Harry Reid

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I have been asked a number of times walking into my office this morning if there has been an agreement on the Zika funding and the continuing resolution, which is to keep our government open and funded. No, we have not is the answer. We have made progress. I am encouraged by the headway we have made. But as I said before, as Democrats, we are going to be cautious. There is still work to be done before we can say there has been an agreement made.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I appreciate those remarks of the Republican leader regarding Tim. People have heard me talk about baseball and how I fell in love with baseball as a little boy, listening on the radio and the game of the day. I so wanted to be a baseball player. As time went on, as a young man in college, I realized I wasn't big enough, fast enough, or good enough to be the baseball player of my dreams, but that didn't take away my love for baseball. Living in Southern Nevada, Las Vegas, we had a team, the Dodgers. We listened to the games and watched the games. In the Reno area, Northern Nevada, the team was the Giants. We in Southern Nevada didn't like the Giants. The days of Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, Claude Osteen--those were the days of real baseball. Games were 2 to 1, 3 to 0, not these slugfests. We didn't have those then. In coming back to Washington, in the many years I have been here, we had the Baltimore Orioles. I love their owner--a wonderful man--Peter Angelos. I have been disappointed that they haven't done better, but they are doing pretty well this year. I have followed them very closely. Of course, when the Nationals team came here, our attention was focused not entirely on Baltimore--because it was the only team around here--but also on the Nationals, and we divided our attention. Of course, I have been to the Nationals games, and it has been great. As the Republican leader and I have said many times, we bicker and fight on some things but never on baseball. We both watch the Nationals and follow what they do. As everyone knows, Greg Maddux from Las Vegas is the best athlete ever to come out of Nevada. We have had some in Northern Nevada, and I recognized them also. Some of them played professional football. No one was as good as Greg Maddux, winning more than 350 games, which is unheard of today, a man of, as he would admit, average talent--average talent but a mind and such dedication and such composure and such confidence that he became one of the best of all time. Tim and I have talked about all these things I have talked about regarding baseball. We have talked about Bryce Harper. We recognize he is not having a great year this year. They are afraid of him still. He has walked 104 times, which is unheard of in baseball, but his batting average is not as good as it was. But he was still the Most Valuable Player in baseball at age 22. He has been on the all-star team four or five times already in his young career. Tim and I have talked about all of this, and as he knows, I like the Boston Red Sox, but I am not in the same league as Tim Mitchell. Tim is the Assistant Secretary for the minority and was for the majority, of course, during my many years as the Democratic leader. We have such a nice relationship. We can do our business when we need to, and we do that a lot, but we have a good time talking about family and baseball. I don't know if anybody saw his tie. He has over 100 ties that have a baseball theme on them. He has on one of those ties today. It is a little hard to see. It is one of those John Kerry ties. I think it is one of those Vineyard Vine ties from Massachusetts, but it is a beautiful tie. It is typical for Tim to wear a baseball tie. He wears one of them to work every day. I wouldn't say some of them are ugly, but some catch your attention. He watches the Red Sox whenever he can. He goes to games, takes his dad to the games, and takes his son when he can. He watches games here and watches them in Baltimore as often as he can with his son. I wouldn't put it in a class of weird, but it is close. In his basement, he has two seats from Fenway Park. They were worn out there, but he bought them anyway, and now he watches the games in his basement on Fenway Park seats. You can't make up stuff like this. Tim is dedicated to baseball and we recognize that and I admire him for that. Tim, I think you and I are going through the same withdrawals in a few weeks because baseball season is ending, and for me baseball season is a tremendous respite from what we do here. Frankly, I am not much of a football fan anymore. I have become kind of addicted to soccer after baseball, but during baseball season, I can go home and watch a few innings, and it is a complete deliverance from what goes on here. It is really very nice for me. When I go home to Nevada, wow, is it pleasant because, again, I can watch a 7 p.m. game at 4 p.m. in the afternoon. Pretty good, huh, Tim? Anyway, we will have a little bit of depression here in a few weeks, but his team is doing well. The Nationals are doing well, and Baltimore is doing quite well so we are going to be fine. As dedicated as he is to baseball, he is also dedicated to this institution. He has spent one-quarter of a century here. As the Republican leader mentioned, this is his 25th anniversary of working in the Senate. He started as an intern with someone I served with in the Senate, Don Riegle from Michigan. He started working for him during his junior year in college. After graduation, Tim moved to Washington, DC, and became a full-time employee of Senator Riegle. He started out as a lot of us do, answering phones, but he moved on, of course, because of his personality and talent. Following his time on the Banking Committee, which Riegle chaired, he worked on the Whitewater Committee. We all remember that, and there are still parts of that dribbling on in this Presidential election. At that time, he worked for Senator Tom Daschle, who was one of my predecessors, as a research assistant, and later on the Democratic policy committee, which I led during part of my tenure in the Senate. In 2001, Tim made a move that would forever change the Senate for the better. He joined our floor staff. That was a long time ago, but he has been working diligently here ever since. He is armed with an incredible work ethic and a very keen intellect. He has worked his way up on the floor team and has become an expert on Senate rules and procedure. Tim is a lawyer. He went to law school at night and worked here as long as he could. He missed a few classes because of working late here. During his time as a member of the Democratic floor staff, he has become someone whom the Republicans appreciate and go to for help just as the Democrats do. In 2008, the Senate adopted a resolution making Tim Mitchell the Assistant Secretary for the majority. When the Republicans took control of the Senate, he assumed his current position. Think about all of the important legislation Tim has helped us with-- and I mean helped us with. There are a number of Senators on the floor this morning. I see Senator Boxer and Senator Durbin.

Mr. REID. They are on the same side as my bad eye, folks. We are all pretty good at what we do, but we would be lost without the Tim Mitchells and Gary Myricks of the world. We would be stumbling around here. We depend on them so very much. Tim has helped us. He has helped us on so many different things. He has helped us through the Affordable Care Act, the automobile bailout, and the stimulus. I could go on and on with all we have done, and he has been here helping us. He has accomplished so very much, but I know--and he doesn't have to give me a long dissertation on this--his role in life is to be a good father to his 10-year-old son Ben and of course a good husband to his wife Alicia. I am sure he accomplishes that very well. Ben is a budding skier--and to no one's surprise--a baseball player. He speaks, as we all do about our athletes, about how good they are, and in our eyes, they are the best. Alicia and Ben are here with us today. Thank you for sharing Tim with us all of these years. I join the entire U.S. Senate, Democrats and Republicans, in thanking Tim Mitchell for his exceptional work for 25 years.

Mr. REID. Yes.

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I am happy to yield.

Mr. REID. I am happy to yield.

