[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 101 (Thursday, June 12, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3371-S3372]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              ALEX PADILLA

  Mr. KELLY. Mr. President, I have to say this week stood out for me 
personally with some positive notes and some real downers.
  The week didn't start great. We saw the President of the United 
States--for the first time, I think, in possibly my lifetime--send 
troops without a request from the Governor into a State because people 
were protesting.
  And, sure, some could make an argument that maybe a few protesters 
got over somebody's perceived line, but they were largely peaceful 
protests.
  What the President did is beyond his authority. It is illegal. And it 
was not a good start to the week, I have to say.
  I also have to say there was some positive things this week. I got to 
meet your grandson. I think he said he was 15 years old. He got to go 
to the Air and Space Museum, a place that I love, a place that makes 
our country stand out in the best of ways. It shows what we can do when 
we work together, when we bring the full force of the United States 
behind doing things that are positive.
  We sent people to the Moon in the 1960s. Your grandson got to see 
some of that hardware over at the Air and Space Museum.
  But I also have to say that the end of this week was rather 
outrageous and horrific, and it was brought to the American people, I 
strongly believe, because of the attitude of this President and his 
ability to just work outside of the boundaries of what most Americans 
feel are in accordance with our values and our ethics.
  What happened today to Senator Padilla was outrageous. It was 
violent. It is a scary thing to see happen in the United States of 
America.
  Alex Padilla is a great guy. He is thoughtful. He is passionate. He 
is just trying to serve his constituents in the best way he knows how 
by doing the thing that is in our Constitution--freedom of speech, 
article I--by exercising his constitutional rights and his rights as a 
U.S. Senator to ask some questions of government officials. He was 
doing his job.
  His job is oversight, oversight of the Department of Homeland 
Security. This is in a Federal building, and this didn't happen in 
isolation. The Trump administration has arrested a mayor and a Member 
of Congress and a labor leader.
  The other day, I think, I mentioned the one highlight of this week, 
which was your grandkid, and the low light--besides this, at the end of 
the week--is what happened at Fort Bragg the other day: the President 
of the United States going to a U.S. military base and using soldiers 
as political props.
  That is not who we are as a country. And I have to say, what I saw 
today is leading us down a dangerous path, and we cannot retreat to 
partisan corners. Senator Schatz mentioned that, other than the 
Presiding Officer, I don't think there are any other Republicans

[[Page S3372]]

showing outrage for one of their colleagues on the other side of the 
aisle being violently handled by law enforcement.
  This is wrong. This is not putting our country first. And I have to 
say, I hope we can turn things around here in the coming weeks. But in 
my lifetime, and certainly in my time in public office and in my time 
serving this country, I have never seen anything like I have seen this 
week.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Massachusetts.

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