No Argentina Bailout Act

Mr. President, last Friday, Senator Tammy Duckworth, my colleague from Illinois, and I went back home to Illinois, to Broadview, which is a suburb of the city of Chicago. It has become quite well known around the country because it is a detention facility for ICE. I have been there many times in the past.

Every Friday morning, two wonderful women, Sister Pat and Sister Joanne, used to go to the Broadview facility and pray a rosary and then go inside and say goodbye to the detainees who were being deported by plane that very morning. It was a peaceful and reassuring experience because so many people were praying for those folks who were going to see their lives turned upside down.

The people who ran the facility couldn't have been more cooperative. They had a lawful responsibility, but they did not object to my entering the Broadview facility in years gone by, saying goodbye to the detainees and a few words of encouragement with the nuns who would accompany me. It became kind of a ritual which we were very proud of.

How things have changed. How things have changed. Senator Duckworth and I were simply asking if we could go inside and see what the facility looked like. Reports are that there seem to be large groups of people moving through there. There are only two cells and one bathroom. Those are the sorts of things which are part of oversight for us--to look at facilities and make sure they are humane, consistent with our values. But, unfortunately, over and over again, ICE has refused to allow Senator Duckworth and myself access to their operations in Chicago. I don't understand why. If they thought these operations were compliant with the law and accomplishing something good for America, they would certainly want the people to see them--those who are responsible for funding their Agency. The opposite has been true.

It was 3 or 4 weeks ago that we went up to the Great Lakes naval training station north of Chicago because it had been disclosed that they were leasing a

building to ICE. Senator Duckworth and I went there because this is a critically important Department of Defense facility. Every sailor in the U.S. Navy goes through training at Great Lakes--every one of them-- and we are very proud of the good work that is done to train them to serve our Nation. We wanted to know what ICE was going to do if they came to Great Lakes naval training station, as they promised. We have a legitimate concern.

Every Thursday, 900 to 1,000 of these sailors go through a graduation ceremony, commencement ceremony, and their proud parents sit in bleachers with their cameras following the events of the day, which are historic for each family.

So we understand that with 900 to 1,000 graduates, families come from all over the United States to witness this moment in family history that will be talked about forever--the day their son or daughter graduated from Great Lakes. We were concerned if ICE is going to go through and check everybody who looks suspicious--the Kavanaugh test: Do they look like they are Hispanic? What impact is that going to have on Great Lakes, on the men and women who work there, on the young graduates of the training course? What impact would that have if someone from ICE decided to start asking for identification papers-- passports, driver's licenses--of those sitting in the bleachers? It is not beyond the realm of possibility. In fact, it is a real possibility because we are watching what ICE is doing in the city of Chicago. It is terrible. It is indefensible. It is embarrassing.

I don't know if the ICE agents who are responsible for this conduct have been well trained, whether they are veterans of the force, or whether they answer the ads that show up on Chicago television all the time that ``If you will sign up for ICE, we will give you a $50,000 check, a bonus, to sign up.'' I don't know who is signing up. I don't know how many are signing up. ICE and the Department of Homeland Security refused to disclose that to Congress or to the American people.

They say it is justified. It is justified, the tactics they are using--wearing masks, with no insignia on their person that shows that they work for any Federal Agency whatsoever. They justify this by saying that it is so dangerous in the city of Chicago--dangerous in the city of Chicago.

I thought about that this weekend. They say in criticism of Chicago that people are fleeing the forces of violence. Well, there was some fleeing going on in Chicago this weekend: 53,000 runners came for the Chicago Marathon.

We are told that it is so dangerous in the city of Chicago that this President has to send in National Guard volunteers from the State of Texas who have been federalized and controlled by the Federal Government. Fifty-three thousand runners and over half a million tourists. Dangerous city? Not what I see. Can we do better when it comes to reducing crime? You bet. Isn't that true for just about every city in America?

