[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 12 (Monday, January 23, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S391-S393]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
BUILDING A BETTER MONTANA
Mr. TESTER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to have the speech
that I gave to the Montana House of Representatives on January 16,
2017, printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
Speaker Knudsen, Majority Leader Ehli, Minority Leader Eck,
honored guests, members of the House: It is truly an honor to
be here.
I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge that today is
Martin Luther King Jr. Day--
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a day that celebrates a man who saw injustice in this country
and worked to change it. It is a great reminder of the impact
a citizen can have on our government if we work together.
This tradition of inviting the members of our Congressional
Delegation to address this body reminds us: we are Montanans
first. Twelve years ago, when I was Senate President, we made
time for these addresses because they are a way to align
Montana's priorities at a state and federal level. Montanans
look to our elected officials for leadership and a spirit of
cooperation. I will admit it is disappointing that the
current Montana Senate President chose to abandon the smart
tradition of joint addresses to the Legislature, especially
early in the session when there is a little more time to do
so. Speaker Knudsen, thank you for doing your part to honor
this tradition.
But first, I would like to take a moment and thank the men
and women who have made our country the leader of the free
world for so many generations: our veterans. Would all of the
fine folks who served our country please stand to be
recognized. Thank you for your service to our country. As the
incoming Ranking Member of the VA Committee, I promise we do
not take our responsibility to you lightly. Whether it is
getting the Southwest Vets Home in Butte built or holding the
VA accountable for long wait times, we will work together to
do right by our veterans.
As a citizen legislature, we have veterans, farmers,
teachers, and small business men and women. And for 90 days
or so, you come to Helena to represent your district, vote
your conscience, and make Montana proud. Our state's founders
knew that whether you are a rancher from Bloomfield or a
teacher from Helena, for these 90 days, your priority would
be to your constituents and our great state. Despite our
differences, we have a common goal, to ensure Montana
continues to be the Last Best Place for generations to come.
We know Montana is already a great place. With Glacier and
Yellowstone National Parks, world-class hunting and fishing,
and the best agriculture products in the world, folks from
all over come to our state to experience a little slice of
the paradise we get to call home. From Sidney to St. Regis
and everywhere in between, Montana is full of the hardest
working people in the nation.
I hope to work with you to create good paying jobs across
Montana. Today I will present a thoughtful, common sense,
Montana-focused plan to strengthen our economy and create
high paying jobs. I am calling it Employ Montana. Employ
Montana will rebuild our infrastructure, create a marketplace
for our products, pave the way for innovation, invest in our
workforce, and responsibly develop our resources. This will
let folks know Montana is open for business.
But in order to compete in a global marketplace Montana
needs more than scenery and a dedicated workforce. My first
objective, as part of Employ Montana, is to invest in our
infrastructure. Together, we can ensure that folks have an
infrastructure that allows them to get to work during the
week and to play on the weekend and that businesses big and
small can get their products to market.
That's why I worked to pass a long-term highway bill that
ensures Montanans gets more bang for their buck. Thanks to
the highway bill, for every dollar that hardworking Montanans
contribute to the federal Highway Trust Fund, our state gets
about two-and-a-half bucks back. This year, that's about $424
million for our roads, bridges, and highways.
But we only get that funding if the state agrees to put up
a certain amount as well. The Governor provided a temporary
fix that ensures we get that funding this year. But this is
still a systemic issue that we must address in the future.
Montanans need you to ensure the tens of millions of dollars
that Montana families pay into the Highway Trust Fund are not
sent to New York, California, or Alabama instead. Our
construction workers, contractors, and middle class families
cannot afford to see money left on the table because their
politicians can't agree. I've seen this body rise to the
challenge time and time again and I know you will not
disappoint.
Montana's infrastructure needs go beyond our bridges,
streets, and water systems. That's why Employ Montana will
also prepare our state for the 21st Century economy by
ensuring responsible investments in rural broadband. In 2015,
the second phase of the Connect America Fund delivered nearly
$100 million to two broadband companies that serve Montana. I
want to see that money resulting in fiber being laid down
across this state as soon as possible. That's why I plan to
hold CenturyLink and Frontier's feet to the fire and find out
what progress they are making. We've invested in them, and it
is time to find out what kind of return we are receiving.
Strong connectivity across Montana will attract businesses
to our state and allow our Montana made companies to market
their product worldwide--companies like Kracklin Kamut, a
healthy wheat-based snack food. I am pleased to have Thomas
joined by his wife Heather and daughter Grace who just moved
to Big Sandy to work for Kracklin Kamut. An innovative start-
up like Kracklin Kamut brought Thomas and his family to Big
Sandy to work, and with stronger broadband, Kracklin Kamut
can be sold even in the biggest markets, which could bring
more jobs and more families to the community.
