[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 38 (Thursday, February 26, 2026)]
[Senate]
[Pages S692-S697]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
HOUSING FOR THE 21ST CENTURY ACT--Motion to Proceed
Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I move to proceed to Calendar No. 343, H.R.
6644.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the motion.
The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:
Motion to proceed to Calendar No. 343, H.R. 6644, a bill to
increase the supply of housing in America, and for other
purposes.
Cloture Motion
Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I send a cloture motion to the desk.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The cloture motion having been presented under
rule XXII, the Chair directs the clerk to read the motion.
The senior assistant 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. 343, H.R. 6644, a bill to increase
the supply of housing in America, and for other purposes.
John Thune, Tim Scott of South Carolina, Katie Boyd
Britt, Jim Banks, John Barrasso, John R. Curtis, Kevin
Cramer, Joni Ernst, Pete Ricketts, Bernie Moreno,
Markwayne Mullin, Mike Crapo, Ted Budd, Roger F.
Wicker, James Lankford, Chuck Grassley, Cindy Hyde-
Smith.
Waiving Quorum Call
Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to waive the
mandatory quorum call in relation to the McCormack nomination.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Recognition of the Minority Leader
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Democratic leader is recognized.
Iran
Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, today, U.S. and Iranian officials are
holding talks in Geneva as America stands at the brink of another
potential conflict in the Middle East.
Earlier this week, Senate leaders and I met with Secretary Rubio.
Everyone is asking what the plan is with respect to Iran, and we are
all looking for answers that the administration has refused to give.
The issues we discussed in our classified briefing were very serious,
and the American people deserve to hear it directly from the President
and his administration. The administration should come clean and tell
the American people exactly what the goal is in Iran.
I have always said that confronting Iran and halting its nuclear
ambition requires a strategy, clarity, and transparency. Thus far, we
are getting none of that from the administration. The American people
deserve answers.
Epstein Files
Mr. President, on Epstein, the way Pam Bondi and the Justice
Department handled the release of the Epstein files has all the stench
of a coverup.
Yesterday, news outlets reported that several memos detailing a
woman's accusation against the President from when she was a minor have
been withheld from the public. We know
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these memos exist. An index of all the investigative materials confirm
their existence, and under law--the law we passed unanimously here in
the Senate--they need to be made public.
Pam Bondi does not have the right to pick and choose which Epstein
files to release to the public. Protecting the President from
embarrassment is not her job. The American people were promised the
truth, and Pam Bondi's job is to give Americans full access to the
truth.
What else is the administration keeping behind a lock and key? Is
this incompetence, or is it a full-blown coverup? Pam Bondi owes the
American people some answers.
Remember, the law Congress passed had very specific criteria for
withholding the Epstein files: protect victims' identities, protect the
integrity of an ongoing investigation, or avoid duplication. Protecting
Donald Trump's image does not--does not--fit any of these buckets.
So I ask Pam Bondi: Whose side are you on, the victims or the
perpetrators?
State of the Union Address
Mr. President, on the ``State of Delusion'' and Democrats' plan to
lower costs, there has never been a State of the Union where the
President spoke for so long but had so little substance, so little
truth.
Tuesday night was 2 hours of Donald Trump's ``State of Delusion.'' He
is in a bubble. He doesn't know what is going on with the American
people. All he wants to do is stroke his own ego. Donald Trump told the
country that everything is great, that costs are coming down, that
manufacturing is up, that he is going to fix healthcare, and that we
are going to win so much that we don't know what to do. That is what he
said. It is amazing.
I ask very seriously: Who else in America feels this way, that we are
winning so much we don't know what to do? Maybe billionaires, but that
is it.
Today, I want to talk about a couple of things that Donald Trump
didn't mention during his 2-hour ``State of Delusion.''
For one, Donald Trump didn't talk about how he will bring down the
cost of living. Ground beef is up 11 percent. Coffee is up 14 percent.
