the uk has offered military intelligence and other forms of assistance to our is really allies in countering these attacks on iran? the german chancellor has offered this and is providing assistance to israel. as a uk made such an offer, to? it is right you can military capabilities have an increase in the region over the weekend, so can the foreign secretary to allows whether he's prepared to take any retaliation, any prepared to tackle any retaliation from iran and its proxies, including the houthis? madam deputy speaker although iran's nuclear capabilities have been degraded,e they are -- >> you can continue washing this program on our website c-span.org. back now to capitol hill as the senate returns from recess. live coverage here on c-span2. bring to a close debate on the nomination of olivia trusty, of maryland, to be a member of the federal communications comm commission, signed by 17 senators. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the mandatory

quorum call under rule 22 has been waived. the question is, is it the sense of the senate that debate on the nomination of olivia trusty, of maryland, to be a member of the federal communications commission for a term of five years, from july 1, 2025, shall be brought to a close. the yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. 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. ms. duckworth. mr. durbin. mr. durbin. >> mr. president, the senator from california. >> mr. president, it's important for this body to know that over the last two weeks in los angeles my hometown that we as seen mass federal agents in tactical gear ordered into our communities.

we seem to show we seen a disturbing pattern of increasingly extreme and cruel immigration enforcement operations targeting nonviolent people at places of worship, schools, in courthouses, all to make an arbitrary quota. now we are seeing president trump federalize national guard troops and deploy them without the governors consent. active-duty marines are being deployed, escalating tensions in our city. and it's important to note all this without coordination with state and local law enforcement. and despite repeated requests from the justification for these extreme actions and after months and months of little to no response from the

administration, their aggressive and theatrical immigration raids, the trump administration has been everything in their power but to provide transparency to the american people about their mission in los angeles. so last week i chose to go home to try to get answers for the administration as early militarizing our city. and i want to share what i learned. i want to share what i heard it because it should shock the conscience of our country. one of the first items on my schedule is thursday was a meeting and a briefing with general gear, the 4-star general in charge of u.s. northern command. many of you don't know him. the briefing was scheduled at the federal building in west los angeles where there overseeing these military operations.

now, colleagues, when the united states military is deployed domestically, when our troops are deployed against the wishes of the governor for the first time since 1965 against the wishes of the local mayor, and even against the wishes of local law enforcement, both the police chief and the sheriff, we are in uncharted territory. so in my effort to do my duty to conduct congressional oversight and to try to get answers from the department of defense that state and local officials were not receiving, i went to the federal building in west los angeles. i i was met at the entrance, at the entrance by a national guardsman and an fbi agent who escorted me to security

screening and up to a conference room for my scheduled briefing. while waiting for my scheduled briefing with the general, i learned that homeland security secretary know was holding a press conference literally just down the hall. and the press coverage was causing my briefing to be delayed. the thought occurred to me that maybe i could attend this press conference and listen in, just listen, in the hopes of hearing secretary noem provide some new information that could help us make sense of what was happening. i didn't just end up and go. i asked and was escorted by the national guardsman and the fbi agent into the press conference. they opened the door for me. they accompanied me into the press briefing room, and they

stood next to me as i stood there for a while listening. and at one point the united states secretary of homeland security said that the purpose of federal law enforcement and the purpose of the united states military was to, quote, liberate los angeles from our governor and our mayor. to somehow liberate us from the very people that we democratically elected to lead our city and our states. colleagues, let that fundamentally un-american mission statement sink in. that is not a mission focused on public safety. and that simply is not and cannot be the mission

>> president trump's election to a second term has offered the world a chance to see an american leader committed to solving many of the world's existential threats with determination. now as a conflict between israel and iran continued president trump has also been clear. that iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.

rubio has also stated that fact as he has traveled the world working to implement president trump's vision of peace and security. that statement has also been uttered from this podium many times. the fact that iran cannot have a nuclear weapon is clear at the white house reminds us since taking office president trump has clearly stated no fewer than a dozen times that iran cannot be allowed to have a nuclear weapon for anyone who's unclear on that factor president trump is make the same pledge no fewer than 40 times before taking office, , even as far back as 2011. one of the highest priority of the trump administration is the safety and security of the american people. to that end the department of state has established the middle east task force to a coordinate support for u.s. citizens, our u.s. diplomatic mission, and personnel and medical engagement. the task force is operating 24

hours a day. over the past week to keep your citizens in for with issued more than 30 security alerts the countries in the region and update the travel advisories for iraq and israel. we remind u.s. citizens not to travel to israel or iraq and not to travel to iran under any circumstance. we continue to monitor the complex and revel in evolving situation on the ground as they continue to assess and address the needs of u.s. citizens. we urge all u.s. citizens to regularly visit, travel dot state.gov for the latest travel advisory and security update and to enroll in the smart traveler enrollment program also has stepped up to receive timely alerts and guidance from the state department. for americans needing assistance, i know we have a bit of the website there for you, call plus one 202-501-4444.

202-501-4444. that never again is plus one 202-501-4444 if you're on that website you can also click on that red box. he will take you to a page where you can search for the embassy of your interest where you are, where you would like to connect to be able to get help from the embassy in the country where you are. and, of course, the number is there as well for your closest u.s. embassy. i also want to add a couple of the things here as we are dealing with this. it is certainly a rapidly evolving dynamic, but to conclude the topic you today. want to recognize the state department and other u.s. government teams around the world working under threat on behalf of the american people, particularly those in israel and ukraine, who spent another night

sheltering in bunkers as they came under attack. our priority is the safety of americans overseas and here at home. it is the priority of sector marco rubio. as a priority of everyone who works in this building. and the thousands of american citizens who work anonymously and whom you will never see, who are working intimacies and consulates around the world and working with those local nations to beta for american citizens and help facilitate american diplomacy. our priority is the safety of americans yes here at home but also oversees. we thank all of those working on behalf of the american people, all of you watching from home and from around the world. we thank you for everyone around the nation, we know and honor your work as we begin another briefing here ready to take your questions. all right, yes, sir.

>> could you give us more details on the task force how it's going to work? specifically is going to help americans leave the region, be repatriated? in more details? >> right. well, i will be giving you this as reminder of how today is a bit of a different day for the briefing. there is always things that i can't say to you, and yet we have a a long back and forth sometimes a little bit of debate. debate. i won't engage in that today. my response would be perhaps a bit quicker than use and only moving around more quickly to reach as many of you as i can. and there will be less that i can answer for you because of the circumstances that were deliberate around the world. so it is just what you don't it's not personal but what we do

certain things like the task force for example. the task force is a group of people who are working taking the calls people of american cities around the world, making sure they get connected with what they may need in that region. i won't go into the details of all the task force is due of course but it's about information making sure people in the state department and we get information we need but also people around the world, american citizens get directed to information that they may need as well. so i will will leave it at that but this is something that the state department does when there's a situation that requires it and this is one of those times. sure, that, sure, of course. >> the phone number that you give them when you call that number which i could do right now, what do you get? >> you get an individual who spitted task for. >> was you don't get the task force. that phone of is a general phone number because the task force is busy but it is a separate unit that is established to take the

calls to assist american citizens who call to the indices got particularly you be referred to embassies who can help you get what it is you need. good question, thank you, sir. yes, andrea. >> there some specific consular needs, when a particular i'm aware of and maybe more than one, an american citizen in iran which there is no embassy, no consulate. with that va -- with her be other options, any advice as to what to do about americans right now? >> i can't speak to any advice or information regarding individuals in a van at this point. >> and what about american israelis or israeli americans -- in iran -- either wanting to come out wanting to get back home? i believe -- small measure for

people consent people have kids in israel and the revisiting the states and they are american citizens. is anything they can do? should they call this number. >> is obviously if you know, we encourage every american, when you travel, is to contact your local embassy or consulate. let them know you're there. make sure you know where they are, have those numbers and that's what i would recommend the matter where you're traveling but certainly in middle east is nowhere those entities are. nobody embassy is. so if you're in israel, obviously it's tel aviv or its jerusalem -- [inaudible] >> well, it will answer the phone. so there's context that can happen in the midst of all of this. and, of course, i think that that's the advice forever you are but clearly if you're in a certain area it's obvious in this case there certain limitations in that region and that contact the embassy, the one that is nearest to you and

you will at the very least make sure they know where you are at also they will give you some options for the plans you would like to make. yes. >> tammy, i understand your limitation but had to ask this but i knew you, it's your job at appreciate that. i do to take questions, not necessary always answer them. >> plastic president trump said he was a real income not a -- does the united states support or pursue regime change in iran or a which is talk about dismantling iran's nuclear enrichment? with that include trended helping israel strike? >> well, certainly not going to characterize what president trump says or tweets of for that matter. he doesn't need characterizing the he's one of the most transparent one of the most clear individuals that we've known. i think that we can take his word for his word but i'm not going to speculate in a larger sense what that would mean. that is up to the president.

he is the singular guiding hand about what will be occurring from this point forward as he has been, and i think that dynamic is pretty clear that he says he wants an end, as he said about every conflict, that he has as a peacemaker worked to stop peacefully through diplomacy. that has been his commitment and he wants these things, as he said about a number of situations, not for a month or six months durable and to this nature of forever wars. that is been his posture and that his posture now. >> how. many people spitters i will take your hardwood. >> how many people suffer have contacted u.s. mission in israel or elsewhere, american citizens, seeking help to depart the country that they're an inability pgh yes i will discuss those details with the numbers involved with the embassy.

>> charter planes to get people out or military? >> i will not discuss what our plans are in that regard. yes, ma'am. >> to follow up on that quickly. are you guys considering at all operations that would help americans who want to leave the region from evacuating? >> i know that our commitment is to the safety and security of americans around the world, right? yes, sir. yes, sir. go ahead. >> tammy, with the u.s. government i to see regime change in iran. >> was. [inaudible] would remotely addressed that. it would require me to spectrally or speak of half of the president which i will not do. what we've seen though it is it's clear, is months in repeat statements that all he wants is a peaceful world. his activity and activity at the nature of the actions that the united states has taken and a special envoy has been rooted in one thing, which is negotiations come looking for diplomatic

solutions to generational problems that he wants assault diplomatically. that is been his constant posture. and there has been nothing that has changed in what he wishes for, what he would hope to accomplish and so of course that's something i'm going to address. >> the risk of an israeli government on same page when it comes to intelligence about iran's nuclear weapon. >> was that is a question for the white houser. and press the nsc. that's a something i can andrea. nadia. >> he says he wants to iran offer unconditional surrender. i'm looking as you to to come on the president stated to ask you if the sectors involved in any -- with allies, with the germans, french going to offer offer something to the iranians as a way out? >> well, again, i would not speak of the details of any diplomatic conversations if they occurred, between whom, what those details would be. with of course the second the present were at the g7.

their constant work from the moment they came to office has been an certainly secretary rubio is to open up conversations and delete the world through diplomacy to make a difference. that's the only thing that would guide to what comes to the nature of the decision they're making. yes, yes, then. >> what about the details of the company -- with i getting details is the doors to open to diplomacy? >> that was the decision made by president trump. >> had heard from the arena and signaled interest in continuing discussion? >> that is a something i can speak to. yes,. >> the latest security alert from the embassy still says the emphasis not in a place to evacuate or directly assist americans. do you have any timeline on when that might change for the americans were stranded in that country? and just look at how quickly security situation has changed there, the travel alert was raised to a level ivey from a

level iii for the entirety of the country. is that this and the state department was caught on its back foot a little bit by this change? because americans still can't get help. >> i can say the answer to the last question is no. we are working 24/7 to ensure the safety and security of americans around the world. i can say that the department of state is always plenty for contingencies to assist private use citizens departure from crisis areas, and we will look to your citizenry community if there is and whether it's official information to share regarding their options are in a crisis but certainly this one as well. when it comes to how quickly people can expect a dynamic, the american government, the state department, our military is using all of these assets, all of these targets involved in in one fashion or another are working exclusively for the safety of this nation and the

safety of the american people wherever they may be. yes, sir. >> at the top you said you were advising u.s. citizens not to come to israel iran and the mercer consisted anymore general guidance more worldly our region of the countries? >> at our website we have our travel alert. >> we also have moved them on our state department twitter, are social media accounts. those are for the public to see. what is the specifically for people to look trip to want to look for specific country travel alerts? is it traveled that state.gov? so traveled not state.gov and you will see every travel alert there for you depends on if you're going to be traveling and not just the middle east or if any country right now. youe can get your information there. yes, sir.

>> at the top you also said -- [inaudible] [inaudible question] >> yes, we are aware of last night attack on kyiv which resulted in numerous casualties including the tragic death of a u.s. citizen. we condemn those strikes and extend our deepest condolences to the victims and to the films of all those affected. the president and recent past has made his thoughts clear about striking the civilian areas in that regard. and just to your great again which is a threat throughout all the work that we do is the department has no higher priority than the safety and security of u.s. citizens abroad and we can confirm the death of you citizen in ukraine and we stand ready to provide all

possible consular assistance and out of respect to the family during this obviously horrible time we have no further details to offer in that regard. >> in light of israel and iran, some of our colleagues -- [inaudible] how much do the event of the past few days -- [inaudible] >> yes, i'm not going to go into the details of what we're doing when it comes due communications into the region or into specific countries. >> number one, the administration, kept this company is under and at arm's length over the first few days and now since last night and today, harry the presidency we, we, we have control over the skies can we know what the supreme leader is. he's taken ownership of the situation directly. is that feeling trickling down to building as well?

is of more of an ownership of the situation in the state department as well? >> well, i can can't characterize the feelings of the president of the united states. we know that he is our lead. we know that he is the guiding hand. we know that he is one of a few who know all the details and he is clearly has a mission and an agenda that is involved diplomacy, and changing the world for the better for people. in the meantime of course things change, our expenses change. he's making comments that are reflection of what matters to him. and, of course, what matters to the president matters to the steady from and every other department. i think that it is fair to say that his leadership and his reelection to the second term was because people here in the united states were tired of the status quo. and what the world has seen is a peacemaker and some who can make a difference and that's what

you're looking for. >> can i get in one more? there's a special envoy for iran. several key locations in the lease don't have confirm ambassador. you speak often but the day after situation in gaza. what about the day after situation in iran is a state department mighty? >> the state department of the trump administration wild you may not see things immediately just because is not maybe in the news or you're not present for things that occur doesn't mean they're not occurring. i would remind everyone that the state department as i have found out is sort of like the military. it's 24/7 24/7 it is not sg that is a basic eight to five dynamic. and it's because people are working around the world constantly. it is literally their mission personally, the work is what they do and are committed to. so while you may see a certain thing in a static framer, doesn't mean that we have not worked on that or not working on that or that things will begin to happen. it's just a reminder that is not

about the day after. we are working before, during and after. it is anticipation of people with history and experience when it comes to the history not just of a building and a department of the united states but the history of people working on diplomatic issues throughout the world. they work for this department. they're committed to the species that what makes the stated purpose or effect in addition to the leadership that is afforded by marco rubio as guided by donald trump yes, sir, you've been waiting. >> the hague next week, president trump at secretary rubio chemically from the g7 summit, finish of what'sle going on with the middle east. if the situation still unfolding decks we shall expect some kind of changes to the delegation changed to travel? be anticipating if the situation story going? >> you know, i can't tell you if

anything will change. i know it has not so far but as we have experienced from day-to-day or even sometimes our two hour things do change. this is a very dynamic event. we've all had our special situations we are interested in and we all want the policy to work and we've been cheering on summits and ceasefire discussions et cetera. et cetera. this is something that is moving as things tend to very rapidly. so i would say that anything is possible but at this point in time that is still certainly on the books but that's going to be obviously, that's a presidential trip. that's going up to the white house and ensure we will be affected by the decision-making based on what they see. >> two questions. first of all spitters can you tell me -- >> al-jazeera. >> how do you do? >> find thank you. the use intelligence assessments

on march 26 was iran was not -- what's change your position seems to be -- [inaudible] >> well again i can't speak to intelligence assessments, it may or may not have changed or to the fact that it is president trump and his team who are seeing things that matter when it comes to the decision-making. and i think that's what's happened here. >> second question is, if the president and first was willing to the taliban in two months to come up with the deal, why was it only 60 days given to the iranians? >> i can i'm not going to discuss the details of the decision made by the president. andrea. >> testimony in open session to the committee. >> well yes, and as i've noted today is not that day. next, yes. yes, sir. white shirt.

