Floor Statements

Mr. President, the Senate's prayers are with the families of the six servicemembers killed in a plane crash late last week in Iraq. Thirteen U.S. servicemembers have now been killed.

We hold them in our hearts, as well as everyone killed and injured in the Middle East, as well as their families.

The war Donald Trump promised would be over quickly is now entering its third week, and no end is in sight. Iran is fully exerting its leverage over the Strait of Hormuz, sending oil prices surging across the globe. Brent crude is once again above $100 a barrel. Right now, gas is $3.70 at the pump. Oil executives told the White House last week: No matter what happens next, prices are likely to rise even higher in the weeks ahead.

So what is Donald Trump's plan to bring this economic pain to an end? Sadly, America, he doesn't have one. It is something different every day. No plan. No followthrough.

If you listen to his press conference earlier today, it was obvious: Donald Trump is flailing. Donald Trump claimed he predicted long ago that the Strait of Hormuz would be used as a weapon.

Well, if that is true, then he has done a terrible job planning in advance for how to stop it from being used as a weapon, and he continues to do a terrible job containing the damage that is now occurring.

Trump also claimed today:

They want to make a deal. They are talking to our people.

And then moments later he said:

All their leaders are dead. We don't even know who we are

dealing with.

Which one is it? The leaders want to make a deal or we don't know who the leaders are? If you can say those two contradictory things within the same few minutes, something is dramatically wrong, and it is with Donald Trump.

Does Donald Trump know whom he is talking to or not? Are talks even happening? The Commander in Chief seems totally lost and in over his depth.

Donald Trump now claims that other countries are going to help the United States clear the Strait of Hormuz and bashed our own allies for voicing hesitation about putting troops in harm's way. And so far, no country has publicly said it would step up.

Now, Donald Trump even says his administration has been asking China to help us out in the Strait of Hormuz. China. Are you kidding me? China--relying on China to get us out of a mess that Donald Trump created. They are not going to do that. Fat chance they will do that.

Donald Trump created a mess in the Middle East, and he clearly has no plan for how to end it. That is a huge problem for our country. War-- unneeded, unnecessary, endless war.

Madam President, in accordance with rule V of the Standing Rules of the Senate, I hereby provide notice that I intend to move to suspend the operation of rule XXV, paragraph (n)(1) to permit the Committee on Rules and Administration to consider the following motion with respect to the message to accompany S. 1383:

Motion to refer with instructions: That the Message to

accompany S. 1383 be referred to the Committee on Rules and

Administration with instruction that the Committee consider

legislation that fully funds the Transportation Security

Administration (TSA) through fiscal year 2026.

Madam President, in accordance with rule V of the Standing Rules of the Senate, I hereby provide notice that I intend to move to suspend the operation of rule XXV, paragraph (n)(1) to permit the Committee on Rules and Administration to consider the following motion with respect to the message to accompany S. 1383:

Motion to refer with instructions: That the Message to

accompany S. 1383 be referred to the Committee on Rules and

Administration with instruction that the Committee consider

legislation that restricts a current President of the United

States of America from receiving payments from the Department

of Justice.

Madam President, in accordance with rule V of the Standing Rules of the Senate, I hereby provide notice that I intend to move to suspend the operation of rule XXV, paragraph (n)(1) to permit the Committee on Rules and Administration to consider the following motion with respect to the message to accompany S. 1383:

Motion to refer with instructions: That the Message to

accompany S. 1383 be referred to the Committee on Rules and

Administration with instruction that the Committee review the

compliance of the Department of Justice with the requirements

of P.L. 119-38, the Epstein Files Transparency Act.

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

Mr. President, yesterday, for the second time in less than a week, Republicans were given the opportunity to fund TSA and to also fund FEMA, to stand up for our Coast Guard, and to make sure core DHS operations are funded while negotiations on ICE and Border Patrol continue. And for the second time in less than a week, Republicans said no. Well, we are giving them another opportunity later this morning-- another opportunity to end their blockade of TSA. We are giving Republicans the opportunity to end their blockade of FEMA. We are giving Republicans the opportunity to end their blockade at CISA and to end their blockade at Coast Guard and much else.