Rent is up. Thanks to Donald Trump's tariffs, American families are
spending over $1,700 more this year--$1,700 out of the average working
family's pocket. That is a heck of a lot of money when people are
struggling to pay the bills.
Where is Donald Trump's plan to fix any of this? He said nothing.
In a moment, I will talk about what Democrats plan to do about this.
Donald Trump also talked about manufacturing, but he failed to
mention that America is not creating manufacturing jobs. We are
bleeding them.
So many lies--he says we are growing manufacturing jobs? Well, look
at this chart.
These are the numbers of manufacturing jobs that were lost in the
last year--in May, in June, in July, in August, in September, in
October, in November, and in December. We lost in every month. We lost
manufacturing jobs, and Donald Trump just lies about it.
This is the state of manufacturing in the United States.
Manufacturing jobs are down by 100,000. We shed manufacturing jobs
every single month--every single month--right after Trump's
``Liberation Day.'' Yet he lies about it. He just makes it up.
Donald Trump has this uncanny ability which misserves human beings
and which particularly misserves Presidents. He thinks that by saying
it is so, it is true and that everyone will just believe him. Well, his
minions believe him, no matter what he says, but no one else. He talks
past America.
Again, we lost manufacturing jobs, Donald Trump. We didn't gain them.
Trump also failed to speak about his plan to fix healthcare because
he has none. Donald Trump claims he will always protect Medicare, but
that is false. The CBO found that, thanks to Donald Trump's ``Big Ugly
Bill,'' the Medicare trust fund will run out 12 years sooner than
before. In other words, Donald Trump has accelerated Medicare's demise
by more than a decade with one single bill which every Republican voted
for in this Chamber but no Democrat because we knew the damage to
healthcare he was doing.
Donald Trump also failed to mention anything about China. It is the
second leading power in the world. The United States has lots of issues
with China, but when was the last time a President of the United States
avoided talking about America's biggest rival on the world stage during
his State of the Union?
The way Donald Trump has handled China is an embarrassment. He has
promised to be tough on China, but he is playing with them with kids'
clothes, giving them critical American technology, and his tariffs have
failed to win any meaningful concessions.
It doesn't have to be this way. Americans deserve better than a
President and a Republican Party that think ``affordability'' is a
made-up word. Later this morning, I will join my colleagues--Senators
Cantwell, Lujan, Booker, and Welch--and experts from across the country
to talk about how we lower food costs, how we make trips to the grocery
store less painful for families, and how we fix the structural problems
that keep prices high, like the consolidation of the food industry.
Today's roundtable is part of a larger Senate effort by Senate
Democrats to, all year long, talk about how we will drive costs down,
because we don't believe affordability is some kind of hoax. He called
it a hoax. That was insulting to America. He seems to have fun
insulting people. That is what it seemed like up there on the ``State
of Delusion'' stage that he occupied. Affordability is the most real
thing in the lives of the American people economically.
In the weeks and months ahead, we are going to go issue by issue,
taking the time to dig in and roll out serious, practical battle plans
to bring costs down. We started a month ago with housing, and I am
proud of the work Democrats are doing to lower housing costs. We will
soon take on energy and electricity. We will take on childcare, and we
will take on healthcare.
Lowering costs will be Senate Democrats' North Star in 2026. Let me
repeat that so America and our Republican colleagues hear it: Lowering
costs will be Senate Democrats' North Star in 2026.
The conversations we have today about high food prices will lay the
groundwork for real legislation so that, when Democrats have the
majority, we can deliver real relief and bring down the cost of living.
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. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order
for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The majority whip is recognized.
State of the Union Address
Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, this week, President Trump called
attention and paid tribute to families who lost loved ones--loved ones
who were killed by illegal immigrant criminals. Now, these are known as
Angel Families. On Monday, President Trump declared February 23
National Angel Family Day.
On Tuesday, during the State of the Union, when we were both there,
the President honored a heartbroken Angel mother--a mother who was
there in the audience from the State of Texas. It was her 16-year-old
daughter, Lizbeth Medina, who was brutally murdered by an illegal
immigrant. Lizbeth's killer had a criminal background and should not
have been in our country.
