[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 212 (Tuesday, December 16, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8750-S8752]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            JEFFREY EPSTEIN

  Mr. President, now on Epstein, 27 days ago, every single Senator and 
all but one Member of Congress sent Donald Trump a simple message. They 
said: Mr. President, release the Epstein files.
  The American people have waited long enough for the truth about 
Jeffrey Epstein. Who knew about his crimes? Who stood by and said 
nothing? The Epstein files may have some very real answers on that. And 
it is time--it is time--for the truth to come out.
  Donald Trump promised to release the files and, to date, he has 
failed to deliver. Well, no more. Congress has spoken, and Donald Trump 
must comply.
  Now, I want to be clear that the ``Epstein files'' is not a fight 
between Democrats and Republicans; it is a fight between those who want 
the truth and those who keep lying to the public, between those who 
want the truth and those who want to cover it up. And if Donald Trump 
won't come clean, if he keeps hiding the truth, the American people are 
going to be asking a very simple question: What the hell is President 
Trump trying to hide? Why won't he release those files?
  Now, because of the law that Congress passed just 1 month ago, the 
Department of Justice has until Friday to release the documents.
  I will be blunt. We fully expect that Donald Trump and Pam Bondi will 
try every trick they can think of to weasel out of fully releasing the 
Epstein files. After all, we are dealing with Donald Trump here, a 
notorious liar, someone who tried desperately to make Americans move on 
from Jeffrey Epstein. Why? Why is Donald Trump so afraid of these 
files? Well, as they say, where there is smoke, there is fire. Mark my 
words, if Donald Trump and Pam Bondi try to hide the truth this Friday, 
the legal and political public backlash will be ferocious. After all, 
it was the public who demanded these files be released. Democrats, 
Republicans, liberals, conservatives--people wanted the truth and 
continue to demand the truth.

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  If Donald Trump releases just some of the Epstein files while 
unlawfully trying to hide others, the American people are going to see 
right through it. They are going to know he is hiding something.
  Over the past few weeks, I have worked with Senate Democrats to 
partner with attorneys for the victims of Jeffrey Epstein and with 
outside legal experts to explore every possibility, prepare for every 
eventuality, and to take every available step to ensure the 
administration fully complies with the law.
  If Donald Trump and Pam Bondi unlawfully withhold Epstein documents 
that they don't want the public to see, we will know about it. And if 
the administration tries to weaponize the narrow and careful statutory 
exemptions Congress provided to hide the truth, we will know about it. 
If the administration provides anything less than a full and 
comprehensive release of the Epstein files, legal and political 
consequences will almost certainly follow.
  In a year when Democrats and Republicans have disagreed so fiercely 
on just about everything, on this issue, both parties are practically 
on the same page. It is how the Epstein File Transparency Act passed 
with near unanimity. The American people want the truth: Democrats, 
Independents, MAGA Republicans, and everyone in between.
  So, President Trump, it is time to release the Epstein files--all of 
them. It is time to stop hiding the truth, Donald Trump. It is time, 
Donald Trump, for you to keep your promise to the American people, a 
promise you campaigned on. And, Mr. President--Mr. Trump--if you fail 
to come clean, the American people will demand to know: What the hell 
are you trying to hide?


                               Healthcare

  Mr. President, now, on healthcare costs, because of the Republicans' 
colossal mismanagement, damage to American healthcare has now been 
done. At this point, the toothpaste is out of the tube. And once 
January 1 comes and people are locked into their new, more expensive 
plans or frozen out of all their plans because they can't afford it, 
there is no putting the toothpaste back in.
  Because of Republicans, millions of Americans will now pay hundreds, 
if not thousands, more a month for health insurance. Even if something 
can get done later, it won't help those who pay more on their premiums 
starting in January.
  It is tragic. It is infuriating. It is shameful.
  Republicans can make whatever policy agreement arguments they want 
about the ACA, but it is insanity for them to act like the right answer 
is to do nothing about the expiring tax credits. It is insanity for the 
Republicans to let people's premiums explode. Yet that is the path they 
are taking.
  Even now, House Republican leaders are on a warpath to let these tax 
credits expire, pushing a hard-right bill that doesn't lower premium, 
doesn't extend tax credits, and doesn't lower people's costs.
  Asked why the House won't vote on the ACA tax credits, Speaker 
Johnson this morning said:

       It was just not to be.

