military, and really to redo what is really society today. as you know it would affect both our nuclear deterrence arms efforts are missile-defense come even investment in golden dome. in this venue we can't discuss all of the details of what we're doing but i would ask if you would please confirm that this is a threat that is a priority to the department of defense as it has been characterized by the secretary general of nato and acknowledge that as it is a priority it is a priority for us to prevent the deployment of nuclear weapons in space and that it is a priority for us to work with allies to uphold our commitment -- >> we believe this to fulfill our commitment to gavel to gavel coverage of the u.s. senate. you can continue watching this on our website c-span.org. we take you now to the other side of capitol hill where the senate is about to gavel in.

today senators consider former congressman billy long to be irs commissioner. they've also work on legislation that aims to regulate stablecoins in the crypto market. market. live coverage of the senate starts now. the president pro tempore: the senate will come to order. the chaplain, dr. black, will open the senate with prayer. the chaplain: let us pray. our father in heaven, we thank you for the beautiful diversity in the human family, for its varied shapes and sizes, its features and colors, its

abilities and talents. deliver us from the forces that would destroy our unity by eliminating our differences. lord, bless the members of this body. lord bless the members of body. this body, help them in their debates to distinguish ee between substance and the semantics, between rhetoric and reality . free them from personal and partisan preoccupations that would defeat their aspirations and deprive americans of just and equitable solutions.

lord, remind our lawmakers of the wisdom of romans 8:28 which states in everything god is working for the good of those who love him who are called according to his purposes. we pray in your holy name, amen. >> will you please join me in the pledge of allegiance . >> i pledge allegiance tothe flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands one nation, under god, indivisible with liberty and justice for all . >> under the previous order

the leadership time is reserved,morning business is closed, the senate will proceed to executive session and resume consideration of the following nomination which fthe clerk will report . >> nomination department of the treasury william long of

the reserve, making the united states army the largest branch of the military. i want to thank our brave men and women in uniform for their sacrifices to our country, their dedication, and their selflessness have made our nation safer and the first priority of the federal government ought to be our own national security. now, we have to think back to president george washington's first annual address to congress

where he said, quote, to be prepared for war is one of the most effectual means of preserving the peace, end of quote. that includes a nonnegotiable tenet of america's national security, which is peace through strength. i've said before, and i want to reiterate, we must be prepared at all times to stamp out aggression because weakness is provocative. an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, and a strong and capable military is the best way to do that. in a few short weeks, we will celebrate independence day. i encourage all americans to recognize and appreciate the

freedoms that the army has defended for 250 years, and i will continue to defend that in the future, and i want to thank president trump for bringing attention to the 250th birthday of the u.s. army with the festivities that are going on this weekend in washington, d.c. i yield the floor. mr. grassley: i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

the clerk: ms. alsobrooks. mr. thune: mr. president. the presiding officer: the

majority leader. thune thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i -- mr. thune: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i ask that the quorum call be suspended. the presiding officer: officer without objection. mr. thune: later today our friends in the house will be voting on the halt fentanyl act. this is important legislation and i am glad it will soon be on the way to the president's desk. i don't need to tell anybody about the horrible impact of drug overdoses in this country, many of them caused by fentanyl. more americans die from drug overdoses each year than the number of americans who died in the entirety of the vietnam war. the new england journal of medicine estimated that we were losing 22 teenagers every week to drug overdoses. 22 teenagers every week. that's like losing an entire high school classroom week after week. and no part of this country has been spared from the influx of fentanyl. we've certainly seen it in my home state of south dakota. enough fentanyl was seized in

sioux falls, south dakota, last year to kill 2.5 million people. law enforcement reports that the cartels have a presence in our area, and the price of a single pill has dropped from $40 a few years ago to just $5 per pill today. largely due to the growing supply. mr. president, as bad as this situation is today, it was much worse a few years ago. before 2018, the fentanyl analogs that were killing so many americans were generally classified as. if a particular analog was moved to schedule one, the cartels would simply alter the chemical composition slightly. which meant the new analog wasn't subject to stricter enforcement even though it was as deadly. that ended in 23018 when all

fentanyl analogs were classified under schedule one. mr. president, now it's time to make that permanent. that's where the halt fentanyl act comes in. it will permanently classify fentanyl analogs as what we know them to be -- the deadliest kind of drugs. and it will ensure that law enforcement has an important tool to go after the people bringing this poison in our country and peddling it in our communities. i want to thank senators johnson and grassley for their leadership in eliminate going this bill to this point. i expect this bill's result in the house will be broadly bipartisan as it was in the senate. it will soon be signed into law by president trump, all made possible by their evertss. the halt fentanyl has the

support of the families of numerous americans who have died from fentanyl overdoses. i'm grateful to those families for their passion and advocacy on this issue. and on passage of this bill. the halt fentanyl act is just one step in the fight against fentanyl. in the coming weeks we'lling taking up ledges to address another aspect of the fight -- securing our borders. much of the fentanyl in our country comes across an international border. so securing our borders is a key step to preventing shipments of this poison from getting into our country in the first place. and the bill we'll be voting on in the coming weeks will make a generational investment in border security, including finishing the border walled and investing in personnel and technology to stop illegal aliens and illegal drugs from getting across. mr. president, too many americans have lost their lives to drug overdoses. and so many of those deaths were

caused by a single pill containing a lethal dose of fentanyl. republicans will continue our efforts to end this crisis and prevent illegal drugs from getting into our country and devastating our communities. mr. president, i yield the floor. i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: the clerk: ms. alsobrooks.

>>. >> is that you will need to be disclosed in a public forum. >> is not classified to disclose whether or not it was classified and in fact dod regulations state if any classified information has to be labeled with its classification, whether classified secret or top-secret . what's not classified is that it was an

incredibly successful mission against the houthis. >> are you trying to say the information was unclassified? you're not seeing that. so you use classified information from central command, it had a classified marking on it because that's what's required by dod regulations and you put it on unclassified so we will get a report from the inspector general and in it if the dod inspector general finds what is obvious to you smiling in the witness seat and to all of us appear that the information was in fact classified, do you plan to take any accountability for that? >> as i pointed out. >> you said accountability is bad, does that not apply to you? >> as i said at the time

congressman there were no names, targets, locations, methods, no classified information. >> if it comes back is classified will you take accountability or not? >> we've already established, you've admitted it was classified and everything you get fromcentcom is classified, that'show you justified not answering . >> i didn't confirm any classification . >> will you take accountability? mr. sec., does accountability apply to you are not. >> it's classified whether right or not. >> accountability, you said accountability is back as the secretary. >> the houthis were held accountable. [overlapping conversation]the previous administrationlet our ships get shot at and nothing was done about it and thankfully because of the skill and courage of our troops . >> i reclaim my time . i'm just asking if accountability applies to you, it's a simple question . >> of course, i serve at the pleasure of the president like everybody elsedoes . >> so it onlyapplies to the president, not to you .

you talk about the success of the houthis operation, how much money it cost, how much money did you spend shooting at the houthis. >> you would have to compare that to what it cost . >> i told several hundred million dollars, close to $1 billion. >> how many commercial trips have transited theseasons your successful operation. >> thankfully unlike the previousadministration. >> the answer is zero. i didn't ask about military federals . >> how many commercial vessels, it's been several weeks how many commercial vessels . >> would you mr. congressman put civilian ships ... [overlapping conversation] >> the answer is zero, i reclaim my time, how many generals were fired? >> i don't know the number. >> youdon't know the number, it is 8 . can you explain why any of them were fired?

why was the army jaggedfired, why did you fire him? >> . [overlapping conversation] you probably learned what wine means, why did you fire him. >> we serve at the president pleasure of thepresident . >> you can't explain why you fired any of them? >> the gentlemen's time is expired, i recognize the gentleman from georgia mr. scott. >> thank you mr. chairman and most of my questions will be for general case. i will tell you i would appreciate the opportunity to speak for you all about a couple of things. i'm from georgia, spoke with you briefly. i supported julia morris remaining on the base as you know. i support eisenhower remaining on the base, i don't want to go too far into that but i will tell you this, the selection of gary gordon , one of the most

valorousheroic acts of any american soldier certainly in modern times. he was one of the two soldiers that went in with black hawk down and helped his snipers . both died there together. i do have a suggestion on that, when the army has named anything after gary gordon, results to guard's name has been tied to the name . the army has historically named things to gordon because they fought together, they literally died together and the historical accounts cannot figure out which one died first so if the name in augusta is going to change back to gordon i would respectfully suggest you consider stuttgart gordon, you can't tell gordon's story without stuttgart's story. and i say that respectfully. general kane, the communist chinese party assesses us strength.

>>

yesterday, accomplished virtually nothing. china has outfoxed him, and we are just back where we started. after months of donald trump trying to talk tough on china, china today has more leverage over the u.s. than when trump started on this venture. donald trump's trade war has been a colossal failure and a chaotic mess, with virtually nothing to show for it. donald trump should go back to the drawing board and start over. and come up with a plan that actually goes after china, by joining with our allies instead of going to war with them, by having them be allies with us to put pressure on china. and that will make action against china much tougher and more successful, instead of what trump did, alienating our allies

and having them ally with china rather than with us. donald trump should tell mr. nafsharro to get another -- mr. navarro to get another job. this man has had terrible advice, in donald trump's first term and now in donald trump's second term. two months since america's supposed liberation day, it's clear donald trump's trade strategy is not working, and his main problem is that he doesn't have a coherent strategy at all. donald trump's only move seems to be creating chaos. it's as if he wakes up in the morning and picks a country out of the hat, just pops into his head, and runs with it. no strategy, no coherence, no understanding or appreciation of what occurred the day before, or might occur the day after. he's turned markets manic, and he's paralyzed business. business leaders you talk to from one end of america to the other, big business, medium-size

business, small business say they are paralyzed. they can't move because they don't know what he will do next on tariffs. given how erratic and inconsistent he's been, who can blame them? one kentucky small business owner, a trump supporter who runs a baseball goods company, described this trade war as, quote, a vacation from hell, to millions of american businesses. that's exactly what's happened. this is a vacation from hell, self-imposed by donald trump. as summer break begins, and families start traveling around the country, that is exactly what americans are feeling as well, a vacation from hell, thanks to donald trump's tariff policies. on snap cuts -- after senate republicans spent weeks promising they would moderate the extreme policies in donald trump's big, beautiful bill, last night they doubled

down. the senate agriculture committee released the text of their portion of the bill, and the cuts to food assistance are as cruel, harmful and extreme as what came out of the house. they gave it a fresh coat of paint and pretended it's somehow more moderate, when in reality it's not. what happened to all those republicans, the senate republicans, who said they wanted to moderate the house's snap cuts? the plan they came up with is the house bill's twin evil, with a slightly nicer suit. it would still be the most aggressive cuts to food assistance in american history. hundreds of billions in cuts, just as punitive as when it came out of the house. eight million americans, three million children and seniors would be in danger of losing benefits. states would still carry the burden in the way they never have had to before, and republican state governors are going to start complaining, let

me assure our republican colleagues. under the senate plan, north carolina could be penalized $438 million in 2028. states have to balance their budgets, a blow like this would be crippling, forcing states to make impossible decisions about who gets to keep their food benefits and who is forced to go hungry. i urge senate republicans to throw this latest plan away. it's not moderate at all. again, the senate's snap proposal is basically the house version's proposal evil twin, dressed in a slightly nicer suit. one other thing -- to take food out of the mouths of hungry kids? all they want is to fill their little tummies. and give it to tax cuts to billionaires? how perverse, how cruel, even vicious. even vicious.

and then they come up with oh, people aren't working, oh, people are cheating. they have no proof. they just cut. it's mean. it's against what our scriptures teach us. and this, feeding the hungry, giving drink to the poor, to the thirst at this -- to the thirsty, should not be a political issue, should not be a partisan issue, it should be a moral issue. on snap cuts -- rather, sorry, i did that already. on guns -- as we speak, republicans are once again trying to jam through a reckless, extreme giveaway to the gun lobby, a provision that will endanger our kids, betray law enforcement, lead to more gun deaths. despite their so-called big, beautiful bill republicans snuck in a radical measure to reverse nearly 100 years of commonsense gun rules on silencers.

senate democrats will fight this dangerous provision with every tool at our disposal, including trying to strike it in the byrd bath. parents don't want silencers on their streets. police don't want silencers on their streets. the only ones who do? the gun lobby. that's exactly who this provision is written for. silencers have been used in mass killings, murderers, lawbreakers, they're the ones who want silencers. and they've been used in targeted assassinations, in crimes where bystanders didn't know gunshots had been fired, until it was too late. there's nothing common sense about making these deadly devices easier to buy, make, or to use in crimes. to the extreme republicans, and they're extremists these days, who snuck this sneak attack into the bill, shame on you. shame on you for putting the gun lobby over the lives of our kids. shame on you for endangers

families and law enforcement. all the law enforcement people i speak to don't want this republican proposal, because they know that the people who want silencers are the cri criminals, who our brave police and others are fighting. shame on you, republican right wing and all the republicans, even when they know they're wrong who go along with that right wing, for adding fuel to america's gun epidemic. police departments across america have been clear -- silencers make their jobs harder, delaying response times, making it harder to catch criminals, harder to solve gun crimes, and yes, easier for criminals to get away with murder. you cannot call yourself pro-law enforcement while voting to put more silencers in criminals' hands. if republicans get their way, it will be open season for criminals with silencers. senate democrats will fight this provision, at the parliamentary level and every other level with

everything we've got. on the irs nomination today -- this one is another doozy -- senate republicans want to put a tax fraudster in charge of the irs. let me repeat that. senate republicans want to put a tax fraudster in charge of the irs. i wish that was just a figure of speech. in a little over an hour, senate republicans will vote on the confirmation of william long to be commissioner of the irs. i will vehemently oppose long's nomination. to have a tax fraudster and swingedler, like mr. -- swingdlr in charge is abominable. donald trump is only concerned with letting cheaters get ahead, leaving families in the dust. mr. long ears background has nothing -- mr. long ears -- mr. long's background does not

qualify him. like other nominees, with no experience or knowledge, he's a maga cheerleader. he had no expertise in tax policy in congress. after he left offers, he joined the tax scam industry? one instance, mr. long was paid over $60,000 by firms that sold totally fabricated tax credits to investors and small businesses. when asked about this role in the scheme, in committee, long refused to answer. when investigators sent him questions, he went dark. after long's nomination was announced, the ceo of the company that swindled those businesses told investors not to worry, they'll soon interest -- soon have a buddy at the irs to take off the heat. this is rank corruption. donald trump naming someone as compromised as mr. long is just allowing corruption to be winked at, nodded at, even approved. under mr. long, the irs will

become the department of maga crooks. donald trump will use the irs, as he's used other agencies, to punish his political opponents, to help cheaters and tax evaders, all while hardworking families watch billionaires pay less in taxes. i implore republicans to reject long from being commissioner. finally on broadband, last friday secretary lutnick and the administration delayed nearly $43 billion in funding to help 25 million americans get access to affordable high-speed internet. this funding is vital for kids to do their homework and for families to stay connected. states have worked hard to get this funding program up and running, but now to help starlink -- you know who owns that -- the administration has thrown everyone back to square one. donald trump seems to find

endless ways to go after states like new york, and this decision delaying broadband funding does just that. it will endanger $660 million in funding to help hundreds of thousands of new yorkers, many in rural areas -- republican districts, who lack broadband access. i join senator lujan to urge not to delay this will funding but they did it any way. it's shameful and i'll keep pushing the administration to change course. i urge the trump administration don't turn your back on rural families lacking broadband just to help starlink. i yield the floor and note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: the clerk: ms. alsobrooks.