Just like Laken Riley, the nursing student who had been brutally
murdered by an illegal immigrant, Lizbeth dreamed also of becoming a
nurse. Think of all the lives that could have been helped and saved had
hers not been stolen away.
Republicans are determined to ensure that no more families are forced
to feel this sort of pain.
During his State of the Union Address, President Trump asked a single
and powerful question. He said to the entire Chamber, everyone--
Republicans, Democrats, everyone there--he said: If you agree with this
statement, then stand up and show your support.
He then presented the statement to the American people. This is the
statement. He said:
The first duty of the American Government is to protect
American citizens--not illegal [immigrants].
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So what happened? Republicans stood up and cheered, as they should
and should every American citizen, for putting American citizens first.
Not a single Democrat, that I saw, stood up. They sat on their hands.
They sat in the Chamber. They refused to stand to the important
statement of ``The first duty of the American Government is to protect
American citizens--not illegal aliens.'' To me, that revealing moment
said it all.
Now, I have said it many times before, and I will say it again:
Democrats care more about illegal immigrant criminals. Every one of
them on the other side of the aisle cares more about illegal immigrant
criminals than they do about the safety and the security of the
American people. That is wrong, Mr. President. That is not what our
country is all about.
Department of Homeland Security
Mr. President, we are now 13 days into the shutdown of the Department
of Homeland Security. It is another Democrat shutdown. They are the
ones that shut it down--a shutdown against American safety and
security. That is who those people are. That is what they believe in.
That is why they would not stand, the other night, during the
President's State of the Union Address, to support American citizens as
opposed to illegal immigrant criminals.
But the Department of Homeland Security stands between illegal
immigrant criminals and the American people, between terrorists and
American citizens. And yet this is the very Department that the
Democrats have decided to shut down.
We funded 96 percent of the Government through the usual approach
that we do, the Appropriations Committee, and they refused that last 4
percent of Government because that is the 4 percent that deals with the
Department of Homeland Security.
So today these heroes that protect American lives are working without
pay. It is wrong. We are talking about TSA agents, Secret Services
agents, the Coast Guard that patrols our coastal waters, our Nation's
cyber security--260,000 people in all working without pay because the
Democrats have shut down the Department of Homeland Security or, at
least, refused to pay them. They are still working, but they are not
getting paid because of the Democrats.
Funding the Department of Homeland Security is about protecting
American citizens. That is the fundamental role of Government. It is
not coddling illegal immigrant criminals, which is what the Democrats
seem to want to do, especially criminals who brutally murder American
citizens.
Republicans have offered fair terms to fully and immediately fund the
Department of Homeland Security. What do the Democrats say? Well, they
continue to make unreasonable and unserious demands. Democrats want the
Department of Homeland Security to remain closed. It is very evident
from their statements.
Democrats have submitted a laundry list of demands in order for the
Government to fund the Department of Homeland Security. They demand
harsh restrictions on cooperation between the Federal Government, State
governments, and local officials.
Mr. President, you would want them all to work together. I mean,
wouldn't it be better if we coordinated efforts at the State, local,
and national levels? Of course.
Democrats are demanding an outright ban on immigration enforcement at
so-called sensitive locations. So they have a list of sensitive
locations. One, astonishingly--this is the first time this has ever
appeared in any of their lists of demands, but it is now here--they
want a sensitive location for protection of illegal immigrants to be
polling places.
Why are illegal immigrants in polling places? It is illegal for them
to vote.
That is who the Democrats are. That is who they are supporting. That
is what they are trying to do--protect illegal immigrant criminals.
Their demands are driven not by the protection and safety of the
American people. It is for the protection and safety of illegal
immigrants, and it is just flatout wrong. It flies in the face of who
we are as American citizens.
The Democrat demands are driven not by the traditional Democrats of
yesterday. Oh, no, they are driven by the extreme Democrats of today.
