Todd Young

Mr. YOUNG

Mr. YOUNG. Madam President, when I served in the House of Representatives, I walked into a lot of meetings back in Indiana full of angry conservatives. Do you know what they were angry about? They were angry about the debt limit in 2011, 2013, 2014, and more. And in each of those meetings, I made the argument that raising the debt limit was a necessary thing to do, a responsible thing to do, a conservative thing to do. I still believe that. Defaulting on our Nation's debt will start a dangerous spiral of economic turmoil that will rebound to the disadvantage of the least among us. Interest rates would rise, the value of the dollar would fall, essential government workers might not get paid, and so on and so forth. Now, back in those days, as a Republican in the House majority, we never failed to raise the debt limit--not once. And we also never failed to have a say in the spending that necessitated raising the debt limit. In 2019, we again raised the debt limit, this time through July 13 of this year. Now it is Democrats. It is my Democrat friends who control the majority in both Chambers of Congress. And with that control, the hard- left has embarked on an unprecedented, reckless spending spree designed to remake America in their image in fairly short order--before year's end--$1.9 trillion in March; a $4.2 trillion budget authored by Senator Bernie Sanders; and now $3.5 trillion on a partisan, human infrastructure grab bag, the largest spending bill in American history. And so I say to my Democratic friends: You have decided to do all of that on your own, and now you want our help. It is unclear to me why you need it. You have done so much on your own. You have a number of options at your disposal to raise the debt limit all by yourself, just as you have gone it alone on this spending spree. A farmer back home, over the August recess, came up to me as I was traveling the highways and byways of the Hoosier State. And I would like to think that the people I represent are blessed with a whole lot of common sense, which, for whatever reason, oftentimes doesn't permeate this town. And the farmer told me that it seems like in this instance the butcher wants to build a new slaughterhouse, and he is asking the cows to co-sign on the construction loan. It is a pretty good metaphor for what the Democrats are asking of the Republican Members. If Democrats had treated Republicans as a governing partner in an equally divided U.S. Senate these past 9 months, I might feel differently about this debt limit vote. Instead, they have treated us as an annoyance, an obstacle--adverse to every common interest we might have. Now, I know we can count on my Democratic friends to ensure that America never defaults on its debt. I know we can count on every single Democratic U.S. Senator to vote to raise that debt ceiling, to own all of this spending they--and they alone--are responsible for. I sure hope we can count on them to vote on a specific dollar figure in conjunction with the reconciliation bill. I know there has been apprehension made public by the budget chairman over in the House of Representatives. I suspect that is shared by many of my colleagues. But show some courage. Do what Republicans have done. Do what I have done. Walk the plank. Own this spending that you are responsible for. I will let you know, a vote by Republicans to raise the debt limit at this point in time is a vote to co-sign the Democrats' partisan, irresponsible, and unprecedented spending spree, and we are going to have none of it. I yield the floor.

Mr. YOUNG

Mr. YOUNG. Mr. President, in 2017, my colleague Senator Sanders said: The function of reconciliation is to adjust federal spending and revenue, not to enact major changes in social policy. Now, fast forward to 2021, and Senator Sanders and many of my Democratic colleagues have changed their tune. You see, Democrats in Congress are doubling down on their efforts to steer America toward the Democratic socialist policies laid out in Senator Sanders' budget with a $3.5 trillion spending plan that would be the most significant expansion of our social safety net programs since the 1960s. Democrats are seeking to enact these sweeping changes through reconciliation--a partisan process, which Senator Sanders himself said is not meant to be a vehicle for major policy changes. From job-killing corporate tax hikes to small business money grabs and hidden tax increases on the middle class, the Democrats' plan will punish job creators and workers and make us less competitive on the global stage. Now, perhaps that is part of their plan--to remake the United States of America in the image of Western Europe. It is as if they want to punish businesses while rewarding unemployment and dependence on the Federal Government. Republicans want to empower Americans to be self-sufficient, to unleash their God-given potential. That, after all, is the promise at the heart of the Declaration of Independence. It is that promise that has led generation after generation of people to our shores so that they, too, can realize the individual liberty, the promise at the heart of America's Declaration of Independence. Republicans want to provide employment opportunities and a strong economy. We don't want to make people beholden to the government for their livelihood. It is not healthy. That is not freedom. It is not American. As a young man, I visited the Soviet Union as part of a junior high school soccer exchange trip. I still remember what I saw there. Food was scarce. The water was, too. There were public water stations, where Russians drank from a communal cup. They were desperate for everyday items Americans take for granted: blue jeans, for example; and chewing gum, too. For decades, Russians were denied this because it was a symbol of American culture. Now, think about that. A government that gives you everything can also take anything away, even chewing gum. Profligate collectivism--you might call it socialism--creates an environment where citizens progressively give up the right to decide how they spend their earnings, how they educate their children, how they get better when they are sick; a system where citizens are frozen on the lower rungs of the ladder of life's opportunity, where upward mobility is unknown. That is why the Democrats' reckless tax-and-spend proposal goes against everything we believe in this Nation. Among its many defects, their proposal picks winners and losers. It increases our dependence on foreign oil and allows blatant double dipping. All of this is, of course, incredibly misguided and simply makes no sense when gas prices have jumped 40 percent since January, directly harming middle-income Americans who can't afford a cent more. Punishing oil and natural gas producers while propping up renewables--many of which have materials directly sourced from communist China--will have disastrous, wide-reaching effects. A 100- percent renewable energy-supported grid will result in blackouts and will make power delivery less reliable for millions of families, not to mention the job losses for the 10 million Americans employed by these industries. Democrats are also proposing sweeping changes to Medicare. This is a program that is incredibly popular among our senior citizens, and it is already on shaky financial ground. It is projected to reach insolvency within the next 4 years, prior to any changes by the Democrats that will undermine it. But Democrats are determined to add benefits that private plans already cover more efficiently. Adding hearing, vision, and dental under traditional Medicare is duplicative of the coverage provided through Medicare Advantage. Seniors enjoy their high-performing Medicare plans, which come at little to no additional cost. Expanding Medicare is unnecessary, duplicative, and will come with higher costs, less access, and harm the quality of care providers are able to provide. These are just a couple of examples, but the Democrats' reckless tax- and- spend proposal would have harmful consequences across the board for our country and the freedoms we enjoy. Americans should be outraged--I know Hoosiers are--not only by this radical expansion of government but by the process Democrats are using to ram through their liberal agenda, possibly ramming it through a 50- 50 Republican-Democrat equally divided U.S. Senate. Now, Republicans have stood up to socialism again and again. And we must continue to do so by opposing this reckless tax-and-spending boondoggle. We must protect the American promise and ensure that this remains the land of the free.

