[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 207 (Tuesday, December 9, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8564-S8565]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



               Unanimous Consent Request--H. Con. Res. 58

  Mr. SCOTT of Florida. Mr. President, when I talk to families in the 
State of Florida and around the Nation, I often hear how they are 
struggling to make ends meet. The cost of healthcare is up. Owning a 
home has become nearly unattainable.
  The former administration pushed the American dream further and 
further out of reach for so many families all across our great Nation.
  I grew up in public housing, and my family didn't have much. I look 
across the country and see families just like mine growing up, doing 
everything they can to make ends meet. But I knew back then that I had 
the opportunity to do anything because the American dream was alive. As 
Governor and Senator, my goal has been to keep the American dream alive 
so every family can have the same opportunities I did.
  That dream and those opportunities don't exist under socialism. When 
crazy radicals in New York City and across this country villainize 
capitalism and push socialism, they forget they have benefited from the 
very system they criticize.
  Socialism has never worked. It is an old, barbaric, discredited idea 
that failed every time it has been tried. Look at Cuba and Venezuela 
and the many families that fled those brutal regimes to live in my 
State of Florida. It kills those opportunities.
  We need to drive down costs. The answer isn't more government; it is 
less. We don't need more government decisions. We need fewer government 
decisions. We need to do what we did in Florida--cut taxes, reduce 
government regulations, and grow jobs.
  The United States was built on individual freedoms and opportunities 
and the right of every individual to pursue the American dream, despite 
coming from nothing, just like I had the opportunity to do. That is 
what this great country stands for.
  This resolution is a stark reminder for the far left: Socialism is a 
failure, and Americans will always reject it.
  As if in legislative session, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to the immediate consideration of H. Con. Res. 58, which was 
received from the House; further, that the resolution be agreed to, the 
preamble be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be considered made 
and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Curtis). Is there objection?
  The minority whip.
  Mr. DURBIN. Reserving the right to object, this is an interesting 
resolution. It passed the House of Representatives, and I am not sure 
what the vote was. My colleague and friend from Florida didn't draft it 
or write it, but he is offering it.
  I took a look at it. It is hard to disagree.
  Do I think that Vladimir Lenin or Joseph Stalin were bad people? You 
bet.
  Mao Zedong, Fidel Castro, Pol Pot, Kim Jong Il, Kim Jong Un, Daniel 
Ortega, Hugo Chavez, Nicolas Maduro? Sure, no questions asked.
  Do I think the Bolshevik Revolution was a good idea? I wasn't around 
at the time, but from what I have read, it was not.
  What do I think about the Great Leap Forward in China, another 
example of socialism?
  The list goes on and on. It lists the crimes against humanity which 
occurred by socialist regimes, and they should be listed and noted in 
this resolution.
  Then it goes on to explain, in terms of Thomas Jefferson and James 
Madison, just what they mean by socialism in this resolution. And that 
is where you lose me, because when it is all said and done, I am a 
little worried.
  When Franklin Delano Roosevelt created Social Security, do you know 
what they called it? Socialism. When Lyndon Baines Johnson created 
Medicare for millions of Americans, do you know what they called it? 
Socialized medicine.
  So in your conclusion, where you say Congress denounces socialism in 
all its forms and opposes the implementation of socialist policies in 
the United States, does that include Social Security? Does that include 
Medicare? I would think those programs might be important in your 
State. They sure are in mine.
  For that reason, I object.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
  The Senator from Florida.
  Mr. SCOTT of Florida. Mr. President, I actually was born in the great 
State of Illinois and lived in public housing there. I grew up in a 
family that could have benefited from things like Medicaid and the Food 
Stamp Program. We didn't have those. Those are great programs, and that 
is not socialism. Socialism is when we take from one group

[[Page S8565]]

and we just give to another with no real basis for it.
  We want safety nets, but socialism is a failed ideology. Nothing in 
this resolution suggests that Medicare is socialism. Nothing says 
Social Security is socialism, because it is not. But it is a failed 
ideology and the antithesis of the American dream.
  We have all been blessed. We grew up in a country that believes in 
capitalism. I invite any of my colleagues that believe socialism is 
good to visit Cuba or Venezuela. I don't see many people flocking 
there. I see them flocking out of there to my great State and other 
States.
  If you want to come and talk about socialism, come to my State, 
especially in the city of Miami, where so many people had to flee 
because they had no country.
  Socialism is a proven path to tyranny, starvation, as my colleague 
brought up--so many things in the resolution--death. I am always going 
to fight for capitalism.
  We weren't able to get this passed. I don't think it suggests that 
great programs like Social Security, Medicare, food stamps, Medicaid--
these things are not socialism. But when you are trying to destroy the 
dream of this country that you can start from nothing and be anything, 
we should all be in favor of supporting capitalism over socialism.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Texas.