[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 42 (Thursday, March 5, 2026)]
[Senate]
[Pages S855-S860]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
LEGISLATIVE SESSION
______
HOUSING FOR THE 21ST CENTURY ACT
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the Senate will
resume consideration of H.R. 6644, which the clerk will report.
The senior assistant bill clerk read as follows:
A bill (H.R. 6644) to increase the supply of housing in
America, and for other purposes.
Pending:
=========================== NOTE ===========================
On page S855, March 5, 2026, in the second column, the following
appears: A bill (H.R. 6644) to increase the supply of housing in
America, and for other purposes. Scott (SC)/Warren) Amendment No.
4308, in the nature of a substitute. Pending:
The online Record has been corrected to read: A bill (H.R. 6644)
to increase the supply of housing in America, and for other
purposes. Pending:
========================= END NOTE =========================
Scott (SC)/Warren Amendment No. 4308, in the nature of a substitute.
Thune (for Scott (SC)/Warren) Amendment No. 4307 (to Amendment No.
4308), to require the Comptroller General of the United States to
submit to Congress studies on workforce housing, housing for persons
who are elderly or disabled, proximity of housing to Superfund sites,
and residential heirs property.
Thune Amendment No. 4310 (to Amendment No. 4307), to change the
enactment date.
Thune Amendment No. 4311 (to the text proposed to be stricken by
Amendment No. 4308), to change the enactment date.
Thune Amendment No. 4312 (to Amendment No. 4311), of a perfecting
nature.
Thune motion to commit the bill to the Committee on Banking, Housing,
and Urban Affairs, with instructions, Amendment No. 4313, to change the
enactment date.
Thune Amendment No. 4314 (to the instructions of the motion to
commit), of a perfecting nature.
Thune Amendment No. 4315 (to Amendment No. 4314), of a perfecting
nature.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Iowa.
Honoring Army Reserve Soldiers
Mr. GRASSLEY. Last night, we received the sad news that two more Army
Reserve soldiers from the 103rd Sustainment Command, based out of Des
Moines, IA, were killed in Kuwait amid Operation Epic Fury. That
includes MAJ Jeffrey O'Brien, who is from Indianola, and he has family
in Waukee, IA.
Their heroism should be remembered forever. These soldiers represent
the best of Iowa and the best of the United States. We should never
forget their sacrifice and their service. Barbara and I are praying for
their loved ones in this time of grief, and we also pray for the safety
of all soldiers serving in harm's way.
H.R. 6644
Mr. President, on another matter, before the U.S. Senate now is what
we call a housing bill.
Every year, as I travel to all of Iowa's 99 counties, I do that to
connect with constituents and to understand Iowans' needs of their
various communities across our State. Whether the community I visit is
large, small, or rural, all regularly express concerns with the lack of
affordable housing. So you can understand why I am excited that the
Senate, after a long period of time, is finally working to pass the
21st Century ROAD to Housing Act.
I want to emphasize that this is the most significant housing package
to be considered by Congress in decades. This bipartisan bill includes
a wide range of proposals focused on increasing housing supply by
cutting redtape and unlocking private capital. It updates Federal
housing laws and empowers communities to address local housing needs.
Most importantly, it includes--this is most important because Iowa is a
rural State--the bill includes key reforms to the U.S. Department of
Agriculture's rural housing service programs that will preserve and
expand affordable housing operations in Iowa's rural communities and
throughout rural United States.
I yield the floor.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
[[Page S856]]
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The senior assistant bill 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.
Tribute to Claudia Kostel
Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, before I begin today, I would like to take
a moment to honor Claudia Kostel, the Senate's chief counsel for
employment, who is retiring this month after serving this institution
for more than 25 years.
Senators may get the limelight, but we wouldn't last a day without
our staffs, and they also wouldn't last a day without the many
institutional staff who keep the Senate functioning--people like
Claudia.
For more than 25 years, Claudia has provided Senators and staff alike
with counsel on employment and labor law. She is known for providing
scrupulously nonpartisan, high-quality legal advice and for maintaining
the highest standards for her own work and that of her office.
