[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 56 (Wednesday, March 25, 2026)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1605-S1609]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SCARPER RIDGE GOLDEN GATE NATIONAL RECREATION AREA BOUNDARY ADJUSTMENT
ACT
The Senate proceeded to consider the bill (S. 1142) to adjust the
boundaries of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area to include the
Scarper Ridge property, was ordered to be engrossed for a third
reading, was read the third time, and passed, as follows:
S. 1142
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 ``Scarper Ridge Golden Gate
National Recreation Area Boundary Adjustment Act''.
SEC. 2. SCARPER RIDGE BOUNDARY ADJUSTMENT.
Section 2(a)(2) of Public Law 92-589 (16 U.S.C. 460bb-
1(a)(2)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(F) Land generally depicted as `Proposed Boundary
Addition' on the map entitled `Golden Gate National
Recreation Area Proposed Boundary Addition', numbered 641/
193973, and dated July 2024.''.
Mr. JUSTICE. How about that, guys? Now we are rolling.
So at the end of the day, I could go through this wonderful speech
that I had, but really and truly, we are there. God bless each and
every one of those unbelievable heroes that have delivered for this
great Nation.
And, Madam President, I thank you so much. It has been a big-time
honor flying with you. So proud--can't be more proud than I am right
now.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Tennessee.
Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam President, I so appreciate our colleague from
West Virginia and his commitment to our Nation's veterans and today, on
Medal of Honor Day, that he was taking the time to recognize them. We
are grateful for that and grateful for their service and their
sacrifice, and know that we are able to continue the work we do for our
great Nation because of the service that they have rendered to our
Nation.
Department of Homeland Security
Madam President, on Monday, I had the honor of joining President
Trump in Memphis. This was his first visit to our great State after
launching the Memphis Safe Task Force, last year.
And we were so thrilled with this. The task force has been working in
Memphis for the last 6 months. And as we put that task force into
place, what we saw is a city that has really transformed for the
better.
Now, the reason the task force came to be is because Memphis, TN, in
2024 had the highest per capita crime rate of any city in this country.
There were over 100 gangs that were there, vehicle thefts, carjackings,
cargo theft. The list went on and on--aggravated assault, violent
crime, murder.
What we saw was a rising crime rate, and regardless of how much
energy local law enforcement put into this, apprehending criminals,
there was a Soros-backed DA. It was a revolving door, and nothing
seemed to get better.
Well, as Kash Patel and AG Bondi came before me before their
Judiciary Committee hearings, I presented each of them with a crime
stat sheet. These were the crime stats of Memphis.
I asked for their help. They committed for their help. At their
hearings, they publicly committed for that help. And last summer, we
started Operation Viper, and then, what we saw was a success. And
because of that Operation Viper success with the FBI working with local
police, then, last September, we started the Memphis Safe Task Force.
It is local, State, and Federal elected officials working with local,
State, and Federal agencies, all working together: the mayor of
Memphis; Chief Davis, the chief of police; our National Guard;
Tennessee Highway Patrol; Tennessee Bureau of Investigations; 30
Federal
[[Page S1606]]
Agencies; our U.S. marshal; our U.S. attorney. And, yes, a difference
is being made.
Residents had talked a lot about Memphis in 2024. They honestly could
not walk outside their houses. Kids could not play outside. They were
concerned about being robbed, assaulted, murdered, and seeing criminal
gangs turn their community into a war zone.
Now, the fact that we have had such success in Memphis in dropping
that crime rate by nearly 50 percent--50 percent--we are the example,
the model, of how you can get in behind this and change what is
happening with crime.
Some of the stats are that we have seen a 40-percent drop in sexual
assault in Memphis, a 56-percent drop in robbery, a 68-percent drop in
motor vehicle theft, a 36-percent drop in murder.
That is what happens when your mayor, your police chief, and your
agencies are working in partnership getting criminals off the streets.
Now, since September, these combined agencies have made over 9,000
arrests, and more than 3,300 of those were for violent criminals,
violent offenders.
Among them are hundreds of warrant arrests for domestic violence,
aggravated assault, weapons crimes, as well as dozens more for sexual
assault and homicide. These criminals are among the worst of the worst.
