[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 63 (Thursday, April 11, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2400-S2401]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                               Tax Reform

  Madam President, on another matter, over the past year or so, I have 
dedicated a large part of my time on the floor to discussing the 
performance of the U.S. economy, and at no point have I struggled to 
find things to say.
  Seemingly every day, we have been greeted by headlines that tell the 
same story: Under the political policies of a pro-growth, pro-
opportunity Republican agenda, Americans are experiencing a remarkable 
economic moment.
  More than 1 year ago, I mentioned on the floor that weekly jobless 
claims had reached their lowest level since 1969. Last week, the Labor 
Department reported that by this measure, the U.S. economy has set yet 
another new record. What was already a nearly 49-year low has now 
dipped further to a nearly 50-year low.
  My colleagues and I have been busy highlighting the American stories 
behind these numbers--stories of recovery and prosperity being written 
in all sorts of communities, in all corners of our country.
  More than 1 year since a generational overhaul of the Federal Tax 
Code lifted burdens from American job creators, entrepreneurs, and 
working families, the headlines are continuing to pour in.
  With Tax Day just around the corner, millions of working families 
have filed for the first time under a law that has allowed, according 
to nonpartisan analysts, the vast majority of Americans to keep more of 
their money. They have pocketed higher take-home pay, wage increases, 
and special bonuses, and they benefited from the booming job market 
these policies have helped ignite.
  But old habits die hard. The Washington Democrats who were content to 
watch as the Obama era piled up 75 percent of new jobs and 90 percent 
of population growth to the biggest metropolitan areas are back to 
their same old tricks.
  In recent months, we have seen a steady drip of leftist daydreams 
making their way into press conferences, resolutions, and out on the 
2020 campaign trail: a massive rewrite of American election laws and a 
power grab on an individual's right to exercise political speech, a 
mandatory, one-size-fits-all government-run replacement for private 
healthcare for over 180 million Americans, and an estimated $93 
trillion in taxpayers' money to be spent testing out new Federal social 
planning schemes and abolishing the affordable energy sources American 
families rely on. Tax Day seems like an especially fitting day to tell 
Washington Democrats no thanks--no thanks.
  The Kentuckians I represent prefer to keep more of their own hard-
earned money. They prefer to make their own decisions about their own 
families instead of ceding more power to bureaucrats.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Iowa.


                                H.R. 268

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Madam President, Members of the Senate, if you look at 
the poster I just put up, you know what I am going to talk about--the 
devastating floods in Iowa and the Midwest.
  In Western Iowa, we still have areas underwater from flooding on the 
Missouri river and its tributaries. In the east, we are dealing with 
the Mississippi River and tributary flooding. Unfortunately, the 
weather isn't cooperating with additional storms and rain throughout 
the Upper Midwest, as I speak, that could exacerbate flooding and 
hinder cleanup and repairs.
  This flooding is still a very active event, but as we move to 
recovery, we know the original damage estimates in Iowa are increasing. 
I can say that for Nebraska as well. Many roads are still closed; levy 
damage is extensive; towns are devastated; and many individuals lost 
their homes and businesses.
  In just 6 of our 99 counties in Iowa, 416,000 acres of cropland was 
flooded. Much of that cropland is still underwater. These farmers are 
facing the challenge of not being able to plant this year. 
Unfortunately, many of these farmers' fields were just recovering from 
previous years of major flooding. In this area of Iowa, that would have 
been in 2011.
  This is compounded by many losing their previous harvest through 
having their on-the-farm storage bins destroyed, as you can see here.
  Throughout the Midwest area that had severe flooding, 832 on-farm 
storage bins have been identified as being like these, destroyed. We 
don't have a complete estimate of that, but I think 832 on-the-farm 
storage bins would be at least a figure up to a certain date.
  These bins hold an estimated 5 to 10 million bushels of corn or 
soybeans, so, collectively, that would be a loss of worth between $17 
million and $34 million.
  There is an existing program that goes by the acronym WHIP in the 
Department of Agriculture that is designed to address agricultural 
losses not covered by crop insurance and other programs. I reached out 
to the U.S. Department of Agriculture to see if this program could be 
used for losses such as those seen here, particularly in Iowa and 
Nebraska, for corn and soybeans.
  I was told because the WHIP program was designed for other 
commodities affected by hurricanes and wildfires, they needed a few 
words added to the law to extend the same help to these problems we now 
have in the Midwest. I asked what those words were, and I spoke to 
Senator Shelby, who manages this bill on the floor of the Senate, and 
to Senator Perdue, who has a great deal of interest in the bill because 
of agricultural losses in Georgia. These two Senators agreed to work 
with me. These two Senators agreed to work with me. So I filed a 
shorter amendment of a disaster bill along with Senator Ernst and 
several of my colleagues from the Midwest to make sure that devastation 
like this is covered. I am optimistic that this simple fix, which will 
mean so much to farmers facing such unusual catastrophic losses, can be 
included as the disaster bill moves forward through the Senate.

