[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 123 (Tuesday, July 28, 2026)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4290-S4291]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
Fraud
Mr. President, what we have been hearing a lot about in our office
and what Tennesseans are talking about is this issue of fraud. What we
have seen is how some of these Democratic-run State governments have
just gone crazy with committing fraud. There is fraud in Medicaid and
immigration and elections.
Elected officials have a responsibility to prevent fraud. Voters
expect them to be good stewards of taxpayer dollars. They expect them
to uphold the principle of ``one person, one vote.'' Instead, we have
seen Democrats put fraudsters and illegal aliens and their issues ahead
of any concerns that are expressed by taxpayers and by American
citizens.
We should all be grateful that President Trump and his administration
are bringing this malfeasance to an end. Here are some examples:
Last week, Health and Human Services froze $1 billion in Medicaid
payments to California and Minnesota for allowing fraud to flourish in
their States. Now, of course you heard the hue and cry about ``This was
not fair,'' but fraud has been persistent in their Medicaid Programs.
Under Gavin Newsom's watch, government spending in California has
surged from $209 billion a year to more than $350 billion. Those are
your tax dollars that you are sending to the Federal Government. The
Federal Government sends them to California and to Minnesota, and what
do they do? They waste them. They allow fraud to take up those dollars
that hard-working taxpayers have earned and sent to the Federal
Government.
Looking at how this Medicaid spending has exploded is unbelievable.
The California State auditor has repeatedly flagged billions of these
expenditures as questionable payments, including to potential fraud
operations, but State Democrats have continued to push the money out
the door.
The administration noted that $221 million of the frozen funds would
have gone to people with ``unsatisfactory immigration status.'' That is
illegal aliens, individuals that are not here legally.
That is the California Medicaid situation.
Governor Walz in Minnesota has similarly overseen billions of dollars
in fraud--especially through their State's Medicaid Program. Fake
childcare centers, fake autism therapy services, fake senior care
facilities--all of it fake--billing millions for nonexistent services.
This fraud could help explain why Minnesota has the second highest
per-enrollee Medicaid spending under Obama Care--the second highest.
California and Minnesota are far from alone. Dr. Oz, who serves as
CMS Administrator, recently warned that Chinese organized criminal
groups in New York have stolen millions of dollars through fraudulent
Medicaid billings. Here is an example of what is happening in New York
State: Within a single 1-mile radius in New York City, 64 adult care
centers billed to Medicaid, which distributed--get this--$2.1 billion
in 1 neighborhood. That is 64 adult care centers within a 1-mile
radius. These centers must be door to door--so many of them.
When I talk to Tennesseans, they cannot believe that this is
tolerated, that it is allowed to happen. Where were the people that
were supposed to be in charge? Why are these criminals allowed to
continue to steal from the American taxpayer? The simple answer is that
Democrats have allowed these schemes to happen. For whatever reason,
they just look the other way.
It is indefensible, so our colleagues on the other side of the aisle
have tried to duck accountability. During a recent Senate Homeland
Security Committee hearing on Medicaid fraud, just one of the
committee's seven Democrat members showed up--just one. They don't want
to know about it.
While encouraging fraud in government programs, blue States have
opened the door to fraud in Federal elections.
Last week, New Jersey disclosed that the State registered 6,600
noncitizens to vote due to a ``glitch.'' Among them, at least 400 cast
ballots in Federal elections. This should come as no surprise. New
Jersey is 1 of 14 States that do not require any ID whatsoever to vote,
and it refuses to compare its voter rolls with the Federal SAVE
database at the Department of Homeland Security, which verifies every
person's immigration status.
States that do use the SAVE database, including Texas and Ohio, have
discovered thousands of noncitizens on their rolls.
President Trump recently announced that DHS estimates that
approximately 278,000 noncitizens are registered to vote nationwide, a
figure that is likely an undercount because blue States refuse to
cooperate with the administration's anti-fraud efforts.
While Democrats are encouraging fraud, Republicans are working to
root it out. Just this month, I joined several of my Republican
colleagues in launching the Senate Anti-Fraud Task Force, which will
work hand in hand with the administration to examine waste, fraud,
abuse in Federal programs.
I also introduced the Fraud Accountability Act to make clear that
fraud counts as a deportable offense under the Immigration and
Nationality Act and that any deportable offense can lead to
denaturalization.
Republicans are also continuing to fight to get passed the SAVE
America Act, which would require individuals to present an ID to cast a
ballot and prove U.S. citizenship to register to vote. It would also
require States to remove noncitizens from their voter rolls. This
legislation is good old common sense. If we need to break it apart and
pass it piece by piece, then that is what we should do. The goal is to
get it across the finish line.
My Election Security Partnership Act, which I led alongside the late
Senator Lindsey Graham, would incentivize States to submit their voter
registration lists to DHS to identify ineligible voters, including
noncitizens.
The era of rampant fraud is over. It is coming to an end. Republicans
are delivering accountability.
[[Page S4291]]
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Arkansas.