[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 188 (Wednesday, December 18, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7134-S7145]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SOCIAL SECURITY FAIRNESS ACT--MOTION TO PROCEED
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Michigan.
Tribute to Anne Stanski
Ms. STABENOW. Madam President, I rise today to pay tribute to a
wonderful staffer who has been indispensable to me and the entire
Stabenow team. She has left us now; so she is in the Gallery, rather
than sitting next to me. But I am so grateful for Anne Stanski and her
incredible work.
Anne began as a scheduler in my Washington office at the beginning of
my second term in the Senate, and after just a few weeks, I wondered
how I got along for 6 years without her. Anyone who knows congressional
offices knows that being the scheduler is not the most glamorous job.
But having a great scheduler is the secret sauce of every successful
Hill office.
[[Page S7135]]
Anne tracked countless flights to and from Michigan, organized every
detail of a codel to four different countries in Africa, planned and
executed numerous events, and so much more. No task was ever too small
or too large for Anne to handle. She knew how to do it all, and she did
it all exceptionally well. She rolled with the punches and was always,
always available to untangle the knots that inevitably make their way
into a well-planned schedule.
After 10 years of being the go-to person on all things scheduling,
Anne transitioned to be my deputy chief of staff. I pride myself on
having the best team in the Congress, and Anne was influential in
building that team.
Over the years, Anne has mentored countless interns, many of whom
became staffers in our office and grew to become integral members of
our team under her guidance. Her latest achievement in this area
includes two of her former schedulers becoming engaged to each other.
Everyone on staff always knew they could go to Anne for help. Whether
it was managing the front office, solving a scheduling issue, or just
needing someone to talk to, Anne was always there. Anne's leadership
and hard work has made my office effective at getting things done and a
great place to work.
During her time in my office, we have had one of the lowest staff
turnovers of any office in the Senate. Most recently, Anne took on the
responsibility of leading the Democratic policy and communications
committee, comprised of 51 Senators whose schedules often appear to be
purposefully planned to thwart any attempt to get us all in one place.
Despite this, Anne successfully planned and executed annual retreats,
which is no small job, and weekly policy luncheons for the committee,
all while carrying out the essential service of steering our party's
policies and messaging forward.
May I add, she has accomplished all of this while she and her husband
Matt are raising very impressive twin girls, Addie and Lizzie, who were
born while Anne was working for me and are now in high school. I can't
believe this.
They are such a beautiful family. Now, despite what many people
think, you don't have to be a Michigan State University fan to work in
my office, but it helps. As proud alums, Anne and I have always spent
so much time together cheering on our Spartans, even watching them play
in the Sweet 16 at Madison Square Garden. Go, Green.
Anne, thank you for everything--your incredible work, your loyalty,
your friendship. I wish you every happiness and success possible in the
future. You deserve it.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Michigan.
Order of Business
Ms. STABENOW. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the
mandatory quorum call with respect to the cloture motion on the motion
to proceed to H.R. 82 be waived.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. TILLIS. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order
for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The Senator from North Carolina.
Social Security Fairness Act
Mr. TILLIS. Madam President, I come to the floor to talk about the
vote that we are about to move to here shortly. It sounds like
motherhood and apple pie--the Social Security Fairness Act. Who could
be against Social Security fairness?
The fact of the matter is, the policy does address a challenge with
Social Security for a single-digit percentage of people who have a
pension--a government pension program--and they are not necessarily
getting exactly what they should back. So it is something we need to
fix, but this is not the way to fix it.
Ladies and gentlemen, we are 10 years away from most economists'
consensus believing that the Social Security trust fund is going to
reach insolvency--10 years--10 years away.
This bill will take $200 billion over that 10-year period out of the
Social Security trust fund without any offsetting payment to it. So
that is, to right a wrong for a small percentage of people that should
get fairly treated, they are going to rake $200 billion--with a ``b''--
over 10 years to pay for this.
That pulls insolvency forward by 6 months. Now 6 months doesn't sound
like a lot, if you are talking years and years and years into the
future, but we are estimated to be reaching insolvency within the next
9 to 10 years. Suddenly, 6 months becomes a pretty significant amount
of time. So we are bowing--we have people here who have voted against
bills before because they say: I don't like the idea of something not
going through regular order, getting dumped on us at the last minute,
and voting on it.
Ladies and gentlemen, this bill has not even had a hearing in any
committee in the House or the Senate. It got sent to us through a
procedure called a discharge petition, which means that they have
discharged their duty of doing regular order, sent it to us, and now we
are about to take a vote today without having voted on it.
Now, I know there are a lot of people that say: Thom Tillis must be
committing political suicide because how could you be against Social
Security fairness?
People asked me the same question when I was against the PACT Act
that my office helped author. The PACT Act was a veterans bill, a
trillion-dollar bill that we had a commitment to take through regular
order to get it right before we passed it. I talked to veterans groups
who were concerned with my lack of support for a bill that I helped
author, and I said: It is because I think you are going to regret it by
us not thinking through the implications.
I said: It wouldn't surprise me if, 2 years from now, you are going
to see and realize the very challenges that I told you about.
They said: You know what, we think it will work itself out.
Well, do you know what happened almost 2 years to the month? We are
$3 billion in the hole for the current year veterans budget and $15
billion in the hole going forward because we didn't do our homework. We
caved to the pressure of the moment instead of doing this on a
sustainable basis.
Now, I don't know how many people are going to oppose the bill today.
It is likely to move through. But to those of you who are looking past
the regular order and fixing the things that I know are not fixed in
this bill, own it when we have to come back and fix it. I will come
back and fix it. I will help with Social Security reform. But know that
you are making the job harder to fix a trust fund that is within 10
years of going insolvent.
It would be easy for me to talk to my friends at the Fraternal Order
of Police and say: Yes, we are going to get this done.
And by God, I hope somebody over the next 8 to 10 years fixes Social
Security in the future because in 10 years, there will be a mandatory
17--minimum 17 percent cut in the Social Security benefit across the
board if we continue to fail to act here and if we continue to dig a
deeper hole by the vote we are having today.
So to those of you who need this fixed, who need to be treated
fairly, count me in. But understand that the folks who are rushing this
vote today are hastening the day where they are probably going to break
the promise for 97 percent more people on Social Security who do not
benefit from this bill.
Look, I am in an election cycle. A lot of people may think that I am
committing political suicide by doing this, but this Chamber needs
courage and needs to say what needs to be said. We are about to pass an
unfunded $200 billion spending package for a trust fund that is likely
to go insolvent over the next 9 to 10 years, and we are going to
pretend like somebody else has to fix it. Well, when you are a U.S.
Senator and you have the election certificate, that falls on us.
I want to finish with this: There is nobody in this Chamber I hate to
be in disagreement with more than the senior Senator from Maine.
Senator Collins understands that we do need to fix this, and her sense
of fairness and her expertise are unmatched in this Chamber. We do not
disagree with what we ultimately need to do. This is a disagreement in
how to get there and how to have something that addresses the
downstream risk.
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So it is with some trepidation that I come to the floor and criticize
the good work of Senator Collins, but I do it because there is so much
riding on us getting this right and having the courage to fix Social
Security over the next few years, folks, or--record this speech--we
will rue the day that we failed to do it.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Maine.
Ms. COLLINS. Madam President, let me just briefly say that I have
great admiration for the Senator from North Carolina. This is a rare
instance in which we see the issue differently. But I appreciate his
leadership and hard work.
I rise today in strong support of the long overdue Social Security
Fairness Act. This bipartisan bill would repeal two Social Security
provisions that unfairly penalize many public servants in Maine and
across the country.
I also want to acknowledge and thank Senator Brown for his
leadership. We have championed this bill together for several years. In
fact, we have been debating this inequity in the Social Security System
for decades--for decades.
In 2003, I held the very first Senate hearing on this policy. In
2005, the late Senator Dianne Feinstein and I introduced the first
Social Security Fairness Act. In 2007, Senator Barbara Mikulski and I
introduced another version of the bill. Just last month, the House of
Representatives passed the bill overwhelmingly by a vote of 327 to 75.
It is now time for the Senate to finally pass this legislation so
that it can become law.
Social Security is the foundation of retirement income for most
Americans. Yet many teachers, firefighters, police officers, and other
public servants often see their earned Social Security benefits
unfairly reduced by two provisions: the so-called windfall elimination
provision and the government pension offset.
The windfall elimination provision, or WEP, affects public servants
who receive a pension from a job not covered by Social Security but who
also worked long enough in another job to qualify for Social Security
benefits. In other words, they have earned those benefits. They have
worked the 40 quarters, the 10 years, under a job that pays into Social
Security. Due to the WEP, however, their Social Security benefits are
calculated using a different formula, which reduces their monthly
benefits. For workers who become eligible for benefits in 2024, the WEP
reduction can be up to $700 per month.