  Yesterday, as another way of helping more than just this type of 
farmer but, generally, other disaster victims, I joined Senators 
Fischer, Ernst, and Sasse in introducing a tax bill that goes by the 
title of the Disaster Tax Relief Act of 2019. This bill includes a 
series of disaster tax relief provisions that will help American 
families and businesses recover from the terrible disasters that have 
occurred so far in 2019, including the Midwest flooding.
  On February 28 I introduced a bipartisan bill with Senator Wyden that 
included the same tax relief provisions that would assist the victims 
of disasters that occurred in 2018. So I view the Fischer bill and the 
Grassley-Wyden bill as complementary, providing disaster tax relief 
with respect to the disasters that occurred last year, as well as this 
year. The bill that I introduced in February also includes extensions 
of

[[Page S2401]]

a series of tax provisions that almost every Member of this Senate 
would like to see passed. These are the tax provisions that expired in 
2017 and 2018. We labeled all 25 or 26 of these as tax extenders. These 
are things that, over the last two decades, have been extended almost 
automatically after they have sunset, and we need to get those 
provisions enacted, just like the disaster tax relief provisions.
  I encourage the House Democrats to send the Senate a bill that 
addresses both tax extenders and disaster tax relief provisions. When I 
say House Democrats, people listening are going to say: He is being 
partisan.
  No, I am being constitutional. The Constitution says that all tax 
bills have to start in the House of Representatives. The House of 
Representatives is controlled by the Democrat majority. So that is why 
I am saying to the House Democrats: Get these bills over here to us so 
we can help not only the people that benefit from what we call tax 
extenders but, more importantly, those who with the urgency of the 
disaster that we are facing.
  The importance of passing these bills is because Americans need 
certainty as they file their taxes in 2018, and they need the tax 
relief as they recover from these natural disasters. They really need 
the House Democrats, under the Constitution, to pass a tax bill because 
we can't act on these tax bills before. The custom around here is that 
the Constitution says that all tax bills have to start in the House of 
Representatives. If we pass even a simple tax bill--let's say we pass 
it as part of an appropriations bill--and we send it over to the House, 
they don't accept it. That has been the tradition around here for 
centuries. That is why I am calling on the House Democrats to move that 
bill.
  The disaster relief provisions included in the bill that we have 
introduced reduce penalties and make it easier to access retirement 
funds so individuals and families can get back up on their feet and 
rebuild their lives. In other words, these are retirement funds that 
people have set aback and that the law doesn't allow them to access for 
disasters. It is just a simple thing. If somebody is hurt by this 
disaster and wants to go to their retirement fund and borrow on it for 
a certain period of time to help them get relief, it is a pretty simple 
thing. Maybe, momentarily you could say it costs the Federal Government 
something, but they are still going to owe these taxes regardless of 
whenever they start drawing for retirement.
  These bills also make it easier for disaster victims to claim 
personal casualty losses, and they suspend certain limitations on 
charitable contributions to encourage more donations for this disaster 
relief. For businesses affected by these disasters, this tax relief is 
available to help them retain employees while businesses get back up 
and running.
  Let's continue the bipartisan tradition of helping our fellow 
Americans with disasters. When these disasters strike, we ought to do 
it by enacting this tax relief for both 2018 and 2019, so that disaster 
victims don't have to wait any longer to access this important 
assistance and continue to get back on their feet.
  It may sound like I am talking about something new. I don't know 
whether this just started with Hurricane Katrina in 2005 or before, but 
I remember being chairman of the Finance Committee then. We passed 
similar legislation to help the victims of hurricanes. So this is 
really nothing new. Since it is nothing new and we have done it before, 
what is wrong with doing it now?
  The Democrats in the House of Representatives can get this bill over 
to us so we can get it enacted over here and get it to the President. 
We want to provide the certainty that taxpayers deserve by enacting 
extensions of not only those disasters but also the expired tax 
provisions. I encourage the House Democrats to move swiftly. The Senate 
and the American people are waiting.
  On another point about flooding, generally, not just dealing with 
this flood, this flood brings to attention something we have to deal 
with, with the Army Corps of Engineers.
  Next week the Environment and Public Works Committee is holding a 
field hearing in Southwest Iowa to provide oversight on the Army Corps 
of Engineers management of the 2019 Missouri River flooding. Senator 
Ernst, my colleague from Iowa, will be chairing this hearing, and I am 
going to be participating.
  Flood control should be the No. 1 priority of the Corps in its 
management of the Missouri River. I hope that tomorrow, when I get to 
travel with Vice President Pence as he views the same area that I 
viewed 2 weeks ago--the same area covered here--we have the Army Corps 
of Engineers there so that we can talk to them about the issue of the 
Missouri River Master Manual authorizing eight purposes as they control 
the water up and down the Missouri River. They do that through the dams 
on the Missouri River.
  It happens that seven of these can be at cross purposes with the 
eighth one--flood control. I hope flood control is No. 1 and not No. 8. 
We need to discuss with them how to prevent massive flooding and how to 
act to ensure that folks in Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri, and Kansas are 
not faced with devastation every few years. Eventually, this water ends 
up in the Gulf of Mexico. So States below Missouri are going to 
eventually be affected by it.
  I appreciate the stamina and determination of Iowans whom I have seen 
out there, not only in this flood of 2019 but in the flood of 2011. The 
one of 2019 was much more devastating. I think we have great 
resiliency. We will come back and pull together to get the job done, 
but there is a very long recovery ahead of all of these Iowans affected 
by it and Nebraskans and, maybe to some extent, Kansas and quite a bit 
in Missouri.
  I will continue to do everything I can at the Federal level to help 
the State of Iowa, Iowa communities, and, more importantly, in fact, as 
individual Iowans are affected, I am going to help them to recover and 
to rebuild.
  Thank you.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. GARDNER. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.