Mr. REID. I am happy to yield.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I want to switch from my friend Tim Mitchell to another friend I have. Ten years ago, I was in search of a scheduler. I needed someone to help with my scheduling and work here in my Capitol office. The office is just a few feet from here and it is extremely busy. We have people coming and going all day long, including the end of the night, and so I knew I needed someone who was good and would get better. Little did I realize that the woman I would hire didn't just get better, she has been the best. Her name is Krysta Juris. I have a few months to go as a Member of Congress. I have been here 34 years, and I have had some remarkable employees. I have had such loyal staff with me now who have stayed until the bitter end, but it is hard to find a description for someone who is as capable, as nice, as competent, and as smart as Krysta Juris. David McCallum, who helps me line up staff, told me he had a candidate and thought she was really good. He gave me her background and told me she had worked in Senator Clinton's office and on her Presidential campaign. He told me--I guess this was the clincher--she was a collegiate lacrosse player. Lacrosse is a game I have gotten to know quite well because I have grandsons who play that sport. It is a really difficult, hard game. A college lacrosse player? I understand the difference between a high school lacrosse player and a college lacrosse player. Without knowing a lot more, I said she would be perfect. If she played lacrosse, she would know how to head a front office. As I have indicated, serving as a scheduler for my office is not easy. She, as I indicated, was a college player. She played for the University of Maryland. They have excellent athletics there, generally. She has had a demanding schedule for at least 10 years. She incurs long, long hours. Of course, it goes without saying that quickly she became the scheduler--not the assistant, not the deputy. To put it simply, to do this job you have to be really tough and fair. My colleagues who come to that office regularly--Durbin, Schumer, Murray, and others--know Krysta. They always know that when they call Krysta, she tells them the truth: He is here; he is not here; he can see you; he can't see you. She is tough. She is strong and unafraid. She is not intimidated by some big-shot Senators. She handles them just fine. She has been my gatekeeper and my loyal adviser, and she has performed phenomenally. She is the best at her job that I have ever seen in my many, many years of public service and as an attorney prior to my public service. For everything I have done, as far as setting the schedule, there is no one who is a close second. She has been in the thick of things. She has been through my ups and my downs. She has been by my side. There are many, many examples. Some of us will never forget the snowstorm of 2009. It became so tense here that one of my Republican colleagues said that he hoped Senator Byrd would die during the night so we wouldn't have 60 Senators. With his being ill and having trouble navigating on his legs and living in Virginia and coming through the blizzard, we were worried. But he showed up. I told Krysta: Try to do all you can from home, because of this Snowmageddon, as we called it. We were in session. We had to finish the health care bill, and every day meant so very, very much. No, she did not stay home. She trudged through blocks and blocks of snow and snowdrifts to be here. She never missed a day. She spent many, many long, long nights in my office. I said: We will get someone to drive you or walk with you. She said: No, I am OK. I will be fine. During the fiscal crisis of 2012, we were in session on New Year's Eve. She was at her desk working while the rest of the world rang in the new year. Frankly, she was probably glad she was here. She has a little dog and those firecrackers and all that noise drives her little dog crazy. So she could be away from the firecrackers and keep her dog safe. She had reasons for being here during that period of time. When the Republicans shut down the government for 17 days in 2013, she was here every day overseeing my schedule, making things run smoothly, even though no Senate employee was guaranteed that they would be paid for the work they were doing. As my colleagues will recall, many Senate employees didn't come to work. On a more personal note, as happens in everyone's life, there are times of difficulty. The Reid family has had a few problems. As some will remember, I was engaged in my office trying to work out a deal with health care--the Affordable Care Act--and in walked Janice and Krysta and said there was a call: Your wife has been in an accident. It was very bad. It broke her neck in two places and her back, and her face was messed up. That was a hard time for us. Krysta was there. She was there. She helped with the scheduling. We got over that. Then Landra got an extremely aggressive form of breast cancer that went on for months. Krysta balanced my schedule here with my schedule with Landra. She made sure I had time with Landra to help. I will always remember her. I didn't have to ask her to do it; she did it. When I had my unfortunate accident, Krysta knew how I had been hurt, and I did the best I could covering how I had been hurt. My three leaders--Durbin, Schumer, and Murray --helped me cover my disability for a while. She took care of things. My scheduling was done. I missed very, very few things because of her. My children know her. My grandchildren know her. It is no surprise then to say that Krysta is and always will be part of my family. Krysta's time is ending this week. It is kind of like my service here in the Senate. I wish it would never end. I wish Krysta could be with me always. But things change and things happen. But really with Krysta it is not time for distress or sadness; it is time for happiness because I have nothing but fond memories of this very beautiful woman-- beautiful on the outside and on the inside. Why is it time for celebration? Because Krysta, at the ripe old age of 32, is having her first baby. She is so excited. I remember with all her babies, Landra wore the smocks that were kind of the style at that time. We don't do that anymore, and that is terrific. She is so pretty with her pregnancy, as she is without her pregnancy. She has never missed work because of her pregnancy. She has never complained about morning sickness or afternoon sickness or asked to go home early--never. So I am happy for her. I am happy for Trevor, her good husband. Senator Durbin has helped me on a number of occasions with things that he could help with regarding Krysta. He has been so thoughtful about making things work out. So I am happy for Krysta. I am happy for Trevor. She is going to have a little girl. My hope is that that little girl will turn out to be just like her mom--a person everybody loves, a person who is dependable and trustworthy, and a person whose friendship is so important to those she knows. My friendship with Krysta is not going to end when I leave the Senate. It is forever. So thank you, Krysta, for a job well done. I wish you and your family the best that life has to offer. Now back to some other things. I am sorry to have taken so long, but that is sometimes the way things are.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I am very concerned about the integrity and the security of our democracy in America. The United States is a nation that has always been and must always be governed by its people. Later on today, I am going to see Ambassador Baucus. He is someone who has always talked about how we have to make sure the people determine what we do. America must never be subject to undue influence from foreign powers. Potential conflicts of interest involving our Nation's elected officials deserve our highest scrutiny. That is why I found yesterday's article by Kurt Eichenwald in Newsweek really frightening. I ask unanimous consent that the article be printed in the Record.

