Rob Portman

Mr. PORTMAN

Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that if the Senate receives a veto message to accompany S.J. Res. 8, the message be considered as having been read, that it be printed in the Record, and spread in full upon the Journal, and held at the desk; and that the Senate proceed to its consideration at a time to be determined by the majority leader with the concurrence of the Democratic leader but no later than April 30, 2015.

Mr. PORTMAN

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

Mr. PORTMAN

Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that on Monday, April 13, at 5 p.m., the Senate proceed to executive session to consider the following nomination: Calendar No. 23; that there be 30 minutes for debate equally divided in the usual form; that upon the use or yielding back of time, the Senate proceed to vote without any intervening action or debate on the nomination; that following disposition of the nomination, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate; that no further motions be in order; that any statements related to the nomination be printed in the Record; that the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action, and the Senate then resume legislative session.

Mr. PORTMAN

Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolutions be agreed to, the preambles, where applicable, be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table en bloc.

Mr. PORTMAN

Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now proceed to Calendar No. 23, S. 535; that the bill be read a third time; and that the Senate vote on passage of the bill with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the motion to reconsider be made and laid upon the table.

Mr. PORTMAN

Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be read a third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and that any statements relating to the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of H.R. 1527, which was received from the House.

Mr. PORTMAN

Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of the following nominations: Calendar Nos. 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, except for the Funkhouser, Jackson, and Savre nominations, 73, and all nominations placed on the Secretary's desk in the Foreign Service, Air Force, Army, Marine Corps, and Navy; that the nominations be confirmed, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate; that no further motions be in order; that any statements related to the nominations be printed in the Record, the President be immediately notified of the Senate's actions, and the Senate then resume legislative session.

Mr. PORTMAN

Mr. PORTMAN. If there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that it stand adjourned under the provisions of H. Con. Res. 32.

Mr. PORTMAN

Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of H.R. 1092.

Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent 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. PORTMAN

Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 2 p.m., Monday, April 13; that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, and the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day; that following leader remarks, the Senate be in a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.

Mr. PORTMAN

Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. President, this amendment is a commonsense reform that allows the Joint Committee on Taxation to provide an accurate score to those of us in the Senate. Right now we get a static score only, and everybody knows it is not wise to just have a static score, because it doesn't take into account the effect of tax changes on the economy. I think everyone in the Chamber would agree there is some impact on the economy. We have to know what it is. This is informational. We will still get the static score, but also get a macroeconomic score. The Joint Committee on Taxation already does the analysis. So they have the information, they are just not allowed to share it with you. I would think everybody in this Chamber should support this. In the underlying bill, there is already also a macroeconomic analysis on the spending side, which is something new. So spending and taxes will both be analyzed. We will have the macroeconomic score. The last time we talked about this a couple years ago on the floor, we got a majority vote--some Democrats, all the Republicans. I hope we will get a bipartisan vote today. I think it only makes sense for us to have the best information possible to be able to do the best tax reform possible, for instance, to be sure it does focus on economic growth, jobs, and rising wages. I yield back.

Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. President, how much time is remaining?

Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to set aside the pending amendment and call up my amendment No. 689.

Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. President, this is a commonsense amendment that calls for prioritizing the investments to tackle a very important issue for our cities and towns across our country, especially those hardest hit by the housing crisis. Main Streets, unfortunately, across our country have become littered with abandoned and blighted properties. In Ohio, there are about 80,000 of these abandoned home; hundreds of thousands, of course, across the country. I have had the opportunity to walk the streets in some of our cities in Ohio with some of our farsighted mayors who are tackling this issue. They are looking for a little bit of help. I have been in Warren, OH, Toledo, OH, and Lima, OH. When you walk these streets and talk to the people in the neighborhoods, they let you know how they are feeling about this. They don't like these blighted properties, in part, because it reduces the home values for the whole neighborhood. In fact, there is some evidence out there that these blighted properties can cost neighbors up to 80 percent of their home value. So one of the best things you can do for tumbling home values in America right now in struggling neighborhoods is demolish these abandoned properties. Second, and this is very important, they become magnets for crime, for arson, and for other dangerous activities that put neighbors at risk. It puts first responders at risk. There are stories around the country. Unfortunately, in my home State of Ohio, some first responders, firefighters, have gone to a fire in an abandoned structure, actually been injured, and in one case lost their life. This is something neighbors feel strongly about. When I was in Toledo, with the mayor of Toledo, observing one of the demolitions--it was a house that was about 10 feet away from a neighboring home. The mother was there with some of her young children, and she said: Thank goodness this is happening, because every night I go to sleep I put my head on my pillow praying that the house next door is not going to be subject to the arson attacks that have happened in the city of Toledo in these abandoned structures and praying that my children are not going to be injured by an arson next door to me. It is critical that we provide this help. Land banks in these areas have done a terrific job. Cleveland, in particular, I will hold up as doing a great job. But in States like mine and in other manufacturing States--Florida, Michigan, and other States around the country--these land banks are doing the best they can, but they need additional resources to demolish many of these properties in order to help struggling neighborhoods recover. This has been a bipartisan issue. We have been able to direct some funding there, including from the hardest hit funds. I want to continue to make progress because it is so important, again, for our neighborhoods and for the safety of those people who live in these neighborhoods that are affected most directly by abandoned homes. I hope we can get some votes from both sides of the aisle for this amendment today and make it clear to those local officials across our country, and to those neighbors in these communities, that we are going to do what we can to help provide the resources to be able to deal with these blighted and abandoned structures. I yield back the remainder of my time.