The government pension offset, or just GPO, affects public servants
who receive a pension from a job not covered by Social Security but who
are also eligible to receive a Social Security spousal or widow's
benefit. The GPO, however, reduces the Social Security spousal or
widow's benefits by an amount equal to two-thirds of the noncovered
pension. More than 70 percent of those affected by the GPO lose their
entire benefit.
This issue is extraordinarily important to people in my State of
Maine because the State's pension system does not include a Social
Security component. Among those most affected are Maine schoolteachers.
They love their jobs and the children they teach, but they have to
worry about their future and their retirement security.
Many are women, often retired from teaching, whose spouses worked
full time in the private sector, but when they become widowed, their
retirement security is often jeopardized because they don't receive the
standard amount from their late spouse's Social Security. The fact is
that 83 percent of retirees penalized by the GPO provision are women.
According to the Social Security Administration, in November 2024,
more than 2 million people--including more than 20,000 in Maine--had
their Social Security benefits reduced by the WEP. Similarly, more than
650,000 people were affected by the GPO in November of 2024, including
more than 6,000 in Maine.
Let me give you one example. There are so many. Catherine Sjogren
from Bangor, ME, told me about having to reenter the workforce at age
72 after retiring from teaching for many decades. Her husband, a Navy
veteran, paid into Social Security for 40 years. When he passed away,
the GPO reduced Catherine's widow benefits by two-thirds. She did not
have the financial security any longer to remain retired, and the GPO
penalty left her with few choices but to return to work.
Our dedicated public servants, such as our teachers who help prepare
our children for future success and our police officers and
firefighters who help keep our communities safe, should receive the
full Social Security benefit that they have earned. Let me stress that
last point: They have earned these benefits.
This is an unfair, inequitable penalty. I urge my colleagues to
support the Social Security Fairness Act and end this inequity once and
for all.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Louisiana.
Mr. CASSIDY. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that I be
permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes and that Senator Brown be
permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes prior to the scheduled vote.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. CASSIDY. Madam President, when Washington, when we in Congress,
when the President makes a promise to the American people, people
expect us to fulfill it. Today, the Senate has an opportunity to live
up to a promise.
Millions of teachers, firefighters, police officers--I worked in a
public hospital for the uninsured, and I would add nurses, technicians,
lab techs, janitors--they expect us to fulfill this promise, and they
are watching today. They are watching, filled with hope that the Senate
will pass the Social Security Fairness Act to finally stop punishing
them for having elected to serve our communities. We can fix a broken
system that has unfairly harmed them for almost 30 years. We can
finally deliver relief this Christmas for millions of Americans after
years of nothing but empty promises.
The Social Security Fairness Act has passed the House and has
overwhelming, bipartisan support in the Senate. With 62 cosponsors, it
should not be even a question if we have the support to move forward
today.
Not too long ago, I met with a retired Louisiana schoolteacher
impacted by GPO. She cried in my office, not understanding why she was
getting less in Social Security spousal benefits than if she had never
worked at all. Think about this. She had her quarters. She had worked,
say, 20 years in the private sector. She was getting less from spousal
benefits than if she had never worked at all. She felt like she was
being punished for educating generations of Louisiana children, and she
was being punished. There is no excuse to treat our public servants
this way.
So to my colleagues who are concerned about the pricetag, I hear you.
The good news: I have a plan that helps address these concerns. I have
a comprehensive Social Security plan that addresses both the insolvency
in 9 years and including paying for this repeal of WEP and GPO. If you
want to talk about it, I have been promoting this for 4 years.
By the way, it does not increase the full retirement age. People can
still retire at the age at which they planned to retire.
By the way, it checks boxes that President Trump, during his
campaigning, said he would like to do in order to benefit our Nation.
It checks that box too.
So if you are concerned about the pricetag, please talk to me about
how we can afford to do right by the public servants who are being
penalized by WEP and GPO but also help our Nation financially.
We can do both if we have the courage to do both. But at the very
least today, we can keep a promise to make Social Security fair again.
I want to thank all the advocates for their work in getting here,
including the Louisiana Sheriffs' Association, the Louisiana Chiefs of
Police Association, the Louisiana State Employees' Retirement System,
the Louisiana Police Jury Association, the Louisiana Municipal
Association, the International Association of Firefighters, the
National Fraternal Order of Police, and all the others who have
contributed so much to this effort.
I also want to thank President Trump, who has publicly announced his
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support for this bill. It is a sacred trust between the American people
and our government. President-elect Trump--soon-to-be President Trump--
recognizes this.
As long as I am here, I will fight to keep the promises that we make
to the American people.
With that, I yield to my good friend Senator Brown.
Mr. BROWN. Thank you, Senator Cassidy.
I thank Senator Cassidy and his incredible staff for the work that
they have done with the Cleveland Connection. And I just appreciate so
much, as I leave the Senate, the work that Senator Cassidy and I have
done on a host of bills. And I would say the same about my work with
Senator Collins. I have been at this bill for a long time. She has been
at this bill for now more than two decades.
And I know from our pension bill, I know from the child tax credit, I
know from the PACT Act, I know from a whole lot of issues that this
stuff takes time. But 21 years is ridiculous. And we need to move
forward on this. And I so appreciate that she kept this alive.
Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that following my remarks,
Senator Schumer be permitted to speak for 2 minutes prior to the
scheduled vote.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. BROWN. And I will be brief.
Social Security, we know, is a bedrock of our middle class. It is
retirement security that Americans pay into and earn over a lifetime.
You pay in for 40 quarters. You pay in for, essentially, 10 years. You
have earned it. It should be there when you retire.
These restrictions right now, though, prevent some 3 million
Americans--nearly 250,000 people in my State alone, many of whom are
law enforcement, first responders, teachers, schoolbus drivers, school
cafeteria workers, public servants--it means that many will not get
their full Social Security benefit.
It makes no sense. These workers serve the public. They protect our
communities. They teach our kids. They pay into Social Security just
like everyone else.
When we did a hearing a few months ago at a fire station in Columbus,
I met Barbara Ward. She drives a special needs bus for Fairland Local
Schools in, I believe, Lawrence County, on the Ohio River. She drives
200 miles a day. She has done this for 40 years. She is in her
seventies. Her mom was the first female busdriver hired in that
district. Her husband served our country in the Navy Seabees, building
our naval bases, and paying into Social Security with every paycheck.
After he passed away 10 years ago, Barb started receiving his Social
Security survivors benefits, until Barb retired with her school
pension, when her Social Security benefit dropped from $2,100 a month
to 500 a month.
Again, he earned this. This wasn't charity. This wasn't a giveaway.
He earned that Social Security benefit, and she should have it.
At our hearing, she said: It is just not fair. My husband worked for
that. We worked for that.
They earned that Social Security. They paid into it.
Over and over, these Americans, like that busdriver, have watched
corporations get tax cuts and Wall Street gets bailouts. All these
workers are asking for is what they have earned.
It is an issue that has a huge impact on a worker's life. But it
doesn't get enough attention in Washington.
Again, I thank Senator Collins for keeping this alive for so long.
The people it affects aren't powerful corporate interests. They are
cops. They are sheriff's deputies. They are firefighters. They are
teachers. They work at parks. They work at libraries. They pick up our
trash, and they plow our roads. They make our lives livable and better.
We must finally get this done. The House passed it with 327 votes.
They don't agree on much in the House, period. But Members of both
parties came together and agreed. I believe every single Ohio Member of
Congress voted for this. We need to restore those workers' Social
Security.
Yesterday, in front of about 50 of my colleagues, I gave what some
called my last speech on the Senate floor. I ended it by saying it
would not be the last time you heard from me.
Of course, it wouldn't. I am back today fighting for the dignity of
work. It is the way I began my career in the Senate. It is what I will
continue to do, whether in the Senate or not. Whether it is restoring
workers' Social Security or saving workers' pensions or fighting for
overtime pay, for supporting unions, so much of what I fought for in
the Senate has one thing in common: It is about hard work paying off.
It is about what workers earn. It is about honoring the dignity of
work.
If you love this country, you fight for the people who make it work.
I urge all my colleagues on both sides to join us. Restore the Social
Security that people who protect us and serve us have earned over a
lifetime of work.
Senator Schumer.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. Rosen). The majority leader.
Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, in just a few moments, the Senate will
hold a vote to take up the Social Security Fairness Act, a bill that
ensures no retiree or spouse is wrongly denied their well-earned
benefits simply because they chose, at some point in their careers, to
work in public service.
Time is short, but I am hopeful the Senate can take up and pass this
bill and send it to the President's desk very quickly.
