May 2, 2019 - Issue: Vol. 165, No. 72 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 1st Session

[Pages S2597-S2599]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                             Suffrage Coin

  Mr. President, I rise in support of S. 1235, the Women's Suffrage 
Centennial Commemorative Coin Act. It was introduced by Senator 
Gillibrand and me.
  It was 150 years ago this month that the National Woman Suffrage 
Association was founded by Susan B. Anthony and a group of very brave 
suffrage activists who fought for all American women to have the right 
to vote. This bipartisan measure honors the centennial and the legacy 
of the suffrage activists with a commemorative coin to be minted by the 
U.S. Treasury.
  As we approach the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th 
Amendment next year--also called the ``Susan B. Anthony Amendment''--
Americans are rediscovering the history of women's suffrage and the 
movement and the stories of the women who led it to victory. These 
stories are a vast part of our Nation's history, but they are not often 
discussed, which is something that we are seeking to change. It would 
be a tragedy if the stories of these trailblazers were forgotten by 
future generations. It is our hope that by passing this important 
measure--and it is bipartisan--we will help to keep their memories 
alive.
  We often take women's right to vote for granted, as if it were 
something that was an inevitable outcome in our history. In truth, 
winning the vote for women was anything but inevitable. It required 72 
years--think about that, 72 years--of ceaseless agitation by 
generations of dedicated, fearless suffragists who fought against 
centuries of law and millennia of tradition.
  I quote Susan B. Anthony: ``I declare to you that woman must not 
depend upon the protection of man, but must be taught to protect 
herself, and there I take my stand.''
  The women's suffrage movement began in July of 1848 with the first 
women's rights convention that was held in Seneca Falls, NY, which is 
Senator Gillibrand's home State. That fight concluded in August of 1920 
in Nashville, TN, which is my home State.
  Tennessee was the 36th and final State needed to ratify the 19th 
Amendment. So we did. In true Tennessee style on that hot August day in 
downtown Nashville, a 24-year-old freshman State representative named 
Harry Burn, from McMinn County, TN, changed his vote from no to yes, 
ensuring the amendment's adoption. Why did he change that vote, you may 
ask. Because his mother--Miss Febb, as she was known--wrote him a 
letter that reminded him to be a good boy and to vote for the 
amendment.
  As we get ready to celebrate Mother's Day this month, the story of 
Harry Burn and Miss Febb is a great reminder of how important it is for 
each and every one of us to heed our mothers' advice. Mothers are 
always right.
  Consider how remarkable it is that the 19th Amendment was not 
ratified until 132 years after the ratification of the U.S. 
Constitution in 1788--132 years. The 19th Amendment marked the single 
largest extension of voting rights in American history. Many of the 
women who led the movement did not live to see their mission 
accomplished, and many of the women who cast their first votes were not 
born when that movement began. As the first female Senator from 
Tennessee, I feel it is my duty to honor the life and the legacy of 
those brave suffragists.
  I am so pleased to have worked with Senator Gillibrand on this truly 
bipartisan celebration of a milestone in our Nation's history. It is 
cause for further celebration that we are able to introduce this 
legislation in a Chamber where, for the first time in U.S. history, 
one-fourth of its Members are female. I am also delighted to report 
that our legislation has the support of all 25 female Senators.
  As we approach the centennial, it is our hope that this commemoration 
will increase public awareness and appreciation for the history of the 
women's suffrage movement. Honoring women who exemplify patriotism is 
an excellent example of what Washington can achieve when both sides 
come together and remember the maxim that there is more that unites us 
than divides us.

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                                 S. 206

  Mr. President, I also recently joined Senator Tester in introducing 
the ``Hello Girls'' Congressional Gold Medal Act to honor the women 
soldiers of the Army Signal Corps during World War I.
  Another example of trailblazers in history, these women enabled 
American and French Armed Forces to communicate clearly with one 
another in order to enter battle with their being armed with the 
intelligence they needed to win those fights. They changed the course 
of the war at the height of the conflict and left Europe in a safer 
state thanks to their efforts.
  America's values are reflected in the history that we choose to 
honor. ``We must remember the past, hold fast to the present and build 
for the future,'' the great Tennessee suffragist, Susan Shelton White, 
once wrote. ``If you stand in your accepted place today, it is because 
some woman had to fight yesterday. We should be ashamed to stand on 
ground won by women in the past without making an effort to honor them 
by winning a higher and wider field for the future. It is a debt we 
owe.''
  The medal of which I have spoken and this coin are small ways in 
which to honor these women for the debt that we owe them. It is a debt 
that can only be repaid by encouraging all women to exercise these 
hard-fought rights and accept more leadership roles when they are 
presented--whether they are at home, at church, in the workplace, in 
civic life, or, maybe, in public service.
  I take inspiration from the women who blazed trails before me, and I 
hope the women of this Chamber will provide that same type of 
inspiration to generations of women who will come behind us.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Braun). The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.


