c-span2 and find a full schedule on your programming guide or watch online anytime, booktv.org. democracy. it isn't just an idea. it is a process. a process shaped by leaders elected to the highest office and entrusted to a select few regarding basic principles. it is where debates unfold, decisions are made and the nation's course is charter. democracy in real time. this is your government at work, this is c-span. democracy unfiltered. >> a bipartisan measure to stop donald trump's global tariffs failed in the senate. before the vote senators debated the emergency executive order on tariffs. minority leader chuck schumer said there's no strategy for the trump administration

tariffs, only chaos. republican senators rand paul of kentucky, susan collins of maine and lisa murkowski of alaska joined democrats voting for the measure. >> mister president later this afternoon senators wyden, cain, and i will force a vote here in the senate to put a end to donald trump's stupid and reckless trade war. i thank senator wyden and kane for their leadership on this issue and we will have three hours of debate that begins now. a resolution presents republicans with a choice, stand with donald trump or stand with american families, fight his trade war. the dismal gdp numbers should be a wake-up call to republican senators now more than ever. more republicans join us last time to pass a resolution blocking tariffs on canada

because they knew how bad those tariffs were for people back home. many more republicans should join us today as the disastrous economic consequences of trump's reckless trade war get worse every single day. if the senate passes this bill, speaker johnson and house republicans should immediately drop their opposition or else they will be complicit in pushing america into a recession. one thing is clear. donald trump's tariffs have been total failures. instead of isolating china donald trump's tariffs are isolating us. instead of sparing american manufacturing trump's tariffs are raising costs and driving us into recession. there is no strategy with trump's tariffs, only chaos. one day donald trump says yes to tariffs.

the next day no to tariffs. one day tariffs on this country, the next day tariffs on that country. even donald trump's own policy advisers are struggling to explain his flip-floping. the only thing donald trump's tariffs have succeeded in is raising the odds of recession and sending markets into a tailspin. i talked to business owners in new york. i was in suffolk county at candy's clothes, a well-known dress cellar. costs are going up 30% because of tariffs. two awful choices, raise prices or lay off employees and she doesn't want to do either. small businesses, medium businesses, big businesses all frozen because they don't know what donald trump will do next. they can't plan for the future. there costs are rising, they can't hire new workers. it is happening all over america. senate republicans know deep

down that donald trump's tariffs are awful for their states. so today they have to choose, stick with trump or stand with your state and the people of america. i thank my colleague and yields to the senator from oregon, ranking member of finance who is doing a great job on this issue. >> the senator from oregon. >> i want to thank leader schumer for all the help and we are going to focus today on something that really matters to people. mister president, we are beginning as you can tell to discuss the resolution to repeal the global tariff emergency, and it is becoming routine under this president, americans were greeted with grim economic news this morning. after three years of strong growth and rising job numbers the us economy actually shrank in the first three months of 2025. the trade deficit hit a record

one hundred $62 billion. the us added only half as many jobs this month as expected. a major culprit is unquestionably donald trump and his senseless global tariffs. if this continues to be our tariff policy, every major economist and forecaster is unfortunately predicting recession, job losses and the miseries that was all over our newsfeeds this morning. the united states senate cannot be an idol spectator in the tariff madness. congress has the power to set tariffs and regulate global trade. members can vote today, not do something in a month or some other time, members can vote today to put a end to trump's global tariffs and the economic disaster they are creating. earlier this month, donald

trump slapped new 10% taxes on everything americans purchase from overseas, one hundred 25% tariff on everything from china and he promises even higher taxes in july on products from nearly 5 dozen countries. that is just the latest plan. i think we all understand goldfish have memories that last longer than donald trump's tariff promises. before the global tariffs, there was the on-again off-again trade war with china and mexico. ..eel, aluminum, cars, and ad hoc exemptions for things like electronics and fertilizer when the pluck outcry was so great donald trump had to backtrack. donald trump imposed his global tariffs by declaring an economic emergency under a law called ieepa. no president every imposed tariffs under this law. in my view, trump's actions in my view, trump's actions

in my view trump's actions clear to go beyond what the law allows which is why senator shaheen, cain and i have made some had offered a bill to make it clear that this law does not allow the president toea issue tariffs. members can vote today to repeal the so-called emergency trump declared an end the harmful global tariffs. now, i'm going to talk for just a few minutes with respect to taking stock of the economic carnage donald trump trade chaos has already inflicted on our country. we're going to examine the administration's own claims about what their plan is, and make the case for what every member of this body should vote to assert the powers of congress to trade and to end the tariffs. and they should do it no matter their the party or which state they represent. i only mention the shocking economic news this morning.

by every single forecast come by every measure, donald trump self-defeating tariffs are actively making americans poor, and they're doing it now and for years to come. economic growth gone. inflation rising. unemployment projections up again. experts estimate trump steps will cost average family about $4000 a year. many products from china will not even be available soon, and that's thanks to the tariffs are for the products that are still available prices are going up. the fact donald trump flails about trying to hide. when amazon was rumored to list the impacts of tariffs on prices, donald trump threw a fit, reportedly threatening jeff bezos and calling it a hostile e act. god forbid that americans actually know what the real cost of tariffs is.

