[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 195 (Tuesday, December 11, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7405-S7406]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                         Senate Accomplishments

  Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, the 115th Congress is drawing to a close, 
and it has been a good 2 years. Our goal 2 years ago was simple: to 
make life better for American families--which is exactly what we have 
done. We knew that a huge part of making life better for American 
families was in the expanding of opportunity and putting more money in 
their pockets, so we passed a historic reform of our outdated Tax Code 
that slashed tax rates for families and removed barriers to economic 
growth.
  It is already producing results. Since we passed tax reform a year 
ago this December, we have seen unemployment drop to its lowest rate in 
almost 50 years, and we have seen job openings reach a record high. For 
the past 7 months, there have been more job openings than there have 
been Americans looking for work. We have seen company after company 
dispense raises or bonuses or boost benefits for their employees. We 
have seen the best wage growth since the great recession and more.
  Most importantly, the economic benefits of tax reform are reaching 
the people who need them the most. During the Obama administration, 
what economic prosperity there was tended to be concentrated in large 
metropolitan areas, but under Republican government, growth and 
prosperity are reaching small cities and rural families and 
communities. Thanks to tax reform, a lot of families are finding it 
easier to pay their bills and to put a little bit away for the future.
  Yet, of course, tax reform is far from the only thing we did in this 
Congress to improve the lives of the American people. Along with the 
White House, we lifted burdensome regulations. We enacted legislation 
to improve career and technical education programs. We passed 
legislation to make it easier for Main Street banks and credit unions 
to lend money to small businesses and farmers and ranchers. We passed 
the largest pay increase in nearly a decade for our men and women in 
uniform.
  We delivered real reforms for our veterans through the VA MISSION 
Act. This legislation streamlined the VA's community care programs to 
help ensure veterans receive efficient, timely, quality care. Once 
fully implemented, it will also expand caregiver assistance to disabled 
pre-9/11 veterans--an overdue benefit for generations of our heroes. We 
also modernized the Veterans Benefits Administration's appeals system 
to develop a quicker, more responsive system for veterans.
  On the national security front, we have reinvested in our Nation's 
military to ensure that our troops are equipped not only for today's 
missions but to meet the threats of the future. A recent report from 
the bipartisan National Defense Strategy Commission outlined how 
dangerously our military superiority has eroded--to the point at which 
it would be difficult for us to win a war against two major powers. 
This alarming reduction in our military's readiness is why Republicans 
have made rebuilding our military such a priority in this Congress. 
There is no better way to ensure peace for our country than to make 
sure that the

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U.S. military is the strongest, best equipped fighting force in all the 
world.
  On the healthcare front this Congress, we passed the SUPPORT for 
Patients and Communities Act to address the nationwide opioid epidemic. 
This bipartisan legislation reflected ideas and input from no fewer 
than 72 of our Members here in the Senate to support prevention, 
treatment, and recovery efforts.
  We repealed ObamaCare's individual mandate tax, which forced patients 
to buy insurance that they didn't want and couldn't afford. We also 
eliminated ObamaCare's Independent Payment Advisory Board, which would 
have empowered a board of unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats to make 
substantial changes to Medicare.
  We passed legislation to give terminally ill patients access to 
experimental care.
  In February, we also passed the longest extension of the State 
Children's Health Insurance Program in the program's history.
  Then, of course, there are the many excellent judges we have 
confirmed to the Federal bench--judges who can be relied on to uphold 
the law and the Constitution and to give anyone who comes before their 
benches a fair shake.