Executive Session

Floor Speech

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Mr. BRAUN. Mr. President, I thank Senator Ernst for that beautiful testimony to Senator Tom Coburn.

While I was running for Senate, I was often asked who my heroes were in the U.S. Senate. The first name that always came to mind was Dr. Tom Coburn.

As a legislator, Dr. Coburn was a force of nature. As a conservative stalwart who stood by his principles--no matter the pressure--and with whomever would stand with him, regardless of party, Dr. Coburn's entire career was a profile in courage. He believed so strongly that America's best wisdom wasn't held on Wall Street or Pennsylvania Avenue but on Main Street, among the small business owners, doctors, families, and workers who really keep our country going.

Dr. Coburn blasted a path for conservative outsiders to take on Washington orthodoxy on everything from national debt to term limits, to our broken healthcare system, and his career was an inspiration for me to leave my business and run for the Senate.

His bedside manner was often brusque, but on the tough issues, like any good doctor, Tom Coburn told people what they needed to hear, not what they wanted to hear.

To Dr. Tom Coburn, our towering national debt was not just a thorn in America's side; it was a supreme moral failing. As one of the few true fiscal hawks in recent decades, Senator Coburn wore the nickname ``Dr. No'' as a badge of courage, understanding that there is nothing commendable about spending our grandchildren's money just because we will not be at the table when the bill comes due.

If there is one thing that could fix Washington more than any other, it is strict term limits and more accountability for Congress. Inspired by Dr. Coburn, I made my pledge to only serve two terms a fixture of my campaign and am following his example by refusing to accept a congressional pension when I leave.

Last year, my bill to make pensions for Congress optional passed the Senate, putting us one step closer to getting rid of this outdated, taxpayer-funded perk altogether.

No Budget, No Pay, a bill Dr. Coburn championed in the Senate, was the first bill I introduced after taking office. It is a simple measure: Congress doesn't need a paycheck until they pass a budget. I am proud to say it has now cleared committee thanks to the work from fellow conservative outsiders like Senator Rick Scott and David Perdue.

As a family physician who continued to see patients even as he served in Congress, Dr. Coburn always had a special passion for fixing our broken healthcare system. He understood better than anyone that our healthcare woes began at a fundamentally broken system in need of transparency, more choice for patients, and market-driven reforms to put decision-making back into the hands of Americans and their care providers.

My bills to lower prescription drug prices and ensure every patient knows what they have to pay before they pay it were introduced with invaluable input from Dr. Coburn. As we all should, he recognized that, no matter how vast the distance between our positions seems to be, healthcare is and always should be a bipartisan issue where compromise is necessary to help patients.

In the summer of 2018, I was honored that Dr. Coburn came to Indiana to campaign with me. I will never forget what he said to a young man from the crowd at one of our events.

``What can I do now if I want to be a Senator someday?''

Dr. Coburn didn't tell him to go to law school. He didn't tell him to run for office or intern in a congressional office.

``Go work really hard at something for 40 years so you have something to say when you get there.''

I loved it. Dr. Coburn ushered in the era of the outsider in Washington, the effects of which are only just now beginning to be realized. I think we could get a much better product out of DC with more people like him whose beliefs come from a deep well of real-world experience.

He was more than just an inspiration for me and other conservatives to leave the private sector and shake up business as usual in DC. He was one of the greatest Senators, most effective problem-solvers, and most important conservative voices of our time--the great outsider.

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