meanwhile, donald trump and republicans are charging ahead with plans toei go forward with their tax bill w which features more bailouts for billionaires paid for byea kicking millions f people off their health insurance and getting programs that kids andel families rely on to stay safes and healthy. donald trump meanwhile puts higher taxes on groceries, clothes and cars for working families while he puts extra time in two t passing tax cuts r the wealthy. that is his agenda. my state knows how donald trump's tariffs chaos is already hurting real people, and we know how it's drying up markets for red, white and blue products. about one in five jobs in oregon depends on trade, and the trade jobs often a better pic speaking with small business and workers all over oregon, did it just last week, every single one warned of damage from tariffs.

bob's red mill, for example, sells delicious flour and grains mostly made from wheat and other crops in oregon. some of their ingredients like coconut or tapioca which just are not grown to come from outside the country. the cost of those products goes up because of tariffs. foreign markets for bob's goods are drying up. bob's that's because of the country with their own tariffs on bob's flour and other oregon products for trump's aimless war. oregon grass seed gross estimate about half of the exports come nearly to 1 million in sales, are being canceled thanks to the global tariffs. donald trump and his advisers claim nothing to worry about. they state the economist and the pundits are overreacting and everything is going according to plan. secretary bessent is on cable

news so often trying to calm investors that it's a wonder that he's got any time to do a bit of negotiating. but as usual it's not clear at all what the plan is, what their tariffs are supposed to accomplish, or when if ever american families and workers will see the relief. earlierou this month donald trup claimed he would have to wonder deals completed within three or four weeks. then he said no, that's physically impossible to have all of the meetings needed to field the deals. he should've thought of it, mr. president, before he started a trade war against the entire world. now he claimed he was already negotiating with china to lower tariffs and calm trade tensions, but china and secretary bessent saidry that talks have not even started. as we can to agriculture secretary said 100 countries had

reached out tort start trade talks. at almost the s same time secretary bessent's said that are actually 18 so-called priority countries and those talks would take about 90 days. mr. president, nobody in this administration can even agree on what isno happening right now, w can they negotiate smart trade deals with nearly every nation on earth? now anonymous white house aides continued to say donald trump is working to de-escalate his trade war. but donald trump doesn't sound like he is willing to admit he got it wrong. he told time magazine that if tariffs are at 20% or even even 50% year from now that would be quote a total victory. so once again no one can tell what the submissions want of what the end game is. i believe it'so hard to see how any c foreign country right now

would make concessions to donald trump. that's because he's proven himself to be both untrustworthy and incapable of sticking to position on tariffs for more than apo few weeks at a time. one for diplomat was known took told the press that countries are worried that any deal and make with the treasury or commerce secretary will be contradicted by trump. other trading partners that they don't want to make a deal now only took trump decides on his unilateral tariff in the future. donald trump has trashed america's credibility. he hasn't just made it unlikely for his administration to get a american workers in my view is he has hurt every future president who wants to strike a good trade deal. the best way to restore our nation's good name is for congress to step in and a sort finally a constitutional authority over trade. article one section eight of the

constitution grants congress power and i quote, to regulate commerce a with foreign nations, and to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises. in other words, mr. president, this is our job. it is not always pretty. if congress can provide certain deaths to build on trade at t beyond a single president administration. this body has already signaled bipartisan support for reversing pointless tariffs. we did that when we passed senator kaine bill to an tariffs on canada. today the senate couldak take another powerful step in the right direction by voting to repeal the global tariffs on a bipartisan basis. i would just close by saying listen to your constituents. listen to what you're hearing from home because what i heard was overwhelmingly oregonians

and the people i ran into an airport and the like said it is time to bring some certainty and predictability back to making these urgently needed trade policies. i purchased by default for jobs and prosperity rather than an ending trade conflict that leaves our country as a loser. i urge every senators to support this crucial resolution and i yield the floor. >> i want to support everything that my colleague themm ranking member of the finance committee just said about these tariffs. i want to make two points about the tariffs. one, the tariffs themselves and then second, the congressional failure to assert its own authority on policies that has a constitutional responsibility for when our failure results in

pain, economic pain and insecurity for the american people. first of allrs the tariffs, mr. president, when the history of this decision is written, president trump's imposition of these wild and reckless tariffs is going to be seen as one of the greatest economic blunders in a century. it's that bad. what's happening in vermont is happening in every state across this country. first of all, these tariffs attacks. second, they are paid for by consumers, by manufacturers, by producers. third, it's having a negative impact on trade and on our economy already. today's information about the gross domestic product shrinkage is evidence inf and of itself. in vermont, trump steps are

expected to cost from what households more than a billion dollars. more than 18,000 vermonters working industries that are targeted by retaliatory tariffs, but virtually every vermonter is going to be impacted by increased costs, inflation, as result result of the tariffs. another example, food, fuel, energy, all of these things are going to be impacted and really affect the people in their day-to-day, month-to-month budgets. we get a lot of our electricity, a lot of our home heating fuel and a lot of our petroleum from canada, especially in the northern part of our state. those costs are going to be increased especially with the expected retaliatory tariffs that are imposed on us by country subject to the arbitrary action of president trump. farmers are really hit hard. most of our farmers in vermont,

