[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 21 (Thursday, January 29, 2026)]
[Senate]
[Pages S357-S373]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
LEGISLATIVE SESSION
______
CONSOLIDATED APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2026--Motion to Proceed--Resumed
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the Senate will
resume consideration of the motion to proceed to H.R. 7148, which the
clerk will report.
The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:
Motion to proceed to Calendar No. 302, H.R. 7148, a bill
making further consolidated appropriations for the fiscal
year ending September 30, 2026, and for other purposes.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Iowa.
National Trafficking and Modern Slavery Prevention Month
Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, January is National Trafficking and
Modern Slavery Prevention Month. For that reason, the senior Senator
from Nevada and I are introducing a resolution to raise awareness and
honor the victims.
Every day, victims are trafficked across the world. Each person has a
role to play and ought to be vigilant in preventing the vulnerable from
becoming victims of trafficking.
As chairman of the Judiciary Committee, I will continue to support
legislation like the Working Families Tax Cut law to give law
enforcement all the resources it needs to protect people from the
scourge of human trafficking. I will also continue to push legislation
like the Senate-passed Preventing Child Trafficking Act, which would
ensure our Federal Agencies take needed steps to protect in a better
way potential victims.
So, today, please join me in raising awareness. And to those who may
be victims, please know that there are resources available to you. If
you are in Iowa, please visit stophtiowa.org, or, anytime and anywhere,
you can text ``HELP''--H-E-L-P, obviously--to 233733.
I thank the Senator from Nevada for joining me in this effort.
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. THUNE. 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the quorum call be rescinded.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 Majority Leader
The majority leader is recognized.
Working Families Tax Cut
Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, there is almost nothing parents won't do
for their children. From the moment they
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hand you that little bundle, your whole life becomes about giving them
a better life, ensuring that they have every opportunity that you can
give them, and setting them up for success. Most often, that starts
with a good education. So last year, Republicans set out to support
parents and empower them to make the choices they believe are right for
their children's future.
For decades now, the 529 savings plan has been a powerful tool for
parents to save for their kids' education. At first, 529s could only be
used for college, but in 2017, Republicans expanded the eligible uses
of 529 plans to include K through 12 expenses as well. And in last
year's Working Families Tax Cut, Republicans again expanded 529 plans
to include a number of education investments: tutoring, vocational
education, homeschool materials, and continuing education. And on top
of that, we doubled the amount that you can spend from your 529 account
to $20,000 a year. These reforms will help more Americans find success,
whether they need a little help getting through algebra or want to
pursue a career in the trades.
As we mark School Choice Week this week, I also want to note how the
Working Families Tax Cut supports scholarships for students who attend
the school that best suits them. I am a proud product of public
schools, the son of two public school educators, and both of our
daughters graduated from our local high school. Students can get a
great education at their public school, and they are a point of pride
for many communities. But I also understand that some parents would
like to send their child to a school outside of their district or to a
nonpublic school or choose to homeschool.
My home State has been a leader in offering open enrollment, which
allows students to go to the public school of their choice, even if it
is not the school closest to home, or to enroll in another school
district altogether. South Dakota gets it.
And I am not surprised that we were one of the first States to opt in
to the scholarship initiative created in the Working Families Tax Cut,
which encourages private support for scholarships that will help
students cover a variety of education expenses and enable them to take
advantage of the type of educational freedom that South Dakotans have
long enjoyed. And I am glad to see that more than 20 States have
already pledged to participate in this important initiative to
encourage donations to K through 12 scholarship funds.
Our bill doesn't stop there. The Working Families Tax Cut provided
additional funding for Pell grants and created the Workforce Pell Grant
Program, which will support students pursuing shorter term job training
programs that prepare them for in-demand skilled jobs.
Then there are our actions tackling the high cost of college degrees.
The cost of a college education is out of control. Research suggests
that a number of degree programs now have a negative return on
investment. The answer isn't throwing more Federal dollars at the
problem; it is putting downward pressure on tuition and holding schools
accountable for the value of the education they provide.
That is what Republicans did last year. We implemented accountability
measures to rein in high costs. We also streamlined student loan
repayment programs, simplifying the process and providing much needed
clarity to folks repaying their loans.
And we ensured that graduates won't have to pay taxes on tuition
assistance from your employer, a measure that I introduced and this
bill makes permanent.
The education provisions in the Working Families Tax Cuts gives the
next generation more opportunities to get ahead and succeed. But before
I close, I want to talk about another part of this bill that sets
America's next generation up for success. That is the new Trump
Accounts.
These new investment accounts provide parents with another vehicle to
save for their children's future, to invest that money and let it grow
over the years. And when those children turn 18, that money--thousands
or tens of thousands of dollars--will be tax advantaged and can be used
for education, to start a business, or to buy their first home.
In short, Trump Accounts will help the next generation get a head
start on their American dream.
And for children born between 2025 and 2028, the government is
offering an initial $1,000 investment in Trump Accounts. We have also
seen similar activities from philanthropists and matching commitments
from various companies for their employees. A number of those
initiatives were announced during yesterday's Trump Accounts summit at
the White House.
Musician Nicki Minaj was among those at yesterday's summit. She grew
up in a housing project in a family that faced its share of financial
struggles, and she is now raising her own family.
She recently said of Trump Accounts:
This program will benefit everyone--decreasing the gap for
future prosperity between children who traditionally aren't
born with a full bank account and children who are.
I hope that parents will take the opportunity to learn about this
option to invest in their children's future because the more people
learn, the more they will see the potential to set their children--an
entire generation of Americans--up for success.
A good education is the key to opportunity. It is one of the best
gifts that parents can give to their children. Thanks to the Working
Families Tax Cuts, the next generation will have greater educational
freedom and be empowered to seize more opportunities and to find
increased success.
Our legislation puts our Nation's children on a smoother path to
achieving the American dream, and it gives a whole generation more
opportunities to get ahead.
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.
Department of Homeland Security
Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, this is a moment of truth for the United
States of America. What the Nation witnessed on Saturday in the streets
of Minneapolis was a moral abomination. Federal agents shot and killed
Alex Pretti, an American citizen, in broad daylight.
It was the second time that agents killed a U.S. citizen in 2 weeks
after the tragic killing also of Renee Good.
Enough is enough.
What ICE is doing outside the law is state-sanctioned thuggery, and
it must stop. It is state-sanctioned thuggery, and it must stop.
Congress has the authority and the moral obligation to act.
This morning in Minneapolis, Tom Homan, Donald Trump's border czar,
held a press conference. He didn't say much of significance, but he did
say one thing that was important. Here is what Homan said:
For the people out there who don't like what ICE is doing,
if you want certain laws reformed, then take it up with
Congress.
For the people out there--
Homan said,
--who don't like what ICE is doing, if you want certain laws
reformed, then take it up with Congress.
I don't agree very much with Mr. Homan, and he is certainly not my
choice for someone to lower the temperature in Minneapolis, but he is
right in saying the epicenter of change has to be Congress--not the
executive branch.
And change is desperately needed because the images of masked men
beating up people in the streets and shooting American citizens in
broad daylight have shocked the conscious.
Alex was holding his hand up. He had one hand up and another hand
holding, I believe it was, a radio, and they shot him many times. It
made every American recoil to see that our law enforcement is doing
that to our citizens.
It is confounding. It does not look like America in these pictures.
Oh, no. And it has been unleashed by Donald Trump and the people under
him--Noem, who should be out of there. Thank God they got rid of
Bovino. His face, when you saw, it looked like he was grimacing like a
thug.
This has got to stop.
Congress must step up to the plate. The Republican majority must step
up
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to the plate. Republicans in Congress cannot allow this violent status
quo to continue. They must work with Democrats on legislation--real
legislation, strong legislation--to rein ICE in.
Let me be clear: Democrats are ready to pass five bipartisan funding
bills in the Senate. We are ready to pass them today. We are ready to
fund 96 percent of the Federal Government today, but the DHS bill still
needs a lot of work.
So after meeting yesterday as a caucus, Senate Democrats are united
on three main goals that will rein in ICE and end the violence--rein in
ICE and end the violence: first, end the roving patrols; second,
enforce accountability; third, masks off; body cameras on. Each officer
must have visible--visible--ID.
Now, no one thinks we are going to solve every single problem in one
fell swoop. But the American people are demanding that something gets
done. And, of course, to pass legislation and enshrine this into law,
we need our Republican colleagues to come along with us.
So, again, first, we need to end ICE's indiscriminate patrols. We
need to tighten the rules governing the use of warrants. ICE needs to
stop the mass chaotic patrols. They need to work with State law
enforcement, local law enforcement--not against them.
That means no more ICE agents barging into people's homes without a
judicial warrant. When does that ever happen in America? It is a
flagrant violation of the Fourth Amendment.
It also means stopping the dragnet harassment of American
communities.
Second, we need accountability. ICE needs to be held to the same
basic standards as any law enforcement agency in the country. We need a
uniform code of conduct for ICE and all Federal agents, just like State
and local law enforcement have. If they violate these standards--like
in the instances of Renee Good and Alex Pretti--they must be held fully
accountable.
And we need independent investigations, not ICE investigating
itself--ICE, the leadership of which is a bunch of liars. We don't
trust them to do the investigation.
Most Americans might be shocked to learn that these basic rules do
not apply right now to Federal agents like ICE. It is the kind of thing
most people would just assume is already in place because it is so
obvious, but that is not true when it comes to ICE. They are operating
effectively outside the law, and a small glimpse of a video taken by a
bystanding citizen shows it every day, every minute. You see these
videos. Again, you recoil. It is not America. It is thugs roaming our
streets.
Third, we need the masks to come off, and we need the body cameras to
stay on. No more secret police. Masks must come off, and body cameras
must stay on. Agents need to carry clear identification. The public
deserves transparency as it always has asked for with law enforcement.
These three--ending roving patrols; enforcing accountability; masks
off, cameras on--are commonsense reforms. They are reforms that
Americans already expect from law enforcement.
Now, the onus now is on Leader Thune and Senate Republicans to work
with Democrats to turn these goals into legislation. They are in the
majority--the Republicans are. They are the ones who have
responsibility to govern, and Democrats are ready to come to the table.
If Republicans refuse to work with us to rein in ICE and to end the
violence, they are telling the American people they are choosing to
protect ICE over choosing to protect people's safety.
Americans, by and large, support law enforcement. I do. And most
people support border security. I do as well. But Americans do not
support ICE terrorizing our streets, operating outside the law, killing
American citizens.
The madness and violence must end. Congress must act to rein in ICE
and end the violence--rein in ICE and end the violence.
The American people deserve nothing--nothing--less.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Sheehy). The majority whip.
Government Funding
Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, on the Senate floor today, right now,
are six bipartisan appropriations bills--six--bills to keep America
safe, bills to keep our government funded and government open, bills
that the Senate Democrats have helped draft, bills that the majority of
the House Democrats have voted for.
These are bipartisan bills, and they fund the rest of government for
the remainder of the fiscal year. Every Senator should vote yes.
Americans are counting on our government to stay open, to keep people
safe.
Today, Senate Democrats are threatening to block these bills, not
just to vote against them but to actually block us even getting the
bills to the floor for debate.
So, once again, Democrats are threatening to shut down the
government. If the vote we are about to take here today in the Senate
doesn't succeed, if the bill stalls out, the government will shut down
tomorrow night--Friday night--about 36 hours from now.
Let's talk about the painful consequences because here they are: no
funding for FEMA. Now that is the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
It would be disastrous to shut down FEMA in the middle of a major
winter storm. It is affecting half the country, and it appears that
another storm is along the way.
A shutdown would mean no paychecks for our troops, once again; no
money for TSA agents or air traffic controllers. This is at the time
the country is trying to get back on the move again. These are the
consequences, and they are painful.
Now, we all remember the Democrat shutdown at the end of last year.
That was the longest shutdown in the history of the American
government. It was the politics of pain delivered by the Democrats.
The last Democrat shutdown was about covering up the many failures of
ObamaCare. This Democrat shutdown would be about prioritizing illegal
immigrants over American citizens. The Democrat shutdown does not
change the immigration law, nor will it halt immigration law
enforcement.
Even Senate Democrats admit that publicly. That is because
Republicans already put into law the largest investment in border
security and immigration enforcement in the history of this Nation.
Let me be clear: The vote that we are going to take, in just a few
minutes, to advance the six bipartisan appropriations bills allows us
to avoid a shutdown, to keep the government open, to make America
safer.
