[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 72 (Monday, May 9, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2606-S2607]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 DONALD TRUMP AND THE REPUBLICAN PARTY

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, Donald Trump is the Republican Presidential 
nominee. Let's think about that--the party of Abraham Lincoln, Theodore 
Roosevelt, and many other Republicans, such as Ronald Reagan and Dwight 
Eisenhower. The party of these great people nominated a misogynistic, 
anti-Latino, anti-Muslim, and anti-immigrant xenophobe. The party of 
Teddy Roosevelt nominated a billionaire con man who scams working 
people.
  Donald Trump represents everything that Americans detest about a 
system that is rigged for the super-rich. Here is a person who was born 
into immense wealth, but he uses his father's fortune to rip people off 
and intimidate those who speak out against his shady business 
practices.
  Here is a person who was gifted with the resources to make a 
difference in the world. He could be doing many things to improve the 
lives of working Americans. Instead, he has only worked to build his 
own celebrity, his own brand. He uses that fame as a bully pulpit to 
sow hatred and intolerance.
  Yet, in spite of all of this, Donald Trump is now the Republican 
Party's Presidential nominee. He is no accident. His nomination is not 
some mistake. Donald Trump is the natural evolution of a party that 
spent 8 years honing a platform that is anti-immigrant, anti-woman, 
anti-Obama, and anti-working people.
  It wasn't all that long ago that Republicans used to engage Democrats 
on policy. There was a time when we could work together on substantive 
legislation. I saw it. I felt it. It was wonderful.
  But all that ended when President Obama was elected. Senator 
McConnell ordered a total blockade of any policy proposed by President 
Obama and any Democrats. Led by Senator McConnell, Republicans have 
abandoned the marketplace of ideas. They abandoned thoughtful policy 
for fear and resentment politics.
  It didn't matter where these ideas came from. It didn't matter if 
they came from Republicans. Republican leaders repeated their one big 
line over and over: ``Whatever President Obama proposes, even if it's a 
Republican idea, it cannot help you and will hurt you.''
  These are not my ideas. They have been written about and confirmed 
for years.
  For Republicans, it wasn't about helping the American people anymore. 
It was all about embarrassing and humiliating President Obama and 
frustrating his agenda no matter the cost.
  All the while, Donald Trump was watching as the Republican Party lost 
its identity and its moral compass. Trump watched as Republican leaders 
embraced the darkest elements of their party.
  Now Trump is doing what he learned from Senator McConnell and every 
other Republican leader for the past 8 years. Trump watched how 
Republicans in Congress treat American women. He saw Republicans block 
equal pay for

[[Page S2607]]

women and undermine women's health care. ``Planned Parenthood'' became 
a swear word. Donald Trump has treated women with disdain. He has 
called women dogs, pigs, and he defends rape.

  Trump watched as congressional Republicans walked away from 
comprehensive immigration reform. He listened as House Republicans 
likened DREAMers to drug mules. Is it any surprise that Donald Trump--
now the Republican nominee--uses Latinos and immigrants to generate 
fear, to be a fearmonger? He has called undocumented immigrants 
criminals and rapists.
  Donald Trump has watched Republicans deny the existence of climate 
change, and he is following in their footsteps. He would rather believe 
in crackpot conspiracy theories than accept climate change. It is real, 
but this is what he said about climate change: ``The concept of global 
warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make United 
States manufacturing noncompetitive.'' Try that one on. That is a 
direct quote. That kind of harebrained thinking has no place in the 
White House, but sadly it is not far from the anti-science climate 
change denial that is now Republican Party doctrine.
  On nearly every issue, Donald Trump has simply adopted the positions 
of the modern Republican Party. Through their obstruction and anti-
Obama politics, Senator McConnell and Republican leaders constructed 
Donald Trump's Presidential campaign and his platform piece by piece. 
He is the nominee of the Republican Party, and he is the nominee the 
Republican leaders deserve. Now the Republican Party is his.
  Republicans want Trump to be their standard bearer. They are 
scrambling to get behind this hate-spewing nominee. There is no better 
example of Republicans marching lockstep with Trump than the Supreme 
Court vacancy. The Republican National Committee is trying to bring 
their party together by promising this dangerous man will appoint 
Justices to the Supreme Court. Republicans say they want their 
misogynistic, anti-women, anti-Latino, anti-middle class billionaire to 
determine the balance of the Supreme Court for the next generation. 
Republican Senators say they trust the judgment of a man who mocks our 
veterans, belittles John McCain as not being a war hero, and mocks 
Americans with disabilities. They want him to fill the Supreme Court. 
It is a sad day for this country when the Republican Party trusts the 
judgment of a vile, swindling billionaire. But anyone who has been 
paying attention to what Republicans have been doing the past 8 years 
should not be shocked.
  Hillary Clinton is going to be the Democratic nominee. I support 
Hillary Clinton. I am not hiding from that. Republican Senators need to 
stop waffling about Donald Trump. Not going to the convention doesn't 
take away the fact that he is the Republican nominee. I have heard a 
number of Republican Senators say: I am not going to the convention. 
Well, that solves the problem, doesn't it? Republican Senators need to 
say whether they are going to vote for this guy. The Republican Party's 
chickens have come home to roost in the form of Donald J. Trump.
  Mr. President, I ask the Presiding Officer to announce--I see Senator 
Alexander, the senior Senator from Tennessee, on the floor--the 
business of the day.

                          ____________________