[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 34 (Thursday, February 20, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1061-S1064]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
LEGISLATIVE SESSION
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SETTING FORTH THE CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET FOR THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT
FOR FISCAL YEAR 2025 AND SETTING FORTH THE APPROPRIATE BUDGETARY LEVELS
FOR FISCAL YEARS 2026 THROUGH 2034
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the Senate will
resume consideration of S. Con Res. 7, which the clerk will report.
The assistant bill clerk read as follows:
A concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 7) setting forth the
congressional budget for the United States Government for
fiscal year 2025 and setting forth the appropriate budgetary
levels for fiscal years 2026 through 2034.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Iowa.
Oversight
Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I take Congress's constitutional
oversight mandate very seriously. What you learn in eighth grade
civics, oversight responsibility is checks and balances of government.
In the 118th Congress, as ranking member of the Senate Budget
Committee, I established the committee's very first Oversight and
Investigative Unit. Its oversight touched on 97 percent of government
taxpayer-funded Agencies, sending over 600 oversight letters to
Federal, State, and private sector entities.
Last year, my team sent over one letter per day, on average. That
oversight unit launched the committee's first subpoena since 1991, and
I obtained records uncovering brandnew information about Credit
Suisse's servicing of Nazi accounts. I thank then-Chairman Whitehouse
for issuing that subpoena.
I hosted, also, oversight roundtables where whistleblowers exposed
the Biden administration's failure at the southern border to collect
DNA and protect unaccompanied children. My investigation resulted in a
referral to law enforcement to find and protect unaccompanied children
who were brought here in violation of our laws. But the Federal
Government had a responsibility to make sure that they were protected.
My oversight team made records public and performed interviews to
ensure accountability following the assassination attempt of President
Trump in Pennsylvania. I published data for an EPA grant program
showing most taxpayers' money wasn't spent like the law required.
My oversight also uncovered abuses by the FBI's Foreign Influence
Task Force; FBI political bias in the Hunter Biden investigation and
prosecution; the Obama-Biden State Department obstruction of law
enforcement efforts against Iran; wasted money on misclassified ATF
employees; private equity investments exploiting healthcare and
damaging hospitals, even in Ottumwa, IA; Department of
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Justice's shortchanging the Crime Victims' Fund so those victims didn't
get the money that they were entitled to; excessive DOD spending on
spare parts and price-gouging.
In response to that, I got legislation passed to fix that problem. My
oversight team also worked to protect whistleblowers and force
government Agencies to amend their policies to comply with Federal
whistleblower laws.
So we are in the 119th Congress, and as this Congress gets underway,
I have become chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. My oversight
work is already full speed ahead, and I look forward to what the next
couple of years produce because we want to guarantee the executive
branch faithfully executes the laws as the Constitution requires and to
expose waste, fraud, and abuse and the wasting of taxpayers' money.
I yield the floor.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The assistant bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order
for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Recognition of the Minority Leader
The Democratic leader is recognized.
S. Con. Res. 7
Mr. SCHUMER. Well, Mr. President, the Senate is in for a very long
day and a very long night. Over the next day or so, Senate Republicans
will try to advance a budget resolution that clears the way to cut
taxes for Donald Trump's billionaire friends. Democrats are going to
hold the floor all day long and all night long to expose how
Republicans want to cut taxes for billionaires while gutting things
Americans care about most: healthcare, jobs, public safety, national
security, housing, education. This is going to be a long, drawn-out
fight.
This reconciliation budget bill is only the first step, albeit an
important one. Days like today, where we vote on amendments late into
the night, go a long way in revealing where each party stands and whom
each party is fighting for. Democrats are glad to have this debate. We
are happy to have it a few more times if the Republican leader so
wants. Democrats will show, in each of these debates, where Republicans
truly stand deep down--not with working people but on the side of
billionaires like Elon Musk.
If you become wealthy fairly and squarely, we don't begrudge you, but
you are doing fine, and you certainly don't need a massive tax break.
And yet that is precisely what Republicans are getting ready to do--
give billionaires another tax break and make the American people pay
the cost.
If Senate Republicans really think the best solution for inflation is
to put more money into the pockets of the billionaire class, Democrats
will make sure the American people know it. We will expose the
Republicans' plan to cut healthcare so that billionaires can have
another tax break. We will expose Republican plans to gut housing, to
defund the NIH--stop cancer research? Stop research into diseases that
are hurting, harming, and even killing our loved ones? Uh-uh. To cut
nutrition? To make housing costs go up? To hurt food inspection? To
stop the fight against bird flu here or Ebola overseas so that they
don't harm us? Doing all those things that make no sense so they can
cut taxes for billionaires? No way, we say. That is wrong for the
American people, and the more they learn about it, the less they are
going to like the Trump agenda that Republicans in the Senate are
following.
