[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 20 (Tuesday, January 30, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S570-S572]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS

  Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, as we all know, tonight the President will 
address the Nation from the Chamber of the House of Representatives. 
This is called the State of the Union, and its tradition dates back to 
George Washington's time when he gave his first annual message in 1790.
  Tonight is an important speech. It gives the President a chance not 
only to look forward but to look back on the first year of his term in 
office. That first year was marked by a steady stream of impressive 
accomplishments working together with Congress. These successes are 
easily missed when the decibel level here in Washington remains so 
high. The good news all too often gets drowned out by the noise, 
although, the truth is that the President's policy decisions have been 
spot-on, particularly when it comes to our Nation's economy.
  First and foremost, last year he signed comprehensive tax reform into 
law. This is something we haven't been able to do since 1986. Our 
reforms lowered rates across the board for every tax bracket, doubled 
the child tax credit, and incentivized U.S. businesses to create jobs 
here at home rather than overseas, and, finally, it repealed the 
ObamaCare individual mandate, making the Affordable Care Act voluntary 
and not mandatory.
  All across the country, we have seen the chain reaction as at least 
263 businesses, large and small, have used the tax savings to increase 
workers' wages, expand their operations, and create jobs. According to 
one poll, small businesses' optimism is now at an 11-year high. The 
economy, thank goodness, continues to improve. A key economic indicator 
rose more than expected last month, but the momentum has been building 
over the last 12.
  The Dow Jones Industrial Average has reached record highs. Everyone 
with a 401(k), a savings account, a pension, or somebody who dabbles in 
the stock market has seen the value of their holdings go up by about 25 
percent in this last year. Federal workers who invest in their thrift 
savings plans through these index funds have seen their retirement 
funds grow to a huge amount--25 percent--consistent with the stock 
market.
  President Trump's economic policies have been joined by his 
administration's strong insistence on suspending or eliminating job-
stifling regulations. Now, don't get me wrong. Regulations are 
necessary for public health, safety, and welfare, but they can go too 
far and stifle innovation and economic growth. Unfortunately, that is 
what has happened.
  He signed an Executive order when he first came to office and has cut 
at least 16 rules and regulations for every new one that was created. I 
think his original goal was to cut two for every new one, but, 
actually, he has done better than that. He has cut 16 for every new one 
that was created, and that has saved roughly $8.1 billion in compliance 
costs.

  We need to keep in mind here in Washington that when we pass a law or 
when we pass a regulation, somebody often has to hire somebody to 
comply with that law. If there is a change in the Tax Code, you have to 
hire an accountant to help you figure out how to comply with the law 
or, if you are a manufacturing facility, you want to make sure OSHA and 
other Federal agencies don't come in and fine you so you hire people to 
help you comply with regulations and laws. These aren't people who 
necessarily help you become more productive; these are just people to 
keep up with the rules and regulations that emanate from Washington. 
The savings, as a result of rolling back some of the unnecessary 
regulations, has been pretty dramatic.
  We in Congress did our part using the Congressional Review Act to 
eliminate heavyhanded regulations passed during the eleventh hour of 
the last administration.
  President Trump's policies have stimulated the economy in other ways 
too. They have expanded energy infrastructure projects like the 
Keystone Pipeline and, with the help of Congress, opened part of the 
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for oil and gas exploration. This is 
something that was set aside specifically for energy production years 
ago, but as a result of the logjam in Congress, that important natural 
resource for America was out of bounds because of congressional 
inaction. Well, no more.
  I have flown over the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and, believe 
me, it is not someplace you would go on a vacation. It is a pretty 
rough area, but because people think of it as a wildlife refuge, they 
think, well, maybe this is a threat to the wildlife. Just the opposite 
is true. We know the caribou population has sprung up in areas where 
they have an oil pipeline because they use it for nesting grounds. It 
just goes to show how little the bureaucrats here in Washington who 
believe there is nothing they shouldn't regulate or overregulate--they 
can be wrong.
  Meanwhile, the President has been hard at work enforcing our 
immigration laws, something he was elected to do. He has added 
immigration judges and removed more than 36 percent more criminal gang 
members than in fiscal year 2016.
  When it comes to immigration in the Senate, we have been working 
together to find a bipartisan solution for the recipients of the 
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals--the so-called DACA Program.
  People will remember this was something President Obama did, 
unilaterally circumventing Congress, and the courts later told him, no, 
he couldn't do it, placing the future of some 690,000 young DACA 
recipients in jeopardy. President Trump wisely has given us a deadline 
of March 5, but kicked it back to Congress to do what only Congress can 
do; that is, to come up with a solution. The President, helpfully, has 
laid out his priorities, and now we in this Congress have to come up 
with a consensus on how to move forward.
  We know these young adults deserve future certainty, but also we 
don't want to repeat the mistakes of the past. We finally need to 
secure our borders and fix the flaws in our immigration laws that are 
exploited by the human traffickers and coyotes, and we aim to do both. 
There has to be symmetry. On one hand, we can show the sort of 
compassion that Americans have always shown, but we also need to have 
the security and knowledge that our laws and our border will be 
enforced.
  The President shares this dual aim. On Sunday, my friend and fellow 
Texan, Roger Rocha, the head of the League of United Latin American 
Citizens--or LULAC--sent a letter to President Trump. Now, you wouldn't 
ordinarily think that LULAC and President Trump would see eye to eye, 
but here, President Rocha congratulated the President for setting what 
LULAC called a reasonable framework for immigration reform and border 
security. LULAC stated that as long as we stay within the President's 
parameters, the organization can support the eventual proposal because 
they are eager to make sure these young people--some 690,000--have a 
positive future. The President has gone over and above that and said, 
not only the people who signed up for the Deferred Action for Childhood 
Arrivals, but those who were eligible and who did not sign up can still 
participate in this pathway the President has prescribed for them, as 
long as we do our job when it comes to border security--dealing with 
the diversity lottery visa and dealing with chain migration.
  I think LULAC's endorsement of these four parameters is very 
encouraging. It is huge news. LULAC has more than 145,000 members, and 
it is heralded as one of the oldest civil rights organizations in 
America itself.