          2019 Medicare and Social Security Trustees' Reports

  Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, last month I came to the floor to talk about 
the need to confront our country's surging deficits and debt.
  At the time, we had just considered a supplemental disaster 
appropriations bill that would spend billions of dollars beyond the 
statutory budget caps without any pretense of offsetting that spending, 
and I called for Congress to better budget for disasters.
  Now, prompted by reports issued last week by Social Security and 
Medicare trustees that show these programs remain on an unsustainable 
path, I again come to the floor to sound the alarm over our country's 
long-term fiscal health. With trillion-dollar annual deficits expected 
to return soon and our national debt now topping $22 trillion, we 
cannot afford to keep ignoring the warning signs that we are on a 
dangerous fiscal course.
  The trustees estimate that Social Security's combined trust funds 
will be insolvent by 2035. Sounds like way down the road? I don't think 
so. Medicare's Hospital Insurance Trust Fund will become insolvent even 
sooner, by 2026.
  Over the next 75 years, Medicare's and Social Security's combined 
scheduled expenditures are projected to exceed their dedicated revenues 
by more than $59 trillion, or 35 percent, on a present-value basis. 
Within 10 years, Social Security and Medicare alone will account for 
more than half of all Federal noninterest spending.
  We are facing a strong demographic headwind. Let me say that again. 
We are facing a strong demographic headwind. An aging population and 
rising healthcare costs continue to increase the gulf between mandatory 
program spending and dedicated revenues.
  For decades, experts have warned of the budget pressures we would 
face as members of the baby boom generation aged and became eligible 
for Medicare and Social Security. Congress hasn't paid much attention 
to that crisis. Every day, roughly 10,000 Americans turn 65, and they 
are living longer than they were when these programs were conceived. I 
guess that is a good thing, but it places additional strain on the 
program finances and the Federal budget.
  Without changes to current law, all Social Security and Medicare 
beneficiaries will see automatic across-the-board reductions in 
benefits when the respective funds run out of money. Of course, the 
political pressure would be enormous to avoid the automatic cuts, but 
with our country already facing $22 trillion in debt, further raiding 
of the U.S. Treasury's general fund is not an option. It could cause a 
borrowing crisis.
  First, let me focus on Social Security. At the end of last year, 
Social Security provided payments to 63 million beneficiaries, 
including 47 million retired workers and their dependents, 6 million 
survivors of deceased workers, and 10 million disabled workers and 
their dependents.
  As I mentioned, Social Security's combined trust funds are slated to 
become depleted in 2035. That means that in 16 years' time, when 
today's 46-year-olds first become eligible for retirement benefits, the 
program will only be able to pay about 80 percent of the scheduled 
benefits, according to the trustees.
  Think about that. Absent action from Congress, we are just 16 years 
away from not being able to pay full benefits, and that is full 
benefits to those who are retired right now, as well as those who are 
upcoming. It is no longer a far-off concern.
  Let me turn now to the Medicare Program, which is an even more 
pressing problem.
  The trustees estimate that in 2026, Medicare's Hospital Insurance 
Trust Fund--which covers inpatient hospital services, hospice care, 
skilled nursing facilities, and home health services--will be depleted.
  Once the fund becomes insolvent, absent a change in the law, Medicare 
can only pay hospital benefits up to an amount of revenue that comes 
into the trust fund in that given year. It is the same thing for Social 
Security. Anticipating that money will be worth as much and that 
inflation will not have driven it up even more, the trustees estimate 
that in 2026, revenues will cover only 89 percent of program costs and 
by 2046, that figure will decline to 77 percent--pretty hefty cuts.

  Medicare's other trust fund, which primarily pays for physician 
services and prescription drugs, operates differently. While it isn't 
in danger of insolvency because it gets money from the Treasury's 
general fund and the premiums it collects from beneficiaries are 
adjusted annually, its growing costs will put greater pressure on 
premium-paying beneficiaries and on Federal taxpayers. That is where 
the excess comes from.
  Last year, general revenue transfers into the trust fund equaled 16.2 
percent of all personal and corporate Federal income taxes collected by 
the Federal Government. By the end of the 75-year window, the trustees 
expect this figure to increase to more than 28 percent. That would be 
more than 28 percent of all personal and corporate Federal income taxes 
collected by the Federal Government.
  For years, the trustees of Social Security and Medicare have warned 
that these programs are unsustainable. Let me repeat that again. For 
years, the trustees of Social Security and Medicare have warned that 
these programs are on an unsustainable path, but successive Congresses 
and administrations have continued a bipartisan tradition of ignoring 
this uncomfortable fact.
  Of course, ignoring the problem will not make it go away. In this 
case, the opposite is true. The longer we wait to make financial 
repairs to Social Security and Medicare, the more severe the changes 
needed to ensure their insolvency will have to be.
  We must work together, on a bipartisan basis, to find long-term 
solutions that secure the future of these programs. The earlier we do 
it, the less painful it is. When considering a $59 trillion problem 
like this, there are no quick fixes or easy choices, but the sooner we 
act, the easier it will be to preserve Social Security and Medicare for 
the millions of Americans who depend on them and who will be depending 
on them, while safeguarding the programs for even more future 
generations.
  To be clear, I want to make sure Social Security and Medicare are 
able to

[[Page S2599]]

continue providing benefits to current beneficiaries, as well as those 
who may need these programs in the future. If we don't make changes to 
the way these programs currently operate, in the future, a lot of 
people will just be out of luck. In order to prevent that from 
happening, we have to work together, and we have to consider a wide 
variety of options to ensure their solvency in the long term.
  While we may disagree on what the ideal solution might look like, I 
hope we can all agree on the need to put our mandatory spending 
programs and the broader Federal budget on a long-term, sustainable 
fiscal course. That means having the revenues match up with the costs. 
They don't now. There are deficits already, and the funds are being 
depleted.
  I ask for everyone's help to solve this. It can only be done if both 
sides of the aisle agree to do something.
  I thank you for your attention.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from West Virginia.