She is also known as a mentor to--and an advocate for--her employees
and is the kind of leader who, in the words of one staffer, ``never
asks others to do what she is not willing to do.''
And in addition to providing the highest quality legal advice, she
also keeps writing standards high, with one coworker noting:
She never met a draft she couldn't make tighter or a brief
she couldn't shorten.
As I said, Claudia has served the Senate for more than 25 years. Only
the second chief counsel for employment in the Senate's history, she
served under seven Secretaries of the Senate and has been witness to a
lot of history. It is hard to overstate the value of that.
She doesn't just bring legal acumen and a commitment to excellence;
she also brings a tremendous amount of institutional memory and
institutional knowledge. We are lucky to have public servants like her
who are willing to dedicate so much of their working life to this
institution.
Claudia, my warmest congratulations on your retirement, and thank you
for your service.
Department of Homeland Security
Mr. President, it is another Thursday here in the Senate, and it
should be just another payday for employees at the Department of
Homeland Security, but thanks to Democrats' shutdown, a lot of DHS
employees are only receiving a partial paycheck today. Democrats will
have an opportunity to fix that this afternoon.
Republicans will again try to pass legislation to fund DHS so
employees can get paid and DHS can operate at full capacity, but I
suspect Democrats will once again oppose this commonsense measure. And
having kept DHS shut down now for 3 weeks and counting, Democrats will
once again leave Washington today and head to the airport, where they
will walk past some of the 50,000 TSA agents who are missing part of
their pay because of Senate Democrats.
One TSA agent told CNN recently, ``You're going to see TSA officers
in the food bank lines in a couple of days,'' and he noted that several
of his colleagues have taken out payday loans.
And it is not just the TSA. Civilian Coast Guard employees, FEMA
employees, cyber security professionals, and others are missing pay
because of Democrats' shutdown.
Like Democrats' first shutdown, a few months ago, this shutdown is
causing a lot of financial stress, uncertainty, and pain for hard-
working Americans. It is also making it harder for those working to
keep America safe.
Right now, less than half of the Americans who work for the
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency are on the job. Think
about that. The rest have been furloughed, and the Agency has had to
cancel vulnerability checks on certain infrastructure.
Now, you would think that that might raise some concern among
Democrats, especially given the current threat environment, but,
apparently, it doesn't.
The FEMA GO system, which is how State and local governments and
other grantees access funding that they have been awarded, is offline.
So grantees can't access the funds that they need for critical programs
in their communities.
Officials report that the Disaster Relief Fund is being ``rapidly
depleted,'' which jeopardizes our ability to support disaster recovery
efforts and respond to future emergencies. And a number of American
cities that are hosting World Cup games, in a few months, are concerned
about funding for security preparations being frozen due to Democrats'
shutdown.
This is the second time in 6 months that Democrats have subjected
thousands of workers to the pain and uncertainty of a government
shutdown, and like their record-setting 43-day shutdown in the fall,
this DHS shutdown is entirely unnecessary.
Just to review, we had a bipartisan agreement in January that
included deescalation training for Immigration and Customs Enforcement,
as well as $20 million for body cameras for ICE officers. When
Democrats decided that wasn't enough, Republicans and the White House
agreed to reopen negotiations. We understood that negotiations take
time, and we wanted to ensure that Federal employees would not be
impacted by this ongoing work. So we suggested a temporary funding
extension for several weeks to allow the negotiations to continue.
Democrats insisted on no more than 2--2--weeks, and when those 2 weeks
came and went without an agreement, we tried to get another temporary
extension through. Again, Democrats blocked it.
Here we are, 3 weeks later, and Democrats, apparently, don't care
that a whole lot of Federal employees are working without pay--Federal
employees, I might add, who have nothing to do--nothing to do--with
immigration enforcement--FEMA, TSA, cyber security offices.
