[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 84 (Tuesday, May 22, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2811-S2812]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



             Accomplishments of the Republican-Led Congress

  Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I am sure I am not unique in the fact that 
when I go home, my constituents ask: What in the heck is going on up 
there?
  The truth is, amid the polarization, the misinformation, the 
arguments, the disagreements we naturally will have--because we 
represent different parties, different regions, and different points of 
view--it is really important to occasionally reflect on what it is we 
have actually done because, as I learned a long time ago as a 
journalism student, good news is not news.
  What makes news is when there is conflict and disagreement. That is 
what people pay attention to. That is what reporters write about, that 
is what the cable TV channels run because they know people will watch 
it. They can sell advertising. That is sort of the way the system 
works.
  Good news needs to be told and needs to be spread. So what I would 
like to do is just reflect for a few minutes on the last 17 months and 
what has been accomplished during that year and a half by a Republican-
led Congress and by the Trump administration working together.
  I think, perhaps, the single biggest accomplishment that has 
benefited the most people broadly across this great land of ours is the 
new energized state of our economy. During the last administration, 
following the great recession of 2008, we had this ahistorical idea 
that slow economic growth was the new norm; that sub-2 percent economic 
growth each year--which isn't fast enough to create enough jobs to keep 
people employed--was something we were just going to have to live with. 
The fact is, since World War II, the economy has not grown at 2 percent 
or less; it has grown at about 3.2 percent.
  What we are beginning to see is the slumbering giant of the American 
economy wake up and grow. People have confidence again and optimism in 
the future, which is a good thing. Unemployment fell to 3.9 percent 
recently, which is the lowest in 17 years, and 14 States hit record-low 
unemployment as well.
  As I said, consumer confidence is high. As a matter of fact, it is at 
an 18-year high, and the tax reform package we passed last December has 
been the biggest, single game-changer. Although, I want to talk about 
regulations in a minute, the tax reform package got America back in the 
game. It made us more competitive globally as a place where people who 
want to invest money and create a business or grow their business--it 
is attractive, finally. We aren't chasing people off, having to move 
offshore in order to compete globally. They now see America as a 
favorable place to invest, and that benefits all of us.
  Nearly 800,000 jobs have been created, 164,000 in April alone. To me, 
one of the most encouraging statistics is, in February, we saw more 
than 800,000 people rejoin the workforce. Unemployment statistics, as 
the Presiding Officer knows, can be a little bit misleading because 
sometimes when people quit looking for work, they are not reflected in 
the unemployment statistics, even though they are obviously unemployed.
  The fact that 800,000-plus Americans decided to rejoin the workforce 
because they thought there was a real chance they could get a good-
paying job ought to be enormously encouraging to all of us. It is to 
me.
  In addition to the new jobs, in addition to more people joining the 
workforce, we have seen people who are working receive pay raises, more 
take-home pay. The retirement contribution their employers made to 
their 401(k) plan went up in hundreds of different cases.
  We have also seen people see a reduction in their utility rates--the 
amount of money they pay for electricity--because the for-profit 
utilities saw a cut in their taxable revenue, and because they are 
utilities they had to lower the rates in order to meet the requirements 
of the regulators. We have seen bonuses being paid by large companies, 
like AT&T in Texas, and commitments made to invest in more 
infrastructure. We have seen benefits across the board. The National 
Association of Manufacturers says that 77 percent of manufacturers in 
America intend to increase hiring, and 93 percent of them have a 
positive outlook for their companies. That is the kind of optimism I 
feel and hear when I travel back home.
  In visits to Amarillo, College Station, Austin, and elsewhere, I have 
had the chance and taken the opportunity to sit down and talk to my 
constituents in those places and ask: How is it going? How are we 
doing? How are you doing? What I hear from small business owners 
regularly is the benefits they are seeing from the Tax Cuts and Jobs 
Act.
  I have also had constituents write to my office, explaining how the 
boost in their monthly paychecks is making a big difference when it 
comes to making ends meet, buying groceries, paying their bills, or 
affording health insurance.
  I alluded to this a moment ago, but one recent piece of news had the 
Southwestern Electric Power Company announce it had requested its 
utility rates be lower. Actually, it probably didn't request it be 
lowered, but they were lowered as a result of their lower overhead as a 
result of their tax bill going down.
  Southwestern has more than 180,000 Texas customers and attributed the 
rate decreases directly to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. I would say that 
is a good thing. When seniors and people on fixed incomes actually see 
their utility rates go down, it helps them make ends meet. Entergy 
Texas, another electric utility, has similar plans to return tax 
savings to customers and support continued investment. Those two 
companies are just the tip of the iceberg.

