[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 185 (Wednesday, November 5, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7908-S7913]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
GOVERNMENT FUNDING
Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, can this be over now? Have the American
people suffered enough or do Democrats need more?
Democrats have snarled air traffic; they have damaged small
businesses; they left Federal workers in line at food banks; they
jeopardized food assistance--food assistance--for 40 million Americans.
Are they satisfied now or does the far left want more?
Surely, Democrats have hit enough milestones. The election is over.
Democrats now have the extremely dubious honor of being responsible for
the longest government shutdown in American history. So the question
is, Can the American people get a break now?
Democrats should be embarrassed--embarrassed--that Federal workers
are lining up at food banks and missing bills and in danger of losing
homes or cars because Democrats can't summon enough Members to support
a clean, nonpartisan funding resolution. That is right--a clean,
nonpartisan funding bill sitting right here at the Senate desk. We have
not asked Democrats to support a single new Republican policy. We
haven't asked them to support a single partisan policy rider. We simply
ask them to extend current funding levels for a few weeks so that we
could have time to do bipartisan work on appropriations bills. The
Democrats couldn't take yes for an answer.
On the subject of appropriations, if any Democrats cherish the
faintest hope of still funding the government through a full-year
appropriations process--a process that they have delayed for 5 weeks
and counting--they should vote for the clean, nonpartisan CR today.
I realize the Democrats have been under a lot of pressure from their
far-left base to keep the shutdown going. I assume that it was pressure
from Democrats' far-left base that saw the Democratic leader flip his
positions on shutdowns 180 degrees in the space of just 6 months. I
realize that there are a number of Democrats in the Senate who are not
just yielding to pressure from the far left but are themselves members
of the far left and are happy to continue this shutdown forever if it
means somehow sticking it, they think, to President Trump.
I am hoping there are still Democrats out there who can see beyond
the political extremism of their leftist base. And I hope there are
some Democrats who can take an honest look at the widespread damage
that their shutdown is doing and say: Enough is enough.
Thanksgiving is rapidly approaching. Parents are starting to think
about what they are going to put under the tree. Do Democrats still
want Federal employees lining up at food banks at Thanksgiving? at
Christmas?
On the topic of the holidays, it is an open question whether people
will be able to spend it with their families this year if the shutdown
continues. Air traffic has been snarled for weeks as a result of
Democrats' shutdown, and things are getting worse. The Transportation
Secretary just announced yesterday that the government may be forced to
close parts of our airspace if the shutdown continues into next week.
Close airspace--think about that.
I could go on. I could talk about the unions asking Democrats to end
this shutdown and support a clean continuing resolution. I could talk
about the business organizations making the same request. I could read
the headlines about Head Start preschools closing and SNAP recipients
who are worried about their benefits and National Guard units that
aren't training and on and on--every single thing as a result of the
Democrats' decision to shut down the government more than 5 weeks ago.
But surely--surely--there are at least some Democrat Senators who can
see this for themselves, who can see this for themselves and realize it
is past time to end this before the damage gets even worse. It is day
36 of Democrats' shutdown--day 36. How much longer are Democrats going
to make the American people suffer?
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.
Recognition of the Minority Leader
The Democratic leader is recognized.
2025 Elections
Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, last night was a great night for America
and a five-alarm fire for Donald Trump and Republicans. The
Republicans' high-cost house is on fire, and they have only got
themselves to blame.
As loudly and clearly as they could have, the American people said
last night: Enough is enough--enough with Donald Trump's tariffs, which
are overwhelmingly being paid for by working people and small
businesses; enough with Republicans' relentless attack on healthcare,
where people are seeing their premiums go up by thousands of dollars,
even each month, and they may have to be without healthcare altogether.
Last night was a sign that if Republicans continue with their failed
policies, their majorities are at risk, including here in this Senate
Chamber. The election showed that Democratic control of the Senate is
much closer than people and prognosticators realize.
So let me say it again: Republicans' high-cost house is on fire, and
they have only got themselves to blame.
By the way, that is not just my opinion; it is Donald Trump's
opinion. Last night, he said that the shutdown is a negative factor for
the Republicans. When addressing why he had lost, this is what Trump
said:
The shutdown was a big factor, negative for Republicans.
And let me read what Trump said last night. This is Donald Trump
speaking:
TRUMP WASN'T ON THE BALLOT, AND SHUTDOWN, WERE THE TWO
REASONS THAT REPUBLICANS LOST ELECTIONS TONIGHT.