Let's be clear. This is not some principled stand by Democrats in the
face of a refusal to negotiate--not at all. Republicans are at the
table and have been now for weeks. The White House sent a very serious
offer to Democrats almost a week ago. It is Democrats who don't seem to
be interested in reaching an agreement.
In fact, from where I stand, it is looking a lot like Democrats just
want to keep this alive as a political issue. If Democrats were really
interested in putting reforms in place, they would be doing everything
they can to get a bill, but they are not. They are interested in
politics, not policy.
And if public safety ends up suffering as a result of their decision
to shut down the Department of Homeland Security, if hard-working
Americans have to go without paychecks, well, apparently, that is just
fine with Senate Democrats.
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. 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.
Food Costs
Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I just came back from an event at the
National Press Club, hosted by the American Economic Liberties Project,
on the plague of high food costs that are maddening to so many
Americans. People are fed up.
Donald Trump promised to bring food costs down, and instead, they
have gone up.
Last month, the Secretary of Agriculture said:
It can cost around $3 a meal for a piece of chicken, a
piece of broccoli, a corn tortilla, and one other thing.
This is nonsense. So this morning, as part of Democrats' lowering
costs agenda, I was proud to join my colleagues to introduce the Family
Grocery and Farmer Relief Act.
There are many reasons why food costs have risen, including Trump's
tariffs, including supply chain problems, but there is a deeper
structural problem under the surface too--monopoly power.
[[Page S857]]
A handful of powerful corporations have turned food and farming into
a rigged game. Today, only four companies control 85 percent of the
market for beef, 67 percent of the market for pork, and 60 percent of
the market for poultry. When so much market power is concentrated
within so few corporations, Americans at the grocery store see prices
go up while farmers see their profits go down, and corporate players
have free reign to rig the system.
Today, a pound of ground beef is more expensive than ever at $7 a
pound. The price of beef in general has risen 16 percent in just a
year, to $6 a pound. This is not sustainable.
So my bill rests on a simple idea: To lower costs, we need more
competition, and to create more competition, we have to break the
stranglehold of these monopoly corporations. We have done it before; we
can do it again. Fighting monopoly power is a tried-and-true tradition
in the American ethos of progress.
Over 120 years ago, Upton Sinclair published ``The Jungle,'' and it
opened the eyes of the Nation to working conditions in meatpacking
plants and to the awful monopoly powers that dominated the industry.
Soon after, the FTC was created--the Federal Trade Commission--to
investigate monopolies and anti-competitive behavior that raised prices
and made it harder for small and medium businesses to compete and
thrive.
A few years after that, the Congress responded to these findings by
passing the Packers and Stockyards Act, which curbed the power of the
meatpacking giants and gave the Federal Government tools to restore
competition and protect producers.
Well, history is repeating itself. Those monopolies are dominating
the food industry--and particularly the meat industry--as they did 120
years ago, and we should follow the path that occurred back then when
we curbed the power of monopolies. We have to do the same in our day
and age, and history gives us a great example.
Americans love the free market and open competition, but they don't
love it when just one or two companies can dominate an industry and
make fair competition impossible. That is not American. That is not a
free market. That is how costs go up for something as basic as a pound
of ground beef.
Our bill will break the monopoly power that has played a sinister
role in raising the prices of beef and groceries, and I thank my
colleagues who have joined in this legislation.
Additional Cosponsors to S. 4007
I will ask unanimous consent to add the list of cosponsors. It keeps
growing.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
Joining Leader Schumer are the following members:
Cosponsors: Booker, Welch, Warren, Sanders, Gallego,
Merkley, Schatz, Durbin, Markey, Kim, Murphy, and Whitehouse.
Tariff Refunds
Mr. SCHUMER. Now on tariff refunds, yesterday, a Federal judge sent
the Trump administration a very clear message: Mr. President, refund
the tariffs.
In the wake of the Supreme Court's ruling invalidating a large
portion of the President's tariffs, the U.S. Court of International
Trade in New York said yesterday that importers are entitled to
refunds. But let's be very clear: The people who deserve a refund from
Donald Trump's trade war are American households and small businesses,
not large corporations.