Republicans can spin their agenda however they want. They can try to
pass 1 bill, 2 bills, 50 bills. It doesn't matter. They can slice and
dice their policies in whatever order they wish. It doesn't matter in
the end. The end game is the same of Donald Trump and the Republican
majority: tax cuts for billionaires paid on the backs of working and
middle-class Americans.
That is not--absolutely not--what the American people signed up for.
The American people want to see inflation go down. It has gone up in
the last month, even though Donald Trump said it would go down starting
on day one. They want to see their paychecks go up. They want to see
more jobs. They want to see better jobs. They want to see more ladders
to the middle class, and they want to find ways to stay in the middle
class once they get there.
Republicans, meanwhile, have abandoned the working and middle class.
In just 1 month, Donald Trump and Republicans have eviscerated so many
of our institutions in order to cater to the whims of billionaires.
Donald Trump has defied the rule of law. He has ignored court orders.
He has even fancied himself a King, while all his billionaire friends
spread through the government like locusts and put public services that
serve tens of millions of people at risk.
When Elon Musk holds court in the Oval Office and meets heads of
state, Head Start programs and community health centers have seen their
funding shut off. Donald Trump preaches about corruption and fraud, all
the while ridding the government of its independent watchdogs and
letting DOGE go through people's Social Security numbers and even their
private tax and health data with virtually no guardrails, no check.
All this chaos is by design. All this lawlessness has a goal.
Everything we have seen over the last month from Donald Trump and
Republicans has one endgame in mind: Undermine the rule of law in order
to put more money in the pockets of billionaires like Elon Musk.
Nothing criticizes the broken core of the Republicans' agenda better
than their tax cuts for the ultrawealthy.
I yield the floor.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The assistant bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order
for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I come to the floor today, having just
seen the Democrat leader come to the floor to talk about the Senate
budget resolution, and what I heard the minority leader say was that
none of it is accurate.
Let me tell you: I have the budget resolution with me--the key
portions--five pages long. That is it--five pages long. Every American
can read it. They can read it for themselves. The resolution focuses on
three things and three things only: No. 1, securing the border; No. 2,
restoring peace through strength; No. 3, unleashing American energy. It
is not complicated. It is common sense. Americans overwhelmingly
support these goals. That is why Republicans in the Senate are moving
forward.
So let's talk about border security.
This budget allocates $175 billion to secure our border. Now, that
includes funding for President Trump's successful Executive orders to
deport criminal illegal immigrants. Border Patrol agents and ICE agents
need the resources to do it. There are currently more than 600,000
illegal immigrants with criminal records in the country today.
President Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem are moving
at lightning speed. They are moving to deport them. They are moving to
make our communities safer. Their strong actions have led to double the
number of arrests of illegal criminal immigrants compared to the
arrests under President Biden. These arrests are making our communities
safer, and they are sending a message to would-be illegal immigrants
all around the world to ``don't come here.'' Actually, these people are
turning around and going back to their own homes. Illegal border
crossings between the United States and Mexico are at their lowest
rates in the last 5 years.
The actions of President Trump are working. They are working so well
that the Trump administration says it is running out of money for
deportations. Border czar Tom Homan told us just that. Secretary Noem
told us that as well. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth told us that.
Attorney General Pam Bondi has told us that.
Senate Republicans are acting quickly to get the administration the
resources that they have requested and that they need. The budget will
allow us to finish the wall. It also takes the steps we need for more
border agents. It means more detention beds. That
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alone will keep dangerous criminals off the streets. It means more
deportation flights. That way, we can get dangerous criminals out of
our country.
Now, let's talk about national security because the reconciliation
bill that we are talking about allocates $150 billion to restore
American peace through strength.
We live in a dangerous world. The threats against the United States
are higher than we have seen in decades. There is a threat of
terrorism. You saw the danger of terrorism in New Orleans earlier this
year. There is the threat from the Chinese Communist Party. They are
rapidly building up their military. Meanwhile, over the past 4 years,
weak leadership from the previous administration undermined our
military and our military strength. There is a real threat today from
Iran. They are the largest state sponsor of terrorism in the world, and
they are also racing toward a nuclear bomb.
