U.S. soil in Pearl Harbor and all over the world, at the Panama Canal, working on the docks of Saigon, protecting the border of West Germany and serving in Desert Shield and Desert Storm. One of our visiting Vietnam veterans, Sergeant Dean Fluharty, who joined the Marine Corps in Parkersburg, earned a Purple Heart, Silver Star, Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry and a Good Conduct Medal. But regardless of their rank or duty, each and every one of these veterans answered our nation's call and has served with incredible pride and valor. This week's `Honor Flight' and the continued support of our Veterans would not be possible without the dedication of so many volunteers and caregivers. I would like to thank the four JROTC Cadets from Montcalm, Bluefield and Princeton High Schools as well as the military spouses serving as the guardians on this year's `Honor Flight.' These guardians have selflessly given their time to travel alongside our veterans all the way from Princeton, West Virginia to Washington, D.C. to share this very special journey with them I also commend those in the `Always Free Honor Flight' Network for their dedication to providing our Veterans with such a unique and meaningful experience. Without the diligence and passion of Dreama Denver, President of `Always Free Honor Flight' Network and owner of Princeton, West Virginia's Little Buddy Radio, as well as Pam Coulbourne, the coordinator of these flights, many of our Veterans would never have the opportunity to travel to Washington and pay homage to the men and women they fought beside. Dreama and Pam launched the `Always Free Honor Flight' in 2012 and every year, they continue to make this dream a reality for many of our West Virginia Veterans. I'd also like to recognize Sergeant First Class Paul Dorsey, Vice President of Always Free Honor Flight and Official Photographer Steve Coleman, who have done a tremendous job of ensuring that our Veterans receive the recognition they deserve. Dreama, Pam, and Steve have also dedicated themselves to the Denver Foundation, serving as incredible examples of how individuals can give back to their communities. I am filled with pride every time I meet the patriots who have served our country, and I am so pleased to welcome West Virginia's most courageous veterans, who are all heroes, to Washington, D.C. I encourage all of my colleagues to join me in saluting them. They truly inspire us all as we are reminded of their selfless service. It is because of their bravery that all Americans enjoy the greatest liberties and freedoms in the world. God bless all our servicemembers and veterans, God bless the great State of West Virginia, and God bless the United States of America.