[[Page S571]]

It believes that now is the time to move forward, and that is 
something, hopefully, all of us will agree with.
  LULAC believes the President's framework will keep the momentum of 
progress on its proper trajectory, they say. What this means is, 
President Trump is now on the brink of delivering something to the 
American people--certainty to DACA recipients, enforcement of our 
immigration laws, and securing our borders--that previous Presidents 
have been unable to do. Let me say that again. What this means is, 
President Trump is now on the brink of delivering to the American 
people certainty for the DACA recipients, enforcement of our 
immigration laws, and securing our borders, something previous 
Presidents have been unable to accomplish.
  Democrats remain at a standstill on the very issue they have 
advocated for years, though. To my Democratic colleagues, I say the 
following: We are still waiting to see your alternative that could 
become law. The President has made a proposal. So you owe it to the 
American people, and you certainly owe it to the DACA recipients--whom 
some people call the Dreamers--you owe it to them to come up with an 
alternative. We can't negotiate with ourselves; we need a negotiating 
partner who will work with us in good faith to get to a solution that 
can get a Presidential signature. We are running out of time, and we 
need to get this done.

  One unsung story of President Trump's first year has been the 
reshaping of the Federal judiciary. He nominated 73 Federal judges, 
including Neil Gorsuch, above all, who was confirmed to the U.S. 
Supreme Court last spring. We have helped him see that 12 appellate 
court judges have now assumed the robe and taken to the bench. This, of 
course, is the intermediate appellate court that, for all practical 
purposes, is the court of last resort, since the Supreme Court of the 
United States only hears about 80 cases a year. They decide cases where 
the appellate courts disagree or where there is a dissent by one of the 
judges, and usually it is the circuit courts that are the final word, 
interpreting, of course, Supreme Court precedence.
  I am particularly proud of two of those supreme court justices: Don 
Willett, formerly of the Texas Supreme Court, and Jim Ho, who has 
served as my chief judiciary counsel, among other distinguished 
service, and who was a law clerk for Clarence Thomas and served as 
solicitor general of Texas. I am proud of the fact that these two men 
are now serving on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.
  Last but not least, the President has worked to increase defense 
spending and shown deft leadership in handling a broad array of foreign 
threats. I think that is, in part, responsible and due to the 
incredible team he has surrounded himself with, including General 
McMaster, the National Security Advisor; Rex Tillerson, the Secretary 
of State; and James Mattis, Secretary of Defense. They are a strong and 
impressive team, and they serve the President and the Nation well by 
providing the President the kind of advice he needs to lead and to keep 
our country safe and to maintain America's leadership in world affairs.
  We know, for example, that under our military leaders' strategy, as 
authorized and enabled by the President himself, the terrorist 
organization ISIS has lost most of its territory and many of its 
followers.
  This administration has also strengthened U.S. policy in Iran, which 
is the No. 1 state sponsor of international terrorism. He has held 
Syria accountable for crossing redlines when they violated 
international norms by using chemical weapons--something the previous 
administration declined to do. This administration has stood up to an 
increasingly belligerent North Korea and used diplomacy to encourage 
China to use its clout as a bordering nation to North Korea to try to 
dissuade Kim Jong Un from pursuing his nuclear power goals. I hope that 
is successful.
  It is no surprise, then, that based on polling data, Americans are 
substantially more satisfied with the Nation's military strength, 
security from terrorism, and the state of the economy now than they 
were at the end of the previous administration.
  Our President is only 1 year into his term, but he has already 
changed this country's political landscape. I share his goal of 
continuing to build a safer, stronger, and prouder America.
  The question then becomes how, working together, we can do that. 
During tonight's State of the Union Address, there are a few specific 
topics I look forward to hearing more about--shared priorities for the 
upcoming year--for example, rebuilding our Nation's depleted 
infrastructure. I recently introduced a bill with our colleague the 
senior Senator from Virginia. It would expand an infrastructure 