  ``It was just not to be''? Mr. Speaker, tell that to the people back 
home who will go bankrupt paying for healthcare. ``It was just not to 
be'' is an unacceptable answer as the American people are suffering.
  Republicans are the ones in charge. Republicans have the majority. 
There is only one reason in the world why these ACA tax credits are 
expiring, and it is because Republicans have chosen to let it happen. 
It is not that this choice was ``just not meant to be.'' This is a 
choice Republicans have made, Speaker Johnson, and people back home 
will suffer the consequences.
  Republicans can pretend this healthcare crisis is not their fault. 
They can give all the speeches they want about how much they hate 
ObamaCare, but Republicans are the ones in charge. The healthcare 
crisis is squarely on Republican shoulders.
  Democrats warned Republicans months ago that this crisis was coming. 
We gave Republicans 13 chances to avoid the calamity this year, and 
each time they said no.
  The consequences, unfortunately, will be very severe back home. When 
these tax credits expire, premiums will spike, and people will lose 
insurance; people will get sick; some people will die; and many of them 
will go broke along the way.
  When it comes to healthcare, the damage has been done, and Americans 
know it is all thanks to the Republicans.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I came to the floor today to talk about 
the National Defense Authorization Act, which is going to be addressed 
and voted on today.
  As I was coming to the floor, I heard the minority leader talking 
about healthcare, and his phrase was ``the damage has been done.''
  The damage was done the day the Democrats passed ObamaCare. Fifteen 
years ago, every Democrat voted for and every Republican voted against 
the Obama healthcare law, which Republicans said is going to lead to a 
rise in costs for healthcare, fewer choices for Americans, and hassles 
and headaches when it comes to healthcare, in terms of the paperwork 
and the denials and all the issues that come when the government tries 
to run healthcare. That is when the damage was done.
  I should point out to the minority leader: He has no solutions. The 
Democrats have no solutions for the disaster that they have brought 
onto the American people, other than to say: Hey, let's go extend these 
bonus subsidies for another 3 years--$85 billion directly from the 
Federal Government's Treasury to the insurance companies' pockets.
  That is the only solution the Democrats have come up with, nothing to 
address the needs of the American people, nothing to address the high 
copays, nothing to address the high deductibles--no, not a thing; and 
no reforms--certainly, nothing to deal with the waste, the fraud, and 
the abuse, and the corruption that has come with the Obama healthcare 
law and the added-on subsidies and bonus subsidies brought on by Joe 
Biden during COVID.
  That is the Democrats' solution, as Republicans continue to work for 
ways to actually lower the cost of care and bring to the floor, as we 
have last week, a proposal that all the Republicans here voted for that 
said: We need to lower the cost of care. We need to get the money to 
the patients, not to the insurance companies. We need to put choice 
into the hands of patients--and dollars--to allow them to come forward 
with a choice.
  So when the minority leader comes to the floor and says ``the damage 
has been done''--yes, he did it. The Democrats voted for it. Every one 
of them voted for that damage, and now the American people are seeing 
what we have under the Obama healthcare law, which is a program that is 
much more expensive and has fewer choices, more headaches, and more 
hassles. That is the Democrats' solution to the needs of the American 
people.


                   National Defense Authorization Act

  Mr. President, I come to the floor today to talk about the National 
Defense Authorization Act. The bill enacts critical military policy for 
our Nation and for our troops.
  The House of Representatives passed the NDAA last week, and they did 
it with strong bipartisan support. And now it is time for the Senate to 
act.
  The previous administration failed to keep America safe. It allowed 
over 10 million illegal immigrants to flood across our border. It was 
responsible for a deadly and disastrous retreat from Afghanistan, and 
it undermined America's power around the world.
  President Trump and Republicans, in this last year, have been 
restoring peace through strength. Under Republican leadership, America 
is becoming safer and more prosperous.
  This year's National Defense Authorization Act refocuses our 
military. It focuses on our core mission of defending the homeland and 
defending American interests overseas. It deters our enemies and 
defends our Nation.
  Mr. President, in combat, as you know better than any, competence

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matters, not political correctness. The NDAA refocuses our military on 
lethality and readiness, and it rolls back these divisive DEI policies, 
which the Democrats have given us the last 4 years. Those liberal 
Democrat policies took time, money, and attention away from the 
training and preparation and combat effectiveness.
  The bill on the Senate floor today restores policies that are merit-
based and mission-focused.
  Additionally, the NDAA builds on the recruitment surge we have been 
experiencing in this country. We have seen it during the past year, 
during the Trump administration. Recruitment numbers went up. They 
started to go up the day President Trump was elected back to office.
  It gives our troops a well-deserved pay raise and increases 
recruiting bonuses. Better pay improves recruiting and retention and 
the readiness of our troops.
  A stronger military means a stronger America. This bill prioritizes 
defending our homeland, and it does that because threats at home and 
abroad are continuing to increase, and they are increasingly connected.
  We saw that in the terrorist attack in Australia. We also see at home 
that a terrorist gunman from Afghanistan attacked our National 
Guardsmen right here in Washington, DC.
  This bill strengthens the tools needed to keep our border secure. At 
the same time, it invests in the next generation of missile defense, 
and that includes the Golden Dome initiative. It expands counterdrone 
authorities to protect military bases, critical infrastructure, and 
public spaces.
  In Wyoming, protecting the homeland is what we do every day. 
Cheyenne, WY, is home to the F.E. Warren Air Force Base. F.E. Warren is 
home to Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles. These are 
critical to our Nation's nuclear deterrence. The NDAA modernizes 
communications and electrical infrastructure at F.E. Warren for this 
critical program. Furthermore, it invests $4.3 billion in the Sentinel 
missile program. These are the missiles that will replace the Minuteman 
III missiles. Wyoming will be the first to receive these new missiles.

  As China advances hypersonic missiles, modernizing our nuclear 
deterrent is essential to keeping America safe. The bill we are voting 
on today modernizes our military across the board. It is going to make 
our warfighters more lethal and more intimidating.
  Investments in shipbuilding and new fighter aircraft will strengthen 
American dominance in the air, as well as the sea.
  At the same time, cutting unnecessary spending will make the Pentagon 
more efficient, more effective, and more accountable.
  The National Defense Authorization Act restores America's ``Arsenal 
of Democracy.'' For far too long, bureaucratic hurdles slowed 
production. They stifled innovation. And this bill removes those 
barriers and accelerates the delivery of new technology.
  During World War II, American industrial strength was decisive to 
victory. Industrial strength is the foundation of safety and security 
and of our liberty. When we innovate, we deter aggression. Weakness 
invites conflict. That is what happens. Weakness invites conflict. My 
friend and colleague Senator Kennedy of Louisiana always says, 
``Weakness invites the wolves.'' Strength deters the enemy. It deters 
and prevents wars.
  Under this bill, we are sending a clear message--a message that we 
will defend our Nation, that we will support our troops, that they will 
outbuild and outinnovate our adversaries and never apologize for 
American strength.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. SCHATZ. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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