[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 163 (Wednesday, October 16, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5815-S5816]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                             Maiden Speech

  Mr. SCOTT of Florida. Mr. President, my story begins with my mom. My 
mom had a very difficult life. She grew up with a verbally abusive, 
alcoholic father. She married a physically abusive, alcoholic husband, 
whom she divorced when I was born. At that time, divorce was frowned 
upon. My birth father never gave my mom, my older brother, or me a 
dime. I never met him.
  My mom eventually married the man who became my adoptive father, a 
busdriver who made all four combat jumps with the 82nd Airborne in 
World War II. This summer, I had the opportunity to go to the D-Day 
anniversary in Normandy and to look at the area he parachuted into, 
where 17 percent of his company died.
  He was a loving father, but with only a sixth-grade education and 
five children, he struggled to support our family. We had no money and 
lived in public housing, but even with all of those issues, I cannot 
think of a better childhood.
  Even with no money, my mom was optimistic and hopeful. She told us 
that we were blessed because God and our Founders created the greatest 
country ever, where anything was possible. I am not sure my mom ever 
really had a plan for us, but she certainly knew what she was doing. We 
sat through many sermons, and church was not optional. We were told we 
had to make straight A's. We memorized the first part of the 
Declaration of Independence and the 23rd Psalm. We became Eagle Scouts, 
cleaned the house, and had to have a job. I started working at 7 years 
old and haven't stopped since.
  We weren't allowed to complain. Debt, Big Government, socialism, and 
communism were bad. College was for a better paying job.
  We were constantly lectured about the dangers of drug abuse. 
Unfortunately, drugs have destroyed the life of one of my family 
members.
  I enlisted in the U.S. Navy at 18, where I swabbed the decks, cleaned 
the latrines, served the mess decks, and took college courses aboard a 
destroyer during the last years of Vietnam but never close to Vietnam.
  I married my high school sweetheart at 19, and, today, Ann and I have 
two daughters, six very perfect grandsons, and a seventh very perfect 
grandchild on the way next year. My wonderful wife, Ann, is here today 
and has been by my side every step of our journey.
  While I didn't always appreciate my tough-love, my-way-or-the-highway 
mom growing up, I now thank God every day for my mom and for this 
country. She gave me the opportunity to experience every lesson this 
country had to offer before I was 20.
  Unfortunately, the left has worked hard over the last 50 years to 
discredit the values of the America I was raised with--the values of 
the America I want my grandsons to grow up with. We all acknowledge 
that Americans, our country, and our institutions have flaws, but the 
left has worked to discredit our Founders, our institutions, our 
churches, our law enforcement, our morals, and almost everything my mom 
taught me. It has been happening for a long time.
  The left railed against our soldiers during the Vietnam war. They 
call those still believing in a supreme being or the commitment of 
marriage uninformed and old fashioned. They are now openly saying that 
churches that hold traditional values should lose their tax-exempt 
status.
  The left doesn't care about our enormous debt, pushes for socialism, 
and criticizes the Boy Scouts. The left thinks it is OK that our 
schools don't teach about the Founding Fathers or free markets. They 
want you to think America was never great.
  To a degree, the pressure from the left is working. Americans under 
30 are less interested in joining the military. Church attendance is at 
an all-time low. Participation in the Boy Scouts, even after allowing 
girls in, has shrunk. Many are choosing not to have families. And 
Socialism, the single most discredited idea of the last century--an 
idea that has led millions into poverty and tyranny around the globe--
has gained a foothold in one of our two political parties.
  I spent most of my life in business. The values that my tough-love 
mom instilled in me helped me to achieve the success she expected--not 
just hoped for but expected--for me. I was able to live the American 
dream because I worked hard. I lived out the values my mom taught me in 
my business career--hard work and fiscal responsibility but with a 
caring spirit to support those around me.
  I built a healthcare company that had lower costs and better quality 
of care than my competitors. We had the highest patient satisfaction 
surveys in

