Floor Statements

Mr. President, I have eight requests for committees to meet during today's session of the Senate. They have the approval of the Majority and Minority Leaders.

Pursuant to rule XXVI, paragraph 5(a), of the Standing Rules of the Senate, the foltowing committees are authorized to meet during today's session of the Senate:

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now proceed to the en bloc consideration of the following resolutions which are at the desk: S. Res. 474 and S. Res. 475.

I ask unanimous consent that the resolutions be agreed to, the preambles be agreed to, and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, all en bloc.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand adjourned until 10 a.m. on Thursday, October 30, 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, and the Senate be in a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each, and notwithstanding rule XXII, at 11:45 a.m., the Senate execute the order of October 28 in relation to S.J. Res. 80, and following disposition of the joint resolution, the Senate execute the order of October 22 in relation to S.J. Res. 88, and that all time be expired and the Senate vote on the joint resolution; finally, at 1:45 p.m., the Senate vote on the motion to invoke cloture on Executive Calendar No. 370, Joshua D. Dunlap.

For the information of my colleagues, Senators should expect two votes at 11:45 a.m., and one vote at 1:45 p.m.

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, on Monday evening, a tragedy occurred at the courthouse building in Plaquemine, LA. Captain Brett Stassi, Jr., of the Iberville Parish Sheriff's Office, the son of the Parish Sheriff, Sheriff Stassi, and Deputy Charles Riley were shot by a suspect they were booking in connection with a sexual assault case.

Here, you see their pictures.

The two officers were taken to the hospital. Deputy Riley, a 6-year veteran of the Iberville Sheriff's Office, husband and father, died.

Captain Stassi, I am told, has undergone several surgeries and is in critical but stable condition.

A tragedy like this reminds us that law enforcement officers put their lives on the line for us every single day. We can never take that for granted.

Deputy Riley gave his life protecting our community booking somebody for sexual assault, a horrific crime--booking him, and he himself was killed, an even more horrific crime.

We pray for the close friends of both, the loved ones of both, those who grieve the loss of someone they looked up to and will deeply miss.

Our hearts are with the fellow deputies who are hurting and the whole Plaquemine and Iberville Parish community. We pray and hope for Captain Stassi's strength and full recovery and, of course, for his wife and family.

The support we get from law enforcement, their willingness to put themselves in harm's way, can never be repaid. We take it for granted until it no longer can be done so.

We support law enforcement. We support those suffering in the wake of this tragedy.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I am about to list several things which are all kind of unique. A 102-year-old woman--kind of unique--who is a naval veteran, a female naval veteran, who is now 102 and she is a Louisianan and she exemplifies the best of our State: hard work, service, and faith.

She turned--Mary Hajek Nugent--turned 102 years young this month. Born on a farm near Libuse, LA, Mary has always been a hard worker. She grew up tending vegetable gardens, a fruit orchard, and farm animals before enlisting in the U.S. Navy, building planes at a bomber plant, and serving as a parachute rigger.

For some reason, if I were a guy using a parachute, I would rather have a woman rigging it for me rather than some guy. I don't know why. But I think she would have been more attuned to the detail of making sure that when that ripcord was pulled, the guy using it landed slowly and softly and not (motioning).

After World War II, she returned to central Louisiana and devoted her time and talents to the tuberculosis unit at Pineville Veterans Hospital. She later worked at the downtown Alexandria Veterans Affairs office, where she met her husband Robert Nugent.

I am told Mrs. Nugent still greets people with a warm smile and has a deep appreciation for nature. Perhaps her habit of looking for the good in everything and in everyone is the secret to a long life, something we in Washington should adopt.

As a longtime member of Calvary Baptist Church, Mary's faith is strong, and she still wakes up every day with a smile and words of thanksgiving.

Mary, thank you for your service to our country and State. You have made Louisiana and our country a better place for 102 years. You inspire; you bless; you make Louisiana proud. Happy birthday.

I yield the floor.

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

Mr. President, hurricane season ends November 30--2 months left to go. Last week marked the first anniversary of Hurricane Helene, and I see from reports that the area of North Carolina most affected is still terribly affected. It was such a severe storm that people in Louisiana went from Louisiana to help North Carolina and other States with their emergency operations on the ground.

