Ashley Moody

Mr. President, thank you to my good friend and colleague Senator Schmitt. The grift is real, and the grift is great. I rise today to urge my colleagues to pass this vital legislation to stop the rampant fraud that we are seeing around this country.

Through my previous work as Florida's attorney general, certainly my colleague and his work as attorney general, we know how important it is to safeguard our citizens and the American taxpayer.

I was a founding member of the new Senate Anti-fraud Task Force, and I know every time we uncover another case of fraudsters benefiting off our public tax dollars, it is a slap in the face to hard-working Americans.

We are so grateful to this administration and Vice President Vance for stepping up and taking the lead. We know that fraud being uncovered across the Nation sets up a challenge to Congress to address our laws to make sure it is not easy to accomplish; that the criminals don't have their work laid out for them; that they don't keep getting away with this. Congress should be embarrassed if we don't take action.

I was as shocked as everyone here when reports came out that criminals in Minnesota stole an estimated $9 billion in taxpayer funds.

In addition, the administration has uncovered more than $260 billion in fraud nationwide. Americans should be hopping mad.

That is why, when the House of Representatives recently voted overwhelmingly in a bipartisan fashion to advance commonsense policies holding fraudsters accountable, I worked directly with the House sponsors to file the Senate companion the very next day. That is why my colleague and I are standing here on the floor today to try to get something done immediately. We have to stop the bleeding.

The National Fraud Enforcement Division Act of 2026 would institute a permanent force for taxpayers within the Department of Justice.

To Senator Schmitt, to the House sponsors, and every other Member of this noble institution that has vowed to clean up this mess and actually do something, thank you. It couldn't come at a more important time.

However, while I stand here and talk about the importance of this issue, the common sense of this issue, and the support of the American people for this issue, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle block every effort we have made to address rampant fraud in this country.

We were sent here to be stewards of taxpayer dollars, to ensure we are spending the finite resources of this country responsibly. And yet every significant attempt taken by this body,

by the government, by me, by a colleague, by Senator Schmitt, by anyone on the Republican side of the aisle to do something, it gets blocked or stalled.

Dismantling the fraud economy and going after those who defraud the American taxpayer should be a 100-to-0 issue.

When Senator Ernst tried to pass her antifraud legislative package-- with many of the provisions being bipartisan--earlier today, Senate Democrats blocked the bill.

Just last week, I tried to pass a No Aid For Ghost Students Act in committee, making sure we weren't outlaying money for students that didn't even exist, and that got stalled by the Democrats.

Every new idea or proposal that we put forth is panned or outright rejected, even if the idea saves taxpayer dollars for more crucial needs or would lead to refunds to the American taxpayer. It is irresponsible to not do something. We should be embarrassed.

And think about what is happening. I am talking about the Dems not allowing us to push forward legislation to fix laws that are allowing this to happen. Right now, we are just trying to put forward a permanent division to enforce existing laws, and we can't seem to get that through, even though it passed the House bipartisan.

When we are told actions speak louder than words, I can only draw one conclusion; that certain Members or parts of this institution prioritize fraud recipients and grifting the apparatus over the fiscal health of the country or our fiscal stewardship responsibilities.

I hope I am wrong. I hope that we, as the Senate, as the legislators we are, will come together to support this cause and permanently enact and set up a Fraud Enforcement Division. There could be nothing simpler. And if we pass the National Fraud Enforcement Division Act today, we guarantee that more fraudsters and bad actors are held accountable for stealing taxpayer dollars. I say: Let's get this done.

I yield back to my colleague from Missouri.

Mr. President, I call up my amendment No. 6831 and ask that it be reported by number.

Mr. President, I would like to begin by thanking the sponsor of this bill, Senator Cruz, Senator Schmitt who had such a large hand in getting this to the floor for their support on this amendment. I think everyone can agree that college sports has become broken and is headed in a bad direction. Fans across the Nation are seeing it. I am hearing about it from Floridians, and that is why I appreciate the efforts of my colleagues and the Trump administration to address these issues.

But there is an area in this bill that would not best serve all of our universities, especially all the universities in the State of Florida, and that is why I am here with this amendment.

We have a unique situation in Florida. We have a lot of schools that have successful football programs. In fact, 25 percent of the national football championship teams, since 1983, have come from the State of Florida. It is because of those successful programs. And they have been successful because the universities have had the opportunity to make decisions based on students and the success of their program.