The bills that are on the floor fund disaster assistance through
FEMA. They hire thousands of new air traffic controllers. They fund TSA
agents, the Coast Guard, and our military. They give our troops a well-
earned and well-deserved pay raise. They support housing assistance for
vulnerable families. They improve roads, bridges, and ports across the
Nation. They upgrade our Nation's outdated air traffic control system.
All of that is in front of us today.
These bills are the product of the Senate working the way it was
designed to work. They reflect months of bipartisan committee work and
good-faith negotiations.
I applaud Senator Susan Collins of Maine. She is the chair of the
Senate Appropriations Committee. These bills are the product of her
determination to deliver for the American people.
It is time for the Senate to vote yes, and every Senator should vote
yes to avert a painful shutdown.
Republicans are going to keep working with Democrats to keep the
government open. This Nation deserves safety and security, not another
government shutdown.
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.
Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order
for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, Democrats have been very clear. We have
five bills in this package we would be happy to pass today on their
own. We are all in agreement on funding for childcare, cancer research,
air traffic controllers, our troops, and more. But we have also been
clear that we cannot and will not move the DHS bill without real
progress on accountability.
ICE and CBP are out of control, and we cannot approve that bill until
commonsense reforms are included. That is
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what the vast majority of the American people are demanding, and many
Republicans now also say that must happen as well.
So Congress, all of us, need to act. Peaceful protesters and American
citizens are being targeted, detained, attacked, and killed. We have to
say no to what this President is doing.
So while I am very glad to see that the White House and Republicans
are now talking with Democrats to finalize a plan to pass the five
bills and split off DHS, until that deal is finalized, I will be a no
on this vote.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Maine.
Waiving Quorum Call
Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to waive the
mandatory quorum call in relation to the motion to proceed to Calendar
No. 302, H.R. 7148.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to be permitted
to complete my remarks before the vote begins.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Government Funding
Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, I urge my colleagues to vote to end
debate on the motion to proceed to the six-bill package of
appropriations legislation sent to us by the House of Representatives.
These are fiscally responsible funding bills that reflect months of
hard work and deliberation and contributions from Members of both
parties and on both sides of the Capitol.
I would like to take a few moments to highlight some of the key
aspects of these bills.
Let's begin with the funding for the Department of Defense. This
legislation provides U.S. military services with the funding needed to
deter China and Russia, supports our servicemembers and their families,
and strengthens the defense industrial base. It addresses major funding
gaps across the board, such as in shipbuilding. The bill provides a
critical downpayment toward an additional DDG-51, the workhorse of the
U.S. surface fleet, and invests in additional Columbia- and Virginia-
class submarines.
The bill also provides multiyear procurement authority for critical
munitions production, a priority for the President. It funds drone and
counterdrone technologies, which, as we have learned in both Ukraine
and Israel, are increasingly changing the nature of the battlefield.
And it sustains security cooperation with close allies and partners
whose growing defense capabilities are force multipliers for the United
States and contribute to the deterrence of shared adversaries. This is
especially true of our NATO allies who are increasingly increasing
their own domestic levels of military investment at the push and
encouragement of President Trump, and appropriately so.
Finally, the Defense bill invests in our most precious asset: the men
and women of our Armed Forces. The bill fully funds the 3.8-percent pay
raise for servicemembers and the additional pay raise for our junior
enlisted servicemembers, showing our commitment to their readiness,
well-being, and mission success.
The second bill is the National Security, Department of State, and
Related Programs bill. It used to be known as the State, Foreign
Operations bill. It contains security assistance for key allies and
partners, including Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Taiwan, and the Philippines.
The bill also supports important global health programs. It continues
support for the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, known as
PEPFAR, which has saved a remarkable 26 million lives since 2003,
including the lives of 8 million babies born to HIV-infected mothers.
It is difficult for me to contemplate another global health program--
and we have many good ones--that has had more of a positive impact than
PEPFAR. In many ways, I think it was President George W. Bush's
greatest legacy.
Turning to the Labor, HHS bill, this appropriations bill would
prioritize funding to help make Americans healthier, and it robustly
funds lifesaving biomedical research.
This has been a top priority of mine, and I know of many other
Members as well, including the subcommittee chair, Shelley Moore Capito
and her ranking member, Tammy Baldwin.
Funding for NIH is not decreased, as was proposed in the
administration's budget. Rather, it is increased by $415 million,
including increases of $100 million for Alzheimer's research and $10
million more for diabetes research, with a focus on type 1 diabetes.
This bill also makes critical investments in our Nation's children
and families and invests in America's workforce. It includes funding
for childcare programs to help low-income working families and for
apprenticeship programs to help us reach the goal of 1 million new
active apprentices.
The bill also includes more funding for low-income heating
assistance, which is absolutely crucial for States like Maine and is an
issue that I have worked for years on with my Democratic colleague Jack
Reed of Rhode Island.
The Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development bill focuses on
our most pressing transportation challenges, including modernizing our
Nation's outdated air traffic system. And I give Secretary Duffy a
great deal of credit for coming up with a workable, much needed plan in
that area. It would also address the air traffic controller shortage
and provides a pay raise there as well.
The bill invests in critical infrastructure, like our roads, bridges,
ports, and rail.
At the same time, the appropriations will continue to fully fund
existing rental assistance for more than 4.6 million households to
ensure that seniors, the disabled individuals, and working families who
currently receive such assistance are not put at risk of homelessness.
The Financial Services and General Government bill funds core
government functions. It increases funding for taxpayer services at the
IRS, reallocates resources to strengthen court security, and helps keep
our Nation's Capital--Washington, DC--safe for both residents and
visitors.
As the vice chair of the committee has mentioned, there has
understandably been a great deal of attention focused on the Homeland
Security portion of the package, given the events of the past week. The
horrific shooting death of Alex Pretti must be thoroughly and
impartially investigated, and President Trump has promised that it will
be investigated both impartially and thoroughly.
The Homeland Security funding bill includes important provisions that
we put in during the negotiations that would make such incidents less
likely to occur. For example, it includes $20 million for body-worn
cameras, which help to protect both law enforcement officials and those
with whom they are interacting. It includes $2 million to ensure that
training requirements include how to deescalate an encounter with
protestors. Yet another important provision of the bill empowers the
inspector general to review and investigate detention centers.
These are all critical reforms, but it does not mean that we cannot
do more. But to do more, we need to get onto the bill so that we can
make the critical decisions that are being negotiated by leadership in
both the House and the Senate and the White House as to how we proceed.
Do we split off the Homeland Security bill and pass the other five and
put Homeland Security on a continuing resolution, which will, by the
way, delay implementation of the three reforms that I just discussed?
Or do we try to amend that part of the bill with the agreed-upon
additional precautions and safeguards?
We can't do that if we don't get onto the package.
It is also worth noting that more than 80 percent of the funding in
the Homeland Security bill is for non-immigration and border security
functions. For example, 35 percent of the funding of the Homeland
Security bill is for FEMA. And think about what FEMA has been doing on
the ground, right now, due to the horrific storm that we have
experienced.
It includes $35 billion for FEMA to help State and local governments
prepare to respond to disasters, including funding for programs that
help local law enforcement and our firefighters that are so important.
It includes funding for the nonprofit security grant program that helps
organizations like synagogues, churches, temples, and mosques protect
themselves from terrorism.
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Another important component of this bill supports our Coast Guard.
Think of our Coast Guard personnel out in this terrible weather, being
available to rescue our fishermen, our lobstermen, or others who are in
trouble. The Coast Guard provides critical safety, security, and
stewardship functions from Maine to the Caribbean, to the Arctic and a
myriad of places in between.
The bill provides funding to secure our borders and to stop the flow
of the illegal drugs, money, weapons, and people being trafficked into
our country by cartels and transnational criminal organizations. It
includes funding for TSA to help keep Americans safe while they travel,
as well as funding for a 3.8-percent pay raise for air traffic
controllers to help address the serious workforce shortage that also
can affect air safety.
Mr. President, my hope is that we can come up with an agreement that
allows us to proceed to this bill and to provide some additional
safeguards. Those negotiations are underway right now. But if we don't
get on to this package, we cannot change this package. I think that our
colleagues on the other side of the aisle need to recognize and
acknowledge that.
I want to end by noting the tremendous work of the full committee
staff, my staff and Senator Murray's staff. I particularly want to
acknowledge the hard work of Betsy McDonnell, who has worked night and
day as the staff director. I want to thank our subcommittee chairs and
ranking members and their staff, who have worked so diligently and are
so dedicated.
I know the conversations are continuing even as we speak between the
administration and Congress on how to complete action on the Homeland
Security portion of this package. This morning's vote is about taking
the first step--not the final step--to consider the package on the
Senate floor. I urge my colleagues to support cloture on the motion to
proceed to this vital appropriations package.
Cloture Motion
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Pursuant to rule XXII, the Chair lays before
the Senate the pending cloture motion, which the clerk will state.
The legislative clerk read as follows:
Cloture Motion
We, the undersigned Senators, in accordance with the
provisions of rule XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate,
do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the motion to
proceed to Calendar No. 302, H.R. 7148, a bill making further
consolidated appropriations for the fiscal year ending
September 30, 2026, and for other purposes.
John Thune, Chuck Grassley, Ted Budd, Tom Cotton, Cindy
Hyde-Smith, Katie Boyd Britt, John R. Curtis, John
Cornyn, Bernie Moreno, Tommy Tuberville, Roger
Marshall, David McCormick, Jerry Moran, Markwayne
Mullin, Tim Scott of South Carolina, Tim Sheehy, Susan
M. Collins.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. By unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum
call has been waived.
The question is, Is it the sense of the Senate that debate on
Calendar No. 302, H.R. 7148, a bill making further consolidated
appropriations for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2026, and for
other purposes, shall be brought to a close?
The yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule.
The clerk will call the roll.
The legislative clerk called the roll.
The yeas and nays resulted--yeas 45, nays 55, as follows:
[Rollcall Vote No. 13 Leg.]
YEAS--45
Banks
Barrasso
Blackburn
Boozman
Britt
Capito
Cassidy
Collins
Cornyn
Cotton
Cramer
Crapo
Cruz
Curtis
Daines
Ernst
Fischer
Graham
Grassley
Hagerty
Hawley
Hoeven
Husted
Hyde-Smith
Justice
Kennedy
Lankford
Lummis
Marshall
McConnell
McCormick
Moran
Moreno
Mullin
Murkowski
Ricketts
Risch
Rounds
Schmitt
Scott (SC)
Sheehy
Sullivan
Tillis
Wicker
Young
NAYS--55
Alsobrooks
Baldwin
Bennet
Blumenthal
Blunt Rochester
Booker
Budd
Cantwell
Coons
Cortez Masto
Duckworth
Durbin
Fetterman
Gallego
Gillibrand
Hassan
Heinrich
Hickenlooper
Hirono
Johnson
Kaine
Kelly
Kim
King
Klobuchar
Lee
Lujan
Markey
Merkley
Moody
Murphy
Murray
Ossoff
Padilla
Paul
Peters
Reed
Rosen
Sanders
Schatz
Schiff
Schumer
Scott (FL)
Shaheen
Slotkin
Smith
Thune
Tuberville
Van Hollen
Warner
Warnock
Warren
Welch
Whitehouse
Wyden
(Mr. MORENO assumed the Chair.)
(Mr. SHEEHY assumed the Chair.)
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Hagerty). On this vote, the yeas are 45,
the nays are 55. Three-fifths of the Senate, duly chosen and sworn, not
having voted in the affirmative, the motion is not agreed to.
The motion was rejected.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority leader.
Motion to Reconsider
Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I have a motion to reconsider.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The motion is entered.
The Senator from North Carolina.
Federal Emergency Management Agency
Mr. TILLIS. Mr. President, nearly a year ago, Secretary Noem visited
Western North Carolina to see the devastation caused by Hurricane
Helene firsthand.
That day, the Secretary told the crowd in Bat Cave, NC, that ``the
previous administration failed in many areas and we're going to learn
from that and do better,'' a sentiment that I shared wholeheartedly.
Secretary Noem highlighted some of the actions taken in the early
days of President Trump's second term to remove all of the redtape that
previously slowed the Department down and Western North Carolina's
recovery. These actions were sorely needed, and I fully supported what
she intended to do.
Now let's fast forward a year. Earlier this week, the New York Times
reported that approximately 17 billion, with a ``b,'' in Federal
disaster funds for States has been delayed over the past year.
The article states:
The delays stem from a directive issued by Ms. Noem in June
that said any expenditure of $100,000 or more must be
approved by her office, which oversees the disaster agency,
to root out ``waste, fraud, and abuse.'' The bottleneck
includes money that had already been approved by regional
FEMA offices for things like debris removal and repairs to
roads, bridges, and water and sewer systems.