Mr. YOUNG

Mr. YOUNG. Madam President, now more than ever, we must find bipartisan solutions wherever possible to stimulate our economy, get Americans back to work, and ensure we maintain our position on the world stage as the leader in scientific and technological innovation. This amendment would preserve funding related to U.S. competitiveness and innovation by retaining the full expensing for research and development and expanding tax incentives for small businesses. Immediate R&D expensing incentivizes long-term investments in innovation and technological breakthroughs. By passing this amendment, we can make sure that the United States continues to be the world leader in this space. I understand we are prepared to pass this by voice vote.

Mr. YOUNG. Madam President, I call up Young amendment No. 3444 and ask that it be reported by number.

Mr. YOUNG. Madam President, over 60 times during their campaign and since taking office, President Biden and Vice President Harris have pledged not to raise one single penny in taxes--not one single penny-- on anyone making less than $400,000 a year. Today, my Democratic colleagues are using this budget to try to pull a fast one on the American taxpayers by giving lip service to this pledge while proposing tax hikes that will largely be borne by middle- and working-class Americans. For example, it is well-understood that a significant portion of corporate tax hikes are borne by American workers in the form of fewer job opportunities and reduced wage growth. Now, while my colleagues included a nominal mention of the tax pledge in the underlying budget, importantly, the budget's reserve fund for the upcoming $3\1/2\ trillion reckless tax-and-spend bill is not conditioned on that pledge. So this amendment will prevent Congress from breaking the Biden-Harris tax promise to pay for reconciliation. As President Biden said: Not one penny. It's a guarantee. I urge my colleagues to support this amendment.

Mr. YOUNG. Madam President, I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. YOUNG

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

Mr. YOUNG. Mr. President, when I first ran for Congress in 2010, then-Vice President Biden was on a ``recovery summer'' tour. You see, on the heels of a trillion-dollar stimulus package, he argued millions of jobs would magically appear. Happy days are here again. When that summer ended, the unemployment rate was 9.4 percent, and 280,000 jobs vanished. If ever there was a show that did not deserve a sequel, this was it. But that is exactly what the American people are living through right now. When they passed their $1.9 trillion ``son of stimulus'' package earlier this year, the President and his friends in Congress promised millions of jobs and another summer of recovery. Like the original, this sequel is a flop. That is because, once again, our friends across the aisle are confusing taxpayer priorities with a liberal wish list. I see at home the cost of living is rising for Hoosier families and job creators. You take a trip to my hometown grocery in Greenwood, IN, the cost of steak and chicken and bread have all increased. Across the board, the cost of putting food on the table has gone up over 5 percent since last year. It is not just groceries. The cost of gas and energy and housing and household goods are at historic highs, all while America endures a nationwide crime wave and our borders are overrun. Now, I know my Democratic colleagues don't want to use the I-word, but let's call it what it is: Inflation. Taxation without legislation. And inflation is at its highest level since 2008. We know they want to raise taxes on Americans, including those in the middle class, but this is probably not what Democrats had in mind. But the President, evidently, he is not worried. He says the rising cost of living is only temporary. It is transitory. Look, this is easy for him to say. His pocketbook isn't impacted by inflation. He isn't buying groceries at the local grocery store or a new fridge for the White House. He is not gassing up the Presidential limousine. Maybe that explains why he is urging Congress to spend another $3.5 trillion taxpayer dollars--$10 billion here for environmental justice, $174 billion there for electric cars, a massive expansion of Medicare and Medicaid, and trillions more in taxes on American families as we emerge from a global pandemic. Trust me, I can tell you, Hoosiers don't want any of that, nor do the majority of the American people: no more trillion-dollar tax-and-spend rescue plans. They aren't rescuing Americans; they are raising their cost of living. Don't take it from me. Take it from Larry Summers, President Obama's economic adviser. He is warning President Biden about inflation--has been for a number of months. In fact, he described recent fiscal macroeconomic policy, including the last round of nearly $2 trillion in stimulus as ``the least responsible fiscal macroeconomic policy we've had in the last 40 years.'' With friends like these--but, you know, he speaks the truth. I wish the President would listen to Secretary Summers. He certainly won't listen to us. We are not arguing for inaction, though. In fact, we are willing to collaborate. We know there is need for targeted and responsible government spending tied to actual results on core infrastructure, on workforce training, on cutting-edge technology. We just believe that every taxpayer dollar is a sacred trust, and we should treat it accordingly. If we are going to invest it, the American people better see returns. What they are seeing in the Democrats' $3.5 trillion budget proposal is a rerun of a failed trillion-dollar tax- and-spend spectacle from just a decade ago. Now, the final act of that show, by the way, was not recovery. It was the American people handing control of the House of Representatives over to the Republican Party. The President should keep that in mind. The President should keep that in mind. I yield the floor