In late February, in 1 day, the authorities arrested a 26-year-old
woman wanted for killing a 2-year-old baby. You know, that is pretty
hard to hear. The Presiding Officer and I are grandmamas. We love these
little ones. Hard to fathom somebody would kill a 2-year-old. This is
the type criminal they have taken off the streets. They also arrested a
23-year-old man facing charges of first-degree murder, aggravated
robbery, aggravated assault, and reckless endangerment with a deadly
weapon and a 24-year-old man wanted for drug distribution and
possession of prohibited firearms.
Members of the task force are working every single day to apprehend
these individuals, and while they are apprehending them, they have
recovered more than 2,200 illegal firearms, 1,200 stolen vehicles,
and--get this--they have rescued more than 150 missing children.
You know, in the Biden administration, they lost track of about 500
children. Everyone said: Well, where are these children? What could
have happened?
Because of the good work of these Federal, State, and local agencies
and law enforcement, yes, indeed, 150 missing children.
This operation has been so successful in Memphis. It really ought not
to surprise anyone in this Chamber. Sixty-two percent of Memphis
citizens say the initiative has been effective at reducing crime, and
86 percent support hiring more police officers.
Imagine that. Everybody working together regardless of your political
party, regardless of whether you are State, local, Federal. You have 86
percent of the population of the city saying: Let's do more of this.
Seventy-seven percent say: Let's build a new jail so we can keep
these criminals off the street.
I am incredibly optimistic about the future of Memphis.
I am so grateful to President Trump, Director Patel, AG Bondi, and
Secretary Hegseth, along with all the other Federal Agencies, for their
commitment.
Department of Homeland Security
Madam President, you know, as we have heard on the floor today, it is
the 40th day of the Democrats' shutdown of the Department of Homeland
Security.
This is already one of the longest shutdowns in our Nation's history,
and what we know is that our DHS employees have gone 46 percent of this
fiscal year without a paycheck. This is something that is immoral.
Our colleagues across the aisle have voted not once or twice but
seven times not to fund our DHS employees. So I think that it is
incredible that they are doing this because they have two goals, and we
know these are their goals because they have been on TV talking about
this. They have talked to their base about these goals.
Goal No. 1, abolish ICE. They are all about it. They want to abolish
ICE.
Goal No. 2, they want to defund law enforcement. Now, they have been
on this for years. They had told their base that they were going to
find a way to do this, so they think that not paying TSA workers is a
way to do this. They think that not paying DHS employees is a way to
get to their goal.
Well, they are sadly mistaken, and the American people are figuring
this out, that what they are doing in order to punish ICE for upholding
the rule of law and removing violent criminals from communities--that
it is OK to make people hurt, to make people suffer. I think that it is
so immoral, what they are doing.
Now, of course, they are fully aware that ICE is funded through 2029.
If they had read the Working Families Tax Cut, the Big Beautiful Bill,
they would be aware of this. But, no, they didn't take the time to read
the good things that were in that bill because they had made their
minds up. They were going to vote no. Regardless of what happened, they
were going to vote no.
So they think it is OK to punish Secret Service agents, TSA officers,
coastguardsmen, our cyber security professionals, and our homeland
security investigators so that they can try to abolish ICE.
Now, President Trump is doing everything he can to alleviate the pain
the Democrats are causing. You see Republicans have made concessions.
It was: We want a change of leadership at DHS.
Well, that change has taken place.
We want to end the Minnesota surge with ICE.
That has ended.
We want to end roving patrols.
That has been done.
We want to change policies around protesters. We want to change
policies at detention facilities.
All of that has been done.
Body cameras--that has been done.
What they continue to do is move the goalposts. Nothing is ever good
enough because the only thing they want--abolish ICE and defund law
enforcement.
So regardless of what we bring forward, regardless of what is
offered, they have decided they are a big, fat, whopping no.
They do not give a ripping flip what happens to TSA agents and their
families--people that are sleeping in cars, people that can't pay their
mortgage, people that can't pay for childcare, people that are not able
to go to work because of this. They are not concerned about the 450
agents that have already turned in their badges and said: We can't hack
this. We have to have a job where we are paid every time we go to work
for every hour we work rather than being paid 46 percent of the time.
