[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 10]
[Senate]
[Pages 13512-13513]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         REPUBLICAN-LED SENATE

  Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, while Republicans were campaigning last 
fall, we promised the American people that if they put us in charge, we 
would get the Senate working again. That wasn't a campaign slogan. That 
was a commitment.
  I am proud to report that we are delivering on that promise. The 
first 7 months of the 114th Congress have been some of the most 
productive the Senate has had in a long time. We have passed more than 
70 bills to help strengthen our economy, reform our government, protect 
some of the most vulnerable, and strengthen our national security.
  We passed bipartisan legislation to authorize the Keystone Pipeline, 
a valuable infrastructure project that would support more than 42,000 
jobs during construction and invest $5.3 billion in the U.S. economy, 
all without spending a dime of taxpayer money.
  We passed a bipartisan bill to strengthen our efforts to eradicate 
human trafficking in this country and to help its victims. This 
legislation, which passed the Senate with unanimous support from 
Democrats and Republicans and was signed into law in May, gives law 
enforcement new tools to target traffickers, including increased access 
to wiretaps, and it significantly expands the resources available to 
trafficking victims as they seek to rebuild their lives.
  As negotiations with Iran over a nuclear agreement were repeatedly 
extended and as reports of significant compromises emerged, Democrats 
and Republicans alike grew concerned that the administration would fail 
to negotiate a deal that would be strong enough to prevent Iran from 
acquiring a nuclear weapon. To address these concerns, the Senate 
passed the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act. This legislation, which 
passed the Senate with overwhelming support from Democrats and 
Republicans and was signed into law by President Obama, was designed to 
ensure that the American people, through their elected representatives, 
would have a voice in any deal with Iran.
  Without the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act there would be no 
opportunity for an up-or-down vote on this deal in Congress and no way 
to prevent the President from immediately waiving the sanctions that 
Congress put in place. Congress is currently reviewing the final 
agreement announced by the President, an agreement that has been 
greeted, I might add, with bipartisan skepticism. We will be holding a 
vote on this deal in September.
  Increasing access to jobs and expanding opportunities for American 
workers is a priority of the Republican-led Congress. In May, with the 
support of 14 Democrats, the Republican-led Senate passed legislation 
to reauthorize trade promotion authority, which is key to securing 
trade deals that are favorable to American workers and businesses. 
Since 2009, increasing exports have accounted for more than 1.6 million 
new jobs in the United States. Manufacturing jobs that depend on 
exports pay an average of 13 to 18 percent more than other jobs in the 
economy. Thanks to the bipartisan trade promotion authority 
legislation, the administration now has a key tool to negotiate trade 
agreements that will create more good-paying jobs for American workers 
and open new markets for products labeled ``Made in the U.S.A.''
  After taking up bipartisan legislation to protect our economy, the 
Senate turned to another key Republican priority; that is, supporting 
our military men and women. The National Defense Authorization Act, 
which we considered in June, passed the Senate with strong bipartisan 
support. In addition to authorizing the funding our military needs to 
defend our Nation, this bill contains a number of reforms that will 
expand the resources available to our military men and women and 
strengthen our national security.
  Among other things, this legislation targets $10 billion in 
unnecessary spending and redirects those funds to military priorities 
such as funding for aircraft and weapons systems and modernization of 
Navy vessels. It implements sweeping reforms to the military's outdated 
acquisitions process by

[[Page 13513]]

removing bureaucracy and expediting decisionmaking. That will 
significantly improve the military's ability to access the technology 
and equipment it needs. It replaces the outdated military retirement 
system with a modern system that will extend retirement benefits to 75 
percent of our servicemembers.
  During the month of July, the Senate built on its bipartisan 
achievements with two important pieces of legislation: the Every Child 
Achieves Act and the DRIVE Act. The Every Child Achieves Act, which 
passed the Senate by an overwhelming margin, reauthorizes Federal K-12 
education programs and revokes problematic Federal mandates such as 
those that resulted in the phenomenon of overtesting. This legislation 
restores control of education to those who know students the best, such 
as parents, teachers, and local school boards.
  The DRIVE Act, which passed the Senate by a strong bipartisan margin, 
is notable because it is the first Transportation bill in almost a 
decade to provide more than 2 years of funding for our Nation's 
infrastructure needs. Around the country, hundreds of thousands of 
people and hundreds of thousands of jobs depend on the funding 
contained in Transportation bills. When Congress fails to provide the 
necessary certainty about the way transportation funding will be 
allocated, States and local governments are left without the certainty 
that they need to authorize projects or make long-term plans for 
transportation infrastructure. That means that essential construction 
projects get deferred, necessary repairs may not get made, and jobs 
that depend on transportation are put in jeopardy. The DRIVE Act will 
give States and local governments the certainty they need to plan for 
and commit to key infrastructure projects.
  Every bill I have discussed today passed the Senate with strong 
bipartisan support. One major reason for that is Senate Republicans' 
commitment to opening up the legislative process here in the Senate. 
Under Democratic control, the legislative process of the Senate had 
almost ground to a halt. Instead of being developed in committee, bills 
were frequently drafted behind closed doors, and not only the minority 
party but many rank-and-file Democrats were shut out of the process.
  When Republicans took control of the Senate in January, we changed 
all that. We opened up the committee process and debate on the floor. 
We made it a priority to ensure that every Senator--every Senator--both 
Democratic and Republican, has an opportunity to make his or her voice 
heard. During 2014, the Democratic leadership allowed just 15 amendment 
rollcall votes in the entire year--2014. Republicans allowed more than 
15 amendment rollcall votes in our first month. So far this year, we 
have allowed more than 165 amendment rollcall votes, and we still have 
5 months to go in the year. The Republican-led Senate has accomplished 
a lot over the past 7 months. But we know that we have a lot more to 
do.
  As the 114th Congress continues, we will continue to fight for the 
American people's priorities. We hope the Democrats here in the Senate 
will continue to join us.
  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. DAINES. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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