And it is the extreme Democrats of today who have captured and are
controlling today's Democrat Party. The Democrats of yesterday are
gone. This is a party under the control of the radical left--a party
that calls for defunding the police, a party that encourages defying
the law, and a party that refuses to stand when they are asked to
support the citizens of America.
The Democrats' demands are reckless, they are radical, and they are
dangerous. The Democrats' demands compromise public safety. They fly in
the face of the rule of law. They turn America into a sanctuary
country. That is not what the American people want.
The danger is real. The cartels remain a serious and deadly threat.
Just this week, in Mexico, they launched a violent new drug war. This
violence started after the Mexican military, encouraged and assisted by
the United States, eliminated one of Mexico's most powerful drug lords.
As the cartels spread chaos across Mexico, they also seek to harm law
enforcement officers inside America--inside our own country. ABC News
has now reported that the Mexican cartels have placed cash bounties on
ICE and Border Patrol officers living and working here in America,
cartels paying for damage--physical damage--of ICE and Border Patrol
agents serving here at home.
They actually have a payment list. They offer $2,000 to dox an agent,
including photos of the agent's family or details about the agent's
family. They are paying $5,000 to $10,000 to kidnap or assault an
enforcement officer, and $50,000 to murder a high-ranking official.
That is what the Mexican cartels are up to these days, at a time that
the Democrats here stand for the illegal immigrants but remain seated
in terms of support for the American people.
So think about it. Criminal cartels in Mexico have put a price on the
heads of our law enforcement officers here at home in America, and yet
the pro-crime Democrats here in the U.S. Senate, as part of their list
of demands, are demanding that ICE officers remove their masks in the
face of such assaults, making it easier for the cartels to get what
they want, to go after their families.
But Republicans are not at all going to accept these dangerous
demands from the Democrats--demands that make our communities less safe
and demands that put our enforcement officers at increased risk.
Republicans here in this body and across the country and most
American citizens agree with President Trump: It is the No. 1 duty of
any government--and certainly ours--to protect its citizens, not
illegal aliens. And Republicans will stand every day for the safety and
security of our Nation's citizens.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Sheehy). The Senator from Louisiana.
Tribute to Candice Humble
Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, with me today is one of my colleagues
from my office, Ms. Candice Humble. She is a member of my
communications team. She is not responsible for anything I say.
I am losing her. She is not leaving government; she is going to work
for the White House. Today is her last day, and I asked her to come
down so that I could thank Candice publicly for all of her
extraordinary work and for giving so much to the people in Louisiana
and to the American people.
Iran
Mr. President, about 90 percent of my personal and political
philosophy is, don't hurt someone unless they are trying to hurt you
first, don't take other people's stuff, and leave me alone--let me live
my life, exercising the free will and responsibility that God gave--
which leads me to my first topic: Iran.
I am not talking about the people of Iran. I am talking about the
political and religious leadership of the Government of Iran. I am
talking about the Ayatollah and his followers.
In America, we separate government from religion. Not in Iran, thanks
to the Ayatollah. The government tells you what religion to practice.
The government is the religion.
Now, everybody has the right to believe what they want. I will tell
you what the Ayatollah believes. He is Muslim, but his strain of Islam
says
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that if you do not agree with his interpretation of God, then you
deserve to die. You do. And he acts on that belief.
Now, let me say again, the Ayatollah is entitled to believe what he
wants. I was raised a Presbyterian. My parents founded two Presbyterian
churches. When Becky and I got married, Becky was a Methodist, and I
was a Presbyterian. We compromised: I became a Methodist. I am entitled
to believe what I want. But the Ayatollah not only thinks that I am
going to Hell because I don't agree with his religion; he wants to kill
me. He wants to kill Americans and Israelis and anybody who does not
believe in his jihad and drink our blood out of a boot. And he has
acted on that. I don't need to tell the Presiding Officer. I don't need
to tell the Presiding Officer. He has acted on that, and that is not
acceptable.
