[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 35 (Tuesday, February 28, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1462-S1463]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                    President's Address to Congress

  Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, tonight, President Trump will address a 
joint session of Congress for the very first time. This, of course, 
will be his first opportunity as President to talk about his agenda and 
his vision for the Nation with the American people, who will be 
listening. I look forward to hearing what he has to say.
  He will, undoubtedly, talk about the promises he made during the 
campaign and how he is working to deliver on them for the American 
people. I know the cornerstone of that vision for America is that of 
reviving our economy and boosting job growth.
  Fortunately, he has already taken a few steps--through Executive 
action--in that direction, for which I am grateful. He has also 
nominated top-notch financial and economic advisers to look at our 
archaic Tax Code and to review our trade agreements so as to get our 
country back on track. He has begun to trim the fat of our bureaucracy, 
and he continues to push for measures that keep the government from 
interfering unnecessarily in the lives of American families.
  Congress has also played an important role. Earlier this month, we 
passed the first of several resolutions of disapproval under the 
Congressional Review Act--one, to roll back the erosion of Second 
Amendment rights and another to repeal a job-killing rule that targeted 
our energy providers. There were others as well.
  These rules have one characteristic in common, which is that all of 
these rules that we are rolling back through congressional resolutions 
of disapproval were put in place under the Obama administration. They 
frequently represent overreach in executive authority or in, certainly, 
what is prudent when it comes to regulation. There is such a thing as 
prudent regulation and overregulation, and I think what we saw is 
regulatory overreach under the Obama administration.
  We finally have a President in the White House who will sign these 
bills into law that we pass here. I am glad the President is delivering 
on his promise to protect American jobs and to grow our economy, and he 
is willing to work with Congress to do just that.
  Another area in which Congress and the administration are working 
together is in repealing and replacing ObamaCare. ObamaCare is, 
perhaps, President Obama's signature legacy. His healthcare law, by all 
accounts, is completely unsustainable and is, essentially, creating a 
real crisis for the people who happen to be on those exchanges.
  Texas families cannot afford these high monthly premiums or the sky-
high deductibles that so often go along with them. In fact, here is an 
interesting statistic. In Texas, if you have a gross income of $24,000 
a year, you could well end up spending 30 percent of your gross income 
on healthcare costs. That certainly doesn't sound affordable, which was 
the promise of ObamaCare.
  I look forward to working with our colleagues to deliver on the 
promise we made to the American people to repeal ObamaCare and put in 
its place a healthcare law that actually works for people, not against 
them--one that provides them with more choices and fewer mandates; if 
they like their doctors, they can keep their doctors; if they like 
their plans, they can keep their plans; and, yes, they can even save 
money. All of this was promised under ObamaCare, but none of it has 
proven to be true.
  We do know some of the basic principles of that replacement for 
ObamaCare--that of moving healthcare decisions, for example, away from 
Washington to where they belong--with patients, their families, and 
their doctors. Actually, I think this is sort of the healthcare 
counterpart of what we did with the Every Student Succeeds Act, which 
was the follow-on to No Child Left Behind in moving more of the 
decision-making out of Washington and back to the States--back to the 
people most intimately affected and the people most interested in the 
results.
  We also believe in giving patients the right tools they can use, like 
health savings accounts, to make their healthcare more portable and 
more affordable; in breaking down barriers that restrict choice and 
prevent Americans from picking the insurance plans that are best for 
them and their families; and, finally, in empowering small businesses 
to provide employees with the same kind of affordable health coverage 
that meets their needs. Association health plans is, perhaps, one of 
the most commonly recognized means of doing that.
  I am glad that we finally have a President in office who will work 
with us and not against us when it comes to repealing and replacing 
ObamaCare and in giving the American people more choices at a price 
they can afford when it comes to their health care.
  For our economy to grow, we have to have a stable and safe country, 
though, where our people can flourish. That brings me to President 
Trump's latest promise to restore national security as the number one 
priority in our budgeting process. He has already nominated and we have 
confirmed two incredibly strong leaders to key posts in his national 
security Cabinet. That would be Defense Secretary Mattis and Homeland 
Security Secretary Kelly. I am confident that these men will do a 
stand-up job. America is lucky to have them continuing to serve our 
Nation in these new positions, and I am grateful to them for their 
service. The safety of our communities and the safety of our country 
and world peace is our chief job.

  As Ronald Reagan demonstrated, the best way to keep the world 
peaceful is for America to remain strong because when America retreats 
from the world stage, when America no longer leads or when we underfund 
our national security requirements, all it does is encourages the 
bullies and the tyrants and the thugs around the world to fill the gap. 
That is what we have seen time and time again, ranging from Vladimir 
Putin in Russia--the best message we can send to Vladimir Putin is not 
necessarily additional Russian sanctions, which I would vote in favor 
of, but to quit the reversing of our spending on national security 
priorities. That is something he understands--strength. That is 
something he will respect. He does not respect weakness. In fact, it is 
an enticement to him to dangerous activities, as we have seen not only 
in Crimea and Ukraine but also now in Syria and the Greater Middle 
East.
  I have to say that the truth is, since the Budget Control Act of 2011 
and the sequestration process that came along with that, we haven't 
made national security our No. 1 priority--the priority it should be. I 
hope, working together with our colleagues and the administration, we 
can fix that because there are a lot of things the Federal Government 
funds that are simply things that we would like to do but are not 
absolutely essential to our existence, our prosperity, and our welfare, 
such as national security.
  I think President Trump has demonstrated that he understands what the 
priorities should be, and I know he will keep the goal of national 
security at the forefront. We ought to do everything we can, working 
together with this administration, to make that a success.
  I look forward to hearing the President talk about some of his 
accomplishments in the 5 short weeks since he has been in office. You 
look at the stock market, for example, at historic

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highs. I think there is a lot of anticipation, a growing confidence not 
only in our economy but that America is now back in a leadership role 
and that the whole world will end up benefiting--most importantly, the 
American people.
  I am eager to learn about how Congress can continue to partner with 
our new President to make his administration a success, so that America 
can remain a success, and to make the rest of his campaign promises a 
reality.