For instance. They might find it illuminating and realize that what they have been saying is factually false. Unfortunately, its a much more nefarious condition than ignorance that afflicts this administration on Climate Change. And it is a condition that cannot be cured with facts. This is about fossil fuel money. The malitty is what prevents the stark warnings in the Climate Science report from being a call to action in congress. Mr. President , at the cop23 gathering, we saw that the rest of the world is not turning a blind eye to Climate Change. The rest of the world is confronting it headon, along with Many American states, major american corporations, and virtually every major american university. Those are all very hopeful signs. And while our president and his administration have bound themselves to the fossil fuel polluters, the American People have not. Rhode islanders and americans everywhere care deeply about getting ahead of this problem, about achieving the goals of the u. N. Framework, and the American People will Carry ForwardAmerican Leadership in combating Climate Change no matter how evil the continuing influence of the fossil fuel industry in congress. Mr. President , i yield the floor, and i note the absence of a qoar. The presiding officer of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call a senator mr. President. The presiding officer the senator from wyoming. Mr. Barrasso i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be vitiated. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Barrasso thank you, mr. President. Mr. President , the Senate Finance committee is working this week on tax cuts and jobs act, a very important piece of legislation. The country is looking forward to having passed. This a republican plan to give tax relief to the american, just like the name of the legislation says, it actually addresses both issues, tax cuts and jobs. First of all, the legislation will cut the taxes for american workers. One of the biggest cuts in the plan is that it roughly doubles the standard deduction that people take. Right now the standard deduct for a married couple is about 12,000. If we double it, people wont pay any federal income taxes at all on the first 24,000 that they earn. Thats a big tax cut, and it is aimed squarely at lower and middleincome families. A lot of people will decide to take this deduction instead of going through the painstaking process of itemizing on their income tax return. It saves them time and the costs of lawyers and accountants. Republicans are also working to preserve other deductions important to American Families. When we put all of these together, were going to cut taxes for people and put money back in their pockets instead of sending it to washington. The second thing to know about this tax relief legislation is that it is going to be a big boost for jobs in america. In fact, it will help america create more than 900,000 new jobs. Its also going to lead to higher pay. Thats because the legislation will cut the taxes that Small Businesses have to pay. Small businesses create most of the jobs in america. If we let them keep more of their money if we let americans keep more of their money, they can hire more people and grow their businesses. Thats how our economy works. People hiring People Matter to grow the economy. They could give workers a raise, offer them better benefits. When washington takes less and businesses keep more, workers are better off every time. Now, republicans also want to bring down the rates that washington charges other businesses. A lot of people work for Small Businesses, but a lot of people also work for Large Businesses as well. So if were able to cut taxes force those businesses, then those workers can get the same raise. How much more money are we talking about . Well, according to the tax foundation, it amounts to about 2,600 for a typical middleclass family. Thats what you get when you combine the tax cut and the pay raise that people will see across the country. For that family an extra 2,600 is going to be a very big deal. A majority of americans say that they dont have enough savings today to cover a 50 emergency expense 500 emergency expense if one came up. Millions of American Families will be far better off because of the tax relief that americans are working on this week. If boasts the economy, helps individual workers, helps their families. Its about tax cuts and its about jobs, thats how we keep the economy growing. Thats how we keep American Families in arriving. Mr. President , i ask that the remainder of my comments appear in the record in the appropriate place. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Barrasso i also want to speak about an issue that is very important to the veterans in our country. The 2013 National Authorization conference report allows veterans memorials to be used as a bargaining chip. I think that is a bad idea. There is a specific provision that allows the secretary of defense to dismantle a veteran memorial and move it to the foreign nation. We have one in cheyenne, wyoming. This memorial honors soldiers massacred 100 years in a town in the philippines. On september 28, 1901, a group of 400 filipino insurgents attacked american soldiers in company c of the ninth infantry. It was a sneak attack while the americans were mostly unarmed and having breakfast. The insurgence signaled the attack by ringing the bells of a local church. Company c had 75 soldiers, 48 of them were killed in this attack or died of their wounds or went missing in action. It was the worst defeat for the American Army since the battle of little big horn in 1876. These bells were used in an act of