Executive Session
Floor Speech
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Mr. DAINES. Mr. President, I would like to start by talking about one of the best things we are known for in Montana, and that is our great outdoors, whether it be our national parks, our iconic wildlife, hunting, or fly fishing. Like all Montanans, I want the peace of mind that I can continue to enjoy these opportunities with my kids and grandkids, just as my dad and my grandpa did with me growing up in Montana.
In Montana, we know how to foster commonsense, locally driven conservation to protect our environment. I am here to tell you today that there is nothing common sense about the so-called Green New Deal. In fact, the Green New Deal is a representation of everything that is wrong with Washington, DC. It is a radical, top-down idea that disregards the impacts on hard-working Montanans and Americans across our country.
You see, in Montana, we rely on a diverse portfolio of energy and fuel sources to help grow our economy, to create good-paying jobs, and to preserve our Montana way of life. In order to live where you also like to play--that is what we call Montana--you need a good-paying job. Montana is still a State where a mom or a dad, a grandma or a grandpa, or an uncle or an aunt can take a child down to Walmart and buy an elk tag over the counter and be at a trailhead to start elk hunting within 30 minutes. We need our ag production. We need clean coal. We need sustainable timber production. These are all part of our Montana way of life. They are all important to the great State heritage we have. This Green New Deal would uproot all of that.
This Green New Deal sounds more like a socialist wish list than it does some great, bold conservation plan. Calling for an end to air travel, getting rid of all of the cows, and ceasing all production of coal would literally destroy our State's economy. The Green New Deal flat out doesn't work. Montana's rural communities would be left without any power or electricity. In fact, just this month, we saw record cold temperatures in Montana. I was trying to fly back to Washington, DC, a week ago Monday. When I got to our airport there in Bozeman, it was minus-40 degrees. We had to hold the plane for nearly 3 hours because deicing fluid only works at minus-25 and warmer temperatures.
The data that we have now looked at from during that cold snap shows that it was coal-fired generation--in particular, our Colstrip powerplant--that picked up the slack during those low temperatures. It kept the heat on for families across Montana.
Our wind turbines have difficulty working in subzero temperatures, and that is regardless of whether the wind blows. One of the challenges in a State like Montana is that when a high-pressure system moves in, whether in the wintertime or in the summertime--let's take the winter for example. When high pressure moves in, oftentimes that is associated with low temperatures. That usually is when we have a spike in requirements of energy consumption needs on the grid. What happens when a high-pressure system moves in is that the wind stops blowing. There is a reason wind is referred to as intermittent energy.
I am not opposed to the renewables. I think it is wonderful that we have wind energy in Montana. We have solar. We have hydro. We have a great renewable energy portfolio in Montana. But the reality is that during the coldest days of the winter, the wind doesn't blow. In fact, at minus-23 degrees and colder, they have to shut off the wind turbines because of the stress it presents to the materials of the turbines.
In the summertime, when high-pressure systems move in, the temperatures spike on the high side, and the wind stops blowing. At the same time, we have peak load on the grid.
So the commonsense thing to do is to focus on accelerating development of clean coal technology and keeping a balanced portfolio to make sure we meet the spike demands, whether they are in the summertime or in the wintertime.
While we should focus on accelerating investments to help renewables like wind become more reliable, which makes a lot of sense, we should continue to think about how to make renewables better.
The Green New Deal seems to think we all live in a fantasyland. In fact, it states how the United States has a disproportionate contribution to global greenhouse gas emissions. Reports show that it is Asia, China, India, and other Asian countries. They are the countries that will drive energy consumption 25 percent higher by 2040 and with it, global gas emissions.
The Green New Deal doesn't tell the positive story right here at home that the U.S.--and listen to this--is actually a world leader in technological energy innovation; that is we, the United States, leads the world in reducing energy-related carbon emissions. In fact, since 2007, our emissions have decreased about 14 percent. In fact, it is more innovation, not more regulation, that will further reduce global carbon emissions.
Our world is a safer, more secure place if we accelerate energy innovation here at home, not cut the rug out from under us and cede that leadership to Asian countries. To top it all off, under the Green New Deal, it is the American people and it is Montanans, the hard- working taxpayers, who are going to pick up the bill.
Some estimates have found this radical proposal would cost hard- working families over $600,000 per household over the proposed timeframe of that deal. That is about $65,000 every year.
