[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.

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