In Montana, we know that, whether it's snack food or
textiles, we make a superior product and we are proud to see
``Made in America'' slapped on the label. It is time that we
make sure our taxpayer dollars are being used to support
American workers, not lining the pockets of foreign
corporations.
Through my Employ Montana plan, I will introduce the Berry
Amendment Extension Act, which would require the Department
of Homeland Security to purchase their supplies from American
companies. I think of Bozeman's own Mystery Ranch, which
could provide the folks on the border with their quality
multi-purpose backpacks. This is a common sense solution that
will create jobs here in Montana and keep our taxpayer
dollars within our own borders. Whether Montanans produce
backpacks, airplane parts, beef, or wheat, we are competing
in a global marketplace.
President-elect Trump and I agree: we need to ensure
America has fair trade, not free trade. And as part of my
Employ Montana plan, I look forward to working with the
President-elect to develop trade policies that ensure Montana
producers get a fair shake while protecting American workers.
My friends from the forested counties can agree: it's time
to negotiate a new softwood lumber agreement. I will work
with the new Administration to create a fair, effective, and
sustainable softwood lumber agreement. This will help our
timber industry get the certainty they need to responsibly
cut trees and help get our mills back to work.
Our timber industry is not the only one suffering from
unfair trade practices. Farmers across Montana continue to
feel the consequence of unfair wheat grading by the Canadian
government. There is many a company that gets stopped at the
border because of unfair trade practices. Montana farmers
produce the best product. To see it immediately downgraded to
feed grade at the border is unacceptable. I'll do my part,
and I want the Trump administration to do their part to
ensure Montana farmers can be competitive in the global
marketplace. This will create a strong market for Montana's
farmers, putting more money into the hands of our farmers,
more money that they can spend on Montana products.
I believe the best way to create jobs is to build an
economy that empowers innovators. Often times, creative
Montanans lack the access to capital in order to start their
business. A large part of my Employ Montana plan is dedicated
to ensuring Montana innovators have access to capital and the
means to develop private partnerships. Programs like the
Small Business Innovation Research Program provide grant
money to companies to help them get off the ground.
I am pleased to have one of those innovators, Stan Abel, of
SiteOne Therapeutics, in the gallery today joined by his wife
Stacey. Stan saw the opioid crisis ravaging our country and
worked with scientist to try and find a better, less
addictive, way to manage pain. With the help of SBIR grants
Stan was able to get his business started and went on to
secure private investment from Montana's first successful
Venture Capital firm Next Frontier. SiteOne will continue to
grow and employ more and more people in Montana because of
Stan's ability to see a problem and think of an innovative
solution to solve that problem. A Montana business supported
by Montana capital makes SiteOne a model for our state and we
need to look to spread their success statewide. With
increased SBIR grants, we will have more innovators like Stan
leading the way.
Small business grants are only one piece of the puzzle. The
next part of my Employ Montana plan is to cut red tape and
increase access to capital for community banks. I am pleased
to have Bob Nystuen and his wife Kim in the gallery today as
well. Bob is President of Glacier Bank in Kalispell.
Bob has worked for community banks from Miles City to
Kalispell, and he tells me that Montana is bursting with new
ideas and ripe for a growing business climate. But our
community banks are hampered by regulation that was meant to
police the big guys, not the small credit unions and
community banks that serve rural America and Main Street. All
you have to do is spend five minutes with Bob to understand
the differences between him and a Wall Street banker. As a
member of the Banking Committee, I will work with Democrats
and Republicans to provide responsible reforms to Dodd-Frank,
to cut red tape for Bob and other Montana banks that are the
cornerstone of our rural communities. With regulatory relief,
our businesses will have better access to capital and be able
to invest in their product, hire more workers, and expand
their markets.
Luckily, for our businesses, Montana's workforce is second
to none. My Employ Montana plan includes lean and mean
investment in our workforce, an investment that is designed
to meet the needs of the community.
In the gallery today, we have Mike Robbins, the Chairman of
the Board of Montana Precision Products. Montana Precision
Products builds components for GE Aviation. This company
needs welders and has plans to hire 80 to 100 people by 2020.
And that's why they've partnered with the Anaconda Job
Corps to build a skilled pipeline of employees. The Employ
Montana plan proposes to boost our Job Corps programs in
order to meet the needs of Montana businesses. So folks like
Ray Ryan, the Site Manager for Anaconda Job Corps, can train
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up the next generation of skilled workers, workers like Megan
Widmer and Katie Barker. These two young ladies are active in
the Anaconda Job Corps and they are here today with Ray. I
want to thank them for their dedication to Montana.