When the tariffs hit, large companies often passed the buck over to
their customers. They are the ones--the customers are the ones who are
owed the refund. So today, Senator Wyden and I are calling on the U.S.
Chamber of Commerce to tell their members to pass savings of any tariff
refunds to American consumers. If any refunds happen, large companies
should not keep them but, rather, pass them back to consumers.
It is simple fairness that the financial burden borne by small
businesses and working people should not become a windfall for large
corporations' balance sheets. American consumers and small businesses
didn't choose this trade war and therefore should not have to pay for
this trade war. They are owed a refund. They need to be made whole.
I am glad that some companies have already announced they will pass
refunds over to customers, and I urge the Chamber of Commerce to push
more of their members to do the same.
Iran
Mr. President, finally, on Iran, yesterday was a disappointing and
low moment for the U.S. Senate. With war in the Middle East escalating
by the day, Senate Republicans chose to get behind Trump's military
escapades despite overwhelming opposition from the American people.
Shameful. Americans don't want war--not Republican voters, not
Independents, not even many of Donald Trump's MAGA base. They feel
betrayed by what is happening in the Middle East, and they feel
betrayed by the Senators in this Chamber who refuse to stand up for the
Constitution and refuse to put a check on Donald Trump's belligerence.
The war is widening. There was fighting as far south as the Indian
Ocean and drone attacks, perhaps as far north as Azerbaijan. Meanwhile,
there is no strategy. Donald Trump's story and rationales keep changing
by the day.
If you listen to Pete Hegseth, to Marco Rubio, to Donald Trump, it is
very, very obvious they are making it up as they go along, and
Americans are worried. Gas prices are starting to go up. The national
average is now $3.25 a gallon, up from $2.99 from a week ago.
There is a story in POLITICO from this morning that Susie Wiles,
Donald Trump's Chief of Staff, is ``[sounding] the alarm on gas
prices.'' Apparently, the White House is scrambling to find something
positive to say about gas prices to change the narrative of high costs.
Here is an idea: If Donald Trump doesn't want gas prices to go up, he
should not have unilaterally started a war with Iran. It is yet another
sign that this administration seems allergic to having a plan and
thinking about the consequences in advance.
So shame--shame on Senate Republicans for not standing up to Donald
Trump and his unpopular war. Senate Republicans had their chance to do
something that would have been overwhelmingly popular--to say no to
Trump's war. Instead, they enthusiastically said yes, and now they own
this war with Iran just as much as Donald Trump does.
Tribute to Claudia Kostel
Mr. President, finally, a farewell. Today, the Senate bids farewell
and offers our deep thanks to Claudia Kostel, who leads the Office of
the Senate Chief Counsel for Employment and who has served this
institution with distinction since 2000. After more than 26 years,
Claudia will be moving on to her next adventure. The Senate is lucky to
have had someone of her caliber for so long.
Claudia earned her law degree from the College of William & Mary. She
has briefed cases before the U.S. Supreme Court and before the Third,
Tenth, and DC Circuits.
In the Senate, Claudia is only the second person ever to have served
as chief counsel for employment. In that role, she has provided
exceptional legal advice and counsel to Senate offices and to Senate
employees. She has served with excellence, fairness, and an unwavering
commitment to this institution.
We hope this next chapter affords Claudia perhaps a little more
time--time to ride her bike along the Mount Vernon Trail, time to put
her legendary baking skills to even greater use, and most importantly,
time with her family.
Claudia, thank you for your service to the Senate. We wish you the
very best.
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.
Department of Homeland Security
Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I come to the floor today having just
listened to the minority leader talk about a number of topics. What he
didn't talk about is the fact that his party has shut down the
Department of Homeland Security.
There is a poll that is out by Gallup, and it says: What is very
important in terms of U.S. foreign policy goals? And
[[Page S858]]
the No. 1 thing is to prevent future acts of international terrorism.
