Floor SpeechCeremonial2025-03-13

STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS

TaxesEnvironmentForeign PolicyChinaTradeHousingAgriculture

Context

On 2025-03-13, Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA) delivered a floor speech titled "STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS" in the Senate. The speech addressed taxes and also covered the environment, foreign policy. It referenced legislation including S1745, S1747, S1015, among other bills.

Full Text

STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS

Congressional Record, Volume 171 Issue 48 (Thursday, March 13, 2025) [Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 48 (Thursday, March 13, 2025)] [Senate] [Pages S1745-S1747] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS By Mr. CASSIDY (for himself and Mr. Kennedy): S. 1015. A bill to extend the National Flood Insurance Program through December 31, 2026; to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. Mr. CASSIDY. Mr. President, this is a theme I have been speaking of which affects States across the Nation, which is the National Flood Insurance Program and the threat that it might lapse and the inability of families to be able to afford. Why are flood insurance premiums so high, you might ask? Flood insurance premiums have skyrocketed across the country due to FEMA's new risk assessment system, Risk Rating 2.0. At the heart of the problem of Risk Rating 2.0 is that with much higher premiums, people will quickly be unable to afford coverage and just drop their policies. It is well-known in the insurance actuarial world that when you increase a policy by a certain percent, there is going to be another percent of people who just drop their coverage. That means that the pool of policyholders shrinks, and the program enters into what is called an actuarial death spiral, which is to say the risk, instead of being spread out over many, is concentrated in increasingly fewer people, driving up their premiums even that much more; therefore, more people drop. If we do nothing, the National Flood Insurance Program will collapse. This is important. The National Flood Insurance Program covers 4.7 million American homes across the country. Now, clearly, I am concerned about Louisiana, as that is my State, but it is not just Louisiana or even just a coastal issue. Look at a map of those affected. The States in dark yellow have been hit the hardest by flooding. They have all had at least $1 billion in claims from the National Flood Insurance Program. Missouri--inland--has had over $1 billion in claims from the National Flood Insurance Program, as has my home State of Louisiana. But just go around, and you can see California and Hawaii--all with this issue. Now, 44 States have had at least $50 million worth of claims, and those would be in the kind of mustard color. So here you see again inland States--not coastal but inland--having problems with flooding. When we say a ``problem with flooding,'' we mean there is a family that has lost their possessions. They have lost their home, and now, they don't know where to go. That is what we mean by a ``problem with flooding.'' My message to my colleagues representing States that rely on the National Flood Insurance Program is, let's find a way forward. One day, the National Flood Insurance Program will lapse if we fail to act. Now, we are going to, with this CR, do a temporary--temporary-- extension. I would ask that we actually have a reauthorization and a reform of the National Flood Insurance Program before it is too late. By the way, a short-term extension is better than nothing. I thank Speaker Johnson in the House for including a short-term extension. If that is the only option, let's take that option. However, I am working on a longer reauthorization so that the National Flood Insurance Program is not thrown into a legal purgatory every year or even sometimes multiple times a year. Today, I have introduced a bill to fully reauthorize the National Flood Insurance Program for this year and for next year. There are 4.7 million homeowners across the country who deserve that little bit of certainty, and it does not seem like it is asking too much. Imagine if your homeowners or life insurance was subject to lapsing every year if Congress couldn't get their act together. Well, for families living in communities with the NFIP as the only option for flood insurance, this would be unsettling. In the past 10 years, Congress has passed 32 short-term National Flood Insurance Program extensions. The vote we are taking tomorrow will be the 33rd short-term extension--American families holding their breath 33 times. Families need stability. Businesses need stability. This is the absence of stability. This is a yin and a yang. Congress needs to reauthorize this for an extended period of time. Let's make flood insurance affordable again. I will keep working to do that. I am pleased that the Flood Insurance Program will survive the weekend, but we need to make it survive long term. ______ By Mr. PADILLA (for himself and Mr. Merkley): S. 1042. A bill to require the Agricultural Research Service to conduct research