When it gets down to it, the danger is not in the streets in the city of Chicago; the danger is what is happening when troops are being sent in to stand on street corners with rifles.

I am a fan of the National Guard. Tammy Duckworth, who was with me, spent 24 years in the Guard before she was shot down in Iraq. She loves those Guard men and women, considers them her brothers and sisters. I am sorry they are being dragged into this political theater being created by President Trump.

The reality is, what the ICE agents are doing in the city of Chicago is nothing short of outrageous. Innocent people involved in peaceful, constitutional, legal conduct are being assaulted by these officers. We live in an age of cell phones and videos. This is not something that we are making up; it is on the news every night. The people of Chicago resent it, and they should, and I join them in that feeling.

Yes, follow the law, but to abuse people who are simply there to protest the presence of these ICE forces--that is guaranteed acceptable and legal by our Constitution. Article I of the Bill of Rights makes that very clear.

So we left water for the volunteers who were there and those who were participating.

We asked to go into the Broadview facility, and once again, we were turned down. We are doing our best to make sure we continue to keep an eye on what is happening.

Restaurants in Chicago feel that the ICE agents are making things worse, not better. They started putting notices on the windows and doors and entries to some restaurants that ICE agents are not welcome-- and for good reason. When ICE shows up, people know it. Word spreads quickly, and people flee and hide for fear of what is going to happen to them. That is the reality of the strategy in Chicago, and it is the strategy which has to come to an end and should very soon.

If these men and women who are representing our government and ICE are proud of what they are going to do, let's have full disclosure. Let's find out what they have done, how they are spending the billions of dollars we are sending their way, and why that money isn't being spent on law enforcement now. If you want to help reduce crime and violent crime and murder, work with the police and law enforcement. But, no, that is not what the administration wants to do. They want their own show. They want their own theater.

I have tried to visit these facilities many times. Once again, I was disappointed this last Friday, but that is not the end of my effort. As long as I am serving in this capacity, I will accept my constitutional responsibility to watch how the money is being spent.

On Saturday, I spoke to peaceful protesters who have been demonstrating at Broadview for weeks. I went to St. Eulalia Church, which is just on the outskirts of Chicago, near Broadview. Hundreds of people showed up at that church to begin a holy procession to the Broadview facility and to ask if they could be allowed to go in and, if not, if they could distribute communion among the demonstrators as well as the law enforcement who were there.

It was a peaceful demonstration, and I was proud to be a part of it. It was an effort to bring to light, publicly, what is going on and to make it clear that Chicago is not a dangerous city and that the presence of troops sent by this President and this administration was totally unnecessary. Protesters facing tear gas and pepper spray from DHS is not making America any safer or Chicago any safer.

Hundreds of people rallied outside the ICE facility in Broadview, peacefully protesting. Were some arrested? Yes. Last Friday, of the hundreds who went there, how many were arrested? Four--four. Does that seem like a situation where you want to call in the National Guard from Texas?

And to think that the President claims that using a Federal military force will improve the situation. The reality is that the opposite is true. While the Guard is in Illinois now, it could be in your State next. It could be your family taken from their homes and their beds in the middle of the night, in a violent raid, as happened on September 30 in the 2200 block of the South Shore.

While I will continue to do everything in my power to push back on the President's military intrusion into our cities, I implore my Republican colleagues to stop and reflect on what is happening; to reflect on the deployment of troops into States which are not asking for help at all and don't need it. This is an illegal, unconstitutional power grab by the President, who is determined to consolidate his power and stifle any dissent. It does not make America safer.

Remembering Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt

Mr. President, on a separate topic, the phrase ``cura personalis'' is the lodestar of Jesuit education. It means ``care of the whole person,'' and it emphasizes the need for teachers to cultivate not just a person's mind but their spirit as well. No one embodied this ethos better than Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt, and it is with a heavy heart that I share the news of her passing.

For more than half a century, Sister Jean shared her faith with her community in Chicago. She was a teacher--a professor--at Mundelein College before it affiliated with Loyola University, where she became an academic advisor.

