Floor Statements

Mr. President, in a few moments, my friend and colleague the Senator from Nevada will offer a unanimous consent request that is very simple. It funds TSA--no conditions; no ifs, ands, or buts.

It just says we are funding TSA. If Republicans want to see our TSA workers get paid, they should not object. It is very simple.

We know we need to straighten this out. Many people have different formulas, but, plain and simple, if you want to fund TSA with no conditions, no preconditions, just yes or no; no ands, ifs, or buts, do not block this resolution.

If Republicans block this resolution, we will know they don't want to fund TSA, because this is the simplest, quickest, easiest way to do it.

Our colleagues on the other side said: Oh, no, we don't want to fund it unless we have a compromise or we have a deal on other parts of ICE and CBP. That is holding the TSA agents and the American people hostage.

We are not holding any hostages. We are just saying: We need to fund TSA. We need to fund it now--no ands, ifs, or buts; no questions asked, no preconditions.

The American people will see. The Rosen proposal is simple. If Republicans block it, they are standing in the way of funding TSA now.

I yield the floor.

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 President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Well, while Americans are still in the dark for why we are at war, each passing day gives us a cleaner picture of the cost of war.

Yesterday, we learned about 140 American servicemembers have been wounded since hostilities--8 of them seriously injured. Eight servicemembers have been killed in the line of duty, and my prayers are with all of those who have died and have been harmed and who are still, of course, in harm's way.

Thousands of people in the Middle East have been killed, including 170 in an all-girls elementary school that initial reports suggested may have been the result of U.S. operations. We need a full, transparent, and independent investigation to get to the bottom of what happened at this elementary school and why so many civilians were killed.

The economic costs are also mounting. This morning, we learned that even before the war, inflation had stayed elevated, which means that Americans are continuing to pay more for groceries and rent and electricity.

People want costs to go down, not to stay where they are, and that is what we Democrats are fighting for--to lower their costs. And the numbers came out before Donald Trump started a war in the Middle East, which will drive prices even higher. It is almost certain that the inflation number will go up next month, and that is just what Americans don't want.

A gallon of gas today is $3.58, on average--60 cents more than it was a month ago--60 cents--more than halfway to a dollar. And it is going to get worse.

Iran's greatest leverage right now is the Strait of Hormuz, and the new extremist Supreme Leader is not going to give up that leverage very easily. At least three ships were attacked over the last day in the Strait of Hormuz, bringing the total to 13.

This conflict continues to expand, not shrink, and the danger of a shortage of oil and prices going up further is getting greater, not lesser. Through all this change, all this chaos--higher gas prices, rising casualties, increased hostilities--Americans are asking a very simple question: Why? Why is America at war? Americans certainly don't want war. Americans didn't ask for this. The answer is: There is no good reason America is at war.

Donald Trump and his administration keep changing the story and the rationale every day. First, it was regime change; then it was about Iran's nuclear program; then it was to get rid of Iran's Navy; then it was regime change again; then they say it is defensive. Depending on whom you ask, we are either near the end of the war or we are just getting started. And if you ask Donald Trump if we are at the end of the war or the beginning, he says it is both.

This insanity must stop. The Senate must have public hearings with Cabinet officials. The American public has to hear these Cabinet officials questioned by Members of the Senate--Democrat and Republican--as to what the heck is going on.

Secretary Rubio, Secretary Hegseth, and other senior officials must come to the Senate for public hearings and testify under oath as to why our troops are fighting and dying in the Middle East. The American people deserve answers. Senate Republicans must listen to the outrage of the public and hold public hearings with Cabinet officials at once.

Americans don't want war--not Republican voters, not Independent voters, not even many of Donald Trump's MAGA base. They feel betrayed by what has happened in the Middle East, and they feel betrayed by the Senators in this Chamber who refuse to stand up for the Constitution and refuse to put a check on Donald Trump's belligerence--belligerence that doesn't seem to have much of a rhyme or reason from day to day.

Department of Homeland Security

On DHS, Republicans, for weeks, have refused to address some of the most egregious abuses from ICE that we have seen and that have plagued cities like Minneapolis and so many other cities around the country. Democrats have offered multiple rounds of proposals, and we are serious--very serious--about getting something done. But Republicans need to show that they are serious also, and we have a lot of work left to do.

Democrats want to be reasonable. Later today, Senator Murray will come to the floor and offer legislation to fund everything at DHS except for ICE and Border Patrol. We can take care of TSA. We can take care of the Coast Guard, CISA, and FEMA today. We are ready to make sure these workers are paid. All the Republicans have to do is go along with our unanimous consent request, not block it.

This is the second time Senator Murray will bring this bill to the floor because last week she tried to do this and who objected? Republicans. Republicans say they want to stand up for TSA; then they block TSA funding. They said they are worried about FEMA and the Coast Guard; then they blocked funding for FEMA and the Coast Guard. How worried can they be?

If Republicans are going to play political games and block funding for the Agencies they claim to care about, they should spare everyone the crocodile tears. Even better, when Senator Murray brings her bill to the floor to fund TSA, the Coast Guard, FEMA, CISA, and all the other programs, Republicans should not get in the way.

SAVE America Act

On the SAVE Act, Donald Trump has given Republicans in Congress a ridiculous ultimatum: Help him thoroughly undermine our democracy or he will bring all legislation to a screeching halt. What kind of President is this? It sounds like a pouting second grader.

Even though it is clear that the SAVE Act has little chance of becoming law, Donald Trump is still hell-bent on getting Republicans to ram this bill through the Chamber because he thinks undermining the vote is the only prayer Republicans have in the midterms. Isn't that pathetic? Republicans think they are doing so bad that they must undermine democracy and prevent tens of millions of Americans from voting.

Donald Trump has said it himself. He said, if Republicans can pass the SAVE Act, ``it'll guarantee the midterms.''

Let me read that again. Donald Trump says, if Republicans pass the SAVE Act, ``it'll guarantee the midterms.''

This is outrageous. Undermine democracy, prevent people from voting in a democracy, and that is the only way you can win? That is not democracy, Donald Trump; that is autocracy. Letting you or DOGE or Musk pick who is taken off the rolls and not even notifying them when they show up to vote--they say: You are no longer on the rolls, you are purged--that is not democracy. But Donald Trump doesn't believe in democracy. He sees he is losing the election because he is not dealing with the issues Democrats are pounding away on: costs, corruption, chaos. So he says: Let's undermine democracy. Let's kick millions off the voter rolls, millions that we choose. It is outrageous.