Passing this Social Security fix right before Christmas would be a
great gift for our retired firefighters, police officers, postal
workers, teachers, and others who, for years, contributed to Social
Security but are now being penalized because of their time of public
service. That is unfair. It is deeply unfair. It goes against the
American ideal of working hard, chipping in, and enjoying a well-earned
retirement.
Our bill will finally repeal the outdated and unfair WEP and GPO
programs which have wreaked havoc on the hard-earned benefits of our
public service retirees and their spouses. It has been going on too
long. People have been working for decades to pass legislation to fix
this issue. We now have that opportunity.
The House has already passed this bill by an overwhelming margin,
with Democrats and Republicans, 327 to 75.
We Democrats are ready to stand with our public service retirees and
finally fix this problem. The American people will see today which
Senators are ready to deliver on these Social Security benefits and who
will block this golden opportunity that could help millions.
I thank Senator Brown and others for their hard work.
I yield the floor.
Cloture Motion
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Pursuant to rule XXII, the Chair lays before
the Senate the pending cloture motion, which the clerk will state.
The bill clerk read as follows:
Cloture Motion
We, the undersigned Senators, in accordance with the
provisions of rule XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate,
do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the motion to
proceed to Calendar No. 693, H.R. 82, a bill to amend title
II of the Social Security Act to repeal the Government
pension offset and windfall elimination provisions.
Charles E. Schumer, Robert P. Casey, Jr., Tammy Baldwin,
Catherine Cortez Masto, Alex Padilla, Debbie Stabenow,
Margaret Wood Hassan, Tina Smith, Richard Blumenthal,
Martin Heinrich, Richard J. Durbin, Gary C. Peters,
Christopher A. Coons, John W. Hickenlooper, Tammy
Duckworth, Tim Kaine, Chris Van Hollen, Jack Reed.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. By unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum
call has been waived.
The question is, Is it the sense of the Senate that debate on the
motion to proceed to H.R. 82, a bill to amend title II of the Social
Security Act to repeal the Government pension offset and windfall
elimination provisions, shall be brought to a close?
The yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule.
The clerk will call the roll.
The senior assistant legislative clerk called the roll.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. Baldwin). Are there any other Senators in
the Chamber desiring to vote?
The yeas and nays resulted--yeas 73, nays 27, as follows:
[Rollcall Vote No. 326 Leg.]
YEAS--73
Baldwin
Bennet
Blumenthal
Booker
Boozman
Braun
[[Page S7138]]
Brown
Cantwell
Capito
Cardin
Casey
Cassidy
Collins
Coons
Cornyn
Cortez Masto
Cotton
Cramer
Duckworth
Durbin
Fetterman
Fischer
Gillibrand
Hagerty
Hassan
Hawley
Heinrich
Hickenlooper
Hirono
Hoeven
Kaine
Kelly
Kennedy
Kim
King
Klobuchar
Lankford
Lujan
Markey
Merkley
Moran
Mullin
Murkowski
Murphy
Murray
Ossoff
Padilla
Peters
Reed
Ricketts
Rosen
Rubio
Sanders
Schatz
Schiff
Schmitt
Schumer
Scott (FL)
Scott (SC)
Shaheen
Sinema
Smith
Stabenow
Sullivan
Tester
Van Hollen
Vance
Warner
Warnock
Warren
Welch
Whitehouse
Wyden
NAYS--27
Barrasso
Blackburn
Britt
Budd
Carper
Crapo
Cruz
Daines
Ernst
Graham
Grassley
Hyde-Smith
Johnson
Lee
Lummis
Manchin
Marshall
McConnell
Paul
Risch
Romney
Rounds
Thune
Tillis
Tuberville
Wicker
Young
The PRESIDING OFFICER. On this vote, the yeas are 73, the nays are
27.
Three-fifths of the Senators duly chosen and sworn having voted in
the affirmative, the motion is agreed to.
The motion was agreed to.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The junior Senator from Maryland.
Unanimous Consent Requests--Executive Calendar
Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Madam President, we all have State and local
governments that have control over their own judicial systems. For
example, in my State of Maryland, we have the Maryland Court of
Appeals. We have the lower courts in the State of Maryland. Then, of
course, we have the Federal court system.
What I am talking about today has nothing to do with the Federal
court system. What I am talking about today has to do with judges
appointed to the District of Columbia, and because of current law, this
Congress oversees those judicial actions.
I think we would all agree that, if we were here in the U.S. Senate
blocking decisions, nominations made for judges back in our States or
our local jurisdictions, that would be a kind of bizarre thing to do.
So I want to make it clear that today we are not talking about the
Supreme Court of the United States or the U.S. courts of appeals or
Federal district court judges. We are talking about the local judges
for the people of the District of Columbia, and in that local court
system, they have a commission that determines who the nominees are.
But the President then nominates the local judges because of the
statutes governing the District of Columbia within the U.S. Congress.
I have heard on the floor of the Senate, many times, legitimate
concerns expressed about crime in the District of Columbia and a
backlogged court system in the District of Columbia. And yet some,
until today--and I hope today will be different--have blocked
consideration or votes on the judges for the people of the District of
Columbia. Because of that, Washington, DC's court system has been
plagued by vacancies for years. They currently have 11 vacancies--9 on
the superior court that handles civil, criminal, and small claims
cases; and 2 on the court of appeals. And because of these vacancies,
fewer judges are having to take on significantly more case, leading to
long delays. In some cases, these proceedings take years.
Judges in the civil division are handling things like landlord and
tenant disputes, medical malpractice, and discrimination, and they are
handling double the casework that they used to, an average of 473 cases
a year.
Without the appointment of a new judge--in other words, if we don't
allow the appointment of a new judge here--there will be only one judge
handling all of the criminal domestic violence misdemeanors--30 to 60
cases per day. I want to say that again. Unless we take this action,
you are going to have only one judge overseeing criminal domestic
violence misdemeanors--30 to 60 cases a day--with longer waits for
litigants and significant delays in resolving domestic violence cases.
Judges are double- and triple-booking trial dates. One hundred to 200
cases every year are delayed in the court of appeals. Again, not the
U.S. court of appeals. I want to make it clear: This is the District of
Columbia system and their court of appeals.
The judges before us today are all nonpartisan. In fact, two of them
were previously nominated by President Trump. It gives you an idea how
long they have been waiting. They are not interpreting Federal law.
They are overseeing local criminal and civil cases, just like judges in
our State and local courts, as I said.
So I just want to be really clear for our colleagues who are going to
delay these judges. They are going to make it even more difficult for
the people of DC to deal with criminal justice issues and with their
civil litigation.
I really hope, given the fact that we are not talking about Federal
judges, we will be able to proceed with these nominations and support
them.
With that, Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that, as if in
executive session, the Senate proceed to the consideration of the
following nomination: Kenechukwu Onyemacchi Okocha, to be an associate
judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia; that the
Senate vote on the nomination without intervening action or debate;
that if confirmed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid
upon the table with no intervening action or debate; that any
statements related to the nomination be printed in the Record; and that
the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
The Senator from Kansas.
Mr. MARSHALL. I object.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Madam President, would it be in order if I ask what
the basis of the objection is, given the fact that these are
nonpartisan judges for the District of Columbia? Would that question be
in order if I were to yield to the gentleman?
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator may ask questions through the
Chair.
Mr. VAN HOLLEN. I am just wondering if my colleague from Kansas would
like to explain the basis for objecting to a judge--this particular
judge--in the DC court system.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator should continue.
Mr. VAN HOLLEN. I gather not, OK.
I ask that it be in order to make the same request with respect to
Calendar No. 767, Sherri Malloy Beatty-Arthur, to be an associate judge
for the Superior Court of the District of Columbia.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
Mr. MARSHALL. Madam President, I object.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Madam President, I ask that it be in order to make
the same request with respect to Calendar No. 768, Erin Camille
Johnston, to be an associate judge of the Superior Court of the
District of Columbia.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
The Senator from Kansas.
Mr. MARSHALL. I object.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Madam President, I ask that it be made in order to
make the same request with respect to Calendar No. 769, Ray D.
McKenzie, to be an associate judge of the Superior Court of the
District of Columbia.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
The Senator from Kansas.
Mr. MARSHALL. Madam President, I object.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Madam President, I ask that it be made in order to
make the same request with respect to Calendar No. 770, Rahkel Bouchet,
to be an associate judge of the Superior Court of the District of
Columbia.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
Mr. MARSHALL. Madam President, I object.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Madam President, I ask that it be made in order to
make the same request with respect to Calendar No. 771, John Cuong
Truong, to be an associate judge of the Superior Court of the District
of Columbia.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
Mr. MARSHALL. Madam President, I object.