That is what Trump said. Trump admits that the Republican shutdown is
hurting him and his party.
The President is right. Americans realize Republicans are responsible
for this awful shutdown, now the longest, officially, in history--what
a shameless milestone. Donald Trump has now presided over the longest
and second longest shutdowns ever, and he only--only--has himself to
blame.
When Leader Jeffries and I met with Donald Trump in the Oval Office,
last month, we warned him that this would happen. We warned the
President of the consequences of ignoring Democrats, ignoring the
American people, ignoring the healthcare crisis. We warned the
President that ignoring Democrats and insisting on zero negotiations
was a recipe for disaster and would come back to haunt him.
Well, Republicans shouldn't ignore us anymore, for their own good and
the country's good.
So, this morning, Leader Jeffries and I once again demanded a meeting
with the President. It is time to sit down and negotiate with Democrats
to bring this Republican shutdown to an end, we told the President. We
have been asking for a meeting for weeks and even months, but now the
election results ought to send a much needed bolt of lightning to
Donald Trump that he should meet with us to end this crisis--his
shutdown, which he admits hurt him badly in the elections.
It is time to hold a bipartisan meeting of legislative leaders to
reopen the government. It is time to fix the ACA premium emergency that
is now upon us. Democrats are ready to meet anytime, anywhere,
anyplace.
Donald Trump ignores us at his own political peril because the
takeaway from last night was simply unmistakable. Democrats swept in
States last night across the country, red and blue alike. Democrats won
overwhelmingly by more than anyone ever thought in New Jersey and
Virginia. Democrats won in Mississippi and won in New York and
Pennsylvania and in Georgia.
Democrats won in statewide races, but it went deeper than that. We
won in lots of local races too: mayoral races, State supreme court
races, ballot measures, and even historic swings
[[Page S7909]]
in the Georgia Public Service Commission, where two Democrats were
elected statewide, I believe.
Why did Democrats do so well? Because Americans are fed up with
Republicans shooting their costs through the roof, particularly on
healthcare, on tariffs, and on their electric bills. And Americans saw
that Democrats are the ones fighting for them, fighting for lower
healthcare costs, fighting for working families.
While all this is happening, what is Donald Trump doing? Depriving
hungry Americans of their SNAP benefits? Telling children--hungry
children--we are going to cut off your food and use you as a pawn in
this shutdown, which the Republicans have caused? Telling the elderly
who depend on that SNAP money to adequately feed themselves, the heck
with you? Telling a veteran who has PTSD or a worker who is unemployed
that we are not going to give you food? How callous, how cruel, how
mean, how vindictive, and how calculatingly wrong.
Americans saw the contrast between Democrats and Republicans in full
effect last night. They saw that Trump is treating Americans,
particularly needy Americans, as political pawns during the shutdown.
From one end of the country to the other, including battleground
States, Democrats, Independents, and even Republicans rejected Donald
Trump's policies and rejected hard-right elected officials.
And let me say something else. After last night, Donald Trump ought
to learn that his petty vindictiveness doesn't work. Here is one
glaring example: He tried to ax Federal funding for the Gateway Tunnel
between New York and New Jersey--the biggest public works project in
the country, employing tens of thousands of workers and ensuring
continued prosperity and good transportation in the entire Northeast
corridor. But he axed the funds, and his axing the funds was aimed, in
his mind, at Democratic leaders like Leader Jeffries and me. In the
end, it totally backfired and became a big factor for voters making
their decisions in New Jersey and electing Mikie Sherrill by an amazing
13 percentage points. One of the main issues in that campaign was
Donald Trump's vindictiveness in cutting off this tunnel and trying to
use it--again--and all the workers as a hostage.
So let me say it again. Last night serves as a five-alarm fire for
Republicans, a warning from the American people. They are tired of
Donald Trump raising people's costs, raising healthcare costs, ignoring
the needs of the people.
The right way forward for Republicans--and for all of America--is to
negotiate with Democrats to reopen the government and extend the ACA
premium tax credits. The American people have spoken: Enough is enough.
U.S. Supreme Court
Mr. President, on SCOTUS and tariffs, which is being argued by the
Supreme Court, right now as we speak, after an overwhelming rejection
of the Trump Republican agenda at the polls, this morning, Donald
Trump's lawyers are at the Supreme Court trying to argue his global
tariffs are legal. They are illegal, but they are arguing that they are
legal.