>> are you suggesting -- >> andrea, we are moving. let's, please. in the back. >> thank you, tammy. my question is the other week we were taught about the negotiation between iran and the u.s. and the president was very optimistic about it. and now drastically everything has changed and we're talking almost about a full scale war between israel and iran. how do you -- has the negotiations failed, or high can we name it? my second question will be varying state tv has been -- targeted. how do you see that? do you see a state tv channel as a legitimate target. >> was you would have to ask israel about the decisions when it comes to the choices with what they strike and what they don't. and on your first question, which now is already -- what was your first question? >> my first question, after all

those, after escalation, how do you name -- >> i would, i would say we would look to the president of the trade for how he is characterizing what has occurred. he is very open and transparent with that and does it with his many conversations with the media and also on truth social. he is clearly accessible certain with his remarks and yes, that a number of things on social media that he think my answer your questions. yes. [inaudible] >> well, are we continuing still -- i will come to you on gaza i promised let's continue with the topic at hand. so yes, sir in the back. >> one question on iraq which iran. -- which is that any emergency

-- the group to target across the region. [inaudible question] >> well again on the going to comment on the nature of how the white house or the president or the dlg respond to certain remarks or demands made by someone sealift communications commission, olivia trusty of maryland to be a member. the presiding officer: the clerk on health and human services, gary andres of virginia to be an assistant secretary. the presiding officer: the question occurs on the andres

nomination. is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote: the clerk: ms. alsobrooks. ms. baldwin. mr. banks. >> that i think was made very clear by both secretary rubio and the president and that's important for them for people to know. and in this case the course the president has made it clear that if americans are hurt or in this case missiles shot at civilians or american soldiers, that the woody of repercussioned.

i think would not be surprising. we will go back, well, more on iran. we were close with you, sir. [inaudible] >> well, it's clearly went with a goal in mind. he makes deals. these partners in the peace that we have the interest and clearly are intention of what our goals are. thankfully again to the approach and the style of president trump, so i think when it comes to again the best person who could explain his feelings about what his accomplishment any issue is the president himself. so i refer you back to what he writes in what he is posting on i think a very regular basis which is helpful to people like me. anything to the world at large

as well. [inaudible question] >> president trump is once again -- [inaudible] does president trump me permission to -- [inaudible] >> well, yes, you know, every country as president trump is stated his right to define its own future. he offers his help and it's up to whether he's offering to whether or not they will accept. we live in a fascinating, exciting time where we have got a man who can make the difference and his generous about making that difference. he could've chosen to have this term the about anything other than peace and making america great again. i'd he's stuck with it. he's committed to that. it is part of his overall

commitment to the country. so i would not speak to the nature of another countries decision-making. that's up to them but i think all of us are grateful that we have a president who's willing to all at once wants to all. you have one more and iran and then we'll go to site need. -- cited. [inaudible question] for i can confirm that report on that or discuss it. thank you. >> very quick question. in the last 48 hours or the last three days, dozens of palestinians have been killed -- [inaudible] with everybody focusing on -- [inaudible] pay more attention. are you urging the israelis to hold off -- [inaudible]

>> well, we of course are always saddened to report about any mass casualty situation or shootings. i don't know who is it no matter what the dynamic. the idea has said a particular incident desha idf dust under particular review and that is helpful and we'll see what the review comes up with. in the meantime i think it is important also when it comes to the nature of the efforts to give aid and food to the gazans, we now know to report a gaza humanitarian foundation that was working at four distribution sites and as history but it nearly 26 million meals to date. so it is again a conversation about whether or not the state department cares. everyday is a demonstration. when we think about the state department its people, it's a people who have committed their lives to diplomatic life come to life of foreign service, to a political life to try to make

the difference for the world. so we see that manifesting here and as wet also know with todas events and today's conversation, there's a reason why we need people like president trump and the american commitment to peace abroad. allms right? [inaudible] -- expand the travel ban to other countries. a lot of them i understand are in africa. can you share any details, elements you have on those points purpose i can speak a little bit about it, not into the detail about the decision-making or the process in that regard. but we are of course committed to protecting our nation citizens by upholding the highest standards of national security and public safety through our visa process in

particular it as laid out in president trump's executive order, 146 in protecting the united states rome foreign terrorists and other national security and public safety threats the visa adjudication process has got to ensure that u.s. bound foreign travelers do not pose a threat to the national security and public safety of the united states. that is i think is very low bar and it is a bar every nation should be able to adopt. to protect the nationals could and nash interest of the united states and his people to the department a a student of the. government agencies assist of the countries security capabilities, information sharing, and identity management practices, exploitation of use visa system such as overstay rates and failure to facilitate the repatriation of the removable nationals. so noting where countries bratt as you did is located, the

geo-position, the actual location of the country, is not a factor of what continent that country is on. these are about very specific aspects about whether or not the united states feels it can trust the information we rely on those countries for to determine whether or not they will get a visa. we don't come rely on the bed in the presentation of information from other nations in order to say yes, you can, or you can't hear in this particular instance i think it's clear as we're looking at providing a time countries being told if they don't come if you don't get to that point where we can trust them that they have to change the system updated, to whatever they need to to convince us that we can trust the process and information they have. so that is the goal of this. the secretary will have the discretion to determine whether or not someone is on that list, as we've also been continuously that the nature of what's

happening within these conversations and the goal is so we can all move forward so people can come to the country. that's our goal. all right. yes, sir. i don't know why you're so far in the back, michelle, but -- npr. >> followed up on that. there was a deadline given for the 36 countries to more to come up with her action plan. i wonder if you've heard back -- >> that's incorrect. i can just tell you that's not correct. the fact is that you have a considerable amount of time to rectify whatever the situation is, , that the state departments determined is affecting the nature of our trust in how we issue a visa. all right? yes, and we will take, yes, sir, with the beard. >> has the united states speedy can you tell me your name and out? [inaudible] >> okay. welcome aboard. >> thank you. has the united states received in option adequate prepared help

prevent israeli overflights and iraqis airspace? and what is -- washington response to such a request. >> was again you would need to speak to the department of defense and white house. i won't speak to the details of conversations certainly about anything of that matter involving any country. and i think that will be it for today as we return. thank you all for your patience and i expect to see again later in a week. thank you very much, everyone. thank you. appreciate it.

>> it got worse. to get more extreme. they did more damage to the american people even in the house bill. a medicaid cuts the senate republicans planned are even deeper and more devastating than the cuts need in the house here and made the biggest cut in medicaid history even worse. it means that all republicans are looking to rent health care way from more than 16 billion. cbo kept raising it from 13 to 14 to 16 would lose health. it's pretty certain that the next bill, , the next cbo report and, of course, trump will save the city allies to anybody who

doesn't agree with them, he just discounts, and that's one of the many, many problems with this administration. but it will go i'm sure it will be more than 16 million. with the aca cut and defining of planned parenthood the bill would be nothing short of a backdoor abortion ban. not only to the eliminate money for planned parenthood but they don't allow people to get the healthcare from pca to use any monies for reproductive activities. ..

eliminated by this bill. virtually eliminated. , lower energy costs all gone. in fact, it's estimated at minimum, the bill would raise the average electricity bills by 10%. there jobs and raising costs. legislation is going to energy china. in ten years he will dominate clean energy if this bill passes. >> and,

witness murders, good friend of mine her husband mark and we pray for a speedy recovery wife, eight times in one shot nine times. i'm not going to go it but it was phenomenal. one person recalls to the scene of the hostage shootings and communicated with enforcement that 3:00 a.m. and up into the

locations, he went to two places before he shut them. two additional places and 1000 home and the other he would have shot up legislature, but the cops were there and they arrived just as he was shooting from a located information to stop the spree and eventually caught him. i would tell you, people would love her if they knew her. she had young kids going door-to-door. she was a phenomenal speaker in doctor after being a girl scout leader to teaching sunday school. she trains dogs for veterans and one dog was too friendly to be focused on one veteran and the murderer shot the dog and her two kids have to make the

decision to put the dog down this weekend what they said in their first, they said they were the right light in the center of our lives in the best way to honor our parents memory is to do something, big or small we try to do every day when he walked in the big and small ways, i hope this will bring them together and bring down the rhetoric do something up about what's going on. we have jobs to do and we all know that one of them in civil debate, not the horror show we

saw this weekend but debate consequential this country one is this bill. a big beautiful trail of the american people and tax cuts to the wealthiest among us on the backs of everyone else. minimum wage by $700 opening nearly $400,000 x freight people making over 4 million a year and increases mortgages to regular people by 1000 a year with the debt that files on pending 400 billing lower tax rates for people taking over hundred thousand year and this is based

on the hospital and grocery cost for millions and energy to education. this is not what they promised the american people when they went to the voting. this is the opposite so it's no surprise in a poll that came out today showed almost twice the many americans oppose the in 42% post 22% support. polls show 60 some% and stand up caught up for what it is.

>> i admire my colleagues from the west for his 20 and caring. race is so much of our country with chaos right now.

and russell every day would build against the rent bill and pushed up against it every week to try to figure out how they will meet. class warfare some of the republicans and senate said will have a milder jumper bill the senate republican bill.

the biggest healthcare cut in american history and cut medicaid even more than the bill and the house of representatives like a single and other essential care letters when they are going to be unable portable in america and the tax incentive because tax the pictures will

have good thing jobs and in a position to prevent price hikes and energy but met with opposition. the senate bill is at the heart of the fashion industry. because of growth need more energy who run gas companies are saying we need renewable energy by calling for minnesota touched on it will. fairly to try to to all sides give everybody in america the chance to get ahead that's not

the agenda we are all about so the spirit and dignity and pursue this legislation in a thoughtful way to make sure everybody in a better bill aligned with the spirit. >> if necessary will not hesitate to hoarseness and on 19

in this has nothing to do with cutting medicaid costs keeping hungry kids fed is one of the boat that? i think baltimore.

we need significantly more discussions and a good number of these the appropriations. in the number of threads i didn't need and with the capital

leverage the partnership but yes and not. >> a whole bunch of changes and we really up security around here, but the next step.

he mentioned we went from 17 arrests to over 9000 in congress and the funding a major piece of the things i've mentioned as members out ... and he had some, want to what we know and looking in the mirror when they instigated this. >> is there any insight you could provide?

senator, i told him what i said publicly that this is one big funding for my state. many of them walked in home, depending on where they thought the murderer went. republicans in our state have, strong references violence and congressman and i led a bipartisan statement of every member our delegation calling it politically motivated saying there's no place for this in our politics. >> i'm not going to go into

discussion or we won't get done, but. >> the increase in violence and threats to violence against members didn't happen by accident. it happened because of the debate beyond that, the kind of rhetoric the hard right uses some give them. >> good afternoon, everyone. it was released last night. leads to a stronger prosperous america so we are excited to get

this bill out on the board. i want to applaud the members of the senate finance committee for the work he did to ensure that product got out there, but we are excited for what does. it makes permanent the 2017 tax-cut jobs act and makes permanent the expanded child tax credit and makes permanent the tax deductions that will lead to growth and expansion and better paying jobs and includes resident jumps promises on the campaign trail including all caps on tips and reduce taxes. on the business side business tax provisions will be to growth

in the economy and create better paying jobs and a stronger, more prosperous country. obviously, if we look at what happens if we don't do this, the alternative pretty. fortunately dollar tax increase at the end of the year on the american people. 2.6 trillion fall on families making less than 400,000 a year and 600 billing about what hit all business. that is the alternative. it includes a number of forms and strengthens medicaid in a way that makes a stronger and get back to what was intended. doctor oz talked about those

provisions not going to ask him to speak to that and that we will be happy to take some questions. >> think the senate for letting me address them today at lunch. beneficial explaining the scope of this bill. i want to be straightforward with the comment, this is the most ambitious health reform bill ever in history and could not come at a better time. a market causing lots of peril to americans who need our help the most. it's investing 200 billing dollars more money over the next decade than it would at the current level of spending. his troops not going to go to the 1 trillion of spending what otherwise occurred.

it's going to do something important, curb the growth of medicaid which has changed 15% for the last five years by doing a few things, including reduction of fraud, waste and abuse an aggressive program to make sure the right people eligible for adjudicated and work requirement as part of the equation and trying was good for the individuals was popular amongst the american people the idea that you should be trying to work with volunteer and participate in your community in some way and demonstrate you are trying your hardest to help the budget, the greater by the jobs we have open and by doing that, you are in the right to be on medicaid. these programs will believe will roll out successfully. information technology solutions, and at on people's phones. it would help us identify how

many forks hours, did you volunteer and do it in a seamless fashion -- is confirme. under the previous order, the motion to reconsider is considered made and laid upon the table, and the president will be immediately notified of the senate's actions. the presiding officer: the senator from south carolina. mr. graham: thank you. i'm on the floor today with my good friend and colleague, senator scott. ep has a resolution commemorating the tenth anniversary of the mother emanuel church shooting. june 17 is the tenth anniversary. i want to thank tim for all he's done for that church and for the victims of that horrible day. you've been a real inspiration

to the church and to the state and i'm glad to join here with you today. it's the oldest black congregation in our state, opened in 1816. the man who did this, dylann roof, killed nine people, seriously wounded another. he is facing the death penalty. his goal was to go into that church, invited in, by the way, and shoot people in a house of worship, african americans, try to start a race war. he failed pretty miserably. the people in south carolina embrace mother emanuel, the victims. we love the church, the church family. i'm proud of how our state has rallied around this horrific event. and to the people who have lost their loved ones, there's a hole

in your life that can never be filled. the senseless act of violence motivated by sheer hate and bigotry devastated your life. but i do want to let everybody in the country know mother emanuel is still standing stronger than ever. the people of south carolina came together in a way that i haven't seen in a long time. and out of this horrible, terrible tragedy, i think we're stronger than we were before. this involved a man who had serious issues, was able to get a gun in violation of existing law about background checks. we finally reached a settlement with the victims, and that was done a few years ago. so the lessons learned for me from this horrible event is that

there is no safe place when it comes to bigotry and hate. the churches all over the country, synagogues, house of worships, now have armed guards. i hate we are where we are. but as we look back over the last decade and how this has affected the people of mother emanuel and our state, i'm here to tell you that that church is stronger than it's ever been. to the victims and their families, the hole that's been placed in your life by this senseless act of violence can never be fully filled, but we're trying to do our best to fill that void. and to my good friend, senator scott, thank you so much for your leadership from day one. and ten years later because of your leadership, we're remembering on the floor of the united states senate that tragic day. i'm just honored to call you my friend and colleague. and i yield.

mr. scott: mr. president. thank you, mr. president. let me first thank senator graham for your thoughtful comments and, frankly, standings with me and more importantly, substantial with our family -- standing with our family of south carolina as we face one of the horrific challenges our state has ever faced in the history of a state that is a very provocative history on race. it is a rare moment when searing pain and disbelief leaves an un unforgettable yet undeniable impression on both your heart and your mind. 9/11 was one of those occasions. i remember exactly where i was on that fateful day. june 17, today, ten years ago, 2015, was another one of those days. i will never forget sitting on my bed when i received the news that there had been a shooting in my hometown of charleston

where ultimately nine african americans attending a bible study at mother emanuel ame church would be murdered. murdered for the simple reason that they were black. no other reason. invited in to a bible study was the murderer. with open arms, they welcomed him in. and for 90 minutes or so he sat through a bible study, listening and watching as these christian souls talked about and then prayed, including him. this atrocity that was carried out in an attempt to start a race war, a second race war at

the birthplace of the civil war, changed the landscape and, frankly, the heart not only of charleston, south carolina, those members of mother emanuel church, but our entire state and nation. but even in the face of such an atrocity, in the face of such grief, 36 hours after this horrific shooting, representatives from every single family looked into the eyes of the murderer and simply said what needed to be said. i forgive you. thinking back on the power of our scriptures, matthew 5:44

reminds us to love those who persecute us, to pray for those who persecute us, and to love our enemies. and to think about the capacity of love of nine family members to turn away from the grief and the pain and the misery and turn towards love to say to the person who just executed the person they loved de dearly, we forgive you. the power of that moment started healing our nation caught up in racial tension and violence, healed our nation in a way that

nothing else can do. sometimes fire can't meet fire. sometimes hate can't meet hate. sometimes the only thing that brings healing and restoration, or at least begins it, is meeting hate with love. i will -- i won't ever forget the wednesday one week later, i was coming on this floor to give a speech, and i was talking to daniel simeon jr. -- daniel simmons jr., whose father was one who was executed on that fateful day, his father daniel simmons sr., and i asked daniel simmons jr., what would you want me to say to the nation, if they are listening, as i go out and talk? he said, please remind them of ro romans 8:28, that somehow, some

way, all things work for good, for those to love god and are called according to his purpose. i got to tell you, had i been in his shoes, i do not believe i would have had the strength, the conviction, the clarity of mind to find good in the midst of that tragedy. but it is the message of hope that we needed then, and i believe it is the message of hope we need now. i am personally forever grateful to those family members, the family members of the nine, who simply chose forgiveness in the face of something i pray none of us have to experience. their example of a faith-filled

hope in the wake of tragedy and loss, not only inspired me still, it inspired our nation, and i pray that it continues to lead us in the direction of reconciliation. as we honor those who are no longer with us, we must never be driven by our pain, our division, or our fear. i would like to have a moment of silence for the emanuel nine and their families. reverend clementa pinckney. cynthia hurd. reverend sha rhonda coleman-singleton. tywanza sanders. ethel lance. susie jackson.

reverend depayne middleton-doctor. reverend daniel simmons sr.. and myra thompson. may america, the greatest nation on the planet, always strive to live up to our highest ideal, the ideal that we are all created equal, that we all share the same blood line, that we are all a part of the same family, the family of god. therefore, as if in legislative session, and notwithstanding rule 22, i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the consideration of s. res. 282 submitted earlier today. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: senate resolution 282

commemorating june 17, 2025, as the tenth anniversary of the mother emanuel ame church shooting. the presiding officer: is there an objection to proceeding to the measure? without objection, the senate will proceed. mr. scott: i ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. scott: thank you. the presiding officer: the senator from washington. ms. cantwell: i thank my colleagues for coming to the floor to remember this horrific shooting in their state, and to remember the family members affected by this. i very much appreciate this resolution. i come to talk about history as well. i just visited a group of young

students from my state, vancouver i-tech. it's the second time i've seen a group from this school in the last week. a group of them were here last week competing in a national history championship. and i'm very proud to say that the young women presenting a historical review of the kaiser shipyards in our state that changed the workforce, and basically women came to the workforce during world war ii, placed second in that national championship. hats off to those young women for capturing that moment of history and explaining what it was all about. they also, the competition from vancouver i-tech preparatory, had four other individuals who placed in the top ten of the subjects that they were providing. so i love that my state is

focusing on history. i'm here too to focus on some history and a resolution. today is the 95th anniversary of one of the worst economic policies our country ever made, the smoot hawley tariffs. don't just take my word for it. the senate historical office characterized it as, quote, among the most catastrophic acts in congressional history, end quote. so today, i'm introducing a resolution that commemorates this anniversary as a moment to reflect on the devastating impact and the consequences. it shows you what we can learn from history, and at its peak, the smoot-hawley tariff act placed an average rate of 20% tariffs on goods import food the united states, just 20%. so, we had this big discussion about many other things. definitely well above 20%.