This is being delayed, folks. This new reporting sadly confirms what
the people of Western North Carolina have known for the past year.
This chart shows a comparison between FEMA obligations and outlays in
Hurricane Matthew and Hurricane Florence under President Trump in his
first term. The obligations and outlays to date for Hurricane Helene
under the second Trump administration are these marks.
Down here is what I would call, in my management consulting days,
best practice. We had storms, Florence and Matthew. We knew what the
State and local governments needed. We got it out without any delay.
Now, under Noem's leadership, which is supposed to be more efficient,
more effective, and more responsive to the disaster in Western North
Carolina and the other States that were affected, it looked like the
EKG of somebody who is having a heart attack. It makes no sense. This
chart shows a comparison between FEMA obligations and outlays for
Hurricanes Matthew and Florence under the first Trump administration
with the FEMA obligations and outlays to date for Helene under the
second Trump administration.
The data clearly shows that something is seriously wrong here. Under
Secretary Noem's lack of leadership, FEMA has invented an entirely new
set of bureaucracies, the likes of which I have never seen, and I am in
a State that deals with a disaster almost every season.
We are about to have another one potentially this weekend, and we
just are recovering from an ice storm last weekend. And I have got this
to deal with. What do I tell my citizens of Western North Carolina? The
result has not been the elimination of waste, fraud, and abuse in the
Federal disaster spending; instead, Secretary Noem's new review
processes have indefinitely prolonged disaster recovery efforts across
the country and inflicted needless pain onto already vulnerable
communities and people.
Yesterday, in my office, I was notified that FEMA released more than
$233 million in Helene-related reimbursements. They are approved to
move to North Carolina. This is great news. And these resources are
severely
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needed in Western North Carolina. However, when you dig into the
details of the announcement, it becomes clear that this money is long
overdue.
Again, this list is just from yesterday's announcement alone--$200
million for North Carolina Emergency Management as partial
reimbursement for their emergency expenses incurred in the first 6
months of Helene--folks, we are well past 6 months--meaning this is
only part of what the State is owed before March of 2025. We are in
2026, folks.
There is nearly $9 million for the Blue Ridge Electric Cooperative
for repairing and replacing electric and fiber infrastructure. Great,
glad to see it come. For comparison, this is roughly equivalent to what
Blue Ridge Electric spent on fiber for the entire year in 2023.
Mr. President, 1.8 million for the town--this is one I hope people
pay attention to, 1.8 million for the town of Lake Lure to rebuild its
marina and docks. For those that don't know, Lake Lure is some of the
most iconic scenes that you are going to find in the movie ``Dirty
Dancing.'' That is where that movie was filmed out in Western North
Carolina.
The entire economy depends on access to the lake through the marina.
The Corps of Engineers recently finished removing more than a million
cubic yards of debris just from the lake itself.
After losing more than a year of tourism revenue, the town hopes to
reopen the lake and the marina at some point in the spring or summer.
This one award represents more than 20 percent of the town's general
fund budget for this fiscal year, and it is just coming.
There is 22 million for the NCDOT for road repairs. Again, much
needed funding, but to put things in perspective, I don't know, if you
have not been through Western North Carolina, I-40 is a two-lane road
now. It was down to a single lane at one point. We have managed to get
two lanes. Everybody thought it was going to be done in a year-and-a-
half. I told everybody they are crazy. Now it looks like it is going to
be 2027. It is going to cost $2 billion, twice what we thought it was,
and we hope it gets opened by 2027. It is trending more like 2028.
So think about that, a major interstate section, a major economic
corridor between my State and the Presiding Officer's State of
Tennessee is at a trickle right now. That is the sort of damage we are
experiencing every day in North Carolina. And yet, I have got a
Secretary of Homeland Security who thinks, at one point, FEMA shouldn't
even exist and now is running the organization like some amateur.
So moving from yesterday's funding approvals, I want to share the
plight of 1 of the 39 Helene-impacted counties in North Carolina,
Yancey County. It is home to some of North Carolina's most cherished
natural resources, including Mount Mitchell. If you want to win a bar
bet, ask somebody what is the highest peak east of the Mississippi
River. They are probably going to say Mount Washington or somewhere up
in New England. It is actually in the great State of North Carolina at
almost 6,700 feet, a little over.
But Yancey County was at the epicenter of Hurricane Helene's impact
in North Carolina. There is a good chance, if you remember any of the
devastating images of the aftermath of Helene, you are probably
thinking about Burnsville, the Yancey County seat. To date, Yancey
County has incurred $50 million in debris removal costs alone for
Hurricane Helene, far exceeding the annual budget of the county of $37
million.
You would think that today, more than 16 months after Helene, Yancey
County would have received a significant amount of funding from FEMA to
help the county recover from this historic devastation. Well, you would
be wrong under the so-called leadership of Secretary Noem.
As of today, Yancey County received a grand total of $5.7 million
from FEMA. Remember, we are talking about a $50 million debt right now,
a $50 million deficit in a small county--$5.7 million. And of that,
only $3 million of it was for debris removal.
In fact, Yancey County has not even been approved for a $5 million
Community Disaster Loan that the county began application process for
in October of 2024, after the hurricane impact. The county was told
just last week that FEMA should have an answer for them by June of this
year. Good on you, Secretary Noem, 2 years late--more than a year-and-
a-half after the storm, folks.
This is completely unacceptable and, sadly, just wrong.
So it is not a secret that I have problems with the Secretary of
Homeland Security and the way that her failed leadership has led to
unconscionable results in Minneapolis.
I thank the President for putting an adult in charge who actually
knows law enforcement by having Mr. Homan go there. He is going to
lower the temperature. He is going to keep the law enforcement officers
safe. He is going to make Minneapolis safer. Thank God we have adult
supervision there.
But another part of the Secretary of Homeland Security job is
disaster response, and I cannot tell you enough how incompetent, based
on the facts, she is on that score as well. The people of western North
Carolina, the people of eastern Tennessee, the people of South
Carolina, Georgia, and Florida who were affected by Helene deserve
better. No reasonable businessperson would accept this in the C-suite.
She needs to get out of the C-suite.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from West Virginia.
Energy
Mrs. CAPITO. Mr. President, this week--this is no news flash here--a
major winter storm brought snow, sleet, frozen rain, and bitter, bitter
cold temperatures to most of the middle and eastern parts of the
country. I rise today to really highlight dispatchable baseload power--
coal, natural gas, and nuclear--the role those items played in keeping
the 200 million Americans impacted by this winter storm safe and warm.
Common sense tells us that in the peak heat of summer or the depth of
a winter cold, we are going to consume more electricity. Americans
expect, very reasonably, that our country's energy policies will result
in affordable and reliable electricity so that they can keep their
homes cool in the summer and warm in the winter. If we know that demand
for electricity is at its peak during times of extreme heat or extreme
cold, such as we are experiencing--I think it was 6 degrees this
morning--then it would make sense that our energy policy would
prioritize those generation sources that are available to meet the
demand when electricity is needed the most.
So which sources of energy showed up this week? Not surprisingly,
fossil fuels and nuclear power provided the bulk of electricity during
this week's storm and the intense cold that has followed.
PJM Interconnection is the electric grid operator in all or parts of
13 States--including my State of West Virginia--that were impacted by
this winter storm. In a filing with the Department of Energy, PJM
projected that its highest ever--highest ever--winter peak electricity
demand would take place on Tuesday morning of this week. At 8 a.m. on
Tuesday morning, fossil energy sources, including coal, natural gas,
and oil, provided two-thirds of PJM's power, and another 23.6 percent
of that was nuclear power. So that means that at a time of record
winter electricity demand, 90 percent of the load was shouldered by
baseload energy sources.
Electricity is just part of the story because natural gas is also
used for residential heating in many of the same areas, providing
energy beyond what is reflected in electricity generation sources.
This chart here really shows--it is from the Energy Policy Research
Foundation, and it shows PJM electricity generation by source for the
past week. It illustrates just what I have said--that fossil fuels and
nuclear carried the load across PJM throughout this week's winter storm
and its aftermath.
The solid-blue here represents nuclear. It stayed solid--like you
would a baseload energy resource.
Similarly, the red shows the reliable supply of electricity from coal
plants. You see it fluctuates a little bit, but it is still very steady
and very meaningful.
The green shows electricity produced from natural gas--the largest
single source in the PJM region. There is the green.
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At the very top, what you see here is you see the relatively small
amount of electricity produced from wind, solar, and hydroelectric
sources.
What is notable is not just that the renewable sources generate
smaller amounts of electricity, but see how sporadic they are. This is
through a whole week here of the last storm we just had. So you can see
from the chart that solar energy, which is yellow, basically disappears
at night, of course. Then on Saturday, we had all that cloud cover, and
again--or Sunday, cloud cover, too, from the snow. No generation. Wind
power produced more on Friday--wind is the blue--but then it basically
disappears on Saturday because the wind wasn't blowing.
So I highlight this chart not because I want to pick winners and
losers among our energy sources. To the contrary, I believe all types
of energy, all of this, including renewables, should be part of our
energy mixture. But our country must have enough dispatchable baseload
energy--that is from green on down--the type of reliable power that
fossil fuels and nuclear provide, if we are going to stay warm in
situations such as this during the depths of the winter.
The Biden administration, like the Obama administration before this,
did everything possible to shut down our coal fleet. The Biden EPA had
an entire strategy for pursuing multiple regulations, and I will just
name a few of them: Clean Power Plan 2.0, ELG rules for powerplants,
coal ash regulations, unachievable particulate matter rules, ozone
rules, and the MATS rule--all to make it impossible to keep a coal
plant open.
As the Wall Street Journal editorialized on Monday, coal is an
especially valuable part of our grid during periods of peak winter
demand because months of fuel can be stockpiled onsite at a plant--you
see this all over West Virginia because we have not just the resource
but the power generation from it--and can be used to supply more
electricity when natural gas is also needed for residential heating.
On the oil and gas side, the Biden administration imposed a natural
gas tax designed to make energy more expensive for consumers. The
administration canceled the Keystone XL Pipeline and, working with
their allies in State governments, stood in the way of pipelines that
could move abundant natural gas produced in West Virginia,
Pennsylvania, and Ohio to gas-starved areas in our Northeast and in our
Southeast.
I was very proud of the bipartisan work that we did in passing the
ADVANCE Act to make nuclear licensing more efficient, but even that
overwhelmingly bipartisan bill took years longer to pass because of a
handful of Democrat opponents.
So I am glad that we had sufficient dispatchable power to make it
through the winter storm this week, but I am not convinced that we
would have if we had continued the Biden administration's radical
opposition to the energy sources that people rely on to keep them warm
in the winter and cool in the summer.
I appreciate President Trump, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, Energy
Secretary Chris Wright, and others across the administration for their
commonsense approach to regulation that allows us to keep producing and
utilizing the energy resources that we need, especially during periods
of peak demand.
Going forward, I will continue working with my colleagues on both
sides of the aisle to lock in commonsense permitting reform so that
projects of all types, including sources of dispatchable baseload
electricity, can be permitted through a fair and efficient process.
Government Funding
Mr. President, I am going to switch gears here to another hat that I
wear, and I want to talk about another topic--and that is the progress
we have made in restoring a functioning appropriations process--and the
critical importance of the work before us. But first, I would like to
thank our Appropriations leaders Chair Collins and Vice Chair Murray,
as well as Leader Thune. I applaud them for their steadfast commitment
to returning to regular order, and I am glad to see that our work has
brought these bills to the Senate floor.
In particular, I am proud of the work we accomplished in a bipartisan
fashion on my Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related
Agencies bill. It is a big bill. I would like to thank all of my fellow
committee members for their input. We received 12,000 total member
requests for this bill.
As Senator Baldwin and I begin our fourth year this year of working
on this subcommittee together, I am pleased that we are once again able
to bring forward a bipartisan bill that reflects targeted investments,
disciplined decision making, and a shared commitment to meeting the
needs of the American people.
The Labor-H bill allocates limited taxpayer resources to key
bipartisan priorities, and it does so at a lower level than we did in
fiscal year 2025. In fact, it decreases the base discretionary cost of
the bill by $3.2 billion compared to fiscal year 2025.
To achieve this, the bill reduces or eliminates funding for more than
40 programs and activities and realigns spending to reflect Republican
values and priorities, while continuing to deliver on areas where
agreements exist across the aisle.
