Floor Statements

Mr. President, I rise today with deep personal gratitude and profound admiration to honor a legendary American, Roger S. Penske. This past Friday, February 20, marked his 89th birthday.

Born in Shaker Heights, OH, Roger Penske has made America better and has touched the lives of millions of Americans in an extraordinarily positive way. As we celebrate this occasion, we also mark the 60th anniversary of Team Penske, the racing dynasty he founded at the age of 29 in February of 1966. Team Penske has defined excellence, innovation, and triumph in motor sports, unlike any other racing program in U.S. history.

Roger's journey is truly inspiring. At the age of 21, he became a champion driver, capturing the SCCA national title. He competed in Formula 1. He competed in NASCAR, and, as I just mentioned, he competed in the SCCA.

In 1961, he was named the Sports Illustrated Driver of the Year. His success on the track earned him the enduring nickname of ``The Captain'' for his unmatched strategic mind and competitive fire.

After an incredible racing career, he turned his attention to building Team Penske into one of the most successful teams in the history of any professional sport. The results are truly staggering. Let's go through them: a Formula 1 victory, three Daytona 500 wins, a record-setting 20 Indianapolis 500 victories.

You can see that photograph here--20 times won the Indianapolis 500. By the way, it is incredible to win it once; to win it 20 times is unheard of.

Forty-eight national championships, over 700 pole positions, more than 650 major wins across INDYCAR, NASCAR, and IMSA, along with other racing series--this includes victories in the 24 Hours of Daytona, the 12 hours of Sebring, along with a win in Australia's legendary Bathurst 1000 race.

More than 100 drivers have raced for Team Penske over the course of six decades, includes legends such as Mark Donohue, Rick Mears, Rusty Wallace, and Al Unser.

Just recently, Roger bought and revitalized the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, which hosts the single largest 1-day sporting event on the planet, the Indy 500. This acquisition assured this iconic venue's future for generations of fans.

And those are just Roger Penske's accomplishments on the racetrack. He leads Penske Corporation, a global powerhouse in transportation, logistics, and retail automotive, employing tens of thousands of Americans, with operations in every single State. Penske Automotive Group is the largest automobile dealership owner on Earth, selling more new vehicles in more places than any other single organization. It also owns the single largest automobile dealership on the planet, Longo Toyota, which sells almost 20,000 new vehicles in a single location per year.

In 2019, Roger's extraordinary contributions earned him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Nation's highest civilian honor, given to only 674 Americans in our entire history. This award celebrated not just his dominance in racing and industry but his embodiment of American entrepreneurship, patriotism, and excellence-- qualities that continue to shine brightly.

And, fittingly, Roger's legacy ties directly into our Nation's upcoming milestone. As part of America's 250th anniversary this year, he is spearheading the Freedom 250 DC Grand Prix, a groundbreaking INDYCAR street race around the National Mall and our iconic monuments on August 21 to 23. This historic, first ever motor race in our Nation's Capital will showcase the majesty of this great city, honor our independence, and highlight the innovation and pride of American motor sports. It is a fitting tribute to a man whose life has been dedicated to speed, strategy, and service to this great country.

Roger Penske is more than a racer, more than a businessman, more than a philanthropist supporting education, veterans, and communities in Ohio and beyond. He is the best of what America represents: grit, integrity, and an unyielding belief in doing things the right way.

My own connection to Roger Penske goes back two decades. I bought my first automobile dealership from him, a pivotal moment in my life. That taught me firsthand the values that underpin the Penske way: Effort equals results.

I have gotten to know Roger Penske, I have gotten to know his family, I have gotten to know his company, and I have gotten to know his team. They are utterly amazing, and his attention to detail is impossible to capture with words.

It is why George Costanza, in a memorable Seinfeld episode, was declared as ``most definitely not Penske material.'' But in fairness to George Costanza, that is a high bar that many of us would find hard to achieve.

As the U.S. Senator from Ohio, his birthplace, and someone whose path was forever changed by him, I am honored to salute Roger Penske on his 89th birthday and the 60th anniversary of Team Penske.

Thank you, Captain, for your friendship, for your inspiration, and for showing all of us what it means to win with class and with heart.

Happy birthday, Roger. Here is to many more victories on and off the track.

I yield the floor.

The great Senator from Iowa.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to waive the mandatory quorum call in relation to the Lea nomination.