the import their fertilizer from canada. and that's about a 25% increat there can be paying and use farmers as the president knows that operate on the thinness of margins in the most uncertain of activities subject to weather and price fluctuations and so many other things that make our farmers courageous entrepreneurs. but why add 25% to the cost of fertilizer when the input cost is already so high? it is mind-boggling to think that this is a voluntary action by the president. canada, by the way, happens to be our biggest trading partner. we are not unique in that. 34 c countries, 34 states have candida as as its major trading partner. these tariffs with canada, with 2.1 billion important partner with a canada, 20% tariff, china lot of input from china that are

manufactured jews, 54% tariff plus who knows how many more tariffs depending on the day? and a president trump feels when he wakes up. trinidad and tobago 81 million, 10% tariffs. germany 75 germany 75 million. mexico 77 million. for a frustratingly for all of us, the sweeping global tariff order unnecessary increases prices in taxes on countries that have trade surpluses with america. i recently heard from you vermonter who imports coffee, has a a niche business that hs become extremely successful. the tariffs on colombia have resulted in this. they contended that costs $700 last month, that container now cost $13,000. how do you deal with that?

i hit to the margin is, that's a bit, the business can absorb that. vermont is also home to one of two businesses in the world that produces these unique snow globes. they've been in businesshe for 5 years. it's a modest this is but it's one that was created by a vermont entrepreneur, and it's been really successful. they are going to have to close their doors at the end of the summer with the increased tariffs on, basically on china. a second point that i think is relevant to these tariffs is arbitrariness of their implementation and the arbitrariness of how and who is affected. we've got the situation where we supposedly have these tariffs on china. apple computer, quite understand we come was upset. it was going to increase the cost of iphones. well, no problem.

tim cook wasio at the inauguratn sitting on the throne of honor, and he had the telephone number, made the call, and the tariffs on iphones vanished. that stoical manufactured the dimension from vermont, he does not have howard lutnick said phone number. she does not have scott bessent phone number. she does not have president trump's phone number.. she's not -- she's out of luck. so now with these tariffs and await their being permitted, without any congressional engagement whatsoever, we're turning our economy from one where it's based on a good product, really good service where you compete in the marketplace, and it your product is better and your services better, you succeed. to an economy that is more based on access. do you know lutnick?

do you know bassett? do you know the president? and by the way, if you contribute a couple million dollars to the inauguration you probably do know them. and they give up the phone number and that is absolutely outrageous. people work hard, they produce some good product, they give good service. shouldn't they be entitled to the reward for the labor that they have done? were as what we're seeing now is if you're connected you can be rewarded regardless of how good your product is or how lousy your service is here and that is offensive and should begin every single one of us here, and that is absolutely what is happening in the white house. another thing is there's a casual disregard to how hard it is for everyday families in your state, in mind, in the ranking members state to pay the bills. because inflation has been here. instead of arguing that who is at fault for that, let's solve

the problem, that aggravate the problem. these tariffs aggravate the problem. there's absolutely no denying that. this is, this is just the wrong thing at the wrong time for the wronghe reasons. anotherre element of this is wht is the purpose of these tariffs? president donald trump won't give a cleargi answer. it's to make us rich. they'll pay. we won't. it's to bring manufacturing back here. or it's to punish folks that he deems unworthy. it depends on the day and it depends on who's asking. so there is no coherent rationale connected to the imposition of this enormous economic pain in cost increase that's being imposed on american businesses and american consumers. the other question here that's

profoundly important for this institution, every single one of us is proud to be a member of the united states senate, and i think our pride is about, our pride in the constitution, as citizens. where under theco constitution this congress plays a role as a coequal branch of government. and i think every single one of us here is wary of the accumulation of excess the power in any one person or in any one institution. congress has steadily over the years been ceding much of its responsibility and authority to the executive branch. there there's no authority r

than the power to tax, , and that's why in the constitution the power to impose tariffs resides in the house of representatives and the senate. and shouldn't it be that way? because in the imposition of a tax that has to be a decision that asking our citizens who we represent to turn over hard-earned money to the company, we have to be able to justify the purpose for which those funds are being expended. by allowing the president to take over, in effect, the taxing authority that occurs when a tariff is imposed, received that responsibility h -- we seated tt responsibility to him, or authority to them, and we've abandon our responsibility to

look our constituents in the eye if and when we say a tax should be imposed. none of us like to do that but a government has to collect revenues for the common good. and we have delegated that authority to the president, and it's wrong of us to do that. so we can have different views about whether there should be a tariff of what the rate should be, but we have a collective responsibility to do everything we can to maintain the constitutional structure of three independent branches of government, each a counterweight to the other.h and that's not just an abstract concept. that's the wisdom that has served us well for well over 200 years, that those checks and balances give all our citizens an opportunity to have a seat at the table when major decisions

about their lives and their futures are being made. so that is why this decision that we are about to make is not just about the tariffs. it's not just about, in my view, how recklessly they are being applied and imposed. it's not just how they, in fact, our economy with corruption, where it's who you know rather than how hard you work that's going to get you ahead. it's about the basic structure of our constitutional order, and every single one of us has the responsibility to protect that, because that is not about us. it's not about who we represent. it's about how our country can operate with the democratic system where every single person, through their representatives, has a seat at

the table. so, mr. president, i urge all of us to take a look at what our constitutional responsibility is, and with, , whether we agree or not on so we different issues of vital concern to the future of this country, we each have a responsibility to act in in y that protects theys constitutiol system. and that means that we exercise authority over tariffs. we don't give that away to an executive branch decision. mr. president, i yield the ballots, i yield the floor.