Well, how do we prevent it? Who is it in this country that counters
the terrorism? It is the Department of Homeland Security, which the
Democrats--and they are going to have to vote again today--are likely,
as they have announced, to vote to keep it shut down. That is a
betrayal of the American people.
He used the word ``betrayal.'' To me, that is where it fits--with
what actions the Democrats are likely to take today.
What is the No. 2 very important purpose of U.S. foreign policy as a
goal from the Gallup poll of the American people? No. 2 is preventing
the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons of mass destruction.
So what did we hear the minority leader talk about? His opposition to
the efforts to show peace through strength and undermine the ability of
Iran to develop and use and deploy nuclear weapons. Once again, a
betrayal by the Democrats of the American people.
Today, the Senate is going to vote on a bill to fund the Department
of Homeland Security. This vital Department needs to be funded
immediately. The Democrats have been blocking it for weeks. Protecting
the American people is not optional. It is the first duty of
government. For 3 weeks, the Democrats have held hostage the Department
of Homeland Security. The Presiding Officer knows the reason. It is
because the Democrats in this body and across the Capitol Building in
the House of Representatives prioritize illegal immigrant criminals
over American citizens, and they have done it repeatedly through their
votes and their actions. Democrats have shut down the Department of
Homeland Security because they want to end enforcement of our
immigration laws and end immigration enforcement in America. They have
been very clear about that. They refuse to fund the Department of
Homeland Security because they want to turn America into a sanctuary
country. That is where they are.
Those in this Chamber would rather oppose President Trump than
protect the American people, and they have repeatedly shown it. Let me
say it again: Senate Democrats would rather oppose President Trump than
protect the American people. This shutdown is a cheap publicity stunt.
They are doing it for the radical left, and it is, at the same time, a
costly danger for our country and our citizens.
Now that America has struck Iran, the No. 1 threat to our homeland is
the threat of terrorism. Last week, in Austin, TX, a lone-wolf
terrorist opened fire in a crowded establishment, killing three
Americans and wounding over a dozen more. The shooter was wearing a T-
shirt. The T-shirt bore an Iranian flag, and it was under a sweatshirt
that said ``Property of Allah.''
The warning lights are flashing red. Look, we know that Iran exports
its terror abroad. They have been doing it for the last 10 years with
the $56 billion that Barack Obama and the Democrats gave to the
Ayatollah 10 years ago.
For 4 years, Joe Biden and the Democrats opened the border, and we
don't know who is in our country today. When Joe Biden was in office,
1,500 illegal immigrants from Iran were arrested at the southern
border. Do you know what the Democrats then did? They released half of
them into the United States. This was what was known as the Democrats'
catch-and-release program. Who are they? Where are they? What are they
doing today? No one knows. And these are just the people that we know
about that were released into the country. Think about the thousands
and thousands of ``got-aways'' during the time Joe Biden was President
of the United States. They are in communities in all 50 States. Iran's
tentacles stretch all the way to small communities in our Nation.
Now, the Department of Homeland Security is warning law enforcement
nationwide about the elevated risk and threat from lone-wolf attacks
like we saw in Texas last weekend, and yet at this very moment today,
Democrats in this Chamber are continuing to block the funding for the
very Agency that is tasked with stopping these terrorist attacks.
Senator Chris Murphy, a Democrat from Connecticut, said funding for
the Department of Homeland Security is--his word--``ridiculous.'' That
is the way the Democrats perceive this. I will tell you what is
ridiculous. What is ridiculous is to shut down the Agency responsible
for finding the terrorists in this country and stopping them before
they act. That is what we are dealing with. It is ridiculous to refuse
to pay the men and women who protect our homeland. That is what the
Democrats are doing. It is ridiculous to cripple our cyber defense.
That is what the Democrats are doing and continue to do.
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, which is part
of the Department of Homeland Security--they protect our Nation's
critical infrastructure, including our energy infrastructure. Chuck
Schumer was on the floor talking about energy. Why isn't he protecting
our energy infrastructure in this country? Why is he continuing to make
it vulnerable to attacks? It is awful what they are doing. Today, only
800 of over 2,000 employees are on the job in this Department, and they
are working without pay. The others have been furloughed due to the
Democrat shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security. And because
of this shutdown, the Agency has canceled both physical and cyber
security assessments to detect vulnerabilities within our system.