Mr. REID. Mr. President, the piece is very, very thorough. So I am only going to quote a few things because of the time of the Senate. No. 1, the article says that, if elected, Donald Trump would be ``the most conflicted president in American history,'' and ``almost every foreign policy decision he makes will raise serious conflicts of interest and ethical quagmires.'' The article details how Donald Trump, his family, and his businesses have multiple questionable partnerships with foreign governments, political parties, and even criminals. The Newsweek article ends with this sound declaration: ``Never before has an American candidate for president had so many financial ties with American allies and enemies, and never before has a business posed such a threat to the United States.'' We face this from Donald Trump, a candidate and a notorious con artist. Donald Trump is only trying to help one person--Donald Trump. I don't care if he wants to be President or city commissioner. Donald Trump is in it to benefit Donald Trump. If given the opportunity, Donald Trump will turn America into a big scam, just like Trump University. I can't make up this stuff. Here is what one of its managers said at Trump University--head of sales: ``a fraudulent scheme and that it preyed upon the elderly and uneducated to separate them from their money.'' That is one of the managers of Trump University. That is a direct quote. But Trump University is only one example. Trump has been ripping off people for a long, long time--long before Trump University. The list of people cheated by Donald Trump is a mile long, at least. A glass company in New Jersey, a children's singing group, real estate brokers, plumbers, painters, dishwashers, and many, many more all got fleeced by this so-called billionaire--Trump. When Trump gets sued for not paying, here is what he does: He hires lawyers--lots of lawyers, most of the time--to defend him for having cheated lots of people. Then, guess what. Many times he doesn't bother paying those lawyers so they have to sue him. He rips off people only to reap profit for himself. A lot of his business I don't understand very well, but I understand Atlantic City. I was chairman of the Nevada Gaming Commission for 4 very tumultuous years. I was there when we allowed Nevada operations to go to Atlantic City. So I understand what took place in Atlantic City. He will do anything to make a buck for himself. He applied for a license a number of years ago in Nevada. He got one. It was just perfunctory. If he applied for a license today after what he did in Atlantic City and what he has done since, he couldn't get a gaming license in Nevada. Let's be clear about Donald Trump. He is a spoiled brat raised in plenty, who inherited a fortune, and used his money to make more money, and he did a lot of it by swindling working men and women. Why would he change as President? The answer is simple. Trump won't change. He is asking us to let him get rich scamming America. I know these are harsh words, but look at this man. He goes to Flint, MI, where people are desperate for help--desperate for help. He goes to an African-American church. What does he do? He just starts ranting about how horrible Hillary Clinton is. It was so bad that the woman who runs the church had to come up and say: Stop; you are not here to do this. And he stopped. This morning he said that, obviously, there was something wrong with her mentally. Trump is a human leech who will bleed the country and sit in his golf resort, laughing at the money he has made, even though working people, many of them, will be hurt. Trump doesn't understand the middle class. How could he? How could he understand working people? This report from Newsweek proves Trump's plan to take his rigged game straight to the White House. The integrity and security of our democracy is really at stake. We can't chance the sovereignty of this Nation on a con man like Trump. Where are Senator McConnell and Speaker Ryan when America needs our help from this person running for President? Mr. President, will the Chair announce the business of the day.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, today I recognize Governor John Bel Edwards, who is celebrating his 50th birthday on September 16, 2016. Governor Edwards is a committed public servant who has dedicated his career to improving the lives of Louisiana residents. A Louisiana native, Governor Edwards graduated from Amite High School as valedictorian of his class. After graduating from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point 4 years later, he bravely served our country as an airborne ranger in the U.S. Army. Following his service, Governor Edwards attended law school at Louisiana State University, where he graduated Order of the Coif, the prestigious honor society for our Nation's brightest law school graduates. In 2008, Governor Edwards was elected to the Louisiana House of Representatives. Throughout his tenure, he worked diligently to ensure that the needs of Louisiana residents were met. His Democratic colleagues recognized his unwavering commitment to public service and his steadfast leadership ability, and they elected him as chairman of the Louisiana House Democratic Caucus. It comes as no surprise that Governor Edwards has already achieved a number of accomplishments on behalf of Louisiana since he became the Governor of the State in January 2016. He has led State legislators in addressing Louisiana's most pressing issues, including the State's budget crisis, historic flood events that have damaged more than 100,000 homes throughout the State, and several tornadoes that have impacted many of the State's most vulnerable residents. In addition to managing the response to these crises, Governor Edwards is implementing programs that are critical to the success and well-being of Louisiana residents, such as Medicaid expansion and major infrastructure development projects. Governor Edwards is married to his high-school sweetheart, Donna Edwards, and they have three beautiful children: Samantha Bel, Sarah Ellen, and John Miller. I join the Governor's family, friends, and the residents of Louisiana in wishing him a very happy 50th birthday. His dedication to Louisiana is commendable, and I look forward learning about his future success on behalf of the residents of Louisiana and all Americans.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, by now most Americans are well acquainted with Donald Trump but especially Donald Trump's head-scratching slogan ``Make America Great Again.'' He has his little hat he wears when he doesn't want his hair to get messed up. That slogan offers a peek inside the minds of Donald Trump and his Republican followers in Congress. These Republicans want to believe our country isn't great. They want to believe this Nation is foundering. They don't want to listen to the facts; they just want to follow Trump. Earlier this year Speaker Ryan echoed Donald Trump when he said, in criticizing President Obama, ``We think that the President's policies aren't working. . . . We have flat wages.'' Why do Republicans spend so much time rooting against economic growth and ignoring millions of newly insured Americans' access to health care? Why do they root daily against America? Because they say anything to convince their radical base that President Obama is failing, even though the facts are contrary. Despite what Donald Trump and the congressional Republicans say, we know that America is great already, and because of Democratic policies, we are improving it every day, in spite of the obstacles--filibuster, filibuster, filibuster, obstacle, obstacle, obstacle. Let's look at the facts. Yesterday the Census Bureau reported that median household incomes grew by 5.2 percent last year. That is the single largest annual income gain ever recorded--ever recorded. Isn't America great? Every major income bracket in our country saw an increase in earnings, with the lowest 10th percentile seeing the biggest gains. This is real progress for all Americans. Really, isn't America great? These remarkable income gains hold true across racial lines as well. In just 1 year, Hispanics saw a 6.1-percent increase in earnings. African Americans experienced a 4.1-percent jump in income. Isn't America great? This is the kind of wage growth we should celebrate, but Republicans have been totally silent because they want America not to be great. They can all start wearing the hats when they want to cover their hair. For the first time since 1999, we are moving in the right direction on income, health care coverage, and poverty indicators. Household incomes are rising and the poverty rate is falling. That is good. Isn't America great? We are finally regaining the ground we lost during the great recession, which was at the end of the Bush administration. It really started a couple of years after he became President. In 2015 the official poverty rate dropped more than a full percentage point. That means 2 million Americans were lifted out of poverty. Real average weekly earnings have risen at their fastest pace in 15 years. Isn't America great? Yes, it is. These incredible statistics show how much progress we have made in spite of the obstacles, the filibusters, and they show how much Americans would have to lose from a Trump Presidency that works solely for the rich and completely ignores the middle class because daily Donald Trump is rooting for failure, as are his Republican adherents. Yesterday's census data also corrects Republicans' false narrative on the Affordable Care Act, on ObamaCare. Because of ObamaCare, more Americans have health insurance than ever before in the history of this country. According to the Census Bureau, the uninsured rate has plummeted in virtually every State. California saw the biggest drop, with a decline of 8.6 percent of those uninsured. Nevada was second, with an 8.4 percentage point drop. Really, isn't ObamaCare great? If other Republican Governors would follow the lead of the Republican Governor in Nevada, they would have the same statistics. Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, the Republican leader's home State of Kentucky had the third largest reduction in the number of uninsured people--a decrease of 8.3 percentage points. Isn't ObamaCare great? The Republican leader loves to come to the floor and bash ObamaCare. He was here yesterday doing just that. It is curious how the senior Senator from Kentucky picks and chooses what he says about ObamaCare. He refuses to acknowledge the newly insured Kentuckians who have access to health care because of this law. Kentucky has 4.4 million people, and 500,000 of the Republican leader's constituents have health insurance because of ObamaCare. That is more than 11 percent of his State's population. ObamaCare is great. The Affordable Care Act is helping the people of Kentucky and the people of America, regardless of what Republicans say here on the Senate floor, and they are rooting for failure. To no one's surprise, this new census data also shows that the States that refused to expand Medicaid are the ones falling behind in health care. There are 19 Republican Governors doing just that. States that expanded Medicaid have insurance premium rates that are 7 percent lower than States that rejected Medicaid expansion. The States that did not expand Medicaid--States with Republican Governors and Republican legislatures--have an uninsured rate nearly twice as high as States that used ObamaCare to expand coverage. This is no coincidence. We know these policies work, but Republicans simply refuse to listen. This is the attitude which led to Trump: Republican leaders insisted that no matter what President Obama suggested, it wouldn't work. And we have the filibusters to show that. We know the truth. Thanks to the policies of President Obama and Democrats, we have emerged from the terrible recession. We are seeing record wage growth. We are making a great nation even greater. We don't hear about the successes as much as we should. Unfortunately, the press is oftentimes more interested in something more scandalous. As all this census data shows, we have moved our country forward, and we did it despite lots of Republican opposition. It is a shame that Republicans didn't help. They were too interested in opposing President Obama on everything. If they helped a little, America would be even greater. We still have a lot to do. We need to do more for the middle class, more to give Americans a livable wage, and more to ease the burden of student loan debt. We need to work together to improve upon the many successes of the Affordable Care Act. If we had a token of an effort from Republicans, we could make the health care law even better and stronger. We must address the issue of gun violence and take steps to keep guns out of the hands of terrorists and criminals. We must do something about campaign finance reform. We must protect America from those who would turn America into a Russian oligarchy. I hope my Republican colleagues will take this opportunity to stop being the party of Trump. The party of Trump, whose pal is Putin--and he has even gone so far, obviously, as to suggest that maybe we should be an oligarchy also. I hope my Republican colleagues will take this opportunity to stop being the party of Trump, to stop being the party of no and work with us to build on the progress we have already made. Mr. President, I ask that the leader time be reserved, and I ask the Chair to announce what we are going to do the rest of the day, or perhaps I should just suggest the absence of a quorum, which I will do until the Republican leader gets here. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, last evening at 4 o'clock or thereabouts, I had the opportunity to go to the White House and visit with the President, along with Leader McConnell, Speaker Ryan, and Leader Pelosi. We met for about 1 hour and 15 minutes. It was a very good meeting. We had to discuss a number of issues. We discussed a lot, but I will not talk about them all today. There was a discussion about a path forward to fund the government to prevent a government shutdown--in spite of what the Wall Street Journal said today. The Wall Street Journal said in an editorial that the Republicans should just close the government again. I don't think there are many Republicans who agree with the Wall Street Journal editorial. There is reason for some very, very cautious optimism about our meeting last night. We are going to proceed carefully. I know the Republicans will do the same. We have been down this road with the Republicans before. Happy talk is just that a lot of times. We have been optimistic in the past only to see the Republicans fail to live up to their end of the agreement. If we are going to pass a CR that keeps our government open and funded, there are a number of problems that must be addressed. We have to stop ignoring the problems with Zika. This has been a problem, according to the President of the United States, since last February. We have done nothing to give these people some relief, and they need it. We thought that it was just a problem that affected women and pregnant women, but it has gotten so much more serious than that. That is plenty serious. But now they are looking at the virus going into people's eyes and causing vision impairment, blindness. That is men and women. So we have to get something done with Zika. We thought we had it all done here with the work done by Senators Murray and Blunt. We had a bill. It wasn't everything we wanted, and it certainly wasn't what the President wanted. It was $1.1 billion. We sent it to the House. We don't need to go through what gymnastics they went through to throw a big monkey wrench into the good work we had done over here by passing it with 89 bipartisan votes. Last week there were 17,000 Americans infected with Zika. We are told by the Centers for Disease Control that there are now 19,000. That is a 13-percent increase in 7 days, and each day it is only going to get worse. We need to treat the Zika virus like the genuine health crisis it is, not a bargaining chip for Republicans to use to attack Planned Parenthood, fly the Confederate flag, cut veterans spending by half a billion dollars, and other such things they stuck in the bill that came back from the House. We want to work with the Republicans to secure Zika funding, but we will flatly reject any attempt to undermine women's health. Once we have taken care of Zika, we must, then, as a Senate address Republicans' issues dealing with the continuing resolution, including riders dealing with the Environmental Protection Agency. They want to weaken the Clean Water Act by exempting pesticide spraying from the EPA's overseeing what goes on there. We need to find a way forward on both of these important issues, while trying to navigate Senator Cruz's attempts to slow down the CR. Unfortunately, this is what we have come to expect from my friend, the junior Senator from Texas. This is his shtick. Whenever the Senate has a deadline, he tries to obstruct government funding bills. So we have our work cut out for us. I am cautiously optimistic the Senate will complete its work on the funding of Zika and the CR. We can do it, but it can only happen if we work together and resolve these important topics. Mr. President, I ask the Chair to announce the business of the day.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, the Republican leader is on his way. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, the Republican leader loves to come to the floor once or twice a week to talk about how bad ObamaCare is. What I say to him is this: His constant attacks on ObamaCare do not take away from the fact that there are 20 million people who have health insurance today who didn't have it 6 years ago. The Senator from California came as the speech was being given by the Republican leader and said to me: Remind him of what is going on in California--that we love ObamaCare. It is working wonderfully. Millions of people in California have health insurance that they didn't have before. She reminded me that in those States where the Republican Governors have agreed to do Medicaid, it is great. In fact, where States have expanded into Medicaid, the rates are approaching 10 percent lower than in other States. I need not look at California. Let's look at Nevada. We have a conservative Republican Governor. Brian Sandoval is his name. I have learned to accept the fact that he is doing a good job. In spite of the fact that in running for Governor he beat my son, Brian Sandoval is a good person. He is doing a good job as Governor of the State of Nevada. He stepped aside and was not worried about the criticism he would receive by helping the people of the State of Nevada, and he has Medicaid in the State of Nevada. The rates there are some 7, 8 percent lower than had he not done that. My friend, the Republican leader, complains about the few choices in the ObamaCare marketplace. Wow, that takes a lot of chutzpah to say that. Before ObamaCare, people had no choice, or the choice was either paying a lot, a whole lot, or not doing anything. Many people just skipped insurance. They were willing to take their chances. Now, people go to the marketplace and they have lots of choices. That is why we have 20 million more people who have health insurance now who didn't have it before. There are many examples, but my friend the Republican leader just ignores them. Preexisting conditions--think about that. Prior to ObamaCare, if you had a child who was born with a birth defect of some kind, if you had a child that developed diabetes, or if you were an adult who might have had a car accident, or you were a woman--a woman--who had a preexisting condition, you had to pay more for your health insurance, if you could get some. Everyone seems to ignore the good that has come from ObamaCare. Eighty-five percent of the people in the marketplaces get financial assistance in buying their coverage. After assistance, people are paying an average of $175 a month for their health insurance. So ObamaCare is a signature issue of the Obama administration. As he announced yesterday, he is very happy with what ObamaCare has done for the American people, and it should be made better. It could be made better so easily if we could have a little bit of cooperation from the Republicans--a little bit. But we are going to continue focusing on making sure that people understand how well it has worked.