[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 99 (Tuesday, June 10, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Page S3294]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
One Big Beautiful Bill Act
Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, work on reconciliation continues apace. We
are getting very close to the final bill.
Since I spoke on the floor on this topic last week, two more
committees have released their sections of the bill text, the Banking
Committee under the leadership of Chairman Tim Scott and the Commerce
Committee under the leadership of Chairman Ted Cruz.
The Commerce Committee text released on Thursday addresses multiple
bill priorities, including border security, savings, and the economy.
On the economy front, the Commerce section of the bill focuses on
boosting growth and investment by renewing spectrum auction authority
and freeing up spectrum currently held by Federal Agencies.
The United States has been a leader in the next-generation
telecommunications services like 5G and advanced Wi-Fi, and we are on
track to be a leader in 6G as well. That is going to require both an
increase in the amount of spectrum available to the private sector and
using that spectrum as efficiently as possible through AI and other
technologies.
Our bill will help meet that need for spectrum and help produce
thousands of new jobs and billions of investment as a result, to say
nothing of faster and more affordable internet for Americans.
This has been a long time coming.
I am grateful to Chairman Cruz and colleagues from the Armed Services
and Intel Committees for their continued work to find a way to get this
done that preserves key national security interests and delivers a win
for the American people.
On the border and national security front, the Commerce text
addresses a key aspect of our domestic security: a strong Coast Guard.
The Coast Guard secures our ports and waterways, provides support to
American vessels in need, and plays a crucial role in enforcing
maritime and immigration law and conducting drug interdictions.
Our final bill will make a substantial and sorely needed investment
in the Coast Guard, including funding for desperately needed new ships
and aircraft and maintenance of Coast Guard facilities.
Along with promoting safety of the seas, the Commerce text focuses on
safety in the skies with a significant investment in fixing and
updating our air traffic control system. The Commerce text also
eliminates wasteful and unnecessary spending, which is the key focus of
our bill.
So that was Thursday.
On Friday, the Banking Committee released its portion of the bill
text, and eliminating unnecessary spending took center stage. Chairman
Scott and Banking Committee Republicans pored over Federal programs to
identify waste, duplication, and inefficiency and identified billions
in savings. That includes eliminating the duplicative Office of
Financial Research, transferring the Public Company Accounting
Oversight Board's duties to the Securities and Exchange Commission to
reduce duplication and lower costs, and postponing the implementation
of duplicative small business lending data reporting requirements.
The Banking Committee's text also conserves taxpayer dollars by
returning unused and unobligated funds to the Treasury. On the national
security front, it authorizes $1 billion for the Defense Production Act
to boost domestic production of key national security needs.
I am grateful for the hard work of Chairman Scott, Chairman Cruz, and
for the hard work of all the members, both on and off the committees,
who contributed to the Commerce and Banking text.
We have several more committees delivering texts this week, including
border security language from the Judiciary Committee and energy
language from the Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
Our final bill is rapidly taking shape. I am looking forward to
considering it on the floor in the very near future. Republicans
promised to build a stronger, safer, and more prosperous America, and
we are going to deliver.
I yield the floor.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The senior assistant legislative 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.