The bill includes a number of Member priorities, such as greater
investments in America's biomedical research, childcare, mental and
rural health, workforce development, and continued efforts to combat
the opioid epidemic.
As we work to rightsize the Federal Government, the bill also
includes targeted decreases in administrative funding while ensuring
that our Agencies have appropriate staffing levels to carry out their
statutory responsibilities.
We also preserve longstanding, consensus-driven policy provisions and
reject the inclusion of any new controversial riders. That stability is
really important, not only for our Agencies but for our families, our
workers, and communities counting on the programs that we authorize.
A major priority in this bill is our sustained commitment to the
National Institutes of Health. We provide funding for NIH to support
lifesaving biomedical research, which touches us all, and research that
makes Americans healthier. It strengthens our economy and pushes the
boundaries of what is possible in medicine.
This investment includes targeted increases for research in critical
areas such as Alzheimer's, diabetes, Parkinson's, women's health,
maternal health, rare diseases, and cancer.
We also increase support for NIH's IDeA Program, which expands
research capacity in 23 States, including my home State of West
Virginia, and continues to be important for institutions like West
Virginia University and Marshall University.
The bill strengthens our efforts to combat substance abuse--an issue
that still continues to affect many families and communities across the
country and my State most deeply. So we are supporting prevention,
treatment, research, and recovery programs. If you look at the latest
statistics, we are actually bringing the statistics down, but they are
still way too high. We bolster support for rural healthcare programs.
Rural America is tough to get healthcare affordable and accessible in
some ways, but we are trying to increase access to care for more than
60 million Americans who live in rural areas.
Critically, we maintain important conservative policy riders, like
the Hyde and Weldon amendments, ensuring the bill reflects longstanding
bipartisan consensus.
The Labor-HHS bill focuses on our children from early childhood
through postsecondary education, ensuring that they are prepared for
the jobs of today and the jobs of tomorrow. This includes critical
infrastructures to help American workers upskill and to advance in
their careers. We include funding for apprenticeship grants to support
the Trump administration's goal of creating 1 million active
apprenticeships.
The bill is important to our country. But make no mistake, it is
really important to my State of West Virginia, for our universities,
our hospitals, dozens of nonprofits and workforce programs, treatments
for our coal miners and those suffering from opioid addiction. All of
these things help my fellow West Virginians. And I know this because I
hear directly from them about it every single day. My driving force in
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crafting this bill was to help meet those needs for my fellow
Virginians, and I am proud to say this bill does just that.
Mr. President, as encouraging as this progress sounds, our work is
not done. The American people expect Congress to fulfill its most basic
responsibility: funding the government responsibly and on time. Every
delay undermines confidence in our institution and forces our Agencies
into wasteful, short-term planning cycles.
Completing this work is not about a partisan victory. It is about
good government. It is about keeping our commitments. It is about
demonstrating that Congress can function and can work together to
deliver real results. That is why we must come together to pass this
package. It ensures that the priorities that we carefully crafted,
debated, and agreed to on a bipartisan and bicameral manner can
actually be carried out.
So, once again, I want to thank Chair Collins for her leadership
throughout this process. I encourage all my colleagues to vote
positively on the entire package. We saw earlier, it didn't pass. But
we still have negotiations moving so we can responsibly fund the
government. This is what the American people sent us here to do.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Kansas.
Anniversary of Flight 5342
Mr. MARSHALL. Mr. President, I rise today to mark a solemn
anniversary, one that continues to weigh heavily on the hearts of
Kansans and families across this great Nation.
It was a year ago today that flight 5342 left Wichita, KS, en route
to Washington, DC. As we all know, it never reached its destination.
Sixty-seven lives were lost, amongst them, seven Kansans. Certainly,
families were changed forever.
Today, we pause to remember those lives and honor their memory and to
stand with the loved ones who carry this burden every day. Kansans
grieve together. When tragedy strikes, we don't do it alone. We lean on
each other, we lean on our faith, and we lean on our communities.
Today, we just want to remember those who were lost, remembering
these were Kansans. They were sons and daughters, husbands and wives,
parents, friends, and coworkers. And many were simply doing what so
many of us do every day: traveling for work, for family, or to return
home.
The best way we can honor those we lost is by remembering them and
learning from the tragedy. We tried to ensure there was full
accountability since this tragic accident. We tried our best to ensure
complete transparency, and then take a look to the future to see what
we could do for the safety of future flights. And, certainly, we owe it
to their families and to the memory of these loved ones to pursue these
improvements and never forget why it matters.
I recall a phone call early the next morning from the mayor of
Wichita, KS, Mayor Lily Wu. She asked me--and we have a good
friendship. She said, ``Roger, what can I tell the people of Wichita so
they know that it is safe to travel on this flight?''
And she pointed out this is the busiest runway in all of America. She
asked me: Why was a military helicopter in that airspace?
So I picked up the phone and I asked our Secretary of Transportation
and our Secretary of Defense that same question: Why would a helicopter
be in that airspace?
At that moment--or shortly minutes after that, they grounded any
helicopters from being in that airspace.
Then what did the Senate do? I am so proud of what my colleagues have
done. Senator Moran helped lead the charge on that--and many others. We
passed the ROTOR Act out of the Senate, which would implement
commonsense reforms to ensure a tragedy like this never happens again.
I would hope that our colleagues on the House side would also pass this
bill and we can get it to the President's desk.
Just in closing, here we are a year later, and we are here to
remember, to honor, and try to figure out the best ways to move
forward. But at the end of the day, we want the families of those back
home to remember that we have not forgotten about their loved ones and
that their lives did matter.
I think I would be remiss not to express gratitude to the first
responders that we met that night out in the frigid cold, sacrificing
their lives, diving into the chilly waters in hopes of finding someone
whom they could save. Thanks to all of our first responders.
Finally, of course, we pray that God would continue to comfort the
families who lost their loved ones.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Tennessee.
Tennessee
Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, I would like to take a moment and
express my gratitude for the Tennessee National Guard, the Tennessee
Emergency Management Agency, our Governor, our electric power
distributors, and our first responders, who are in every county, for
working around the clock, as well as local elected officials. I thank
everyone who has stepped up to help keep Tennesseans safe during this
horrific storm, as it is truly one of the worst winter storms that has
hit our State in decades.
At its peak, you had over 200,000 people in the Middle Tennessee area
who were without any power. Days later, people are still waiting for
that power to come back on. We are hearing from some people that they
have been told it is going to be days or weeks before that power is
restored, and we know that everyone is working as quickly as they can
to restore this. We are grateful for the support that has come from
surrounding States in order to help in ours.
We know people are really braving these downed powerlines, these
hazardous roads, frozen pipes, and frigid temperatures. We have lost 13
individuals connected to the storm, and I am joining all Tennesseans in
mourning their loss and in praying for their families. We also are
focusing on making certain that roads are cleared, that water mains are
repaired, and that power is restored.
I am continuing to get updates from mayors across our State and
especially there in the mid-State, and I am so grateful for President
Trump's swift approval of Governor Lee's emergency declaration request
so that we can get our State the resources that we need.
As we recover, I encourage everyone to stay off the roads, to stay
home, and to be mindful of all of the recovery crews that are out
working and to stay safe.
Online Ticketing Practices
Mr. President, any American who has purchased tickets for a concert,
a sporting event, or a show knows that online ticket-selling is broken.
Scalpers are using AI-powered bots and software programs to scoop up
hundreds and thousands of tickets at a time. They are forcing some
events to sell out within just a minute or two of the window's opening
for ticket purchase. With no other options, consumers are forced into
the secondary, or resale, market, and scalpers are marking up ticket
prices to extreme rates.
The consequences have been disastrous for the ticket-selling
marketplace. In 2022, Ticketmaster's website crashed after scalpers
used bots to purchase thousands of tickets for ``Taylor Swift's Eras
Tour,'' reselling them by as much as 70 times the face value.
One of the scalpers involved in the fiasco is a U.S.-based company
that is actually located in Maryland. It is called Key Investment
Group. They purchase more than 375,000 event tickets over the course of
a year. In the process, they clear millions of dollars in markup
resale.
These scalpers add zero value to the ticket-selling market. Fans are
extorted to go see their favorite singers, teams, and entertainers.
Performers do not see a dime of the money that these bots and scalpers
are skimming.
This practice is illegal. In 2016, I led the enactment of the Better
Online Ticket Sales Act, or the BOTS Act, which prohibits ticket
scalpers from using software to purchase high volumes of tickets. Yet,
under the Biden administration, the FTC rarely enforced the law, and
scalpers like Ticketmaster turned a blind eye and bypassed the
safeguards to prevent mass ticket buying. In some cases, the company
allegedly engaged in bait-and-switch schemes with scalpers to drive up
the ticket price.
Live Nation, the company that owns Ticketmaster, even, allegedly,
provided tech support for scalpers by helping them aggregate tickets
purchased from multiple Ticketmaster accounts.
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The reason is simple: If Live Nation enforced its ticket-purchasing
limits, then Ticketmaster would lose $220 million in resale revenue.
But by working with the scalpers, it was able to collect fees at three
different points in the purchase and resale process.
This extortion of the American people is inexcusable. That is why
Republicans and the Trump administration are demanding accountability
from ticket sellers and cracking down on the fraudsters.
In September, Senator Lujan and I sent a letter to Live Nation's
president, demanding answers about his company's abusive practices.
Yesterday, I chaired a hearing for the Senate Commerce Subcommittee
on Consumer Protection, Technology, and Data Privacy on live
performance ticket sale practices. We had the opportunity to hear from
Kid Rock, who explained how bot scalpers harm the entertainment
industry. I also questioned a representative of Live Nation, who had no
explanation for why his company is putting fraudsters ahead of hard-
working Americans.
Thankfully, the FTC, under President Trump and Chairman Ferguson,
have launched several enforcement actions under the BOTS Act, including
against Live Nation, Ticketmaster, and scalpers like Key Investment
Group. Unlike the Biden administration, the Trump administration is
enforcing the BOTS Act, as it is intended, to hold accountable both
ticketing platforms and scalpers.
In the entertainment industry, nothing is more important than the
relationship between the performers and their fans. With the exploitive
practices of these scalpers and Ticketmaster, bot-powered scalpers
threaten that bond. Republicans are doing everything possible to hold
these criminals to account.
I yield the floor.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The senior assistant bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. HICKENLOOPER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the
order for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Moreno). Without objection, it is so
ordered.
The Senator from Colorado.
Department of Homeland Security
Mr. HICKENLOOPER. Mr. President, we like to believe that when
democracy erodes, it is unpredictable and in some ways out of our
control, but history tells us a different story. Authoritarianism rises
through a time-tested playbook. These leaders have learned which moves
weaken opponents, which tactics will rally a crowd, and which moments
of fear or crisis work best to their advantage.
They don't need to invent new strategies. They can run familiar
plays. There is one target we are watching this administration go after
the hardest, and that is the truth. They begin by attacking every
source of independent information. It started with universities and
colleges. They moved on to our largest research institutions. They
discredited or tried to discredit every journalist whose reporting
differs from their own narrow point of view, and in doing so, they have
tried to make the administration and the President the sole source of
truth.
We have seen this play out in Minneapolis during the past few weeks.
So let's get a few facts straight.
On January 7, ICE officers shot and killed Renee Good while she was
in her own car. She was a mother of three, originally from Colorado
Springs. Then, again, this past weekend, Americans watched the
videotape of Federal immigration agents shooting and killing Alex
Pretti. They fired 10 times in 5 seconds.
It is sickening. No family should have to witness their loved one
being killed in such a fashion, and yet, obviously, Alex's parents did.
His parents live in Colorado. I connected with them earlier this
week. Among other things, they wanted to make sure that we do
everything we can to make sure that Alex's name is out front, that we
keep their son's story alive to make sure that his life wasn't lost in
vain. They have asked for truth and accountability. What they are
getting--what all of us are getting--are excuses and lies--lies about
their son. The reality of who Alex Pretti was doesn't fit the
administration's playbook, so they are filling the airwaves with lies,
repeating them over and over and over to try to somehow get them to
stick.
DHS Secretary Noem, within hours of Pretti's death, said:
It looks like a situation where an individual arrived on
the scene to inflict maximum violence . . . and kill law
enforcement.
Next, it was Greg Bovino, Trump's now-fired Border Patrol commander,
saying that Pretti intended ``to massacre law enforcement'' and that he
``violently resisted.''
Stephen Miller called Alex Pretti a domestic terrorist, with Vice
President Vance and President Trump promoting that sentiment and that
blatant lie from their pulpits.