the goal then was to bolster u.s. farmers and manufacturers by protecting them by foreign competition, but that goal, as we all know if you study history, was not met. what it did instead was widen and deepen the great depression. my resolution recounts our major trading partners, including canada and countries in europe, responded to those tariffs placed on by the united states by raising tariffs on the united states' exported goods. so yes, let's say a trade war. anti-united states sentiment rapidly intensified in foreign countries, leading to a consumer boycott of american products in canada, france, spain, italy, and many other countries. the retaliatory tariffs and consumer boycotts caused farm and manufacturing exports from the united states to plunge from

68%, basically $5.24 billion in 1929 to basically 1.6 billion. so from 5 billion to basically 1 billion in 1933. so a big drop in what the united states was able to do. the u.s. gross domestic product fell nearly in half, from $104 billion in 1929 to just $57 billion in 1932. and the employment rate -- unemployment rate rose from 3.2% to a peak of around 23% in 1932. so, the great depression had arrived. in my state, the state of washington, we've always been dependent on trade. back then, lumber was our main export, and the trade war essentially destroyed that industry. production dropped 70%, and the board feet dropped down to just two billion board feet in 1932,

more than cutting in half what we had done before. more than half of our state's loggers lost their jobs. the unemployment rate in my state was 33%, much higher than the national average. where do we stand 95 years later? do we want to take a moment and understand the lessons of smoot-hawley? the administration is running a very high tariff playbook. the world economy is much more interconnected now than in the 1930's. uncertainty is the enemy of continued economic growth. at least the smoot-hawley tariffs were set at an established rate. american businesses knew what they were standing up against and could make forecasts and plans accordingly. these tariffs, in the trump administration, clang at the discretion of the president, creating huge uncertainty. small business owners in my state tell me that while the tariffs are a challenge, the

uncertainty is what keeps them up at night. the administration's tariffs are on par with smoot-hawley era tariffs. that, the economic historians agree, that was a prolonged and deepened global depression. last week, the president said the tariffs on china would be set at 55%. so, what have we learned from this historical date? before president hoover signed the smoot-hawley act, he got a signed letter from more than 1,000 economists. 1,000 economists sent a letter. economists warned that raising tariffs would cause the costs to rise on consumers, farmers and manufacturers would suffer, and retaliatory tariffs would make exports dry up. and they said that starting a trade war would damage our foreign relations. as early as 1934, congress tried

to right the ship. that year, we passed the reciprocal tariff act, directing presidents to reduce u.s. and world tariff rates. this year, my colleague, senator grassley, and i are trying to stop the administration by introducing the trade review act of 2025 that establishes limits on the president's ability to impose tariffs? why? because this is the constitutional power given to congress, not to the president. the courts have already said at certain levels that this president relates to the economic powers act does not have this authority. so, out of the ashes of world war ii the u.s. led in a way of creating an open and rules-based international trading system. tariffs were lowered in the u.s. and abroad, and the u.s. made a case for a trade-weighted

average of 23% in 33 to 19% in 1950 and continued to fall afterward with trade agreements. it means we established rules. that is what trade needs. we don't need a president whose authority isn't in this particular area to start trade wars with no end in sight. the rules-based trading system provided the stability we needed to drive investment and to drive growth. so, the resolution i'm introducing asks the senate to affirm the importance of a rules-based trade policy that reduces production cost for american farmers, manufacturers, and one that opens markets to u.s. exports. it is time for us to commit to encouraging trade policies, part particularly when so many other countries are getting their products on the shelves in foreign markets, leaving our products at home. let's avoid the repetition of this historical policy mistake

and instead do something that reaffirms this institution's oversight of this issue and recognize the problems that tariffs are causing. i thank the president, and i yield the floor. . a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from colorado. mr. hickenlooper: mr. president, this month my fellow colleagues

in the senate, the republican senate members, are working to pass a budget proposal that i feel can best be described as dangerous. their plan is going to dramatically reduce and gut services like medicaid and snap, getting food to hungry, low-income workers. it will strip health care away from most likely 16 million americans, and threaten millions of seniors living in nursing homes. all of this is focused really on just trying to get larger tax breaks to very wealthy people who don't really -- in most cases don't really want them or the largest corporations. this lavish, and i think lavish is the only word that describes it fairly, this lavish tax bill gives more to the top earners,

while taking away from americans with the least. but it really doesn't have to be that way. if republicans could focus on extending tax cuts for working families, rather than the wealthiest, they could in and of that self, that one effort, that one initiative, they could avoid ripping away health care from more than 15 or 16 million americans and gutting our much-needed investments in climate change, and fighting climate change and to make sure we have lower energy prices. instead they are going full-steam ahead with what is really a god-awful bill. i want to focus on another part of this plan, how it explodes our national debt and really risks our economic future. many proponents of the bill love to him and law about being --

hymn and haw. back when i started a brew pub, and i know something about fiscal responsibility, it's not partisan. at its best fiscal responsibility should be bipartisan. i can definitely say this bill we're looking at is the opposite of fiscal responsibility. it's fiscal madness. this is a massive spending bill that will create the largest national dead in american history. you don't have to take words for it. you can look at the numbers. the nonpartisan congressional budget office, estimates that the house republican plan, so this is a plan coming over from the house, would add $2.7 trillion, that's trillion with a t, $2.7 trillion to the deficit over the next decade.

the penn wharton model which includes the additional interest payments from that debt year after year after year suggested would add up to not just $2.7 trillion, but more like 2.2 or $2.3 trillion. the senate bill our colleagues are putting together are making many of the mistakes, i think by measures the business person would look at is it is reckless. the tax cuts would, again, at least in colorado, the people i talked to aren't seeking these tax cuts. and they -- you know, under this tax plan that is coming over to us right now, those tax cuts for the very wealthy are coming instead of expanding access to health care or building roads or improving our schools.and more o

paying off the massive debt, paying the interest on the massive debt than all our defense spending combined. it will become more than 25% of our federal budget just to pay the interest on the debt. now if that sounds like a bad idea to you, it's because it is. and the markets agree. moody's, the last major credit rating agency to maintain the u.s. at its highest level of rating, its highest designee, a safe place to invest your money, downgraded our credit rating. that's the first time that happened and it shook investors that moody would downgrade our credit rating. investors aren't confident that the u.s. will be able to pay its debts, and that's, at least in

terms of moody's, has never happened before. and it's really just going to lead to more trouble. those investors who buy those ten-year bonds and help pay for our national dead are demanding higher returns because they view it as a riskier investment. since you've got to get a track -- track that investment, that means you have to offer higher interest rates, which means you have higher borrowing costs. that means that coloradans and americans are going to pay higher interest rates when they want to buy a house or expand their business or if they want to pay off their credit cards, they're going to have to pay more because the interest rates are going to be higher. now americans are already plenty concerned about rising prices for good reason. this whole system could lead to the dreaded stagflation.

this could all become a one-two punch to working families. all the while, the wealthiest families end up being better off. now, we don't need to do this. we can certainly grow our economy, we can help working families and we can cut the deficit. we were able to balance the budget all eight years i was mayor of denver, all eight years i was governor, and still grow our investments in our roads, in our education system, in our health care system. we also did this with the inflation reduction act, which has dramatically lowered a number of prescription drug costs, it expanded health care access and in the process created hundreds of thousands of good jobs.

the republican budget, i think, does the opposite. we also can't forget that this budget comes in the midst of the trump administration's efforts around tariffs, what our good friend, the senator from washington, was just talking about when she described the consequences of smoot-and how that led to a global slowdown in the overall economy. we all know that these tariff taxes are hidden -- not so hidden, but they're tax on the american people. they raise taxes on everything from groceries to kitchen appliances. now, none of this is a growth strategy. it really is a recipe for recession at the best, stagflation at the worst.

we can't borrow millions, we can't borrow billions, we can't borrow trillions just to hand out tax cuts to the top when working families are struggling to afford everyday goods. it doesn't add up. it never has, it never will. there are many issues that may be partisan, with but being financially responsible shouldn't be one of them. neither should good, strong economies, neither should economic fairness, neither should protecting working families. they really -- they don't have to do it this way. now, i'm always game to roll up my sleeves and dig into the balance sheet, but we haven't seen from the other side that they're willing to negotiate or really invest in the long-term economic growth.

i'd suggest that we write a budget that reflects our values and put -- puts tax cuts toward working families first. a budget that strengthens the middle class, one that keeps our economy strong, and will keep it growing for generations to come. this bill is not any of that. i urge my republican colleagues in the house and the senate not to temporarily put a -- a pass on their values and to support this. again, i think truly reckless fiscal bill. i hope that we can come together and together negotiate a better bill that does more economic growth and puts a far, far lesser penalty on the working people of america. thank you, mr. president.

i yield the floor. mr. cornyn: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from texas. mr. cornyn: mr. president, as every high school student of government knows, the constitution of the united states of america provides for three coequal branches of government, the legislative branch, under article 1, the judicial branch, under article 3, and the executive branch under article 2. what i'd like to talk about briefly is the role of the chief executive, the president of the united states. under our constitution, the president has vast authorities, the chief executive enforces federal laws, oversees the

entire federal executive branch of government, manages federal agencies and departments, includes appointing and removing high-ranking officials like cabinet members and agency heads subject to senate confirmation for certain positions. the president of the united states, the chief executive, is also the commander in chief. he leads our armed forces and directs military operations. while only congress can declare war, the president can deploy troops and respond to immediate threats often with congressional authorization, but not always. the president, the chief executive, the head of the executive branch can grant pardons and reprieves for federal crimes except in cases of impeachment. this power is nearly absolute and cannot be overturned. the president also has legislative powers in the form

of a veto. he can veto legislation passed by congress, preventing those acts of congress from becoming law unless both chambers override that veto with a with two-thirds majority vote. and while the president is not a legislator per se, he can propose legislation, and often does, and influences the legislative agenda by proposing budgets, delivering the state of the union address and advocating for certain policies. the president can, the chief executive of our government, can call special sessions of congress, and in rare cases actually adjourn congress if the house and the senate cannot agree on adjournment. the head of the executive branch, the president of the united states, is also our chief diplomat. he shapes u.s. foreign policy, negotiates treaties, and

appoints ambassadors with senate confirmation. the president can also enter into executive agreements with foreign nations which do not require senate approval but are binding during that president's term. the president is also -- as part of his diplomatic powers, serves as our primary representative in international relations. and then when it comes to journals, the article 3 branch, the president of the united states, the head of the executive branch, nominates federal judges, including supreme court judges, obviously subject to senate confirmation, as well as members of the inferior -- through the justice department and solicitor general the president can interpret

legal cases brought before federal courts. the president of the united states, the chief executive, can issue executive orders, as we've seen or directives or proclamations to implement policy, provided they align with existing law or constitutional authority. then in times of crisis, the president of the united states may assume broader authority under statutes like the national emergencies act, although such actions are subject to congressional oversight and review. and then there are the implied powers, as they've been called. historical president -- precedent and constitutional interpretation allow the president some flexibility y /* in areas like national security, economic management and crisis response. these are the powers that the

constitution and laws of the united states confer upon the head of the executive branch, the president of the united states. the president of the united states, of course, is elected by all the american people. but what -- what are we to do when the president of the united states is incapable of performing the duties of his office? who purports to act for the president if the president is incapable of acting himself? well, this was something that was contemplated, even as far back as "the federalist papers" during the founding of our country. alexander hamilton wrote in federalist 70, energy in the executive is the leading character in the definition of good government. it's essential to the protection of the community against foreign

attacks and to the steady administration of the laws. hamilton also warned of the dangers associated with a weak executive or a weak president. he said a feeble executive implies a feeble execution of the government. a feeble execution is but another phrase for bad execution, and a government ill executed, whatever it may be in theory must be in practice bad government. well, unfortunately, alexander hamilton's warnings ring true when we consider the presidency of joe biden. a weak, feeble executive who proved incapable of performing many of the duties of his office. last june during the presidential debate, the american people saw with their own eyes what many had known to be true but would not admit

publicly. our sitting commander in chief was suffering from severe cognitive decline. we now know that there was a conspiracy to hide the president's true condition by his family, by his staff, by the media, and by many public officials. we were told over and over again don't believe your lying eyes. jake tapper who coauthored amea culpa for the journalism profession summed it up this way. quote, what the world saw at joe biden's one and only 2024 debate was not an anomaly. it was not a cold. it was not someone who was under or overprepared. it was not somebody who was just a little tired. it was the natural result of an 81-year-old man whose

capabilities had been diminishing for years. biden, his family and his team let their self-interest and fear of intt trump term justify an attempt to put at an -- an at times addle old man in the oval office for four more years, close quote. mr. president, this is a true constitutional crisis, bigger than president biden, and it cannot be absolved by a collective apology by the press or an election where that president's party lost. we should know, the american people should know and still do not know precisely what should happen when a president is incapable of performing his or her constitutional duties. tomorrow i'll be cochairing along with my colleague from missouri senator eric schmitt in the senate judiciary committee a

hearing to delve into the constitutional implications of president biden's cognitive decline while in office. at that hearing we'll begin to address some of the many unanswered questions from this scandal, questions that are foundational to the functions of our form of government. one of the aims of the hearing will be shining a light on what exactly went on at the white house during the biden administration. the chain of events that occurred within the bide:administration matter -- biden administration matters, and we cannot discount it merely because he is no longer in office. with a compromised president, the very legitimacy of our government is undermined. from the biden border crisis to the disastrous results from the withdrawal in afghanistan, the american people were the ones who paid the price. and it's now clear that for many

months, no one knows exactly how long the president was simply not up to the task. so we have to ask difficult questions. like who was really in charge during the last months of the biden administration? was it his wife? other members of his family? was it his chief of staff? was it others? none of these individuals, whoever they may be, were elected by the american people. whoever happened to be making those decisions and carrying out the duties of the office of president was not somebody who was authorized by the constitution or by a vote of the american people. this, mr. president, is an existential threat to our democratic republic, this

threat, and it cannot be ignored. and it will not be ignored. history tells us this state of affairs was reminiscent of the wilson presidency where the first lady assumed many of her husband's duties during his infirmity but kept it secret. from the american people. it was one of the events that inspired those who drafted the 25th amendment of the united states constitution. certainly the american people did not consent to being governed by jill biden and they didn't elect the white house chief of staff or whoever else purported to act on the president's behalf. the hearing we'll hold tomorrow in the judiciary committee will examine in depth these constitutional questions and what happens when the president is no longer capable of

performing the duties of his office. our country has faced many difficult challenges in the past including succession of presidents. for example, when john f. kennedy was assassinated in 1963. in the aftermath of that assassination and the questions it raised, congress began considering a constitutional amendment about presidential succession. in 1965 senators birch aye and seller introduced a resolution to clarify the order and procedures of presidential succession. this resolution was the basis for the 25th amendment which congress approved in july of that same year. and of course for every constitutional amendment, every state must actually -- three-quarters of the state must actually ratify that resolution

and the states finished ratifying the 25th amendment in 1967 after it was first proposed in 1965. and president lyndon johnson certified the amendment that february. the 25th amendment to the constitution provides a road map for succession in instances of presidential incapacity. section 4 gives the vice president, in this case vice president harris, or a majority of the president's cabinet -- that would be president biden's cabinet -- it gives them the authority to challenge the president's ability to carry out the functions of his office subject to a vote in congress. but in this instance that we all witnessed less than a year ago, kamala harris and the cabinet did nothing. or rather they did something.

they hid the truth from the american people. so who, mr. president, this hearing will ask, is accountable when the cabinet fails to do its duty, when the vice president fails to do her duty under section 4 of the 25th amendment? are there penalties for failing to act? is there any accountability whatsoever? should there be? the framers of this amendment wanted it to be possible yet difficult to remove a president when absolutely necessary. ultimately, though, they acknowledged that the execution of the 25th amendment would depend on the good faith of the cabinet and the vice president. but biden's cabinet did not act in good faith.

nor did the vice president herself. they acted in their political and personal self-interest. this is the paradox of self-government. many of the rules, traditions, and institutions that sustained our republic are self-executing, self-enforcing. and so the health and legitimacy of our democratic republic rests on the character of the men and women who serve in government. this brings us to the most crucial questions we will address in the hearing. why was the 25th amendment not invoked and what factors do we need to look at that may have played a role in congressional inaction. most importantly, as part of our legislative responsibilities, should congress consider amending the 25th amendment further to further clarify

responsibilities and protocols in case this disaster befalls our nation again? as a government, as an american people, it's imperative that we have clear contingency plans when emergency strikes. and yes, it is an emergency when we have a sitting president who's unable to discharge the duties of his office. he certainly could not have been trusted to make one of the gravest decisions that faces any president in history. what to do in matters of war and peace. a situation that feels all that much more real given the current events in the middle east. the concerns raised by this incident stretch beyond the boundaries of bipartisan politics. we must not turn away from the search for answers, and it is

not an overstatement to say the future of our country could one day hinge on how we choose to act or not act on this issue. so tomorrow's hearing is a first important step in preserving this land of the free for future generations. and these united states, those in authority derive their power from the consent of the governed, but during much of the last four years, we know that our country was largely led by unelected staff whose names are unknown by the american people. i look forward to tomorrow's hearing examining these hard but existentially important questions that must be answered from this monumental scandal. mr. president, 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.

the health provisions of this big ugly betrayal. not only does the republican monstrosity of a bill make healthcare more expensive and harder to get. they are also trying to stop health plans from covering abortion altogether. this bill would effectively ban health insurance on the aca marketplaces from covering abortion. this would send a shockwave through the country and bring care out of reach for women.

