Congressional Record United States Th of America PROCEEDINGS and DEBATES of the 115 CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
E PL UR UM IB N U U S Congressional Record United States th of America PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE 115 CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION Vol. 163 WASHINGTON, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2017 No. 28 Senate The Senate met at 10 a.m. and was U.S. SENATE, those impacted, with respect for the called to order by the Honorable MIKE PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE, rule of law and the rights of State and ROUNDS, a Senator from the State of Washington, DC, February 16, 2017. local governments. South Dakota. To the Senate: Pruitt has earned the support of Under the provisions of rule I, paragraph 3, countless groups across the country, of the Standing Rules of the Senate, I hereby f appoint the Honorable MIKE ROUNDS, a Sen- from State environmental protection ator from the State of South Dakota, to per- officers to agricultural leaders. He has PRAYER form the duties of the Chair. the bipartisan backing of dozens of his The Chaplain, Dr. Barry C. Black, of- ORRIN G. HATCH, fellow attorneys general as well. They fered the following prayer: President pro tempore. say he is someone who is ‘‘committed Let us pray. Mr. ROUNDS thereupon assumed the to clean air and clean water,’’ one who Eternal Spirit, to whom we must give Chair as Acting President pro tempore. is apt to ‘‘come to Congress for a solu- an account for all our powers and privi- f tion, rather than inventing power’’ for leges, guide our steps, use us to bring himself. RECOGNITION OF THE MAJORITY healing to our Nation and world. What a welcome change. What a wel- LEADER Give wisdom to our Senators, making come change from the previous admin- them faithful stewards of Your will. As The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- istration. they strive to serve You, help them to pore. The majority leader is recog- This is from a predecessor of Pruitt’s remember that to whom much is given, nized. in the attorney general’s office, Demo- crat Mike Turpen: much will be required. Open their f minds and hearts to know and do Your As a Democrat, I take seriously the NOMINATION OF SCOTT PRUITT will, relying on Your strength to em- threats to our environment. I may not agree with all the President-elect’s policies power them to serve You with honor. Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President, in just a few minutes we will have an op- or nominees, but I do know that Oklahoma May they discover in their daily world Attorney General Scott Pruitt is a good the joy of partnership with You. portunity to confirm the nominee for choice to head up the Environmental Protec- Lord, use them to keep America a the Office of Management and Budget. tion Agency. shining city on a hill. As they delight I had several things to say about him Scott Pruitt’s background in constitu- in Your presence, plant within their yesterday. Now I want to talk about tional law, combined with a nuanced under- hearts a greater desire to glorify You. the nominee we can advance after that standing of how environmental regulations affect the economy, mean that he will be a We pray in Your merciful Name. confirmation vote. Let me start by saying this. We all thoughtful leader of the EPA, and one capa- Amen. ble of striking the balance between pro- want clean water. We all want clean tecting the environment and our economy. f air. Promoting these goals is supposed Here is another Democratic attorney to be the mission of the Environmental general: PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Protection Agency, but under the I am a Member of the Democratic National The Presiding Officer led the Pledge Obama administration, the agency’s Committee and was a strong supporter of of Allegiance, as follows: leadership prioritized partisan politics Secretary Clinton’s campaign for President. I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the instead. It pursued policies that often I believe in the core mission of the Environ- United States of America, and to the Repub- put political benefits ahead of environ- mental Protection Agency. lic for which it stands, one nation under God, mental ones. It ignored laws. It acted And the nominee before us is known indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. beyond its authority. It even treated to him as ‘‘a staunch defender of sound middle-class coal families as enemies science and good policy as appropriate f and then attacked them without a real tools to protect the environment of his sense of compassion. State.’’ APPOINTMENT OF ACTING The nominee before us, Oklahoma at- As one Democratic Senator put it, PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE torney general Scott Pruitt, thinks it Scott Pruitt simply has ‘‘the right ex- The PRESIDING OFFICER. The is time for the EPA to get back to the perience for the position.’’ clerk will please read a communication business of clean air and clean water He is exceptionally qualified. He is to the Senate from the President pro instead, and to do so with an apprecia- dedicated to environmental protection, tempore (Mr. HATCH). tion for the complexity of our modern and, as someone with State govern- The senior assistant legislative clerk world, with awareness of the broader ment experience, he understands the read the following letter: economy, with compassion toward real world consequences of EPA actions ∑ This ‘‘bullet’’ symbol identifies statements or insertions which are not spoken by a Member of the Senate on the floor. S1223 . VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:49 Feb 17, 2017 Jkt 069060 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 0624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\A16FE6.000 S16FEPT1 SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with SENATE S1224 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE February 16, 2017 and knows that balance is the key to of the chaos from ObamaCare’s broken The Supreme Court reviewed on the making policies that are sustainable promises. That is especially true of merits five opinions she authored as a over the long term. Pruitt is just the Health and Human Services Secretary circuit court judge. But the Court re- candidate we need at the helm of the Tom Price, who was finally confirmed versed her most of the time—reversing EPA. after weeks of unprecedented obstruc- her three out of five times. And in one We should confirm him. Doing so will tion from across the aisle. of those two cases that it affirmed, the represent another positive change in We saw a great example yesterday of Supreme Court unanimously rejected Washington that can give hope to fami- what he can do to help stabilize the in- her reasoning in doing so, finding that lies in Kentucky and across the Nation surance market and protect consumers. it ‘‘flies in the face of the statutory who are still recovering from the last 8 The commonsense reforms he issued language.’’ years. can help put downward pressure on So the Supreme Court actually re- f costs and help prevent the fraud and jected the approach of then Judge abuse that ultimately hurt everyone. I Sotomayor in four out of five opinions RESOLUTION OF DISAPPROVAL commend him for taking these impor- she authored. Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President, tant first steps. They will help provide Our Democratic colleagues are insist- here is something else that will give relief for Americans as broader efforts ent that we have someone mainstream cheer to Kentucky families. I am are made to address the underlying appointed to the Court, with the defini- pleased to report that today the Presi- concerns with ObamaCare. tion of mainstream, of course, being dent will sign a resolution identical to The status quo on ObamaCare is sim- determined by their particular a proposal I introduced, a resolution ply unsustainable. Congress will con- worldview. Since all of our Democratic that will undo a harmful regulation tinue working to repeal and replace it colleagues who were here when her that could threaten nearly one-third of with commonsense, step-by-step re- nomination to the Supreme Court was America’s coal mining jobs. I am look- forms. As we do, I hope the administra- pending supported Justice Sotomayor, ing forward to attending that signing tion will continue using its existing au- I know that they found her to be main- ceremony later today. thority to protect Americans from the stream. Given that Judge Gorsuch’s This resolution is just one of several unnecessary harm of this broken law. record before the Court he seeks to join that we hope to send to the President f is quite a bit better than hers, I assume to begin providing the American people NOMINATION OF NEIL GORSUCH they would concede, even if grudgingly, with relief, protecting jobs, and grow- that as measured by one’s record before Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President, on ing our economy. It reflects promises the Supreme Court as a lower court one final matter, Neil Gorsuch is one of made and promises kept. judge, Judge Gorsuch is at least as the most impressive Supreme Court f ‘‘mainstream’’ as she is. nominees we have ever seen. His re- With Judge Gorsuch’s impressive REPEALING AND REPLACING sume is a mile long, his reputation is record before the Supreme Court and OBAMACARE second to none, and his record is lit- other impressive qualities, it is no erally something to behold. Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President, now wonder, then, that both sides of the po- In nearly a decade on the circuit on another matter, let me begin with a litical spectrum can’t help but praise court, his work was so outstanding, the statement of the obvious. ObamaCare him.