It is hard to imagine a worse morning after for Donald Trump and
Republicans than to have to go to the Supreme Court and defend these
tariffs, which are dramatically raising Americans' costs. That is why
Republicans were so shellacked last night.
Maybe the Supreme Court will put Donald Trump and Republicans out of
their tariff misery by declaring Trump's tariffs illegal--which, of
course, we know they are--because Donald Trump's tariffs have been one
of the biggest tax hikes on American families in recent memory.
Poll after poll shows that Americans are paying more at the grocery
store, that they blame Trump for the rising taxes, and they disapprove
of his tariffs.
The Supreme Court should do the right thing and strike down Trump's
tariffs before those tariffs spiral our economy into an even bigger
crisis.
If our democracy is to mean anything at all, we should remember the
Constitution is clear, clear--clear as a bell, clear as the Liberty
Bell: The power to tax and tariff resides in Congress, not the
President, not by unilateral power, and not based on some BS
``emergency'' declaration. Donald Trump is not a King. He is bound by
the Constitution and by his oath to protect the American people and
uphold the rule of law.
Today, the Court should make clear that Donald Trump is not above the
law.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority whip.
Trump Administration
Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, 1 year ago today, the American people
rejected high prices; they rejected open borders; they rejected the
weakness of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. One year ago today, the
American people voted to get America back on track, and they did so by
voting for a unified Republican government.
Republicans won a historic victory. President Trump won every single
battleground State in America. He won the popular vote. He moved over
close to 3,000 counties to the right. That is 89 percent of the
counties in the United States. Senate Republicans won a 53-seat
majority, and House Republicans maintained the majority as well.
Americans gave us a mandate to secure the border, to rebuild the
economy, to unleash American energy, and to restore America's strength.
Here we are 1 year later, and America is back on track. The results
are undeniable. For the first time in years, America's borders are
secure. For the last 5 months, absolutely zero illegal immigrants have
been released into our Nation. Gone are the days under Joe Biden when
10,000 illegal immigrants poured into our country each and every day.
When Joe Biden was President, over 10 million illegal immigrants
flooded into our Nation. Illegal immigrants were incentivized to come
here with the promise of free healthcare, with the promise of free
airplane tickets, with the promise of free hotel rooms and free food
and free meals and free cell phones.
That era is over. President Trump is successfully removing illegal
immigrant criminals from our Nation, taking them away from communities
all across the country. Republicans in Congress are finishing the wall,
hiring more border agents, and investing in Immigration and Customs
Enforcement. The drug cartels are clearly on notice: The border is
closed, and America is once again protecting our citizens.
Today, our communities are safer, and the economic turnaround has
been equally dramatic. America's energy dominance is back. Gas prices
have dropped to the lowest point in 4 years. AAA reports prices are
expected to continue to fall and perhaps stay low over the busy
Thanksgiving period that is upcoming. Inflation has cooled. Things are
more affordable. Remember, under Joe Biden, prices soared by more than
21 percent. Under President Trump, private sector real wages are up
over $1,100 a year. The economy grew 3.8 percent in the second quarter
of this year. We are seeing strong economic growth, and more strong
economic growth is expected. The Atlanta Federal Reserve predicts
third-quarter growth could be 4 percent--even greater economic growth.
You might ask yourself, what is at the heart of this economic
comeback? Well, let me tell you. The working family tax cuts, which
passed the Senate, passed the House, and were signed into law by the
President--that is at the heart of our economic comeback.
This is the most pro-worker, pro-family tax relief in years. In
Wyoming alone, families could save $2,400 this year because of the tax
cuts. Waiters, barbers, and bartenders keep $1,300 more by having to
pay no tax on tips. In my home State and in the Presiding Officer's,
nurses, firefighters, and police officers can keep $1,400 more by
having to pay no tax on overtime. New parents get a $1,000 Trump
account for every newborn child, to invest in their future, and parents
get a bigger child tax credit: $2,200 more per child. Seniors are going
to keep more as well. There is a new $6,000 deduction on Social
Security income. Clearly, the Presiding Officer has heard it, and I
have heard it at home as well: Farmers, ranchers, and small business
owners are getting relief from the much-dreaded death tax. That is what
it means to stand with working Americans.
Let's be clear. If the Democrats had had it their way, families would
be
[[Page S7910]]
paying much more in taxes--a lot more. Every single Democrat voted for
the largest tax increase in American history. Every single Democrat
voted for a $4 trillion tax increase. Had Democrats succeeded,
families, seniors, and small businesses would have been financially
crushed.