No wonder we are on high alert. We need to be on high alert because
of the Democrats who have put us there. This is a direct threat to our
Nation's security. Shutting down the Department of Homeland Security,
as Democrats in this Chamber have done repeatedly, makes our country
less safe and makes our citizens more vulnerable. But I expect to see,
when the Democrats come in, them once again continue to keep the
Department of Homeland Security shut down.
As the Presiding Officer knows, Republicans tried to negotiate with
the Democrats in good faith. The President has sent offers to the
Democrats to say: Look, let's be reasonable here. Open the Department
of Homeland Security. Yet, they refuse. They cling to their love of
illegal immigrant criminals rather than to the love of this Nation and
the safety and security of the people here.
This is all about safety, national strength, and national security.
And the shutdown by the Democrats endangers each and every one of these
as well as each and every American citizen. The next cyber attack on
our homeland--Democrats are going to bear full responsibility. The next
lone-wolf terrorist--Democrats will bear full responsibility. The next
criminal who crosses the border illegally and kills an innocent
American--fully on the Democrats. Blood will be on their hands because
we don't have a functioning Department of Homeland Security that is
funded with people on the ground in every position receiving their
paychecks.
The Democrats seem to think it is a bargaining chip. American safety
and security is not a bargaining chip, and I am going to vote with my
Republican colleagues today to fully fund the Department of Homeland
Security without delay.
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. CORNYN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for
the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Sheehy). Without objection, it is so
ordered.
The Senator from Texas.
Trump Administration
Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, there is an old saying that you can tell a
lot about a person by who their friends are. It is also the case you
can tell a lot about a person by who their friends are not, and this
could easily be said about many within the Democratic Party at this
time.
It continues to amaze me the way that the widespread phenomenon of
Trump derangement syndrome has led many Democrats to take what is so
obviously the wrong side on almost every occasion. This pattern of
behavior touches on matters across the policy spectrum, from refusal to
participate in patriotic celebrations to deliberately siding with some
of the worst human beings on the planet.
This bizarre conduct was on full display a few weeks ago at the
President's
[[Page S859]]
State of the Union when many Democrats couldn't even find it within
themselves to stand up and celebrate the U.S. Olympic hockey team who
had just won a gold medal in an epic victory against our neighborhood
to the north.
Very, very strange.
But this refusal to celebrate the victory of the U.S. men's hockey
team was not limited to the State of the Union: Somehow the Trump
derangement syndrome has sustained an entire internet controversy
around this group of young hockey players who should be celebrated by
all Americans, regardless of politics.
The fact that Democrats are incapable of checking their politics at
the door on literally any topic speaks volumes about their mindset.
Now, it is only common sense--and this has been something that has
happened since Ronald Reagan first started recognizing individuals for
their accomplishments and their patriotism in the audience at the State
of the Union. It is only common sense that President Trump would
recognize these Olympic athletes who won the gold medal. It shouldn't
have been controversial, but yet thanks to Trump derangement syndrome,
it was. But this strange behavior doesn't stop with hockey.
We heard the same message loud and clear in January following
Operation Absolute Resolve. President Trump pulled off an impressive
feat, along with the incredible demonstration of professionalism and
competence by the U.S. military, in apprehending Venezuelan dictator
Nicolas Maduro in the dead of night, with no American lives lost in the
operation.
Somehow, Democrats' response was reflexively to criticize the
President for conducting what they called a violation of international
law. But it is astounding to me that anyone who cares about law and
norms would side with a dictator like Maduro. And the President was, in
fact, enforcing U.S. law, making sure that this fugitive from justice
was called to respond in Federal court in New York to an indictment
that was issued against him for drug smuggling.