Mr. PORTMAN. I ask unanimous consent that the reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. President, first, I applaud my colleague from Maryland for these constructive amendments. I am happy to be a cosponsor of the financial literacy amendment, which enables all of our constituents to be able to save and invest more, particularly with regard to retirement savings for retirees. The savings rate is low. Baby boomers are retiring without having lifetime savings, and financial literacy is critical for them. It is also critical for our young people to give them the opportunity to start saving early with the power of compound interest and to be able to make wise decisions for their future--whether it is for retirement, whether it is for health care or whether it is for other purposes. I have enjoyed working with my colleague Senator Cardin on this issue over the years, and I am proud to cosponsor his amendment. Amendment No. 681 I wish to call up another amendment this morning because it is very important for all of us in this Chamber because all of us are affected by it. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to set aside the pending amendment to call up my amendment No. 681.

Mr. PORTMAN

Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. President, we are here talking about the budget. One of the issues on the budget is how we spend our money, including on health care and in this case on some of our most vulnerable young people, our children, who have what are termed to be ``complex medical conditions.'' I appreciate the fact that Senator Bennet is cosponsoring this amendment with me. It is based on some bipartisan legislation we have been working on over the years that helps to ensure that these children have the opportunity to get better care, and also we can save some funds in what is a very inefficient Medicaid delivery system now for these children. It would allow, basically, health care providers to deliver health care services to these medically complex kids through models that coordinate care between providers, again helping to improve quality of care--and much better outcomes in the cases where this has been tried-- but also to lower costs for Medicaid. There are roughly 3 million children who fit in this category. It is about 1 in every 25 children. Of these children, by the way, most of them rely on Medicaid to access care, about 2 million out of the 3 million. Although children with complex conditions represent only about 6 percent of pediatric Medicaid patients, they comprise about 40 percent of the cost, so 6 percent of the kids, about 40 percent of the cost of all Medicaid spending on children. Children with these medically complex situations tend to have multiple and high acuity and chronic conditions that often require the service of a lot of different specialists. These circumstances call out for better coordination of care, particularly because a lot of it goes across State lines. Each Medicaid Program in each State has some different rules, but specialized care often requires these children to go to specialized providers outside of their State. This amendment would correct that fragmented system which those kids sometimes encounter now when they do seek that access across State lines. Not only would the amendment ensure that medically complex children have access to necessary care, it would also allow the Medicaid system to realize savings through these increased efficiencies, including reducing hospitalizations and emergency room visits, while providing the array of outpatient and community services and support that are needed by these children. So it is a more holistic approach to their care, avoiding, frankly, some of the costs associated with emergency room visits and other hospitalizations and other fragmented care. It is based on the experiences in the real world. There are programs that are doing quite well at improving those outcomes and saving costs. Some of the great children's hospitals have established their track record in developing these care-coordination models for kids with medical complexity. I have seen it in action in Ohio, where we are blessed to have a number of great children's hospitals. I have talked to medical professionals who are very pleased to have this better coordination of care. More importantly, I have talked to the parents and talked to some of the children themselves who are ecstatic about it. You know, many of them received their care through a different process previously that was not coordinated. What they tell me is they are deeply grateful for the coordination, partly because it saves them a lot of time and effort, partly because they are getting much better care, and partly because they just feel as if somebody cares. They are getting the love and support and care they need through the coordination. They are grateful for the difference. As the overall population of children with medical complexity continues to grow, thanks to some great advances in medical science and medical care, including care for premature babies, we are going to see more and more of this need for better coordination. I want to thank my colleague Senator Bennet and many others on both sides of the aisle who have been involved in this issue over the years. This is an important amendment for us to have in the Budget Committee because it shows where our heart is as a Senate--to be able to take better care of these kids and also have more efficient care in the Medicaid system, where, again, 6 percent of these children now comprise about 40 percent of the cost in Medicaid for children. I encourage all of my colleagues to support this commonsense approach to provide better health care outcomes for some of the most vulnerable of our Nation's children. I yield the floor.

Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to set aside the pending amendment and call up my amendment No. 349.

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

Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. President, this is a very simple amendment. It is a deficit-neutral reserve fund to help the most vulnerable kids among us to have better coordinated care under Medicaid. It allows health care providers to deliver health care services to medically complex kids through models that coordinate care between providers, resulting in better care but also lower costs, including helping with regard to a problem, including across State lines. These children with complex medical conditions make up about 6 percent of the children who get health care under Medicaid, but it is about 40 percent of the cost of pediatric care under Medicare and Medicaid. This is an opportunity for us on a bipartisan basis, I know, to be able to help these kids to get the necessary care they need and actually allow the Medicaid system to realize some savings through efficiencies, such as reduced emergency room stays, hospitalizations, and other procedures. I thank my colleague Senator Bennet, who will speak in a second on his cosponsorship. I urge all my colleagues to support this commonsense measure to help these vulnerable kids.

Mr. PORTMAN

Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. President, today I wish to congratulate Anomatic Corporation as it celebrates its 50th anniversary of supplying anodized aluminum to companies around the world. Anomatic was founded in 1965 by William Rusch when he developed an idea for a continuous motion machine for anodizing aluminum. Today, Scott Rusch and his brother William B. Rusch continue the legacy their father started 50 years ago. The company is headquartered in New Albany, OH, with manufacturing facilities in Newark, OH and around the world. Anomatic creates products in the fields of automotive, beauty and personal care, consumer electronics, pharmaceuticals and medical devices, and spirits. Anomatic's in-house capabilities include full package design, high volume anodizing, rapid 3D prototyping, metal stamping, screen printing, double anodizing, laser engraving, and assembly. Anomatic also features the world's largest anodizing capacity, producing more than 1 billion units last year alone. I have had the opportunity to work on issues important to the growth of Anomatic and its employees and look forward to the company's future expansion in Ohio. I congratulate Anomatic Corporation and everyone involved in making its first 50 years a success.