Every Democrat voted for the government to take more of people's
hard-earned money. Republicans said people should keep their hard-
earned money. Republicans voted for Americans to keep what they earned.
That is the difference between Republicans and Democrats.
One year ago, American voters rejected a weak America and also
rejected a dangerous world. Today, we see the resurgence of American
strength. We are defending our interests and deterring our enemies
around the world. Military recruitment has surged to its highest level
in 15 years. Morale is high. Deterrence is back.
President Trump successfully crippled Iran's nuclear program. He
strengthened the success of the Abraham Accords. He secured the release
of the hostages in Gaza. He ended wars around the world not once, not
twice, but eight times. President Trump is the President of peace, and
he is achieving this peace through American strength and leadership.
These are the policies that Americans want, need, and voted for when
they elected President Trump President of the United States once again.
Regrettably, Senate Democrats still can't bring themselves to support
the success. They voted against securing the border, against lowering
taxes, against strengthening Medicaid, and against everything that
helps working families.
Here in the Senate, for months, they delayed hundreds of routine and
bipartisan nominees. It was an unprecedented blockade.
Now Democrats have set a new, shameful record. Today, they broke the
record for the longest government shutdown in American history. Let me
repeat that. Today, the Democrats have broken the record for the
longest shutdown in American history.
During the 36 days of the Schumer shutdown, Democrats have voted
against reopening the government 14 times. That is 14 votes against
paying our troops, 14 votes against paying our Federal workers, 14
votes against paying our air traffic controllers, 14 times against
Border Patrol agents, and 14 times against paying our TSA agents.
The Democratic Party has been hijacked by socialists, and now they
are holding the American people hostage. Why? Well, it is because the
Democrats have become radical and extreme. Gallup pollsters tell us
that only one in three Democrats is proud to be an American. Can you
imagine that. Only one in three registered Democrats is proud to be an
American. That is half the number it was last year.
The party of J.F.K. is gone, and it is now the party of AOC.
Democrats are now the party of socialism and censorship, of weakness
and wokeness. They even brag about it, as we saw last night in New
York.
Yesterday, in New York City, they elected as mayor a socialist who
wants to defund the police, abolish prisons, and give illegal
immigrants free healthcare. That is who the Democrats have chosen as
the mayor of New York City. That is the Democrats' vision of America's
future. It is a dangerous vision. It is a destructive vision.
One year ago, Americans chose a better path. They chose safety,
prosperity, and common sense. As a result, today, America is moving in
the right direction, and we are going to continue to fight to get
America back on track.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Democratic whip.
Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, my friend from Wyoming, my colleague on
the Republican side, just gave a litany of accomplishments of the Trump
administration. That is his view of the political world, and he is
certainly entitled to it, but the vote results from last night show
that America does not agree with what the Senator from Wyoming said.
They are not happy with the MAGA movement and what it has brought to
America. The results across the board were overwhelmingly in favor of
Democrats last night. It doesn't square with the happy talk which we
have heard on the floor about the achievements of the Trump
administration.
In fact, in one candid moment, President Trump conceded that the
shutdown cost him many votes in last night's election across the board,
and he is right. The American people have come to understand what this
government shutdown is all about. It is about their bottom line, their
home budget, their healthcare, their insurance costs.
In my State--typical--people are seeing a doubling of their health
insurance premiums as of January 1 and, in some parts of my State,
tripling. In other parts of the country, it is even more. Why is this
happening? Because of the big, beautiful, budget bill of the Trump
administration. It eliminated the tax treatment that helped families
pay for these health insurance premiums. As a consequence, their
premiums are going through the roof.
What is that going to do to a family that has to make a choice--a
choice that comes down to $200 or $300 a month more in health insurance
premiums? Some will be able to afford it, I am sure, but others won't,
and they will give up on their health insurance coverage. That is a
terrible position for any family to be in.
It also creates problems when it comes to healthcare providers--
hospitals, clinics, doctors, and such. They are going to find
themselves in a terrible situation when these same sick people, with no
health insurance, come to the hospital. Sure, they will be treated--we
do that in America--but they are going to end up incurring costs for
that hospital that will not be reimbursed. What does that do for the
rest of us with health insurance we can afford? We are going to end up
paying more when it is all over.
You cannot ignore the health insurance problem in America, as the
Republicans hope to do. That is what is driving this government
shutdown, and it is time for it to come to an end.