>> thank you and i think secretary hegseth you handle that in your opening statement so i'm out of time and i yelled back. >> gentleman yields that, gentlemen recognizes the gentleman from california. >> i'm hoping we can start where we may have common ground . no war in iraq . in 2016 president trump was one of the few people in the republican stage to have the guts to say that george w. bush's war in iraq was another disaster . he promised the american people know endless wars. tucker carlson has said thousands of americans will die if there

is a war in iran . and he is cautioning this currently neocons are trying to get resident trump into a war in iran . representative marjorie taylor greene has said the american people don't want to bomb iran. will you today assure the american people and the modern movement that you will not bomb iran unless we are at war. >> it's good to hear you quoting conservatives. >> when they are right i quote them. i will. >> i will tell you the president has earnestly committed to the peace process. it is given iran every opportunity and talks are ongoing but he also fully recognizes the threat around with a nuclear weapon exists. >> will you commit to us not bombing them . that's what the modern movement is calling for. they want a commitment to not bomb

iran unless we are directly hit. >> here in thiscourtroom it would be prudent for me to commit, my job is to be postured and prepared in the region . >> would you agree with this analysis that netanyahu is itching for a fight. if netanyahu uses american missiles to hit iran is going to drag us into a war there because iran will say they are using american missiles . our military knows you cannot just throw hits and eliminate iran's nuclear capability, they will go underground and monitoring and unlike iraq in heavily civilian sites. will you stand up today and make it clear to netanyahu that escalation when he's threatening just yesterday to not in the american interest, that he should not be driving america into war with iran . >> that question included a lot of speculation . what i know is netanyahu is going to put his country first, we are positioned properly in the

region. >> if there's any potential contingency. >> are you concerned about his escalation into iran and assure the american people you will do everything possible to keep us out of a war with iran. >> we remain committed to creating the conditions for peace, or talks with iran. >> i'm running out of time, two minutes so let me ask you another matter . senator baldwin asked about the legal authority for the marines in my state, i disagree with you. not only do i not want marines in iran, i don't want them in california. but i don't want to get a gotcha on what provision your administration sense has filed in the federal district court, you're arguing the marines should be allowed to defend federal property, i disagree with you, that's your argument . here's where

i hope we can agree, whatever the federal district courts decide will you abide by it? >> this is a pending situation. >> will you agree it's not my legal view, not your legal view that makes the decision, if the federal judiciary . if the federal court in california and the san and cisco district judge has orders a preliminary injunction will you agree to abide by the federal courts. >> what i will tell you is my job is to ensure the troops we have in los angeles are capable of supporting law enforcement . >> but can you just be sure us you will abide by the decisions of the court. >> we've always looked at the decisions of the court. >> the vice president says he doesn't think the courts should be respected in military matters. >> this is not my lane but we recognize the way in which the judiciary has expanded its powers. >> let me ask you this,two simple questions .

>> i think it would assure the american people because we it should be secretary hegseth, it should be the supreme court or the federal court and can you assure the people who will respect any supreme court decision on this matter about whether the marines are constitutional and respect the district courts when they rule what the supreme court rules. >> what i should say is we should not have local judges determining national security policy . >> you're not willing to say you would respect those decisions. >> local district judges shouldn'tmake policy for the united states . >> the chair recognizes the gentleman frommississippi . >> thank you secretary hegseth and general kane, america has restored deterrence and secured our southern border . thanks to this renewed strength we are seeing positive momentum in recruiting and retention.

conduct? it should be condemned by all political leaders regardless of your political party. but my republican colleagues have said nothing, nothing in response to these attacks on federal judges. it is the silence of the lambs. in april one of my republican colleagues had the courage to say out loud why republicans are not speaking up. as she put it, quote, we are all af afraid. their fear was simply, is simply emboldening this president. last month president trump was asked if he needs to uphold the constitution. in response he said, and i quote, i don't know. it was shocking to hear that response from the president, even this president, and it demonstrates just how little regard he has for our

fundamental rights and our constitution. yet my republican colleagues are silent. their unwillingness to speak truth to power calls to mind a line from a man for all seasons. when statesmen for sake their own private conscience for the sake of their public duties, they lead their company by a short rope to chaos. the american people have seen the chaos that has come frpt silence of our elected officials. so long as they fail to speak up, the chaos and lawlessness will continue. it's not only president trump who is intimidating judges and attacking judicial independents. house republicans are acting as accomplices filing articles of impeachment against six federal judges simply because they ruled against president trump. house republicans have continued their attack on the judiciary with their reconciliation bill they passed last month.

buried in this 1,000-page bill is a provision that would strip federal courts of their ability to enforce a contempt citation when a party fails to comply with certain types of injunctions. the contempt part is integral to the authority of the federal courts. without the contempt, parties could simply disregard court orders. currently trump administration officials know that if they violate court orders they can be held in contempt or subject to fines or even jail time, but president trump doesn't want the courts or anyone else to stand in his way, and that led house republicans to advance a provision prohibiting courts from enforcing some contempt citations. this would let president trump pursue his agenda without any concern of being held accountable in the courts, and it would prevent courts from

enforcing contempt citations in all manner of cases whether the injunctions issues today, tomorrow or even ten years ago. maybe house republicans thought no one would notice this provision. maybe they thought nobody would have the nerve to oppose the president but i can tell you the senate democrats read the provision, we noticed it, we spoke out against it all week and we will do everything in our power to ensure it does not become law. the attacks on the judiciary not only threaten our constitution, they threaten the judges and their families themselves. recent reporting has revealed a dramatic spike in threats against judges. between the beginning of march and the end of may, 197 federal judges were threatened. judges and their families have received threats in the form of anonymous pizza deliveries to their homes. these deliveries are meant to show that the perpetrator knows exactly where the judges and their families live. so far more than 100 pizzas have

been delivered to more than a dozen judges and their relatives. it's not a laughing matter. at least 20 of these deliveries were made using the name of judge esther salas's son, daniel, who was murdered, murdered at his family's home by a former litigant. even justice amy barrett's family has been receiving unsolicited pizza deliveries. whether i agree with these judges when it comes to their philosophies is beside the point. this is frightening. judge solas has described this as warfare with the message do you want to end up like judge solas? this is sickening. they must be investigated and they must be stopped. over a month ago as ranking

member of the senate judiciary committee, i sent a letter to attorney general pam bondi and fbi director kash patel. i asked them to investigate the deliveries to judges and provide information on steps they have taken to protect these judges and their families. i have yet to receive a response. on tuesday i sent another letter urging them once again to investigate these threats against judges and highlighting the need for action. the federal judiciary and our government can wait no longer. last week i met with three federal judges to discuss judicial security. judge salas was among them. her experience is a reminder of how important judicial security is and how much is at stake. our meeting served as a reminder of how our judges have shown tremendous courage in the face of these ongoing threats. we should all be grateful for their public service and their

willingness to don black robes and act without fear or favor. we should also be grateful for law enforcement officials protecting our judges but it's not enough to acknowledge and appreciate the dedication of our judges and law enforcement. the justice department and the fbi must investigate and must act now. the president and his allies must stop these attempts to intimidate a coequal branch of government and congressional republicans need to step up publicly and stand behind these judges. in the meantime, i'll continue to stand up for the judiciary and highly the need to protect our judges, and i'll continue to stand against those who threaten our judges and the rule of law, whether from the right or the left. i hope my republican colleagues will find their voices and join me. mr. president, i yield the floor, and i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

the clerk: ms. alsobrooks. they suffered thousands of casualties, several hundred deaths. they are young men and women sacrificed, article 5 the only time it was exercised for the united states, they're not freeloaders . yet today you attacked one of them saying now you've confirmed the us has plans in place to invade the territory of afounding member of nato, denmark . that's not being strength, that's not being strong. it's

also chaotic. this is the chaos cabinet when it comes to ukraine. secretary of the treasury, putin is a war criminal . it chomps chief negotiator, putin is trustworthy, not a bad guy. putin was a war criminal i guess but he's not, he doesn't know . trump says ukraine was the aggressor, secretary of state says russia was the aggressor . user secretary of defense said russia was the aggressor . the joint chiefs said putin would even stop atukraine . the trump amb. resigned because of this policy and i think vice president vance said it best. it said he doesn't care what happens to ukraine one way or the other . that is not strength, that is not using our coalition, that is not deterrence, you are wrong on all your positions, i yield back . >> the gentleman from nebraska. >> welcome all three of you here, appreciate you being here and congratulate the chairman we served three

decades in the air force, many of my friends have and i think highly of you so our congrats . mr. secretary during your comments early on i would agree with you, homeland security, china is a threat, i agree but we never hear russia, you didn't mention it in yourcomments . the entire administration, two thirds of americans see clearly russia is a threat. they are the aggressor in ukraine. so our national security interests in ukraine prevails because russia will not stop as ukraine. he would only stop the invasion of ukraine if we pull out of the baltic countries so this gives you some insight to what putin is thinking. what we see right now with the administration's moral blindness here, we want moral clarity and strength when it comes to russia . we share concerns about the

firing of the generals, it's currently very much your constitutional right to fire and higher generals and the president has that right but it's also decency, i've known many of these people, i served with most of these folks when i was a colonel and i knew one when he was a captain, served his whole adult life and i think they deserve an explanation why they were fired . i think the american people deserve that as well and the impact on cyber command , we grew a decade to fill those shoes and i don't know if anybody can fill those shoes right now, it's going to take a year or two for people to get their . i believe the firing of gen. hoch was china and russia. among the cyber subcommittee, we learned and we know and i know you all know russia and china are attacking us every day. i also have learned in the second branch there are limiting rules of engagement on what cyber command can do in response and i would ask both the secretary and chairman do you agree with

those rules of engagement? i think we should be carrying a bigger stick here when we're being attacked every day, would you look at those rules of engagement and consider revamping them? >> sir, we do review those on a regular basis and i would say there's been an incorrect reporting on what has or has not been done but internally we are ensuring anything we do for cyber offense or cyber defense is coordinated with the administration's priorities and the way in which the department used threats and how we manage them in real time. >> the chairman of the committee and i talked to multiple lawyers, they are restrictive based on rules of engagement, maybe they are appropriate because if china can attack our energy grid, our wall street grid and our hospitals, i think we should be reviewing okay, is this our response adequate so i want to submit that, rethink about it and consider . i

agree china is a patient threat and we want to prevent a war, day one of the war with china and taiwan will be too late. we owe billions of dollars of weapons to taiwan, we've committed to purchase them and this is the previous administration's fault, worsening billions of dollars of weapons . they need harpoon missiles, air defense, things like that . i asked the previous secretary what are you doing and he says i'm studying it . he's a secretary. i just asked for your review who do we, who is behind it do we haveto kick to start getting these weapons faster . and i just appreciate your comment to that. >> i'll defer to the chairman but this is not something we reviewing, it's something we are implementing in real time . there's talk about a shift to the indo pacific but the department has not put in place just some strategy changes at some level but driving change to make decisions prioritize and

trade off . in your budget the force posture in training and exercise and where you fully position troops and ammunition, those are the things we are actually in real time and we've done it differently inthe past with a realistic view of what threats emerge in the indo pacific . >> i'll add in general terms about the size and capacity of our defensive assistance worldwide that all tax back to our national defense industrial base . what i'm encouraged by is the leaders we have in thedepartment , in the joint force and in the congress right now. it feels like if not now then when and if not us then who. these are the right leaders across the usga to take after this andto support . >> my time is expired and i recognize the gentle lady. ms. houlihan . >> mr. secretary i've been looking forward much to our

time together. my name is chrissy houlihan and in addition to representing a part of pennsylvania the sixth district i am a veteran i come from a family of veterans service members and it's deeply personal to me this conversation we're having and i know it is toyou as well. the last several days i've had the opportunity to watch a bit of the hearing

estimated $150 million in order to attend that dinner. now, a meme coin is basically a nothing burger. what is it? it is not something that you can do knowledge transactions oppose. it is not something that you can print out and put on your wall. it's simply kind of a hobby coin. people didn't pay $150 million

for a digital hobby coin. they paid it because the president said, this will give you access to me and my team. and he provided that access. and he said, the top 25 buyers of this coin will get something extra special, some extra special tour, initially he said it would be of the white house. later it was not clear if it would be at the white house. in fact, there's no transparency. we do not have a list of who these 220 people are, what they paid. but we do know one of these individuals. that is the individual javier selgas, the ceo of a company. we bought $2 million of the trump coin and we're planning to buy $20 million of the trump coin in order to influence the policy of how freight is treated between mexico and the united states of america. he was very clear about it. we're buying access and we are buying influence.

and what happens with that money? it simply goes into the trump's pocket. is he producing an iitem of any value that he's selling? no, he's selling access and influence. so that's one example. then he has another crypto enterprise in which he's inviting folks to use a digital coin, a different type of digital coin called a stablecoin. give me your dollars. i get to keep all the proceeds from the investments and you can use my digital coin, called usd1, for international business transactions. why would you use this coin? instead of just using the dollars themselves? to make special affection on behalf of the president of the united states of america. so there's a company, mgx. mgx is tied to the government of the united arab emirates, and

mgx said, we will buy $2 billion of your coins. that makes the $2 million from freight technologies or the $20 million they were planning pretty small chump change. what did they say they wanted? they said they wanted advanced a.i. chips, artificial intelligence chips. they wanted a world-leading a.i. center to be built in the united arab emirates. now, technically, done through mgx. but who is the chair of mgx, the national security advisor for the government of uae. and so what transpired? uae say, we want this a.i. center. mgx associated with the government says, we'll buy $2 billion of your digital coins. and the president goes to the middle east and say, you know what? i support establishing an advanced a.i. center and we will partner with it in abu dhabi.

abu dhabi is one of the emiratis of the uae. so here we have freight technologies saying we will buy these coins to get influence. now you have mgx buying $2 billion in order to get influence. this is the mount everest of corruption. and right at this moment, the senate is debating a cryptocurrency bill. isn't this the moment that we should debate whether or not federal elected officials, ourselves, the vice president, president, members of the cabinet should be offering for sale our personal coins in order for people to give us money? because really it's just like somebody handing us a sack of money. that's what this is like. "forbes" magazine has now estimated that within a few months -- within the first few months of the trump

administration, the trump family has built value in their crypto industry of $1 billion. if he had not been elected, it would be worth nothing. but because he's pumping it as president, both the meme coin and usd1, the stablecoin, the world is saying, we want influence. we have to buy these coins. just like in his first administration folks said, we want influence, we have to stay at his properties. we have to book his hotel rooms, we have to hold our events at his special locations, be it his golf courses or his hotel conference centers. but those hotel rooms or booking conference centers in his first term are nothing on the order of magnitude of selling these cryptocurrency coins. that $2 billion that trump holds, his family holds? even at 4% invested, that's $03

million a year -- $80 million a year. and with the panel of this i will about -- and with the passage of this bill, if we do not put an anticorruption measure into this bill, we'll be saying, just as we rented his hotel rooms, when we do an international business transaction, we have to use usd1. that is why we should be debating amendments on this bill. we have a responsibility to address the concerns of the people of the united states of america, and from our very beginning, from the very beginning on through the last now 250 years, we have been concerned about the corruption and having our government end up for sale. if we turn the clock back to our founders, hamilton said we put an emoluments clause in the constitution so our elected leaders cannot be bribed. i quote, many mortifying

examples of the prevalency of foreign corruption in republican governments. it was to counter that foreign corruption that he'd already witnessed in republican governments. so in establishing our republic, with our separation of power, with our checks and balances, with our vision of government, by and for the people, you can't allow the elected leaders to take bribes. or to take, if you will, tribute money to influence. people say, well, it's not a bribe, it's not tied to a specific act. obviously, the ceo of freight technologies had a specific act in mind. he wanted to change a rule regarding freight transactions between mexico and the united states of america. clearly, uae had a specific desire, they wanted a.i. chips, and got them. maybe in a court of order, court, you could not establish a direct this for that, quid pro quo, if you will. certainly, these companies knew they were buying access to

influence. it's at least a payment of money to the president of the united states to gain access and gain influence, and that is exactly the type of corruption that hamilton said he had witnessed, mortifying examples, so he put a clause into the constitution to say this cannot be done. all right, so, we have a responsibility. we took an oath to the constitution. every single colleague, all 53 across the aisle took the same oath to the constitution. now is the time to actually debate this issue and defend the constitution. if you're not willing to debate an amendment to defend the constitution, essentially you are ignoring your oath to the constitution, you are violating your oath to the constitution of the united states of america. when this bill came to the floor, the majority leader said we'll have an open amendment process. that was a factor considered by many colleagues when they voted for moving this bill to the floor, that there would be opportunity for amendments. now the bill is here, suddenly

the republican leadership that controls the floor says, no, we're closing off amendments, we're not going to allow any examination of the corruption that is present through there industry. we're not going to allow any examination of the loopholes in the regulatory framework that is in this bill. we're not going to allow any examination of the scams being enacted on ordinary citizens, using these digital currency, this cryptocurrency atm's -- i had never even heard of these atm's. turns out there's over 300 in oregon. i asked my colleagues both sides of the aisle, have you heard of these? they said no. one of my colleagues was very familiar with this form of scam on seniors, senator durbin. he has an amendment. it should be considered. because it is so important we take this moment, we honor our responsibility to examine these issues, i will be coming back to

the floor in order to offer a point of order, a point of order that this bill violates the senate paygo provisions and therefore we shouldn't be doing this bill until that is remedied. i will also come back to table the blocking amendment that the majority leader put in place to prevent anyone from offering amendments. both of those votes will occur about half an hour from now. let's get our heads together about our responsibilities as senators representing the people of the united states. let's get our heads together about our responsibility to the constitution. let's get our heads together about taking on this open sale of the government being conducted out of the oval office just down pennsylvania avenue. thank you, mr. president.