>> senator from california. >> mr. president, as the american people can clearly see, president trump's new tariffs have become a massive tax hike on consumers, a tax on the food we eat, a tax on the clothes we wear, the cars we drive, every cup of coffee we have in the morning. these rising costs are not just hurting consumers actually, they are hurting american businesses and our workforce, too. we are already seeing the impact. it's not hypothetical. i call your attention to my home state, the great state of california, home to two of the largest ports in then nation in southern california alone. the neighboring port of los angeles and longan beach.

they truly power our nation's economy. it's not an exaggeration. the port of los angeles, which is the largest port in the united states, expects imports to drop 35% 35% in just twos time as trump's tariffs and is manufactured chaos bring global trade to a halt. the port of long beach is expecting similar declines. take a minute to think about the magnitude of that drop in cargo volume. that decline at the end of the day will mean empty shelves and higher prices. the over $300 $300 billiono coming through what we know as the san pedro bay port complex is tied to nearly 1 million jobs in the region alone, and 2.7

million jobs across the country. that's nearly one job for every four containers. when the richest president in history decides, on his own, unlawfully, to haphazardly applied an across-the-board tax on goods, because that's what these tariffs are, the goods moving industry is going to take a hit. it will mean fewer jobs for port workers, for truckers, and fraternities across the country. it will mean more americans out of work. and while the western port communities may be the first to feel the pain, it won't be long before the effects of these tariffs reach the east coast and the gulf coast. and as i mentioned, this isn't

just bad news for american consumers who rely on imports. it's also bad news for u.s. farmers and businesses that rely on the export of goods to other countries. trump's tariffs already damaging important supply chains in ways that will be difficult and very expensive to reverse. and in the meantime, china and others are all too happy to fill in the void. justom had a group of rowers frm california in my office just yesterday, and they were sharing with me they're veryy specific experience, fears that a plane out. the united states companies, such as agricultural companies, depend on markets in china, elsewhere, in asia, india, europe, for sales, for-profits that they can in turn invest in in

hiring more employees. now when those markets are shut off to them and those countries responses to these unnecessary tariff wars provoked by president trump, they don't stop consuming, whether it's fruit, vegetables, electronics, or otherwise. they just find someone else to get it. and when thoseco other countrie, those of the markets find a replacement for the supply, they are not going to give it up into months, maybe, if donald trump wakes up in a better mood and sees the error of his ways when it comes to these tears because they're that deadline come right? worry are any ninety-day postponement of a lot of these tears but we don't know what's coming onto a 91. tears are are imposed. tariffs are not imposed. more significant tariffs imposed. hope it has nothing to do with hishi poll numbers, because the

american public will continue to feel more pain. my point is, at the markets, consumers abroad who have purchased from the united states are going to purchase elsewhere, and they're not going to revert immediately back even ifac we gt the president to make the right decision in the next couple of months. now, like i said, americans are already feeling the pain. it's going to get worse. just this morning the commerce department reported our nation's gross domestic product for the first quarter. the results, our quarterly gdp declined by .3%. it wasn't a reduction in growth. it was a decline of .3%. in his in his first 100 days alone, donald trump's reckless policies absolutely shrank the american economy. is that what he bragged about?

is that when he campaigned on? is that what people voted for? this shrinking of the economy by the way follows three years of robust growth of our economy under president biden. i don't think our republican colleagues to recognize that, w it's true. the numbers do not lie. 100 days of chaos, increase d cost and corruption is shrinking our economy. to my republican colleagues, are you hearing this? are you listening? are you prepared to act? american businesses are going to be forced to take on some of these higher costs for materials, to cut back on production, to try to make instant meat, to delay investment. that's the opposite of what we

need. we need more investment, not just delay or postpone investments because of this tariff and 30. and certainly they are going to raise prices because again when american companies have to import, it's american company secretary guterres, notn, other countries, as the the presit would like you to believe. and these costs o get passed ono the consumer. meanwhile, the world is moving on without us. as i explained a minute ago. so let's be clear about the stakes of what we're debating today. a vote against this resolution is a vote to maintain trump's tariffs that are so clearly devastating our economy already. it will move us closer to a recession solely of trump's doing. can't blame it on anybody else. and it's a vote against the american worker,in a vote againt the american economy, a vote

against american competitiveness. is that what you want to go back and tell your constituents? colleagues, i urge you to listen to your constituents, to small businesses in our respective states, to state and local governments. it's not too late to turn back. support this resolution. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor. >> mr. president? >> the senatorof from massachusetts. >> mr. president, president trump took a strong american economy and broken and less of them 100 days. right now republican senators are at a crossroads. what a vote to stop trump's