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

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent to waive the mandatory quorum call in relation to the Fowlkes nomination.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand adjourned until 10 a.m. on Tuesday, February 3; and that following the prayer and pledge, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed expired, 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 Executive Calendar No. 610, David Fowlkes; further, notwithstanding rule XXII, at 11:30 a.m., the Senate vote on confirmation of the Fowlkes nomination; and if cloture is invoked on Executive Calendar No. 611, Nicholas Ganjei, the Senate vote on confirmation at 2:15 p.m., and the Senate recess following the cloture vote on the Ganjei nomination until 2:15 p.m. to allow for the weekly conference meetings; finally, and if any nominations are confirmed during Tuesday'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.

Madam President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order, following the rollcall vote on the cloture of the Fowlkes nomination, remarks of Senator Kennedy, and resuming of legislative session.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the rollcall vote commence immediately.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate be in a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.

Mr. President, I ask that the Committee on the Judiciary be discharged from further consideration and the Senate now proceed to S. Res. 570.

I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to executive session to consider the following nomination: Calendar No. 241; that the nomination be confirmed; that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate; that no further motions be in order to the nomination; and that the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action and the Senate then resume legislative session.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand adjourned until 10 a.m. on Tuesday, January 13; that following the prayer and pledge, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed expired, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, morning business be closed, and the Senate resume consideration of the motion to proceed to Calendar No. 299, H.R. 6938, postcloture; further, that the Senate recess from 12:45 to 2:15 p.m. to allow for the weekly conference meetings; that notwithstanding rule XXII, it be in order for Senator Warner or his designee to make a motion to proceed to Calendar No. 293, S.J. Res. 84, and if Senator Warner or his designee has made a motion to proceed, the Senate vote on the motion to proceed at 2:15 p.m.; finally, that all time during recess, adjournment, morning business, and leader remarks count postcloture on the motion to proceed to Calendar No. 299, H.R. 6938.

Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the rollcall vote commence immediately.

Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.

Will the Senator yield for a question?

Thank you to the Democrat leader for yielding for a question.

Have you put forward a proposal that we could read that you reference in your speech, which says a clean continuing resolution, with the extension of the ACA Biden credits?

So there is--

No, no. My question is: Is there a proposal in writing that we can read?

Would it still have no income caps, so people who make $1 million, $2, $3 million a year--

So for 1 year, people making millions of dollars would still receive--

--these COVID-era subsidies?

Just to be clear, what we heard from the minority leader was the following. I want to recap for those who might have missed it. No. 1, he acknowledged that the Democrats have not put forward a written proposal that people could look at. No. 2, he acknowledged that his plan would be to allow millionaires--let me say that clearly-- people making millions of dollars would receive Biden-era COVID ObamaCare subsidies. You heard that right--no income cap.

I was going to ask him before he stormed out of the room because evidently he doesn't want to hear any opposing views or actually engage in meaningful negotiation. He would have heard me ask the next question, which is, would he continue zero-dollar premiums, which we know for a fact have enormous levels of fraud.

If he had stayed, I would have asked him a third question: Does he want these moneys to go directly to insurance companies? Let me repeat that because I don't think the American people have been told the truth here. This money does not go to people on ObamaCare; this is a check written from the Federal Government to the wealthiest insurance companies on the planet.

He wants no income caps, millionaires getting COVID subsidies. He wants zero-dollar premiums that are filled with fraud, and he wants to enrich insurance companies even more. And because he can't get that-- here is the irony--there are Federal workers--military, TSA, the clerks here--that aren't receiving paychecks, that might get their health insurance canceled because we are not sending the premiums in. He is doing this to help people who have made millions of dollars already with this flawed healthcare system.

To make it worse, he admitted right here on the floor of the U.S. Senate--the minority leader admitted that he has actually not submitted a written proposal to allow the Senate to consider.

Let me just say one last thing, and I will yield my time to the Senator from Louisiana, who last night--I give enormous credit, honestly--gave a phenomenal proposal.

I love what you said, which is that instead of sending this money to insurance companies, why don't we send to the people directly? Let them be empowered to hold insurance companies accountable. Let them make the decisions.

I find it laughable that he says that I am for billionaires. I am somebody who worked my entire life in the private sector. According to financial disclosures, he has a higher net worth than I do, and he has been a politician his whole life. I don't know the math around that.

I will yield the floor to my great colleague from Louisiana, who, by the way--sadly, the cameras don't pan the room. There are no Democrats here listening to what you are about to say. You are here because you are a good man, and in your heart, you want to fix this.

They say we won't negotiate with them. They want to negotiate with President Trump, which is funny because when I look around, there are little plaques all over this floor, and there are none that say ``Donald J. Trump.'' This is a negotiation among the U.S. Senate, but they are not even here. Look--gone, empty. Maybe they are at lunch with some lobbyists. Maybe insurance company lobbyists are taking them out to play golf today. I would if I were an insurance company lobbyist.