Maduro and his close associates conspired with the Sinaloa Cartel and
Tren de Aragua, using their power to facilitate the flow of drugs into
the United States and making themselves rich off of the trafficking
profits. Maduro also gave America's enemies a foothold in the Western
Hemisphere, including providing safe haven to Lebanese Hezbollah,
partnering with Iran and Russia to evade U.S. sanctions, and partnering
with China to procure military equipment and other tools used to
repress the Venezuelan people.
Under his rule, the Government of Venezuela rapidly devolved from a
democracy into an authoritarian dictatorship. How is it the very people
who claim to care about democracy and protest in the street with signs
that say ``No Kings'' are cheering, are siding with a literal dictator
in order to demonstrate their opposition to the democratically elected
President of the United States just because his name happens to be
Donald J. Trump? It makes no sense at all.
But the leftwing outrage goes on. We saw it again last week in
response to Operation Epic Fury. President Trump and our brave military
servicemembers successfully eliminated another dictator who literally
murders his own people in the streets of Tehran, the Supreme Leader of
the Islamic Republic of Iran Ali Khamenei. Once again, the Islamic
Republic of Iran, under his leadership, was far from a beacon of
democracy and human rights, as I said.
The United Nations, which is not a model of courage when it comes to
calling out abuses, has repeatedly found that his regime engaged in
excessive use of force, systematic torture, enforced disappearances,
and pervasive persecution of women and young girls.
Even the liberal bastion known as the Human Rights Watch has
criticized his regime for persecution of religious minorities. While
others have decried the widespread and systematic killings,
imprisonment, and torture of civilian protesters, all this adds up to
their status, the regime's status as the world's largest state sponsor
of terror, funding the Houthis, Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Shia
militias. We know the Houthis have attacked U.S. owned and operated
ships passing through the Red Sea.
And Hezbollah, which has been estimated to receive 70 to 80 percent
of the funds from Iran's patronage accounts, has repeatedly set up
criminal operations in the United States and the Western Hemisphere.
And most significantly, Iran has long pursued nuclear weapons,
maintaining a stockpile of uranium enriched up to 60 percent purity,
just a step away from the 90 percent weapons-grade uranium.
After President Trump dealt a severe setback to Iran's nuclear sites
through Operation Midnight Hammer, Iran quickly began to rebuild these
sites, including ballistic missile facilities. If Iran were to obtain a
nuclear weapon, it would massively destabilize the Middle East and
cause substantial harm to U.S. security and threaten the very existence
of our ally Israel.
President Trump has always been right in his long, repeated
insistence that Iran must never--never--get a nuclear weapon. This
world would be a safer and less violent place if the Islamic Republic
of Iran fell tomorrow. And yet our friends across the aisle seem to
want to side with the Iranian regime strangely.
The Democrat Party's favorite darling, mayor Zohran Mamdani of New
York, condemned President Trump's ``escalation'' of this ``illegal war
of aggression.'' These are the same people that have American blood on
their hands from the IEDs and roadside bombs that were used against our
troops in the Middle East.
At the same time, many of Mayor Mamdani's own residents, with
firsthand experience of the Iranian regime, lambasted him on social
media for his defense of the Supreme Leader. It takes a delusional
person to sympathize with these terrible dictators who are finally
receiving the justice they deserve under President Trump.
But this is just the tip of the iceberg with regard to the madness
that leftwing agitators will embrace in order to register their
opposition to the President. As my colleagues here all know, we are
currently in a partial government shutdown, with no path forward to
passing appropriations for the Department of Homeland Security.
Supposedly, this was to register their objection to immigration law
enforcement by ICE, but this bill funds the Coast Guard. It funds the
Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Transportation Security
Agency that operates at all of our airports.
We are one natural disaster away from a very severe emergency while
FEMA is out of money, and while none of us enjoy waiting on the line at
airports for security, defunding the workers who perform this essential
service to keep us safe while we travel is nothing short of absurd.
Now, this comes on the heels of a record-long full government
shutdown by our Democratic colleagues when so many of our essential
workers were forced to work without pay. If Republicans pulled stunts
like that to register their opposition to President Biden, you can only
imagine what the media would do and say.