mr. reed: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from rhode island is recognized. mr. reed: mr. president, thank you. i rise today to discuss s. 1582, the so-called genius act. several weeks ago when the majority leader said we would have votes on amendments, i took him seriously, and i was one of the first to file. and we could have been voting on amendments, my amendments, those of my colleagues, at any time in the last few weeks, but that hasn't happened. that's regrettable, because the genius act, as it is currently drafted, is, i believe, fundamentally flawed. the genius act exposes

taxpayers, consumers, and the financial system to unacceptable risk. and it creates venues for crim criminals, terrorists, and rogue governments to finance their illicit activities. among other things, this bill places the u.s. government stamp of approval on tether, the world's largest stablecoin, which is based in el salvador and favored by north korean, russian arms dealers, ransomware attackers, the iranian military, drug cartels and so many other criminal organizations. it takes already weak state laws, the genius act, and makes them weaker and applies them nationwide. it makes it possible for stablecoin companies to operate with near zero capital and unable to withstand a financial crisis.

it's possible for stablecoin companies to avoid getting an audit. it's impossible for the government to revoke a stablecoin company's charter, even if it turns out to be a ponzi scheme or if an executive dips into consumer funds. the genius act buys into the belief that the billionaires running the industry know what they're doing and that the marriage of complex financial products and complex technologies simply can't fail. the one thing the billionaires know is how to protect their inte interests, so the presumption is, again, it will not fail. not surprisingly, this bill leaves open the door to bailouts, which we have seen time and time again for other lightly regulated nonbanks that got into trouble, like fannie mae and freddie mac, aig and bear stearns.

when there is a run on stablecoin, and there very likely will be a run one day, the industry will turn to the american taxpayer for a bailout, and the genius act paves the way for that to happen, with no limits on the federal reserve's authority to prop up the industry. finally, this bill perpetuates donald trump's naked corruption. it actually green lights the -- green-lights the name of trump's stablecoin, usd1, and allows trump's hand-picked regulators to write the rules of the road governs his most recent business venture. we need real guardrails to protect consumers, real tools for our national security agencies to address this new technology, and real authority for regulators to intervene in a crisis. real guardrails and real tools. not words on a page that give

only the aura of regulation and protection, with no teeth. my amendments, and those offered by colleagues on both sides of the aisle, would provide these tools and authorities. however, it appears we won't have the opportunity to consider a single one of them and improve this legislation. because of that, i would urge my colleagues to oppose this bill. with that, mr. president, i would yield the floor. mr. president, i would note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: the clerk: ms. alsobrooks.

i commend the view and, i'm sure the trump administration, for pushing our allies, nato defending more of your. in other words, it's the responsibility. they have a bear in the backyard. they need to understand they have bear in the backyard and bethany to protect themselves from that bear. but in that, if that there gets out of hand with the united states come to its aid? >> the goal of this administration is peace in ukraine. there's no doubt about that -- >> i'm not talking that ukraine. i'm saying if the bear, okay, we are part of nato, okay? if the bear starts getting out of hand and where part of nato, will the united states fulfill

its duties under nato's obligation? >> there are article five is a real part of nato. we acknowledge that come have never, never have not. at the same time we have been very in reminded europe responsible for its defense -- >> that's not -- [talking over each other] mr. lankford: mr. president, just like you do, i get a lot of requests in my office. i get about 150,000 e-mails a year. i don't know how many different requests that i get to come in for personal meetings, both in-state and here in washington, d.c. but a few weeks ago, i got a video request from a bow-tied 8-year-old asking for a meeting with me. a person i had never met before, but he said he wanted to come to talk to me about rare childhood diseases. i have to tell you, you'd have to see the video to be able to

see the meeting request that i got in from christian jasperson. he's from kioto, oklahoma, which no one can find here without using google maps, i promise you, but he was enthusiastically wanted to share his story about a complex medical history and how things have gone for him. so, we said yes. christian was born with a very rare medical condition that most of us couldn't pronounce much less live with. he was born with his intestines outside of his abdomen. that impacts about 1500 babies a year. it's extremely rare. patients are born sometimes with their intestines or other organs outside their abdomen. you can imagine the damage that that does, even while they're still in the womb. well, he required a ton of surgeries. several surgeries immediately

after birth, several digestive impacts will be felt for a life time. he spent five months in nicu after birth and lost a significant portion of his intestinal tissue during those different surgeries. it impact his nutritional impact and bowel function. clinicians recommended removing all of it, he'd spend the rest of his life on i.v. nutrition. he got a second opinion from boston children's hospital. they left out from beautiful oklahoma, headed to boston for that second opinion. they provide alternative care for him, and he is growing and doing well. at now eight and a half, he credits his doctors with saving his life, allowing him to live his best life now. he still has to go back to boston often, and there are unique challenges that he faces, with insurance and with all the challenges of travel.

quite frankly, the finances that go along with that. but he is a very spunky young man, with an extremely large personality. he played the role of christopher robin in a youth production of winnie the pooh and i bet people would pay to see that twice. he also has political aspirations. when i met he and his brother noah, lane, and his mom rachel yesterday, we had that opportunity to talk, christian told me all about the disease that he struggled with, the treatments he's had, the heroes at boston children that worked alongside of him, but he also informed me to be prepared to see him again, because he will be a supreme court justice in the days ahead, and he just might be. so, for christian and for his wonderful family and for all that has happened and for the heroes in boston children and for the research they have done, i have to express the gratitude of my state for all of that

work. because that's a lot of work to invest in that young man, and he is determined not to waste the investment that's been put into him, but to live his best life and to be extremely productive in the days ahead. so, i'm grateful to the oklahomans that spent so much time in him and working to guard his life in his earliest days, and for the folks at boston children. and i look forward to chief justice christian in the days ahead and seeing the work that he does and how that pans out for all of us as a country. with that, i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from oregon is recognized. mr. wyden: mr. president, in a few minutes the senate will vote on whether to put somebody who's up to their eyeballs in tax scams, corruption, and coverups

in charge of the irs. this ought to be an easy no. it is one corruption bombshell after another with the former congressman billy long. fake tax credits, scam tax advice, shadowy political donations that went straight into his pocket, promises of personal favors, no-show jobs with high-paying federal salaries. yesterday came the latest revelation. my finance committee staff investigators have determined that long appears to be implicated in a major bribery scheme in his old congressional district. the scandal unfolded while he was in office. 12 people in missouri and arkansas pled guilty or went to jail when these crimes were prosecuted. it was a criminal case the size of the ozarks. court documents identified him

in one guilty plea as, quote, u.s. representative number one, unquote. that's the guilty plea of a man named donald andrew jones, d.a. jones. jones's prosecution involved kickbacks and other illicit payments, a network of executives, and the misuse of charity funds in springfield, missouri, his hometown. the justice department summary of the case describes, and i quote, payments routed through different business entities or lobbying firms as well as d.a. jones' advocacy services including direct contact with elected and appointed public officials, unquote. the guilty plea describes multiple communications in which jones said he interacted with billy long,.s. representative number one. it includes discussions of services performed by long's

office. it includes descriptions of interactions with long's top advisor. it includes jones directing political donations and offering to hand deliver a check to billy long to guarantee he was immediately aware of the money source for his role in this bribery scheme jones got a prison sentence of a year and a day behind bars. the finance committee held billy long's nomination hearing a few weeks ago. i asked several questions in writing about this matter that were informed by certain reports brought to my investigation's team. i laid out the names of all the characters and organizations involved in this massive bribery scandal. i asked the former congressman whether he or his campaign received payments from anybody involved. i asked whether he was an unindicted coconsponsor tor in a federal criminal case involving

any of them. i asked whether he was ever interviewed by federal prosecutors or law enforcement agents in relation to this criminal investigation. i asked if he ever acknowledged to the department of justice that he received bribes from individuals involved or if he struck any kind of cooperation agreement to avoid prosecution. i asked whether his decision to leave congress in any way related to his involvement in this investigation or a condition to avoid prosecution. here is the answer -- quote, i had nothing to do with any of this, and i do not know how any of these people or organizations were involved. he said, particularly i do not know any of these people or organizations. colleagues, this is just impossible to believe. we're talking about a major bribery scandal that unfolded in billy long's hometown.

not even on the other side of the district. he's implicated in a guilty plea as u.s. representative number one. the idea that he doesn't know anybody involved is just absurd. i'm convinced, colleagues, there's more to this story. senators ought to ask themselves whether they want to be on the record supporting this nomination when the rest of it comes to light. and in my view, this nomination should never have come to the senate floor. billy long never did any serious legislating on tax issues. etch has no experience -- he has no experience in tax policy. what he does have is experience in tax fraud. he left office in 2023 after an unsuccessful senate campaign. he went straight into the tax fraud industry. he teamed up with a bunch of sketchy operators selling tax

deals that were sleazy at best. he got paid to promote fake tribal tax credits by a firm called white river energy. neither long nor white river can tell us what tribe they acquired these so-called tax credits from. the irs confirmed to my staff that the credits were fake. they said that the promoters of them could face prosecution. the same day a bloomberg news article exposed in scheme december 19, few days after donald trump announced long's nomination. the cfo of the company got on a call with investors and told them they'd soon have friends at the irs to clean up their mess. my investigators obtained the audio. we've got it on tape. not long thereafter white river executives started cutting checks to long's failed senate campaign that had ended years before. between the donations and others

that poured in after his nomination went public, billy long was able to stuff $130,000 into his own pockets by repaying his personal campaign loans. now he's refused to answer any questions about this scheme and his role in it. if that's not enough to oppose this nominee, let me talk briefly about the employee retention tax credit. this was a small business rescue program congress created during the depths of the pandemic, but after it expired the scamsters came in. they turned it into a firehouse of fraud. billy long must have seen an opportunity, and he used his credibility as a former congressman to sling these tax credits to anybody who'd listen. we have him on tape saying that everybody qualifies for the ertc. that's a lie. he bragged about getting money for a funeral home even though

the pandemic was a boom time for that kind of business due tort number of americans -- due to the number of americans dying of covid-19. finance committee investigators obtained another recording, this time of an executive at a firm called appreciation financial, that sold the scam-ridden tax credits. he said he made the congressman his guest to the inauguration earlier this year. he said they had dinner and spent a few nights together. his exact quote on the subject of irs enforcement around employee retention credits is, quote, quo we could be worried about promortgage audits -- promoter audits now but we don't have to worry about any of that with billy coming in. i asked long about this at his nomination hearing in written questions. whether he knew this executive and what he promised him. there was no real answer either

time. now, colleagues, i'll say it again. that ought to be enough to vote down this nomination. but if you want more scandal, let's talk about no-show jobs at the office of personnel management. back in march, mr. long was made a senior advisor to the director of opm. our staff asked mr. long in a due diligence meeting what his responsibilities were there. he picked up a recent opm press release, read it word for word and then said he worked on it. when asked for additional detail or more example of his duties, he mumbled a few things about retirement and proofreading. no other information. now the congressman is a talkative guy. his brevity on this subject speaks for itself. after that meeting, finance committee investigators obtained copies of internal opm work

calendars belonging to billy long and three persons who were hired with him. they were nearly blank. a scant meeting here and there. no evidence of legitimate work being performed. an executive reporter for the talking points memo dug into the matter. neither billy long nor opm would provide any real answers either. it sure looks to me like the former congressman got high-paying, no-show jobs for himself and three others. if they were doing real work, they would have told us what they were doing. they had nothing to lose if everything is on the level. somebody who ripped off the taxpayer by accepting a no-show job on a maxed-out salary cannot be trusted to run the irs. colleagues, it is that simple. let's remember this was going on just as the trump-musk dog crowd

for first breaking into opm with the goal of terrorizing public servants and triggering mass layoffs. so i close with just one question -- how can the senate possibly, possibly put this individual in charge of our tax system? the reality is that this all about fairness. it wouldn't have been that difficult for the trump administration to go back and find a tax expert or somebody with lots of management experience to run this vital agency. we had great working relationships with the first trump irs commissioner chuck reddick. this is not about whether you've got an r or d next to your name. there are serious issues to deal with when it comes to the tax code. protecting tax data, building on our improvements and taxpayer service. the trump administration is

signaling that the wealthies have a green -- the wealthyy have a green light to commit tax fraud and that is outrageous with huge implications and consequences for years fo come. the bottom line is fairness matters at the irs. independence matters at the irs. ethics and honesty matter at the irs. the american people aren't going to get any of that, none, from billy long. he is surrounded, in my view, by a cloud of corruption, and we ought to keep that away from the irs at all costs. i urge my colleagues to oppose the long nomination that we'll vote on in a few minutes, and i yield the floor.

a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from north carolina is recognized. mr. tillis: i ask unanimous consent to begin the vote now that is scheduled for a later time. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. the question appears on the nomination. is there a sufficient second? there appears to be one. the clerk will call the roll.

vote: the clerk: ms. alsobrooks. ms. baldwin. mr. banks. mr. barrasso. mr. bennet. mrs. blackburn. mr. blumenthal. ms. blunt rochester. mr. booker. mr. boozman. mrs. britt. mr. budd. ms. cantwell. mrs. capito. mr. cassidy. ms. collins. mr. coons. mr. cornyn.

the clerk: ms. cortez masto. vote: after dr. foxx is a 15 minute break for the witnesses and then will start back with mr. gosar. the chair recognizes dr. foxx from north carolina for five minutes. >> thank you very much, mr. cha. governor walz, as you are aware minnesota saw the largest covid-19 fraud scheme in the nation. the so-called nonprofit, feeding

our future falsely claim to have served 91 million meals to children for which it received nearly $250 million in federal funds. according to the fbi at 250 million in federal taxpayer money was quote funneled into luxury homes, cars and lavish lifestyles while families struggle. in march to make individuals were convicted in connection with this case and i understand related investigation continues. the fbi stated quote the egregious fraud uncovered in the feeding our future case represents the blatant the trail of public trust. the fbi will not allow criminals to rob federal programs and walk away unscathed. will expose their schemes come dismantle their networks and ensure they face the full weight of justice. do you support the federal government efforts to bring to justice those who stole federal

taxpayer money at the expense of hungry children in your state? >> thank you, doctor faulkner wholeheartedly. this is a great example when the federal government works with the state we reported it, they prosecuted, they are in prison. >> so do you support federal efforts to bring to justice those who commit federal crimes in minnesota? >> i most certainly do. >> okay. does minnesota honor ice detainer requests? >> thank you for the question. i've been making sure i get my opportunity. minnesota follows all federal law. state law requires and i was a state law requires all state and county facilities to ask her immigration status with a convicted felon is committed and tells dhs if they are undocumented all-state facilities. d.o.c. calls dhs before a convicted felon these prison. we have a controlled handover. ice -- >> i can we be sure your state is serious about cooperative with the federal government to enforce our immigration laws?

>> we do it on a daily basis. again i say this is the floor. counties can do more but here's the confusion we have. last week a list of supposing sanctuary cities or counties were put out. many of those were counties in minnesota that a going above and beyond their share doesn't share consider put them at risk because they were doing that. they were sharing information and doing what they're supposed to do. it's a good nation issue. >> but you said in your answers only if they been convicted of crimes that speedy or a judicial warrant. that's correct. after due process has been served. >> so you don't cooperate if there illegally here and i.c.e. comes to get them? >> if they have got to the process and they have received a process and i.c.e. job is to -- that if they're here illegally then there illegally. there's no, they're thew already.