relating to wildfire smoke exposure on wine grapes, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry. Mr. PADILLA. Mr. President, I rise to introduce the Smoke Exposure Research Act of 2025. This legislation will bolster research at land- grant universities to better understand the impacts of wildfire smoke on wine grapes. Increasingly frequent and catastrophic wildfires are threatening the longterm sustainability of important winegrowing regions in California, Washington, and Oregon. Vineyards, winery operations, and the communities they support are routinely facing the threat of wildfires that can not only destroy vineyards, but even those vineyards that escape direct wildfire damage can still suffer from prolonged smoke exposure, which can be absorbed into grapes and create an ashy taste known as smoke taint. The impact has been particularly acute for California's 4,800 wineries and 5,900 winegrape growers, who have seen significant property loss, loss of tourism, and loss of production due to smoke- exposed grapes. The 2020 wildfires alone are estimated to have cost wineries and winegrape growers $3.7 billion both from immediate fire- caused losses as well as losses in future sales due to unharvested grapes exposed to wildfire smoke. Yet, there is a limited understanding of how to measure and identify compounds that cause smoke taint and even less understanding of the mitigation and risk management measures necessary to reduce these impacts. Recognizing the dearth of information and how much is at stake for the wine industry, Congress provided $5 million to the USDA to identify the compounds responsible for smoke taint and to develop mitigation methods to reduce or eliminate smoke taint. This was a great first step, but we need more. That is what my bill would do. The Smoke Exposure Research Act of 2025 would provide $32.5 million over years to ensure the sustainability of the wine industry in the face of climate crisis. Specifically, this bill would direct the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service, in coordination with land- grant universities and researchers with viticulture and enology expertise, to identify the compounds responsible for smoke taint; establish standard sampling, testing, and screening tools for use in vineyards and wineries; and develop new risk assessment tools, mitigation measures, and management strategies for growers. As reserachers from the University of California Davis, Washington State University, and Oregon State University explain in recent research, the impact of smoke taint is not predictable. We cannot currently predict which grapes may have suffered damage based on anything intuitive, such as sight, smell, or even the flavor of fresh grapes. Freshness of wildfire smoke, length of exposure, variety of grape--the list goes on. There is so much we don't know. That is why we need to pass the Smoke Exposure Research Act, to ensure we have strong science-based data for actual risk management and mitigation tools to protect the U.S. wine industry. I would like to thank my colleagues Senator Jeff Merkley and Representatives Mike Thompson and Doug LaMalfa for their leadership in bolstering west coast winegrowing communities and for their partnership on this legislation. I look forward to working with my colleagues to pass the Smoke Exposure Research Act as quickly as possible. [[Page S1746]] ______ By Mr. CORNYN (for himself, Ms. Cortez Masto, Mr. Scott of South Carolina, Mr. Schumer, Mr. Sullivan, Ms. Warren, Mr. Hagerty, Mr. Kim, Mr. Ricketts, Ms. Slotkin, Mr. Banks, Mr. Bennet, Mr. McCormick, and Mr. Fetterman): S. 1053. A bill to protect the national security of the United States by imposing sanctions with respect to certain persons of the People's Republic of China and prohibiting and requiring notifications with respect to certain investments by United States persons in the People's Republic of China, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, a lot has changed in Washington, DC, in the last 6 weeks. That is an understatement, perhaps. But one of the things that President Trump has done is shifted the Overton window when it comes to the People's Republic of China. Years ago, when the Clinton administration invited China to join the World Trade Organization, the idea behind that was that somehow communist China would change with being part of the rules-based international order. Well, of course, we know China doesn't follow the rules and has taken advantage of the United States for decades. But under President Trump, that will no longer be the case. For example, last month, the White House announced its America-first investment policy, which will be critical for holding China to account. One of the avenues that China has exploited to gain the upper economic hand is through both inbound and outbound flows of capital. By investing in U.S. companies, the People's Republic of China and the Chinese Communist Party can obtain access to intellectual property and know-how. And, of course, they have no shame. Again, they don't play by our rules. They are not afraid to cheat or steal our technology if it is possible. On the other side of the