Mr. YOUNG

Mr. YOUNG. Mr. President, today I wish to recognize and celebrate the centennial of Indianapolis' Frederick Douglass Park. In the early 20th century, recreational opportunities for Black Americans in Indianapolis were separate and unequal. There were no public swings or slides for children to play on, no designated green spaces for communities to gather in. When the city's government took notice of the polluted and dangerous swimming holes and streams in which citizens cooled off, it constructed sanitary swimming pools, in White neighborhoods only. There were, thankfully, Hoosiers who recognized these injustices and resolved to right them: the physician and city council member Sumner Furniss and journalist Marcus Stewart, who both lobbied for the creation of a park to accommodate the city's growing Black population. And the family of local entrepreneur Edward Claypool, who donated the land on which to build it. Because of their efforts, in the summer of 1921, a new park opened on the northeast side of Indianapolis where African Americans were welcome. It was fittingly named for the great champion of freedom, Frederick Douglass. A year later, a large swimming pool filled with clean water opened. There were slides, swings, and merry-go-rounds too. Next came the adjoining Douglass Park Golf Course. Originally six tomato cans in a cow pasture, it later grew to nine holes and par 34 and is one of the only golf courses in the Nation named after an African American. Tennis courts, basketball hoops, and baseball diamonds were added as well. When the doors to other communal gathering places across Indianapolis were closed and locked, Frederick Douglass Park didn't just provide an alternative, it created a beloved institution that brought people together. Thousands of Hoosiers spent their weekends and holidays here. It was the site of civic gatherings, political rallies, family reunions, basketball tournaments, little league championships, and jazz concerts. Across the park on a typical summer night the thump of basketballs on pavement competed with the echoes of brass instruments. It was not uncommon to see the likes of champion boxer Joe Louis playing a round of golf or future basketball legends Mel Daniels or George McGinnis working on their game. One hundred years later, Frederick Douglass Park continues to play an important role in the civic life of our capital city and bring joy to those who call it home. It is exactly the type of public place where Americans have always engaged, interacted, and found common ground. I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing this milestone.

Mr. YOUNG

Mr. YOUNG. I thank my colleague very much for his reflections on what is really at stake here, Mr. President. Last month, the Biden administration's Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services notified the State of Indiana that it was withdrawing approval of the State's Gateway to Work Program. So what does this actually mean to rank-and-file Hoosiers? Well, it means that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has decided to revoke Indiana's ability to determine appropriate work requirements and appropriate community engagement expectations for Medicaid recipients in our State. It means that this administration regards work as some form of punishment, and efforts to transition to a position of self- reliance are somehow inappropriate. Now, we Republicans believe in people. We believe in people. We believe in self-reliance. We believe that the vast majority of Americans, Americans of modest means, don't want to be trapped in Government programs. Medicaid should ideally be a service which is a temporary support for people who really need it. The goal should be to prepare individuals for a life of dignity, and that includes securing a vocation, finding a measure of self-reliance in life. Now, Indiana wasn't the only State to receive this bad news. Arizona officials also received word that their Medicaid work expectations were being revoked. Just a few months ago, this administration likewise pulled all work expectations from the States of Arkansas, New Hampshire, Michigan, and Wisconsin. Indiana's Gateway to Work Program, again revoked by CMS, would have merely asked Medicaid recipients to report 20 hours of work or volunteer or school or other activities every month. This is really important. These community engagement activities are designed to improve quality of life, to improve the quality of the recipient's life over the long-term and to help Hoosiers transition from Medicaid to full employment. This is what people want. When we think of the American dream, we think of the ability to go out and start a family and be part of a larger community and to be able to meaningfully participate in a nation's civic life and to secure a vocation. Most would regard the goals of Indiana's Gateway to Work program as commendable. However, according to CMS, this program would result in significant coverage losses and harm to beneficiaries--harm to beneficiaries--a misleading statement that ignores the extensive list of individuals exempt from this requirement: students, pregnant women, the medically frail or the incapacitated, those with disabilities, and a bunch of others. Now, luckily for Hoosiers, the State of Indiana had not yet implemented the Gateway to Work program at the time of CMS's notice because of the unique challenges presented by the pandemic; meaning that Medicaid recipients would not face immediate disruption of their benefits. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for other Americans across the country. And we are here to fight for them. This includes Texas, where the administration's decision to revoke that State's waiver put in jeopardy healthcare for 4 million Americans. That doesn't sound very compassionate to me. Up to this point, Medicaid waivers have allowed the States the ability, the freedom--the freedom under our federalist system--to test new policy approaches within the Medicaid Program, allowing them to design and improve their programs in ways that best fit their own populations and maybe serve as models for other States where successes are elicited and proven. But with the Biden administration's recent actions, with their one- size-fits-all mandates and mindset, States will now need to be on guard. CMS may decide to revoke its waiver authority at any given time. This means any attempt by a State to improve its Medicaid Program carries a serious risk of disrupting healthcare for the program's beneficiaries if that innovation could ultimately be revoked. God forbid we try and improve a government program. But I guess Medicaid is perfect, and we can't find room for improvement. Certainly, we can't rely on the States to come up with improvements. Any improvements that might be made would have to come from Washington, DC. This is the sort of mindset we seem to be dealing with. But for a nation that has always valued quality and innovation in healthcare, for Americans who believe we should empower all of our citizens, and for leaders who believe we have a responsibility to provide the least among us the necessary tools to stand on their own two feet, this is an unsustainable situation. So I urge my colleagues to act now and stand up for their State's ability to set their own Medicaid requirements that meet the needs of their own citizens. And with that, I yield to my esteemed colleague from Indiana, who has been working very hard on this issue, Senator Braun.