Now, a lot of the people in Iran--the good people in Iran--don't
agree with the Ayatollah. If they disagree with him too loudly, he just
kills them.
The Ayatollah--it has actually been the case for the last--I don't
know--10, 15, 20 years--the Ayatollah has decided he wants a nuclear
warhead. Why should we care? I hear from some of my fellow Americans
all the time: Why do we need to be involved in Iran? Why should we
care?
Well, No. 1, we are not trying to start a war in Iran; the President
is trying to end a war in Iran. If the Ayatollah gets a nuclear weapon,
he will use it. He could use it against America. He could use it
against Israel. I don't know who he will use it against, and I hope I
am wrong, but he will use it.
Do you know what else will happen as soon as he gets a nuclear
weapon? Saudi Arabia is going to get a nuclear weapon, and the UAE is
going to get a nuclear weapon, and Japan is going to get a nuclear
weapon, and South Korea, and I could go on and on and on. The more
nuclear weapons you have in the world, the more likely you are to have
a nuclear war.
But that is not the only thing the Ayatollah has done since he became
the Ayatollah. He exports terrorism. He was the person behind Hamas and
Hezbollah that have killed so many people throughout the world--not
just in the Middle East but across the world--including but not limited
to Americans. That is why we ought to care.
The Ayatollah also has conventional ballistic missiles and is
building more as we speak. Now, those missiles can't reach America yet,
but they are working on one. And they can sure reach our military bases
in the Middle East, and they can sure reach Israel. Yes, sir. Yes,
ma'am. That is why we should care.
Finally, the Ayatollah, if you disagree with him--and we have seen it
happen on TV. We don't know how many people he has hung in the last 6
months. We don't know how many people he has tortured. I have seen
estimates as high as 50,000.
So that is what this business with Iran is all about. We are not
trying to be the world's policeman; we are trying to stop the Ayatollah
from being the world's policeman. He is getting a lot of support from
President Xi Jinping in China and Vladimir Putin in Russia and Kim Jong
Un in North Korea. So that is where we find ourselves trying to stop
this war.
To the Ayatollah, I would say: Ayatollah, you are entitled to believe
what you want. You can hate me. You can believe that. I know you hate
me and what I stand for. You know how I sleep at night knowing that you
hate me? With the fan on. That is your right. But you can't act on that
belief. Put down the nuclear weapons. Put down the nuclear enrichment.
Stop exporting terrorism through Hamas and Hezbollah. End your missile
program. Stop killing and torturing your people.
That is all we want, and he is doing that as we speak. He is at war;
we are trying to stop it.
I am not about to give the President any advice. He has intelligence
that I don't have, and I respect the fact that he is being very
deliberate and careful in making a decision. If we make a deal with
Iran, let's make sure we have a protocol to enforce it because, in my
experience in watching the Ayatollah through the years, I wouldn't
trust this man if he were 3 days dead. I wouldn't trust him if he were
3 days dead. Anybody whose religion tells them that in order to be
saved, they have to go kill hundreds of millions of people--you can
believe it if you want, but as far as I am concerned, it is time to get
a new religion.
That is what we are doing in Iran. Let me say it again. We are not
trying to start a war. This war began a long time ago. We are trying to
end it. Our President presiding today knows exactly what I talked
about. He served honorably--at great physical, mental, and emotional
expense--in the Middle East. That is what we are trying to stop.
New Orleans
Mr. President, topic No. 2: New Orleans. I love New Orleans. I am not
from New Orleans. I used to live there. I met my wife there. I used to
live uptown. I used to practice law in New Orleans. I taught a little
while in law school in Baton Rouge, but my first teaching job was going
to be in New Orleans before I moved to Baton Rouge. I love New
Orleans--one of the most unique cities in the entire world.
So what I am about to say, I say from my heart with love and
affection and as a former resident and frequent visitor. Here is my
message to the political leadership in New Orleans: Get your act
together. Get your act together.