war against american soldiers. The army legally brought the bills back to america to honor the troops of company c who were lost in this massacre. The 11th infantry regiment brought them to cheyenne, wyoming, and today the bells are part of the memorial at the air force base. Over the years the department of state and state department have tried a few times to move these bells to the philippines. In 2012, president obamas department of defense even tried to cover up the fact that it was secretly making plans to move the bells. I have opposed these efforts every step of the way. The majority of veterans in wyoming oppose dismantling this veteran memorial, the wyoming veterans of foreign wars and the American Legion have filed resolutions against moving the bells. The American Legion has taken a stand on the national level. It has proposed the removal and encouraged congress to pass legislation to protect veteran memorials. During the confirmation hearing for secretary of state rex tillerson, i asked him specifically about the bells. He made a commitment to me that he would include congress and our veteran organizations in any conversations regarding war memorials. I recently received a ler from the state department a letter from the state department and they said they are unaware of any plans to move the bells to a foreign country. We need to make sure that no plans ever develop. This conference report will take away any lines of communication between the administration and the congress on this issue. America needs to make clear that we will never stop honoring our war dead no matter where or when they sacrificed. To dismantle this memorial would be an insult to the memory of the men who were massacred that day in the philippines. Wyoming is a strong has a strong tradition of honoring our veterans, especially those who gave their lives. The United States should not be using our veteran memorials as bargaining chips to negotiate with foreign nations. For this reason, i oppose section 2864 of the conference report of the National Defense authorization, and i will continue my work to protect our veteran memorials. I will continue to use my voice for the soldiers of company c who have no voice of their own. Mr. President , i ask unanimous consent to submit for the record the names of the 48 soldiers who were massacred in 1901. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Barrasso i also ask consent to submit a letter from the wyoming veterans of foreign wars. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Barrasso and a resolution from the wyoming American Legion in opposition to moving the bells. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Barrasso the national American Legion in support of barrasso amendment number 738. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Barrasso a letter from the state department saying they are currently not planning to move the bells. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Barrasso and secretary tillersons commitment to include congress and our veterans in any discussion of our veteran memorials. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Barrasso thank you, mr. President. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call quorum call mr. Durbin mr. President. The presiding officer the assistant democratic leader. Mr. Durbin i ask that the quorum call be suspended. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Durbin and consent to speak in morning business. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Durbin i came to the floor yesterday to speak on the devastating impact that the republican tax plan would have on working families in my home state of illinois and other states across the nation. Its no secret take the republican plan would finance massive tax cuts for the wealthiest people in america. They just cant help themselves. Every time they look at the tax code, they think there has to be a way to help the wealthiest people in our country. They usually look at the estate tax which is paid for by one out of every thousand americans and say weve just got to spare these poor people who have a net worth of over 11 million from paying any taxes to the government. Weve got to spare them from paying this government for the benefits this great nation has brought to them and their families and businesses. And thats where they start. Then they do the alternative minimum tax which was a tax that walls created was created so that if your accountants and book keepers and lawyers were the sharpest on earth and ended up with finding that you had no tax liability, you still paid a fair share for sustaining it great nation that you call home. They want to get rid of that, too. Or at least dramatically modify it. So they start off with the premise of making these tax cuts for the wealthiest people in america the beginning point of tax reform, these giveaways to people who are not even asking for them. They cant help themselves. They always start there and the American People know it. When you ask the American People, what does is this tax re what is this tax reform all about . Its tax cuts for the wealthy people. Thats where it starts and it does when the republicans are the authors. Thats what we face again. They try to argue its going to help working families and it will help some. Let me be honest about that. And, yet, youre going to find many working families who are going to pay more instead of less because of this socalled tax reform. Why would we ever do that . Why would we give tax breaks to the wealthiest people in america, permanent tax breaks and then turn around and say to working families, sorry, some of you will get help but