[[Page S7139]]
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Madam President, I ask that it be made in order to
make the same request with respect to Calendar No. 838, James Graham
Lake, to be an associate judge of the Superior Court of the District of
Columbia.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
Mr. MARSHALL. I object.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Madam President, I ask that it be made in order to
make the same request with respect to Calendar No. 839, Nicholas George
Miranda, to be an associate judge of the Superior Court of the District
of Columbia
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
Mr. MARSHALL. Madam President, I object.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Madam President, I ask that it be made in order to
make the same request with respect to Calendar No. 774, Carmen G.
Iguina Gonzalez, to be an associate judge of the District of Columbia
Court of Appeals.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
Mr. MARSHALL. Madam President, I object.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Madam President, I am going to try one more time. I
ask that it be made in order to make the same request with respect to
Calendar No. 775, Joseph Russell Palmore to be an associate judge of
the District of Columbia Court of Appeals.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
Mr. MARSHALL. Madam President, I object.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Madam President, I would just say that based on what
I said in my earlier remarks, I have not heard and the body has not
heard of any good reason to be blocking these judges for the District
of Columbia, have not heard one substantive objection to any of these
individuals, have not heard any other rationale for why we are not
going to act on these judges right away.
As I indicated, the result of inaction in blocking these judges is
just to back up the entire court system of the District of Columbia--
criminal cases, civil cases. It makes no sense.
If someone was looking out on the Senate right now, they would see
this as one of the many examples of complete dysfunction because of the
kind of obstruction based on who knows what rationale for doing the
right thing for the District of Columbia.
This is just one reason why many of us support statehood for the
people of the District of Columbia. They shouldn't have to have the
U.S. Senate sign off on their judicial nominations, just as we don't
sign off on judicial nominations for State courts, whether it be the
State of Wisconsin or my State of Maryland. We don't sign off on
nominations for local courts in our States, but we do have that power
for now and responsibility for now in the U.S. Senate, and this is just
an example of total failure to live up to our responsibility to make
sure there is a functioning court system in the District of Columbia.
So it is another bad day as we come to the close of this Congress,
another unnecessary obstruction that just makes it more difficult for
people to get justice in civil cases or in criminal cases and for
people to be held accountable in criminal cases, including, as I
mentioned, the many domestic violence cases.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The senior Senator from Pennsylvania.
Farewell to the Senate
Mr. CASEY. Madam President, I rise today for the final time as a U.S.
Senator with a heart full of gratitude. When I was growing up in
Scranton, PA, my mother Ellen Harding Casey would often say to my
brothers and sisters and me:
Count your blessings. Count your blessings.
She would say that over and over again. So, today, I seek to do so
here on the floor of the U.S. Senate. I begin with an expression of
deep, abiding gratitude to the people of Pennsylvania who conferred
upon me the honor of serving them in three statewide public offices for
28 consecutive years; first as auditor general, then as State
treasurer, and for the last 18 years, as U.S. Senator. It has been a
privilege to have served our Commonwealth, to have served the people of
our Commonwealth.
Now, for 39\1/2\ years, I have been blessed by the unconditional love
and unfailing support of my wife Terese, the oldest daughter of John
and Nancy Foppiano.
=========================== NOTE ===========================
On page S7139, December 18, 2024, in the second column, the
following appears: Now, for 39\1/2\ years, I have been blessed
with the unconditional love and unfailing support of my wife
Terese, the oldest daughter of John and Nancy Fappiano.
The online Record has been corrected to read: Now, for 39\1/2\
years, I have been blessed with the unconditional love and
unfailing support of my wife Terese, the oldest daughter of John
and Nancy Foppiano.
========================= END NOTE =========================
Every day--every day--that I have been a public official, Terese has
been the foundation of our family. Her love for me and our daughters
has been boundless and constant.I want to thank each of our four
daughters who are with us today. And for me, just saying their names is
like a prayer of thanksgiving: Elyse, Caroline, Julia, and Marena.
They, like Terese, sacrificed so much while I was in public office. I
am so proud of the accomplished young women they have become.
Elyse and our son-in-law Michael brought us the gift of our
grandsons: Max, age 4, and Aiden, a 2-year-old, each of whom bring so
much joy to our lives.
And I am so grateful that my brothers and sisters, their spouses, and
Terese's sisters and their spouses and so many of my nieces and nephews
are with us today and so many friends from all across our Commonwealth.
I remember today my late parents Bob and Ellen Casey, who gave me and
my siblings life and love, as well as their shining examples of
treating every person that we meet with respect.
My father's work as a public official was a testament to the
inscription on the finance building in Harrisburg where he once worked
and I worked as well. This inscription has also guided my work all
these years. Here is what it says:
All public service is a trust, given in faith and accepted
in honor.
The Senate is a place where Senators are accorded most of the
attention--not breaking news there. Today, I want to thank, of course,
the men and women who don't get the headlines, the men and women who
work behind the scenes every day, the staff of the Senate Sergeant at
Arms and Doorkeeper
=========================== NOTE ===========================
On page S7139, December 18, 2024, in the third column, the
following appears: Today, I want to thank, of course, the men and
women who don't get the headlines, the men and women who work
behind the scenes every day, the staff of the Sergeant and Arms
and Doorkeeper . . .
The online Record has been corrected to read: Today, I want to
thank, of course, the men and women who don't get the headlines,
the men and women who work behind the scenes every day, the staff
of the Sergeant at Arms and Doorkeeper . . .
========================= END NOTE =========================
who keep the business of the Senate running seamlessly every day,
people like Delta Whitfield, Raicee Leake, Rocketa Jackson, and Tim
O'Neill, just to name a few who go out of their way to make everyone
feel like a VIP; the staff at Restaurant Associates who cater and staff
our special events on campus and who serve Senators, staff, and
visitors to our Capitol with a smile in our cafeterias; the men and
women of the Architect of the Capitol and Senate Superintendent who
clean up the Capitol buildings and keep the facilities immaculate every
day, even in this centuries-old building; and, of course, the Capitol
Police officers. How can we even begin to thank them for their service?
Police officers keep us in our complex safe every day. Many of you will
never get the commendation or credit that you deserve, but the work you
do is vital and is a great service to our Nation.Of course, I will
miss working with Senators on both sides of the aisle, many of whom are
here today with us. I am grateful for lasting friendships, like Senator
Brown on my right, Senator Klobuchar on my left. We have a lot of
stories, which I won't share today, but I am so grateful for their
friendship, and all of my 2006 classmates and so many others in
different classes who came in after us and before us, so many Senators
who served with distinction.
I have been honored to serve these past 2 years with my friend and
Pennsylvania colleague Senator Fetterman. I am honored he is with us
today again.
Majority Leader Schumer and the late Senator Harry Reid, I want to
thank them for encouraging me to run for the Senate way back in 2005. I
want to thank Chuck for his leadership and our friendship.
I have been blessed to have been served by an exceptional staff every
single day that I have been in the U.S. Senate. From my former chief of
staff Jim Brown and former legislative director Dick Spiegelman to my
current chief of staff Kristen Gentile, who is
[[Page S7140]]
right over here, and our legislative director Derek Miller, who is
right between those columns there next to former Senator Harkin, I have
been blessed by their help all these years, and I am also grateful to
have had help in the State as well. My current State director Teresa
Dennis has served with me every year that I have been a public
official.
These last few years were especially challenging for our office and I
know many others with the pandemic and so much else. We had the
pandemic and then we not too long after that were in a long, difficult
election cycle. I was blessed to have Kristen Gentile, my chief of
staff, whose leadership and hard work guided our staff through
difficult and demanding times. She led with grace, grit, and humor, and
I am grateful for her service, her public service here in the Senate.
But I want to thank each and every single person who served on my
Senate staff from January 3, 2007, to today. They have worked
tirelessly every day to help the people of Pennsylvania. So I want to
thank our staff who are on both corners of the room here, on the left
and the right, both present and past, and I know some others in the
Galleries. I am so grateful for their work.
Without objection, Madam President, I ask unanimous consent to enter
the names of all my past and current staff, both in my office and on
the Aging Committee, into the record so they can be recognized for
their hard work and exemplary public service for the people of
Pennsylvania and our Nation.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
-Tad Abramowich, Natalie Adams, Rotimi F Adeoye, Sandra C
Aguilera, Callie R Anderson, Andres D Anzola, Michael L
Aumiller, Karsen P Bailey, Jordan Ball, Alexander A Baloga,
Christina Baumgardner, Dianne M Beecher, Kathleen B Bell,
Tayo Belle, Elly Bennett, Robert J Bielunas, Kimberley Y
Bierly, Hulan Bikales, Reagan Blewett, Claire Blewitt.