[[Page S5816]]

the industry. I built and bought businesses for most of my life that 
helped hundreds of thousands of people get good, high-paying jobs. Many 
of them were failing businesses that we had to turn around to save 
jobs.
  My experience growing up in a family that struggled to get good jobs 
influenced everything I have done in my life. It is not easy, and it 
shouldn't be, but everyone--every single American--should have the 
opportunity to struggle, work hard, and overcome the obstacles.
  I took those exact same values to the Governor's office when I was 
elected in 2010. Florida had been struggling, and 832,000 jobs had been 
lost in the 4 years before I took office. Home prices were cut in half. 
Debt was soaring. The State raised taxes on its poorest citizens by 
more than $2 billion to fill a budget hole.
  I always think about my mom. I think about how it impacted her when 
food prices went up, taxes went up, when my brother got sick without 
health insurance, and when my dad was laid off. I became a jobs 
Governor. It wasn't a political talking point. It was about real 
people.
  I have traveled around the State highlighting new businesses that 
opened in Florida, even small businesses. I remember a local legislator 
asking me once why I wasted my time going to a small town in Florida to 
highlight a new business's opening with just 30 new jobs. My response 
was that my dad struggled to find any job, and that is 30 families who 
have the opportunity to live the American Dream, and what could be more 
important?
  In 8 years, Florida added 1.7 million new jobs, we paid down almost 
one-third of State debt, and we invested record funding in education, 
the environment, and transportation.
  I also tried to fight for the values that are being lost in this 
country. I fight to protect life, to support the institution of the 
family, to lift up our military members, veterans, and law enforcement, 
to promote capitalism, and to defend the rule of law and the 
Constitution.
  These values are under attack from the left and have been for quite 
some time. There is no easy solution to that problem, but one thing is 
clear: Government is not the solution. Washington is not the solution.
  In my short time in the U.S. Senate, I have promoted policies I 
believe support the idea of an America where anything is possible. We 
need lower taxes. We need less regulation. We need a secure border and 
a sane immigration policy. We need to get healthcare costs under 
control. We need to defend freedom and liberty all over the world. But 
none of this will matter unless we see hearts and minds change. We need 
a renewal in America of the values that made this country great. That 
will not happen on the floor of the U.S. Senate. It will happen in the 
living rooms, classrooms, churches, synagogues, and boardrooms.
  We need to remember that hard work is a feature, not a bug, of this 
American experiment and that the family unit is at the center of our 
society, and the breakdown of the family has been hugely detrimental. 
We need to remember that capitalism is the greatest force for economic 
good in the history of the world and socialism belongs in the ash-heap 
of history. We need to remember these things because our freedoms and 
the country we love can be lost forever. The values that made America 
great can go away, and there are those among us who want them to go 
away.
  This challenge is much bigger than politics, and the solution is not 
political. It requires us--every one of us--to stand up and fight and 
to say without reservation or fear that we will not give up on America 
or the plans of our Founders. We will not stop fighting for our future.
  If we want America to be great in the future, we must reject the 
politically correct attempts to rewrite our history, and we must reject 
the leftwing attempt to slander the greatness of our ideals. America 
is, in fact, the greatest country in the history of the world, and we 
should not be embarrassed to say so. We should proclaim it proudly. 
America is the greatest country in the history of the world.
  I fear the values that I grew up with--the ones my tough-love mom 
taught me--are becoming a way of the past, but I believe these values, 
these virtues can and should be part of our country's future.
  I love it when my grandkids pray before eating, recite the Pledge of 
Allegiance, ask to visit military museums, join the Boy Scouts, thank 
police officers and soldiers for their service, and place their hand 
over their heart when they hear the National Anthem. I hope they 
memorize the Declaration of Independence and the 23rd Psalm, become 
Eagle Scouts, have crummy-paying teenage jobs with unreasonable bosses, 
and get benched in sports for not trying hard enough. Also, I pray they 
consider a life of military service--one already wants to be a 
paratrooper--and are lucky enough to marry a wonderful person and have 
enough kids to worry about how to pay for college.
  Maybe my grandkids will complain about parents being way too strict. 
Maybe they will complain about demanding teachers and bosses not caring 
what they think. Maybe they will complain about screaming drill 
sergeants, difficult degrees, restrictive banks, and life not being 
fair. If so, I will smile and say: ``That's great; America is back.'' 
Then, I will know my grandsons have the opportunity to do something 
worthwhile with their lives, like build a loving family, successful 
career, thriving community, better country, and better world.
  In the meantime, I will keep fighting. I ran for public office to 
fight for the country I was raised in because that is the country our 
children and our grandchildren deserve. They deserve what my mom gave 
me--a free country with unlimited potential for every citizen. I hope 
everyone will join me in this fight.
  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. MANCHIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.