EXPRESSING SUPPORT FOR THE DESIGNATION OF SEPTEMBER AS DYSTONIA AWARENESS MONTH

On 2026-09-29, Senator Peter Welch (D-VT) delivered a floor speech titled "EXPRESSING SUPPORT FOR THE DESIGNATION OF SEPTEMBER AS DYSTONIA AWARENESS MONTH" in the Senate.

EXPRESSING SUPPORT FOR THE DESIGNATION OF SEPTEMBER AS DYSTONIA AWARENESS MONTH

Congressional Record, Volume 172 Issue 154 (Tuesday, September 29, 2026) [Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 154 (Tuesday, September 29, 2026)] [Senate] [Pages S5138-S5139] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] EXPRESSING SUPPORT FOR THE DESIGNATION OF SEPTEMBER AS DYSTONIA AWARENESS MONTH Mr. BANKS. Madam President, in a few moments, I am going to ask for unanimous consent for my resolution to designate the month of September as Dystonia Awareness Month. But before I do, I want to speak a little bit about dystonia, what it is, and how personal the disease is for me and my family. Dystonia is a neurological movement disorder that affects nearly 250,000 Americans. It causes involuntary muscle contractions and repetitive movements. These contractions can affect any part of the body, and they can be very painful. Dystonia affects people of almost any age, and it may develop without any clear cause. My mom has suffered from dystonia for nearly 40 years, and I have seen firsthand how difficult the disease can be on anyone who has it. But my mom, with the help of good friends and family and some really good doctors, has never let dystonia hold her back from being a great mom, a great grandma, and from someone who goes out and lives her everyday life in the way that she has. Dystonia is often misdiagnosed, and there is no cure for it yet. That is why it is so important to raise awareness about dystonia, what it is, and what it causes. Greater awareness leads to better research and eventually better treatments and hopefully even a cure. I urge all of my colleagues to support this simple resolution and draw attention to this painful disease that affects so many. Madam President, and, with that, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 917, which was submitted earlier today. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the resolution by title. The legislative clerk read as follows: A resolution (S. Res. 917) expressing support for the designation of September as ``Dystonia Awareness Month'' to promote public awareness and understanding of dystonia. There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the resolution. Mr. BANKS. I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. The resolution (S. Res. 917) was agreed to. The preamble was agreed to. (The resolution, with its preamble, is printed in today's Record under ``Submitted Resolutions.'') The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Idaho. Unanimous Consent Agreement--S.J. Res. 197 Mr. CRAPO. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to modify the order from September 28 to allow 10 minutes of debate, equally divided, at 2:15 p.m., prior to the scheduled rollcall vote. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so ordered. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Vermont. Unanimous Consent Request--S. 5397 Mr. WELCH. Mr. President, the President of the United States--acting, in my view, without any legal authority--is imposing unilateral tariffs on Canada. Those tariffs are now being reciprocated by Canada on us. They are doing enormous damage today to Vermonters and to Americans. They are doing enormous damage to our Canadian neighbors and their businesses. They are doing nothing beneficial for our long-term relationship with our major trading partner. Canada is Vermont's major trading partner, but we are not unique. Thirty-four States, and, I think, including Idaho--I may be wrong-- count Canada as their major trading partner. Canada and the United States have been operating very well under a trade agreement, the USMCA. That was a trade agreement that President Trump bragged about--and, by the way, rightly bragged about--as the best trade deal ever. And that is being ripped up by the President, without any committee hearings in the Finance Committee, without any discussion with Republicans or Democrats, but with undeniable harm to everyday people in this country. Senator Gillibrand and I have introduced the BAD DEAL Act, and it is to repeal these extraordinarily damaging, unjustified tariffs, give relief to commerce on both sides of the United States-Canadian border, and begin the process of healing our relationship with our closest ally. I am going to just give a couple of examples of what has happened in Vermont. We have an extraordinary cheese-making company called Jasper Hill in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. It was started by two college graduates a number of years ago. They are now worldwide renowned and win cheese-making awards internationally. They have been a source of sustaining agriculture in Vermont, which is very tough. They have created hundreds of jobs. They