Mr. YOUNG

Mr. YOUNG. Mr. President, Hoosiers have one less hero. On July 7, Detective Greg Ferency died in the line of duty in Terre Haute, IN. This is a tragic loss for his community and our State. Greg's life was dedicated to protecting people, pursuing justice, and preventing violence. For 30 years, he served Terre Haute, the town where he was born and raised, as a police officer; during 10 of those, he doubled as a member of a Federal Bureau of Investigation task force. Greg broke drug rings, battled the evil of human trafficking, and helped defend places of worship from terrorism. He was constantly on the frontlines in the fight against crime, leading and securing over 550 methamphetamine lab investigations. He was a teacher, too, training teammates, leading community forums, and authoring a book on drug enforcement. A father of two, Greg was admired by his police peers and valued by the Federal agents he worked with. ``You'll never meet a finer person,'' remembered a colleague. The hundreds of friends and fellow officers who paid tribute during his funeral bears witness to this. We mourn his loss, we celebrate his life, and we keep his loved ones in our hearts and prayers. And we remember this: What we call bravery, the men and women who wear the badge simply call duty. They willingly stand in the way of threats to decency and order. They face grave dangers so other Americans do not have to. Greg Ferency was one of these guardians. There are no words to adequately express our gratitude to him. I ask my colleagues, though, to join me in extending our sympathies to his family and pledging to never forget his sacrifice.

Mr. YOUNG

Mr. YOUNG. Madam President, today we are discussing S. 1, the so- called For the People Act. Now, this legislation takes a system that is actually working quite well and applies drastic, draconian, and desperate election reforms meant to keep Democrats in power. Now, why do I say the current system is working well? Well, let me tell you just how easy it is back home in my home county of Johnson County, IN, to cast one's vote. You see, beginning 4 weeks before the election, you can vote early in person, with no excuses, Monday through Friday, for at least 8 hours per day. The two Saturdays before the election, early voting was open for 7 hours each day. Monday, the day before the election, early voting was open for 3\1/2\ additional hours. And then on election day, polls were open for 12 hours. In total, that is 201\1/2\ hours of voting across 23 days, over a period of 4 weeks. In total, you see, we afford Hoosiers plenty of opportunity to vote. And lest you think that my suburban county is somehow unique in the State of Indiana, let me disabuse you of that notion. In neighboring Indianapolis, they had 221 hours of early voting over that same period. Additionally, Hoosiers have the ability to vote absentee. Now, you can vote absentee in the State of Indiana by mail for 11 separate reasons, including being sick or caring for someone who is sick or working on election day. Now, colleagues, in the history of our country, voting has never been easier than it is right now. That is right. You may not see this in the media, but this is indeed true. You see, the truth bears it out right in the numbers. Last year, a larger percentage of the population voted than they had in any election since 18-year-olds were given the right to vote 50 years ago. A larger proportion of the population voted than it had since over the last 50 years. Why aren't we hearing this? According to the Census Bureau, voter turnout for African Americans and Hispanic Americans were up 3 and 6 percent, respectively, not down. Asian Americans saw a huge 10-percent increase. This is fantastic. Yet my colleagues on the left would have the American people believe that we are living in an era of extreme suppression or, as President Biden demagogically, dishonestly, and divisively called it, ``Jim Crow on steroids.'' So what exactly is the national Democratic response to this record turnout? Well, they would like to strip election powers away from the States, States like Indiana, and give those powers to Democratic overlords here in Washington, DC. That is how we ended up with S. 1, the For the People Act. So for the folks back home, what is this For the People Act really all about? Why are we having this debate? Why are we going to have this vote? It is really about four things--four things. One, national Democrats want to fund their campaigns with your taxpayer dollars. That is right. Under the For the People Act, a $100 campaign donation to Nancy Pelosi could be matched by $600 from taxpayers. I don't know about, you know, my colleagues who are listening, but my neighbors work very hard for their wages and salaries, and I expect that is the case for them as well. They don't want $600 to match $100 given to Nancy Pelosi. Two, national Democrats want to gut popular voter ID laws, like those in the State of Indiana. I know what Hoosiers believe. Hoosiers believe you should have to prove who you are in order to vote. Our voter ID law, incidentally, passed in 2005. It was challenged in the courts, and it was upheld in the Supreme Court of the United States by a vote of 6 to 3. But this bill, this For the People Act, says you don't have to prove who you are. You don't have to prove you are who you say you are in order to cast your vote. We will just take you at your word. That seems to me to be ripe for abuse. No. 3, the third thing this is all about is that national Democrats want to allow ballot harvesting. It is an awful word, and it is an awful thing--the harvesting of ballots. In Indiana, a member of your household can already turn in your absentee ballot. You can do it. But under this law, anybody can turn in your ballot--or not turn it in--and there is no limit as to how many ballots a single person can turn in-- hundreds of ballots, thousands of ballots. It is ripe for abuse. The final thing this is about is that national Democrats want to take control of the Federal Election Commission. They want to turn it into a partisan committee. Now, everyone in this body believes that the right to vote is sacred. It is a sacred right that all of us have, and we ought to be able to exercise it unhindered and with fidelity. We are in this Chamber because each one of our respective constituents exercised their right to vote. That is how we earned our election certificates, and we all agree that our constituents need to be able to trust the systems in place that allowed them to cast their vote. So we can't take that sacred right and turn it into a partisan exercise, as S. 1 proposes we do. That, my friends, is why this Senator will be voting no on S. 1, the so-called For the People Act.

Mr. YOUNG

Mr. YOUNG. Mr. President, I want to begin by thanking my colleagues: Senator Schumer, Senator Wicker, and Senator Cantwell. All showed exceptional leadership over the course of drafting this legislation and ensuring that it made it through the process. I also want to thank members of my team: Lauren O'Brien, my legislative director; Brandt Anderson, my national security adviser; Dan Cheever; Nancy Martinez, on my ledge staff. They went above and beyond. So this piece of legislation, yes, it, indeed, is related to countering the threat that the Chinese Communist Party presents to this country. But it also is a piece of legislation that we are considering at a time when so many of our citizens feel overlooked, when the intimate communities that they call home feel hollowed out, when trust in our civic institutions is eroding, and when allegiance seems increasingly to our political tribes and not to one another on behalf of the common good. So let's not kid ourselves. The Chinese Communist Party aims to exploit all of these divisions. They aim to exploit the insecurities of the global age. They aim to ensure that their power and their capabilities continue to grow. And they are, indeed, locked in a global competition with the United States of America and with our partners and allies. So let's do what we have always done as Americans in times like this. Let's come together, and let's use this as an opportunity to become a better version of ourselves. I will end with this. When generation after generation of immigrants have come into the New York Harbor, they have seen that beautiful Statue of Liberty. And at the base of the Statue of Liberty is a sonnet, and everyone here in this Chamber and so many across America are familiar with the words of that sonnet: ``Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses . . . '' There is also a line in there that I particularly love about ``imprisoned lightning''--``imprisoned lightning.'' I am not sure what Emma Lazarus meant by the phrase ``imprisoned lightning,'' but to me that ``imprisoned lightning'' refers to the untapped potential, the God-given potential of every human being. And this legislation, the Endless Frontier Act, aims to tap into that ``imprisoned lightning'' of people across the heartland to ensure that they can stay part of the economic game in the 21st century and that they help us outcompete, outinnovate, and outgrow the Chinese Communist Party. We will win. We are going to get a great vote today, and I thank all of my colleagues for their intention to support this legislation.