>> asylum seekers they overstate a visa speedy ime have another question to ask you, governor. as i said before this committee in its an american taxpayers are collateral damage in the democrats pursuit of open border policies. americans pay with a wallet, the safety and all too often their lives. this is unacceptable. i'm sure you're aware, governor, your state has been hundreds of millions of state taxpayer dollars to address the surge of illegal aliens in minnesota. are you also aware of any ngos operating in your state that provide services to illegal aliens and have those ngos received any federal funding? >> i can't enter that at this time. i don't have it in front of me. >> we have two in the shameful practice of ngos working against immigration law enforcement efforts. that's why i introduced h.r. 245, the great integrity and

border security act, to stop ngos who work against you at the u.s. lost receiving a single penny of taxpayer funds. americans should never tolerate a government that uses the own tax money against them. mr. chairman, i yield back before we recess i recognize ranking member for a use. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i ask unanimous consent to submit an article from the "seattle times" entitled national shares association head, tears into fed sanctuary list. >> without objection, so ordered. pursuant to the previous or the committee will stand in recess for 15 minutes. the committee stands in recess. mr. scott of florida. mr. scott of south carolina. mrs. shaheen. mr. sheehy.

ms. slotkin. ms. smith. mr. sullivan. >> gentlelady's time back to the chair. the chair recognizes the gentleman from michigan, the chair of the education and workforce committee mr. walberg. you are recognized for five minutes. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i appreciate the wildlife -- [inaudible] >> you've had your time. that's my last comment. [laughing] >> mr. secretary, you could see. last, so you and your wallet in your wife was in jackson michigan. delighted you are involved in

great issues with great lakes, big-time. i have both southern portion of lake michigan and most of lake erie also in my district. from sea to shining sea. lots of fresh water. so it's important to me. we need to keep a healthy fishery that isey there, tourism industry because on, supports about $5.1 billion in economic benefit, plus it's just good stewardship. the first issue i want to discuss with you isot the importance of keeping invasive carp out of the great lakes. asianrn carp have been found jut 47 miles away from lake michigan. if it were to spread into place it would be devastating. so the fishery as well as recreation experience because these big carp can cause serious injuries the voters, to skiers, fishers as well as to the lake.

president trump signed a memorandum to prevent migration of invasive carp into the great lakes and i applaud the president is swift action. the order tasks the u.s. fish and wildlife service to prioritize the research and management for the prevention, removal and control of invasive carp and other aquatic species in the great lakes. question that i have, do i have your committed of u.s. fish and wildlife service will work to carry out the president's directed. >> was absolutely, sir. >> music to my ears. i fully expected that so thank you. i often hear from anglers in my district up that in thousands impacting the fishery -- i hope that name will resonate strongly, a protected migratory

bird whose numbers are increasing and populations are robust and healthy. so much so that they are negatively impacting stocky and natural reproduction many of the species are harboring s depend on it. i'll be fishing for wall like this coming monday in the lake erie, and it is robust we want to keep it that way. perchedbr also in lake erie fishery is great. but cormorants, attended literally of fish that they are taking without the ability to control the population. canada does. they shoot them just to cross the line the united states but we are prohibited from dealing with the cormorants. but i think the good stewards of that population. it not only affects the great lakes but also threatens steelhead and salmon in the colombia river basin.

while some progress is made in hatcheries are still no effective solution for protecting free swimming fish. because cormorants are protected under the mbta, any solution must involve the u.s. fish and wildlife service. so mr. secretary, come get your commitment to direct your fish and wildlife service to work cooperate with state fish and wildlife agencies identify any problem that michigan state wildlife entities i would like to know about that to develop effective solution to arrest the cormorants separation on free swimming fish? >> absolutely. >> thank you. >> finally i'd like to extend the invitation for you to visit michigan's fifth district which touches -- what district is yours the sixth. it all changes. see firsthand the challenges and opportunities that we are facing, our staff would be delighted to try to work that

out with your staff. >> great. thank you for the invitation. >> thank you. i yield back. >> gentleman yield back to that chair recognizes mr. hernandez for five minutes. >> thank you, mr. chairman. hi, mr. secretary. pleasure to meet you and have you. as puerto rico's representative i thought the unique in a dream relationship that puerto rico as with the united states. the u.s. i believe must follow through on his commitment and obligations whether those commitments are grounded in law and mutual consent as a rn puerto rico's relationship. or in treaty obligations like they are in the freely associated states. the department of interior manages the federal government relationships with the free associate state and for u.s. territories. notably as a exercise the same as would overcome with a puerto rico which is a greater extent autonomy and self government. as we reviewed the department's budget and free associate state i'm interested in what this tells us about how the federal

government sees its responsibilities across sections get my first question would be from the department's standpoint, are the freely associated states sovereign and independent nation? >> yes, with the weather called freely associated states but, of course, with a strong relationship and rick commitments to work with them. >> thank you. citizens were in a freely associated states are not u.s. citizens. with the department is open to exploring under future compaqs extending birthright your citizenship to the people of the freely associated states as a coexisted for example, puerto rico? >> i think this is come would be on a case-by-case basis. i could make a broad generalization but certainly we have an interest in building a strong relationship as we can with the freely associated states. >> so you wouldn't reject the possibility that in the future they freely associated states could have birthright your

citizenship? >> i would not reject that personally i can't speak him half of the entire administration on that. >> is this something you discussed in the conflict agreement. >> with i've not in discussions about that. birthright citizenship related to greenland. >> have yet any discussion on acquisition of greenland and putting under jurisdiction of the department of interior? >> the discussions that have occurred in public about greenland have suggested that one framework, if greenland were to choose to be part of the united states would be obvious step for them to become a a territory at some point would be a start as a free associate state. and so that is an existing framework that's been mentioned. but i've not been a part of any high high-level discussions about implementation of that idea. >> and now switching over to the territories under the

department's jurisdiction. the organic act governing the relationship between the as is territories have not been revised in decades. will the department support a process with the territories consent to update these organic act? >> there's an opportunity to learn and i think a dialogue about how to improve the relationships would be beneficial. these territories and the freely associated states all represent an opportunity to help increase national security, particularly those partners that in the pacific where of course we had american soldiers and sailors pot, died as part of that. now we are in in a position e cases it feels like we've got encroachment from china around those territories and freely associated states and i think it's important under this administration we pay more attention to those. relationshi

relationships. >> future revisions of those organic accident case of the marian islands, would you value the mutual consent of the territories and congress in developing these new organic act? >> absolutely. >> and beyond national security concerns would you be open to exploring the possibility of expanding their self-government to the large extent possible within the u.s. framework? >> i can i think it would be part of the dialogue. i don't know, i wouldn't, as i was as governor and it agreed to a bill that had actually read. so hypothetically i think it's greater that conversation. >> i think it's good to have this conversation because we talk about atomic and sovereignty and let's focus on function. if we can make this territories functionally sovereign as possible while still remaining under u.s. jurisdiction, if that's there will which i think it is, we should be open to exploring that. since almost out at a time d

just like to quickly state that deal i has previously supported climate change plan in puerto rico and other insular areas with funding provided by the ira. for truly that funding now been indefinitely paused i hope you're in the department can help ensure that puerto rico and other insular areas are prepared for the next climate driven disasters. thank you. >> the time of the gentleman has expired. the chair recognizes the general from california mr. mcclintock for five minutes. >> thank you. mr. secretary, first i want to thank you for your responsiveness to my communities concerned over the situation at yosemite. relaxing the reservation system was a good first step. ultimately i think we need to restore all public access to the public lands. as you know yosemite was rude to set aside for quote public use, resort, and recreation but over the past several decades that attitude has changed to it best

described as look but don't touch. the attitude of us to ask superintendent was entirely dismissive. indeed i would say contemptuous of the public and of the gateway communities. now that we've got a vacancy in the superintendents office and the emptiest directors office and new administration, i think we have priceless opportunity to restore original vision for the park and for the park system. for example, yosemite conduced to roughly only half the rooms, half the campsites and have the parking spaces as it had prior to the 1997 lead. money was appropriate to restore the facilities but they never were. about ten years ago the river plane was used as an excuse to remove additional amenities for visitors. overcrowding in the park can be solved by the bye for the on access, which is the bureaucracies reference, or by expanding capacity and

expediting just processing at the gates and encouraging visitation beyond the ballot itself to other teachers within the park which is the preference of the gateway communities, and i say, of all the visitors. on my first visit with the management 14 years ago i noted a placket in a conference room at that rate is it right, is it the right thing for the park? i said that's exactly the wrong question. the right question is is it the right thing for the parks visitors? that the central problem as i see it in the attitude of the nps bureaucracy nationwide and i would like to see a new nps director and new yosemite superintendent that are not wedded to the bureaucracy but rather have hospitality experience in the national parks and will take the side of the visitors and not the bureaucrats. i wanted to get your thoughts on the record and put it bluntly who side are you on? >> i want to say again i appreciate the opportunity had to speak earlier and appreciate

your comments you just need right now. one take away from our earlier conversation when visiting a national park i've requested each part of an opportunity to as a separate visit with gateway community leaders to understand their perspective of how we the park service are operating as a neighbor, how we can work more collaboratively, how we conduct the business opportunities there at decisions that we might make reservation systems, lodging et cetera we have impacts on that. >> i can see my gateway community says that's a breath of fresh air. thanks again. >> i look forward to visiting yosemite with you and beating with the gateway community leaders there. so looking forward to that. >> with respect to the attitude of the park service, or you think back to hospitality is principal function what we do in that regard? >> there's lots of things we can do to preserve these last best

places but as you say we could still do the things we need to do to create a more positive visitor experience. one of the things were looking closely at is i think we are way under charging as a nation for international visitors. we've done a study of what gets charged if you're going to go see the guerrillas in rwanda, go to the galapagos islands. it's $500 a day higher in some of these locations. >> i'm not entirely sure we want to discourage international visitors from visiting our parks need to but we to be sure that their capacity can accommodate those who want to come and that the park staff is oriented towards the vision experience first and foremost. >> right. there could be a a billion-dor revenue opportunity without discouraging visitors come just in international visitors particularly if the come as part of a tour. yosemite is one of the places

you want to see and do some cases we were charged in less than we're charging an american family. that brevet if it could be redirected back to deferred maintenance, staffing, i never things we can do, that would be fantastic. >> and contracting out a lot of services getting back to discussion earlier about doing more efficiently, that's critically important. i looked at all the ha ha over staff cuts at yosemite. turns out it was ten probationer position at a more than 500 and you increasing the summertime staff by 30 part-time positions. they complained you getting rid of the locksmith. wait a second, the concessioner has their own management department and the locksmith within 20 minutes at and one of the gateways to yosemite national park. why are you not contracted that? why are you hiring park ranger company park ranger imposition clean russians? why did you get a contractor to

do a far better job at far lower cost. thank you for those initiative. >> thank you. >> the time of the gentleman has expired. the chair recognizes the gentleman from new york ms. velazquez. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you for joining us today, mr. secretary. i want to focus on renewable energy. the fastest-growing sector in our energy and the a key son for cleaner more reliable power. that doesn't poison our air or overheat the planet. that is why it's alarming that fiscal year budget 26 completely zeroed out funding for renewable energy programs at the bureau land manage and view of ocean energy management. the blm renewable energy management program is a very office responsible for finding and permitting solar and wind projects and funding plans, no

investment in a cleaner environment. the justification, the budget calls clean energy a green new scam. and claims its technologies are too unreliable for americans, despite the fact that greed and solar -- with our solar our the fastest-growing of electricity in the u.s. so my question to you is, is offshore wind considered a legitimate part of the american energy dominance agenda? >> it is not. >> it is not. so is it being less behind in favor fossil fuel? >> it's not about any particular source. it's about the fact that, and you talked about affordable but the fact is that offshore wind is the most expensive of all the

source of expert thank you for confirming that it is not. there is no legitimate plan to support offshore wind projects but rather undulate ongoing projects which i can talk about further in a few minutes. moving on to my second question. as energy czar you should be able to talk to all forms of energy. can you provide an example of a currently operating offshore wind project and tell us about its impact in numbers just creating home power? >> the issue with offshore wind or onshore wind is that when the wind isn't blowing we also need everything we had before. we need all the basement before. so any estimate this is that wind is cheaper would only be true if we're willing to --

>> reclaiming my time. i asked you about any specific project that is going on that you are aware. but you are not mention any so let me tell you why offshore wind works not in theory but in practice new york's first offshore wind farm generates 13y howery 70,000 homes on long island. created nearly 1000 jobs, creating new businesses and supporting training programs. my constituents are willing to pay one dollar for clean electricity, job benefits and protecting our climate. because climate change is an constituents and to our country and the world. mr. secretary, while families in york and across the country data with extreme weather, flooding,

rising seas, deadly hurricanes, your department issued stop work order on a fully permitted offshore wind projects just off the coast of my home state. just this week i heard from a local small business that lost a contracted to offshore wind delays, real jobs and real livelihoods are on the line. let me be clear. my constituents do not want more offshore oil, rates and deepwater horizon style disaster. they want offshore winds and good paying union jobs that come with it. part of my district for three decades until recently his home to the south brooklyn marine terminal which will serve as a staging and assembly side for offshore wind. the port will support 1000 union

construction jobs and 200 assembly jobs. i do not understand why we cannot have it all. >> the highest electric rates in the country outside of hawaii are in new england and it has to do with the policies. i think that energy, energy freedom, we're heading towards energy poverty if we keep choosing, you make and homes getting electricity, the 70,000 homes only have when the wind is blowing. they also need all the fossil fuels from all of the base load all of everything else to power those homes when the wind is not beleaguered so we two systems, not one. that's what its speed in conclusion in conclusion we have an administration that doesn't care about our communities. oil compass pollute our land. i just back. >> we do care about health. sorry. there's over 2 million people who die a year in the world because it on access to

electricity. any place where there's more electricity, community flourishes and health increases. the biggest increase in health by spencer pratt and the united states was in north slope of alaska after we had had a cf diesel of being able to develop in that area. so it is incorrect to say we don't care about health. >> i asked in an instance it is but for the record a study showing that in 2024, china began construction on 94.5 gigawatts of new coal powered fired plants. that's the highest level since 2015. without objection, so ordered. also ask unanimous consent to enter into the record an article from april 20, 2024 from reuters from reuters reporting that once again china missed its air quality goal. and the follow up with that i ask unanimous consent to it or to the record an article from

the plus the leader titled air quality worsens despite china's renewable energy boon. this article reveals despite gains in clean energy air pollution metrics indicate a troubling trend as of march 2025, 1131 provincial capitals exceed the national pm2.5 annual standard, 35-milligram per to to repeatedly our standard in the united states is only 12 milligrams per cubic meter. exceeded national thresholds of 160 micrograms per cubic meter with some cities topping 190 milligrams per cubic meter. so ask unanimous consent to enter into the record an article from the guardian titled china's emissions is too potent greenhouse gases by 70% in one decade. this article reveals china is the dominant driver of tetra metal flooring released into the atmosphere globally.

also as an endless consent to enter into the record an article from m.i.t. news which does china-based emissions of three potent climate warming greenhouse gases spiked in the past decade. to make cities pin point their likely industrial sources and mitigation opportunities. i ask unanimous consent to resubmit into the record a chart published by the epa showing emissions by country, , showing china is by far the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gas and also i ask unanimous consent to submit into the record an article by bbc news highlighting china emits more to greenhouse gases than the entire developed world combined. .. between 10 and $100 million

with no asset liability, also request to enter the record this eia report demonstrating coal is driving the climate crisis and a public health study showing coal-fired power plants are responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths the last 24 years and finally this article from the washington post entitled in coal country job school programs put minors in danger . on the nih report public health study. >> was that looking at all the plants being closed in the us? >> it's a backward look over the last 24 years.

>> without objection . so ordered. chair recognizes the gentleman from mississippi, you arerecognized . >> mr. seconds first i want to applaud you for the work you've been doing . the president has a bold vision to protect our national security to see promote access to vast natural resources and most importantly put america first and i appreciate the crucial role you play at this time. the main source of income of our federal government comes from the united states natural resources and as we saw under the biden administration not allowing access to these resources cost the federal government millions of dollars. under trump's first administration the bureau of land management conducted 100 for leases bringing in 1.77 billion in revenue . under the biden

administration only 32 lease sales were conducted bringing in 345 million of federal revenue . today trumps 2026 budget request 14.4 billion in current authority for doi and it's not hard to see what the administration did correctly . my district in mississippi on the gulf coast natural heritage area and they have not received any funding for fiscal year 2025 with no clear timeline of disbursement through the national parks service. these funds can fund six coastal counties and 45 coastal communities, can you provide us an update when that response will be released?