Man, you guys are making me rich--like, filthy, filthy rich.

I am going to end, I swear.

Isn't it ironic, Senator Cassidy, that we want to give the money directly to the American people, and they want to give it right into the pockets of the people who fund their campaigns? Maybe they even own those stocks.

People out there, listen to it, and think about.

I yield the floor.

Will the Senator from Louisiana answer some very quick questions?

The first question I have for you, Senator, is, How many Democrat colleagues are in the Chamber today, right now?

So zero. Not one single Democrat is in the Chamber listening, debating, having a dialogue with you.

Question No. 2: If you are a union worker in my State of Ohio, do these Biden, ObamaCare, COVID-era subsidies lower their health costs?

If you are somebody on Medicare, no matter where you are in America, do these COVID-era, Biden, ObamaCare subsidies lower your deductibles?

If you get private insurance from a small business like the one I used to own, do these Biden-era COVID subsidies lower your healthcare costs?

If you are, unfortunately, somebody who is having a tough time and you are on Medicaid and you are disabled or have children, do these Biden-era COVID subsidies lower your deductibles or your out-of- pocket costs?

So none of the people I just mentioned--not union workers, not people on Medicare, not people on Medicaid, not people on private insurance, not unions that have negotiated incredible rates-- none of them will see lower healthcare costs; am I accurate on that?

Who stands to gain by the Federal Government writing a check for $26 billion to do what the Democrats want in order to open the people's government?

But just to be clear, the money goes directly to the insurance company, correct?

It doesn't go to the pocket of the consumer.

For example, if I want to go find a doctor who is going to offer treatment for less money because my deductible is too high, this doesn't help me because I am not getting the money. It is going to go to the insurance company, correct?

Senator, you are so smart on this topic. You are the chairman of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee; is that true?

Who was the previous chairman?

Bernie Sanders.

Bernie Sanders was the chairman when again--just to be clear?

Which would have been through 2024?

And the Biden-era ObamaCare subsidies were made, extended, in 2022; is that correct?

To expire in 2025?

So who voted for the expiration date of 2025?

So, just to be clear, the Democrats voted to have these subsidies expire this year, correct?

To your knowledge, was there a hearing last year, in 2024, in which the Democrats got together and said: ``Whoa, of these Biden-era COVID ObamaCare subsidies, we set them to expire in 2025. We should really make them permanent or extend them''? Was there a single hearing in your committee about that topic?

Wait. I am confused.

They set the expiration date of 2025, and then they didn't have one hearing to say: ``My God.''

Now, how about in December of 2024? They knew they had lost the election. Did they have an emergency meeting in December of 2024 and say: ``These Biden-era COVID ObamaCare subsidies are going to expire. We don't know if the Republicans are going to extend them. We need to do that''? Did they add it to the continuing resolution then that funded the government in December when they had total control of this Chamber? Did they do it then?

So this is a political stunt, and the American people need to see it for what it is.

In my career, I have negotiated my whole life. Negotiation is about leverage.

Would you agree?

What leverage are the Democrats using in this negotiation?

What does that mean, ``shutting down the government''? Who is the leverage? Is it the air traffic controllers who aren't getting paid or the Capitol Police who aren't getting paid?

Yesterday, we tried to fund Federal workers who are forced to work; is that true?

The Democrats voted that down; is that correct?

Would you have a hard time walking into this building, Senator, and seeing those Capitol Police officers out there and your staff and knowing that you voted not to pay them?

Knowing that you walk by TSA to go to your lobbyist retreat in the Napa Valley, and you know that you are responsible for their not getting paid and that they are your leverage and SNAP recipients and Head Start recipients?

They are using the American people's suffering as political leverage. That is how far gone the Democrat Party is.

What you are offering would hurt insurance companies' pocketbooks; would it not?

But this would hurt their pocketbooks?

Two final questions, then I will yield the floor. Our great Senator from West Virginia needs to speak.

Twenty-six billion dollars--$26 billion--a number that most Americans can't even conceive of. The government is staying closed because Democrats want to give $26 billion more to insurance companies, and you are proposing to give that to the American people instead. Is that accurate?

Last question: The COVID-era Biden subsidies were set to expire in 2025, by Democrats. Did you know that when they had power, they set the EV--electric vehicle--subsidies to expire in 2032?

Correct. And they were $7,500. You could lease a Rolls- Royce, a Mercedes, a Lamborghini, and if you did that, the government would give you $7,500. I want the American people to think about that when they understand how far gone the Democrat party has gone.

Thank you for your presentation.