Mr. YOUNG

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

Mr. YOUNG. Mr. President, I am very proud of where the Senate is headed today. It has taken well over a year-and-a-half for this bill to finally come together, to come to fruition. There have been many committees of jurisdiction that actively participated in this process, Members who have accommodated other Members, and I am proud of the work product that we have been developing here. I especially want to thank, as we head toward what I hope is final passage later on this evening, my legislative director, Lauren O'Brien; my national security adviser, Brandt Anderson; Dan Cheever, who worked on Commerce Committee, all manner of work for me. They have worked tirelessly with Senator Schumer's staff and my colleagues on the Republican side to ensure that this day came about, and we got a positive outcome. Let me say a bit about this legislation. We Americans have always looked toward the frontier and forward to new horizons. Our ancestors chased them across a continent and to the sea. When the wilderness was no more, they followed them elsewhere--in workshops and laboratories and factories and on farms, in the air and beyond. Our spirit is restless. We prefer the difficult as Americans. We have never accepted limits or impossibilities in life. No, instead, we sought to cure disease to lift the human condition, to better understand the world around us, to constantly go faster and further in these and other endeavors. And we do these things always aware that the new knowledge that they bring will benefit mankind and make our Union stronger. But this spirit is not entirely ours alone. You see, there are others out there who also harbor bold ambitions, but they don't share our democratic values. Just days ago, Communist China orbited, landed, and deployed a rover on the surface of Mars. No other nation has done this. No other nation has done this. It was their first voyage to the red planet. It is only part of the Chinese Communist Party's ambitious space program. And it is another direct challenge to the United States of America. Now, this momentous event happens at a time when so many of our citizens feel overlooked, when the communities they call home are hollowing out, when trust in our civic institutions is eroding, and when our allegiance seems increasingly to our political tribes and not to one another as citizens for the common good. Let's not kid ourselves. The Chinese Communist Party plans to exploit our difficulties and divisions. Their power and their capabilities are growing. They are, indeed, locked in a global competition with this great Nation, and they intend to win it. They intend to win it. They think of those of us in this Chamber as powerless to stop them and unable to prioritize our Nation's long-term goals over our party's short-term gains. So I ask you this: When future generations of Americans cast their gaze toward new frontiers, will they see a red flag planted on those new frontiers that is not our own? Today, we answer, unequivocally, no. Today, we declare our intention to win this century and those that follow it as well. Today, we demonstrate our faith in the American people to lead the way and vote to give them the tools to do so. This bill, this moment, is really not about beating China. It is really not about beating China. You see, the Endless Frontier Act is about using their challenge to become a better version of ourselves. It is about helping more Americans get more skin in the game, deploying their talents and untapped potential. It is about supercharging our economy as we emerge from this global pandemic which descended upon us from Communist China. It is about spreading the benefits of this economy far and wide and preparing and allowing more people, regardless of their circumstances or their place of birth, to meaningfully participate in the 21st century. It is about unleashing what Emma Lazarus called the imprisoned lightning across this land and aiding so many Americans in their pursuit of our common happiness. You see this is how we unite our Nation and tilt the balance of a great power struggle westward. This is how we become the first to reach the next great horizon. Let history record that at this moment we stood united. We declared with solemn purpose and single voice that this is our destination; that by confronting the challenges of today, we built a brighter tomorrow; and that a new generation of doers and dreamers pressed America on, once again, toward the endless frontier. I yield the floor.

Mr. YOUNG

Mr. YOUNG. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to complete my remarks before any rollcall votes.