The SAVE Act is nothing more than Jim Crow. It could disenfranchise millions of American citizens--American citizens. We are not talking about immigrants; we are talking about American citizens that are going to be kicked off the rolls--lots of them. It will make it far harder for people to register to vote, it will take away vote-by-mail, it will eliminate online registration--all of these tried and true and safe ways to participate in democracy, but Trump wants to take them away. We know what is going on.

Donald Trump knows that November is starting to look disastrous for him, and Republicans are seeing the same thing. So the only shot of winning in Trump's mind is to cheat. The only shot of winning this election for Donald Trump is to cheat, is to undermine democracy. This is ghastly. It is one of the worst things we have seen in America in a very long time. But Donald Trump has made it clear. He is telling Republican Senators, he is telling Republican House Members: Either help me undermine democracy or I will take Congress and all legislation hostage.

Nomination of Jeremy Carl

Mr. President, finally, on Jeremy Carl, yesterday, Jeremy Carl-- Donald Trump's nominee to serve as Assistant Secretary of State for International Organizations--thank God, withdrew his nomination. All I have to say is good riddance to White supremacists and rightwing bigots. Jeremy Carl has a long history of saying violent, anti-Semitic, and openly racist, and I am glad that his comments were exposed and rejected.

It is troubling that we keep seeing a pattern where Donald Trump is very much at ease nominating people with openly White supremacist and anti-Semitic views. Jeremy Carl, Paul Ingrassia, and Darren Beattie are three of the clearest examples of Trump being perfectly at ease appointing individuals with White supremacy and anti-Semitism. Both sides--both sides, Democrats and Republicans--must reject people like these and call out anti-Semitism no matter from where it arises.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, in a few moments, Patty Murray will ask UC to fund all of DHS except ICE and CBP. Today, we have a block of floor speakers to preview this UC request.

This morning, the Senate resumed consideration of the housing amendment, and we have been working hard on the ROAD Act, but I don't know if we will get consent. We have objections to speeding up the time for votes; so we might have votes when the time has expired. But that is where we are at on the floor just to let Members know.

So the bottom line here is that what Ranking Member Murray is doing is very simple. If you want to fund TSA and if you want to fund all of the Agencies in Homeland Security except ICE and CBP, this is the way to do it. Don't object, and it will all happen.

I don't want to hear any complaints from Republicans about TSA not being funded if they block this today. I don't want to hear any complaints from Republicans about the Coast Guard not being funded if they block this today. I don't want to hear any complaints from Republicans about Cybersecurity--CISA--if they block this today.

The bottom line is very simple. There is a simple way to get this all done. Of course, if Republicans agree to very simple, simple things to do with ICE and with Border Patrol--things that every police department does: show identity, use warrants before you bust in on somebody's house--we could get this done and get everything funded. But the bottom line is, they have refused, probably because the rightwing doesn't like it. So then, let's fund everything else but ICE and Border Patrol.

The bottom line is simple. We should not hold other Agencies hostage. The Republicans should not hold other Agencies hostage--millions of Americans hostage--because of their extreme positions on ICE, because they are backing up the kind of brutality that we have seen. We don't need hostages. We don't need any of that.

The bottom line is very simple: ICE won't change with a new DHS Secretary. That is not going to be an excuse we can accept. You can't fix a rotting house with a fresh coat of paint. So we demand legislation, but until we get that legislation, we can fund everything else. Democrats are ready to pay TSA agents today. Democrats are ready to support the Coast Guard today. Democrats are ready to fund FEMA today, and only the Republicans blocking it stops it.

If they think the American people won't understand this, they are sadly mistaken. They know the administration is in charge of TSA, of the Coast Guard, of FEMA. They know, if there is no funding, it is because the administration is not funding them, but we can overcome the administration with this legislation.

So, if Republicans claim they are worried about the Coast Guard, if Republicans claim they are worried about TSA and FEMA--they can't be too worried because they are blocking it right now--I urge my colleagues on the Republican side to let this sensible, moderate, thoughtful legislation go through. Let's fund TSA, let's fund the Coast Guard, let's fund FEMA, let's fund CISA and not hold them hostage until an agreement on ICE and the Border Patrol is reached.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, Donald Trump's war with Iran grows more confusing and more contradictory by the day.

Yesterday, Trump suggested without any explanation that:

I think the war is very complete, pretty much.

But, this morning, Pete Hegseth stood before the camera and announced that today will be the most intense day of strikes yet. He said that today's activity will involve the ``most fighters, the most bombers, the most strikes.''

Well, which is it? Is the war ending, or are we on the brink of the worst fighting yet? How is it possible that Trump and his cronies can't make it 12 hours without contradicting themselves about this war?

It is incredible. I have never seen anything like it--a war-- serious--putting our soldiers in harm's way, costing billions, which should be spent on reducing our costs here overseas, and they don't even have a rationale. They keep contradicting each other and contradicting themselves.

Yesterday, President Trump was also asked whether the war is ``very complete,'' as he said, or is it just at the beginning, as Hegseth says. Well, do you care to guess the President's answer?

He said:

I think you could say [it is] both.

He said it is both.

He said:

It is the beginning of building a new country.

Those words, by the way, sound a lot like regime change to me, which Trump and others have denied is their goal.

Donald Trump is clueless. He has no earthly clue what he is talking about. If something pops into his head, he says it. The next day, if something pops into his head that is contradictory, he says it even though the two things are totally at odds with each other. He doesn't care about the truth. He doesn't care about the soldiers he has put in harm's way. He doesn't care about the billions of dollars we are spending here while people are demanding that he spend them on lowering costs.

He can't articulate a plan for a vision because he has no plan or vision; and the statistics show that this is the least popular war, at the beginning of it, of any war this country has engaged in. Donald Trump doesn't even seem to know whether or not the country is at war. It is as if he wakes up in the morning and decides right then and there what the plan is going to be.

Donald Trump is risking the lives of our troops, the safety of the American people, and the stability of the world economy based on whims, based on feelings, based on contradictions. It is dangerous. It is incompetent. It is sort of like a second grader running this war.