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I have a few things to say in a minute, but first I want to say this: Before coming to the Senate and the House, I was a trial lawyer. I have tried over 100 cases to juries, and some of those cases were very difficult. During the time we were in court with the opponent attorney, it was very hard, but as I look back to those days, never after a case was completed were there any hard feelings between me and my adversary during the trial. The reason I mention that today is because I was thinking of my time here over the last few years. I have been in the Senate a long time. Someone else who has been here a long time, although not as long as I have, is the assistant Republican leader. He had a distinguished career, prior to coming here, in the law. He was a member of the Texas Supreme Court, and he was noted for being the lawyer that he is. I want to say to my friend--he is here on the floor today--that we have had our differences, and we speak about them often. Yesterday I criticized him for doing something that I thought was wrong and not in good keeping with the standards of the Senate, but I want everyone to know that my criticism of the senior Senator from Texas is not based on anything dealing with his character or integrity. I am going to continue criticizing him and others whom I feel are not living up to their responsibilities as a Member of the U.S. Senate. I just want the Record spread because a lot of my intention over the last several months has been directed toward the Senator from Texas. I want him to know that I appreciate his being on the floor today. I look back with--pride is maybe the wrong word--satisfaction about my time in the courtroom. Those were difficult cases that I had. When it was all over with, the feelings of the two attorneys were over with. There were no ill feelings. We would then move on to our next client. So I hope the Senator from Texas accepts my brief statement here in the manner that it is being offered.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, my staff has been working diligently to work with the majority to come up with a way to go forward on spending. We especially need to take care of that, but we also need to address Zika funding. I am not going to lay down any markers here today because we are still trying to work something out, but I do want to say this. Republicans need to get away from their vendetta against Planned Parenthood. We are not going to play any funny games and try to find the money someplace else. Planned Parenthood should not be part of Zika funding. More than 2 million women received care at Planned Parenthood clinics around the country last year. They didn't go there for abortions. They went there because they needed help with their health care. The women needed that, and they still need it. They need it more than ever now with this scourge that is sweeping our country, which is Zika. I just want to make sure that everyone understands that we are not going to play any games with Planned Parenthood. It is through. Do your vendetta someplace else because it will not be on the Zika funding. Koch Brothers Mr. President, Webster's dictionary defines an oligarchy as ``a government in which a small group exercises control for corrupt and selfish purposes.'' I will state that again: ``a government in which a small group exercises control for corrupt and selfish purposes.'' By that definition, it appears that our government is moving ever closer to an oligarchy just like Putin's Russia. For the last 8 years, Charles and David Koch and their inner circle of billionaires have wielded immense power within our democracy. Indeed, it is no exaggeration to say that the Republican Congress is bought and paid for by the Koch brothers. These two brothers, who are worth $100 billion, are going to spend any amount necessary to ensure that their interests are represented in city halls, statehouses, and even the very Capitol. Last year, at one of their secret planning meetings, the Kochs and their cronies vowed to spend unlimited monies to exert influence in this year's elections. I have been disappointed that this Republican Senate has done nothing to stop the Koch's crooked oligarchy agenda. Campaign finance reform is a nasty word to Senate Republicans. The Senate has a history of standing up to the corrupt interests of tycoons like the Kochs. The Sherman Antitrust Act was written by the Judiciary Committee against the wishes of the Carnegie family, the Carnegie monopoly, the Vanderbilt family, the Vanderbilt monopoly, the Rockefeller family, and the Rockefeller monopoly. When the system is broken, we have a responsibility to try to fix it. Our system of government is being attacked by the Koch oligarchy money, but Republicans have done nothing to oppose this march toward an oligarchy. This Republican Senate has showed no spine--zero--in confronting the Kochs, who are trying to buy America. In fact, the evidence suggests that they are more than content to go along with the billionaire brothers from Kansas. The Republican leader's voting record is a perfect example. Between 2009 and 2015, the senior Senator from Kentucky has voted in lockstep with the Koch brothers at least 178 times. Think about that--178 times in 7 years. The senior Senator from Kentucky is not the only Republican with a documented history of siding with the Kochs. The junior Senator from Florida has voted with the Kochs 92 percent of the time. The senior Senator from Oklahoma has voted with the Kochs 85 percent of the time. The junior Senator from Pennsylvania has voted with the Kochs 84 percent of the time. The assistant Republican leader has voted with the Kochs 82 percent of the time. There are many others in the Republican caucus who I could refer to, but I think the foregoing gives us all an idea of this unprecedented hold on Senate Republicans by the Koch brothers. Let's look at another example. We all remember--and we should if we don't--what happened earlier this year when the junior Senator from Kansas, Mr. Moran, had the audacity to admit and suggest that Merrick Garland's nomination to the Supreme Court deserved consideration. He didn't say he was going to vote for him. He simply said he deserved consideration. What happened after that? Senator Moran may be the Kochs' biggest and most outspoken supporter in the Senate. He has proven that time and again. He has defended his home State billionaires here on the Senate floor multiple times, but even the loyalty he showed could not spare him from the Kochs' wrath. The Koch brothers rallied their massive political machine against their home State Senator, Mr. Moran. One of their groups, the Judicial Crisis Network, threatened to launch an ad campaign against Senator Moran. What happened? Senator Moran performed a breathtaking about-face in about 10 minutes, and he has since refused to support a hearing or a vote for Merrick Garland. Whether it is the nomination for the Supreme Court, the Keystone Pipeline, or the Export-Import Bank, Senate Republicans always seem to take the Koch brothers' side, and the Kochs' interest is always based on the profit motive--their profit. Since Republicans took control of the Senate, they have done nothing for the middle class, nothing to increase the minimum wage or to help to ease the burden of student debt--nothing. But the Republican leader has scheduled multiple votes on Keystone and has tried to roll back EPA greenhouse gas emissions often. How long will it take Republicans to deny climate change? Climate change is real, and it is here. A week ago yesterday, the New York Times had an unprecedented article giving specific examples of what is happening now--not in the future but now--with climate change, but Senate Republicans, because of the Kochs, continue to close their eyes to the reality that the water levels are rising, putting neighborhoods, whole cities, bridges, and military installations under water. There are the islands off our coasts that have causeways that go to them. You can't go many weeks of the year because they are now swamped with water. It is clear who this Republican Senate is trying to help, and it is certainly not working American families. But Charles and David Koch are not satisfied. They want to expand their budding oligarchy until it consumes our American democracy. The Kochs don't even mask their intention. Their own publicist explained that the Koch brothers are trying to buy a new government. Here is what he said: ``It is because we can make more profit, OK?'' That is a direct quote. In order to add a few more billion dollars to their bottom line, the Kochs are dumping piles of money in Senate races across the country. They are trying to tighten their grip on the Chamber by electing more stooges. The Kochs and their dark-money empire are flooding the