By this point, we have all seen that video from multiple angles. We
have seen it with our own eyes. Alex was not a terrorist. He was in no
way an assassin. He was a U.S. citizen exercising his First Amendment
right to protest ICE's lawlessness.
This week, families in Eagle County, CO, experienced another type of
cruelty that fits into this administration's playbook. They found
``death cards'' left in the automobiles of their family members who
were taken away by ICE agents. These cards--I hold one up here--have a
history of being used by White supremacist groups to intimidate people
of color. Death cards is what they call them. These cards found in
Colorado had the address and phone number of the Aurora ICE detention
facility printed on them. Aurora is a neighboring city to Denver.
Now, imagine just for a second that you haven't heard from your
brother, your sister, and when you finally find their empty, abandoned
car, it has one of these death cards sitting in the driver's seat. I
mean, this is cruelty for the sake of cruelty, and it fits into the
troubling pattern that we are seeing coming from some of the top
officials in the White House.
This morning, I voted against a government funding that would have
handed billions of dollars to DHS. Continuing to fund ICE while Federal
officers terrorize our cities and kill people is unconscionable. We
need to stop ICE officers beating Americans, killing Americans,
arresting Americans without due process, taking away the civil rights
of Americans.
The overhaul of ICE that we are demanding is common sense. The fact
is that these are all basic standards of local law enforcement, who go
after violent criminals, gangsters--in many ways, the worst of the
worst. These are standards that those local police officers already
follow.
ICE needs, first, to take their masks off. They need to turn on body
cameras. They need to be clearly identified. There can be no
accountability without transparency.
No more unmarked vans and masked agents pulling people over and
pulling people away and arresting them to wherever. No more roving
patrols. ICE needs to have judicial warrants signed by a judge. They
need to stop arresting children on the side of the road and end these
cruel family separation policies.
Secretary Noem--what she said, I think, is untenable and
unacceptable, and I think she needs to resign. But let's be clear. ICE
is carrying out the policies of our President, so just changing
leadership at ICE or DHS is not going to be sufficient. We have to
fundamentally overhaul the lawlessness of these organizations.
This administration is asking us to ignore what we can see with our
own eyes. They get us to a point where we mistrust so many sources of
information, and they force us to rely on believing what we see. They
are asking us to believe lies about Alex and about Renee, about what is
happening in Minneapolis, but we watched the videos. We saw those
videos.
Those words matter--``we watched,'' ``we saw''--because they
acknowledge a larger truth that binds us all together. We saw what
happened. We saw what happened. We saw the cruelty, and we saw and
understand that it needs to end.
Asking us to make peace with that cruelty is asking us to ignore the
values that make us Americans. It is telling us to believe that somehow
we owe nothing to each other--not to our neighbors, not to our
community, not to our country. We will not. We know
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the truth, and we are not going to look away.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Budd). The Senator from Oklahoma.
National School Choice Week
Mr. LANKFORD. Mr. President, this body disagrees on a lot of things--
a lot. But we should have at least one thing we can agree on. It is
pretty simple. Kids are different.
You get three kids in a room and all three of those kids are very,
very different. I know. I have two daughters, and they are different. I
love them both deeply, but they are very different. I find that in a
lot of different families.
Students and kids are different. One kid likes football. One kid
likes baseball. Another kid doesn't like any sports at all. One likes
the band. One likes choir. One likes drama. One doesn't like any clubs
at all. One is in Latin club and another is in chess club and the other
thinks chess club is dorky. You know why? Because people are different.
That seems normal for us to be able to think about that most basic
thing, that not everyone is the same and not everyone chooses the same
things that they like or has the same needs. But sometimes when we get
into school, we will say: Oh, but they all need to go to the same
school. I just disagree.
In America this week--this is actually School Choice Week. Some
people may or may not even track that. That is fine. There is a week
designated for everything across the country. But in Oklahoma, we
really prioritize the ability for every family to be able to make their
own choices for education for their kids. We have strong homeschooling.
We have strong private schools. We have strong public charter schools.
And we have public education. All of them are important to us, and all
of them provide different options for families. Now, we have still got
a long way to go in education in Oklahoma, but we are investing more
and more and more into education. And I am proud of our State
legislators prioritizing--in this coming session--reading for early
childhood education and to make sure that we are doing the things that
we need to do to improve our public education.
In the meantime, we want to continue to provide options to every
single family and to every single kid to be able to make sure that the
best education environment is out there for that particular child
because we want every child to be able to thrive in America. We want
every child to be able to have the opportunities that they need to be
able to be successful in the days ahead, and that starts with a great
education.
Quite frankly, some of our districts are doing not as well as others.
Some are doing great, and some are struggling. I don't want a single
family in my State, though, to have to think: My kids have to go to a
certain school because of the ZIP Code that I live in and that is the
only option. Quite frankly, I don't even want for families to say,
``Every one of my kids has to go to the same school,'' because
sometimes it just doesn't work the same.
Now, I have heard some folks that are very passionate about public
education, which, by the way, I am too. My mom was a lifelong public
school educator. My degree was in secondary education. My family is
very, very involved in education, and I am very passionate about public
education. I think it is vitally important that we do it and that we do
it very, very well. But I want to make it very clear for all of the
folks whom I meet who say: If you will just give us a couple more
years, this will improve. Give us a couple more dollars and a couple
more semesters and this will get better for this particular school. I
want to remind them that the kid growing up next to that school doesn't
have a couple more years. It has to be right now for them. They can't
wait until things get better. They only have today. So that is why
school choice is so incredibly important, that every family and that
every kid has the options to be able to get a better education or to
get an education that exactly fits them best. That works better.
This past July, we passed the historic Working Families Tax Cuts Act.
In that act, we did a lot of investment in education.
We expanded the 529 savings account to allow more parents to be able
to set aside funding for private education if they choose to do that
and put that in their 529 so it can grow tax-free.
We invested more into Pell grants and expanded the growth of Pell
grants.
Now, you might say: Why does that matter for K through 12?
Well, Pell grants have been really targeted towards institutions that
do what is called terminal degrees. So, if you are a kid in poverty and
you want to get a degree in philosophy, we would help you do that. But
if you are a kid in poverty and you want to get a certification in
welding or in plumbing or in carpentry or as a truckdriver, we would
say: You are on your own. Well, what in the world? For years, we have
been fighting this to be able to say: If we are going to help somebody,
give them more options than just a 4-year degree. If they want to do
certification programs to be able to get into a vocation faster, why
wouldn't we help them do that to be able to rise out of poverty? We
fixed that in the Working Families Tax Cuts Act to expand the use of
Pell grants so that more individuals who are in poverty can get access
to education that helps them get a job even faster.
We actually reversed some changes that were done in the FAFSA. I am
not even going into all of the issues of the FAFSA and for getting into
higher education, but it actually blocked out kids from agricultural
families because of the land and the equipment that they owned. They
may be land rich, but they are often cash poor, and they were still
blocked out of getting Federal assistance and getting a higher
education. We finally fixed that, and there are a lot of other areas we
fixed.
We also set up a new program where individuals could actually give to
school choice for other families they will probably never ever meet. It
is to help them in the days ahead be able to have an option for private
education when they couldn't get there.
I have folks who catch me on this occasionally and will say: You talk
about school choice all the time and the different options for
families. Do you just hate public education or why is this such a big
deal to you?
I smile at them and remind them of my mom and of my own past and that
I am very, very passionate about public education and that we need to
make sure we are investing in doing that well. But if I have a quiet
moment with folks when they say to me, ``Why do you care so much about
school choice?'' I will tell them there are two reasons. One is that my
State cares about this a lot. Our homeschool programs and our programs
for private education are thriving, and we have great public charter
schools. We have a lot of great districts around, but in many of our
districts, according to our State law--even in our public education in
Oklahoma--you can choose from one district to another district even if
you don't live in that ZIP Code for that district so that you even get
school choice in Oklahoma even in public education. It is a big deal to
us, but it is a big deal to me personally because I have personally
experienced it.
You see, my mom--a single mom, a public school educator--did not make
much. There was a time when I was in elementary school, and so was my
brother, that education was not working for us. So my single mom
sacrificed everything for my brother and me to go to private school. I
went to private school for 2 years, and then she ran out of money. My
brother continued on for a while, but I went back into public school,
which there is no complaint there, but I watched, even in my own
family, my mom say: I wish we had different options. As a public school
educator and a single mom, she made the hard call to say: I have got to
figure out a better place because my kids will only get one shot at
education, and it has got to count.
I could not tell you how grateful I am for my mom and the sacrifices
that she made for my brother and me because it made all the difference
for us, but it is because she made a choice, where you would have
looked at her and said she had no choice. She figured it out. We all
sacrificed a lot, but education was just that important to her.
I don't want that to just be for my family. I want that option for
every family. I want the option for every kid to have the opportunity
to get the best possible education for who they are, because my brother
and I--I love him--
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but we could not be more different because we are two different kids,
which is just like a lot of other families. So please don't say every
kid has to do education exactly the same way when we all know every kid
is different.
Why don't we give families the option to choose what is the best
education environment for that particular kid and to allow them to
thrive in the days ahead? I think that is better for kids--to allow
them to have a choice--and for every family to get that choice as well.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Florida.
Mrs. MOODY. Mr. President, as you may know, we are recognizing
National School Choice Week, and I thank my colleague for organizing
those of us who believe dearly in educational options for children to
come to the floor and speak about what we have accomplished and what we
hope to accomplish on behalf of America's kids.
As you may know, in addition to being a U.S. Senator, I am also a mom
of a kid in school who has gone to many different kinds of schools over
the course of his educational career, and I am honored to serve as a
cohost this week with the chairman of the HELP Committee Senator
Cassidy, as well as my friend Senator Tim Scott to represent the long
strides that my home State of Florida has taken to make us the best
State, I believe, in the Nation for educational freedom.
This did not happen overnight. It took decades of thoughtful
policymaking and implementation and tweaks along the way, and we are
still working to get it right. But I wanted to show up here today and
tell my colleagues about how Florida has set its kids on paths to
success by thinking outside the one-size-fits-all approach for
education. That has happened from tireless work from parents, from
advocates, and a State government that has transformed Florida from a
State with poor performance across the board to a leader nationwide in
education.
We went from having graduation rates at just 60 percent, with less
than 1 percent of K through 12 students attending a public charter
school, and fewer than 10 students in the State receiving a K through
12 scholarship in 1999. I will say that again: a 60-percent graduation
rate. In the decades that have followed--today, I am proud to say
Florida now has a graduation rate of 92 percent of its kids graduating
on time. That coincides with when we really started pushing educational
options for our kids, beginning with Governor Bush right up until our
current Governor Ron DeSantis, who got to make this great announcement.
We were one of the first States, a few years ago, to adopt universal
school choice. Close to 1 in 8 of our students now attends a public
charter school--a public charter school--and more than 450,000 students
receive some form of K through 12 scholarship, including the Florida
Tax Credit Scholarship.
For our children in Florida, school choice has been an invaluable
tool for success no matter their background, their means, or what ZIP
Code they live in. It is these accomplishments in Florida that drive me
now as a U.S. Senator to ensure that all of America's kids can prosper.
I have been a proud champion of the Education Freedom Tax Credit,
which is now, I am proud to say, signed into law. Not only do Florida
kids have access to all of the options that we have provided to them
through State law, but they now have access to supplemental resources
that were provided through the Education Freedom Tax Credit. I thank my
colleagues, and I thank the President for supporting this measure as,
now, 2 million children across the Nation will be able to seek the
schooling that best fits their needs. This is another way that we are
empowering parents: by supporting educational freedom across the
country.
As we wrap up National School Choice Week, we must remember and keep
advocating publicly because there are some States that have the
opportunity to opt in but refuse to do so, and that breaks my heart for
the many kids who could benefit from what is available to them through
educational choice. We must continue to remind the rest of America
about the success we have seen in States that have embraced educational
alternatives and have seen what it means when you place an emphasis on
individual school needs and student needs, not ZIP Codes or economic
means.
The individual needs of students and the individual circumstances of
students should drive their opportunities for success. The
possibilities are endless when we do away with that one-size-fits-all
approach and empower parents to choose what best fits their individual
child. That is why I commit to continuing to advocate for school
choice--so that all of America's kids see the same opportunities that
we have been able to offer to the children of Florida.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Colorado.
Trump Administration
Mr. BENNET. Mr. President, for many months, the Trump administration
has unleashed a campaign of fear across American cities, deploying
thousands of immigration agents onto our streets and into our
neighborhoods in an effort to terrorize and punish communities.
