[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 55 (Tuesday, March 24, 2026)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1565-S1566]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
EMERGENCY CONSERVATION PROGRAM IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 2025
Mrs. FISCHER. Mr. President, my home State of Nebraska is currently
facing devastating wildfires, the worst in our State's history.
Yesterday, I, along with Senator Ricketts, Congressman Adrian Smith,
and our Governor Jim Pillen welcomed U.S. Secretary of Agriculture
Brooke Rollins to Nebraska so that she could meet firsthand with
responders and ag producers who have experienced incredible damage.
Across the State, more than 800,000 acres and counting have burned,
turning grasslands to ash. We saw this firsthand up close. Family farms
and ranchers have watched hundreds of miles of fences burn. They have
done everything they can to protect their livestock.
The coming weeks and months will be difficult. Fences will need to be
rebuilt. Grazing plans will need to change. Entire seasons of work will
likely need to be reconsidered.
While recovery will be difficult, we should do everything in our
power to ensure that disaster recovery programs at the USDA can support
our farmers and ranchers during this difficult time.
It was feedback from ag producers in previous years' wildfires that
led me to introduce my bipartisan Emergency Conservation Program
Improvement Act. The goal of this legislation is to expedite Federal
cost sharing following these natural disasters, just like the wildfires
burning across Nebraska right now.
My bill would ensure that the Emergency Conservation Program
eligibility can be triggered faster in response to a wildfire and
provide flexibility for the producers completing the rehabilitative
work.
In times of crisis, Nebraskans deserve relief, not additional
burdens. The Emergency Conservation Program's current distribution
system, well, it too often fails to provide the support it was designed
to offer. We need to streamline the recovery process so we can restore
agricultural land more quickly following emergencies like these tragic
wildfires.
This legislation won't solve all the challenges Nebraska's producers
are facing, but it would meaningfully improve this disaster recovery
program.
That is why I am asking my colleagues to join my bipartisan effort to
improve the Emergency Conservation Program. This is a bipartisan piece
of legislation that has already passed through the Senate and the House
Ag Committees in various packages.
Farmers and ranchers not only in Nebraska but all across America will
have more security and stability because of it.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on
Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry be discharged from further
consideration of S. 629 and the Senate proceed to its immediate
consideration.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the bill by title.
The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:
A bill (S. 629) to amend the Agricultural Credit Act of
1978 to remove barriers to agricultural producers in
accessing funds to carry out emergency measures under the
emergency conservation program, and for other purposes.
There being no objection, the committee was discharged, and the
Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
Mrs. FISCHER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be
considered read a third time and passed and that the motion to
reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The bill (S. 629) was ordered to be engrossed for a third reading,
was read the third time, and passed, as follows:
S. 629
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Emergency Conservation
Program Improvement Act of 2025''.
SEC. 2. IMPROVING THE EMERGENCY CONSERVATION PROGRAM.
Section 401 of the Agricultural Credit Act of 1978 (16
U.S.C. 2201) is amended--
(1) in subsection (b)--
(A) in the subsection heading, by inserting ``and Other
Emergency Conservation Measures'' after ``Fencing'';
(B) in paragraph (1)--
(i) by inserting ``or for other emergency measures to
replace or restore farmland or conservation structures
requiring an immediate response (as determined by the
Secretary),'' after ``replacement of fencing,''; and
(ii) by striking ``option of receiving'' and all that
follows through the period at the end and inserting the
following: ``option of receiving, before the agricultural
producer carries out the repair, replacement, or
restoration--
``(A) with respect to a payment to the agricultural
producer for a replacement, 75 percent of the cost of the
replacement, as determined by the Secretary; and
``(B) with respect to a payment to the agricultural
producer for a repair or restoration, 50 percent of the cost
of the repair or restoration, as determined by the
Secretary.''; and
(C) in paragraph (2), by striking ``60-day'' and inserting
``180-day''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(c) Wildfire Determination.--A wildfire that causes
damage eligible for a payment under subsection (a) includes--
``(1) a wildfire that is not caused naturally, if the
damage is caused by the spread of the wildfire due to natural
causes; and
``(2) a wildfire that is caused by the Federal
Government.''.
SEC. 3. IMPROVING THE EMERGENCY FOREST RESTORATION PROGRAM.
Section 407 of the Agricultural Credit Act of 1978 (16
U.S.C. 2206) is amended--
(1) in subsection (a)(2), by striking ``wildfires,'' and
inserting ``wildfires (including a wildfire that is not
caused naturally, if the damage is caused by the spread of
the wildfire due to natural causes, and a wildfire that is
caused by the Federal Government),'';
(2) by redesignating subsection (e) as subsection (f); and
(3) by inserting after subsection (d) the following:
``(e) Advance Payments.--
``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall give an owner of
nonindustrial private forest land the option of receiving,
before the owner carries out emergency measures under this
section, not more than 75 percent of the cost of the
emergency measures, as determined by the Secretary.
``(2) Return of funds.--If the funds provided under
paragraph (1) are not expended by the end of the 180-day
period beginning on the date on which the owner of
nonindustrial private forest land receives those funds, the
funds shall be returned within a reasonable timeframe, as
determined by the Secretary.''.
Mrs. FISCHER. I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority whip.
Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to be able to
complete my remarks prior to the scheduled lunch recess.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Nomination of Colin McDonald
Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, the Senate will soon confirm Colin
McDonald to be the Assistant Attorney General for National Fraud
Enforcement.
Now, this is an entirely new position, a new division inside the
Department of Justice. It reflects President Trump's forceful actions
to root out waste, fraud, abuse, and corruption.