So we need more flexibility in the conference caps in this bill, and that is why I am moving to amend this bill simply by expanding the conference cap by 1, from 19 to 20 in those conferences.

This would go a long way to helping schools like USF, which is in its 30th year, and they are at a 4 to 0 start to the season. The strict conference cap will limit them.

It also helps our historic programs like the University of Miami, who is also 4 to 0 already this year, and Florida State University that wants to continue to build on their storied century-old successes in football.

So thank you for the opportunity to speak on this amendment. Again, I would like to thank the bill's sponsor that supports this amendment, and I would like to yield my time to Senator Blumenthal from Connecticut who also is sponsoring this amendment.

Mr. President, today is Constitution Day. Two hundred thirty nine years ago, our Founders signed the Constitution of this United States. Every Senator in this room has taken an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic. And every one of us swore that oath. I did it at the same time as Senator Husted, who is on the floor today.

Our Founders understood the danger of concentrated power; they had just fought a revolution against it. And they understood something about human nature: Power will always want more power.

So they put limits on it. They divided power among three branches. They built in checks and balances. They preserved the authority of the States. And with the Bill of Rights, they made one thing unmistakably clear: There are some places government simply cannot go. Government cannot silence you because it doesn't like what you say. Government cannot take away your right to keep and bear arms. It cannot search your home whenever it pleases. It cannot take away your liberty without due process. These aren't suggestions. They are hard limits on government power.

Yet today there is a growing movement on the left that treats safeguards within our Constitution as obstacles to overcome. You don't like a decision from the Supreme Court? Pack the Court, add Justices until you get the decisions you want. You don't like the laws of the people that are enacted through their representatives? Just have an Executive, a rogue prosecutor, refuse to enforce the people's laws. Don't like what Americans are saying? Pressure private companies to silence them and call it fighting misinformation.

Again and again, we will see the same pattern when constitutional guardrails stand between you and what you want: Simply move the guardrails. And that is dangerous. It is the greatest threat to a constitutional republic.

The greatest threat to a constitutional republic is not disagreement. It is the belief that your cause is so important that the Constitution should get out of your way.

And today we are seeing something even more fundamental: this movement that I referenced to dismantle the institution the Constitution created. Right now, democratic socialists are calling for a far-reaching change to the very foundation of American Government, our Constitution. They want to abolish the Supreme Court, replace the Presidency, abolish the electoral college.

And at some point, we have to admit this stops being an argument about policy. It becomes an argument about the very foundation of this country, the United States of America. It becomes an attack on the Constitution that we all swore an oath to protect and defend because when you start dismantling institutions designed to keep power in check, the next question has to be: Who keeps power in check then?

I have had the rare opportunity to see the balance of power, the separation of power, from all three branches now. I have served as a Federal prosecutor; I have served as an attorney general in the great ``Free State of Florida''; I have served as a judge for over a decade; and now I serve on behalf of the people, making their laws in the legislative branch.

I have seen firsthand why the Founders drew those lines and why we must protect them. And that brings me back to our oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.

We know what a foreign enemy looks like. But a threat to our constitutional system doesn't have to come from beyond our shores. It can come from within the very institutions the Constitution created. And what happens when those that have sworn the oath to protect and defend the Constitution, what happens when they themselves start advocating to dismantle it?

Right now, we have Members of Congress that have sworn to protect the Constitution, but they are coming out and supporting organizations and policies and advocacies that would attack and dismantle the things that protect people's rights.

An oath means the most when keeping it becomes inconvenient. Just ask the officers, the deputies in my home county of Hillsborough County, who took the oath to protect and serve and went into live fire in order to do their jobs and uphold their oath.

Justice Clarence Thomas recently described the challenge this way:

It is that devotion that we are missing today and that we

must find in our hearts if this Nation is to endure.

This year, America celebrates 250 years since declaring our independence. The Declaration of Independence announced the promise of America. The Constitution gave us the system to protect it.

Our job is not to move its guardrails when they become inconvenient. Our job is to defend them because our enemies do not have to defeat America on a battlefield if we are willing to tear down from within the institution and principles that have sustained this Nation for 250 years.

So, today, on Constitution Day, let us remember the oath that each one of us took to support the Constitution, to defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic. Let's remember our duty and carry it out faithfully.

Thank you, Mr. President.

I yield the floor.