She was famous on the basketball scene. Basketball players might remember Sister Jean as the de facto chaplain and mascot of the Loyola

Ramblers of the city of Chicago. Her cheers were louder than anyone else's in the arena. She helped to lead the Ramblers to the Final Four in 2018.

She was a wonderful person, and it was my good fortune to get to know her. Students at Loyola remember her as the person who always kept her office door open, a symbol of her constant willingness to take care of students, the whole person. In her pregame prayers with the team, Sister Jean would ask for God's grace in one sentence and give coaching advice to individual players in the next. She was more than a loyal fan and a coach. She was Loyola's spiritual captain.

I had the great fortune of working with former President Biden to obtain a Presidential proclamation to honor Sister Jean and the thousands of lives that she touched.

In thinking of her passing, I am reminded of Job 14:7. This passage speaks of the tree that was cut down and reminds us that it may, one day, grow again.

While Sister Jean is no longer with us, her legacy of kindness and grace will continue to push others to serve just as she did for her entire life. Her tender branch will sprout once more, embodied in those who choose faith, service, and love. Sister Jean will be dearly missed.

I yield the floor.

I announce that the Senator from Illinois (Ms. Duckworth), and the Senator from Pennsylvania (Mr. Fetterman), are necessarily absent.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, I would like to begin today by underscoring some really wonderful news. Yesterday, the last living hostages, brutally held by the vicious Hamas organization, were released. Now they are back home finally with their loved ones.

This is an immense, overwhelming sigh of relief for everyone. I commend the enormous advocacy of the tireless hostage families and all who helped make this moment happen.

Over the last 2 years, I have gotten to know many of these hostage families well. I have been inspired by their strength and their courage and their persistence--they never gave up; they were here all the time--in bringing their loved ones home. Now, after so long, so much pain, so many sleepless nights, it warms my heart to see the joyous images of those families and many others reuniting with their loved ones.

But, as we all know, there is still a whole lot of work to be done. I remain fully committed to bringing home the remains of all the hostages who died in captivity--essential in Jewish law and Jewish burial-- including the remains of my two constituents Omer Neutra and Itay Chen.

Hersh Goldberg Polin's mother Rachel reminded us of the beautiful Jewish teaching during Sukkot that sums up this moment so fiercely. She said:

There is a time to sob, and there is a time to dance, and

we have to do both right now.

Of course, they lost their loved one; they lost their child.

This cease-fire represents a real opportunity to finally ensure a lasting end to this painful war, to surge humanitarian assistance and relief to the suffering Palestinians in Gaza, to make progress on negotiations for stability and governance in Gaza to ensure this is more than just a temporary cease-fire, and finally--finally--to build a lasting peace ultimately through a two-state solution.

For the last year on this floor, I have told the Trump administration, the Netanyahu administration, and everybody else that the best and only long-term solution to ultimate, long-term peace in the Middle East is a two-state solution. Well, now there is a potential opening to get that, and everyone involved must move in that direction, even if we have to move mountains. It ensures security, prosperity, and dignity for Israelis and Palestinians alike. Only then will a true peace be realized.

Argentina

On Argentina, if Americans want to know just how little Donald Trump seems to care about their healthcare, look at what he is doing today in the Oval Office. As we speak, the administration is approving $20 billion in taxpayer dollars to bail out Argentina in the middle of a shutdown.

I have just one question: If this administration has $20 billion to spare for a MAGA-friendly foreign government, how can they say we don't have the money to lower healthcare costs here at home?

The overwhelming majority of Americans say ``We need help with our healthcare,'' and they are busy spending $20 billion because Trump seems to really like the leader of Argentina. They are both sort of MAGA types.

