Floor Statements

Mr. President, the bill we are discussing today should be really straightforward. A child who survives a failed abortion attempt should receive lifesaving medical care. We are talking about not an abstraction; we are talking about a living, breathing person--a little girl or a little boy--who comes into the world after a failed abortion. And they shouldn't just be put to the side and allowed to die. They deserve the care that they need to survive.

Imagine if it was a week later and they were going home from the hospital and there was a car wreck. You would rush them to the hospital. You would do everything to help that child survive.

Once that child is born, it should be straightforward: We should be helping the child survive. And there is no difference in the value and dignity of a child--of a person--as to whether or not they were originally wanted or not. Once they are born, they have that natural right, which we all have, that is discussed in our Declaration of Independence: our right to life, to liberty.

I am a physician, and I was trained to take the best care of a patient regardless of the circumstances that brought them before me. And it may have been someone that society didn't particularly care for. It didn't matter. That is my patient. I am going to do everything I possibly can to help that patient survive and to thrive. That should be the ethic, and we should enshrine it into law.

But, Mr. President, I am a little struck. My Democratic colleagues offer a variety of excuses to justify opposing this bill. This is kind of like an inconvenient truth. Botched abortions happen.

Now, my Democratic colleagues refuse to acknowledge that infanticide--withholding care to a baby who is born alive--is horrific and wrong, but we do know that failed abortions occur. The Senate HELP Committee--Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions--heard powerful testimony last year from Melissa Ohden. Melissa survived an abortion and would have been left to die if not for a courageous NICU nurse--a neonatal intensive care unit nurse. A life that could have been wasted now is used to advocate for those who do not have a voice.

Innocent children should not have to hope that there is a NICU nurse like Melissa's who will do everything possible to save their life.

Mr. President, this is a vote in support of basic human decency. Every child deserves to have a chance to live. And I urge my colleagues, if you believe in prayer, pray on that. If you don't believe in prayer, look at the Declaration of Independence. We are endowed with the natural right of life and of liberty. Reflect on that. Support this bill.

With that, I yield the floor.

Mr. President, today is a day to celebrate. The Senate is moments away from keeping a promise we made to the American people when Social Security became law.

Folks will get the benefits they earned. State and local workers in Louisiana and other States across the country are no different than other Americans who paid into the system. State and local government workers deserve their full Social Security benefit.

Now with the passage of the Social Security Fairness Act, they will get it.

This act repeals WEP, GPO--that stands for ``windfall elimination provision'' and ``government pension offset''--and stops Social Security from punishing public workers for the crime of serving their communities. Nurses, teachers, firefighters, police officers, widows of those who worked in the Social Security system will be made whole by what we do here tonight.

I had a civics teacher in high school who always delighted in the fact that she taught someone who went on to become a Member of Congress, and Betty worked her whole life teaching in public schools. And because of GPO, when her husband passed away--her husband worked at Exxon Refinery, if I remember correctly--her Social Security benefit was cut to a fraction because she had worked in the public sector as a teacher.

Under this system, she would have been better in terms of Social Security benefits if she had never worked at all.

Most of us have a Betty in their life, in their State, in their hometown, or in their family--often a police officer or a firefighter, a first responder who served us, and now we have the opportunity to thank them for that service.

With a vote today, we are standing up for folks like Betty and everyone like her across our Nation. It is a day to celebrate.

I yield the floor.

Madam President, the holiday season is upon us and should be a time filled with family, friends, and joy. But this year, it is filled with financial anxiety for many Americans. They are struggling to pay for their groceries, to heat their homes, struggling with property and casualty insurance.

But I am here to speak to those who are struggling to afford flood insurance. For over 50 years, Americans have relied on the National Flood Insurance Program, or NFIP, to be a safety net in case of disaster. The program covers 4.7 million homes, but the program has become unaffordable, unaccountable, and unsustainable. And without congressional approval, FEMA worsened this by implementing a new risk assessment program called Risk Rating 2.0.

This program dramatically increased premiums, even for those who had never flooded, and the skyrocketing prices brought on by Risk Rating 2.0 has left many Louisiana families and families in other States struggling with a financial burden.

This financial strain has caused 52,000 Louisianans to drop their coverage in just 1 year, leaving them with no way to protect their homes. About half a million Americans nationwide have dropped their coverage. And this was anticipated by this Risk Rating 2.0. When the National Flood Insurance Program put it in place, they, again, anticipated that up to 20 percent of the people would drop their coverage.