In Chicago, Portland, Los Angeles, and most recently Minneapolis, we
have watched masked Federal agents in unmarked cars snatch people from
the street, destroy private property, and leave others bloodied on the
side of the road.
We have witnessed an approach to internal immigration enforcement
that no President in our history has pursued, that no President would
ever have conceived because of how fundamentally it violates our
principles and the rule of law.
We have witnessed children separated from their parents--a 5-year-old
detained by armed agents in Minnesota--people pulled from their cars,
their engines still running.
All us have read reports of people grabbed off the sidewalk and
abandoned hours later, miles away.
Every step along the way, Donald Trump's immigration troops have
escalated tension on our streets with total disregard for the rule of
law, basic safety, and their own accountability.
These events would be terrible enough, but even as communities across
the country have struggled to pick up the pieces left in their wake, we
have been forced to contend with another injustice: an administration
that has tried to convince us time and time again that what we have
seen with our own eyes is not the truth, that somehow the opposite has
taken place, that reports and testimony contradicting the
administration's position are simply political propaganda.
Over and over again, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and others in the
administration have lied to the American people and to Congress about
what we are all seeing in plain sight. Now they are lying to justify
the murder of Alex Pretti.
Right after the shooting of Alex Pretti in the street, Noem went on
national television and told us that Alex was ``brandishing'' a
firearm, ``impeding'' the law enforcement officers and attacking them,
and that he acted ``violently'' or ``reacted violently'' when officers
attempted to disarm him. She insisted that ``an agent fired defensive
shots'' and that it appeared that this was ``a situation where an
individual arrived at the scene to inflict maximum damage on
individuals and kill law enforcement.''
Stephen Miller, who works at the White House, called Alex a domestic
terrorist and a would-be assassin. Vice President JD Vance amplified
these statements.
Gregory Bovino, a senior Border Patrol official who is serving as
``commander at large,'' maintained that Alex had intended to
``massacre'' law enforcement agents. At a press conference, Bovino
turned the facts completely upside down, insisting that the victims of
Saturday's violence were the Border Patrol agents that were there.
Bovino, by the way, has served as the face of the administration's
operations as they have swept through America's cities--in Chicago, in
Charlotte, in New Orleans and then Minneapolis.
The American people deserve to know the truth, and Alex Pretti and
his family deserve to have the truth told about him and what he did.
Thanks to a number of courageous bystanders at the scene, we know
what happened that day, and we know that everything that Noem and
Miller and others have said has been lies. The truth is that Alex put
himself between
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Federal agents and a woman they were shoving in the street. He had been
filming Border Patrol agents detaining someone else on the side of the
road when he went to help this woman. The officers responded by pepper-
spraying him and wrestling him to the ground, where he was quickly
surrounded by a group of seven agents. They struck him repeatedly with
the pepper spray canister while he lay in the street. One officer took
away his gun--a gun that had remained holstered and that Alex was
legally allowed to carry. Then, disarmed and incapacitated, they shot
him in his back. They shot him at least 10 times within 5 seconds.
Alex Pretti was killed by his own government, and then his government
immediately began to lie about him and what had happened. He did not
attack the agents. He did not threaten them. And at no point did he
pull a gun. In the video of that horrific scene, it is clear that an
agent disarmed him before any shots were fired. Multiple agents held
him to the ground. Three of them beat him.
No reasonable person would have believed he posed any threat to the
agents or anyone else at the scene, but the agents still shot him. They
shot him 10 times.
(Mr. HUSTED assumed the Chair.)
In the days since his murder, we have learned a lot more about Alex
from those who knew him and loved him. Alex was a dedicated ICU nurse
at the Veterans Affairs hospital in Minneapolis. His colleagues
described him there as helpful and kind and that he was uniquely
capable of handling things with integrity and with grace.
His high school classmates remember him as a role model. They
recalled him being a really good friend and a really good man.
Alex loved his country, and, like many of us, he was deeply concerned
about the Trump administration's actions and the devastating effects
they are having on our democracy.
It is true that he had very strong feelings about the presence of ICE
on his city streets, but the day he was killed, Alex was exercising his
First Amendment rights to peacefully protest and document the actions
of Federal agents as they threatened his community.
Alex's parents, Michael and Susan, live in Colorado. They want the
world to know the truth about what happened that day and the truth
about the kind of person their son really was.
They told the world that Alex wanted to make a difference in the
world. His patients and colleagues, friends and family testified to the
fact that he did, and it is another tragedy that he will no longer be
able to continue to do so.
But Alex's murder is only the most recent outrage we have been
subjected to by a reckless and out-of-control DHS. On January 7,
Federal agents shot and killed Renee Good in Minneapolis. Renee was a
mother of three and a native of Colorado Springs. The next day, Federal
agents shot and wounded two people in Portland. A week later, Federal
agents shot and wounded another man, again, in Minneapolis.
It is worth remembering that these are just a few of the instances
that have occurred in broad daylight and in public spaces, where
bystanders have been there to witness these brutal activities firsthand
and managed to capture video of what happened.
But if this is what is happening out in the open, it is hard to
imagine what is happening behind closed doors.
Last year, 32 people died in ICE custody. That is the most in over 20
years. Given the total lack of transparency and accountability that we
have seen from ICE, we can't be sure what has happened to these people.
There have been reports about sexual abuse of detainees. There are
disputed facts over deaths that occurred in ICE custody.
People in ICE facilities have reportedly been forced to ration food.
They often go days or weeks without their prescription medicines or
access to medical care.
Overcrowded detention facilities leave the lights on 24-7, and
families report extreme violence and intimidation by guards.
These stories are consistent for people held in detention across the
country, including in the detention facility in Aurora, CO. But the
administration has lied about all of them.
President Trump has claimed that Renee Good was a ``professional
agitator,'' that she was ``very disorderly, obstructing and resisting,
then violently, willfully, and viciously ran over the ICE officer.''
Noem described Good's efforts to leave the scene peacefully as ``an
act of domestic terrorism.'' Her Department issued a statement saying
that ``violent'' rioter had ``weaponized her vehicle.''
In October, Noem and her Department lied when she said no U.S.
citizens had been arrested, detained, or deported.
In November, Federal Judge Sara Ellis described Gregory Bovino as
``evasive,'' ``not credible,'' and declared that he was ``outright
lying'' when questioned under oath.
A consistent pattern of lies corrodes American's faith in our
government, which is already stretched dangerously thin. It strikes at
the core of our constitutional system, which requires at least some
basic level, some basic fidelity to facts in the conduct of our public
affairs and our public discourse.
When the Secretary of Homeland Security appears on television to
insist repeatedly on her preferred version of events, she is not just
offering another lie that must be rebutted; she is insisting that there
could never be a truth that actually mattered to the American people or
to our sense of public safety or to our exercise in self-government.
And that is what is at stake here. If we allow this to continue, we
risk falling into a degraded version of political debate when there are
so many lies and so many contested facts, that the American people
regard any claim with exhausted cynicism and suspicion. And if we go
too far down that path--and we are headed a long way down it right
now--the only guaranteed outcome will be greater contempt felt by
Americans for their government and for the political process.
They will withdraw from public life, and the possibility for genuine
political disagreement--in other words, a debate over what to do in the
face of facts, rather than over the facts themselves, or unwilling to
even have a discussion about it because of our permanent partisan
division--will be erased.
Every one of us has a responsibility at a moment like this, and we
know from American history that, in some ways, the most significant
resistance in moments like this comes from the public itself. It comes
from the people of this country. I could see that on the steps and the
grounds of the State capitol in Colorado, last weekend, when thousands
of Coloradans were there to rally, not just for themselves but for
their fellow citizens in Minnesota and across our country.
I think, when times are tough, we often have a tendency to think that
we are living in uniquely bad times. But I believe that way of thinking
almost always does a disservice to the people who have come before us,
who took on even tougher battles with longer odds and who, while they
were doing that and because they were doing that, bequeathed to us
their own legacy of resistance and the possibility of change, no matter
how hard it seemed. And I think we should look to those battles for
inspiration in our time.
It is important for us to tell our kids about those battles, to make
sure they understood what those fights actually looked like and how
hopeless, at times, those fights seemed to the people that were waging
them.
When I was growing up--and I know this is true for many of my
colleagues who are here--the moral character of this country was
defined by the civil rights movement, the struggle against segregation,
and the fight for equality. This fight, this battle--the effort to
demolish centuries of legalized discrimination and disenfranchisement--
never was going to be easy, and many believed that it was nearly
impossible. And there were others who believed that it shouldn't have
been fought to begin with. And, I would say, to this day, we have a
long, long way to go.
The structure of Jim Crow, of the poll tax, of separate and worse
schoolrooms and hospital wards and lunch counters had been built up
over generations. State laws had established these exclusionary
practices. State officials enforced them, and State courts upheld them.
There was no guarantee that they would ever come crashing down, but
they did because the leaders of the civil
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rights movement and ordinary citizens in the streets and in America's
pulpits, and reporters and journalists sent their reports on the
demonstrations. And the conditions of real life in the South of this
country made it impossible to ignore the facts.
It was harder then than it is in our own time just to turn the
channel and imagine that that alternate reality didn't actually exist.
For people in that country, with the broadcasters--ABC and CBS and
NBC--it was impossible for the public to ignore what was right before
their eyes.
The success of that generation of brave Americans was achieved
because they forced a broad swath of this country, a majority of this
country, to finally see what they would have preferred to be blind to--
the reality of segregation and the subordination of their fellow
citizens under law.
It is a story of moral reckoning and of citizen action. It is a story
of street protests and police brutality and political vacillation, but
it is also a story of American renewal, of our ability to author our
own history, to continue the endless founding and refounding of this
country as generations of Americans lay claim to it and shape it.
I don't believe that we have lost that ability. I don't believe that
we have lost that ambition. I don't believe that people in Colorado and
Minnesota and all across this country have given up on the promise
offered by America, a promise that can only be given and kept to each
other.
As Alex Pretti said himself when honoring a veteran who died in his
care, ``today we remember that freedom is not free. We have to work at
it, nurture it, protect it, and even sacrifice for it.
In the end, it is also not enough for there to be just public
expressions of disapproval. We actually have to change the laws.
Part of our job here as Senators is to uphold the ideals that Alex
and so many others in Minnesota and across Colorado and across the
country believe in and are fighting for. And it is our job here in the
Senate to provide a check on an Executive that our Founders knew was
always susceptible to the temptations of unlimited power. That was
their concern about a unitary Executive, the President of the United
States.
And this week we have an opportunity to be that check. We have an
opportunity to change the law.
The Senate is considering a number of bills to fund the government,
including one that provides over $10 billion to the varied Departments
responsible for the murder of Alex Pretti and the chaos we are seeing
in communities across the country.
It would be unconscionable for us to pass this bill without amending
how ICE or the Border Patrol operate at all.
In fact, we should use this as an opportunity to do it. What better
opportunity will there be?
As written, the Homeland appropriations bill provides no real
accountability, no oversight, no guardrails or transparency. It offers
no guarantee at all that what happened to Alex Pretti won't happen
again.
That is all the more absurd because Republicans gave the Department
of Homeland Security an additional $190 billion on top of the regular
annual appropriations. Think about that--190 billion additional dollars
on top of the annual appropriations last year as part of their Big
Beautiful Bill that they passed on a partisan vote. And this funding, I
can assure you, came with no accountability or oversight at all.
In the midst of all this, it would be a profound abdication of our
responsibility as Senators to entertain the idea of providing more
funding to the Department unless serious reforms are put in place. I
think these reforms are common sense that you would want for any law
enforcement agency operating in America but especially when it comes to
a Federal Agency operating in some sense now as the President's
internal army.
I think the least we could ask is that children are no longer
detained or stripped from their families. Who wants to come to this
floor and debate the opposite of that point?
Immigration officers should take off their masks and provide clear
identification.
There is no doubt in my mind that the minute we get through this
fraught political moment in America, there will be a broad consensus--
in fact, I think there is one now--that ICE shouldn't be separating
children from their families; that law enforcement agents shouldn't be
wearing masks; that they should use body cameras consistently with any
immigration enforcement activities; that ICE stay away from sensitive
areas like schools and hospitals and places of worship; and, consistent
with our responsibility, our duty to provide a check, to provide our
own oversight, that Members of Congress have full access to immigration
detention facilities.
Those are reforms that do not today define the way ICE does its
work--they do define the way a lot of our local law enforcement does
its work--but I think they reflect a massive consensus in the country
about what would fix the challenges we are facing. It would at least be
a basic start in the right direction.