Claire Borzner, Chloe Bowser, Elizabeth C Breckenridge,
Regina A Brennan, Sydney M Brooks, Christina M Brown, Heather
Brown, James W Brown, Cheryl B Bullock, Jessica M Butherus,
Kathi Brumbaugh Caber, Gwen M Camp, Meg Campbell, Jenna
Carmen, Michael W Carmody, Jeralyn Cave, Alyssa J Charney,
Julia Cinquegrani, MacKenzie Cliatt, Cameron T Cochran.
Liz Conroy, Max Conway, Elizabeth M Cooper, Shavonnia L
Corbin-Johnson, Connor Corpora, Ryan Costella, Amy E Cozze,
Jessie L Crabb, Vivian G Cueto, Rory C Daly, Alexander G
Davis, Michael J Deery, Erin Delaney, Stephanie Deluca,
Teresa L Dennis, Kaylin K Dines, Elena C Ditraglia, Joshua
Dubensky, Alexandria Duque, Brett T Ekberg.
Jaclyn W Erickson, Micah G Escobedo, Mark J Farrell, Marlon
L Ferguson, James A Ferruchie, Elizabeth L Fishback, Lara K
Flynn, Jemie F Fofanah, Adam C Fountaine, Caitlin G Frazer,
Katie Fricchione, Deirdre D Fruh, Ian M Futerfas, Michael A
Gaffin, Alexa R Gall, Jeannie Galloway, Bonnie Geist-Seaman,
Kristen Gentile, Kasey Gillette, Ben Gilsdorf.
Veronica Goodman, Joseph F Gookin, Ian Graham, Matthew D
Grill, Jack B Groarke, Andrea M Guscott, Larry Hailsham,
Michelle Haimowitz, Kyle L Hannon, William E Hansen, Kristen
Harfield, Douglas Hartman, Elizabeth Hermsen, Maria A
Hernandez, John Hicks, Joseph V Hill, Sonja Hoover, Corey
Husak, Sean R Hyland, Kurt E Imhof.
Maurya T Incavido, Jennifer Jackson, Ian M Jannetta, Brian
D Jennings, Harry Johnson II, Aisha T Johnson, Christopher M
Johnson, Jonathan A Jones, Augustin Jones, Jofi J Joseph,
Madeline L Joyce, Robert J Joyce, Matthew W Justinus,
Elizabeth L Kanick, Zoey N Keeley, Anna G Keilly, Mary A
Kent, Samantha M Koshgarian, Molly Krafcik, Matthew W
Lachman.
Abby R LaForm, Kendra Barkoff Lamy, Deborah Landau, Trace J
Ledgard, James Lee, Virginia H Lenahan, Matthew J Leonard,
Misha Samuel Linnehan, Kylie C Lipinski, Jaren Love, Nefetia
Z Lundy, Sharon E Lynett, Mairead Lynn, Charles R Lyons, Ian
F Madigan, Kristin A Magnotta, Shoshana Z Marin, Lindsay M
Martin, Arthur R Martinucci, Sara C Maskornick.
Roberta M Matesic, Cindy E Matos Beltre', Jae'Von L
McClain, Jennifer S McCloskey, J Michael McCullough, Bryn
McDonough, Spencer R McKinstry, Jacob P Medvitz, April K
Mellody, Alina C Meltaus, Leah M Mercik, Datnilza Metz,
Alexandra J Miller, Derek J Miller, Aryeh E Mittleman,
Geoffrey A Mock, Patricia A Monahan, Makese S Motley, Jeff W
Mozdziock, Gillian R Mueller.
Thomas J Murabito, Damian Murphy, Jonas Murphy, Catherine M
Murray, Morna A Murray, Peter Nalli, Katharine Nasielski,
Evan C Neill, Grace V Nelson, Paul A Nestler, Sarah A Newman,
Carol Obando-Derstine, Stephen O'Brion, Maureen O'Dea-Brill,
Kennedy E O'Dell, Ndubuisi Onwumere, Panini Chaitanya Pandya,
Reecha R Patel, Jacob Pawlak, Taylor A Pelletier.
Isabel Perez, Joycelyn Pickens, Nikki Rai, Jacklin B
Rhoads, Nicole E Rhoads, John L Richter, Tyisha S Rivas, John
Rizzo, Antoine Jamal Robinson, Robert Roggio, Pablo Rojas,
Emma Rachel Romanowsky, Rahmon L Ross, Ryan C Ross,
Christopher T Rosselot, Jesse A Salazar, Kate E Samuelson,
Valli Sanmugalingam, Benjamin J Schwartz, Michael J Schwartz.
Ethan Seletsky, Julia R Sferlazzo, Zachary M Shaw, Emily J
Sheehan, Livia Shmavonian, Avni P Shridharani, Michelle S
Shwimer, Sara-Paige Kathleen Silvestro, Madison F Sloat,
Larry M Smar, Allegra F Smith, Jared S Solomon, Ben Soltero
De Martin, Zahra J. Somji, Brooke M Souder, Richard D
Spiegelman, Kevin M Stanton, Nico Starr, Nathan C Steinwald,
Sadie L Sterner.
Jackson Still, Monica L Swintz, Adam G Tarr, Cameron G
Thompson, Ashely Stover Tokic, Mary C Topolinski, Amanda
Toth, Alexandra F Trachtman, CT Turner, ND Ubezonu, Barbara J
Vachon, Jenna J Valle-Riestra, Mariska H Van Aalst, Nikita
Varman, Landy Wade, Noe'l Walker, Karen L Walsh, Heather E
Walters, Elizabeth A Washo, Kevin J Washo.
Tia L Watson, Melody R Webb, Kichelle Webster, Aimee C
Wechsler, Ebony S Weidman, Liz Weintraub, Adam T Wells, Wesle
Whistle, Edward C Williams, Erin Wilson, Lucy Xiao, Joshua A
Yearsley, Stephanie D Zarecky.
Mr. CASEY. I am proud of the work we have done together, on behalf of
the people of Pennsylvania, to fight for our children, our seniors,
people with disabilities, our veterans, and our workers.
In my 18 years in the Senate, I have worked to pass many laws focused
on improving the lives of everyday Americans. Allow me to give you some
examples. One of my proudest accomplishments is the Stephen Beck, Jr.,
Achieving a Better Life Experience Act, the so-called ABLE Act, which
turned 10 years old this month.
Before ABLE, people with disabilities could not save more than $2,000
without risking access to their Federal benefits, forcing many people
with disabilities into a permanent state of poverty.
I worked with Senator Richard Burr to pass the ABLE Act in 2014 so
that people with disabilities can save for their futures. There are
almost 190,000 ABLE accountholders across the Nation who have already
saved over $2 billion. Brenda Dare is one of those, an ABLE
accountholder from Allegheny County, PA. She says that ABLE ``gives us
a way to be fully functional citizens who are able to save and prepare
for their futures.'' Her ABLE account allows Brenda to own her own home
and raise her niece full time.
In building on the success of the program, starting in 2026, people
who acquired their disability before the age of 46 will be able to open
ABLE accounts, expanding eligibility to 6 million more Americans,
including more than a million veterans.
In 2013, I passed the Campus SaVE Act to put greater responsibility
on colleges and universities to prevent sexual assaults on college
campuses. This was important legislation to make sure students
understood their rights and protections on campus. It has made college
campuses safer in the decade since its passage.
The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act passed 2 years ago this month. It
provides pregnant women with ``reasonable accommodations'' to work and
to maintain a healthy pregnancy as they continue to do their work.
Senator Bill Cassidy worked with me to pass this bill, and I am
grateful for his help.
Modeled after the Americans with Disabilities Act, this legislation
ensures that pregnant women can go to their employer and ask for
reasonable accommodations, simple things like a stool to sit on or a
water bottle or bathroom break and other accommodations, just as people
with disabilities have been able to ask for accommodations of other
kinds for the past three decades in their workplaces.
A number of years ago, as a Member of the Senate Agriculture
Committee, I was proud to author a law that has dramatically improved
our schools and our children's nutrition. That provision, modeled after
a Philadelphia pilot program, allowed high poverty schools to offer
school lunch and breakfast free of charge.
Nearly 68 percent of American school districts now offer free meals
under this option, and 20 million children attend schools offering
universal free meals. That is 10 times the number of children as in
2010.
Captain Victor Saracini was a Bucks County resident and a United
Airlines pilot killed in the terrorist attacks of 9/11. His wife Ellen
Saracini turned her
[[Page S7141]]
unimaginable grief into action, and she fought to pass legislation to
make airline cockpits safer.
I was honored to work alongside Ellen to pass two laws to make sure
that new airplanes are built with a secondary barrier to the cockpit
and to retrofit older planes. These laws would help prevent future
terrorist attacks.
We all know the global food insecurity around the world not only
leaves millions of children starving and malnourished, but it also
creates political instability. I worked with my Republican colleagues
to authorize and then to reauthorize--more than once--the Global Food
Security Act to combat food insecurity, create economic opportunity,
and promote international stability.
