[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 85 (Tuesday, May 19, 2026)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2344-S2345]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                          Trump Administration

  Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, yesterday marked 500 days of the Republican 
majority here in the U.S. Senate, and what a busy 500 days it has been. 
We have taken close to 800 votes since last January, confirmed just 
under 500 nominees to posts across the Federal Government and 
judiciary, and we have passed bills out of the Senate and into law to 
make life better for the American people.
  When Republicans took over last year, we set out to address cost-of-
living issues and put more money in Americans' pockets. We lifted 
costly Biden-era regulations, from rules that would have driven up the 
cost of household appliances to rules that would have forced Americans 
into expensive electric vehicles.
  At the start of this year, we took action to drive down the cost of 
prescription drugs at the pharmacy counter. In March, the Senate passed 
the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act--a bill that cuts redtape that has 
prevented the construction of new housing and kept too many Americans 
waiting to realize the American dream of home ownership. I am proud of 
the broad bipartisan support this bill received here in the Senate, and 
I hope these commonsense reforms will make it to the President's desk 
in short order.
  Lifting costly regulations and taking action to lower the cost of 
prescriptions and housing are significant actions, but what I consider 
to be the most consequential action not just of this majority but of my 
entire time in the Senate is the Working Families Tax Cut. And I say 
``most consequential'' because of the permanent tax relief Republicans 
delivered in this bill--tax relief that puts more money in hard-working 
Americans' pockets. That was the centerpiece of this bill, and a whole 
lot of Americans saw that last month when they filed their tax returns 
and saw a significantly higher refund.
  Hard-working Americans were able to take advantage of permanently 
lower tax rates, an increased standard deduction, and the 2,200 child 
tax credit. Six million workers deducted income from tips, 25 million 
workers took advantage of no tax on overtime, and 30 million seniors 
were able to reduce their tax burden with the $6,000 senior deduction 
created by this bill.
  The Working Families Tax Cut lets hard-working people keep more of 
their hard-earned money. It also strengthens America's small businesses 
and family farms and ranches. Lower tax rates and the 199A small 
business deduction free up money for them to invest in their operations 
and their employees. Investment incentives like 100 percent bonus 
depreciation and immediate research and development expensing help them 
upgrade and innovate. And a lot of family business owners, farmers, and 
ranchers breathe a sigh of relief when this bill passed because it 
protects them from a potentially devastating death tax bill, not to 
mention the costly estate planning expenses that come along with this 
tax.
  These measures are part of Republicans' focus on strengthening 
America's economy. An important part of that is strengthening our 
agriculture economy. America's farms and ranches have faced some 
serious headwinds lately. Higher input costs, depressed commodity 
prices, higher interest rates, and natural disasters and disease are 
just some of the challenges ag producers have faced in recent years. So 
Republicans set out to deliver some much needed relief to the ag 
sector.
  In the Working Families Tax Cut, we made lasting reforms to 
strengthen the farm safety net. Thanks to this bill, reference prices 
for commodity programs more closely reflect the actual market 
conditions farmers are dealing with. We bolstered crop insurance, and 
we improved the Livestock Indemnity Program and Livestock Forage 
Disaster Program to help ranchers and other livestock producers through 
challenging times. But we still have more to do to strengthen the 
agricultural economy. Senators Boozman and Hoeven are working on a farm 
relief package to address the challenges facing farmers right now.
  Allowing the year-round sale of E15 fuel is another priority. Year-
round E15 is something that helps not only the ag economy but the 
overall economy by reducing fuel costs and allowing for more homegrown 
energy. The House has passed a bill to allow year-round E15, and we 
will be having discussions on how to accomplish that goal in the Senate 
in the near future.
  Republicans have also made it a priority to combat waste, fraud, and 
abuse in the Federal Government. The Working Families Tax Cut included 
a number of reforms to focus Federal dollars on those most in need, 
guard against the abuse of taxpayer funds, and hold States accountable 
for the Federal funding they receive.
  New measures in the law prevent noncitizens from receiving Federal 
healthcare and nutrition benefits and refocus those programs on serving 
American citizens. The law requires States to be good stewards of 
Federal programs like Medicaid and nutrition assistance, and it takes 
aim at duplicative enrollment in Federal healthcare programs, which CMS 
estimates costs taxpayers as much as $14 billion per year.
  Earlier this year, President Trump signed into law Senator Kennedy's 
bill that helped prevent the payment of Federal benefits to deceased 
individuals. And after revelations of widespread fraud in the State of 
Minnesota at the end of last year, we confirmed the first-ever 
Assistant Attorney General for National Fraud Enforcement.
  Then there are our actions to ensure Washington is a better steward 
of taxpayer dollars. The Working Families Tax Cut prevented Americans' 
tax dollars from funding big abortion providers for 1 year. Last 
summer, Republicans passed a rescissions package that targeted funding 
that had gone to some egregious misuses of taxpayer dollars, like a 
pride parade in Lesotho and promoting vegan food in Zambia. We continue 
to work to ensure that taxpayer dollars are not being wasted.