I hope that President Trump, after last night's election results,
will see clearly that he is being blamed, rightly, for this shutdown
and that it has to come to an end and we have to move forward as a
nation--the sooner the better.
The things that are happening across the board here are just
indefensible. The President, yesterday, was weaving back and forth
between saying he is going to pay all of the SNAP food benefits to
hungry families in America and then saying he is going to cut them all
off unless we ended the government shutdown--back and forth during the
course of the day. It was hard to follow his position. I am still not
sure where it ends.
But I worry that families desperate for assistance in paying for
food, to put it on the table, are still not certain themselves. The
food banks cannot take care of this problem. This program, the SNAP
program, known as the Food Stamp Program, is critical to feeding
America for over 40 million of our neighbors and friends. It is time to
make it clear that the payments are going to be made--no ifs, ands, or
buts about it. I hope the President makes that clear today.
Operation Midway Blitz
Mr. President, on an unrelated topic, this coming weekend will mark 2
months since President Trump launched his so-called Operation Midway
Blitz in my home State of Illinois. The Presiding Officer will remember
what it is all about. The President was sending in ICE agents dressed
in combat uniforms--with masks on their face and no identification as
to who they work for--to arrest what they considered to be would-be
robbers, terrorists, murderers, rapists, and the criminally insane who
had come across our border in past years.
They set out to do that, but what has happened is exactly the
opposite. Instead of taking dangerous people off the street, they are
harassing and intimidating people who have no crimes in their
background whatsoever. The stories just come tumbling in every single
day.
The head of the Department of Homeland Security calls this ICE force
her ``dream team.'' Let me tell you, this ``dream team'' has done
things that are just unthinkable when it comes to the laws and
Constitution of this country.
In those 2 months since the President started sending these workers
in, he has achieved what I believe to be his true objective here: not
to bring down violent crime but to spread fear in the
[[Page S7911]]
hearts of our communities, especially our immigrant communities.
In these 2 months, we have seen people thrown to the ground and
beaten. This is not speculation; it is videotaped. We have it.
We have seen children ripped from their beds in the middle of the
night and zip-tied outside of an apartment complex on the South Shore
Avenue of Chicago. And we have seen tear gas canisters deployed against
pastors, journalists, and police.
Think about that. It has reached a point that the Federal court is
entertaining depositions today from the leader of this effort, the so-
called ``dream team'' ICE agents, trying to explain why their violence
can be justified.
Innocent people have been caught up in this terror, not just the
``worst of the worst,'' as the President promised and his team has
claimed, but American citizens, legal residents, and immigrants who
have built their lives and raised their families here. They pose no
threat to public safety, and yet they are the targets for these ICE
agents.
I want to share a story of one of these people.
Three weeks ago, Omar Huerta Cisneros, a legal resident of the United
States, a green card holder, was going for a walk in the South Side of
Chicago when masked immigrant agents abruptly pulled him into a red car
and drove away. Mr. Huerta Cisneros was detained and disappeared by the
Trump administration simply for walking down the street as a Hispanic
man.
What makes this case especially troubling, though, is what happened
after they arrested him. Mr. Cisneros has a mental challenge. He is
schizophrenic, and he lacks ``the mental capacity to reach out to
anybody,'' according to his family.
His family only learned of his arrest after footage of the encounter
was posted on social media. His family started searching desperately to
find him in detention. Now, if this sounds like an extreme case, it is
not. It is the usual custom. The ICE agents sweep people off the
street, and they disappear sometimes for hours, sometimes for days,
sometimes for even longer.
There is no way to check on their whereabouts. If you think that it
sounds like something very unusual, if you have watched all the crime
shows on TV on what a warrant for an arrest may be, what your arrest
will be, what the Miranda warnings may be, this is totally unusual. The
ICE agents are making it all up. They are ignoring the law and ignoring
the Constitution.
In the behavior characteristics of the Trump administration, people
find only silence when they asked what happened to that person just
swept up off the street.
The family had to resort to pleading to the community and posting
these missing person posters on social media to try to find Mr.
Cisneros. This is the photograph that they were advertising, asking
people: Have they seen this man? Can you help us find our member of our
family?
They finally did find him, 2 weeks--2 weeks--after the masked Federal
agents wrongfully arrested him. Where did they find him? On the streets
of the suburbs of Chicago. Family members believed Federal agents just
dropped him off, possibly a day after detaining him. But no one
contacted the family, and they didn't know where he slept during this
time away from home.