I also fought to keep our servicemembers safe in Afghanistan by
working to reduce the number of IEDs--those awful explosive devices. In
the 2000s, IEDs were killing and wounding U.S. troops in Afghanistan at
an alarming rate. Through legislation to stop the flow of ammonium
nitrate used in IEDs as well as pushing the Pentagon, by 2012, deaths
by IEDs had dropped significantly.
But passing legislation isn't the only measure of success in the
Senate. I am an extraordinarily proud Senator of the work that was done
by my constituent services team, currently led by Lindsay Martin, all
of whom have some of the hardest jobs here in government anywhere in
the Capitol--in our States, as well.
Over the course of my three terms in the Senate, they have closed
almost 200,000 constituent cases. Let me give you just four examples:
First, the number represents Pennsylvanians we helped get the Social
Security benefits that they were due but were not receiving; second,
the 94-year-old World War II veteran from Philadelphia for whom we
secured updated discharge papers and backpay reflecting a promotion he
had been denied because he was a Black soldier; the first responder
from Erie we helped receive money that she was owed from the 9/11
Victim Compensation Fund; and, finally, the mother whose son was denied
care by their insurance company for 2 months until our office reached
out on their behalf--and so many more constituents across the State.
Finally, I fought to deliver Federal funding for Pennsylvania
families and communities in all 67 counties. I worked to provide
investments to lift up families during the pandemic; support public
safety by delivering funding for police and fire departments; improve
water and sewer systems, roads, and bridges in small rural areas; and
support local nonprofits that protect the most vulnerable among us.
In Southwestern Pennsylvania, that economy of that corner of the
State relies upon our waterways system. The Port of Pittsburgh and the
region's locks and dams could move essential commodities. Those
waterways create jobs, and they promote economic development.
Without our waterways, the region's entire economy would come to a
standstill, threatening some 200,000 jobs.
Thanks to the Infrastructure Law and persistent work over many years
to highlight just how vital these waterways are, I was able to secure
nearly a billion dollars to replace the Montgomery Locks and Dam in
Beaver County, PA, and invest in the broader waterway system.
In 2016, during a phone call with county commissioners in
Southwestern Pennsylvania, one of the commissioners just started to
scream into the phone. He said: ``Senator, kids can't do their
homework.'' And he made a point to me that I will never forget.
So I went to work, as we all did, on high-speed internet. I was able
to deliver significant investments to expand high-speed internet to
rural communities across our Commonwealth. Without high-speed internet,
not only are schoolchildren adversely impacted, small businesses can't
connect with their customers; farmers can't fix their equipment when it
breaks down in the field. But that is changing.
Just last week, I was in Washington County, in the southwestern
corner of our State, to highlight the expansion of high-speed internet
for 9,000 residents and small businesses in rural communities, made
possible by a public-private partnership that folks at the local level
started. But it included $25 million from the American Rescue Plan
legislation.
Washington County is not alone. High-speed internet is being deployed
all across the Commonwealth.
As many of you know, Pennsylvania has a rich history of energy
production. Our coal miners risked their health and their safety and
many lost their lives over generations to power the Nation.
Pennsylvania's energy workers, I would argue, are the best in the
world. And they are also well-equipped to lead us into the energy
economy of the future.
As the Senate worked to pass the Inflation Reduction Act--as many
know, a bill to spur a new energy manufacturing renaissance--I made
sure that Pennsylvania energy communities were first in line.
In the bill, I secured an energy communities tax credit for
investments in clean energy facilities and communities whose economies
have relied upon coal, oil, or natural gas.
These incentives are spurring investments all across Pennsylvania--
from the Mineral Basin solar plant on abandoned mine lands in
Clearfield County to the expanded demand for Voith Hydro's production
in York County.
I want to wrap up with just some thoughts about what is ahead for the
next Congress--and the next number of Congresses probably--with some of
these challenges. I want to highlight some of the challenges that lie
ahead for our Nation.
There are so many priorities we could talk about today, like
combating climate change and gun violence and the opioid crisis,
lowering costs for families, providing home and community-based
services for seniors and people with disabilities. And there are so
many more that I didn't mention.
As many of you know--and you see it in your own communities, your own
families, your own States--it is much more difficult to raise a family
and provide long-term stability than it used to be. Pennsylvanians used
to be able to work one job, often without a college degree, and provide
for their families for decades.
There is a big moment in 2025: a tax bill. I won't be here for it.
But that tax debate will be a critical moment for American families.
Congress will decide whether to help middle-class and low-income
families--people striving to get to the middle class--or to continue
what I would argue is a 40-year trend to provide substantial tax
benefits to the largest corporations on the planet Earth and the
wealthiest Americans. I hope that the Senate will act to help the
middle class and those striving to get to the middle class.
I urge, as well, the Senate to make the Child Tax Credit--something
that Senator Brown and Senator Bennet long ago introduced legislation
on--to make that Child Tax Credit--two words--``fully refundable''
rather than provide more corporate and high-income tax breaks.
When that tax credit was made fully refundable in 2021, that one
action changed the lives of so many children. It reduced childhood
poverty by 40--40--percent.
I have long warned as a United States Senator that China is not just
a competitor, it is an economic adversary, and that we must continue to
confront China head-on. I have often said that when China cheats,
Pennsylvania loses jobs.
I have worked for years to crack down on China's trade cheating and
to limit the risks of sending our national security technology and
know-how to China.
Senator Cornyn and I have been working for years to pass legislation
to crack down on U.S. investments in China that would undermine our
national security. And later this week, Congress will pass a version of
that legislation in the continuing resolution to fund the government.
We all know that a key to global competitiveness lies here at home.
In order to compete globally, we must invest in our children.
Inspired by Franklin Roosevelt's Four Freedoms, I introduced, in
early 2020, a set of ideas where I proposed Five--Five--Freedoms for
America's Children: the freedom to be healthy, the freedom to learn,
the freedom to have economic security, the freedom to be safe from
harm, and the freedom from hunger.
If every American child--every American child--was able to benefit
[[Page S7142]]
from these five freedoms, they would have the opportunity to succeed in
life. There are so many benefits to our Nation as well: a higher
skilled workforce, if we invest in our kids; a greater GDP; a stronger
national security; a healthier society, if--if--we invest in our
children.
Finally, the Senate--and the American people--have to make a choice
in the years ahead between dictators and democracy. We must continue to
support--not just in the Senate and the House but as Americans, we must
continue to support the people of Ukraine in their consequential war
with a murderous dictator, Vladimir Putin.
Our Nation has generously supported the Ukrainian military. We cannot
stop. Abandoning them now undermines freedom-loving people all over the
world.
You and others have been a patient audience. But I would like to
conclude with some final thoughts. I want to go back to my mother.
Inspired by my mother, I have been granted today the privilege of
counting my blessings on the floor of the U.S. Senate.
One of the greatest blessings in my life--and I know for so many
people here--has been the blessing of public service. As the scriptures
tell us:
It is in giving that we receive.
Dr. Martin Luther King said it another way. He said:
Everyone can be great, because everyone can serve.
King taught us in that simple statement that the word ``great'' in
this context isn't about fame or a claim or notoriety or riches.
``Great'' is about something much more valuable, much more valuable:
the opportunity to help others.
I will continue to do my part to serve as a citizen and as a
Pennsylvanian. And serving in the U.S. Senate has been an honor of a
lifetime. Thank you. And God bless you.
I yield the floor.
(Applause, Senators rising.)
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The junior Senator from Pennsylvania.
Tribute to Robert P. Casey, Jr.
Mr. FETTERMAN. Madam President, this is not a speech that I ever
expected to give and definitely never wanted to give. Discussing this
has been difficult. Anyone who was with us last night at that dinner
would confirm that.
But today, on the floor of the Senate and for the record, I will
confirm that Bob Casey is Pennsylvania's best Senator. Now, it is
difficult to follow Bob Casey, both right now but also without him. I
really can't imagine it. For 18 years, Bob showed up, he put his head
down, he worked, and he delivered for Pennsylvania. It has been a
supreme honor to call Bob a colleague, a friend, and a mentor.
During my campaign, Bob was by my side. When I had a stroke, he lent
me his voice when I was learning how to speak again. I never forgot
that. And when I got to the Senate 2 years ago, he became a mentor to
me. At a very difficult time in my life, he stuck by me because that is
who Bob is--a friend and an amazing Senator.
Every day for 18 years, he fought for working Pennsylvanians. He
fought for our rural communities. He fought for seniors and for people
with disabilities, including myself. He fought for all of us. After 18
years, Bob Casey's legacy is a better Pennsylvania.
Thank you, Bob Casey.