>> i will ask my cheek to look into that specifically, this is an effort we made to make sure the funds were in line with the administrative priorities. we're also reviewing 36,000 contracts and grants, a record amount of grant dollars went out, enormous amount of grant dollars between november 5 and january 20, we are reviewing these as well but thank you for flagging this one, we will take a look at it and get back to you. >> mr. seconds launched the first step towards creating the five-year program for offshore leases signaling a long-term vision for american energy . how does the robust leasing schedule support predictability for investing in high-paying jobs and our nation's goal of energy dominance? >> the companies that bid on these leases have to be willing to make a long-term commitment as you know they have capital planning sessions, part of what we have to do is have a predictable dependable cycle of when we will do lease sales so they can make a decision how they want to deploy their capital, we want companies to deploy their

capital developing energy resources versus other places in the world and the unpredictability or the illegal illegally not even holding the sales like in states like in wyoming montana and north dakota where the biden administration is the first administration since harry truman did not hold the quarterly lease sales we need to get back on doing this because the way we get capital flowing towards affordable reliable energy is make sure people can count on us as a partner to hold lease sales on a regular predictable basis. >> i'm currently working on a bill codifying trumps executive order called releasing american minerals and resources to expedite prospecting and leasing for ocean minerals . mr. seconds why is it important for congress to pass into law and how does expediting mineral production help counter growing chinese seabed activity in the pacific? >> again we've mentioned

earlier we've got, we are in a precarious position with china having a stranglehold on critical minerals and of course the seabed with the new innovation new technology is rich in some of these minerals and not just here near the lower 48 but around american samoa, one of our american territories where we control those territorial waters. china is operating on three sides of american samoa, we've begun the process to allow critical minerals work to occur around american samoa so these are part of american territory, we have to makesure we're controlling these minerals and not china . >> you directed ball to move forward with lease sale to 62 in the gulf of america, a reversal from the previous administrations delays, can you walk us through how this lease sale. >> ation is confirmed. under the previous order, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon

the table, and the president will be immediately notified of the senate's action. under the previous order, the senate will resume legislative session and the consideration of s. 5182. the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 66, s. 1582, regulation of the payment of stablecoins and for other purposes. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from oregon is recognized. a senator: i move to table -- merkley table amendment 2310, i have a bill to end crypto corruption by federal officials and all members of congress. the presiding officer: is that sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

? what priorities have you cut funding for to pay for these projects? >> man, i would say yourlist left off securing the southern border . >> so mr. sec., what priorities have you cut funding for to pay for these projects?

>> we make trade-offs every day and i would imagine what we want to spend on is quite different than what the previous administration date, they are reflected in this budget and we are proud of them. >> the american peoplecan see why and i am so concerned, thank you and i yield back . >> the chair recognizes the gentleman from florida mr. mills . >> let me commend you on an amazing job you've done not only in highlighting the importance of the war fighter but guaranteeing our recruitment and retention at the highest levels we've seen . this is due to good leadership, not managerial problems as one of my colleagues tried to reiterate . they know they don't want to hear the facts and truth . i'm going to go through a couple of things, they keep bringing up this aircraft, well let's do history . this has been a long-standing cultural share as aviation was one of the most remarkable things man had innovated and in 1945 president fdr gifted a

douglas dc three as aviation was one of the most remarkable things man had innovated and in 1945 president fdr gifted a douglas dc 32 abdulaziz which marked the beginning of civil aviation in saudi arabia. the airplane is nothing more than a reason to complain about the us president advancing us interest and this is nothing more to inflate optics and outcomes but we will let them bend their wills on a $400 million upgrade not realizing the total cost of an aircraft, i think that's cost-saving negotiation. they talked about the golden dome, there's a lot of things that intentionally left off operationally and classified to make sure we can keep the sovereignty and protection of our nation without adversaries knowing it . our colleagues know this, they want to highlight it in a way that brings about that you are trying to hide or not being transparent as opposed to communication security but what they should be realizing is there is a violation of the 1962 outer space treaty that when the leak was made about sputnik two

capabilities and what russia was trying to do too westernized space 80 we should take a vital interest and not just what we're seeing on earth but what we're seeing abroad as well, the president knew this and it's why he created space force. i'll talk about ddi. our recruitment and retention is high because we are no longer factoring diversity equity and inclusion, were focused on increased lethality and being properly equipped . the war fighter because he claimed was so intact, if i was intact we wouldn't lower our standards and the standards are arbitrary, the standards are based on real military combat needs we have seen and evaluated and usually lessons left from bloodshed and loss of life that we then base our standards upon to guarantee we have the best strongest most prepared war fighters and greatest volunteer force in the world . with program recruitment reform i love the fact you're going after the ideas that it's not about trying to have the most expensive and 100% but what functions and seats cost

effectiveness and readiness and having it on the table for our war fighter now, not five years from now so again a great achievement. when we talk about recruitment and retention one of the things i wanted to bring up and i hope you'll address is those who are in my opinion unconstitutionally encouraged from our military for actually having their medical and religious rights denied and i would like to see these individuals who are wrongfully purged given the opportunity to not only return to serve in our armed forces and nation but to also have the ability to be re-incentivized by having back pain, full benefits and being able to be returned to the ranks they deserve without it being politicized. i think we start naming a lot of our cities and texas and new mexico and arizona something that was by a ukrainian city that are other colleagues might care about the protection of our borders. this is one thing you've done great by sending

our military down there and we have a 60% increase in apprehension rates and a decrease in humanand sex trafficking and fentanyl and opioids that are killing americans by the thousands . when it comes to the cartels the president has designated our cartels rightfully so as a foreign terrorist organization . what can congress provide to better support the mission physical security of servicemembers and is there a possibility of maybe a title 55 title 11 title x combination that will allow us to work with dod and ice to go after those cartels? >> i appreciate those comments and as i mentioned earlier wasn't really an authority issue when it came to securing the southern border, the previous administration and they needed new policies, no, we needed a president who was serious so we focused on designating those criminal cartels as foreign terrorist organizations. right now we have those authorities if necessary we would come to us for additional ones. >> i want to commend you on operations against the

houthis the previous administration had d listed as a terrorist organization in addition to the biden inflation that was sinking the middle class . we support you, i will support you from day one ., keep fighting and let's go after the war fighters, thank you and i yield back. >> the chair recognizes the gentleman from new york mr. ryan. >> thank you for being here. we have all worn the uniform. we've all served in combat, we all love our country and we all revere our troops. i want to speak with you as not as partisans butas patriots and i want to talk about the events at fort bragg the other day . and in general i want to start with you. as a junior officer were you ever political loyalty? yes, sir no. >> as you know we are apolitical in the military so

no. >> at any time in your 30+ years of distinguished service did you have to make a pledge of partisan or political loyalty. >> no sir. >> did you serve in any unit or command at any levelwhere servicemembers were required to make a pledge of political loyalty . >> no sir. >> i want to commend you, you've been on the record in this including in your confirmation hearings where you clarified quote, i've never worn any political merchandise or said anything to that effect. i appreciate that, that is the standard and i commend you for saying so and continuing to model that . general kane one last question, should soldiers have to pledge political loyalty to participate in an event with our commander-in-chief ? >> first, no. i'm not aware of any time in history that soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines have been asked to do

that. >> just in the interest of time i want to talk about what happened at fort bragg two days ago, there was guidance put out and this has been verified by multiple independent news outlets saying quote, these are to the soldiers and 18 airborne corps, if soldiers have political views in opposition to the current administration and they need to speak with their leadership and get swapped out. this is swapped out of the event with the president . in addition in an incredibly disturbingincident there was a pop-up shop selling maga merchandise on post at fort bragg . and to summarize this , there was a commander from bragg who said on the record this has been a bad week for the army, for anyone who cares about us being a neutral institution . this was shameful. if those are the facts and i know the army is

investigating at least the maga pop-up shop, is that appropriate? >> i haven't seen any of these reports. i'm not familiar with them but as i mentioned earlier and in my confirmation hearing the nation demands a apolitical nonpartisan military. >> i appreciate you saying that and i'm happy to share those reports. the secretary hegseth are you familiar with directive 33 or four the nation demands a apolitical nonpartisan military. >> i appreciate you saying that and i'm happy to share those reports. the secretary hegseth are you familiar with directive 33 or 40 10, political activity of the armed forces? yes or no >> which is being done under this administration. >> i reclaim my time, are you familiar with this dod interaction . >> there is never one time in my service, i'm answering

your question where politics has beenconsidered for servicemembers. >> are you familiar with this directive, yes or no. >> which directive? >> doddirective 34.10, i'm happy to provide you a copy, there's even one page red and green cheat sheet, are you familiar? this is the same directive from when we are were in uniform. has anything changed in that directive under your guidance given what happened two days ago at fort bragg, is there a new policy change we are not aware of . >> i reject your insinuation . >> isthere a policy change to 3404.10. >> i know what you're attempting to insinuate . >> i will take that as a no. have you ever worn a maga hat in front of the troops? >> i own plenty of maga hats . >> have you worn one at an official event ? >> not that i'm aware of. >> is it appropriate for the president of the united states to wear political merchandise at official events including west point, yes or no. >> the commander can wear whatever hat he wants including the phrase to make america great again.

>> so you think that's appropriate. >> the commander-in-chief has a right to wear whatever he wants. >> i strongly disagree with you and i urge you both especially you gen. kane as we see an increasingly political rhetoric including from the secretary to please for the good of our troops this is an incredibly difficult moment and we need leaders like you to continue to go with that apolitical nature, i have 12 seconds, i have to say this on the record . i think your tenure as the secretary of defense has been shameful and weak and you should resign. >> the gentleman's time has expired, the chairman recognizes the gentleman from texas. >> gen. kane , is it true or not true in 1988 you were at air force base as an rotc cadet? yes sir, i think i was. >> you recognize the person you are addressing right now. >> i do, please don't tell anybody what we did out there

. >> we were athletic officers in 1980, i believe you worked for me at the time. >> i still do. >> kind of . just for the record there was a commandant award recognizing the best cadet of all 200 and they got that right because it was a man sitting in front of me gen. kane one that. i got out as a captain so you're winning. gen. kane i want to talk about the lessons learned in ukraine and how important it is, i sit on the intelligence committee and how we can tour the indo pacific because you don't want to get into a war with a peer adversary, we also just touch on the importance of innovation and acquisition reform. >> yes sir, as i've talked about before and the entrepreneurial spirit out there in europe is one we've all learned from and as we look at creating multiple simultaneous cognitive and

fiscal dilemmas for our adversaries around the world we have to take that same entrepreneurial spirit and bring it back here to our nation both in our national and defense industrial base so the importance of mass scale building a national base that can provide the combat capabilities that are war fighters need at the tactical edge is something both the secretary and i as well as the services are focused on. >> you brought a breath of fresh air, a little bit about recruiting, i want to talk about politics in the military. we've seen recruiting bumps and the lord over the last three or four years it was a crisis and if we didn't solve it i don't know what we're going to do though i might ask you because i've asked each of the secretaries of each branch to do a deep dive and come back and let us know because i want to start, find out the reasons why the

change, whatever they may be because whatever we're doing right we need to continue to do though we don't get in this situation and as you need extra funding i would rather have a few more than a few less . and also i want to talk about the fact i think you are a breath of fresh air not only the general but yourself because the first thing you said to us was you are going to reintroduce war fighting and lethality force projection into our military and did not want to see politics because we had people up here at the last few years that were clearly a democratic party, i never want to see that again, i want to see an american general's and american generals only ever address us and i thought it was a travesty and i have a case in point . we have here this individual who is i believe a major in the army exalted and venerated above all 2 million active reservists by the dod, former dod, was there any excellencedone , was there a computer program, it was because this person had a

political flag and they were waving it. that was disgusting not because there was a transsexual but because that was a political statement in this person did nothing of excellence at all to be recognized and instead we should be venerating people like gary gordon and randy stuttgart . that's the lethality, that's whatwill deter the chinese and that's what will deter our enemies and i like to give you a minute and 13 seconds to expand on that and maybe answer mr. ryan . >> amen and you're right, that is precisely what we want to return to and restore and every accusation and insinuation that is politicized is blatantly false and they know it, ultimately their ideology for particular per political perspective is being injected. call it dei, crt, call it what you want they were be being injected in.

our job has been to remove those ideologies and go back to basics . i standards that are the same. we're not looking at race, not emphasizing your differences, we're focusing on our unity which is the point of any formation, any formation i've looked at i didn't look at the race or background of the people, i wanted the most capable leader squad leader team leader across the spectrum able to do the job because when it hits the fan that's what i need and our enemies need to see that and i'll say something about the chairman, he is the most professional apolitical military expert i've ever worked with and our country is grateful and should be grateful to have him at the helm because they are steady apolitical. >> gentlemen's time has expired, the chairman recognizes the gentleman from new mexico. >> i understand the border is a top priority . it's also one of my top priorities in

my border district and that's why i've introduced bipartisan legislation to stop fentanyl, hire more cbp personnel and combat the cartels are areas i'm sure we agree on. dod has been $525 million from the defense budget on military operations on the border. you've done it by diverting $1 billion from military modernization and quality of life programs like housing and as such i'm sure you're well informed as to what your war fighters are doing on our border and the characteristics of the border itself . secretary hegseth you know how many border miles there are in new mexico? >> not the exact number. >> can you give me around figure? >> hundreds. >> can you tell me where the border wall starts on this map of new mexico? >> i'm not properly oriented to your map but unfortunately because the administration previous did not have the opportunity tofinish the border wall it's on the ground . >> you have been to new mexico, could you tell me where in new mexico you've been to?

>> i've been to the border twice to look at our defense area down there because i can't recall a time when a secretary of defense has gone down in the first four months to the border . >> was that in an urban area or rural area? >> both, some with walls, some without. >> thank you, i reclaim my time so the most remote part of new mexico is called the boot hill and i'm not sure you spent any time in the book hill, i was raised on the border, i lived there my whole life, i worked alongside ranchers, wildlife biologists and other stakeholders for a decade and i headed a task force in my district before coming to congress and i traveled on atvs, on to the border on horseback and hiked dozens of miles in the most remote stretches of the border . do you happen to know why there hasn't been a border wall built in the book hill? >> based on what you described you should be a big fan of what are the administration is doing

>> i'm asking why a border wall has not been built . >> our commanders on the ground and others would understand what goes where and why and where there should be a border wall there will be a border wall . >> are you familiar with alamo waco with san louis mountains? a critical border area. >> i'm aware there are gaps in different places where walls are not as much as other places and i get that. >> i appreciate your answer . >> we're going to get 100% operational. >> so you agree the border wall doesn't make sense for theentire country . >> i think we need a border wall across our entire country. >> you should know why it's physically impossible to build a border wall across the mountains and the billions of dollars, do you know if those roads on those mountains? >> if were going to spend money it should be to secure our border . >> if this is so important

you should know more about the border, mr. seconds i urge you to skip the photo ops next time you go to a port of entry and spend time on the ground . >> youshould ask the soldiers on the border whether they can photo op visits or not . >> i've gotten understanding ... [overlapping conversation] >> the gentleman reclaims his time, thank you. >> do you know what a tethered aerostat system is? great, you know this type of surveillance technology is superior to having thousands of troops hitting at trucks looking at an empty desert. i requested funds for more tethered systems, we haven't had a response. are you familiar with ast's?