airwaves with misleading and false advertisements. The ads from the Koch brothers are not always easy to identify. The groups that sponsor them have names that sound harmless enough. Turn on your TV or open your mailbox, and you will see a quick disclaimer in tiny print that says who paid for it. It says things like: ``Sponsored by Concerned Veterans of America,'' ``Sponsored by Freedom Partners,'' ``Paid for by the LIBRE Initiative,'' or ``Paid for by Americans for Prosperity.'' They are afraid to tell us how much money they get from the Koch brothers. Take, for example, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. No one knows and they won't tell us. It has been suggested that 80 percent of their money comes from the Koch brothers. I don't know if that is right, but I do know that they are doing a lot of spending against the interests of Democrats. As to this disclaimer, such as being paid for by Americans for Prosperity, the LIBRE Initiative, Freedom Partners, or Concerned Veterans of America, it would be accurate to simply say: Paid for by the billionaires, the Koch brothers. Take a look at Nevada, where the Koch brothers are spending millions of dollars through their shadow organizations so they can tip the scales for their anointed Senate candidate, Joe Heck. He is their puppet. Who is he going to side with on issues that are important to Nevada? The out-of-State billionaire barons who spent millions in buying his election or Nevadans? We already know the answer to that question. Joe Heck's voting record in the House of Representatives says it all. He voted with the Koch brothers 90 percent of the time--in the last year, 90 percent, and in the past, just about the same. So it is 90 percent of the time. I will give one example from earlier this year. House Republicans had a bill called the Preventing IRS Abuse and Protecting Free Speech Act. The names are a little misleading, and that is an understatement. Notwithstanding that bill's misleading title, the legislation sought to make it even easier for the Koch brothers to funnel even more dark money to their dark money groups. That is what it was all about. The Koch network got the word to House Republicans to vote for this bill. So how did Joe Heck vote? Of course he voted with the Kochs. He and his Republican colleagues overwhelmingly voted with the Kochs. That is whom the Kochs want in the Senate--lackeys who will gut consumer and environmental protection and streamline Koch Industries' path to even more profit. Bankrolling extreme candidates is seen as an investment by the Kochs, and they want these investments to pay off--for them. Charles Koch admitted as much in an interview last year. When asked what he hoped to get from his hundreds of millions of dollars in political donations, here is what he answered--and this is a direct quote: ``I expect something in return.'' Yes, he does. This is not the American democracy our Founding Fathers established. The Supreme Court's disastrous Citizens United decision has constructed a political system that has effectively put our government up for sale to the highest bidder. Because of Citizens United, our country has no real restrictions on the money a billionaire or anyone else can spend to buy the government they want. This is proven day after day with the Kochs. They are in fat city. They have unlimited amounts of money. I went to one of these minor billionaires a couple of years ago, and I said: You have wasted your money. It didn't help. You know what he said to me? He said: It doesn't matter. I have it to waste. I guess the Kochs, with their $100 billion--the man I met was just a billionaire, but they have even more to waste. As a country we must reject the Koch brothers' efforts to buy our democracy. We must work to rid the system of this dark money. We must address the issue of campaign finance and the unrestrained spending that is squeezing the American people out of their own government. It is time we revive our constituents' faith in the electoral system and let them know their voices are being heard and not just the Koch brothers' voices. Mr. President, will the Chair announce the business of the day.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, it seems it was just a few minutes ago, but it wasn't; it was 15 years ago that, just a few feet from where I stand now, I went to a meeting. It was approaching 9 o'clock, and no one was in the room, S-211. Senator Breaux from Louisiana walked in, and he said: Flip on the TV. And we did. We could see the tower had been hit in New York. We thought a plane had hit it by mistake. So we shut off the TV and Senator Daschle came in and started the meeting. In just a few minutes, some people came in and ushered Senator Daschle out of the meeting. He came back in quickly and said: The building has to be evacuated; there is a plane headed toward the Capitol. As we walked out of the room and looked out the window, we could all see the smoke billowing from the place we learned was the Pentagon. I will always remember that. Of course I will. And, of course, we have learned since of the many heroes of that day--people running not away from danger but toward danger. On that day, I was first taken home. I had to rush back to the Capitol, through police barricades. Four Members of the leadership were helicoptered out of the Capitol to a secure location outside of DC. As the sun was going down, we came back to the Capitol steps. Barbara Mikulski, the Senator from Maryland, who is known for giving dynamic speeches, didn't give a speech that day. In front of this bipartisan group of Senators, she very simply said: I think what we should sing is ``God Bless America.'' We all did that. It was a beautiful rendition of all the varied voices of Senators, Republicans and Democrats, singing that song. We didn't know what that meant--what tomorrow would bring-- but that gave us some inspiration to think about how great our country is. The perpetrators sought to attack our democracy, our way of life, but they failed. The tragedy of that day reminded every American of our collective strength and resilience, led by George Bush who did such a remarkable job of rallying the Nation. We exhibited the best of ourselves in front of the world, and we resolved to degrade and destroy the terrorists responsible. After many failed attempts and in spite of some people saying ``Let's wait,'' President Obama said ``Let's do this.'' And they killed Bin Laden. That was the right thing to do. It was a courageous move on behalf of President Obama but the right thing to do. He was ultimately brought to justice. Today, 15 years later--I will always remember that experience a few feet from here, but we will all remember, in our own way, September 11, and in our own way honor the victims and the heroes of that day and never forget. We are always stronger together when we are united.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I have trouble comprehending my friend the Republican leader--how he can, with a straight face, talk about how terrible America is today. Things are upside down; it is terrible. Remember, Obama was elected President almost 8 years ago. That month, under the prior administration, for lots of reasons we have all talked about, our country lost 800,000 jobs in one month. That wasn't the only month. Our unemployment rate shot up in places like the Presiding Officer's and my State to more than 14 percent. Unemployment in America was raging. Major companies failed. I saw the Secretary of Treasury on his knees in the White House begging the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, for help. We joined together with President Bush. There was nothing partisan about what we did. Even though there were some small steps, we did our best to help the country. Since then, under the last 8 years of President Obama's leadership, the country has been significantly turned in the right direction. For my friend the Republican leader to parrot what Donald Trump is saying: ``Make America great again''--America is great right now. Unemployment is less than 5 percent. Millions of jobs have been created in this administration--millions and millions of jobs--about 16 million. We have no ground troops, except in Afghanistan. They have been brought home, and rightfully so. To hear my friend the Republican leader talk about the awfulness of ObamaCare--you don't have to have a long memory to know what it was like before ObamaCare. Insurance companies were canceling policies, denying insurance, not writing insurance because you are a woman, because you had a prior disability. I don't know if my friend is briefed by his office, reads the newspapers, or watches the news. Three days ago the word came out that the uninsured are at alltime lows in our country. Ninety-two percent of Americans have health insurance. Is that bad? Is the insurance perfect? Of course it is not. We have 19 States led by Republican Governors who refuse to accept Medicaid. The Republican Governor from Nevada made the right choice, and it has been good for the State of Nevada. It is interesting that after more than 6 years, we still have never seen a plan by the Republicans and what they want to do other than vote against ObamaCare. ObamaCare has expanded coverage to millions of Americans. It has improved the quality of health insurance. A lot of people who don't like the plan don't like it because they don't think it is strong enough and they want to do more. The marketplace will continue to connect Americans to quality, affordable health insurance. I thought Republicans believed in the free enterprise system, and that is what we have with ObamaCare. The health insurance marketplace is so much better than pre-Affordable Care Act. They should stop trying to repeal ObamaCare and work with us to improve what we have. It is not going to go away. The Affordable Care Act has shown that it has had a positive impact on the stated goal of lowering the number of people without coverage. Millions of people have health insurance who didn't before. He and other Republicans continue to come down to the floor and complain, although not as often as they used to because they have been embarrassed too many times. The Republican leader seems to think that things were better before Americans had coverage, including the 500,000 people in Kentucky who now have insurance because of ObamaCare. I guess he seems to be saying that he liked it better when insurance companies could deny coverage for any reason that they thought was appropriate; it didn't have to be a good reason.