I yield the floor.
(Applause.)
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The senior Senator from Ohio.
Mr. BROWN. Madam President, I have enjoyed watching Senator Fetterman
and Senator Casey and working together in the mentoring and seeing how
productive that has been for them in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Marcus Aurelius said:
Humility is the foundation of all virtue.
Humility is the foundation of all virtue.
Humility is not a common trait in this body, perhaps, but humility
infuses the work of Bob Casey every single day. I have worked with his
staff. My office, in fact--we have worked with his staff perhaps--not
perhaps--more than any other office, and I feel that, you know, what he
brings to this is that uncommon humility and uncommon kindness in his
personal relationships with his friends in the back row here, an
uncommon kindness to the people of Pennsylvania, and an uncommon
kindness with his own staff--I love watching that: little test, little
staff turnover--the kind of energy that they bring and the kind of
kindness they bring.
One of the things that really brought that home to me, in listening
to Bob's talk a minute ago, was he concentrated on constituent service.
Bob Casey understands that to do this job--the real building blocks of
this job--you help people individually. There are tens of thousands of
people he has helped in his offices in, I guess, Philly and Pittsburgh,
and I don't know where else--whatever all these inferior cities are--
inferior to Ohio--in Pennsylvania.
(Laughter.)
But what he has brought to his offices in reaching out to people--
those really are the building blocks of public service. He has been a
public servant extraordinaire in the way he does his work, in the way
he does his job. As I said, he brings to it that uncommon kindness,
that uncommon humility, and it infuses his work in constituent
services. It infuses his work in fighting for economic justice.
He didn't talk that much in his speech about what he has done with
children and poor children. I saw three of his daughters and Terese
downstairs before the speech, and I got a chance to talk to them. I
have watched them grow up over these years. Terese was already grown
up. I have watched his daughters grow up over these 18 years.
(Laughter.)
And there is just this kind of energy and commitment to service to
people that I have seen in them, which has been a delight to watch.
But he didn't talk all that much about what he has done for children.
Nobody in the body has focused their work on children as much as Bob
Casey. It is the child tax credit, for sure, but it is so many things--
from disabled kids; from giving kids from, you know, Erie to Sharon, to
Philly, to Bucks County--giving them more opportunity in life than they
otherwise would have had.
Also, one of the things that--when I think about Bob Casey, I think
of him standing up for the little guy. I have heard him talk about his
trips to the grocery store and how some people in this body blame
inflation on government spending, which, of course, doesn't hold
economic water. But Bob has really focused on helping me come to
discuss inflation.
Connie and I go to church. When we go to church on Sunday, we often
stop at a nearby grocery store, and you talk to people at the checkout
line or at the meat counter or just walking down the aisles, talking
about how much things cost. Bob had this understanding. He called it
shrinkflation. What he kind of taught me to say is, When you go to the
grocery store and you are paying higher prices, you are paying them
because of private, executive compensation and bonuses. You are paying
for those higher prices by stock buybacks and exorbitant profits. And
Bob understood that and always fought for the little guy.
I so appreciate the friendship, first of all. I appreciate the
gentleness of spirit and his uncommon empathy and understanding. He
always understood, in part, because he goes home and listens. He
doesn't go home and make a lot of speeches. He goes home and listens to
people and understands their concerns. He brought them here. He made
such a difference for Pennsylvanians. He made such a difference for
Ohioans and for the people in the other 48 States too.
I will be eternally grateful to Bob Casey for that friendship, for
the humility that he has shown toward his job and toward the world
around him, and just for being a really, really good man.
(Applause.)
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The senior Senator from Minnesota.
Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Madam President, I rise from the back row--with some
of my best friends back here--to honor, like everyone gathered here
today, Bob Casey, who has served the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for
17 years here with honor, dignity, and, yes, joy. He served before he
got here--as he noted, always a public servant--and he will serve after
he leaves here. That we know for sure.
So, yes, we were this great class of freshmen Senators together, and
I do remember when Bob first led the Senate in the Pledge of
Allegiance--is this
[[Page S7143]]
not correct?--the day after we got sworn in. There was someone who was
particularly rule-bound who worked here at the time. Bob finished. He
thought he had done such a good job. He comes back to his seat.
Mr. CASEY. Are you really telling this?
Ms. KLOBUCHAR. I am really telling it.
And she says to him: Do you know what, Senator? In the U.S. Senate,
when we say the Pledge of Allegiance, we put our hand over our heart.
He said: Well, that is what I did.
She said: No, you were doing it like you were getting sworn in again.
He went like this.
(Laughter.)
Mr. CASEY. A true story.
Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Then I remember our--what?
Mr. CASEY. A true story.
Ms. KLOBUCHAR. It was a true story. Thank you. That is one of my
virtues.
(Laughter.)
I remember our first day of our first classified briefing. We had no
idea what we were doing, and they said: Well, you just go right at this
statue, left at this painting, right at this thing.
The two of us are wandering through the halls of the Senate. We get
completely lost; we are going to miss the classified briefing. And, all
of a sudden, we see a group of Minnesotans coming over.
They just stop, and they go:
Look, it's Amy, and she has a guard.
So, not missing a beat, your Senator, Bob Casey, goes all full Secret
Service on us and plays the part.
(Laughter.)
We have been friends ever since, and I think so many people here see
Bob as their friend. So many people in Pennsylvania see him that way.
Terese and Bob were over with us last night and got to watch the
video of his postelection day. One of his neighbors--just a man on the
street--was interviewed and said: Well, yes. I have always been a
Republican, but Bob is such a good neighbor; so I voted for him.
I think that says a lot about Bob.
You know, in 1977, Minnesota's ``happy warrior,'' Vice President
Hubert Humphrey--and this is the ultimate compliment from Minnesotans--
said this: The moral test of government is how the government treats
those who are in the dawn of life, how it treats those who are in the
twilight of life, and how it treats those who are in the shadows of
life.
From the moment Bob Casey got to this place, he saw that as his job--
always looking out for people who didn't have a voice, always looking
out for people who couldn't afford to hire a lobbyist, always looking
out for people when no one else was listening. He did that.
He looked out for seniors and people with disabilities with the ABLE
Act. I have been with him when people have come up and told him that,
because of Bob Casey and his leadership on that bill, when no one else
was caring about it in the U.S. Senate, they have a savings, and they
have a future life.
He headed up the Aging Committee, looking out for the people in the
twilight of their lives. He fought to bring down prescription drug
costs.
He stood up for kids on childcare when no one else was doing it,
looking out for people in the dawn of their lives. He made adoption
easier for Americans looking to start families.
And that is barely scratching the surface.
We have worked on 150 pieces of legislation together, but who is
counting? And we are still friends.
But what has made Bob truly a good friend is you can actually trust
him. In an environment where you tell people things, and you tell them
``don't tell anyone,'' and the next day, it is either in the news or a
colleague down the hallway is saying, ``Hey, I heard about this,'' not
Bob. He keeps your trust. In that way, he has been to me like the
brother I never had.
His friends trust him. His family trusts him. The people of
Pennsylvania trust him, and, I will add, maybe that has something to do
with this incredible family of his: seven brothers and sisters, four
daughters--that must have been a time growing up--and, of course,
Terese.
When you put all those names in the Record, I thought it was going to
be your entire family, and it was going to take up the day's Record.
(Laughter.)
So we want to thank you, Bob, for everything you have done. We can't
wait to hear what you do next. Thank you for your public service. Thank
you for being a true public servant. Thank you.
(Applause.)
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The senior Senator from New Jersey.
Mr. BOOKER. Madam President, so much niceness headed toward this
guy--it is killing me over here.
(Laughter.)
I want to clear the record, and I have a beef to settle with the good
Senator from Pennsylvania.
I will tell you this: I consider myself a person of faith, and I
think that Senator Bob Casey has done something very irreligious if I
must say. I know he grew up as a Catholic. I grew up in a Baptist
church. We are both Christians. We have very different religious
faiths, but I have an issue with Bob Casey because, in the organizing
Bible verse that I used to tell people was how I motivated my life, I
come here, and he completely eviscerates my allegiance to this Bible
verse.
So I am using this, and forgive me. And I might be rule XIX'd by
somebody for maligning a colleague. But I am very upset that you have
made me lose my religion a little bit, and I will give you an example.
If you know--a point of order? No.
(Laughter.)
Will the Senator yield? No, I will not.
(Laughter.)
Matthew 25 is really one of those Bible verses that has, for so much
of my life, motivated me. You know, the Lord said: I was hungry, and
you fed me; or thirsty, and you gave me to drink.
And it ends with this verse 40: And then you shall answer and say
unto them, ``Verily I say to you, in so much as you have done to the
least of these my brethren, you have done to me.''