it would be a nightmare for states like mine that require plans to cover abortion and it would be yet another blow for women across the country as abortion access gets pushed further and further out of reach by white -- right-wing politicians that think they should get to make deeply personal decisions about women's health and their lives. the attacks do not stop there. they want to defund land parenthood. that is wildly unpopular with the american people. it is wildly dangerous for patients who turn to planned parenthoodwy for a very wide spectrum of care including cancer screenings and pap smears and birth control. if it were successful, republicans would be closing the doors to 200 health centers and that includes heading the number health centers and states with abortion access.

integrating digital assets into the u.s. economy in a responsible way. i want to congratulate my friend, senator hagerty, for this achievement and thank him for his incredible leadership on this bill. he's been a true ally of the digital asset industry, and i'm so proud to have worked with him on his genius act over the past few months. since 2017, wyoming has been on the forefront of digital asset policy, long before it was popular or politically expedient. in wyoming, we recognized early on what the rest of the country is beginning to understand -- that digital assets are a force for good and that you can have both responsible innovation and

consumer protection side by side. the genius act protects the dual banking system and gives stablecoin issuers a real choice between state and federal charters, preserving the innovative spirit that has also made stitt states like wyoming -- states like this wyoming leaders in the united states while also ensuring that we have robust oversight when necessary. in legislation is also about economic security and opportunity. it protects the u.s. dollar's role as the world reserve currency by ensuring that dollar-backed stablecoins remain strong and reliable. most of all, it ensures american consumers and businesses can participate in the digital economy with confidence and security. the sobering reality is that

even while we have been negotiating, other nations have been hard at work offering their own frameworks and encouraging the digital asset industry to call their respective countries home. america's role as the global financial services leader is a privilege, not a right, and we must innovate to compete with other nations that want to attract american businesses. this is only the first step. congress must pass comprehensive market-structured legislation in the coming months that draws a line between a security and a commodity and creates a pathway for digital asset exchanges to register with the commodity futures trading commission. working on this legislation has begun in earnest, and in the coming weeks, the senate will begin to hold hearings and

release draft legislation on this critical topic. i look forward to working with chairman scott, leader thune, and senator tillis on getting market structure done this year. i'm proud to deliver on president trump's promise to lead the most pro-digital asset administration in our history. he understands that making america the crypto capital of the world isn't just good policy, it's an economic imperative. this legislation proves that when we work together, we can craft solutions that protect consumers without sacrificing innovation. the time for hesitation has passed. the time for leadership is now. i want to thank leader thune and chairman scott for their

unwavering commitment to get this critical piece of legislation across the finish line. i want to thank my colleagues and our staff for the absurd number of hours that we spent in windowless rooms over the last weeks to bring this bill to the finish line. it's not too late for america to show the world that our nation doesn't just adapt to change; we lead it. let's get genius passed and secure america's financial future. mr. president, i yield back. and i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

the clerk: ms. alsobrooks. republicans looking to rip away healthcare from millions more americans, the callousness does not stop there. they are also fighting to take american rights away in terms. this is a back door abortion ban

snuck into the bill by the republican senators because they like their constituencies are anti-choice. right now, senate democrats will fight these devastating and deadly measures with everything we've got. everything including the birdbath. it's one of these provisions must be susceptible to the birdbath we don't know but we will certainly make the argument against both provisions. one a little more than the other but the senate democrats that we stand together, we fight back against republicans every single step of the way. because as abe lincoln said public sentiment is everything, public sentiment is completely on our side, we will win this fight. we will never stop doing until we deal.

>> thank you, mr. leader. i want to start by taking a moment on reflecting over the weekend. they had very close to home with my constituents that were grieving alongside the midwestern neighbors. sadly, for those from planned parenthood in their reproductive immunity, to. my heart goes out to the victims , those grieving, those fighting for their lives

and to take away a woman's right to choose. we are not going silently into the night. at the ballot box in poll after poll, what i hear as i traveled the state is that women want their right to choose. there want their fundamental freedoms back. they want affordable healthcare, they want affordable healthcare options. this republican bill would do just the opposite. jacking up healthcare costs, limiting affordable options and taking away more women's rights to control their own bodies.

it is wrong, it is not what americans want and we are going to fight it. thank you. >> our next speaker is the president and ceo of planned parenthood and has done a great, great job. >> thank you, leader schumer. thank you, senator baldwin for being such fierce champions today. we are here today because republicans want to use their big bad betrayal to make it even harder to get an abortion in the united states. they are willing to harm patients across the country to do it. if president trump signed this into law health centers can

close 1.1 million patients can lose access to care. abortion is legal. one in four abortion providers nationwide. from receiving federal subsidies federal dollars already do not cover abortion care.

the real goal is to make it harder for everyone to get. >> federal communications commission to be a member. >> the question is on the nomination the clerk: 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. mr. cassidy. we are not only joined by senator padilla, amy klobuchar and the family who watched the amazing speech in the gallery. we have angela his wife and roman, one of his kids. we are proud to have them here with us. our whole caucus, i just have to say, completely moved by alex, what he said on the floor and then what he said to us privately in the room there. we had a great discussion. i have to find my remarks. i will read alex's, but not as eloquentlymr. i would have my speech. you know what we are going to do , it is not in the folder.

there is a folder, but it is empty. i will call on alex first. i should do that anyway and then i will go after him. >> alex. thank you. i want to think my colleagues. most importantly, my wife, my sons for their love, they are so were. particularly the last week or so many. thank you all for being here, for listening and i'm hoping that you all saw and heard my remarks on the floor just a little while ago. i do take so many of my colleagues that took time out of their busy schedules to be there , to listen and to support. i will not repeat the entire

speech but i do think that there are couple things emphasizing beginning to do with the record of the united senate democratic caucus. to withdraw the military from the city of los angeles. we cannot and will not stand by while this administration attempts to militarize our cities. and to ignore the laws passed by this congress. as i mentioned during the floor speech, today the focus is los angeles. the administration has laid the groundwork to try any city and any state in the country. and that is just wrong. also, what happened to me last week was really not about me.

if this is how the administration responds to a united states senator who simply wanted to ask a question as part of our oversight responsibility as congress, imagine what they are capable of doing and what they are doing all across the country right now. while the cameras are not rolling. i am speaking up because this is about every single american who cherishes our constitution, our freedoms and our rights. federal lies in california's national guard and bypassing the governor's authority should be a wake-up call to everybody. as i said, it's happening california today, but it can happen in any state tomorrow. now, on friday i did have a small glimmer of hope because i

heard an announcement by the administration that the department of homeland security was ordered to pull back from aggressive enforcement actions in hotels, and restaurants in agricultural fields. even before they reversed that directive yesterday, more chaos, more confusion, there was also that announcement that there's highlighting. yesterday morning, we saw that trump via social media has said, oh, no, we are doubling down on the targeting of the loose cities. it is a blatant artisan attack and nothing less. we all have a responsibility to speak out. we all have a responsibility to speak up and push back before it

is too late. you also what happened. having the audacity to ask a question. despite that, i will continue to speak up because i will not and we cannot give in to the overreach of this administration thank you. >> waiting around for a few questions. i just have to say, i hope anyone here who did not watch his speech watches it. there are all kinds of things that i did not see reported in the media until i heard him say. it was basically a strong plea for america to regain the

gyroscope of democracy. now we are losing it. liberating los angeles. what is going on here? please watch that speech. it was really powerful. it was a wake-up call. democrat and republican. i was glad to see some of my republican stayed and listened to the speech about the democracy. okay. let me just say something about what happened in our mansfield room briefing. first, i want to be really clear about the capital police. they have always been the silent heroes behind the scenes keeping our members say.

it is no secret that the country saw that on january 6. and in the footage after. after the awful assassination this weekend not just here in the capital, but with folks across the country about the safety of elected officials and in that meeting, many of our colleagues got up and told how they had been under real duress in terms of being threatened in one way or another. one way or another. we need a full investigation of who was making those threatened to stop. not just stop it, to make sure the whole force of the law is used against them because almost all of these with what was done was criminal in my judgment. so, in any case, public servants and ordinary citizens should not have to fear their lives simply

for doing their jobs. we believe we have to take immediate steps to make sure the safety of members and that includes significant funding and resources to the police. inside that room nodding their heads and some who spoke out in favor of it. we sort of demand to be bipartisan. aims at providing for them. the program called aimed at spotting them is a program to spot loan actor violent domestic extremists. taken out of that program and put in other roles. since trump took office, the

administration has sunk, the program that goes after people like this to 10 people led by a 22-year-old graduate with no law enforcement experience. they should change that immediately. it is just incredible. with everything going on they are just cutting cutting cutting right now we need to give our law enforcement more resources to prevent horrific that. but i want to be clear about something. the dangerous environment is not spontaneous. it is being stoked often deliberately by reckless rhetoric coming from the most powerful voices in the country. it is the responsibility of leaders, especially the president to not just unequivocally but stop the violence of aggressive language used. we are opponent.

as he has tried to make us be. that kind of rhetoric is dangerous and inflammatory. cutting the programs to prevent these tragedies. let me speak for a minute on the cuts, the big ugly betrayal. amy has insisted using the word betrayal and she is right. it is great work. last night republicans drop the much-anticipated portion of the big ugly betrayal. who would have thought that the bill could get worse in the senate when everyone thought that it could get better at least a little closer to what the american people want but it got worse. they wanted more extreme. devastating cuts at the house.

they keep raising it from 13 to 14 to 16. it will go i am sure it will be more than 16 million. they will be nothing short of a backdoor abortion ban. they do nothing to modify these horrible strangulation.

the clean energy economy. they up the deadlines. hydro. the biggest producers of clean energy when dan solar are still virtually eliminated by this bill. virtually eliminated. 800,000 jobs. lower energy costs. all gone. in fact, it is estimated that at minimum, this bill would raise the average american's electricity bill. they are cutting jobs and raising costs. american people. the legislation is going to surrender our clean energy leadership to china. that is what it will do.

china in 10 years will just dominate clean energy if this bill passes and tap the american consumer, you can be sure that china will get chinese consumers shipping jobs overseas. tax cuts for billionaires. at greater length. republicans their fundamental belief is held them out the tippy top. the greedy powerful influential group headed have the republican party's year and they just listen to them. they bow down in obedience to them. a very unpopular bill. they showed how the american people so much this bill.

those that know about it in more and more know about it and it's our job to get them to know about it. so, folks, we will fight this bill in every way that we can. with that, senator klobuchar went through a very harrowing experience this weekend. we talked regularly about it. i would like to call on her now. >> thank you, everyone. thank you, chuck and thank you ron and alex. if you did not see it, you should see. knowing how proud along with your brothers. thank you. we went through a devastating weekend in minnesota. you all know that. senator smith and myself. really, our entire state. we witnessed horrific murders. a good friend of mine and we prayed for this speedy recovery

for senator hoffman. they were -- shot nine times. it was phenomenal. they were called, they called to the scene of the shootings. they communicated at three in the morning. got them to other locations. going to two places before he shot the hortman spirit to additional places. one was not home and the other would have shot the legislator but the cops were there. they arrived just as he is shooting them and murdering them and they are able to locate information that stopped the spree and eventually caught him. i would just tell you about melissa because people would just love her if they knew her. i got to know her mom. both going door to door. she was a phenomenal speaker.

she got there after being a girl scout leader, after teaching sunday school. she trained dogs for veterans. she had one dog that was just too friendly to be focused on one. loving everyone in -- the murderer shot that dog and the two kids. they had to make a decision to put the dog down this weekend. i just and with what colin and sophie said about their mom and dad. they issued the first statement and in part they said they were the bright lights at the center of our lives. it is to do something. whether big or small to make our community just a little bit better for somebody else. that is what we try to do every day. what he did with his speech.

what we do in ways that are big and small every day. i hope that this will bring people together so we do something more about security so we bring down the rhetoric, do something about what is going on online. we have jobs to do. and we all know that. one of them is to engage in civil debate. not the horror show that we saw this weekend. but to actually debate consequential issues for the people of this country and one of them is this bill. so, trying to work together better does not mean that you call things out when their bad. this bill is bad. a big beautiful betrayal. it gives a whole bunch of tax cuts to the wealthiest. to give you some examples, it lowers the incomes of the average full-time worker making minimum wage by over $700 while giving nearly a $400,000 tax break to people making over $4 million a year.

it increases mortgages to regular people because of all the debt that piles on. while spending 400 billion to lower the tax rate for people lowering $2600 here. by 800 per year by giving big corporations more than $1 trillion. we just got the numbers today on the senate side. ron will explain raising grocery costs for millions. raising costs for energy to education. this is not what the republicans or donald trump promised the american people when they went to the voting booth. this is the opposite. this is no surprise and what came out today that twice american 42% oppose 23% support

poll after poll 60 some percent. so much for the wealthy and somewhat 30% help the middle class in their right. rubberstamping this bill at least for republican senators should stand up call it out for what it is and they should start over. thank you chuck. >> let me first just say i saw and admire my colleague from the west for his dignity and carrying i have never heard him even even before what happened in los angeles. raising his voice in a typical situation. this is the person that we admire so much. so much of our country is wrestling with chaos.

i just wanted to take a minute. working on a big economic piece of legislation. so vulnerable who wrestle every day for the food bill against the rent bill. and now they will get pushed up against it. every week trying to figure out how they will make ends meet.

we will have milder and a more gentle bill in the house of representatives. in american history. these deeper cuts in medicaid back in central health providers plus our states that are on a funding cliff. being put in a position where they, too will be unable to help

though vulnerable. senator schumer and i have led the effort to try to hold down energy bills for those who are vulnerable in america. and in particular, we want to keep these tax incentives because these tax incentives and sure that we will have good paying jobs and we will be in a position to prevent price hikes in energy. but, we are met with opposition. i can tell you this senate bill as it is written is a stake in the heart of the solar manufacturing industry. the reason that this is so important is because of growth, we need more energy and even people who run gas companies are saying we need the electrons from renewable energy.

so, we will continue, and my colleague from minnesota touched on it very well. to advance the cause peacefully, fairly, to try to listen to all sides but give everybody in america the chance to get a chance ahead not just the people at the top, that is not an agenda that we are all about. we are all about giving everybody a fair shot. the spirit and the dignity of the padilla family today, i want to let you know we will pursue this legislation in a thoughtful way trying to make sure that everybody can be heard. a better bill a bill that is in line with the spirit for what our country is all about. thank you, leader. >> we will take questions for any of us. >> go ahead.

>> requiring congressional approval into israel. >> i believe congress and the senate, senate democrats, if necessary, will not hesitate to exercise our authority. [inaudible] >> this is the kind of coarseness that america does not like. they are just unrelenting and diversionary actions. this has nothing to do with cutting medicaid costs, cutting medicaid help, helping clean energy keeping hungry kids fed. it is one of the many circus -like diversions that has a lot of sounded eerie signifying nothing. who wrote that? who wrote that? >> that is shakespeare.

i think it is william faulkner. he copied shakespeare. >> so you get to question. i was thinking faulkner. >> one of the greatest writers of all time. >> i can never say the county. he has a fictional county. go ahead. the next speaking a little bit earlier today. can you talk about the resources that are needed? >> we need significantly more resources. obviously in a senate that is more controlled by republicans we need their support. a good number of republicans in the room some with real authority on the appropriations committee said we needed to. people are getting threats back

all the time. i know most of them. some are revealed in the room. they did not tell anyone about them. >> on that note, i think it is important to add where it is from the senator as a top democrat. committee. directly and closely the sergeant and arms with the capital police. god bless them for what they are able to deal with their existing budgets with their existing resources whatever is necessary to address in the short-term, not alone. leveraging that partnership with our state, law enforcement agents local, sheriff's department and police departments throughout the country. in the short term i just want to speak up for them and for member safety. yes, for the long-term it needs to be a significant further resources.