  The economy is booming, so much so that employers tell me it is hard 
to find qualified workers. We need to double down on our commitment to 
make sure we provide people access to the education and training they 
need to qualify for the new, high-paying jobs that exist. But, simply, 
those jobs can't always be filled because there are not enough trained 
workers to perform them.
  It is not just the economy that deserves our mention. One of the most 
significant things that the Trump administration has done is nominate 
and see the Senate confirm a record number of judges--judges who, by 
the way, are committed to faithfully interpreting the Constitution and 
not legislating from the bench because of their personal preferences.
  If you want to pursue a personal agenda or political agenda, you 
ought to run for Congress, not seek the Federal bench. We expect and 
demand

[[Page S2812]]

something different out of judges, which is faithful adherence to the 
law, not imposing their personal policy preferences. That is what 
President Trump has prioritized in his nominees and the nominees we 
have confirmed.
  Twenty-one circuit court judges have been confirmed so far. That is 
roughly one-eighth of the appeals court judges in the United States. 
These circuit courts hear appeals from Federal district courts, trial 
courts, and, as the Presiding Officer knows, set binding precedent on a 
wide range of issues. I like to say that for all practical purposes, 
the circuit courts are the Supreme Court because the Supreme Court of 
the United States hears roughly 80 cases a year. They obviously set the 
precedent, but there are a lot of cases that never reach the Supreme 
Court, and their final court of last resort is the circuit court. That 
means the men and women presiding over those courts--the way they 
approach their judicial decision making--is making a real difference.
  As I said, with the help of the Senate, President Trump has secured 
confirmation for 21 circuit court nominees. It is worth pointing out 
that President Obama's 21st circuit court nominee was not confirmed 
until he was in office for 33 months. It is not just that we are 
confirming good judges; it is that we are doing so at a good clip, 
comparatively speaking.
  These judges include people like Don Willett, former justice of the 
Texas Supreme Court; Jim Ho, the former Texas solicitor general; and 
soon, Andy Oldham, the general counsel to Governor Greg Abbott, who has 
been nominated to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.
  That is not to mention the very talented district court judges we 
have confirmed as well. Two of them, Karen Scholer and David Counts, 
are Texans, and both my State and the entire Federal judiciary are 
lucky to have them.
  The third thing I want to mention in terms of the economy is 
regulations because of what we have been able to do, working with the 
President when it comes to the regulatory state--the bureaucracy, the 
nameless, faceless entities that make life either easier or more 
difficult for small businesses. We have had a big impact. Specifically, 
we have repealed burdensome Obama-era regulations through the 
Congressional Review Act. It has been said before--and I will say it 
again--that in all of Senate history, it had been used only one time 
before; that is, to repeal the ergonomics rule. We have used it 16 
times to eliminate agency rules that had found their way into law 
during the waning hours of the previous administration.
  This effort--the Congressional Review Act effort--has been 
spearheaded by people like the junior Senator from Pennsylvania, among 
others. It has eliminated rules like coal mining regulation that would 
have put more than 100,000 jobs at risk and another one enacted by the 
Department of Education that undermined local control of schools and 
directly violated a Federal statute at least 7 times.
  Our use of the Congressional Review Act has been referred to as a 
``regulatory wrecking ball'' and the ``most ambitious regulatory 
rollback since [President Ronald] Reagan.''
  I don't agree it has been a wrecking ball. I think it has been more 
of a surgical operation. It has provided a signal to businesses, as 
well as real regulatory relief in those 16 specific cases. I think that 
is another reason for optimism in the sense that the Federal Government 