I don't go to New Orleans that I don't hear from my people down
there: We need affordable housing. We need affordable housing. We need
affordable housing.
Let me tell you something. We spend a lot of money on affordable
housing in America, billions every year--the American taxpayer. Not
State money. Not local money. This is American taxpayer money. We take
that money and send it to States and local governments to build
affordable housing for people who can't afford a home, because the
American people are so generous.
We do that through what are called housing agencies. Every State that
I am aware of has a housing agency, and many local governments have a
housing agency. The State housing agencies and the local housing
agencies take the Federal money and use it--given to them out of the
goodness of the American taxpayers' heart--to create affordable
housing.
We have been doing that for years in New Orleans. There is a local
housing authority. We call it HANO, the Housing Authority of New
Orleans. It is run by a board of commissioners appointed by the mayor.
Last year, I think we gave them $70 million. By ``we,'' I mean the
American taxpayer. They have been around since 1937.
The Housing Authority of New Orleans has a spectacular and impressive
record of graft, corruption, mismanagement, incompetence, theft. Do you
think I am kidding? I came with receipts. It got so bad from 2006 to
2009 that Housing and Urban Development in 2009 had to take them over--
the Federal Department of Housing and Urban Development.
From 2006 to 2009, the chief financial officer of HANO stole $900,000
of taxpayer money. A few years later, the guy running HANO's section 8
voucher department just took a voucher for himself and paid his own
rent. The skillethead got caught. Boy, that really gave us confidence.
In 2007, the Feds had to step in and investigate--I think in some
cases, they prosecuted--a vendor kickback scheme. In 2014, the director
of the Housing Authority of New Orleans was investigated for giving out
$1 million in no-bid contracts. Guess who they went to. The director's
friends. An audit in 2010 found--our auditors couldn't find $7.2
million.
I could go on. I could give you a list as long as King Kong's elbow.
Now I am going to tell you about the most recent episode that has
made me want to stick my head in the oven. We have a housing project in
New Orleans called the Guste Homes complex. It is in a part of our city
called Central City. It is pretty big. It is not particularly well run,
but it is pretty big. It has a 12-story building that houses
apartments, and I think they have some townhomes as well.
We provide housing--``we,'' once again, being the American taxpayer--
to the elderly and the disabled. They can live there.
And the Guste Homes complex--I call it Guste Homes--is run by HANO,
the Housing Authority of New Orleans, the board of commissioners
appointed by our mayor.
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The Housing Authority of New Orleans has an administrator--and I am
not denigrating her. I don't know anything about her. I am just telling
you what is going on. But the board and the administrator of the
Housing Authority of New Orleans don't run Guste. They are supposed to.
They went and hired a management company to run Guste. And the
management company, its overhead is about $8 million a year. I am not
kidding you. That is money that doesn't go to provide housing to
people; it goes into their pocket.
I was looking up one of their consultants. They hired a consultant--I
don't think she works there anymore--a Mrs. Sherri--I am going to
mispronounce this name--Sengsouvanna. Never met her. I do know that
from 2003 to 2024, HANO gave her $660,000 as a consultant. I looked her
up.
Here is the way she describes herself:
I am an author, a grief mentor, and an entrepreneur who has
built a career around helping others navigate loss and find
spiritual healing.
Six hundred and sixty grand to her as a consultant; isn't that
special?
Well, now, the management company and HANO, they stopped paying the
water bill for the people who live in the housing. They have run up a
water bill for $1.5 million. They say they don't have the money, and
the water company predictably says: Well, hey, we are going to have to
cut off your water.
What are we going to do with these 310 folks--elderly, disabled--that
the American taxpayer gave money to for their housing?
And now HANO is saying, you know, don't pay the water bill. The water
bill is wrong.
I don't know who is right and who is wrong, but I will tell you what
else HANO was saying. HANO was saying the Guste project is a mess. Even
though we have hired consultants out the wazoo and given them money, we
have got a big vacancy rate--no kidding. They don't have running water.