>> as you know after january 6 we have a new police chief in our getting another one. a new sergeant and arms. we went from 1700 threats in 2016. two over 9000 threats against members of congress. we also have seen more threats against judges and the like. the funding is a major piece of it. other things i have mentioned is doing something like we did with judges from other addresses, he went to the addresses that he knew. he did not go there. he went to the addresses that he knew. we have long advocated for some changes. i believe we have growing

support for that. bringing the temperature down. looking in the mirror. i just want to —-dash. >> senator lee took down his tweets related to the shooting. he said he had a conversation with you on that. do you feel better about the direction this is headed after that conversation? >> we spoke with senator lee about the future. i told him publicly through this day. spent the weekend locked in our homes in certain areas depending on where we thought the murder went. beloved republicans in our state very strong against this violence. ....

the clerk: mrs. shaheen, no. mr. tillis, aye.

blah good afternoon everyone. we have received in the house budget reconciliation bill in the finance committee has completed its portion of it and it was released in text last night. we believe it leads to a stronger and more prosperous america and so we are excited to get this bill out and on the floor. i want to applaud the members of the senate finance committee and particularly chairman mike crapo for the yeoman's work that he did to ensure that this product got out there and everybody has had a chance to look at it but we are excited about what it does for a number of reasons. does create permanent in a lot of areas of the tax bill. the 27 tax rates and makes

permanent the expanded child tax credit increase standard deduction. it makes permanent a lot of the business tax deductions which will lead to growthks and expansion and better paying jobs in the course includes many of president trump's promises on the campaign trail including no tax on tips and no tax on overtimes and reduce taxes for seniors and on the business side we believe making permanent a lot of the tax provisions will lead to the growth in the economy that will create those better paying jobs leading to a stronger and more prosperous country. obviously if you look at what happens if we don't do this, the alternative i don't think it's an universe that anyone wants to live in because it means a the poor billion dollar tax increase at the end of the year on the american people, 2.6 trillion of that tax increase will fall on

families making less than four and a thousand dollars a year and $600 billion of that tax increase will hit small businesses but that's the alternative if we don't take steps to act it includes a number of reforms despite medicating away that make it stronger and gets it back to what it was designed to do for the people was intended to benefit. we had an opportunity to hear from the cms administrator dr. oz. he talked about the provisions of the bill and i'm going to ask him to come up and speak to that followed by senator barrasso and then we'd be happy to take your questions.fe >> i think the senate for letting me address them today t lunch and the president and vice president as well. the comments cleans the scope of this bill. i want to be straightforward with the simple comment.

this is the most ambitious health reform bill ever in our history and it could not come at a better time. we have a market that's causing lots of peril to americans who need our help the most the most vulnerable amongst us and want to suffer the most if we don't get the bill through. it's investing $200 billion more money roughly over the next decade than the current level of spending. it's not going to go to the $1 trillion of spending that would other cause -- otherwise occur. it's going to curb the growth in medicaid which has changed 50% in its expense over the last five years by doing if you things including reduction of fraud waste and abuse an aggressive program to make sure the right people who are eligible are adjudicated to being eligible and the work requirement is part of that equationki ensuring what is good for the individual some popular amongst the american people the idea that you should be trying

to work or volunteer or get educated, participate in your community in some way and by doing that demonstrate you are trying your hardest to help this country be greater by fulfilling the jobs we have open. by doing that you are in the right to be on medicaid. these programs we believe can roll out successfully. we have powerful tools using apps on people's phones. 91% of medicaid patients have a smartphone that would help them identify how many hours you work and what you got paid and to do that in a fashion and we believe we can roll it out in 18 months. we had the ahead of the usds to accomplish the goals we can accomplish it within 18 months that the bill offers. there's more to speak about in this bill but at the summary level it builds a strong framework to allow us to do the right thing for the american people by allowing the systems

to align with the needs of the federal government and the states analyzing the needs of the federal government states that can serve the american american people must effectively. the current system doesn't do that. we are hurting the ability of the government to work through the system and these are the changes that can be beneficial. thank you again to the senate who attended the lunch of the vice president and president for attending today. >> republicans are united and committed to a safer and more prosperous prosperous america predicted that the first thing we need to do is prevent this for trillion dollar tax increase and to stop that from happening but will be largest tax increase in the history of our country and we hit every hard-working family's paycheck bottom line in their purses in their pockets.

no tax on tipson no tax on overtime no tax on social security. in terms of the safety of american people a secure supporting gives i.c.e. agents what they need to keep our country safe. following four years of american weakness abroad it rebuilt a military to bring back america's strength. republicans are committed to continuing fulfilling the promise of lower cost higher wages and bringing jobs back to america. >> globe administration consider changes in the tax [inaudible] >> we do not believe addressing the provider tax the effort is going to save viable -- the provider tax and directed

payments are often used of the institutions that have a connection to the government and the state. it's important to clean up the system. these programs have grown dramatically but the provider tax which has dramatically increased once it was in parent you could game the system is becoming a dominant part of financing or states and that is not where the money should be going. the money should be in a transparent way. there better ways to look at the needs. people who need the money to get the best care possible will be awarded in ways that cms in the federal government can do more effectively for the american people. the details of language are up to leadership at the specifics in the framework of addressing the money laundering the state-directed payments should be in this film i believe it will be in the bill.

[inaudible] and other nonpartisan observers that more than 10 million people will go without health coverage under the house-passed version of the bill we did it effectively an experiment over the last two years where we began to reverse some of the rules under the biden administration around medicaid and that's unraveling of that system had 15 million americans leave medicaid. so when you are trying to analyze what happens to people in medicaid it's not an economic analysis. vote, the yeas are 53, the nays are 45, and the nomination is confirmed. under the previous order, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, and the president the senate's action.

under the previous order, the senate will resume legislative session and will record s. 1528. the clerk: a bill to provide for the regulation of stbsz. the presiding officer: the clerk will will read the title for a third time. the clerk: ale bill to provide for payment of stablecoins and for other purposes. the presiding officer: the question is on the passage of the bill, as amended. 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.

the clerk: mrs. blackburn. mr. blumenthal. ms. blunt rochester. mr. booker.

>> we are here today because the scam threat is real for all the financial victims and perpetrators are getting more bold more and more global by the day. transnational organized crime groups are targeting all of us at the industrial scale fraud. these aren't smalltime loan wills crooks. they are sophisticated criminal networks operating with precision across the borders. they exploit technology including artificial technology and art draining billions of dollars from american households. the federal trade commission estimates that scammers stole

$158 billion from americans in 2023, almost 62 billion of that was stolen from our senior citizens. $62 billion would fund the entire department of justice for a year and a half. it would fund all public university tuition or u.s. undergraduates for a year, so we are talking about a lot of money. so where's it going? the transnational crime networks are using american dollars for drug trafficking, human trafficking, arms trafficking and other projects along that line.

according to, according to 2023 gallup pole, scams are americans second highest crime concern just after fear of identity theft. nearly half of americans say that they have encountered a cyberattack were digital scam attempt. 8% of u.s. adults, that's 21 million americans, were scammed in the past year. that means more than 57,000 americans are being scammed each day. scammers are extremely convincing and their tactics are very effective. calls from foreign countries appear on cellphones at the

local bank branch number. the local police department, or another trusted entity. artificial intelligence needs just 17 words for a person's real voice to create an entire script that sounds like that individual. so, it's believable and when a caller that sounds just like your child or grandchild claims to need $2000 after at fault car accident or for some other reason there's a scam out there designed to entrap each of us. americans are pressured, coerced, coaxed, encouraged or even romance into emptying their

savings, draining their retirement and wiring funds to accounts controlled by criminal organizations in other countries. crime groups in are known for internet scams and crime groups in india are known for tech support scams. chinese gangs run scam centers in southeast asia were trafficked individuals are often forced to m carry out scam efforts. those scams affect all americans we focus this hearing on older americans for few reasons. first, older folks are suffering, over a third of all scam losses.

they often have accumulated more wealth than younger americans so they have more to lose. second, seniors belonged to a generation it's more likely to answer the phone and more likely to experience loneliness and isolation. directly related to age. lastly exploitation increase this the risk of physical and mental health issues particularly for older people. people who have been scammed often experience shame, anxiety, depression post-traumatic stress. they also have an increased risk of suicidal thoughts and actions. this isn't just a call to protect the elderly. it's a call to defend our country's integrity, its

financial security and a moral obligation to protect the innocent. therefore i call on senator durbin we will have a two-minute video demonstrating what we all know is going on. proceed with the video, please. >> mom, it's me. i'm in trouble. it's your loved ones voice and they are in trouble you do anything to help them. but it's not actually them for new software can be create the voices of loved ones in distress and scammers use it to ask for large sums of money for the federal trade commission is making ai robo-calls a top prior to and educating people on the issue. >> romance scams are skyrocketing. claims grew 25% from 2019 to

2021 according to the fbi. and i'm a fraud victim. my story -- [inaudible] romance scams are big business for criminals. they prey on your heartstrings. >> it's a reality for millions of people worldwide. 45% of all crimes are fraud. where blame, shame. but by blaming the victims we always let the criminals win so i'm asking you to take action now. senator durbin. and thanks mr. chairman. i want to apologize for being late for the hearing. we had bipartisan briefing this morning with senator and schumer to discuss their assassination

of officials in minnesota over the weekend. and also the experience of a member of the subcommittee senator padilla in los angeles last friday. it was a sobering presentation on the question of the assassination and of all ability of many people in public life today. i would say it calls for action in this committee is going to be at the heart of it. we are responsible for oversight from the department of justice, the department ofhy homeland security and i believe we will be called on to consider legislation on the subject in a timely fashion. that is the reason i was late and certainly no disrespect for the important topic we are discussing for the amount of fraud perpetrated against older americans is overwhelming but according to the fbi people aged 60 and older reported

$4.9 billion, that's billion dollars stolen in an average of $83,000 last year. 43% from the previous year. while elder fraud is a growing threat as the chairman said because the victims fear embarrassment or lack of resources. new technologies like crypto currency's atms plus a heightened risk for older americans who are considering crypto currency regulation going forward today. we may vote on today. many of us have amendments without tougher but in fort wayne and no amendments will be allowed any member of the senate. it regulates the safety of crypto atms. whether crypto atms? they are machines you may find it a grocery or shop for you do business. it looks like you can buy a bitcoin and that's all there is to it. but there's much more to the story. crypto atms look like a regular atm a finding gas

stations grocery stores. the big differences instead of depositing money with your bank to crypto atm allows customers to purchase crypto currency. something called bitcoin. these crypto atms have become a favorite tool of scammers because once the victim purchases crypto entrance or is it to criminals digital wallet is virtually impossible to trace or recover it. the scammers might be using technology, new technology but they are following an old playbook. they call their victim and pretend to be from the victim's bank for impersonating a government official and they announce to the victim that they miss to jury duty and because of that they have to pay a fine to avoid a trial or find they go to bitcoin machine a deposit thousands of dollars. if it sounds impossible, it happens all the time.

they say the victim most money for skipping jury duty to give that love won out of jail. my wife got a call from our grandson she was supposed to send money because he had been in auto accident she called me somebody think i should do and i said let me ask my grandson who's standing next to me whether he was in an auto accident in the answer was obviously no, is a scam. they saved the only way to make the problem go ways to pay a fine or a fee and go to the closest -- but it -- crypto atm scams it to $247 million in losses in 2024. 31% increase over the previous year. make no mistake the crypto atm companies know that their machines are involved in this fraud could one crypto atm operator bitcoin depot wrote in

an sec filing quote or products and services may be exploited to facilitate illegal activity such as fraud and money laundering gambling tax evasion scams. that is a stunning admission in their own corporate product but it gets worse. i don't want this to be personal. an investigation by iowa's own attorney general found over 98% of the money that the people in iowa reported sending through bitcoin depot as part of the scam transaction. 98%. can you imagine? crypto atms are being exploited and being used and misused obviously over and over again. and crypto currency in general there's increasing use of fraud. in 2024 the fbi recorded crypto crimes are up 66%. americans lost $9.3 billion to

crypto scammers. nearly 150,000 complaints were filed involving crypto fraud including more than 6000 employees in my own home state and more than one third of all fraud complaints filed by americans were over the age of 50. statistics on can't paint a complete picture. in lmi an elderly woman lost $40,000, her entire life savings. she couldn't get around very well the scammer called an uber card to pick her up and driver to a local crypto atm. this heartwrenching story and many more like it are the reason i introduced the crypto atm fraud prevention act with senators blumenthal read and welch. it will allow crypto atm operators to register warned customers about scams create transaction limits so customers won't lose their life savings. the bill requires operators to

refund new customers who've been defrauded. we have got to do more to protect the people particularly vulnerable older americans. for god sakes they have paid their dues they went to work and saved up for years of savings and maybee have a little social savings and to be ripped off by one of the scams has to be beyond embarrassing and destructive of their lifestyle. soon it thank you very much and i'd like to introduce our witnesses. ms. april helms the daughter of a romance scam victim and a founding board member of a nonprofit called educating against romance scammers. following her mother's tragic death is helms has dedicated her life to spreading awareness about romance scams and helping those victims but she's also

hosts a podcast called skimmers stories where she is interviewed over 100 people from all walks of life who experienced scams. ms. jolene guenther the national director of aarp's bank safety initiative a comprehensive intervention platform that equips financial services industry to prevent and stop financial exploitation of older adults. in her work she engages front-line employees at banks, credit unions, investment firms, retailers and other providers of financial products and services. under her guidance aarp's bank

safe initiative has trained one in 10 financial industry frontline employees and saved older adults more than $100 million from exploitation. ms. guenther holds a j.d. degree from the university of utah, master's degree in social work from the university in st. louis. after ms. guenther we have joshua come executive director of the industry group and vice president of policies and efficacy that u.s. telecom, the broadband association through the trace that group -- trace

back group and leads and identify to identify source stop the illegal calls and his u.s. telecom world he heads u.s. telecom policy development and efficacy, digital trust and consumer protection. before joining u.s. telecom he was a partner at the d.c. telecommunications law firm in private practice where he worked on automating calling related legal regulatory and policy agents. brady penta founder and ceo of the national elder fraud coordination center where he served in the fbi from most 25 years where his work focused on

combating organized crime gangs and child for another fee. he also served as supervisor of the cross-border violence task force where he specialized in transnational organized crime investigations including kidnappings, murders, cartel finance and money laundering. in 2018 he established the fbi's elder justice task force and this year he opened and leads the national elder fraud coordination center to combat scams by analyzing private and public sector through an organized crime lens and puts cases together in creates high dollar investigative federal law enforcement investigations great before you begin your testimony

these where members this hearing -- we will swear in members of this hearing so please rise. do you swear and affirm that the testimony you're about to give before this committee will be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help you god? >> they all answered positively. ms. helms. >> yankee senator grassley and senator durbin for the opportune to speak with you today. my name is april helms. i'm here because my mother sherry tyson was $350,000 to romance scam before her passing and 2020 will undergo treatment for late stage cancer. it's been a long frustrating and heartbreaking journey that has brought me to this moment. before i share the details want to express how surreal it is

that i'm sitting here with you today. in 2018 undergoing cancer treatment she became even more isolated. one day while i was headed to a football game in my hometown i received a text from her that said, i gave all my money away. i have nothing. i was in shock. she promised that she lost her apartment her car everything but i told her she could move in with me but on one condition and that was she couldn't talk to scammers at my house. she refused and she couldn't let go of the fantasy he sold her. instead she moved in with her sister in mobile alabama and when that didn't work as she asked me to computer so she could start fresh. we made a plan to move for that day that scammers had another plan. one of their tactics is to keep victims of lake all night exhausted and disoriented. that morning as my aunt and my

mother for preparing to leave my aunt who is sitting behind me today found her collapse on floor. she never made it. i believe with all of my heart that if it weren't for this scam i would have seen my mother that day. in the early days there was almost no information on line about the scams. someone with a background in radio news i launched the podcast to investigate to talk with other victims law enforcement experts. they interviewed people of all ages and professions smart people. a former cia -- he lost 1 million a son of a marriage counselor who lost money a woman married to a retired colonel for this crime isn't just happening to the elderly is happening to people my age and younger for the one my age in oklahoma made national news because her scam

scam -- and she's facing up to 62 years in prison. i interviewed scammers and so someone told me they like to target americans because we have money. and because of what we did with. many victims go to local authorities only to be told there's no crying because they gave their money away. victims feel abandoned ashamed attacked heavily for withdrawing their entire minute -- retirement savings. some take their own lives i serve on the board of advocating against romance scammers a national nonprofit focus on prevention education and advocacy. my mother deserves better. every victim does. we need congress to act to ensure no more families are shattered by this and complex crime. thank you for your time and thank you for listening to my mother story. a good morning.

my name is jolene guenther and i and the national director of aarp stay safe initiative. i'm honored to speak with you today on the half of more than 100 million american people an older but i've my career working against fraud starting in the prosecutor's office investigating in utah and now nationally at aarp. congress work addressing fraud has opened up opportunities for prevention from providing immunity for reporting fraud and finance institutions train their staff to encourage the sharing of industry practices. and we are seeing results. aarp bank state program builds on the goal of laws. we partner with 1500 financial institutions to stop exploitations before the money leaves the account. the free training we created with the industry's paired with

policy adoptions has helped prevent more than $450 million from being stolen from consumers. but this fight is personal. it's in my dna. my grandfather was a banker and a victim. in his 90s someone is taking cash from his wallet. my uncle also a banker noticed the red flags and in a move only a banker would think that he planted a diecast in my grandfather's wallet. her family literally caught the thief red-handed. most families aren't that lucky. they don't have bankers and they don't have diecast so that's why but the program at the very bank my grandfather works so other families don't have to rely on luck to protect the people they

love. fraud isn't an accident. it's a crime and it's happening on a devastating scale. the fcc reports older adults lose between $7,000,062,000,000,000 a year. in the blink of a nice someone could lose their entire retirement savings. the financial industry can be the last line of defense but only if we give them the authority to act. let me tell you a story about britney a young college student a bank teller. after taking aarp's training she noticed the man acting strangely. he wanted their to withdraw all of this money for the county kept on going outside to take calls. she slowed things down ask the right questions and she said to me i wouldn't have caught it without the bank safe training. her actions protected this man's life savings of $60,000.

and this isn't rare. a study found bank safe trained staff saved 16 times more money than those without the bank safe training. but we are still leaving tools on the table. today most financial institutions can delay a suspicious transaction unless their state specifically allows it yet according to the american bankers association 90% of institutions in those states say a whole could be beneficial. the study also confirmed transactions like the one at they used are among the most effective software tool that they are outdated regulations tie the hands of the very people best able to act in real time. meanwhile crooks are

coordinating. while he asked the same sectors to work in silos. we need a federal coordinate a response under your leadership to make this happen. that means empowering financial institutions to delay suspicious transactions without the fear of liability enabling the real-time information sharing of fraud and requiring social media tech and telecom platforms to become part of the solution and not hiding places for criminals. australia is already doing this and it's working. the scam office dropped 43% after they launched the national response but but this isn't just about theft it's about protecting trusts, preventing negative impacts in the business of government and ensuring the independence of adults. thank you i look forward to your questions.