Now, during this holiday season, the financial burden of this program will only increase as Mom tries to give her kids a wonderful Christmas. That is why this month I introduced the Flood Insurance Affordability Tax Credit Act to give relief to Americans enrolled in NFIP. This legislation gives low- and middle-income households a real-time 33- percent refundable tax credit to combat the out-of-control flood insurance premium. It is not a permanent solution. We need serious reform. But cutting flood insurance bills by a third is a good place to start.

I am working on a comprehensive NFIP program that protects families from excessive premium hikes, strengthens flood mitigation efforts, simplifies the claims process by cutting redtape. While we work to fix the broken system--and believe me to say I am working hard to do this-- this tax credit provides relief for current policy holders, and it provides a path for Americans who have been forced to drop their coverage due to unaffordable premiums to reenroll at an affordable price.

It directs the Treasury Secretary to establish a program where premiums can be paid in advance. This benefits families when they need it the most, like now during the holiday season after a period of years of financial distress.

Parents shouldn't have to pick between putting food on the table, wrapping presents under the Christmas tree, or paying for flood insurance. And with a tax credit taking a third off of her flood insurance bill, the mother trying to keep this together won't have to make these sacrifices. She will be able to give her kids the merry Christmas that they deserve and protect the home they sleep in.

By the way, I am from Louisiana, but this isn't just true for families living in my State. It is true for families across the Nation. This year's hurricane season showed us flooding is possible in areas that don't typically make you think of flooding. Just think of the homes devastated by flooding in North Carolina.

Americans need relief from Risk Rating 2.0. That is not the question. And America needs to pass massive reform. However, perhaps most importantly, Americans expect us to guarantee that the National Flood Insurance Program will still be here come the new year. If nothing happens, this program expires at the end of this week.

I should correct that. For those who think that the government shutdown does not affect them, if the Government shuts down, the NFIP program will have a lapse. During that period, the program cannot sell or renew flood insurance policies or borrow from the Treasury to pay claims for existing policies. So my hope is that we can find this debt deal. I support Speaker Johnson in his attempts to do so, not the least of which is it preserves the National Flood Insurance Program for anyone that may call upon it during this intervening period.

So just frankly speaking, letting the program lapse, temporarily or long-term, should not be an option. It is often the only flood insurance option for many communities. And without it, we leave millions vulnerable. That is why I am working with the entire Louisiana delegation on legislation to reauthorize the program.

Today, I urge colleagues to support this reauthorization, giving their constituents peace of mind and protection this holiday season.

Finally, I urge colleagues to look to the future. Passing the flood insurance affordability tax credit would give relief to policyholders and reauthorizing the program are only the first steps, but they are critical steps this body must take. And unless we want to do a disservice to the American people and NFIP, we should not stop here.

When we come back in the new year, we should commit to reforming the program to make flood insurance affordable again.

Every single one of my colleagues have constituents who rely upon the NFIP. If you look to this chart, every State in the union is shaded representing the number of NFIP claims each State has. Those in dark yellow have been hit hardest and have relied on NFIP the most. They all have at least $1 billion in NFIP claims since 1978; and 44 States have had over $50 million in claims over this time period.

It is clear Americans rely on the program. But if we continue down this path, the program goes bankrupt.

So my message to my colleagues representing States that rely on the National Flood Insurance Program--which is, frankly, all of us--let's find a way forward. My team has worked on a bipartisan permanent solution that rolls back Risk Rating 2.0, makes flood insurance affordable and accountable again. I encourage my colleagues to join me in the new year to get this done.

In the meantime, let our Christmas gift to Americans enrolled in NFIP be a lower flood insurance bill and peace of mind by reauthorizing the program.

I yield the floor.

Madam President, I am speaking to S. 3373, the hydropower license extension, which helps a lock on the Red River and Overton Lock projects. This bill is incredibly important to Louisiana.

Hydropower is reliable, safe, and responsible; and the Federal Government should be enabling projects, not standing in the way.

Today's actions are bipartisan, pro-job and pro-American energy. I am glad to see Congress cut the redtape holding up the Red River and Overton Lock projects.

These hydropower projects have been negatively impacted by supply chain issues the last 4 years. They simply need more time to start construction.

I am very pleased to see this get across the finish line.