Donald Trump is also a liar. He claims that Iranian Tomahawk missiles were responsible for the bombing of an all-girls' school that killed 170 people, including many children.

Iran doesn't have Tomahawk missiles, Donald Trump. The claim is beyond asinine.

Again, he says whatever pops into his head no matter what the truth is, and we all know he lies, but on something as horrible as this, it is appalling. No other leader in the administration--not even Pete Hegseth, who does whatever Trump wants--is claiming Iranian missiles did this. Trump is lying through his teeth.

So, this morning, I will be demanding a full, independent, and transparent investigation to get to the bottom of what happened at this school and why so many innocent civilians were tragically killed. There needs to be accountability.

Meanwhile, Trump's addiction to chaos is coming back to haunt the United States. The most formidable weapon Iran has right now is the Strait of Hormuz which, today, is effectively shut down; and now, thanks to Donald Trump's lack of foresight, Iran has a new, even more radical, even more hostile extreme leader, who will not be inclined to give up leverage over the strait. That is the one weapon that Iran has where it can be, unfortunately, successful.

The result?

Oil and gas prices are soaring across the world, including here in America. A barrel of Brent crude shot over $100 a barrel yesterday. That got Trump to say his contradictory things to try to bring the price down. It came down a little but not much. The average price of 1 gallon in the United States is $3.54. That is a 17-percent increase since the start of the war.

Yet Donald Trump says: If it rises, it rises. He says: It doesn't really affect us.

What a clueless thing to say. Has Donald Trump ever filled his own tank in his life? Has he any clue of what people go through when the price of gas goes up? Maybe billionaires like him don't have to worry, but for the rest of us, his war with Iran means more inflation in America--and not just in gasoline. Airline tickets will go up because of the price of fuel for the airlines. Food prices will go up because of the price of fertilizer. It will cut across the board, as we have seen before, when oil prices go up. Donald Trump is causing chaos in our economy.

Finally, Donald Trump, Pete Hegseth, and Marco Rubio owe the American people some answers. The administration needs to come before Congress and testify in public hearings, under oath, as to why our troops are fighting and dying in the Middle East.

This morning, I am joining with a group of my colleagues to demand just that, that they come before Congress and testify in public so they can see what the administration is up to and not up to, and I believe they will see the mass confusion as they engage in this war.

The story from the administration changes by the hour, so what we need are public hearings where the administration testifies under oath. When it comes to sending our servicemembers into harm's way, the American people need to understand why, but right now, they don't even have a ``why.'' That needs to change. We need testimony. We are demanding it today. We need accountability.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Madam President, it has been a week--more than a week-- since Donald Trump began his war with Iran without strategy, without an endgame, and with very little support from the American people.

Seven U.S. servicemembers have now been killed in the Middle East, one of them was killed in Saudi Arabia this weekend.

We also mourn the death of MAJ Sorffly Davius, a New York Police Department officer from Queens, who was deployed as a member of the 42nd Infantry Division of the U.S. National Guard. He died on Friday at a U.S. base in Kuwait. Major Davius was the rare kind of public servant, keeping New Yorkers safe here at home as a police officer and keeping Americans safe abroad as a soldier.

The Senate prays for all our servicemembers who have died since the start of the war. We pray for their families. And, as we pray, many of us also ask: One week into this conflict, what are the goals of this war? What does victory even look like?

We don't know. Donald Trump is making it up as he goes along. It is almost as if he wakes up each morning and decides right then and there what the strategy for the day is. Donald Trump and his administration owe the American people an explanation.

Secretary Rubio, Secretary Hegseth, and other senior officials must come to the Senate for public hearings and testify under oath as to why our troops are once again fighting and dying in the Middle East. The American people deserve answers. The Senate must hold public hearings-- public hearings--with Cabinet Secretaries to get answers.

Madam President, now, on gas prices, here is one thing we do know: Donald Trump's war has sent gas prices skyrocketing through the roof. Brent crude rose above $100 a barrel and spiked as high as $120. Gasoline prices in the United States jumped more than 40 cents.

Let me say that again because we had a happy little fella up there or a girl--a fella it looks like--but he doesn't have to pay for the high price of gas on the pump as we do. So he is laughing.

But anyway, Brent crude rose above $100 a barrel and spiked as high as $120. Gasoline prices in the United States jumped more than 40 cents. When oil prices spike like this, it ripples across the entire economy. Airline tickets, shipping costs, and everyday goods go up, up, up in price. Inflation was already on the rise, and Trump's war just made it much, much worse.

That is why I am calling on President Trump to immediately release oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to help bring prices down. The Strategic Petroleum Reserve exists precisely for moments like this. If President Trump cared about easing pain at the pump, he would act to release these reserves now.

But instead of acting, Donald Trump is lost in a sea of delusional thinking. As gas prices rise, here is what Trump says: ``If they rise, they rise.'' Tough luck, America. He says they are ``a very small price to pay'' and that ``only fools would think differently.''

The over 180 million fools who need or depend on gasoline, they don't care about paying more of their hard-earned dollars? They are fools? That is what Trump is saying to you, America--what contempt, what cluelessness.

It is as if America is being led to war by Marie Antoinette. He has no clue what it is like to struggle to pay for gas, to pay for the rent, to pay for groceries. He is in a bubble. Yes, he is a billionaire. He doesn't have to pay for these things. The average American does.

I will add this: The longer this war drags on, the greater the risk it spirals beyond control.

Over the weekend, there were reports that Trump is seriously considering putting boots on the ground. That would be Americans' worst nightmare: boots on the ground.

Once our forces land on the ground, the hard part is getting them out. What begins as targeted operations could turn into open-ended fighting and turn into mission creep. Weeks turn into months, which could turn into years.

Americans simply don't want that, and the brutal Iranian regime knows we don't want it either. So they won't be incentivized to negotiate.

Madam President, the longer war drags on in the Middle East, the more likely it will be that civilian casualties mount as well.

This morning, public reporting said a preliminary U.S. assessment found that the United States was likely responsible for a deadly airstrike that obliterated a girls' elementary school and killed nearly 170 people, many children. This is heartbreaking, and it was likely avoidable.

When Presidents launch us into a war without a plan, the stakes multiply. Civilians and servicemembers get hurt, and conflicts spiral out of control.