>> grassley ranking member durbin members of the committee thank you for the opportunity and free leadership on this critical issue. her continued partnership is vital to sustaining the vigilant innovation coordination we need to fight scammers exploiting the american people. i'm the executive director josh bercu of -- and senior vice present. i've also served on aspen institute task force for fraud in scam prevention and the ftc scams against older adults project. the communications industry has been making meaningful process -- progress. we are leveraging these tools in the fight against ever more personalized fraud. trace backups as identified the actors behind the frog calls and has supported dozens of civil

criminal enforcement actions at every level. we know the combination of identifying bad actors responsible including through trace back and holding them accountable works. a couple of stats here. grades of call centers in 2016 lead to an overnight 85% drop in irs scams and a similar canada india crackdown in 2018 lead to a 77% decline in similar calls. today thanks to coordinate actions by industry and government many the most disruptive high-volume scam called no longer reach honorable americans did indeed scam robo-calls are down over 50% from their 2021 number but today's fraudsters are lasting millions of robo-calls. they are targeting individuals with life calls and finally tuned deception. he poses fraud teams impersonate

loved ones and local officials to steal from their victims as we have heard today in the case of older adults they can rip away at their victims our whole lives building. he used to take one for months to determine if there was an illegal call and now for itt trace backs we find criminals within hours or days. that's scalability allows us to keep pace with fast moving fraud. in recent years we have practically expanded our work beyond telecom. our collaborative cross sector partnerships have bribed reach tools for disruption they could be a difference maker in criminal cases. but we can't undo what has been done they can go after the bad guys to prevent further harm. the threat of foreign actors is exploiting u.s. members is not new but their tactics are pretty increasingly we have trace calls to foreign actors posing as u.s.

entities forming shell ella sees an impersonate real companies. colonel forsyte remains essential to deter these groups that are orchestrating these scams. some tactics like simcox to route calls from abroad require actors to be present in the u.s.. it's a rare opportunity for enforcement. turning that liability and to destruction should be a clear party. we are responding aggressively but we cannot make arrests even though we i've identified them. that's where any government support for their three things congress can do that would make a meaningful difference. first established a national anti-scam strategy with a designated federal task force. we need a coordinated federal response and we need to treat scams is what they are crimes. our strategy must prioritize

cross-border criminal enforcement. second provide a safe harbor for improved fraud prevention and deception. it's showing real promise and identifying and disrupting scams. and it could unlock deeper collaboration for third scams evolve when you to double down and partnerships. we must now focus on turning protestant impact helping to deter disrupt and penalize fraud insuring criminals can't target another victim. thank you and i look forward to your questions. >> mourning senators. there was a time not long ago when americans felt comfortable answering the phone and talking to strangers and were suspicious of every number we didn't already know.

and skeptical but every texture e-mail might be an elaborate scheme to steal from us. fraud has become ubiquitous in our country. for hundreds of thousands of older americans every year it has a life-altering effect causing them to lose their life savings to fix their physical health causing them to even commit suicide. as the chairman said the ftc estimated losses just to our elders at over $62 billion a year. some of these losses include both of my parents. transnational organized crime some in countries where nations adversaries. this is a national security threat and we as a country are not effectively mitigating it. it's clearly manifests in statistics with the fbi and ftc to show dramatic increases year after year particularly among our elders. i'm unaware of any other crime

with this particular demographic of americans at these levels. it's time to get what we are doing is not enough. it doesn't stop or even slow the progression of this crime. re 30. the bill as amended is passed.0. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from tennessee. a senator: i ask unanimous consent that the senate be in a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. hagerty: i ask unanimous consent that the senate now proceed to the en bloc consideration of the following resolutions which are at the desk. senate resolution 284, senate resolution 2835, senate resolution 286. senate resolution 285. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding to the measures en bloc? without objection, the senate

will proceed en bloc. mr. hagerty: i ask unanimous consent that the resolutions be agreed to, the preambles be agreed to and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table all en bloc. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. hagerty: i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today it stand adjourned until 11:00 a.m. on wednesday, june 18. that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour deemed expired, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, morning business be closed and the senate proceed to executive session and resume consideration of calendar number 130, rodney scott. further, notwithstanding rule 22 at 12:00 noon the senate vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the scott nomination. following the cloture vote, the senate vote on confirmation of executive calendar number 99, olivia trusty. further if cloture vote is invoked on the scott nomination, all postcloture time be expired and the senate vote on

confirmation of the nomination at 1:45. finally if any nominations are confirmed during wednesday's session of the senate, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table and the president be immediately notified of the senate's action. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. hagerty: if there is no further business to come before the senate, i ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order following the remarks of my colleagues. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. hagerty: mr. president, i have three requests for committees to meet during today's session of the senate. they have the approval of the majority and minority leaders. the presiding officer: duly noted. mr. hagerty: thank you. ms. klobuchar: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from minnesota. ms. klobuchar: mr. president, i rise today with my colleague from minnesota, senator smith, to honor two minnesotans who are friends of ours who were taken from us this weekend in a

shocking act of political violence. representative melissa hortman, our former speaker of the house, and her husband mark hortman. i'm also continuing to pray for state senator john hoffman and his wife yvette who survived a brutal assassination attempt. john took nine bullets and yvette took eight, and they are continuing to recover in the hospital. i've been in touch with yvette, and she is grateful for the outpouring of support from all over the country for their family. and i want to extend my enormous gratitude to the hundreds and hundreds of local, state, and federal law enforcement who worked tirelessly over the course of a 43-hour manhunt to apprehend the suspect. they ran toward the danger. they risked their lives. and because of their bravery and diligence, our state was able to brief a sigh of relief sunday night knowing this man was no

longer at large. the local officers from brooklyn park, minnesota, also stopped further assassinations along with other officers in the moment by going over to check on legislators after learning about what had happened at senator hoffman's house. we now know that the assassin went to two other legislators' home in between the two shootings that night. and in one case sped off after being spotted by the police. while it was too late to save melissa and mark, the officers' decision to check on their house allowed them to spot the assassin, separate him from his vehicle, and begin the manhunt. but right now we want to focus on who melissa and mark were as people. they were great neighbors, wonderful friends, and great parents to their beloved children sophie and colin. melissa is someone that i wish the whole senate and the whole nation knew.

we treasured her in minnesota. she was the epitome of what you want in a public servant. she went into it for all the right reasons. she grew up in spring lake park and andover, minnesota, working at her family's used auto parts company in the summer. after leaving for college, she came back to minnesota for law school and began her career in our state. she was always devoted to her community. she was a girl scout leader and taught sunday school at her local catholic church, and she was always one of the first to raise her hand when someone needed a volunteer for, well, just about anything, including training service dogs for veterans. one of them, gilbert, was just too friendly for service because he couldn't just focus on one person, and so their family adopted him and loved him very much. sadly, he was shot that night, and the two children had to make the decision to put him down

this weekend. how he loved that dog. -- how they loved that dog. melissa and i first ran for public office around the same time, both with little kids. me for county attorney's office, her for the state legislature. that's how i got to know her. i was a county attorney. she was running for legislature. we went door to doorl together and it seemed like she knew everyone in the district already. she was elected in 2004 and served in the minnesota house for 20 years. and she left a lasting impact. as a legislator, she authored legislation that created minnesota's solar energy standard. as minority leader, she guided her caucus with conviction and a sense of humor, and she wasn't afraid to call out the all-male card game taking place during debates. as speaker her first order of business was getting rid of the mute button. as she said at the time, i have a gavel and a gavel is good enough for me.

melissa was one of the most consequential speakers in the history of our state. she knew no limits in terms of trying to get people together, trying to get things done. and while i cannot believe she is gone, minnesotans will be feeling the impact of her leadership forever. when a minnesota student gets a free school lunch, that's melissa. when a parent gets paid leave to spend precious moments with a newborn, that's melissa. when a minnesota voter casts a ballot without facing unfair discrimination,s that's melissa. when a woman is able to access reproductive care in our state, that's melissa. and when our state achieves 100% clean energy by 2040, that will be because of melissa. and when we had a tied statehouse this year, it was melissa who forged a power-sharing agreement and a

budget with her p republican counterpart. she was a generational leader, and she led with integrity and with courage. she, like her husband mark, who you see here, who also was accomplished in business and a kind, kind person, they were compassionate and they were smart, and they were just nice to everyone, and i can't believe they are gone. here they are with their kids. the polarization of our country, divisions and online hate needs to stop. violence has absolutely no place in our democracy. we need to come together and bring down the rhetoric. we must be united in the base of this attack. it was simply un-american. that's why the entire minnesota delegation, democrats and republicans, including senator smith, senator congressman

emmer, came together over the weekend to call this violence out. we spoke with one voice to condemn it. and in our state, melissa's colleagues on both sides of the aisle have done the same. we need to recognize reality, that there are unbalanced people out there, read things online, they believe them, they act on them. we have seen this too many times. there are many things we can do as a body to fix this problem, and i'm sure in the days to come we will offer legislation on security and all kinds of things. but we don't need to pass a law for people to turn down the rhetoric, to treat each other with decency and respect, to act a little more like melissa and mark. mr. president, melissa and mark hortman were the best of us. i am shattered to have lost them, but eternally grateful to have known them. i want to end by sharing a message from their beloved kids, sophie and colin. they wrote this just last night. this tragedy must become a

moment for us to come together. hold your loved ones a little closer, love your neighbors, treat each other with kindness and respect. the best way to honor our parents' memory, they said, is to do something, whether big or small, to make our community just a little better for someone else. i urge my colleagues to hear that message, and i'm honored to be here with my wonderful colleague, senator smith. thank you, and i yield the floor. ms. smith: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from minnesota. ms. smith: thank you, mr. president and many thanks to my colleague, senator klobuchar, for her heartfelt words. i rise today because my friend melissa hortman, speaker emerita of the minnesota statehouse, incredible person and strong leader, was shot and killed saturday morning along with her

husband mark in a tragic politically motivated attack. senator john hoffman and his wife yvette were also shot, a total of 17 times. and yvette incredibly and selflessly used her own body to shield their daughter from the attacker. i thank god that they're expected to recover. i am filled with gratitude for these state and local and federal law enforcement that marshaled all of their resources to keep minnesota safe after this horrendous attack and to mount the largest manhunt in the history of our state to capture this shooter late on sunday evening. this was an unspeakable act of political violence, an act and an attack on our democracy as well as a personal tragedy. and there will be a time and a place to discuss the evilness of speaker emerita hortman's assassination, the forces that drove her assassination to

violence and how we as leaders must rise to this moment and speak with one voice to condemn violent political attacks. but today i want my colleagues and america and everybody back home in minnesota to know the kind of person and leader that melissa was. and i want to think especially of colin and sophie who have lost their parents, their mom and dad, and understand that they will not be forgotten by me or by senator klobuchar and many, many thousands of people. i hope that everyone will be able to understand a little bit more keenly the depth of our grief, the human cost to the loss of melissa and mark's family and their friends and their community and to minnesota and to our nation. so, mr. president, i don't know about you, but i need a little inspiration right now. and melissa was inspirational. the first thing you need to nope about melissa is she was a middle class girl of the twin cities. she was funny, she was straightforward and she was

kind. she was smart and driven and determined and she did well because she worked hard at everything that she did. from her first job making burritos to her last job leading her caucus through a deeply divided legislative session. nothing was handed to her. she earned it through her work. that is the inspiration of the american dream. the second thing that i want you to know about melissa is she believed and acted on one of our most american of values, the conviction that we all have a responsibility to one another. we have is a responsibility to -- we have a responsibility to contribute to our communities. and we have this unshakeable belief that our country is great because we feel that connection and that obligation to one another. service to and respect for others was the guiding principle in melissa's life. over the last few days, there have been so many beautiful tributes written to melissa's life and work, and i see a common thread in all of these

remembrances, that even in the rough business of politics she was someone who never lost focus on our shared humanity, those shared values, and that shared goal we should all have in public service, which is improving life for americans. her gift for focusing on that shared humanity helped her not only to earn the deep loyalty of the members of her own caucus, but also the trust and respect of republicans on the other side of the aisle. current house speaker republican lisa damoth recently recalled how melissa reached out to her at the start of lisa's leadership. melissa was the speaker of the house, and lisa was coming into leadership. how she came to view melissa as a mentor to her leadership. many disagreements on policy, but melissa was a mentor to her, because she brought such clarity and honesty and compassion to their working relationship. former senate majority leader republican paul gazelca

reflected on his years of working closely with melissa. he noted they had built a deep trust with one another because of her honesty, because of her even keeled temperament, even though she was a very tough negotiator. he remembered their moment of human connect as they -- connection as they shared a hug after passage of a landmark public safety bill in the aftermath of the murder of george floyd. that hug was in recognition of how they worked so hard coming from different places in such a difficult moment for minnesota. melissa always approached her work by leading with compassion and respect for our shared humanity, and of course she was unafraid to demand that respect in return, both for herself and for others. she was fearless. one of the most famous anecdotes of her speakership is amy was referring to this, one night, it was a long night, colleagues in this room can relate to it, a long night, the debate was going

on and on, but there were members of the house making important speeches, making personal speeches about the impact of a bill that would have increased criminal penalties in certain protests. there's a group of male legislators in the backroom playing cards. melissa called them out on this, and these legislators, urn accustomed to being confronted with their rude behavior expressed their indignation. melissa's response was system. she said i am really tired of watching women, and especially women of color, be ignored. so she said, i'm not sorry. mr. president, i have to tell you that sorry, not sorry, became a little bit of a rallying cry around the minnesota state capitol offer that, and something we all remembered melissa for. she lived her values and knew how to stand up for others and insisted we all treat one another with dignity and respect as we undertake the serious work

of public service, even in a political climate that too often rewards meanness and a dehumanizing of one another. here's the third thing i want everyone to know about melissa hortman, she was a formidable ledges 4r5i9ier. her -- legislator. her tenure began as an incertain in this very body for senators al gore and john kerry. after law school, she was a clerk in our state's court system. then as assistant hennepin county attorney. she first rose to prominence as a housing discrimination case. what she won was the largest civil award in minnesota history for housing discrimination. she was 27 years old. she vol up tiered -- volunteered on campaigns, she ran for office twice, losing before she won, and came to the minnesota legislature. she was tenacious.

once elected, her talent was immediately obvious to her caucus, and by her second term she was already mounting and growing in leadership. by the time she was elected speaker, she had a remarkable record as a negotiator, an honest broker, someone true to her principles, even when she had to make tough choices. melissa's legislature during the 2023 session of the minnesota legislature was nothing short of historic. much has been written about the great accomplishments of this session in minnesota, mr. president, but i think an underappreciated part of this was that this remarkable session isn't just happen in one short period. it happened because of years and years and years of work by legislators and organizers and activists building support and consensus. melissa was a part of that work from the very beginning. the success of that legislature and legislative session came because of her ability to see an opportunity and meet the moment and meet it with defendantness

and -- deftness and courage and the result has been transformational to nun. she always believed that you can make a difference for people if you worked at it, and she did. because of her leadership, more than 13.5 million more minnesota students get a healthy and free breakfast and lunch in 2024. minnesota's on track to eliminate all lead water service lines by 2023, thanks to melissa. more than 65,000 minnesotans were automatically registered to vote. and minnesota is the state, we're proud of this, with the second highest voter turnout in the 2024 presidential election and the highest youth voter turnout by far. starting next year, working minnesotans starting or growing or caring for families will have access to paid leave, thanks to melissa. in short, millions of minnesotans are better off because of the work that she

did. her record of accomplishment is so extensive, it's hard to capture it all in a few short minutes. so it is so bitter to realize she was only 55. she had so many more contributions to make, so much, as melissa would say, don't get carried away, i was just going go to do my work and work as hard as i could. it is bitter for us her life was taken in this way. it will be up to all of us to carry on. i will miss her leadership and friendship as our state and a half gates -- navigates these uncertain time. i look around this chamber, i see those like melissa who understand that the job is to help fix things, not just talk about fixings things, to lift up people who need help, to build opportunity, and to use the power of our connections to one another to building a better,

stronger, more fair community, and i hope my colleagues will take heart and inspiration from melissa's example and rededicate ourselves to what it means to be a legislator, working across lines of difference to solve problems for the people who sent us here. i want to also close with a suggestion from melissa and mark's beloved children, sophie and colin to all of us in minnesota just yesterday. it is in the spirit of melissa's directness and down-to-earthness. she said, if you would like to honor the memory of mark and melissa, please consider the following, plant a tree, visit a local park and make use of the amenities, especially a bike trail, pet a dog, a golden retriever is ideal, but any will do. tell your loved ones a cheesy dad joke and laugh about it.

make something, bread for mark or cake for melissa, and share it with someone. try a new hobby and enjoy learning something. stand up for what you believe in, especially if that thing is justice and peace. may the memory of melissa and mark be a blessing to all who knew and loved them, and may john and yvette have a speedy recovery, and may we all find a way to recover and be better after these terrible attacks. thank you, mr. president. thank you, mr. president.

