Only accelerate when a business may deduct certain deductions and not whether the costs are deductible in the first place. However, the most costly of what i term general business incentives is also likely the most popular. Im going to show you in just a minute. The most popular because it has such an overwhelming number of cosponsors in both bodies. That is the shortline tax credit. This provision offers a tax ched to shortline railroads for qualified maintenance expenditures. This credit isnt available to the largest railroads, what we call the class one railroads. This credit benefits smaller railroads that are critically important for farmers and many manufacturers to get their products to the global markets. For example, in my state of iowa, according to a recent data from the american short line and Regional Railroad association, there are nine short lines and Regional Railroads. This credit isnt just supported by an and important to the railroads themselves. Its also supported by the users of short line railroads who depend on these railroads to get their products to market around the world. For example, midwest soybean farmers selling to the asian market typically must ship their crop by rail to the port of seattle. And the short line railroads are part of that railroad system, and they are critical to that transportation network. The fact is that this provision is far more than some sort of giveaway to business. Its a provision thats important to the whole community. This is probably a big reason why legislation making this short line tax credit permanent currently has 50 cosponsors in this body in the senate, and 228 cosponsors in the house of representatives. I hope i have been able to clear up some of the misunderstanding regarding tax extenders for the new democratic majority in the house. Not only on the substance of these tax extenders, but the fact that extending these tax credits has been both bicameral and bipartisan for at least a couple decades. Extenders are then not just about businesses or corporations. This overwhelmingly benefits individuals. Individuals. It benefits clean energy. Promote job creation in urban and Rural Communities alike. In order to provide certainty and you need certainty in tax law. If you want to provide certainty to the people who relied on these provisions in 2018 and potentially this year, we should extend them, at least through 2019, as quickly as possible. Now, this could have been done as far as the bipartisan agreement on budget and debt limits announced monday. Unfortunately, i fear a misunderstanding of what extenders really are by the new members in the house of representatives and who they benefit on the part of the same democrat house majority, that this misunderstanding contributed to these extenders being left out of the deal announced monday. I know that there are those who question the need to extend these provisions in perpetuity, and it happens that i agree with those points of view. Thats why the finance committee that i chair created a serious of task forces to examine these policies for the long term. The task forces were charged with examining each of these provisions to determine if we can reach a consensus on a longterm resolution so we dont have to have every two years an extended and debate about extending extenders or tax credits. So i look forward to receiving the submissions of the task forces that i have appointed later this week. Hopefully, these submissions will provide a basis for the finance committee to put together an extenders package before the end of the year that includes longer Term Solutions for as many of these temporary provisions as possible. This is important so that we can stop the annual exercise of kicking the can down the road. However, in the meantime, i remain committed to acting as soon as possible so that taxpayers who relied on these provisions in 2018 dont end up feeling like Charlie Brown after lucy pulls the football away. I yield the floor. Mr. Barrasso mr. President. The presiding officer the senator from wyoming. Mr. Barrasso thank you, mr. President. As if in legislative session, i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of s. 2249, introduced earlier today. The presiding officer the clerk will report. The clerk s. 2249, a bill to allow the deputy administrator of the federal Aviation Administration on the date of enactment of this act to continue to serve as the deputy administrator. The presiding officer without objection, the senate will proceed to the measure. Mr. Barrasso i ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read a third time and passed and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Barrasso thank you, mr. President. Mr. President , i come to the floor today again, as i have week after week, to highlight the Health Care Policy disaster that the democrats have labeled as medicare for all. This mislabeled onesizefitsall approach takes Health Insurance away, takes it away from 180 million americans who have earned and who get their Health Insurance on the job still, many democrat members, many president ial candidates support this radical proposal which would actually eliminate onthejob insurance. Its been offered originally by senator sanders, this socalled medicare for all bill would also dramatically raise taxes. It would destroy medicare as we know it, and of course it would ration care. Last week, i discussed health care rationing in britain and in canada. Today my focus is the plans impact on medical innovation. Now, as a doctor, i continue to remain astonished at how far medical technology has come in the 30 years that i have from the time i started to practice medicine. Scientific breakthroughs are saving lives all around the world. I