Unfortunately, Mr. Huerta Cisneros' case is not isolated. Donald
Trump has turned Federal law enforcement officers into his own personal
secret masked police force to engage in political theater at the
expense of real lives. In that process, the rights and liberties
guaranteed by the Constitution, including the right to due process and
the rule of law, have been trampled.
ICE agents, this so-called ``dream team,'' believe they are above the
law and not bound by the Constitution. We are on the slippery slope
into authoritarianism. Don't believe me? Listen to the President's own
words.
In a ``60 Minutes'' interview this week, he was asked about sending
Active-Duty military into American cities. He responded: ``I can bring
in the Army, the Marines, I could bring in whoever I want'' and that he
could do so ``in a heartbeat'' and that ``no judge can even challenge
me.''
He also said ICE raids ``haven't gone far enough.'' Tell that to Mr.
Cisneros and his family and every other Illinoisan caught up in these
cruel and chaotic raids.
To think that this man is a robber, a rapist, a terrorist, a
murderer, criminally insane is just almost laughable if it wasn't such
a sad situation exploiting this poor gentleman.
In the face of such ugliness, Chicago and the people who live there
have shown up to stand up for one another. We saw it in Mr. Cisneros'
case, neighbors helping neighbors trying to find this man who was
disappeared by the ICE agents in Chicago.
Over the weekend, we had another example. On Halloween, I joined
Governor Pritzker in asking the ICE agents to please lay off the
families and kids who are out trick-or-treating. They are being
terrorized already. There ought to be one night in the year when you
give them a break. They refused. In fact, they mocked us that we would
even ask for that.
And then came an incident in Evanston, IL, a suburb just north of
Chicago. It was an incident which embarrassed a lot of people and
worried them that we were moving to a police state, with the ICE agents
going up and down the streets looking for people who were raking
leaves, checking on each one of them, in terms of their background and
their citizenship and their identity.
They swept up almost everybody who was out in the yard. At this time
of year, everybody is out in the yard. That sort of thing really struck
a chord in the city of Evanston. They responded, and I knew they
would--a strong community.
Over the weekend, hundreds of donors lined the streets near Evanston
Township High School to participate in a food drive for their
neighbors. The turnout was so overwhelming that the police had to turn
off the traffic light at an intersection to accommodate the line of
cars waiting to drop off food.
While food was the main draw, Evanston organizers also handed out
``Know Your Rights'' cards and whistles along with the toiletries.
Those whistles have been used by community members to warn others when
ICE agents are in the area.
This is what an American community looks like: It is organizing to
stand together to defend their neighbors. And while no community should
have to resort to such extreme, Evanston and other communities across
the country have been forced to do it, and they are willingly doing so.
For the first time in our Nation's history, the flow of Federal funds
for the SNAP program was halted at the direction of President Donald
Trump. To think, this President, in order to put political pressure on
Congress, is going to cut off the food to disabled people, elderly
people, and children is disgusting.
The Trump administration has the power to issue 100 percent of
benefits to working families and kids who rely on this program, but the
President and the Department of Agriculture are defying court orders
and refusing to flip the switch on these emergency funds for
circumstances just like this.
In one moment, the Department of Agriculture says they will send just
50 percent of the monthly benefits to SNAP. The next moment, the
President says he will only send out SNAP benefits when the government
reopens. When it comes to feeding 42 million Americans, our most
vulnerable neighbors and friends, suddenly the Trump administration
appears confused and, once again, in disarray.
Who in the world is in charge? But it has no problem remodeling the
White House bathrooms with marble and gold, throwing a ``Great Gatsby''
Halloween party for the richest friends, and passing tax cuts for
millionaires and billionaires or inviting Senate Republicans down for
breakfast as Americans, many of them, struggle to pay for their own
breakfast.
It is time for this administration to stop this chaos. Families
across America deserve better. I hope that what happened in yesterday's
election is a wake-up call that we need to sit down and end this
government shutdown that was initiated by the Republican refusal to
discuss the cost of health insurance.
We can do something to help Americans. If we can find $20 billion or
$40 billion for Argentina, for God's sake, there has got to be money to
help
[[Page S7912]]
Americans pay their hospitalization premiums. I hope we get down to
business today.
I yield the floor.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Sheehy). The clerk will call the roll.
The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. PADILLA. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order
for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The Senator from California.
Nomination of Eric Chunyee Tung
Mr. PADILLA. Mr. President, colleagues, what we have seen happening
to the Federal judiciary over the last 9 months is beyond concerning;
it is corrupting.