This weekend saw two category 4 storms churning in the western Atlantic. Thankfully, they do not appear that they will hit our coast. Still, the storms remind people in Louisiana and other States that flooding is not a matter of if but, rather, when.

Now, Democrats, as we know, are pushing us toward a government shutdown. What does that mean for the National Flood Insurance Program? Imagine you are about to close on a house in 2 days and the bank requires you to have flood insurance. If you are in a special flood hazard area--by the way, over half of Louisiana is a special flood hazard area--and you are purchasing a house with help from a federally backed loan, you will not be closing on that house, nor will you be able to renew your existing policy, all because Democrats have rejected a clean continuing resolution to keep the government open.

Let me repeat: They are walking away from a bill that simply extends

the existing budget for 7 weeks to allow for further negotiation. Instead, they demand a highly partisan bill which would add more than $1 trillion to our Nation's debt. They want taxpayer-funded healthcare for illegal immigrants, transgender surgery for minors, and to cut $50 billion from the rural hospital fund Republicans created as part of our working families tax cuts bill.

Now, back to flood insurance, Americans are left wondering how a shutdown will affect them. While Democrats are writing checks to the far left, folks are wondering if they can close on their house.

Now, I will tell you what the American people care about. They want the government to do its job. They want disaster recovery when needed. They want flood insurance that works. They want rural hospitals to stay open. They want energy security and a balanced budget--not trillion- dollar add-ons that only serve a political agenda. The American people deserve accountability. They expect Congress to put their needs before partisan politics.

If this shutdown happens, it means that the National Flood Insurance Program cannot renew policies. That is 500,000 people in Louisiana and millions across the country unable to renew policies while we are still in hurricane season. It will mean delays in disaster aid and emergency response coordination. It means uncertainty for families still recovering from Hurricane Helene and other past storms. Now, this is personal for folks in my State.

If Democrats would stop trying to please the fringe of their party and start focusing on the real, immediate needs of the American people--like keeping the government open, maintaining flood insurance, and protecting access to rural healthcare--we could solve this today.

So I ask my fellow Senators who are Democrats: Who are you working for? Are you working for the American families watching the weather, hoping the next storm doesn't wipe out everything they have built? Are you working for veterans waiting on care, the seniors relying on Social Security checks, or the communities who count on rural hospitals in a crisis? Or are you working for political activists and special interest groups that have nothing to do with the lives of the people you were elected to serve?

Mr. President, the path forward is simple: Pass a clean bill to keep the government open.

The Economy

Mr. President, middle-class Americans are taking it on the chin. If you ask anybody buying groceries and you start talking about high grocery prices, their heads just start to nod. American farmers can't hire workers to pick their crops. Foreign products are being tariffed. Beef and coffee prices are through the roof. For the first time ever since it has been tracked, ground beef is over $6 a pound, and it keeps rising. To put that into perspective, it was under $4 when President Trump left office in 2021.

People can't afford to live. If you combine the cost of the things they absolutely need--their healthcare, their flood insurance, property and casualty or homeowners insurance, car insurance, mortgages, car payments--after that, they are sitting around an empty kitchen table, worried as to whether there is enough left in their pocketbook to buy the groceries to feed their family.

Now, with 67 percent of Americans saying they are living paycheck to paycheck, you can imagine how many empty kitchen tables there are.

Last week, I got a message from a woman in my State who lives on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain. She told me this is the problem she is facing: She can't afford to live and to pay for her groceries. By the way, she is a teacher--a good job--and has been for 26 years. But she can't afford to live and pay for groceries?

The middle class is taking it on the chin, and a lot of Americans are in the same situation as she is. No matter how hard they work, no matter how many jobs they work--sometimes two or three--they can't keep up.

Now, since 2000, housing demand has grown more than housing supply. Roughly 46 percent of Americans let their credit card payments roll over month to month because they cannot afford to pay in full. That is almost 50 percent of people in the United States who are not paying their credit card bills, and that is with 21 percent to 26 percent interest rates on them. Almost a quarter of Americans don't think they will ever pay off their credit card debt. And the hole keeps getting deeper.

