Catherine Cortez Masto

Mr. President, I rise today to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) Division, Keyport's Hawthorne Operating Site.

For 50 years, the dedicated men and women of the Hawthorne Operating Site have supported the U.S. Navy from right here in the Nevada desert. Though they are hundreds of miles from the ocean, their work has had an important impact on the readiness of our Navy and the security of our Nation and its allies. The Hawthorne Operating Site's early work included helping with mine storage and maintenance, and today, it supports logistics and supply, demilitarization, and depot-level repairs for the Navy's mine force.

This 50th anniversary is an opportunity to celebrate the long history of the installation and the community that has grown alongside it. Originally established as the Naval Ammunition Depot Hawthorne in 1930, the site has been an important part of Mineral County and Nevada for nearly a century. During World War II, it served as a primary staging ground for munitions supporting our forces in the Pacific, highlighting Nevada's important contribution to our Nation's defense.

The history of this installation is inseparable from the history of the people who have called Hawthorne home. The nearby community of Babbitt grew alongside the depot, with its own

schools, businesses, homes, and a strong sense of community. Generations of Hawthorne families have dedicated their careers to supporting the installation, building a proud tradition of hard work, resilience, and service.

Today, the Hawthorne Operating Site continues that tradition as part of the Hawthorne Army Depot. Its close partnership with the Army is an example of the importance of cooperation across our Armed Forces. This partnership strengthens our Nation's defense while supporting the local economy and community.

As we celebrate 50 years of the NUWC Division, Keyport's Operating Site in Hawthorne, I want to recognize the employees who have carried out this mission over the past five decades. Their work often happens far from the public eye, but it is essential to supporting our sailors and maintaining the strength and readiness of our Navy.

I am proud to join the people of Mineral County and Nevadans across our State in celebrating this important anniversary. To the current and former employees of the NUWC Division, Keyport's Operating Site in Hawthorne, thank you for your tireless service, your commitment to our Navy, and your dedication to defending our Nation and promoting peace and security around the world. Congratulations on 50 years of exceptional service, and happy anniversary to the Guardians Beneath the Waves.

Madam President, today I rise to honor the memory of my friend James Thomas Spencer. Jim, as he was known amongst friends, served the great State of Nevada for nearly 35 years. Anyone who was lucky enough to encounter Jim would tell you the same thing: Jim was a loyal friend and a diligent professional who took extraordinary care in everything he did.

Jim was born on October 23, 1948, in Redlands, CA. Following his service in the Army and his legal education, Jim moved to Nevada. In 1982, Jim began working in the Nevada Attorney General's Office. Jim ultimately served under four State attorneys general. Jim's work in the office was marked by his extremely capable representation of the Governor, other State officials, and different departments and agencies of the State. He drafted numerous significant opinions issued by the office and rose through the ranks in office, retiring as chief of staff to the attorney general.

During my tenure as Nevada's attorney general, Jim served as my chief of staff and as special assistant attorney general. Jim always displayed a strong sense of humility about himself and a deep empathy for others. These admirable qualities coupled with his commonsense, diligent, and straightforward practice of law resulted in Jim being one of the most respected lawyers in Nevada. He was a highly rated attorney and an expert on all things pertaining to Nevada government and our State laws.

Outside of work, Jim was an avid athlete and outdoorsman. He ran marathons and competitively dived. Despite a couple of joint replacements, he would often organize adventures with his friends and coworkers that involved hikes up Jobs Peak, Mount Rose, and C-Hill in Carson City. Even after his retirement in 2014, Jim retained his passion for adventure. Jim successfully completed a tandem skydive, did gunsmith work for his friends, and was always with his rescue dogs, whom he loved dearly.

Along with his distinguished career and busy personal life, Jim was committed to helping everyone around him. Jim would give a stranger the shirt off his back. He organized an annual Thanksgiving fundraiser in the attorney general's office to donate turkeys to families in need. He was a mentor for all who came through his office door and made it a point to befriend all the staff members and their families. To brighten everyone's day, Jim made it a point to share humorous articles of news with his colleagues, a practice he continued into retirement. These news breaks were timely, unannounced, and always appreciated.

On July 21, 2026, Jim passed away at the age of 77 due to esophageal cancer. He faced his illness with courage, resilience, and heart. Jim is survived by his family members, including David, Karen, and Katherine. I know his family will miss him dearly.

I am deeply grateful for Jim's dedicated service and his years of friendship. The loss of Jim is felt by his friends, family, and colleagues. Jim leaves behind a remarkable legacy of kindness, generosity, professionalism, and loyalty.

Mr. President, I rise today to bring transparency to the American people.

S. Res. 616 requires the Trump administration to produce a report detailing the human rights violations in Honduras under its former President, Juan Orlando Hernandez.

Let me just stress this--and I am going to be talking about this quite often--Juan Orlando Hernandez--most people don't know--was convicted here in the United States. He is a notorious drug trafficker. And President Trump pardoned him last year.

The American people deserve to know the consequences of pardoning such an infamous criminal and, quite honestly, how that conflicts with President Trump's focus, as he talks about, on law and order and combating drug trafficking.