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, September 10 is World Suicide Prevention Day. I had occasion to visit with our former colleague, Gordon Smith, a tremendously good Senator from the State of Oregon, while I was in Las Vegas a couple of weeks ago. Even now we often speak--as we did in Las Vegas that evening--about our experience with those who have committed suicide. Gordon lost a son, I lost a father, and there are a small number of people here in this room today--if we could do an oral poll, we would find that many people in this room have been affected by suicide. Think about it. Each year, about 33,000 people commit suicide. That is a lot of people. It took me a while to accept not feeling sorry for myself and to try to do something about it, and we have done some things here as a body about suicide. We really don't understand it very well. For example, most suicides occur in the western part of the United States. I would have thought just the opposite. The West has bright, sunshiny skies, and the weather is a lot better than places like New York, but for some reason, west of the Mississippi, we have a problem with suicide that doesn't occur in other places. It is a national problem, and we have to do something about it. We have 33,000 people die every year, and those are the ones we know about. There are hunting accidents, car accidents, and hiking accidents that are really suicides but they are not acknowledged as such. From 1999 through 2014, the suicide rate in the United States increased by 24 percent, both men and women of all ages. Women are now becoming more equal to men in killing themselves. If we are going to actively address the increasing rate of suicides, we can't ignore the role firearms play. Guns are the most common device men turn to when they commit suicide. That is according to the CDC and not some leftwing group the Republicans like to harangue about. Almost 23,000 suicides were carried out with firearms in 2013--that is the last information that we have--which is 10 percent higher than 3 years earlier. We don't really know what is happening in the military. Twenty-two people in the military will kill themselves today. It is mostly done after they have been honorably discharged from the military. We need to invest in evidence-based prevention. Young people are killing themselves. One of my wonderful staff members, my chief of staff--she is such a dear friend--comes from a large family of 10 children. One of her brothers is a medical doctor with twins. One of them hanged himself--an 11-year-old boy, dead. We have to have more science-based information, and we don't have it. Mr. President, 33,000 people are dying each year as a result of self- inflicted injuries. I note with a degree of seriousness that September 10 is World Suicide Prevention Day. I hope we can all acknowledge this is something on which we need to work together. It is not a partisan issue; just ask Gordon Smith. It is not a partisan issue; just ask me. As I have indicated, many people who work in these wonderful buildings in the Capitol have been affected by suicide. Will the Chair announce the business of the day.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. I announce that the Senator from California (Mrs. Boxer), the Senator from Illinois (Mr. Durbin), the Senator from Virginia (Mr. Kaine), and the Senator from Michigan (Mr. Peters) are necessarily absent. I further announce that, if present and voting, the Senator from Virginia (Mr. Kaine) would vote ``yea.''

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Why can't we have a vote on Blumenthal? That is all--one vote, 30 minutes. If you work it out to satisfaction, we don't need to have that vote. What could be more reasonable than that?

Mr. REID. Mr. President, we have given everyone our amendments. There are seven. I think that everything can be worked out on all of them. There is one that is relevant to the underlying legislation that is offered by the Senator from Connecticut, Mr. Blumenthal. I am not sure that I want to go into this deal where both of you have to approve that amendment. I think he should at least be allowed to have a vote. We have agreed that a half-hour debate on it is plenty, at least on that one. If you can't work something out, I want to have a vote on Blumenthal. That doesn't sound unreasonable. On six of them, Senator Boxer can do what she thinks is appropriate. On Blumenthal, if you can't work something out to his satisfaction, I want a half-hour debate and a vote on it.

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I do not understand why we can't have the two managers agree that they will do their best to work out these amendments of ours and of theirs. But if we can't, I want to at least have a vote, and you can vote it down if you have to, but I want to make sure that Blumenthal is protected. If we can't work something out, then we have a vote on it--one vote.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I appreciate very much my friend the assistant leader for always looking out for me, as he has for 34 years. I appreciate it very much. We came together here 34 years ago, to Congress, and I appreciate all he has done over the years and especially his friendship. Zika Virus Funding and Judicial Nominations Mr. President, quickly, it is hard for me to understand how my friend the Republican leader can stand here and talk about Zika. Let's just look back at what happened. We passed here, with 89 votes, a compromise Zika funding bill. Democrats and the President wanted more money. We agreed to $1.1 billion. It flew out of here and went to the House. The House decided they wanted to do a few things. They wanted to restrict funding for birth control provided by Planned Parenthood. Remember, 2 million women visited Planned Parenthood last year. With all the problems with Zika now, there are a lot more who are going to be showing up at Planned Parenthood. That legislation exempts pesticide spraying from the Clean Water Act. It cuts veterans funding by $500 million--half a billion dollars. That money was being used to speed up the process in the veterans' claims. It cuts Ebola funding by $107 million. Yet it rescinds $543 million of ObamaCare money. It strikes a prohibition on displaying the Confederate flag. So, in effect, the Republicans in the House decided they would send back this bill loaded with poison pills. We had just passed the bill that I told you went over there--straight funding for research and taking care of the problems with Zika. That was it. It was very simple. Even though the Republicans voted--89 votes--with us a few weeks before that, they suddenly decided: Well, we will go along with flying the Confederate flag, cutting ObamaCare, and destroying Planned Parenthood. So how can he with a straight face talk about our having hurt Zika? Zika is a very dangerous virus. We are learning more about it every day. One of America's prominent scientists today said that now Zika affects everybody. The virus goes in people's eyes and leads to vision impairment and blindness. It is not just women of childbearing age; it is going to affect a lot of people. Please, please, Mr. Republican Leader, don't talk about this anymore. It takes away from your dignity. Yesterday I objected to committees meeting to bring attention to the fact that the Senate Republicans refuse to hold a hearing on Chief Judge Merrick Garland, this man who should go to the Supreme Court. As said by a senior member of the Republican caucus, Orrin Hatch of Utah, he was a consensus nominee, but they refuse to allow this man to go on the Supreme Court. They want to save that Supreme Court nomination for Donald Trump. Donald Trump picking who goes on the Supreme Court--a man who believes in waterboarding. He said that waterboarding isn't enough torture; we need to do more than just waterboarding. That is just one of the little snippets from this man. This morning, a number of Senators are going to go to the Supreme Court steps with former clerks of Judge Garland, and we are going to hear positive statements about Merrick Garland, as if we need more. We have plenty. This is a good man. I am glad to see that the Republican leader is talking about some movement on Zika. Maybe we have a path forward on that. We are going to continue to take steps to keep attention on this important nomination and on Zika and other things. The Republicans simply aren't doing their job. You have seen these charts we have, and we will continue to show them. It is very simple: Do your job. And the Republicans simply are refusing to do their job. In the meantime, I want to find other ways to focus attention on what they are not doing to help Chief Judge Garland. My friend the assistant Democratic leader is going to attend a meeting--which he does whenever they have one, with rare exception--of the Judiciary Committee. He loves that committee. He is the ranking member and was chair of the Constitution Subcommittee. Tomorrow, it is my understanding