The administration is giving this money away to help Argentina's hard-right President in his election, where his party is in serious trouble. It is a bailout. It is nonsensical. And at the same time, the American people are frightened, scared, and worried about losing their healthcare. It makes no sense to give money to Argentina and then say we don't have enough money to help Americans with healthcare. It is so against what Americans want. I

am sure if we had a vote here in this country, it would be 99 to 1 almost that the money belongs here, and that is what we should be focused on.

Meanwhile, farmers across America are looking at this Argentina bailout and wondering whose side the administration is on. It has been a devastating year for our soybean farmers because this administration has bungled trade talks with Beijing, and as a consequence, they have killed our soybean exports to that country. Now China is looking precisely to Argentina to cut new soybean deals while our farmers at home suffer backbreaking losses.

On top of all that, you mean to tell me the administration is fine with sending $20 billion of taxpayer dollars to help foreign farmers compete against American farmers here at home in the middle of a shutdown?

It is insane--utterly insane. This Argentina bailout is a slap in the face to both American farmers and to working families worried about keeping their healthcare.

I will say it again. If this administration has $20 billion to spare for a MAGA-friendly foreign government, they cannot turn around and say we don't have the money to lower healthcare costs here at home. Those costs are going through the roof.

Government Funding

Mr. President, on day 14 of the Trump shutdown, I want to remind everybody why we are here in the first place. Democrats made it very clear day in and day out: We want to open the government and have a serious negotiation to fix the healthcare premium crisis that is set to wallop the American people.

Nearly everyone agrees that looming ACA premium hikes are a devastating problem. The public knows it, we Democrats know it, the White House privately knows it, and even Republicans here in Congress know it. They admit it. Yet Republicans remain dug in and insist that there is nothing to negotiate when it comes to healthcare, that they won't even sit down and talk with Democrats about it. That makes no sense. That is not the way we always get our CRs done.

The Republican leader has now scheduled seven votes on the Republican partisan CR, and it has failed to secure enough votes to pass this Chamber each time. That means, like it or not, the Republican leader needs to work with Democrats in a bipartisan way to reopen the government, just as we did when we passed 13 CRs when I was majority leader.

Last week, we saw what happens when Republicans choose to work with Democrats in a serious way. We passed the NDAA--it was a strong national defense bill--with a strong bipartisan vote. We need the same enthusiasm from Republicans that we saw on the NDAA here on the healthcare issue.

Of course, the biggest roadblock right now to reopening the government is the Speaker of the House. The Speaker has kept Congress on vacation for 3 weeks. It is just incredible. Government workers must work without getting paid; House Republicans get paid without working.

Johnson continues to insist there is nothing to negotiate, but I want to make one point very clear: Republican leaders can say all they want that there is nothing to negotiate, but if Republicans don't change course, then very soon 20 million Americans are going to face financial catastrophe when their healthcare premiums go through the roof. And many more Americans will face it than 20 million, but 20 million are right on the frontlines here because of the ACA. That is a reality Republicans can't make disappear by just digging in.

The ACA premium crisis is not a fix-it-later issue but, rather, a fix-it-now issue because open enrollment starts in less than a month, and window-shopping has already begun in several States, where people have the awful choice: Should I go without healthcare altogether with my family? What if my kid or my spouse or I get sick? Or should I cut back on almost everything else because I need to pay huge increases in my healthcare insurance?

So Republicans may think they can dig in until the next ice age, but a fork in the road is coming their way whether they like it or not: Either work with Democrats to fix ACA premiums or sit by as 20 million Americans pay thousands of dollars more out of pocket.

If Republicans remain dug in, the American people will hold them responsible for rising healthcare costs. If Republicans do nothing, they will be the ones triggering a massive healthcare panic that will be felt from coast to coast. This is a nonnegotiable fact.

Democrats want to avoid reaching that point. We want to work in a serious way with our Republican colleagues and with President Trump to defuse this healthcare crisis before it starts, but we are running out of time.