>> what is nasd? qwest its own autonomous surveillance tower, they are equipped to relay information to border agents on the ground and this type of technology is badly needed on blue hill and it's a much better expenditure than a border wall is. >> i've seen those tolerant towers . >> these technologies have been described by border control as force multipliers allowing the personnel to focus on law enforcement efforts while leaving this monday surveillance task to more efficient technology, a much more efficient way to survey all that part of the border. mr. seconds i have serious concerns with our fundamental lack of knowledge about the us-mexico border considering the billions dod spent on this mission with little clarity to those of us who live there. i would encourage you to do homework on my region and learn what will make our border more secure and more safe . >>the gentleman yelled back, the gentleman from georgia doctor mccormick . >> first of all i think it's great the democrats are concerned about the border, it's fantastic and i hope more of you join the fight in the future . it's fantastic especially after four years of allowing millions upon millions across the border

without any concern until now. when we talk about politicizing the military i find it laughable when for the first time if you were to where they make the military accountable to the mission again at, would that be considered political? >> i think in many ways that's one of our slogans. >> exactly, when i was a young marine we were always focused on mission accomplishment, one of the greatest thing has brought us back to our focal point, leave those of the warrior. make america great again also i disqualify as political, it's something every politician should want to do let alone any military or nonmilitary person in america i dismiss that as political . i'm glad you brought the mission back to all servicemembers and when i was at north georgia which i urge you to come down to one of the elite eight i was

impressed. i always made fun of the army, no offense to my comrades about their pt, they were bringing it, they made it scientific, mission oriented and they are focused in large part because of the new leadership at the military which i am excited about and i'm looking forward to getting you down there. one of the interesting things is the active division of the national guard. this had to be done because quite frankly california didn't take care of its own. we recently sponsored and wrote legislation that would make those states culpable for the finances that are spent on those national guardsmen when the governor or local magistrates don't do what's required to take control of their own problem that was created because of their lack of action. do you think that's a good idea or do you have a better idea for

motivating people to do what's right instead of having the president step in? >> i think what the president has done here is common sense. if a governor and mayor will not protect federal law enforcement officers in the execution of their basic function in the military whether it's the national guard or marines is constitutionally or through statute allowed to come in and provide that security, that's precisely what we've done. the president unlike in 20/20 in minnesota when governor walt allowed a precinct to burn down president trump said that will not happen, we will not allow this cascade, we will protect our law enforcement and he's provided that clarity and common sense. >> i'm glad the president has stepped in where local democrats have not stepped up to the plate. one of the things i noticed in my recent service as a veteran is i had to go to the va's office and i'll ask staff to help me arrange those things but i had to send in a form to prove my son is in college. instead of emailing it or faxing it i do it through

dmv. i would hope you and your leadership would help us make it a much more friendly 21st century experience and i would hope you would look at that in your administration and i appreciate you very much. finally i want to give you an opportunity to talk about ukraine, one of the things i've said all along is the president is one of the most all presidents there is, this president has avoided war like no other president in modern history, he's been good at foreign relations despite his lack of previous experience and he did the abraham accords. one of the things i thought would be interesting when we talk about peace from strength, the united states has 50 trillion combined, russia has to . we decimated them, we meeting the ukrainian forces with our support decimated 50% or about 1 million casualties just based on the little bit of a given. >>

where we're talking about making tax cuts permanent that will cost $50 trillion in this coming, not-so-beautiful bill, $50 trillion in new debt anything to new debt. incredibly irresponsible. here is is chance to do something responsible, honor your commitment to the philosophy of senate paygo and vote for this point of order. mr. president, since all time has been yielded back by my colleague, i raise a point of order that the pending amendment violates section 410 of. concurrent resolution of the budget or fiscal year 2018, the senate paygo, better known as paygo point of order. mr. graham: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from south carolina is recognized. mr. graham: purr as soon as to section 904 of the congressional budget act of 1974 and the

waiver provisions of applicable budget resolutions, i move to waive all applicable sections of that act and applicable budget resolutions for purposes of senate amendment number 2307 and i ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote: the clerk: ms. alsobrooks. ms. baldwin. mr. banks. mr. barrasso. mr. bennet. mrs. blackburn. mr. blumenthal. ms. blunt rochester. mr. booker. mr. boozman. mrs. britt. mr. budd. ms. cantwell. mrs. capito. mr. cassidy. ms. collins. mr. coons. mr. cornyn. ms. cortez masto. mr. cotton. mr. cramer. mr. crapo. mr. cruz. mr. curtis. mr. daines.

>>. >> i will talk about some of the things we heard brought up today and my questions are to give you a chance to put out for the public what you expect of our senior military leaders though some things the president said in his remarks referring to a political arrival the governor of california the mayor of los angeles called him incompetent in front of the troops . referring to governor onwalt's, referenced back to the debate between him and now vice president jd vance saying that was a good debate, jd against the sky, remember how bad he was, he is one of the worst, he's running for resident can you believe it, he's a radical left lunatic referencing the

continued life he didn't lose the 20/20 election president trump said and i quote i was thinking about running because the election was rigged and stolen, we all know it, unquote so the commander-in-chief is saying in an event with troops order to attend and let me be clear, presidents for a long time have always had the prerogative to compel the attendance of our troops to be there as commander-in-chief, i get it, this is different to me . you her discussion of the campaign merchandise being sold on the base . another piece of this and i bring this up invitations to the event went out from donald trump'scampaign . has the invitation right there taking you to a place where you contribute. donald j trump.com so my question, my concern is of course you and i don't think any commander would agree to

attend a campaign rally to be brought to something that traditionally troops have attended as they should with the commander-in-chief but it turns into something like a campaign rally, what should our commanders do when put in this position? >> i hope you'll allow me to answer this by even my engaging in answering this question that is making my job involved in politics. so while i appreciate the question, i think the chairman and the force should stay out of politics and if i engage in this question with deep respect and appreciation for your question i don't think it's an appropriate question for me to answer . >> i agree with the way you are approaching this, that's what we should expect of our leaders and in the 10 seconds i have left i will tell you i am concerned for the position you and other senior leaders have been placed in and i urge you as the president's principalmilitary advisor to give him advice, i healed back . >> the chair recognizes the gentleman from wisconsin.

>> mr. seconds did you take an oath to support and defend the constitution? >> i did. >> general, did you? >> let's delve into that document, article 2 section 2 president shall be commander-in-chief of the militia of several states so when people are listening to the commander-in-chief they are actually fulfilling their constitutional duty, they took an oath to defend and uphold the constitution and what these folks are saying is absolutely shameful because when they are calling you incompetent, mr. seconds guess who's listening? our enemies. the people plotting as we sit in this comfortable room in an air-conditioned beautiful space are plotting the deaths of us, americans and it is shameful and i wish my colleagues would come back in here and apologize to you personally . let's cover a

couple of other things, when someone has gender dysphoria and they decide to mutilate their generals and taking cross sex hormones they are out of pocket for three years, how many countries in the dod involved in right now? 50, 60, 80, whatever it is. someone will get on a plane and leave their family and potential to leave their wife a widow or their husband a widower because somebody has decided to self actualize. we're going to go forward and complete the mission because that's what we do and a lot of my colleagues simply don't understand that or they're trying to ignore it. i'll clear up a couple of things, the chief of naval operations was incompetent and gave the red sea to the houthis, the chairman of the joint cease chiefs let so much dei fly around that almost destroyed the military, that's why they got fired . as far as standards, thestandard is the minimum . that is the minimum level of performance someone will reach or they're not qualified for the job . the nfl does not have a standard

for females, if you're a lady and you want to join the nfl try out for the team, howmany women play on the nfl, the answer is zero, why is there an nba and the wnba . because they acknowledge biology . so we can have as many whizbang high-tech things available but at the end of the day to win a war you need someone to go into war and be someone to death with their hands . that's a fact. the and all this other stuff is meaningless, the chinese communist party does not care what your pronouns are. they care that they know we will be able to destroy them, crush them and grind them into dust if they mess with the united states of america. mr. seconds there's five soft truths, the first one is people are moreimportant than hardware. do you concur?

>> i would concur with that and all your previous statements . >> general you concur people are more important than hardware. >> i agree with the other soft troops. >> so here's an issue i'm having right now, it doesn't matter how great our people are, if they're not upholding this oath and understanding the president of the united states is commander-in-chief . and you are the secretary of defense that you are the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff and we had a rash of incidents around the bases that can only be described as insubordination taking down the president's portrait, turning the vice president's pictures around, removing them from stations, covering them with flags, that's insubordination and insubordination is a crime according to the united states uc mj. quoting from military justice so what i need to hear from you mr. secretary and i

commend you for your performance of what you did for my district, i need to hear from you that you are actively trying to find the people that are subverting the chain of command and it will deal with them in the appropriate manner. >> anyplace we find incidents like that they are addressed? ain't you think it would be a political act or someone to be held accountable for insubordination ? if you did that as the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff holding marines, guardians. >> of course you have to have the context around that. so i would want to know if more information. >> i want to commend you for your performance today and your restraint . by not lashing out at some of the most disgraceful comments i have ever heard in my short tenure of congressand with that i yield back >> chair recognizes the gentle lady from hawaii . >> mri do and i agree we've had many performances today but

mr. secretary did you invite eli must for everything on work plans with china to the pentagon? yes, sir no is simple. >> there's been a lot of hyperbole and incorrect reporting around that situation but we did invite you on over to come talk to us generally but there was no work plans being discussed. >> whose idea was it to invite him to the pentagon for a briefing, you mentioned user by the pressure of the president, what wasn't the president supposed to have in common to be briefed? >> at that time eli must was leading a doge effort and we've taken a great investment in doge at dod so getting his input on how we make dod more efficient makes a great deal of sense. >> don't you think it's a e. conflict of interest for the world's richest man many of the contracts the dod is engaged in, billions in contracts going to his company and he has to your

point was leading the oge involved in cutting under the contracts but also becoming intimately aware of the platforms and requirements given out, do you not think it was a conflict of interest to invite someone with financial interests into the pentagon to have firsthand knowledge of what h,they could bid on for their own enrichment? >> it was an informal discussion but anyone that knows our defense department knows we don't show no preference to any company other than what your capabilities are and we are grateful for the places his company and if it's our national defense . >> $280 million donation, the world's richest man with companies intimately linked in billion-dollar contracts with the department of defense means not just access into the pentagon. would you say any company right now that has multibillion-dollar contracts has access to the pentagon right now, one hour briefings with you personally?

>> i meet with many people and many different companies and many different aspects of our defense industrial baseto ensure we have the best possible capabilities . >> i'm sure an investment of $280 million his investors are quite happy it comes out into the billions. i want to jump questions right now, january 6 i'm sure an investment of $280 million his investors are quite happy it comes out into the billions. i want to jump questions right now, january 6, 2021 writers and loot looters attacked law-enforcement officials analyzing historic federal government property and causing an estimated 2.7 billion in damages at the capital , would you have sent the national guard and marines in on that day ? >> unfortunately president from requested the national guard in advance. >> i'm asking you as secretary of defense would you have sent in national defense as a marine on that day, we had 140 capital police officers injured, one died the next day, would you have sent in the national guard and marines . >> president trump directed

guard to be there . >> you can look at the record, it took for him to send them in but it's good to hear it's something you would have sent in the national guard and marines on that day in which the insurrection was taking place at the capital read mr. secretary during your confirmation hearing you fail to deny the conclusion you would carry out an order to shoot protesters in the legs so let me be direct, given what we see in across the country right now would you carryout or issue an order by the president for our military to fire upon protesters actively engaging in their civil right to exercise free speech, the first amendment rights, would you give that order from the president? >> i assumeyou're insinuating what's going on in los angeles . >> not just los angeles, if you take a look at protests through the country it's a simple question, if directed by the president would you order our military to fire upon protesters simple yes or no. >> as you know and as this committee knows we have standard rules of engagement in place that gives guidance to our troops and the

environment. >> i'm asking what you would do, again you said you serve at the pleasure of the president, is that not true? >> i do serve as the present pleasure of the president. >> if the president told you to shoot people in the legs would you do so? you failed to answer when asked by members of the senate. >> i refuse to accept a false hypothetical attempting to put me in a corner. >> at a time when we have more ... [overlapping conversation] at a time when we have more national guard in the 40 than we do in iran, this is a situation we are dealing with so would you order our military to shoot at their fellow countrymen if ordered by the president? >> it's interesting for four years insurrection was .. >> i think we know your answer.

>> the generallady's time is expired, the gentleman from virginia mr. maguire you are recognized . >> thank you to our witnesses and to all our men and women who have served or are serving your mission is important and we would not have a country without you . i last saw you memorial day, we appreciate your remarks as we honor our fallen. secretary hegseth and gen. kane thank you for being with us gen. kane i would like to say congratulations on your recent confirmation to the joint chiefs of staff, pres. trump has put his confidence in great patriots to lead our men and women in uniform. to me maga means america first and that america first or make america great again for all americans regardless of

race, religion or creed and your policies are working in a day by day, week by week all americans are safer at home and abroad so we commend you for your efforts. if you had a basketball team and you hated your team you probably wouldn't win any games . so i love that impetus, all of us love the emphasis on patriotism and loving our country . seconds hegseth i thank you for all you've done to restore the focus on lethality and warrior ethos. fax don't care about your feelings and our enemies don't care about our social experiments. as a comment out of the marine corps i will mess it up but he said quote, our job is to stick bayonets in the hearts of our enemies. these social experiments detract from that mission. i get messages from my navy seal veterans applauding the work you're doing, the distractions of the last four years of the biden administration are out of the department of defense, dei which to me is marxist and it stands for didn't earn it no

longer take precedence in our military. marriage is once again valued. where no longer worrying about gender dysphoria or are dod tools and these policies that have been or racing women, climate change is no longer the concern of the warfighter and by the way i'm looking forward to celebrating with you guys on saturday, 250 years of a story that must be told of the u.s. army . i want to thank pres. trump or restoring america's history, you had to jump through gymnastics to do it by returning the name of our bases to many of us that call whole and thank you and pres. trump for showing the united states and the world we are a nation built on law and order by the department's response in the los angeles riots. through your leadership and help of the committee we will realize peace through strength and our warrior ethos . so secretary hegseth, the

national defense authorization act directs the department to submit its strategy to ensure solid rocket motor programs of record are adequately supported by the domestic industrial base . yet solid rocket motor protection is critical to a variety of systems like pres. trump's golden dome we have been liking. iwould say mr. secretary what progress has the department made in developing a solid rocket motor industrial base strategy . >> i would say in particular in general the defense industrial base is a focus of hours. the projectiles and other capabilities being a huge part of that . but particularly on solid rocket projection i'd have to hand it to my colleagues on that line item but if it was a priority at this committee identified and we identified then you can count on with a 13% increase in this budget . >> by the way in my district virginia's fifth industrial district we applaud what you're doing to protect our country, we have a place

called the tdm, accelerated transit defense manufacturing and i for the new aircraft carrier the secretary of the navy said the welders have the same level of training as a neurosurgeon and we don't have enough of those guys, they're doing that in my district and if your schedule ever permits to come visit i would love to tour that with you folks. >> we appreciate all your doing. under pres. trump's leadership you said recruitment is up in the army and all service is up, you said that right? i appreciate that and maybe adding rid of these divisive ideologies and focusing more on what unites us has something to do with that, would you agree with that? >> it's the leadership from pres. trump and the environment there entering into . >> by the grace of god and i would say more out of our service members and across our military would you guys agree with that? >> the force is united against the problems we have out there.

>> we're lucky to have you. if we can be of help reach out anytime. >> the gentleman's time has expired, the chair generally recognizes the gentleman from north carolina. >> thank you mr. secretary for being here today and gen. kane. the radar just lit up. and at that point we were in an hour-long fight just trying to kill whatever we could. these were words of our pilot at johnson air force base. speaking of deployment that occurred april 13, 2024 and the middle east. where a pilot shot down rockets and drones . hitting israel from iran. another pilot said it was a deployment like we have never seen. before. mr. secretary i'm incredibly proud of the airmen at senior seymour johnson air force

base . i was glad to join the acc commander at the decoration ceremony recognizing 31 of the airmen and what they accomplished and they accomplished the mission on the 14th. as you have highlighted, the war ethos lethality and readiness i cannot thank think of a better handling than what we saw april 13. it was not a lot of time, they packed up to those s 15 to the middle east. they got the job done. seymour johnson please plays a key role in our national defense. it also is location of the air task force, we have one at our air task force which aims to generate more efficient integrative and deployableunits . the secretary of the air force has conveyed a

commitment of plans to bring back f-15 with the 229 engines. meanwhile we are working right here, i'm trying to prioritize operational and maintenance needs. i am at the installation. we also have to come back and address the training needs . in your opening statement you mentioned the f 47, could you please briefly expand further in terms of your vision of mcad and looking at the potential of seymour johnson air force base and others to deliver and ensure the nation's continued air superiority in facing global threats? >> i'll take it briefly and handed it to the chairman, i've met some of those men and women, i've had a chance to talk to that evening. we are investing in mcad in a

historic way and the f-47, with the sixth generation fighter of that type it shows to our adversaries we are prepared to project power into the future and where those go and where their station is an open question but we're happy to take a look. >> thanks for speaking with our government. first thanks for your service , and the air force and in the joint force as well. just piling on here that particular day for the air force not just with those strike eagle crews but also the maintainers on the ground who were loading missiles up while there was engagements going on right over their heads. so extraordinary acts of bravery under fire out of your own district. >> gen. kane thank you for your service in the opening statement you shared that you were honored to serve

alongside some of the most critical warriors and civilians and their families and you didn't stop there and i appreciate you what you said about always honoring their families who demonstrate true sacrifice courage and commitment to our families, or burn russell was a medic second battalion fort bragg , march 5, 2007 in iraq, he was 20 years old putting a face on this, 20 years old. about the same age and she said the only thing she missed the most was his smile. my question is we have incidents, we can't bring back those loved ones but we have to honor and remember the flag, represented higgins andmyself if you could take a look at hr 1363 i would ask you to do so and mr. secretary i would ask what else are we doing to honor our fallen . >> we will take a look at 1363, i will tell you we initiate the first goldstar

advisory to follow through on their families as well and findingevery way possible to recognize them . >> thank you and i yield back . >> we will yield, the gentleman yelled back, we will now go to anothernorth carolinian . mr. harrigan for five minutes. >> thank you chairman and secretary hegseth, thank you for your testimony and i would like to first identify with my colleagues comments from wisconsin but i'd like to take it a step further. i think you all are owed an apology and although i really wish all of my democratic colleagues comments were of the nature of my colleagues from north carolina just a minute ago that is not what happened today and all we saw was flagrant disrespect towards both of you and that's not what this committee is about. we should be able to disagree without showing disrespect. we should be able to have discourse without sowing escort and we

should be able to question without using words you can't take back and that's not what happened today. from the other side of this committee. we can do a lot better than this but i will say gentleman you handle those questions with humility and grace and today many of my democratic colleagues have struck out and it's the second day in a row many of my democratic colleagues have struck out . >>. >> ..