have a piece of equipment that costs a million dollars. It is on the Canadian side of the border. [[Page S5139]] They will have to pay an extra $500,000 if they need this piece of equipment. They can't do that. We have a manufacturing company with a facility in Wisconsin and also, again, in the Northeast Kingdom. They make snow-moving equipment on tracks. They have a number of pending sales to Canada. This is a $500,000 piece of equipment. They are losing the sales because the buyer will have to pay an extra $250,000. For what? This is just bone crushing, business crushing, job crushing, and there is no rationale for it. And then, when you add onto that the rhetoric--the 51st State, the Governor of Canada--our tourism industry, very close with Canada, is down with Canadian visitors by about 47 percent. We have Jay Peak, which is an extraordinarily wonderful ski area for families. Canadians generally come down and have close relationships with the Vermonters up there in Burke, VT. They are not coming. And, by the way, it is an emotional blow, as well, because our business is like the Presiding Officer's. The folks really care about who their customers are. And some of these are bed and breakfasts with families that come back every single year. And for what? Nothing--nothing good is coming of this. The other point that I think is absolutely essential for every single one of us in the U.S. Senate to acknowledge is that the taxing power of this country is vested in the U.S. Congress, not in the President of the United States. And when the President is claiming emergency authority to justify these tariffs, when there is no emergency, and where even the grant of emergency authority, in a bipartisan way in years past, was based on the premise that there would be restraint on the part of the Executive and would only use it in the moment of a real emergency, that authority is just rampantly being abused by the Executive. And we, with our responsibility, under the Constitution, Republican or Democrat, must insist that it is this body that decides yes or no on taxes that are imposed on the American people. And make no mistake, a tariff is a tax. Our bill--Senator Gillibrand and I--on these tariffs that are invoked under section 338, a never-before applied section of the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act, that notorious act that was an accelerant of driving this country into the Great Depression, would repeal that authority. It is called the Banning Antiquated Duties and Delivering Equitable American Levies, or BAD DEAL, Act. It would also repeal President Trump's import ban on various Canadian products. In Vermont, the average household is going to be paying $4,500 more for goods and services due to rising costs, due in large part to the President's trade war. In Vermont, these section 338 tariffs, according to our agency of commerce, will cost Vermont businesses an additional $193 million. For what? We are not going to build a road. We are not going to repair a bridge. We are not going to help farmers through a tough season. We are not going to be able to put that money into our schools. It really hurts. One in four businesses in Vermont relies on trade with Canada, and Vermont buys more goods from Canada than the next nine largest foreign markets combined. So it is time for us to accept our responsibility for taxing authority and not capitulate to an Executive who is reaching into the powers of this Congress. And we have the opportunity now, by acting, to end these punitive tariffs, these punitive taxes, that are leading to higher costs everywhere, including fertilizer costs in my State and in Idaho. I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Finance be discharged from further consideration of S. 5397 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration; further, that the bill be considered read a third time and passed; and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Is there objection? The Senator from Idaho. Mr. CRAPO. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, first, with regard to Canada. Canada is a great ally and trading partner of the United States. That is true. It is also true, however, that Canada has for years engaged in nontariff trade barriers against the United States that are unjustified. Think lumber, think dairy, and others. President Trump is trying to stop Canada from these nontariff barriers that are hurting Americans and have hurt Americans for years, and he is doing so by enforcing tariffs. This is not the first time--nor is it likely the last--that a colleague of ours on the Senate floor has tried to pass unvetted legislation on the floor to address a disagreement with President Trump. But as the chairman of the Finance Committee, which is the appropriate forum for legislation, I object to the unanimous consent request for S. 5397. I yield the floor. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The objection is heard. ____________________

Referenced legislation: SJRES197, SJRES197, SRES917, S5397