Now, Republicans are trying to address this. In the working families tax cuts bill, we increased wages by eliminating taxes on tips and taxes on overtime. Most seniors will not pay taxes on their Social Security payments. We increased the child tax credit. We incentivized companies to start building in the United States now, instead of waiting for 10 years. We attract private investment into low-income communities by giving investors a tax break in exchange for developing economically distressed communities. Our goal is to create jobs--better paying jobs--as we spur this revitalization.

We can increase affordable housing for families and workers by expanding and strengthening the low-income housing tax credit, which will help build more than 1.6 million affordable homes nationwide over the next decade.

Again, we give tax incentives now for those better paying manufacturing and construction jobs, while working to decrease the high cost of healthcare with, if you will, programs to incentivize the education of more nurses, to lower the cost of prescription drugs, and to lower the cost of health insurance.

We have proposed ways to lower the cost of the National Flood Insurance Program, which in my State is one thing that just saps from people's pocketbooks. Now, the government shutdown will not help. It creates unnecessary worry and puts a strain on working families, veterans, and folks living on a fixed income.

The American middle class is taking it on the chin. Republicans are working to give the American people hope instead of one more body blow.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I want to start by thanking Senator Hassan so much and Representative Brett Guthrie and other colleagues for their work to pass the SUPPORT Act. It is part of, as a doctor, I would say, a pro-patient--we would say pro-family--agenda that we wish to deliver for the American people.

About a month and a half ago, President Trump had a signing ceremony for the HALT Fentanyl Act at the White House. That was my bill, so I was privileged to be there. Behind him were families holding the pictures of their children who had died from fentanyl overdose. Incredibly moving.

I had a similar ceremony in Baton Rouge where, across Louisiana, people came and held a picture of their child who had died. In one case, the young man had a hard time sleeping, and somebody at his church gave him a pill to take. He took the pill. It was laced with fentanyl, and he died of an overdose.

This is an incredibly powerful addictant, an incredibly powerful, ability-to-kill drug.

The HALT Fentanyl Act is one part of it. It gives support to law enforcement as they attempt to combat this scourge.

The SUPPORT Act is supporting those who are delivering that primary care, that first responder care, that care of a family for a loved one who might be addicted, that care to the patient herself or himself.

Just this morning, I was on a radio program with Ted Dumas out of Louisiana. We were talking--as we talked about the HALT Fentanyl Act-- that there is somebody listening to this program who is addicted to fentanyl and is looking for a way out; there is some family member listening who knows they have a family member with a fentanyl addiction or some other addiction who needs a way out. The SUPPORT Act is giving them the tools they need to either come out of addiction or to help someone come out of addiction.

Let me just give a shout-out to President Trump. Since he has taken office, we have seen a control of the southern border, we have seen the Mexican Army going after cartels who have been manufacturing and bringing in the fentanyl, and we have seen the chemical companies in China--which Senator Hassan and I, when we went to China last year, specifically asked the leadership of China to control. President Trump is going after those chemical companies and after the Government of China in order to control those chemical companies.

This is a full-court press our government is making. Giving credit to President Trump where credit is due but also to the Congress for passing the HALT Fentanyl Act and now the SUPPORT Act. We are working to control this scourge.

I look forward to this being signed into law. I look forward to continuing to work with congressional colleagues and the President to enact a pro-family, pro-patient agenda that addresses

this. I look forward to people coming out of addiction. One death from overdose is one death too many.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I rise today to welcome to America His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the spiritual leader of the world's second-largest Christian Church--Orthodox Christianity-- which encompasses over 250 million faithful worldwide.

We in Louisiana take particular pride in welcoming His All-Holiness, given that the very first Greek Orthodox Church in America, Holy Trinity Church, was established in 1864 by Greek merchants in New Orleans. This historic church welcomed Orthodox Christians of various nationalities and backgrounds. To this day, Orthodox

Christians throughout Louisiana who worship in churches across our State are held in high regard by their fellow citizens.