>> chairman mccain, a lot of talk today about the golden dome. i don't fully appreciate some like democratic colleagues not knowing what that's about our knowing the threats behind why we have to the golden dome i

also believe we have to have meaty domes all across our country. as we've seen we've had very low cost high impact technology proliferate all around the world and if it when you do look to further than what happened in ukraine just two weeks ago where you have $100,000 investment by the ukrainians scuttle over $7 billion worth of hardware i the russians. we have to look forward into the future and to dissipate we may face the exact same threats maybe not against our military but against our infrastructure against our stadiums against our city centers and we need many domes to protect this country against those threats. how are you all working that problem set? >> first, , thanks for the question. thanks for your service. one of the things we are learning is the nature and way we fight wars is changing. we're starting to face as you're

alluding to problems of mass were numbers of exchanges kinetic exchanges and, frankly, non-kinetic in the cyber domain are increasing and exponentially. we have to match networks with networks and masks with masks. as we move forward to create the force of the future that's on a rich. >> the time of the gentleman has expired. now recognize the gentleman from california. >> thank you, mr. chairman. mr. secretary, summary topics to cover. i represent a california 31st district located in southern california where you have deployed the. national guard and marine combat battalion an effort by this administration to provoke a confrontation. god only knows for what reason. as my colleague from tennessee mentioned the military has been activated before by the president but let's tell the whole story. president johnson federalize the troops after the governor of alabama activated to keep black students out of the university of alabama. president johnson did it so

students could attend the university. he did it for the right reason. he corrected a wrong. california didap not ask the president for help and the presence of the military is an effort i this administration to intimidate and incite fear and violence amongst its citizens. you failed and ensuring basic operational security by sharing classified data over an unclassified network at this is blatant, lazy and put servicemembers lives at risk. and knowing your office is a scif, i hope you are not bring in your devices to your personal cell phonest or even work phones fss post-interview the come right question her cell phone come into your office to send these signal chat text. your blatant lack of basic op sec would have gotten you reside, force you to resign from any other administration. your recording 8% cuts across all services, not to save the taxpayers money but to fund

president trump's pet projects. talk about quality of life for servicemembers. yet you take a billion dollars away from the army that was meant to improve their barracks and you said that my desperate but we don't know that yet because we haven't seen a budget. if the president has projects he wants funding for you need to come before this body and provide reasoning. not just shift money around. you are stealing from her servicemembers come robbing peter to pay paul. you have repeatedly said he will judge every individual on their merit. is that true? >> unlike the previous a station you will judge, yes or no? >> for our service -- >> but yet you were separating thousands of servicemembers who are performing and doing to jump at a high level. they are being separated not based on merit. some of them of the recommended

for early promotion and it got awards and doing a great job but your separating for no other reason and, frankly, you just don't like them. your classifying many of them as a national security threat which is simply not true. you asked the secretary of the navy to change the name of a ship, the ship because harvey milk didn't meet your definition of warrior ethos. if a korean war veteran at a navy diver who gave his life or stand up for his beliefs doesn't meet your definition, i don't know what will. you keep talking about recruiting but let's face the facts. recruiting sort of improving before president trump even came into office. the reason that change was because of the investment that was put into recruiting. i was at the pentagon at the time and i know how much we invested in it i do know how much have the service it. when you take away that investment you're going to get exactly what happened in president trump's first administration, in 2019 we have the same recruiting crisis back

in 2019 when he was president the first time. you continue to attack diversity but i have always said diversity is about creating opportunity. i've seen plenty of individuals many of them enlisted members who when given the opportunity have succeeded not because of their sex, not because of color, not because of their sexual identity but because of their worth a good work ethic and merit. mr. secretary, when using your definition of dei, i think there's only one individual at the pentagon right now who got his job based on that merit, and that is you and you got a because of sucking up to your boss. with that idea of expert the charter recognizes the gentleman from indiana mr. messmer. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you, secretary hegseth and department of defense. i would like to start up on some questioning from this morning

regarding slip them in. i appreciate your response regarding imports of the program.nd asked at level to the course of visibly vital important program and looking forward to the budget boost you mentioned for the velvet and deployed. it's nothing else you'd like to add a bunch of uniforms of investing in that program? >> no. not to add what is the previous is important for dynamic battlefield of the future to continue to maintain the proper level of deterrence. >> excellent. department of defense in response to question the front of the appropriations subcommittee on defense about nonstrategic nuclear capabilities you spoke about the foresees across enterprise which also mention this morning i'd like to focus my question on the competition. can you elaborate on the shoji related to competition and the department and would you agree in general the department achievement outcomes in litigation industry in a competitive process?

>> yes, sir. absolutely we do. there's many case studies over the ark of the last 30, 40 years that show how the taxpayer gets a better deal. the water gets a better deal when multiple entries come to the table to drive their outcomes out of of those producers. as we look at the house efforts, the senate efforts to work together along with the department and other leadership to generate the national and defense industrial base of the future come i would hope we encourage competition. not just with existing but new entrance and even startups. i've spent some time in the private sector as an entrepreneur, and realize quickly the value of competition to get to the outcomes. >> outstanding. secretary? >> to echo the chair chilt a special moment a lot of

younger, scrap your dynamic company is what it are into the market at her job is to open that up so that matches the big guys who of mostly defense-related industries at this point come does much of commercial base in some cases. if the temperature is white to those other smaller medium-size companies that invest a lot of their own money in r&d in hopes they can cross the valley of death and participate in larger systems. we want a lot more competition. >> are you considering an open competition process development of the slcmn missile system? >> i don't know the particulars of the competitive process of the slcmn but we can get that to you. >> that would be great, thank you. >> secretary hegseth on the here and you also mention our office partnership and how you been working with the minister and secretary not only light upon the previous administrations pillar two framework but also finding new ways to supercharge

pillar two in setting up new signature programs under the office framework. what are the best capability in the near term that aukus pillar two can deliver to our war fighter? >> i don't want to get of our discussions with them and in australian and uk in particular. their ongoing and identify those projects that we share mutual interest in that are part of our future fight where all of our defense and social bases can contribute and benefit from collaboration so we're looking for that and we will. >> what you anticipate hypersonic capabilities like a hypersonic the ability our new electronic were system could be a new program aukus could focus on delivering? >> i think you are at our meeting. long-range fisa something with deathly been a part of our conversation. >> thanks so much. secretary hegseth and general caine, we know china is of the new technologies at an alarming

pace come mainly hypersonic weapons. the previous administrationgr sadly did not seem to understand the gravity of the situation and did not prioritize funding for missile defense in hypersonic programs. can you speak about the trump administration's and your department's views about the importance of prioritizing investment in hypersonic missile defense? >> i'll defer to the prioritization to my civilian leadership. what i'm trying to create is a global integrator along with the incredible work by the joint chiefs and the services, , is a mix of capabilities we need to include hypersonics and other long-range fires to achieve the effects of the tactical edge so that we can win in the future and continue to win the way we do now. >> yield back my time. >> the time of the gentleman has expired. now recognize the gentlelady from new hampshire ms. goodlander. >> thank you, mr. chairman and they could to our witnesses are being here today. we have one really important thing in common. we all know this great talk with

the united states constitution, before the oath origin the military and we swore that oath when we began the jobs that were holding out. i want to begin a begin of this document at the beginning of your testimony, mr. hegseth. in the first sentence of your chest when you said you were here today to testify about the cisco 2026 budget for the department of defense. you are required and launches a bit this budget to the congress because we have the power of the purse after all. no later than the first monday in february. here we are in the second thursday in june. we don't have your budget as a chairman, the ranking member and many of my colleagues on this committee have pointed out. you have testified that you want to be accountable for every dollar, every taxpayer dollar and where it goes. we can't do our job without your budget. when can we expect your budget, mr. hegseth?

>> as also it does in my opening remarks in the virtue of an administration it does take speeders reclining my time. when can we expect your budget? >> you have details of it already and you have it very soon. >> and we expect the budget before the end of the month? >> i would prefer to bring who's working up under this great deal of detail that lori with the committee. >> but that would reflect you have given us a commitment which are required by law to disagree also required by law to pass an audit. that's been true since the 1990s. the department of defense is the only department that is continued failed and audit the use committed to passing a daughter in 2028 but we expect you to pass an audit this year. hope you will work with us to achieve that goal. mr. chairman, i i want to thak you for your testimony and what you said about the threats that we face as a trendy, threats and china, russia and iran and want to ask briefly questions about each. mr. chairman, unit said the chinese communist party is

advancing an unprecedented military modernization effort with cutting edge technologists including artificial intelligence. do you agree the united states military must have more powerful ai capabilities than china? >> man, first thank you also for your service in the, navy. i think llms and ai really underpinning all of our command-and-control capabilities will come is now and will be in the future a key and essential tool for decision-making. >> i agree american ai dominance is extremely important. mr. hegseth can shut american abdominals the up for negotiation with china in any trade talks that are underway? >> as the trivets and we are very focused on ai dominance come central to maintaining our cutting edge. we are doing that. >> good. i hope, when you commit to telling the president not to sacrifice american ai dominance in any of his negotiations with

the chinese? >> the president is not the surrendering any of our dominance to the chinese. >> good. i'll take that and as you will be advocating for that. thank thank you very much. i hope you also, you both this book into the ports of competition in the defense industrial base. i agree with that deeply. i would point out 40% of small businesses have left our defense and social supply chain in the past decade and trade wars that have caused unprecedented uncertainty are going to drive more small businesses out of business. that's something i hope we can work together to try to read it because it's very real in my home state of new hampshire. mr. hegseth, did you order a pause in offensive cyber operations against russia? >> that, know the story you are preferring to and it is false. we set it and i will say desperate so it is your testimony you never ordered a pause in offensive cyber operations against russia? >> we did not.

>> okay. let the record reflect that it will be following up on that. i'm going to skip around because there's been a lot said in this hearing that has given me great concern. one of the things that's been set in this hearing, mr. hegseth come is what to give you the opportunity to correct the record and make clear that you will abide by, that you will obey a ruling of the united states supreme court. >> i don't believe we have in the cases pending before the supreme court to register i it to ask you, will you abide by a ruling, by decision of the united states supreme court if it is issued and are asked to do so? >> what i said and no repeat is district court should not set the policy of foreign policy of the united states of america. >> this is a fundamental principle of the united states constitution. >> gentlelady's time has expired. recognize the gentleman from kansas mr. smith.

>> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you for being you and your extensive commitment and time today. we are grateful for it and it's the way the system is supposed to work. i want to ask, mr. secretary, on the service member and family healthcare side, your opening statement didn't talk much about today but you brought vote, the yeas 67, the nays are 30. the amendment is agreed to. mr. schumer: mr. president. the presiding officer: i recognize the minority leader. mr. schumer: i ask consent to address the chamber for 20 seconds. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: mr. president, i just saw something that sickened my stomach, the man handling of a united states senator many we need the answers to what the hell went on. i yield the floor. mr. thune: mr. president. i ask to waive the mandatory quorum call for senate bill

1582. the presiding officer: the clerk will report, the cloture motion will roar the -- report the motion toin -- invoke cloture. the clerk: cloture the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby bring to a close debate on, and the motion -- on calendar number 66, s. 1582. the presiding officer: the question is, is it the sense of the senate that debate on s. 1582, a bill to provide for the regulation of payment of stablecoins and for other purposes, as amended, shall be brought to a close? the yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

there's places we can cross level two mutually beneficial way that ensures who skill sets nesser of different facility that makes sense also. looking to the civilian side is another alternative. i don't know if your particular on the facility but will get more information to your. >> appreciated that. i think this'll be also need to know now i will take it otherwise maybe we can follow up with you. want to get creative. the great asset and for riley in particular i show it the old cavalry post that is not unlike

fort carson mcauley to the writer provides relative large maneuver space in the middle of the country. you can't get that back. want to survive and thrive. in order to that with richer were doing the small things that are critical including providing the right kind of healthcare to our troops. it's a great family post by the way. let me ask you come shifting gears, i don't know if this is appropriate but with respect to the future of the e7, under the issue of some kansas-based interest in but more interested more broadly and what whatg to for aerial surveillance assets. there's been discussion that e-7 might be under consideration for reconsideration going forward and some talk about being a bridge platform. what can you tell us about the thinking there and in particular what level of confidence do you have that the e2 has a a capay

to do the indopacom operations that we need to be up to do long-distance? >> i would file e-7 under the tough choices offer is for sure. our assessment is it was goldplated, late, over cost and we look at the future fight extending their e2 d is our view that space-based isr is a capability of the future. not a perspective hopeful future but the technology are there to begin to do it robustly that an aerial platforms. our budget is reflect those top after tough choices. >> to need to do what we need to do? >> we know the e7 being late to kaufman a thicket in time of this part of the consideration when looking at. >> understood. i yield back. >> that shared a recognized general attorney general bird from arab. >> thank you, mr. chairman faq to what is today.

echo my colleagues and the concerns when a number of issues including the deployment brings to los angeles, the ports of supporting our outlet in ukraine, 1160% with signalgate unjust termination members of military from backman who want to supination. of particular questions, i want to follow up with mcauley from new hampshire. setting aside this deeply yet the authority to define a supreme court ruling, yes or no? >> we are not here to defy supreme court ruling. >> i'll take that as a winter i want to move on to cyber, in my state, earlier this year general haugh was with the disconnect of cybercom at nsa. following suite that accused m of being disloyal to the president and the oath that you took an oath i took deducted and loyalty to any president but to this constitution. i come to, brought my copy from college with me and as yet as of the state general haugh his successor is not yet been named and you stated many times that left out of the military is

critical source difficult to understand how this administration would allow in the billet treatment unfilled exposure those who did our combat commit i join my colleague congressman baker mimicry of concern both the firing of the delete in hiring of a leader of cybercom only gives assurance and comfort to our adversaries. i'm sure you would agree in a combat command canopy at its most lethal if the commander remains absent. when will the the president announced a new command of cybercom? >> i would note there's a a vy highly capable deputy there -- >> i agree. >> we recognize that and were in the process of ensuring that slot is filled. >> in the next month, two months, three months? >> it will not be that long. >> i i appreciate that. general caine, during her confirmation process you stated the dual hat arrangement provides a bill to look across both organization and has empowered both uscybercom and

the nsa to fill the missions better than each could do alone. can you confirm that you hold that view to this day? in one sense or less speak to the importance of that dual hat arrangement. >> that reflects the current policy the administration, the secretary of course as does the present reserves the right to rethink that. both organizations are critical and whether they are a single or dual hat relationship, if directed we will take a look at the risk associate with each one of them and come back to our civilian leaders with those risks and the to make a decision on it. >> what you were in the room, are you not come advising the president as what is best for national security? >> i am in the room. >> i agree. can you commit to continue graphically for the dual hat relationship? >> aftermr some analysis. at the time of wasn't even in the military i was still coming back in. so if directed to take a look at it we will carefully measure the

goods and others of each of those but you have my commitment i will continue as i have giving my candid forthright military vice on all of those two secretary and the present. >> i want to move on to sexual assault and remains a stain on this dod and this is our nation. he was cohesion, bring the lifetime of pain and recovery for victims including my constituents. support to members that something increases and that any flat light of that funding would be viewed as a decrease in preparation for and during her confirmation, mr. secretary, you make commitments he would support a robust sexual assault program in response program that quote seeks to drive sexual assault the military down to zero to i commend you for the commitment i agree and yet it's been brought up many times we have the budget by which to measure your commitment and your promises. can you commit today that what we do our last receiver five fy '26 budget we will see an increased to the funding and a plan from you as how to direct

sexual assaults down to zero? >> as a say in my confirmation i applaud congress for the efforts that a a been ongoing to addrs the issue which are due need to drive does you. that something has not been reduced. we looked at a lot of places for efficiency. you seem the same i have that thankfully sexual assault or come down and we continued to want to get. >> we have to remain vigilant which i hope it'sevel funded i hope we can continue to try that out on the fourth to the final budget whenever we do receive it. i'll take this for the record, movie onto the summer topic which is rape kits for civilians overseas.. april a memo to nine unity non-beneficiary civilians were victims of sexual assault and rape act accessbe to sexual assault rape kits. if i could get for the record or expedition for this decision,, civilian support for duty incumbent born we find and bring justice to the victims and 40 to working with you on it. i will yield back my time.