Mr. Hernandez was serving a 45-year sentence for drug trafficking when President Trump pardoned him. He had been convicted by a U.S. jury in 2024 for conspiring to import hundreds of tons of cocaine to the United States and for related firearms offenses. He also had been accused of taking bribes from the infamous Mexican cartel leader El Chapo and raking in millions of dollars in drug money himself.

This is the man who is responsible for illegal drugs entering our country, for harming families, and for endangering our communities. Yet President Trump pardoned him.

This is the man who prosecutors said had partnered with some of the world's most prolific narcotics traffickers to build a corrupt and brutally violent empire. The prosecutors who were later able to get a conviction against him said that. Yet President Trump deemed him worthy of a pardon.

The President's action here is the opposite of law and order. In fact, it contradicts efforts to combat drug trafficking, and it undermines law enforcement. Why do I know that? Because as a former attorney general, these are areas in which I worked with law enforcement in my State--our law enforcement agents, our investigators, our prosecutors in the State of Nevada--to combat drug trafficking that comes into the State of Nevada.

Let me clarify this because most people don't realize that Nevada is not on the border with Mexico, but what happens on that border bleeds into Nevada. So the drug trafficking that crosses that border comes into Nevada, where we were seeing opioid abuse, where we were seeing methamphetamine abuse, where we were seeing fentanyl abuse--the very drugs the President now is talking about wanting to combat and stop from coming into our country. Yet--yet--he pardons a big drug trafficker who was convicted in this country for doing that very thing.

You know, quite frankly, it is an insult to the professional men and women--nonpartisan, let me just say, men and women--who work year after year to address this issue and who actually worked hard to put Hernandez behind bars.

It also sends the wrong message. Here is why: Since he was pardoned, Mr. Hernandez has been giving interviews to the BBC, and he is saying that President Trump's pardon proves he was innocent.

I will tell you what: The American people deserve better than that, and they deserve transparency.

Quite honestly, our law enforcement, who works so hard to address-- really address--the drug trafficking that is coming into this country, deserves to know why President Trump pardoned this man. They deserve to fully understand the connections between Hernandez' government, drug trafficking organizations, and Honduras' human rights record. That is why I am calling up this resolution today.

This resolution would require the Trump administration to provide information about Honduras' domestic human rights practices. Specifically, the administration would have to assess human rights violations during the time that President Juan Orlando Hernandez was President. That includes analyzing the connections between high-level government officials and drug trafficking organizations, and it means looking at the corruption of Honduras' Government officials as it relates to drug trafficking, money laundering, and bribery.

In this report, they would also have to evaluate the links between the drug cartels in Honduras and torture, rape, illegal detention, witness tampering, and murder.

Finally, it would include understanding efforts in Honduras to undermine police reforms and drug crime investigations.

The resolution also requires an assessment from the Secretary of State of any ongoing ties between Hernandez and--whether he has maintained those with drug cartels.

Now, I have heard some of my colleagues talking out against this in that somehow this is some ``gotcha'' moment or this is some sort of lefty, liberal effort to make the President look bad.

Well, let me just say this: Everybody is responsible for their actions. I don't know, in working in law enforcement, that there is a left or a right to it. We want to stop drug trafficking. We want to hold those drug traffickers accountable, and they shouldn't be pardoned after they have been convicted in the United States. If we are truly going to combat the War on Drugs in this country, everybody needs to be held accountable--everyone.

This resolution is important because if the administration fails to give us this report, the resolution would pause U.S. security assistance to Honduras. There is no good reason for the administration not to author this report.

Again, some colleagues have voiced concerns about the potential pausing of assistance to Honduras. Well, let me be very clear. Trump has already threatened to pause aid to Honduras multiple times. In fact, since the start of his second term, his administration has slashed the amount of funding we are sending to the country. There is no promise that the Trump administration won't threaten support for Honduras again with or without this resolution, right?

So if President Trump is really concerned about preventing drug trafficking and supporting Honduras, he can start by not pardoning drug kingpins.

At the end of the day, this vote is about giving the American people the answers they deserve. We need the truth. We need the facts. We need to understand what is going on here. The President is going to use his pardon power to pardon a drug kingpin who has been convicted in this country. People deserve the right to know why. They deserve the right to know why.

So I hope my colleagues will work with me to pass this resolution. I thank Senators Kaine and Welch for standing with me and joining me in this resolution and talking on the floor today as to how important this is.

Again, I cannot stress this enough: This is not a lefty or a right issue. This is not a Republican or a Democrat issue. This is a nonpartisan issue. This is about drug trafficking, who is responsible, and accountability for them. And if we have a President who decides he is going to use his pardon power to pardon them, we have every right to question that and understand the extent to which an individual is being

pardoned in this country and what he did. That is what this resolution is all about--transparency for the American people. It is about time.

With that, Mr. President, pursuant to section 502B(c) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, I move to discharge the Committee on Foreign Relations from further consideration of S. Res. 616.

I know of no further debate.

I ask for the yeas and nays.