Referenced legislation: S1015, S1015, S1042, S1053, S1062

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STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS Congressional Record, Volume 171 Issue 48 (Thursday, March 13, 2025) [Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 48 (Thursday, March 13, 2025)] [Senate] [Pages S1745-S1747] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS By Mr. CASSIDY (for himself and Mr. Kennedy): S. 1015. A bill to extend the National Flood Insurance Program through December 31, 2026; to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. Mr. CASSIDY. Mr. President, this is a theme I have been speaking of which affects States across the Nation, which is the National Flood Insurance Program and the threat that it might lapse and the inability of families to be able to afford. Why are flood insurance premiums so high, you might ask? Flood insurance premiums have skyrocketed across the country due to FEMA's new risk assessment system, Risk Rating 2.0. At the heart of the problem of Risk Rating 2.0 is that with much higher premiums, people will quickly be unable to afford coverage and just drop their policies. It is well-known in the insurance actuarial world that when you increase a policy by a certain percent, there is going to be another percent of people who just drop their coverage. That means that the pool of policyholders shrinks, and the program enters into what is called an actuarial death spiral, which is to say the risk, instead of being spread out over many, is concentrated in increasingly fewer people, driving up their premiums even that much more; therefore, more people drop. If we do nothing, the National Flood Insurance Program will collapse. This is important. The National Flood Insurance Program covers 4.7 million American homes across the country. Now, clearly, I am concerned about Louisiana, as that is my State, but it is not just Louisiana or even just a coastal issue. Look at a map of those affected. The States in dark yellow have been hit the hardest by flooding. They have all had at least $1 billion in claims from the National Flood Insurance Program. Missouri--inland--has had over $1 billion in claims from the National Flood Insurance Program, as has my home State of Louisiana. But just go around, and you can see California and Hawaii--all with this issue. Now, 44 States have had at least $50 million worth of claims, and those would be in the kind of mustard color. So here you see again inland States--not coastal but inland--having problems with flooding. When we say a ``problem with flooding,'' we mean there is a family that has lost their possessions. They have lost their home, and now, they don't know where to go. That is what we mean by a ``problem with flooding.'' My message to my colleagues representing States that rely on the National Flood Insurance Program is, let's find a way forward. One day, the National Flood Insurance Program will lapse if we fail to act. Now, we are going to, with this CR, do a temporary--temporary-- extension. I would ask that we actually have a reauthorization and a reform of the National Flood Insurance Program before it is too late. By the way, a short-term extension is better than nothing. I thank Speaker Johnson in the House for including a short-term extension. If that is the only option, let's take that option. However, I am working on a longer reauthorization so that the National Flood Insurance Program is not thrown into a legal purgatory every year or even sometimes multiple times a year. Today, I have introduced a bill to fully reauthorize the National Flood Insurance Program for this year and for next year. There are 4.7 million homeowners across the country who deserve that little bit of certainty, and it does not seem like it is asking too much. Imagine if your homeowners or life insurance was subject to lapsing every year if Congress couldn't get their act together. Well, for families living in communities with the NFIP as the only option for flood insurance, this would be unsettling. In the past 10 years, Congress has passed 32 short-term National Flood Insurance Program extensions. The vote we are taking tomorrow will be the 33rd short-term extension--American families holding their breath 33 times. Families need stability. Businesses need stability. This is the absence of stability. This is a yin and a yang. Congress needs to reauthorize this for an extended period of time. Let's make flood insurance affordable again. I will keep working to do that. I am pleased that the Flood Insurance Program will survive the weekend, but we need to make it survive long term. ______ By Mr. PADILLA (for himself and Mr. Merkley): S. 1042. A bill to require the Agricultural Research Service to conduct research relating to wildfire smoke exposure on wine grapes, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry. Mr. PADILLA. Mr. President, I rise to introduce the Smoke Exposure Research Act of 2025. This legislation will bolster