POLITICO Report

Mr. President, I want to close by speaking briefly on an extremely disturbing report I just read in POLITICO. Earlier today, POLITICO published a story purporting to show thousands of private messages containing racist, sexist, and violent comments by young Republican leaders across the country. The leaked conversations are revolting. They make you want to throw up. They include comments supposedly from young Republican leaders saying things like ``I love Hitler.'' Can you believe it? They include gas chamber jokes--how sick. They include racist obscenities, including the N-word. They include jokes with sexual assault.

Many of these individuals who allegedly made these comments have positions of leadership in the Young Republican organization. It is hard to believe. You can't make this up. It is awful. It is revolting. It is disgusting. It is obnoxious. It is the kind of garbage the worst kinds of people say when they think no one is watching.

If this report is accurate, every single Republican leader from President Trump on down, including every Republican Senator, including the Republic National Committee, ought to condemn these comments swiftly and unequivocally, and the people should no longer have any position of power in any Republican organization--the people who said it.

At this delicate political moment, party leaders of all sides have an obligation to speak out against this kind of violent and vile rhetoric. Republican leaders cannot be silent if these sickening reports are true.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, today is day 14 of the Schumer shutdown, and Democrats continue to betray the American people.

Let me read some of the headlines I have seen over the last several days. The Military Times writes: ``Military families seek out food assistance [during] shutdown anxiety.''

An Axios headline warns that there could be ``insufficient funds for food stamps.''

A local New York TV station reports: ``Government shutdown threatens food access for Long Island's most vulnerable.''

And the Wall Street Journal reads: ``Thin Air-Traffic Staffing Spurs Delays at U.S. Airports.''

Anxiety, concerns about food, concerns about our airports, these are real-life impacts of the Schumer shutdown, and the pain is getting worse each and every day.

And what does Senator Schumer do? He treats it as a game. A game. Lives are in the balance; treats it as a game. He bragged about shutting down the government. Bragged about it. It was carefully planned, and in a carefully planned interview with Punchbowl News, he gloated.

He said:

Every day gets better for us.

That is what Schumer said.

Every day gets better for us.

Who is the ``us''? Certainly not the American people.

The Washington Post pointed out: This is a dangerous political game-- because it really matters to the American people, even though it may be just a game being played by the Democrats in this body.

You take a look at this and say: Whose lives are getting better every day? Certainly not the lives of the men and women in uniform who are worried about their paychecks. They are the ones who protect our country.

It is not our Border Patrol agents. Oh no, it is not getting better for them each and every day. They are busy keeping out illegal immigrants.

It is not the air traffic controllers who keep our skies safe. No, it is not getting better for them each and every day. It is not the military families who are lining up at food banks. Oh, no, it is not getting better for them every day.

So I ask again, when Chuck Schumer tells the press that ``every day it is getting better for us,'' whose lives are getting better by what he is doing and the Democrats are doing to the American people?

Whose lives are getting better every day because of the Schumer shutdown? It is not the American people.

It is fascinating. You know, we go home on weekends. We talk to people at home. They are concerned about what is happening to their lives during the time of a government shutdown.

They are not worried but are concerned about what they see happening here in Washington, where they see the Democrats beholden to the far- left, radical, extreme, dangerous, scary wing of the party because that is what is happening here in this body.

You look across the aisle, we see an entire group of Democrats being held hostage. Who is this group? Well, it is the Marxists, anti-ICE, anti-America wing of the Democrat Party that are controlling the party. The ``us'' the minority leader is talking about are them. That is whom he is talking about. They are running the Democrat Party right now.

And in the process, they are running our country into the ground. In the same interview that Senator Schumer gave last week to Punchbowl News,

when he said that ``every day it is getting better for them,'' he also said and admitted, he said:

We thought about this long in advance.

The far-left wing of the party, long in advance, planned for this shutdown, and they did it with Chuck Schumer in his office. They organized a war room. They orchestrated the shutdown that brought all of this pain on the American people.