is no longer tying one hand behind the backs of our job creators.
  Another important development has been finally rolling back some of 
the overregulation of Dodd-Frank. You will recall this was legislation 
that passed following the great meltdown recession of 2008. Like most 
things that happen in Washington, DC, the pendulum swung way too far.
  I tell my community bankers and the credit unions in Texas: You 
weren't the target, but you were the collateral damage. They didn't 
cause the great recession of 2008, the subprime mortgage lending 
crisis; that was the big boys on Wall Street.
  Thanks to Senator Crapo and the Banking Committee and a bipartisan 
effort in the Senate, we finally pulled back some of the 
overregulation. If small community banks were going to be able to stay 
in business, they were required to hire people just to fill out the 
paperwork--not to make more loans but to fill out the paperwork. Many 
of them couldn't survive at all, so they had to merge or just go away. 
The people who got hurt the most were the people who needed access to 
credit--again, our small businesses.
  Thankfully, this bill is now expected to pass the House this week, 
and it will be a big win for smaller financial institutions and make it 
easier for them to serve their communities by providing mortgages, 
providing credit, and lending to small businesses.
  That is the past. Let's take a peek forward to this next week. This 
week, we will keep our commitment to our veterans--people who have worn 
the uniform of the U.S. military and who have served us so well and to 
whom we have a moral obligation, I believe, to keep our commitments to 
them--the promises we made to them when they were on Active Duty that 
when they left Active Duty, we would keep our commitments. We will do 
that when we vote on the VA MISSION Act this week.
  This is a bipartisan, bicameral bill that will make significant 
reforms to the Department of Veterans Affairs. It will strengthen the 
healthcare and community care options that are available to America's 
veterans. It will provide $5.2 billion to the much needed Choice 
funding program to prevent interruption of access to needed care for 
veterans.
  In other words, we have said: If you are a veteran and can't get to a 
designated VA healthcare facility--a hospital or clinic--you can get 
treated in your community by a hospital or other healthcare provider, 
and we will pay the fee. If you have to wait too long in line, if you 
have to drive too far, you will have healthcare options. That is why 
funding the $5.2 billion for the Choice Program is so important.
  This bill will also provide caregiver assistance and consolidates the 
VA's seven community care programs into one streamlined program and 
will allow veterans, as I said, to seek care when and where it makes 
the most sense for them.
  On the caregiver program, I can't help but remember when I visited 
Walter Reed, visiting some of our warriors injured in the line of duty 
in places like Afghanistan and Iraq. Frequently, the spouse of a 
wounded warrior has to quit his or her job to care for their loved one. 
It is an important aspect of the continuum of care necessary for them 
to recover and get back on their feet. We are going to provide greater 
access to caregiver assistance so that spouses and family members can 
do exactly that. It is the right thing for us to do.
  Our VA MISSION bill also authorizes access to walk-in community 
clinics, removes bureaucratic redtape by authorizing local provider 
agreements, and eliminates barriers for VA healthcare professionals to 
practice telemedicine. In this new technological age, it makes no sense 
to have restrictions on the ability of people to get access to care 
through telemedicine, when and where appropriate.
  I want to conclude by saying that I appreciate Chairman Isakson, 
Senator Moran, and others working with the President and Acting 
Director Wilkie to get this done before funding runs out. I appreciate 
all of our colleagues who have worked on this on a bipartisan basis.
  Last week, the House passed the bill, so now it is our turn. What a 
great sign of appreciation to our veterans it will be to get this bill 
passed and to the President's desk and have it signed before Memorial 
Day.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Alabama.