After only 10 years of implementation, Montanans will be stuck with a $93 trillion tab; roughly, $10 trillion more than the combined GDP of every nation on the planet in 2017. You see, this Green New Deal has nothing to do with conservation and the environment.
The people of Montana believe in smart and efficient conservation. Listen, I am an avid backpacker. I am an avid fly fisherman. I spend more time in the wilderness than many. My wife and I love to put backpacks on and get back in the High Country and chase golden trout, the elk, and cattle. I love pristine environments. Montanans share a similar passion for the outdoors, but Montanans know we need smart and efficient conservation, and there is not one smart or efficient thing about this proposal.
The Green New Deal is not a bold step forward. It is tragically backward. This is taking us back to Lewis and Clark, but don't take it from me. Take it from the hard-working Montanans, like our mine workers, like our pipe fitters, like our labor unions, which say:
We will not accept proposals that could cause immediate harm to millions of our members and their families. We will not stand by and allow threats to our members' jobs and their families' standard of living go unanswered.
That is why I am here today. We will not let this Green New Deal proposal go unanswered. Welfare-to-Work Programs
Mr. President, our Nation's primary welfare-to-work program is broken. The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program, also called TANF, was created with bipartisan support in 1996. It was recently reauthorized temporarily, but I believe we need to take bold action to reform it for today's generation.
TANF recognizes that funding and maintaining a job is the most effective way for healthy, working-age parents to go from government dependency to self-sufficiency. It is not about handouts. It is about giving a hand to those who need help the most.
Now, the more liberal voices of the times argue that TANF Programs wouldn't work. In fact, it was our former colleague, Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, who predicted that TANF would result in ``children sleeping on grates, picked up in the morning frozen.''
The critics were wrong. They were very wrong. TANF was a huge success. After TANF became law, welfare caseloads plummeted, child poverty declined, and unemployment among low-income, never married parents went up.
Yet more than 20 years after the historic 1996 reforms, Congress has neglected to act on the loopholes that are undercutting its fundamental work requirements.
Today, very few States are meeting the work participation rate required by the law. In fact, my home State of Montana is one of many that is falling short. You see, the law calls for 50 percent of welfare enrollees to be engaged in work. In Montana, they are only reaching about one-third.
Many States are also using TANF dollars for purposes unrelated to work, and we need to hold those States accountable. That means more transparency and accountability metrics.
As we have seen in President Trump's recent budget proposal, the President agrees that stronger work requirements must be a priority of this Congress. We can take the next bold step forward in reforming the TANF system to close these loopholes and get the American people back to work.
We are fortunate our economy continues to grow, and there are more opportunities being created. Just last Congress, we passed tax relief for the American people so working-class families got to keep more of what they earned and small business owners could afford to invest and grow in their business, creating more jobs. Main Street in America is thriving again.
As employers are rapidly looking to hire, we need to close the gap and ensure those jobs are filled by Americans who need them most. A strong, revitalized TANF Program is urgently needed to close this jobs gap and empower more Americans to find work.
We have a problem in this economy now. In fact, there are too many jobs available and not enough people to fill the jobs. That is a wonderful challenge to face. We have seen that now for 10 consecutive months. That is a great problem to face now in our country, but it is still a problem we need to solve. That is why we will be joining the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee this week to introduce the JOBS Act to demand positive work outcomes, rather than simply meeting ineffective participation rules.
It engages with every work-eligible individual to develop a plan that can lead to a sustainable career. It holds States accountable for their work outcomes and bolsters transparency of every State's performance.
The JOBS Act doesn't just demand work. It enables work. It substantially increases funding for vital childcare services so parents can ensure their child is cared for when they are trying to provide for their families.
It provides struggling beneficiaries with additional time to get the mental health or substance abuse treatment they need before they can hold a job.
It adds apprenticeships as a permissible work activity, alongside job training, getting more education, and building job readiness skills. It targets funds to truly needy families by capping participation to families with incomes below 200 percent of the Federal poverty level.
The JOBS Act recognizes there is dignity in work. A job, to most Americans, is more than just a job. It is an opportunity for mobility. It is a step up toward realizing the American dream. It is a track toward earning higher wages and better benefits. It can be a springboard to a meaningful career, and more importantly, it is hope for those who know hard times all too well. The dignity work brings can provide this hope.
The JOBS Act equips and empowers low-income families toward a better future. I urge my colleagues, Republicans and Democrats, to join me in taking bold action by supporting this important legislation to make our largest welfare-to-work program actually work again.
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