chaotic tariffs and save our economy, or will they continue vending the need to donald trump? that is the vote that we are forcing tonight. -- bending the knee. donald trump promised he would lower costs on day one. those were his words. lower costs on day one. in fact, he said after he was elected that it was one of the main reasons that he won. but as soon as the election was over,e. he ignored that promise. instead of working to lower costs on day one, he has decided to start the dumbest trade war in u.s. history, which is already increasing costs for american households, and damaging our economy. so let's take a a step back ad talk about what's happened since trump started this trade war. the stock market took the biggest plunge since the early days of the pandemic, sinking millions of americans retirement

accounts. businesses have begun hiking prices and laying off workers. americans are worried they won't be abley to survive a cratering economy, and just today americans woke upan to the news that donald trump single-handedly shrunk our economy in three months and raised the cost of their groceries. the warning lights are all flashing red. we have seen this before, but this time our economy is teetering on the edge not because of a mortgage meltdown or a once in a century virus, but because of one man alone, the president of the united states. unless we reverse course quickly, many economists believe that a recession is inevitable, and like all recessions, that pain will fall the heart is on working families. many americans will face the one-two punch of job losses on top of overwhelming debt

burdens. i cascade of defaults, foreclosures and personal bankruptcies could follow. with so many indications that american families are in serious trouble, our government should be throwing them a lifeline. instead, president trump isd, throwing them in anchor while the cards out exemptions for a few well-connected billionaires who have bent the knee. this is the moment for congress to step up. and where are the senate republicans? watching? waiting? hoping it doesn't get worse. hoping maybe somebody else will step up. well, i'm here to say it's up to us inp the united states senate. know what else is coming to save us. we are the ones who have to act. if republicans care about the american people, they will vote

yes on our resolution today and turn off the fake emergency that donald trump is using to impose his on-again, off-again, red light, green light tariffs, the tariffs that are pushing our economy offom a cliff. let me repeat. congress can in this economic threat today. all we need are some republican senators to join his to vote down the president's of use of emergency authority. unless we take action now, millions of people will lose their jobs. families will be destroyed, and our economy will take years to recover. but this time it will be the president of the united states who destroyed our economy. and it will be congressional republicans who helped him do it because they didn't have the

spine to stand up to donald trump. so i say to my republican colleagues, let's get this done. you have a choice. you can either continue to enable donald trump's tariffs chaos, , or you can actually std up for your constituents. it is truly that simple. they chaos and corruption of trump's first 100 days can be curbed. the president is no king, and he only has as much power as congress is willing to let him keep. it is time for us, democrats, republicans and independents, to step up and head off a crisis before millions more american families are hurt. we have the power. the courage to use it.e courage to use mr. president, i yield the floor.

>> mr. president? >> the senatorto from virginia. >> mr. president, the constitution of the united states puts two powers clearly clearly within the hands of congress. the power to tax and the power to conduct trade policy. including the imposition of tariffs. these are powers fors. congress not the executive. what president trump finds congress and an inconveniend he has decided to take both of these powers onto his own shoulders by imposing a national sales tax, that's what his global tariff regime is, without any vote in congress surely on his own say-so, and to engage every nation in the world in a trade war on his own say-so

without involving congress. president trump as that in the past, i alone can fix it, and we know that that statement is false. no one alone can fix the big challenges facing ourur nation, but i think if he were to say i alone can break it, the results of the last 100 days would have proven him correct. president trump on inauguration day inherited the strongest economy on the planet earth. not a perfect economy, but the strongest economy, the envy of other industrialized nations. that's what he had just 100 days ago. and we know this morning that strong economy which was growing for three years at a a very sd pace is now contracting. it's not only the contraction of the economy, it's chaos in the its declining consumer confidence, its projections of recession by

federal reserve districts and major economists. all of this is happening because donald trump has pursued a three step strategy of his own, massive layoffs of employees, contrary to congressionally passed appropriation bills. massive slashing of federal spending programs, including those relied upon by everyday americans in contravention of congressionally appropriated spending bills. and the waging of a tariff war against the entire planet. and as my colleagues have said, it's a tariff war thickets announced and then suspends and then delayed and then announced again and then exceptions might be granted if we like you or not. it's chaos. last week i traveled around the commonwealth of virginia. i talked to businesses

everywhere in my state. they talked about the layoffs and the talked about the spending cuts and a talked about the tariffs, and added those three together and said what those three add up to is chaos. they chaos of unpredictably. many businesses told me that they want to make investments. they want to make investments to grow their businesses in virginia but they are unwilling to make a decision to invest as long as the rules of the road are chaotic and up in the air. businesses that import natural products to turn into finished products have to do a tariff on the import. businesses who sell their product abroad are losing markets as nations putre retaliatory tariffs on the u.s. and so these businesses are pausing their investment decisions.