In my view--you might disagree, but in my view, President Trump would
be doing himself and the country a favor if he removed Kristi Noem from
her position and prevented her from doing any more harm to this country
and to our communities and if he removed DHS agents from Minnesota and
other cities across our country.
I would say to all of my colleagues here, Republicans and Democrats,
that we cannot simply accept a promise of change or action or reform
from this administration, which has spent months lying to Congress and
the American people with a straight face. There is no world where we
can sit back and assume that the President and his team are going to be
persuaded to do anything--anything--unless we write it into law. Even
then, we have no guarantee, of course, that this administration won't
just break the law as soon as it is written. That has been our
experience in Colorado. But at least putting this into statute would be
a better pathway for holding Noem and Miller and others accountable for
the bloodshed and chaos we are seeing in our streets.
After that, I think we could have serious conversations about passing
a funding bill. Until then, we can't allow this legislation to go
forward.
Our children and future generations have a reasonable expectation
that their elected officials will do everything in their power to keep
them safe and to provide the plain facts as they are.
As legislators, it is our responsibility to stand up to an executive
branch that is unleashing mayhem in our streets and gunning down
American citizens while insisting that the public should not believe
what they have seen and what they have heard or that it is unpatriotic
all of a sudden to disagree with the President's version of events.
We have seen this story before. There is nothing new under the Sun.
We know the dark path this can lead us down. But we have also seen the
courage that was demonstrated by the generations of Americans who have
come before us, who have disagreed in this Chamber, who have disagreed
with each other, but who ultimately have rejected injustice,
particularly when it was directed from the highest levels of
government.
One of these people was a hero of mine, it won't surprise anybody
here to know, and it was Colorado's former Governor Ralph Carr, who
spoke out against Japanese internment when most politicians in the West
and in this country were staying silent.
Addressing a crowd one day on the Eastern Plains of Colorado,
Governor Carr said:
I am talking to . . . all American people whether their
status be white, brown, or black . . . when I say that if a
majority may deprive a minority of their freedom, contrary to
the terms of the Constitution today, then you as a minority
may be subjected to the same ill-will of the majority
tomorrow.
What happened to Alex Pretti and the lies that followed were an
assault on every one of us, on all of our children, on our sense of
dignity and our innate understanding of right and wrong.
Now is the time for my colleagues to come together and demand that we
reassert these principles and demand the return of safety and security
and sanity to our government rather than the chaos and destruction we
have recently seen. It is what all Americans expect, and it is what our
country deserves.
I yield the floor.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
[[Page S370]]
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
(Mrs. MOODY assumed the Chair.)
Mr. LEE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for
the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. McCORMICK). Without objection, it is so
ordered.
Government Funding
Mr. LEE. Mr. President, I have come to the floor today, once again,
to raise objections--in fact, deep concerns--about something known as
congressionally directed spending, but the more colloquial term for
what I am describing is ``earmarks.'' Specifically, I want to talk
about the inclusion of earmarks--a lot of them--about $5 billion worth
in this particular package of bills.
The government-directed micromanagement of any large, complex economy
never works. By ``never,'' I mean literally never. Never in the history
of human beings has this worked or has it ended well except for a small
handful who grow richer and more powerful every time government
attempts it. Very often, it is undertaken with an eye toward a populous
objective, one that is supposed to elevate the poor, but it, in the
end, has quite the opposite effect. A reverse Robin Hood world then
develops, one in which those who are already wealthy and already
powerful become more so and everyone else suffers. It has been
attempted time after time in this country and in other countries all
over the world, in many different eras, and it literally never works.
It is like the game Mouse Trap. If you ever played Mouse Trap as a
kid, you know the experience that I am talking about. In the game of
Mouse Trap, you would set up this elaborate system of marbles, and they
would go down a little tunnel and a little ditch, and they would turn a
wheel and ring a bell at the end of it. The game never worked. Mouse
Trap never works. Earmarks never work--neither does socialism, neither
does the progressive nightmare that we have been living in for a long
time--nursing it along--pretending that somehow, this time, it will
turn out differently. It will not.
Our former colleague and dear friend of mine, the late Senator Tom
Coburn from Oklahoma--a dedicated fiscal conservative and a fierce,
stalwart opponent of earmarks--once said, ``Earmarks are the gateway
drug to spending addiction.'' His words were prescient, and they remain
as truthful today as ever.
Earmarks are, by their very nature, corrupting--corrupting of the
process--perhaps not in a legally cognizable way, but they are
corrupting, nonetheless, of the process. They allow for special
interests to exert greater influence in our politics and steer Federal
taxpayer dollars to pet projects in individual States or specific
congressional districts often to benefit a particular business
enterprise, nonprofit, or someone else. They fund projects that, as
worthy or unworthy as they might be--and there is a broad spectrum of
earmark beneficiaries that can be found at every point along a
continuum of worthy in the abstract, or unworthy. But they have got
certain things in common, and one of those is that they often shouldn't
be funded by government at all. And for those that ought to be funded
by the government, many of them shouldn't be funded by this
government--this government, which is a government of limited,
enumerated power, something that we fail most of the time to even
acknowledge anymore, much less respect.
Remember, James Madison described, at the dawn of our Republic, as
our Constitution had been proposed but not yet ratified--and during the
ratification debates, he penned so many of the Federalist Papers. And
in Federalist 45, he wrote that the powers of the Federal Government
are ``few and defined'' and those reserved to the States are ``numerous
and indefinite.''
The ``few and defined'' powers really are that. As much as we
sometimes like to pretend otherwise, we are in charge of just a few
basic responsibilities where we have exclusive domain within our system
of government, where our power trumps State and local power. But those
areas really are limited, you see, because our Founding Fathers
understood a very simple truth, which is that the risk of corruption
grows larger and the difficulty of overcoming corruption becomes more
distant, more remote, more tenuous the higher the level of government
you go. They understood that problems arising in a government are much
more difficult to eradicate in a larger, more national government, and
that is why they very carefully--almost religiously--reserved most of
the power to be exercised at the State and local level.
But they carved out exceptions. What are those exceptions? Well, the
most notable and obvious among them are national defense, weights and
measures, trademarks, copyrights and patents, postal roads, regulating
the interstate, and foreign trade or commerce. And there are a few
others, but that is the gist of it. There is no general power in there.
There is no power in there, for example, to say: Let's make sure we
have good schools. Let's make sure everybody is happy. Let's make sure
that a good idea gets funded.
No, those things don't exist in there. That is a figment of our
imagination. For the first 150 years of our Republic when operating
under the Constitution, we respected those limits and those boundaries.
It started to change during the New Deal era in the 1930s where
Congress and the executive branch and the judicial branch undertook a
sort of collusive pattern of behavior to sideline principles that had
fostered the development of the greatest civilization the world had
ever known and ushered in one of the greatest, most prolonged eras of
more or less continuous peacetime economic expansion.
And they just said: Oh, those rules that have worked here in the past
that are still the law, were still the law in the 1930s, and remain the
law today, we are going to set those aside. We are going to make them
malleable. We are going to decide that they can mean whatever we want
them to mean.
But, Mr. President, as Mark Twain is quoted as having said: If you
name the tail of a dog a leg and you ask how many legs does the dog
have, what is the answer? Well, it is still four legs. The tail of a
dog is still a tail and is not a leg, even if you call it a leg.
We have called these things Federal powers, many of them since the
1930s, or at least looked the other way, with the Supreme Court also
looking the other way since the 1930s, but it doesn't mean that these
are appropriate activities for the Federal Government to engage in.
Now, what does this have to do with earmark spending? Everything.
Because when we earmark spend, almost every time--not always, but
almost every time--it is dealing with something that is at the far
frontiers of what is even debatably connected to something that is
debatably connected to an enumerated Federal power.
We have steered so far away from where we are supposed to be acting,
we have forgotten why we are here. And as is the case when raising
kids, especially when they get to be teenagers, you get into trouble
when you stop doing the things that you are supposed to be doing. And
when you start doing things that you are not supposed to be doing, you
forget the things that you are supposed to be doing, and you don't do
them very well.
We see that today, here, in this bill package right now, where we are
being asked to jettison funding for a Department that includes, among
other things, the enforcement of our immigration laws and the
enforcement of our borders, something that has been severely
compromised in the last few years and that President Trump is working
hard to overcome. We are being asked to jettison that portion of the
bill and replace it with a 2-week substitute, a 2-week temporary
continuing resolution.
What does this have to do with earmarks? Everything. It has
everything to do with it because, as we are not doing that, we are
focusing on a whole bunch of stuff that we have no business doing, no
business funding. And the way in which we are funding it is itself
corrupting and corrosive of our process.
Any process that is designed to maintain sanity, fiscal
responsibility, it is designed to maintain limited government with
limited enumerated powers, we have thrown it all to the wind. The
consequences have been disastrous. We are $38.5 trillion in debt, and
we are
[[Page S371]]
adding to that debt at a staggering rate, close to $2 trillion a year,
with no end in sight. Now, I can already hear the apologists of
earmarks, the earmark brigade we will call them, saying: Well, earmarks
are just a tiny, tiny percentage of overall spending.
That is true. They are. The same way that when you look at a
locomotive, something that might stretch, I don't know, a half mile or
a mile, the engine car of the mile-long locomotive is a tiny, tiny
piece of the train, but it is what is driving the train. That is what
earmarks do. They drive excessive Federal spending; they facilitate $2
trillion annual deficits; and they drive us into this awful downward
spiral that leads us to a very dark place.
Now, at a time like this when American families around the country
are working hard and the comeback is still just getting started,
Congress really does need to remember its role as the steward of tax
dollars. And to be a good steward of tax dollars, it has got to
recognize some limit around its authority, but it doesn't do that. Its
earmarks facilitate our further drift away from that standard.
We should consider earmark spending in the context of our $38.5
trillion debt, but we are adding to it at a rate of nearly $2 trillion
a year. And our debt itself is a percentage of the economy--and you
have to remember, it is at an alltime high. It is not just that the
nominal debt, that the number is higher than it has ever been. It is
true. We have never had a $38.5 trillion debt. But adjusted by every
conceivable measure, whether you look at it in inflation-adjusted
dollars, whether you look at it as a percentage of the economy, it is
at an alltime high.
Now, fortunately, President Trump and many Senate Republicans have
worked hard in an effort to root out wasteful spending and decrease the
likelihood of a debt crisis or inflation or both. Remember the
excitement when, about a year ago, first--a little over a year ago, as
we were preparing for the new administration and the new Senate
Republican majority to kick in and the new House of Representatives to
continue under Republican control, there was a lot of enthusiasm over
it with President Trump and Elon Musk kick-starting the DOGE process?
You saw every Republican in Congress, and really in both Chambers,
champing at the bit to be part of the DOGE movement. It was cool. It
was hip. It was happening. It was the energy that this town needed.
Everybody was excited about it. Everybody wanted to be part of the DOGE
process. And then all of a sudden, they lost interest in it. Within
just a few months, it has faded. And that is really, really sad.
But fast-forward to now, and there is still a lot of good things that
we could and should be doing. In fact, just days ago, President Trump
announced his appointment of a new Department of Justice official who
will focus specifically on efforts to root out the fraud and abuse of
American taxpayer dollars. That is a good thing. That is a natural
outgrowth of the DOGE effort. It is a natural outgrowth of President
Trump's desire to make America great again. This is an important
project, and I hope and expect that it will succeed.
Yet sometimes I think that, while we draw near to the concept, to the
idea, to the suggestion of being more efficient, of being more careful
as stewards of the people's hard-earned money, we draw near to these
concepts with our lips, but we show through our actions that our hearts
are far from it. Democrats are continuing to push for more spending,
more earmarks, and more government. That is not the path to prosperity.
As I have said before, earmarks don't just promote reckless spending;
they are reckless spending. The process itself, when in the hands of
fallible, mortal human beings, is itself naturally corrupting. They
naturally do lead to and contribute to but fundamentally are reckless
spending.
Now, according to the Congressional Research Service, from 1944 to
2011, there was a 282-percent increase in earmarks in appropriations
bills. So after the very successful red wave election of 2010, the
election in which I was first elected to the U.S. Senate, both the
Senate and the House Republican conferences simultaneously adopted
earmark bans correctly recognizing the corrupting nature of earmarks
and their growing contribution to an increasingly problematic and
unsustainable fiscal picture for the Federal Government.
I remember that moment well. I had just been elected to the Senate.
It was November of 2010. I had yet to be sworn in. That wouldn't happen
until January of 2011. But I came back here for my new Member
orientation and was permitted, as a newly elected Senator-elect, to
participate in my first Senate Republican conference. And it was in
that measure that I supported and advocated aggressively for the
earmark ban that we adopted.