I yield the floor.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that I be permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes and that Senator Brown be permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes prior to the scheduled vote.

Madam President, when Washington, when we in Congress, when the President makes a promise to the American people, people expect us to fulfill it. Today, the Senate has an opportunity to live up to a promise.

Millions of teachers, firefighters, police officers--I worked in a public hospital for the uninsured, and I would add nurses, technicians, lab techs, janitors--they expect us to fulfill this promise, and they are watching today. They are watching, filled with hope that the Senate will pass the Social Security Fairness Act to finally stop punishing them for having elected to serve our communities. We can fix a broken system that has unfairly harmed them for almost 30 years. We can finally deliver relief this Christmas for millions of Americans after years of nothing but empty promises.

The Social Security Fairness Act has passed the House and has overwhelming, bipartisan support in the Senate. With 62 cosponsors, it should not be even a question if we have the support to move forward today.

Not too long ago, I met with a retired Louisiana schoolteacher impacted by GPO. She cried in my office, not understanding why she was getting less in Social Security spousal benefits than if she had never worked at all. Think about this. She had her quarters. She had worked, say, 20 years in the private sector. She was getting less from spousal benefits than if she had never worked at all. She felt like she was being punished for educating generations of Louisiana children, and she was being punished. There is no excuse to treat our public servants this way.

So to my colleagues who are concerned about the pricetag, I hear you. The good news: I have a plan that helps address these concerns. I have a comprehensive Social Security plan that addresses both the insolvency in 9 years and including paying for this repeal of WEP and GPO. If you want to talk about it, I have been promoting this for 4 years.

By the way, it does not increase the full retirement age. People can still retire at the age at which they planned to retire.

By the way, it checks boxes that President Trump, during his campaigning, said he would like to do in order to benefit our Nation. It checks that box too.

So if you are concerned about the pricetag, please talk to me about how we can afford to do right by the public servants who are being penalized by WEP and GPO but also help our Nation financially.

We can do both if we have the courage to do both. But at the very least today, we can keep a promise to make Social Security fair again.

I want to thank all the advocates for their work in getting here, including the Louisiana Sheriffs' Association, the Louisiana Chiefs of Police Association, the Louisiana State Employees' Retirement System, the Louisiana Police Jury Association, the Louisiana Municipal Association, the International Association of Firefighters, the National Fraternal Order of Police, and all the others who have contributed so much to this effort.

I also want to thank President Trump, who has publicly announced his

support for this bill. It is a sacred trust between the American people and our government. President-elect Trump--soon-to-be President Trump-- recognizes this.

As long as I am here, I will fight to keep the promises that we make to the American people.

With that, I yield to my good friend Senator Brown.

Mr. President, I rise to support H.R. 6843, which is part of this package, the Atchafalaya National Heritage Area Boundary Remodification Act.

I want to take just a moment to talk about the Atchafalaya. Le Grand Derangement--my French is off, but stay with me.

When the British kicked the Acadians out of Canada and they migrated down to Louisiana and along the gulf coast, the Atchafalaya basin was where many of them settled, and their culture spread out from there. And if you think of our culture with the etouffee, the jambalaya, the crawfish, it all began in the Atchafalaya basin and built out from there.

And if you look at a map, where the Mississippi comes down, draining most of the continental United States, and then the Red River comes down, which drains Colorado, Oklahoma, Texas--they meet, and the Atchafalaya is born.

Prehistorically, the Atchafalaya River was an outlet for the Mississippi River. And if it were not for human engineering, it would once again be the outlet for the Mississippi. It is 1.4 million acres of swamps and wetlands and rivers--the largest wetlands in the United States.

And I say this because this culture, this Acadian culture--one of the most unique, if not the most unique, in our country--began here. In our boundary modification, we extend the footprint of this, acknowledging that the Cajuns that came from Canada, finding refuge in the United States, putting a unique imprint--a unique imprint on our country.

And I hesitate because I'm thinking. For example, Breaux Bridge, LA, has the crawfish capital of the world. Now, we are the only State, I am sure, that has the crawfish capital of the world.

But to show where that goes, yesterday, I am at a truck stop in Arkansas, and I stop and they are selling crispy, crunchy chicken. And with the crispy, crunchy chicken, I can get a side. It is jambalaya, it is red beans and rice, and it is something else. I said: This is Louisiana day. The guy laughed. He goes: It sure is. So the food that began when those Acadians settled there has spread out.