I think it is so important that we realize they are standing up for
illegal aliens. You know, they are standing up for criminals like Jose
Medina-Medina, who was charged last week with shooting and killing
Sheridan Gorman, an 18-year-old college student at Loyola University in
Chicago who was out walking with her friends.
There was a Chicago alderman who said: This was a kid in the wrong
place at the wrong time.
How totally insensitive and disgusting can that be. I will tell you
who was in the wrong place--it was an illegal alien who had a rap
sheet, who came here under the Biden administration. He goes out and is
charged with theft within a couple of weeks of being here, and the
revolving door starts for him.
I think you have to look at this--somebody that is a repeat offender.
They have no right to be here. And that guy, that alleged killer from
Venezuela, should never have been anywhere near that young woman.
I think it is also important that we look at the fact that there is
new leadership at DHS.
Our colleagues should be willing to fund DHS and stop repeatedly
voting to shut the thing down and support the rule of law in this
country.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Nebraska.
SAVE America Act
Mrs. FISCHER. Madam President, only U.S. citizens should be voting in
U.S. elections. That is not a controversial statement; that is common
sense. And Republicans believe in that statement. We believe we need to
protect voting in our elections. But I think our colleagues on the
other side of the aisle want to make those elections less secure. This
is against the will of most Americans and against the will of their own
voters.
[[Page S1607]]
The SAVE America Act is simple: It requires proof of citizenship to
register to vote and requires a photo ID when you go to cast a ballot.
Common sense. It has overwhelming public support, but Democrats stand
in opposition.
The polling numbers are clear. A recent CBS News poll shows that 80
percent of Americans support requiring a photo ID to vote, and that
includes 65 percent of Democrats. A Pew Research Center poll finds that
83 percent of voters support photo ID at the polls, and that includes
71 percent of Democrats. Sixty-six percent of Americans support
requiring documents showing proof of citizenship in order to register
to vote.
Proof of citizenship is required when you apply for government
benefits. It is required when you join the military. Every single job
in this country requires new hires to fill out a form I-9 proving they
are eligible to work here. Americans show photo ID to drive a car, to
pick up their kids early from school, to check into a hotel, to
purchase cold medicine at the pharmacy, to board a plane, and to get a
library card. If we expect this of Americans in these instances, why on
Earth shouldn't we expect it when they vote?
We have applied this program in my home State of Nebraska. In 2023,
Nebraska adopted a law through the voter-driven initiative process
requiring voters to provide an ID with their name and photo when they
vote. There are a lot of acceptable forms of ID in Nebraska: a driver's
license, a State ID card, a U.S. passport, a military ID, a Tribal ID.
My State of Nebraska found a sensible way to verify voters' identity
without restricting access for eligible voters. In fact, Nebraskans can
get an ID and a certified copy of their birth certificate at no cost if
they don't have one.
Here in Washington, Democrats have spent the past few weeks waffling
on this issue. In fact, Senator Schumer recently announced that
Democrats do support voter ID. You know, that is great. Vote for it.
My colleague Senator Husted, a former chief election official in his
home State of Ohio, decided to take Senator Schumer at his word.
He offered a clean, basic photo ID bill, just a simple requirement to
show voter ID at the polls: a driver's license, a military ID, a Tribal
ID, or a passport.
Well, guess what happened? The Democrats blocked it. They are
completely unserious on this issue. They are out of step with the
majority of Americans. The stakes couldn't be higher. America's
election integrity is on the line. The SAVE America Act is a
commonsense solution, proof of citizenship to register and photo ID to
vote.
Every Democrat will be put on the record, and the American people
will be watching. I urge my colleagues to support the SAVE America Act.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Connecticut.
Reproductive Health
Mr. BLUMENTHAL. Mr. President, as we stand here in the comfort of the
U.S. Capitol on this beautiful spring day, men and women are in harm's
way, serving this country, sacrificing for our defense in the Middle
East.