It was a great move. So successful and so popular, so backed by
popular voter demand was this anti-earmark wave that even former
President Obama, while occupying the White House at the time, agreed,
agreed right then, he said--shortly after the November 2010 election,
about the same time the Senate Republican conference, just down the
Hall from here in the Capitol, adopted this earmark ban which, in my
view, is still in place--he said:
I agree with those Republican and Democratic members of
Congress who have recently said that in these challenging
days (referring to rising deficits and debt levels) that we
cannot afford . . . earmarks.
He was absolutely right. And if he was right then, it follows--in
fact, it follows a fortiori that it is even more true today that the
same words that President Obama uttered then are even more applicable
then--they were applicable then; they are more applicable now, way more
applicable.
Our national debt is several multiples of what it was then, $38.5
trillion, adding to it at a rate of about $2 trillion a year. Now, in
2019, Senate Republicans made the earmark ban permanent that had
previously been considered temporary, a pause, a moratorium. And we had
this decades-long earmark moratorium.
During that moratorium, what happened? Did the sky fall? No, it
didn't. It didn't fall. Were there dogs and cats living together in the
streets? Book of Revelation stuff? Not at all. There was no Armageddon.
Were there disastrous political consequences to the Republicans who had
spearheaded that earmark ban? No, not at all. Republicans did not
suffer massive electoral defeat.
In fact, within a few years, we captured the majority again in the
U.S. Senate. So to my Republican colleagues, stop telling yourselves
that earmarks are necessary, that they are indispensable either for
electoral success or the survival of the American economy or the
survival of your home States' economy. They are not. That simply is not
true. That is a lie we tell ourselves. It is not true.
Unfortunately, however, after Democrats took back the White House
with House and Senate majorities also under Democratic control in 2021,
they brought back the earmark practice. And, sadly, many Senate
Republicans decided to go along with it at that time. Let's just go
along because they are doing it. We might as well not let them have all
the fun. So some started to do that.
Now, this return in recent years, starting in 2021, to include
billions of dollars' worth of earmarks in annual spending bills, this
is a microcosm of Federal waste and Congress' refusal to properly act
to stave off a fiscal crisis.
This is the kind of direct attack on the President's economic agenda
that goes unnoticed because those who support it often do so quietly,
sometimes with a whisper or a whimper.
I will not go quietly, nor should I, nor should any of us when we
consider what we do to our children and our grandchildren, whether they
are born or unborn. Whether their parents are alive yet or not, our
posterity will suffer from the consequences of these.
But it is not just that. It is those of us who are alive today, those
of us who are working hard just to provide for our families today who
suffer because when we spend too much money, everything costs more
money. As Milton Friedman used to say, the true rate of taxation has to
be measured not just by the top marginal tax rate. You have to look at
the rate of government spending as a percentage of the economy because,
one way or another, that piper has got to be paid. One way or another,
it comes out in the wash. One way or another, the people will pay for
it. They pay for it in terms of higher prices on everything they buy--
every good, every service.
[[Page S372]]
And, tragically, it is not the wealthy who bear this burden
disproportionately. It is hard-working Americans, poor and middle-class
Americans, those who work hard, pay their bills, pay their taxes and
find that every dollar they earn buys a little bit less. We have seen
more of that in the last few years than we have in a very long time.
Government Agencies, for their part, very often will try to hide the
true impact of this, but they can't hide it for too long. They can
conceal it. They can obscure it a little bit. But the American people
know; they know what is happening. This is catching up to us.
Are earmarks the whole problem? No. Are they a small percentage of
overall Federal spending? Yes, they are. Is discretionary spending much
smaller than all mandatory spending? Yes. But this is all part of the
same problem. And, again, it is earmark spending that drives the train.
It is earmark spending that very often distracts us away from the
things we are supposed to be doing and takes us down the direction of
areas where the Federal Government probably shouldn't be acting in any
event.
So let me ask this question: How are voters to trust Republicans in
Congress to get spending in order and reduce our national budget
deficits and eventually our debt if we don't have the discipline as a
conference to cut even a few billion dollars in pork-barrel spending?
How can we, as Republicans in Congress, in the House or the Senate,
rightfully cancel wasteful foreign aid and subsidies to leftwing public
radio but then simultaneously offset those things by greenlighting the
enactment of several billion dollars' worth of wasteful earmarks?
Now, I will concede here everybody has a different definition of what
is wasteful, what is good, what is bad. I will concede that a number of
these probably go to worthy beneficiaries or at least good people
intending, wanting to do good things for the American people. That
doesn't mean that it is our money to spend. It doesn't mean that it is
the appropriate role of the Federal Government to do that. It doesn't
mean it is appropriate for any government to do that. And it doesn't
mean that this process--the way we do it here--isn't terribly
corrupting, with the tendency to drive up overall Federal spending.
To quote President Trump, ``For years, the radical left Democrats
exploited the green-energy scam as an excuse to funnel many billions of
dollars into their own massive slush funds'' and ``drastically drove up
prices.''
That is what happens. That is what they do. Well, through certain
earmarks, they quietly do the same, diverting the tax dollars of the
American people to the kinds of projects that should never receive
taxpayer money.
In total, the cost of earmarks this time around is around $5.2
billion. Yes, it is a small percentage of overall Federal spending.
Yes, it is a small percentage even of the Federal spending in this
particular package. But it is what is driving the train, and it is
emblematic of the kind of problem that creates the much larger problem.
While we are focused obsessively on doing these, we are not doing what
we are supposed to be doing.
Speaking of emblematic, as we remove funding from the Department of
Homeland Security, one of the few Departments that is pretty easy to
fit within the enumerated powers of the Federal Government--why?
Because the Federal Government is in charge of immigration laws,
borders, and the enforcement of those laws governing immigration and
nationality and that sort of thing. And yet that is what gets pulled
out. We leave in there all the stuff that is tangentially related, at
best, to enumerated Federal powers under the Constitution. Now, in
total, yes, it is a small percentage, but it is what is driving the
train.
Earmarks aside, perhaps the biggest problem with spending bills--with
these spending bills, this package of spending bills that we will soon
be considering--is that they simply spend too much money. Much of this
stems from the fact that discretionary outlays spiked during COVID, and
they never came back down to pre-COVID levels. In fact, total
discretionary spending from fiscal year 2020 through fiscal year 2024
was $1 trillion higher than the Congressional Budget Office had
projected it to be over that timeframe when they issued their 2019
budget baseline projections. That is the discretionary side.
Meanwhile, the mandatory side also exploded, so it got a lot worse. A
lot of people are fond of saying: Well, it is not discretionary
spending; it is mandatory spending. But they both went way, way up.
It is time to stop talking a big game about fiscal responsibility and
to show voters that we measure up to the task. We cannot simply relent
when Democrats want to tie the hands of this administration and saddle
the American people with unsustainable debt.
So the question I pose to my colleagues who are OK with earmarks in
their spending bills is this: Why are Senate Republicans supporting the
effort to ignore our conference's still active, still intact earmark
ban to partner with Democrats and reverse course on President Trump?
You don't believe me? Well, this bill, as presently constituted, does
among many, many other things the following: It funds hospitals and
healthcare clinics that provide puberty blockers to children and
perform abortions. It does that.
It sends money to a dance festival. This dance festival may be
lovely. I am not really personally into dance festivals. Maybe some
are. Those who like them, I hope they enjoy them. Dance festivals, I am
sure, can be a great thing. That doesn't mean that the Federal
Government should be funding it--or any government. I don't know why it
is the job of any government that collects money from people, loosely
speaking, at the point of a gun--because if you don't pay your taxes,
eventually people with guns will come and issue a fine or haul you off
if you refuse to pay--but we are funding it anyway.
It provides for million-dollar renovations at both the Metropolitan
Museum of Art and the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. Let's think
about that for a minute. That is one of the wealthiest cities not only
in America but in the world. And let's take the opera, for example. The
opera: It is a great thing. I love the arts. It is fantastic. This is
not exactly an everyman hobby. Now, I am sure there are exceptions. But
it has a well-earned reputation for being something that is favored by
the elite, by very wealthy individuals, in one of America's wealthiest
cities.
So why are we sending them a million dollars? The Metropolitan Opera,
the last time I checked, has an endowment worth about $255 million. It
has multiple employees earning in excess of $1 million a year. I
believe it has real estate assets valued at around half a billion
dollars. And yet hard-working Americans in Peoria, IL, and in Orem, UT,
all over the country, people who probably don't visit New York very
often, if ever, who may not be into the opera, they are all being asked
to subsidize that, to pay a million dollars for elevator renovations
not only at the Metropolitan Opera but also at the Metropolitan Museum
of Art. Why? Why is that our role?
But not only why is it our role; why is it the responsibility of a
plumber from Montana who is just trying to feed his family, who is
probably never going to attend that opera or the Metropolitan Museum of
Art? Why are you sticking that person with the bill?
The spending package also allocates dollars for nonprofits;
specifically, nonprofits providing aid and counseling and legal
services to illegal aliens, to individuals whose sole uniting
characteristic is that they are here inside the United States
unlawfully. Why are we doing that when it is counter to what we are
supposed to be doing, which is to discourage illegal immigration and to
make possible bringing to justice those who break the laws--something
that--oh, yeah, we are removing that part of the bill that would even
do that because we are too busy making sure that we are funding the
hobbies of the ultrawealthy in one of America's wealthiest cities that
most Americans will never visit. This is reverse Robin Hood at its
worst. This is taking money from the poor and giving it to the rich,
and it is wrong.
The bill also contains earmarks funding a nonprofit organization
called NICE. Now, don't let the name fool you. NICE is not so nice.
NICE is the New Immigrant Community Empowerment to assist illegal
aliens in getting jobs--jobs that ought to go to American citizens or
at least individuals
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who, if not citizens, are inside the United States legally and legally
authorized to work in the United States of America.
The Federal Government, through taxpayers, should not be funding
hospitals that give puberty blockers to children or nonprofit museums
or leftwing labor activist organizations or leftwing physicians
activist organizations or groups providing legal aid or subsidized
housing specifically to illegal aliens. It shouldn't do that. It
shouldn't do that ever, regardless of who is in charge, especially in a
time when the House of Representatives is under Republican control,
when the Senate is under Republican control, and the White House is
occupied by a Republican President. It shouldn't do it ever but
especially not when Republicans are in charge of all three levers of
the two political branches: the legislative and the executive.
Senate Republicans especially should not be facilitating this abuse
of power and at the hard-earned money of the American people, many of
whom work months out of every year just to pay their Federal taxes only
to find that every dollar they have left buys less because we are
spending too much money.
We shouldn't be facilitating this abuse of power and violating
pledges that President Trump and that we ourselves, as Senate
Republicans, have made on the campaign trail to root out and end
wasteful, woke spending across the Federal Government.
Even in a Republican-controlled Congress, Democrats are still able to
effectuate and fund a radical agenda that the American people opposed
when they elected us to this majority and that we promised we wouldn't
perpetuate. And yet here we are. It is tragic.
Congress does not need to and should not use earmarks as sweeteners,
for lack of a better word, to make the appropriations process work. We
cannot continue appropriations bills that perpetuate excess spending,
especially when those same things are pushing policies that inevitably,
invariably, deliberately hobble the efforts of this administration.
This is like putting a humidifier and a dehumidifier in the same room
and just letting them fight it out when you promised only the
dehumidifier would be there.
And at a minimum we should build on the successful rescissions bill
initiated through the DOGE process and carried forward throughout the
last year, the successful rescissions bill that, by exerting some basic
fiscal discipline to enforce our conference rules and put an end to
earmarks--or rather than just put an end to it, resume the end that we
put in place 15 years ago, heal the breach that has now been there for
about 5 years, and honor what is still our conference position.
Only then will we be able, I believe, to tackle the self-inflicted
economic wounds that cloud the bright skies of opportunity before us.
As President Trump said in his end-of-year speech, just a few weeks
ago, ``we're poised for an economic boom the likes of which the world
has never seen.''
I believe him, and he is doing a lot of things that are helping us
get there. The least we can do is not undercut him. And to achieve that
potential, we the Congress, we the Senate, and we the Senate Republican
conference in the majority must act.
Earmarks aren't the way. They are the wrong way. Earmarks aren't the
solution. They are the problem. We need to end them.
In connection with this package of bills, I have put forward an
amendment to strip them from this bill, and I humbly, with all the
conviction I am capable of communicating, implore my colleagues to
support the amendment.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Tuberville). The majority leader.
____________________