The bottom line is very simple. It is easy. You don't have to follow politics very closely to see it. Democrats are ready to fund TSA; Republicans are blocking it. Democrats are ready to fund CISA; Republicans are blocking it. Democrats are ready to fund FEMA and Coast Guard and most of DHS operations. We will give Republicans a chance--a chance--to say yes.

We all know that we do not have agreement on how to deal with ICE. We know, very simply, that Democrats just want ICE to behave like any police department in America and use warrants and not wear masks, but we don't have to tie that disagreement up and use people at the airports and American citizens as hostages and say: We are not going to fund FEMA; we are not going to fund TSA unless you give in to our unreasonable and unpopular demands on reforming ICE. So we are going to offer these bills one at a time and see where our Republican colleagues go.

We know the American people are on our side. We know that the only thing Republicans need to do is stay out of the way and these programs will be funded today and problems at the airports will go away.

I will.

I am well aware, but that hasn't worked. What can work--

No, no. I--

--am not yielding back.

The bottom line is, Democrats are ready today. America, watch. We will have Members on the floor saying ``Let's fund TSA'' with no other preconditions. What will Republicans do? They are going to see Republicans get up and block it. It is that simple.

Now, my friend--sometimes--much of the time.

My friend, the Republican leader, says: Well, we will only do it if you go along with what we want on ICE and what we want on Border Patrol--highly unpopular and wrong. So who is standing in the way, America? Look at it. We are not putting any preconditions on funding TSA. The Republicans are. And why?

I will not yield.

No. In a minute.

Why? Because Republicans are in obeisance to Donald Trump's insistence on having these marauding forces of ICE go through our cities. We saw what they did in Minneapolis. We saw what

they did in Los Angeles. We saw what they did in other places. Americans don't like it. Trump's numbers have suffered.

And so it is simple: Don't attach preconditions, fund TSA, fund CISA. You will have that opportunity in a few hours. And if you get up and block it and say ``We will only do it unless,'' Americans will know who is to blame.

I yield.

Would my colleague--

--yield for a question?

Will he support, without any Republican blocking it, a straight motion to just deal with TSA and get it funded while we are trying to work out these negotiations? Will he support that? No ands, ifs, or buts; no preconditions, no keep negotiating on ICE but just get it done. Will he support that?

Reclaiming my time. I rest my case. What the leader is saying is he will only fund TSA if we will continue to fund--for a short time, for a long time--ICE and Border Patrol, which he knows is gridlocked, which he knows we don't agree with, and so it is clear. He has made it clear.

Just fund TSA. That is it. He has a lot of rigamarole attached to funding TSA: but do this, but do that, but do this.

You can't win the argument, Leader. It is simple. We are being clear. We are being concise.

So the question is very simple. I say to my Republican friends: Support the legislation that is coming on the floor today. And if you do, TSA is funded like that. Every Democrat is for it. My guess is, half to three quarters of the Republicans are wishing they would be for it, but their leadership is insisting on attaching preconditions on ICE negotiations and Border Patrol negotiations.

So all I say to my Republican colleagues: Stop the speeches that you care about TSA. Don't talk the talk. Walk the walk. Let the legislation that we are proposing go forward without blocking it, and TSA will be back to work; our lines at the airports will be gone; and then we will have legislation on CISA.

Don't talk to us about the need for safety and then block legislation that allows CISA to go through. That is hypocrisy. Just let it go through. And I know that our Republican leadership knows that we have the high ground here, knows that the people are on our side.

And why do Republicans do this? Why won't they budge to give an inch on ICE, which is highly unpopular, and even the President has said hasn't done things right? That is the mystery, but it is probably because some in the rightwing insist. And we know that the hard right runs this party, and that is why they are doing so poorly with the American people right now. That is why we Democrats are on the ascent-- because we are with the American people and the American people say: Fund TSA now, and you can debate ICE.

There has been a debate on ICE. We believe we are right. We believe something as simple as warrants should be used by ICE when you bust into someone's house. We believe, simply, that ICE agents should not be masked when every police department and sheriff's department is identified, and the American people are with us.

But we don't even have to debate that today because what Republicans are doing is insisting that we don't change a thing about ICE before we move forward on TSA. That is wrong. That is using the American people as hostages. And we are not going to do it.