And I emphasize women, as well as men, are bravely and steadfastly
sacrificing away from their families, away from their homes, away from
the comfort that we take for granted.
Women are the fastest growing demographic in our military. They are
performing combat tasks, as well as support. They are serving in every
aspect of our U.S. military, and we are the better for it.
We have encouraged more women to join the ranks of our military
because of the tremendous talent, energy, patriotism, insight,
compassion, and loyalty that they bring to service. And now, we are
betraying them. Now, we are constricting the healthcare available to
them, purposefully, simply out of ideological bias.
On New Year's Eve, the Trump administration greeted 2026 by quietly,
indeed secretively, implementing a near-total abortion ban at the VA.
It is a new policy that targets women veterans, many of them survivors
of sexual assault or with service-connected disabilities or conditions.
Shamefully, they rob those veterans of access to essential healthcare,
hundreds of thousands of them, even when their healthcare is at risk or
they have been raped.
In the post-Dobbs world, this new policy is dangerous, and it is
cruel. It severely jeopardizes women veterans' health and safety. It
prioritizes culture wars and political games over our Nation's heroes.
It disrespects and endangers more than 462,000 women of reproductive
age, and that number is growing because more women are serving. They
are enrolled in the VA healthcare system, and they live in States where
there are abortion bans or restrictions. So the VA is their only source
of healthcare when it comes to abortion.
On behalf of these women, I urge passage today of my Congressional
Review Act resolution to overturn this abhorrent new policy, which
imposes not only a ban on reproductive rights care but also counseling.
It is a gag order imposed on healthcare providers who should be free to
advise and guide women in making these life-changing decisions about
what to do with their own bodies, and this counseling is necessary for
them to make those decisions about what to do with their futures.
And sometimes, they may be advised to have children when they may be
doubtful about it. The point is that politicians shouldn't be dictating
to our Nation's heroes--our veterans--what kind of futures and
decisions about their families they should be making. It should be
those women veterans consulting doctors.
A ban with the primary purpose of preventing women veterans to
receive abortion care or counseling, even if they are victims of rape
or incest, even if their health is at risk, is absolutely disgusting
and dangerous. And keep in mind healthcare should include abortion.
Abortion is healthcare. Healthcare is a human right, and it is not just
care but also counseling. It is simply no way to treat veterans who
have raised their right hand and been willing to die for their country
and who right now are, in fact, in harm's way, serving their country.
Last month, I joined women veterans to discuss the practical impact
of this rule. I want to talk about some of their stories and read some
of what they had to say because they bravely shared the practical
impacts, and they highlight the human impact of this administration's
archaic and perilous policy.
Alex, for example, is an Air Force veteran and a sexual assault
survivor. During her second miscarriage, she was not provided with the
care she needed, and it nearly cost her her life.
Alex and her husband are terrified to get pregnant again in light of
her experience when she nearly bled to death when suffering a
miscarriage and care was denied to her. An OB-GYN finally intervened.
She was horrified when she learned the severity of her situation, but
it potentially compromised her fertility.
In her own words:
Due to complex service-connected health conditions,
pregnancy is very high risk for me. In order to get pregnant
again, I need to know I can trust my doctors. I need the
ability to have difficult, in-depth conversations with them,
that they are with my health and I every step of the way, and
will without hesitation step in to save my life and fertility
if something goes wrong. However, with this new ban, I no
longer have that faith in the VA . . . As a result, my
husband and I may never get to realize our dream anymore.
For all of us, both sides of the aisle, both views--or many different
views on abortion--this story ought to be heartbreaking. A couple who
wants to have children and needs advice and counseling is denied it
because of this policy.
Another veteran I met, Lauren, was denied the lifesaving care she
needed when experiencing a miscarriage under the VA's previous abortion
ban before the administration stepped in to expand veterans' access to
healthcare. She was denied care from a community care provider when
having a miscarriage. She was eventually able to get that care
elsewhere. She stressed the danger of being denied the lifesaving care
at the moment she needed it from the VA.
And in her own words:
Unfortunately, this has been a reality for so many across
the country, but what's happened to me isn't isolated. As a
former combat medic, I hear from so many women veterans with
similar reproductive issues triggered during service, ranging
from a wide array of environmental and occupational factors
to include toxic exposure.