businesses in virginia that are connected to multinational businesses are saying that their headquarters are deciding, well, wean can invest in the united states or we can invest in another country. it's not wise to invest in the united states when everything is so chaotic. let's be clear, and i spoke this with my colleagues when i talked about the candidate tariff provision that we successfully rebuked the president on a month ago, a tariff is nothing more any sales tax. it'so. a sales tax on on a pt that everyday americans use, especially groceries and clothing and building supplies and for farmers, the cost of fertilizer they need as their engaging in spring planting. trump's worldwide chairs are nothing but a new sales tax or any analysis as this t chart shs of who the tariffs raise taxes on, like every other form of sales tax, tariff are regressive. they hit lower income people the

most.th the average tax change as a share of income, if the trump tariffs are in committed, it's essentially on the poorest 20% of the american population, the equivalent to an additional 6.2% sales tax. for the next wealthiest quintile of its 85.5% increase on sales tax. for the next it's 5.0, although it up for the richest 1% will see that effective sales tax rate go up by 1.7%. this is the sales tax on agoa in the country but it's a sales tax that as all sales taxes due falls hardest on those who can least afford it. the new sales tax is affecting retirees particularly so. from abc news, retirees stunned as market turmoil over tariffs shrinks their 401(k)s. we have a social security system that is a good foundation for

retirement, so long as this administration doesn't mess it up but is not sufficient for retirement. what you need for dignified retirementt is social security plus private savings, and most peoples cases come 401(k)s. the turmoil in the market driven by tariff uncertainty is hammering retirees more than just about anyf other group of people in this country. the new sales tax is also a drag on economic growth. we saw this in the announcement this morning, but not just economic growth in the united states. i'm on the armed services committee and and i had aito go visit two weeks ago with the new government, incoming government in germany. germany is a great ally, more use troops on the ground in germany than any other nation of that than japan outside the united states. we are security partners in ukraine and in european security generally. the new german government was just elected the chance will be installed in the first week in may with i a mandate to restore

the german economy which is been in the doldrums since about 2019. as i talked to german leaders, military leaders and leaders in the civilian government, they said this is, going to be most pro-americanhe pro-transatlantic chancellor he was seen for a very long time, but he's coming in withhe a powerful mandate to grow the german economy so that we can be even better security partners, , soan that we can wok better s together on the manufacture of the f-35 and to help ukraine in its defense, but the truck tariffs are standing directly in the way of this new program american government being able to achieve what they need to achieve. that's why the imf says that the trump tariffs, this new sales tax, will be a drag not just on unjust economic growth but on global economic growth. this is a story from less than a week ago. u.s. manufacturing was already slowing before the gdp numbers

came out today. a larger share of manufacturers are reporting declines in new orders and increases. some of those declines are driven because of the price effective tariffs, the price effectivepr retaliatory tariffs, but somee are also being driven by the uncertainty. there is a chaos penalty on the economy. when you're not she was going to happen, you slow your s investments and that's why you see a decline in manufacturing. the trial new sales tax again as proof from reuters, trump tariffs would harm all involved u.s. trade partners a say, this is not just something hurting everyday americans. those are those whom we have responsibly to this in this body. but this is affecting the global economy in a way that is shocking. china, japan, south korea, a company from south korea just announced a huge investment in

virginia yesterday in the clean energy space, these are japan and south korea spatially are countries that do a lot of foreign direct investment in the united states. japan and south korea, two of our strongest partners, but even they are responding in a hostile way toin use tariffs. you see china, japan and south korea starting to cooperate together ward off some of the negative economic effects of tariffs. the lasting what to do is encourage japan and korea to work closer with china. we want japan and south korea to work closer with the united unid states, but the trump tariffs are chasing allies into the arms of adversaries. how foolish is that? and then we'd end up with the chaos argument that my colleagues mentioned before from the new times last week, with only thatns options, this is his scramble for a tariff. a tariff chaos playbook.

when the costs of your inputs are going up, when you export market is shrinking, when you don't know whatno the end of the story will be, the options that you are very murky. this is his want to have predictability and want to be able to look into a crystal ball andth if you don't completely kw the future, they want to build to make enough of a a predictn about the economic climate that would justify sizable investment. and in a time of chaos those investments are not going to be made, and that t raises the danr that this first quarter, economic contraction, will be followed by another which would be the textbook definition of a recession. so how did we get here? from an economy on inauguration day that was the strongest in the world when president trump stood 50 yards from here and said it was a golden age, to an economy that is nothing but red lights and question marks all

over it, we got here because one individual decided to bypass both the taxing power and the trade power into his own hands without a debate, without committee hearings, without deliberation, considering what the people thought about the plan, and that one man and his decisions have taken a chainsaw to the american economy. we must turn this around. and the good news is the senate has the ability to turn it around. when congress passed the ieepa law ticket to go, it recognized the potential that an executive could overuse the emergency power, and that's why congress did something rare and i.e. bath. they gave the power even to a single senator. even to a single senator in the minority party to say wait a minute, mr. president, you have declared an emergency and guess what? you're a wrong.

and even at the request of a single senator come this body has put on the board to have to score whether we owned the policies of the president this trump mattis, or whether we disappointed and urge him to take a different path. all the economic trends are pointing in the same direction. we should take a different path onfe the economy before this ges worse. the vote will have later today gives the senate the greatest deliberative body in the world the chance to stand up and say, let's take a different path. and urge a favorable vote on the resolution that we will have later today. with that, mr. president, i yield the floor.