We are pleased that during this visit to America, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew will, as he has during previous trips, meet with our President at the White House and with the leadership of both Houses of Congress from both parties. We recognize that His All-Holiness is among the very few world leaders who commands such high-level access to the leadership of our Nation.

The U.S. Congress expressed its profound respect and admiration for His All-Holiness in 1997 when it awarded him the Congressional Gold Medal, Congress' highest honor. This distinguished award has been bestowed upon such luminaries as George Washington and Winston Churchill. Remarkably, the legislation for His All-Holiness's Gold Medal attracted more of the Members of Congress as cosponsors than any other bill introduced during that entire congressional session. This Gold Medal also recognized the significant international and historical role the Ecumenical Patriarch has played throughout his lifetime. Historic international figures who received the Congressional Gold Medal immediately before and after His All-Holiness were Mother Teresa and Nelson Mandela.

We also acknowledge the extraordinary historic role His All-Holiness has served as the longest tenured Ecumenical Patriarch in history. It is significant that Jesus Christ's first Apostle Andrew and his brother Peter each established distinct spheres of Christian influence. The Apostle Andrew established his ministry in the region that encompasses present-day Turkey, and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew stands as the 269th direct successor of the Apostle Andrew. Similarly, the Apostle Andrew's brother the Apostle Peter traveled to what is today the Vatican, and Pope Leo XIV serves as the 267th successor of the Apostle Peter.

I know of no further debate on the nomination.

I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. President, 20 years ago this month, Hurricane Rita hit Louisiana, and 1 year ago tomorrow, Hurricane Francine hit Louisiana.

This is damage from Hurricane Francine in Morgan City and Metairie. And our State gets ready. We are prepared. We stockpile gasoline for generators. We get water, food, medication, and, if necessary, board up windows. We secure our pets and our livestock. A friend of mine sent a video showing how she was preparing her pigs' pen for the storm. So she had to take care of her pig. I won't say that we are casual, no. We are very alert, but we also learn to be calm.

But let me point out, when Hurricane Francine made landfall on the 11th, people in Ascension, Assumption, Lafourche, St. Charles, St. James, St. John the Baptist, St. Mary, and Terrebonne Parishes--and others--had significant flooding. Thankfully, no lives were lost, but a lot of damage occurred. Homes flooded, some ruined entirely. Many lost power. In total, Hurricane Francine caused more than $1.5 billion in damage across Louisiana.

Now, because of it, I have spent the last year making sure that my State receives every Federal resource possible; first, for recovery and, next, for mitigation.

One example of recovery aid I was pleased to announce was a $118 million grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development specifically for Hurricane Francine relief. But do you know what is even better than recovery? Not flooding in the first place. As they say, a stitch in time saves nine or a levy can prevent--a levy can prevent--millions of dollars' worth of damage.

There was a report from the National Institute of Building Sciences that $1 invested in preventing flooding can save up to $6 in flood damage.

In President Trump's first administration, he created a program called Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities--or BRIC for short--and it provided many lifesaving grants that Louisiana benefited from.

Now, this administration--President Trump's second term--has held up some of the money, but I am told, I have been assured by OMB Director Russ Vought that they are going to release those funds.

Through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, I have secured over $10 billion for Louisiana, and a lot of that has been for flood mitigation; and just weeks after Hurricane Francine, announced a separate grant of $206 million for elevating flood-prone homes in Orleans, Calcasieu, East Baton Rouge, and Lafayette Parishes, and a lot in between; and also $1.5 million for the Louisiana Department of Public Safety for emergency protective measures taking care of Hurricane Francine; and then another $1.5 million in May.

In the past, I have discussed some of the worst floods in our State's history: Milton, Helene, Laura, Ida, and Katrina. I have spoken about flooding in Texas, New Mexico, and New York. This is not just a Louisiana problem; it is a Florida problem; it is a--from this, you can see it is a national problem, with the dark yellow being States that have had significant flooding, over $1 billion in National Flood Insurance Program claims, and the lighter tan States being those that had over $50 million in claims.

So every flood is a little bit different, but the message I always emphasize is the same: Americans need stability, and right now that stability is being threatened.