We have got a big vacancy, and there is too much deferred maintenance
so we want to start over, and, by the way, we want the Federal
Government to give us $60 million.
When donkeys fly.
Now, we have got a new mayor in New Orleans. I am delighted we got
some new council people. They have got to do their job. I don't want to
hear that we are not responsible for HANO. The mayor appoints them. Get
rid of the thieves. Get rid of incompetence. Don't come back and ask
for more money to fix your mistakes from the American taxpayer. The
good people of New Orleans deserve that. They deserve better. Do
better. The people living in this complex deserve better.
I have had enough. I have just had enough. Fix it. And if you say:
Well, New Orleans--I know, it is a sanctuary city and they have their
political beliefs and, by God, they are entitled to them. That is
America. You can believe what you want. OK. And they may disagree with
the current administration in Washington. That is fine too. This is
America, and that has really got nothing to do with this.
But you need to clean up your own act first. I don't know how. I
can't tell you how to do it, but the American people gave at the
office. I can't tell you how to do it. Maybe you are going to have to
borrow the money. Maybe you are going to have to actually raise taxes
on the people of New Orleans; I hope not. But at some point--at some
point--the money has got to come from somewhere.
Get your act together before you come back to me or anybody else in
Washington, going: You got $60 million dollars lying around? Not only
can we not pay the water bill, we want to tear the whole thing down and
build a new one and have somebody else pay for it.
Gag me with a spoon.
Anyway, I am going to miss Candice. Thank you for your good work,
Candice.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The senior assistant executive clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order
for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Department of Commerce
Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, since we have a little time, I know we
have got the vote coming up, and I am certainly not going to delay
that. I like my life too much. But I want to spend a few minutes
talking about the Department of Commerce.
I had this discussion the other day with our Secretary of Commerce
Mr. Harry Lutnick, for whom I have great respect. One of the Agencies
in the Department of Commerce is an Agency called the Census Bureau.
And I know that sounds like they count people--and they do--but they
have a multitude of responsibilities. One of their responsibilities is
to define the poverty level in America, tell us who is poor.
According to the Census Bureau, if you are single in America and you
make $16,000 or less, you are poor; you are below the poverty level. If
you are a family of two and you make $20,000 or less, you are at or
below the poverty level; a family of three, $27,000; family of four,
$32,000.
We take that seriously in America. Other countries let you die in a
ditch. We don't do that in America. It is one of the reasons we spend
$1.4 trillion a year helping our neighbors who are poor. In our
country, if you are hungry, we will feed you; if you are homeless, we
will house you; if you are too poor to be sick, we will pay for your
doctor. That separates us from just about every other country in the
world.
I have been all over this world. I know the Presiding Officer has
too. In other countries, they will just let you die in a ditch. We
don't do that in America. Mr. President, $1.4 trillion is how much we
spend every year. That is taxpayer money. It didn't just fall from
Heaven--we thank Heaven for it--it came out of people's pockets.
If you go talk to the Census Bureau--I pointed this out to Secretary
Lutnick--if you go ask the Census Bureau how many poor people we have
in America, they will tell you 11 percent--1 out of 10 Americans. It
has been that way since 1974. We have been spending $1.4 trillion a
year, and the poverty level hasn't budged. Eleven percent, they will
tell you, and they will shout it from the rooftops.
When they get a letter from another Agency saying ``We need some help
to research how many poor people we have in America today,'' they will
tell you ``Eleven percent. Eleven percent.'' They are lying. It is a
bald-faced lie. Do you know why? Because they don't count--they refuse
to count all of the public benefits the American people give to the
poor. According to the Census Bureau, the only thing that counts is if
you get cash from the Federal Government. We call that welfare.
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. We have another program I
think that pays cash; it is called WIC.
But according to the Census Bureau, that is the way you define if
somebody is in poverty. You look at how much money they make, and on
top of that, we consider cash transfer payments from the Federal
Government, and when you do that, 11 percent are poor. What planet and
what solar system did these people parachute in?