Americans don't want us in this terrible, costly, unnecessary war. But one week in, they fear that Donald Trump has dragged us into a war that is just getting started.

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

Mr. President, I just came back from an event at the National Press Club, hosted by the American Economic Liberties Project, on the plague of high food costs that are maddening to so many Americans. People are fed up.

Donald Trump promised to bring food costs down, and instead, they have gone up.

Last month, the Secretary of Agriculture said:

It can cost around $3 a meal for a piece of chicken, a

piece of broccoli, a corn tortilla, and one other thing.

This is nonsense. So this morning, as part of Democrats' lowering costs agenda, I was proud to join my colleagues to introduce the Family Grocery and Farmer Relief Act.

There are many reasons why food costs have risen, including Trump's tariffs, including supply chain problems, but there is a deeper structural problem under the surface too--monopoly power.

A handful of powerful corporations have turned food and farming into a rigged game. Today, only four companies control 85 percent of the market for beef, 67 percent of the market for pork, and 60 percent of the market for poultry. When so much market power is concentrated within so few corporations, Americans at the grocery store see prices go up while farmers see their profits go down, and corporate players have free reign to rig the system.

Today, a pound of ground beef is more expensive than ever at $7 a pound. The price of beef in general has risen 16 percent in just a year, to $6 a pound. This is not sustainable.

So my bill rests on a simple idea: To lower costs, we need more competition, and to create more competition, we have to break the stranglehold of these monopoly corporations. We have done it before; we can do it again. Fighting monopoly power is a tried-and-true tradition in the American ethos of progress.

Over 120 years ago, Upton Sinclair published ``The Jungle,'' and it opened the eyes of the Nation to working conditions in meatpacking plants and to the awful monopoly powers that dominated the industry.

Soon after, the FTC was created--the Federal Trade Commission--to investigate monopolies and anti-competitive behavior that raised prices and made it harder for small and medium businesses to compete and thrive.

A few years after that, the Congress responded to these findings by passing the Packers and Stockyards Act, which curbed the power of the meatpacking giants and gave the Federal Government tools to restore competition and protect producers.

Well, history is repeating itself. Those monopolies are dominating the food industry--and particularly the meat industry--as they did 120 years ago, and we should follow the path that occurred back then when we curbed the power of monopolies. We have to do the same in our day and age, and history gives us a great example.

Americans love the free market and open competition, but they don't love it when just one or two companies can dominate an industry and make fair competition impossible. That is not American. That is not a free market. That is how costs go up for something as basic as a pound of ground beef.

Our bill will break the monopoly power that has played a sinister role in raising the prices of beef and groceries, and I thank my colleagues who have joined in this legislation.

Additional Cosponsors to S. 4007

I will ask unanimous consent to add the list of cosponsors. It keeps growing.

Now on tariff refunds, yesterday, a Federal judge sent the Trump administration a very clear message: Mr. President, refund the tariffs.

In the wake of the Supreme Court's ruling invalidating a large portion of the President's tariffs, the U.S. Court of International Trade in New York said yesterday that importers are entitled to refunds. But let's be very clear: The people who deserve a refund from Donald Trump's trade war are American households and small businesses, not large corporations.

When the tariffs hit, large companies often passed the buck over to their customers. They are the ones--the customers are the ones who are owed the refund. So today, Senator Wyden and I are calling on the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to tell their members to pass savings of any tariff refunds to American consumers. If any refunds happen, large companies should not keep them but, rather, pass them back to consumers.

It is simple fairness that the financial burden borne by small businesses and working people should not become a windfall for large corporations' balance sheets. American consumers and small businesses didn't choose this trade war and therefore should not have to pay for this trade war. They are owed a refund. They need to be made whole.

I am glad that some companies have already announced they will pass refunds over to customers, and I urge the Chamber of Commerce to push more of their members to do the same.

Iran

Mr. President, finally, on Iran, yesterday was a disappointing and low moment for the U.S. Senate. With war in the Middle East escalating by the day, Senate Republicans chose to get behind Trump's military escapades despite overwhelming opposition from the American people. Shameful. Americans don't want war--not Republican voters, not Independents, not even many of Donald Trump's MAGA base. They feel betrayed by what is happening in the Middle East, and they feel betrayed by the Senators in this Chamber who refuse to stand up for the Constitution and refuse to put a check on Donald Trump's belligerence.

The war is widening. There was fighting as far south as the Indian Ocean and drone attacks, perhaps as far north as Azerbaijan. Meanwhile, there is no strategy. Donald Trump's story and rationales keep changing by the day.

If you listen to Pete Hegseth, to Marco Rubio, to Donald Trump, it is very, very obvious they are making it up as they go along, and Americans are worried. Gas prices are starting to go up. The national average is now $3.25 a gallon, up from $2.99 from a week ago.

There is a story in POLITICO from this morning that Susie Wiles, Donald Trump's Chief of Staff, is ``[sounding] the alarm on gas prices.'' Apparently, the White House is scrambling to find something positive to say about gas prices to change the narrative of high costs. Here is an idea: If Donald Trump doesn't want gas prices to go up, he should not have unilaterally started a war with Iran. It is yet another sign that this administration seems allergic to having a plan and thinking about the consequences in advance.

So shame--shame on Senate Republicans for not standing up to Donald Trump and his unpopular war. Senate Republicans had their chance to do something that would have been overwhelmingly popular--to say no to Trump's war. Instead, they enthusiastically said yes, and now they own this war with Iran just as much as Donald Trump does.

Tribute to Claudia Kostel

Mr. President, finally, a farewell. Today, the Senate bids farewell and offers our deep thanks to Claudia Kostel, who leads the Office of the Senate Chief Counsel for Employment and who has served this institution with distinction since 2000. After more than 26 years, Claudia will be moving on to her next adventure. The Senate is lucky to have had someone of her caliber for so long.

Claudia earned her law degree from the College of William & Mary. She has briefed cases before the U.S. Supreme Court and before the Third, Tenth, and DC Circuits.

In the Senate, Claudia is only the second person ever to have served as chief counsel for employment. In that role, she has provided exceptional legal advice and counsel to Senate offices and to Senate employees. She has served with excellence, fairness, and an unwavering commitment to this institution.

