Providing for Congressional Disapproval Under Chapter 8 of Title United States Code, of the Rule Submitted By the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Relating to ``Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards; Fuel System Integrity of Hydrogen Vehicles; Compressed Hydrogen Storage System Integrity; Incorporation By Reference''

Floor Speech

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Mr. MORENO. And just for clarification of my colleague, that is actually 500 employees or less. So I think when we are talking about small businesses, I just want to clarify that we are talking about 500- employee businesses.

So, first of all, I also want to actually thank my colleague for caring about small businesses. Certainly, as a small business owner up until 4 months ago, I think we should have much more passion here in this Chamber around small businesses. So I truly commend you for that.

I also commend you in a very big and meaningful way for the vote you took 25 years ago when you voted against giving China normalization status with the United States. I think that was a courageous vote. You were on the right side of history.

That disastrous situation has led China to grow its GDP from $1.2 trillion back then, when you voted, to $25 trillion today. So the fact that you went against some of your colleagues and took that vote shows that you are somebody who is independently minded and understands what businesses go through.

I truly, truly commend you for that because there is no worse bill in American history than that act. That act destroyed companies, not just all over America but, specifically, in the Presiding Officer's State and in my State. We see it every day, don't we, when we go on the campaign trail, when we are driving around Missouri or driving around Ohio. We see the remnants of companies that once existed.

Well, let's talk about how we can liberate small businesses, and maybe we can agree on these plans. No. 1, in the 2017 tax reform, the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, what is interesting to me, as a small business owner, is that very large companies had their taxes made permanent, but it was for small businesses that those tax rates expire. In fact, they expire this year.

And the bill that we are looking to advance here in the Senate is a bill that would make those tax rates permanent. Let me just repeat that. We are not looking to cut taxes, because that is what you hear from my colleagues quite a bit. We are looking to make the 2017 tax reform permanent--not for big companies, not for the massive companies that are headquartered in Massachusetts but for the small businesses in Ohio and Missouri and in other places around the country that are going to see a massive increase in their taxes if we don't take action.

To put it in numbers, it is a $4 trillion tax increase for businesses. So if we are going to liberate small businesses, join me in calling for the 2017 tax reform to be made permanent.

Let's reform onerous regulations, especially in the banking sector. If you were a small business over the last 4 years, it was really hard to get access to banking because banks were basically shutting out small businesses from lending. The big banks kept getting bigger. Community banks, which is what small businesses rely on, were getting absolutely tortured.

We need better energy policies. What that means is certainly not banning coal, which is important in my State; natural gas, of which we have a thousand years of reserves. And I have offered to my colleague that we will build a big, beautiful pipeline right to Massachusetts. You will never need energy again from Canada or any other place. You can get it right from Ohio.

Better workforce policies, ending the incredible amount of onerous overlitigation--those types of policies will liberate small businesses. How do I know it? Because I have been a small business owner my entire life.

So let's talk about the subject at hand, tariffs. Tariffs are exactly intended to help these kinds of companies. When a Mexican company came in and bought Republic Steel in Canton, OH, the first thing they did was take all the equipment that was valuable, shipped it to Mexico, massively laid off the employees, sucked all of the cash out of the business, and left a 258-acre environmental disaster in the heart of Canton, OH. Now, that same steel is made in Mexico, and they want to ship that steel into the United States completely tariff free.

What was the impact on small businesses around that steel mill-- restaurants, the hairdressers, the grocery stores, the doctors, the dentists--that relied on those employees? Devastation. Devastation rate.

In Lordstown, OH, we once had a General Motors facility that employed 10,000 people, 6 million square feet. They made the highest quality products of any facility in America. The production was shipped to Mexico. Now the facility remains basically idle. What was the effect on the small businesses of Lordstown, OH? Total and complete devastation.

So while I appreciate my colleague's desire--I really, really do. I have had a chance to meet you in your office. I think you are a good man. I say that with total earnestness on my part.

Let's actually liberate small businesses. Let's give them certainty on taxes. Let's keep their tax rates permanent, just like the big guys got.

Why did the big guys get permanency? And the little guys, who don't have access to the Halls of Congress, why do they get the tax rates that go up?

Let's give them better energy policies that allow them to have energy costs go down. Let's give them better workforce policy. Let's end the reign of terror of litigation that hits small businesses and drives up insurance costs. And let's give them good workforce policies. And let's support--let's unite as a country, as President Trump tries to undo, Senator, what you tried to do 25 years ago. And 25 years ago, you wanted this country to stand up to China and say: No, we will not give you normalization because if we do, you will destroy our economy.

And they have.

Let's rally around President Trump. It has been just over 100 and some-odd days. He is trying to reverse 25 years of bad behavior. We should be in this Chamber saying: Look, go out and do that. Negotiate. We have your back. Fight for America. Fight for American workers. Fight for American small businesses.

That is the message other countries need to hear. They shouldn't be hearing from this Chamber that we are not united as Americans in making the best deal for American workers.

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Mr. MORENO. Just real quickly. Again, I truly respect my colleague and his point of view. I want to remind him that there is a great Massachusetts family, the Hassenfelds. Do you know what they used to do--what they still do? The brothers created a company called Hasbro. Those toys used to be made in the United States of America. They were employing lots of American citizens. They shipped all that production to China and elsewhere, and communities suffered as a result.

As I said--if you notice, my colleague did not address any of the points that I made. If you talk to any small business owner, they will tell you the No. 1 priority right now is for us to make their tax rates permanent. It is not tax cuts. No matter how many times my colleagues will say it is tax cuts for billionaires, it is objectively not true. This is permanency of the current rates.

Only in Washington, DC, by the way, would keeping things the same be considered a tax cut. It is ludicrous, and it makes no sense.

Since you asked for the plan, here is the plan: We are going to make America the best place to do business. We are going to give American companies and American citizens the best tax rates so they can grow and thrive here. We are going to give them a regulatory environment that is not overbearing, that doesn't kneecap companies. We are going to make certain we protect critical industries like steel, which I appreciate that.

I think we should put, by the way, a full tariff on all major steel products--like, for example, appliances. This country was once the epicenter of appliance manufacturing, and now there is only one company--Whirlpool. I am proud they make their appliances primarily in Ohio. Yet they have to compete with cheap appliances coming in from China.

We have a plan. The plan is very simple. We are going to have fair and reciprocal trade. And you are right; it is not just China. It is Japan, which charges us tariffs and nontariff barriers, and we allow them to bring their products here.

South Korea--not only is that the case, but we also pay to defend them.

Australia. Great ally. Great people. They tariff our meat. Their meat can come in tariff-free.

Canada and Mexico are great allies and large trading partners, but they have allowed their borders to be open. They have allowed hundreds of thousands of Americans to die of fentanyl. I am ecstatic that we have a President of the United States that says: No, we will not allow that to continue. And if you want to have a relationship with the United States of America, you are going to secure your borders, and you are going to make it darn well necessary to secure your borders to protect Americans.

So that is the plan. The plan is to usher in a golden age for this country where working-class Americans have the ability to live a good life, have a good job where a mom or a dad can provide for their kids, afford a home, afford a car, go on vacation every once in a while, and retire with dignity. That was once the dream of the Democratic Party. This is what we should unite around and rally around and make certain that all of our policies are pointed straight in that direction.

So, again, I appreciate the comments from my colleague. Hopefully, I think we can work together on some initiatives, as I laid out--good tax policy, good regulatory policy, good workforce policies that allow small businesses to thrive--because as somebody who did that 5 months ago for my whole entire life, I am happy to hear that conversation happening here in the U.S. Senate.

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