[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 21 (Monday, February 4, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S818-S819]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         THE STATE OF THE UNION

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, tomorrow, President Trump will belatedly 
report on the state of the Union before a joint session of Congress. 
The reason for the delay, of course, is the 35-day government shutdown 
that President Trump precipitated as an attempt to extract taxpayer 
money for a wall he promised Mexico would pay for, a pointless 
exercise, if there ever were one--a pointless exercise that punished 
hundreds of thousands of innocent public servants and took billions of 
dollars out of our economy.
  We are all glad that the government is back open and Federal workers 
are back on the job and getting paid, but the recent government 
shutdown speaks to the fundamental uncertainty about the state of our 
Union.
  Tomorrow, the President will say, predictably, that the state of our 
Union is strong, but the truth is that the state of the Trump economy 
is failing America's middle class, that the state of the Trump 
healthcare system is failing American families, that the state of the 
Trump administration is embroiled in chaos and incompetence, and that 
the state of the President's foreign policy is incoherent, 
inconsistent, and cynical in the extreme and has undermined American 
power and our national interests. In sum, the state of our Union is in 
need of drastic repair.
  Let's begin with the state of the Trump economy. Corporate America 
has cashed in on the Trump tax bill, but working America has been left 
behind. Since the tax bill passed over a year ago, corporations have 
announced plans to repurchase more than $1 trillion of their own 
stock--a practice that benefits corporate executives and wealthy 
shareholders but not many average workers. Meanwhile, Reuters reports 
that the tax bill had no major impact on whether businesses made 
capital investments or hired more workers. The very wealthy--the big, 
powerful corporations--fed this line: Help them, and everyone will be 
helped. Our Republican friends swallowed that--hook, line, and sinker.
  The only good news about this tax bill that passed last year is that 
it showed what a false promise it was--$1 trillion for the wealthy 
through stock buybacks and other things and virtually nothing for 
American workers. The President promised--remember this?--that his tax 
bill would deliver a $4,000 raise to the average household. The reality 
is that wages for average workers have remained quite stagnant. Workers 
are still making less today than they did in 1973 after adjusting for 
inflation. The effect of the Trump economy has been a deepening of the 
inequalities and wealth disparities that threaten the future of the 
middle class and the future of the American dream. The rich are getting 
richer. The middle class is being hollowed out. That is the state of 
the Trump economy.
  How about healthcare? The state of our healthcare system is dire. 
Premiums are higher than they should be. Out-of-pocket costs are higher 
than they should be. The uninsured rate is, once again, rising. This is 
the result of a relentless sabotage by the Trump administration and 
congressional Republicans. The Trump administration expanded junk 
insurance plans. It supports a lawsuit that would end protections for 
Americans with preexisting conditions. It all but eliminated programs 
that help people find the right coverage for themselves and their 
families, and it continues to routinely propose and approve policies 
that cause people to lose coverage and cause health insurance markets 
to spiral into chaos.
  When any one of us goes home, one just has to be home for a short 
time before hearing of people with horror stories of how they had 
normal procedures and were told that this doctor was not covered, that 
this procedure was not covered, and that it would be several thousand 
dollars out of their pockets, which they can't afford. We are told of 
one horror story or another--of the cost of something like insulin, 
which is way through the roof, when it should be available because it 
does so much for those who have diabetes. We hear story after story, 
and those aren't isolated. That is the state of the Trump healthcare 
system.
  The past 2 years have been a wholesale assault by the Trump 
administration on Americans' healthcare. I doubt President Trump will 
mention that tomorrow, but if you ask American families of the No. 1 
problem they face, it will be the cost of good healthcare, which seems 
more and more out of reach. So the state of the Trump healthcare system 
is dire.
  What is the state of the Trump administration? The state of the Trump 
administration is chaos. Underqualified staffers cycle in and out of 
our

[[Page S819]]

government's most powerful positions. Cabinet Secretaries are fired 
over Twitter. Hundreds of important positions are unfilled or are 
covered by someone in an acting capacity, including for the Chief of 
Staff, the Attorney General, the Defense Secretary, the Interior 
Secretary, the OMB Director, and the EPA Director.
  Hardly a week goes by without news of a high-profile firing or 
resignation from the White House. President Trump publicly belittles 
the people who are working for him. That is no way to incent people to 
work hard. An NPR study found that the Trump administration has had the 
most Cabinet turnovers of any administration in more than a century. 
Three Cabinet Secretaries have been fired or have resigned in scandal--
Price, Zinke, and Pruitt. One has resigned in protest--probably the 
best Cabinet member we had--General Mattis, who couldn't take Trump's 
zigzags on policy and his lack of sharing information. Another had his 
nomination pulled before it could be considered--Puzder--which is not 
altogether rare for this President.
  Since the start of the administration, more than 40 of President 
Trump's nominees have been withdrawn. They don't know how to vet. The 
President makes these off-the-cuff decisions based on how someone 
looks, and we all pay the price. Oh, yes, the state of the Trump 
administration and how he runs the government--chaos. The continuity 
and effectiveness of American Government has been deeply compromised by 
the turmoil and turnover at the White House.
  Finally, the state of the Trump foreign policy is woefully backward. 
From Brussels to Beijing, President Trump has alienated our allies and 
emboldened our adversaries. Russia, China, North Korea--three of the 
worst and least democratic countries on Earth, the countries that pose 
the greatest threats to America--are treated with kid gloves, while our 
allies, like those in NATO, get harsh words from this President. It is 
inside out. It is topsy-turvy. It is what his instincts and gut show, 
and they are totally wrong--without fact, without knowledge, and 
without understanding history. Too often, the President has, 
regrettably, failed to champion free speech, freedom of the press, 
humanitarian rights, and democratic values. Dictators and strongmen are 
ascendant in the President's circle while allies are pushed to the 
fringe. Yes, the state of the Trump foreign policy is woefully 
backward.
  Concerning the speech tomorrow night, the President will not talk 
like this, of course. What I expect the President to do is to ignore 
reality and spin his own fiction. A looming question is just how many 
falsehoods, distortions, and made-up facts will appear in the 
President's speech. How many times will he say something is fake news 
because it is true, and he doesn't like to hear the truth?
  Yet the Democrats are not focused on the President's rhetoric--his 
usual boasts or bluster or blame--that is so characteristic of this 
administration. We are going to continue fighting for American workers 
in this unequal economy, fighting for American families who are 
struggling to afford quality healthcare, fighting to bring 
accountability and stability to this government so in chaos, and 
fighting for rational foreign policy that promotes both our interests 
and our values.
  The state of the Union is sad. Let me just say that the No. 1 reason 
the state of the Union has such woes is the President. I hope he 
changes in the next 2 years.

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