know because my wife bobbi is a Breast Cancer survivor. According to the american cancer society, the death rate for women with Breast Cancer has fallen nearly 40 . More women are living longer after being diagnosed and treated. And the progress is due to earlier detection as well as better treatment. Its a combination. And this is not limited to Breast Cancer alone. The death rate for all Cancer Patients has steadily declined. The diagnosis of cancer is no longer considered a death penalty. People survive and thrive. We have made tremendous strides. And u. S. Brainpower has led the way. According to the new york times, the United States is, as they quote, home to an outsized share of Global Health care innovation. The innovation comes from america. Patients the world over depend upon our medical breakthroughs. So what happens if we put washington in charge of all of u. S. Health care . Well, then washington bureaucrats, not you, not your family, not your doctor, not scientists, but washington bureaucrats will call the shots. So lets look again at britain, which has a governmentrun system. Theres a recent newspaper headline in the british newspaper, the guardian. Its enlightening. The headline says this quote, National Health service, cancer scans left unread for weeks. The cancer scans have been left unread for weeks. The guardian reports cancer scans showing the presence or spread of the disease are going unread for as long, they say, as six weeks. Think of that. Youre a patient. Its cancer. So its going and its spreading. You have had a scan. Its waiting six weeks to know whats happening with your own body. Cancer scan reports used to take a week. Then about a month. And now six weeks. As a result, according to one of the radiologists in britain, unexpected and critical findings are going unreported for weeks, and as he said we are now just firefighting. Patients are getting the scans and they are waiting for results. American patients would simply not tolerate this. They wouldnt in my home state. They wouldnt in your home state, mr. President. American patients will not tolerate this. Thats why we cant afford to lose our competitive edge. The return of our investment in medical research and development in this country is absolutely tremendous. And its thanks to u. S. Investment and innovation. Thats why patients and patient care is improving, not just in the United States but worldwide. And so President Trump is asking europe and other developed countries to start paying their fair share. The president s right. American patients shouldnt have to foot all of the bill for global cures. Still, u. S. Patients are surely will surely suffer if washington bureaucrats start blocking new inowe vaigz. As i new innovations. As i said last week, the Congressional Budget Office, they came out, talked about their report on what medicare for all would mean. They said there would be a delay, a delay in treatment, as well as a delay in technology. If we had a onesizefitsall Health Care System and 180 million americans lost the insurance they get from work. Patients in england have bureaucrats as judge and as jury weighing the value of every advancement, seeing if they can even have it in that country. And what we see is the bureaucrats are denying lifesaving treatment, much of it invented in the United States. British patients recently protested their National Health service. They have protested because the National Health service refused to permit the use of a cuttingedge drug to treat cystic fibrosis. The protesters ended up placing tshirts in Parliament Square representing the 255 people in england who have died as a result of the refusal of england to approve the u. S. Use of a drug that exists and that works. Mr. President , of course we all agree the prices of medications need to come down. In england, the government just says no, were not going to have that treatment, that cure to be used in our country. So we need to get down the cost of care. We also need to protect innovation because that is the future of health care. Doctors and scientists need the freedom to give us the next generation of lifesaving drugs. Thats why im concerned that under the democrats plan, such medical progress is threatened. Clearly, democrats have taken a hard left turn when it comes to health care and when it comes to the role of imposing more government in our lives. They want to take away your Health Insurance, the one you get from work, and in place of onthejob insurance, they want one expensive new governmentrun program for everyone. Democrats extreme scheme is expected to cost 32 trillion. Its so expensive, in fact, that even doubling everyones taxes wouldnt cover it. And that means washington bureaucrats will be restricting your care. Youll lose the freedom to choose your doctor. Youll lose the freedom to choose your hospital. Youll have the freedom to make choices about your own life. And bureaucrats will limit your access to new treatments as well as cuttingedge technologies. Its hard to know how many months you will have to wait for urgently needed care. Weve seen it in canada. Weve seen it in england. And we do not want to see it here in the United States. Because delayed care becomes denied care. Why should you pay more, which is what this socalled medicare for all does. You will be paying more to wait longer for worse care. Why would america want that . Thats exactly what the democrats are proposing. Republicans, meanwhile, are focused on real reforms, reforms that lower costs without lowering standards. Thats the key difference. We want to lower costs but not standards. In england, they say well, its free but youre going to have to wait a long time for your free care. As reported last week, people actually have gone blind while waiting. Others died while waiting. The democratic proposal actually lowers the standards while limiting your choices and raising your costs. Mr. President , its time to reject the democrats onesizefitsall health care scheme,instead lets ensure that our patients get the Innovative Care they need from a doctor they choose at a lower cost. Thank you, mr. President. I yield the floor, and i suggest the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call a senator mr. President. The presiding officer the senator from nebraska. A senator thank you, mr. President. The presiding officer the senate is in a quorum call. A senator i ask unanimous consent to suspend the quorum call. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Sasse thank you, mr. President. Today is a good day for this body, the state of nebraska, and for every american who is committed to the rule of law, including our first freedom which ises religious free which is religious freedom. We will be voting for Brian Buescher. He is a born and raised nebraskan, husband, and father of five and for nearly two decades has served his home state admirably. This is a testament to his integrity and title of service. At the same time brians confirmation process has been an occasion for one of the most baffling displays of constitutional confusion and for prejudice ive seen in my time here. Brian is a catholic, and hes a member of the knights of columbus. The knights of columbus is the largest fraternal Catholic Organization in the world, the organization has 1. 6 million members, raises millions of dollars for charity, and contribute literally millions and millions of hours of volunteer service and volunteer charity for their neighbors. Like a lot of catholic men in nebraska, brian joined the knights of columbus as a way to give back toes his community. This is not a scandal. This is actually just really basic, sometimes really boring love of neighbor, but its the kind of stuff that makes communities work. But, according to some of my colleagues on the Senate Judiciary committee, brians association with this extraordinary charitable organization, again, really mundane, the knights of columbus, the largest Catholic Organization in the world, but according to some of my colleagues, the knights of columbus is an extremist outfit. Someone said that he should not be on the bench because of appearing to be bias. The knights of columbus is not some Shadowy Organization from a dan brown novel, its a bunch of guys who organize fish fries, sometimes they sell tootsie rolls, but basically they are funding the Special Olympics and thats what they do across nebraska and across the country. It is really weird were talking about the knights of columbus as an extremist organization. It seems that catholics are to replace the communist. And this isnt just brian. Weve had other nominees come before the Senate Judiciary committee this year being asked questions laughably close to, are you now or have you ever been involved in the organization of a fish fry. Weve had people asked questions that sound like they are going to be called to account for what their prayer may have been at the last pancake, how long has the dogma lived loudly within you, and if you had to rank the doing ma, dogma, on a scale of one to ten, how loud is the dogma. This seems laughable until you pause and recognize that the United StatesJudiciary Committee is asking nominees questions like this. This shouldnt be happening. Again, just so were clear. A United States senator who has taken an oath to uphold and defend the constitution asked brian as a faithful catholic to resign his membership in the knights of columbus to, quote, avoid the appearance of bias, close quote. The implications in these questions is really straightforward. It is that brians religious beliefs and his affiliation with his catholic religious Fraternal Organization might make him unfit for service. Lets put it bluntly. This is plain, unadult rated anticatholic bigotry and this isnt a new thing in u. S. History, its just a new new thing. 60 years ago in this body john f. Kennedy was asked, as he was running for president , some similar questions. It is plainly unconstitutional, every member of this body, all 100 of us, have raised our hands to defend the constitution, which the language states, so clear that a politician has to say it says what it says, no religious test shall ever be required as qualification to any office of public trust in the United States. This is straight out of the constitution. No religious test shall ever be required as qualification to any Public Office or public trust under the United States. Thats why because this was happening in the Senate Judiciary committee in january i led a charge on the floor to push through a resolution to reaffirm our oath of office to the constitution that rejects religious bigotry. I called on every member of this body to affirm that we respect the freedom of every american to worship as he or she sees fit and to live out their faith in the public square. Fortunately the federal government and politics more broadly is not in the business of trying to resolve questions of heaven and hell. Thats not what we use politics for in this country. Here were only in the very this worldly business of trying to maintain the peace and the public order necessary so that every individual can make their own decisions about ultimate matters, for themselves under the dictates of conscience, not trying to submit to the whims of politicians or political movements. This is a Great American blessing and we need to reaffirm it and we need to reteach it every occasion we have that opportunity. Happily, the unanimous support for that resolution was an encoura