>> there was an old-fashioned conservative principle that believe that less taxes were better than more taxes, that if you tax something you do less of it, so that if you place a new tax on trade you would get less trade. there was also this idea that you didn't do taxation without representation. bad idea goes not only back to our american revolution, it goes back to the english civil war as well. it goes back to probably magna carta. i mean, for hundreds of years the english were arguing of the supremacy of parliament, that parliament will be able to have the power over the king. so when we were dating up to the revolution, the cry from james otis was, taxation without representation is tyranny. the words of james otis but they still ring true today. it should not come as a surprise that a country founded on a tax

revolt, one person is not allowed to raise taxes. our founding fathers saw this and said, no, woman to make sure the authority of taxation against not only in congress, that it originates in the house, the body closest to the people. our constitution forbids taxes from being enacted without the approval of congress. and yet here we are. an emergency has been declared, as the senator from virginia remarked, everywhere. there's an emergency everywhere. sounds like an emergency everywhere is really an emergency nowhere. but despite the constitutional restraints or constraints on executive power, americans have been ordered to pay higher taxes in the form of tariffs but without the consent of congress. the tariffs we discussed today our global tariffs, just about every country in the world is subject to at least a 10% tariff. to sayo nothing of the dozens of countries whose imports will be

taxed at a much higher rate. congress didn't debate these tariffs arees congress didn't ve to enact these tariffs. the tariffs or simply imposed a presidential fiat, by proclamation government by one person assumes all power by asserting a so-called emergency is the antithesis of constitutional government. it was montesquieu that are founding fathers look to in setting up the separation of powers, and montesquieu said that when you unite the power, the legislative power with the executive power in the body of one person, that no liberty can exist. they worried about this. they fretted about it. they worried about having too much power of the president and so the severely constricted the power of the presidency. they said the president could take us to war, only congress could they said the president couldn't spend money, only congress could. they said the president couldn't tax people come all the congress could. these were the very bedrock and

still are the very bedrock of our constitutional principles, and yet, people take that on my side are looking away and saying, oh, whatever. we'll just let the president do would have. look, i supported president trump i still support president trump on many things but enough for a country run by emergencies. even if the person were doing what i wanted and it was making every day my birthday, i would not the four that the less upon that. there are constitutional processes that are incredibly important. the constitution doesn't allow the president of the united states to be the sole decider. even the president must abide by the proper limits of executive power. thankfully, our constitution does more than merely hope that her chief executive were remain within thest confines of the constitution. our constitution explicitly limits the power of the presidency. our founders led a rebellion

against a king presided over this. they went to great lengths to circumscribe and limit the power of the presidency. be voted asid the work to preservation of individual liberty, the founders defined power among three branches of government -- devoted -- more important those three branches were to check and balance each other to prevent one branch from accumulating too much power. madison wrote in the federalist papers, the constitution was to pick ambition against ambition to the natural ambition of men and women to accumulate power was to be checked by other branches of people who would say you can't have that power, it's our power. that paving of ambition back and forth was too constrain government. it was to constrain government from running away and power from being run away with one person. the founding fathers and power to congress with tools to ensure that the liberties of the people would not be threatened by one

person rule. the founders would not be surprised that the executive would attempt at aggrandize power at the expense of the legislature. they would've expected it, indeed, indeed they did expected but it would be surprised, the founders would be shocked the congress would and recklessly give up their power to the presidency. to submit to emergency rule. the founders would not have expected the house of representatives to become so craven as to refuse to even allow a vote on ending the emergency. the law says that the boat we will have is mandatory. it is privileged. the senate will adhere to the law. the house will not have a vote. the house in its haste to give away its power to tax actually passed a rule to prevent mandatory vote on ending the emergencies. they prevent that because the

rule says that days to longer exists. they declared that legislative days not exist despite the legislature continuing to meet each day. the house has essentially ruled that days are not days. and they are not to be counted as days until such time as the house again agrees to allow days to be counted as days. that's the sound absurd? absolutely it's absurd. it is craven. it is powerless at its best, and it is dishonest because the rule of houses preventing a law and being obeyed. i didn't know we can pass a rule to prevent a law from being obeyed. when the emergency powers were granted to the president in 1976, the emergencies act was meant to constrain the republic. we've already worried about too many emergencies. many on my side of actually cosponsored bills that site emergencies should automatically and unless affirmatively

approved by congress. many of those people now are looking the other way. they are looking to other way and say well, it's our president now. i had a reform of the emergencies act under the previous president, a democrat. i had the same bill under a republican. this should not be a partisan issue. the founders would not have expected the upper chamber, the senate, to let the novel use of a a statute traditionally used to sanction adversaries to become used forec tariffs, to tax american people and to let it go unchallenged. this is not constitutionalism. this is cowardice. our system of government cannot work when congress abdicates its legislative authority. madison said we would pick ambition against ambition. but what if we have presidential ambition and we have congressional acquiescence? with congressional timidity. we have congressional