if they can find a way to attack abortion care they will do it and wouldn't you know it they snuck what amounts to a backdoor abortion ban into the health provision of this big betrayal. that's right not only does the republican monstrosity that bill make health care more expensive and harder to get they are also trying to stop health plans from covering abortion altogether. this bill the tragedy of minnesota and how all of our hearts go out to the

families and to the entire state because it is obviously something that had a profound impact upon the entire community, and it is something that has all of us grieving for them. i was just touched, as i think everyone who heard it, with the presentations that we heard. so, mr. president, i rise today in opposition to the republicans' big billionaire boondoggle, which is economic sabotage and climate denial masquerading as fiscal policy. last night's senate finance committee text doesn't just double down on repealing smart, clean energy tax credits. it erodes our progress and our chance at a liveable future. senate republicans are doubling down on egregious attacks against historic investments in

the inflation reduction act, cutting more than $500 billion in investments and programs, threatening hundreds of thousands of jobs and raising monthly house old energy bills. in 2024, this is the big number, 2024, 94% of all new electricity generation added to our country was wind and solar and batteries. i want to repeat that. in 2024, 94% of all of the new electrical generation capacity added in our country was wind, solar and batteries. that's 50,000 megawatts of solar, 4,000 megawatts of wind, 11,000 megawatts of battery, and you compare that with the fuels of the past, well, last year, only 2500 megawatts of natural gas were added, and zero from coal. that is the present state of

affairs for electrical generation and installation in our country, in 2025, as we begin this debate in the senate over the reconciliation bill, over the tax policy for our country. unfortunately, it's why the oil and gas and coal industry, through the republicans, are using the budget bill to rig the game while eliminating incentives that lower energy costs and reduce pollution, but they're not -- they're not going to remove the tax breaks for the fossil fuel industry. so what's about to unfold is that we're going to see the pursuance of a vendetta against wind and solar all to pad the pockets of the boyle -- oil and

gas industries. this -- if you want to put solar panels on your roof, that tax break is going to be gone. if you want to make your home more energy efficient, that tax break is going to be gone. heat pumps, all of it is gone. homeowners -- robbing homeowners of the ability to save money on energy bills, breathe safer air indoors at home and ensure a livable future for their families and it also removes support for families looking to buy a clean vehicle, an electric vehicle and saving money at the pump. it takes draconian cuts to the solar and wind that the

utilities may want to install in our country. it is a multiprong attack on what sw in 2024 and it's already unfolding in 2025, the future. it's wind and solar and batteries. and it is unfolding in a way which, with again, threatens the incumbent energy sources. and in place of these programs, there's no solutions. there's just for pollution that is going to be what happens as a result of what the republicans are trying to do with this bill. and you end up with higher prices, you wind up with fewer jobs. if this bill passes, solar deployment will drop by 30% by 2030 than was expected before. as energy demand increases are driven by -- hungry data

centers, america will lose cheap supplies of solar and wind which we will need for the a.i. revolution. a.i. over the next ten years could double the need for electricity in our country and what this bill will do is take wind and solar out, and say to the oil and gas industry to get it done. that's not what people in our country want. never making decisions that have resulted in 2024 with 94% of all new electricity being wind, solar and batteries. it is headed in the opposite direction of where the american people are headed. this is economics 101. high demand plus low supply means higher energy prices for everyone.

that's what they're signing up if we take solar and wind out of the mix. forcing families to pay $150 more a month in five years and $260 more each month in ten years because there won't be the competition and there won't be the supply. the less the supply, the higher the price for the remaining electricity in our society. and it will destroy 840,000 american jobs by 2030. jobs that would have been people up on roofs installing solar or offwind work for electricians off the atlantic coast, or installing home efficiency into homescros our country and just going through the home to make it more energy efficient. solar installation, fewer manufacturing jobs for solar and

wind all across our country. republicans want to frame their cuts as eliminating wasteful democratic spending. but the communities and constituents they were elected to represent, they are going to lose a great deal. the states with the highest price hikes will be carolina, oklahoma, and mississippi in this bill. we're taking out the alternatives that could have helped to moderate the prices in those states. and the states with the largest job losses, texas, florida, indiana and georgia. so this isn't a red state or blue state issue, this is creating a national economic crisis. 80% of the ira funding has gone to read states. 80%, only 20% to blue states. by the way, that's how the bill was designed. the extra tax breaks went to the states that would be energy

transition states, and there's been an explosion by the hundreds of thousands of new jobs. and the republican bill would make the united states the lagger, not the leader in innovation. already china is investing over four times more than the united states in renewable energy. here's china's plan. they plan on investing a trillion dollars a year for the next ten years every year. $10 il. and the same thing is true for japan. they've already made an announcement that they're going to invest a trillion dollars over the next ten years. so we might as well be gift wrapping the clean energy industry, gift wrapping it for china and other countries to be the global leader. so that's where we are. instead of catching up and overtaking china, this bill will

koreaed more -- cede more jobs. this would increase to putting 72 million more cars on the roads and will lead to 930 additional premature deaths every single year. that's the plan when it comes to clean energy and it is going to be an absolute disaster for us. and additionally, as affirm last night, republicans want to slash over $1 trillion from our health care system and the house already passed cuts that would rip $800 billion from medicaid and $500 billion from chair. the senate republicans released text last night that doesn't just support these cuts but actually makes them worse. and their changes would make it

harder for people to stay on their insurance. it would create more paperwork for patients to fill out. it would make it more difficult for states to fund their health care programs, and it would leave less people with access to health care across our nation. it would take 16 million or 17 million people and take away their insurance across our country. this isn't just line items or spread sheets, this is people's lives. if we cut people off of health insu insurance, people will not be able to get health care. they will lose their local hospitals, nursing homes and clinics, health workers will lose their jobs and rural communities could lose their big biggest employer. and they will have to face going into bankruptcy or medical debt. instead of addressing our health care crisis, we will be

supercharging. they don't need to listen to me. here's what the experts found. a study published in the annuals of internal medicine found because of the cuts people will skip medical care to 839,000 people. a study from yale and penn found that cuts to medicaid and the be an affordable care act would lead to thousands of deaths. last week i released data produced from the shep center about how substantial cuts to medicaid and medicare could cut 338 countries across the country into financial distress, leading them to cut services or close the hospital all together. where are the hospitals? well, in kentucky there are 35 of them that could be at risk

for their viability. in louisiana it is 33 hospitals. they rely on medicaid and the affordable care act to pay the bills. so this is something that is going to be very, very dangerous for hundreds of rural hospitals put on the brink because of the decisions made by republicans in this congress and in this white house. this is a lethal risk to take on to pay the tax breaks for billionaires. if this bill passes and even one patient loses their insurance because of burdensome paperwork in a single hospital or nursing home, the responsibility will fall on anyone who voted yes on this bill. and our state and local public health officials know this risk, which is why they're asking to stop these cuts. the louisiana state house with a republican majority passed a resolution just this week asking congress to, quote, oppose sweeping or indiscriminate cuts

to medicaid and instead to work in partnership with states to strengthen the bram -- program for the future. the county board of commissioners, opposed to medicaid cuts, including the alabama cancer society, churches all across the state wrote to the governor urging opposition to health care cuts citing the need more more care and less bureaucracy. and on june 12, 900 state and local elected officials from across the country, including mayors, state senators, attorneys general all stood up to come out against, quote, the danieling and wreck -- damaging and reckless plan. these proposed cuts are dangerous and pointless. donald trump and republicans only need to rush these cuts

through to guarantee tax breaks for billionaires. the people who will benefit the most are the upper 0.1% and as millions more americans lose their health care and billionaires who can afford special medicine can help out the government. the rich will get richer and the poorest will be the ones who will lose their insurance. this is what this billionaire boondoggle is all about. it takes financial security from children, rips dinner off the family's tables and will sell this away to the ultra wealthy. this is not a big beautiful bill as donald trump would call it. it is a big billionaire buyoff and a bludgeoning of our health, our economy, our future. we don't have to do this. making these cuts is optional and i'm asking my republican

colleagues to please vote no. we can do a lot better with this legislation. please, please let us negotiate a sensible negotiation of this legislation. with that, mr. president, i yield. mr. merkley: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from oregon. mr. merkley: i thank my colleague from massachusetts for laying out how families lose and billionaires win on this not so beautiful bill that trump has put forward. it's really a big beautiful betrayal. betrayal because trump campaigned for helping families, but as we've seen with the details in the end, this is about helping billionaires. the bottom 20%, the less affluent, they get tax benefits of about $90 a year. somebody who earns a billion dollars gets $90,000 a year tax

benefit, $90,000 for a well-off individual and $90 for an ordinary family struggling to get on its feet. mr. president, let me talk about a different aspect of the reconciliation bill, but before i do so, my heart is with the people of minnesota who have lost melissa and mark hortman. melissa is a former speaker of the house in oregon, i know the type of effort that goes into coordinating a legislative session, striving to build a better state, the state -- a better state of minnesota and melissa and mark are no longer with us because of an act of hate. an act of violence, something that so goes against the vision

of free speech and free assembly in america, where we can come together and argue our points and disagree profoundly with each other but out of that big stew of ideas comes policies that hopefully take us take us forward, not violence that takes us to the grave. i hope we can all work together to end the type of rhetoric, the framing that suggests the differences we have, large on policy that neither side is coming from an evil point of v view, the differences that have to be worked out in legislatures like the u.s. senate. and now turning to an issue that has to be worked out in our u.s.

senate is the challenge of having honest budget numbers for the conversation over the reconciliation bill. back in 1974, the senate and house were alarmed over the growing deficits. they were microscopic compared to the type of deficits we have today. still people said let's not get on that path of expanding the national debt. let's create a real budgeting process where we lay out a vision at the front end so that the bills that are passed by the committees, the revenue bills and the policy bills fit into that budget framework. so we'll have control over the result, whether it's a surplus that we want or whether we want to spend more and run up some deficit because perhaps it's a year in which the economy is dipping and we need to provide some stimulus. but the point was a front end budgeting process into which we

could put the effect of all these different bills in the course of the year. so it was an act designed to bring planning for revenue and spending levels into a coherent framework by laying out a budget and holding committees accountable to that budget vision. in this budget act, congress created two significant tools for very different and separate purposes. one of them is section 312 of the budget act. section 312 says that the committee on the budget will establish estimates of, quote, the levels of new budget authority, outlays, direct spending, new entitlements authority, and revenues for a fiscal year. so there's the framework. and to clarify for most of the work that's done, the committee depends to the joint -- on the joint committee on taxation for revenue projections. and depends upon the congressional budget office for

the cost of programs. but this section in 312 has also been interpreted to give the chair of the budget committee the authority to resolve complex scoring questions that come up or technical ambiguities that come up on particular programs or particular revenue measures during normal legislating. i emphasize during normal legislating. has nothing to do with reconciliation. now, congress created a second tool that was specifically about reconciliation. it is presented in the budget act, and for a very special purpose. this section, reconciliation, was to be a filibuster-free pathway in the senate for one reason and one reason alone. decreasing the deficit. and you can imagine there's robert byrd who is the champion of the filibuster, wants everything to have to go through

a supermajority vote. it was often used against civil rights bills, but it was often used in other ways as well. and he would not let go of that for any reason except the special role of reducing the national deficit. a hundred senators said yes to that vision. all the democrat, all the republicans. so we have in that act a section 313 affectionately known as the byrd rule that lays out very specific details on how to handle that reconciliation process. so we have section 312, normal budgeting for nonreconciliation bill. and we have section 313 with special rules for reconciliation bills. now, why am i coming to the floor to make such a detailed examination for issues that we wouldn't normally -- well,

wrestle with in a public forum? well, the answer is because there is a plan afoot to take this tool that was always used and framed for regular budgeting to give a bit of flexibility to the budget committee through the budget chair, to resolve complex technicalities or abnormalities, issues, on small issues in normal bills, and apply it in a completely corrupted version to section 313 overruling the foundation for reconciliation. two very different tools, two very different purposes, but taking one and applying it to the other destroys the integrity of the reconciliation process. and i'm going to lay that out in some detail.

section 312 allows the budget chair to be a referee to find bipartisan common ground to resolve those ambiguities in the budgets, but again, never used in reconciliation because it wasn't intended for that purpose. now, if you're going to have a special process to reduce deficits, you have to agree to have honest numbers. so therefore the act created the congressional budget office to give us those honest numbers on what programs cost. and then you have honest integrity with numbers on revenue coming from the joint committee on taxation. so you have these two institutions and a commitment in section 313 to honest budgeting numbers. so we'll quit fooling ourselves

and we'll quit fooling the public because the goal was to reduce the deficit. and you can't reduce the deficit if you're lying about what new measures will cost, whether they be revenue measures or they be policy measures. so it would completely defeat the purpose of reconciliation to simply have the budget chair who could resolve a technical ambiguity in a normal bill be able to say, well, that is such a power, i'm going to transport it from a normal budget bill over to reconciliation instead of using honest numbers from cbo, and from the joint committee on taxation, i'm going to just create my own haul of mirrors, my own smoke and my own baseline to pretend that things don't cost what they really cost. it's a complete obliteration of the responsibility for integrity in the reconciliation process,

which again was designed only to decrease the deficit. now, there's been a bit of a journey for the house and senate since 1974. and that foundation that this reconciliation process would only be used to reduce the deficit got blown up in 1996. my colleagues across the aisle decided that, well, they wanted to pass a big tax bill and they knew they couldn't do it through regular order so they repurposed a process designed to reduce the deficit, said it could also be used no a tax bill that increases the deficit. well, that was a painful blow to fiscal responsibility because each and every one of their tax bills has vastly increased the deficit. but they retained two other things. a pillar -- a second pillar that said after ten years, every title has to either be deficit

neutral or reduce the deficit. so after a ten-year frame. and that they would continue to use honest numbers. okay. well, so now we have another situation where we've arrived here using reconciliation, not for its original purpose to decrease the deficit but for a tax bill. but pillars two and three were still in place up until this moment. no deficits and any title after ten years and using honest numbers. but the chair of the budget committee is saying, i don't want to keep pillar two and three. i don't want to keep pillar two that says everything after ten years has to be a deficit neutral or deficit reduction. and i don't want to use honest numbers because it let's the word see how expensive this bill is and kind of destroys our reputation for fiscal responsibility. so we want to create some magic

math, some false baseline to pretend that the bill does not have a lot of deficit. well, this is a huge mistake. and i'm just here to say let's not let this happen. let's not destroy the second and third pillars. let's not destroy the second pillar which says no deficits after ten years. let's not destroy the third pillar which says we'll use honest numbers from joint taxation, joint committee on taxation and the congressional budget office. there are two reasons that my colleague who chairs the budget committee wants to take this provision from section 312 for normal budgeting that gives some flexibility to the budget chair and bring it over and create this new fake baseline so this bill doesn't look like it will run up the debt that it obviously runs up. one is that we wants to make the

tax cuts permanent meaning deficits will be run far beyond the ten-year period. and second, he wants the american people to believe that this is not going to create huge, massive additional deficits and debt. well, those are not good reasons. we should all work together to maintain the second and third pillars of no deficits after ten years. the third pillar, that in fact we will use honest numbers and not lie to ourselves and not lie to the american people about the cost of a bill. he calls this new fake baseline current policy baseline. and part of what the little twist is to say hey, the law says that a tax provision ends but we'll pretend that it doesn't say that. the law doesn't say that and it just continues on forever. and since we're now pretending that the law was written differently than it was really written, it's really not a new

provision that costs anything. because all these number extensions or new tax provisions cost because they reduce the revenues. we'll just pretend they don't. but you know it's that side of pretending that got us into this trouble to begin with. that's what the 1974 bill -- let's quit lying to ourselves. let's quit lying to the public. let's quit pretending we're not creating deficits when we are. let's have honest, honest budgeting. so the irony is you can even see how this philosophy fails even within the republican bill because if this philosophy that every bill or measure that was -- that the law says ends actually continues, then there would be no reason to have in the bill what my republican colleagues have put in the bill which is the end of a bunch of tax provisions so they can say the bill costs less. so the old laws that are going

to expire, if we -- we pretend they continue. but the new laws that we're creating at this very moment that end within the ten years, we pretend they actually end. you can see how phony this situation is. and we need to do better. now, let me just go through how modest the use of section 312 in general budgeting was. the first is, it was always bipartisan. it was bipartisan in 2017. it was bipartisan in 2023 and 2025, 2024, 2025. each of these times it was bipartisan. but this new proposal is to use it in this partisan fashion. it's a complete deviation from a budget share working out a gnarly problem in order to be

able to pick out how should we really resolve, how this individual policy should be evaluated. and instead turn it interest an intoment -- an instrument in which you fake the numbers and do it in a partisan way. so that's not the only way that this would break protocol. the second is that each time it was used, it was used on a very narrow provision. it was routine or in 2017 on the crime victims fund, on the power marketing administrations, on the preventing double counting of a dairy program, of adjustments to the fiscal responsibility act. it was always on a very narrow provision, not creating a whole new baseline out of thin air in order to fake the numbers over deficits and debt.

one example on this is 2017. republican chair mike enzi directed cbo to use the original current law baseline for the crime victims fund rather than a new baseline with updated numbers because essentially if you have a baseline at the start of the year and a few months pass and numbers change slightly and if you keep inventing or having to use a new baseline that's changing just a small amounts, it makes no sense because they aren't significant changes. it was an issue to say no, let's go ahead and use the baseline from the start of the year rather than updating it every single time every week goes by. see normal, very narrow issue. and, as i noted before, it was to resolve and ambiguity. each time it's been used, it's to resolve an ambiguity. but in this case, it's to create ambiguity, it's to create confusion, it's to create smoke and mirrors, it's to create a

phony baseline lie to ourselves and to the public about what this bill costs, and that is just wrong. let me give you an example. in 2000, a deal had been made. over the congressional budget office, started -- in 2023 and 2024, senator whitehouse and jody arrington invoked section 312 to have cbo observe the original agreement. it was an example of section 312 being used to resolve a technical ambiguity. let's look at one other way it's been used in the past. it was never used on reconciliation. it was not used on reconciliation in 2017. it was not used when they addressed the power market administration. that was not in reconciliation. preventing the double counting of a dairy program was not in

reconciliation. adjusting the fiscal responsibility act was not in reconciliation. this provision wasn't designed for reconciliation. reconciliation has its own set of rules in section 313. and those rules say each provision -- the word is provision -- in the proposed law is accounted for in terms of estimating accurately through these numbers from cbo and the joint committee on taxation what its real effect will be. so that's the story. i'll give you an example. in 2023, senator whitehouse and the representative arrington again worked together to resome of an issue in which the cbo was reducing the cost of a program over february years. but cbo didn't include it in. new farm bill's baseline, meaning the ag committee has to pay for the program a second

time out of the funding allocated to their committee. that was not -- that didn't make any sense, so they fixed it. that's an example. very narrow, bipartisan, and we're talking small numbers. let's turn to those issues over small numbers. well, they aren't so small when you think about this in terms of our normal trip to the grocery store. $73 million or less than $200 million, and in one case in the fiscal responsibility act, again in a bipartisan specific provision, $2.8 billion. what is this bill about? what is this fake baseline being used to hide in this case? $37 trillion of additional debt. again, this is absolutely a crime against fiscal responsibility. it's blowing up the last two pillars from the 1974 act, no

additional debt or deficit past ten years in any title, honest use of numbers from cbo and the joint committee on taxation. taking a provision to allow -- taking on small ambiguities to be wrestled with in a bipartisan fashion and resolved, taking that flexibility and using it in a wholesale destruction of responsible budgeting. so let's not do this. colleagues, the deficit now annually is sizable. it's about 6% of our gross domestic product. remember under the clinton administration, we were raising revenue about 20% of gdp, we were spending about 21%. now we are spending 6% more of gdp than we're bringing in as revenue. we're no longer bring in 21% of revenue. we're bringing in 17%.