The minority leader handed the reins to that far-left wing and now they are the ones driving the stagecoach and they are driving the stagecoach over the cliff. And it is a mistake and it is an error and it is hurting the American people. And they don't seem to care because they are treating it as a game, even though it is a dangerous game, as the Washington Post points out.

So what does all this mean in this big political game? Well, there is one person trying to save his own hide, and we know that is the minority leader, especially as we get closer to this radical rally that is scheduled in Washington on October 18.

Democrats don't want to disappoint the radicals who are descending upon this city next weekend. This is the far-left activist group. It is called Indivisible. You may have heard of them.

This is what one of the organizers of the radical rally had to say. He said the head of the group clearly exposed their threat to the minority leader.

He said:

Millions will be out there cheering you on, or they'll be

calling for new leadership.

And they are controlling the party. They are calling the tune, and we see the Democrats dance, not for the American people but for the far- left wing of their party. And they are holding the reins. They are telling the minority leader: You keep this shutdown going or you pack up your office and leave.

They don't seem to care that the American people are suffering, not one bit. What we see is the minority leader playing politics and choosing politics as a game over doing what is right for the American people.

And the Democrats are playing a dangerous game, and it is hurting all of us. And why are they playing the game? Because one of them is trying to use it for political gain.

We could end this shutdown today. We are going to have a vote here this afternoon, an opportunity to end the shutdown. And the pain and the suffering and the anxiety that the American people are feeling-- when I say ``American people,'' I am talking about American citizens who are all around the world defending us, keeping us free.

All we are asking is for a vote on a clean continuing resolution. The Democrats did it 13 times when Joe Biden was in the White House. They are not willing to do it now because they have an organized, orchestrated plan to shut down the government, keep it shut down.

Now, some Democrats have voted with us. We have had a bipartisan group. It has 55 votes on the votes that we have had. We need five more Democrats. I don't expect the minority leader to ever join that group to open the government, ever, no matter how obvious it is, how necessary it is, how much pain he is causing.

But that is what we have and that we are facing today, and we have a chance just this afternoon, 5:30 this afternoon, on a vote of this body to pick up and pass the bipartisan bill, a continuing resolution that they have done 13 times in the House and the Senate when Joe Biden was President.

And yet the Democrats in this body have been voting no, time after time after time. We need a few more Democrats, a few who care about helping the American people and care more about helping the American people than they do about helping the minority leader.

He has a political disaster on his hands. That is not a problem for all of us. But we are suffering the consequences of the toxicity of that position of the minority leader within his own party, in his effort to try to find absolution at a time causing significant pain and grief for American people who are struggling to get by, facing a loss of paychecks, a loss of nutrition, a loss of care for their children, a loss of help for small businesses. You can go down the list.

All of this could be resolved today with a simple vote for a continuing resolution to open the government once again. That is what we should do today.

That is the right thing for this body and the right thing for our country.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from Louisiana (Mr. Cassidy), the Senator from Tennessee (Mr. Hagerty), the Senator from Kentucky (Mr. McConnell), and the Senator from North Carolina (Mr. Tillis).

Further, if present and voting, the Senator from North Carolina (Mr. Tillis) would have voted ``yea,'' and the Senator from Tennessee (Mr. Hagerty) would have voted ``yea.''

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs be discharged from further consideration of S. 2965 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration; that the bill be considered read a third time and passed and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. President, the reason that I asked for unanimous consent to proceed with the No Argentina Bailout Act--it is a bill that I coauthored with Senators Kaine, Van Hollen, Booker, Smith, Gallego, Sanders, and Welch, and the reason for this is because, in his Presidential campaign, Donald Trump promised to put ``America First''-- not Argentina first; America first.

Right now, American families are struggling to pay for groceries and rent because of Donald Trump's chaotic tariffs and other disastrous economic policies.

President Trump and congressional Republicans shut down the government because they refused to work with Democrats to pass a bipartisan budget that would protect 15 million Americans' healthcare and prevent insurance premium hikes for tens of millions more.