What this does is it expands that footprint. It allows more of a celebration of that culture, a preservation of the sportsmen's paradise. And along the way, it created a lot of jobs. It has support across Louisiana, including from the original 14 parishes within the national heritage area.

So I thank my colleagues for getting this across the line. I am very pleased about it, and I look forward to the Atchafalaya National Heritage Area educating even more Americans as to the wonders of my State.

I yield the floor.

Madam President, I rise in support of the Federal Disaster Tax Relief Act of 2024.

Three years after Hurricane Ida and months after Hurricane Francine hit Louisiana, communities are still recovering, and every bit we give helps. This bill allows Hurricanes Ida and Francine victims and other victims of natural disasters elsewhere in the country to deduct qualified disaster-related personal casualty losses from their income, even when above the standard deduction.

This is not new, and this is not novel. We have done it before. I led legislation to help the victims of Hurricane Laura and for those impacted by the great floods of 2016.

By the Senate passing the bill tonight, the bill will go to the President's desk to be signed into law, cutting taxes for Louisiana families who will use this money to rebuild. It goes without saying, we only have to look at North Carolina to say what an impact this can have elsewhere in the country.

We have to recognize that if a family wants to rebuild, we can give them a Federal handout, or we can say: Use your own resources.

And these are their own resources. The American people have always been there to help whoever has had a natural disaster. We in Louisiana have benefited. We in Louisiana will always help others.

With that, I yield the floor.

Madam President, before the Thanksgiving holiday, my colleagues--we--voted late into the night. And I have no problem with that if we are voting on meaningful legislation. But that is not what we have been doing. We are voting on last-minute, lameduck Biden-Harris judicial nominees.

But we have serious legislation for millions of Americans that the House overwhelmingly passed in mid-November, sent to the Senate, and it is waiting for a vote.

I am speaking of the Social Security Fairness Act, which repeals the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset--WEP and GPO. This is something which affects my State of Louisiana and affects the President of the Senate's State of California. We are particularly affected, but so are others--Texas and Illinois, Massachusetts, Maine, New York, New Jersey--I could go down the list-- both blue States and red States.

It recognizes, first, that Social Security is a sacred trust between generations; a promise to workers that when they retire, they will not live in poverty. But right now, Social Security's future is in danger. According to the people who run this program, if Social Security does nothing, the Social Security trust fund would be busted in 9 years-- flat bankrupt.

And then there will be an automatic 20- to 24-percent cut in benefits for everyone receiving Social Security and for those who will receive it in the future. Someone once said: Well, won't I be grandfathered in?

And she was a female, so I said: I think you mean ``grandmothered'' in, but it doesn't matter. No, if you are already on Social Security, you get a 24-percent cut.

So I will state here, we must save, strengthen, and secure Social Security. And I am pleased to say there is a plan to do so.

But one thing, what we cannot do as we work to save Social Security is perpetuate an unfairness, an unjustness--an unjustness that began decades ago. This unfairness targets people who have dedicated their lives to serving communities on the State and local level, such as first responders and teachers.

So, today, we can take a step toward that fairness. We can repeal two unfair Social Security provisions with the Social Security Fairness Act if the majority leader schedules a vote. WEP and GPO penalize families--and I have already mentioned particularly in States like Louisiana, California, Maine, Texas--who have worked a public service job for part of their career with a separate pension from Social Security.

We are talking about first responders, the police officers, the firefighters but also the teachers and other public employees who are being punished for serving their communities.

How did we get here? WEP and GPO were introduced decades ago to address perceived inequalities in the Social Security system, but they have had the opposite effect of creating real, tangible inequalities.

When my firefighters, police officers, and teachers in Louisiana have a second job or second career or get married, they are being unfairly punished, receiving far less from Social Security than if they had never worked in public service at all, and that is not right.

WEP reduces the earned Social Security benefits of individuals who also receive a pension from a non-Social Security government job. This has resulted in thousands who have paid into the system during their careers receiving a significantly reduced Social Security benefit when they retire.

GPO reduces earned Social Security spousal or survivor benefits for individuals who also receive a government pension.

This provision can reduce or even eliminate the Social Security benefits that a spouse or widow might have expected and relied upon. Public servant spouses would receive more than if they had never worked at all. Let me repeat that. If you have a teacher married to someone who has a great job, he dies, she doesn't receive but a fraction of the Social Security benefit that she would have received from her husband's Social Security benefit.