non-entity, , choosing to becoma non-entity and not participate, do whatever you want your it's a recipe for disaster. madison and those of the revolutionary generation would have expected members of congress to jealously guard their authority from the imperial pretensions of the chief executive. to endorse governance white emergency rule is to fail to live up to what the constitution demands of us. and failure to do our constitutional duty is an invitation to further emergency rules. i know some republicans like the idea of taxing, taxing trade, but what if there's a next president is democrat who says by emergency rule i decree there will be no gasoline using cars? we love only electric cars. that's what we are preparing ourselves to every distortion of the checks and balances of powers gets worse. every time a party changes and they say well, you guys did this

so we're going to leapfrog into this, and goes back and forth until the individual citizen knows nothing other than the loss of liberty. even president trump didn't tried to argue this law, this law called ieepa that is normally used for sanction, he didn't act upon and his first term. he makes the claim today though likely because the appropriate trade laws on the books require wants to be a limited, and he can't wait. they, republicans go alone. basic emergency, no problem. constitution what? constitution, forget about it. members of his political party will stand by his assertion. some a cast that i can stay as an exercise of party loyalty. some even be praised by pennsylvania avenue but for those who care to listen carefully within that praise what he heard a touch of disdain there it is the secret that congress lacks the fortituder to stand up for its prerogatives. and this is bipartisan. presidents in both parties

routinely exceed their power because they know that congress has weakened itself to such an extent that it cannot challenge and will not challenge executive overreach. congress delegates its legislative authority to the president so that the loss we live under are in reality written by bureaucrats who the people do not know, will never meet, and cannot hold accountable through elections. i do want to let off both parties on this. the powers that have been given to the presidentbe over trade he been given to the president i congress over many decades. congress acquiesced. you can have it. congress today can scarcely be bothered to even consider individual appropriation bills by consistently waiting until the last second to pass massive funding bills and threaten a government shutdown.go .. power of the purse.

put it all in one bill. they say if you don't vote for it, you're for shutting down the government. you don't want to shut down the government, to you vote for the massive bill which includes more pork than you can imagine. unilaterally disarmed and demonstrated itself >> and demonstrated itself unable and unwilling to check the executive. if the americans are to live under this emergency rule, it will not be because the president sought too much power, it will be because congress let it happen. if americans are to live in a country where the president alone decides what is to be taxed and what rate, and for how long, it will be because congress is too feeble to stand up for the interest and bank accounts of the people. if americans live in a country where their elected representatives in the legislature cannot or will not speak for them, it will be because those representatives silenced themselves. they gave in.

they did not stand up and do their duty. to show the people that the constitutional principle of the separation of powers still means something and that we can successfully challenge the presidential attempt it raise taxes without the consent of congress. tariffs are taxes, plain and simple. tariffs don't punish foreign governments, they punish american families. when we tax imports, we raise the price of everything from groceries to smart phones, to washing machines, to just about every conceivable product. voters in the last election indicated they were fed up with high prices. every time americans went to the grocery store, they're reminded of inflation and putting food on their family's table was more difficult and left them with less money for other necessities. many pundits say the '24 election hinged on promises to reduce inflation and lower

taxes. does it make any sense to impose a tax on imports that will make all americans worse off? shouldn't we learn from our success? we should ask ourselves a fundamental question, is trade good? well, trade is simply capitalism. trade never occurs unless you want a product more than you want your money. has anybody ever made a trade, a voluntary trade that you thought you were being ripped off? no, you buy stuff only because you think you're making a good deal. those who say that, oh, no, we're being ripped off. it's a fallacy. it asserts that one of the parties must necessarily lose or be taken advantage of. the argument belies a fundamental misunderstanding of trade. any definition every voluntary trade is mutually beneficial. trade is good and that isn't an opinion, it's a fact. for at least the last 50 years, as trade rises, so does wealth

and people say the middle class has gotten smaller, slightly, but only because it moved to the upper class. these tariffs will make americans poorer and defenders of those tariffs pay. tariffs bring us closer to the day when people are ruled by a czar of industrial policy. when that day comes, we will wish we had defended the constitution when we still had the power to do so. we cannot afford to stand idly by while the constitutional principal of separation of power is eviscerated. legislators who stand aside and advocate the power to tax will one day rue the accumulation of power in the office of one person. i stand against this emergency. i stand against these tariffs. and i stand against shredding the constitution. i have no animus against the president, i voted for him and for his administration. i come to the floor not because

i want to, but i'm compelled to. i love my country and the principles upon which it's founded. the oath i took upon taking this office is the constitution of the united states and not to any person or faction. i want to preserve the divisions of power that protect us and our children from the rule of one person. that is why i will today vote to end this emergency. i will vote to reclaim the taxation power of congress, where the constitution properly places it and i urge the members of my party to do the same. thank you, and i yield back. >> mr. president. >> the senator from idaho. >> mr. president, i rise today to speak in opposition to the resolution and before i get into my prepared remarks, let me just make it clear. what we are doing here today is

following a law, ie, which gave authority to the president of the united states to declare an emergency and gave congress the authority to reject that declaration of the emergency by a vote in congress. the president has declared that emergency under the authority of that law and this resolution has been brought to reject the declaration of that emergency. that is what we are debating today and that is what the vote in congress is about. i appreciate that many of us in this chamber have heard from constituents concerned about the economic impact of the tariffs. all of us are watching this issue closely and working with the administration to find ways to minimize its impact on americans. we should also be working with the administration to address a shared objective.