I met with Mr. McDonald in my office a few weeks ago, and he is the
right person to lead this effort. His
[[Page S1566]]
track record as a prosecutor in California, as well as Hawaii, as well
as the Department of Justice, is exceptional.
He has successfully taken down drug traffickers, human smugglers, and
corrupt officials. He has proven to be especially experienced in
investigating and prosecuting fraud.
Mr. McDonald is a noble public servant, and I strongly support his
nomination. He is going to be a dedicated fighter of fraud. America
needs a fighter of fraud on the job immediately.
And let me remind you why we are here doing this in the first place.
It is because in cities and States across the country, criminals are
stealing staggering sums of money from hard-working American taxpayers.
The American people are being robbed, and they know it. They see
waste. They see fraud. They see abuse. They see corruption. And people
are sick and tired of it.
Americans are fed up with welfare criminals and the elected officials
who tolerate them. Democrats in the big cities and liberal States look
the other way, and the criminals know it.
Remember the fraudulent daycare center in Minnesota? No children were
actually enrolled. It was a front. It was set up to syphon money from
the Federal Treasury. State officials in Minnesota looked the other
way, and criminals became more and more emboldened.
Democrats are complicit in turning the U.S. Treasury into an
automated teller machine. The Treasury has become an ATM for crooks,
for criminals, and for corruption.
The fraud epidemic in Minnesota happened when Joe Biden and Kamala
Harris were in the White House. The current Governor Tim Walz is still
in office today. And recall he was Kamala Harris' Vice Presidential
nominee in the 2024 Presidential election. Fraud spread like wildfire
on their watch.
In one particular outrageous scheme, criminals falsified diagnoses of
autism. They bribed parents with thousands of dollars of government
money to use their children's names on falsified documents. The records
show that many parents actively negotiated to be paid even higher rates
for the bribes. The parents who were in on the scams even threatened to
move their children to competing fraudulent providers unless they
received even more money--and these were children without autism; they
didn't need treatment.
Let me show you how bad this was. In 2018, the Minnesota Medicaid
Program, which was designed to help children with autism, spent a grand
total of $6 million. That was in the year 2018. Five years later, due
to massive criminal fraud and as elected officials looked the other
way, the pricetag ballooned from $6 million to $193 million. Evidence
of fraud doesn't get much clearer than that.
Of course, Minnesota isn't the only liberal State with substantial
fraud. There is also widespread fraud in California's Medicaid
Programs. CBS News just last week reported that over a third of hospice
providers in Los Angeles ``trigger multiple red flags for fraud.''
These are people who are supposed to be taking care of people in their
final days of life--people with cancer and debilitating diseases. There
are multiple red flags for fraud, and California officials look the
other way.
A vote for Mr. McDonald is a vote to attack this fraud epidemic head-
on. It is a vote to prosecute criminals, and it is a vote to protect
hard-working American taxpayers.
I want to congratulate Mr. McDonald on his nomination. We need him on
the job immediately, and I look forward to voting for his confirmation.
Department of Homeland Security
Mr. President, on a separate matter, for 5 weeks now, TSA agents have
not gotten paid. Most continue to show up for work anyway. These TSA
agents are struggling. They need to provide for their families. But as
a result of the Democrats' shutdown, some TSA agents are calling in
sick or are seeking new employment.
On Sunday, 2 days ago, nearly 3,500 TSA agents were absent from work.
More than 400 have quit. They have done that since the shutdown of
February 13. It is worse when you look city by city. In Atlanta, GA, 42
percent of the TSA agents didn't show up for work on Sunday. In
Houston, 40 percent were absent. In New York City and Philadelphia, one
in four TSA agents was absent. This is the reason we see the very long
lines at the airports.
Immediately funding the Department of Homeland Security is the only
way to end the shutdown. We need to make sure it is funded. The
Democrat shutdown is dangerous and disgraceful, but once again,
Democrats are proving on this very floor that they care more about
illegal immigrant criminals than they do the safety and security of the
American people.
I yield the floor.
Nomination of Colin McDonald
Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, today, the Senate will vote to confirm
Colin McDonald to be Assistant Attorney General for the National Fraud
Enforcement Division. Before Mr. McDonald's hearing, I had many
questions about this newly created division. I still don't have
answers.
But one thing is clear: Mr. McDonald is more committed to scoring
political points for President Trump than he is to fighting waste,
fraud, and abuse--much of which is being perpetrated by this
administration. Mr. McDonald supervises the so-called Weaponization
Working Group, which he coled with disgraced nominee Ed Martin prior to
Mr. Martin's demotion due to alleged improper handling of grand jury
materials.
According to Mr. Martin, the goal of this working group is to
``name'' and ``shame'' the President's political opponents, even if
they haven't committed a crime.
The working group also employs Jared Wise, who stormed the Capitol on
January 6 and was charged with assault after encouraging rioters who
were attacking law enforcement by yelling, ``Yeah, f*** them! Yeah,
kill `em!''
During his hearing, Mr. McDonald repeatedly refused to confirm
whether he ever witnessed members of the Weaponization Working Group
violate the Justice Department Manual or the law. He also refused to
condemn Mr. Wise's continued employment.
President Trump has more than doubled his net worth since returning
to office, and fraudsters who made massive contributions to the
President have regularly been rewarded with pardons. Mr. McDonald
refused to condemn these and other pardons or commit to cracking down
on the ongoing pay-for-play pardon scheme. He has demonstrated that he
is unwilling to stand up to President Trump and his administration of
grifters.
I oppose Mr. McDonald's nomination. I urge my colleagues to join me.
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