The least of these is how--I thought that that was the calling of my
faith--to do unto the least of these. And for 10 years now--11 years
that I have been in the Senate, you have undermined that idea of doing
unto the least of these.
Now, look, Bob--if I may call you that, sir--I came into the Senate
thinking that was our job, but I have watched you for 11 years never
see anyone as ``least.'' You have this way of looking at everybody and
seeing their grandeur. You see people not as if they are in a lower
station in any way, but you have a way of seeing people as if they are
a reflection of the Divine Himself.
I had a very humbling experience in the past 7 days with the good
Senator from Iowa. We were down in the basement of Dirksen when people
from the disability community from Pennsylvania and all around America
came to give you tribute. As I sat there welling up at the tributes to
you from these extraordinary Americans, every person that spoke and
that I spoke to afterwards told me that you saw them; that you were a
person who recognized their humanity, who recognized their strength,
who saw their character, capabilities; and that you were not doing to
any least but that you were elevating everyone and this Nation in the
process.
When you remarked about the little lobbyists, you pointed out how
powerful they were in saving healthcare for all Americans.
So I want to tell you, in my farewell to you after your speech, that
when I was coming out of college, my greatest hero in America was not a
Senator or a politician; it was Marian Wright Edelman. I thought that
should be the calling of this country, to focus on children.
I love what Marian Wright Edelman said:
So much of America's tragic and costly failures to care for
all of its children stems from our tendency to distinguish
between our children and other people's children--as if
justice were divisible.
I see this framing that has made humanity suffer for thousands of
years--those who framed humanity in us versus them. You have this
superpower to only see just us. It is not your family and my family; we
are family--to try not to sound like a famous song.
Somehow, my friend, you make real the words of one of my favorite
poets, Gwendolyn Brooks, who simply said:
[[Page S7144]]
We are each other's harvest; we are each other's business;
we are each other's magnitude and bond.
I look up to you, Bob. I see in you--if you ask me what is the
difference between a Hollywood heartthrob--or what does Bob Casey have
in common with a Hollywood heartthrob, I would say, nothing at all.
(Laughter.)
You are not sexy. You are not glamorous.
(Laughter.)
My church tradition was, you had charismatic leaders in the pulpit
giving great speeches. You must have gone to a very boring church.
(Laughter.)
But somehow you made me aspire to know in the Senate the difference
between celebrity and significance, the difference between a showhorse
and a workhorse, the difference between some nobility that you feel
that you are reaching out and reaching down to help others, to humbling
yourself before God's creations.
I end with this framing: Marian Wright Edelman inspired me at the
beginning of my career, and the way you have focused on children
inspires me amidst my middle-age years as a Senator. I still am
inspired by people who care about kids. That is why you have been one
of my greatest heroes.
So to steal from Chris Coons, who is the one person, I think, who
knows Swahili in this Chamber, I would like to end with some Swahili
words.
The Maasai warriors have this incredible tradition. These are the
people who are most valued in their defense of those in the village who
might not be able to defend themselves, who are powerful in their
fierce fighting capabilities and fight for those who are powerless.
When they are out and about, they have a greeting that they say to
each other, and the greeting, if I am pronouncing it right--and Chris
Coons will correct me later--is ``Kasserian ingera.'' This is the
greeting of two warriors. When they see each other, they greet each
other: ``Kasserian ingera.'' The response is ``Sepati ingera,'' which
means--one warrior says to the other ``How are the children?'' and the
response of two warriors is ``The children are well.'' This is the
indicator for the Maasai people of what the strongest, what the most
powerful, what the fearsome fighters are most focused on, which is the
children.
You, my friend, are one of the greatest warriors I have ever served
with. I know your heart. I know your moral compass. I know how you live
your faith every single day and how much you have deepened mine.
In the words of the Maasai, I have two words to say: ``Asante
sana''--thank you very much.
(Applause.)
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The junior Senator from Delaware.
Mr. COONS. Madam President, I rise in defense of my colleague from
the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Bob Casey is sexy.
(Laughter.)
Being fully bald is not the sole indicator of one's celebrity or
sexiness.
Although an inspiring quote was just delivered by my dear colleague
from our neighboring State of New Jersey, that was not Swahili, and I
ask leave to conduct the rest of my remarks today in Kiswahili.
(Laughter.)
I am kidding.
I will just briefly say of my dear friend and colleague, of my
neighbor, traveling companion, partner, and source of inspiration, that
long before I imagined I could ever be a Senator, I served in local
government in Delaware and knew that there was to our north a son of
Scranton who was someone who was deeply grounded in his family, in his
faith, and in his sense of justice.
Some mistake Senator Casey for not only not being sexy but for not
being a fighter. One of the things I have held most closely to, as I
have tried to conduct myself in this Chamber and in this work of being
a Senator with humility and dignity and kindness, is that it is
possible--in fact, daily demonstrated--for someone like Senator Casey,
who is humble and unassuming, who is generous and kind, who sees every
one, who treats all of us with respect, to still be fierce and to still
be determined and to still be a fighter and to still be someone who
sees righteousness and refuses to yield.
There was attributed to St. Francis an important saying, I think:
Preach the Gospel at all times; when necessary, use words.
Senator Casey's walk through this life, alongside his incredible
blessing Terese, alongside the amazing blessing of Elyse, Julia,
Caroline, Marena, and those two great grandsons, has been a walk of
dignity and fierceness. To fight for the five freedoms for children, to
coauthor the Global Food Security Act, to be someone who crafts
legislation that touches people all over our country and the world, is
to deliver on the promise and the call of the Gospel.
From your time as a Jesuit volunteer, from your days at a dance at
Holy Cross, from the days that you have spent here and crisscrossing
the Commonwealth, you have shown, with a heart like a lion, that you
are every bit the fighter as those who are more known on Twitter and TV
and that you are every bit as fierce.
We had the blessing of traveling with you--my wife Annie, who is from
Pennsylvania, and I with Terese and Bob--and what you just said about
the importance of fighting for Ukraine and Ukrainians and of seeing
everyone and of caring for them we got to see in the joy that you
brought to delivering relief to Ukrainian children refugees.
This place will not be the same without my colleague from
Pennsylvania. I have never campaigned harder for a colleague. I have
never been more disappointed at an outcome. It has never seemed more
unjust to me than the days we must face ahead without this son of
Scranton, who has not just counted his blessings before us today but
who has been a blessing to us every single day.
With that, I yield the floor.
(Applause.)
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Democratic whip.
Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, I say to the Senator, I want to add a
few words to the tribute to you, Bob, and just to take another angle,
if I might.
I have been fortunate enough to join you and campaign in your home
State. I remember your first campaign and a trip that I took to try to
help. It ended with a party at the end of the day, and if I am not
mistaken, it was a bank that had been converted into some meeting hall,
maybe, in Scranton.
Mr. CASEY. A bar.
Mr. DURBIN. A bar--more appropriate.
I recall standing there with your friends and family, having a drink
and a good time, and I am thinking to myself, I could back up a big
truck right to the front door here, ask everyone to take their drinks
and walk on, take them to the Beverly section of Chicago, open the
door, and they could continue the conversation without any
interruption. It was an Irish-Catholic, largely Democratic group. They
would have been just as comfortable in the environs of Chicago and many
other places in this country.
But what I remember is how many members of your family were there. I
think you filled the place with family members. It told me an awful lot
about the ``Casey'' name in Pennsylvania. It wasn't just a legend. It
was more than that. It made a difference in the lives of so many
different people and inspired you into public service. I think that was
probably the beginning of your commitment to what you have reached in
your career--family, faith, and a sense of fairness.
I went back on a bus trip on another one of your campaigns. That is
when I met Lieutenant Governor-Candidate John Fetterman and a lot of
other of your friends. We went through Bucks County and other places. I
have seen you in Chicago. You look just as much at home as you would in
the State of Pennsylvania. I think it speaks to what I understand in
politics: Family, faith, and fairness can take you a long way. You have
made a career out of it. What you have been able to do is to reach out
and help people who otherwise wouldn't have had a fighting chance, and
that, in my mind and yours too, is why we are here today.
I want to close with this brief remark and just make note of a mutual
friend of ours that we talk about all the time. He is a fellow in
Philadelphia that I turned to in 1992 to be my political adviser, a
fellow named Saul Shorr.
I know that he loves you as a politician and a friend and dedicated
so much of his life's work to your success.
[[Page S7145]]
And I know that your defeat hurt him as much as it does all of us.
But you will be remembered here, and you will inspire others. A new
generation will follow, and they will say: We are keeping up the Casey
name. We are standing up for what Bob Casey stood for: family, faith,
and fairness.
Thanks, Bob, for being a great friend and a great Senator.
(Applause.)
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The junior Senator from Minnesota.
____________________