And she said:
I served our country and was promised comprehensive health
care for disabilities I
[[Page S1608]]
incurred in service, which includes abortion care. Instead,
radical ideologies have infiltrated our clinics.
Denying victims of rape or incest the essential care they need is an
insult, but it is more than an insult. It is an injury to veterans who
put their lives on the line to serve our great Nation, which has made a
promise to them. It is a promise it makes to men, as well as women,
that they will receive the healthcare they need from the VA. It is a
promise that a great Nation cannot break.
Today, we have the opportunity to right this heartbreaking wrong. We
can overturn this cruel, misguided policy by passing our Congressional
Review Act resolution.
And to my Republican colleagues, let me just say: If you believe
women veterans ought to be denied healthcare, if you believe we should
break our promise to them, if you believe that this cruel, dangerous
policy should be sustained, I understand you will vote against this.
But I am hoping that you believe in protecting women veterans who
have been raped or whose health is at risk, and the only way you can
prove it is by supporting this resolution. Prove it today because these
veterans deserve action, not just words or rhetoric or empty promises.
Open your eyes to the horror of this policy as it affects individual
women veterans who need this healthcare. Please join us in overturning
this absolutely abhorrent policy.
I am grateful to colleagues who have joined me on the floor today.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Hawaii.
Ms. HIRONO. Mr. President, I would be happy to yield to my colleague
from New Hampshire Mrs. Shaheen if she would like to go before me.
Mrs. SHAHEEN. Go ahead.
Ms. HIRONO. Mr. President, for 125 years, women have bravely served
in our Armed Forces, risking their lives to defend our country and to
protect our national security.
Today, more than 2 million--2 million--women veterans live in the
United States--women Trump has ignored. Basically, he has turned his
back on them by denying them access to abortion care and counseling.
Abortion care is critical care, often lifesaving healthcare, as noted
by my colleague just now. That is why, after the Supreme Court's
disastrous Dobbs decision, the VA responded by enabling women veterans
to access abortion counseling and care.
But last December, the VA, under different leadership and thinking
they could get away with it, quietly implemented a near-total abortion
ban at the VA even in cases of rape, incest, or when a pregnancy
endangers the veteran's life. It is not an exaggeration to call this
change in VA policy yet another front in Trump's war on women.
Over 450,000 of the women veterans of reproductive age who receive VA
care live in States with abortion bans or restrictions. Because of
Trump's extreme policy, these women are now out of options and with
nowhere to turn, in reality, for abortion care. These are veterans, as
I mentioned, who bravely risk their lives for our country, who have the
expectation that their country will take care of them when they return
to civilian life--not so under this regime. Instead, the Agency tasked
with ensuring the health of our veterans is willfully risking their
health and lives all because of its ideological agenda.
We owe it to our women veterans and all veterans to provide them with
the healthcare they need and earn, not to mention deserve. That is why
Senate Democrats have introduced legislation to overturn this life-
threatening policy at the VA and restore access to the care our
veterans deserve.
Tonight, every Senator will go on the record to make clear whether
they care more about the well-being of our veterans or the political
cruelty of Donald Trump. As the regime attempts to score cheap
political points and place the lives of thousands of women at risk, I
urge my colleagues to join in restoring access to essential healthcare
for these veterans.
I want to add to the examples provided by my colleague Senator
Blumenthal. Our women veterans, in their service to our country, are
exposed to toxic fumes and other environmental and surface conditions
that require comprehensive healthcare. As I mentioned, they are exposed
to conditions that maybe in the normal course, other women who are not
in our services are exposed to. So our women veterans require
comprehensive healthcare, and that is what we are asking for. Of
course, that care includes abortion care.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Justice). The Senator from New Hampshire.
Mrs. SHAHEEN. Mr. President, I thank my colleague from Hawaii both
for her eloquent statements and for her willingness to let me go ahead
of her. I appreciate that, but she was here first.