>> the chair recognizes the german from colorado mr. crank. >> thank you, mr. chairman. mr. secretary, and general thank you for being you. i want to apologize for the personal attacks. my mom and dad taught me to be different. you won't get that for me, mr. secretary. secretary hegseth and general caine, we've heard multiple times we can't do golden dome because it would just cause china and russia to build better missiles to get around our defenses. for the logic to make since it would be in china and russia are not already advancingst missile technology and tested path on the missile technology that 20 or 30 years ago. i founded the golden dome caucused in the house. is that an accurate statement that listed at a missile technology? are the advancing our enemies on missile technology? >> it's fair to say like is there attempting to this in every way possible. >> el paso county is the fastest-growing county in colorado.

significant population growth over the next three decades and we're proud the region is become such a desirable place for families but that growth has toy, be balanced with protecting critical operations of our five military installations and that's why initiatives like security open-space and agriculture resiliency and issue so important. accommodation private funding usda region conservation partnership program and the department the department defense witness in a mental protection integration program come this initiative supports targeted land acquisitions near military bases. these efforts help conserve wildlife, habitat, reserve agriculture interest and maintain the necessary buffer zone, the most important part that allows military missions to continue. does the department of defense plan to continue to support them program in fy '26 budget request to congress? >> yes, sir. i can get backe with a specific

number. >> great, thank you. the call of a trust for public land has been awarded an $18.5 million usda rcpc grid to leverage dod funds and reduce future land use conflict threat installations like the u.s. air force academy. i understand usda start holding the funds under review while i recognize this may fall outside of your direct jurisdiction the success of this land acquisition is essential to protecting the academy training capabilities. can account under assistance ann working with usda to find a solution that protects the readiness of the air force academy and responsible federal funding? >> yeah, happy to look at that we do. >> thank you. i also would like to talk a little bit about the border. my district is home to u.s. northern command, we are very proud of what u.s. northern command has done with the new authorities on january 20 present gave northern command on

the southern border. in addition, we have troops in there. could you talk a bit about some of the great work that the u.s. military is doing in support of securing our southern border? >> we think it's foundational and fundamental work to the security of our nation. as i said, the previous administration led 21 million illegals in place a widow to enter a country. thank you for asking because it gives me an opportunity, i see question to you specifically meant attempt to sow discord between the chairman and five. knowing he will get different answers based on a position. he has said the technicalities of invasion, we're not talked about an invading army. of course a going is trying to skin his words. what talk about an invasion of human beings mostly military age males from all around the world. we have no, i do with intentions are and they facilitate it under the previous administration. me and my position i can happily happily i can clearly state that

it is an invasion and we are proud to have the military at the border to interdict that. they are there every single day to increase authorities are working together with border patrol to ensure that never goes my dad .9% to 100. i cannot command the joint staff, northcom and a military for reacting to that in the early days of administration orienting their focus to the southern border and applying a manpower come expertise necessary. because for two decades we spent 20 years regarding other people's peoples blogs and become pretty good at it. it's about time we take that expertise and apply it to ours. i commit a military for following his this lawful od executed it incredibly well. >> they did a great job and it's similar to what's happening now in los angeles. it's a support role. they are not down there arresting people. they are doing great job supporting. thank you, mr. secretary.

>> that shared a recognizes the german from california mr. whitesides. >> thank you. thank you for your service. to the country. i'm a new member of congress from north side of los angeles and the bread represent the region with both large veterans community and a a world-class aerospace production base. it was a very that broke the speed of sound for the first time. that assumed the space shuttle and that now builds many of the most advanced aircraft that the station depends on ford's national security. i want to start by communicating a deep concern for the deployment military troops to the streets of los angeles county. over the past few days i've received briefings a military leadership including marine corps, national guard and one thing is eminently clear. so far this operation has been ported planned and poorly executed. and does not example of the operational a logistical excellent that the department of defense is famous for.

our service members have been sleeping on the concrete floors of federal buildings and even outside on roads. no contract has been made to feed them or adequately house them. northcom was that given adequate time or resources to prepare to absorb these guard units. the lines of command are monday at best. i have personally heard northcom is a lead agency but dhs is a lead agency, but the fbi is a lead agency are that your office, mr. secretary, is the lead agency. it's unclear whether the marines who have been deployed have even completed their faltering for the civilian focus nonlethal mission. the briefings we have received to date indicate only a fraction of the assigned forces are actually being utilized on a day-to-day basis. yesterday we heard in your testimony, mr. secretary, the department may start sending troops to other cities and states.

early today he refused to say what you would follow the decision of the supreme court on the legality of the deployments of the national guard and marines. we're on an extraordinarily dangerous path. the nation's founding fathers were rightfully deeply skeptical of domestic diploma of federal troops. that skepticism stretches all the way back to the boston massacre and is a skepticism based on blood. going forward, i would urge you to avoid politics and to actually pay attention to what law enforcement officers are saying on the ground. now we have talked today about leadership and accountability and i've been lucky to work for several inspiring leaders. when i was nasa chief of staff advice was administrator charlie bolden you may know, served as director rated range of as a spatial commander. this is a marine who flew more than 100 cobbett missions in in north and south vietnam laos and cambodia. he commenced mission which deployed the hubble space

telescope which at the time was the largest object ever deployed by the shuttle. i i threw spent an american her. i haven't been a member of the armed service committee for very long, just over five months but in that time i've had the privilege to meet and talk with the seniormost members of our military. i've met many women who assert for decades in her arms services, who assert for use in combat zones. what if i learned from these american heroes? leaders don't just speak here they listen. they are strong but they show humility. they are curious and they learn from all members of their team, even people that they disagree with. you and your team that make multiple serious errors, putting our pilots and troops at risk by disclosing operational details and unclassified communication channels come firing general officers unique leadership and expert skills, , hiring senior team members who seem be unable to work together well and you seem unable to hold confidential information private. we need the department of defense to be run well so that

our troops are led well and our nation is protected. in order for that to happen, mr. secretary, i suspect you need to listen more and talk less. you will need to be more curious and capable of learning from different voices. i know that is not the style of this administration but you now have the lives of millions of servicemembers and hundreds of millions of americans depending on your capacity to learn and change. i sincerely hope you can do it. and i yield back my time. >> thank you. the chair now recognizes five minutes for myself. i have the president of representing a district that has huge navy present i want to talk about naval aviation. although i'm the daughter of a green beret who served in vietnam i had the privilege of serving for tenures as helicopter pilot. i'm married to a 20 year veteran who flew f-18s in the proud mama and naval aviator and disintegrate from the vmi by

three weeks ago. big military family and a representative schiff were naval aviation really the heart of east coast naval station. they we spent time talking about the import of the east coast to understand the potential china fight were all thinking of every day but they can't be understated the value of what the east coast brings in a battle groups and carrier strike groups to play, the people that live in my district. it's disheartening when i read about and think about the future naval aviation, when i hear from the department of defense about $500 billion that was appropriate for the next-generation strike fighter is to be reallocated to the air force. then when i read memos from this committee, this committee is aware of any changes to the major requirements just fine i could to support efforts to work the development and design contract to the needy. we are trying to piece together and ask the same question yesterday and aye the comments of my colleague from virginia but that piece is very

important. right now i have a very agent f-18 squadron. there's no prioritize, no commitment from the kidney f-35s quadrant i four squadron of the marine corps but you all know of anybody the putting all your eggs in one basket is one of the worst strategy. i've got the west coast naval air station master jet base looks great. we've been out there to visit just to compare. there started to have eight f-35s quadrant and there's even f-35s than for development to want urge senate of excellence and want to put there. with no mention of the east coast master site just one hit from you all, all with you, secretary hegseth but could you explain about your comments why that is and what your plans are to be supportive of our east coast equally if not more important? >> it's a fair point. i do think it's deeply important. on the fdx we're reviewing it, no doubt compensate the budget does provide for completion of the design.

as i stated the f-47 is the priority in the budget to get that moving. we are invested in june and recognize that navy's unique capabilities. the f-35 factors into that. when looking at its developer in the future and we will take into consideration those options and to make sure as were planning it is considered. >> i would love to your thoughts. quote you said we need the capability that is mobile. there's nothing more mobile than united states aircraft carrier. when i turn on television want to talk about dropping bombs and houthis and jimmy who does a show? that i wish all my husband taken often f-18. i get chills another helicopter over there but it's naval aviation. >> ready to officially out of the water. thanks for the question. voted n the affirmative, the motion is agreed to.

i recognize the senator from florida. a senator: i ask unanimous consent that the senate resume legislative session and be in a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. i recognize the democrat leader. mr. schumer: i mentioned a few minutes ago that i had seen a video that sickened my stomach. a u.s. senator being man handled we now know by federal agents and dragged out of a hearing room. now there's a second video. it's even worse. he's been thrown to the ground, man handled, brutally taken down, handcuffed. it's disgusting. anyone who looks at it turns anyone -- anyone who looks at this, it will turn thak stomach to look at this video and see what happened. wreaks, wreaks of totalitarianism. this is not what democracies do. senator padilla was there

legitimately in that building to ask questions of what's going on in california, which everybody wants to know answers to. we don't get answers when we ask the administration questions in one way or another. so senator padilla was exercising his duty as a senator for his constituents to try and find out what happened. and instead he gets man handled, thrown out of the room, thrown on the ground and handcuffed. we need a full investigation immediately as to what happened. and who did what. and what's going to be done to see that this doesn't happen again to senator padilla or other american citizens who are seeking their right to redress. it's despicable. it's disgusting. it is so un-american, so un-american, and we need answers. we need answers immediately. i yield the floor. i yield to my colleague from new

mexico. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: i recognize the senator from new mexico. loon mr. president, i think the american people are starting to see what happens to the senior senator from california, alex padilla. mr. lujan: he's at a press conference in california where the secretary of homeland security is and he wants to ask some questions. with all that's going on in california -- i don't know what happened, but federal agents took him down. took down a united states sen senator, that they're doing their job. why aren't more people speaking up about this nonsense? this is ridiculous. i'd use some other language but i'd probably get tossed off the floor right now. growing up on a small farm and cleaning a barn, my dad taught me how to take a shovel coming out of all the animals.

you know what that's called. i know what it's called. some of the animals that did that were males. they were bulls. the stuff that came out of them has a few names to it. i'll call it manure today. this is nonsense. this is awful. how can these federal agents gettate way with this? is the president of the united states telling folks to go down and start arresting united states senators, taking them down to the floor? is that what we've come to? the executive branch doing this to our colleagues? this is a democrat. what happens when this happens to the republican? will i hear from my republican colleagues then to say, no, we should not do this? mr. president, back down. back off. you are wrong. will someone here have the backbone to tell the president of the united states, you crossed the line. stop it. i'm so disappointed, so

disappointed. and as a latino united states senator, for this to happen to another hispanic here, there are several of us that are hispanics here, democrats and republicans. speak up. when one of my predecessors was here, dennis chavez, there were places he could not eat in this town, because of the color of his skin because he was from a state called new mexico. are we going to use our voices? aren't we better than this in the united states of america? or are we going to show up a the other folks in the world -- or are we going to show all the other folks in the world that folks that were duly elected by people, throw them on the ground, treat them like bar gang. we've got to speak up. i hope by tonight every democrat and republican member of this body has the courage to say something. this has gone too far! it's not right.

so long as it doesn't cover speedy spirit that was not my statement. >> and, , and it is okay -- [talking over each other] >> the general is not recognized. >> you've not been recognized. >> neither gentleman is recognized. [talking over each other] >> mr. higgins for five minutes. >> thank you, madam chair. bringing down a notch, y'all. it's always fascinating to observe folks talking about things they haven't experienced. great deal of authority up in

this bizarre body, reading scripted, hateful, planned rhetoric and directing them at you gentleman. who do indeed know what it is to stand the post. let me address first general caine. i have to say this, sir researching your service career, my goodness gracious, 35 years of distinguished, exceptional service. i can imagine that there's a better american man to be the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. thank you, good sir. enlisted army grunt, i thank you for being where you are for your 35 years of service.

mr. secretary, and general, i have plenty questions. i don't have to get to because you almost finished with this thing. i have questions on recruitment and training and for all and software conversation, artificial intelligence, shipbuilding, our new army vitiated. the presiding officer: the senate is not in a quorum call. mr. merkley: i've come to the floor to say i'm extremely outraged that the executive branch's security team have shoved a u.s. senator out of a room, have proceeded to put that u.s. senator on the ground and to handcuff that senator. this is what we expect to see in an authoritarian nation that can't tolerate a question, and they start to attack the institutions. what we're seeing in the u.s. right now, we're seeing in the form of the president willfully breaking the law on the rules controlling the executive branch time and time again.

we see it in his attack on the press, his attack on the universities, his attack on extorting law firms. we 00 it in the form -- we see it in the form of him using the trump v. the united states lawsuit to say i, the united states president, can use executive orders to avert the law. that's not the way it works in a republic. at least that's not the way it works if we are a republic. if we, through a subservient congress and the combination with the deferential supreme court, slide into this authoritarian state, then we have failed our oath to the constitution. it is absolutely wrong that any u.s. senator for attempting to ask a question be treated in

this fashion. i double down on the call of leader schumer. this merits a full bipartisan investigation, bipartisan because all of us are members of the legislative branch, all of us have taken an oath to the constitution, and all of us should stand up for each other and certainly our ability to explore the policies of this administration. thank you, mr. president. senator mr. president. the presiding officer: i recognize the senator from new jersey. mr. booker: i never thought i would imagine having to stand here and discuss what i saw today, a united states senator in his own community, in the city in which he grew up, elected under the authority of the people, stepping forward to get answers to legitimate questions, and we see him being

thrown to the ground, after being removed from a room for forcibly, and put into handcuffs by multiple people. this, to me, is such an abuse of authority. it is a violent act, and there can be no justification of seeing a senator forced to their knees, laid flat on the ground, their hands twisted behind their back, and being put into restraints. if you see the video, at that point he's not fighting, he's not pushing. but this is a pattern and a practice, this is not an isolated incident. i remind people that in my own community, in the constituent of

newark -- in the city of newark, we had a congresswoman and a mayor at a facility. the mayor invited into the gate, the congress "people" invited into a -- the congress people invited into 00 conference room and then the mayor asked to leave, who did leave, and then numerous agents run out to arrest that mayor. now, the judge in this case said it was outrageous, reprimanded the trump administration for the arrest in and of itself. we see time and time again with this administration trying to precipitate a response by the misuse and the abuse of force. this is more akin to authoritarian governments.

when you see a democratic nation having their executive begin to arrest mayors, begin to arrest judges, begin to arrest a united states senator who was simply asking for answers to their questions, to remove them from a room forcibly, to throw them to the ground, to put them in restraints, this is something that we should not tolerate. and by "we," this is not democrats on the one hand republicans. this is we in this body. we have a constitutional obligation to provide oversight to the executive, obligation tok questions, to make inquiries, a constitutional obligation to check and balance the authority of the executive. and so here we saw before our

eyes a senator in their district, in their state asking questions, and we see him being shoved out of a room. but it did not stop there. shoved to the ground, shoved onto his belly, and have his arms pulled behind his back. this should outrage every united states senator -- this should outrage every united states senator. i would like to yield the floor to my colleague. mr. schiff: i thank the gentleman for yielding -- mr. booker: excuse me, i would yield to a question. mr. schiff: would the gentleman yield to a question? mr. booker: i would yield to a question while retaining the right to the floor. mr. schiff: i thank the gentleman for yielding. i just watched footage of our colleague, my california colleague, senator alex padilla, being forcibly removed from a briefing by the secretary of

homeland security's staff. he went there to observe and to ask questions, and i watched with horror on this video seeing these agents grab my colleague, my fellow senator from california, grab him, push him out of the hearing as he was identifying him satisfies a u.s. senator -- satisfying himself as a u.s. senator, bringing him out into the hall way, bringing him down to the ground, bringing his arms behind his badge -- his back. i saw this happen to my colleague. and i am shocked by how far we have descended in the first 140 days of this administration. where we have a president calling out the military over the objection of a governor to try to intimidate and interfere with law enforcement in california, calling out the marines