Now, Republicans would rather shut down the government than help Americans afford healthcare. Because of the Republican shutdown, more than a quarter of a million Federal employees won't receive their scheduled paychecks. National parks are understaffed, and some are even closed entirely. Air traffic controllers and TSA agents aren't getting their paychecks, and shutdown-related staff shortages have led to flight delays.

Critical government Agency functions are being affected across the board, but one government function that President Trump didn't want to shut down: sending $20 billion--American taxpayer dollars--to Argentina.

That is right. Even while the Trump administration is trying to fire more American workers and shut down more services here in the United States, Donald Trump is carefully keeping open the office at the Treasury Department responsible for executing his bailout of Argentina's financial markets.

The administration agreed to send $20 billion in American taxpayer money to Argentina's central bank, and that loan is evidently just the start. Secretary Bessent also revealed the Treasury started purchasing Argentine pesos directly and promised that going forward, Treasury would do whatever it takes to keep Argentina's financial markets afloat, including buying up the country's debt.

Secretary Bessent seems to be saying that the American economy can tank, and Americans can pay higher prices, but there will be no end to using American taxpayer dollars to bail out Argentina.

For Trump, the leader of Argentina is more important than American families struggling with rising costs for healthcare. This is a bitter blow, but for American farmers, the story is even worse.

For months now, American farmers, particularly American soybean farmers, have been suffering under the weight of Trump's sweeping tariffs. Buyers around the world have been reluctant to purchase from our farmers when Trump is slapping tariffs on their home countries.

While our farmers suffer, other countries sense an opportunity for themselves. A few weeks ago, Argentina cut a deal with China to boost the sales of their soybeans and leave American soybean farmers out in the cold. After Argentina took those actions, after Argentina cut a deal to take the legs out from underneath American farmers, Trump authorized a $20 billion bailout for Argentina.

This development is so terrible for American farmers and so embarrassing that the Treasury Secretary was caught looking at frantic texts from President Trump's own Agriculture Secretary, complaining that the United States is bailing out a country that cozied up to China at the expense of American farmers.

So why is Donald Trump backpedaling on ``America First'' to make it Argentina first? Because Donald Trump's personal friend, close political ally, and ``favorite President,'' Argentine President Javier Milei, is facing a critical midterm election in the coming weeks, and he is in trouble.

Milei's popularity has plummeted in recent months because of his ongoing corruption scandals and the complete failure of his radical economic agenda. As a result, his party suffered a surprising defeat in local elections in September.

Now, the election coming up on October 26 will determine whether Milei can keep exerting control over Argentina's legislature. With global investors pulling their money from the country trying to get off his sinking ship and destabilizing its financial markets, his party's electoral chances looked really slim.

So Trump is sending 20 billion U.S. taxpayer dollars to bail out Argentina and prop up Milei so can stay in power. That is Argentina first, not ``America First.''

But there is more. The bailout for Argentina also helps Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's billionaire hedge fund buddies. Bessent's pals have bought up Argentina's debts, and if Argentina goes down, those Wall Street billionaires could lose a lot of money.

Bailing out Argentina gives an off-ramp to the Wall Street giants who want to exit their investments. And meanwhile, here at home, the Trump administration is pushing 15 million Americans toward an unwanted off- ramp from their current healthcare.

The No Argentina Bailout Act is really very simple. It would stop Donald Trump from using Treasury's Exchange Stabilization Fund to provide direct or indirect financial assistance to Argentina, including through the use of currency swap lines, currency or sovereign debt purchases, or direct loans.

Any existing financial contracts or instruments that violate this prohibition would have to be sold or terminated within 7 days. The prohibition expires at the end of President Milei's term in December 2027. And if, for some unforeseen reason, it is actually in America's interest to provide economic aid to Argentina during this period, the

administration can come here to Congress and get approval.

Today, President Trump hosted the President of Argentina at the White House after showering his country with American taxpayer money. It is shameful that President Trump is propping up a foreign government while he shuts down the American government.