We have seen nominees who are deeply partisan and deeply ideological.
We have seen nominees who, under any other administration, would be
roundly criticized and rejected by this body. And we have seen nominees
whose chief qualification is nothing other than loyalty to and
relationship to Donald Trump.
So later today, we are going to consider just the latest example of
this when the Senate takes up the nomination of Eric Tung to serve on
the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
This is a lifetime appointment to the Federal bench, colleagues. An
appellate court nominee in particular should have the judgment, the
independence, and the respect for precedence worthy of the position.
But instead, Mr. Tung, the nominee before us, is not here because of
his independence or his judicial temperament; he is here because of his
ideology.
Mr. Tung embraces an extreme and rigid view of the Constitution that
rejects both equality and liberty. He has made it clear that under his
constitutional philosophy, there is no protection for rights that most
Americans take as fundamental, including the rights to reproductive
freedom, marriage equality, and even private consensual relationships.
That is not constitutional interpretation; it is a radical blueprint
for rolling back decades of progress on individual freedom and
equality.
When I gave Mr. Tung an opportunity to explain his history of sexist
and anti-labor comments a few months ago in committee, during the
confirmation hearing, he deflected. He showed no reflection or evolved
thinking, because the truth is Mr. Tung's record and writings reveal a
pattern of ideological extremism that calls into question his ability
to apply the law fully and fairly.
Now, let me also make it clear that I am not setting out with the
goal of denying the Ninth Circuit qualified replacements--far from it.
Not just myself, but Senator Schiff, my colleague from California, and
I both reached out to the White House months ago to inform them of a
couple of things--No. 1, that Eric Tung would be unacceptable.
But, importantly, it is important for my colleagues on the other side
of the aisle to understand that we signaled a willingness to consider
more mainstream Republican candidates whom President Trump had
previously nominated for district court judgeships. We were willing to
try to find that common ground. But clearly the White House wasn't
interested, because whether it is the Department of Justice, the FBI,
U.S. attorneys, or the Federal bench, the Trump White House is showing
us what they truly care about: unwavering loyalty.
So today, I will remind my colleagues that when we reference the
judiciary, it is the American people's judiciary, and all the decisions
we make today will affect our justice system, the people's judiciary,
for years, if not decades.
For those reasons, I urge all my colleagues to join me in strongly
opposing Mr. Tung's nomination.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Tennessee.
Waiving Quorum Call
Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to waive the
mandatory quorum call with respect to the Orr nomination.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Government Funding
Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, SNAP benefits have been in the news
and a topic of much discussion, and those benefits for over 40 million
Americans lapsed over the weekend because the Democrats have chosen to
hold government funding hostage for political ``leverage''--their
word--at the American people's expense. In other words, they are using
the American people as pawns. Because of that, their constituents and,
indeed, nearly 700,000 Tennesseans are without their SNAP benefits.
Border Patrol agents, our air traffic controllers, and Federal law
enforcement have been working a month now without pay. This is why you
have the AFGE and the controllers union saying: End the Schumer
shutdown now.
We also know that critical Federal assistance--from rural development
programs to small business loans--is in jeopardy.
Across the country, people and small businesses are all suffering
because of Chuck Schumer and his Schumer shutdown.
And for Democrats--I think they have wanted this. They planned for
it, and they wanted to see it happen, so they got it.
Now, over on the House side, the Democratic whip made it very clear
during a recent interview--and I will quote her. She said:
Shutdowns are terrible, and of course there will be
families that are going to suffer. . . . But it is one of the
few leverage times we have.
So to the American people, realize that the Democrats you have
elected see you as pawns and leverage and pieces that they can move
around a chessboard.
As the Senate Democrat leader said at the beginning of the shutdown,
and I quote him:
Every day gets better for [Democrats].
They see this as improving their political chances.
Over the last month, his party has voted more than a dozen times to
keep the government shut down. At the heart of their demands is the
permanent extension of President Biden's COVID credits under ObamaCare.
This would be a $450 billion expense to the U.S. taxpayer.
Last week, I was on the floor talking about this and about how
Democrats are peddling falsehoods to try to justify their Schumer
shutdown. They claim that ObamaCare subsidies are going to expire. In
reality, it is only the Biden COVID credit bonus that will expire.
What happened during COVID for the ObamaCare subsidies--they took off
the income caps, and a lot of people had zero-dollar premiums. If you
were making over half a million dollars a year, you, too, could get a
Biden COVID credit bonus and subsidy from the ObamaCare exchange and
you, too, could have the U.S. taxpayer picking up the tab for 80 to 90
percent of your health insurance because they plussed up the credit,
and they removed the income caps.