Mr. YOUNG. Mr. President, this week is Indy 500 Week in the State of Indiana. For these 7 days, Hoosiers will be swept up in the pageantry and the tradition of the Greatest Spectacle in Racing. Every minute this week is leading toward the moment when the white flag comes out, signifying the final lap, when the drivers make one last push toward the finish line. I couldn't help but think about this annual tradition as we enter the home stretch on the Endless Frontier Act in the coming days. The legislation has evolved and improved and grown over the last few months. We now know it as the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act, but as we head into this week, I thought it important to reset and refocus on why we began this journey in the first place. For me, it began back in 2019, in the gym of all places, where one morning, Senator Schumer and I began talking about the need to go on offense against the Chinese Communist Party. Since the Cold War, Beijing has aimed to overtake America, not with weapons but through innovation, through economic growth. Through Made in China 2025, Beijing set out with a deliberate plan to dominate the world through strategic investments and emerging technologies, all of which have the potential to fundamentally change this century's economic and security environment for good or for ill. Until now, we have primarily focused on defensive countermeasures to thwart aggression by the Chinese Communist Party: blocking Huawei, imposing export controls, and improving foreign investment rules. Look, these priorities are really important, and they must remain part of the mix, but if America is to lead the world in the 21st century, it is neither realistic nor practical to build an economic iron curtain around China. You see, just as we did in the 20th century, we must not simply contain our leading global competitor but, instead, outinnovate and outgrow it. We must go on offense. The Endless Frontier Act was and is our effort to do just that, to make the kinds of research and science investments we haven't made for decades. We are creating a new Technology Directorate at the National Science Foundation and creating regional tech hubs to ensure we are leveraging the talents and abilities of Americans across the country, with the corresponding economic benefits reaching those in the heart of our country, not just those on the coasts. This legislation will be a boost to our economy, but make no mistake--it is not just about the economy. This is about deciding which standards, which values are going to animate these new technologies in the future: the values we see cracking down on protesters in the streets of Hong Kong? the values that enslave millions of Uighurs in Xinjiang? our American values, which recognize that all men are created equal and are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights? America is watching, and the free world is watching. All who are watching should be encouraged. You see, this body has largely embraced this objective. We have continued to go through the regular Senate order--an increasingly rare accomplishment in this body--of allowing each Member to offer amendments to improve this legislation. In fact, it was marked up in the Senate Commerce Committee and approved by a vote of 24 to 4. Last week, it came to the Senate floor, and we considered more amendments. This week, we will consider even more amendments. As is typically the case in regular order, nobody gets everything he wants, including the bill's authors. As one example, through the markup process, less investment than I had originally proposed will now be provided to the NSF Tech Directorate, but that is OK. It is OK because this change and others are ones I can live with so that we can come together and prove that our system works while advancing a once-in-a- generation investment in science and technology. We must send a message to the authoritarians in Beijing. They say we are too divided to lead the world in the 21st century. It is time to come together and prove them wrong. As we Hoosiers say at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the white flag is out. This is the final lap for this bill in the U.S. Senate. I look forward to seeing this open process through to the finish line so that, together, we can outcompete, outinnovate, and outgrow the Chinese Communist Party. I thank the Presiding Officer.

Mr. YOUNG

Mr. YOUNG. Madam President, I rise today to speak about a subject that is a point of pride and a source of passion for my constituents. Visit Indiana, and you are bound to see them: a backboard hammered to an old barn, rows of asphalt courts in city parks, a lone hoop in front of a cornfield or in a clearing, steel poles standing in driveways. Though basketball wasn't technically invented in Indiana, Indiana is indeed its epicenter. Even the game's inventor, James Naismith, once said: ``Basketball really had its origin in Indiana, which remains the center of the sport.'' So it is appropriate that this year's NCAA tournament will be played in its entirety in our State. Now this, of course, is in part because planning and hosting 68 teams in the middle of a global pandemic presents unprecedented challenges, challenges that Hoosiers in and around Indianapolis are going to be able to navigate. And they will be able to work their world-class college campuses in order to host teams from around the country. It is a great source of pride for us. But it is also fitting because this sport is so important to our State. You see, it is March Madness meets Hoosier Hysteria. The gyms where we play basketball are historic sites. The men and women who have competed and coached back home are Indiana folk heroes. We know their names. They are part of our common language: The Big O, Catch, the General, Bird, Wooden. Memorabilia, artifacts, and sites associated with them are preserved in museums and townhalls. They are in school gyms. They are marked by bronze plaques and other ways to memorialize those who have preceded us. Streets and roads are named in their honor. We can even identify legendary teams and major moments in our basketball history with just a few almost mythic words that are familiar to the ears of Hoosiers: ``Franklin Wonder Five,'' ``Plump's last shot,'' ``8 points in 9 seconds,'' and, yes, the infamous ``chair throw.'' Even the color of the ball--orange, of course--can be traced back to a Hoosier, Tony Hinkle, who thought it was a good idea. For Indiana, basketball is much more than just a pastime. It is a source of joy. It is a source of joy for our communities, and it brings the people in and across them together. After all, it takes little more than a basket and a ball to play. That is why wherever you go in Indiana and no matter the neighborhood you might be visiting or passing by, be it affluent or hit by hard times, in the country or in the city, you are going to see basketball played. It almost doesn't matter what the time of year it is or what the weather is like, you are likely to see basketball if you hit the road for a few hours in Indiana at any given time of year. You are going to hear it discussed. The basketball court and the gymnasium bleachers are great levelers. I am sharing this with you because there is a larger point at play. Today, it increasingly seems that Americans have less and less in common with one another; that we are defining ourselves not as a diverse nation united by a common set of values with a shared past and a shared future, but we are instead sorting ourselves into tribes based on geography or class or even political affiliation. This has been accompanied by the hollowing out of many of our communities and a loss of faith in the public spaces and access to these public spaces and institutions that shape our national identity and bind this vast, pluralistic, and beautiful country together. Now, these are dangerous trends, this separation, this tribalism; ones that we are going to have to work hard to turn back. There is only so much this body can do--I am under no illusions--there is only so much government can do to make America whole again. That is why we should cherish and celebrate the institutions that do have the power to unite us. And, as any Hoosier will tell you, basketball is one of them Even beyond this, as its history in Indiana shows, this shared ritual that brings us joy and brings us together also pushes us to be better individually and collectively. I think of the persistence of a teenager by the name of Steve Alford, endlessly practicing free throws in his driveway in New Castle, even in the snow and rain; and the courage of Indiana University's Bill Garrett, who fought segregation and broke the Big Ten color barrier; and then the faith of Little Milan High, enrollment hardly 100, beating mighty Muncie Central, enrollment over 1,000, for the 1954 State high school championship; the grace of successive generations of graduates at Crispus Attucks. Now, this is a high school built to segregate Black students in Indianapolis, but it then grew into an academic and athletic powerhouse whose basketball program was a beacon in the civil rights movement and, to this day, remains a great source of pride not just for Black Hoosiers but for all Hoosiers. It was also the first African-American team to win a State championship in the Nation; the spirit of the tiny town of Medora, an underdog community featured in a recent documentary, who stood by their team while its players laced up work boots because they couldn't afford basketball shoes. Then they set out with grit and determination and resolve to end a season losing streak. So these scenes from Indiana's history, up to the present day, like the game itself, unite people from different backgrounds, and they foster pride in our places, especially our struggling places. They teach us to draw a line between competition and contempt, to keep perspective and to have the humility to remember that defeat is never permanent and neither is victory. They help us see and treasure what we have in common. They show us the power of opportunity and empowerment. Institutions like basketball can't be taken for granted. They bring meaning and purpose into the lives of people and places that we call home. They encourage our citizens to dream beyond limit, and I would say that they are what we need in this Nation right now. So as the NCAA tournament tips off and the games begin across our stadiums, field houses, and arenas, Indiana's hardwood civic temples, as we like to think of them, I know will be a reflection for our love for basketball and an exhibition of our collaborative ability to host such a large event during such a difficult time. But what will also be on display is the other reason it is right and proper that this event takes place in Indiana. We are devoted to this sport because it brings us hope, and it brings us together. It instills the virtues necessary to preserve many of the other features that make our country so special. It really can help make America whole again. Now and then, we all need to be gently reminded, I think, of the importance of these very things, and I can think of no better time or place for that than March in Indiana.