we're no longer spending 20%. we're spending 23%. and this bill, by the way, will crank that up even more as time passes. it is a pathway to not only destroying the current programs that my colleague from massachusetts was talking about, 16 million people losing health care, 4 million children going hungry to give tax breaks to billionaires, it is not hole a pathway to destroy current programs, but it runs up debt to destroy the ability to provide fundamental programs in housing and health care and education for the next generation. and that is wrong. and that's why i say to you, colleagues own both sides of the aisle, let's be honest about the numbers. let's not corrupt the process by bringing a measure that belongs in the regular budgeting world, not in the reconciliation world, in order to destroy reconciliation as a process that

will not reduce or -- will not increase deficits after ten years and will honestly convey the effect of each provision in the bill as to whether it raises revenue or spends money. preserve honest budgeting. let's do that. it will serve us well. it will serve the nation well. thank you, mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from virginia. mr. kaine: mr. president, it is a late hour with few folks on the floor to talk about the most serious issue we could ever talk about on the floor of the united states senate, the prospect that america may soon be in a war. there's no part of the constitution that's more important than the article 1 provisions making plain that the united states should not be at war without a vote of congress.

and yet the news of the day suggests that we are potentially on the verge of a war with iran. when i was elected to the senate in 2012, having served as a governor from 2006 to 2010 during a tremendous upsurge in the wars, i visited our troops in the green zone in baghdad and afghanistan. i went to the deployments and the homecomings, the withent to the wakes and the funerals, and i told myself when i came to the senate that if i ever had the chance to stop in nation from getting into an unnecessary war, i would do everything i could to stop us from getting into a unnecessary war. i happen to believe that the united states engaging in a war against iran, a third war in the

middle east since 2001, would be a catastrophic blunder for this country. i think there are some in this body who have a different point of view than me on that point, but i think we should all be able to agree that the fundamental constitutional principle that says we shouldn't be in a war if congress doesn't have the guts to debate it and vote on it, we should all, having taken an oath to the constitution, at least support the principle that war is something that should be for congress to declare. mr. president, just recently, right before i walked on the flurox "the new york times" published this article. and i'm going to read this to demonstrate the imminence of the threat that this country faces. the article, "the new york times," dated today, iran is preparing missiles for possible

retaliatory strikes on u.s. bases, officials say. and i will i would just read the first few paragraphs. iran has prepared missiles and other military equipment for strikes on u.s. bases in the middle east, should the united states join israel's war against the country. according to american officials who have reviewed intelligence reports. fears of a wider war are growing among american officials as israel presses the white house to intervene in its conflict with iran. if the united states joins the israeli campaign and strikes fordow, a key nuclear facility, the iranian-backed militia will resume strikes in the red sea. forces in iraq and syria would probably try to attack u.s. bases there. other officials said in the event of an attack, iran would

attack american warships in the persian gulf. commanders put american troops on high alert at military bases throughout the region, including in the united arab emirates, jordan, and saudi arabia. the united states has more than 40,000 troops deployed in the middle east. i met the father of an apache helicopter pilot currently deployed in syria yesterday. finally, from the article, two iranian officials have acknowledged that the country would attack u.s. bases in the middle east starting with those in iraq, if the united states joins israel's war. we stand tonight as close to the potential initiatings of a third war in the middle east, the united states against iran, as we have been during my time in the senate. and so yesterday morning when the senate came into serbsing i announced and then i -- into session, i announced and then i followed up with the filing of a

war powers resolution in this resolution, a privileged resolution that by my clock will mature and be subject to a vote on this floor because of its privileged status on -- a week from thursday. ten days from the filing of such a motion, even by a single senator, the senate is required to take this matter up for an up-or-down floor vote about whether or not war should happen without a vote of congress. a little bit about the constitution. many in here have heard my speak about this over the years, but -- about the constitution, the framers of the constitution grappled with the question of how war should be dealt with and they grappled with the question in a more unusual way. -- in a most unusual way. in the constitution of 1787, the article 1 power is the congressional, the legislative power, and the article 2 power is the executive power.

and the framers of the constitution split war powers into a legislative responsibility and an executive responsibility. the legislative responsibility is clear -- congress declares war. it's in article 1. the executive responsibility is to be the commander in chief. once congress, 535 people have declared war, you don't need 535 commanders in chief. that would lead to chaos. so a war once declared by the people's elected body then gets handed to a president who as commander in chief is responsible for executing on that declaration. now, the framers of the constitution did understand one thing about the president's power, which is the president as commander in chief should defend the nation. the president always has the ability to defend the united states without asking congress' permission. back in 1787, congress might adjourn and ride horseback back

to vermont. what if the united states was attacked? you couldn't wait for all of congress tomorrow back to enable the united states to defend itself, and so a president has the inherent power under article 2 to defend the united states without asking for permission, but it's been the understanding since the very beginning of this republic that if it's more than defending the united states, if it's going on offense in any way, congressional authorization is needed. it's so rare. in other countries and in a other times, war has been for the executive. it's been for the king. it's been for the emperor. it's been for the monarch. it's been for the czar. it's been for the sultan. but in the united states, we made a different choice. that choice was described most eloquently in letter from the main drafter of the constitution, james madison, to

president thomas jefferson. actually, he was not yet president. this letter is dated april 2, 1798. and james madison described what were they getting at when they vested the power to declare war with congress. and here's what james madison wrote. our constitution supposes what the history of all governments demonstrates -- that the executive is the branch of power most interested in war. and most prone to it. our constitution has, accordingly, with studied care, vested the question of war with the legislature. other countries don't do this. but the framers of our constitution in 1787 decided we're going to be different. before we send troops in harm's way, where they could be killed,

injured, before we're going to send troops into harm's way in war, we want to see the people's elected bodies, both houses, have a debate about what the stakes are and whether we should force our troops into harm's way, potentially lose their lives. and that debate will be in full screw of the american public. -- full view of the american public. so the american public can understand what's at stake and n they can call their representatives or write a letter and tell them what they think about whether war is necessary and whether the sacrifice we ask of our troops should be the ultimate sacrifice that we are often asking of them. -- in war. and that's been the constitution since 1787. the constitution has been amended probably in the 25 or 26 amendments, that has new before amended. that has never been amended. in 1974, congress grappled with a challenging problem and passed the war powers resolution of

1974. what was the problem? the problem in 1974 was this, a president began war without telling congress. 1974, we were in the midst of the vietnam war, and congress did know that and congress had passed some legislation at least appropriating funds for it and somewhat authorizing it during the johnson administration. but president nixon, congress knew about the war in vietnam obviously. there was a draft, 56,000 americans were killed in that war. but president nixon, without informing congress, extended the >> president nixon started bombing cambodia, it was called the secret bombing of cambodia, a new country that had not been covered by war authorizations. and so congress stepped up and acted and passed the war powers resolution of 1974, and that resolution, mr. president, did a number of things. it established some protocols for when the president initiates

military action providing notice to congress so that there can't be a secret war, giving congress some ability once notice is provided to try to withdraw notice if it thinks that the war is ill advised. but the war powers resolution also did something else, it gave the power to even one member of congress, one senator or one house member, if a president initiates war or is on the verge of initiating war. the war powers resolution gave to one senator, one congressman the ability to file a resolution to stop a war before it starts, or to stop a war once started. and the war powers resolution over time has made that a privilege motion, meaning it can bypass committee and be brought up on the floor of the senate for a vote within an expeditious

period of time. a privilege motion is one that sort of elbows everything else out of the way because congress has judged that the matter is so important that it should take precedence over normal committee proceeding and it should be considered in a prompt fashion. it's a simple majority vote, not subject to filibuster. it can't be buried in a committee, it has to be debated on the floor. it's amendable, it can be amended. but as long as you meet the criteria, the privileged criteria you were entitled to try to stop a war before it starts. the criteria that you have to meet, mr. president, to have the privilege are two. one, hostilities between the united states and another nation have to be underway or they have to be eminent. that has to be the case. you can't just say i want to stop a war that no one has

contemplated and nothing is happening. you have to demonstrate imminence. and you also have to show that there is no existing congressional authorization authorizing the united states to be at war with iran. that second criteria has been met. we had a similar resolution on the floor a few years ago following the u.s. strike that killed the iranian military leader -- and the acknowledgment was that there was no current congressional authorization authorizing war against iran. so the question is, is the eminence standard met? and i would argue that it clearly is. the u.s. is already using u.s. weaponry to knock down iranian missiles. that's more than eminence, that's actual kinetic hostility. the united states is being urged

to enter the war. the united states is moving military assets into the region and withdrawing diplomats from the region. the iranians are acknowledging that we have plans to go after u.s. troops in the area. since congress clearly wanted to file such a motion before a war begins, i believe the eminence standard is clearly met in this case with actual kinetic activity between u.s. weaponry and iranians.

no u.s. war against iran without a congressional vote. let me answer a couple of questions about the resolution that i filed yesterday. first one about self-defense, what if iran does take action against the united states, the homeland or a u.s. base in the middle east or a u.s. consulate in the kurdish area of iraq. what if iran takes action against the u.s. the answer is pretty straightforward under the constitution, the president can defend the united states. and the president doesn't need congress to do that. so if there is an iranian attack on the united states, the president can and has said he will, and i would strongly support him, as i know everyone in this body would, to defend u.s. interest against iranian attack. so the self-defense question is mentioned in the resolution. the resolution says nothing in this resolution will block the ability of the u.s. to take legal action to defend itself and that is clearly contemplated

by article 2. the second question is what about the u.s. helping israel defend itself. mr. president, i've been here since january of 2013. i have voted for every israel defense package that's ever been before this body, and there have been many. israel receives more defense aid from the united states than any other nation, year after year year, with my support. and i've done more than vote for israel defense aid. i've whipped votes to make sure that we found enough aid for israel. we passed a supplemental bill in this body that had billions of dollars for israel in the aftermath of the horrific attacks on israel by hamas on october 7th. the defense aid the u.s. provided enabled us to knock

down iranian drones and missiles. that was a good thing. had those drones and missiles landed in israel, they would have not only killed and wounded tons of civilians, but they would have led to escalation in the region that would have been unhelpful for all countries in the region. so i stand strong for israel's right to defend itself. and i stand strong for the united states in providing israel's support so that they can defend itself. but that's a different question. that's a different question than whether the u.s. should go to war with iran. in my view, there's no compelling security reason for the u.s. to go to war with iran. the last question i want to ask and reflect upon, mr. president, before concluding is this, what about diplomacy, what about diplomacy. the pages are here and you have a lot of time on the floor. sometimes there are speeches, sometimes there aren't. i imagine you've looked a lot at

this room and what's in the room and one of the things that you notice is in the panels all around the room, the blue panels is the seal of the united states. that seal of the united states was designed and embraced by the united states in 1782. the seal of the united states is also in the skylight in the ceiling of the senate chamber. and that seal has essentially been constant since 1782. there's a seal of the president of the united states that's changed a little bit. but the seal of the united states that congress has used has been constant since 1782. one thing very notable about the seal is the eagle and two claws is holding the arrows of war and the olive branches of peace. but since the very beginning of this republic, the eagle's face has been turned to the olive branches of peace. and it was designed that way to send the symbol that the united states always prefers peace, always prefers diplomacy and

only uses war as a last resort when diplomacy fails. without having to bomb them, without having to kill civilians, without having to sas nate scientists. the united states together with owe nations used the power of congressional sanctions, congress did this well, to leverage an agreement whereby iran agreed. and in the first sentence of the first paragraph of the first page of the agreement, iran reaffirmed that it would "never seek to purchase, acquire or develop nuclear weapons." and in the body of that

agreement, iran agreed to a whole series of limitations upon nuclear research, nuclear activity, the percentage of enriched uranium it was allowed to have. and also iran agreed to the most comprehensive inspection regime of any nation on the planet overseen by the international atomic energy agency to insure that they were meeting their requirements that they would never seek to purchase, acquire nuclear weapons and that they would abide by the limits on centrifuges -- the international atomic energy association said the agreement was, working. the allies and adversaries, russia and china were part of this deal. as were the u.k. and france and germany. those who worked on the deal said the agreement was working.

it wasn't turning iran from a bad actor to a good actor, it wasn't stopping all of iran's behavior, but it was limiting the very nuclear program that is now trying to be bombed out of existence. we had an agreement that was working. president trump became president in january of 2017 and he said "i don't like the agreement that president obama did, i want to get out of it." president trump's own cabinet, his secretary of defense jim mattis said don't get out of this agreement, it's working. his secretary of state rex tillerson, don't get out of this agreement, it's working. h.r. mcmaster, his national security adviser, a former general, don't get out of this agreement. it's working. for god's sake, we've used diplomacy just as we're supposed to by referring peace and diplomacy first to deprive iran of a path to a nuclear weapon. shouldn't we prefer diplomacy?

rather than putting at risk the life of american troops, the 40,000 troops who were in the middle east. so what happened to the diplomatic agreement? president trump started to talk about abandoning it. i wrote a piece in time magazine in 2017 and i said if you abandon this agreement when it's working, what will iran do? they'll go back to developing nuclear weapons. because if the u.s. backs out of it, they will as well. if you abandon this agreement, north korea will never do a nuclear deal with the united states because why do a deal with the united states if the united states is going to abandon the deal even when it's working? president trump didn't listen to me, he didn't listen to his secretary of state, he didn't listen to his secretary of defense. he didn't listen to a lot of people in his administration, he tore the deal up. and mr. president, what a

tragedy. you have israeli civilians who have been killed in the iranian missile attacks who have nothing to do with the military. and iranian civilians who have been killed in missile attacks that have nothing to do with the military. they would be alive today and 40,000 u.s. troops in the region would be safe today if we had decided to act in accordance with our values and put diplomacy first and prefer peace over war. that's water under the bridge.

then the troops go into war knowing that the civilian leadership in this country decided that stakes are

sufficient to ask people to make the ultimate sacrifice. but how dare we, how dare we. i say this as the father of a united states marine. how dare we ask people to make the ultimate sacrifice if we don't have the guts to have a debate and decide whether a war is in the interest of this country. i know what the american public thinks about this, there's a poll that was released today and this is completely consistent with what i've heard from virginians and virginia is one of the most pro military states in this country. i'm on the armed services committee, 1 out of every 8 virginians is a veteran. that's not 1 out of every 8 adults, that's one out of every 8 virginians is a veteran. you have active duty, the guard, the reserve, the civilian dod and the military contractors and their families. we train all the marine officers in the world. we have the biggest ship building enterprise in the

world. we have the pentagon, the largest military office in the world. we've been the site of war, battles on u.s. soil more than any state in this country in virginia, revolution war, civil war, the attack on 9/11 at the pentagon. we are as pro military state as there is. but i can tell you this, virginians do not believe the united states should be in another war in the middle east, neither do americans. a poll today suggests 16% of americans think the u.s. military should get involved in a conflict between israel and iran. 16%. 60% say we should not, 24% are not sure. we need to have this debate in front of the american public. let them watch us debate the stakes of this. z and it might be that colleagues

in this body or in the house think a war with iran is a good idea. let them put a war authorization on the table. let's debate that. let's debate that in front of virginians and californians and hear what our constituents have to say. let's debate that in the full view of people who's spouses are in the military or who's kids are in the military. let's have that debate in front of them and hear what they think before we cast a vote. they would be one of the most serious votes that you ever cast on the floor of a body like this. but we should not allow a war of the magnitude of this to begin with congress hiding from the responsibility that was put on congress' shoulders in 1787. i will be asking my colleagues to support my simple resolution

as early as next week, no war without a vote of congress. i will be asking my colleagues to support it and uphold the oath we've all taken to support the constitution that established that most unusual principle, most unique principle that is part of what makes this nation special. with that, mr. president, i yield the floor. >> under the previous order, the senate stands adjourned until 11:00 a.m. tomorrow. >> the senate today taking a few votes, including confirming republican olivia trustee to join the fcc. and agreeing to the frame work for a stable coin regulation. lawmakers also heard from virginia democrat and armed services committee member tim kaine who introduced a privileged resolution that will require the trump administration to get congressional approval before going to war with iran. the senate is required to vote

on the measure in a timely manner. more live senate coverage when the gavel comes down next, right here on c-span 2. >> in a series of posts earlier today, president trump announced that the u.s. has "complete and total control of the skies over iran. we know exactly where the so-called supreme leader is hiding. he is an easy target but is safe there. we are not going to take him out, kill, at least not for now. but we don't want missiles shot at civilians or american soldiers. our patience is wearing thin. unconditional surrender." this comes as israel and iran continue to exchange military blows, which have ramped up since israel conducted preemptive strikes against iran's nuclear facilities. on wednesday, the senate judiciary committee meets to investigates former president biden's fitness to serve in office near the end of his term.

watch that hearing live starting at 10:15 a.m. eastern on c-span, c-span now our free mobile app, our online at c-span c-span.org. >> get c-span wherever you are with c-span now. it puts you at the center of democracy, live and on demand. live streams of floor proceedings and hearings from the u.s. congress. the world of politics all at your fingertips. watch the latest episodes of washington journal by scheduling information from c-span's tv and radio network, plus a variety of -- the c-span now app is available at the apple store and google play. download it for free today. c-span, democracy unfiltered. >> coming up, california democratic senator