research at land- grant universities to better understand the impacts of wildfire smoke on wine grapes. Increasingly frequent and catastrophic wildfires are threatening the longterm sustainability of important winegrowing regions in California, Washington, and Oregon. Vineyards, winery operations, and the communities they support are routinely facing the threat of wildfires that can not only destroy vineyards, but even those vineyards that escape direct wildfire damage can still suffer from prolonged smoke exposure, which can be absorbed into grapes and create an ashy taste known as smoke taint. The impact has been particularly acute for California's 4,800 wineries and 5,900 winegrape growers, who have seen significant property loss, loss of tourism, and loss of production due to smoke- exposed grapes. The 2020 wildfires alone are estimated to have cost wineries and winegrape growers $3.7 billion both from immediate fire- caused losses as well as losses in future sales due to unharvested grapes exposed to wildfire smoke. Yet, there is a limited understanding of how to measure and identify compounds that cause smoke taint and even less understanding of the mitigation and risk management measures necessary to reduce these impacts. Recognizing the dearth of information and how much is at stake for the wine industry, Congress provided $5 million to the USDA to identify the compounds responsible for smoke taint and to develop mitigation methods to reduce or eliminate smoke taint. This was a great first step, but we need more. That is what my bill would do. The Smoke Exposure Research Act of 2025 would provide $32.5 million over years to ensure the sustainability of the wine industry in the face of climate crisis. Specifically, this bill would direct the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service, in coordination with land- grant universities and researchers with viticulture and enology expertise, to identify the compounds responsible for smoke taint; establish standard sampling, testing, and screening tools for use in vineyards and wineries; and develop new risk assessment tools, mitigation measures, and management strategies for growers. As reserachers from the University of California Davis, Washington State University, and Oregon State University explain in recent research, the impact of smoke taint is not predictable. We cannot currently predict which grapes may have suffered damage based on anything intuitive, such as sight, smell, or even the flavor of fresh grapes. Freshness of wildfire smoke, length of exposure, variety of grape--the list goes on. There is so much we don't know. That is why we need to pass the Smoke Exposure Research Act, to ensure we have strong science-based data for actual risk management and mitigation tools to protect the U.S. wine industry. I would like to thank my colleagues Senator Jeff Merkley and Representatives Mike Thompson and Doug LaMalfa for their leadership in bolstering west coast winegrowing communities and for their partnership on this legislation. I look forward to working with my colleagues to pass the Smoke Exposure Research Act as quickly as possible. [[Page S1746]] ______ By Mr. CORNYN (for himself, Ms. Cortez Masto, Mr. Scott of South Carolina, Mr. Schumer, Mr. Sullivan, Ms. Warren, Mr. Hagerty, Mr. Kim, Mr. Ricketts, Ms. Slotkin, Mr. Banks, Mr. Bennet, Mr. McCormick, and Mr. Fetterman): S. 1053. A bill to protect the national security of the United States by imposing sanctions with respect to certain persons of the People's Republic of China and prohibiting and requiring notifications with respect to certain investments by United States persons in the People's Republic of China, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, a lot has changed in Washington, DC, in the last 6 weeks. That is an understatement, perhaps. But one of the things that President Trump has done is shifted the Overton window when it comes to the People's Republic of China. Years ago, when the Clinton administration invited China to join the World Trade Organization, the idea behind that was that somehow communist China would change with being part of the rules-based international order. Well, of course, we know China doesn't follow the rules and has taken advantage of the United States for decades. But under President Trump, that will no longer be the case. For example, last month, the White House announced its America-first investment policy, which will be critical for holding China to account. One of the avenues that China has exploited to gain the upper economic hand is through both inbound and outbound flows of capital. By investing in U.S. companies, the People's Republic of China and the Chinese Communist Party can obtain access to intellectual property and know-how. And, of course, they have no shame. Again, they don't play by our rules. They are not afraid to cheat or steal our technology if it is possible. On the other side of the Referenced legislation: S1015, S1015, S1042, S1053, S1062