Weakness invites conflict. Strength deters war. This budget is a big
step toward rebuilding our military, to protecting our Nation, and we
need to do that after 4 years of weakness.
We are already seeing a surge of young people who want to join the
military. Recruitments are up. Under President Trump and Secretary
Hegseth, recruitment is at its highest levels in 15 years.
With this budget, America will be stronger. Our military will be more
lethal and more intimidating.
Now let's talk about energy and American energy dominance. This bill
will take the handcuffs--the handcuffs--off of American energy
producers. The previous administration caused painfully high prices
with its energy mistakes, its blunders. It locked up affordable,
reliable, American-made energy. We can never forget Joe Biden saying he
wanted the EPA to prioritize climate over American energy, energy that
was affordable, available, and reliable. Terrible mistake. Wrong for
the Nation. We are here to correct that.
Families suffered from soaring prices. The economy struggled under
those regulations of the previous administration. Passing this budget
allows us to reject the energy failures of the last 4 years. It puts a
premium on energy that is affordable, reliable, and American.
The Federal Government will also see its revenues increase as we
produce more American energy. And the Presiding Officer knows that
Wyoming is America's energy breadbasket. America is a superpower of
energy, and we need to act like it.
If you listen to the Senate Democrats, it is abundantly clear that
they don't support these goals of American energy dominance. They
don't. They haven't. They still don't.
Democrats also are opposed to securing our border. They are opposed
to rebuilding our military. They are opposed to unleashing American
energy. They are standing in the way of commonsense priorities that
Americans overwhelmingly support. They are a party in a panic mode.
Their high prices and their open border agenda are completely out of
touch with the American people.
Now, Democrats used this very process, reconciliation, a few years
ago. And what was their purpose? They wanted to raise taxes and pass
trillions of dollars in wasteful Washington spending. They wasted
taxpayer money. They subsidized electric vehicles for the rich. They
sent stimulus checks to criminals like the Boston Marathon bomber. It
is almost unbelievable.
The Federal Government is too big. It spends too much. Republicans
will end this wasteful Washington spending. We will get America back on
track. After 4 years of high prices and open borders, our Nation and
Americans deserve a path to safety and prosperity. Starting with this
Republican budget, that is what the American people will finally get.
I yield the floor.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Mullin). The clerk will call the roll.
The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for
the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Recognition of the Majority Leader
The majority leader is recognized.
Nomination of Kashyap Patel
Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, it has been 1 month since President Trump
took the oath of office. Since January 20, the Senate has been hard at
work confirming the President's Cabinet nominees--18 confirmed so far.
President Trump has more of his team in place today than any President
has had at this point since 2001, and we have done this despite
obstruction by Democrats. Every nominee has received a fair process, as
promised, and the Senate will continue to keep its foot on the gas
until President Trump's Cabinet table is full.
Mr. President, later today, the Senate will vote to confirm Kash
Patel to be Director of the FBI. Mr. Patel will lead the Nation's
primary Federal law enforcement Agency at a critical time. We have seen
a heightened threat of terrorism in the homeland. Illegal drugs
continue to come across the southern border and take the lives of too
many Americans. Violent crime spiked in recent years, and it is still a
problem in many parts of the country. At the same time, the FBI has
lost the trust of many Americans who fear the Agency has become
politicized.
Mr. President, Kash Patel has spent his career working in criminal
law and national security. He spent his first 8 years after law school
as a public defender in State and Federal courts in Florida.
In 2014, he was brought on as a terrorism prosecutor at the U.S.
Department of Justice, prosecuting terrorist organizations like al-
Qaida and al-Shabaab.
From there, he went to work in national security for the House
Intelligence Committee and then in the first Trump administration. He
worked on the National Security Council, where he handled hostage
rescues, among other sensitive missions.
He also served as Principal Deputy for the Acting Director of
National Intelligence and later as Chief of Staff for the Acting
Secretary of Defense.
Mr. President, as I said, the FBI has lost trust among the American
people in recent years. Much of that stems from a perception that
politics has infected the FBI's important work, and it is not hard to
see why. In just the last few years, the FBI field office in Richmond,
VA, circulated a memo suggesting that traditional Catholics could be
violent extremists. In 2021, the Attorney General infamously obstructed
the FBI to work with local law enforcement to target parents who
attended school board meetings. Of course, there is the FBI's apparent
double standard when it comes to investigating President Trump and its
repeated failures to cooperate with congressional Republicans.
Mr. President, the next Director of the FBI needs to focus on rooting
out politics so the FBI can enforce the law, uphold the Constitution,
and keep Americans safe.