that we are going to try to do a markup of some district court judges. I look forward to what is going to happen at that meeting of the Judiciary tomorrow. ObamaCare In this morning's Wall Street Journal--a paper not ever confused with being liberal or pro-Obama--there is stunning news--very positive news--about the number of Americans who now have health insurance. According to the Centers for Disease Control, our Nation's uninsured rate stands at 8.5 percent. From where it was before, that is stunning. Because of ObamaCare, almost 92 percent of Americans now have health insurance--92 percent of Americans. People no longer have to worry if they have a child with diabetes or someone has been in an accident or you are a woman--you can now get insurance. Insurance companies don't control what goes on. I remind my Republican colleagues, who love to come down here and berate ObamaCare, could ObamaCare be better? It could be a lot better if we had 5 percent help from the Republicans, 2 percent, 1 percent, but they have done nothing to help the health care delivery system in this country. In fact, they have done things to hurt it. Some 70 times they voted to defund ObamaCare and do away with it. It wasn't long ago that we talked about how many millions of people had no health insurance. That is no longer an argument. It has been 6 years and the Affordable Care Act has cut the number of uninsured Americans significantly. The Nation saw the sharpest decline in the number of uninsured people in 2014 when the ObamaCare coverage provisions kicked in. This is no coincidence. While the Republicans have been making much about the premium increases, the fact is, the vast majority of Americans are protected by ObamaCare provisions that safeguard against these huge tax rates and tax increases. These are the facts. All across America our constituents are getting the health coverage they were promised when Congress passed the Affordable Care Act. I repeat: It could be made better if a few Republicans would break away from the Trump mentality and try to help us. It is time for Republicans to stop denying the evidence. ObamaCare has worked and it is working. Nomination of Merrick Garland and the Judiciary Committee Chairman Mr. President, after 7 weeks, we are finally back working. We finally returned from a historically long and unprecedented long, long, long summer vacation. About 2 months were wasted by Republicans who could have been doing their jobs. We would have been happy to join with them in getting things done on the Senate floor and in our committees. If Republicans were serious about their constitutional duties, they would have spent some time giving Chief Judge Merrick Garland the hearing he deserves. He deserves to have a hearing. Why are they afraid to give him a hearing? They are afraid to give him a hearing because if they did, this good man's credibility, competence, experience, and just the simple fact that he is such a nice man would be overwhelming. They don't want to do that. The American people would know they are trying to hold up somebody who should be on the Supreme Court. The American Bar Association said he was unanimously ``well- qualified.'' They can't give a higher rating. If they could, they would. Senator Hatch said there is ``no question'' he could be confirmed and that he would be a ``consensus nominee,'' but Senate Republicans will not even give this good man a hearing. It is nothing short of being shameful. As a USA TODAY editorial last month said, ``Flat-out ignoring a vacancy on the nation's highest court, which Senate Republicans have vowed to do while President Obama remains in office, is an abrogation of its constitutional duty.'' The people we represent across this great country cannot believe their representatives have put partisan interests above their constitutional duties. They cannot believe the chairman of the Judiciary Committee has gone along with this scam, and that is what it is. Over this recess, the Des Moines Register, Iowa's largest newspaper, published another letter to the editor. There have been lots of editorials. Here is what one Iowan said: I am a 60-year-old registered Republican and this year I am not voting for Chuck Grassley. Senator, you have tossed 225 legal years of tradition in the trash heap and have made this country weaker. . . . I think the people of Iowa are not served by waiting over a year for a judicial hearing. Where is the senator I first voted for 40 years ago? I have been in Congress for 34 years, and this is something that is a familiar refrain that we hear from people all over Iowa, and that's how I feel. Where is the Senator I first started serving with in the Congress those many decades ago? I admit, as I consider all of the unprecedented obstruction of Merrick Garland's nomination, I am again forced to ask: Where is the Chuck Grassley I have come to know over the last three and a half decades? I can't imagine this man who we always thought was an independent person would refuse do his job on the Judiciary Committee. As chairman, he failed to schedule a hearing on this qualified nominee. The first speech I gave on this floor those many years ago was talking about the Taxpayer Bill of Rights. The Presiding Officer was the Senator from Arkansas, David Pryor. Senator Grassley heard my speech. He agreed to help me. With the help of Senator Grassley and Senator Pryor, we got that passed my first year in the Senate. It was really quite a big victory. We put the taxpayer on more equal footing with the tax collector, and Senator Grassley worked with both Senator Pryor and me. That is the way Grassley used to be--independent. I could not have imagined--but I have to accept it--that he would refuse to do his job by blocking a vote on Garland's nomination, but that is precisely what the chairman of the Judiciary Committee has done. He has blocked his nomination. He was nominated 175 days ago. For 175 days, this senior Senator from Iowa has refused to lift a finger in consideration for this nominee. The Senator I knew would not cede the independence of this very good committee--famous committee. It has been around forever in the Senate. I could never have imagined what he has done. Since he became chairman, we have seen the independence and prestige of the Judiciary Committee manipulated by Senator Grassley's boss, the Republican leader, for narrow, partisan warfare. We all know where the Republican leader stands on President Obama's Supreme Court nominee. Long ago, Senator McConnell decided to abandon any degree of bipartisanship or decorum just to spite President Obama. We heard that within hours of Scalia having passed away. The Republican leader admitted as much last month when he told a gathering in Kentucky, ``One of my proudest moments was when I looked at Barack Obama in the eye and I said: `Mr. President, you will not fill this Supreme Court vacancy.' '' Isn't that something to be proud of? One of the Republican leader's proudest moments was the time he abandoned his constitutional duty and failed to do the job he was elected to do. Republicans' proudest moments are not accomplishments, they are obstruction. What a shame that he is putting Senator McConnell's political vendetta against President Obama over the will of the people of Iowa and the other 49 States. It is disappointing that Senator Grassley is going along with this obstruction. Where is the Senator I have known for such a long time? I am not mad at Senator Grassley. I remember who he used to be--what he used to be--and that is going to overcome any animosity I have toward Senator Grassley. My only concern is that I think the great record of this man from Iowa is being tarnished--some say beyond repair. His legacy is going to be damaged, and we have seen that in editorials out of Iowa as well as letters to the editor out of Iowa-- lots of them. Donald Trump is the American nightmare. He is the most unqualified major party Presidential candidate anyone can remember. He is a bigot and a scam artist. He will not show us his tax returns, and Senator Grassley is holding the Supreme Court vacancy for this man. Just last week, the chairman of the committee even compared Donald Trump--listen to this one--to Ronald Reagan. Wow. I served with Ronald Reagan for a little bit, and I didn't agree with everything he did, but I admired him as a person. I thought he had a good administration. I thought what he did in bringing the Cold War to an end and swallowing a little bit of pride, which you have to do sometimes in order to do important things--he met with Communist leaders on more than one occasion. He, more than anyone else, brought the Cold War to a close. He didn't have an unblemished record. There was the commerce fiasco which had a lot of problems, but he was a good person. With all due respect to the Senator from Iowa, I know President Reagan and I worked with him and, as I indicated, had a few differences with him, but I can say unequivocally that Donald Trump is no Ronald Reagan. That is the most significant understatement I have made on this floor in a long time. The fact that my colleague from Iowa would lump Ronald Reagan in with an egomaniac--a selfish person like Donald Trump--should scare the people of Iowa. This is not the Grassley we have come to know all these many years. Instead of spending his days as Trump's fan, the Judiciary chairman should perform his constitutional duty and give President Obama's Supreme Court nominee due consideration. That is the job the people of Iowa elected him to do, and it is simple common decency and fairness. Senator Grassley should do his job and give Merrick Garland a hearing and a vote, and it should be now. Don't make another Iowan question: Where is the Senator I first voted for 40 years ago? I yield the floor.