As a guy who used to work in a hospital for the uninsured run by the State, I worked a lot with nurses, I consistently hear from the people I worked with and from constituents that they feel like they are being punished for serving community, and that is in Louisiana, but it is for public servants across the country who feel the exact same way.

WEP and GPO affect Americans in every single State, and there is no excuse to treat our public servants this way. It should never have become law, but we have an opportunity to fix it. In mid-November, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Social Security Fairness Act. As a longtime original cosponsor of the Senate version, I have been waiting to proudly vote yes and finally repeal WEP and GPO.

Instead, day after day, Senate Democrats have focused their attention on ramming through partisan nominees rather than passing serious legislation.

And if it sounds like I am frustrated, I am. We owe it to every public servant who has taught our kids, protected our streets, run into a burning building, and more to pass this bill.

The time for theater is through. It is time to get serious and vote on legislation that matters. I am ready to vote yes on the Social Security Fairness Act and repeal WEP and GPO for people in Louisiana and for Americans across the country.

So I call upon the majority leader to schedule a vote on the Social Security Fairness Act, and I urge colleagues to join in support of it.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, as if in legislative session and notwithstanding rule XXII, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of the following bills, en bloc: Calendar No. 451, S. 2546; Calendar No. 452, S. 3946; Calendar No. 453, S. 4077; Calendar No. 454, H.R. 599; Calendar No. 455, H.R. 1060; Calendar No. 456, H.R. 1098; Calendar No. 458, H.R. 3608; Calendar No. 459, H.R. 3728; Calendar No. 460, H.R. 5476; Calendar No. 461, H.R. 5640; Calendar No. 462, H.R. 5712; Calendar No. 463, H.R. 5985; Calendar No. 464, H.R. 6073; Calendar No. 465, H.R. 6651; Calendar No. 466, H.R. 7192; Calendar No. 467, H.R. 7199; and Calendar No. 468, H.R. 7423.

I ask unanimous consent that the bills, en bloc, be considered read a third time and passed and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, all en bloc.

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

Madam President, we just had an election 2 weeks ago. I am not here to lord it over anyone, to gloat or anything else, but it is an important observation that Americans let their voices be heard overwhelmingly to go in another direction, and they voted for Republicans, but they also voted against the status quo.

Americans in Louisiana feel that their government is not serving them the way it should. They are struggling to afford trips to the grocery store, their energy bills, and to afford flood insurance.

For over 50 years, Americans have relied on the National Flood Insurance Program, or the NFIP, to be a safety net in case of disaster. NFIP covers 4.7 million homes across the country, including families like those in LaPlace, LA, pictured here.

For those who are watching on television, there are a bunch of homes, and they are surrounded by water. You can tell where the street is because the water is in the street. Fortunately, there is a little bit of green around most homes, but you can tell that that community is flooded.

For many, flood insurance is the only option to have protection against something like this, but the program is not serving Americans the way it should. Skyrocketing insurance premiums caused by FEMA's new risk assessment program, Risk Rating 2.0, has left many people in Louisiana and many families around the Nation with no way to protect their home. Risk Rating 2.0 makes flood insurance unaffordable and puts the entire program at financial risk.

Now, despite Congress never approving Risk Rating 2.0, it unfairly jacks up rates, driving people to drop their coverage. Let me repeat that. Despite Congress never approving Risk Rating 2.0, this program by NFIP is jacking up rates, forcing people to drop their coverage.

I hear the story from folks in Louisiana constantly, and that is what motivated me and my team to release a detailed report breaking down the current state of NFIP, how it reached this point, and what Congress can do to make flood insurance affordable again. What we found confirmed what people in Louisiana and Americans across the country already know: The National Flood Insurance Program is broken.

Now, by the way, this is 19 pages. It is not 600 pages of legalese. It is not something that you read to cure your insomnia. It is 19 pages that a Senator, that a staff person, that someone watching can download and read, and, with 19 pages, you can understand the complex program and understand why it is failing the people it is intended to serve. We did this with the goal that we would help get a program that is affordable, accountable, and sustainable as opposed to the program that FEMA has created, one that is unaffordable and going bankrupt as it forces Americans to drop unaffordable coverage.

After storms like Hurricane Helene--which, by the way, showed us that flooding is not just a coastal issue; it is also occurring inland in river systems--we should listen to the American people when they say they are not OK with the status quo.