The Bureau also needs a renewed focus on empowering the FBI's field
offices to be good partners to local law enforcement. I am encouraged
that Mr. Patel has the support of the National Police Association, the
National Sheriffs' Association, and multiple State attorneys general--
all of whom will be his partners in law enforcement should Mr. Patel be
confirmed.
We have unfortunately seen that no community is immune from crime,
terrorism, or illegal drugs, and we need all law enforcement working
together and focused on the real threats facing our country.
I look forward to working with Mr. Patel to restore the integrity of
the FBI and get it focused on its critical mission.
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
Mr. President, one of the most significant accomplishments of the
first Trump administration was the passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs
Act.
This comprehensive bill reduced tax rates for every income bracket,
doubled the child tax credit, nearly doubled the standard deduction,
and enacted pro-growth policies for American businesses of all sizes.
And what were the results? A growing economy, higher paychecks for
hard-working families, millions of new jobs, small business growth,
higher-than-expected Federal revenues. That is right: higher than
expected.
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Government revenues since the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act have exceeded
projections by roughly half a trillion dollars. An end to corporate
inversions, which is the practice of moving U.S. company operations
overseas for tax purposes. Practically every aspect of the U.S. economy
was strengthened by this pro-growth legislation.
Contrary to what my friends across the aisle like to claim, it was
middle-class families, not wealthy Americans, who received the largest
proportional benefit of the tax cuts.
Now, let me just repeat that. It was middle-class families, not
wealthy Americans, who received the largest proportional benefit of the
tax cuts.
Working families benefited from this legislation. Working families
ended up with more money in their pockets. Working families had more
breathing room because of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Anyone who
pretends that this wasn't the case is either ignorant of the law or
being deliberately deceptive.
The income tax cuts for individuals are expiring at the end of this
year, along with a key small business tax cut called the section 199A
passthrough deduction.
And one of our top priorities for this year is extending this tax
relief--but not just extending it, making it permanent.
As I and several other Finance Committee Republicans noted last week
in a letter on this subject, ``A temporary extension of these pro-
growth and pro-family policies is a missed opportunity. Businesses need
certainty while investing in their companies and taxpayers should not
fear tax hikes due to congressional inaction.''
That is it in a nutshell. Hard-working Americans shouldn't have to
live in fear of a tax hike every few years, and businesses need a clear
picture of the tax outlook so that they can plan for the long term.
Making the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act permanent would protect hard-working
families from uncertainty and ensure that they can keep more money in
their pockets, and it would have significant economic long-term
benefits.
The National Federation of Independent Business reports that making
the small business section 199A deduction permanent would result in the
creation of an additional 1.2 million jobs annually, with that number
climbing as the law goes on.
And the Tax Foundation reports that long-run gross domestic product
would increase by a substantial 1.1 percent. The President has called
for making the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act permanent, and I am committed to
ensuring any tax bill we consider does exactly that.
We have a real opportunity to improve the lives of Americans both
here and now and for the long term, and we can't waste it.
Needless to say, drafting major tax legislation takes time. Senator
Crapo, the chairman for the Finance Committee, has been doing an
incredible job of laying the groundwork for a permanent Tax Cuts and
Jobs Act extension, but there is still substantial work left to do to
arrive at a bicameral agreement. We have to take the time to get it and
do it right.
As we continue to move full steam ahead on this key part of the
President's agenda, however, there are other pressing priorities that
need to be addressed immediately.
When the President's border czar was here last week, he emphasized
that the administration cannot sustain its effort to deport criminals
here illegally without additional funding. And the last thing that we
want is to delay other parts of the President's agenda, like border
security, while we do the work needed to arrive at a tax agreement that
can pass both Houses of Congress.
That is why the Senate is moving forward on a two-part legislative
plan to accomplish our--and the President's--top priorities.
The first bill we consider will address immediate needs like securing
the border and other key national security priorities. The second will
focus on making tax relief permanent.
The budget resolution we are taking up this week will address the
border security part of the equation, and then we will take up a second
budget resolution for the tax portion. I want to thank Chairman Graham
for doing the work to get today's resolution to the floor, and I look
forward to passing it later this week.
I look forward to taking up that second budget resolution as well in
the not-too-distant future to prevent a $4 trillion tax hike on hard-
working Americans and making the individual and small business tax
relief from the Tax Cuts and Job Acts permanent.
I yield the floor.
Waiving Quorum Call
Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the mandatory
quorum call with respect to the Patel nomination be waived.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Sheehy). Without objection, it is so
ordered.
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