With additional resources, we can ensure the Anaconda Job
Corps and programs like it expand, create good paying jobs,
and meet the needs of local industry with well-trained local
workers.
But these types of community partnerships should not just
be limited to Job Corps--we need to look at our education
system and ensure it is creating a workforce that meets
Montana's needs. Our two-year colleges are the key. That's
why as part of Employ Montana, we need to give our community
colleges the resources they need to develop the talent our
employers are asking for. Because of our investment in
education, a kid from Columbia Falls can go down to Flathead
Community College, join its culinary program, and start a
restaurant in Whitefish. And a young woman from Terry can
travel southwest to Miles City Community College, enroll in
its Commercial Driver's License course, and learn to drive an
18-wheeler hauling grain up to the Port of Raymond. We can
work together to build on the success of our community
colleges and expand our job training programs so that our
workforce is ready to answer the call. Investing in our
education is an investment in Montana's future.
Developing our human resources is critically important to a
strong economy. But in Montana we have an incredible supply
of natural resources as well. Included in Employ Montana is a
plan to responsibly develop an all-of-the-above energy
strategy. I plan to introduce the Carbon Capture Utilization
and Storage Act, which will incentivize investment in the use
of carbon capture technology. This legislation will provide
tax credits to allow for Montana companies to burn coal
cleaner and create good paying jobs.
But we can't ignore the fact that our climate is changing.
This isn't a tree hugging issue; it's a jobs issue, and it's
a food security issue. Montana's number one industry,
agriculture, will lose profits and be more dependent on the
federal government to pay the bills if we don't start taking
proactive steps to protect our clean air and water. This is
Montana's Constitutional right.
So I hope you will join me in supporting Employ Montana.
From stronger infrastructure, to better broadband, increased
start up grants and access to capital. From strengthening
workforce programs and tapping our energy economy--Employ
Montana will create high paying jobs and an economy we are
proud of.
Now I would be remiss if I didn't take the last few minutes
to talk about health care. It's a pressing issue and one that
both Congress and the Montana Legislature will have to
grapple with. Thanks to your good work last session Montana
expanded Medicaid to over 60,000 hardworking people. For the
first time in their lives these people were able to afford
health coverage, you should be commended for that.
Repeal. Delay. Replace. Repeal and replace. Repeal and
Delay. Obamacare. Trumpcare.
Here are the facts: The health care industry accounts for
over 52,000 jobs in Montana. Health care in Montana is a $4
billion industry. If Congress repeals the Affordable Care
Act: Coverage would be ripped away from the 60,000 folks you
gave hope to just two years ago. Montana's economy would lose
$3.1 Billion--with a capital ``B''--between 2019 and 2023. It
would add $350 Billion to the deficit. We would lose 8,200
jobs in 2019 alone. And rural areas would feel it the most,
hospitals in towns like Culbertson, Hamilton, and my home
town of Big Sandy would potentially have to board up their
doors. Working together to fix the Affordable Care Act is
just good business.
I've been around the state and the message is clear: People
don't want Congress taking away their health care. Right now
we have an incredible opportunity to find bipartisan
solutions that can make health care more affordable for
middle class families. But instead of having that important
conversation, Congress is on the cusp of repealing all the
progress we've made.
I want to be clear. I know premiums are rising. We cannot
settle for any situation where middle class families cannot
afford health insurance. I know that. But let's work together
to keep the accountability up, and the costs down. Repealing
the ACA without a plan for what comes next will not lower
costs. Our families' health care is too important to throw it
into chaos. We need to look before we leap. And we can't
throw the baby out with the bath water. We need to be working
to provide affordability to families and certainty to the
rural communities that rely on our hospitals. I know we can
find common ground to deliver that to Montana.
In Montana, there is far more that unites us than divides
us. We can all agree that Montana raises the best agriculture
products in the world. We can all agree that on a summer
afternoon we'd rather be on the river than cooped up in an
office. And we can all agree that Montana is home to the
hardest working men and women in the world. We owe it to
these hardworking men and women to come together to build a
stronger Montana.
Together, we can build stronger roads and bridges. We can
build a 21st Century infrastructure. We can build the quality
products to supply folks at home and abroad. We can build a
business friendly environment that encourages innovation and
investment. We can build a more efficient workforce to meet
the needs of our changing economy. We can build an energy
sector that doesn't mortgage our future for today's profits.
We can build a health care system that works for everyone,
not just big insurance or drug companies. And we can build a
stronger, better Montana for our next generation.
Good luck in the coming weeks.
God bless you, God bless Montana, and God bless this great
country.
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