So let's take a look at some of the things in the report. And I warn you, it is not good news.

First, we found that the average flood insurance cost in every State rose following Risk Rating 2.0. That was true for 80 percent of people in Louisiana, who saw a spike in their insurance premiums in the first year.

Second, NFIP premiums in Louisiana increased by 234 percent, resulting in 52,000 people in Louisiana dropping their policies last year alone. That is 52,000 Louisiana homeowners dropping their policies because it was no longer affordable in just 1 year. I represent Louisiana, but it is not just Louisiana in which this is an issue; nearly half a million Americans nationwide have dropped their coverage.

Third, FEMA itself now predicts that up to 1 million policyholders nationwide could lose flood insurance coverage in the next decade. They admit that their pricing is going to devastate the ability of Americans to afford this program. That said, FEMA still refuses to be transparent in terms of how they are calculating premiums, and this lack of transparency with Risk Rating 2.0 leaves policyholders in the dark.

This is the reason that we pushed to delay the program's implementation when it was first announced. President Trump did delay it. In 2019, my office worked with the Trump administration to delay Risk Rating 2.0 because of this lack of transparency in how FEMA was calculating rates, but when the Biden administration took over, they allowed Risk Rating 2.0 to move forward even though concerns were never addressed. The end result: Homeowners have high premiums, no explanation, and--I repeat once more--52,000 people in Louisiana dropping coverage, 500,000 people nationwide.

A fourth key finding was, as we investigated NFIP and the lawsuits against Risk Rating 2.0 continued, it became clear that FEMA never had the authority to implement Risk Rating 2.0 without congressional approval. Again--I repeated it earlier; I will repeat it again--FEMA never had the authority to implement Risk Rating 2.0 without congressional approval. They never consulted Congress, and we never passed it. They went around Congress, and their explanation, I think, is flimsy. It is like when you catch your child doing something they know they shouldn't be doing. Risk Rating 2.0 did not even adhere to the proper procedure for rulemaking in the executive branch. Risk Rating 2.0 runs counter to what Congress intended, and FEMA had no right to do what they did.

So these are the four key findings of the report:

One, premiums rose in every State; two, they rose astronomically in places like Louisiana; three, up to 1 million policyholders will drop their coverage because they can no longer afford it; and fourth, FEMA sidestepped Congress to implement this without authority.

These findings reflect why the American people overwhelmingly voted for change. The status quo is unacceptable.

The NFIP is in desperate need of reform, and it has needed this reform for years. Now Republicans have an opportunity to finally listen to the American people on this issue.

Now, being too afraid to touch certain political issues may serve politicians well, but it sets the American people back. Enough is enough. NFIP affects every State.

On this chart, you will see States in dark yellow. They have been hit by flooding the most. California, as the Presiding Officer can see right there, through the gulf coast, up the Atlantic, including a State like Pennsylvania which is just tippy-tip on the Atlantic, and an inland State like Missouri--all these have had more than $1 billion in NFIP claims since 1978. The 44 States other than these have had over $50 million in total NFIP claims. This is a national issue.

So the message to my colleagues who represent States that rely upon the NFIP is, let's find a way forward. We know what the next steps must be. Congress must pass a comprehensive NFIP reform package that protects families from excessive premium hikes, strengthens mitigation efforts--mitigation: decreasing your risk of flooding--and simplifies the claims process by cutting redtape.

FEMA must--absolutely must--reevaluate its pricing methodology and focus on affordability, just as Congress originally intended. FEMA must roll back Risk Rating 2.0, and we must ensure that FEMA does not go rogue, doing things without congressional approval. We also must demand that Congress listen to the feedback from State and local stakeholders.

I have a plan to make flood insurance affordable again for all Americans. I am encouraging my colleagues to join. Let's end the status quo.

With that, I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I rise to pay tribute to Gene Powell, who has served the Louisiana constituents of Shreveport, LA. Since September of 1976, Gene Powell has donated over 1,900 blood platelet products in over 700 donation visits. As a U.S. Air Force veteran and 90 years of age, I raise the actions of Gene Powell as selflessness.

Today, Gene Powell carries forward his Lifetime Achievement Award by LifeShare Blood Center. His actions ensure improving the lives of countless individuals and service to his community, by publicly honoring him.

Thank you to Gene Powell, a veteran and community serviceman; his service will never be forgotten.

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