The National Flood Insurance Program--also called NFIP--has provided Americans with access to affordable flood insurance for the last 50 years. As we go now toward a government shutdown if the Congress doesn't act, if the government is not funded, the National Flood Insurance Program lapses, leaving the nearly 500,000 Louisianans and over 5 million Americans without coverage.

Now, hurricane season won't be over for 2 more months. Where does that leave the elderly folks in Calcasieu Parish or the young couple buying their first home in St. Charles Parish or the single mom in St. Bernard Parish providing for her child, living paycheck to paycheck? We cannot let a congressional funding fight keep them from receiving the coverage they need.

And, by the way, even if Congress averts a shutdown, we are not yet in the clear. We need a long-term solution. Congress has already passed 33 short-term extensions in the last 10 years--33. It sounds kind of like a ``Saturday Night Live'' skit. So I think we can all agree that a program which has been extended 33 times is worth reauthorizing long term. And don't you think that Congress should protect a program helping millions of Americans from California through New Mexico, all the way up to New York, and, of course, including my home State of Louisiana?

I haven't spoken to every single homeowner in America or in Louisiana enrolled in the NFIP, but I can imagine they are all wondering why can't the government get its act together.

It is irresponsible for Congress to continue to make families hold their breath and hope the rug will not be pulled out from underneath them. That is a pattern that should end. To do so, we must be sure that the government is funded so that NFIP survives September. We then need to pass a long-term extension so that NFIP policyholders can rely on the program to do what it is supposed to do: provide stability.

Let's keep the National Flood Insurance Program alive, and then let's keep it strong, reliable, and worthy of the trust that millions of American families place it in every day.

In this, we have talked about recovery from hurricanes; we have talked about how to prevent flooding, which is to say make it so that you don't have to recover because you have already built resiliency; and we have talked about the work that must be done for those on the National Flood Insurance Program.

Right now, without a promise of protection hanging in the balance, I am calling once for more stability, for certainty in a program that millions rely on. Mr. President, 500,000 in Louisiana alone should not be held hostage by short-term funding battles. We have seen what happens when the water rises. We have seen the damage. We have seen the need. Let's act now so that when the next storm comes, families don't have to wonder whether their coverage will be there.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I regret to say that my Democratic colleagues have become addicted to hating President Trump, and it is no longer about policy or even strong disagreement. It seems to be an obsession--obsessed with finding every way possible to undermine the President and his agenda, no matter the cost.

And what they have done to the nomination process in the Senate might be the height of partisanship since President Trump returned to office. Democrats have blocked 100 percent--that is, 100 percent--of President Trump's nominees from being confirmed by unanimous consent or voice vote.

Now, by the way, why do I say--my chart here. Look at this. It has been the tradition for noncontroversial nominees to be confirmed by the Senate.

And in the first Trump, it fell from 90 percent under President Obama--games Democrats play--to 65 percent under Trump 1. Well, it turns out it was 57 percent under Biden. Now, under Trump 2, we have zero percent of the nominees approved by unanimous consent.

Let's put that in perspective. We are speaking about noncontroversial nominees, and it has been something that has been consistent for Presidents of both parties for decades, as we can see from this chart. And yet here we are, 8 months into President Trump's second term, and not a single nominee confirmed by unanimous consent or voice vote-- zero, zip, nada.

By the way, these nominees made it through committee with bipartisan support on the record. Democrats, Republicans both voted for them in committee, and yet we can't get them off the floor without tying up precious floor time.

Now, that may sound like process. It might sound like: Oh, my gosh. We are talking about time. This is how the Senate works, in terms of getting the nomination through quickly, allowing the legislative issues addressing our country to then be faced.

It is a full-blown example of Democrats not caring if the business of government gets done. They would rather obstruct President Trump than to allow the American people to be served.

Now, Americans are sick of it. They want Congress to work, and Republicans are showing up to work. We are ready to confirm the people required to work in government to keep the country running, but Democrats are holding nominees for ransom it seems for no other reason than their desire to obstruct President Trump.

So why does Congress have such a low approval rating? Why do people think this place doesn't work? It is because of stunts like this, blowing up the standard operating procedure, which allows us to get on the work of the people, all to score cheap political points.