We hope this next chapter affords Claudia perhaps a little more time--time to ride her bike along the Mount Vernon Trail, time to put her legendary baking skills to even greater use, and most importantly, time with her family.

Claudia, thank you for your service to the Senate. We wish you the very best.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I am very glad that today the Senate is taking a major step forward to protect our kids online. Today, the Senate is passing unanimously COPPA, the Children Online Privacy and Protection Act.

The bill expands the current law protecting our kids online to ensure companies cannot collect personal information from anyone under the age of 17. This is a big step forward for protecting our kids. We hope the House can join us. They haven't thus far. But this is really important to protect kids online. To ban targeting advertising to children and teens makes imminent sense. To establish data minimization rules to prohibit the excessive collection of children and teens' data makes sense.

So this is a very good day for kids throughout America. This is a very good day for their parents as well, who can breathe a sigh of relief that some real protections for kids online are finally passing the Senate once again.

I yield the floor.

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

Well, the last thing the American people want or need is another war in the Middle East. But if you listened to Secretary Pete Hegseth's press conference this morning, one thing is crystal clear: America is at war.

In his own words, Hegseth said:

We are just getting started.

You hear that, America? Pete Hegseth says another war in the Middle East is just getting started. He says more of our sons and daughters will be shipped off to fight in a foreign land, more of our taxpayer dollars will be wasted abroad instead of invested at home.

Hegseth also said:

We are accelerating, not decelerating.

Hegseth said:

More bombers and more fighters are arriving just today.

What is Hegseth talking about? Are we putting boots on the ground? Are we depleting our strategic munition reserves? Is there a timeline or a limit to our engagement in Iran? We have no clue because Hegseth is more interested in sound bites than explanations.

And Hegseth said:

Death and destruction from the sky all day long.

This is not how an intelligent, prudent, sober-minded military leader speaks. Just the contrast between the serious tone of General Caine, who spoke next to Hegseth, and that of Hegseth, who was almost gleeful about going to war, is stark. What Hegseth said this morning is embarrassing and childish.

So to anyone around here who thinks we are not at war, listen to Hegseth's press conference. It is little more than microwaved cable news drivel. But what he is saying loud and clear is this: We are at war, and this administration is signaling more escalation ahead.

This is insanity. Americans just spent the last two decades fighting and dying in the Middle East, and Pete Hegseth says: We are back for more.

How many parents watched their kids ship off and fight and die in Iraq and Afghanistan?

How many sleepless nights did families have over the last 20 years, worried about their loved ones? How many headlines did we watch over the decades of troops getting shot down and convoys getting attacked with wounded soldiers returning home, scarred by the horrors of war? How many billions of dollars were wasted? How much anguish, suffering, and grief did America endure?

And now, Pete Hegseth says he would be happy that we are going to do it all over again. He says: This new war is just getting started.

This is madness, and we don't even know what the administration's plan is. I just sat yesterday with my Senate colleagues for an all- Senators briefing, and let me show you how much clarity we got out of that briefing: Zero. Zero.

Even after the briefing, we walked away with zero clarity about what Donald Trump's goal in Iran is.

After my briefing this week and Hegseth's press conference this morning, it is clear they are widening the war in Iran, and I fear now more than ever that we are going to put boots on the ground, and that is precisely what the American people fear. We still don't know how long we will be there. We still don't know what Donald Trump is even trying to accomplish.

This is not how you conduct foreign policy. This is not how you conduct defense policy. And the fault for the chaos is entirely with Donald Trump.

Trump is manic. Whatever pops into his head, he says immediately. He picks one plan one day, then he picks the total opposite the other, and he doesn't think it through. He doesn't check the facts, and nobody around him has the guts to stand up to him and tell him: Mr. President, you are wrong. He is surrounded by yes-men. This is dangerous.

Just yesterday, as Trump launches America into a war with Iran, he goes ahead and slams and critiques Zelenskyy and calls him a name, the ``P.T. Barnum of Ukraine.'' This is insane. Donald Trump is manic, blasting one of America's friends as they fight for survival and are beginning to make gains against Russian forces--insane and certainly not how you conduct foreign policy.

Well, now, in this body, here in the Senate, we have a chance to say ``enough'' to Donald Trump's military insanity. Today, the Senate will vote to discharge a bipartisan resolution--led by Senators Kaine, Schiff, Paul, and myself--to put a halt to military activity in Iran without congressional approval.

The resolution is the Senate Republicans' chance to put pressure on Donald Trump's manic decision to drag us into war. Americans overwhelmingly oppose war with Iran, and Senate Republicans have a duty to stand up for Americans by forcing Donald Trump to reverse course.

Today, every Senator--every single one--will pick a side. Do you stand with the American people who are exhausted of forever wars in the Middle East or stand with Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth as they bumble us headfirst into another war?

To my colleagues: If you are tired of wars in the Middle East, support our resolution.

To my colleagues: If you don't want America to get dragged into another conflict that spirals out of our control, support our resolution, take a stand, do the right thing. Support this resolution.

Trump Administration

Mr. President, now, on the high costs for the American people, which is what they really want Trump and his administration to focus on, and the food prices.

Last night, Americans once again turned out in record numbers to support Democratic candidates up and down the ballot. The enthusiasm is unlike anything we have seen in primaries. In ruby-red States, voters showed up and voted blue in levels we rarely see in a primary. And it is not hard to understand why voters are so enthusiastic: People are fed up with Donald Trump and congressional Republicans.

Just this morning, the Wall Street Journal ran a harrowing story: More Americans are dipping into their 401(k)s just to keep up with everyday expenses. That is not what people want to do. The 401(k)s, which people put money in that they want to use for other things, but they knew they needed for their retirement, and now, because of high costs, they are getting so squeezed that they have to take the money out of their 401(k).

People hate doing that. People hate cannibalizing their financial futures just to survive the present. This is not the golden age Donald Trump promised. It is a travesty, and Americans deserve better.

Americans need focus on the high costs of food, not another war in the Middle East. That is why Democrats are going to do what Donald Trump refuses to do: put the affordability crisis front and center every day, all year long.

Tomorrow morning, I will be introducing legislation aimed at one of the core drivers of higher food prices: consolidation and monopoly power in the food industry.