I come to the floor today to join my colleagues Senator Blumenthal,
Senator Hirono, and so many others in this caucus because after years
of relentless attacks on reproductive freedoms nationwide, what we are
seeing from our colleagues here in Congress and the Trump
administration is that they have now set their sights on our Nation's
veterans, those who have dedicated their lives in service to our
country.
The Trump administration's new policy that we are voting to overturn
today isn't just extreme; it is flat-out dangerous. Republicans and
Democrats alike have committed to doing everything we can to uphold the
basic promises we have made to our Nation's veterans. So we have to
ask: Why is this administration bending over backward to further erode
the freedoms our veterans risk their lives to protect by ripping away
the basic, essential healthcare that women need?
After the Dobbs decision, the VA took a basic but critical step to
protect the health of veterans and their families by providing them
access to healthcare in a very specific set of circumstances--tragic
instances like when our veterans have been victims of rape, when they
have experienced incest, or when their lives or their health has been
directly in danger--because when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v.
Wade and diminished the reproductive freedoms that women have enjoyed
for half a century, it was clear that the Federal Government needed to
take action to make it easier, not harder, for the hundreds of
thousands of young women who have served our country to be able to
access basic healthcare when they need it the most--veterans who have
often waited until after their military service to start a family and
now must question whether it is going to be safe for them to do so,
veterans who are now facing the most restrictive abortion ban across
the Federal Government.
This policy doesn't just prevent those brave Americans from receiving
care under dire and heartbreaking circumstances; it actually prevents
them from receiving basic counseling about their health as well. As my
colleagues have already pointed out, this ban on abortion counseling
means that VA providers can't discuss pregnancy options with their
patients.
While the VA claims they will always save a veteran's life, their own
internal guidance is so vague that providers will be forced to make
impossible decisions. In this case, the lack of planning and
specificity will leave it up to the VA to make split-second decisions
about an urgent medical need based on very murky guidelines.
At every turn, this administration has pushed forward dangerous
policies intended to threaten access to full reproductive care. That is
why I am calling on our colleagues across the aisle to show some common
sense and to realize that we can't repay those veterans who have
already sacrificed so much for their country with a policy that puts
their lives in danger, particularly at a time when one in three of our
Nation's female veterans has reported experiencing military sexual
trauma over the course of their service.
Let me repeat that because I think that is a staggering statistic.
One in three of our Nation's female veterans has reported experiencing
military sexual trauma during their service.
These brave women deserve better than the carelessness of this
administration refusing to give them full access to reproductive health
care. We can't sit back and abandon them when they need it the most. We
can't sit back and watch as reproductive freedoms slip away because
access to necessary, lifesaving reproductive care should not be left to
chance or the
[[Page S1609]]
split-second decision of a provider. It should be a fundamental right,
especially in the United States of America, where we have a
Constitution that says that all people are created equal. Now, I know
it says ``all men are created equal,'' but I think, since the founding
of this country, that has been expanded to the understanding that we
are talking about all of the citizens of this country.
With that, 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. BLUMENTHAL. 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. BLUMENTHAL. Mr. President, in just minutes, we will vote on
Calendar No. 338, S.J. Res. 103, which will reverse the indecent,
unjust policy that this administration implemented secretively on New
Year's Eve.
I ask my colleagues to keep in their minds and thoughts and hearts
the women veterans who have devoted so much to this country and who
continue to serve and sacrifice as we speak.
I ask them to keep in mind the female service officer who was raped
before transitioning out of the military service and who learned she
was pregnant after enrolling in the VA's healthcare system. She is no
longer covered by the VA to have an abortion. If she were still on
Active Duty, the Department of Defense would pay for or perform the
abortion. If she worked for the VA, her Federal employee healthcare
insurance would pay for the abortion. If she were someone serving in a
Federal prison, her abortion would be covered. But because she is an
enrollee in the VA's healthcare system after bravely serving this
country, she is not even covered for an abortion resulting from rape or
if her health is at risk.
That is not right. That is not just. That is not worthy of a great
country. It is not matching her service with our staying faithful to
her.
So for all these reasons, advocates of women's healthcare, advocates
of veterans, and people who simply support healthcare as a human right
support this resolution to do the right thing.
____________________