Now, the original ObamaCare subsidies--which, by the way, do not
expire. These are permanent. They are in law. The original subsidies
continue for people who are at 100 to 400 percent of the Federal
poverty level.
Our colleagues across the aisle claim that the Biden COVID credits
are needed to keep the cost of health insurance premiums down. In
reality, ObamaCare is too expensive to afford without the subsidy. So
what they are doing is propping up a broken system.
In fact, since 2013, the ObamaCare benchmark plan premium has
increased by 237 percent--more than three times the rate for employer-
sponsored healthcare plans that most Americans get through their work
and from their employer. As these premiums go up, taxpayers are on the
hook to subsidize not the individual but, guess what, the insurance
company. The subsidy doesn't go to the individual; it goes directly to
the insurance company.
Our colleagues on the other side of the aisle need to understand that
their fight for government-run healthcare, which is really what this
entire Schumer shutdown is all about, is going to fail. It is time for
them to put the American people over and before far-left politics. It
is time to reopen the Federal Government.
Artificial Intelligence
Mr. President, we all are hearing quite a bit about AI and the
potential of AI to transform entire industries for
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the better, to make them more efficient.
In Tennessee alone, our advanced manufacturers are using it to become
more efficient, to lower costs, and to increase productivity.
Healthcare providers are using it to strengthen care, and researchers
are using it to discover new treatments. These are all things that are
worth celebrating. They are good, and they are yielding good results,
but we also know that this emerging technology can be used for harm.
In the case of Google, its AI models have targeted conservatives with
defamation for years. During a Senate Commerce Committee hearing last
week, I presented evidence to Google's vice president for government
affairs and public policy that his company's AI models have
repeatedly--repeatedly--fabricated malicious stories about conservative
activist Robby Starbuck. He is a Tennessean, and he is a conservative
leader in our State.
In one instance, Google's large language model, Gemma, falsely
claimed that Starbuck was accused of child rape and that I publicly
defended him. Google's AI models have also falsely accused him of being
a former adult film star, of facing criminal drug charges, and of
shooting a man in Nashville in an argument over a parking spot.
In response, Google's VP claimed that ``hallucinations'' among their
AI models are a common problem and that the company is working on it--
as if this harmful defamation is merely a technical glitch. And they
refer to it as a hallucination.
In fact, there seems to be a pattern of malicious lying and fiction
when it comes to conservatives. So I asked the AI model ``Has Marsha
Blackburn been accused of rape?'' The answer to this question, of
course, is an unequivocal no. I never have. Yet, Gemma fabricated an
entire outlandish criminal allegation against me. It had a massive
story about a rape in 1987, which didn't happen, and accusations of
improper conduct, which did not happen. It also came forward with an
alleged victim. It was all malicious. It was all made up. It was all a
lie. Yet Gemma even generated fake links to fabricated news articles to
support the defamatory claim, and, of course, the links didn't work.
This marks a catastrophic failure of oversight of an AI model that
has been downloaded by more than 200 million people. So last week, I
sent a letter over to Google's CEO Sundar Pichai demanding an
explanation as to why Gemma was creating these false allegations,
criminal allegations, against conservatives and also against me. I also
asked for a list of steps the company is taking to eliminate political
bias and defamatory content from its models. Google has not responded
to my letter. What they did do was take Gemma down over the weekend.
Despite the AI model's serious flaws, the big tech giant said in a
statement that it is going to continue to work to make Gemma available
to their developers.
And the message on this is clear: You need to shut it down. You need
to shut it down completely. You need to shut the Gemini system down
completely.
The American public deserves to know that, with these AI models, the
information is going to be accurate. It is going to be transparent. It
is going to be fair, and it is not going to be a tool that is going to
be used to fabricate and to smear conservatives.
In the meantime, Google has until tomorrow to respond to the letter
demanding answers. And it is important to keep in mind that this is the
same Google that operated a Gmail blacklist that suppressed Republican
fundraising emails as spam, and it is the same Google that manipulated
search results about the 2024 election to benefit Kamala Harris and to
harm President Trump, and it is the same Google that suppressed search
results of the attempted assassination of President Trump in Butler,
PA.
Big Tech has waged a war on conservatives for too long. It is time
that the American people see accountability out of these platforms.
I yield the floor.
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