Grocery prices are higher than ever. If you can't afford to pay for food, nothing else matters. If more and more of your paycheck is spent on paying for food instead of keeping up with the rent or filling up the tank or paying for daycare, you are trapped, and this is how Americans feel today. They feel trapped, trapped because Donald Trump promised to bring food costs down and instead they have gone up.

My bill does what Donald Trump hasn't: giving Americans a real plan to lower food costs by breaking the pernicious stranglehold of monopolistic corporate middlemen that have weakened our supply chains and price-gouged consumers at the grocery store.

And Democrats will keep going. We recently rolled out our agenda to tackle the housing crisis. Soon we will present our plan to lower the costs of energy and childcare and to fix our broken healthcare system that Republicans have sabotaged by letting premiums skyrocket.

Donald Trump and congressional Republicans had their chance. They promised to make life better for the American people and lower their costs, but here we are on the brink of yet another war in the Middle East, with families already stretched to the breaking point at home.

The American people deserve a whole lot better, and Democrats are going to fight for it.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, first, let me thank my friend from Virginia for his stellar leadership on this issue, not just this year but through the last

decade. He is an inspiration, I think, to all of us. I also want to thank Senators Schiff and Paul for joining me and Senator Kaine in this important resolution.

Now, Mr. President, today, Senators face a choice: Stand with the American people, who are tired of war in the Middle East, or side with Donald Trump, who bumbled America into another war most Americans fiercely oppose.

Voting on matters of war is one of the most solemn votes a Senator can take. This is about whether or not Senators are ready to send your sons and your daughters into harm's way. If there was ever a moment for Senate Republicans to take a stand, it is now.

The last thing the American people want or need is another war in the Middle East. But if you listened to Secretary Pete Hegseth's press conference this morning, one thing is crystal clear: America is at war, with no plan, no strategy.

In his own words, Hegseth said, ``We are just getting started.'' Hegseth said, ``We are accelerating, not decelerating.'' And in the wake of six brave Americans who died in uniform, Trump simply says, ``There will likely be more. That is the way it is.''

This, my colleagues, is madness. Americans spent the last two decades fighting and dying in the Middle East. Parents watched their kids shipped off to foreign lands--so many lives lost--so many billions wasted--so much suffering and anguish that scarred an entire generation.

Why is Donald Trump hell-bent on making history repeat itself? Why is he plunging America headfirst into a war that Americans do not want and which he cannot even explain?

Enough is enough. The American people deserve a say, and that is what our resolution is about. We must act to stop Trump's belligerence.

The American people will be watching how Senators vote. History will judge this Chamber for how we act.

To my colleagues, all of my colleagues: It is time to make a stand. We must stop another war in the Middle East. Support our resolution.

I yield the floor.

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

Mr. President, it has been 4 days since Donald Trump launched America into a war that most Americans oppose, most Americans don't understand, and his own administration can't consistently explain.

I walked out of yesterday's intelligence briefing even more concerned than when I walked in because if the case for war were strong, the story would be consistent and steady. Instead, it changes by the hour.

First, Donald Trump suggested the goal was regime change. He said the people of Iran should rise up and take back their country.

Then it was about nuclear weapons--the same program he said was ``obliterated'' last summer.

Then, yesterday morning, Pete Hegseth said:

Iran had a conventional gun to our head.

He said:

This is not a so-called regime change war.

Then Secretary Rubio claimed it was about crippling Iran's missiles. Then it was about crippling Iran's navy. Then Rubio said it was about what Israel would do and the Iranian response. We heard that this attack was ``defensive'' in nature; then Rubio says it was ``preemptive.''

Which one is it, Donald Trump? Regime change? Nuclear weapons? Missiles? An imminent threat to the homeland? Or a preemptive strike to stop future attacks on the region?

When the rationale for war keeps shifting, the strategy is missing, and that is because there is no strategy. And when the strategy is missing, the risk grows. Six American servicemembers are dead. The conflict is widening. The State Department is telling Americans to leave the region. Oil prices have already jumped 7 percent in just a few days.

History teaches us a simple lesson: Wars without a clear objective do not stay small. They get bigger. They get bloodier. They get longer. They get more expensive.

This is not a defensive war. This is not a necessary war. This is a war of choice. The American people do not want another endless war of choice in the Middle East. They do not want to see our troops fight and die in a pointless war. Parents don't want to worry about whether or not their kids will be sent abroad to fight in a conflict Americans didn't ask for.

The American people want leadership that is focused on lowering costs here at home because, while this administration debates which justification to use for the war, American families are debating which bill to pay. Gas prices are rising again. Electric bills are through the roof. Groceries are still too high. Housing costs are crushing middle-class families. Health insurance premiums are rising. The President should be focused on lowering costs.

Instead of mission creep abroad, we need cost relief here at home. Instead of shifting rationales for war, we need a clear strategy for affordability. That is what Americans are asking for, and that is what Senate Democrats are fighting for.

Affordability

Mr. President, that is why, this week, the Senate is moving long- overdue housing legislation, the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, and I want to thank Senator Warren for her incredible work bringing this package to fruition.

The ROAD to Housing Act is a good step, but Democrats know it is only the first step. We have much more work to do to fix the housing crisis--to restore the promise of homeownership and bring rents down. Democrats will continue to develop and push additional housing policies that build on the good work of this bill, including the ideas we laid out in our housing rollout and in our report on the housing crisis in January.

But Democrats are not stopping at housing. Later this week, I will join my colleagues to roll out our food prices legislation. Our bill will go straight to one of the core problems of the food industry: too much consolidation in America's food system, especially in meat and agriculture, where a handful of dominant players squeeze farmers on one end and squeeze consumers on the other.

Donald Trump acts like affordability is some kind of hoax, but Democrats understand it is the No. 1 thing people think about when they are paying the rent, filling up their tank, and especially when pushing a cart down the grocery aisle. We will keep fighting on this issue because Americans want us to bring their costs down.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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

Well, Mr. President, today the Senate grieves the deaths of four U.S. servicemembers who were killed in action this weekend. We hold their families in our hearts; we pray for all American families who have loved ones serving right now in uniform; and we pray for everyone across the Middle East who are right now in harm's way--many who have relatives here in America, including relatives who have fled the regime in Iran and all who are worried for their families and friends back home across the region.

