America's Small Business Tax Relief Act of 2015--Motion to Proceed

Floor Speech

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Mr. BLUMENTHAL. Mr. President, I want to join in the remarks just made by the senior Senator from Illinois that we have an obligation to do our job and to provide a hearing and a vote for the President's nominee--not as a matter of discretion or convenience but as a mandatory obligation we have as Members of this body. It is an obligation that comes from the Constitution, which says that we shall exercise this duty of advising and consenting.

For all the reasons my colleague has expressed so eloquently, the American people feel that it is our job, and they are right. Nothing so epitomizes the feeling of the American people that Washington is failing to work, that this body is failing to do its job, that the Congress and the Federal Government are failing the American people, than the failure to deal with this nominee. The refusal to even meet with him mocks the American system of justice. For all who care about the quality of our judicial nominee, this intransigence is both an insult and an injury, and it will do lasting damage to the Court if it drags this third branch of government into the mire of partisan bickering.

The judicial branch depends, for the enforceability of its decisions, on the trust and credibility of the American people that it is above politics and that decisions made by the judicial branch are on the merits without regard to the special interests and the money that so infects this branch, and they are entitled to our support for the credibility and trust of the judicial branch, and nothing epitomizes the need for that credibility and trust more than the U.S. Supreme Court. It is the highest Court in the land, and it is the most powerful. It is an anomaly in a democratic government because it is unelected, appointed for life, at the top of the judicial pyramid, exercising vast powers, with only the trust and credibility of the American people as its means of enforcement. It has no army or police of its own. Its decisions and enforceability depend for their effect on it being above politics. The controversy and the intransigence and refusal to even consider this nominee is a great threat to that institution.

Lyme and Tick-Borne Disease Prevention, Education, and Research Act

Mr. President, on the issue of getting the job done, I want to go to a separate topic very much on our minds at this time of year, very distinct and different, but I want to join it in these remarks because it is timely as we begin the next phase of our bipartisan efforts to combat Lyme and tick-borne diseases.

We will be building support this week for a bill that has been introduced by Senator Ayotte and me, with the strong involvement and leadership of Senator Gillibrand, S. 1503, the Lyme and Tick-Borne Disease Prevention, Education, and Research Act, with 13 cosponsors. It is a bipartisan bill that is critically important to public health.

Today we will be welcoming a number of my friends and constituents from Connecticut and around the country who are experts to provide briefings to our staffs in sessions that have been organized by Senator Ayotte, Senator Gillibrand, and me. We are very pleased to welcome some of the leaders of this effort: John Aucott, who is an assistant professor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine; Dr. Brian Fallon, a good friend and leading expert in this area and a professor at the Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons; Ally Hilfiger, who has been a survivor and strong supporter and advocate; Rebecca Tibball, a fourth grade teacher from my home State of Connecticut who has been battling Lyme disease since August of 2014; and David Roth, also a leader and a longstanding patient advocate from New York who in his day job is a managing director at the private sector group Blackstone. These individuals are here to call attention to and build support for curing a disease that is literally exploding exponentially in this country and now constitutes an epidemic that literally impinges and cripples the lives of millions of Americans.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicates that more than 36,000 Americans suffered from Lyme disease in 2013. It says that the number who actually contracted this disease is probably 10 times higher because it is undetected and undiagnosed in so many people and it is underreported even when it is discovered in individuals. Most of the cases of Lyme disease occur in a limited number of States. Ninety- eight percent of them occur in Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Virginia, and Wisconsin. I name those States because the Senators in those States ought to be behind this bill, every single one of them. But those cases are only the ones reported. In many States there is no systematic reporting of Lyme disease, so the full extent, breadth, and depth of this epidemic is truly unknown.

We know in this body how to respond and recognize a public health threat. It was done for Ebola. It is done for influenza. It hopefully will be done for Zika. What is needed is the same kind of bipartisan awareness and support for legislation to help people who suffer from Lyme and other tick-borne diseases.

Sometimes this Senator is asked: Why has the Congress failed to recognize and respond to this severe public health threat?

There is no good explanation except for the underreporting and the unawareness, and that is no excuse. In the meantime, the cases of Lyme disease are exploding in number, and the severity impacts our economy as well as the quality of life for Americans. It affects people's ability to perform their jobs, children's ability to go to school, and families' ability to function normally. The disease, if undetected and untreated, can cause the most severe kinds of pain and disability.

Lyme disease is named after a town in my State. I have always felt it was tremendously unfair for the beautiful and wonderful town of Lyme to have its name bear the burden of this disease, but regardless of the name, the burden is on the entire country--not simply on Connecticut and not simply on the Northeast or any part of the country or profession--to take action. That action must include provisions in this bill to strengthen Lyme disease surveillance and reporting, an education program, establishing epidemiological research objectives for tick-borne diseases, and the preparation of a regular report to Congress on the progress of efforts to combat these devastating tick- borne diseases. The effects are devastating, pernicious, and insidious, creeping into every aspect of a victim's life.

Our bill has earned the support of 13 Senators from both parties, including five members of the HELP Committee. When it comes to fighting Lyme disease, there is no partisanship. The ticks that carry this disease don't know a red State from a blue one. They don't make any discrimination between the boundaries of different States. The devastating diseases that can spring from these ticks are common to our entire country and therefore demand a national response and a Federal program that we have outlined in this bill.

I am proud to join with Senator Ayotte and Senator Gillibrand in this effort. I urge my colleagues to support this bill, to send your staffs to the briefing we have today.

I thank others from Connecticut--such as Alexandra Cohen--who are going to be coming today, and I look forward to continuing this fight, which has to be one of a nationwide commitment.

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