And I remind my Republican colleagues, we are going to be back here again and again, winning this debate and eventually winning the American people, which will say to you folks on the Republican side: You had better stop this blockade of TSA and CISA, of FEMA, and of the Coast Guard. You had better stop using them as hostages until you get your way on ICE and on CBP, where you are out of touch with the American people.

I yield the floor.

Oh, no, I don't yield the floor. I have a few other subjects I might like to touch on. There is so much to talk about. Donald Trump and the Republicans are screwing up America in so many ways. So let's talk about Iran for a minute.

Iran

Mr. President, as the war on Iran continues, Donald Trump does what he usually does: He lies. He is lying to the American people.

According to public reporting, preliminary intelligence reports suggest, tragically, that American operations may have been involved, unfortunately, in this horrible missile strike on the all-girls elementary school in Iran on the first day of the war. And when Donald Trump was asked about those reports, what did he say? He said: Well, I don't know about that.

That is ridiculous, and it is an obvious lie. Donald Trump is the Commander in Chief, and he expects us to believe that he has no clue about intelligence regarding a horrific attack on a school several days after it occurred.

The vast majority of Americans, obviously, won't believe Donald Trump. They know he is an inveterate liar. He lies daily. They will know when he says he didn't know about this report--of course he did. But there might be a handful of Americans who still might believe the guy, who still don't understand that he is an inveterate liar.

And so think about that. He is saying he has zero clue about a basic intelligence report regarding this strike. If he didn't know about it 2 or 3 days later, when all of America did, and he is not lying, which I believe he is, then what chaos--what is going on in this administration? The Commander in Chief, on something that affects policy while we are at war, says he doesn't know about it? That talks about the chaos and confusion that have taken over this administration--the idea that something is all jumbled up in the White House, that there is no information flow to the President on something so important.

So either Donald Trump is lying when he says he knows nothing about the school bombing intelligence findings--he gets these reports every day--or he is dangerously uninformed, which says his staff is really screwed up.

Equally unacceptable is Donald Trump's apparent miscalculation when it comes to the Strait of Hormuz. In the early days of this war, Donald Trump bragged that victory would come easily. ``We are going to win shortly. No time. No problem.'' But now, after the United States has damaged so much of Iran's infrastructure, the new radical Supreme Leader is focusing on the one point of leverage Iran has always had over the world's economy: the Strait of Hormuz.

A few moments ago, in his first public comments, the Supreme Leader Khamenei, who is even worse than his predecessor, his father, said Iran will continue to block the Strait of Hormuz. Freeing it could, potentially, America, require boots on the ground.

How did Donald Trump not see this coming? How did his planners not see

this coming? This is the one bit of leverage Iran has. Of course, we knew they were going to use it. They have used it in the past. A college student with a basic understanding of geopolitics could tell you that Iran's greatest leverage is this narrow passage through which a huge share of the world's oil must travel. And now 13 days as we are into the war--I believe it is 13 days--the administration is scrambling to contain the damage and deal with rising oil prices. And Donald Trump, just by saying, ``Oh, the war is going to end soon,'' you are not going to fix the shortage of oil or fertilizer or other products in America.

After I said for days that he should, Donald Trump finally announced that he is tapping the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. He should have done it sooner. But in any case, even this decision was marred by chaos and confusion. It caught our allies completely off guard because for days it seemed Trump would hold back.

There is such disorganization and chaos when we are in a war. We can't afford chaos in a war. I don't know of any other time America went to war and things were so chaotic.

There is not a single strategic decision that Trump has made in this war that was not born from chaos, confusion, misinformation, and lies. And there is nobody--nobody--up there in the White House around him willing to stand up and tell him when he was wrong. In his first term, Trump had Kelly, Trump had Mattis--people who had courage, who had backbones, who had military backgrounds--and they told him the truth. He eventually fired them for telling the truth, but they told him the truth.

Where is the truth teller now? No one is there, and America is paying the price, unfortunately, in lives, in the eight brave troops we lost, in fortune--they said the first 2 days or the first week of the war cost $11 billion; we could fix a lot of healthcare with that $11 billion--and in strength.

This has gone too far, with too much chaos, too little thought, and it is hurting America.

I yield the floor.

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.