Today, many Americans across the country and across the political spectrum are wondering: Why are our troops back in conflict in the Middle East? That is what Americans are wondering: Why has Donald Trump started a new war with Iran?

Let me be clear. I will not shed a tear for Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader

of Iran who was killed in the initial rounds of airstrikes over the weekend. For decades, Khamenei sponsored terrorist attacks against American troops. He called for the destruction of Israel and America. And under his rule, the people of Iran have suffered immensely.

But no matter how you feel about the Iranian regime, we stand at a dangerous moment for our troops and for the Middle East and even, perhaps, for the world. Donald Trump has just launched America into a full-scale conflict against one of our most fervent adversaries without a plan, without an endgame, and without authorization from Congress or even a debate in full view of the American people. The consequences are already mounting. As I have said, four American servicemembers have been killed, several others have been wounded, and the President says many more casualties are likely to come.

This is not what the American people want. The American people want more effective action to address the rising costs that are crushing them. They want more access to affordable healthcare and to buy homes and to get good-paying jobs. They don't want a war that leads to lost American lives and that costs billions and billions of taxpayer dollars. They don't want a war that raises the price of gas at the pump.

Make no mistake about it, this is a war of choice, not necessity. And regardless of whether you are a Democrat or a Republican or an Independent or even if you don't pay attention to politics, there is one thing almost everyone agrees on: We are sick and tired of endless wars in the Middle East. And there is real danger that this is the road we are on right now.

Americans are sick of Donald Trump paying so much attention to military escapades while costs keep going up here at home--Venezuela, Somalia, Iran, and on and on. Where is Donald Trump going to strike tomorrow? He is one of the most trigger-happy Presidents in all of American history.

Donald Trump ran for office on the promise to wind down America's endless wars. What he is doing is exactly--exactly--the opposite. He is picking military fights all over the world and not taking care of business here at home. One year into office, Donald Trump has broken his promise to end forever wars again and again and again, from Venezuela to threats against Greenland to, now, a new war with Iran.

Congress must act to rein in Donald Trump's belligerence. Very soon, the Senate will vote on a bipartisan War Powers Resolution I am leading with Senators Kaine and Schiff and Paul. Our resolution affirms what the Constitution already says: The President cannot send U.S. forces to fight a war in Iran without congressional approval. As soon as our resolution comes to the floor, Senators need to pick a side: Stand with Americans who don't want war, or stand with Donald Trump as he singlehandedly starts another war.

I urge my colleagues to support our resolution. The American people will be watching how Senators vote, and they will remember those whose thumbs pointed yea and whose thumbs pointed nay.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, today, U.S. and Iranian officials are holding talks in Geneva as America stands at the brink of another potential conflict in the Middle East.

Earlier this week, Senate leaders and I met with Secretary Rubio. Everyone is asking what the plan is with respect to Iran, and we are all looking for answers that the administration has refused to give.

The issues we discussed in our classified briefing were very serious, and the American people deserve to hear it directly from the President and his administration. The administration should come clean and tell the American people exactly what the goal is in Iran.

I have always said that confronting Iran and halting its nuclear ambition requires a strategy, clarity, and transparency. Thus far, we are getting none of that from the administration. The American people deserve answers.

Epstein Files

Mr. President, on Epstein, the way Pam Bondi and the Justice Department handled the release of the Epstein files has all the stench of a coverup.

Yesterday, news outlets reported that several memos detailing a woman's accusation against the President from when she was a minor have been withheld from the public. We know

these memos exist. An index of all the investigative materials confirm their existence, and under law--the law we passed unanimously here in the Senate--they need to be made public.

Pam Bondi does not have the right to pick and choose which Epstein files to release to the public. Protecting the President from embarrassment is not her job. The American people were promised the truth, and Pam Bondi's job is to give Americans full access to the truth.

What else is the administration keeping behind a lock and key? Is this incompetence, or is it a full-blown coverup? Pam Bondi owes the American people some answers.

Remember, the law Congress passed had very specific criteria for withholding the Epstein files: protect victims' identities, protect the integrity of an ongoing investigation, or avoid duplication. Protecting Donald Trump's image does not--does not--fit any of these buckets.

So I ask Pam Bondi: Whose side are you on, the victims or the perpetrators?

State of the Union Address

Mr. President, on the ``State of Delusion'' and Democrats' plan to lower costs, there has never been a State of the Union where the President spoke for so long but had so little substance, so little truth.

Tuesday night was 2 hours of Donald Trump's ``State of Delusion.'' He is in a bubble. He doesn't know what is going on with the American people. All he wants to do is stroke his own ego. Donald Trump told the country that everything is great, that costs are coming down, that manufacturing is up, that he is going to fix healthcare, and that we are going to win so much that we don't know what to do. That is what he said. It is amazing.

I ask very seriously: Who else in America feels this way, that we are winning so much we don't know what to do? Maybe billionaires, but that is it.

Today, I want to talk about a couple of things that Donald Trump didn't mention during his 2-hour ``State of Delusion.''

For one, Donald Trump didn't talk about how he will bring down the cost of living. Ground beef is up 11 percent. Coffee is up 14 percent. Rent is up. Thanks to Donald Trump's tariffs, American families are spending over $1,700 more this year--$1,700 out of the average working family's pocket. That is a heck of a lot of money when people are struggling to pay the bills.

Where is Donald Trump's plan to fix any of this? He said nothing.

In a moment, I will talk about what Democrats plan to do about this.

Donald Trump also talked about manufacturing, but he failed to mention that America is not creating manufacturing jobs. We are bleeding them.

So many lies--he says we are growing manufacturing jobs? Well, look at this chart.

These are the numbers of manufacturing jobs that were lost in the last year--in May, in June, in July, in August, in September, in October, in November, and in December. We lost in every month. We lost manufacturing jobs, and Donald Trump just lies about it.

This is the state of manufacturing in the United States. Manufacturing jobs are down by 100,000. We shed manufacturing jobs every single month--every single month--right after Trump's ``Liberation Day.'' Yet he lies about it. He just makes it up.

Donald Trump has this uncanny ability which misserves human beings and which particularly misserves Presidents. He thinks that by saying it is so, it is true and that everyone will just believe him. Well, his minions believe him, no matter what he says, but no one else. He talks past America.

