[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 139 (Wednesday, September 14, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5681-S5682]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
MOVING OUR COUNTRY FORWARD
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
[[Page S5682]]
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.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The assistant bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mrs. McCASKILL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order
for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Cotton). Without objection, it is so
ordered.
____________________