[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 161 (Wednesday, October 1, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6903-S6904]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          TRUMP ADMINISTRATION

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, last night, the Republicans--despite 
controlling the White House and Congress--shut the government down to 
avoid addressing their self-inflicted healthcare crisis.
  It is another blow to ordinary Americans across this country. In 
July, Republicans used their majority to jam through Congress the 
President's so-called ``Big, Beautiful Bill.'' That cruel bill cuts 
nearly $1 trillion from Medicaid and will rip health insurance away 
from 10 million Americans. And for what? So the wealthiest Americans 
can continue to line their pockets.
  Now, Republicans seem poised to allow premiums and out-of-pocket 
costs to skyrocket. That is the Republican agenda: Billionaires win. 
You lose. If Republicans allow the Affordable Care Act enhanced tax 
credits to expire, more than 20 million Americans will see their 
premiums go up and 4 million more will lose coverage altogether. 
Republicans seem to be fine with ballooning the national debt for tax 
cuts for the rich, but they draw the line at extending healthcare to 
millions of American families.
  And already, the President is playing the blame game. In the Oval 
Office yesterday, the President said, ``Well, Democrats want to shut it 
down.''
  We don't. And the American people see right through this. They know 
Republicans control government and refuse to negotiate. When lines are 
longer at the airport, when farmers cannot receive their loans, or 
servicemembers miss a paycheck, that is the fault of Republicans 
entirely.
  Yesterday, too, the President said, ``A lot of good can come from 
government shutdowns, we can get rid of a lot of things.'' The 
President is wrong. No good can come from a shutdown. That is why 
Democrats continue to ask Republicans to negotiate and save healthcare 
for the American people.
  Yesterday, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing entitled: 
``Blue City Chaos and Tragedy: How the Trump Administration is 
Addressing the Human Cost of Soft On Crime Policies.'' Unfortunately, 
as the title makes clear, this hearing was a partisan attempt to 
politicize what should be a bipartisan issue: how best to protect the 
safety of all American communities.
  Every American deserves to feel safe, no matter where they live. We 
must reject these acts of political theater and look at the facts. Over 
the last two decades, the murder rate in my home State of Illinois has 
been lower than the murder rates in Missouri, Louisiana, and Alabama--
all States led by Republicans. Ignoring these facts and the tangible 
success of the crime prevention programs working in cities like Chicago 
does nothing to make our Nation safer.
  Unfortunately, President Trump has done everything he can to 
undermine efforts that have been effective at

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fighting crime, like canceling hundreds of millions of dollars in 
Federal grants. These critical programs, which have long been supported 
by members on both sides of the aisle, include: $72 million in funding 
for State and local law enforcement; $158 million in gun violence 
prevention grants to cities like New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, 
Washington, DC, and Baltimore; and $169 million of community safety 
funding authorized by the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act.
  If President Trump were serious about combating crime, he would 
restore these funds for ongoing joint Federal, State, and local law 
enforcement operations and crime prevention efforts. Instead, President 
Trump is deploying and threatening to deploy the National Guard to 
stroke his ego while falsely claiming he is restoring so-called order 
in Chicago, Portland, Memphis, and elsewhere. For months now, President 
Trump has been looking for any excuse to send troops into American 
communities to flex his power over cities and States he doesn't like.
  Just this week, after months of threatening to deploy the Guard to 
Chicago, the Department of Homeland Security announced that 100 
National Guard troops would be deployed there, despite the objections 
of Governor Pritzker and Mayor Johnson. Let's be clear: This deployment 
is a dangerous, illegal, and unconstitutional abuse of power by this 
President.
  If anyone has any doubts about just how dangerous this is, they 
should listen to the speech Trump delivered yesterday to our most 
senior military leaders. He told them that, ``America is under invasion 
from within,'' and he joked that he told Secretary Hegseth they 
``should use some of these dangerous cities as training grounds for our 
military.'' Trump went on to say that this ``invasion from within'' is 
``more difficult in many ways because they don't wear uniforms.''
  This is not about reducing crime or fixing our immigration system. 
This is about targeting those the President deems enemies--including 
those who exercise their First Amendment right to protest, question his 
authority when he flouts the law, or come to this country seeking a 
better life.
  Instead of keeping our communities safe, Federal agents in camouflage 
are masquerading as military in the streets of Chicago, targeting 
immigrants with no criminal convictions. They are arresting families at 
Millenium Park. They are reportedly locking families with toddlers in 
rooms at O'Hare Airport. My constituents do not feel safer. They are 
afraid to take their children to school, to report crimes, or to go to 
church.
  In Illinois, we have always known that immigrants are our neighbors. 
And as our neighbors, they deserve better from us than the terror and 
chaos of this administration. I hope that moving forward, we can come 
together to discuss and support bipartisan solutions to keep all 
American communities safe.

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