It speaks volumes about where our Democratic colleagues' true
loyalties lie when we observe whom they are willing to cheer for and
who was met with callous indifference.
This is not just my imagination, but Democrats are more willing to
rally behind Nicolas Maduro and the Supreme Leader of Iran than to
stand alongside of Republicans and show their appreciation for the U.S.
men's hockey team.
And they would rather sustain a government shutdown than make sure
that the men and women who keep our airports and skies safe have the
resources that they need. I can't understand it.
President Trump, at the State of the Union, said these Democrats, at
least the ones who were in the Chamber at the State of the Union, were
crazy. Certainly, they are misguided, and they need to come to their
senses.
I yield the floor.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. HAGERTY. 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 Homeland Security
Mr. HAGERTY. Mr. President, today marks the 20th day of what has been
a
[[Page S860]]
completely unnecessary, incredibly harmful, and politically motivated
shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security, an Agency whose core
is to protect our citizens from terrorism, from crime, from cyber risk,
and from natural disasters.
The question is, Why are we here? Why is the entire government not
open?
We find ourselves at this moment because my colleagues on the other
side of the aisle oppose our efforts to clean up the immigration crisis
that they created. This is purely about politics, not policy.
At a moment when global tensions are high and President Trump is
rightly carrying out a strategic operation in the Middle East to make
America more secure, it is more important than ever to ensure that the
Agency tasked with defending our homeland remains fully funded and
fully operational without delay.
The situation in Iran has direct ties to the security of our southern
border. Think about it. More than 1,500 Iranian nationals were detained
trying to enter this country illegally under President Biden. And do
you know what? The Biden-Harris administration released about 50
percent of those individuals into our homeland, many of them with
suspected ties to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, also known
as the IRGC. If you think about this, the open border policies of the
Biden-Harris administration brought these 1,500 Iranian nationals, and
750 of them were released into the interior of our homeland.
Those are the ones that we know were apprehended. We don't even know
how many people from Iran--or other countries that have our worst
interest at heart--invaded during the time our border was collapsed
under President Biden.
There is a nonzero chance, clearly, that the feckless open border
policies of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle let people in
who want to do harm to America. We shouldn't sit back and just wait for
something to happen.
We, as U.S. Senators, should lock arm in arm and fund the hundreds of
thousands of dedicated men and women who fight every single day to keep
our homeland safe. From our Coast Guard and TSA officers to cyber
security officers and natural disaster first responders, these selfless
Americans continue to show up for work to protect our country and carry
out their duties, all while not knowing when their next paycheck will
arrive. They are doing their jobs, and it is more than past time for
Congress to do ours.
The legislation before us today is not new. It is the very same
bipartisan agreement that this body negotiated and agreed upon just
weeks ago. Yet, for the second time in 6 months, Democrats have chosen
to obstruct necessary Federal funding rather than to negotiate in good
faith.
Therefore, I have to ask my colleagues: What exactly are we waiting
for? Are we waiting for our adversaries to exploit this inaction? Are
we waiting for the next natural disaster to strike a vulnerable
community? Are we waiting for a violent extremist attack to occur?
The American people are paying attention. The American people
understand what is at stake.
Supporting this bill means funding the security of our airports,
strengthening our borders, defending our critical infrastructure, and
ensuring our Nation is prepared to respond to natural disasters the
moment that they occur. Weakening those capabilities, especially during
a time of heightened global tension, is beyond unacceptable. It is
irresponsible.
Instead of allowing politics to undermine our national security, we
should strengthen the various institutions that keep Americans safe.
Ensuring the Department of Homeland Security has the resources it needs
to properly function should be one of the most basic duties that we
have as Members of Congress serving this Nation.
By voting in favor of this legislation today, we have the opportunity
to lock arms as leaders and to do the right thing. That is why I would
strongly encourage all of my colleagues to support this bill without
delay. Let's do what is right for the citizens and take care of this
great Nation right here at home.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Hagerty). The Senator from Massachusetts.
____________________