Now, the American people chose President Trump. They gave Republicans control of the House and the Senate. They told us the agenda they wanted pursued.

So when Democrats dig in their heels, kick and scream, they are proving that they did not hear the message the American people sent last November.

If no one is standing with you but your own party insiders and maybe the occasional liberal cable news host, then your resistance isn't brave. It is meaningless. It is an obstruction. It is only there to defeat the will of the American people. It is noise.

The American people deserve better. Republicans are ready to deliver.

I yield the floor.

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

Mr. President, Americans want Congress to deliver. Americans want Congress to work. They want Congress to not just work as in being here but work as in collaborate and cooperate in order to get things done. But the reason there are such low expectations is because of days like today.

My colleagues--are they proud of this? Is this what they think their constituents want?

If you go back to any State and talk to, like, normal people-- Democrat, Republican--they probably all agree that

this place worked better. So why do my Democratic colleagues seem intent on undermining the normal operating procedure of the Senate, frankly grinding us to a halt? Who is asking them to do this? If they go to the States, are their Democrat voters saying: Hey, listen, can Congress do a worse job? Can you become even less effective?

Now, if you would be too embarrassed to ask your own constituents, you should be embarrassed now.

We are 7 months into President Trump's administration, and we have approved zero percent of his nominees by voice vote or unanimous consent.

You may say: Well, that is not anything strange.

No, it is quite strange. You can see that under H.W. Bush, 98 percent of the nominees were voice vote or unanimous consent; President Clinton, a Democrat, 98 percent; George W. Bush, 90 percent; Barack Obama, 90 percent; Trump 1--if you don't like Trump, you could have stopped then--65 percent; and then President Biden, 57 percent. I guess there has been a decline, but this is an abrupt stop.

It is frustrating. Zero percent. Zero percent.

Now, we would all like to be with our families. We would like to be meeting our constituents. We would like to find out what is going on in our own districts. But we are having to battle this in order to get some of President Trump's nominees through.

By the way, as others have emphasized, these are not controversial nominees. This is like the Ambassador to the Vatican. That is about as noncontroversial as you can be. These are like not the Cabinet Secretary, not the Deputy Cabinet Secretary, but a couple positions below that. So this is obstruction for the sake of obstruction.

The other thing that concerns me terribly--Roy Blunt, a former Senator from Missouri, used to say that whatever one party does to the other party, that party will do it to the other going forward, which is to say that we create precedents in this Chamber. We have always had a precedent of having a significant percentage of people who have been confirmed by voice vote or unanimous consent, as we just pointed out on this chart. But now we have to grind, grind, grind--2 hours of debate between when someone is first put up until there is a final vote. But no one in the Chamber debates; it is just that for 2 hours, you find something to do. That will set a precedent.

Now, I love the Senate because I love my country. And our Founding Fathers set up the Senate to be the place where we would come--we the people, with our representatives, would come and make laws that are beneficial for our country.

I grew up with this incredible esteem of the Senate, and now we are seeing the Senate ground down, where the comity, the cooperation that allowed people with different perspectives to come together and find common ground for the benefit of our country is being exploited merely to delay President Trump's agenda. The Ambassador to the Vatican-- putting a stop on his nomination and then his final approval doesn't really stop the President's agenda.

So it is not just shattering precedents, it is creating new ones, establishing a pattern where next time, if Republicans are in the minority, we will, unfortunately, feel motivated to create the same gridlock that is being created here.

I don't know of any American who wants that. I don't know of the most partisan American who wants that because they know that when their side is in power next time, they will want to get something done.

By the way, we are talking about the Ambassador to the Vatican. This is not--this is not--the Secretary of Defense. This is not--you name the position.

Now, I know my Democratic colleagues care about the institution as much as I, and I appeal to that concern. I appeal to that sense of, we have to make this place work if it is going to work for the American people, and must be careful about what we do because it will be done unto us.

I suppose this could be done in the name of resistance. I would say it is resistance to the will of the American people--the American people that want the Congress, that want the Senate to function, to get on to bigger and better things, to not break precedent to set a new precedent where, in the future, we work even less well together.

I yield the floor.