Again, we lost manufacturing jobs, Donald Trump. We didn't gain them.

Trump also failed to speak about his plan to fix healthcare because he has none. Donald Trump claims he will always protect Medicare, but that is false. The CBO found that, thanks to Donald Trump's ``Big Ugly Bill,'' the Medicare trust fund will run out 12 years sooner than before. In other words, Donald Trump has accelerated Medicare's demise by more than a decade with one single bill which every Republican voted for in this Chamber but no Democrat because we knew the damage to healthcare he was doing.

Donald Trump also failed to mention anything about China. It is the second leading power in the world. The United States has lots of issues with China, but when was the last time a President of the United States avoided talking about America's biggest rival on the world stage during his State of the Union?

The way Donald Trump has handled China is an embarrassment. He has promised to be tough on China, but he is playing with them with kids' clothes, giving them critical American technology, and his tariffs have failed to win any meaningful concessions.

It doesn't have to be this way. Americans deserve better than a President and a Republican Party that think ``affordability'' is a made-up word. Later this morning, I will join my colleagues--Senators Cantwell, Lujan, Booker, and Welch--and experts from across the country to talk about how we lower food costs, how we make trips to the grocery store less painful for families, and how we fix the structural problems that keep prices high, like the consolidation of the food industry.

Today's roundtable is part of a larger Senate effort by Senate Democrats to, all year long, talk about how we will drive costs down, because we don't believe affordability is some kind of hoax. He called it a hoax. That was insulting to America. He seems to have fun insulting people. That is what it seemed like up there on the ``State of Delusion'' stage that he occupied. Affordability is the most real thing in the lives of the American people economically.

In the weeks and months ahead, we are going to go issue by issue, taking the time to dig in and roll out serious, practical battle plans to bring costs down. We started a month ago with housing, and I am proud of the work Democrats are doing to lower housing costs. We will soon take on energy and electricity. We will take on childcare, and we will take on healthcare.

Lowering costs will be Senate Democrats' North Star in 2026. Let me repeat that so America and our Republican colleagues hear it: Lowering costs will be Senate Democrats' North Star in 2026.

The conversations we have today about high food prices will lay the groundwork for real legislation so that, when Democrats have the majority, we can deliver real relief and bring down the cost of living.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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

Mr. President, last night was not America's State of the Union. It was Donald Trump's state of delusion. For 2 long hours the President stood in the House Chamber congratulating himself, inflating his own ego, but offering no solutions to our country's many problems.

He is in a bubble. He doesn't even have a clue about what the average American family is going through. Donald Trump patted himself on the back so many times I thought he would fall down. While Donald Trump kept claiming that ``America is back'' and that we are winning so much we don't know what to do about it, that is only half true. We are not winning so much, but he sure has no idea what to do about the problems in America, and he admitted it right there himself.

People back home were asking something different than what the speech addressed. They are asking: What about my electricity bill? How am I going to pay for my groceries? How am I going to afford a doctor? Donald Trump ignored all these things during his speech last night. Frankly, I have never heard a State of the Union speech--and I have heard quite a few--where the President's rhetoric and the country's reality were so far apart. Instead, Donald Trump spent most of his speech focused on the accomplishments, not of his administration, but on the accomplishments of other Americans whose accomplishments he has nothing to do with.

We are all proud of the men and women hockey teams that just won gold in the Olympics. We are all proud of and grateful for our veterans. They deserve honor. But Donald Trump didn't have anything to do with these accomplishments. He had so little to say about what he accomplished that he had to just go on and on about accomplishments of others, and folks back home want to hear about what the President is doing to help with their problems. They don't want to hear a fantasy that everything is going great.

But it got worse. Trump didn't simply ignore the affordability crisis. He mocked it yet again. The average American sitting at their table trying to figure out how they are going to pay that damn bill was furious that he said it doesn't matter. It is truly stunning to watch a billionaire like Donald Trump make fun of people's financial struggles during a State of the Union speech. The guy doesn't have a clue. He is in a bubble so thick, he can't hear what people are going through.

And of course, he lied about the economy. This man is an inveterate liar.

Everyone knows that. He said last night that manufacturing jobs have gone way up. That is a lie. Manufacturing is down by 100,000 jobs since he took office. He bragged last night about job creation. Well, job creation is at its lowest point in over 20 years outside of a recession--its lowest point in 20 years, and he brags about it.

Donald Trump claimed that the fight against inflation is over. That is a lot of BS. Just go to the grocery store, and you will see. Donald Trump's speech was filled with fluff and hype. When was the last time Trump bought a cup of coffee? When is the last time Trump walked into a grocery store? His speech shows that he never has.

It was also rich last night to hear Donald Trump announce that he will put JD Vance in charge of investigating corruption. Now, I think putting JD Vance in charge of corruption is actually something that might work out because he is right in the midst of it; he is all around it. And I have some suggestions for where he can begin.

If Vice President Vance wants to investigate corruption, he should look into the billionaires who are donating to Donald Trump's fancy ballroom. He should look into how so many within the administration are making a killing--a personal killing--off crypto deals. He should investigate why Donald Trump pardoned the ex-President of Honduras, who was convicted of drug trafficking. If he wants to look into corruption, let him investigate the luxury jet Donald Trump received as a gift from the Middle East. He has got a lot to do right around him if he wants to investigate corruption because this is the most corrupt administration I think ever--certainly in decades and in maybe over a century. If JD Vance wants to get to the bottom of corruption in government, the good news is that all he has to do is walk down the hall into the Oval Office.

So, in sum, last night, Donald Trump did what he does better than anyone else--one of the few things he does better than anyone else: He boosted his own ego and patted himself on the back. He didn't address the needs of Americans and just broke promise after promise after promise.

If anyone watching last night was hoping to hear about how Donald Trump is going to lower their costs and their economic pain, his speech was an anemic dud. So I suggest Americans who care about the high cost of living, about affordability, which Trump knocks, get a copy of Governor Spanberger's speech. She focused on it like a bull's eye. Her speech was so much more in tune with where the American people are than Donald Trump's. The contrast is glaring.

I also want to salute Senator Padilla. He gave an outstanding speech as well.

Compare Trump's speech to their speeches, and you will know why Trump is in such trouble with the American people; you will know why the Republican Party is panicking about what might happen in November of 2026.