many of you wont. In my home state of illinois, the elimination of the state and local Tax Exemption is going to be devastating to our state. You see, were in the top five of states where our people in my state who pay income tax, sales tax, property tax can deduct those taxes from their federal income thats subject to taxation. Thats not a new idea. Its been around for decades and it really is premised on the following americans should not have to pay tax on a tax. If i pay 100 a month and i pay more for my local property tax, i shouldnt be taxed on that 100. Its a double hit. Its not fair. Mr. Durbin but the republican plans believe thats what we should do. I will just tell you for seven republican congressmen in my state, they ought to go home and ask the people they represent what they think about this one. The idea of double taxation, that they would vote for and then go home and try to defend . I think its going to be tough, very tough. Its no secret that these tax cuts for the wealthy and large corporations will end up raising taxes on a lot of americans and blowing a massive hole in the deficit. Im going to quote a fellow whos been retired a few years from congress but he was a congressman from wisconsin. David obey used to say over and over again and ill repeat it and credit him with it, too many times politicians are posing for holy pictures. Well, when it comes to the deficit and the debt, many of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle pose for holy pictures about the National Debt whenever theres a democratic president and then get a swift case of amnesia whenever theres a republican president. And here we go again. They are ignoring the reality that the tax cuts they are promoting for the wealthiest and biggest corporations are going to end up blowing a hole in the deficit, a hole in the deficit which will have to be paid for by future generations. I used to watch as my republican colleagues would get red in the face talking about our National Debt, but that, of course, was under a democratic president. Under a republican president , it doesnt seem to be a major issue. Oh, incidentally, there is a way to plug that hole and somewhere along the way someone slipped and told us what it was. If you want to plug the hole of 1. 5 trillion in tax cuts to wealthy and big corporations, they propose cutting medicare benefits and medicaid benefits, cutting the basic Health Insurance plans that seniors and people in low income categories use. Is that a sound policy to try to patch a hole in the deficit by taking Health Care Protection away from Senior Citizens in america, the 40plus million who count on it or those who are under medicaid . I think its not. Well, it turns out that chairman hatch had a new surprise for us this week. At 10 30 p. M. Last night, chairman orrin hatch released additional changes to this bill, which is evolving before our eyes, a bill which was not publicly announced until last friday currently being debated in the hopes that when we return a week after our thanksgiving recess, we will take it up and vote on it. Seems like its seem like a hurried of course . Of course it s. They know if these bills sit out long enough and people read them and consider them, there will be a lot of questions asked that they cant answer. But chairman hatch released additional changes to the bill, and they decided to fund permanent tax cuts for some corporations. Thats a high priority for the republicans. Wealthy people, big corporations. So how do they pay for permanent tax cuts for the biggest corporations . Turns out that in addition to raising taxes on working families, the Senate Republican tax bill would also raise Health Insurance premiums on middle inn com middle incofamilies. Thats right. The republicans propose their tax bill will also repeal parts of the Affordable Care act. As a result, the Congressional Budget Office tells us that an estimated 13 million to 14 million americans will lose their Health Insurance protection because of the republican tax giveaway plan. I thought that plan was supposed to help working families. It ends up taking away their Health Insurance. And for those who can still remain in the market buying Health Insurance, they can anticipate their premiums for Health Insurance going up 10 . What kind. Tax cut is this that ends up raising the cost of Health Insurance for working families and ends up eliminating Health Insurance for many middleincome families. I find it hard to believe the satisfaction that so many republicans take to be able to boast and brag that they passed a bill that took away Health Insurance there americans. Youre proud of that . I wouldnt be. We should be doing the opposite, expanding the reach of Health Insurance, making sure every american has the peace of mind and Health Insurance coverage they need for them and their families. Remember when republicans campaigned on the promise of increasing the number of people with insurance and decreasing premiums . This tax bill does just the opposite. Havent my republican colleagues learned the lesson on a. C. A. , the Affordable Care act repeal by now . We spent the whole year in a vain effort by the republicans to repeal and barely replace. The American People dont want it. Overwhelmingly theyre against it. Hospitals, my hospitals in illinois and across this nation dont want what the republicans are proposing in their bill. Patients dont want it. Nurses dont want it. Clinics dont want it. The disabled community doesnt want it. The republicans are determined to do it anyway. Senior leaders are against it. Faith leaders are against it. The American People are against it. But this is going to be the fea