Mr. YOUNG

Mr. YOUNG. Mr. President, today I wish to honor and recognize the distinguished legacy of Larry ``Cliz'' Clisby, who passed away on February 27, 2021, at the age of 74 after a valiant fight against cancer. Famously known across the State of Indiana as the legendary Voice of the Boilermakers, he will forever be remembered for his unmatched play-by-play commentary of Purdue basketball and his trademark ``Bullseye!'' calls during crunch time. Born and raised in Ohio, Larry graduated from Warren Howland High School and Kent State University. Shortly after college and service in the U.S. Army, Larry started his broadcasting career in Paducah, KY. However, his time in Paducah was brief, as he moved to West Lafayette, IN, to work for WLFI-TV in the sports department in 1977. During his early career in the Lafayette area, Larry called high school basketball games and assisted during Purdue sports broadcasts. It wasn't until 1982 that Larry became the full-time radio announcer for the Boilermakers. Over the course of nearly 40 years, Larry called a total of 1,890 Purdue men's basketball games, including dozens of high-profile Indiana vs. Purdue rivalry games. Since the 1980s, Larry was involved in many of Purdue's historic moments, including one Big Ten Tournament title, nine Big Ten Championship Seasons, 28 NCAA Tournaments, and three Elite Eight appearances. In 2018, he was inducted into the Indiana Sportswriters and Sportscasters Hall of Fame, and he received one of Indiana's highest honors, the Sagamore of the Wabash, from Governor Eric Holcomb in 2020. From the Purdue sports staff to the team players, everyone saw Larry as a true, dedicated Boilermaker and not just a typical play-by-play announcer. Throughout his career, Larry devoted his charisma, talents, and life to the Lafayette community, and I believe his work will serve as a benchmark for those who aspire to join the field of sports radio. I ask my colleagues to join me in extending our sympathies to Larry's wife, Michelle; his children, Chad and Carly; his sister, Carol; his stepchildren and grandchildren; and all of his family and friends as they mourn his loss. And to Larry's Purdue University family, I wish his beloved Boilermakers many, many ``Bullseye!'' moments in the years to come.

Mr. YOUNG

Mr. YOUNG. Mr. President, I call up my amendment No. 1383 and ask that it be reported by number.

Mr. YOUNG. I ask unanimous consent for 2 minutes of debate equally divided.

Mr. YOUNG. Mr. President, in February, I met with the President of the United States along with nine of my colleagues. The objective here was to find middle ground on a targeted COVID relief package focused on vaccine distribution and getting Americans back to work and back to school as quickly as possible. Instead, we have been offered a bloated and wasteful spending bill, only 10 percent of which actually goes toward COVID-related needs. Meanwhile, the COVID-19 crisis has exacerbated America's drug epidemic with synthetic opioids being the primary driver of the 38- percent annual increase in overdose deaths. We know illegal narcotics are coming through our southern border at ports of entry. My unobjectionable amendment simply increases funding for Customs and Border Protection by $300 million for technology to detect fentanyl and other drugs of lower purity levels. This funding is more than offset by reducing funding from a provision granting 600 hours of paid leave to Federal employees--600 hours. That is 15 weeks of paid leave. So if an employee took every day of this paid leave in this bloated spending bill starting today, that would be by June 18. Oh, by the way, we are supposed to all be vaccinated by the end of May, according to the President.

Mr. YOUNG. I ask unanimous consent for 30 seconds to respond.

Mr. YOUNG. Only in Washington, DC, and in the greater Washington, DC, area does it make sense to offer paid leave in a $1.9 trillion spending bill at 5:15 a.m. in the morning to last until after a pandemic is projected to be over. How wasteful could we be with our constituent spending? Vote for my amendment.