  I said at the outset of this Congress that I wanted to restore 
regular-order consideration of appropriation bills, and we were largely 
able to accomplish that goal, even after Democrats tried to derail the 
process with the longest government shutdown in history this past fall.
  This year, we were able to pass 11 of the 12 full appropriations 
bills into law, and many of those bills actually spent less money than 
if we had just put spending on autopilot through a continuing 
resolution.
  The only reason we haven't passed 12 out of 12 full appropriations 
bills this year is that Democrat colleagues apparently don't believe in 
securing our Nation's borders. Their refusal to provide even a dollar 
for the Border Patrol in this year's DHS funding bill is ample evidence 
of that.
  Republicans most certainly believe in border security. In fact, 
addressing the dangerous situation at our southern border was one of 
our top priorities when we took over last year. The first bill we 
passed was the Laken Riley Act to ensure that illegal immigrants who 
committed certain crimes are not allowed back on our streets. We passed 
the HALT Fentanyl Act to give law enforcement the tools it needs to go 
after this deadly poison, much of which flows across our southern 
border.
  The Working Families Tax Cut made a generational investment in border 
security, and we are seeing the results of

[[Page S2345]]

that investment and the Trump administration's actions at the border. 
Encounters at our southern border have dropped dramatically. For the 
past 12 months, not a single illegal immigrant has been released into 
the United States.
  Democrats are clearly trying to undo that progress, but Republicans 
won't let that happen. As soon as this week, we will take up a bill to 
fully fund Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement for 
the remainder of the Trump administration and ensure the Democrats 
cannot put our Nation's security in jeopardy by defunding law 
enforcement.
  I mentioned earlier that we have confirmed almost 500 civilian 
nominees since last January, and that has been in the face of a 
historic--historic--level of obstruction from Democrats. After months 
and months of unprecedented Democrat obstruction, last year, 
Republicans took action to restore the Senate's tradition of confirming 
largely noncontroversial nominees in batches. Last night, we confirmed 
the fourth package of Trump nominees and effectively eliminated the 
backlog of nominees awaiting confirmation.
  Speaking of Democrat obstruction, Democrats have also blocked several 
pieces of commonsense legislation here in the Senate. They blocked 
Senator Tuberville's Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, which 
would have simply prevented biological men from competing in women's 
sports. They blocked Senator Lankford's Born-Alive Abortion Survivors 
Protection Act, which would have required that babies who survive 
abortion are given the same level of care as babies born at the same 
gestational age. Democrats wouldn't even let us debate these bills--I 
have to imagine because their position is completely indefensible.
  Then, just recently, Democrats blocked the SAVE America Act. We had a 
robust debate on this bill for several weeks. Republicans gave 
Democrats opportunities to support the whole bill, and we had 
standalone votes on some of the individual and very commonsense 
components of the bill: requiring proof of citizenship to register to 
vote, requiring a photo ID to vote, protecting children from gender 
transition surgeries, keeping biological men out of women's sports. 
Democrats are on the record against all of it, and we will be sure the 
American people know that Democrats are blocking commonsense policies 
that have broad support from the American people.
  I have mentioned a number of accomplishments this morning, but there 
is more work to be done. Last week, the Banking Committee advanced the 
CLARITY Act--a market structure bill for cryptocurrencies that builds 
on the GENIUS Act that became law last year and which was the first-
ever crypto bill passed into law.
  I expect the Senate will also take action on an artificial 
intelligence bill this year that builds on the AI framework the White 
House has put out. Legislation dealing with name, image, and likeness 
in college athletics is also on the agenda, as is legislation ensuring 
continued funding for our Nation's transportation infrastructure.
  In the near term, we will also need to extend FISA and ensure that 
this critical national security program does not go dark. We will soon 
begin work on the fiscal year 2027 National Defense Authorization Act, 
which will continue Republicans' efforts to modernize America's 
military, and, of course, we will continue to prioritize efforts to 
make life easier for hard-working Americans.
  Mr. President, 500 days ago, Republicans had a long to-do list. We 
have checked a lot of things off, but we still have more to do, and we 
are not about to take our foot off the gas.
  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.