Do you know what they don't count? I will tell you what they don't
count. They don't count earned income tax credits. If I make a low
enough income myself--let's say I make $15,000 a year. I have to pay
tax on that, file a tax return, but if I do, I get an income tax
credit. It is called--it is refundable. That means the IRS sends me a
check. The American people pay for that, but the Census Bureau says
that doesn't count in determining the poor.
Do you know what else they don't count? They don't count food stamps.
Huh? Real strong drugs is the only possible explanation for them to not
even count food stamps.
Do you know what else they don't count? Housing subsidies, section 8
vouchers, getting to live in a place for free.
Do you know what else they don't count? Utility bill subsidies. They
don't count Medicaid. They don't count free school meals.
Do you know why? Because if they counted it, do you know how many
Americans would be living in poverty? One percent. And that is an
actual fact.
I am going to give you an example. Let's suppose you are a mom with
two kids, and you are poor. You work, and you make $11,000 a year, OK?
In determining whether that mom is poor, the Census Bureau counts her
income and counts any payments she gets, as I said, from welfare. But
that mom with
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two children making $11,000 a year is going to get back from the
Federal Government $4,100 in refundable earned income tax credits.
Remember what I just talked about? The Census Bureau says: Oh, that
doesn't matter; not real money.
That mom is going to get back $3,400 in a check in child tax credits.
That mom is going to receive $9,200 in food stamps. That mom is going
to receive $9,500--or at least she will be eligible to receive it--in
housing subsidies. That mom is going to receive $900 in utility bill
subsidies, $16,000 in Medicaid for her and her two children, and $31 a
year for free school lunches at school for her two kids. Let's suppose
that on top of that, she gets $6,600 a year in welfare payments.
Remember, the Census Bureau says that all this stuff doesn't count.
The only thing that counts is that the lady works and makes $11,000 a
year, and she gets $6,600 in welfare payments, so her income is only
$17,600, and she is below the poverty line.
Wrong. You don't have to be Euclid to be able to figure out that if
you add up the TANF money and the $11,000 that she earns and the
refundable child tax credit and the refundable earned income tax credit
and the food stamps and the housing subsidies and the utility bill
subsidies and the Medicaid and the free school lunches that I have just
talked about--do you know what her income is? It is $64,100 tax free.
Yet the Census Bureau says she is below the poverty line.
Now, look, I am not here to begrudge this lady, this hypothetical
person. I am going to say it again: The American people are the most
generous people in the world. We help our neighbors. But the American
people put up this money, and they ought to get credit. And when the
Census Bureau, which has been telling us since 1974--they have been
lying to us. They have been lying to us. They learned to lie over there
before they learned to talk.
They need to redefine the poverty level in America and the definition
of ``poverty.'' It is the Census Bureau's job, and that is what I
talked to the good Secretary Howard Lutnick about. I talked to him in
committee, and he said he would work on it. I thank him for that, and I
am going to chase him like he stole Christmas until he does. I am going
to chase him like he stole Christmas and Thanksgiving. He can do it
with a rule or regulation. I have introduced a bill.
Again, the purpose of this is not to take any money away from
anybody; the purpose of this is to tell the American people the truth--
that they are the most generous people in the world and they should be
proud of that.
This mother, this poor mom of two--she is not just getting around
$17,000 a year; she is getting almost $65,000 a year tax free, but the
American people get no credit. And do you know why? Because there are
so many people in the bureaucracy--they want us to think everybody is
poor so they can go back and back and back to the taxpayer.
Mr. Chairman, Mr. Secretary Lutnick, with all the respect I can
muster, please fix this. Please fix this. And I am going to keep
bringing it up until you do.
I will pass a bill if I can, but it is going to be kind of tough. The
short way home here is to have the Secretary--I don't mean disrespect--
to have the Secretary do his job.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The senior assistant executive clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order
for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I ask that the scheduled rollcall begin
immediately.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
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