Mr. YOUNG

Mr. YOUNG. I don't rise today, Mr. President, in opposition to COVID relief, nor do I rise today to oppose money for vaccine distribution and testing, nor do I rise to oppose stimulus spending for those who really need it--our hard-hit businesses, rank-and-file fellow Americans--and I certainly don't rise to oppose additional grants and loans for other enterprises out there that just aren't going to be able to make it through this, like our not-for-profits that are essential to all of our communities. But I rise today, instead, to oppose this partisan, pork-filled American Rescue Plan. You know, I am not known for histrionics in this body, and I am not engaging in them. This is a partisan bill full of a liberal wish list of items that, frankly, aren't popular with Hoosiers, and they won't be popular with the American people the more they get to know about what is loaded up in this $1.9 trillion package of goodies. In the last year, during a time of political division and strife, this Congress came together around COVID relief. We rose to the challenge presented to us by this global pandemic. We didn't bring it on. By most accounts, it came from China. But we came together to address this foreign threat that came to our shores that has decimated our economy, that has threatened lives and livelihoods, and we passed 5 relief measures with well more than 90 votes in every instance. The total, nearly $3.5 trillion--and I make no apologies for those investments. Those were investments in public health. Those were investments in our communities. Those were investments in our employers. Those were investments in our loved ones, to provide them safety and security and a measure of comfort but to save their very lives. These are investments in our frontline workers. We did all of that in a bipartisan fashion with very little opposition--very little opposition. Unity, that is what this country needs. I heard that coming from the lips of Republicans and Democrats alike at the highest levels weeks ago, and that is what I pine for. I want our country to be unified. I believe we can be unified. But this is not a step in the right direction. Even though much of the money that we have allocated to address the many consequences of this global pandemic has not been spent yet, we Republicans have tried to work with the Biden administration on a sixth relief package over the past month. In fact, I was 1 of 10 Republicans who--I say this commendably toward the Biden administration; specifically, I commend the President for inviting myself and nine other Republicans into the Oval Office to discuss our counterproposal. And I have to say, the $600 billion proposal that we were providing was, for this U.S. Senator, a bit of a stretch. You know, so much money was still in the pipeline, it wasn't even clear that that much was needed. But we certainly did not need $1.9 trillion, and we all agreed upon that. Unfortunately, we sort of left that meeting with a supposition that, unfortunately, has been substantiated, that there was an intention to move forward, regardless of the respectful and fact-based exchange we had about the wastefulness of the $1.9 trillion package and the extent to which the $600 billion package more than met the needs of getting people vaccinated, getting people back to work, and getting our kids back to school as safely and as quickly as possible. Here we are, though. Instead of a targeted relief package, we have seen our Democratic leaders load up a $1.9 trillion bill with wish-list items. And so here is what I am going to have to educate Hoosiers on in the coming months because I think they actually believe this is mostly about vaccination and getting kids back to school and getting people back to work--and I wish that were the case. But, no, it is about borrowing money so that we can pay for I think what can fairly be characterized as a Blue State bailout to the tune of $350 billion. You see, a lot of States aren't like the State of Indiana. The State of Indiana, over the years, has balanced our budget and come up with a rainy day fund. And we are criticized, oftentimes for not spending money out of that rainy day fund. But the rainiest of days hit, and Indiana was ready. Not every State did that. Many States have elected leaders who have made unfulfillable promises to their constituency over the years related to their retirements and so forth. So now, in this package, is $350 billion going toward those States to be used for purposes other than pandemic relief. Also in this bill, $1.9 trillion package, is a Silicon Valley subway. I am not sure how it got in there. I do know that Speaker Pelosi hails from the area. The National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities--I love arts; I love the humanities. We can debate the proper role of government in funding these public cultural goods, but let's do it some other time. Let's not do it in the course of pandemic relief legislation. Expansion of the Paycheck Protection Program to provide loans to Planned Parenthood, will force certain taxpayers, like myself, to violate our conscience--much, much more. It is full of waste. It is fat with waste. This body passed a $1.9 trillion CARES Act in March of 2020. One year later, Democrats, along party lines, are poised to jam through another $1.9 trillion package. To give you some sense of how much a trillion dollars is--these numbers can be abstract sometimes-- try to visualize $1 bills stacked from the ground halfway up to the moon. That is a trillion dollars, I was told earlier today. That is a lot of money, and we are borrowing every cent of it. I think it is important we consider the difference between what we passed a year ago and what we are now considering as likely to pass along party-line votes. When the CARES Act went into effect, the Nation was shut down. Only so-called essential businesses, businesses that could operate safely, were open. Indiana's unemployment rate then was 17.5 percent. We have done a great job managing this crisis in the State of Indiana. Most businesses are reopened. The unemployment rate is 3.4 percent in our State. We don't have the same public health challenges of other places that have shut everything down. I will let others try and define why that is. When the CARES Act became law, not a single school in Indiana was open, and in Indiana today most schools are open to in-person learning, in-person instruction, many full time. And let me take this opportunity to commend our administrators and our teachers in the State of Indiana for showing up for work. We don't see that all around the country. Last week, in more than 2,000 schools in Indiana, there were only 62 teacher cases. I told you basically all the schools have opened up. Only 62 teacher cases in Indiana. That is one case for every 33 schools. I would say we are doing a pretty good job managing the risk, following the science. When the CARES Act became law, a vaccine was a far-off dream. I can remember President Trump indicating there would be a vaccine by year's end. People laughed. Democrats scoffed, mocked. Members of the media mocked him. Not only do we have one vaccine, but then comes vaccine number two and vaccine number three, all in the pipeline because of Operation Warp Speed that the Trump administration implemented to, at once, streamline the regulatory process for approval and also begin manufacturing in parallel. It is good that the Biden administration is building on those successes. So, look, there is no doubt that some Hoosiers and many Americans are still hurting. We can and we will and we must help those people, but President Biden and the national Democrats' so-called American Rescue Plan is not the way to do it. It just is not responsible. We are better than that. So we who oppose this, we who happen to be Republican U.S. Senators who oppose this partisan effort to use this crisis to advance initiatives like arts funding and a subway next to Speaker Pelosi's district, along partisan lines, we are not going to just let this pass and allow the national Democrats to cram unrelated policies into what should be a bill squarely targeted at this crisis. We need a bill just like the five bills that we passed in a strongly bipartisan fashion just last year. So today we have more than a million Hoosiers who have received their first dose of vaccine, including more than 70 percent of Hoosiers age 70 and older. There is no doubt that some Hoosiers are still hurting. Again, we will be helping those folks. So this is really quite simple. We need to work together, Republicans and Democrats, for the good of the country. This does indeed remain a national crisis. We had negative economic growth last year because a global pandemic interrupted the greatest period of economic growth in my lifetime. We need to recover. We are poised for a recovery this year, but we need to do it in a targeted and in a fiscally responsible way and in a fashion that doesn't undermine trust among one another and one that doesn't break trust with the American people by spending their money irresponsibly. I regret that that probably won't happen in the next few days, but I resolve to continue fighting for Hoosiers, for fiscal responsibility, and to constructively work with this administration however we can moving forward. With that, I yield the floor.