It is simple: If you really want to put ``America First,'' then you will support American farmers and American families and urge passage of the No Argentina Bailout Act.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I move to proceed to Calendar No. 168, H.R. 5371.

Mr. President, I want to join my colleague Senator Grassley from Iowa and, before I begin, mention the release of the hostages on Monday. After more than 2 years in captivity, the final 20 living hostages were returned to Israel and reunited with their loved ones.

To see the peace process moving forward is an occasion for immense gratitude, and I hope that both sides will

adhere to the terms of the agreement so that this can mark the beginning of an end to the bloodshed. That includes the prompt and respectful return by Hamas of the remains of the deceased hostages.

I know that President Trump, without whom this would not have happened, Secretary Rubio, and others continue to work to hammer out the remaining steps of the peace process. That will have to include disarming Hamas and ensuring that the organization plays no future role in governance in the Gaza Strip.

My prayers are with the President, Secretary Rubio, and all of those on both sides who are working to make peace a reality.

Government Funding

Mr. President, ``Every day gets better for us.'' So said the Democrat leader in an interview published on Thursday, hours before Democrats, once again, voted to keep the government closed and to deny servicemembers a paycheck. Federal workers, including law enforcement officers, missed part of their pay last Friday, but, hey, at least, life is getting better for Senate Democrats.

A CNN article from Thursday said that Democrats are preparing to keep on with this shutdown for ``several more weeks.''

I guess Democrats are not going to be satisfied until military families and government workers are lining up at food banks or visiting payday lenders or simply charging necessary items like milk and bread on their credit cards to be repaid later, if they can, along with the big interest charges that come with that.

But, hey, while military families and government workers may be deeply stressed, at least, life is getting better every day for Senate Democrats.

I could, at least, understand a little bit more where Democrats are coming from if Republicans were asking them to swallow a lot of new Republican policies to reopen the government.

But Republicans aren't asking the Democrats for anything. We are not asking them to support any new Republican policies. We are not asking them to swallow any partisan policy riders.

We have put forward, and the House has passed, a clean, nonpartisan CR. That is the bill Democrats are rejecting.

And, by the way, you certainly don't have to take my word for it that we put forward a clean bill. Here is what one mainstream news publication said last week:

It's important to note that Democrats instigated this

shutdown. They rejected a ``clean'' funding proposal and

demanded significant and expensive health care policy changes

in exchange for their votes.

It's important to note that Democrats instigated this

shutdown. They rejected a clean funding proposal and demanded

significant and expensive health care policy changes in

exchange for their votes.

Yes, that pretty much captures it right there, in a nutshell. Democrats like to whine that Republicans aren't negotiating, but negotiation is what you do when each side has a list of demands and you need to meet in the middle.

Republicans, as I and a lot of other people have pointed out, haven't put forward any demands. Only Democrats have made demands--by the way, very expensive demands--and they have taken government funding hostage in an attempt to force through their partisan measures.

I remember when Democrats used to care about the effects of a government shutdown. In fact, I could fill a whole speech--many speeches, actually--with quotes from Democrats talking about how terrible shutdowns are.

I used to think they were sincere in those opinions, but it has become abundantly clear that their previous statements weren't based on principle but on political advantage.

Democrats were against shutdowns when it suited their political purposes, and now that it suits their political purposes, they think, to keep the government closed--now they support shutdowns.

I suspect their political calculations are flawed because, after all, 65 percent of voters think Democrats should reopen the government, instead of holding out for their partisan demands. But I guess Democrats are more worried about gaining the approval of their far-left base than about getting the approval of everyday Americans.

It is day 14 of the Democrats' shutdown. Our economy is losing billions of dollars. Federal workers, including law enforcement officers, are going without pay. Critical government programs are in jeopardy.

But, hey, at least life is getting better every day for Senate Democrats.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I enter a motion to reconsider.

Mr. President, I send a cloture motion to the desk.