financing authority already in use by many States and local 
governments. I come from a big State, where we have a growing 
population, and we need to continue to build our infrastructure there 
to keep commerce flowing and to keep our roads safe and to protect our 
environment. This legislation I have introduced with my colleague from 
Virginia would raise the statutory cap on something known as private 
activity bonds, which assist various types of transportation 
construction.
  In the near future, I expect to introduce other infrastructure 
initiatives, and I look forward to working with my colleagues as well 
as this administration to see them signed into law.
  I am also keen to hear the President's thoughts on issues relating to 
public safety and law enforcement. I myself am a strong proponent of 
the Second Amendment, but I believe tragedies like that which occurred 
in Sutherland Springs prove the incredible danger of dangerous felons 
purchasing and possessing firearms. That is illegal, but it happens, 
and, unfortunately, the consequences can be devastating to the families 
affected.
  That is why I have introduced the bill we call the Fix NICS Act. 
NICS, of course, is the National Instant Criminal Background Check 
System, which makes sure that when you go in to purchase a firearm, if 
you are a convicted felon, if you have been committed for mental 
illness, or if you are guilty of domestic violence, you cannot legally 
buy a firearm in America, but if the background check system isn't 
uploaded properly, as in this case the Air Force declined--or I should 
say failed--to provide the necessary information to the criminal 
background check system, somebody can go in and lie and purchase 
firearms they can't otherwise legally purchase. That is why it is so 
important that we fix the National Instant Criminal Background Check 
System. That is something that has broad bipartisan support, and I hope 
to see it passed into law soon.
  I see my colleague from Rhode Island here whom I have been working 
with on prison reform, another issue I hope the President touches on 
this evening, and I believe he will. I believe one of the most 
effective ways for us to legislate is to let the States be the 
laboratories of democracy. In this case, many of our States have been 
laboratories of democracy when it comes to reforming our criminal 
justice system and specifically our prison system. I know, for a long 
time, people had this idea that we are going to lock up folks and throw 
away the key, but the reality is, people who go to prison usually get 
out of prison. The question is, Are they going to be better prepared 
when they get out and hopefully avoid reincarceration and hopefully 
become productive members of society or are they just simply going to 
be warehoused and then let out, only to repeat their criminal acts and 
end up back in prison again?
  We have had some enormous success in Texas and others States about 
incentivizing low- and medium-risk offenders, to provide them an 
opportunity to deal with their drug or alcohol problem or to learn a 
skill that they can earn a living with once they get out of prison or 
to get a GED. They have been very successful in cutting down on the 
rate of recidivism, decreasing the crime rate, and along the way saving 
the taxpayers money because they don't have to just build another 
prison to warehouse more people. We can keep the hard-core criminals 
locked up while we extend an olive branch and some help, a helping hand 
to those who will take advantage of it to turn their lives around and 
become productive members of society. So I am looking forward to the 
President talking about that.
  I know the President will be talking about that and other important 
issues, such as immigration, and he will be

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speaking from the heart tonight, and we should all listen to his words 
carefully. Whether we voted for this President or not, he is the duly 
elected President of the United States, and we, I believe, are 
obligated--those of us in Congress--to work with him, where we can, to 
try to help make things better for the people we represent.
  Once he concludes his remarks tonight, then the ball is in our court 
to follow up on his calls to action, and I hope we will.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Rhode Island.
  Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that I be 
allowed to speak for several minutes and then turn the floor over to 
the Senator from Connecticut, Mr. Blumenthal, and then, thereafter, 
that we may be permitted to engage in a brief colloquy.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Without objection, it is so ordered.

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